Tag Archives: Winter sucks

Big trucks and other stuff

West Virginia is famous for a few things…we have mountains and mountain people and mountain music and mountain stories.  We have both poverty and wealth.  We used to be a blue state but are now a red state.  We play football here and some folks make a little moonshine now and then.  There is natural beauty and a state-wide small town feel.  There are lots of things but biggest on the list of what WV has is coal.  It’s all over the place here and it is a major part of the economy and conversation and politics and daily life for many people.

Really big coal truck!

We were driving around last weekend and came upon a slow-down in traffic.  One of the large coal trucks was being moved.  Well, it wasn’t an entire truck, but rather just the bed of one.  And really, this probably wasn’t even the biggest coal-truck-part I have ever seen here but it was the one I saw when I had a camera ready.  Coal is big here and so is the equipment.  It’s hard to imagine a truck like this one working at a mine site hauling load after load of coal, all day, every day.  And most mines have more than one truck.  It’s amazing how much coal is here and what it means to the state and country, good or bad.  I won’t voice my opinion on the coal matter.  I really only wanted to show a pic of how big some of the not-the-biggest-equipment-I-have-seen-here really is.

Pretty frost-covered leaf

Other than that, I also wanted to lament the recent frosts we have had.  I do not like fall/winter/cold/dark so boo on this leaf and it’s stinking frosty edges, pretty or not!

It’s been busy…but with what?

We have been pretty sketchy around here lately.  I haven’t found myself into any interesting projects.  I haven’t gone anywhere too unusual or done anything interesting.  I haven’t even licked a bell in weeks.  I can’t figure out what we have been doing actually.  Work is pretty typical.  We have started writing iPhone apps which has been interesting.  I have been writing computer programs for quite awhile but I have to tell you, as polished as Apple’s final products are, their software development tools are an atrocity!  That’s all I have to say about that…  But what else have we been doing?  The kids are into some things but not a crazy amount of stuff.  Oh well…

We have been working on something else since the end of September too.  Well, really we have been mostly waiting since the end of September.  I still want credit though as I have been stressing and irritated through a large part of that time trying to make things happen.  I can’t share any details yet, but when it happens (and it appears that it will happen soon), I will have tons to write about and I am SOOOOOO excited!  Piqued your interest any?  I hope so…

Though I typically hate winter, I noticed that the only saving grace of the season is once again available in stores…Cadbury eggs make life worth living in the winter.  This is one time when I am glad marketing folks jump the gun on holiday preparations.  I also like Reese’s peanut butter eggs.  I would take a picture, but…well….I already ate my peanut butter egg.  Anyhow, does it get any better than this?

The magical medicinal magnificent Cadbury cream egg!

There is not too much else going on friends.  We are still alive here in West-by-God-Virginia and are diligently preparing for the next big mess of snow and ice and what-not-signs-of-the-apocalypse.  We got milk and eggs and bread last night (so we can make french toast if we get trapped in our house, of course) so we will make it through!  I hope all is well in your neck of the woods!  And don’t forget…Ground Hog Day is only a week away!