More reflections on turning 50

We don't stop playing because we get old, we get old because we stop playing. ~Herbert Spencer

After 1 week of being 50 years old I have found myself reflecting on the upcoming decade and what I might have to look forward to or not.
It's funny, as we get older the older "old" get. When I was 30 I thought 50 was old. Now that I'm 50, 70 is old. I suppose turning 50 is when we catch a glimpse of our morality and it becomes a life review of what is important and what isn't. I've heard that the 50’s maybe the best decade of your life – the kids are grown and you have about as much money as you’re ever going to make in your life. Probably, true for me the money part but my kids aren't grown and the next ten years most likely will be the most financially burdensome years I will ever face.
Some days I want to keep on fooling myself and the world. I want to hang with the 30 year old's, party like a college student, and live with reckless abandon. Other days, I want to embrace 50. I want to enjoy where I am...as I am...and not worry what anybody else thinks. I want to slow down and relish the things that I truly enjoy. Maybe it is true, "50 is the new 30."
I look back on my thirties with such fondness of those years. My kids were so young and we were so happy. How I long for those days again. I see my 60's as when those care free no worry days may appear again.

Windows 7

I have been running windows 7 ultimate on the new computer we purchased back in December. It is a beta version of Windows 7 Ultimate. I thought it was activated and was going to be able to continue running it indefinitely. As it turns out early last week I kept getting messages that windows must be activated in X days. I tried for days to figure a way around this message but was unable to get this version activated. So as hard as it was I actually trudged up to Best Buy this morning and purchased a copy of Windows 7 for my computer.
I had to do a clean install and reinstall all my programs but I feel good about having a genuine version of Windows 7 running on our computer.
The more I use it, the more I like it. There are a lot of little simple nuances that make me think that Microsoft is moving in the right direction.
Examples:
* Right-click on menu item and you can simply “pin” it to either the start menu or task bar.
* User configuration is now in a folder called users/userxxx
* It’s even aesthetically pleasing.
* Installed most of my programs without a hitch. If they were older programs I can run them easily in XP mode. Overall I give Microsoft an A+ here.

2nd Blizzard in days takes out 100 year record

We are living through some of the most extreme winter weather we'll ever experience in the metro region this morning. Heavy snow, winds exceeding 40 mph, and true whiteout conditions have paralyzed the entire region. It's not often we witness a 100-year-plus record fall. Perhaps it's fitting it went out in such extreme fashion today. National Airport's preliminary (2 p.m.) snow total of 54.9" for the 2009-2010 winter thus far puts D.C. above the previous high mark of 54.4" set way back in 1898-1899. Baltimore has also broken its all-time record with this event.
Snow will gradually diminish through early evening as the precipitation shield slowly drifts to the north and east, but strong winds gusting to around 50 mph will continue through the evening causing ground blizzard conditions and drifting snow.
Several suburban D.C. school districts, which had already canceled classes since Monday, simply ran up the white flag Wednesday and told students to stay home until Feb. 16.
All the three major regional airports — Reagan National, Washington Dulles and Baltimore-Washington International — shut down only a day after fully re-opening from the first major storm on Saturday.
Not that anyone was eager to travel. Entire neighborhoods in the District of Columbia, Virginia and Maryland — including some still without power from the last storm — were effectively isolated for lack of snow plows even on major arteries.
The latest wintry blast pummeled most of the northeastern U.S., producing heavy snowfall into New York and New England. But its impact was felt most in the mid-Atlantic region, which was in the bulls-eye of last weekend's blizzard.
"It is something that really is unprecedented for the mid-Atlantic states and certainly Washington," said Bob Ryan, a meteorologist for NBC4-TV.
Even by Canadian standards, the pair of fierce storms — dubbed Snowpacolypse and Snoverkill — would be considered severe.

Turning 50 Years Old

I turn 50 later on this week. Where do I fit in life now, why has it changed so much, and what will I do in the future? Can reaching 50 really change things that much? No, it is just a number but it does make us stop and think about what we do for the rest of the time that we have. Nevertheless, no matter how you cut it, 50 is a big deal. I don’t know why-I do not want any big celebrations.Rather than dwell on the depressing aspects of turning 50, I'm going to list 50 things, people and or accomplishmnet's that I'm grateful have been part of my life these past 50 years.
The List is in no special order.

1. My wife Maureen has to be top on my list. 21 years of marriage and we're still best of friends.
2. My Mother always there to listen. Another best friend.
3. My Father gave me encouragement, work ethic  and helping hand when I needed it.
4. Brothers and Sisters where there to share the normal family experiences.
5. Growing up in Bowie, MD. That was a great place to be a kid. Not so now....
6.  My mother-in-law Joyce Buswell and her extended family.
7.  The Ruyter family with 11 kids who lived behind us. Still friends with some of them today.
8.  8 years at St Pius X School. I know now the difficulty of funding private education
9.  Walking or riding a bike to and from there everyday. Wish kids could do that today
10. Teachers - Sr Richard (2nd), Mrs. Devany (5th), Mrs. Lee (6th), Sr. Margret (8th)
11. For good or bad my First Kiss, Smoke and Drink--7th Grade
12. Friends Steve, Joe, Roy, Bob, Pete and Michael.
13. Sledding at the Mansion for hours. Then hot chocolate at home.
14. Ice Skating, playing hockey on both Foxhill Lake, Allen's Pond, and the Front Lake in Crofton.
15. Day trip on my bike to places like College Park and Annapolis and home by dinner.
16. The Boy Scouts --- 3-4 years of Scouts. Every boy and girl should join Scouts
17. Scout Leaders Mr. Shea, Mr Napolitano, adn Mr Knestout.
18. Summer Camp. Twice at Camp St Charles in Southern Md. First time away from home.
19. Vacations with the family, especially times at Cacapon State Park.
20. My one year at Arch Bishop Carroll and riding the bus there.
21. Met the Crossed family that year and we've been good friends to this day.
22. Taking guitar lessons and playing rock music. Instilled appreciation of music I still have.
23. Building Bicycles with parts I accumulated from various trash and Recycling places.
24. Summer visits to NJ and hanging with my cousin Michael.
25. Delivering both Washington Post and Baltimore Sun. Taught discipline and order.
26. My friendship with the Jones family. Each of them has meant something to me.
27. My Uncle Bob and his endless stories. 
28. Met my dear friend Marty Wielert and became friends with his entire family.
29. Mitchell, Malcolm and Terry Wielert, have all been helpful to me at certain times in my life.
30. High School parties, hanging at the Pitt, Belair Liquors, J-mart, the tracks, Fletchertown Road.
31. Used cars. Cars, 1st --- 71 Chevelle, VW's and working on them.
32. First Job at McDonald's- Lied about my age so I could work late.
33. Hitch hiking to Ocean City. Did that numerous times. Meet some characters on the way.
34. Earnest Osti -  Worked for him for about 3 years. He taught me a lot about hard work.
35. and Trust.  Learned how to drive big split axle trucks, fork lifts and front end loader while there.
36. Robert Collins. Learned how to drink with him. Saw him blow his hand up when a tire exploded.
37. 1982 first got first hired at Canteen. interview and hired by John Fowler and Art Beneke.
38. Become friends with Wally Scott, Scott and Mark Weaver, Burek and Kassabian.
39. Take up golf in 1984 and have enjoyed it ever since. Still Waiting for hole in one.
40. My Wedding Day December 10th 1988. Made me a better man. Changed me forever.
41. The birth of my first child. Jack, born on April 21, 1989. Another huge milestone.
42. The birth of my first daughter Jamie, born February 20, 1991.
43. Bought a single family home in 1996. This was a 3rd house but now really felt like home.
44. The birth of my third and final child Jenna, born on October 14, 1996.
45. Became Shop steward at Canteen Vending in 1998.
46. Putting all three of my children through Catholic School for 8 years.
47. Elected President of Teamsters Local 67 in January of 2004.
48. Watching both Jack and Jamie graduate from South River High School.
49. Attempting to put Jamie through College. It's very difficult but a solid investment.
50. Still be able to exercise a little at age 50. I have my health and family.

Wow, after I wrote this list I see there are quite a few things I have left out. Seems I have had a very eventful life. When I reach 100 I'll come up with another list and maybe it will be more complete.
You can only perceive real beauty in a person as they get older.

The Blizzard of 2010

	It finally finished snowing around 6pm lat night. On Friday I went out and shoveled every 2-3 hours in an effort to stay ahead of the storm. Needless to say, when I awoke on Saturday it looked as if I had done nothing. Saturday was the same deal. Jenna and I went out every few hours and attempted to clear our walkways and driveway. The final accumulation must be around 33 inches. I measured it and got 25 inches but that was after it had compacted. The snow is halfway up my eight foot fence. I've never seen this much snow.
This was a heavy, wet snow that has caused numerous problems in the Mid Atlantic. The National Guard has been called in but has yet to show up on our street. Hopefully, a plow will appear sometime today. I would just like to walk up the block and visit the neighbor's. My trees on the side of the house don't appear as if they are going to survive this storm. They took a beating back on December 19th when we got 19 inches. This will just do them in. I'm sure I'll have to remove them in the spring.
	I've done so much shoveling this weekend that my entire body is sore. I guess it is from using all the muscles that don't get used to often. I'm dreading when the plows finally come. The mountain of snow a the bottom of my driveway that will need to be removed is crazy. It most likely will amount to a couple of tons of snow.

My snowman is bigger than your snowman.

I didn't actually build this snowman but the snow we had earlier this week was perfect for building a nice snowman. I can't imagine how this guy built this one. He probably just shaped it out of a huge pile of snow. Anyway, I'm in the snow frenzy once again. They are calling for 17-22 inches of snow here in the Baltimore Washington area. Supposedly, it will start around noon tomorrow and continue all through Saturday. After work today I ventured to the grocery store to stock up for the weekend.

I think every crazy in Crofton was there. The shelves were close to empty. I can't imagine what the shelves will look like later on this evening. I glad I got in when I did. I'm actually looking forward to being snowed in this weekend. I have plenty of booze and food and as long as we don't lose power, what's not to like. Sunday, we'll venture out and see if we can't build a snowman to match this one.