Geo's big adventure

Looking for me? I have a new blog

2012-01-15T19:34:00.002-06:00

Hey there! Ya looking for me?

I have a new blog over here at :
http://theglassofphotogeo.blogspot.com/

Come on over and enjoy!
Geo.

Photo stuff

2011-10-24T18:16:00.007-06:00

I rented a lens from LensRental.com out of Memphis. I highly recommend them. I have been shopping for a new lens, well, awwwrighty, I've been wishing for a new lens but it had to be under 6" in order to get into stadiums with it. They have this crazy 6" rule at most.

My daughter and I started a Daughter/Dad weekend trip where we go to an out of town Razorback football game. Last year we went over to South Carolina but this year is was much closer to home. Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi. It's just a few miles down from Memphis, TN, which is just an one and a half hour drive from our house.

I took Friday off and we headed over and of course had to go to a mandatory mall first. Then I suggested the Memphis Zoo. We had a blast. Even Em thought it was more fun than shopping. I was able to get some pretty OK shots while at the zoo.

Saturday we ran down the road to Ole Miss to see the Razorbacks whip up on Ole Miss but Lord have mercy it was an spooky game. We were supposed to run off with the game and whip them big time but that didn't happen and the quote after the win was, "Well a win is a win." If I heard it once I've heard it a million times in 2 days.

This weekend my wife is taking our daughter on a Daughter/Mom weekend. They are heading over to Nashville, TN for the Razorback vs Vandy football game. It may seem a bit off that a Daughter/Mom weekend involves football but when the daughter dates a player you drive the road to the stadium. They will have a blast because my wife has been to Nashville several times.

So, here below is a small sampling of the weekend shots... enjoy

Life and training

2011-10-13T19:45:00.003-06:00

Well, life and training are bumping into each other. I'm just going to have to make time for this like I did my bike training. Let's just say Saturday morning is going hurt some. Then Sunday will hurt some more.

On the photo side: The full moon is great tonight. Was out in the back yard shooting but just not getting what I want and it's a "school night" so not planning to pack it up and take it out. Last Saturday night at the Razorback game (we beat Auburn by the way! ) the TV camera did a shot of the moon. Man, what a super expensive piece of glass can capture. They put it on the Jumbotron and you could see every crater. Outstanding!

Run along

2011-10-05T20:43:00.002-06:00

It's been a good week as far as training goes. Of course it's baby steps but then that's what I keep hearing about marathon training. Slow and easy build up. I'm sure before long I'll push myself a bit more and more but I'm following the Jeff Galloway plan. A buddy named Scott is a runner and a serious one. I asked him what was the one thing you wished someone would have told you about running when you started. He told me to train on hills for endurance and to read a book from cover to cover called, "Marathon, you can do it." It's by Jeff Galloway and it's a great little book packed with good stuff.
I hope you got to see the October 4th episode of Biggest Looser. Tim Tebow and Drew Brees made appearances as well as several other NFL greats. The thing I noticed about Tebow and Brees as that they seemed to be the most generous with their time. Tebow was awesome with the folks on the show. He got right in the middle of it all and worked out hard with them. He seems like a genuinly good guy. It was inspirationsal to me. I told myself that I would ride the spin bike while the show was on. I made it for an hour. I didn't realize when I decided to do the spin that the show was 2 hours long. HA!

Terri has been in MN for the past few days on business and got home tonight! Great to have her home. I bet I sleep better.

Life is good!

13.1

2011-09-29T21:00:00.002-06:00

Throughout my life I've never really been one to run until I was recently challenged with it. I'm embarking on a new journey of sorts and like every new challenge there are all the "I wonder if...". I remember when I first started riding my bike and would be out on the river trail and folks would fly by screaming fast in there fancy gear and holier-than-thou bikes. I had a comfort bike and a helmet. In all honesty, if you want to just ride and enjoy, that's all you really need.

So about this running thing, where did that come from? Yeah, I know you all want to know. My daughter and I were sort of joking around about it then realized we were both sort of serious. I started doing a little research which was asking some buds, "What is the one thing you wished someone would have told you when you started running?" I've gotten some good answers. The big one seems to be "Get good shoes from a running store that have been professionally fitted."

I started a little bit of training this week at lunch. 1 mile Monday, 1.5 on Tuesday, 2 on Wednesday, and off today. Not trying to jump too fast but at the same time 1 mile was done very quick. I didn't feel very pushed.

So I figured since I promised some photos in the blog I would combine the two. Nah, I'm not going to run with a big Nikon camera but some entries will be photographic and some running.

One of our goals is to run the St. Jude's Memphis Marathon next year (2012). We plan to go over and walk the course this year and it will give u a good visual for what to expect next year. I suspect we'll be doing a few 5k's along the way just for fun and we have to start building our running event t-shirt collection! HA! I couldn't tell you how many bike event t-shirts I've had through the years.

I'm excited! First one foot and then the other...

Reset

2011-08-28T20:39:00.003-06:00

It was one of those days you don't want to end. But, it did and it couldn't have ended better. A beautiful sunset while fishing with my son. We didn't do good at all but that was really beside the point. Just hanging out the the kiddo does me a whole of good.

I'm hoping to try and update this blog three or four times a week. I used to d so good but then life gets in the way.

Next weekend, Labor day weekend, is the start of football season in America. We hadn't planned on going to Fayetteville next weekend for the game but luck into some tickets and it's a night game so why not. We'll see m daughter's boyfriend play so it makes it more fun.

It funny because for the last 2 or 3 months I've had stuff piled in the garage so one of the cars was out every night but I told myself before I went to bed tonight that we'd be able to get both cars back in the garage and close the door so I worked on it this afternoon and got the job done. Still have some things to haul off but that's the easy part since all you do is pull up to the drive through of this place and they take everything.

I know this was short but this boy is sleepy.

March 25

2011-03-27T17:02:00.001-06:00

March 5th

2011-03-06T16:42:00.005-06:00

Old tackle box

The reds

The purples

The peppermints

Day after the storm... the thaw

2011-02-10T17:51:00.003-06:00

As the snow began to melt the flowers returned with even more buds ready to welcome us to another wonderful spring season. I played with the ISO setting on the shot above to give it a dramatic effect on purpose. I continue to learn creative photography.

The photo below is at our neighbor down the hill.
I really waited too late and missed a lot of the snow I had been
hoping for on this shot. I do like the blue sky and bridge reflection in the water below the bridge. Well I guess we need another snow storm
so I can go back and get the shot huh?!

Thanks for stopping by and checking out the blog!
Geo.

Snow storm 2.9.11

2011-02-09T21:40:00.006-06:00

I think I'm ready for spring now

2011-02-06T20:25:00.005-06:00

The bicycle came out of hibernation

2011-01-30T16:40:00.002-06:00

The bicycle came out of hibernation today. Yesterday it was 75 degrees here in Little Rock and this afternoon it was 65. Since I care for my folks on Saturdays I can really only get rides in on Sundays. Today was "Launch Sunday" at New Life Church (NLC) and we have so many different groups you can join. I signed up for the NLC bike club. They actually had a mixer ride this afternoon and I jumped in and rode. Not to pat myself on the back but I stayed with the front group even as we rolled at 21mph. Not a bad comeback ride for someone who has been off since what, July? I really had a blast! It reminded me of what the group I used to ride with was when it started getting big. But those guys all got really really fast and into racing. I admire them and they all have done outstanding. Sorry, I didn't take any photos. I'll try to do better.

Snow berry

2011-01-24T21:28:00.000-06:00

Snow berry (sounds like a cereal)

New Orleans religion

2011-01-24T21:26:00.000-06:00

One religion of New Orleans

Ya gotta know ya Hogs to understand this photo

2011-01-24T21:23:00.001-06:00

Ya gotta know ya Hogs to understand this photo.
Wooo Pig Sooie!

The Superdome at Sugar Bowl sunset

2011-01-24T21:21:00.001-06:00

Just a cool sunset at the Superdome in New Orleans just before the sunset.

New Orleans

2011-01-24T21:19:00.000-06:00

Just one of the things that make New Orleans special

The folks little friend

2011-01-24T21:17:00.002-06:00

My folks have more little animal friends than a Disney movie and they feed them all.

Afternoon reading

2011-01-24T21:15:00.001-06:00

I spent a couple of weekends at my parents after my Mom got out of the hospital and one afternoon she was across the room reading her Bible and it was a perfect capture of her.

Statue at Arkansas State Capitol

2011-01-24T21:13:00.001-06:00

I just like the way this turned out with the family in the snow
and the Capitol dome in the background.

Snowball flower

2011-01-24T21:12:00.000-06:00

Just enjoying the snow on the flowers from last summer.

Almost a month later

2011-01-18T21:08:00.002-06:00

Well crud, it's been almost a month later since I posted. I've shot some fairly OK shots, we had Christmas, we went to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl and I didn't shoot near the frames I really wanted to down there. Very cool city. Anyway, we'll try this again. I'll post a bunch of photos but in all honesty for now I can't say it will be a 365 project... but we'll see.

Since the last photo was the Arkansas State Capitol in the fall, here's what it looked like last week.

365-10

2010-12-22T20:38:00.003-06:00

365-9

2010-12-22T20:38:00.001-06:00

Face in he crowd

365-8

2010-12-22T20:32:00.002-06:00

365-7

2010-12-22T20:00:00.000-06:00

Reflection of downtown Little Rock

365-6

2010-12-22T19:59:00.001-06:00

365-5

2010-12-22T19:58:00.001-06:00

365-4

2010-12-22T19:57:00.002-06:00

365-3

2010-12-14T19:59:00.003-06:00

Cool huh? It's actually what you would see if you laid on our breakfast table and looked up at the ceiling.

365-2

2010-12-13T18:43:00.001-06:00

Day 2 photo

365-1 A new beginning

2010-12-12T16:01:00.003-06:00

Well my old Nikon died and it was going to cost a wad to get fixed and it was an older rig. I thought and thought then decided to get a new camera. Already had some nice glass (lens) so I just needed the body of the camera. I watched Ebay and finally nabbed a nice little D3000. Of course it arrived on a day I had to work then attend my wife's office Christmas party so here it is Sunday 3 days later and I'm finally getting to a point where I can sit down and really poke and play.

Last year I started a 365 project. It's where you take/post a photo every day for a full year. I got busy with other things and somehow it got pushed aside. Dumb move. So when my camera died I realized how much I really enjoyed that project and decided a couple of weeks ago that when my new camera came in I would start again and hopefully capture some of the holidays

So here we go... photo # 1 or 365-1

Yep, it's me and the trusty black lab pup, Brooklyn.

Tear and poke

2010-10-12T20:37:00.002-06:00

I when to the doctor yesterday for the first time in 3 years. My doc is a good guy and have known him for years. He said do you realize you haven't been in in 3 years. I just shrugged and said, Well I'm usually healthy.

My should had really began to bother m to the point I thought I'd better get it checked out. It's a suspected rotor cuff tear. Those are usually corrected with an outpt surgery. I'm really not a fan of surgery. I see a Ortho doc in a couple of weeks so we'll see where this goes. If there is surgery I'm going to push for around Thanksgiving so I can use holiday days for recoup.

Doc also discussed colonoscopy with me. Really now? Serious? Possible rotor cuff surg and a colonoscopy. Doc you are a sick man! HA! I really do need to get on done. My father in law had his and they found cancer and he had the surgery just a couple weeks ago in Florida. They caught it early and he is doing great!

The FALL of the blog

2010-10-03T17:36:00.002-06:00

I know, it's been all summer since I blogged anything. Well I sort of got stuck in a rut. You know how it goes, summer temps hit the 100's, get busy with other mindless thing and sometimes forgot to do the things you really enjoyed. I miss my bike. I miss my camera. I miss searching new music on iTunes. this isn't a Donny Downer message, just a "Gee, I got off track didn't I?" message.

Life is good. The family is good. The seasons are changing. I'm working on a family tree project.

I go to my folks house on Saturdays to help around their house and care for my Dad so Mom can get out and enjoy her usual Saturday shopping. I have some of the best memories of my life made on those weekends. For example yesterday was a beautiful fall day so I rolled Dad in his wheelchair out to the front porch and we sat talking about duck hunting. I haven't been in years and my son picked it up last year an loved it. I hope to get back out there with him and make some memories of our on. My dad was telling me once about a duck hunt that his and "Doctor George", his best pal trough adult life. They didn't use a duck blind but got under some overhanging limbs. Dad was about to shoot a duck and stepped and down into the cold water he went filling his waders. I asked if he went back to the car. He didn't said the hunting was good! HA!

Another funny story from yesterday. My childhood home has always had these big spiders that build webs around the outside of the house in the late fall. My mom was asking me yesterday to put the screen back on the window in the back. I asked her how it came off and she said the biggest spider she had ever seen around the house was trapped between the screen and the closed window. So she opened the window and was going to take some Kleenex and grab it real quick and throw it in the toilet and flush it. Well she could reach it and said she needed a small stick or something to reach up there and hit it so what was the short stick she thought of first and used? Her mascara! HA!!! Oh the weapons of mass destruction! She actually knocked off the screen and thank goodness for that!

The bike... well I've not ridden it but just a few times this summer. I could always come up with an excuse. Sad isn't it. Sad for my waist line too. riding is really good for stress if you just go out and enjoy the beauty of your surroundings and not try to "attack" whoever is riding along in front of you.

The camera... I got it back out the other day but screwed up the formatting on the card so I've got to fixed that as well as take it in to the camera store for a check up. Got some football photos to take before long.

I promise I will update a lot more. Who knows maybe I will journal something good like trying to loose weight or something.

Nice to be back!

Days gone by & House guest

2010-07-17T19:00:00.004-06:00

My daughter's boyfriend is a guest in our home this weekend. He brought his dirty clothes (at my daughters request). I couldn't help but laugh when I saw his clean clothes slacked up.

Just spotted and old handpush tiller from days gone past. The moss growing on it was just a nice old look.

Well it's been busy

2010-07-11T18:49:00.002-06:00

I know I skipped some days but it's been a busy time. The 4th of July holiday came and went. Had a blast! My beautiful wife and I kicked back on down at the river and watched the fireworks from the north side with the Little Rock skyline in the background. Weather was perfect. Warm with a good breeze and blew all the smoke away from us! We also went to the Clinton Presidential Library that afternoon and although we had been before the section of the Weather Exhibit was really interesting to me. It was different pieces from the Lower 9th. The was the area so hard hit by Hurricane Katrina. The famous basket that was shown on TV over and over being used to airlift folks was on display. There were letters from children, photos and other items that put a lump in your throat.

Emily and I have been going to New Life Church in Maumelle for several weeks now. We love it. It's a breath of fresh air.

My sister had to put their little dog to sleep. They had had it for years and it lived a very priledged life. We'll miss you little Maggie.

Oh and yes, I have rode my bike thank you very much!

Life is good!

Sunday 06.27.10

2010-06-27T17:02:00.002-06:00

Hot air balloons and funnel cakes

Saturday 06.26.10

2010-06-26T20:43:00.000-06:00

Looks like a squirrel on it's knees praying for it's food.

Back on the launching pad

2010-06-24T18:43:00.004-06:00

I know we don't have tulips in June but I just wanted to get a photo out there. Y'all expect something photo-ish.

Ok exactly where does one start when they seemed to have taken a break from everything they really enjoy? Uh, well that would be with the first step then the other and repeat.

I stopped riding my bike. That was solid dumbness! I gained wight which I now have to remove. I keep telling myself, "You didn't put it on over night so you're certainly not going to take it off over night." The weather has been record or near record breaking hot and just like when I bought my first bike, I rode on a Saturday afternoon in the hot humid Arkansas summer heat and loved it. I plan to do that again hopefully as soon as Sunday. Some days may just be s quick hill climbing session but so be it. 30 minutes is better than nothing. Someone asked me for one of the first ACH jerseys, someone asked me for one of last year's Gears for Ears jerseys. A cyclist was killed last week. A friend who I haven't seen since last year posted some bike photos. I chatted online with a friend I used to ride with. I bumped into my bike in the garage tonight. See, so many tings pointing to the bike trying to get me to ride again.

I stopped taking photos?! I know, what's up with that? I've just been a slug and not done it. I spot a dozen things a day to photograph but just stopped carrying my camera everywhere in my backpack like I once did. Like today we had a great tropical downpour at the hospital. It would have been nice. Now let me tell you, I have found some of the coolest photo websites while being a slug. Here is one of my favorite: www.theblogisfound.com This couple who are photographers with two beautiful and funny kids are just top of the game on Lifestyle Photography.

I spent too much time on Facebook. Fun? Yes but really now, enough is enough.

So you're saying, awwright bubba, what on earth possessed you to get all deep on us? Well, when I have the house to myself for long periods I get this way. I think and think deep. I think about the future, I think about family, I think about Ben & Jerrys Half Baked... oh yeah I really think about that! HA!

So I'll ride some and blog about that. I take the trusty camera out and post some photos and blog about that too. Well, why ya just standing there looking goofy? Come on and hop in and buckle your seat belt and lets do this!

Mirror mirror on the pole

2010-03-22T20:11:00.001-06:00

The "don't run into me" mirror

365...287...235... just pick a number!

2010-03-22T20:09:00.000-06:00

Blinding

365/32

2010-02-10T21:47:00.002-06:00

The Winter Garden

365/31

2010-02-09T21:45:00.000-06:00

Brooklyn the black snow lab

365/30

2010-02-08T18:37:00.003-06:00

This is the side door to a bead shop in North Little Rock.
I was sitting in snow stopped traffic and looked over and spotted this.

365/29

2010-02-07T20:15:00.002-06:00

Super Bowl!

365/28

2010-02-06T15:10:00.000-06:00

Finally melting!

365/27

2010-02-05T20:07:00.001-06:00

Skid marks

365/26

2010-02-04T20:04:00.000-06:00

Prison
I used a cross process effect to get this look.

365/25

2010-02-03T20:02:00.000-06:00

Trees in the mirror

365/24

2010-02-02T20:01:00.001-06:00

Red covered bridge in Burn's Park.

365/23

2010-02-01T19:58:00.001-06:00

Little Rock Marathon Training.
The runners never stop.

365/22

2010-01-31T20:58:00.000-06:00

Brooklyn duck training

365/22

2010-01-31T20:56:00.001-06:00

Red on ice

365/21

2010-01-29T19:27:00.000-06:00

The real end of summer

365/20

2010-01-26T20:32:00.001-06:00

What's for dinner?

365/19

2010-01-26T20:31:00.002-06:00

Dad and the forbidden donut.

365/18

2010-01-26T20:29:00.002-06:00

Bird ghetto
Yes, I'm messing around with the photos for a little bit. Just part of the learning process.

365/17

2010-01-23T21:16:00.002-06:00

At the end of the day

365/16

2010-01-23T21:14:00.001-06:00

Point of interest

365/15

2010-01-19T19:54:00.001-06:00

Color in a black and white world

365/14

2010-01-19T19:52:00.002-06:00

Phillips or flat head?

365/13

2010-01-17T16:03:00.002-06:00

Winter porch

365/12

2010-01-17T16:02:00.002-06:00

Spring flowers are beginning to wake up from their winter slumber

365/11

2010-01-17T15:59:00.002-06:00

Angels crying

To me this is one of the most heartfelt and beautiful grave markers..

365/10

2010-01-17T15:49:00.003-06:00

Grave marker at historic Little Rock cemetery. There are grave markers dating back to the early 1800's

365/9

2010-01-12T22:22:00.001-06:00

2 dolls

Two little dolls spotted by a tree. These are spooky to me.

365/8

2010-01-12T06:45:00.004-06:00

Bags for the homeless

Ok I admit there is nothing special about this crappy shot but it's what the shot was actually about. These are bags that are going out to homeless of Little Rock. There is also a coat that goes with each bag. It was just a small project my home group for church is doing.

365/7 Church

2010-01-10T16:24:00.001-06:00

Church

This is what it looks like at church early on Sunday morning. Normally I'm not there at early but I made some changes to the art used during the service and I wanted to load it before everyone started arriving.

365/6

2010-01-09T19:57:00.000-06:00

Wood texture and snow

365/5

2010-01-09T19:54:00.003-06:00

The Arkansas State Capitol

It was 17 degrees when I shot this. It's actually across the street and down the hill from the capitol.

365/4 Bridge to Rock

2010-01-08T18:00:00.004-06:00

The Bridge to Rock

The Junction Bridge that goes from North Little Rock over the Arkansas River to Little Rock's River Market District

365/3 Downtown Little Rock, Arkansas

2010-01-06T21:30:00.006-06:00

For day three of my 365 project I was bound and determined to get back to downtown Little Rock to shoot the fountain at the courthouse square. I had even charge up a spotlight to back light it but after work today when we drove by it was lit up!

Did a couple of long Exposure to pick of the movement of the cars.

There is something magic about ice, lights, and nighttime.

Enjoy!

365/2

2010-01-05T17:57:00.002-06:00

Building for kids

This is the view out of my office window. It's a massive crane that is on the other side of the hospital. They are building new wings to Arkansas Children's Hospital.

Nothing outstanding about this shot but it just inspires me to work hard as a recruiter so we'll have good staff to fill it when it's completed.

365/ Day 1

2010-01-04T20:49:00.003-06:00

Day 1 - Morning snow

Ok I just committed to this. It's a project a lot of photographers do called the "365 Project". The idea is to take or post a photo a day. So there you go. Everyday will be a different photo and hopefully one that I had taken that day.

So the snow started last night and came along lightly off and on through the night. We got up this morning to a dusting whereas just a little to the east had 3 inches. Of course this dusting of snow shut the schools down. Our street really did have snow but the downtown Little Rock area had zero on the streets but the schools were still closed.

When I went out to lunch there was hardly any left anywhere. Weather folks say more real stuff coming on Wednesday night into Thursday morning.

So welcome to my 365... life is good.

Hearing Christmas

2009-12-07T20:55:00.004-06:00

Saturday I spent the day in Benton visiting with my folks and working around their house. It's part of my life now and I do this every weekend. I don't mind because I think of what all they gave up for me so it's the least I can do.

But this past weekend turned into something very special for me. My mom got into the Christmas decorating spirit and I got to haul fall stuff out to the shop and bring in some of the Christmas stuff. It also involved hanging the outside lights. We got the tree upright and ready to bend out the limbs and I started singing White Christmas. I sang about 5 words then stopped and while sitting on the floor turned to look at my Dad in his chair and said, "You're supposed to be singing this while we are fixing the tree." He said, "No, you go ahead you're doing good." To that I replied, "No Dad, it's a Cobb tradition that you sing White Christmas and Jingle Bells while we put up the tree. You always have." Then my froggy voiced Dad began to sing the most beautiful crystal clear version of White Christmas I've ever heard. I couldn't even look at him but pretended to keep working on the tree limbs... with a tear or two finding it's way down my cheek. It came out straight from his heart and there is not a price tag for that. My mom clapped from another room. Something tells me she may have shed a tear or two as well.

Life is good... when Daddy sings White Christmas.

The comfort of Brooklyn

2009-11-29T11:10:00.003-06:00

Brooklyn

In all the sadness of the past couple of days since loosing Sadie, a sweet little pup I call "LBD" for little black dog whose real name is Brooklyn. We are babysitting for Zack until they get their yard fenced in. LBD is a sweet black lab pup who fell out of the back of a pickup in Fayetteville. Long story short, my daughter was keeping him so the boys wouldn't get in trouble for having her in the dorm and what was supposed to be a 1 week keep has become a month. Sadie loved having LBD around and when she and Em would leave to go home Sadie would fall in the floor and sleep off the "I had to play with the puppy" exhaustion.

LBD has been at my side since the passing of Sadie. It seems she knows I need a dog friend right now to hold and remember good times and to get passed this sad time. Right now she is alseep at my feet...snoring! HA!

Thank you Brook... you're a true little sweetheart.

Losing Sadie

2009-11-27T18:44:00.003-06:00

Sadie

My day after Thanksgiving started out fun and adventurous. Went out to shoot some frosty photos and had nabbed a couple of good shots that I was happy with.

Got home about 8:30am from the shoot and made coffee with caramel. Then the task of bringing down the Christmas decorations. Was finishing that up around 12 and the girls were heading out for some shopping. I decided to take a break and heat up some leftovers and watch a few minutes of TV. Zack's lab pup was sitting on the sofa beside me and Sadie was wandering around then sat by my feet. A few moments later I noticed I was feeling a draft and got up to see if a window was cracked open or something. As I walked around to the kitchen the door was wide open. The breeze had pushed it open and I had not pulled it closed all the way when I came in. My first thought was oh no the dog is out in the front yard. I walked out and looked around and didn't see her then came back in. I thought she'll be back in just a moment but I ditched the thought and went back out and called her fully expecting her to run around from the side yard. Nothing. I walked to the end of the drive then at that moment my world went into a haze. She was in the middle of the road and had been hit. No car or truck around. I could tell from her wound it was a quick death, which as sad as I am was thankful. I kneeled down beside her in the middle of the road and began to cry. I knew I had to remove her and placed her gently in a pile of leaves in our yard and texted the girls to come home, then went into the house and completely lost it.

I lost it again when the girls came in. It was a very sad moment for all of us. I called my mom and asked if I could bury the dog at the back of their land, in the woods. It was a numbing but well needed time alone. After the burial I sat in the woods crying yet again. I never realized how painful it could be to become this attached to a dog and loose her so suddenly.

I remember the day we got her, the little ball of fur. She always greeted us when we got home and loved to get on our bed when we were gone and nudge all the pillows off the bed. I remember how she slept on the end of our daughters bed every night and even after she left for college she still slept in there. I remember how she would get so excited when Tyler would come over that she would wet. She would go crazy when Terri came in from the store because she always knew one of those white plastic bags had a treat in it for her. She was a happy dog, a loved dog... and will be missed oh so much.

Life will be good again... she would want that.

Pre-Thanksgiving

2009-11-24T21:46:00.003-06:00

The weather seems to have turned it's frosty late fall self. I was wondering a few times because it would be cold then warm then cold the warm for a while. Looking at the forecast, the cold is rolling in for real this week. By cold I'm talking 30 for the lows and 50 for the highs.

I've got my heart set on shooting some good photos over the next 5 days. Some will be unique portraiture, some will be urban and some holiday. The holiday is going to be some long exposure Christmas lights I'm sure.

Got to head over to the office tomorrow but hoping for a light day since so many folks have taken the Wednesday before Thanksgiving off. Traffic will be a breeze going in and after work will be terrible because there is always a wreck on the afternoon before a holiday. Just seems to work out that way.

Hey ordered something very cool today! I got a Razorback cover for my cochlear implant magnet cover. Check this out:
http://www.skinit.com/details.php?resourceId=5483&partentcat=collegiate/colleges/university_of_arkansas_fayetteville/.
Oh yeah baby!! PIG EAR!! I'm loving it. Can't wait for it to arrive. Check out skin it... cool stuff.

Had a light bulb come on tonight about music and my implant. Going to run over and bug the Audi for a piece of AB equipment that's not a standard piece and mess around with it over the weekend. I'll tell you more if it works. No not as cool as Howard's Ipod headphones but still.

Listening to the new Switchfoot for the millionth time. Just a great CD! Go to Itunes and download that puppy! It's called Hello Hurricane.

Oh and there's a bike in the mix for the weekend! Yep, going to wrap-up in warm cycling clothes and take it out for a roll. Wish me luck on that. Got my second invite for a bike event for next spring already. Competitive on the bike fundraising front these days.

Life is good!

Still having CI moments 2 years later

2009-11-22T07:30:00.002-06:00

Beautiful sunrise here in central Arkansas on the late fall morning. Most of the leaves have fallen allowing extra sun to fill the house with it's warming welcome. There's a comic strip called Hi and Lois that has been around a long time and in the strip there is a little baby named Trixie and she always has a sunbeam that she sits in and talks to it. I'm almost the same way. Sunshine in the morning or anytime is good for the soul.

It's been a good weekend so far. Spent the day in Benton at my folks home watching the Arkansas Razorbacks whip Mississippi State. Always good to have some time with Dad. He walks less and less these days. It makes me sad to see him like that. Always been an on-the-go sort of fellow. I'm not much of a fan of old age and what it does to people. But anyway, like I was saying, it was fun to spend time with him. Mom usually takes advantage of my being their to get out of the house for a few hours and shop. I laughed when she pulled up into the carport yesterday because she hit up Walmart big. The whole inside of the truck was full as well as some heavier things in the back. Actually I sort of expected it since I knew she would be loading up to feed the whole herd as we gather for Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday. I raked and burned a massive amount of leaves yesterday and even after driving the 30 minute drive home I still could smell the burn. Going to the "country", watching football, and burning leaves, i can only smile!

It's cool after 2 years (11.27.07) of having a Cochlear Implant (www.advancedbionics.com) I still have what recipients call CI Moments. Friday night I as sitting in the home office also called the Man Den (my family is laughing) and I kept hearing a squeaking noise. It was making me crazy. I walked around and it was as if I was playing "You're getting warmer, you're getting colder". I finally found the squeak, a ceiling fan at the other end of the house. Amazing!

CI Moment #2 happening yesterday. While at my parents I could have swore I was hearing ducks. I looked up at the skies but none were flying over and if you're not from Arkansas, we have a massive amount of ducks that come through this time of the year. Duck season started yesterday. Famous people come to AR to hunt. It's that good. I looked and looked but never saw them. I went back to raking and maybe a half hour later there was the sound again. It was really making me crazy because I knew I was hearing ducks! I just stopped and stood still and starting slowly doing a 360. I spotted it! It was a neighbor of my parents, actually several guys standing my their trucks playing with their duck calls. Ok let me set this up better for you. I am on top of a hill probably 2 football fields away and I'm hearing duck calls. There are cars and trucks going down the highway, their is a leaf blower going the next house over which is about a football field away, not to mention I was raking and I still can pick out a duck call!! Thank you Advanced! I know that was like an infomercial wasn't it? HA! But I have to give a shout out to those guys who make a product that makes my hearing beyond real again ... 2 years later!

Life is good!

Advanced Bionics -- Part 2

2009-11-15T15:26:00.007-06:00

So like I was saying I got down stairs and loaded a plate full of great food and found an open spot at a table. The first folks I met were Brain, Susan and their very cute daughter Lilly and Granddad Eric. Super nice folks from Nebraska. Lilly has bilateral implants and I didn't even notice them. I kept wondering who in the family had the CI. As the weekend rolled on it was clear that Lilly would steal the show at every meal. What a beautiful and happy little girl she.

During desert I moved over to another table with Edie, our AB rep, Matt, James, and Patty, another AB guru and Ellyn who has a child with a CI. I could tell it was going to be a fun weekend. A little later some guy in a suit walks in. I just assumed he was another CI guy and lived nearby. Come to find out it was Jerry who is over Marketing. I think he does a lot of other duties as well but marketing seems to be the big one. He ended up on our table and is a generally nice guy.

As the first dinner begins to wind down we began leaving and I walk out to the front of the hotel and the AB building across the street is really lit up in nice lighting. I find Matt and let him know I was going to shoot, he joins me. We get some nice shots.

Day 2:
Up way way too early. I'm still on central time zone but living in pacific. I wake around 6 every morning but this was 4am! I can't go back to sleep so I'm up watching TV and dozing off and on. Lucky for me breakfast opens at 6:30. Huge omelets and fruit! The rest of the day was spent touring the AB plant which was real nice and working with different discussion groups. I made sure I told several employees thanks for what they do.

We head over to Sicily for dinner and I sat with Tine, Jill (AB), Kim and Pam and someone else who's name I can not remember. The food was good. We had a choice after dinner to shop for a couple of hours or head back to the hotel. After the full day and the 4am wake up I was ready to call it and crash on the sofa and zone out.

Day 3:
Aww crud, up again too early. A full packed Saturday with discussion groups and more new friendships. The day ended great and the last dinner was really good. Everyone began saying good bys due to the fact that some were leaving that night and some were leaving super early the next morning. I opted to fly out at 11:35 Sunday morning. For a hearing impaired gut that was nice because if I would have had to be up at 5:30 I'm sure I would have done it but I would not have slept well at all having the thought of over sleeping going on.

Departure day:
Once again another great breakfast then over to the business center to print out my boarding passes to head home. The folks flying US Airways were unable to print theirs. Bummer. 9:25 rolls around and I met Kim and Matt in the lobby for the ride to the airport. Ah yes, the black Mercedes again! I love it. I picked up Dan Brown's "Lost Code" book for the flight home. Great book if you like the others he has written. The trip home was uneventful except that there was some westler on the plane a few rolls in front. The guy was huge and had a bleached mohawk.

So there you have it... that was sort of like looking at Uncle Bobs slides from his middle east trip huh? HA!

In all seriousness, I want to thank Advanced Bionics for all they did and especially Linda out there for setting it all up for us. I made some friendships that will last a lifetime and I hope that someday I can return for a reunion.

Life is good!

Advanced Bionics

2009-11-11T20:28:00.004-06:00

Advanced Bionics new building at night

Thursday, 11:25a (LIT) Little Rock National Airport.
Sitting happy in my single row seat on American ready to fly up into the crystal clear blue sky on my way to Burbank with a DFW stop and plane change. Little bit of a tension due to short time frame to change at DFW. Take off was beautiful and we fly and bank right over the top of my house 8 miles away. Love it! For the next hour I think of life as a cochlear implant user and enjoy the beauty of the Arkansas into Texas landscape. As we descend toward DFW I'm surprised to see so many neighborhoods that were started and never finished. They look like an Arkansas neighborhood after a tornado clean. Nothing but slaps of concrete.

12:35 -- Good afternoon ladies and gentleman and welcome to Dallas-Fort Worth. Matt and I easily find the Skylink and roar over to the terminal to grab the next flight to Burbank. Made it so easy over there and with minutes to spare we grab mini pizzas and wolf them down just as they began calling groups to board. My row this time was 14D. Yes, another aisle seat. There were three seats on this row and the middle was empty. The girl sitting closest to the window and myself were happy to have an open between us. Makes for a nice flight. She was on her way home to celebrate her mom's birthday in Pasadena. She grew up around he Tournament of Roses Parade. I told her my wife and I have that on our bucket list.

A couple hours into the flight I notice outside everything is miles of brown... it's a desert. Soon we fly upon a mountains and I'm in awe of the way they look. Different from tree covered Arkansas mountains. I can't stopped looking out the window. Beautiful yet very different.

As we descend to Burbank I get a buzz in y pocket, yep, I thought I had turned off the phone but didn't. I sneak a look and it says, "Hello! This is Tim. I'm your driver. I am in a black Mercedes at the curb. There is an Advanced Bionics sign in the front window." I burst out laughing! HELLLLOOOO Burbank! I think I'm gonna love you!

We grab our bags and head out front to find a beautiful brand new Mercedes awaiting our arrival. I am seriously impressed with the generosity of Advanced Bionics already. Tim loads our bags and we meet Kim for the first time. She also has a CI (cochlear implant). Sure nice lady. As we leave the parking lot I start quizzing Tim about Burbank and all the touristy stuff you would expect. Super nice guy.

We arrive at the Embassy Suites was is right across the street from the brand new Advanced Bionics building. Beautiful room! We have a short time to relax before dinner that evening. I drop to the sofa and close my burning eyes. Next thing I know I wake up 30 minutes later! It's time for dinner.

Head down and meet up with the folks who will over the next few days will become great friends with a common bond and calling. Advanced Bionics cochlear implants.

Check back for more story... good stuff ahead!

Life is good!

Starting it back uo!

2009-11-09T20:29:00.002-06:00

Several folks have asked me to start the blog back up so here is a little jump start... I'm getting real glasses. I guess it comes with the territory of turning 50 several months ago. In fact this is going to be a short start because I had my eye dilated a few hours ago and they are still a little tripping out. Plus I was asked if my eyes had been itching. I said no and doc said, you have allergies in your eyes. So gee whiz!

So anyway as soon as this settles down I'll post some good funny stuff.

Always remember... life is good!

Just our daily lives

2009-09-08T20:39:00.002-06:00

It's sort of funny that I just checked a bunch of CI blogs and not much updating. Maybe because it's summer, maybe the writer went to other places to blog, maybe they just got on with their daily lives and the CI is just like brushing your teeth. Something you do and just don't realize it's importance anymore. In others words, you've gotten used to it now. I'm that way too. By habit I always plug up the charger and charge my batteries for the next day, I know if I have it on or not because even though folks who are hard of hearing enjoy some moments of quite, we need our noise. Like I said, it's just a part of our daily lives... a very very important part.

I know i's a pictureless short blog but I'm determined to write.

Life is good... even during daily lives...

So then Fall begins

2009-09-05T06:02:00.005-06:00

Ah Labor Day weekend is upon us.

For me it's a love / hate deal. First the hate... let's just get it out of the way right now... I hate that the days get shorter. The cold is fine but not the short days. That's it really... that's all I hate about fall/winter but it's sort of a big hate.

Now the love... come on, who doesn't love Fall? The beauty of the leaves changing and the smells that go with it. Having to put on a pair of socks and a long sleeved t-shirt every now and then. Adding a layer for early morning bike rides. The smell of cinnamon and burning wood. A leaf or two laying on the patio chairs. The mums, pumpkins and hay bails . My wife and her endless assortment of sweaters. So then Fall begins!

We hit up the last home game of the Travs (baseball) last night. Huge crowd! It was one of those great times to me where I had my wife at my side and could see and hear my kids (one is adult and the other is college) and friends laughing and talking. I was completely happy in fact 10 hours later and I'm still glowing from it. It was a secure feeling, a peaceful feeling... a happy feeling. So then Fall begins!

This morning as I write the house is quite. Family still in comatose slumber. Trust me on this one, I could slam a door and they would just sigh and roll over. Ha! Sadie is at my feet snoozing away. The sky is cloudy and mellow. So then Fall begins!

There's that feeling that I need to hurry and pack and jump in the car and get going but the drive is only an hour or so away, no rush really needed. Today is the first of many weekend getaways that we'll make. Since we will be going toward Benton we'll stop for a little while and help Mom get Dad up and situated for the day. This will be the first weekend that I will not be spending the whole Saturday there. We are even lucky enough to have the scenic route to Hot Springs straight out of my parents driveway. We'll be taking the slow down "enjoying life route" today! We'll be staying at a new hotel that overlooks the lake, kicking our shoes off and enjoying life as empty nesters. So then Fall begins!

Life is good.... as Fall begins!

Hurry up already!

2009-09-02T18:58:00.003-06:00

Nothing is crazier than the days leading up to a 3 day holiday! I bet Friday afternoon is going to drag at a snails pace and then traffic will be bad.

Planning to hit up the Travelers game Friday night then head over to Hot Springs on Saturday. Don't even think about breaking into the house because there will be a house sitter, a dog who does not unwelcomed visitors and an alarm system. We always have these three when we leave town.

I'm really looking forward to just chilling out with Terri and hitting up a good place to eat. I suspect I will be drug through a few stores with old stuff cleverly described as "Antiques". It's old dusty stuff that you can't lean on or it breaks.

Em came by tonight! School is going great and she has test. It's really funny how she has to keep her own place picked up. I told her life is much better in a clean home and now she gets it.

My sister was in a car wreck yesterday. Someone rear ended her and she got out of the car and said her neck hurt a bit. Next thing we know the hospital is saying a broke neck!!?? Found out later that it was an old injury and she was released to go home. Any of y'all ever walk around for years with a broke neck and not know it? No damage just painful.

The weather has been like October! Seriously cool in the mornings.

Oh yeah, I did go ride last Sunday. It was wonderful! Plan to do it again real soon!

All for now... life is good!

I'll sleep but they won't

2009-08-29T20:43:00.002-06:00

I'll sleep but they won't. It's Ironman KY eve. Chris put that he was going to bed this evening at 7:30 because the day starts at 2am. I can only imagine the excited going through their veins as they try and slumber.

Today was Hotter-n-Hell 100 in Wichita Falls Texas. Haven't heard much out of the folks but haven't search it on Twitter yet either. It's a huge bike ride and by the end the wind is head wind and the temps are usually 100 or over. People fall over, throw their bikes down and walk or just plain croak in the middle of the road. It lots of fun.

Well the bike is coming back to life tomorrow. I know, I can't believe it either. I'm looking forward to hitting the river trail to see how the legs are. Hoping to pick up an after work ride maybe a night or two. Being off the saddle has certainly changed my mid-section. I need intervention! HA!

Tomorrow is my last service as graphics guy. When I loaded the service the other night it was one of those events like the last of a TV series. I looked at the computers smiled then turned off the lights. It has been a fun ministry and I'll miss it but I'm looking forward to whats ahead such as traveling with Terri as well as caring for my Dad more. Starting next weekend (Labor Day) the travel begins... let's just say I'm giddy!

Have you seen the weather forecast? Yay! Beautiful cool week ahead.

Life is good!

I just belong here...

2009-08-25T19:22:00.002-06:00

We all have our moments. Moments of happiness, sadness and everything in between. I thought I wanted a new blog and start all over with everything when I turned 50 but it's not really so. Same house, same car, same bike... oh yeah, I forgot, I haven't rode the bike since huh... Tour de Rock. Serious, it has cobwebs on it out in the garage. I very sad thought but it has done me good to put it up for a little while and take care of other things in life. I have been spending every Saturday at my parents. It's an all day event of cleaning the yard or painting. It's fun hard work and I get to spend time with my folks.

One of the things that had really fired me up was when my mom told me she paid $150 dollars for a guy to clean her yard. That was one wrong dude for that! I went and bought a basic push mower at Wal-Mart several weeks ago because they needed to move it out of the way for Christmas goods. I mean goodness, it's after the 4th of July, get them plastic snowman on the shelves! Anyway I was bound and determined to keep the rip off from coming to my folks again. I even mowed the ditch last week and one of my sisters said the house was starting to look like it used to when Dad could keep it up. I usually have dad in his wheelchair out in the carport with a fan going so he can enjoy the outside. Sure beats sitting in front of the TV all day.

Ok, I know you want to know what's up with me and the bike. I'm planning to jump back on here in a few weeks but nothing like I used to do. I have way to many other projects right now. I have made some of the best friends ever and have lost touch with most after I stopped riding. I see them now and then on Facebook or spot an email. The group I once rode faithfully with evolved into a racing group. Some got into the Tri (Ironman) sort of craziness. All I can say is... bless there hearts! HA! Several are about to do their Ironman in KY and I'm so proud of them. Swim 2 miles, bike a 100 miles then run 26.2 miles all one the same day without stopping. Man oh man oh man!

Emmy has moved to Conway and goes to UCA so Terri and I are now empty nesters. Sometimes happy, sometimes a bit too quite, sometimes weird when there's not several Sonic cups sitting on the counter. Em is doing great and loving school and working for a little daycare in the afternoons. We're proud of her.

Speaking of empty nesting, Terri and I are going to travel a lot now! We're both very excited. We had been wanting to do this for a long time but I was handling all the graphics for every Sunday morning service and some Sunday evenings and even some Wednesday evenings as well. It was a volunteer job and I've been on deck for 2 years. I decided to pull back and let someone else take the ropes so I could spend time doing other things. Seriously it can take hours to put together a service. You want to have the right photos and backgrounds to enhance the worship service. That old clip art stuff just doesn't cut it these days. I have loved it! Really I have! This Sunday is my last. Sort of a sad/happy kind of deal. I still will do the preachers title and template stuff but I can work on those way ahead of time. I never sleep well on Saturday nights worrying about some of the dumbest little things that could go wrong but never do. I can't wait to sleep well on Saturday nights.

Some friends from the office were talking about the HBO show called True Blood. It's a vampire series and I thought it was be fun to watch so we stopped by Blockbuster and picked it up. Terri was gone to the mall and I put the DVD in and made it maybe through 15 minutes. It was way to much for me. I'm either getting old or something because I was embarrassed watching what I was watching. For me personally, it just was not something I felt I needed to be watching.

Well it's nice to be back here it the "home" blog. Come on back because I promise I'll be updating it a lot more and sure I'll have photos too. Probably a lot more since there is travel involved.

As I always say... Life is good!

I have a new blog... follow me there!

2009-06-25T05:28:00.000-06:00

Hey friend! I have a new blog...

http://northdirection.blogspot.com/

You'll love the ride... top down and going very fast towards the north,

Life is good!
Geo.

Friday 05 15 09

2009-05-15T20:50:00.002-06:00

Nice day! We had sun. Most of us forgot what it was and called 911 to report the mothership was coming over the hill.

My IPhone had freaked out on me and froze up. I finally got it back to life by blowing on it and pushing the little button then blowing some more. The application is call I-CPR. That's just a load of bull crap I'm making it up! But there are so many apps for IPhone that someone would have believed me.

I rode this afternoon after work and it was one bad ride. Not bad like good=bad but bad as in bad=bad. I figured it may be because I haven't been drinking a lot of water like I was before the 24 hour ride. Also I noticed that my toes were trying to go numb again. That was the reason I took time off since the big ride is to let them come back to life.

I did ride over to the Little Rock side and saw where Paws on the Pavement run was going to be. I will be riding Cycle for Sight for UAMS medical center tomorrow if not raining but I plan to take extra cash and roll over to the doggy bakery tent and get the pup some uppity treats. There are a lot of tents set up so it should be fun.

The Greek food fest is also going on. Twits are saying the lines are long. I need some Baklava.

Riverfest is in a week or so. Huge music line up coming this year. Hope Terri and I can go wonder around and hear Heart or 3 Doors Down or the B52's. The signs are up already announcing the closure of the river trail section by the downtown for Riverfest.

I got a treat today! I scored signed gift photo from Altus Pocket. Google them. Great band! Thanks guys! I plan to have you cranking in the Ipod during my ride tomorrow.

Don't know who all knows but HUGE congrats to one of my friends who told me she was expecting! I'm giddy! She and her husband will be great parents.

Had Arkansas Hands and Voices board meeting last night. WOW! Got a lot rolling and lots of great stuff coming up. I really loved how we were able to say yes really quick to giving out some scholarships. I love the board. Very good group of folks... and yes, my communications sub-groups rules! HA!

Well I'm going to go read some more of a book I started. Really good! It's called Halfway to Heaven. It's a book about a middle aged guy climbing the 14er's. That's the mountains over 14K feet in CO. It's really funny and down to earth.

Back to life

2009-05-13T05:05:00.004-06:00

I sort of took a break from everything for a moment. It's been nice.

Since the ride I've been waiting on my middle toes to regain feeling. My right hand was that way right after the ride but it regained feeling within a couple of days. I still have a numb toe. I suspect it will bounce back soon enough.

Everyone wants to know how much was raised. Honestly, I don't know yet. There are still some checks coming in. Did I hit the $10K mark. I doubt it but still happy with whatever did come in. It's just a little more to help the kids along.

The Joe Martin Stage races were last weekend in Fayetteville, AR and I had a great time. there were storms Friday morning so I decided I wasn't going because the Weather Channel said it was a slow moving storm. It wasn't. It blew right through. I had actually gone to run errands and came home and saw the storm was already passed so I threw clothes in a bag and took off. I got up there just as the afternoon road race was abut to start. My timing and parking could not have been better. I got out of the car and straight ahead was Floyd Landis sitting in a chair. I could not believe I was standing there with my camera in front of the Tour de France champ! I didn't except this so I brought nothing for him to sign. I took a couple of shots then walked up and introduced myself and told him thanks for coming to Arkansas and how did he like it so far. He said we was really enjoying it. Very down to earth normal acting guy. Thanks Floyd, you're the man!

I kept looking for Bahati in the crowd but never spotted him. Finally saw him in the team car in jeans. Not a good sign. I kept my distance even though I really wanted to meet him in person. I've been following his career since they were here 2 years ago. He is a national champ. He drove from LA (26 hours) and had tired legs for the time trail and missed the cut by 3 seconds. He is really ticked about it. He could have done that so easy but was saving his legs for the road race. It was a costly mistake. I just gave him his space.

Sunday was spent at my sisters house for Mothers Day... watching it rain.

Oh did you know it has been raining? Yep, so far everyday in May except 2. My ride day and my daughters birthday. If I would have planned the 24 hour ride for 1 week later it would have been cancelled because the trail was flooded. It's finally gone down and there is a UAMS Cycle for Sight ride there this weekend. Yes, I'm riding it.

Well is life good!

Flood of thoughts

2009-05-06T18:28:00.013-06:00

Today I took the day off to take my dad to the doctor. Little did I know the air inside the room would be sucked out. The heart doc is the best in town and very good bedside manners. Dad's legs have been a bit numb and his feet are red/blueish some times. The doc put his hands on his legs and slowly rubbed down to his toes. He said dad has about 5-10% blood flow in his feet and that his feet are room temperature. Not good at all. Used words like amputation and gang-green(sp?). He also said he wants to try some other things first so we are sent to the Little Rock office for a die test from chest to feet. When the doc was talking to him I tried to focus on the doc but my eyes wondered to look over at dad. He had fear in his eyes like I've never seen before. It was a crazy look. A very sad look. It's going to be a long summer I think.

As I drove home I wanted to see how bad the river trail was flooded. I can't believe this is one week after my ride!! I'll let the photos do the talking.

I just thought this was funny. A drinking fountain in the middle of the water.

If your dog is between knee deep and chest high then they play here.

This is my new friend Mack. He almost got stepped on. I almost poopied in my pants.

Not sure if you can see this but this guy was bow fishing. There were huge fish swimming in fron the main river. When the water goes down they will be trapped and die. It was stick to high heavens when that happens.

North Little Rock side of Big Dam Bridge

Happiness is a choice

2009-05-02T07:10:00.003-06:00

Happiness is a choice. That was the first thought I had as I woke this rainy Saturday morning. That was a little odd for me. Happiness is a choice? Where did that come from? As I sit here tapping away I realized it has come from 50 years of life. Very simple.

I turned 50 yesterday and told myself I would roll into the 2 half of my life with a smile and that I did. Yes, I rode a little bicycle ride but I did something that I never really did before and I think it carrying me through. I smiled. I smiled a lot. It wasn't a big smile but just a grin more or less because I was happy and I chose this happiness. I was surrounded by family and friends and I was trying to make a little difference in the world.

I then celebrated with a room full of family and friends last night. What a day… what a day!!!

I know I know, you want the bike ride write up. So here you go...

I slept good the night before, well until about 4am. I woke and was ready to jump up and hit it. I stayed in bed until almost 5.

As we enter into a epic event in our lives we seem to forget things. I forgot the most import things until the very last second you know the normal day-to-day things that you must do. No, I did brush my teeth. I got to the car and was actually backing out and something was missing. My cochlear implant!!! Terri was laughing at me. I had the hearing aid on but wanted to wait until the last moment to put the CI on so I would get the longest run from the battery. It was a good plan and it worked.

We got to the hospital and I got to meet Jennifer Thorpe. I call her a CI queen. She is a great CI spokesperson. I always thought she would be a fun person to know in "real" life not just cyber. I was not wrong. She is a great person to know. Very sweet and her and Terri seemed to have become friends as well. I also met her brother David. He came to ride and man did he. Super strong rider who seemed to never tire. Jennifer's son was also out there and it was great because you could tell they are a tight family. I loved this.

I also met a new ride named Rob. This guy had lost 50 lbs and was in great shape. He did some super pulls during the morning. Once I looked down and we were cranking a 20mph line. We got to the bridge and I said to myself, "This is crazy! I have to slow way down or I'll blow this afternoon." I let them go ahead.

Just as the ride was about to start a car pulled up and Van got ready. Van s one of those very smart and practical riders that is always good to have in the mix.
As we got to the bridge the first time I also met up with Matt Covington. Matt is one of those folks I out high on the list. He has to use a walker sometimes but that doesn’t stop him for what he likes to do which is ride. He is also considering an implant and that’s how our paths crossed. He has this cool like trike-bike and the guy can roll.

There was wind but wind is wind…

This is the moment of the ride that I hooked up with another Rob. I really respect this guy. He came out to ride the River to River ride a couple of years ago and is a Cycle Zydeco rider. Very smart rider. We talked for a few and it was sort of weird. It was almost as if I was talking to an older brother. We rode and rode and rode. He pulled and pulled and pulled. We locked in on 15mph which is the speed I had hoped to roll. He finally had to go home and he said the words that stuck with me the rest of the ride. "Don't let them pull you too fast." I was like those words were branded into my mind for the rest of the ride.

When I had a rider pulling to fast I was simply slow down. I was crazy at first because I love the 18mph pace but I had to go the time distance and not the length distance. It's a different kind of animal. Boy is it a different animal.
Terri, Emmy and a few others were stationed at one of the pavilions that would be used for the family picnic later and they kept us in food and drinks. Terri was awesome because she knew the perfect things to say to me every time I rolled in. She had seen me go down on the R2R ride and she knew how I had it in my heart that no matter what happened this time I was not going to have a “DNF” (Did not finish) mark beside my name.

I had taken my watch off and that was another excellent idea for riding a 24 hour. I had no idea what time it was for a lot of the ride. We were rolling along and here comes Mike Moore. He had said something about getting out there around 1. Was it 1pm already? It felt like about 10:30. I was giddy. Serious it’s like 5pm on Friday afternoon sort of giddy. Again I chose happiness…
Mike was an event super puller who pulled a lot until he rolled past a century mark (105 miles was the last length I heard him say and he was still going). He has a heart of gold.

Dan Herrington and Mike’s son Collin also jumped on the train that afternoon. I got to know Collin a bit more when we took a break during the family Picnic time. He’s a good guy. And Dan, Dan is one of those guys who is always smiling and looks for the good in everything. He has chosen happiness.

We got another surprise while we were riding that early afternoon. Yale! Yale is one of my favorite folks in the world. I don’t say that lightly. He was a great rider and super nice guy. He has had a rough year and we haven’t seen him much so when I spotted him I almost wanted to unclip and bear hug the boy right there in the middle of the ride.

There was a big picnic and we took families up the trail and over the bridge. I really enjoyed that. The picnic was a big success and thanks to everyone who came out and for all the volunteers who took time out of there busy lives to put it all together.

The sun was beginning to set so I knew it must be getting close to 8pm. That’s when Lance jumped on the ride. Lance was another in the super pull category. He lives next door to Matt and Mandy. He rode until around midnight I think. He is really nice guy with a mini cooper that he actually got his bike in.

Jump back a couple of hours and Chris Irons, David Wonn (an Ironman and the ultimate go-to guy for all things Tri!) and Chris Lyle appear on the bridge. It was great to see them! I knew those three would keep us going and they did. David had this super beam light that was a life saver. It was like having a Coleman lantern at a campsite. He does a lot of training in early morning hours (I think) so he had the right equipment for nights. Thanks David. Chris’ light was the same way. Mine was OK but I kept turning it off in case I needed it later. I did a couple of times.
So we are riding along and I see a rider coming toward us on the road smoking fast. I’m thinking man, that guy is rolling. His helmet light is coming to us abut at the speed of light. Oh man it’s Mooney!!! Yes! Robert Mooney is the State Champion rider. This guy would probably ride right up to Armstrong say “Hey bud!” then drop him. Mooney is a complete riot. He has chosen happiness. Always smiling and cutting up. He and Bethany are the sweetest couple. There is a photo that was made of them last fall I think and it’s one of my favorite. The photographer (oh crap I can’t remember if it was Bob or Jonny who took it) really captured the moment.
Any way so now I have, Dwonn, Chris, Chris, and Mooney. Talk about laughing. Sometimes I could hear them talking but I’ll be honest, most of the ride was a bit of a roar that grounded out the voices. Anyway, some of the things that were talking about were a riot!

Chris Lyle finally has to leave. Thanks for the pulls man! I appreciate you!
It’s now about 3am and we are doing a loop then stopping for about 10 minutes. I realized at that time I had made it to the final quarter. Each quarter would hold something special.

Sidebar:
Only a few folks had known that I had put this into quarters. The first was my warm up quarter. I knew I was good for that one. The second 6 hour quarter was going to be my make it or break it quarter. I knew this quarter would be my hardest. 9 hours of riding is about when I start to break down. Did it happen? Yes. Did anyone know? Terri may have. I stopped to eat a PB&J sandwich and the first bit almost made me barf. I was actually looking for a hiding place in case I did because we are at the family picnic and the last thing you want to see is someone puke just before the hot dogs are served. HA! It was the sweetness that didn’t take too well. I remember a Sunday or two ago we had lunch we friends and Doug Kilgore has rode a 24 hour ride on the CAC track to raise money for the school. He was talking about the sweet stuff and how I wouldn’t like it through the whole ride. No kidding! I finally settled back down and was good once I was riding again.
Rebecca Irons shows up and swaps or with her husband Chris. So now I have Dwonn, Mooney, Rebecca. I’ve never heard so much laughing … and uh, singing going on. They were singing on the way up the bridge (which is a mini mountain sometimes) and since the wind wasn’t blowing I could hear them and got so tickled.
DWonn has to ride back to his house a “do a little work”. Then we got back to the hotel and Mooney had to leave. He was so funny. He looked at his watch and said, “I have to get up in thirty minutes and go to work.” It was so matter of fact like something he does all the time. He said before he left, “Geo do you realize you only have two more laps?” My mind was blowing.

I have my first caffeine. About half a can of Dr Pepper. Now this is the first caffeine other than a little bit of chocolate in 3 weeks. That was the coach’s orders. Holy smoke Batman!!!! That rocked my system. I was wide awake and charged. It also made me wonder about me drinking as much caffeine as I used to. Maybe it’s not such a great thing after all. I learned that I could get steamers with favor shots at coffee places that satisfied me just fine. They are a lot cheaper too!

Just about that time Jo shows up! Now if you put Jo and Rebecca on the same ride you are going to be laughing and having a good time. Jo is one of my all time favorite people to be around. She’s just one of those down to earth folks who is easy to be around. Actually most of the people I enjoy the most fall into that category.

I start talking sunrise. It’s what I am longing for. Just let me see the sky starting to lighten. Sunrise is my favorite time of the day. I love to be in our kitchen and watch it getting daylight. There is just a Noah’s Ark sort of hope to each new day. It’s a new day, clean slate; it’s yours to make it what you want.
We make it back to the hotel for the next to the last time. Keith Moore and Kim Cossey jumped in we rolled along. I told Rebecca this lap was sort of like the end of the Tour de France. The work is over and the last part is sort of just a let it soak in and enjoy the moment. We did! We stopped on top of the bridge and looked around.

We were riding back towards the bridge again after getting to the turnaround and up roll Mariann! I’m so excited. Mariann is an Ironman several times over. She is gold. Wife, mom, friend to everyone, always smiles, writes very inspirational things on her blog and she has time to train for Ironman. Yep, she has it all together. I was so excited to get to ride with her.

Well it’s time… time to roll to the hospital and close the 24 hours. The crowd was out there and we rolled it on in. The waved and clapped for us then sang happy birthday. It was a moment that will be with me to my last days.

There are so many people who made this event happen and inspired me and cheered me on. The biggest of these is Terri. She pushed me out the door on training days. Pulled me up when I was down. Knew what to say and what not to say. I still can’t believe that more than have of my life has been spent with her. She my fiends is far better than gold.

And Emmy, thank you so much for cutting up and making me laugh. You are the most beautiful daughter in the world.

Tyler, oh man, talk about cutting up. I know you fell out of the basket the stork was carrying but I’m so glad you landed in our house!! You are and amazing son who I am so proud of.

Last but not least by any means… my friends. There are too many to name them all. As cheesy as this sounds, I love you guys! Ok, honestly not cheesy… completely sincere. I really do love you all.

Speaking of cheese… I smell something really good cooking… more later today and photos.

Life is good… choose happiness!

Ride day!!

2009-04-30T05:49:00.002-06:00

Breakfast #2 done. Checking over all the equipment one more time. Sleeping bag packed... oh wait, I don't get to use one of those! HA! Got Rascal Flats "All night long" from the movie Cars stuck in my head!

Last post on here for the day... follow the adventure on our other blog:
www.gears4ears.wordpress.com

Facebook and Twitter: cobbgeo

Twas the night before...

2009-04-29T18:05:00.002-06:00

Twas the night before the ride...

The day was crazy! Nice start with "I still have too much to do" finish.

Just chilling and about to watch American Idol.

More later!

24 hour bike eve

2009-04-29T05:29:00.001-06:00

Slept like a rock and ready for the busy busy day ahead. It's bike ride eve. Got to wrap up things at the office today so I can feel good about being out the next couple of days. Things are really falling in place.

Folks keep asking if I am nervous about this ride? Not in the least bit. As crazy as this sounds part of it is because I get to sleep at home before I ride. Anyone who has done an event such as century ride, Ironman, Xterra can tell you the night before is always a wreck because yo normally are sleeping in a hotel. That had a lot to do with my last big ride. p way to late, couldn't sleep on the hotel bed, etc etc. A good nights rest the day before is going to make a massive difference.

Lots more updates coming up!

Life is good!

Geo.

Ready to rock!

2009-04-28T05:32:00.002-06:00

I'm just really looking forward to this ride unlike an other I've done. I know the route by heart. I know the tough spots which is the "mountain" called the Big Dam Bridge (www.bigdambridge.com). I know, it's like I get to cuss when I say that. HA!

Sunday I went out for a easy spin and was loving it. At one point I was solo on the trail and it's a long flat straight stretch and I actually closed my eyes and rolled feeling the warm spring air and sunshine. I was priceless. Total calm feeling.

I've had nothing but positives about the new route. Lots of thumbs up. I'm glad about that because I was nervous changing a little bit of the course this close to the event. But it's a safety issue and well... I value my friends.

Lots of rain right now but all reports have the rain heading out and looking like Thursday will be a nice day to ride. It's 30 chance of rain every day of the summer.

I have a early meeting today with Audiology then get to sit in a panel discussion for grad students of Audiology this afternoon over at U of A. I'm excited!

Still need some more funds to get that goal... please consider donating!
www.archildrens.org

Life is good!

Gears for ears route change

2009-04-25T16:28:00.001-06:00

Changing the Gears for Ears route. Alltel office to Alltel Arena. No Cantrell. No downtown Little Rock. No Broadway bridge. It's a MESS down by the Cathedral School construction. Much much safer route!

last dance...

2009-04-23T20:57:00.002-06:00

Tonight was the last real training ride. I can ride until Tuesday but supposed to take it easy. Just ride around a look at the flowers sort of riding. That actually will be he [ace for the whole 24 hours. Just easy riding but for a long long long time.

We started putting the food list together. Going to be sort of hard when we have no idea how many folks are going to ride but it's only he ones who give a little bit of a donation to the hospital are the ones we'll feed and provide drinks to. That's only fair, ya know. There will be a million folks out there because we certainly would never request a closed trail. I want folks out the re riding and be healthy.

I did a radio show this morning and it was a blast. Thank you Jennifer, Eric and Gang for the warm welcome and friendship. Always make me feel at home there.

Tomorrow I will be on 91.7 with Kevin Clay. I can't wait. He's a pal anyway so I will be relaxed for that show.

The donations are coming in finally so I can calm down a tad but there is still a long ways to go. Please make your donation to www.archildrens.org Just think, you are changing a child's life for the better in just a few seconds and clicks of a mouse.

Life is good... when you're clicking for kids!

One Week!

2009-04-23T05:41:00.001-06:00

In one week and 2 hours we'll be rolling out for the 24 hours on the bike for Arkansas Children's Hospital.

Donate now! www.archildrens.org

Running around

2009-04-21T20:04:00.000-06:00

How weird this has been! I took a day off the bike and ran errands after work.

First stop was Arkansas Cycle and Fitness. Super sponsor and all around good folks. I had bought a light and could not for the life of me get it set up right. Stopped in and Dan had it going perfect in seconds. Almost embarrassed. I picked up few more Pro Bars ( www.theprobar.com). Dan hooked me up with one called Superfood Slam. I tried it Friday night during the night ride and plan to have several of these during the big ride. It was like I had just had a good nights sleep and ready to ride again after about 15 minutes of eating it. Mind blowing great feeling. I told Dan how much I enjoyed it and thanked him for telling me about them.

Next stop was the cleaners... not a sponsor but always a cheery group. Moose Cleaners on JFK. Great folks even when you leave a sock in the leg of the pants you took in.

3rd stop... ok, I'm hungry and where do you think I went? Aww come on, if you know me then you know where I go. Terri is out of town, Em is working and Geo goes to... BLUE COAST BURRITO for a couple of fish tacos. I'm family there. they don't even had to ask me what I want other then... "the combo?" You know you're loved when a eat joint treats you like that. Thanks BCB for being a great sponsor!

I watched American Idol tonight. I don't watch that show like some of my crazy friends do but Kris Allen was really good. A friend from church gave me a hard time about not voting for the Arkansas guy so I texted in a vote. I laughed after I did it.

Tomorrow we are doing job fair at Ft Roots! I'm excited to see the men and women who served our country. Yes, I will try hard to help them get jobs... it's the least I could do for my freedom.

Well, Life is good!