We Have Lift Off!

Posted on September 22, 2014September 22, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Thursday night was the kick off to the 42nd Adirondack Balloon Festival and all of the balloons were grounded by the weather, mostly the winds.

Friday seemed to be much more favorable so we headed to the airport about 4:30 pm for the afternoon launch. We had pre-paid parking which I highly recommend! Why? Because it gets you much closer to the airport proper and when you are carrying a chair and camera gear, less is certainly more. 🙂

You need to arrive early and for ballooners it’s almost like going to a football game and tailgating! There are food trucks and craft vendors. The kites always do well and there are always a bunch of them flying as we wait for the main event, the hot air balloons.

You never know if there is going to be a launch until right before they go up. All eyes watch the wind socks because wind gusts will put a kibosh on the launch every time. Safety First.

As I said, Friday night seemed to hold a lot of promise. The sky was clear and the wind sock was limp. Sandy and I lugged our chairs and I lugged my camera and we staked out a spot near one of the chase trucks. We could see a few balloons being spread out and one purple balloon was starting to inflate. There was a good turnout here already.

Getting around is crucial for the ballooners. They have to go to the pilot’s tent for updates and run around on all sorts of errands as the launch deadline approaches. One enterprising ballooner found a new way to get around quickly… A Segway!

Finally at just about 5 pm we began to hear the whoosh whoosh of the propane tanks firing and balloons began inflating all around us.

The first Balloon to take off was a really pretty purple-blue balloon that had a elongated shape, not the traditional balloon shape. The wind, what there was of it was pushing the balloon in our direction. Perfect positioning.

For some reason the balloon didn’t seem to be gaining altitude. As it passed over the airport terminal building toward the trees we all wonder if it would clear them. It did, but just barely, the bottom of the basket actually scraping the top branches.

Not too much farther on they seemed to give up the fight and down it came. So the first balloon up was also the first balloon down. We heard later that it may have had a leak.

But while our attention was fixed on the purple-blue balloon and it’s troubles, the other ballooners were hard at work.

I Was Just Thinking

Posted on August 19, 2014August 19, 2014 by Dusty Roads

I still haven’t felt up to going out and about much which is a big reason I haven’t posted much this summer. I think in addition to “feeling poorly” that I’ve also been a little “down in the dumps”. I’ve been lazy. But I admit I perked up when my last two posts of Buddy got some attention. I thought sure I’d neglected things for so long that no one would be paying any attention.

That got me thinking about things that have been in the news lately. First of all was the Robin Williams Suicide. So so sad. Of course it brought out all of the well meaning people who want to use Robin’s death as a call to arms to prevent other suicides. I guess if it helps save someone else then that’s ok. But I feel more for the man and all the demons he has battled. I think his recent diagnosis of Parkinson’s may have been the last straw. He just didn’t have it in him to keep fighting. RIP Robin Williams. You have earned a rest.

And what’s up with Ferguson, Missouri? I missed the beginning of this disaster. I just turned on the news one night and thought I was watching riots in a 3rd world country, not right here in the good old US of A. Are we back to the Civil Rights days? I gather that a white police officer shot and killed a black teenager. The police officer is on paid suspension while his world is exploding. No matter what I read I can’t get a handle on what happened here. A call for a sick person and a call for a robbery. Someone says Brown (the teenager) attacked the officer but another account says the officer was in his cruiser when he fired the first shot. The teenager was unarmed. He was shot 6 times. It sounds terrible. It is tragic. But haven’t we gotten past the riots and looting? Black or white, that doesn’t help anyone.

Is the Market Basket saga news to anyone besides people in Massachusetts and New Hampshire? A family owned business fired it CEO and almost all of the employees of it’s chain of grocery stores (Market Basket) walk off the job. The chain is losing tens of thousands of dollars while this dispute rages but the rift in the family is so bitter that they can’t come to any agreement. I think they are in the 5th week of this battle. The ousted CEO has offered to buy the chain of stores but no one can come to an agreement and the strike goes on. I don’t know the inner dynamics but from the outside looking in it seems we have a case of biting the nose off to spite the face. No matter what, the family is not going to let the ousted cousin win. They’d rather bankrupt the business.

What a sad, sad state of affairs. 🙁

Swan Boats

Posted on June 30, 2014June 30, 2014 by Dusty Roads

I don’t want that nasty rash sitting there when you drop by.

Here’s a better picture 🙂

Good Sunday Morning World

Posted on June 29, 2014June 29, 2014 by Dusty Roads

I knew I might miss a post here and there but not for the reason that occurred. I was expecting to post less because of my busy work schedule not because I got sick…sort of.

On Thursday I felt a little “off” but since I work from home it was easy to soldier on in a pair of sweats and a “T”. I didn’t have to get all dressed up for an office. Thursday night I was soooo tired As I sat on the couch I felt a little “prick” in the middle of my lower back. I thought maybe I’d gotten a bug bite. I reached behind and could feel blisters and they were damp. Poison ivy crossed my mind but it didn’t itch and I hadn’t been in the woods in 2 weeks? I was mystified.

Friday morning when I got up the rash had spread and my back ached. So now my right side hurt as much as my left side which always hurts these days. Oh Joy. 🙁

I decided if it didn’t go away overnight that I’d go to urgent care first thing in the morning.

Well, Saturday morning I was at urgent care by 10 am. The rash had spread and was now all around my waist. It felt tight and my back ached a lot now. It was a 2 + hour wait to be seen but eventually a very nice young woman came in with her charts. After one look she asked me if I’d been sick, had chills or a fever or ever had chicken pox as a child. No, No, No, YES! and my brain had the answer before she cheerfully announced that I had a classic case of shingles. (sigh)

I can expect 1-2 weeks of this before the rash has run it’s course. Hopefully that will be the end of it although pain has been known to linger for up to 4 weeks. She gave me an anti viral drug that will hopefully minimize the duration. It makes me sleepy.

Although other than the pesky back ache the pain hasn’t been bad, she said that could change (Oh Great, something to look forward to) and if it does to let them know and they would prescribe something for the pain.

So far in 2014 the stars in my financial house are shining brightly but the ones in the house of health seem to have taken a vacation.

So this weekend is flying past. Another beautiful weekend is passing me by. I expect I’ll take it easy at home today so probably won’t have much to share this week. So sorry folks. I’ll post what I can 🙂

Lets hope this is the last heath issue for 2014.

Be Careful What You Wish For

Posted on June 19, 2014June 19, 2014 by Dusty Roads

About a month ago, right before I left for my Tennessee vacation I received a promotion at work. I applied with some hesitation because I was in pretty good place. I wasn’t working very hard and I was making an OK salary. I didn’t have to start work until noon and even then I didn’t have a whole lot to do.

I admit, I was a little bored and I wouldn’t mind the chance to earn a bit more money for those extra things but I was also very aware that I am willing to slow down a bit. I was getting quite a bit of subtle pressure to apply along with assurances that once I mastered the learning curve I’d only be working about 4 hours a day.

So I applied and I got it. Yay! It came with a raise and a chance to earn bonuses. It also came with a fast pace and tons more work. After the first week I really wondered if I’d made a mistake. I was really pushing to keep up and more work just kept coming. I never had a chance to learn the ropes. It was sink or swim and I was dog paddling like crazy.

Now, one month into it I’ve begun to see the pattern. I’ve almost got a hold of the crazy workload. None of it is rocket science. I don’t have to be an attorney to do this job. I just need to keep an eye on the calendar, a lot of what I do is time sensitive. But I am busy and that was one of the things I wanted. And yes, I’ve already made some of the bonuses.

The downside is that I’m really busy. I started out supporting 2 agents and have just added one more who is working in another state altogether. So I’m learning the ropes for a different state. Another learning curve.

I find I am mentally tired at the end of the day. My hobbies, which are cerebral, from photography to reading to writing this blog, have taken a back seat. I just can’t concentrate by the end of my shift. I usually end my day chatting with the senior agent and it turns into a giggle fest because we’re both so tired we’re punchy.

So I apologize if these pages suffer. I’m having a blast with the new job but I’m not sure I’ll be keeping up the every day pace of my posts. 🙁 That makes me sad because I really wanted to meet a goal of posting every day but I guess no post is better than a bad post.