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No. . .I haven't mysteriously disappeared. Over the holidays several new job opportunities presented themselves â€" both are on-line and allow me to work from home â€" so I've been busy getting myself accustomed to those as well as producing content. Actually I guess I can't call them “new” job opportunities as much as they were returning to my roots as a freelance reporter/photographer. Back in 1983 (when I graduated from high school) that is actually how I began volunteering with the fire department. . .I wrote articles reporting on department activity, major fire or EMS calls and the like for our local paper. Over the years â€" although I continued to volunteer with the fire department â€" my duties changed and I let my writing go to the back burner. (Pardon the pun.) After my surgery in late October 2007 it was apparent that I wouldn't be in any kind of shape to fight fire or lift stretchers until the first of the year. . .so I start looking for alternative sources of income. Then it hit me. . .WRITING!!! I started looking around on the 'Net and found a site called Associated Content who was looking for “Content Providers.” After a little checking I came to understand that this was a new title for my old job so I jumped at the chance. After doing an article (or two) I remembered my “first love” and started for other sites that utilized “Content Providers” or freelance reporters and found a second one! So, as I said, I've been getting back into being a writer/reporter and by the time I could go on-line for fun. . .I was just too tired. :)

Let's see. . .what else has been going on? Oh yeah. . .Marylou and I received our new “calling” (position of service) at church. We are co-Librarians in charge of the church's Media Center. I guess you could say that this position is also a throwback to my past because from June 1979 until I graduated from high school in June 1983 I served as a Library Aide and even received recognition for my services from the Georgia Library Association. The biggest difference between then and now is that the library at church is a “fixer-upper” as it doesn't seem to have received much attention (or tender loving care) of late. Gradually, however, Marylou and I are trying to change that by cleaning out old material â€" some dating back to the early 1980's â€" and replacing it with something more recent.

Finally. . .it looks like we're moving again. (Groan) This time we really didn't have much say in the matter because our current landlord's mortgage payment on our house â€" a duplex â€" increased and, rather than pass that expense on to us, he turned the property over to the lender. It's not all bad though because the apartment we're looking at is roughly TWICE the size of our current place and we'll have a guest bedroom again!

As always,

Walter

P.S. -

If you would like to see my work first hand, check Associated Content (http://www.AssociatedContent.com) or Helium (http://www.helium.com)

Mary Lou and I live in a manufactured home and, lets say, the previous owner was big on hanging things on the walls. I have no problem with this except in both bathrooms where she used what I will refer to as a double-sided sticky, rubber block. I understand their purpose. . .to keep the picture, mirror or whatever you hung level. My problem is this: how to remove them from the walls without marring the finish. Sounds simple right? Here's the problem: since this is a manufactured home the walls are a cross between the fabric walls you would see in an office cube and drywall or particle board and, just to make it really interesting, the walls in both bathrooms have a wallpaper-type finish on them. Any ideas on how to repair these?

Walter

This blog came to me this morning as I was answering my messages from late yesterday evening and last night. I started remembering when I was a little boy how I enjoyed either sitting in the living room floor (or at the dining room table) and playing with my fire trucks. I wasn't like most little boys though. . .mine had to be set-up correctly. The ladder or snorkel had to be at a "building" (a large cardboard box) and the engine had to be positioned properly so as to be able to provide the ladder with water. Now that I'm grown I still do that only instead of cardboard boxes I posess the ability and skill to place an aerial device properly on a real building to allow my comrades to fight the flames and rescue occupants that might be trapped. The toy engine has been replaced with a real one capable of delivering anywhere from 750 to 1,250 Gallons Per Minute (GPM). I know of no other profession - other than maybe a police officer - where a grown man can do what he enjoyed as a child and get paid for it!



Walter

Don't worry. . .I'm not talking about the "men are from Venus" kind of different, I'm talking about the difference between men and women and the temperature that they sleep best in. First of all - just by way of explanation - my wife is originally from the north (she was living in Ohio when she decided to move to Georgia in 1981) so the cold seemingly doesn't bother her. Me. . .I'm looking for a fireplace if the temperature drops below 50 degrees.

This same thing goes when we go to bed at night -- I'll have the covers up to my neck and she's complaining about being hot. Here's the weird part: I wake up during the night (usually around 3:00 a.m.) and I'll be freezing because she has pulled most - if not all - of the bedspread, blanket(s) and flannel sheets to her side of the bed. What gives?

DISCLAIMER:

Before everyone - including my wife - jumps on me for this blog. . .it's just a curious thought that ran through my mind this morning. In no way am I fussing or complaning.

Walter

www.hostdrjack.com

As you can see above, I've learned to use graphics from sites such as hostdrjack.com, profilejewels.com, etc. and that's all due to Winter Dog who saw how "blah" my comments were and showed me how to jazz them up! Also, I wanted to thank Foxy Wordcraft who peaked my interest in CSS ("unlearning" HTML is a chore ) to the point I'm getting ready to attempt redoing my "Headquarters" web site on Yahoo using CSS. To you both, I really appreciate your friendship and taking the time to "teach this old dog some new tricks!"

Walter

I published a similar blog on MySpace and received LOTS of input, so I thought that I would re-post it here.

Faith

I was saved in July 1991 and since then tried to live a Christ-driven life.

Dedication to community

In addition to serving as a volunteer firefighter (which I've been doing since age 19), I also do disaster relief work, am active in my church and belong to my neighborhood association. As I like to tell folks, I was suppose to have not lived to see my second birthday, so God had a reason to let me live this long.

Devoted husband

It took me several messed up relationships to get it right, but I try to be devoted to my wife and to take care of her every need. She is a driving force in making sure I do # 1 and # 2 above.

There are other things. . .but these are the "Big 3" when it comes to what makes Walter tick.

Thanks to my wife I've discovered that I'm not a hunter -- big game or otherwise. She gave me a deer hunting simulator (Cabela's Deer Hunt) and I sat down with it this afternoon and really got into it. . .found out two things: don't get too close to the edge of a slippery slope and don't try to cross creeks. I did both and had to be rescued by the Ranger both times. Makes me glad that I did it on the computer where I can start over and not in real-life where there's no escape or reset button!

Walter

Before I get started, I ask that my friends from the north - and particularly my wife - don't take offense to this blog. . .I just wanted to write about a curious phenomenon that I've observed.

You might ask, what is snowbird camping? That is the name that I've given RVs parked in the parking lot of our local Wal-Mart store. The first couple of times I saw it I didn't pay much attention to it figuring they were just in the store shopping. One night, however, I found out that they were actually "camping" when I watched an RV pull up and the owner got out and set up his television antenna! Apparently the stores have no problem with travelers "setting up housekeeping" on the perimeter of the parking lot to rest from their travels. From what I've seen most "campers" only stay overnight because the next morning (the Wal-Mart is where I catch the bus) I see them packing up and getting ready to roll out.

I had never really thought about it until the first couple of times I saw it, but it would be convenient because if you forgot something you can just run in the store and pick it up. (LOL!)

Earlier this evening I was working with a picture of a rescue unit that was delivered in 1963 (the year I was born) to a department in Ohio. Normally I look at age as just a number - which it is - but I started thinking as I was looking at the photo that if I was a 43 year-old vehicle I would be considered an antique by some. I can just hear it now. . ."Walter's an antique!"

Walter

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