I am a retiree who, in spite of an otherwise reasonable grasp on reality and a body that frequently reminds me otherwise, has problems accepting this business of aging. Ain't no way I shouldn't be able to do what I was doing forty years ago. Well thirty anyway. Not having sufficient wealth to be considered an eccentric, it is my lot to live with other descriptions. Hardheaded, absent-minded, curmudgeonly ..... crazy. I never really believed that I would know the wonderful, "go to bed when you want and wake up when you damn well please" feeling of retirement. That changed on July 24, 2015, which just so happened to be a Friday. On that day, my increasing unhappiness with being treated like a second class employee, by what I had come to regard as a fourth rate company, came to a head. I put in for two weeks vacation starting the following Monday. On the Monday I was expected back the manager found my keys and ID on his desk instead. It was better than both he and the company deserved. I can't quite bring myself to thank them. But, if it was possible (It would require having the stomach to be close enough to speak to any of them - and I don't see that happening) I probably should. The last two years of being a blissfully unemployed bum have been fantastic. The beginning of this blog will center around a little adventure that involves riding a bicycle from where the Ohio river begins in Pittsburgh to Washington D.C. Down the road will be entries on slipping back to the 18th Century at various muzzleloader shoots, the joys of turning random pieces of firewood into objects people actually pay me money for, and the occasional rant. Possibly, a lot of rants. English, the diagraming of sentences, and seemingly infinite rules of punctuation, were never my long suite. Try to look past those frailties and I will do by best to make you glad you took the time to read my ramblings. Correctly punctuated or not, that I am doing it all would have surprised the hell out of every teacher that ever crossed my path.
The AT and Me First off, I might be off by one day. I’m pretty sure it started March 31st fifty years ago, but it might have been the 30th. It was a long time ago, a half century, and memories can get muddled. My handwritten log from the time, permanently enshrined in a cloth … More
Facebook. A great idea in principle, but spoiled by a system that can silence users at any time, for any reason, and not even have to provide an explanation as to why. The user will be told they violated “community standards”, but most of the time there will be zero explanation as to what the … More Farewell (probably) to Facebook
January 31, 2025 I clocked out from a regular work shift tonight for what I hope, and almost certainly is, the last time. Ever. There has never been a career, just a series of jobs. Some good, some not so good, one bad, and one absolutely horrible. I have told the story of what was … More End of the working road
I have been badly neglecting this blog. This entry is out of sequence with a few others that have been started but not finished. I will try to post a little more often. Thunder Creek Longrifles. Last year I came to their Rendezvous here in Brown County, almost Morgan County, Indiana for the first time … More Remembering times past
Today, August 9, was an anniversary for me. The second one in two days. For payroll purposes, a week for the last company I worked for full time ran from Sunday to Saturday. Because of that, yesterday was technically the second anniversary of my last day of employment there. However, the last day was proceeded … More The how and why of becoming an unemployed bum
Except for waiting for the westbound Capitol Limited Monday, the trip was over before I went to sleep the night before. I woke around six and laid in the tent for a little while but finally got up and started packing. It was only a few miles to the bridge across the Potomac at Harpers … More Heading home, the last three days
Day eight started a lot earlier than planned. A LOT earlier. I’m not sure if I was already awake or the first sounds of what was about to happen woke me. What I do know, is that I was wide awake when the sound of a large tree crashing to the ground was heard. Once … More Day eight C&O
Around six this morning I looked out the window of the bathroom and saw drops of water hanging on the power lines. It pretty much set the tone for the day. I gave up waiting for it to stop about 8:15 and headed out on the Western Maryland Railroad trail. Since the trail was paved, … More Day seven C&O
I was pedaling down the trail by six this morning. One of the reasons for the early start was that a detour was ahead of me that would require pushing the bike up and then down a trail designed for foot travel only. The other was that I was hoping another detour to the town … More Day six C&O
I was back on the trail this morning around 7:40. It would have been nice to get started a little earlier but the town of Meyersdale is built on a hillside. A steep hillside. It was necessary to push the bike four or five blocks from the B&B where I stayed. I was also slowed … More Day five GAP/C&O
Randy's Ramblings 