A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

day trip

Notes from my Noodle: January 6 edition

Hello blog readers and welcome to the first edition of Notes from my Noodle in 2012. I hope you all had a wonderful New Year’s and holiday season as this world gets back into full gear.

Alas, another weekend is upon us. There is good weather in the forecast in my part of the Northeast, so I’m looking to go out and geocache/letterbox/photograph for a while Saturday. Why not take advantage of it?

My January 4 choice for my 366 Project.

With this year being a leap year, I’ve opted to do the Project 3656 again. I was successful in 2010 with it, so I thought with the extra day, it would be cool to do it again.

Now I just have to make sure to get a photo each day!

I’ve been good with it so far. And I plan on heading out today to find a photo. As I peer outside right now, there are blue skies, the sun is shining and the temps are in the upper 40s.

Score!

There has to be something out there to snap photos of, I would think.

And though I have the iPhone, which has an excellent camera, I am hoping to do the bulk of the 366 this year with my Canon 7D. I love the use of the iPhone — I really do — but for this project, I’d like to challenge myself artistically a but more with my DSLR. Plus, I got a really cook bokeh kit for my lenses for Christmas and I’m looking forward to trying that out for sure.

If any of you have some cool and fun ideas for photos I should look into taking for my 366 project, post them in the comments section. I want to keep a small notebook of ideas, in case I get in a pinch!

I know a few others doing the 366 this year. One of them is fellow Flickr/Twitter user and fellow geocacher Mike, who has been doing the 365 since 2010. That means, unless he somehow skipped a day this year and hasn’t said anything yet, he has been taking a photo a day for 736 straight days (or more)! (For readers of this blog, Mike was a guest poster in November).

That’s insane!

Keep it up Mike. By the end of this one, you’ll have reached nearly 1,000 days, which is no small feat!

 ***

I wish I had more to report on the job hunt. Applications are still being sent out. But, for the next batch, I’m taking a different approach.

Being that the first approach hasn’t worked too well, outside of the few interviews and such I’ve had, I’m going to change the tone of my cover letters. At this point, what’s it going to hurt? I think I am going to attempt to make them a little more edgy, a little more cocky. I imagine that it will, at worse, get somebody’s attention. Maybe it will get me a few more interviews. And maybe (gasp!) an offer.

Something has to change.

I want to try and re-work my resume a little, too. I don’t think it’s awful, but a tweak or two probably wouldn’t hurt.

My big thing is trying to make it so my block of not working doesn’t stand out so much. I have to work on that as well and hope something comes along soon.

This has, by far, been one of the most trying things, professionally, I’ve ever dealt with in my life. I’m just hoping the light at the end of the tunnel gets big soon!

***

This past Sunday, I went and played a round of disc golf. On January 1, in the Albany area in New York, it was in the high 40s. Me, my niece Nicole, Darren and his wife Jodi played 18 holes at Schenectady Central Park.

My niece sizes up a putt.

What a day.

I played a round of disc golf last Jan. 1 as well, but it was not nearly as warm as this!

But it was a perfect day to go out for a nice little walk and play a round. We only came across people a couple of times, but no major issues. We stopped for a couple of letterboxes and pretty much took our time.

Without a doubt, though, it was great just to be out walking around and moving.

I haven’t played in a while (I think my last round had been on Thanksgiving), so I didn’t throw as well as I would have liked. Still, it wasn’t bad. I had some decent shots and hopefully my game will improve as this year moves on. My niece has only been a few times, but I think she’s starting to get the hang of things and hopefully she can keep improving and liking the game as well. Starting at a younger age will only make her better as she continues to age and play. It’s also a great game to be able to just get out and play.

Now if we can get a course in our local area…

Speaking of disc golf, I continue to work on a certain disc golf project I have going on. I am hoping within the next two weeks to be able to announce something here about it. I’m extremely excited about it and hope it works out for the best!

Until then, keep clanging the metal and rattling those chains when you are out on the disc golf course!

***

I’m sneaking out of the area this weekend to do a little day trip. I’m not going far, but I’m meeting up with a friend to do a day of geocaching/letterboxing and catch up on some things.

Here’s something I’ve figured — it’s not as easy planning a trip to involve letterboxing as it is geocaching.

See, with geocaching, you have a map you can open up and see where everything is. That way, you can plan a route that is somewhat economical and such.

With letterboxing, you can bring up a google map — for each box. Then you have to figure what’s close etc., and try and keep them somewhat in a route to make it worthwhile.

Hopefully by the end of tomorrow, we’ll have piled up a bunch of finds for both. And I also hope to have had several cool photos taken before the end of the day.

Though the temperatures are supposed to be slightly cooler tomorrow (not too bad, though), it is still supposed to be sunny and nice out. So I look forward to a day of finding stamps, caches and photo opportunities.

***

I have finally gotten back into reading books on the Kindle again. I’m reading one of Jodi Picoult’s latest books, “Sing Me Home.” So far, so good. I’m a big fan of Picoult and always enjoy what she brings to the table with her books. Well-written and well-researched make things a good and smooth read.

I have a couple of other books lined up as well.

Anyone get a Kindle Fire over the holidays? I’m curious to see what people think. I have a 3rd or 4th Generation Kindle and I like it. But down the line, I might look to upgrade, though if I really want a tablet, the iPad seems like the way I might lean. I like my reader to be just that — a reader.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!

Where should I go?

Help me, people.

I need some inspiration.

For photography. For myself. For life.

It’s been a long road since I was laid off. I’ve worked to find a career — a job that I am suited for. It’s a tough job market out there. But it’s been frustrating. Recently, I got a flood of rejection letters. That was tough as several were jobs I really was interested in.

No calls. Nothing. Just a “thank you, but we’ve gone in a different direction” letter.

I need some sort of peace. Some sort of inner zen. Something to clear my mind and make me realize that eventually, life will get better. It won’t be all about paying bills from unemployment dollars. It will be being able to afford certain things that I would like to so. Simple things. Things that make me smile.

I need to realize that the sun will eventually come up in a brighter way (outside of this heat wave we’ve been stuck in!)

So, how can you help me?

Well, it’s simple.

I need to go somewhere. Not far as the funds won’t allow it. I want to find a weekend trip. Some place where I can sit and realize life is good just by staring. Some place I can clear my mind.

Remember, I don’t have money to go to big places.

My plan? To have it in driving range. I’d leave on a Friday. Come back late Sunday night. I don’t need computers. I don’t need luxury. I might take a tent and camp. I might sleep in my car. I might find a cheap motel on the side of a road, just to take a shower. Who knows. But I just need to find a place to get away and clear my head.

Do I head toward Maine and sit atop Cadillac Mountain and stare out at an amazing sunrise?

Do I find a secluded beach somewhere, stick my feet in the sand and just think?

How about a small town with some amazing minor league baseball?

Maybe it’s a geocaching adventure into the Adirondacks? (though that might defeat the purpose!)

Maybe I should go off to find some new covered bridges or waterfalls in New England?

Or a place I need to see, just because?

This could all be a dream, too. I need to pay for gas for this trip, so I have to make sure I can pull it off. I have no issues taking a cooler with peanut butter, bread, some chips and some fruit and eating away the weekend that way. My camera and my iPod would be my true entertainment.

So what do you all think? Remember, I’m in central New York. I don’t want to have to drive 15 hours to go somewhere. But a 6-8 hour ride? Sure. I’d do it if I could do it financially and within reason.

So help me clear my mind. That’s what I want to do here. Who knows what weekend I’ll do it. Could be soon. Could be in August. Could be never. But I’m debating it to see what I could possibly pull off to clear my head and make me realize life’s pretty grand right now. Believe me, I know it doesn’t suck. There are, unfortunately, a lot of people out there who have it worse than me. And I know that. But in times like this, it’s hard to think about others when you wonder about yourself, your path and your future.

If you have ideas, drop ’em in the comment area!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com.

 

Day trip forgetfulness

If anyone has ever traveled with me, you know some of the stuff I am going to post.

I second-guess a lot of the items I do when doing a day trip, especially if I am not driving the full way to somewhere.

Tomorrow (Saturday), I am driving to a somewhat nearby Amtrak train station, and then taking the train into New York City to meet up with a few former co-workers. (It’s like a castoff reunion!)

Part of my issue is always thinking I forgot something and I worry about forgetting things too much. Even silly stuff.

Such as locking my car.

I can lock my car three or four times and then still second-guess myself as to whether or not I locked said vehicle.

<sigh>

So being a day trip tomorrow, I don’t have to remember a lot of things.

Besides my camera. Memory cards. My GPS (hey, you never know, I might grab a cache or two…). My phone. My Kindle (of course… for the train ride) and my phone charger.

That’s it.

It will all fit into my camera back pack, so I should be good to go.

Anyway, the trip should be a fun one. I am looking forward to catching up with some people and the weather (crossing fingers that it stays this way…) looks pretty decent.

And once I settle into the seat on the train, that’s it. So I have to make sure I don’t forget anything in the car and all or else I’m not going to have it.

That being said, I’ve also not been on an Amtrak train. The only trains I’ve taken are subways and one time taking the Metro North into New York City (though that goes slow as it makes a lot of stops).

Hopefully this Amtrak train won’t be too packed as I’d like to be able to relax on the train a little on the ride down. Maybe snooze a little, listen to some tunes and read a book on the Kindle.

Hopefully, I’ll have some good photos, too. We’ll see how it all goes.

***

A little on the disc golf world. Darren was in the area briefly today, so I went and threw for a little while with him. We also discussed some ideas we had for a nine-hole disc golf course we are working on hopefully doing. I’m nearly done with the proposal I need to give to the people in charge. I know several big people were interested when I told them about it, so hopefully we can pull it off. We need to work on some pricing so we can work on sponsorships and finding a way to fund the course.

We’ll see how it goes. I’d like to have things going by the end of June if possible as that would really work with the area’s summer programs and such.

The course being worked on for Oneonta is moving along, too. We have a bunch of sponsors and are working on getting some checks so we can at least start thinking about getting nine of the 18 holes in the ground. Hopefully soon.

If both of these projects get going, it will be nice to have some disc golf options locally.

Just some randomness today as I get things in order for my day trip in the morning. I’ll get back on track soon!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com.