Since I have been retired I have been able to stay pretty busy. I recently started going back to the gym but there are still days when I find I don’t have a lot to do. So I thought I would give a shot at Freelancing and see if I could make a little money in my spare time.

One of my areas of expertise is web design, both with html5, css, etc., and using WordPress. But since it has been a few years now since I have really used those skills, besides creating our church website, I thought I needed to brush up on my skills. I found a website called Udemy which offers all types of online tutorials for reasonable prices. To see how it worked I bought one of their courses on sale. The course is ‘Create, Update And Manage Your Own Website With WordPress.’

Although I already knew much of the material covered, it did provide me with a few new things to try. One of them is creating an Image Gallery for a blog post. So I thought I would give it a try here. I hope WordPress.com has most of the same capabilities of my self-hosted WordPress site. Guess I will find out right now. So here is my attempt at an Image Gallery.

As I write this it is the 5th of October. The daytime temperatures all week have been in the 80’s. Next week the daytime temperatures will be in the upper 80’s to 90. I wonder when Fall is going to finally make an appearance? Work has been hectic but I think things are going to settle down soon. I helped my brother Skip move the other day and I hate to say it but I feel kind of sorry for him. I don’t think he has lived in his own house since the days when he was married. He is finally moving out of the place where he is staying because he is trying to get away from his roommates. I moved most of his possessions to his new residence in just one truckload. He doesn’t seem to own much or have much furniture. His new roommate seems much nicer than the ones he used to have. This Saturday we are all going to meet at a restaurant in Virginia Beach and celebrate Skip’s 63rd birthday. It is hard to believe that all those years have passed. Anyway, I noticed that his TV is really old and beat up so Teresa and I bought him a new Magnavox 19″ Wide-screen HDTV LCD television for a birthday present and a housewarming present. It is not the most expensive TV but I think he will like it.

Church has been keeping me busy. I am involved in the technical aspects of moving our Sunday service into the 21st century with inspirational videos and projecting the lyrics of contemporary Christian music onto a screen for the congregation to sing along to. Our Fall bazaar is this weekend and I helped with the chopping of the vegetables for the brunswick stew that we will be selling. Teresa is contributing by baking a cake to sell at the bazaar. That’s it for now.

Tropical storm Gabrielle is paying us a visit here in Chesapeake,
Virginia. Gabrielle started out as a sub-tropical storm but has since
strengthened to a 50 mph tropical storm. The forecast path has kept
changing, first bringing her closer to us and then further away. This
morning the forecast is bringing her closer to us and it is starting to
become cloudy and windy. So I guess the next couple of days are going
to be interesting. About the best we can hope for is that Gabrielle
changes her mind and visits someone else.

I just finished my last track here. The only event left is the keynote luncheon with LTG Metz of TRADOC (my boss) giving the keynote address. That is an hour away and I think I will stay to see that and get a free meal. After that it is on the bus and back to the hotel and some pool time. I fly home tomorrow so I will have some spare time on my hands to hit the beach and maybe do a little shopping. I am anxious to be home and see Teresa, Kirk, and Max. This will probably be the last conference I attend for the Army before I retire. I don’t think I will miss attending them anymore. It is time for my career to come to an end soon. I am looking forward to retirement.

I am attending the Army LandWarNet conference in Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. I found a connected pc in the cyber cafe in the exhibition hall so I couldn’t pass up the chance to make an entry. The conference has been very informative and eye opening and I am enjoying the Ft. Lauderdale scene and the beaches. I will be home this Friday and I will post more about my trip. I have another track to attend before I can go back to my hotel and the pool. More later.

This is my first entry in my new blog. This blog will be a continuation of my old blog: Speaking My Mind. I am using the latest version of Movable Type beta which I hope will be easier to manage and use. Tonight I have been asked by my church to run the computer for Movie Night. I guess the word got around that I am somewhat of a computer expert. Tomorrow night I will be attending our church’s board meeting for the first time. I have been asked to give a status report on the Behavioral Covenant which the Interim Team committe is working on. So I have a busy couple of days ahead of me. But that will not stop me from jumping in our pool for a couple hours this evening as the high for today has already hit a sultry southern Virgnia 97 degrees. To view my old blog click here.

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