Happy Easter!

Happy Easter Everyone! Sorry for not writing more on this post...but I am sort of late in leaving to go to my Grandma Thelma's (mom's mother) home for Easter Weekend. I've been off today which has been nice. I got the oil changed in my Jeep Liberty and tried to relax. Well, I do need to go. Knowing me, I would write more, but as I've mentioned, I'm running late. I don't know if I'll have Internet access this weekend. More than likely I won't. Be blessed!

Work, Work, and More Work!

Well, I have just settled in from coming from my full-time job. Yes, I do know it is 12:55 AM on Saturday, March 15th as I type this post. I was at my job working until 11:45 PM. (I even cancelled some Friday night plans....but, that's okay, right???) It was a long and crazy day. So crazy that I'll share the FACEBOOK status entries I did for 8:02 PM and 11:59 PM.

8:02 PM...Gregory is still at work. He's thankful for a job even though he WISHES it was another job. Even though he's thankful for his job, he knows he's been advantage of.

11:59 PM...Gregory is NOW leaving work. It's midnight on Saturday the 15th. What a week! But, he doesn't feel tired, praise God! It's been a long day....a 15 or so hour one.

Fortunately, I do feel okay and not very tired as I do type this. That indeed is a praise! There are so many times in which my eyes want to roll back in my head and I have trouble even wanting to stay up. That has occurred a few times when I've tried to do some digital photo editing, etc.

Anyway, even though I have vented on this blog in the past and have strived now NOT to, I will admit that it's working to an extent. There are some times in which I still want to vent and also be thankful at the same time. For example, I really am thankful for my full-time job even though it can test and push me to various limits of even my sanity. I guess I could do thankful venting??? Ha!

Well, I do need to go now. More than likely, I'll be back at work today (Saturday, March 15th) because there is a large project which needs to be completed by early Monday morning. I'm glad that I do have a job because it does help pay my bills. Too bad I can't say that about the photography now!

PS - One Bible Verse which was on my FACEBOOK page was Romans 8:28....one of my favorites.

Work is depressing me...TIME FOR EMOTIONAL HEALING!

Work (my full-time job) is depressing me right now. What else is new??? Fortunately, I've got a job and I need to be thankful of that. Time for some emotional healing instead of emotional hell, right? God will see me through! More later.

Until next time...

Emotional Hell??? (What???)

"Emotional hell." What does that word/comment mean to you? What does it provoke within you? Does it symbolize anger? Hatred? Sympathy? Torment? Hopelessness? Despair? Crying? Depression? Breakdowns??? What else?

Feel free to share with me? I'll keep comments and replies private.

It seems as though at times I actually have struggled with "that" and it's been tough. Fortunately, I actually feel better now and this week has been on the upswing. Praise God.

Here's a Bible Verse which I've heard before...and really need to memorize because at times I hadn't been too good lately. It at least tells me Who's in control and that I really shouldn't be so continually uptight, worried, angry, hurt...you name it....over things!

(Matthew 5:44 KJV) But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

HERE'S ANOTHER ONE...

(Psalms 30:5 KJV) For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

Now, maybe if I could just discipline myself into memorizing more Bible Verses, I wouldn't have to deal with some resentment, etc. as I have had within the past few months/year or so. Like I've already mentioned, I can tell that things are getting a tad better. (More later!)

GREG-ORY'S Pictures from his Vacation to Key West and Marco Island in January!!!

I hope this finds you kind readers doing extremely well, rested, etc. Are you adjusting to the time change??? I'm not. I almost wish that Daylight Saving Time could be year-round...or not even observed. It seems as though this year the time change is earlier...and it is! Anyway, maybe I'll share more about the time change, etc. in a post on the blog....which has gone under some changes itself recently.

I just want to let you know that I have the pictures from my trip to Key West and Marco Island in January (about six weeks or so ago) all edited (for the most part...I don't need to stress myself out too much in trying to get every single photo balanced in lighting, etc....) and uploaded for you to view. I've already let the friends who went on the trip with me see the pictures first even though I did have a few pictures on my FACEBOOK profile page and those of you who are my FACEBOOK friends might've seen those particular ones???

Well, here's the link for you to click on in order to view the pictures....
http://public.fotki.com/rettaman/friends/vacations_and_places/2008_florida_winter_trip/

There are about five hundred or so pictures and I've got them organized by DAY so viewing them can be EASIER for you. There are a few days which I didn't take too many pictures. There weren't any taken on Sunday, January 13th and there weren't many taken on Monday the 14th because of driving so much and I was getting very tired of the highways. I took a photo break on Friday evening the 18th. In fact, on the day I got sick (Saturday, January 19th) it seems as though the pictures abruptly end and they do because I was very ill and.....well, you get the point. One of my friends got the camera from my bag and took some pictures....so, there are even more pictures which I probably wouldn't even have possession of if it weren't for my friend. I still wish I did get a picture of me holding an alligator, though. Maybe next time if there ever will be.

I hope you enjoy the pictures and I'll be in contact with some of you again later in regards to some pictures I've taken of other things for Providence Singles events, C3, family/friends, etc. I've spent the last several hours trying to "reorganize" some of my digital pictures and I will say that some of it HAS been overwhelming. It seems as though I've literally have hundreds of pictures which I still need to filter through and also resize and upload, etc. Some of them date back to early last year and even a few from the year before. I will say that I'm not quite as disciplined at doing the photography as I used to be. Maybe a few of you might've noticed that already? Hopefully, I'll get better again and not allow other things in life distract me, etc.

Well, I need to go now. But, before I do, I did mention something about the (this) blog. It was http://gregory-edward-johnson.blogspot.com before, but it's been changed to http://rettaman.blogspot.com and depending on other circumstances and my personal decisions, etc., I might change it again. I've been trying to revise and reorganize it because within the past month, I've used it more of a vent for me...and some of the posts probably don't depict me in a positive manner. I'll not say more. I do want to try to set up a blog just for the Vacation to Key West and Marco Island, though...and maybe I'll do that sooner than later.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Hope you'll have a great week! Be blessed! Until next time...

Seeing RED and Flashes of Light!!!

I think I did something stupid last evening when I left work and went to an event at Prestonwood Country Club in Cary....I might've turned left on a red light and noticed it when I saw flashes of light coming from a traffic camera.

This is my FIRST time!!! I also contacted the Cary Police Department via email about the situation....and I want to get it waived. Below is the email...and I'm sure that some of you might be wondering why I'm sharing this on my blog. Well, there's a first time for everything, right??? :-)

----- Original Message -----
From: "gregory edward johnson"
To: "The Red Light Camera Contact Person at the Cary Police Department"
Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2008 9:52 PM
Subject: Possible Violation of Running the Red Light at Cary Parkway/High House Road???

Dear [Mr. Red Light Camera Person],

I have a question/concern about the red light signal camera at the Cary Parkway/High House Road intersection....and a possible violation on my part. This evening (Thursday - March 6th, 2008 about 5:55 PM), I was making a left turn from Cary Parkway to High House Road toward Prestonwood Country Club. I thought the light was still yellow when I entered the intersection, but once I did I enter the intersection, I noticed the camera lights flashing...and I do assume it was me and I didn't realize the light was red. I was driving a green 2006 Jeep Liberty with the NC License Plate - RETTAMAN. I think I was traveling about 15 to 20 miles per hour.

I have not received any citation in the mail since this incident occurred just a few hours ago (at the time of this email). I don't know if you might receive requests to waive the citation; I do know there is an appeals process, though. If I am at fault, I would like to have this citation waived because it's my first offense and I have never received any sort of ticket whatsoever since I've started driving nineteen years ago. However, if it's not waived, then I guess that it is okay because I did check the Town of Cary web site on red light signal cameras (http://www.townofcary.org/depts/dsdept/redsignal/overview.htm) and read that the fines go to the county school system and that there aren't any points on the drivers license or insurance. Also, if the citation is not waived, how long would I expect to receive the fine in the mail because I do want to settle this as soon as possible? (I also would be paying by credit card so there isn't any need for a return envelope for payment.)

Thank you for your time reading this. I hope to hear a reply from you. Have a good day.

Sincerely,
Gregory E. Johnson

When Blogs Go Bad...(Inappropriate Blogging)

In the midst of me trying to really determine if I do blog inappropriately about certain things...and no, I'm not going to tell you what, I keyed in "inappropriate blogging" in Google and came across the below link to a web site. The article is rather interesting and feel free to read it for yourself.

http://www.thenewatlantis.com/archive/8/soa/blogs.htm

(I guess the verdict is in...I could do better and not use the blog as a vent. I also could incorporate more Bible verses in the posts??? At least, that would be inspirational to me because someone close to me mentioned that some of my posts have a rather angry tone and it doesn't depict me in a positive manner. Maybe this person is right.)

Well, I must go now. I'm sleepy! Until next time...

Blog Changing???

I am probably one of the world's most indecisive people. I have been trying to do a few blog changes, but keep changing my mind. I don't know why??? Well, I do some, but I won't tell you. Anyway, below is a post which I did on a "blog" when I thought about changing....

Monday, March 03, 2008

Another Blog Change?
Greetings! I just wanted to let you know that this blog has changed for now...I might still be blogging, but "here" and elsewhere. In addition to having some of my blog PUBLIC and free for others to read, I do want to keep some of it private, though. Thank you for respecting my desires on this. I might switch back to the http://rettaman.blogspot.com/ address for the entire blog later. I just need some time and privacy to sort things out. Thanks.

Go ahead and feel free to check out http://public.fotki.com/rettaman for any of my photography. I'll be transferring some of my blog posts from the Key West/Marco Island trip to another blog. Stay tuned for more details. More than likely, I'll be using this blog address for that.

Gregory <><

Written by RETTAMAN at 22:45