G's Trip to Key West...Please pray for Traveling Mercies

Just wanted to share that three friends of mine and I will be leaving the Raleigh area around 2 PM today (Sunday the 13th) and DRIVE all the way to Key West. Actually, we're planning to stay in Daytona for Sunday night...hopefully. (I think it's forecasted to rain on Sunday and when I went to Florida in August for a Carnival Cruise, there was a bad wreck on Interstate 95 outside of Savannah and there was quite a bit of rain that time. We were stuck in traffic for a few hours and hardly went anywhere.) I'll be driving my Jeep Liberty as was done in August. The Jeep Liberty did well going to Florida in August, but it was a shorter trip, though.

Anyway, on Monday (tomorrow), we'll be going to Key West and stay there until Thursday or Friday and then go back to the Florida mainland on the Gulf Coast. We'll be back in the Raleigh area by late Saturday night or Sunday. Hopefully, it will be a safe trip and a good one as well! :-)

Please pray for traveling mercies. I read on the news this week about a 70 car pileup over a 15 mile stretch on Interstate 4 in Florida and I think four people died. I assume that my friends and I will be traveling well over excess of 2000 miles when we do get back to the Raleigh area. I think my Jeep Liberty might try to start cussing me out then! Ha!

I'll be posting again later. Have a good day.

The Previous Post...and Key West?

Okay...well, maybe I was a little bit too harsh talking about "Damn Yankee" in my previous post. Shame on me! I guess some of you readers probably thought I was acting like a jerk as well. Maybe I was. Or maybe I just was getting pushed and pulled too far that particular day in many directions and fighting my depression. Maybe the relationship with my mom has been on my mind??? (Things certainly haven't been the same since my dad's passing in September of 2004.) Who knows??? Ha! I'll be posting again soon...got to share about my trip to Key West next week. I'll be driving there with three friends of mine. Please pray for traveling mercies.

The "D.Y." at my Job...

I would like to share with you about a co-worker of mine...except to say that he's a Damn Yankee. True, there are people from the Northern States who do work where I do...and all of them (except Damn Yankee) are relatively nice and such. Everyone can be a jerk at times...however, Damn Yankee seems to be a jerk all of the time.

He's obnoxious, loud, and sweats profusely. He puts down the South and all of its ways, including sweet tea and the weather and how of a person in the South wears coats when it's wintertime when he thinks they should be wearing shorts! He says that the Civil War was an act of courtesy on the Northerners' part and that the North really owns the South....and of how Southerners are actually foreigners in their own land. Well, well, now.

I actually have been sort of "promoted" to bindery manager at my job...so I think? With that, I'm "supervising" Damn Yankee. I guess I could fire him??? Maybe. He certainly doesn't seem to respect the work position I'm in. He makes my job harder!!! Damn Yankee is very offensive in many ways, more than I can list here.

But, I'll close this post for now, except to mention to you about Damn Yankee. Hope I don't offend you!!! :-) (I also do have many friends who aren't natives of NC....some who will be reading this post. Hopefully, they're still be my friends after reading this post!)

Fire destroys ADULT night club...

I know I shouldn't be smiling as I type this....but, I just read of fire destroying an adult night club near Clayton, just a few miles from home.

Here is the link from the News and Observer where I gathered my information...
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/863183.html

Here's another link...
http://www.nbc17.com/midatlantic/ncn/news.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2008-01-06-0008.html

And another...
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/2260515/

The times in which I drive by this adult night club...which can be a few times each week, I sometimes shake my head and see all of the cars in the parking lot and have at times wished it could shut its doors down.

True, this establishment IS a place of business and the owners have lost something...and one of the co-owners actually said "Thank GOD we have insurance." (I wonder which "god" he serves??? The "god" of adult night clubs, lap dances, and the sex industry in general???) Fortunately, there wasn't anyone in the building...except a firefighter did have minor injuries .

Ironically, I drove by this adult night club on the way home from my sister's house last night (Saturday, January 5th) and read that the fire broke out in the early morning hours of January 6th (today).

Another Post...and HERSHEY CHOCOLATE MOVING TO WHERE???

I guess it's time for another post on the blog. Lord, I hope I can do better at this!!! Really!!! I need to be able to share things like I used to because I can't lie, I really have been dealing with depression and just not being able to really enjoy life for what it's worth...or should be worth. By the way I've been feeling lately, it hasn't been worth much....and I'm getting tired of having to take prescription meds for allergies, depression, heartburn, etc. I also take about two "Tylenol" each day mostly because of headaches. (When will this end?)

Anyway, I just received another email about some "forward this to one hundred of your friends or you'll get in a wreck" hoax. This time it was about Hershey Chocolate moving its headquarters from Hershey, PA all the way to Monterey, Mexico! And this time it's for real! I checked it out on http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/h/hershey.htm and feel free to check it out yourself for more information.

Oh well....is America now headed to oblivion or what??? I don't know. More later.

G- <><

2008 is NOW HERE!

Happy New Year! Can you believe that 2008 has finally come? I can't. I pray that this year will be loads better than last year. 2007 wasn't really the best year for me. Hopefully, I'll be better off this year. I actually don't feel quite as healthy emotionally, spiritually, or even physically as I did this time last year. Maybe it's just a fact of getting older...or just neglect on my part. Maybe I'll become wiser this year and even smarter. Who knows! Ha!

[SANSDADDY] 2007 Christmas Holiday Greetings...and a "Short" Update?

Hi All,

I just wanted to wish each and every one of you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday Season. I had planned to send out "greetings" of some sort around the first of November...that was when I noticed the Holiday Decorations up and about the shopping center near home. But, I didn't. My excuse is that I've been busy, tired, distracted, frustrated, mad/angry, etc. (you name it)...all which is true by the way, but not at the same time! Ha!

Anyway, for those who are used to me writing epistles (long and laborious emails, etc.), you might be out-of-luck. This past year I really have been out-of-touch and disconnected in a way...and really didn't make much effort to do otherwise except to do what I *had* to do. The last time I probably have contacted some of you was last year at this time...and I really can't believe that it really is CHRISTMAS of 2007 and that 2008 is NEXT week! Where has the year 2007 gone to??? Can any of you tell me?

There probably won't be any grand updates of what's been happening this past year in regards to me, my job, my HEALTH, my family, etc. But, oh yes, there really has been quite a bit going on. I'll save that for later...and probably will be posting it on an online blog of mine. Below is the link to click on...and I'm not a power blogger. In fact, I post every few months or so....the last entry (at the time of this email) might be back in March or sometime earlier this year. I guess I'm lazy, aren't I? Or, am I just busy, tired, distracted, frustrated, mad/angry??? :-) Just kidding!

http://gregory-edward-johnson.blogspot.com/

This past year also has been a little bit of a struggle for me in a few other ways...including photography. I haven't given it up and hope I never will. But, I also haven't been quite as diligent in editing and posting pictures like I used to. I haven't forgotten. I still take photographs as usual. However, it seems as though when I do try to take time to edit and post the pictures, I literally have to FIGHT sleep. There have been times in which I have been trying to edit some photographs only to find myself falling asleep at the keyboard for a quick snooze...and jerking my head back to wake up. I then would drag myself to my bed and literally fall. I'm not quite as crazy as I was about the photography as I was a few years ago...I might've mellowed out. In fact, I almost wanted to procrastinate and not send out this email itself...but, I changed my mind. I was thinking about sleep beforehand.

As they say, pictures are worth a thousand words...so, with that in mind, here is the link to the main photo site of mine...and it's NOT a real professional site. I don't get paid BIG BUCKS for any of my photography (HINT! HINT!), but would like to. :-) I'm not saying that I never have gotten paid for any of my photography, but just haven't been able to even make a dent in it. (That's been challenging...especially when I might be having a stressful time at my job or with family.) In fact, this year has been the worst year in trying to get paid jobs (photography-wise). The previous years definitely have been better, but the overtime I've been getting at my full-time job for the past few months has been picking up the slack.

http://public.fotki.com/rettaman

Even though I'm not sharing grand updates in this particular email, I'll still update you on something which I mentioned last year at this time. In December of 2006, my 2001 Oldsmobile Alero GLS died on me and I was stuck without a car. I was sort of frantically car-searching this time last year...even though I did like looking for a car and actually still like to look at cars. (I think I have car lust....honestly.)

Well....on December 27th, two days after Christmas of last year (2006), I purchased a new 2006 Jeep Liberty. It was the last new 2006 Jeep Liberty from the auto dealership where I purchased it from. It had less than fifty miles on it when I purchased it. Today, it has 21,000 miles on it and it's been relatively nice to have. It's not really the best on gas, but it's not the worst either. I drove it to Florida this past August when I went on a four-day Carnival Lines cruise with a friend of mine and other Christian Singles. It's been driven to more parts of the state than I've driven any other automobile I've owned....and there's a chance that it might be driven back to South Florida within the next month when I'll be going there with a couple of friends for a week-long vacation. If I don't let my car lust get to me, I'm sure I'll be keeping the Liberty as long as possible.

Oh, as for my Dad's 1969 International Scout 800A, it's still around. (I hope it even outlasts me!) This year (2007) marked THIRTY years of my Dad purchasing the Scout. He purchased it in 1977. Currently, the Scout is having some exhaust trouble and really shouldn't be driven until it's fixed, but I did take it out for its "annual" Christmas Eve drive around the neighborhood and few surrounding roads. It's been challenging to try to get it fixed, because of its age and rarity. I think I know what the problem is (doughnut gasket?) and probably could do it on my own...and possibly could since there still are the 1961 and 1964 Scouts my Dad purchased for parts back in 1992. Oh well. As my Mom, Sister, and Nephews have said many times this year, I wish my Dad were still here so he could impart more of his wisdom and advice to us about things. Honest!

Speaking of Dad, it's been about three years and three months since his death. At times, it doesn't seem that long ago. These past few months actually have been hard even though it's been a few years since he died. I can't explain it to you, but at times it still hurts that he's no longer here. I've even cried about it a few times this past month...especially when dealing with various "family" things....and I don't share it like I did in the past with long and elaborate emails? Who has time to write and read those things these days anyway? (Just kidding again!)

Well, I do need to go now. It's VERY late as I type this and even though it doesn't feel like Christmas, it is and I have to go to sleep and get ready to go to bed because I'll be at my Grandma Thelma's for some of the week. (Oh, in April, Grandma turned 92 and the day after she turned 92, she actually had a wreck and hasn't driven since. Fortunately, my Mom was planning to retire in late April and actually did retire. She's been helping Grandma with various errands and appointments a few times each month since.)

Again, I hope that all of you will have a very Merry Christmas and I hope that 2008 will be a good one for you. I hope it's going to be a better one for me...and feel free to check out my blog or photo site if you haven't heard from me in a while. I won't promise that it will be constantly updated like it should, though.

Sincerely,
Gregory <><

919.523.9264...Mobile

PS - I still am wearing the SpeechEasy (http://www.speecheasy.com) "anti-stuttering" device even though it's not a cure-all. At times, I wonder if it's really helping me, but I guess it is, right?