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What a Day!! :( Accidents Happen

02 Saturday Nov 2019

Posted by Tim Hughes Living with CML in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

accident, Band, Car, Damage, Football, Ford, Insurance, playoffs, trailer, Truck

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It’s going to quite around the house for the next few days because my wife is not speaking to me. She told me not to do something and I did it anyway.  I had an accident with the band trailer on my way to a football game tonight.  The route we took led us downtown Birmingham where they are currently working on the bridges that go through the center of town.  It’s 5 o’clock traffic, it’s bumper to bumper and along some narrow streets.  A lady and her brother were sitting at a traffic light in the left turn lane.  I’m next to her waiting to go straight.  The light changed, I move forward and I hear a long and loud horn blow.  The lady pulls up next to me and tells me that I hit her car.  Now, not only did not hear the crash, I didn’t see it either.  I was not about to stop in the middle of the street and call the police to come and do a police report. But there was nowhere to pull over either. I drove for several blocks trying to find a place and all the while the lady was beside me in the turn lane trying to get me to stop.  We finally stopped at a traffic light long enough for me to communicate to her that I was looking for a place to pull over.  I finally found a parking lot big enough for me to pull into so we could exchange insurance cards and get a police report.  Which we had to wait over forty-five minutes for the cop to show up.

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The school has insurance on the trailer so therefore the school’s insurance will take care of the car that I hit.  I was told that it would not go on my insurance but my wife does not believe this.  And this is where the rub comes in.  When I first sat down with these people to volunteer to haul the trailer, I signed a document stating that very same thing.  Plus, if anything happens to the trailer or any of the contents I would not be held responsible. My wife did not want me to volunteer for this.  In fact, she doesn’t want me to do anything outside the home since I retired.  She always has some excuse for why I shouldn’t do it.  I get paid $100 each time I haul the trailer no matter how short a run or how far. So far I’ve raised $800 and that’s pretty easy money.

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As you can see there wasn’t much damage to the car I hit but still, I hit a car.  My wife is worried that regardless of who pays for it, this will make our insurance costs go up.  I haven’t had an accident in over thirty years and I really doubt our insurance will go up but I can’t get that in my wife’s head.

Our team is in the playoffs and they won their game tonight.  Next week we travel again to another school but this time we don’t have to go through town to get there.  Originally, this was supposed to be my final night but because they’re in the playoff’s we have yet another game to go to.  This could be over an hour away so I’m not really looking forward to hauling the trailer that far. Is it a bad thing to hope they lose so next week would be their last?

Retirement

06 Tuesday Mar 2018

Posted by Tim Hughes Living with CML in Cancer, Uncategorized, Weight Loss

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Tags

Job, Life, Retirement, Work

Only 163 more days. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, although dim, I can still see it. Some days, like today, it seems that it will never get here. I’m not exactly sure what I’ll be doing once I retire but I’m sure it won’t be dealing with some of the crap that I have to deal with now on a daily basis. I know that I’ll have to find something to do otherwise I’ll get as big as the side of the barn. I have several hobbies that will keep me from sitting on the couch and there’s always yard work to do. Maybe I’ll find a job that I can drive people around a couple days a week. Who knows?

365 Day Photo Challenge Day Twenty-One “A Look Back”

21 Wednesday Jan 2015

Posted by Tim Hughes Living with CML in Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

365 Photo Challenge, Band, Fatalities, HDR, Photography, Storms, tornado

Tornado Damage 2011 060_tonemapped

This picture is still hard to look at.  April 27th, 2011 an F-4 Tornado ripped through our little community.  We lost 12 people and over 600 homes that evening.  We were one of the lucky ones.  We had some tree damage and debris in our yard but nothing compared to what happened just down the road.

The young man in the picture was one of my scouts.  His dad is there with him trying to dig out his bedroom.  They found the water bed intact and still full of water while everything else was destroyed.  What your seeing in the picture was in fact two houses.  The storm picked up the neighbors house and flipped it on top of the other.

It’s a miracle more people were not killed in this storm.  One thing that I feel was a huge contributor is that the high school band and 86 of it’s members were on their way to Orlando for a band trip.  If those kids had been home I feel the fatality would have been much higher.

365 Day Photo Challenge Day Twenty “The Straight and Narrow”

20 Tuesday Jan 2015

Posted by Tim Hughes Living with CML in Uncategorized

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365 Photo Challenge, anxiety, Depression, HDR, Medication, Photography

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Some may disagree with me but I think we have all chosen the path we travel.  At some point in out lives we made a decision that eventually made us into what we are today.  I made several “wrong turns” in my life that I now regret now that I have had a chance to look back.  Some of which I knew once I made the decision I would live to regret it and it would have dire consequences.

It’s how we handle these “wrong turns” in out lives that really matter.  Although I have not been diagnosed but I know I have bouts with depression and severe anxiety attacks.  I guess I should talk to my doctor about it but I really don’t need any more meds.  I try talking to my wife about some of the issues I’m having but she doesn’t understand.  She says she does but there’s really no way she could.

I know ignoring the problems isn’t healthy and I don’t really ignore them.  When ever things get tough at work I try to face the problems head on and deal with them but my question is, am I really handling the problem in the right way? Is there a different way I should be dealing with the problem.

Sorry for the rambling but it’s something that I had to get off my chest.

365 Day Photo Challenge Day Nineteen “Almost a Bust”

19 Monday Jan 2015

Posted by Tim Hughes Living with CML in Uncategorized

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365 Photo Challenge, Aggravated, bicycling, Bike, Bike Riding, City Hall, Cycling, HDR, Photography

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Well, today was almost a bust.  I did not get to ride my bicycle today which I am really upset about.  I have a 46 mile bike ride coming up in April and I have got to train for.  Today was a beautiful day with highs in the upper 60’s which was higher than forecasted.  The reason for the bust is that my wife had a doctor’s appointment and I had to stay at home near the phone waiting on the garage door repair man to come by and give us an estimate.  It was really late when he came by and only stayed a few minutes.  After he left I ran got my camera and my tripod and off I went.

As you can see by the photo I was able to capture some amazing shots of our cities court house.  I also got to spend some time at our cities park which is across the street from city hall. I had a time taking the pictures of city hall because every time I snapped the picture a car would drive by and ruin the exposure.  I didn’t stay long because the temps started to drop again and I didn’t bring my jacket.

365 Day Photo Challenge Day Eighteen “HDR 2 CCC Camp”

18 Sunday Jan 2015

Posted by Tim Hughes Living with CML in Uncategorized

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365 Photo Challenge, Boy Scouts, Cabins, Camp, CCC, Church, Girl Scouts, HDR, Photography

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The above picture is at a  Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp located on the grounds of Oak Mt State Park located here in Alabama.  This cabin is part of this camp with was built back in the ’30’s.  In past years it has served as a church camp, a girl scout camp and a boy scout camp.  In 1976, the dining hall burnt to the ground and the camp decided not to rebuild.  Fortunately, a couple of years ago, a group of Boy Scout leaders decided to put life back into this camp and rebuild the cabins.  Through the use of Eagle projects they have rebuilt over 75 percent of all the cabins.  Although there are no plans to rebuild the dining hall, they are planning on using another large building as a smaller dining hall once it get rebuilt.

365 Day Photo Challenge Day Seventeen “HDR”

17 Saturday Jan 2015

Posted by Tim Hughes Living with CML in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

365 Photo Challenge, Bracketing, Camera, D7000, HDR, High School, Image, Nikon, Photo, Photography

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HDR, High Definition Resolution.  Some people love it while others hate it.  I’ve been interested in this for quite some time.  In my opinion, some people over use it and abuse it. They over process it way too much. It can be be used to make an interesting effect and make a dull photo more interesting.

I finally broke down and purchased the software last night and after a day at a car lot shopping for a car, which is an entirely different story, I got a chance tonight to go out and play some.  This is at our local high school.  the sun had just gone down below the horizon and the street lights had just come on.  My camera is a Nikon D7000 and is able to do bracketing.  By taking three photo’s, one under exposed, one metered and one over exposed, the software stacks the three photo’s together and creates this image. I know I’m over simplifying the process and I know some of you already know the process but there are those that don’t.

I’ll go ahead and warn everyone that I will be posting some of these from time to time.  Let me know what you think.  I’m willing to learn and hopefully get better.

365 Day Challenge Day Sixteen “Redneck Ski Slope”

16 Friday Jan 2015

Posted by Tim Hughes Living with CML in Uncategorized

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Tags

365 Photo Challenge, Alabama, Cloudmont, daughters, Ice, Mentone, Photography, Red Neck, ski, Skiing, snow

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That’s what my co workers call it anyway.  Cloudmont is located in Mentone, Alabama.  It’s nearly 2 hours from where I live.  Last year I took my two daughters and one of their girl friends there for an afternoon of skiing.  It’s all man made and it’s all ice.  They call it “red neck” because nearly everyone there skiing was wearing camouflage.  A deer hunters paradise.

Personally, I’ve never skied and I’ve never really cared too.  I used to roller skate and I’ve went ice skating once but I stayed on my butt the whole night.  Snow skiing to me is just asking for trouble.  I’ve always said that the good Lord was gracious enough to give me a lot of things and one thing He gave me was common sense. As Mike Rowe is fond of saying in dangerous situations, “It’s ill advised my friend”.

Both my daughters and their friend all learned how to ski that day and in fact went down the bunny slope.  I was a proud dad to see them do this.  My son, being in the Boy Scouts, got a chance a few years back to go to Cloudmont and not only learned to ski but got his Snow Sports Merit Badge.

365 Day Photo Challenge Day Fifteen “Longing for Warmer Days”

15 Thursday Jan 2015

Posted by Tim Hughes Living with CML in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

365 Photo Challenge, Beach, Dusting, Photography, snow, Umbrella's

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I’m so ready for some warmer weather.  Today was another cold and miserable day.  Granted, I know some of you are dealing with much colder temperatures but it just seems like the cold will not go away.  We’re supposed to see some warmer temps this weekend and I’m so ready for it.  There were even reports of snow and ice just north of where I live.  It’s funny how we are so not prepared for any depth of snow here in Alabama.  They got a dusting of snow in Huntsville today and our satellite office there sent everyone home.  It’s funny I know but we are not prepared to deal with it.  All we have are sand trucks that put sand on the bridges to help with traction but the ice and snow is still there.  Some people here are so hard headed that they think they can drive in this mess that all the do is stall the traffic with their wrecked vehicles.  I just have to laugh at their stupidity.

365 Day Photo Challenge Day Fourteen “It’s an Up Hill Battle”

14 Wednesday Jan 2015

Posted by Tim Hughes Living with CML in Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

365 Photo Challenge, 50 miler, Bicycle, bicycling, eyes, Photography, treadmill, Vulcan, Weight, Weight loss

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Loosing weight has always been a battle for me all my adult life.  I decided on the first of January that I would start trying to loose weight again.  I was doing good until I found out that I was going to have eye surgery.  To me there was no since trying to get myself in a habit of exercising if was going to have to stop for a couple of weeks after the surgery.  I know I’m just getting back in the same routine and looking for excuses not to exercise.

I go downstairs and I see that treadmill and I get this sickening feeling down in my gut.  I really hate that thing but all it’s doing is collecting dust.  I’ve lost a lot of weight on that treadmill but I just can’t get myself to get back on it.  I love being outdoors and being on my bicycle so much more.

I will have a three day weekend with no doctor’s restrictions and the temps are supposed to break the 60 degree mark.  Come Hell or high water I’m getting on my bicycle and getting some miles in.  I might even post a short video of my ride.

This photo was taken last night at the same place of Vulcan.  It’s the path you walk up to to see the city’s skyline.  Some day soon I’ll hopefully capture an image that I’m proud to share of our great city.

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