January 5, 2008 - MOVE-IN DAY

Today I moved into my new apartment. I will post some pictures up here later on. Despite some minor problems, the day went off without too much trouble. One thing about the new apartment, when it rains or snows, it sure is muddy. I have placed my shoe rack near the door so that I will not track in mud and snow into the rest of the apartment. The new TV stand looks great. I am especially thankful to Brandon Blunk for his help in setting up housekeeping here in Boone.

January 6, 2008

Wow! What a morning. I awoke this very early this morning to some scattered rain showers. Falling back asleep I again woke up to look out at what appeared to be snow on the mountains. However, putting on my glasses, I saw that it was only valley fog. The mountaintops rose above a seemingly endless sea of clouds. I was not expecting anyone to recognize me at church this morning since it had been 18 months since I graduated from college. Such was not the case, as the Sunday School teacher readily recognized me and gave me a hearty welcome. It was great to be back and see some familiar faces. One thing I have learned up here that I am sure I will need to use in the future: mud can be just as slick as snow or ice. My vehicle is fine, but when it starts to fishtail and you are only doing 15 miles per hour, it does get the old heart to pumping and the adrenaline flowing. Furthermore, the clack-clack-clack is not a monster in the apartment, but rather me forgetting to shut my door all the way. Silly thing to lose sleep over.

Had a "love feast" at the Critcher's tonight. The feast was for Epiphany, the traditional time that the wise men found Christ. Watched a movie called The Fourth Wise Man starring Martin Sheen, with Charlie making a short cameo. I thought it was pretty good, but some disapproved because Martin is not a practicing Christian if he is one.

Saw seven wild turkeys this afternoon.

Monday January 7, 2008 - FIRST DAY AT WORK

Today was an interesting yet mostly uneventful day. I failed to pack a lunch before leaving and thus had to buy my lunch at McAdoo's on King Street. There was also a bit of rush as I had to get all my paperwork set up for paycheck and for taxes. In the rush to prepare to move, I forgot about needing documentation to show that I am able to work in the United States. Oh well, Dad is bringing that up tonight along with my dresser so that I finally have some place to put all my socks. Yay! It doesn't take much to make me happy. Today was the kind of day where you listen a good deal and don't really get any hands-on experience, but tomorrow shall prove otherwise. Turns out, my boss's wife is also a photography guru. To cap it all off, the sunset this evening was a beautiful pink in the western sky. Too bad I was driving home as it was happening. I have a lot of keys, but when you're dealing with confidential records, I guess it has to be that way. That's all for now.

Saturday January 12, 2008

Well, things are going pretty good right now. One full week of work is over and thus far I am mostly just doing data entry kinds of things. Not too hard at all, but I am sure that things will get harder with time. Caught a beautiful sunset yesterday evening on my way home to Pleasant Garden. I had to run home to tie up a few loose ends, get a vehicle with four wheel drive (snow is coming), and purchase a cell phone. Yes, the man who has for years shied away from getting a cell phone now has one. It's for one reason alone: I have no land-line at the apartment. Well, anyway I have one now. For a time I was wondering if I should keep the name "Bear's Den" or not. On Thursday I ventured into a sporting goods store where to my surprise were several black bear mounts. Later on Friday, I took a short walk down King Street and into Mast General. Low and behold there was an animal lover's bear-skin rug. This rug is aptly named as no bears were harmed in its making. I think it's pretty much decided now: The Bear's Den is my home.

Sunday January 13, 2007

After church this morning, I did a little exploring. I followed the main road a pretty good ways after it turned to dirt. There not more than a couple miles lies another housing development with the name of "Black Bear Knoll". Individual road names like Cub's Den only add to the western motif that many of the houses have. Some are log homes other having real cedar shakes. I will have to do some more traveling down this dirt road. It goes along the South Fork of the New River for quite some way and I believe that it would be a very nice drive just to see where it goes.

The family's dogs here at the apartment love me. Every time I come in they are "Johnny-on-the-spot" barking at me. When I begin to talk to them, their tails start to wag and of course the licking of my hands begins in earnest. Perhaps I need to get some Milkbone doggie treats, or maybe that's the wrong thing to do.