east tennessee

I only found out today that Pier 1 closed all their physical locations. This hit me quite hard; I know I didn’t really purchase stuff from them, but it was a place I loved to stroll, explore and just basically browse. It was one of the top 5 places I’d go to when back at ETSU, short of Starbucks, the mall and and Books A Million.

As a matter of fact, Pier 1 in Johnson City was in the same plaza. I’d just park one spot and walk to both.

Usually I’d go there Saturday evenings, when I got bored at home or wanted to stretch my legs. Sometimes on a Sunday; but usually Saturday. I was frequenting the store almost every week in 2012, especially after I moved back to ETSU in the fall.

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For a few years now, you’ve probably known I’ve promised to collab or do something, but have taken months to even years to finish what I committed to.

Or say I’m around, draw some art or write something, but then I’m gone for months at a time.

This I sincerely apologize for. Some things have been going on in my life the past few years. This includes a long-standing job laying me off, not getting proper employment since and even losing a standard place to sleep and think clearly. This is mostly the latter, which involved not having my desktop computer available readily available on-hand.

I know I’ve been mentioning this for awhile now, but not really delved into it. I also have been promising and update which I’ve not delivered either. So let’s try to get some of that out of the way.

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You can always say I can’t sit down in one place for a long time, in terms of months and years. Sure, I may have called East Tennessee home for so most of my life, but it’s especially bothers  me in the spring. And these past few years particularly, it’s not been that different.

It could be a ton of things that give me that feeling. Daylight Savings Time ending, the sudden warm temperatures; or the deja vu I get at waking up early and feeling I should be waking up in a hotel or rest area instead of my bedroom.

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Finally am on the road again after this long while! I’ll be sure to update you with anything interesting I see. While I’m slotted to help drive on the way in, that time is longer into the evening afterwards.

 

So for now, I get to nap and lounge on the backseat. While out of date, I took the smaller GPS and plastered it to my window so  I can see a general trip progress. Hey, it works.

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For tenders, this wasn’t bad at all! I gave a shot at a different chicken dish this evening, ending up with their signature chicken tenders. I got it slathered in Honey Hot, which almost tasted like BBQ chicken. Sides were mac n’ cheese, onion rings and fries.

 

This is actually one of the times that tenders dipped in a sauce tasted right. Almost better than KFC’s tenders I’d say.

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This is the first time I’ve ever had a Jeep’s temperature senor tell me it was below freezing. And not even 30 or such. A freaking 26! I believe I was able to one-up a friend’s friend on Facebook with this photo, who was complaining later how “45 was too cold”. Ha. The New Jersey side of me laughs at you.

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When I started to help my Dad on the house today, I found this perfectly intact praying mantis out next to the wall studs. All complete, killed by the cold. We had frost last night and below freezing temperatures, so I immediately concluded it was the culprit.

 

This was a big mantis; for comparison to size, the wood it’s on is 4 inches across. When I had to ditch it, it did have a bit of weight to it.

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So this review is nothing too detailed, but is one of my longer review yet. I’ve been carrying this book around and trying to get the time to just sit down and make the review on this; this book has pretty much been everywhere wherever my bag has been during this entire summer.

Wishbone books are novelizations of an old TV show that used to be aired by the same name (you can find a few episodes on Youtube, I hear). In essence it was a Jack Russell terrier called Wishbone that had a personality, living with his owner Joe (a fourteen-year-old kid) and often got wrapped up in happenings with Joe’s two friends, Samantha (Sam) and David, who are of similar age range.

Most of the time some real-life thing would occur such as a mean principal, missing items or friend problems. While this happens, Wishbone would draw some parallel between a popular written work, such as Sherlock Holmes, Robin Hood or some other literary tale. Both stories would be told at the same time as Wishbone would insert himself as the main character of said literary work, adding an interesting dynamic to the already iconic tale.

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As extremely odd as it sounds, I’ve only recently owned a second laptop. I’ve always owned the same one or done without. It was a monumental move for me to get a second laptop after the cooling fan went on my first machine, it also being the second new computer I had bought for myself. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the story of Novablade.

Circa 2010, I had just enrolled in ETSU and had just settled into my apartment near college. After being quite well-informed that my college courses were tech intensive, my family decided to get a laptop for me to do the work that I needed to do.

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