Don’t get me wrong, I’m not second guessing anything I did or the choices I made to get me to this point in life. I love where I’m currently at in life and wouldn’t trade it for the world. I have a beautiful fiancé who in less then a year will be my wife and “partner in crime”, a great job which I enjoy doing, and I’m as stable as I’ve ever been.

However, have you ever done the “what if” questions in your head? What if I asked this person out instead of that person? What if I didn’t get fired from that job? What if I applied myself just a bit harder in my studies? The list goes on and on and there are literally a ton that you could ask yourself and each one would have put you in a different position then where you are today. Would they have bettered your present day self or made it worse? I guess no one really knows for sure.

Have you thought about it and the bigger question is would you have changed anything??? I can say a resounding NO to the second part, the first part not so much but that’s just my style.

Until Later…

They have the balls to charge me $123.00 to see the doctor for a minor medical issue in one of their offices and then send me an additional bill for $72.00 just for walking into the office. As it was explained to me by the billing specialist, Here’s how it’s broken down:

The $123.00 is for the following:

1. The doctor walking into the room and saying good morning and looking me over.

The $72.00 is for the following:

1. Talking to person sitting at the registration desk.
2. The nurse taking my vitals.
3. 2 rubber gloves the Dr used to poke at my leg.
4. Talking to the person at checkout who graciously took my co-pay.

I have no problem with the total bill being $123.00, that I can handle… but that little extra $72.00 is total fucking bullshit which they call a “facilities fee”. I wish I could charge a client a total of $195.00 to sit in a small room before they actually get to see me, but that would end in the same way this is going to end. They can go to hell and shove that money up their ass.

Until Later…

This post is in memory of them… Michael, Dick, Judith, Ronald, Ellison, Gregory, and Christa. As President Reagan said that evening “We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for the journey and waved goodbye and ‘slipped the surly bonds of earth’ to ‘touch the face of God.’”

You will forever be in our hearts. God’s speed.

Goal #1… Finally win the battle of the bulge and have it in a full retreat by the end of the year.

Goal #2... Get out and enjoy the great outdoors more then I already do.

Goal #3… Set aside one weekend a month and make it technology free. Step back and enjoy the finer points of life without the constant distractions of the technical world.

Goal #4… Move my personal business from the shelf and onto one of the burners. Strive to grow it into something which could become my primary source of income in years to come.

Goal #5… Keep mindful of the stresses I’ll encounter in the upcoming year with the planning of our wedding and remember that this is the last time I’ll ever be doing this so stop sweating the small stuff.

Goal #6… Blog more then I have in the past. This is going to be an exciting year and I want to keep it chronicled for the future.

I know some of them may not seem like resolutions at all, or they seem out of place, but hey I’m not going to write something down which I don’t think I’ll be able to do.

Until Later…

January started out as any normal January would, quiet and somewhat cold. I continued in my job as a Business Analyst at Capital BlueCross in the Medicare Enrollment department. After a Management Change the beginning of December 2009 it was a little unclear what exactly was going to happen within my department but we were all muddling along as best we could. The end of January brought on a trip of sorts for me… No, not a vacation but a slip and fall at home which messed up my left knee (More on this later).

February brought a month of limping along in life. I celebrated Jen’s Birthday on the 9th by being snowed in with her. We had 2 winter storms in the span of a week dropping several feet of snow on the Lower Susquehanna Valley and between the two of us we were able to dig out and have some fun a the same time. Also, I finally broke down and visited the Doctor for the first (of many) times about my knee.

March was a month of transition for me. I was transferred within our unit at work and went from the Enrollment group to IMaR (Information Management and Reporting). This was a blessing in disguise because come later in the month the unthinkable happened, my employer went through a round of layoffs. Our unit lost two members, one who was a close personal friend but overall we were spared a major cut.

April brought me another birthday and physical therapy for my still ailing knee. It also ushered in the beginning of fishing season, I tried to get out as much as possible, but time wasn’t good for me. As per my norm, the first day of Trout Season brought an early morning at the lake with Jennifer but no fish at the end of the day.

May was somewhat busy. We welcomed another family member into our brood, not by birth but by marriage. My Cousin got married on Mother’s Day (May 9th) and she officially became a Berry… Mandy Berry that is. The following week I got my father out on a boat fishing for Striped Bass at Raystown Lake. We didn’t catch any stripers, however I boated a rather nice Lake Trout which ended up at Jen’s Parents house. I also got the news I didn’t want to get, but knew in the back of my mind was going to happen. I needed surgery on my left knee.

June was actual uneventful. I had my knee Surgery on the 21st and was laid up for a good while.

July brought the 1st annual Lorenz/Wentz camping trip to the cabin in Tioga County over the 4th of July weekend. We all had a blast, well as much as I could less than two weeks post surgery. We had great weather (only hot and humid on the last day) and great fun with great company. Of course we had our laughs, the highlight being Cindy chased by fireworks gone wonky.

August and September were also quiet with my knee getting worse then better. A quick trip to the doctor found that he “fixed” it too well, causing arthritis in the joint. I limped along until the end of September when I got, as the doctor called it, “a lube job for my knee”. I also started planning Jennifer’s Christmas present, and it was one for the ages.

The rest of the year was quiet and uneventful… that is, until Christmas morning. That was the day I asked my wonderful Girlfriend to Marry me. She said yes and now we’re going to be planning a wedding.

All in all, I had a rather uneventful year. Quiet as I like it but punctuated with the good, the bad, and the ugly. I hope this coming year continues the trend… but only time will ultimately tell.

Until Later…