XYZ- The A to Z Challenge

We have reached the end of another Blogging Challenge. I have am coming to you live from the slacker desk here at Tronster.net

It has been a busy month in the house of Tronster.  But things are looking up.  The month has come to an end, my blog has changed and there will be many posts in the future.

X- marks the spot.  Here on the Internet, this is my mark.

Y- could be anything, but Y is it so hard to get motivated sometimes.  Many reasons present themselves for such contemplation, but this year was more difficult than the last two I have participated in.  I think it is because I did not have a plan.

"Z" marks the end of the 2014 Challenge.  I will follow many of the new blogs I have found.  I will most likely not write a wrap up post, because I so poorly participated this year.

I am already looking forward to next year.  

Keep on blogging

"W"--WTF

Well thats Fantastic


Whiskey Tango Foxtrot has a popular meaning that I do not like.  I prefer the Well thats fantastic.

I first heard this from a friend of mine that saw this posted on a facebook posting.  I could not stop laughing.  A friend had just been given an award of some sort, and her mom was so proud.  She posted "WTF" I am so proud of you.

The award winner's other friends could not believe what her mother had said.  After about 10 or so comments her mom defined the "WTF" as Well thats Fantastic.

I think we should adopt that as the new meaning of WTF.  Lets encourage its use for all to see.

"V"-Velocity

Velocity is defined as the speed of something in a given direction.  Or basically Speed.

The challenge has been moving along at a great velocity.  We are almost to the end and we keep moving on.

Today I wanted to post something about what I think about the velocity of life.  I have completed my first 40 years, and it seems like only yesterday I was graduating high school.  Lets hope the next 40 years are the same way.  High Speed low drag.

I did not mention momentum on the "M" post, but should have.  Be we have momentum going into the closing days of the challenge and we want to keep it up.

"U"-Unexpected

The A to Z Challenge is moving forward.  If you are here because of the challenge let me know.  I spend about 20 min to an hour a day visiting the different blogs on the challenge.

Today's post I am going to discuss unexpected results.  I have a link in my Chrome browser to the A to Z challenge sign up.  Actually it is from the 2012 signup.  Something I discovered today while catching up on my challenge visits.

I found a couple of Blogs that I enjoyed reading that were not in this years challenge.  I can imagine when the authors find the comments I left, they will wonder when they signed up for the challenge.

Regardless, I posted yesterday my absence from the challenge because of commitments I made to non-internet friendly geographic areas.  I am back now and moving on with the challenge.

I hope you have found some unexpected jewels to keep up with during the challenge this year.

"P"-Publish

Yes as a blogger on Blogger, there is the button "Publish" in the top corner of the data entry page.  There are some other "P" words I could have chosen that would appropriately fit into the A to Z Challenge pages.  Like "Procrastinate" or "Postpone".  However, I know many of the "participants" don't do either.

Regardless, not able to hire a full time tech-writer or editor for my page has created several of published posts to resemble the work of 6th grader on prozac.

I am a horrible speller and I use this blog to improve my typing and writing skills.  Not necessarily to improve my story telling abilities.  I also enjoy the notion that total strangers read what I have to say, and occasionally let me know what they think.  I do mean occasionally.

However, I have been keeping up this blog for many years and I do not see slowing down anytime soon.

So go out there, live on the edge and press the publish button.

Enjoy your A to Z Challenge writing.

"O" Overnight Trip

Living in Northern VA, many places are a day to a day and half away.  My wife and I both work full time and some of our greatest adventures are short ones.  A couple of weeks back we took an overnight trip to Stamford CT.  The trip was a joyous occasion for one of our friends.  They were baptizing their baby girl.

This trip included included a one night stay in a Hotel.  Hence "overnight".  We packed a lot of fellowship in this short amount of time.  We were able to catch up with some folks we had not seen in years and I was able to meet more people.  People watching is another hobby of mine.

Stamford CT is close to Greenwich CT.  Apparently the great Paul Newman lived there at one time.  We enjoyed two local eateries.  Both of which are famous for Pizza.  I learned the WWF headquarters are in Stamford.  Don't judge me, I just would not have guessed this was where it all started.

Take a moment and consider where you live.  Is there a place where you could take an overnight trip?  Let me know some of your favorite overnight trips.

"N"-Nobody is home!!

Growing up in the 80s, I can recall the tape recorder answering machines.  Not that my family was poor, we just did not get one.  A couple of days ago, sitting in the office, I recalled the tape recordings you could be for your answering machine.  Essentially some one had recorded a bunch of songs to famous, or recognizable, music.  And My favorite was "Nobody is home, Nobody is home!!"  (I was typing that in a low voice"

Do recall these little gems?   Did you have one of these recordings?  I use to record the message like I answered the phone.  I would give my customary greeting, pause (for effect) and announce I was not there.  Always funny to get a message half way through someone speaking.

To this day, I do not like leaving messages on voice mail.

"K"--Killing Time

We all do it.  We find ourselves in a position where we arrive early to am appointment.  We wait on our significant other to finish some task or appointment they could have done alone, but wanted our company.  We are waiting for a phone call, or the "four hour window" for the cable guy.  We have to kill time.

What does Tronster do?  Well I play on my iPhone.  I have a couple of time killer apps.  Here are the ones I use the most.

1.  Bejeweled Blitz.--A 1 minute game of Bejeweled
2.  7 Little Words-- A word game takes about 3 to 7 minutes
3. FlipBoard--If you do not have this app, really check it out.


What do you do to kill time?

"J"--I wish I had a theme

Today's post is brought to you by the Letter "J".  Today is one of those days I wish I had settled on a theme, however I did not and most concentrate real hard to come up with a great topic.  You see the secret to a success blog, or radio program, or TV Program, is content.  This year's A to Z has some great writers and some great content.

Last year I was doing some travel bits, and it was easier, this year, I was not so prepared.

So today I think I will discuss, Junk in the Trunk.

Seems like a subject that could be fun.

This is not an Adult Content site, so its not THAT.

Many people keep a few things in the trunk.  On any given day, can you name five things you keep in the trunk?  Here is a list of my Junk in The Trunk.

1. Large Umbrella
2. Tool Bag
3. Picnic Blanket
4. flashlight
5. Blanket and pillows in plastic bag.  (For wife of tronster on long trips)

Do you have 5 or more things in your trick?  Leave a comment with what they might be

"H"-Hotels

Last year my theme was places I have traveled.  The list is fairly long.  I am a veteran of the US Navy, and I completed two Mediterranean Cruises while serving.  In addition, I had a great job traveling all over the world for a a few years.  To top it all off, I married a person who loves to travel.  Everything from weekend road trips to week long cruises.

Sometimes, we look for, lets inexpensive, accommodations while on these said trips.  Other times my job paid for the sleeping quarters.  Now I wanted to list some of my favorite hotels that I have stayed in throughout the world.

5.  The Doubletree hotel in Charlotte NC.  Not because it was a super nice hotel or a 5 star place.  Because I was upgraded to a 2 room suite because the rest of the hotel was under construction.  I also learned that if you have ever forgotten your cell phone charger, you should ask the front desk.  People leave them in the rooms all the time.

4.  Kempinsky Lufthansa Center, Beijing.  Nice place.  Very friendly staff, and it was real close to Durty Nellies.

3. The Lenox Hotel, in Boston.  Leopard skin nightwear in the room.  Need I say More?

2. Hilton Properties.  This may seem a little different.  For the most part, I am always treated well and the rooms have always been clean.

1.  Home---There is no bed anywhere in the world as comfortable as the one I have at home.  I love to travel, and would take another job with travel it it presented itself.  I love the adventure in going to new places and seeing different things.  I am always ready to come home and be with the family.

Have you traveled a lot?  I know there are several of you in the A to Z challenge with a travel theme, what are some of your favorite hotels?

"F" Family Friends and Fun

Today for the A to Z, I am going to talk about Family Friends and Fun.  Sometime, all three words cannot be used together.  Many people dread going to visit family, and always want to hang out with friends.  I, personally do not understand this particular phenomenon.

I understand, you cannot pick your family, and you may not always agree with them, but they can be loads of entertainment.  The little quirks each of our relatives have will one day be precious memories.  Now many participating in the A to Z challenge give great accolades to their family members.  Many of the writers out on the Interweb give thanks to their family.  I believe this is a great forum.

My family is "special".  Things today are not what they were when I was growing up.  My father has overcome alcoholism and became a pastor.   Talk about a change.  I have married a Filipino.  Talk about a change.  No matter what side of the family I am with, I always seem to have fun.

This past weekend, my family (Tronster and his better half) took a road trip to meet up with some friends and their family, and fun was had by all.  I went through six states. (Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut) I also want to say , I used the entire New Jersey Turnpike for the first time (look at that, another "F").  However, I think there are two more exits I missed.  We ate at a couple of Family owned and operated restaurants in Stamford, CT.  Places I can share a little later in the challenge.

These weekend road trips my wife and I partake in are some of the fondest memories.  Build these memories, share them with your family and enjoy your friends.


Another thought from Tronster, for the A to Z Challenge.

"E" everyone is welcome here at Tronster.net

I have mentioned it before, I just want to say it again.  I really enjoy the A to Z Challenge.  One of the reasons is everyone is welcome.  Even the Adult content folks, they are required to enter "Adult Content" which seems perfectly fair.  All others are welcome as well.

I wanted to let everyone know, although you and I may disagree on something, you are always welcome to stop by and say hello, check out my posts, or just surf by is fine for me too.  I haven't picked a real theme for this year, and I am struggling this first week.  However, I will get better and provide plenty of great discussions in the days that remain in the challenge.

Kick back, take a look at some of my older posts.  Let me know what you think.  Enjoy the hoping around checking out different blogs.  I know that is one of the great things about the challenge, is you get to see what others are thinking and possibly find some great advice.

Have a great weekend and enjoy your one day off.  I will see you around.

"D" Lets all go to the Dentist

I have a pretty cool dentist.  I think they are unfairly treated with fear from the common public and wanted to throw out a kudos for mine. Although, until he agrees to advertise on my little slice of the Interweb, I am not going to mention his name.

Boys and Girls, it is important that you take care of your choppers, or you might be in for a big surprise one day.  I was awaken, I did not wake up feeling relaxed, but was awaken by the pain of a tooth falling apart.  I really mean falling apart.  I did not like going to the dentist, because it is always a painful experience.  Then a friend told me about my current dentist and I went to see him.  He cleaned me up and fixed the pain.  (By fixing, I mean extracting) and now all is good and I visit him every six months to check out all the new stuff I paid for in his office.

Just a little reminder of taking care of yourself and finding a decent dentist.  Can you imagine the things they find in mouths that come through the office.  (Yuck)

This is another pre-recorded posting for the A to Z challenge.  Enjoy the rest of your day.

Created using BitStrip

"C" Climbing the corporate ladder

As a professional contract person, I have been trying for the last couple of years to make it into a company that will allow me to stay with them beyond the contract I was hired against. Well, so far that has not been a successful journey for me.  I am now with my 6th company in 7 years.  It has proven to be difficult to get hired onto overhead.

There are always challenges to face when working for a living.  This is one of mine.  Maybe I can start my own company, and then just live job to job.  According to this blog, I could be a successful writer.  (Okay maybe not).  Maybe a political commentator.  Although there seems to be enough of those on the boob tube already.

I will keep trying, and exploring my options.  If you have any ideas, let me know.

This is a pre-recorded post for the A to Z challenge.  Challenge yourself and join in.  I think there are a couple of more days.  I will be visiting as many of the 2000+ blogs as possible, but the rest of this week looks busy.  I am taking a trip to CT this weekend, and will try to work that into the challenge.

"B" Guess this is Blogging

Yes ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages.  The "B" for the challenge is blogging.  As most of the blogs that enter this contest seem to support each other, I want to thank everyone for participating.  I have been a part of the challenge for 2 years, this being my 3rd and I enjoy so much.  The first year was funny, it seems that was the only time I would keep up with my blog.  Then there was last year, when I played around with the settings a little bit, changed the layout and blogged a little more.

I have had this blog for several years, and since getting married to someone who doesn't surf the web for interesting reads, I have slacked off on the blogging.  In addition, I have had some professional challenges that required my undivided attention for large amounts of time therefore the blog has suffered.  However, I have not let the name of Tronster.net die, and I will continue.

Here is a list of (5) blogs I keep up with after the challenge last year.

1. A Passion and a Passport 
2. The Armchair Squid 
3. Bits and Bites
4. Bears Noting
5. The Occasional Adventures of a Hermit 

By no means is this list complete or in any particular order.  The owners are not even aware of me posting links.  I am pretty sure this isn't against the rules for the challenge. 

As you can see from the sign up sheet, there are close to 2000 blogs this year.  Maybe I can find a couple of more to read on occasion.  

Enjoy the challenge and hop around and find something you like.  If you like my little peace of the inter-web, comeback often, leave a comment or two, or three maybe even four if you feeling froggy.

A is for Automobiles

I think this year I will be working on different lists for the entire month.  Those will include bucket list completions and other goals I have had through out life.  If you have a comment, addition, or anything else to say about the lists, drop me a note.

I will continue to search the Blogger participating in the A to Z Challenge this year and look forward to all the fun that will be had this month.

So without further delay, lets get started.

Today I am going to list all the Automobiles I have had throughout my life.

 We had the short wheelbase

1. 1985 Fairmont Wagon (first car, although it belonged to my parents)
2. 1992 Ford Ranger
3. 1993 Ford Mustang GT (Favorite car)
4. 2004 Subaru Baja
5. 2005 Ford F150
6. 2006 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited
7. 2007 Subaru Forester XT
8. 2010 Acura RDX (nicest car)
9. 2005 Lincoln LS
10. 2000 Ford Ranger (still have this one)
11. 2014 Ford Fusion

This is a list of my Automobiles.  

I still have the 2010 Acura RDX, 2014 Ford Fusion and 2000 Ford Ranger.

What was your favorite Automobile?

It almost April, What does that mean?

It is time for the annual A to Z Challenge.  This year should be fun.  I am really busy with lots of things going on and we this challenge coming up.  The goal every year is to find more people to read and more sites to visit.  Also to get a few more people to visit my site.  Unfortunately, shortly after the challenge I seem to get lazy.  Well, maybe this year will be a little different.

You can sign up for the challenge here : 2014 A to Z

There are two parts to the challenge.  Writing and reading.  You have 7 days left, so go for it.

Last year's theme was travel.  Places I have visited with friends and family.  I have not settled on a theme this year.

There are 1600 currently signed up.

Have a great day

Survival- Reflections of the 2013 A to Z challenge

This past month has been very good for Tronster.net.  I personally started the challenge last year and missed two days.  This year, I was better prepared.  When I knew I would not be able to get online and update a post I did them in advance.  A great way to complete the challenge.  In addition, I talked about something I have a lot of experience about.  I also began to add more photographs.  There was even one day when I changed the layout on my blog. (Incidentally, I might be changing it again soon)

I also found many blogs to follow.  I have added them to my bookmarks.  I see many great posts on the challenge this year.  Here is a list of a few that I enjoyed.  There are many more, but I haven't got them all posted in my bookmarks yet to share.

Kat In Africa     Adventuring At Home    A Passion and a Passport   Traveling Suitcase

Most of these focused on similar topics as mine.  Traveling.

Even last year's challenge presented me with several that I follow.  This year's list of participants seems longer than last year.  This year I visited a total of 97 blogs. Although, according to the challenge I was suppose to visit closer to 150.  Next year I will continue to try improve seeing more of the blogs on the challenge.

I want to send a shout out to our organizers, Arlee Bird from Tossing it out, The Madlab Post (Nicole Ayers), Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh), Life is Good (Tina Downey), Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons), Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins), The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence), The QQQE (Matthew MacNish), Leave it to Livia (Livia Peterson), No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow), Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp), Spunk on a Stick (L. Diane Wolfe).

These guys and gals have done a great job on hosting and managing the A to Z Challenge.

"Z"-Zambia

The Republic of Zambia is a land locked nation in southern Africa.  The capital city  is Lusaka.  I know what your thinking, I can't believe I am learning something new during the A to Z challenge of 2013.  Regardless, my travels to Lusaka included a trip to a near by lodge to have a day at the Safari.

It is about an hours drive outside of the city of Lusaka.  My host was kind enough to drive, considering I do not know my way around the country side.  The cost includes a full day of activities, food and drinks.  I do not drink alcoholic beverages myself.  Its a lifestyle choice I made when I was very young.  My host and friends however, do enjoy and occasional cocktail.  While sitting on the porch of the lodge we place our order.  I receive the same drink as everyone else.  A rum and diet Pepsi.  It was very weak so I had no problem with the drink.  I guess that is what you get with open bar.

This particular lodge kept the dangerous animals in fenced 2 or 3 acre areas.  It was a wildlife preserve.  The lion you see here was waiting for the rest of the pride to bring him lunch as we walked up to the fence.  One of the workers had just thrown a piece of an antelope over the fence.  you not only hear the growls, you can fell them in your bones.

It was an amazing trip.  I was able to go horseback riding through the park and on a jeep safari.  The staff was extremely friendly and hospitable.  We took advantage of the one day option, however, there are cabins to rent and places to sleep.  I think this area is a little less expensive than the big safaris in South Africa.

Other fun facts about the country, the population is about 80% literate.  With all my travels in Africa, this is a high number.  Education is free until the 7th grade.

Well, this is the end of another A to Z Challenge.  I want to thank everyone who stopped by and left comments.  The frequency of the posts will decline, however, Sunshine and I love to explore, so I will continue to make suggestions and other comments.  I have found several new pages for myself to follow.

"Y"-Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia was a country started in 1943 at the end of WWII.  The country split up in 1992 after internal ethnic troubles persistant and the area was at war.  I have had the opportunity to visit a couple of locations from the former Yugoslavia.  Zagreb, and Sarajevo.

In 1984 the town of Sarajevo hosted the winter olympics.   On one of my free days, some colleagues and I headed to the Olympic resort.  Located just outside the city, we had to drive up the mountain to enjoy the snow capped mountains.  Since the end of the war, sarajevo has been struggling to get tourist back in their country, so we were heading north to see what there was to offer.  Sarajevo itself was in various stages of rebuilding and during the civil war, was the center of fighting for much of the time.  I believe the city was under siege for a couple of years.

As we pulled into the Olympic village and found us some parking we headed to meet our guide for the day.  Our party consisted of about 9 people.  We had different intrest for the trip.  Some wanted to ski, some wanted to snowboard and some wanted to snowmobile. (Snow machine for you folks in Alaska).  From the top of the mountain, everything looked very peaceful.  For me, this was a new kind of cold.  Really, a new kind of cold.  Our guide explained the snow was about 12 meters deep when we picked up our snow mobiles.  In addition, there was a local news team to cover the tourists that come to visit the city.

I am someone who has never owned a motorcycle.  I grew up in Northeast Florida.  This was my first time on a snowmobile.  And I crashed it.  You will see from the left, several folks assisted me in the recovery.  I think there is some of my pride still sitting on the old mountain.

Overall we had a wonderful time of fun and fellowship.  I was able to see some really cool sites and crash a snowmobile.






The A to Z challenge is coming to an end.  Keep up the blogging even after the challenge.  I have had a great time and look forward to following new people until the next A to Z.