Man, Do I Miss These Guys!

A Michigan original, Borders Books and Music. One of my favorite joints to hang out through the entire 90s decade. Originally from Ann Arbor, MI, they started off as a small store by brothers Tom and Louis Borders while they were attending the University of Michigan, and long story short, it snowballed into a global conglomerate.

Fast forward to the second decade of the 21st century:

The smartphone and tablet phenomena had picked up steam in the then-recent years prior to 2011, the MP3 player had already taken off in the late 90s, and when the iPod debuted, the writing was on the wall. Downloads were the thing, which meant bookstores were dwindling in sales, albums were following suit, and so on and so forth!

Borders, despite monumental fanfare, was not exempt from such an inevitable fate.

You’d think that they’d kept the flagship store open, but that’s just my wishful thinking.

I have had the pleasure and privilege of going to many Borders Books and Music stores for the better part of 20 years. I’ve been to locations that were originally second hand joints converted into Borders, I’ve seen some built from the ground up, I’ve been in stores that were the size of one or two houses in the inner-city combined, heck, I’ve been in some high-end Borders that were three stories tall and had a basement!

Time will not allow me to embellish entirely my history with Borders, but the atmosphere was indescribable, you just couldn’t put words into it.

To conclude for now, let’s just say that the company had gotten “too big for its britches”. And the electronic boom began to skyrocket, Borders began closing store after store after store, until what was leftover was liquidated to its former competitor, Barnes & Noble, and it seems that BN is about to suffer a similar fate, but unlike the former bookstore, the latter still remains.

Does anyone remember having both a Borders and Amazon account simultaneously?

So do I.

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Every Gamer’s DREAM!

Image copyright @actofgod on Instagram.

The CSR franchise, and the Asphalt Series would be right up my alley with this! If I had a larger house, you’d see something like this, except it’d be iOS (just saying).

One slight adjustment: Move the keyboard and mouse over to the left.

But then, law enforcement had their computers to the right, and some of them are lefties like myself.

But this would be a dream come true for me!

One of my future plans is to set up an account that is strictly for iTunes. Music, apps, games, tokens for games, etc.

Reminds of the arcades in the 80s and 90s when only a select few of these cockpits that had the gas, brake, and clutch pedals, let alone “four-on-the-floor”. Or five, or six depending on what your whip is.

I’d definitely invest in this once I get a bigger house.

Monochrome Composition, Part XII

Subject: Lake St. Clair (Lac Sainte Claire).

Location: Veterans Memorial Park, St. Clair Shores, MI.

Camera: iPhone 7 Plus.

Filters: iOS HDR and Mono.

Brief backstory: My wife and I had our first off day together yesterday and I wanted to purchase some park passes so she could have access to some waterfront parks. Being a Cincy girl, this had her speechless! We spent about a good half hour sitting on the bench listening to the ripples of the lake and seeing boaters come and go.

I think I’d finally had her sold on something here!😉

“Swig a Beer for The Working Man!” -Stone Cold Steve Austin

Well, I’ve finally got two days off without being mandated on the job! Which gave me an opportunity to do two things: 1) Get the house cleaned up (which I’ve done a huge majority of-I can’t stand a dirty house), and 2) this the first time the wife and I had an off day together!

Yes, God is good! And even though I don’t drink like I used to, this was very apropos. I don’t remember the last time I had Pabst Blue Ribbon, but when I found out that I had two days off without a mandate, I was all-in at that point!

Nice and cold, and having the glass sit in the freezer for a good hour or less was very fitting indeed!

And with a big dent put in this house cleaning project, I have definitely made application of the title above!

Swig a beer for the working man.

And that’s the bottom line, cause Stone Cold said so!

Currituck Beach Light Station

Still sifting through pics of my recent trip to OBX, this iconic lighthouse was one of many tourist attractions in the South.  The Currituck Beach Light Station has stood the test of time in its 140-plus year history.  I will do my best not to plagiarize the pamphlet/leaflet in my possession, but I’ll make the best of efforts to fuse a few factoids from it as well some words of my own, along with my photographs.

On December 1, 1875, this lighthouse filled the remaining “Dark Space” on the NC coastline between Cape Henry to the north and Bodie Island to the south.  Being from Detroit, MI, we have a few lighthouses on the shores of the city, whereas Michigan alone had more lighthouses than any other coastal state in the U.S..  Reason being that Michigan was/is a border state.

The start of a new adventure for myself.  I’ve always wanted to visit a lighthouse, let alone see the very top of one in person so I can see the horizon from the skies on down… And BTW, I took this shot after I came down from a ten-story flight of steps,  maybe eleven or twelve (I lost count after eight or nine…).

It’s been said that in the 1970s, this Lighthouse Keepers’ house has stood open to the elements with no outside protection i.e. doors, windows, etc.  I wouldn’t be surprised if the lighthouse itself had suffered some similar calamities at that time…

Six in one, half a dozen the other.  Either way, I was at the point of no return at this point.  I gotta admit, the view was breathtaking to say the least.

And these iron steps have held up well, to say the very least.  I didn’t think my wife and I were gonna make it because the stairs appeared to be very thin.  Andrew Carnegie was way ahead of his time with the steel industry.  If these walls could talk after 14 decades, they’d write a book with infinite chapters.  Mountaintop is on it’s way…

…and here we are!  Breathtaking views, warm weather, the calming of the Atlantic, the soothing wind.  Enjoying the creations of God from the top down.  I do not remember whether or not this was The Sound, or the Atlantic Ocean, either way, I enjoyed myself.

And of course, the beacon that has finally been linked from Cape Henry to Bodie Island.  I can only imagine how beautiful this be at night.  Even in broad daylight, the reflectors on the beacon’s focal plane are just at blinding.

I think this might be The Sound.  It’s annexed to the Atlantic Ocean either way.

Now I will paraphrase a little trivia from the leaflet that I still have from my trip to Corolla.

• Number of steps:  220
• Height to top of roof from ground:  162′
• Height to focal plane of lens from sea level:  158′
• Number of bricks:  approximately 1,000,000
• Thickness of wall at base:  5’8″
• Thickness of wall at parapet:  3′
• Diameter at base:  28′

This iconic light house was the last of the brick lighthouses built on the Outer Banks.  After years of decay and abuse from the elements, and eventual restoration, the lighthouse was opened to the public in 1990.

If you thought these pics were something, you oughta see the ones from my iPhone!  Don’t worry, they’re coming’ soon!  Real soon.

One last thing:  Make sure that you’re in good physical condition to climb the stairs to this lighthouse.  And remember that the brick walkways are uneven.  It’s a good thing I started working out again in recent months, I wouldn’t have made it.

At this point, I have developed a whole new respect for the treadmill, elliptical, and stair master.  They definitely paid off for this trek.

I’d do this again!

Truer Words has NEVER been Spoken!

Just let it sink in, this is very self-explanatory!

CSR2 VIP

More to come on this iconic video game! I guess after 4-5 years of playing all the CSR games-with CSR2 being the most recent and most popular one-has paid off to some point.

I would embellish further, but time escapes me at the moment.

Let’s just say that in both CSR and its sequels, I’ve passed most of the tiers so far, now I’m doing the world tours, the live races, all the fixin’s, as it were. The only drawback is, just like the arcades, you have to spend some money to work your way up to the next level.

On “virtual” paper, I’ve made many millions, and have owned millions of dollars in various automobiles from a Chevy Impala in CSR Classics to a Ferrari 430 Scuderia in CSR, to an Aston Martin Vanquish in CSR2!

Heck, on my AM, I’ve even gone so far to have “JB 007” on my license plate!

Don’t believe me? Check this out!

Like I said, the time fails me to embellish further on this subject.

Stay tuned!

Um… Not a Fan!

I had this in the 90s. I was in my mid-20s, and this quickly flew as my tastes has changed.

It fell off the radar and eventually resurfaced.

And here we are 20 years later…

I don’t think you’ll catch me dead drinking this now.

My thoughts exactly!

Tips From Around the World!

I’ve never received tips from other parts of the world let alone Canada. I got a Five Euro Bill last night. I did some brief research on the currency exchange on the notes above:

US Dollar=$0.85 Euro

Canadian Dollar=$0.77 US

Euro=$1.77 US

Wow! I remember in the early 90s that gradually our currency was going down in value, but I didn’t think that it would drop to $0.15 below its face value.

Now I understand what both mom and pop was trying to convey to me (when I was younger) about both saving and investing. Now had I listened to them (as well as a few relatives of mine), I’d be a “borderline” rich man.

If such a thing exists! I’m just saying.

But discovering the knowledge that I discover earlier today, I’ve developed a whole new respect for money.

Solomon advised that “he who loves silver will not satisfied with silver”, and even went so far to advise that “money is for a protection”.

Something to think about!