This site was started as my personal blog five many years and 500 posts ago. Not a lot of people read it, but it’s an outlet for my self-expression and inner frustrations. Most of my readers were friends and family.

In 2008, when my oldest son, also named Al, had a double-lung transplant in Pittsburgh, I began using it to write about it to keep our family updated on his progress. It’s been a real adventure and the number of readers and comments has been great.

Lately, I’ve returned to blogging about random things, but have been posting frequently about my Amateur Radio hobby.

Music, especially local independent musicians, has been an interest of mine and a frequent topic.

My latest passion has been about my desire to go on a cross-country cycling tour. In the preparation stage right now, I’ll be writing about that as it progresses.

I’ve tried to classify posts according to categories. Many of them fit several. You can find things that way, or just search using the widget in the sidebar.

Warning:

This site is opinion. It is up to you to find out if it is or isn’t fact. I am not a journalist and don’t feel I am constrained by any journalistic rules or guidelines.

In fact, I think all that crap about bloggers being journalists is a bunch of hooey. Some bloggers happen to be journalists. Some happen to be car mechanics too, but blogging doesn’t make them that. Nor, in most cases, does it pay the bills.

I’m not a habitual liar, but if you read something here and it turns out not to be true, don’t tell me I should have checked my facts. Fact-checking is for journalists. If you want journalism, You should check the facts yourself…

If I feel like writing fiction, I might post it here too. You have a brain, think for yourself. Everything you read on the internet is not true. If I feel like using hyperbole, sarcasm, exaggeration, or even play the devils’ advocate and say the opposite of what I believe, as tools to express myself, then I will.

Links to off-site media may have moved or been deleted and may not work. If you find one and know of an updated location, I can fix it, but there is no guarantee that old posts will work or make sense without them. In addition, a couple of plug-ins I used in support of audio files have not kept up with the latest WordPress versions and don’t function. If you find one not working, let me know and I can change the post to use an alternative.