On The Fly

Yes, Baseball is back. Spring training began on February 24, 2023, with a few new rules. Let's face it - it's a game, and don't you adjust the rules when you play a game to suit the players? Major League Baseball did this year for a few, in my opinion, good reasons.

On Thursday, March 9, 2023 - Top Reads Publishing will host a book signing for Don Hanley at Wildwood Cafe, 116 Civic Center Drive in Vista, CA., from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. If you plan to attend, we need you to RSVP by March 1, 2023. Email  Don Hanley  or  Top Reads Publishing .

Have you ever wondered where the electricity generated by a PhotoVoltaic (PV) Solar system goes when the system is shut down? Stay tuned for the answer.

I can't remember a time in my life when the name Disney was not part of my vocabulary. This year, 2023, marks the 100th-anniversary celebration of Disney. And it all started with a man and a mouse.

Recently I read an article from one of my favorite online newsletters, How-To Geek, that caught my eye,  How to turn your Windows PC into a WiFi hotspot.  You can click the link in the blog post to review the entire article if you like, but here is a quick summary.

Are you a reader ( listener ) concerned with young people's education today? Are we teaching our children to be creative or follow archaic rules handed down through generations? If so, let me introduce you to the author Don Hanley, Ph. D., and his inspiring memoir that we just finished. 

What if I told you - you've had the most precious gift in your possession since birth, yet you’ve never taken the time to open the box? Let's explore your creative imagination.

Have you ever wondered how New York City got the name The BIG Apple? 🍎 Let's explore together.

Another hallmark of music is it seduces you into listening again and again, planting a catchy melody and words into your subconscious mind. And as you circumnavigate life, accumulated experiences provide new meaning to what, on the surface, appear to be just words. Let's explore Watching the Wheels.

Imagine it - 2023! With the advent of streaming content and YouTube TV, you can watch CNN and the celebration in New York with correspondent Anderson Cooper. This year it’s first since the COVID pandemic, the celebration hosted millions in Time Square. Just before  The Ball  dropped, Chelsea Cutler sang her rendition of John Lennon’s Imagine; this got me thinking.

On Dec. 6, 2002, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) announced the launch of a pre-enrollment website for customers interested in joining the company’s upcoming Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) pilot program. Learn more!

If you are convinced this Christmas Santa didn’t get your letter, be sure to address your 2023 letter to the following: Santa Claus 123 Elf Road North Pole, 88888

With Christmas 2022 quickly approaching, I’m reminded that 2014 was about re-inventing myself; I’d asked Santa for a new electric guitar and began dreaming.

Frosty the Snowman is a 1969 American animated Christmas television (TV) special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. It’s the first television special featuring the character Frosty the Snowman. Enjoy our 2022 holiday performance.

In this episode - Keeping Christmas, a poem for the holidays by Henry Van Dyke, read by Lori Ball.

On Sunday, November 11, 2022, while watching Elton John's return to Dodger Stadium, 47 years later, his Farewell Yellow Brick Road, North American tour, streaming on Disney+, feelings of immense gratitude stirred my soul.

A Thanksgiving poem by Edgar Albert Guest.

If the portions Grandma serves are a little skimpier this Thanksgiving, blame inflation.

Have you ever Googled Yosemite Stories ? I want to share a "not so famous" story after our recent visit—an experience from the ever-changing landscape of people who visit there and their grand expectations.

Tomorrow, the first Sunday, November 6, 2022, at 2 a.m., is when Daylight Saving Time ends in most areas of the United States, returning to Standard Time. Be sure to set your clocks one hour back before bedtime on Saturday night!

Nothing but my thoughts as if a bolt of lightning struck me; most people in the twenty-first century are allergic to silence and lack something to do. They are always doing. I'm as guilty as you. What to do?

Johnny Owens and the Bakersfield sound? It was Saturday, October 22, 2022, and we celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary; now we’ve been married for 34 years - but we’ve heard the 50th is always special, so we celebrated in a very unusual way - in Bakersfield!

Are you planning to host a pumpkin carving party for the neighborhood kids this holiday season or maybe liven up your porch for Halloween? Here are a few tips you might try.

Welcome to On the Fly, a weekly podcast about whatever comes to mind. I'm your host Patrick Ball. Today we introduce video podcasts.

Friday, Oct. 7, 2022, we participated in a special luncheon for one of our engineering team members Doan Vo from Vietnam. As a special gift, we prepared and performed a song that you all know - Country Roads by John Denver (lyrics rewritten) on guitar accompanied by mandolin at the luncheon.