Friday, December 5, 2008

Muh Muh Muh Myyyyyy Corolla

My car has caused me a great deal of emotional pain since I bought it back in January. Now it has taken a turn for the worst.

I was driving home from work today, and about halfway home, I began feeling a lot of push back and struggling from my accelerator. I was still a few miles away from an exit, so I dropped down to about 55 until I could get off. I did a quick check around the car, checked the oil, nothing blatantly obvious. I drove the rest of the way home via backroads, and every couple minutes, my car continued to shake, putt, and struggle to accelerate.


Early indications show that my car has one of the following issues:
- Bad spark plugs (least likely - replaced those a couple months ago)
- Clogged fuel filter (not likely)
- One of my pistons, rings, or cylinders completely took a dump (more likely)
- Blown head gasket (most likely)


I'm bringing my car to a shop on Monday to have a compression test done and assess the damage from there. I have one and a half years (at minimum) worth of car payments left. I have no idea how I'm going to pay for the potential thousands of dollars in repairs. I can't afford another car and make two car payments.


I would like to request one or more of the following from you:


-Please pray that I would trust in God's sovereignty over the situation, and that He would provide for the potential costs involved.
-The name of a mechanic who is willing to do the necessary work as close to the cost of parts as possible.
-Advice


Thanks.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

2 shows in 2 days

I've been pretty tired the past couple days, but that's not because I haven't been able to sleep. I chose to sacrifice sleep for the benefit of seeing two amazing shows in two days. I'll give you a recap:

Monday night - Weezer and Angels & Airwaves @ The Palace

I went with my brother-in-law Wayne, who's a huge Weezer fan. I like Weezer, but not enough to own any of their music. After we paid the undesired $15 parking fee, we went down to the floor (which cost extra, but well worth it) just in time for A&A. I was expecting a slower, spacier version of Blink 182, based on what I had been told. They at least managed to meet those expectations, but if I never hear another A&A song again, I wouldn't be bothered at all. The drummer was really good - I do have to give them that.

Weezer was awesome. They started with "Jonas" and got everyone (including me) pumped up right away. They played over 2 hours, covering all the hits off all their records, including a bunch of stuff from the new record, and even did a cover of Oasis's "What's the Story Morning Glory." I was impressed how good everyone was at their instruments, and each other's. Rivers (sporting the mustache) and Patrick switched instruments on multiple occasions, and everyone in the band got a chance to sing their own songs. This is probably nothing new to the rest of the Weezer faithful.

They also had two encores. For the first one, they handpicked about 20 weezer fans to play with them, which included a slew of acoustic guitarists, a clarinet, tuba, and bassist Scott's dad on saxophone. They played "Island in the Sun" and "Beverly Hills" with the group, ala jam band style. They played two songs in the second encore, with the last one being "Buddy Holly," a perfect ending.

Tuesday night - Sleeping at Last @ Calvin College

Sleeping at Last hardly ever goes on tour, and when they do, they can't bring along the string section that plays on their records. Instead, they bring the next best thing - a MacBook Pro - to cover the string parts. Tonight, however, they recruited people from around the area and formed an 8 piece guest string ensemble to play with them. Four violins, two violas, and two cellos.

They played about an hour and a half, and the strings played about half of the set. I got goosebumps every time they entered the songs. The show tonight was in the chapel, which has very open acoustics and required the band to play quietier. Not a bad thing - it actually made the music feel more personal. By far, it was their best show I've seen them play.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Golfing



I've only golfed twice in my life. This coming week, however, that number will double. I've decided to take a part in two golf scrambles, the first one coming tomorrow. Since the last time I've attempted to golf was over 5 years ago, I hit the driving range yesterday to see what I should expect out of myself. Let's just say that, a lot of these were mine:

And so were a lot of these:

(The first white post in the distance was the 100 yard marker. I took the picture from where I was hitting)



To the other 3 people in my foursome: I'm sorry in advance. However, I did win the award for longest putt the last time I played.

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Jogging

I've been thinking about taking up jogging for awhile.

This idea originated a couple years ago when, for a month or so, I had an irregular heartbeat and shortness of breath. My doctor ran a EKG and found something "abnormal," so they sent me to the hospital in Owosso so that they could run a stress test. I had to run on a treadmill with a bunch of cords and stuff stuck to me, during which the doctors kept pointing at my overweight stomach. After the test was over, I was out of breath, and they concluded that I was severly out of shape and needed to start exercising.

Finally, about 3 weeks ago, I decided to start jogging. Based on the experiences I've had so far, I have a few suggestions for anyone that is thinking about starting. I'm not reinventing the wheel here - you could probably google "how to start jogging" and you'd probably get the same suggestions - but this is just my personal experience:

- You need a warm up/cool down period, at least 3 minutes for each. That's a given.
- You need a good breathing pattern. What's working pretty good right now is inhaling every 4 steps, then exhaling every 4 steps. If you don't develop a pattern, you get side cramps. I've gotten some of those and they put a damper on the remainder of your jogging session.
- You need a routine. Pick a time when you're going to jog, and stick with it.
- Start by doing an even amount of jogging/walking. If you have lamp posts, walk to one, jog to the next. We don't have street lights in our neighborhood, so I started jogging for one minute, then walking the next.
- Set a goal, but be patient, and don't burn yourself out. I'm up to 2 minutes of jogging, one minute of walking. I'd like to run a few 5Ks next year, but I'm nowhere near that point yet. It's going to take me awhile to get there, but I'm not in any hurry.

I hope that helps. If you have any running ideas for me, or if there's something I'm doing that I shouldn't be, please let me know.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Beijing Restaurant Prepares

My friend Ty told me about this restaurant that was nice enough to translate its name for all the English-speaking tourists in Beijing. Unfortunately, they used an internet translator instead of someone who actually knew English. This is what they came up with:


I'm still laughing. I wonder if I could get some core dumplings there.


Read more here: http://adweek.blogs.com/adfreak/2008/07/then-well-grab.html

Friday, August 8, 2008

4 day workweek pt. 2

Today marks the end of my 4 day workweeks. If you didn't read pt. 1, you won't have to scroll down very far to see the intent and purpose of the condensed workweek (again, my life is not that interesting). As I mentioned, they will be asking everyone to give feedback about how it worked (or didn't work).

I thought it was great to have Fridays off. Last weekend, Heather and I went up north. Friday, we stayed with her sister, and I took my nephew Noah to Michigan Adventure where we rode the rollercoasters all day long. We then spent Saturday and Sunday in Manistee with my grandparents, which I was grateful for considering they're 87 and have traded trips to the hospital the past couple years.

When we didn't take trips, Heather and I found ourselves running errands and getting Saturday's stuff accomplished on Friday, and Sunday's stuff done on Saturday, leaving Sunday wide open. Most importantly, I got to sleep in 3 days out of the week instead of 2.

Working longer hours throughout the week wasn't that big of a deal either, because Heather took 9 graduate credits in a 5 week period, so she was plenty busy while I worked later. However, her classes got done last weekend, so this week she spent every day until 6:30pm (or later) by herself. Had she not taken those classes, she might have gone crazy. I sympathize for the other employees who have families. Is the extra day off worth the previous 4 days of lost time?

As for work, I was more productive and felt that it was easier to stay on task. However, this 5-week timeframe is also the slowest time of the year, so it probably wouldn't make a difference if you compared it to a normal workweek.

In general, for me, the pros of a four day workweek outweigh the cons. For others, though, it may be the opposite. At this point, I would support doing this again next summer. Now that we're going back to a full 5 day week, I wonder what I'll miss and what I won't miss. I guess I'll find out and let you know.

Monday, July 7, 2008

My green chair

Imagine an episode of The Office that goes something like this:

Michael Scott, to his dismay, finds that the employees in Accounting are sitting in green chairs instead of the normal purple chairs that everyone else sits in.  These chairs had been sitting down in storage, unused, and were more comfortable than the purple ones.  About a year ago, Angela discovered them and so did her colleagues.  

Michael, not realizing how long these green chairs had been around, orders that the chairs be returned to where they found them.  

Upset, Angela walks down to receiving and asks Darryl if he knows anything about the chairs.

"They're new chairs," he says.
"I don't understand," says Angela.  "I'm not giving up that chair."

Word gets to Michael about these new chairs, so he asks Darryl where the chairs came from.

"You ordered them," says Darryl.
"No I didn't."
Darryl pulls up the invoice.
"Ah, yes," replied Michael.  "They were for the new employees."
"What new employees?" asked Darryl.

Michael, not wanting to explain himself, rushes off.  "Gotta go!"  His branch was going to hire new employees before corporate decided to cut jobs.

For no apparent reason, Michael confiscates the green chairs and gives them to Goodwill.

The End.


A similar event actually happened today at work.

Boss visits our work area because it will be undergoing minor renovations.  She notices that several of us, including me, have green chairs (yes, they are green too!), accuses us of stealing the chairs from another department in the building, and orders them to be returned.  (We didn't steal the chairs, they were in our department storage area.  And yes, they are more comfortable - it actually helped to get rid of my lower back pain).  Our head custodian informs us (and her) that these are new chairs that she ordered.  Long story short, she realized that these chairs were never needed, and donates them to the other departments in the building, so that all of us can have matching purple (and painful) chairs.

"I'm sorry that I ruined everyone's day," she said later.  "Oh well, back to work."

Thanks boss.

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Fireworks

Ever wonder how fireworks got their start, or how long people have been using fireworks? Check this out. I was contemplating this question during tonight's fireworks display, and am now informed.

Friday, July 4, 2008

4 day workweek

My life isn't really that interesting these days, but I thought I'd share some sort of update to tide you over until something more insightful comes along...

This week marked the first of 6 four-day workweeks. This week happened to be one of them because of our nation's 232nd birthday (thanks JR for the correction - I originally put 332), but the next 5 weeks I'll be condensing 5 days of work into 4. My work is doing this in a effort to save energy for both them and their employees.

I've never done this before, so I'm interested in how this is going to work out. Am I going to be so tired and burnt out after 4 days that I'll need an entire day to recover? Or am I going to have a relaxed, but productive day off?

The plan is to have this "trial" 5 week run and then everyone will give their feedback. If it turns out well, maybe next year they'll implement it for the whole summer.

Friday, June 6, 2008

Oh happy day!

Our stimulus check was direct deposited today.
Payday for Heather and I.
We're driving to Mackinaw City tomorrow.
I don't have to go back to work until June 16.
Heather's last day of teaching for the summer.
Our house has air conditioning, and it's turned on.

The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away...
Today, He decided to give.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Dancin' like a fool

Most of you have probably heard of this cheesy phrase at some point in your life:

"Love like you've never been hurt, Dance like no one is watching, Sing like no one is listening."

Whether I like it or not, I follow the part about dancing to a T. I'm not a good dancer. Not even close. In fact, I make this person look good:



I consider myself to be a fairly decent at DDR, and people tell I play drums really well. So why the bad dancing? I feel that my common sense level is a little lower than most people, which means that for many things in life, I can't just do something I've never done unless it has first been demonstrated by someone else. For example, I didn't know how to mow the lawn, tie a tie, or change the oil on my first car until my dad showed me. I didn't know how to efficiently paint a wall until someone with painting experience showed me. So until I get dance lessons (which I have no desire of paying for), I will continue my awkward, avant garde style dancing. Apparently it's quite entertaining for the people that have seen it.

Thanks to YouTube, I should be able to perform the Cha Cha Slide in time for the next wedding.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Baseball

On Saturday, I had this incredible urge to hit baseballs.  Unfortunately, the only batting cage in Cadillac wasn't going to be open until Memorial Day.  I was thinking about borrowing my brother-in-law's golf clubs and go to a driving range.  I don't play golf, but hitting golf balls feels somewhat similar to me.

Heather and I went to La Fiesta Grande on Sunday to support people from Riv going to Mexico and hang out with friends.  I was hoping for a small chance that people would bring baseball or softball gear and have a game.  And it happened.  I got to feed my baseball fix.

Now, 3 days later, I'm still sore from running and swinging the bat too hard.  But again, well worth it.

Wedding weekend #1

I had a good 4 day weekend.

Friday and Saturday were spent up in Cadillac.  Heather was a bridesmaid in her friend's wedding, and I got to watch...part of it.  We had a little miscommunication, or let me just say, I didn't realize my dress clothes weren't in my car until a half hour before the ceremony started.  So I had to rush to a clothing store to find some emergency dress clothes (which will be returned later) and as a result, I showed up 15 minutes late to the wedding.  5 minutes after I arrived, the wedding was over.  It was shortest wedding I've ever been to.  

The rest of the weekend was great.  Heather got to spend time away from school, both physically and mentally.  Anytime she's not stressed out, I also feel less stressed.  I think I try to bear some of her stress, whether it works or not.

Anyway, we got to spend time together and on Monday, were able to get caught up on stuff that had been neglected.  For Heather, it was school stuff.  For me, it was working on the yard and taking my car into the shop to get an alignment.

Yesterday, however, I got hit by a truckload of emails, meetings, and work orders when I went back to work.  I still haven't been able to dig myself out.  Oh well - the 4 day weekend was worth it.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Facebook

I've had intentions on creating a facebook profile for months, but knew I needed to devote time to set everything up. I really dislike my Myspace profile, for a few reasons. One reason is all the ads, and another is the pornographic friend requests. Just the other day, a friend request came from a naked girl lying face down, using the floor to cover the bare minimum. If I really wanted to view porn (which I don't), I wouldn't go to MySpace. To showcase my frustration, I changed my MySpace status to "Joel wants to get rid of his MySpace profile."

On Sunday, I went to Facebook and thought, "I'll just create my profile real quick and come back to it later." So I created my profile, but then saw how I could add friends using my email, and by people who graduated with me. I found people I hadn't talked to in years! Then I added my contact info, then people started accepting my friend requests...and then...and then.....3 hours later, I had to give the laptop back to Heather so that she could write lesson plans.

Needless to say, Facebook is far better than MySpace. For those of you that have it, I don't have to tell you that, but I just experienced it for myself. I enjoy how no one can view your profile unless they are a "friend," and there are no "screen names." There are many other things that make Facebook better, but I haven't experienced them all yet. One person told me that Facebook is to Macs as MySpace is to PCs. I'd have to agree.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Some month #3

Last month, after a couple weeks putting up with my broken, barely functional Treo, I bought a Motorola Q. I like this phone much better. It has many more and better features, has better call quality, and most importantly, all the buttons work. The only caveat is the low battery life, which can be resolved by upgrading to an extended life battery.

I had a heck of a time activating the phone with Alltel though. Last year, when I activated the Treo, I didn't have much trouble at all. I couldn't activate the phone at the store because they told me I needed a data plan. So I activated the Treo over the phone, no problem. They mentioned that a data plan is not required - just recommended.

So this time, I didn't expect to have any trouble activating the Q over the phone. However, having a data plan is now "required," no exceptions. Apparently they "changed their internal policy" a few months ago. (Thanks for telling us about it).

I didn't want the data plan. I rarely send text messages, and I don't need internet on my phone because I'm almost always near a computer. The customer service rep refused to activate the phone. I asked to talk with the manager and threatened to cancel my service. The guy wouldn't budge.

I hung up on the rep and wasn't sure what I was going to do next. Heather told me I should call back and get someone else, but this time, just tell them I needed to "transfer my service" from one phone to another. So I called back, told the different story, and my phone was activated, no questions asked.

Some month #2

Last month, I found out that my car is terminally ill.

I was convinced that the oil problem was just a fluke, but thought I should probably check my oil periodically just to be sure. About 2 weeks after my last oil change, I checked the oil while getting gas. I had lost 2 quarts of oil. &!$#&!*$^@#@!

I ended up doing the Fuel Pressure Check that was recommended to see why the catalytic converter died. Everything tested 100%, which means my fuel system is in top condition. I also asked the mechanic to find out why my car was burning so much oil. He told me that the problem was internal to the engine, basically stating that I would likely need major engine repairs. #$$&$*%%^%$^#!!

My car is definitely burning oil, not leaking it. The end of my exhaust pipe is black from all the soot caused by the burnt oil. THAT is why the converter died. A few days later, I took the car to a guy I know that owns a body shop, had him take off the converter, and replace it with a straight pipe. No sense in spending $200 on a converter that would have died within months.

Last week, I called the Toyota dealership to see if there was a recall for this type of engine problem. Nope. It happened because of infrequent oil changes from a previous owner. Toyota mechanic said the car would likely need a "ring job" which would cost around $1500.

I called another mechanic today to get another opinion. This person told me that I would probably need more than just a ring job. He said I could possibly need, at the least, a partial engine rebuild. At that point, I might as well rebuild the entire engine or find a different one. He's going to call me back tomorrow to give me a quote on a used/rebuilt engine.

I cannot afford to replace the engine, so for now, I'll just put a quart of oil in my car every week, and hope that the problem doesn't get any worse. Spending $2 extra per week on oil is much more feasible at this time.

DO NOT EVER buy a car without getting an inspection - I'm an idiot for not getting one in the first place. You wouldn't ever buy a home without an inspection. Learn from my mistake, please!

Some month

So I haven't posted in over a month. Time to play catch up. I'll give you a little recap from last month, given in chunks.

The first full week of April was Heather's spring break. Anytime she's able to get relief from all the stress involved with her job and the students also takes away some of my stress. I don't have a lot of stress from my job, and I don't need to take work home most of the time, but I always try to shoulder some of the stress that she experiences. Needless to say, we were both looking forward to her spring break.

It didn't, however, turn out exactly as we thought. Not at all. During the first "official" day of her spring break, she got hit with the viral flu bug. We ended up in the ER for 4 hours early Tuesday morning, and then 8 more hours late Friday night. She didn't get much sleep all week, which also meant I didn't get much sleep either. One highlight of the week was driving down to Detroit to see Feist, and she was amazing. The band Kings of Convenience was her "backup band," which I also like.

Heather started feeling better on Sunday, just in time for school and stress to start back up again.

Friday, March 28, 2008

Some week

This week is almost over, but not without some drama.

Monday - I begin driving my car out of my subdivision and the oil light comes on. ?!?@#$!!! I was already late for work and now had to drive to the nearest gas station (3 miles away) to see if I was actually low on oil. It was low - in fact, I wasn't sure if I could see anything on my dipstick. More ?!?@#$!!! I got my oil changed 3,000 miles ago, and was told I didn't have to come back for at least 5,000 miles because they put high-mileage oil in my car (which I asked them to do). Added 2 quarts and went on my way. Didn't have time to go back to the oil change place today, but will go tomorrow.

Tuesday - Went to the oil change place (not the same one as last time) and found out that the other place put synthetic oil in my car, not high mileage. This would normally be ok, but since my engine is over 100,000 miles, it tends to burn oil. As a result, the synthetic oil burned right up. Had I ignored the oil light, I could potentially not have a car right now. This place changed my oil, put the high mileage stuff in my car, and sent me on my way. I'm still a little paranoid, and will check the oil periodically.

Later, right before I went to bed, I accidentally knocked my phone off the couch. I've never dropped my phone before. I pick it up and notice that the keypad no longer responds. ?@#$%@$#~!!! The touchscreen still works (it's a smartphone). Reset the phone, still no functioning keypad. The only other thing I could try is do a "hard reset," which would erase everything on my phone. Too tired for that, will do that tomorrow.

Wednesday - Called Alltel, since I have ProductGuard (insurance for cell phones), to see if I can get a new phone. Can't, because I didn't buy the phone directly from Alltel. So I canceled the insurance. I hotsynced my phone and backed up all my phone info (contacts, calendar, etc) to my computer, which took about 30 minutes since I hadn't backed up anything in a year (I don't recommend that).

Did the "hard reset" and then my phone was asking me to select a Language. But I had to use the keypad to do it (which still doesn't work). ?@#$%@$#~!!! Now what do I do? I realized that one of the buttons on the keypad is permanently pressed down, which is likely the cause of the whole debacle. So I tried removing it with the sharpest object I could find - a steak knife. At one point, the knife slipped and went into my left pinky. ?@#$%@$#~!!!

One band-aid and a few drops of neosporin later, I got the stuck button out. The keypad now works, sort of. When the phone returns from sleep mode, you have to take the stylus pen and dig around in the spot where the button used to be. Then the keypad starts to work.

Thursday - began my search to look for a new phone. I've lost 10 auctions on ebay so far, trying to get another smartphone at a reasonable price. Will keep trying.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Studio Drumming?

Last weekend, after the last Riv service, someone came up to me and asked if I've ever done studio work. Apparently this guy owns a recording studio and was wondering if I'd be interested in recording whenever necessary. I told him I thought it was a great idea, but mentioned that because of my full-time job and being in two of the Riv bands, I had no idea when I'd ever have time to do something like that.

I've thought about being a studio drummer before. Having been in 6 bands (not including the current ones) over the 11+ years I've been playing drums, I've had my share of recording sessions and experiences in the studio.

A lot of doubts and fears have sprung up over time. Among them include:
- I haven't had any professional training, education, or instruction.
- I don't know how to read percussion sheet music.
- I can't compete with other studio drummers who have had experience in the previously mentioned items.
- I wouldn't even know where to begin. I'd have to quit my job and possibly move far away.

And I think the biggest fear is that, like being in a band, you don't always know when your services are needed, and steady income is pretty much not possible. Additionally, if something happened to me physically, such as breaking a limb, I'd be out of work for an extended period of time. Not to mention, I'd have to figure out how to pay for health insurance (unless Heather continues working after having kids) so that it doesn't cost a fortune to fix my supposed broken limb.

All of the above reasons keep me at this current place. And I'm ok with that. Are they legitimate enough reasons? Some are, and some feel like material, earthly reasons. Will I ever change my mind? Maybe. But right now, I'm content.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Grumpy

Today, a solicitor from a mutual fund company came up to my door and tried to convince me to buy mutual funds.  He wanted my cell phone number so that he could "keep in contact with me."  I didn't want to give it to him, but he was pretty persistent in asking for it.  So finally, just to get him to leave, I gave him a fake number.  I then called the fake number just to make sure it wasn't an actual person.  I got the nasal operator woman, so I was ok.

Since then, I've been very grumpy.  It could have been from the salesman.  Heather also told me that I was snoring and grinding my teeth all night.  I'm not sure what it is exactly, but I hope I snap out of it.  Soon.

Friday, March 14, 2008

Car repairs

I bought a car at the end of January, and I love it. It's a 2002 Toyota Corolla, and only had 100K miles when I bought it. Since then, I've already put almost 5,000 miles on it, but being 30 miles away from both work and Riverview will cause those miles to rack up pretty quickly. It runs and drives so much better than my previous car (96 Honda Civic) - however, that car did have 265,000 miles on it.

There is one issue - about a week after I bought the car, the Check Engine light went on. I just thought it was because I didn't screw on the gas cap tight enough, but after having Autozone look up the error code, they mentioned it was something wrong with the catalytic converter. Crap. I knew that part was pretty expensive, due to the fact that criminals like to steal them and sell them on the black market (see this article).

Today I called the dealership to see how much the part cost.  The person on the other end, to his own shock, told me it was $1387.  Ouch.

So I called a few places that my co-workers recommended.  One of the places quoted me $200 plus tax.  That was final cost, including parts and labor.  Wow!  They also told me that there's probably something else going on that caused my catalytic converter to go bad, and that I needed to get a "fuel pressure check"first.  They didn't have to tell me this.  

Moral of the story - unless you are rich and like supporting big corporations, DO NOT get your car repaired at the dealer, unless it is for warranty/recall repairs (in that case, it won't cost you anything).  It doesn't matter what car you have.  Support your honest, local repair shop.

Monday, March 10, 2008

Naming the states

I can do this pretty fast apparently. Does anyone remember the 50 states song that you learned in 4th grade? I remember about half of it.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Sad news from the football world

I saw it this morning at work, and my heart sank a little bit.
Brett Favre will not be playing football next year.
Here's the article from NFL.com

My hope is that one of the following exists:
- That voicemail left on the ESPN guy's phone was not actually from Brett, but rather someone impersonating Brett.
- Favre's agent is lying

If not, I still understanding his reasoning.  He's tired, and he wants to spend more time with his family.  He's had to, to some degree, neglect his relationship with his wife and kids for 17 years.  When I was still touring, I made a choice to devote more of my life to the band instead of Heather, so I understand, even though our struggles weren't near the magnitude of this football great.  At the time, we weren't even married yet, let alone have kids.

I guess we'll see what happens in the coming months and see if changes his mind.  Ryne Sandberg did.  So did MJ.  We'll find out when the season starts.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

My job

I've realized that I don't usually tell people about my job, or when I try to explain what I do, people get confused. I tend to do that often. So let me explain in a venue that lets me think before I talk. Aaah, that sounds much better.

I work as an Application Support Specialist in the Technology & Media Services Department at the Genesee Intermediate School District in Flint, MI.  (It's quite the challenge to say all that in one breath.)

Now, the first thing that might come to your mind when you hear the words "Technology Department" is a guy from India asking you, in broken English, to double-check and make sure your computer is turned on.  Thankfully, that is not me.

My job, simply put, is supporting various computer software programs that the school districts use to run their operations.  The main software is broken up into 3 parts - finance, payroll, and student services.  I support the student services portion, including training and documentation, which keeps me very busy.  We have 18 school districts in the county that we support, so imagine the fun.  Luckily, there are currently 3 of us in this position, and we are seeking a 4th.  Yes, there is a job opening in the state of Michigan!  Go click on the website link (above) and go to Employment if you think you have what it takes.  Depending on how well I know you, I could put in a good word.  Come on, share some of this insane workload with us!

I enjoy working here, because I know I'm part of an organization that helps kids.  Even though I don't directly work with students or parents, I know that the work I do will ultimately impact them, in some form or another.  Yes, there are parts of my job that I don't like, and some days I feel like I'm in the twilight zone, or an episode of The Office, but at the end of the day, I know I actually helped others than if I worked for a company where the primary goal was making money.

I can't go into too much more detail because my job involves a lot of sensitive information, so if you've read this far and really want to know more, let me know.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Hello

So this is my new blog. I've never had a blog, besides a few random spouts on my myspace profile. I'm going to try to post pretty regularly, and have a laundry list of ideas. Hopefully I can remember them all. For those of you who know me (or not know me), I tend to be pretty quiet/introverted/reserved, and don't always do the best job of verbally expressing what is going on in my life. Or, occasionally, I'll talk someone's ear off to the point that they have to make up an excuse to leave, hang up the phone, or talk to someone else. In either case, I apologize. So with that said, here goes nothing...