Summer is Great

June 30, 2010

It's been a minute since I updated my journal! Life has been very busy with a new job, getting ready for Thatcher, having a garden and summer in general. For all the activity that has taken place there's not anything too major or ground breaking. The job is going well. I'm doing SQL Database Engineering, which basically means anything that needs to be done. But this place is much more deadline focused on specific projects than environments I have worked at in the past. I'm also working with a lot of what I would call code monsters. These guys speak in multiple languages at the flip of a mouse click and it is impressive and at times intimidating. But this is exactly the environment I needed in my career--something with a little pressure, where I have to learn new stuff and learn it NOW and learn it in a practical way. I think for the most part I have stepped up to the plate. I still ask questions and I still learn things, and some of the things I learn are still basic. But I'm beyond the point where I'm regularly confused by things. It's more like I'm learning how to be practical and useful in real life with SQL. Apparently I'm booksmart and I need to become streetsmart. That's how I would put it. But again, I'm doing it day by day. I have been very thankful for my job from day one, but it's really been this past two weeks where I'm waking up in the morning and looking forward to getting to the job, which I think is optimistic.

We've painted Thatcher's room and have put together furniture. London is kindly donating her crib and changing table to Thatcher, so she needed a new dresser and toddler bed which needed assembly. Beckah is now in her third trimester. It's great fun to feel the baby move. As each day passes I am looking more and more forward to having a son and a daughter in the same house.

Last night London and I went out in the garden and picked fresh strawberries and ate them right off the plant. She had juice dribbling down her chin and she was laughing. Eventually she started hunting through the leaves to find more. That was a very good summer memory. I remember standing in Grandma and Grandpa's garden eating peas out of the pod and apples and pears off the trees. I want London and Thatcher to remember that kind of stuff when they get together when they are both in college.

There's not too much going on this summer beyond the baby. No big vacations planned. The garden has some good points and negative points. Currently I have strawberries that are just going nuts. Corn is started, green beans are there but they are very weak. Tomatoes are there and I think they will be fine. Eddie and I built a new garden just on the south end of the house and he helped me expand my current garden. The new part of the garden needs compost so the stuff I planted there is basically growing in clay and thus barely surviving.

The flowers are going very well for the most part though. I havn't done too much other than weed around the flower beds. The canterbury bells I planted are up and loud right now. They are all purple though and I thought they would be multiple colors, but I'm not about to complain. I've been putting plastic edging around everything so the grass doesn't grow into the flower gardens and I have a lot more of that to do this summer.

When I sat down to write this I didn't have too much to say, but once I got going this entry wrote itself. I had a stand by topic though. I've been quite interested in the concept of wind power and a little bit of solar power. I stay up to date on the topic and I found a story on solar power. I love the concept of reaping power from the sun. I think every roof should be covered with solar panels and have at least one windmill. I am embarrassed that every house does not have these items. If I was going to run for any office my entire platform would be around getting as many houses and businesses as possible to use these devices. If Bush is the war president, and Obama is the health president, I think we need an energy president. And I don't think the answer is for government to fund it. I think the government should give giant tax breaks to any company that will sell wind and solar devices. I think that would increase competition enough to lower the prices and these things would become more affordable and people would use them on a much larger scale.

So there is the outline of my political agenda. I'm not running for office though! Too bad. It would be a no brainer idea. The technology is there and improving, the cost is dropping. Why hasn't this been done?

Fainting Spells

April 3, 2010

So I passed out last week. Full on fainted. Hit my head on the tile floor. I hate passing out. I do it about once every other year. Sometimes at work, behind the drums, while donating blood, at home or on vacation. They call it Vasovagal Syncope. This past time I passed out I received a massive headache for days afterwards. I went to the Doctor and he didn't care about the head; he was more concerned about the cause of the fainting. He ordered some tests which will be done this coming week. He added that in addition to Vasovagal Syncope I may have an additional Syncope called Micturition Syncope which is basically the same thing, just more specific. No matter how you look at it the fact of the matter is, I faint. Nothing can be done about it. I don't lack nutrition or have a disease. It won't kill me. It is just my bodies way of dealing with itself. The only danger is hitting my head on the way down. As long as I lay down before hand I'm fine after I wake up.

The problem is sometimes it happens fast. For instance this past time I realized, "Oh shoot, I'm going to pass out...if I can just make it to bed first..." Of course I never made it that far. It scared Beckah to death the first time I did it. She still gets scared, but now its not pure panic for her. I just hope it doesn't get worse as I get older. And I sure hope I don't pass it on to my kids. Fainting is not fun. Waking up feels like crawling back from the grave. You're weak and can't hear anything and if there are people around they are talking and saying things like, "Oh give him air. Is he ok? Do we need to call 911?" And I'm just laying there unable to move, groaning thinking, "Shut up...I'm fine...Go away." Not fun. But I'm always ok, just need some space and time.

Speaking of kids, yesterday Beckah and I learned the sex of our second child. We are having a boy! I am so thrilled about that. For the record I always wanted a boy. I was just being politically correct when I said I would be ok with another girl. And for the record I LOVE my girl, wouldn't trade her for anything. But, seriously...I need my boy. I am so thrilled to raise him as a Christian man. My hope is that he will love God, read the Bible, and have a solid, polite, firm, strong, smart, funny, caring, creative boy. His name will be Thatcher Craig Greenwood. I love that name because it has an English tie to Margaret Thatcher who was a strong and respected leader. It is a unique name that I don't think is too strange. It is used as a last name quite a bit in England and I think it works great as a first name. I can't wait to meet him!

New Job At Last

April 1, 2010

I am not sure how philosophical I should get with all this, but I am proud to announce that I have a new job! Now, you know I have to say more than that. I want to provide some of the drama and stress involved, as well as some of the accolades and thanks.

Truly, I can trace my job history all the way back to decisions made while working at eBay, which lead me to New Horizons where I picked up the majority of my technical ability, which lead to American Express, which lead to where I have been working for the past year, Rio Tinto. Working at Rio Tinto has been beyond great for me. I mentioned on this journal some of the things I have enjoyed about it. Covered parking, close to home, new building, fantastic people, freedom to learn and grow, lots of experience, and more. I have learned and focused my SQL skills so much while at Rio Tinto. I would definitely call the people I work with my SQL mentors. They pull me when I need it, and push me when I need it. I have been able to develop some really good relationships, which is awesome.

The whole time though it was a contract position. There was hope initially that it would turn full time. In fact my manager told me that was the way things were heading. But due to the economy and mining environment (Rio Tinto's business) the contract was cut short and I was told to look elsewhere. Stressful? Yes. But I wasn't worried. I had the benefit of warning and time. I began job hunting, primarily using Craigslist.com but also using past contacts at Consultnet and a few other agencies.

I wasn't worried during most of the job hunt for a few reasons. I was getting lots of interviews, had time, had options. Some of the interviews went really well (others less so). But as Beckah and I have learned in the job field, we are in God's hands. I think both of us trusted God to find a job. That doesn't mean I didn't look for jobs, or that it wasn't scary. I was concerned, but never shaking in my boots, as I have in the past. I would love to recount all the interviews I had just for the sake of memory. In fact I've been putting off making a journal entry because I wanted to get a job lined up before I told all the stories. I'm not sure I would gain much by recounting all the details, but here are the important ones.

Last month I had an interview with a company called Teleperformance. I liked it, they liked me and it all looked great. I kept their number and kept looking. Lots of water under the bridge passed. I then had an opportunity at Rio Tinto. It would be on a different team doing something different. The pay was the same, it was an extension of the contract I had in place. No guarantee, but at least it had all the same benefits that I have dealt with the past year.

That was all set to happen. This was yesterday. Then Teleperformance called back with a firm job offer, full time, with benefits. This was exactly what I had been looking for. I decided it was best to go with Teleperformance. How can I pass up a full time job with benefits compared to a temporary contract job?

So, all that happened yesterday. As of Monday, April 5th, 2010, I will be a TelePerformer! The job as I understand it now is SQL Database Administrator and Developer, mixed with support AND I get to work with MySQL and PHP. All of this is very cool from an IT perspective. I am thrilled for the opportunity. I think it proves God works in job situations. Although I don't know why he seems to wait until the last minute!

More news but before I get to that I wanted to say how careful I try to be with this journal in regards to jobs. I learned from eBay that if you publish too much more than the name of the place you work trouble can soon follow. I keep all my job related entries pretty surface level ever since eBayGate. I wanted to update this journal with all the interview stories. Some of them were very fun. Others were strange. I enjoy interviewing. It just doesn't pay very well. It's fun to hear what companies are doing to lead them to decide to hire people. It totally accesses the MBA in me and makes me want to be an executive. One place I interviewed asked me what my goals were. I told them my long term goal was to be an executive manager (true). He asked me why. I wasn't prepared. I answered and he then picked my answer apart and basically told me my motivation was off. I think I agree with him. I need to rethink my long term goals perhaps? Or at least how I relate them to others.

Anyway, the moment I post details of interviews on my journal and then do more interviews about ecommerce, the more people will look at my Webpage and make judgements thusly. Well, that stinks. It's my journal, right? This is my place to say what I want about what I want, and vent. I guess if I really want that, I should get a book and not publish it on the Web. Not the first time I've had these thoughts, but I've had them again. Blogs are two edged swords. The more you say, the more you risk making a fool of yourself. I know some good Bible versus about that!

So, the job news is really big news. But there's lots going on. I expect to be playing drums at Shadow Mountain Church soon. I'm teaching drum lessons (only one student but its fun). Also, we are pregnant! 16 weeks, the child is as big as an avocado I'm told. Tomorrow we are going for an appointment to find the sex of the child. I will post the journal entry here and I'm sure I will on Facebook as well.

Everything else is wonderful. It's snowing today, but spring is around the corner. I have planted a bunch of new plants in the greenhouse downstairs that I am very excited about (lots of herbs and a few other things). That is all for now. I'll keep everyone posted!

London Learns

March 16, 2010

This will be a fun entry. I have been working with London on her physical strength and control. I want to feel confident enough to take her to the park and let her play with out me hovering over her. I still watch her when we go to the park because she is so little and there are always bigger kids running and pushing and I'm afraid she will get hurt if I'm not there to watch over her.

She just needs more control and confidence and I think most of that will come naturally with age. She is SO smart though. She can do her alphabet and count practically to 20, identify her colors, knows lots of body part names, she learns new words every day. So as a dad, seeing her mind grow I am excited. I've been asking around and my sister in law, Brittany, who manages a nursery and knows a thing or two about child development, suggested working on motor skills. That was all I needed--a direction!

So with spring fast approaching I took her to the playground near our house, which has a perfect little slide. We worked slowly and carefully on how to sit down and position yourself at the top of the slide, how to control your stomach muscles on the way down (I swing her around and dip her upside down all the time with a focus of working her stomach muscles a little), how to land safely and so on. So, last friday I recorded her success on my cell phone and the result is awesome.

She uses the handrails for the first time in this video and I think the rest speaks for itself. There was sound on my phone but I couldn't figure out how to get the video from my phone to the computer with sound. So I added some captions in Windows Movie Maker.

That's the reason for this journal entry. The rest of this is just some extra thoughts about what blogging on the Internet has become. This week Facebook.com beat out Google in terms of page hits. I think that's significant. Here's how it relates to me. I started my Website in October of 2000 to keep up with family mostly. It has grown to what most people would call a "blog" site. But I joined the Facebook wagon and enjoy it. They call Facebook a microblogging site because it's smaller entries. The good side of Facebook is its remarkably easy and fast and robust. You can add videos and links and it looks great, simple interface. The down side is that the little snippet-type facts rarely get more than a read from only your "friends". There's no depth or explanation, it's often abused by people who post things that are a waste of time and offer no information.

So, as a self-described Web content provider I love what Facebook brings but more of the quality of my personality is captured here. I have toyed with the idea of getting my Facebook posts to appear on my blog. I conceptually know how to do it, but I'm still not sure if Facebook would give access. I know they are picky about keeping content on their site, which makes sense. I don't want to duplicate my efforts but when I die I want this Webpage to be a good record of my life.

So the point is, from the article above, we know that the Web is a moving target. I may tie my Website to Facebook but in five or ten years it may be bankrupt or simply not popular anymore. That makes me want to insure that my Webpage will stand alone because I assure you, I will outlive Facebook. So, no matter how popular Facebook, or any other Website gets I assure you that www.CraigGreenwood.com will be here.

Chef Craig

February 26, 2010

With Beckah working her job at night and her schedule the way it is, I end up playing Mr. Mom on Monday through Friday evening. Part of this duty (among many other things) means making dinner on those nights. I enjoy cooking to a certain extent. Anything I do I try to put my all into it. It's quite challenging to cook a multi course dinner for adults, plus a 21 month old (almost 22!), keep the house clean.

We end up eating quite a few boxed meals like hamburger helper and macaroni and cheese and prepackaged meat based meals. I get very sick of eating preprocessed stuff. I call it "plastic food". But, it is usually fast and easy so that's what gets purchased and eaten.

Tonight I tried something different. I opened the pantry and sighed at all the boxes and refused the plastic. I decided to try an experiment, which meant I was at least 49% ready to go get fast food. What I ended up with wasn't that bad, especially for literally throwing it together as I went. I didn't know what I was going to end up with when I started. I looked through a cook book to get some ideas with the given ingredients I had. Below is the recipee I created on the fly. I don't know what to call it other than "Hamburger Soup". It was either that or "Food of the Gods", but really "Hamburger Soup" fits better.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. of ground beef
• 1 can mixed vegetables
• 2 cans of chicken broth
• 1/4 of a whole fresh pineapple
• 1 package of Ramen Noodles
• Soy Sauce

Directions:

Cut the pineapple into bite sized chunks and set aside. Brown the ground beef and drain grease as needed. Add the pineapple bits and let simmer with the beef for 5 minutes. Add mixed vegetables, both cans of chicken broth and the flavor package from the Ramen Noodles. Cover and bring to a boil stirring as needed. Add 1-2 Tablespoons of soy sauce and break up the hard noodles into the soup. Stir so the noodles are mixed in and boil for another 5 minutes.

Salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!

It's really not that fancy, but you get a tangy hamburger soup out of it. I'm just an amateur but you could serve with rice I think. You people who have been cooking, what would you add or remove? I think one could make it spicier if one desired. But that's what I did.

Baby Number Two Coming Along Nicely

February 10, 2010

So, call me an excited father, but I am really pumped by this second pregnancy. Beckah and I of course have planned and talked about being pregnant and when we wanted to do it for a LONG time. So far, everything has gone perfect. I mean absolutely perfect. The timing, the insurance policy, the money, the job. This is all from my perspective. Beckah has been sick with what the Websites call typical pregnancy first trimester hormone stuff. She might not call it perfect. But, it's perfect in the sense that everything is ticking right along in terms of the overall plan. Her being sick is unfortunately part of it I think, even though many women don't get sick at all, or not very much. Poor Beckah takes the brunt of that part. My only suffering is watching while being totally helpless and feeling on the edge of guilty about the whole thing.

So, now that I think I have paid my respect to Beckah's feelings, allow me to tell you how excited I am about this baby. With London's pregnancy everything was brand new. I didn't know which way was up or what to expect in terms of the pregnancy or the birth or anything. I'm not about to call myself an expert at anything, but I remember what was happening with London, and can relate to it. It's still exciting of course and I love going through the steps. For example today we are officially in week 9 of the pregnancy. I looked up the gestational development at this week and was struck with a few thoughts.

First, how any thinking adult could choose abortion as an option is beyond me. I read that toes are developing and growth is happening. But the most amazing thing that struck me was that the baby will move if touched at this age. My unborn child knows when he's being touched and will react to it. That is absolutely profound considering that the child is less than an inch in size. I went with Beckah and London to Beckah's first official meeting with our ob/gyn, the same Dr. that delivered London, Dr. Moreland. Pretty routine stuff. Everything was healthy all the way around by the way.

The sex of the child is all ready chemically and physically determined but I have no idea what it could be. I think its fair to say for the ages that I want a boy. I don't think I will hurt any feelings with that statement. But what if it's a girl? That is also exciting to me. Living with London is so cool, and I totally get the daddy/daughter relationship. She loves to see me and can recognize me across a room and I think she likes me! If this child is another daughter I will be happy. We will save lots of money because we will get to use toys and decorations and clothes again.

Could be a boy though, right? Last night Beckah and I went for a walk (seriously one of the most exciting things I have done with my wife this entire year so far) and we saw two neighborhood boys playing. They were about 6 or 7 years old. They were shrieking and yelling and chasing cars and having a good time. I liked it. I enjoyed their enthusiasm and energy. Then later I thought to myself, "Can you imagine taking that home?" Whoa. I am undaunted though. I was told that I was a calm child and I will make it a point to pass that on. If we have a boy he will be a good boy. He will carry on the Greenwood name and serve Christ. He will be smart and handsome. Even if that means I do have to buy all new clothes and it is more expensive I would relish the opportunity to raise a boy.

Either way I am a very happy dad. London is getting to where you can sit down one time and teach her a new word and she knows it. She repeats things faster, she annunciates her words better and better with each passing day. I am so immensely proud of her. You should hear what strangers say about her. She is regularly complimented on her eyes and her hair. In fact, when Beckah and I go out and London is not complimented, we say to each other, "I didn't hear any compliments on London. That was weird."

This second baby does have some big shoes to fill. Beckah and I have joked about that because London is just an insanely good child. My feelings tell me that this child is going to have no problem. I would love for London and this second baby to get along and help each other as they grow up. I can see London helping this second child with homework and with playing. What can I say? I'm just excited, no matter what the future holds. I thank God for my family daily. Despite my imperfections I am blessed beyond measure. I don't know how I got here but I'm holding on to it with all that I am.

Further Facebook Integration

January 19, 2010

I added three things to my site to integrate with Facebook:

1. The homepage, www.CraigGreenwood.com, now contains a link to my Facebook home page.
2. Each journal entry now has a link to enable you to share content on my site with your friends on Facebook (and channel traffic to my site).
3. The same link is on each comments page, again allowing my visitors to directly share my content on their Facebook page.

Convenient for my visitors? Yes! Do I expect them to use it in mass? No. But its one more feature that my self-built Website has that many pages that are nicer than mine do not have. This is a nice feature to brag about if I ever want to charge people money to build Websites (and I do)!

I'm proud because I figured out how to do it in about ten minutes. It's more complex than it seems because I had to make it work with my database, but frankly, I know my database and I know the code and I am proud I can manipulate it.

New Family Member

January 18, 2010

We have some exciting news. Beckah and I are with child! Number two, in the chute and ready to go! We are very, very excited and thrilled about it. For those who may question, this pregnancy is planned, charted, timed, and with so much purpose. Beckah and I started talking about planning our second child nearly a year ago. Things got very serious when I learned about an insurance policy that I can sell to myself (since I have an insurance license) that covers short term disability. Pregnancy is the only short term disability you can plan for.

It's a no brainer deal. Pay for the policy, deliver the baby and the insurance policy reimburses you more than the cost. Classic investment if you do it right. Not to advertise, but if anyone is planning their family and is not yet pregnant you would be a fool to NOT do this if you are a responsible financially minded person. You should email me right away if this is the case and I can help you out.

We've been playing our cards close to our chest and we have told no one other than family, until this journal entry, which is happening now. Recently we celebrated my dad's birthday and I think we chose a creative way to share our news with the family during this event. London gave a gift which was a picture of a positive pregnancy test. (Nothing says love like the image of a stick your wife peed on!) But the gift giving went over well and mom's reaction is absolutley classic Phyllis. Here is the link to the video that says it all!

I'm sure there will be lots of planning and dreaming and talking about this in the future. We will have to make some changes of course, like plan a new room and move some furniture. But our family is ready for this, and it makes sense. Not saying that it will be no sweat or anything, but as always I remain very positive that all obstacles can be overcome. Around September 15th will be a powerful journal entry!

Larry Greenwood's Birthday

January 15, 2010

Today is my father's birthday. Of all the people in the world he is the one who is primarily responsible for who I am. He's a good guy, my dad. I have so many memories and still make memories with him. Now that I am a father I compare my actions to his and try to emulate what he did as a father. Many times I have literally asked myself if this is what my dad would do. As London grows up and has challenges I know she will get through them with my help if I do what my dad did.

One of my most fond memories of my dad is when I was in 2nd grade or so, and I got a book on how to make paper airplanes. I opened it and began folding paper and got completely confused by step two of the first page of the book. I tried for probably an hour to make this airplane which was very basic. By that time I was extremely confused and frustrated and in tears. Dad walked in and said, "Let's see if we can figure this out." He sat down and displayed patience and taught me how to understand the book and I watched him fold that first airplane and my tears of frustration turned to tears of joy. I was so happy and I have hung on to that story. I want to do the same in my future fathering!

Any memory about my dad would be incomplete without this one. I wanted to go camping one summer. I wanted to go for two nights, not just one. Dad worked 4x10s and usually came home exhausted on Thursday nights after driving home from Dugway, about 2 hours away. Even though he was tired that night, he got home at 7:30 pm, loaded the van for camping and took me up the mountain. We didn't even get to where we were going until after midnight. The reward was we got to see an entire family of porcupines crossing a dirt road and that was thrilling for me. I remember when he sacrificed his time and energy. This story is just one of a thousand when he did similar things.

I remember my dad being extremely supportive about my drumming as a child. He would sit in the room as I drummed, not because he was making me (he didn't have to) but because he liked hearing me progress and get better. He bought me my first drumset, helped me put it together and bought me books and sticks. Without my dad I wouldn't have the meager talent that I do have on drums. I remember him strumming a guitar when I was very young which inspired me to learn that as well.

Dad would let me "help" him work on cars. Can't say I learned alot about mechanics from him, but what I did learn from his working on cars is that if I ever wanted to do anything (like fix a car or get an insurance license) all I had to do was sit down and do it. I remember him doing amazing things that he rigged together. I remember him working all weekend just to get his work van running by Monday. I learned how to commit to a project, how to see things through to completion, how to appreciate the quality of good work through watching him work with those cars. Those were extremely meaningful times.

I love my dad very much. There is so much he has given to me to shape my life. His impact will last through my entire life. Happy birthday, Dad!

Horton Heard Something

January 5, 2010

I bought London a herd of childrens books for Christmas. Flock? Library? Anyway, a bunch of books. Last night we read Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss. That was a great book! I havn't read it since I was six years old so reading it now was practically the first time. I saw the movie that came out a year or so ago with Jim Carey. I thought it was great then too, but reading it you get more out of it somehow. Very moral story line with lots of ideas.

The obvious one is the religious implications. Horton has a peice of dust that is talking to him and no one beleives him but Horton's faith is never swayed despite being mocked and ridiculed. The stakes are high because lives hang in the balance. Imagine if we as people could be like that in our faith in God? Unwavering strength in our beleif. I love when the little guy stands up and wins. It becomes almost scary in the end. They are dragging him off to jail and he's fighting and at the last minute the others finally beleive because they hear.

Never give up. That's the other thing. If I wanted London to get anything from that book, it would be to never give up. It is a long book and London was losing her attention span. So everytime the Who people spoke I would whisper their lines and she would get quiet and listen real close.

Anyway, nice moment. Everyone should be more like the elephant that was sure.