Dodging Bullets

November 12, 2009

RSS Feed Created

November 4, 2009

I have known about RSS feeds for a long time. I have respected them from a distance. But this week I have delved into them and have begun creating one and researching it and generally having fun. RSS feeds use XML, which I know the basics of but I wanted mine to be dynamic and use PHP/MySQL. But perhaps I am getting ahead of myself. What is an RSS feed you ask?

Let's say you have 5 blogs you want to keep up with, like your brother, sister, wife, etc. It's a pain to go to each address one at a time. You can do it. It works. It's just manual. It's so 2001. And if I take the time to go there there's no guarantee these people will update their blogs, so there may be nothing to see. Sure I can set up reminders, and save links, but I still have to manually check them. Even if you could get these content providers to email you when updates occur no one wants the email spam. So, that's where RSS comes in.

RSS is a way to show me, the reader, all the blogs I follow at a glance, and if one updates I can see it right away because it is bold. I then click on that blog, read it in a consistent format and then I can decide if I want to visit the specific blog it came from. As with anything there are advantages and disadvantages but the advantages are far more. The advantages are it's much easer to keep track of up to 100+ blogs (or other RSS feeds [more on that later])at once. And all the text formatting is consistent across all blogs/feeds so you don't have to race through bizarre fonts and graphics. The disadvantages are that it does lose a bit of personal touch, because I won't see custom graphics, but like I said earlier, I can still choose to visit the actual blog with a single click. The main disadvantage is that the provider(s) of the Web content must provide an RSS feed that the reader (me) can subscribe to. The limp wristed corporations like Google and Wordpress do this FOR the content provider so nothing has to be done other than watch it go.

But I have taken pride in my journal because it's 100% created by me, from top to bottom. Sure, it isn't as pretty, lacks some of the bells and whistles, but it's all heart. It also means my RSS feed isn't spoon fed to me (pun intended). I had to research how to build one, which was and still proves to be a bloody process. There are so few resources that actually tell you how to completely build a functional RSS feed. Many of them describe only partially, or do it in such a fragmented manner that it is confusing. I had to peice together about six tutorials (the best was this one, but even it has confusing typos), create 3 forum posts and one book and guess what? I finally created a working RSS feed on my own site!

Before you click on that link you should know how to subscribe. It's easy. Click the link and then click "subscribe". I have only done this in Internet Explorer 8.0 but I imagine it's a similar process with other browsers. Either way, once you subscribe it asks you where to save the feed. I suggest the default locations. I have learned that if you are running MS Outlook 2007 you can see feeds right in Outlook, which is AWESOME for those of us who use it for email. That means when I check my email I can see the blogs that have new information and read them at one time. If you don't have Outlook 2007 then you can see the feeds you are subscribed to in Explorer. Then just click the feeds button at the top of your browser (Control+J in IE 8.0) and all the feeds are visible and those with new information will be bold.

Is it a bit of extra work to subscribe to a feed? Yes. Is it worth it? YES! Feeds are all over the Internet, not just blogs. News feeds, financial information, images, and more. It just depends on if the creator of the content has made a feed available to readers. If no feed is available then you can't subscribe. But if a feed is available on any site that you check repeatedly, SUBSCRIBE! It's always free to subscribe.

Those of you who are thinking about creating feeds for your site should do it. But don't pay for software or services. Wade through the muck and build one.

There are a few problems with my current feed. I need to figure out how to escape apostrophies so that I can display the text of each of my Journal entries but that should happen quickly. I will also be adding to my Journal the Universal RSS Feed button () that everyone has seen but few people use. I hope that now all my readers know what that button means and how to use it to your advantage.

To all of the content providers that don't use an RSS feed, I recommend it. To all the readers that don't subscribe to at least a few RSS Feeds, I recommend it.

This journal entry was supposed to update you about my recent family reunion in Lake Topaz, NV which took place over Halloween. Hopefully i will update again soon. Until then, happy RSSing.

Quite a Wife

October 8, 2009

Lots of stuff going on. This entry is about money and the fight to survive. It's really about Beckah but I'm tying it to money and the fight to survive. One thing that I've always thought since I was a child was that when I get married I want to make it a choice for my wife to work. In other words, if she wants to work she can do anything she wants, and if she wants to stay home she can do that too. So far in my marriage to Beckah we have been very lucky in that I've been able to maintain that. I know it's the norm in the country for both husband and wife to be required to work just to make ends meet. I'm amazed that it hasn't come to that for us. There have been periods where we both have worked and there have been periods where only one of us is working. The ends always meet, sometimes closer than other times, but we are surviving and never once have been in any strangling debt (although for me if I owe $1 to someone and they are charging interest it's strangling).

Regardless, I think the best I can say is that I am lucky now but things may change in the future. When London was born we made a decision that we did not want to put her in daycare just so that we could both work. Instead we wanted to have one of us be there as much as possible as she grows up. As she ages and goes to school our plan is convertible to where we can both work again if we want, but so far it's been working. That said, it has been tight. I believe I have discussed my budget on my journal in the past. If not, I should do that because I am proud of it. Suffice to say, we are saving for short term expenses (bills, tickets to Nashville, expected maintenance), and we are meeting all our obligations. The mortgage payment absolutely scares me to death because it is an adjustable rate and I think the economy will get better and the rate will go up and when it does I think it's going to be death on a stick. I can't refinance right now either because I am a contractor and need to be one for two years.

Meanwhile Beckah has caught the photography bug. I am very excited about this because I love watching her learn new things and practice an art that I believe really makes her happy and makes other people happy and it just feeds on itself and it's this big happy circular path of joy for everyone. As with any hobby, costs exist. We both knew that very well. We have afforded what we could to get her started and she has a very good start. But Beckah wants more (who doesn't?). She wants a studio, more lenses, nicer equipment. Just like being a drummer.

So, how does a man (that's me) balance budgets, pay bills, and be supportive of this healthy, albeit expensive hobby? Given everything discussed here, you either go into debt (not an option) or you do what American's do and simply go without. I admit I am a fan of doing without. I think I like the struggle and the victories that come with it. I own the drumset I bought when I was 17 years old. It's broken in places but very functional, sounds good and even looks acceptable. I crave buying electronic gadgets and making music, but I go without and rely on my brother's skills when I can and go without, even if it means trying to write a rock song on an acoustic guitar. I choose to go without so that when my wife, or child(ren) wants to do something I don't have to look them in the eye and say, "Boy, daddy would like you to take dance lessons too, but I just bought a new sports car and can't afford it. Sorry. Do you want daddy to take you for a ride?" I refuse that.

There is another option. Beckah decided, "Screw going without. I will seize this desire and use it for motivation!" She got herself a job because she knows we both want to push this photography thing and she also knows how limited our resources are. This is what I LOVE about Beckah. She is very practical and logical and reasoning and calculating. She is smart. She is smarter than me, and I mean that with all sincerity. She searched for and found a job that allowed her to work from home.

It's with a company called FVTech and she is doing data entry from home. She is three weeks into the job so we are still balancing schedules and figuring it out, but it basically works like this. Craig works during the day and Beckah takes care of London. At 3:30 I come home and take over London and Beckah works from home (on the new computer which I am glad we have). I can still see Beckah and she takes her breaks and I cook her dinner, take care of the family and take London and the dog for a walk, and whatever else needs to be done. In terms of time management it's a beautiful thing. However, the quality time that Beckah and I spend together has decreased. Being too efficient can be a bad thing. We see each other on the weekends when we are both exhausted!

In terms of finances it has filled a giant gap. Christmas costs are taken care of (presents). It's also nice to have Beckah be able to buy things that she wants. Things that I would normally say no to. Now, the real point of this entry is to show how hard Beckah is working. She is so professional in her work. She never punches in late, she types like a demon, and she is very serious about the work. I don't understand it except to say that it is data entry around medical records. HIPPA keeps her from saying too much more or showing anything to me. I am very proud of Beckah for all of this. She has identified a need and done her utmost to please all fronts: the family's finances, London's needs and her own desires.

We celebrated our 5 year anniversary last month. I am very thankful to be married to Beckah. I love her very much. She makes pretty babies, she's a hard worker and I find her irresistibly attractive.

London Can Walk

September 26, 2009

Today was a big day in our lives. London can walk! Today is Saturday and I was eating some lunch and watching London do circles with the recliner like she always does. She stopped and looked at me and I held out my arms and said, "C'mere baby! Come see me!" Both Beckah and I do that all the time to encourage her to walk. Usually she just falls to her knees and crawls over.

But this time she looked at me as if to say, "Ok. I can do that." Very matter of fact. And then she picked up her little hooves and trampled on over to me. When she started I just stood up and my jaw fell open. I then picked up London and congratulated her and then ran upstairs to get Beckah and we spent the next hour going back and fourth with her. Each time was a little different, some better some worse. But her first time was 5 steps towards her daddy. I was thrilled to see it.

That's my little girl!

A New Computer

August 20, 2009

WARNING: Set your nerd setting to HIGH!

I bought a new computer. It should arrive in the mail today. I'm very excited. Beckah and I have been kicking around getting a new one for a long time. With her photography business taking off and her doing lots of photoshopping, she spends the most time waiting for the computer to update to the next screen. I wanted to document what I purchased, mostly so that I can look back and laugh at it in ten years, but also to capture some basic goals with this computer.

I purchased from NewEgg.com after much research. They seemed to have the highest end stuff for the least cost, especially compared to retail outlets. I considered building the system part by part myself but I think I would get lost in the details if I tried. I have a strong tendency to lean towards the perfectionist side of me, which means I would focus energy on every little kilobyte of energy running around each part of the computer and it would drive me crazy. So the system I bought is prebuilt, which I feel very good about. This way I know all the parts will work together.

The maker of the computer is called IBuyPower. It has a 64 bit quad-core proceessor, AMD Phenom II X4 chip that runs at 3.2 GHz. It has 8 GB of DDR3 memory and a 1 terabyte drive with SATA II interface. It comes with Windows Vista Home Premium for a 64 bit system and a free upgrade to Windows 7.0 when it is released later this year. The graphics card is a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 275. Among other standard equipment it has a nice network card, DVD burner, TV Out port, and a host of other things.

In addition I decided to purchase two monitors for dual monitors. These are made by HannsG, a company I have never heard of before, but they have good ratings from multiple sources. I purchased 19 inch non-widescreen monitors because I don't need giant screens to watch movies on or play games on. I am hoping Beckah will find it very useful to have Photoshop on one screen and files on the other, or a tutorial or something like that. I think she will find it beneficial. I know that when I was doing Web design I would have loved to have dual monitors. I could rattle off additional specs on the monitors, suffice to say they should do nicely.

So what am I going to do with all this power, and what will I do with the old computer? My old computer is a very solid machine. A little cleaning and purging and its a very viable system. I may store music on it, or set up a network, or even a Webserver or firewall. The new one will be fun though, I hope. I want to create a nice backup system that Beckah can use to keep her clients pictures safe. I plan on getting a backup utility to back up the My Documents folder once per night. I also want to arrange the system as I need it to look and capture an image of it. That way if spyware and viruses do break through, I can simply reimage the machine and have one that runs efficiently without losing any of the My Documents content. I may be purchasing an external hard drive to serve as a backup or even a mirror disk. I do not have all that figured out yet so that last paragraph may seem to babble on for a bit. But at least I now have it captured on this journal.

I was able to get a plethora of free or low cost software through the purchase, through work and advice from through friends. Another goal in this computer is to have everything fully legal including software. Just a matter of securing it appropriately.

Football Fanism

August 10, 2009

Sad to say, this is an entry about football. Those who know me are aware that Craig and football don't mix too well. There are a wide number of reasons for this. When I was a child I played once with friends and got hurt and thought, "Well, this is stupid." That was the first impression I received. Growing up I realized the farce and commercialism and it really set a trend for all sports in my life. Sports steals money from much more worthy departments like music, art, math, science, history, and all the rest. Sports in high school and college just stirs the testosterone of teenagers, which is ok, because something else would do it if it wasn't sports.

As I grew even older I derived many theories as to why people liked it. Primarily because they enjoy living vicariously through other people, screaming as if they have control. I also began to respect family moments between fathers and sons. I still think sports, and football in particular, is ridiculous and vapid and shallow. One year, while I was in Tennessee with nothing to do on Sundays, I watched an entire season's worth of Titans games. Usually when I watch football, even to this day, there is always some bizarre rule that comes into play that I've never heard of but everyone around me talks like it happens all the time and is very common.

Me: What just happened?
Everyone: They have to go back to the 50 yard line.
Me: Why?
Everyone: Penalty for holding the ball too long.
Me: What? That's the point of the game: to hold the ball as long as possible.
Everyone: Well, he was in front of the 20 yard line.
Me: Well, good for him, he's been trying to get there the entire game, he should be rewarded not penalized.
Everyone: But he was there for over 20 seconds.
Me: I restate my initial conclusion.
Everyone: Greenwood, you're an idiot. Just sit down and let the rest of us watch the game.
Me: Screw you, I hate football. You are all idiots. I'm going to contribute something to society.

Ask my family, this is a typical conversation on any given Sunday. I don't have the time to follow the stats either. Another typical conversation between my brother and I:

Brother: Jones is looking good this year, .583 conversions between last year compared with the average for the league over the last 5 years.
Me: What does that mean?
Brother: It means his conversion rate is higher compared to everyone else.
Me: But he lost every game he played, didn't he?
Brother: Well, yeah, but his conversions...
Me: But he lost. He's a loser. If I had to give my baby to someone to run across a minefield he'd be a bad choice, because he's a LOSER.
Brother: You don't understand. His conversions are higher. That's all I'm saying.
Me: So what conclusion have you come to based on this fact? What does everyone else in the league rank? Is he ahead or behind?
Brother: You're an idiot. Nevermind, sorry I brought it up.
Me: Whatever, football is stupid.

But, that one year I watched an entire season by myself. No one to ask questions too. I enjoyed it a lot more and really got excited when they went to the Super Bowl that year, and then lost by one yard to the Ravens. For a long time if you presented any match between any two teams I was usually able to pick a favorite based on my own criteria, which is really what this journal entry is about. I admit that if a person does follow all the stats and histories of the players and teams one can actually predict with some accuracy who is favored to win. But by retaining all that information you waste a lot of space and energy.

That said, the following is how I rank the teams I like, based primarily on two criteria: mascot and color. It's possible to have a cool mascot and loser colors, and its possible to have cool colors but a loser mascot. I am talking about football but this actually applies to any professional sport. For example, this conversation actually took place:

Guy #1: Dude, what should we name our team?
Guy #2: Dude, I don't know. What?
Guy #1: Oh dude, I just got an idea!
Guy #2: What, dude?
Guy #1: Dude, we should totally be the Nuggets!
Guy #2: The Nuggets?
Guy #1: Dude, completely. We are the Nuggets!
Guy #2: Yeah, man. That's nice! The Nuggets.
Guy #1 and #2: The Nuggets! Yeah!

I digress. The definition of a good mascot is one that can kill something. A falcon is a good mascot, but a cardinal is a bad mascot. Specifically, falcons kill cardinals. Therefore, if Atlanta ever plays Phoenix I will be rooting for Atlanta, even if they are down by 50 points. Note that the largest threat of a nugget is that it can be choked on. As for colors, you have to have good strong colors like red, blue, black or gray. Whimpy colors are yellow, orange and turquoise. Keep in mind, colors are a little shifty because sometimes yellow can be used as an accent to a stronger color, but I don't want to get too detailed. Once again, if the Buccaneers (red and black) play the Packers (green and yellow) I will be rooting for the Buccaneers. Their mascot is WAY cooler too. Buccaneers (pirates) kill things! I realize you can't have every team be red and blue because that would be practically monochromatic and boring. But any team who wants to proudly flex their muscles behind a yellow jersey should not fully be trusted in terms of sanity or promises of power.

I have created a list of all teams based on my criteria. I am making no claims other than these are my favorite teams. I should point out that additional criteria can apply as well. A score of 1-3 was awarded to each team. 1 being the lowest, 3 being the highest. 2 was given to mascots and colors that could go either way. For example, the patriots have fantastic colors and their mascot does have some menace involved, but the menace is very conditional (has to be during a time of war at a certain time period, and we're not even mad at the English anymore). So they got a 2 for their mascot. The bears scored a 2 for colors because blue is awesome, but that namby pamby orange is weak.

It should also be noted that the Raiders should be awesome. They rank very high on my scale, but since their team is made up mostly of convicts on parole I rarely root for them. Same goes for the Cowboys, but their mascot is terrible! Their biggest threat is they might rustly up some cattle if we tick them off. The most important thing to realize is that the Broncos suck on so many different levels that it boggles the mind. Nobody likes the Broncos. People who pay money for Broncos jackets and clothing are color blind and they probably meant to buy another team, but got confused in the store with all the bright lights and high pressure salemen. That said, here are my rankings:

Rafting in Wyoming

July 28, 2009

I have returned from the rafting trip in Jackson, Wyoming. It was one of the most fun vacations I have ever had in my life. It was too short and the rapids were not big enough. No one got hurt, new things were done by many. I can't say enough great things about it.

We (Craig, Beckah and London) left on Friday morning and met Mom, Dad, Eddie, Brittany, Paul, Michelle and Niki who all arrived before us. We got checked into the hotel and got a chance to explore the city a little. The next morning London's babysitter, Tara Simpson, showed up. After talking with her Beckah and I felt better. There is something about leaving your child with a stranger. But we felt ok because Tara was majoring in elementary education, came with references, worked with a licensed company, and had experience.

We all left for the rafting trip and were on the water by 10:00. Our guide's name was Tim. The first portion of the trip was an 8 mile scenic portion. We saw bald eagles flying, and osprey and other animals. We then stopped and ate breakfast at a campsight. We then got back in the boat for 8 miles of rapids. Of course there were lots of calm stretches between the rapids. Brittany and Eddie and I jumped in the water during one of these calm spots which was great! The water was cool but we were wet from the rapids and it actually cooled us off from the sun.

The biggest rapid was called Big Kahuna and it was fantastic. No one fell out of the boat, but Beckah's hat got knocked off and I think Paul got jostled around. It was so much fun. We will be ordering pictures but until we do I snagged a screen shot of this one.

I looked at a real estate brochure while we were there and all I need is about $15,000,000 to buy 100 acres and create my own lake. Perhaps in the future. The next day we packed up and visited a spring called Periodic Springs. There was a 2 mile hike to get to the springs and another hike up the mountain to see the springs up close. I was the only one who did that. The springs normally turn on and off during low water, but at this time of year the water is on all the time, so it was mostly a river coming out of a rock.

We made it home late that night and I think all agreed that it was worth doing again.

Birthday Diet

July 14, 2009

My birthday is countable days away. I’ll be 33. I will spare all the comparisons and allegories I seem to make every year on this journal. But it is worth pointing out that Jesus was crucified at age 33. So, by my figuring, if I can make it to 34 without being crucified then I’m not doing too bad. To be fair, before Christ’s crucifixion he had also walked on water, healed the blind, fed 5,000 people and was kind of a snob to the Pharisees. Having done none of those yet, this should be a busy year for me.

For my birthday this year I have decided to demand my friends and family join me in a white water rafting trip. I have wanted to be more adventurous in my outings, but its such a hassle and so dang expensive. A wild night out for me is seeing a movie on the other side of town, or if I’m getting really wild, staying in a hotel out of town.

I figure that with unlimited time, energy and other resources I would go rafting, and hiking, and camping and fishing and hunting and all kinds of things. But since my resources are limited I am really looking forward to this rafting trip. I went rafting once on the Green River when I was in seventh grade, and it rained and was cold and miserable. I want this rafting trip to be hot. I want to get in the river and let the water cool me down. We should end up with lots of pictures.

I have once again cut back my Mountain Dew consumption. I have been having one or two of them during the weekends and none during the week. I still find myself craving them which I know I am doing to myself by cheating on the weekends. But again, less is better. After I came off my last fast I went back to two 24 ounce bottles per day! My weight went up to 173. I always told myself that if it ever got over 170 I would alter my choices.

With that, I started my current fast, and I made it a point to simply eat less. No magic complex label checking and food avoiding, just eating less. After I started the diet I did some research and found The Hacker’s Diet. This is basically what I am doing. One rule: Eat less calories than you burn and you will lose weight. I lost 9 pounds in the first week and a half. Currently I’m 164 and 15% body fat. As always I only report this so I can look back at this in 15 years and laugh because I’ll probably be 200 pounds and 58% lard.

I don’t want to addicted to caffeine with London watching me. I used to want to have a little more muscle to me, but I don’t really want that. I don’t want to work for it mostly.

Real Mountain Biking

June 24, 2009

Recently I was invited to go on a mountain bike ride with some friends from work. I agreed after finding out where we would be riding. It is a place not far from my house called Yellow Fork Trail in Rose Canyon. I was nervous that I would not be in shape enough, that my bike would be cheap and fall apart. But I was excited to go out and do real mountain biking on a non paved road up a real mountain.

Last night was the night we went; four of us all together. One was very experienced, one just a little less so, and two of us were beginners. I was the ultra novice, the only one who had never done this before. We got to the bottom of the hill at 6:00 pm Tuesday night and we started. I didn’t think much of it and rambled up. Soon the others passed me. The hill started getting steeper. Luckily this was called a gentlemen’s ride which means they all stopped and waited for the two novices. The first two or three times they stopped I just leap-frogged behind them. After that I had to stop on my own.

I think because I am out of shape and because the air was thinner I found myself resting and catching my breath in four or five minutes, getting back on the bike and 200 feet later being totally out of breath again. I was thinking about quitting and heading down the mountain several times, but whimping out was just not an option.

I am glad I did not whimp out. I did make it to the top. I did walk my bike quite a bit as we neared the top. It was so steep I couldn’t get on and start pedaling without falling off. The terrain was very rocky and the path was small, less than 12 inches wide for a lot of it. But I did make it to the top. The view was something I had never seen before. I could see the south end of Utah lake, all of Salt Lake City and the south of Ogden as well. I would have seen Provo too, but it was blocked by a mountain. We were on the south side of the Copper Mine.

Coming down the mountain was probably one of the most fun things I have done in my entire life. It took 2 hours to get up the mountain and maybe 20 minutes to come down. I still played it conservatively coming down because I had never done this before, I didn’t know the limits of my gear when pushed to this extreme and I had a daughter at home and didn’t want any broken bones or bloody faces. But I assure you I was moving very fast! The trail was narrow, there were a light smattering of things to jump over but it was mostly clear, smooth, winding and exhilarating. We were moving very fast. It was so much fun. I was disappointed when it was over, but I was also exhausted.

I learned that my bike did just fine. It could use some improvements like full suspension, pedal clips, and disc brakes. But I have very acceptable gear that is very competent on God fearing mountains. One of the most fun events of my life. Now I have to decide if I want to get in shape and make a hobby of it!

Details of Database Administration

June 12, 2009

I mentioned that I got a new job a few weeks ago. I briefly mentioned in a nonchalant way so that I could learn what it was all about before tooting my horn too much about it. But, the time to toot is now. This is truly the greatest job I have ever had on so many levels, which I will attempt to capture here.

Basically it’s a mix of small and large things. For example, the building where I work is less than 2 miles from my house. I ride my bike to work. This saves gas, good for the trees and whales, gives me a little exercise and is tremendous fun. Even when I drive my car I drive through two neighborhoods. The closest I get to traffic is crossing a minor road between neighborhoods. When I drive the parking lot is covered. Hot sun? No problem? Rain, snow or other precipitation? No problem. Past occupational temporary vehicular storage options have meant parking in the open sun, sometimes a quarter mile away from the door.

There is a rather large lake next to the building where I work. It’s called Daybreak Lake. There are fish there. People row boats and there are playgrounds and rocks and trees. It has a nice walking path around the lake that I go take walks on for lunch routinely. I dream about so many random things on my walks. Mostly owning my own lake. My dream lake would be a mix and match of the one at American Express and Daybreak.

I learn new things every day. I have always loved databases but only worked with them a small bit. Now I am in the trenches administrating them. I am reading a book now that goes through details of SQL and every page is something I do at work. I will have a chance to pass tests which will open a lot of career doors for me if I can do it!

I work with nice computers, clean new office, everything is environmentally friendly. I have a nice view of the mountains to the west of Salt Lake City. I got a chance to stand at the top and bottom of the copper mine which is really cool! Not many people get to do that!

The work is very meaningful to a lot of people. I administrate near 100 servers, over a thousand databases. Mining operations run on the databases I am partially responsible for. My coworkers are extremely supportive of me learning new things. I have taught my coworkers new things as well. I have had lots of background they haven’t had and they appreciate when I can do new things that help the team’s work. There are a good number of fellow Christians I work with and around. That is mind-blowing to me! I am so accustomed to only seeing fellow Christians at church. But I work side by side with them.

I don’t know how to explain this next one. I have never socially fit in like I do here. Every place I have worked has positives and negatives on the social front. eBay was so hard for me to be confident and I don’t know why. I just stuck to my little desk and was shy, but I wanted to be out front and I tried but by the time I found my footing I had pigeon holed myself with this image of being an introvert and it didn’t go well. New Horizons was better because I had better confidence (due to Beckah and being married quite frankly). But I was a child in the presence of…well…teenagers anyway. They were all smarter and faster than me. I did ok there, but it wasn’t the best of things. American Express was so big. I did awfully good with my team of 8-10 people, but when there are that many people in one building, you see new faces all the time.

But here, the size is just about right. It is an international corporation, but my office has maybe 150 people would be my guess. I haven’t met everyone but I say hi to coworkers and it’s not fake at all. I speak well with others when I need to request information, work related or not. Other people come to me and ask things which I can almost always give them what they want, which just adds to my confidence. It’s just an amazing fit for my social abilities. It isn’t too much or too little. I don’t want to be overconfident and say I have everything under control, but anything I don’t know I am learning quickly and its just fantastic!

There is a gym that I have access to as well. I haven’t used it, but it’s very nice and fancy. I may use it someday. There are a few negative things, mostly the fact that I am a contractor. That means no paid vacations; I’m a 1099 employee and have to dance with taking my own taxes out. Not that it is hard to do that, but it’s just a hassle. It also means I have no 401(k) or any other benefits of any kind. I’m told that’s being worked on but it is all relevant to the economy and frankly I’m thankful I have any job right now. I’m not complaining at all about this one.

I love this job, I’m going to fight to keep it as long as I can. I am going to do all I can to add to my teams abilities and to learn. I am on board with everything being done, I am positive and upbeat.