Another week in the books and another set of random adventures. I started the week by getting another batch of stories off to the union for the April issue of their magazine, the Record. Other than the editorial (each conference does a brief editorial at the begging of their section every month)that I'm still waiting on, everything is in on time. Which was good because we had another snow adventure on Tuesday.
I learned on the news that morning that this has been the foruth-snowiest winter on record for Dallas. Much like our last two winters in the Northwest. If this is the exception to the rule I can probably deal with business as usual.
Today I had my first field assignment: photographing a 7th/8th grade music festival at Southwestern Adventist University. It was a lot of trying to be inconspicuous with a very conspicuous camera and an even more conspicuous lens... but I did manage to get some good shots I think. Any shortcomings with the shots have nothing to do with the equipment. We are so spoiled here. Canon 5D Mark II, 2.8 glass from 28-200 and a FISHEYE lens (forgive me, but any photo-geeks reading this are going nuts right now).
Tuesday I hit the treadmill despite the snow. It was a rough run. I fought valiantly, but my pace was almost a minute off my last run. Curious to say the least. Tonight I figured out why. One of the treadmills in the workout area is stuck on an incline even though it says it's at zero. Guess which one I used Tuesday and didn't use tonight? MUCH BETTER.
To be fair, I'm sure I got a much better workout on Tuesday. But it's just so nice when my Nike+ adapter in my ipod tells me, "Congratulations! You just recorded your fastest mile." That's happened twice in the last week. Last Friday I averaged 7:20/mile for my two-mile run and tonight I knocked it down to 7:10. Before tonight the fastest time I had ever recorded for one mile was 7:13.
It's funny to me... normally I find myself in a funk this time of year. I don't know if I would always go so far as to say "seasonal depression," but it's definitely something like that. This year I've felt close to getting down a couple times, but then I find myself making pad thai, getting paired up to golf with three Adventists or slaying the treadmill with a merciless onslaught of unrelenting strides... and suddenly there's all this optimistic momentum that just carries me over the potential valleys.
In my devotional this morning there was a quote from Tom Landry (how fitting for Dallas) saying, "A coaches job is to teach grown men how to do what they don't want to do in order to become what they've always wanted to become." I have to smile to myself when I think of the list of "I'll nevers" that I find myself tossing aside. Things like "I'll never put onions in something I'm cooking just for me," or "I'll never be a good runner outside of just sprinting 100 yards or so." Listening to a coach you trust can lead to some pretty amazing results.
We don't begin to test the resources of God until we attempt the impossible.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Week 2
I realized I haven't updated in a bit. That's partially because life is getting more routine and regular. Last week I sent my first batch of conference news stories to the Southwestern Union for publication in their magazine. I also attended my first Executive Committee meeting. It's not something our department is required to attend, but it helps us to know what's going on and sometimes gives us leads for other stories to cover.
I'm going to be developing web news stories for the conference site. Luckily I have some experience in this area. We're also going to be helping put together an video tour of Lake Whitney Ranch, the new summer camp/campmeeting and events center the conference is developing. Luckily, video editing is one of Kristina's area of strength, but hopefully I'll find ways to be helpful. The Pathfinders, Adventurers and Master Guides are all having their camporees at Lake Whitney this year so we'll be busy reporting and documenting those events as well.
Friday I hit the golf course again. Things were a little bit greener. But that was mostly because they had sprayed green fertilizer on the greens. What else did I do after that... I forget. Oh yah, got some groceries so I could make a crock pot stew for Sabbath lunch, and then hit the treadmill at the apartment.
On Sabbath I went to the Arlington church again. This week I attended the YG (Younger Generation) service, which is sandwiched between the traditional services. It was pretty good. Having spent my entire life attending one church it's kind of hard to figure out what's going to be a good fit for me. But I'll get there.
After church and lunch I headed out and did some exploring in downtown Fort Worth. The rain ended up kinda putting a damper on that, but I still managed to see a piece of things. Looks like there's lots more to get into there, but for now here's a couple quick looks:
Today I headed back to the golf course in the morning. It had rained overnight so it wasn't too crowded. The starters offered to let me play the back 9 first since a couple groups had just gone off on the front. They said I might have to join another group when I came around to play the front, but I figured I would take my chances. As I played the weather got steadily better and by the time I was finishing my first 9 there was a decent crowd of people getting ready to head out. The starter told me to join a group of three that was getting ready to tee off.
Usually playing with strangers is one of my least favorite things. Especially if it's joining a group of three. They usually have their own established routines and procedures and it makes me feel like a tag along. But helps when three holes in you figure out that all three guys are Adventist and one of them is a County Commissioner running for re-election. I really appreciate it when God does little things like this. Just random, unnecessary little things to let me know that He knows me and what I enjoy. That He's supportive of things that I enjoy and want to be a part of them with me. And even though my score didn't exactly reflect it, after I joined up with those guys I felt like I played better.
After golf I grabbed some lunch, washed my car and tried to go to this coffee shop in an older part of Burleson. Turns out they're closed on Sundays but I wandered around there for a bit and scouted out some restaurants for later.
All in all it's been a pretty productive second week and a pretty enjoyable third weekend. Glad I got to enjoy some sunshine today because rumor has it that snow may be back in the forecast by Tuesday. How the weather does change down here!
I'm going to be developing web news stories for the conference site. Luckily I have some experience in this area. We're also going to be helping put together an video tour of Lake Whitney Ranch, the new summer camp/campmeeting and events center the conference is developing. Luckily, video editing is one of Kristina's area of strength, but hopefully I'll find ways to be helpful. The Pathfinders, Adventurers and Master Guides are all having their camporees at Lake Whitney this year so we'll be busy reporting and documenting those events as well.
Friday I hit the golf course again. Things were a little bit greener. But that was mostly because they had sprayed green fertilizer on the greens. What else did I do after that... I forget. Oh yah, got some groceries so I could make a crock pot stew for Sabbath lunch, and then hit the treadmill at the apartment.
On Sabbath I went to the Arlington church again. This week I attended the YG (Younger Generation) service, which is sandwiched between the traditional services. It was pretty good. Having spent my entire life attending one church it's kind of hard to figure out what's going to be a good fit for me. But I'll get there.
After church and lunch I headed out and did some exploring in downtown Fort Worth. The rain ended up kinda putting a damper on that, but I still managed to see a piece of things. Looks like there's lots more to get into there, but for now here's a couple quick looks:
Today I headed back to the golf course in the morning. It had rained overnight so it wasn't too crowded. The starters offered to let me play the back 9 first since a couple groups had just gone off on the front. They said I might have to join another group when I came around to play the front, but I figured I would take my chances. As I played the weather got steadily better and by the time I was finishing my first 9 there was a decent crowd of people getting ready to head out. The starter told me to join a group of three that was getting ready to tee off.
Usually playing with strangers is one of my least favorite things. Especially if it's joining a group of three. They usually have their own established routines and procedures and it makes me feel like a tag along. But helps when three holes in you figure out that all three guys are Adventist and one of them is a County Commissioner running for re-election. I really appreciate it when God does little things like this. Just random, unnecessary little things to let me know that He knows me and what I enjoy. That He's supportive of things that I enjoy and want to be a part of them with me. And even though my score didn't exactly reflect it, after I joined up with those guys I felt like I played better.
After golf I grabbed some lunch, washed my car and tried to go to this coffee shop in an older part of Burleson. Turns out they're closed on Sundays but I wandered around there for a bit and scouted out some restaurants for later.
All in all it's been a pretty productive second week and a pretty enjoyable third weekend. Glad I got to enjoy some sunshine today because rumor has it that snow may be back in the forecast by Tuesday. How the weather does change down here!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Official Stuff
I'm not usually one to self-promote, but hosts of inquiring minds lead me to believe that it's important for me to share things like these. So here you go:
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
The holiday weekend
There's positives and negatives to a long weekend. Especially one made longer still by weather-related factors. On the one hand it's nice to have lots of free time. On the other hand, if you're not properly motivated/proactive there can be such a thing as too much free time. This may sound impossible to some of you, but by Monday afternoon I was actually looking forward to getting back to work. What I was I thinking?!?!
Thursday afternoon I was pretty much snowbound and you already read/saw some of my Friday adventures. On Sabbath I decided to visit the Arlington Church, which came with high praises by the associate youth director. Since my internal clock continues to tick on west coast time I opted for the latest of the three services, starting at 11:15. It was a pretty positive experience. They didn't bring me up to the front, ask for my life story and demand an explanation as to why I'm still singe so that's pretty good in my book.
Because of the first holiday this weekend the sermon was on love, and Song of Solomon in particular. He did bring up an excellent point about love. It's not just about hoarding the feelings/emotions you and a significant other share. It's about seeing and affirming love around you. As I think about the relationships in my life, the couples that make up my understanding of what it means to unite in a shared love,
I see great variety. I used to think all relationships/marriages were pretty much the same, and all perfect. I'm under no such illusions anymore. But I'm glad. I feel like there's something to be learned from each example around me. Not only that, but I have the absolute freedom to go completely off the map. To do things in a completely different way than any example around me. Anyways... I could continue this introspective tangent for a few thousand more words but I'll spare you for now.
After church I went exploring. This vast urban sprawl in north Texas is referred to as The Metroplex. It incorporates Dallas, Ft. Worth, Arlington and a host of other suburbs/smaller cities that have been swallowed up by the ever expanding development. Even DFW Airport seems bigger than most of Vancouver. Dallas and Ft. Worth each have their own distinct skyline, and on a day when it's not 27 degrees out I will look forward to photographing them. North Dallas also has some very upscale urban settings that I will probably shoot as well.
Saturday night I found my way to IKEA. My change of address packed from the post office contained a coupon and I couldn't wait to spend it... and then some. This post is going to get very long now. Onto the spoils of victory:
Click on any of the photos to see more on Flickr.
I actually ended up making another Ikea trip on Sunday. Mostly because there was still too much snow to golf and I wanted to get a shelving unit that I didn't think would fit into my car with all the other stuff. I should have taken a picture of that beast. It took over an hour and a whopping 76 wood pegs to assemble. But it's glorious.
Yesterday I headed out at around 10 to golf. The sun was blazing, but packing zero punch. The wind didn't help this either.
I've said before that it's brown here, but here's exactly what I mean:
Once I got past the color, the course actually played pretty well. I was fighting a pretty bad hook, and the wind didn't help that, but managed to score decently and survived a couple tough tests.
While thawing out from the round I did some more unpacking and a little laundry. It was Monday afternoon/evening when I literally ran out of things to do. Having a three-day weekend every week is certainly a blessing, but a four-day weekend is a bit excessive.
Thursday afternoon I was pretty much snowbound and you already read/saw some of my Friday adventures. On Sabbath I decided to visit the Arlington Church, which came with high praises by the associate youth director. Since my internal clock continues to tick on west coast time I opted for the latest of the three services, starting at 11:15. It was a pretty positive experience. They didn't bring me up to the front, ask for my life story and demand an explanation as to why I'm still singe so that's pretty good in my book.
Because of the first holiday this weekend the sermon was on love, and Song of Solomon in particular. He did bring up an excellent point about love. It's not just about hoarding the feelings/emotions you and a significant other share. It's about seeing and affirming love around you. As I think about the relationships in my life, the couples that make up my understanding of what it means to unite in a shared love,
I see great variety. I used to think all relationships/marriages were pretty much the same, and all perfect. I'm under no such illusions anymore. But I'm glad. I feel like there's something to be learned from each example around me. Not only that, but I have the absolute freedom to go completely off the map. To do things in a completely different way than any example around me. Anyways... I could continue this introspective tangent for a few thousand more words but I'll spare you for now.
After church I went exploring. This vast urban sprawl in north Texas is referred to as The Metroplex. It incorporates Dallas, Ft. Worth, Arlington and a host of other suburbs/smaller cities that have been swallowed up by the ever expanding development. Even DFW Airport seems bigger than most of Vancouver. Dallas and Ft. Worth each have their own distinct skyline, and on a day when it's not 27 degrees out I will look forward to photographing them. North Dallas also has some very upscale urban settings that I will probably shoot as well.
Saturday night I found my way to IKEA. My change of address packed from the post office contained a coupon and I couldn't wait to spend it... and then some. This post is going to get very long now. Onto the spoils of victory:
Click on any of the photos to see more on Flickr.
I actually ended up making another Ikea trip on Sunday. Mostly because there was still too much snow to golf and I wanted to get a shelving unit that I didn't think would fit into my car with all the other stuff. I should have taken a picture of that beast. It took over an hour and a whopping 76 wood pegs to assemble. But it's glorious.
Yesterday I headed out at around 10 to golf. The sun was blazing, but packing zero punch. The wind didn't help this either.
I've said before that it's brown here, but here's exactly what I mean:
Once I got past the color, the course actually played pretty well. I was fighting a pretty bad hook, and the wind didn't help that, but managed to score decently and survived a couple tough tests.
While thawing out from the round I did some more unpacking and a little laundry. It was Monday afternoon/evening when I literally ran out of things to do. Having a three-day weekend every week is certainly a blessing, but a four-day weekend is a bit excessive.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Wrap
Another positive to working in the Adventist system is having Fridays off from work. Ever since I found myself in this schedule I have really appreciated Fridays, especially Friday mornings. It's a chance to sleep in a bit, make myself a mighty breakfast and take the opportunity to indulge my passions. Some Fridays this means finding a quiet coffee shop and a good book. Other weeks it's getting caught up on laundry or household chores. Sometimes it's just watching TV or a movie.
This week was a bit of everything. Pancakes, eggs, hashbrowns and a latte. Vacuuming, dusting, cleaning the kitchen and bathrooms. Then I remembered the four inches of snow on the ground. Another Friday activity is the photo mission. When I jump in my car with my camera and search for moments, object, ideas and inspirations. Apparently snow in Texas is kind of a big deal so it seemed appropriate to document it.
It's truly remarkable to see how a society reacts when presented with a "once in 3-4 decades" quantity of snow. The average age descends to approximately 8 for one. I have never seen such a high concentration of snowmen in the Pacific Northwest. The slightest change in elevation is swarmed with cardboard squares, plastic pieces and any object which might facilitate a first-ever sledding experience.
But the image that stood out to me was the one that I didn't expect. Stopping at a Catholic church to get shots of snow-covered oak trees I noticed a small thinking garden with a snow covered statue of Christ.
And that was just my morning! Then it was off to the store. I've been looking for crock pot recipes and in the process also decided to find a recipe for pad thai. That expanded my grocery list to include a potpourri of items I had never purchased, let alone seen in the grocery store, before. But with a little determination I was able to find everything except one elusive asian sauce. However, I did manage to come up with a reasonable substitute.
After an afternoon of unloading bags and an early evening of frantic scuttling around the kitchen I emerged with an enormous mess and a fairly satisfactory first attempt at pad thai. More than I could possibly eat in one sitting, and fairly delicious. With a few tweaks I think I can get it down.
We'll see what happens when I try my hand at spring rolls.
This week was a bit of everything. Pancakes, eggs, hashbrowns and a latte. Vacuuming, dusting, cleaning the kitchen and bathrooms. Then I remembered the four inches of snow on the ground. Another Friday activity is the photo mission. When I jump in my car with my camera and search for moments, object, ideas and inspirations. Apparently snow in Texas is kind of a big deal so it seemed appropriate to document it.
It's truly remarkable to see how a society reacts when presented with a "once in 3-4 decades" quantity of snow. The average age descends to approximately 8 for one. I have never seen such a high concentration of snowmen in the Pacific Northwest. The slightest change in elevation is swarmed with cardboard squares, plastic pieces and any object which might facilitate a first-ever sledding experience.
But the image that stood out to me was the one that I didn't expect. Stopping at a Catholic church to get shots of snow-covered oak trees I noticed a small thinking garden with a snow covered statue of Christ.
And that was just my morning! Then it was off to the store. I've been looking for crock pot recipes and in the process also decided to find a recipe for pad thai. That expanded my grocery list to include a potpourri of items I had never purchased, let alone seen in the grocery store, before. But with a little determination I was able to find everything except one elusive asian sauce. However, I did manage to come up with a reasonable substitute.
After an afternoon of unloading bags and an early evening of frantic scuttling around the kitchen I emerged with an enormous mess and a fairly satisfactory first attempt at pad thai. More than I could possibly eat in one sitting, and fairly delicious. With a few tweaks I think I can get it down.
We'll see what happens when I try my hand at spring rolls.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
This is still Texas right?
So I woke up this morning to a bit of this going on:
It's pretty hilarious that I was worried I wouldn't be able to wear sweaters/coats that often down here. So pretty much that's been the story of today. Freezing my bare feet off to run out on the balcony and take a picture before the snow melted.
Yah... about that. It's done nothing but snow more since then. Everyone at the office is positively giddy, a sign that this doesn't happen very often. This morning we were doing some training on how to edit information on the conference's web site (fun for me since I just access the content management system for the first time yesterday). It's tough to get 10 people all working through adding events to the calendar, let alone when phones keep chirping with the latest school closure information.
We were also supposed to have a baby shower for someone in the office, but that got cancelled since she couldn't make it here. However we still had pizza and cake so we had a nice lunch feast. That's when administration announced that we get to leave at 2 because the snow is supposed to continue through the night. However, it's supposed to be 50 tomorrow. Crazy. At this point all bets are off, but I'm glad I got a decent amount of groceries earlier this week. If I have to I can just hunker down and play Xbox all weekend.
Someday I'll get to golf in Texas... but probably not today.
It's pretty hilarious that I was worried I wouldn't be able to wear sweaters/coats that often down here. So pretty much that's been the story of today. Freezing my bare feet off to run out on the balcony and take a picture before the snow melted.
Yah... about that. It's done nothing but snow more since then. Everyone at the office is positively giddy, a sign that this doesn't happen very often. This morning we were doing some training on how to edit information on the conference's web site (fun for me since I just access the content management system for the first time yesterday). It's tough to get 10 people all working through adding events to the calendar, let alone when phones keep chirping with the latest school closure information.
We were also supposed to have a baby shower for someone in the office, but that got cancelled since she couldn't make it here. However we still had pizza and cake so we had a nice lunch feast. That's when administration announced that we get to leave at 2 because the snow is supposed to continue through the night. However, it's supposed to be 50 tomorrow. Crazy. At this point all bets are off, but I'm glad I got a decent amount of groceries earlier this week. If I have to I can just hunker down and play Xbox all weekend.
Someday I'll get to golf in Texas... but probably not today.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Stride
Perhaps I've just been too busy feeling overwhelmed, exhausted and sluggish over the last couple days, but today I feel like I'm actually getting things done. In the midst of all the random chaos this week I've made a few tiny steps on work-related things and today I'm feeling like they're all coming together. There's still a lot to figure out, but I'm not feeling completely useless.
Even though I'm a completely disorganized Type-B personality I throughly enjoy filling out expense reports. Maybe that's because it represents reimbursement checks that are oh so enjoyable. There's going to be some big ones from this whole process. House hunting trip. Moving truck rental and gas. Moving mileage, hotel and per diem.
It will definitely be nice for this job to start being fiscally responsible. Having a job in Texas is certainly more cost-effective than having no job in Washington, but thus far it's cost me a lot of money to be here. I haven't minded that one bit. Furnishing my apartment was/is a blast. But it will be nice to have some affirmation that this move makes sound financial sense. And if my calculations are correct the check I'll get on the 18th should do that and then some!
Even though I'm a completely disorganized Type-B personality I throughly enjoy filling out expense reports. Maybe that's because it represents reimbursement checks that are oh so enjoyable. There's going to be some big ones from this whole process. House hunting trip. Moving truck rental and gas. Moving mileage, hotel and per diem.
It will definitely be nice for this job to start being fiscally responsible. Having a job in Texas is certainly more cost-effective than having no job in Washington, but thus far it's cost me a lot of money to be here. I haven't minded that one bit. Furnishing my apartment was/is a blast. But it will be nice to have some affirmation that this move makes sound financial sense. And if my calculations are correct the check I'll get on the 18th should do that and then some!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Day 2
Well I must feel comfortable with this job because it took me only one day to lose that jittery adrenaline-charged sense that keeps a person from oversleeping and causes them to show up to work 20 minutes early. Or perhaps it was the 27 degree temperature when I left this morning (which somehow felt warmer because it was not accompanied by a steady drizzle of rain). At any rate, things are seeming far more "business as usual" than "a drastic departure from anything and everything familiar."
Driving here is pretty crazy. On the main arterial that goes through town the speed limit is 50. On the freeways the signs say 65, but from what I gather that's the suggested minimal speed limit for great-grandmothers on their Sunday afternoon drives. I can deal with that. And hopefully my out of state license plate will help me play dumb should an authority figure bring a different interpretation of the speed limit to my attention.
In addition the freeway on ramps are a bit different than in the Northwest. They just sort of amble out of roads that parallel the freeway and if that road happens to be a two-lane road the person going the direction of the freeway just bombs across the traffic and into the on-ramp. If you're going the opposite way you're expected to yield for them. I suspect turn signals are fairly important in Texas...
I'm not sure if it's a week of prayer this week or if the conference office has a staff worship every morning. That's one thing I really appreciate about working in an Adventist institution. Even if it's just one day a week it's nice to take that moment to refocus our purpose and invite God to be the center of what we are doing.
Also of note, despite oversleeping this morning I made one of my very best mocha's ever. It was cold and a little weak, but I didn't burn the espresso shot and I had just the right ratio of chocolate. This gives me hope that I can import some Pacific Northwest class and sophistication to the new frontier. And no matter how early I have to go to bed, I'm determined to give myself enough time to eat a solid breakfast every morning. It helps when you put the water on the stove the night before and leave the oatmeal out on the counter. That way cooking the food only takes a little longer than cleaning it all up would.
Driving here is pretty crazy. On the main arterial that goes through town the speed limit is 50. On the freeways the signs say 65, but from what I gather that's the suggested minimal speed limit for great-grandmothers on their Sunday afternoon drives. I can deal with that. And hopefully my out of state license plate will help me play dumb should an authority figure bring a different interpretation of the speed limit to my attention.
In addition the freeway on ramps are a bit different than in the Northwest. They just sort of amble out of roads that parallel the freeway and if that road happens to be a two-lane road the person going the direction of the freeway just bombs across the traffic and into the on-ramp. If you're going the opposite way you're expected to yield for them. I suspect turn signals are fairly important in Texas...
I'm not sure if it's a week of prayer this week or if the conference office has a staff worship every morning. That's one thing I really appreciate about working in an Adventist institution. Even if it's just one day a week it's nice to take that moment to refocus our purpose and invite God to be the center of what we are doing.
Also of note, despite oversleeping this morning I made one of my very best mocha's ever. It was cold and a little weak, but I didn't burn the espresso shot and I had just the right ratio of chocolate. This gives me hope that I can import some Pacific Northwest class and sophistication to the new frontier. And no matter how early I have to go to bed, I'm determined to give myself enough time to eat a solid breakfast every morning. It helps when you put the water on the stove the night before and leave the oatmeal out on the counter. That way cooking the food only takes a little longer than cleaning it all up would.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Begin
Day one is in the books. As with most first days it was a lot of housekeeping and orientation. It was kind of nice though, to not have a huge fuss made over me. When I was little my least favorite part of visiting a different church was a dozen pairs of eyes turning toward me and the seemingly forced welcome, "AND WHERE ARE YOU FROM???" It's nice to just show up and start working. Not that people weren't friendly and welcoming, it just didn't seem like they were trying.
It was very cold and very rainy today. If I didn't know any better I would have thought I was working in Centralia. We get an hour for lunch, which turns out to be enough time to run home and eat lunch if I want to.
I was tempted to hit the treadmill tonight, but I'm very tired from going to bed late last night. I'm pushing that plan back until tomorrow and enjoying a little relaxing time before getting after it again tomorrow.
It was very cold and very rainy today. If I didn't know any better I would have thought I was working in Centralia. We get an hour for lunch, which turns out to be enough time to run home and eat lunch if I want to.
I was tempted to hit the treadmill tonight, but I'm very tired from going to bed late last night. I'm pushing that plan back until tomorrow and enjoying a little relaxing time before getting after it again tomorrow.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
And so it begins...
Tomorrow I head in for my first day of work (not counting the three-odd days I was down here at the beginning of January for some pastors meetings). It's been a good relaxing weekend of settling in, visiting the Burleson Church, not golfing(because of unusual cold/moisture)and joining my friends for some Xbox Live gaming.
It's kind of funny that moving 2,000 miles away (but getting a broadband internet connection) is actually giving me more opportunities to hang out with my friends... in some sense. We play video games, talk, joke around and pretty much do the things we would be doing if we were all in one place. Instead we're doing it in some digital living room that doesn't really exist.
It's a charmed age we live in.
I'm excited to finally get started with this job. To find out what it's going to be like. To have clearer answers, instead of assumptions and best guesses. It's also pretty nice that I'll be working Monday-Thursday, like my last job... and that this weekend has a Monday holiday, so I'll follow four days of work with four days off work. The perks of Adventist employment can't be overlooked.
So hopefully I'll have more things to report, and I'll be better at remembering to jot them down here. I know you're all just dying to know all the random things that are happening in my life. Feel free to fire away your questions if you have any. I'm not always sure or aware of what's going on that might be noteworthy.
But now I must sleep. Morning comes earlier in the Central Time Zone and I'm still coming to grips with that.
It's kind of funny that moving 2,000 miles away (but getting a broadband internet connection) is actually giving me more opportunities to hang out with my friends... in some sense. We play video games, talk, joke around and pretty much do the things we would be doing if we were all in one place. Instead we're doing it in some digital living room that doesn't really exist.
It's a charmed age we live in.
I'm excited to finally get started with this job. To find out what it's going to be like. To have clearer answers, instead of assumptions and best guesses. It's also pretty nice that I'll be working Monday-Thursday, like my last job... and that this weekend has a Monday holiday, so I'll follow four days of work with four days off work. The perks of Adventist employment can't be overlooked.
So hopefully I'll have more things to report, and I'll be better at remembering to jot them down here. I know you're all just dying to know all the random things that are happening in my life. Feel free to fire away your questions if you have any. I'm not always sure or aware of what's going on that might be noteworthy.
But now I must sleep. Morning comes earlier in the Central Time Zone and I'm still coming to grips with that.
Friday, February 5, 2010
The Tour
Sorry for the lack of updates over the past couple days. The lack of movement I experienced while driving/riding in the UHaul truck was replaced with a state of perpetual movement this week. By Tuesday afternoon everything was out of the truck, and by Thursday night all but three partial boxes were totally unpacked.
Things are coming together nicely. Especially when I splurged on a slightly larger than 40 inch box at Costco. I'm still figuring out exactly where I want a few random things to go, but it's definitely a livable situation.
In fact, take a look if you like:
Things are coming together nicely. Especially when I splurged on a slightly larger than 40 inch box at Costco. I'm still figuring out exactly where I want a few random things to go, but it's definitely a livable situation.
In fact, take a look if you like:
Monday, February 1, 2010
Day 4/5
I forgot to jot anything down yesterday. After four states, three time zones and 800 miles I was running on fumes by the time we stopped in Van Horn, Texas, to spend the night. It was a day spent amid some of America's most mind-numbingly flat terrain. However, this did have the benefit of 65-80 mph (yes I said EIGHTY MILES PER HOUR) speed limits so we were able to give the U-Haul all it could handle and chase the horizon with fierce determination.
At one of our bathroom stops it sounded like Godzilla was using the men's room. Much hysterical reflection has lead to the conclusion that it was, in fact, an vomiting man and what we heard was the mixture of that function with some accidental child of a cough and a scream. On second thought, maybe it was a Terradactyl...
We hit the road just after 7 am today, determined to eat up the final 500 or so miles to Burleson in time for a relaxing evening before moving in tomorrow. As we drove straight into the sun it became apparent that we might be able to do even better. The GPS said we should arrive by shortly after 3 pm. Could that possibly be right?
Iron bladders and cooperative speed limits kept stoppages to a minimum and by early afternoon we were closing on the western edge of Fort Worth. We skirted south and merged onto Highway 35 West, the true home stretch. A stop at Target for some cleaning supplies and about 90 seconds in the apartment office and I was cleared to move in by 4.
The apartment complex has a pretty small parking area so the truck/trailer combination wasn't going to cut it. Luckily there's a U Haul leasing facility just a couple blocks up the road and they were willing to take the trailer back early and the truck on time. My car purred sweetly as it backed down onto the Texas pavement. The car was built and originally sold here, so this was a homecoming of sorts.
The conference budgeted for professional movers to help me so we just took out the bare essentials tonight. Mattresses, bedding (which required bringing in a few poorly labeled boxes to find sheets), the TV, Xbox... ok so maybe some not so bare essentials too. One more trip to various stores was also required to collect additional food/hygene items for the next 48 hours.
Now I'm getting ready to sleep. This room echoes much like the room I left at home. But that won't last for long. Soon it will be brimming with a fusion of my past and future, becoming increasingly familiar with each box opened and each routine task carried out.
A quick chapter is ending, but another chapter is set to begin in a few short hours, and another in a matter of days. Life just keeps coming so you better be ready.
At one of our bathroom stops it sounded like Godzilla was using the men's room. Much hysterical reflection has lead to the conclusion that it was, in fact, an vomiting man and what we heard was the mixture of that function with some accidental child of a cough and a scream. On second thought, maybe it was a Terradactyl...
We hit the road just after 7 am today, determined to eat up the final 500 or so miles to Burleson in time for a relaxing evening before moving in tomorrow. As we drove straight into the sun it became apparent that we might be able to do even better. The GPS said we should arrive by shortly after 3 pm. Could that possibly be right?
Iron bladders and cooperative speed limits kept stoppages to a minimum and by early afternoon we were closing on the western edge of Fort Worth. We skirted south and merged onto Highway 35 West, the true home stretch. A stop at Target for some cleaning supplies and about 90 seconds in the apartment office and I was cleared to move in by 4.
The apartment complex has a pretty small parking area so the truck/trailer combination wasn't going to cut it. Luckily there's a U Haul leasing facility just a couple blocks up the road and they were willing to take the trailer back early and the truck on time. My car purred sweetly as it backed down onto the Texas pavement. The car was built and originally sold here, so this was a homecoming of sorts.
The conference budgeted for professional movers to help me so we just took out the bare essentials tonight. Mattresses, bedding (which required bringing in a few poorly labeled boxes to find sheets), the TV, Xbox... ok so maybe some not so bare essentials too. One more trip to various stores was also required to collect additional food/hygene items for the next 48 hours.
Now I'm getting ready to sleep. This room echoes much like the room I left at home. But that won't last for long. Soon it will be brimming with a fusion of my past and future, becoming increasingly familiar with each box opened and each routine task carried out.
A quick chapter is ending, but another chapter is set to begin in a few short hours, and another in a matter of days. Life just keeps coming so you better be ready.
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