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1) I make more per hour than I did at my last job
2) back doing IT work
3) got my MCDST certifications (passed 2 core exams just this week)
the minuses:
1) benefits are asstastic
2) my shift is midnight to 8 am
3) have to drive to Redmond
All in all I am very excited. For the first time in my life, I finally got some IT certifications. I passed the 70-271 and 70-272 core exams: supporting the Win XP OS and Desktop Applications in Win XP. Now that I have an MCDST, I want to keep going. The next step is to go for an MCSA - Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator. That takes 3 core exams and 1 elective. It should not be too bad as I am half way there. The level after that will take longer . A Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer needs to take 5 core exams and 2 electives. That's down the road, but I am very excited .
http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/mc
I probably won't be posting much on LJ as I am pretty much on Facebook now but will check from time to time.
Well wishes all around. Cheers!
Kate recently got breast implants, or as I like to call it "got her girls jacked up." I'm glad she did not go for LUDICROUS boobs and seems to have gone for the C cup which looked proportional.*
*I was a little miffed that she didn't get D cups as I wanted to go around screaming Double Dragons! every time she entered the room .
There were so many people at the house including Justin my other brother in law, his wife Amy, 2 of her brothers, 2 of her sisters, her folks, a cousin, a friend, et. al.
The food was fantabulous. I did not end up gorging as much as I did last year for which I am thankful. Once the kids went to bed, we watched Hancock, which was pretty good. The following night we watched Tropic Thunder which was fucking hilarious. Did I mention this was on a 1080 big ass wall projection with surround sound and stadium seating? yeah. pretty rad. Tropic Thunder is one of my all time favorite movies. Robert Downey junior is hysterical as Kirk Lazarus an Australian method actor, who undergoes an operation to look like a black man. This so he can play the part of Sergeant Lincoln Osiris in the movie. RDJ was reluctant to do it at first, as he did not wish to offend blacks, but he really wanted to work with Ben Stiller, so went for it. Let's be honest, he IS in blackface so I can understand his concern, but the way that they resolved it in the movie worked. Additionally, while the roles was stereotypical, he was sweet about it - just watch the damn movie.
We spent Wendesday and Thursday night. Friday morning we had this amazing quiche that Colleen's mom made, then we celebrated Colleen and Kate's birthdays. Colleen hit the bog 40 on Friday, Kate turned 36. My inlaws took our kids to their house and Coll and I went to see Bryan Adams in downtown Seattle at the Townhall.
Things to note about the venue:
1) there is no re entry
2) no alcohol is served there
3) there is no solid food options there
4) general seating only
5) see 1-4
6) is an old converted church
Colleen did sneak out to the car and grabbed a sparkling wine that she had been given as a birthday present and downed it. She did not share.
Other things of interest about Bryan Adams.
1) he is short
2) plays a mean guitar
3) has 2 songs about strippers - one off his new album, the second was "Heaven" which is a story about a male stripper
4) does an amazing Tina Turner impersonation
5) thinks the song "Please forgive me" would make a great country cover
6) Summer of 69 is not about a particular epoch of his life. Its about 69'ing. 'nuff said
7) "Run to you" is about a threesome. In the sense of he is with someone but is cheating on them .
Speaking of birthday fun. Colleen's itouch should arrive tomorrow. I am very excited about giving it to her.
Also, I just recalled. The kids, Colleen, and I spent 4 hours yesterday looking for a Christmas tree. 2.5 hours at the Red Barn, where we rode a train got some free milk and cookies, and hiked for miles, but found no tree. Half an hour at 3 Wise Men. Again, no dice. Finally, spent an hour or so at a third place, not far from there. I cut down about a 9' noble. My arms did not cramp up as badly as they did last year, which tells me I am in better shape, but I ran out of steam as I was so exhausted. I got 5/6 of the way across the trunk of the tree with the saw, but could not get the last part cut. I used my Bayushi tech of cutting the tree then fucking yelling TIMBER and pushing that son of a bitch over. Yeah, um. No es bueno. I ended up splitting the trunk. One of the old dudes there took a chain saw to the stump to square it off . We did get it home only to realize that the base is so thick that our Christmas stand cannot take all that tree meat in its hole... *sigh* We either need to buy a bigger stand or whittle the sides of the base down. URGH!
Poor sap (ha ha) is cooling its heals drinking up some water in our garage while we figure it out ...
Okay, enough fun. Back to the job search.
To many more birthdays, my darling!
Today is also my father's 59 birthday. Happy Birthday Dad! I love you! Friday, the day after Thanksgiving is my lovely wife's Fabulous Birthday. Busy week indeed!
Cheers!
I just applied for the FBI .
As Julius Ceasar once said, "the die is cast ..."
The time for change is here.
I commend McCain on a graceful speech and for bowing out with class. I am excited that President Obama, let's say it again President Obama, will work with both parties to get things do.
A truly historic night.
1. Focus on You
In times of economic uncertainty, remember to focus on what you can control, not what you can't. In essence, this means focusing on yourself. Make time to take stock. There are many self-assessment tools available -- attainment tests, personality inventories, interests and motivations inventories, behavior profiling -- which can help you to develop a personal business vocabulary. "
Source: http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/career-articles-t
I somehow came across this:
"So you want to control the minds of other people, to be able to persuade them to do the things you'd like them to do. You are not alone; the subject of mind control has fascinated people throughout history. The ability to give subliminal messages suggestions would be a powerful tool to have.
Some believe the whole idea a fallacy, that there is no way you can put others in a trance right now, or influence them to do things they would normally not do. Yet history gives many examples of people who possess great influencing skills. If you are here because you imagine that you could have this skill, then let's examine what mind control really is.
What skills are needed and what powers you must possess to master mind control?
More than anything, you must have the ability to control your own mind. This is 90% of it. Really, unless you have a clear and congruent thought process, your past limitations will hold you back from mastering these and other people skills. All the techniques in the world will not assist you, until you make changes in yourself. You must:
Possess a high level of confidence - Beliefs in yourself will increase your success and there is no limit to what you can believe.
Live in a world of abundance - A poverty mind set, has you being needy and in fear, so remove your limitations
Be able to gain rapport with others - If people trust you, they will listen.
Possess charisma and a mastery of language - Learn to talk to people's emotions and they will take a high interest in what you want"
Who the hell wrote this Karl Rove?
Source:
http://www.designedthinking.com/Workshop
Goodbye Mango Tide you are a fine vessel and I shall miss you.
*salute*
*sigh*
Film at Eleven.
St. Peter's is a top notch school in the Jesuit tradition - marrying the best aspects of scientific learning and religion. Our motto is a Man for Others.
I had some amazing teachers at St. Peter's Prep and had a small but tight knit group of friends. I can honestly say that my High School education was almost entirely better and more rigorous than many of my College courses.
I recently started to reconnect with some of my former classmates via Facebook.
Talk about a blast from the past - Pete Froehlich an alumni and my former Junior Trig teacher now married with a kid and teaching at Penn State, another guy Alex Ragone, a cool kid who used to be in a band in high school and whom I remember flying a kite on a religious retreat, now has 3 kids, lives and works in New York and is a Technology Director for a school K-12, he has a blog and various podcasts, another classmate Pat Healy who was an awkward looking kid, now with movie star looks and an MBA from an Ivy League school, another former mate went to Harvard, and so on. Every time, I feel this complete and utter sense of disappointment in me. What I have done in comparison? I mean, I am happy for them, but at the same time, my heart jumps up my throat to land in my mouth, it tastes like ashes. Like complete and total failure. Now, I know that even if they showed me the path THEY took to get there, it would not be same roadmap for me. I get it. It still hurts.
I look back and I see alot of things I have done in my life - the first in my family to graduate from college from the Honors Program no less, even if my GPA was not high enough for cum, magna, or sum laude - Poli Sci major with a double minor in International Relations/History - I did it in 4 years - while also working and getting an internship working for the NJ Governor one semester. I lived and worked in New York City. I went to Paris. I fell in love and had the strength to move to another coast, leaving everything I knew to start a life. I have been married 8 years - some good, others not so great, fathered 2 beautiful children, but now I say, now what?
I am almost completely maxed out on my line of credit, which when times were good, like many other fools, I used the equity in my home like an ATM - buy a tv, couch, pay off a car, Christmas presents for the kids, new flooring etc. I have a job that I loathe, making a crap wage. I keep thinking about all the choices I could have made, SHOULD have made. I'm not saying getting married or having kids, I would not change that for the world, but more like, maybe trying harder - getting my GPA to 3.5 say in College instead of coasting for a 3.34 , or not missing 2-3 weeks of classes my Sophomore year. Maybe reaching out more to people, studing and getting my certifications as an MCP or MCSE, Cisco, etc when I was in IT. Prior to that, following through with my Political Science degree. I wish I had more help.
This sounds like nothing but excuses I guess. I don't know. I am just so frustrated. I am sick and tired of being afraid. I realize that what I really want to do is to go back to school - to get a Ph D in Spanish History . I last took the GRE's 12 years ago and messed them up royally as I did not give myself enough time to study. I can't remember any of my University Professors to get a letter of recommendation from and barely remember my high school ones. Just so pissed that I did not do it sooner, when it would have been fucking EASIER . Again, sick and tired of the fear, the doubt, the voices in my head saying don't do it, you are a failure, why bother? FUCK YOU.
I have been doing some research and some information appears to be pretty promising - if you are studying to get a PH D your tuition is deferred AND you can get a living stiped of $1700 a month to help you live. Now, depending on where you end up studying, you can live like a king or a church mouse. $1700 a month is less than what I make now. I cannot pay all of my bills at my current level, granted that this is living in Seattle where cost of living is ridiculous. I feel bad as my lovely wife has not had a haircut in over a year as we don't have the money. She won't buy herself a new bra because she does not want our kids to go without. Would it be fair to ask her to learn to make do with even less? My kids? Is that wrong? Could I make do with less?
If you are interested, I suggest reading this:
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~harchol/gradscho
Getting a masters seems less ideal in that I would have to study at night AND I would be working full time WHILE still having to pay for it. However, if I were to get a Masters, in say Foreign Affairs, it would raise me up on the pay scale if I wished to be a diplomat, after passing the Foreign Officer Exam...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Sta
Choices. Ashes. Choices. Ashes.
- Mood:
contemplative
I go back to work this Sunday and I am dreading it very much. I am pretty depressed at the thought of having to go back, but I need to earn a living.
I recently came to the realization that for me to be happy, I need to pursue and get a higher degree - at minimum a Masters in say International Relations, ideally a PHD in Spanish History.
First things first I need to study for the GRE http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graduate_R
Does anyone in LJ land have recent GRE prep study books they can loan me as I am flat broke?
Thank you peeps.
^_^
- Location:Cama Beach, WA
Thanks for the opportunity, but not a good fit for me and all that Jazz. Also, I'm going on vacation for the next 2 weeks.
See Yah!
to my Microsoft Peeps, hook a brother up!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001C6
Release date is December 9, 2008.
The phone began to ring, mortified, I put it on vibrate (so soothing).
The first caller was some unknown 800 number.
The second call was from my lovely wife.
The first call was from a recruiter wanting to know if I would want to be a buyer for Overstock.com. I said to myself, PERFECT, I love to shop and I love to do it on the internet, doubly so! I called back, made some chit chat.
"So, where are they based?"
"Utah?"
"---"
"Ever been to Utah?"
"Um, no."
"You like skiing or camping?"
"I love to camp (base camping more like it. oh yeah! Bayushi with the spawn kill)."
"Utah is really clean. Very clean"
She kept repeating this like a mantra. All I kept hearing was "white" "very white" - "MORMONS" - "Utah Jazz" - "Greg Ostertag (former center)" - "HUMID" - "OMFGWTFBBQ MORMONS!!"
"Yeah. That would be great. Send me the info..."
NOT.
Today is my 34.5th birthday. I demand tribute. STAT
Also, got a metric ton of info re: other opportunity. I am equally thrilled and terrified as what I need to do to get there and what I will be doing once I am there.
I keep reminding myself that in the end, it will be worth it. That's the difference between a job and a Career...
Took the Mango Tide out to Gig Harbor and piloted my vessel, for I am the Commander AND Master of said boat. Tooled around Horsehead Bay for about an hour, fending off bottle rock attacks from the local denizens.
I searched for Sir Roger Moore's house to no avail. Got back and celebrated with the kids and my inlaws Fourth of July style - hot dogs and good stiff drinks.
My lovely wife also managed to singe some of my copious leg hairs with a sparkler which she flicked at me. It's not a barbeque unless you have the smell of burnt hair I guess.
Today, had my 1:1 and it went well finally. Met my iph goals with a 9.9 :)
woohoo!
Now, I fill the hole in my head with meat.
T-minus 30 minutes, then train ride home, read Gardens of the Moon (my second readthrough) by Steven Erikson, get home, and have an EPIC double Martini with a minimum of 4 olives.
You kids be safe this Fourth of July.
;)
Luckily for me, I'm off in 7 minutes.
Muuahahahhahahahahahah!!!
