Well starting to commute has some monuments that you come upon. One of these happens to be based upon the mileage on the odometer of George, my little Toyota Corolla. Well on Wednesday July 9, 2008 at 7:27 AM Central time while driving past mile marker 151 on I-80 just east of Des Moines I rolled upon the grand number of 200,000! I was so excited to see that number. Now I just hope George hangs with the family for a while.
One reason that I want to ensure that George sticks with us for awhile is that upon calculating gas mileage this morning I realized that my little hunk of rust just got 39.5 MPG! WOW! I'd have to by one hell of a hybrid, or a really small thing that I wouldn't come close to fitting in, in order to get almost 40! Woo Hoo! That takes a slight touch of the sting out of the commute.
Cheers!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Day 1
Well I have begun my new life in a new career. I spent most of today just kind of hanging around the office at AO (which is what I will call my new employer). I read some of the employee handbook and looked through some of the training presentations that I will have to "master" of the next few weeks. But the best part of the day was getting to interact with three of my new co-workers on a day when things were relatively slow. This allowed me to get to know Amy, Tony and Sherry a little bit better. I have already had pretty good talks with Kassie while I was an "applicant". I feel that this will make for a very nice transition into next week when Catherine (another new addition to AO) starts on Monday. Catherine and I will go through most, if not all, of our training together. It will be nice to have someone to share ideas with, but it will also be kind of a nice benchmark to have since we'll both be growing in the staffing/recruiting field together.
As Jenn stated so wonderfully on her blog today, I thank everyone for everything. Mom and Dad your love, support and frequent phone calls just saying to keep my chin up have meant tons! To everyone that has said everything happens for a reason, I really do believe you...however I'm still waiting for God to reveal all of the specifics to me. In his own time I know! Finally to my wife and girls...Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Your unconditional love is almost more than I deserve and warms my heart every time that I see you, hug you and "nuggle on couch" with you.
I look forward to sharing more as my adventures unfold. As for now, day 1 of a new adventure (and commuting) is down.
Cheers
As Jenn stated so wonderfully on her blog today, I thank everyone for everything. Mom and Dad your love, support and frequent phone calls just saying to keep my chin up have meant tons! To everyone that has said everything happens for a reason, I really do believe you...however I'm still waiting for God to reveal all of the specifics to me. In his own time I know! Finally to my wife and girls...Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Your unconditional love is almost more than I deserve and warms my heart every time that I see you, hug you and "nuggle on couch" with you.
I look forward to sharing more as my adventures unfold. As for now, day 1 of a new adventure (and commuting) is down.
Cheers
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Starting fresh
Well today is July 1. So as a new month starts fresh so do I. I received a call this morning to let me know that I will be starting my new career on Thursday. I will work one day and then get a three day weekend. Not sure how I pulled that off...but nothing beats a one day work week!
I will be working for a staffing agency in West Des Moines. The organization has been around since the mid-1960's and has 200 locations in the US and Canada. So I'm not going to work for some small operation. The nice part about that is they have refined the skills over the past 40-some years and they know what works and what doesn't. Also, I'll have the small office feel as there are currently 4 people in the office (the branch manager, 2 staffing specialists, and the receptionist). Myself and another individual who I have yet to meet will be joining the office as staffing specialists. As I mentioned I will start this week and help out with answering the phones and just general getting familiar with how the company specific programs work. The other newbie is starting either Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. So, I'll get a little jump on being familiar in the office and I get my choice of open desks :)
As for my last day of "freedom" tomorrow...I am going to join my Grandpa Higg for a nice round of golf in Lynnville. I don't get out to golf much but it is great to be able to do so with my Grandpa who is in his mid-70s and still going strong. This is the same guy that in his mid-50s was doing RAGBRAI with me while I was in my teens!!! Love you Grandpa!
I'll keep you all posted on my golf score, as well as (and most importantly) how my new job is treating me. Thanks for all of the love and support that everyone has shown to us over the past year. I also want to thank Jenn and my girls for helping me to keep my sanity and remember what the REAL priorities in life are.
Cheers
I will be working for a staffing agency in West Des Moines. The organization has been around since the mid-1960's and has 200 locations in the US and Canada. So I'm not going to work for some small operation. The nice part about that is they have refined the skills over the past 40-some years and they know what works and what doesn't. Also, I'll have the small office feel as there are currently 4 people in the office (the branch manager, 2 staffing specialists, and the receptionist). Myself and another individual who I have yet to meet will be joining the office as staffing specialists. As I mentioned I will start this week and help out with answering the phones and just general getting familiar with how the company specific programs work. The other newbie is starting either Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. So, I'll get a little jump on being familiar in the office and I get my choice of open desks :)
As for my last day of "freedom" tomorrow...I am going to join my Grandpa Higg for a nice round of golf in Lynnville. I don't get out to golf much but it is great to be able to do so with my Grandpa who is in his mid-70s and still going strong. This is the same guy that in his mid-50s was doing RAGBRAI with me while I was in my teens!!! Love you Grandpa!
I'll keep you all posted on my golf score, as well as (and most importantly) how my new job is treating me. Thanks for all of the love and support that everyone has shown to us over the past year. I also want to thank Jenn and my girls for helping me to keep my sanity and remember what the REAL priorities in life are.
Cheers
Monday, June 30, 2008
Amazed
I am amazed and a little embarrassed when I realize that Jenn has posted 200 times (201 at the time that I'm typing this). That makes my 20-something ramblings seem rather pathetic! So, as I've said many times in the past...here goes another noble attempt at this thing.
Marisa and Megan I haven't forgotten about your 'tag', however I still haven't tackled that yet. I'm trying to think of ANYONE that hasn't been tagged (and responded) besides Nick...
My life has been rather impossible to describe since my last post on April 29, 2008. About a week prior to that I once again joined the un-enjoyable ranks of the unemployed. After being laid off at ASI-Modulex and going through the process for about 5 months I just wasn't ready to tackle the process again. After some rough spots at the beginning I think we are finally at the end. I need to make sure the results of the background check come back clean (Thank God for living CLEAN) and then I'll share with all the new gig. It is finally getting me on a path that I believe will lead to the career that I've been seeking for several years now. Thank you God for the obstacles as they've taught me many things!!!
I spent Saturday night out and about with my cousin Todd. He doesn't use the computer much so I'm sure I could say anything I wanted and no one would know if I was telling the truth or not. HA! We actually spent the evening at Knoxville Raceway.
Above is the post race photo of winner Billy Alley. He took my racer out with 2 laps to go. My guy had been leading the race for about 20 of the 25 laps! It helped that the race needed to be restarted 6 times due to accidents and people like Danny "The Dude" Lasoski jumping the start and being sent to the rear. This allowed my guy, Dion Hindi, to go from starting about 8th to starting outside Row 1! We had a wonderful night and thanks to my Aunt Char it was SUPER CLEAN! That of course being one of the sponsors at the race and not necessarily our behavior:)
Thought I would share some of my fun and excitement from the weekend. It was nice to get out and just have a few beers with some friends, both old and new! To all that helped with a nice little recharge of the batteries (even though most, if not all, will never read this)....THANKS!!!
Cheers
Marisa and Megan I haven't forgotten about your 'tag', however I still haven't tackled that yet. I'm trying to think of ANYONE that hasn't been tagged (and responded) besides Nick...
My life has been rather impossible to describe since my last post on April 29, 2008. About a week prior to that I once again joined the un-enjoyable ranks of the unemployed. After being laid off at ASI-Modulex and going through the process for about 5 months I just wasn't ready to tackle the process again. After some rough spots at the beginning I think we are finally at the end. I need to make sure the results of the background check come back clean (Thank God for living CLEAN) and then I'll share with all the new gig. It is finally getting me on a path that I believe will lead to the career that I've been seeking for several years now. Thank you God for the obstacles as they've taught me many things!!!
I spent Saturday night out and about with my cousin Todd. He doesn't use the computer much so I'm sure I could say anything I wanted and no one would know if I was telling the truth or not. HA! We actually spent the evening at Knoxville Raceway.
Above is the post race photo of winner Billy Alley. He took my racer out with 2 laps to go. My guy had been leading the race for about 20 of the 25 laps! It helped that the race needed to be restarted 6 times due to accidents and people like Danny "The Dude" Lasoski jumping the start and being sent to the rear. This allowed my guy, Dion Hindi, to go from starting about 8th to starting outside Row 1! We had a wonderful night and thanks to my Aunt Char it was SUPER CLEAN! That of course being one of the sponsors at the race and not necessarily our behavior:)Thought I would share some of my fun and excitement from the weekend. It was nice to get out and just have a few beers with some friends, both old and new! To all that helped with a nice little recharge of the batteries (even though most, if not all, will never read this)....THANKS!!!
Cheers
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
FIELD TRIP!
Last Friday I got the opportunity to accompany Lexi's kindergarten class on their field trip to the Iowa Children's Museum in Iowa City. We had a great time. We loaded up at 9:30 on a yellow school bus for the 60 mile drive to the museum in Iowa City. We arrived at about 10:45 and headed for the food court. The museum is attached to the Coral Ridge mall in Iowa City/Coralville. I was "in charge" of 4 children. I had little Miss Lexi, Skylar, and two boys, Justin and Seth. We had a great time eating lunch and then we joined Mrs. Price's group for a trip to the restroom. May I just say that 5 kindergarten boys in the bathroom together is not a quiet or sanity building experience!
After our small train of children returned from the restroom we headed into the museum for almost 2 hours of fun. You can look at all of the exhibits by clicking on the link above. The kids really enjoyed "driving" the ambulance to the hospital. My boys figured out that the phone in the ambulance and the phone in the hospital Admissions area were connected and they could talk back and forth. Lexi's favorite area was the arts and crafts room. IMAGINE THAT! She built a rather interesting sculpture out of pipe cleaners. I think it is an abstract :)
She also joined Mrs. DeMeulenaere's class for some sponge painting. She was very pleased with her creation and it now adorns the fridge in the kitchen.
The ride home was much quieter than the ride to Iowa City. Many of the kids were exhausted. So were the adults! All in all I am very glad that I got to go. The children do some of the most amazing things. The most rewarding part is when they are experimenting with something and you can just see the light bulb turn on and they understand why something works!
Thanks to the Fairview kindergarten classes for allowing me to accompany them and learn from them!
Cheers!
After our small train of children returned from the restroom we headed into the museum for almost 2 hours of fun. You can look at all of the exhibits by clicking on the link above. The kids really enjoyed "driving" the ambulance to the hospital. My boys figured out that the phone in the ambulance and the phone in the hospital Admissions area were connected and they could talk back and forth. Lexi's favorite area was the arts and crafts room. IMAGINE THAT! She built a rather interesting sculpture out of pipe cleaners. I think it is an abstract :)
She also joined Mrs. DeMeulenaere's class for some sponge painting. She was very pleased with her creation and it now adorns the fridge in the kitchen.
The ride home was much quieter than the ride to Iowa City. Many of the kids were exhausted. So were the adults! All in all I am very glad that I got to go. The children do some of the most amazing things. The most rewarding part is when they are experimenting with something and you can just see the light bulb turn on and they understand why something works!
Thanks to the Fairview kindergarten classes for allowing me to accompany them and learn from them!
Cheers!
Monday, March 17, 2008
My new ride
Well I have finally achieved something that I have wanted for many years. Thanks to my cousin Erin and her husband Todd I am the proud owner of my first Harley Davidson motorcycle. It is a 1200 Custom Sportster. There are many extras on this bike even though the Sportster is sort of the entry level into Harley life, this is a nicer model.Now I just can't wait to get some nice weather and get out on the road! Of course as Jenn would tell you I need to get my motorcycle operators license as well as license and insure the bike before I'm allowed to go out on my new bike. (Sorry for the rather tiny photos...I used the phone to take these, soon Jenn will get some better ones taken and I share those).
Hope you all have a wonderful spring and summer and get to feel the wind in your hair!
Cheers!!
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Daily Devotions
I have felt for the past several years that I have let my daily devotion time go to the wayside. It was in the darkest times that I look back on my favorite poem from high school. You know the one about there only being one set of foot prints... I made it a point after the first of the year to go to the local Christian bookstore and purchase a daily devotional. I was drawn to one that in all actuality is probably in my box of books from the year spent at Bible college.
My Utmost for His Highest was a good fit for me. I have found (on the days that I remember to pick it up) that the daily topics, even though written primarily in the early 1900's hit home. I should make more time, and more importantly regular time, to sit with my daily devotional and actually explore the scripture verses a little more. I guess we can all continue to grow in what ever direction we choose!
Sorry to turn my blog into a religious forum although that was not the intent. I just wanted to share what seemed to help get me through the hard times and hopefully will keep me grounded during the bright times!
May God bless and keep you all!
Cheers!
My Utmost for His Highest was a good fit for me. I have found (on the days that I remember to pick it up) that the daily topics, even though written primarily in the early 1900's hit home. I should make more time, and more importantly regular time, to sit with my daily devotional and actually explore the scripture verses a little more. I guess we can all continue to grow in what ever direction we choose!
Sorry to turn my blog into a religious forum although that was not the intent. I just wanted to share what seemed to help get me through the hard times and hopefully will keep me grounded during the bright times!
May God bless and keep you all!
Cheers!
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