Today, Labor Day, someone made the effort to go to work and, while working on Labor Day, proceed to inform me, on Labor Day, that I didn't get a job for which I recently interviewed.
Happy Labor Day, everyone.
This was for a position with a local small business who hires telecommuting employees for their support operation. So, granted, the informing employee most likely did not "go into work", but it's the principle of the thing.
I have become obsessed with obtaining a telecommuting position. Perhaps it's my increasingly agoraphobic tendencies, maybe I actually feel I'll be more productive working from home and I'll be able to fight burnout better. Regardless the reason, I decided life's too short to do work I hate, which at this point becomes any work that requires driving to and from home.
When I was notified I'd be interviewing for this particular position, I was ecstatic. I've not been getting much in the way of responses to my applications. Part of that's because I have also been applying to entry level programmer positions. I have the education and experience to be a successful software developer, but neither the degree (yet) nor the professional experience. I've been trying to get my foot in the door, but all I've gotten so far is a bruised toe.
From the employers who have responded, I have been entirely unimpressed with their operations. I recently was hired by a contracting company for IBM. I attended the job for a week and decided to leave when I was already beginning to dread it. Usually that takes 6 months or so. But they were having me move heavy boxes of stuff rather than train me in my duties. I took it as a bad sign and also realized the work they'd be having me do would not help me get closer to being a programmer professionally.
Next was the urgent Craigslist post advertising a position for VoIP support and administration from home. I have both the experience and the motivation for this position. The ad stresses that the job is full-time and needs someone who can contribute full-time. I send my resume and cover letter and get a phone response 10 minutes later. The guy talked to me like it was a sure thing, but needed to have me interview with his partner the next week. Once again, he stressed that it was full-time work and that I sounded a lot better than another candidate with whom they spoke.
Come Monday, we interviewed over Skype. Immediately, the tone had changed. They talked to me about what the position was, but didn't really ask me questions. His partner seemed rather concerned that I had spent time in Utah. Also, they said, "Well, it's not full-time work. Right now it's maybe 2-3 hours a week or so, at most. Just configuring phones and answering questions, which may not come in at all during the course of the week." Wha? Come on, man.
They said, "We'll let you know." A marked decline in enthusiasm from my previous conversation. I decided if they let me know they want me, I probably won't take the position because they want someone who will stick with them for the long term and I can't guarantee I would since I need hours. Plus, I wouldn't feel comfortable working for people who change their story so much. Why can't I find an employer out here who doesn't lie to me?
Maybe my standards are too high. Maybe I'm not really qualified for any job in the east. Maybe I should have stayed in Utah to prevent becoming a hobo. I know what I want, though, and I don't see any reason (beyond starvation) that I should settle for less. I'm 25 and tired of taking student jobs, working long hours for little pay, doing something that I don't want to be doing for the rest of my life. I want to be appropriately challenged, respected, and comfortable.
I want to take care of my family, though. I don't know what that entails. I don't know at what point I'll give up and work at the proverbial (or literal) McDonald's. I've spent the past 5 years of my life burning out on job after job. In part, I'm afraid of having it happen again and forego ever working after that.
In the mean time, I've been keeping busy. I spend my days answering programming questions (for free) on Yahoo! Answers. It might seem like a waste of time, but I get a little satisfaction out of teaching others and helping them understand concepts while creating elegant solutions. I feel like I contribute to world community in some small way.
I also do my WGU schoolwork. I'm about to finish my first semester, being one of the top performers for students who began the month I did. I've come away with a few IT certifications and the enthusiasm to continue on to the next semester.
All in all, though, we need money and I feel a bit inadequate for not bringing it in. Nat's job only pays so much and is not guaranteed week-to-week. I feel a bit of a parasite and can only hope to contribute more soon. So I'll keep reading job postings. I'll keep applying. I'll keep hoping the day I interview is a good day for me. What else can I do?
Monday, September 3, 2012
Friday, October 7, 2011
Rocktober
At serious risk of making this a bi-annual camping report, shall I simply say our camping trip during General Conference this October passed mostly without incident. The most exciting part was when we thought we may have found a dead body under the wheel of our car.
Ham radio in hand, we drove past Hope Campground hoping beyond Hope (heh) we would find a good dispersed camping site. We found a few, but after parking the car and getting out, we found a most foul odor. Looking down, I saw a partially buried black trash bag. I've been following a few local missing persons stories, so my imagination started running away with it. Naturally, I made Natalie find out what was in the bag.
Reluctant, for she didn't want to be "scarred for life" or some nonsense such as that, she poked the bag open with a stick. Digging, she thought she saw some twine which she could only imagine coming from remains of rope. That was enough for her, and we started toward a park ranger's truck we had passed just 50 feet away or so. There was no ranger at the truck, though, so we decided we had to look further into the bag to decide if we had a potential situation or not. I would try to raise someone on the ham repeater if we found something awful.
So we went back and Natalie continued to dig into the bag with a stick. This time, she fished up a bone. I'm no anthropologist, so in my mind, any bone was human. *Gulp*. Natalie spotted the ranger returning to the truck where we approached him. He assured us it was the remains of a raucous BBQ, which apparently was not uncommon in the area on Friday/Saturday nights. He advised against our overnight stay for the reason of the wild parties and we decided to leave too. We eventually went back to Hope, paid the fee, and stayed the night. I could hear the partying well into 4am that night. (I'm glad we left the dispersed option this time.)
So we enjoyed a wonderful conference with a bit of rain, a lot of peach cobbler, and only a single fox sighting.
As a further update on our lives, as Natalie has been working and I have 21,400 years of school left, we've been looking to buy a house in Provo. We hope to get a place with an income property so we can neutralize our net living payments as much as possible. Hoping to make use of a good Provo City grant, the neighborhoods from which we can choose are limited and our funds even more so. There are no current prospects and we've had to let a couple go. We'll continue looking and exploring other options should this continue to be unfruitful.
We will be in Cincinnati for Christmas this year. We'll be flying out of Provo, which I expect to be extremely nice. I've never not had to drive 1+ hours to get on a plane. We can catch a ride without much hassle and no need to even think about long-term parking. It should be a good trip. We hope to skip down to North Carolina for a bit, but we'll see. Without car arrangements just yet, I can make no promise.
Our very latest development is the possession of bicycles. We got them a couple weeks ago hoping to cut down on gas costs. I've been loving it. I ride mine everywhere. Natalie has done quite well too but had to leave hers at work the other day when it was raining and we haven't had much of a chance to grab it. I don't expect we'll see much savings until next spring after the snow is gone. But I'm getting practice riding up to campus and disciplining my determination to keep pedaling.
That's about it. ::Gentrys out::
Ham radio in hand, we drove past Hope Campground hoping beyond Hope (heh) we would find a good dispersed camping site. We found a few, but after parking the car and getting out, we found a most foul odor. Looking down, I saw a partially buried black trash bag. I've been following a few local missing persons stories, so my imagination started running away with it. Naturally, I made Natalie find out what was in the bag.
Reluctant, for she didn't want to be "scarred for life" or some nonsense such as that, she poked the bag open with a stick. Digging, she thought she saw some twine which she could only imagine coming from remains of rope. That was enough for her, and we started toward a park ranger's truck we had passed just 50 feet away or so. There was no ranger at the truck, though, so we decided we had to look further into the bag to decide if we had a potential situation or not. I would try to raise someone on the ham repeater if we found something awful.
So we went back and Natalie continued to dig into the bag with a stick. This time, she fished up a bone. I'm no anthropologist, so in my mind, any bone was human. *Gulp*. Natalie spotted the ranger returning to the truck where we approached him. He assured us it was the remains of a raucous BBQ, which apparently was not uncommon in the area on Friday/Saturday nights. He advised against our overnight stay for the reason of the wild parties and we decided to leave too. We eventually went back to Hope, paid the fee, and stayed the night. I could hear the partying well into 4am that night. (I'm glad we left the dispersed option this time.)
So we enjoyed a wonderful conference with a bit of rain, a lot of peach cobbler, and only a single fox sighting.
As a further update on our lives, as Natalie has been working and I have 21,400 years of school left, we've been looking to buy a house in Provo. We hope to get a place with an income property so we can neutralize our net living payments as much as possible. Hoping to make use of a good Provo City grant, the neighborhoods from which we can choose are limited and our funds even more so. There are no current prospects and we've had to let a couple go. We'll continue looking and exploring other options should this continue to be unfruitful.
We will be in Cincinnati for Christmas this year. We'll be flying out of Provo, which I expect to be extremely nice. I've never not had to drive 1+ hours to get on a plane. We can catch a ride without much hassle and no need to even think about long-term parking. It should be a good trip. We hope to skip down to North Carolina for a bit, but we'll see. Without car arrangements just yet, I can make no promise.
Our very latest development is the possession of bicycles. We got them a couple weeks ago hoping to cut down on gas costs. I've been loving it. I ride mine everywhere. Natalie has done quite well too but had to leave hers at work the other day when it was raining and we haven't had much of a chance to grab it. I don't expect we'll see much savings until next spring after the snow is gone. But I'm getting practice riding up to campus and disciplining my determination to keep pedaling.
That's about it. ::Gentrys out::
Sunday, April 3, 2011
April Fools
It's conference weekend, which for Natalie and me meant that we were ready to continue our new tradition of camping for the weekend. However, to say that we've been fought against in this desire would be a gross understatement.
Friday afternoon, we got everything ready and headed off to find a place to camp. No official campgrounds are open currently, so we decided dispersed camping was our solution. For those who don't know, "dispersed camping" is the term used to describe camping in an unofficial spot within a national park. It's legal, given a few guidelines like staying a certain distance from bodies of water, making as little impact as possible, etc. Public land is public, after all.
We hit only dead ends on Friday. None of the usual spots afforded a campable site, so we stopped at a park, made a fire, cooked our foil packs, and called it a night. The next morning however, we found a strengthened resolve to find somewhere we could stay overnight in our tent. We headed toward Hobble Creek Canyon, east of Springville. Absolutely beautiful area. We found a forest access road that took us between half a mile and a mile off the main road. Here, behind a fence, we found the forest land we had long sought after. It was perfect! We'd found our place.
This was all before we had to hike all our stuff up a little hill, a tent pole broke, the wind blew so hard it pulled the tent off its stakes, I cut one finger on cardboard and got a second-degree burn on another, and before the weather came. And, oh, it came.
The forecast called for rain. We were aware of the stupidity it took to camp in the rain, but we were determined to camp for conference. We figured it'd make packing up a pain, but we could otherwise deal with it. Sleeping on cots, we were off the floor, so we wouldn't get wet. We went to sleep shortly after dark, around 8:00pm. Natalie was irked that she couldn't continue reading her book.
I next woke up around 11:00pm. I heard the pitter patter of rain still on the roof. I smiled, knowing that we were kept safe from the elements, and eventually fell back to sleep. Around 3:00 or 3:30am, Natalie said, "Brad... the tent is on top of me." The statement shook me awake and I grabbed the flashlight, and yep, the roof had dipped down to greet Natalie's face.
What was going on? What was this? We peeked out the door and saw white. Lots of white. Snow, snow, snow. I dashed around the tent and brushed the snow off as best I could. Like a piece of paper pulled from the trash and flattened, it regained a ghost of its original form, but still slumped eerily. At this point, we stopped and took an inventory of our situation, not without prayers and a priesthood blessing. We gathered that we might be in a little bit of trouble. We made sure all the important things were off the floor, though in doing so my sleeping bag dipped into a puddle at the foot of the tent. Still, we decided to stay in the tent until light and we'd assess our situation then.
I only made it about 30 minutes. My traipse around the tent rendered me with shivers aplenty. I woke Natalie just as she was getting back to normal sleep. I had been monitoring the rate of snowfall and our tent would be flattened again after 30 minutes without shaking the snow off. I recommended we make a dash for the car with our essentials; she agreed. So the food, water, blankets, and couple of electronics we had were packed up, double-checked, and we headed out. The zipper separated on the door on the way out, so the tent remains open.
Down the hill and across the creek, we made our way through the black, sliced only by the glow of our dim flashlight. But we made it to the car. With a full tank of gas, we were warm quickly.
We stayed until morning. We decided to make an attempt at walking around 11:00am or so. Without cell signals and other brave adventurers, it seemed our only alternative to search and rescue or waiting for the snow to melt, something that would take a few days as the snow came up to the bottom of the car door.
It wasn't as bad as I feared. We trudged as best as we could, and miraculously, our feet stayed mostly dry, despite not having boots. To make a long story shorter, we got to the road and someone let us use their phone. Our bishop came and got us but we'll have to go back for the car and camping stuff later. I don't know when we'll be able to get it out, we barely got in when it hadn't snowed for a while.
I was more scared than Natalie was, or she was just a lot braver. I kept seeing our faces on the evening news, confident that they would also air a story about our successful discovery and recovery, but I didn't want all that hubbub. We had plenty of food and water and would have been fine if we really had to just sit there and wait to be rescued. But still, I've never been stuck like that before, and it was frightening. I'm grateful to God and those that helped us that we're alive, safe, warm, and that fools are protected.
Friday afternoon, we got everything ready and headed off to find a place to camp. No official campgrounds are open currently, so we decided dispersed camping was our solution. For those who don't know, "dispersed camping" is the term used to describe camping in an unofficial spot within a national park. It's legal, given a few guidelines like staying a certain distance from bodies of water, making as little impact as possible, etc. Public land is public, after all.
We hit only dead ends on Friday. None of the usual spots afforded a campable site, so we stopped at a park, made a fire, cooked our foil packs, and called it a night. The next morning however, we found a strengthened resolve to find somewhere we could stay overnight in our tent. We headed toward Hobble Creek Canyon, east of Springville. Absolutely beautiful area. We found a forest access road that took us between half a mile and a mile off the main road. Here, behind a fence, we found the forest land we had long sought after. It was perfect! We'd found our place.
This was all before we had to hike all our stuff up a little hill, a tent pole broke, the wind blew so hard it pulled the tent off its stakes, I cut one finger on cardboard and got a second-degree burn on another, and before the weather came. And, oh, it came.
The forecast called for rain. We were aware of the stupidity it took to camp in the rain, but we were determined to camp for conference. We figured it'd make packing up a pain, but we could otherwise deal with it. Sleeping on cots, we were off the floor, so we wouldn't get wet. We went to sleep shortly after dark, around 8:00pm. Natalie was irked that she couldn't continue reading her book.
I next woke up around 11:00pm. I heard the pitter patter of rain still on the roof. I smiled, knowing that we were kept safe from the elements, and eventually fell back to sleep. Around 3:00 or 3:30am, Natalie said, "Brad... the tent is on top of me." The statement shook me awake and I grabbed the flashlight, and yep, the roof had dipped down to greet Natalie's face.
What was going on? What was this? We peeked out the door and saw white. Lots of white. Snow, snow, snow. I dashed around the tent and brushed the snow off as best I could. Like a piece of paper pulled from the trash and flattened, it regained a ghost of its original form, but still slumped eerily. At this point, we stopped and took an inventory of our situation, not without prayers and a priesthood blessing. We gathered that we might be in a little bit of trouble. We made sure all the important things were off the floor, though in doing so my sleeping bag dipped into a puddle at the foot of the tent. Still, we decided to stay in the tent until light and we'd assess our situation then.
I only made it about 30 minutes. My traipse around the tent rendered me with shivers aplenty. I woke Natalie just as she was getting back to normal sleep. I had been monitoring the rate of snowfall and our tent would be flattened again after 30 minutes without shaking the snow off. I recommended we make a dash for the car with our essentials; she agreed. So the food, water, blankets, and couple of electronics we had were packed up, double-checked, and we headed out. The zipper separated on the door on the way out, so the tent remains open.
Down the hill and across the creek, we made our way through the black, sliced only by the glow of our dim flashlight. But we made it to the car. With a full tank of gas, we were warm quickly.
We stayed until morning. We decided to make an attempt at walking around 11:00am or so. Without cell signals and other brave adventurers, it seemed our only alternative to search and rescue or waiting for the snow to melt, something that would take a few days as the snow came up to the bottom of the car door.
It wasn't as bad as I feared. We trudged as best as we could, and miraculously, our feet stayed mostly dry, despite not having boots. To make a long story shorter, we got to the road and someone let us use their phone. Our bishop came and got us but we'll have to go back for the car and camping stuff later. I don't know when we'll be able to get it out, we barely got in when it hadn't snowed for a while.
I was more scared than Natalie was, or she was just a lot braver. I kept seeing our faces on the evening news, confident that they would also air a story about our successful discovery and recovery, but I didn't want all that hubbub. We had plenty of food and water and would have been fine if we really had to just sit there and wait to be rescued. But still, I've never been stuck like that before, and it was frightening. I'm grateful to God and those that helped us that we're alive, safe, warm, and that fools are protected.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Conferring Generally
This weekend for General Conference, Natalie and I had been planning to go camping. We had attended a ward camp out just a week before and enjoyed it immensely. We wished it had lasted longer and the possibility of getting out there again so soon was exciting. We also had the choice of riding up to Dutch John with Johnita, Angel and Wayne. The latter is what we decided to do.
However, as the time of departure arrived, it was clear to me that it might not be the best time to cram ourselves into a five-person car and submit ourselves to close living quarters with so many others for the weekend. Natalie wasn't feeling well and was easily affected by decision-making stress. I also just felt like we should go camping, like it was something we needed.
By any measure, it shouldn't have been the best decision. By the time we solidly made this choice, it was 6:30 pm. I had found a campsite online that didn't require reservations. It would be about 30 minutes up Squaw Peak Trail, but we hadn't even started collecting provisions and food. It would be dark by the time we'd get there and we still had to go to the store to pick up a few things we might need.
However, once a decision has been made, Natalie is a creature of efficiency. She made a couple quick lists for the things we needed to collect from home and the store. She pulled out the foil and cut up some vegetables and thawed some hamburgers. She gathered clothing and other useful items as I loaded the car with the tent, sleeping bags, and other general equipment. It actually didn't take all that long to get everything ready with a wife like Natalie.
We scoped out our selection of cots after we made it to the store. Natalie's back and sense of temperature had a bad experience with the ground a week before, despite sleeping bags. We selected a couple and moved on to the marshmallow aisle. After checking out, we started our way toward Provo Canyon. By this time, it was dark.
I appreciate Google Maps' satellite imagery a lot. Living in my browser's cache, we made sure we were taking the right route and Natalie warned me as we approached each hairpin. At 6,500 feet, we arrived at Hope Campground and found a spot. The caretaker with the kind dog collected money from us almost immediately after finding our spot. Natalie set out to give volume to the tent as I scoured the woods with my flashlight for fire wood.
The peace settled on us almost as soon as we pulled in. This was where we should be. Satisfaction and fulfillment applied their magic as I picked up each dead stick and took them to the fire pit. Nat was winning the battle with the poles and canvas. A propane torch assisted me in starting our coals.
There were plenty of bumps along the way, as there must be. I became a little more frustrated each time we realized we had forgotten another object or utensil we needed. Some college kids decided it would be a good idea to arrange a sleepover right next to us and continue talking until after 2:00 am. But all in all, we felt great.
The next morning we flipped on the radio and made breakfast as General Conference accompanied us. I admit to having a hard time paying attention to conference in whatever form of media. This weekend was no exception, but being among the bare Creation allowed me to fine-tune some. The Sun bore witness to the beauty of the world, specifically that of this spot during an autumn change. It's my new favorite way to experience conference.
After the first session, we went down the hill to pickup forgotten provisions and Marné who was more than happy to stay with us for the next day.
My body feels rested, my mind at peace. I was not always a happy camper, but I am a more vigorous soul for being outdoors all weekend. And now as our week begins, I feel ready to tackle it.
However, as the time of departure arrived, it was clear to me that it might not be the best time to cram ourselves into a five-person car and submit ourselves to close living quarters with so many others for the weekend. Natalie wasn't feeling well and was easily affected by decision-making stress. I also just felt like we should go camping, like it was something we needed.
By any measure, it shouldn't have been the best decision. By the time we solidly made this choice, it was 6:30 pm. I had found a campsite online that didn't require reservations. It would be about 30 minutes up Squaw Peak Trail, but we hadn't even started collecting provisions and food. It would be dark by the time we'd get there and we still had to go to the store to pick up a few things we might need.
However, once a decision has been made, Natalie is a creature of efficiency. She made a couple quick lists for the things we needed to collect from home and the store. She pulled out the foil and cut up some vegetables and thawed some hamburgers. She gathered clothing and other useful items as I loaded the car with the tent, sleeping bags, and other general equipment. It actually didn't take all that long to get everything ready with a wife like Natalie.
We scoped out our selection of cots after we made it to the store. Natalie's back and sense of temperature had a bad experience with the ground a week before, despite sleeping bags. We selected a couple and moved on to the marshmallow aisle. After checking out, we started our way toward Provo Canyon. By this time, it was dark.
I appreciate Google Maps' satellite imagery a lot. Living in my browser's cache, we made sure we were taking the right route and Natalie warned me as we approached each hairpin. At 6,500 feet, we arrived at Hope Campground and found a spot. The caretaker with the kind dog collected money from us almost immediately after finding our spot. Natalie set out to give volume to the tent as I scoured the woods with my flashlight for fire wood.
The peace settled on us almost as soon as we pulled in. This was where we should be. Satisfaction and fulfillment applied their magic as I picked up each dead stick and took them to the fire pit. Nat was winning the battle with the poles and canvas. A propane torch assisted me in starting our coals.
There were plenty of bumps along the way, as there must be. I became a little more frustrated each time we realized we had forgotten another object or utensil we needed. Some college kids decided it would be a good idea to arrange a sleepover right next to us and continue talking until after 2:00 am. But all in all, we felt great.
The next morning we flipped on the radio and made breakfast as General Conference accompanied us. I admit to having a hard time paying attention to conference in whatever form of media. This weekend was no exception, but being among the bare Creation allowed me to fine-tune some. The Sun bore witness to the beauty of the world, specifically that of this spot during an autumn change. It's my new favorite way to experience conference.
After the first session, we went down the hill to pickup forgotten provisions and Marné who was more than happy to stay with us for the next day.
My body feels rested, my mind at peace. I was not always a happy camper, but I am a more vigorous soul for being outdoors all weekend. And now as our week begins, I feel ready to tackle it.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Hooray for Family!
Brad and I are hesitant to settle down in Utah for many reasons, but I would have to say that most of my desire to move back east is to be closer to family. We get to see our family so rarely, and it's hard to feel connected to family events (new babies, illnesses, ridiculous month-long marathons). I experience a flood of relief when I think about leaving Utah tomorrow. It's like I've been held hostage and I have finally been allowed to go home.
I'm still pretty sad that we wouldn't be able to squeeze in a trip to Cincinnati. I miss home. But, while I can't go home right now, I have been very blessed lately with opportunities to see my family. Nathanael popped over the other day, and I saw Clara and Mom at my uncle's wedding. Even cooler is that Dad is going to drive down to Lexington Monday to intersect us on our trip. That's a display of true fatherly devotion. And amazingly, Joey is going to be in NC when we are, staying only an hour away from Greg. I feel like the universe is compensating for my inability to visit Porkopolis. Hopefully Nicole will be able to come out here soon with Lulu. I really want to see my niece :)
I'm probably going to be able to meet Tookie, which scares me to death. I'm terrified that she won't like me. I really admire her already and hope that she appreciates my high opinion of her. Brad says that I remind him of her. It would be very cool if that were true. Who knows? Might be. He says that he's going to buy one of her paintings, regardless of how much it costs. He's a really cute grandson.
In summary, family is one of the most beautiful things in the world. I'm glad that Brad and I are taking a vacation that celebrates our love for our family. I pray that all of mankind will be blessed with similar opportunities.
P.S. Our trip is also an opportunity to hoard cans of skyline and boiled peanuts. Can you blame us?
I'm still pretty sad that we wouldn't be able to squeeze in a trip to Cincinnati. I miss home. But, while I can't go home right now, I have been very blessed lately with opportunities to see my family. Nathanael popped over the other day, and I saw Clara and Mom at my uncle's wedding. Even cooler is that Dad is going to drive down to Lexington Monday to intersect us on our trip. That's a display of true fatherly devotion. And amazingly, Joey is going to be in NC when we are, staying only an hour away from Greg. I feel like the universe is compensating for my inability to visit Porkopolis. Hopefully Nicole will be able to come out here soon with Lulu. I really want to see my niece :)
I'm probably going to be able to meet Tookie, which scares me to death. I'm terrified that she won't like me. I really admire her already and hope that she appreciates my high opinion of her. Brad says that I remind him of her. It would be very cool if that were true. Who knows? Might be. He says that he's going to buy one of her paintings, regardless of how much it costs. He's a really cute grandson.
In summary, family is one of the most beautiful things in the world. I'm glad that Brad and I are taking a vacation that celebrates our love for our family. I pray that all of mankind will be blessed with similar opportunities.
P.S. Our trip is also an opportunity to hoard cans of skyline and boiled peanuts. Can you blame us?
Friday, June 25, 2010
Onward, Eastward
Natalie and I will be driving out east to North Carolina tomorrow. My family is planning to move out of my childhood home (to which they moved in just before I was born) and we're going to help and ensure the safety of my junk that's been kept at home. This is especially important for us to do since Dad had a stroke a couple of weeks ago and has not yet recovered to the point that he can operate independently.
We made a similar trip just after the wedding last year. I think we learned a few things:
We made a similar trip just after the wedding last year. I think we learned a few things:
- Don't camp out next to a Missouri swamp unless you want to feed the local insect population with your blood.
- Keep the car as free of clutter as you can. This doesn't just mean trash, but everything in general. No need to have mounds of snacks and food in the back seat.
- A well-organized trunk makes life better.
- The driver, in general, gets to pick the media, no matter how much Bradley doesn't like it.
- Dress comfortably; you'll be sitting for a long time. But make it something you'll feel good about yourself in. Sometimes when dressing too casually, in pajama pants, it's easy to start feeling bad about myself.
- Twizzlers are not food, but you must have them while traveling. Keep a small supply and remember that you're not normally eating almost every second of the day when you're not spending all your time in the car.
- Expect to have some fights along the way. Deal with them properly! The mental demands of long road travel are rigorous and affect emotions easily. This is alright and unavoidable, but there's a right way and a wrong way to deal with it.
- Stop somewhere interesting. Yeah, you're trying to make good time, but no one said you couldn't have a good time while you're at it.
We will probably deviate from all these tidbits of travel wisdom before the end, but I thought it'd be nice to write a few of them down. Maybe it will help me remember them. Wish us luck!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Day 1
Natalie and I have decided to take up investing as a form of long-term savings. I'm mostly influenced by the principles of Get Rich Slowly, we're following the suggestions of this article, and today, we officially became investors.
We've gotten a pretty good emergency fund set aside in a savings account and now we'll be splitting our extra finances between the savings and investment. The idea is that we become steadfast buy-and-hold investors to the end that our investment grows with the market, hopefully riding out the ups and downs with some stability. And someday when we're old or when we finally give in and decide to buy a spaceship, we withdraw, perhaps as needed.
Though we feel like we've approached it correctly, the prospect of investment, like many other of our life events over the past year, is completely terrifying. Partially due to the risk, mostly due to the changing state of life. We were married 8 months ago today, but realization of that event comes in acute waves. We're still changing and shaping our lives to cast in the mold of marriage. Personal, eating, sleeping, scholastic, and financial habits all change. We're still us, but a growing us. We feel catalyzed. I reckon this will continue to be the case.
But all is well. I mean, we've even made some pocket change on our first day on the market. Maybe I'll consider it enough spare change to accomplish something with our overdue laundry.
We've gotten a pretty good emergency fund set aside in a savings account and now we'll be splitting our extra finances between the savings and investment. The idea is that we become steadfast buy-and-hold investors to the end that our investment grows with the market, hopefully riding out the ups and downs with some stability. And someday when we're old or when we finally give in and decide to buy a spaceship, we withdraw, perhaps as needed.
Though we feel like we've approached it correctly, the prospect of investment, like many other of our life events over the past year, is completely terrifying. Partially due to the risk, mostly due to the changing state of life. We were married 8 months ago today, but realization of that event comes in acute waves. We're still changing and shaping our lives to cast in the mold of marriage. Personal, eating, sleeping, scholastic, and financial habits all change. We're still us, but a growing us. We feel catalyzed. I reckon this will continue to be the case.
But all is well. I mean, we've even made some pocket change on our first day on the market. Maybe I'll consider it enough spare change to accomplish something with our overdue laundry.
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