A lot has happened since March. Let's see if I can hit the peaks and pits for you here.
Work:
The financial planning job I was looking out never materialized. The company still had the results of the personality test I took about 14 years ago (before I went to war, before I became a father, and before I spent 12 years as a career counselor) and their take was that people don't really change that much so I was not offered a position. The insurance sales job turned out to probably be a scheme. Jen and I did some additional research and found a ton of consumer and employee complaints against the company in general and the person I was in contact with in particular, so I told him "thanks, but no thanks" and walked away.
We survived for a while on Ohio's unemployment checks while I continued to search for work and we were doing pretty well, until my military retirement check started to arrive. See, I had asked if my retirement would affect my eligibility for UI and was told that there would be no impact on payments from my retirement check, so we decided I could focus on school and draw UI while I kept looking for THE job. Well, whoever told me that was apparently misinformed and the checks from the state were cut by about 75%. As a result, I wound up taking a job in the security field, with a company I had actually applied with before, but their offer at the time was not equal to what I was "making" through Ohio, so I turned them down.
So, after 20 years in the Corps, 3 combat tours to Iraq, and maintaining a SECRET security clearance for 15 of those years, I took a position as an unarmed security officer working in downtown Denver. My schedule was crazy: I worked 4 graveyard shifts and a swing shift on Sundays, but the pay was decent and we were able to get our heads back above water. Why is all of this in the past tense? Because last Friday was my last day as a security officer and I have just this week started a job in sales. I am in a training program to learn everything there is to know (as much as possible) about selling office equipment (i.e. copiers, printers, fax machines) and I am actually supposed to get out into the field a little bit today. So far I like it much better because the hours are better, although with the exception of drill weekends, it's been a while since I've worked an 8-5 job. So that's the work situation.
School:
In a word, sucks. Ever since I retired this past spring, I have not passed a single class. There, I said it. I am actually on a probation contract with the school to keep my enrollment open. I am only allowed to take 6 credits per semester (2 classes) and it's been very hard on my ego. However, I think I finally understand what the issue was. I was going to school because people in my life expected me to get a degree and move on. I was not convinced I ever really wanted a degree so I did not put total effort into my classes. And when those classes are online and I never have to see a professor or explain my weekly actions, well... you can see the results. However, as I told my student advisor, I have taken a step back, reevaluated myself, and decided that I don't want to leave a legacy of failure for my son and daughter, so I have decided that now I want a degree for myself. I had switched my major back to Organizational Management-Human Resources, but now I realize that I was painting myself into a narrow market niche. I have once again declared for Business Admininstration, with a minor in HR. Although this move does take psychology off the table for now, I am thinking that if I stay in sales, having a general business degree will give me a solid background to speak with other business people about their needs for document management. I have taken most of the fall semester off while I change programs (and jobs) and when the clock strikes 12 and 2012 becomes 2013 I will put all of this failure behind me and move forward. I will retake the courses that I failed to improve my GPA and my intent is not just to graduate, but to do so with honors.
Church:
Over the summer, our church congregation completed the buildout of a car dealership we had purchased over the winter and in early July we moved out of a small, old, building that people didn't seem to notice even though it is on a hill right in the middle of downtown Parker, into a large, well-lit, modern building... and we're already out of room in this facility. There is space upstairs that has not yet been built and there is storage space that will someday double the size of the sanctuary, but right now we are putting people into an overflow room for church. It's a good problem to have, right? I get the privilege of playing bass on stage once every few weeks. For a good bit I was on stage 2 or 3 weekends a month, but our new worship pastor held auditions shortly after we moved into this location and all of a sudden I am one of 4 or maybe even 5 bass players, so we have started a rotation. I like it because I appreciate it when I do get to play without the pressure of spending every weekend at church, unable to attend with my family. We have also joined a second small group, but I have not yet been able to attend those meetings, save once, thanks to the security job. Now that I have a "normal" job I should be able to go more often.
Family:
The kids are doing well. They are both in hip-hop dance classes this fall. Unfortunately, neither one was able to play sports over the summer because of our finances. We are looking for a new girl scout troop for my daughter because the one she was in (that didn't really do much more than arts and crafts) folded. On the flip side, my son is on track to earn his Arrow of Light in cub scouts and cross over to boy scouts in February. He seems to be enjoying it and I think it has helped him immensely in the world of social interaction. Jen still enjoys her work at the church and then there's me. Oh, we did lose one of our cats just a couple of weeks ago. Mozart hadn't been feeling well and he'd been to the vet several times to find out what's wrong with him. Then one day, he was completely miserable and Jen took him again. In short, the doctor said that all of his systems were shutting down so she had to make the painful decision to put him down. It sucked. We told the kids that evening and we all spent time crying together. Now the other cat is either starting to realize her brother is gone or she's coming to understand that she's now the senior cat and she has become a little more social and much more talkative. We are trying to figure out when would be a good time to get another animal and if we should try to find another cat or move into the realm of dog ownership. We're also looking at the possibility of moving into a bigger house in the next year or so. This home has been great for us, but it's simply not big enough for our growing children (and their friends) so we want to get some more space for them and a little nicer features for ourselves.
Politics:
Okay, I'll be honest. I am extremely disappointed in the results of yesterday's presidential election. I was sure that with $16 Trillion in national debt (that was "only" $10 Trillion just four years ago); the official unemployment rate at or above 8% for his entire administration (even though the real number is probably closer to 20%) and the murder of an American diplomat for the first time since the Carter administration just a few weeks ago that Barack Hussein Obama was done as America's top executive. I thought Mitt Romney, with his experience as a business man who had turned around companies like Staples and Best Buy, turned a failing Olympics into a successful (and profitable) venture for Salt Lake City, Utah, and America, and working across the aisle as a Republican governor in the very blue state of Massachusetts would be able to convince American voters that he was the better man for the job. However, I have underestimated the people on the coasts and here in Colorado. It seems that if you take money from those who have it and give it to those who are angry at others for their success and call it "fair" and if you throw in a "free" cell phone, then people will continue to vote for you, regardless of your success or failure. There is also rampant racism still alive and well in this country. How do I know? Because there are many who said that they would vote for Obama because he's a black man. How does the color of a man's skin make him qualified to be president? What happened to the dream of Martin Luther King, Jr when he said that his dream was that people would be judged, "not on the color of their skin, but on the content of their character?"
So, as you can see, there are a lot of things going on. I am going to try to tone down my social network page and stick to the surface stuff like checking in at Starbucks, or posting pictures of snow when it comes, and leave the deeper stuff to this format. Guess that means I should start labeling my posts, but I'm just uncomfortable with labels as a general rule... NOT!
If you're still reading, thanks for taking time out of your life to get caught up with what's going on in mine. Thoughts? Questions? Comments?
