Life is A Trip...

I am sitting here getting ready for bed.

Jen is out with some "girls" playing Bunco and winning the hearts and minds of doctors wives. They don't have a chance. I don't know Bunco BUT I do know Jen and she will probably come home with stories of conquest and hilarity.

Jessie came home with news that was startling. I can't mention it here as it is personal. These years as a parent are some of the best and hardest. You really have to WATCH and see how your kids respond to life and the various shit that it throws them. I am proud of Jessie and her desire to mature and experience life at a level that few people reach for.

Oh, she also got her ACT scores today - a 32! Off the fucking chart. That's the 99th percentile of ALL the kids who took the test. College bound and sought after - that's where that score puts her. She was really pumped and it was great news on the heels of earlier stuff...

I am looking forward to the weekend, the World Cup, and, thanks to Dan, a trip to the Braves game on July 3rd at the "Ted" in Atlanta. We will be on the 3rd base line about two rows off of the field, behind the tarp - it's an ESPN game too. John Smoltz is pitching for Atlanta so it will be an exciting game.

It's time to go to "beddies". One more day of work this week...

WH

My "Job" Blog - Part 2

A few posts ago I endeavored to record the jobs that I have had over the years - part one is here.
This is Part 2 -
(Side light - Jen got back from Orlando - tired but tanned - on Friday evening. Yesterday was Jenn and Seth's wedding here in Aiken at Hopeland Gardens. She is bushed, so today will be a "cubby" day. REST. REST. REST.)
OK, I left off in the year 1981. In 1982 I encountered God in a dramatic and powerful way. The following year I moved to Toccoa Falls, GA to attend Toccoa Falls College. Here the job list picks up -

• While at TFC I was part of the Work Study program and worked with the heating and air conditioning department.
• A year and a half later I was hired as a part time youth minister at Return Baptist Church in Seneca, SC
• After graduating from TFC I stayed on at Return but, since it was part-time started working at Winn-Dixie as a stocker. That entailed going in at 10 p.m. and staying until about 3 or 4 am filling the shelves with groceries. I stocked the cereal and canned meat isles.
• Those were some long days. I applied, and was hired, by The Tribble Center, working as a Recreational TherapistThe Tribble Center was a vocational rehab center for those with special needs and disabilities. That was a blast.
• In 1988 I sent a request to a church in AIken, SC that was looking for a pastor. After the process that Baptist churches go through in calling a pastor, I began a full-time pastorate in September 1988, at North Aiken Baptist Church.
• While there I was introduced to Apple computers and purchased my first computer - an Apple Lisa. I bring this up here because it led me into buying, selling, and servicing Mac computers. This was part-time but fulfilling. I actually made a killing on a whole bunch of LC II and LC III Macs. We all have our "my first computer purchase" stories. Mine favorite is that I bought an 5 MB external hard drive for $800.00. I thought that that was a bargain. I now carry a 1 GB thumb drive in my pocket that was $39.99 after rebates.
• In 1995 I resigned the Baptist Church and planted The Vineyard Christian Fellowship, still in Aiken. We were part of The Vineyard USA. This was a breath of fresh air and I found a home. Even though the church disbanded following my resignation in 2000, I am still a part of the Vineyard in Augusta, GA.
• Next on the job list was personal training. I have a friend who opened a health club - Heartbeats Health and Fitness. I was working out there and asked if he could use some help training. He said "yes" so I pursued certification. In three months I had studied and passed my certification with ACSM to be a Heath and Fitness Instructor. I did this for a while and my friend asked if I would manage the Club. I agreed.
• This continued until June of 2004. I started working in Charleston, SC. I helped set-up and run HealthFirst, a state of the art medical office. That too was an amazing experience. In September 2005 I had to leave for personal reasons - integrity and such. Scary as hell that was (to be Yodaish), since I was quitting without a job to fall back on.
• Since the Holiday season was quickly coming my wife suggested that I try and find a job as a drivers helper with UPS. I applied and went in for an interview. During the interview the HR guy was looking at my resume and asked, "do you want to be a supervisor?" Short story - I said, "yes" and started in mid-November 2005. So I am presently Part-time Dispatch Supervisor at UPS in Augusta, GA.
• During that time I also administrated a complete computer hardware deployment at Dogwood Stable.
• And, finally, to bring us up to the present time, the friend who owned the health club closed the business and got his real estate license. He asked me to be his assistant and help him organize him and his office. After a month or so he approached me and said that he would pay for me to get my real estate license so I could be more involved in showing his listed properties and such. I said "yes" again and will be attending Real Estate School in August and should have my license in September. The whole market is BOOMING in Aiken so this may turn out to be a great opportunity.

So, that just about covers it. I don't know how many that is, but in retrospect, the career path of my life has been circuitous and variegated.
I am thankful that I have a job - or actually more than one.

WH

Too Good To Be True

Are you STILL being bothered by telemarketers? Even though we are on the "Do not call" lists with credit card companies and the government Do Not Call site we still get a few calls a week. In fact, yesterday I received one of the most obnoxious telemarketing calls I have EVER answered. The person just would not take "NO" for an answer.

You probably get more than we do.

The good news is that there is a very clever way to throw those bastards a curve. Check out these instructions and downloadable .wav file for you to use - No Telemarketers Site.

Let me know if it works for you.

WH

My "Job" Blog

OK, to start with, the US National soccer team lost to Ghana today which puts them out of the world cup this year - only 4 more years until the next chance. Look for a new coach and a new style of play. Some of the "stars" never even showed up although they were on the field. My pick is Argentina.

Someone said to me the other day, "You've done a little bit of everything, haven't you?" Well, in response to that I decided to list the actual jobs that I have had over the years. I am trying to do this chronologically, starting from "the old days."

• Fed baby raccoons and skunks at a pet store in the Levittown, PA area.
• Newspaper Sales - Two actually. I delivered, by foot, then by bike, the Bucks County Courier Times in the afternoon and stood by the intersection of New Falls and Tyburn Road and sold the Trentonian in the morning.
• LIfeguard - I was mercifully delivered from the paper routes after being old enough to get my Red Cross Lifesaving Certificate. That was a great job working in the pool at the apartment complex that I lived in. I went on to get my Water Safety Instructor accreditation and taught swimming lessons the second summer I worked there.
• I then went away to college at WVU and while there worked as a cook at Long John Silver's for two years.
• After Long John's I had a short stint at Arby's in Star City, WV. I quit after two weeks when I just couldn't, with a clear conscience, serve people that meat "stuff." You can do the research if you want to. Can you say, "puke?"
• I then moved further south to Clarksville, GA and was a staff member at Mountain View Development Program. The program was designed to take mentally handicapped men and women who had been institutionalized and integrate them into a natural, healthy environment. We grew our food, built fences, ground wheat, and did a lot a farm related activities. We were out in the middle of freaking NOWHERE. It was very rewarding and life changing for everyone who was involved. There are WAY too many stories about this experience.
• Upon returning back north to civilization in Doylestown, PA I started working as an ancillary therapist at Delaware Valley Mental Health Foundation. Here is a New York Times review of a movie of the treatment there - Other Voices. Another amazing experience that was just adding to the mix being around people and helping them get whole.
• I then moved back south to Athens, GA, (Yes, the UGA Athens) and started my own Volkswagen repair business. You see, while I was in Doylestown I purchased a VW bug and began fixing it up. I've always been somewhat mechanical and unafraid to take things apart and put them back together (ask my Mom about the vacuum cleaner incident). I had a guy at the parts place tell me that a good VW mechanic was worth his weight in gold. So I did it. I named my business "The Organic Mechanic." I was somewhat of a throwback hippy type so this fit in nicely with my bushy hair and carefree lifestyle (can you say recreational drugs and Rolling Rock?).
• While in Athens, GA I also worked weekends in a group home for retarded man with Georgia Mental Health/Retardation. They have since changed the name to be more politically correct.

Well, this installment brings me up to 1981 and I will pick up from here in the next blog. I have to get to sleep. TOMORROW'S FRIDAY!!!!!

Jen gets back from Orlando tomorrow and I can't wait to see her:) Hopefully, she'll get some great rest this weekend.

WH

Some Follow Up...

Just an update from the other day. Yesterday, Jessie and I returned to the ER as requested by the doctor and off we went. More prepared than the last visit, I with my crossword puzzle and Jessie with her book. Both of us dressed like it was Fall since the ER is kept at, what seems to be, 62 degrees. I guess that's to slow down the death process as you wait in the lounge.

This hospital has a "quick see" ER and they promise to "see you" in 15 minutes. Now, see you means that you fill out a form in the triage area and someone says, "Jessie." Jessie says, "yes" and volia, you have been seen. Not by a doctor, mind you, but by the lady at the front desk. But that counts for something.

In actuality, the hospital there has done a great job in speeding up the process and we didn't have to wait that long. Jessie's feet looked so much better just before we went, BUT after she got up, walked to the car (all of 15 feet), walked into the ER after I dropped her off and sat for an hour or so, the redness returned. The pain did also. The swelling went down,so that was good.

Now we have more drugs to take - a steroid and an antihistamine. As of this morning her feet looked better than they have in a few days. She is to stay off of her feet for the week and take all her meds.

Tonight we go out to eat Thai at the new restaurant in the area. The dogs gave me a gift certificate for Father's Day! I love my dogs.

Back to work at UPS today and off to the real estate office to help Tom get organized and his accounting software set up.

WH

Unplanned Visit...

I dropped Jen off at Suz's house this morning for their jaunt to Orlando and Mickey World. After that I went home and watched the first game of the day from the World Cup. It was a good game.

I left for Columbia to pick Jessie up from Palmetto Girls State. She had a great week and was elected as President of The Senate for the week - she was selected by her peers to do the job. Once we got in the car she was just a bundle of information and couldn't talk fast enough to tell me all that she had learned and experienced. She is so glad that she went. The first few days she was wondering what she had gotten herself into, but after it got ramped up she was really into it.

The biggest surprise and honor was that she was selected to attend Girls Nation. Two girls from the state of South Carolina were selected and Jessie was one of them. 96 girls out of 25,000 are selected each year to attend. They will go to Washington DC for a week in July and get to experience the insiders view of politics. She is humbled and totally excited about the privilege.

Now for the unplanned visit. She had some weird swelling and pain in her feet - kind of like an insect bite but it was both feet at the same time. We called the doctor and he wanted to prescribe some antibiotics but I insisted that she be seen due to the symptoms. He said to go ahead to the ER. We did and have been here since 2:30 p.m.. It is now 6:30 p.m. and the are running all sorts of blood tests and she is getting some hardcore antibiotics to cover a broad range of possibilities. Her feet hurt so badly that to stand was crying painful. They gave her some pain meds and she is snoozing away.

It looks like we're here for the long haul and maybe even an admission to the hospital. The doctors will have a better idea once the blood work comes back. So here I sit....

More later...

UPDATE: We just got home, it's 8:20 p.m. They really don't know what was the deal but we go back in the afternoon to get the follow up. Hopefully Jessie will get some rest tonight.

WH

I Am Enjoying Myself

Having survived Tropical Storm Alberto we once again enjoying the Florida weather.

I am TOTALLY enjoying the World Cup. Despite a dismal showing by the US team, the games have been incredible.

My favorite so far has been Saudi Arabia v. Tunisia. The game has been filled with emotion and passion. The final 35 minutes were amazing!

WH

Vacationing in The Rain - Jen's Bain

So, here we are in Amelia Island, Fl on our vacation - I have a paid week from UPS and Jen has been looking forward to getting some sun in preparation for her trip to Orlando/Mickeyworld the following week.

We have had some bad luck on our past few trips down here with regard to the weather. Well GUESS WHAT?!

Can you say ALBERTO?! Or as Jen may so succinctly put it, "You've got to be fucking kidding me!"

We are in the direct path of the 1st tropical storm of the season. The clouds started to gather yesterday when we arrived and there is NO sun forecast for the next few days. NONE! The storm will be through on Wednesday and we leave...let me see...Thursday.

Now Jen and her mother are "sun-goddesses", they love to lay in the sun and talk. Not going to happen on this trip. Looks like a shopping spree is in order. I like it when the sun comes out. It's definitely cheaper.

Actually, the storm has SLOWED DOWN and will now dump 3-5 inches of rain on us here in Amelia. How cool. Ugh.

I didn't come to lay in the sun. At this point in my life I am starting to sprout bumps and such from all of my early years on the Jersey Shore and by the pool - I should be scheduling another dermatologist appointment soon to harvest the next crop of skin anomalies. So I try and stay out of the hot Florida sun and be nice to my skin.

Do I care about ALBERTO? Not one bit. I am watching the World Cup. I love that it is in Europe and I get to watch it at normal hours. The US plays today and I will be stuck to the TV for the duration - all three games. Jen is a soccer widow for the next few weeks.

Family Update:
We dropped off Jessie at Palmetto Girls State yesterday, so she is going to be having all sorts of fun. My chance to brag on her a bit - she is the only one from her high school who was selected to attend the program, and she received a scholarship from the local American Legion. It will be interesting ti hear how things are going when she gets home.

In fact, she and I will be spending Father's Day together this year as Jen will be in Orlando.

Jason is off at 29 Palms for training and will be back in July. He then gets a few weeks leave and prepares for his next deployment in the Mideast. He and his new bride Candace will be here for a few weeks during that leave. His deployment will be 8 months - ugh.

That's the update for now...

WH

Staying In Tonight

After a great weekend with Jason and Candace visiting we are all relaxing and getting ready for a busy month.

Jessie is enjoying NOT having school - she is hanging out with friends at the pool, working a few days a week, and sleeping in. She deserves it after finishing her junior year. Ah, the summer between junior and senior years...that is supposed to be one of the best times of your high school life. I hope that she has the best one ever.

Jen and I are planning on traveling a little and then she goes on a trip to Florida with a friend and her kids - Disneyworld! I will be holding down the fort here in Aiken while she's gone.

I'm stoked about the World Cup. I'm even more excited than four years ago because I have TIVO and will not miss a game. The games are during the day here since Germany is six hours ahead. I won't miss a game!

We made Pizza tonight and are watching Pretty In Pink. A flashback moment.

WH