From Arizona With Love

Here are some pictures from Phoenix, as promised!


Jan, my sister, and Jen



Jan and Glacier


Henry my brother-in-law

Jen and I also got our Christmas present early. Jan and Henry are flying us to Europe in 2007 for a trip with them. We still have ALOT of planning to go through BUT that is so exciting and we are already looking forward to the time together.

The whole holiday has been excellent and we are sad to go back home - but we have dog who is chewing stuff up in the house and the sitter is going loopy trying to find out what her problem is. We leave in the morning and will be back home Saturday evening. Thankfully, we'll have Sunday to recover and then I go back to work EARLY Monday morning.

WH

On The Way To Phoenix

Jen, Jessie, and I are in the Columbia, SC airport (one of my favorite due to the free wireless internet) waiting to board the flight to Charlotte and then off to Phoenix, AZ to spend Thanksgiving with my sister and her husband.

I am looking forward to relaxing and hanging out with Jan and Henry - I'll post some pics here over the next few days of the town, the house, the "spread" on Thanksgiving Day and various other things. What ever my Flickr bandwidth will allow.

As you know, the trips always start out uneventful for me and always end up with some excitement - so far the flights are all on time and going West seems to be the best direction for travelers. A few years ago we went to NY City for Christmas and to see my parents - if we had chosen that direction this time we would be looking at 2 hour delays in the New York airports.

I hope that Charlotte has NO delays. They have been buffeted with wind and rain last night and this morning. We'll see and I will report.

Happy holiday to all of you and may you be thankful for the things which are most important.

WH

Pictures and Song Set from the U2 Concert in Atlanta

Sorry for the quality of the pictures. I was not using a flash since my camera may have been confiscated. Click on a photo for a bigger picture




The Phillips Arena is a great place to see a show - not many bad seats in the house. The show has great lights and technology, and using a stage that has the "loop" around an infield crowd is an excellent idea.




Here is the song list for the concert. Two encores at the end -

City of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
Elevation
I Will Follow
Still Haven’t Found
Beautiful Day
Original of the Species
Sometimes you Can’t Make it On Your Own
Love and Peace or Else
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Bullet The Blue Sky
Miss Sarajevo
Pride in the Name of Love
Where the Streets Have no Name
One/MLK

Until the End of the World
Mysterious Ways
With or Without You

First Time
Stuck in a Moment
Bad




Can't wait until the next show. We will try and get infield tickets.

WH

Ready For U2

Jen and I are here in Atlanta and ready for the concert tonight. We're going out to one of my favorite areas, LIttle 5 Points on off of South Moreland. There is a place called the Flatiron that has good food and a coffee shop that has killer deserts.

We plan on getting back to the hotel and then taking a taxi to the concert. That saves all of the hassle with parking and such. We should be back inthe room by midnight.

The sets for the concerts have been amazing. I'll post the song set tomorrow and maybe some pictures.

WH

I'm A Little Tired:)

What Can Brown Do For You?

How about give me a little nap:) I started with UPS this past Monday. Started at 4:30 am. Yesterday, I was asked to get into the office at 4 am, That meant that I would need to get up at 3:00 am. That's just not normal...

So I'm trying to find a new balance in my sleep schedule. I tried to take a nap this afternoon for a few hours and that seemed to help. I'm going to try and come right home from work tomorrow and go to bed. That would be 10 am or so. We have small group tomorrow night and I'm afraid that if I don't get some rest I'll end doing a Garfield in my lasagna.

The job is pretty easy so far. I am moving through a 44 page report, line by line, and checking ALL of the active businesses in our UPS delivery area against all of the inactive, suspended, and closed accounts. That's about 1500 accounts. I also have to check the outside yard in the morning to make sure that the trailers that are supposed to be delivered are actually there. Pretty easy.

I feel very fortunate to have the job. I also am looking forward to this weekend. SLEEP in on Saturday.

Then Jen and I are off to Atlanta to see U2. How freaking cool is that?! Next week I work on Monday, maybe Tuesday and then Jen, Jessie, and I are off to see my sister and her husband in Phoenix. That will be fun and relaxing.

WH

Up Early!!

Tomorrow at 3:30 am I will get up and start the process of learning a new job at UPS. I will blog tomorrow evening and fill you in on the details of the new responsibilities and possibilities.

Oh, and I have to shave my beard for the job - that will be weird. The last time I shaved the beard was Halloween 2004 for my Steven Segal imitation. I grew it back in two days. This time it stays off for as long as I am with BROWN.

WH

A Job!

I remember saying that, at least for me, doors of opportunity tend to open LATE in the game. From the perspective of one who is a "Christ Follower" I would say that God generally waits until the last minute to provide - not when I am lazy or uninvolved - but when I am working hard to find the answer or direction.

Well - I HAVE A JOB! It's part-time BUT has potential and is ideal for what I need right now. I will explain more later.

At the request of my wife, I went on line and signed up for a Seasonal Delivery Helper with UPS. There were NO appointments available at the time but I filled out all of the stuff. That was the last week of October. On Wednesday, November 2nd, I get an email saying that the interviews for the Augusta area were upcoming. I HATE spam so I called the number to double check so that it wasn't the result of some web-bot spider that had harvested my address.

The guy said that it was for real and that he would be in Augusta starting on November 7th to hire 50 seasonal helpers. I took the first available slot, 11/7 at Noon. I had to fill out a bunch more online forms and releases for background checks, etc before the appointment, but that was easy and I eagerly awaited my Monday meeting. Hell, just the chance at an INTERVIEW was exciting.

I showed up at the interview and the HR guy said, "Are you interested in being a supervisor? Your resume gives you more options than just helping with the packages."

Long story short. UPS just called and offered me the job about an hour ago. The hours are perfect for me right now - 4:30 am - 9:30 am. The REAL shit is that I get FULL BENEFITS. The exact same benefits that management would get after 20 years in the company (other than time off for paid vacation). Benefits start immediately - and after 30 days they really kick in. Full medical, dental, vision, earn and learn, and more. The pay is pretty awesome too - for a part-time position.

Thank God. I went from seasonal help to management in less than one interview. The other thing is that the project that I will be working on is helping the Augusta facility set up the next generation of package delivery systems. No one there really knows more about the system in that facility than anyone else. It will involve problem solving, critical thinking skills, team work, and other things that are my strengths. For those of you getting packages it will mean quicker delivery times and better tracking.

I start Monday morning. How cool is that? Go Brown!

Oh, this Friday I also have a meeting with a group of investors about the doctors office. If they agree on this, the hours and jobs may be the perfect fit for me over the next few years. Keep praying for this idea. It could revolutionize medicine and the way doctors offices do business, as well as help me with retirement:)

I will keep you all informed.

WH

Cover Your Ears Kiddies

OK. Let's give another WARNING. I will be using some "salty" language. Don't go on if you don't want to read BAD WORDS.

FUCKING PARASITE!

You are not going to believe this one.

How much do you like ambulance chasing lawyers? Would you have any choice words for someone who would come to a hospital room and hand out a business card to a family member who has just experienced trauma? Read on...

The phone rang today and it said BLAKE HART, (803-641-9609), on the Caller ID. I picked up and it was for Jen. I took the message and asked what it was concerning. He said the article that was in the paper (You can read about that in the last post). I asked if he had a lung disease and he said "no" but that he would like to call her back, or have her call him.

MOTHERFUCKER!

He called back later today and Jen took the call. She came back and said that she had a conference call with him and another person who used RELIV and wanted to talk to her about taking nutritional supplements for her CF. He was a FUCKING SALESMAN who saw the article in the paper and used it for a MARKETING OPPORTUNITY to sell my wife some super expensive, awful tasting shit in a MULTI-LEVEL MARKETING SCHEME.

What a low down, shit eating, belly crawling, scum sucking, pathetic bastard. To invade our home and try and capitalize on an illness that is killing my wife to sell some bullshit. There is a special place in hell for people like him.

Jen said that she really didn't want to do the conference call so I called him back and told him that she wouldn't be taking the call. I was polite to him and let him know that she wasn't interested. Call the bastard if you want to and give him hell - that is really his number listed above.

There, now I feel better. Oh, and don't fuck with my wife. It tends to get my dander up.

WH

Busy Week Coming Up

This will be a busy week for us. There is an Evening of Miracles meeting tomorrow night in Lexington, SC. Then Jen's parents are coming up for the weekend to attend the actual event.

We all go to Columbia, SC on Friday night so Jen can do a live TV interview for the event and then we are going to one of our favorite restaurants, Villa Tronco, on Blanding St. - incredible Italian food. We'll be home late that night.

Then we go BACK to Columbia for the Evening of Miracles on Saturday.

Today, Jen had a story about her personal experience with cystic fibrosis published in the local paper, but I can't link to the article because they are potty heads and require COST to log in and view anything other than the basic page. How freaking stupid is that? The New York Times has a free log in. The LA Times has a free log in. The Aiken Standard CHARGES money so you can read the local news - out of touch.

So if you want to read the story use this log in:
User name: darbycopeland
Password: carter
consider that my rebellious reaction to a ridiculous charge:)

Once you log in you will need to use the News Finder Search on the left sidebar - put in "Jennifer Eisenmann" and the story will be near the top. The title is "Aiken resident won't let cystic fibrosis rob her of normalcy"

Anyway, the article was awesome. Jen liked everything but the pictures - but of course!

Hope you are all well. I hope to write some more in a day or two.

WH

Jessie Running Cross Country

This morning we went to the Regional Cross Country Meet to watch Jessie run, and boy did she run.

Remember that this run is just 16 days after she got hit by a car at cross-country practice. Her previous best time was 23:21. Today's time smashed that time. She ran 22:35 (corrected), finished fourth in the race and first for South AIken.

This was such a great experience for her because the coaching was OUTSTANDING. This stands in contrast to her softball team last year. She is looking forward to track and more cross country next year.

Below is a picture of Jessie, very focused and in a great rhythm, as she gets ready to run the last stretch.




Last Lap

Great job Jessie! We are so proud of you.

WH
[posted with ecto]

Stuck In A Moment

Just a short note.

I've been discouraged by the lack of responses to my attempts to find employment.

I've been encouraged by those who are encouraging me to do something bigger than I have ever imagined that I could do.

I'm stuck in the middle of those places and finding it hard to move in ANY direction.

My own words come ringing back in my ears - "discipline leads to freedom"

Make a move - one foot in front of the other, one idea, one concept, one letter typed on the page of a business plan. One phone call.

Pray as if it all depends on God. Work as if it all depends on you.

WH
[posted with ecto]

A Poem By My Daughter

My Daughter wrote this poem yesterday. After I heard it I told her that I would love to put it on my blog - here it is

----------------------------------------------

youth sprawls around a café table,
blessing me with his self-entitled, so-called Wisdom—
glowing, god-like, in the sun.

(in his own mind, he thinks that truth comes from books
[and my is he well-read for his age])

but i shake my head and laugh
as he babbles on about totalitarianism and technicalities.

(the flipside of his raison d’etre is the ever-present fear of being found
out—it’s only a matter of time, anyway)

youth gives off an air not unlike a doomed superhero—
fully aware of his tragic flaw,
sick and tired of being his own god
but too afraid to leave the telephone booth without a mask.

youth makes grand gestures with beautifully smooth hands,

(are they manicured?)

but pauses abruptly, his words faltering—

(hands still in the air, mind you)

as Death saunters by in a red dress—
carrying roses

(i didn’t know flowers could be black)

and a crooked crimson smile.

youth is silent, and looks away quickly—
then, with a sudden urgency, he pulls out a pack of Kools,

(maybe he has come to a resolution)

and i quietly wonder if he’ll speak again soon,
while he sucks on a cigarette

(as if he is giving his hatred head).

Jessie Eisenmann

----------------------------------------------

WH

[posted with ecto]

My Birthday Card From My In-Law's

Just for a laugh I thought that you would like to see just HOW funny my In-Law's are. The following is the text from my birthday card - we did birthday's (My Father-In-Law's birthday is 10/16) in Amelia Island tonight.

A Birthday Poem Just For You

Your brain cells still are working,
your teeth remain intact,
And you can still go dancing 'cause
your hip bones haven't cracked...

You pee without assistance,
Your walk is ever brisk,
And you haven't gotten wrinkled,
grown a hump, or slipped a disk...

Your follicles aren't white yet,
your glands are kicking ass,
And if you choose, you can still can keep
yourself from passing gas...

You don't crank up the thermostat
because you're always cold,
And though you've aged another year...

You're far from being old

Love Jody and Bob

Now that's fun:)

WH
[posted with ecto]

'laxing At The In-Laws

One of Jen and my favorite getaway places is in Amelia Island, FL. Her parents have a rockin' house just over the dune from the ocean. We can relax and do whatever. In fact, right now Jen is taking a nap and I am catching up with writing and reading.

We usually do some things around the house here - I help Jen's Dad with stuff. This visit we put in motion sensitive outside lights in the back yard and front drive.

The weather is beautiful and my run this morning was pleasant. I love Amelia:)

WH
[posted with ecto]

Off To The Schoolhouse

This morning I have a SCORE workshop to attend at our local Chamber of Commerce.

The topic is on "Developing a Business Plan" and will last from 8:30 - 12 Noon. My reasons for going are to get some insight from retired executives on developing a business plan as well as network with business owners from the community. The two plans that I have for small businesses are viable and I want to bounce them off of some experienced people, especially local people, who can give feedback and insight.

Tomorrow we will be leaving to spend a few days with Jen's parents in Amelia Island, FL. That should be relaxing and fun. I love the beach in the Fall.

WH
[posted with ecto]

Planning The Next House

When we moved from a SMALL apartment to a larger house after Jen and I were married I was most excited about the bathroom. It was large, has a garden tub, a shower, and a separate room for the toilet! But the real bonus was the sink, or SINKS!

It had TWO sinks - separate as in HIS and HERS - separate as in MY SPACE AND YOUR SPACE - separate as in I will have room to brush my teeth and put my contacts in. Yeah!!!

That was the idea. The reality however, is that Jen just got more room where she could spread her shit! Below are two pictures from the other day. These are not unusual pictures, or some type of set-up. This is a regular occurrence. I didn't wait until one particularly disastrous evening of "primping" before snapping the shot.


Who's Sink Is It?

The sink on the left is "mine". The truth is that Jen allows me to place some of my toiletries to the back and far left edge of the sink. I have toyed with the idea of a thick magic marker line right down the middle - like you might do in the back seat of the car when traveling with a sibling, except then it was imaginary. The other thought was a "wall" built up between the two sinks. Both, however, would be exercises in futility.


Room To Do What?

Notice the open drawer. It is there so that I can rip my kneecap off and thereby require the use of another bathroom which would be wheelchair accessible, taking me entirely out of the picture.

The only real answer will be when we move to another house, there has to be SPACE between the sinks. The greater the space the better, as any surface will be occupied with various items.

WH

[posted with ecto]

Happy Birthday To Me!!

Some birthday's are better than others. This one was my 47th, and as I like to point out to Jen (much to her shock, horror, and denial), I am eligible for AARP benefits in two years. It ranks as one of the GREAT birthdays!

Yesterday afternoon the dogs were going wild, barking and running back and forth trying to get us to come see the threat to our home and well being. I opened the door and there was Jason. He decided to come home for a weekend and see how Jessie was doing after her car-crashing-into-her incident. He looks great as you can see from the pictures.

Jen made calzones, gave me a Moose Tracks ice cream cake, and we sat around and watched football and shot the shit. I also received a call from my sister in Phoenix, AZ on Friday (my actual birthday) which was awesome. We (Jen, Jessie, and I) are going out there to visit on Thanksgiving - next month! That will be fun.


Jen, Jessie, and Jason

My family is not ONLY beautiful, they are awesome in character and personality. I am a most fortunate man!


Me, Jen, and Jessie

The other thing we did yesterday was attend Molly Fest. Cinnamon, our mixed Chow/whatever, WON the All-American category (translated Mutt) for Most Beautiful! Both dogs were exhausted when we got back home and slept the afternoon away.

Today is a BEAUTIFUL day outside and we are off to church, back for some relaxation and then probably back to Steve and Lori's for our prayer meeting.

WH
[posted with ecto]

The Scariest Thing In A While

I received the phone call at about 5:30 PM. "Jessie has been in an accident near Gold's Gym."

Jessie is my daughter, 16 years old, and a Junior in High School. As I drove to the scene of the accident I wondered how badly the car was damaged and if she was hurt. I looked for the wreck as I went down the street. Funny, I didn't see anything. I didn't see cars backed up signifying an accident.

Just then my cell phone rang - the location of the accident wasn't where I had been told initially, and I was on the way to the new scene. As I arrived I couldn't find Jessie's car. Then I saw her. OH MY GOD! Jessie was sitting on the ground near the street and another kid was there too, surrounded by the cross country team.

It hit like a punch in the stomach - she had been hit by a car while she was RUNNING.

I will cut to the chase and say that she is OK. She will be REALLY sore for the next few days. The other kid will be OK too. Thankfully that is the case.

They had been out with the team running and were just about to finish the last leg of the practice and had stopped at the light. As their coach had instructed them, they stopped at the light. It turned green and they started across the road, a four lane one, and a driver ran the red light and hit the two kids. They hit the windshield and went over the car. Here is a picture of the car.


The Car

Jessie had glass fragments all over her neck and back. They asked if I wanted her to go to the hospital. "Ummmmm, let me think for a second. My daughter has just been hit by a CAR, not while she was in another car but as a PEDESTRIAN and you want to know if she needs to go to the hospital?" Here is a picture of her getting ready for transport.


Jessie Strapped Down

As I mentioned, she is fine. Her leg and ankle were x-rayed and were negative. She has abrasions on her butt, her shoulder, and forearm. We'll see how she feels tomorrow and get her to an orthopedic doctor next week as a follow up.

Scary. Relieved.

WH
[posted with ecto]

My New Hated Term - "Skill-Set"

Well in the past weeks I have placed applications with a variety of companies. At this point the count is close to twenty specific, as well as three job placement services - not including online services (which have initiated a WHOLE new level of spam and 'offers' from parasitic bastards).

I have a "six degrees of separation" story - I stopped into a placement service in Augusta, GA to follow up on a meeting with one of the company reps at a local job fair. I stated who I wanted to see and had a seat in the waiting room. The door opened and there was the woman, as well as another woman who was tending to another individual who was waiting - we looked at each other and our mouths dropped in unison - she was the lady who was the FOSTER MOM to our latest adoption - Lily. Her job? She is Director of Operations at the placement service.

Tell me that's not freaking amazing! Anyway, we talked about dogs and jobs and we'll see her again this weekend at the Molly Fest, where Molly's Militia raises funds for rescuing dogs. My hope is that she will be looking for a job for me also.

Oh, another story. Last year at Molly Fest, we won the raffle (the first time I have EVER won ANYTHING in a raffle). It was a computer monitor. We didn't need it and donated it BACK to Molly's Militia. Well, you would have thought that we had given them a million dollars. The director wrote us a nice letter AND when we sent in the paperwork for adopting Lily, she sent it back with our check saying that our donating the monitor was payment enough.

Anyhoo, we will have fun this weekend, and BONUS, the sun is supposed to come out. We have had rain, mist, and overcast skies for the past 10 days and I am ready for SUN! I should have some pictures to post.

Oh yeah, the title of the blog. The conversations I have had over the past weeks about my resume have added a new term to my jargon - "skill-set".

Here's how the conversation goes:
"Well Mr. Eisenmann, I see that you have done this and that and this and that, and you have a number of abilities. Well we would love to have a guy like you in our company but your (HERE IT COMES) skill-set doesn't fit our needs right now."

Me (In my head for the time being): "Uh. OK. What fucking skill-set are you looking for?", or
"Really, I'm curious, what do you see as my skill-set, and how exactly doesn't it fit?",
Or even, "I know that I can be more honest and LESS full of bullshit than YOU are doing right now. Can I have YOUR job?"

Ah, schmoozing in the workforce world. I am kind and polite (don't freak Jody) BUT I don't like being patronized very much.

More later:)

WH

Day of Football and Hanging Around The House

Jen and i went to Augusta today and helped with the Hispanic medical clinic that our pastor's wife was working with. Since we can't speak Spanish we were limited in what we could do but we stuffed grab bags and then walked downtown for a while before deciding to come back home and stick around here and watch football and golf.

I made some Costa Rican black beans and we'll just eat in.

Nothing to report on the job search so far but I am always filling out applications and sending resumes. Getting a job is hard work!

Tomorrow we get to hang out with our church community and cook out. That's always fun.

WH

[posted with ecto]