...but I get to start writing a new chapter in life.
When I arrived at work yesterday my manager was in the conference room.
Unannounced.
Not a good sign.
I asked what he was doing there and he said he was there to talk to me and that he wasn't bearing good news.
He
informed me that the company was going through a "Reduction In Force"
and that my employment of 9+ years was being terminated as of March 24,
but that I did not need to bother with coming in anymore.
He covered my severance package with me, had me turn in my keys, cell phone, company credit card, ID badge, etc...
I
called my wife to let her know I was unemployed (which was met with
total disbelief) and then cleaned out my cubicle of my personal
belongings, gave my manager some information regarding PBX and voice
mail system access, moved work files to a share drive so my peers could
get to them, deleted personal stuff, sent a farewell e-mail to some of
my coworkers and by 10:30am I was out the door.
So, at 52 years old, after 32 years in the telecommunications industry I get to start over.
I
am not sure what I will do or where I will end up, but as a man of
faith I know this is all in His plan and he has something "bigger"
prepared for me.
Your prayers are coveted and appreciated.
Friday, March 18, 2016
Thursday, February 11, 2016
Life Updates
With three teenagers there is always something going on.
The last month has provided plenty of excitement for us. Some things to be happy about, some things that are concerning and scary.
Two of the boys are involved in winter high school sports and have had varying degrees of success as their respective seasons wind down.
A, my wrestler, has been wrestling at the Varsity 138 lb weight class all season. He is young, and for a number of years did not wrestle. He is in his second year back in the sport. It seems most of the young men in his weight class are seniors, and his varsity record reflects that. He went 0-2 at the conference tournament last Saturday. His day was done early.
On the bright side, he wrestled in a Junior Varsity tournament on Monday. Wrestlers were divided into four man brackets, and A won all three of his matches. 2-1, 6-4, and a fall in the first period of his third match, taking first place in his bracket. He tried to be real cool about it, but the discerning eye could tell he was excited. When they were all done, I watched him interact with the three kids he wrestled. He shook hands and talked to each of the other guys, an authentic display of sportsmanship and a true revelation of his character.
The Regional tournament is Saturday, and unless he does really, really well his season will be over.
D is on the curling team. He usually curls third on the Junior Varsity squad, but several times he has curled with the Varsity team.
His improvement over last year has been remarkable. His increased confidence is obvious, he is very smooth coming out of the hack, and has much better control of throw weight and accuracy.
Last Thursday, in dramatic fashion, his team qualified for the Junior Varsity State Tournament on the very last stone of the game. With the score tied after seven ends, our skips hammer stone (the last stone of an end) knocked out the opponents shot rock, breaking the tie and laying three for the good guys. Unfortunately I was not able to make it there to watch him play (the game was at 2:00 in the afternoon), but T was there and saw it. The fans watching broke into cheers and applause, unusual at a curling match because of the genteel and reserved nature of the sport. I can only imagine how hard it was for our boys to contain their excitement after winning. You see, before and after every curling match, every opponent shakes every other opponents hand and says "Good curling." An open show of celebration, while still on the ice, would have been considered bad form. It amazes me that 15, 16, and 17 year old kids, after winning a big game like that, were able to maintain their composure and honor the sport by behaving like gentleman. I am most proud that my son was able to do that.
Following recent dentist appointments for all three boys, T and I learned that two of the boys will need to have wisdom teeth extracted. J needs to have four removed, and A needs to have at least seven removed.
SEVEN!
SEVEN FREAKING WISDOM TEETH!
With a smile on his face he told me that he was a freak of nature. T and I spent a lot of money on orthodontics for him, so it's important he have the extractions before it messes up the work we have already done.
Those are the highlights that come to mind.
I am so very proud of my boys. Baseball starts soon, and I can tell that J is very excited about the season starting. It will be his last season of high school sports. I bet I cry after his last game.
The last month has provided plenty of excitement for us. Some things to be happy about, some things that are concerning and scary.
Two of the boys are involved in winter high school sports and have had varying degrees of success as their respective seasons wind down.
A, my wrestler, has been wrestling at the Varsity 138 lb weight class all season. He is young, and for a number of years did not wrestle. He is in his second year back in the sport. It seems most of the young men in his weight class are seniors, and his varsity record reflects that. He went 0-2 at the conference tournament last Saturday. His day was done early.
On the bright side, he wrestled in a Junior Varsity tournament on Monday. Wrestlers were divided into four man brackets, and A won all three of his matches. 2-1, 6-4, and a fall in the first period of his third match, taking first place in his bracket. He tried to be real cool about it, but the discerning eye could tell he was excited. When they were all done, I watched him interact with the three kids he wrestled. He shook hands and talked to each of the other guys, an authentic display of sportsmanship and a true revelation of his character.
The Regional tournament is Saturday, and unless he does really, really well his season will be over.
D is on the curling team. He usually curls third on the Junior Varsity squad, but several times he has curled with the Varsity team.
His improvement over last year has been remarkable. His increased confidence is obvious, he is very smooth coming out of the hack, and has much better control of throw weight and accuracy.
Last Thursday, in dramatic fashion, his team qualified for the Junior Varsity State Tournament on the very last stone of the game. With the score tied after seven ends, our skips hammer stone (the last stone of an end) knocked out the opponents shot rock, breaking the tie and laying three for the good guys. Unfortunately I was not able to make it there to watch him play (the game was at 2:00 in the afternoon), but T was there and saw it. The fans watching broke into cheers and applause, unusual at a curling match because of the genteel and reserved nature of the sport. I can only imagine how hard it was for our boys to contain their excitement after winning. You see, before and after every curling match, every opponent shakes every other opponents hand and says "Good curling." An open show of celebration, while still on the ice, would have been considered bad form. It amazes me that 15, 16, and 17 year old kids, after winning a big game like that, were able to maintain their composure and honor the sport by behaving like gentleman. I am most proud that my son was able to do that.
Following recent dentist appointments for all three boys, T and I learned that two of the boys will need to have wisdom teeth extracted. J needs to have four removed, and A needs to have at least seven removed.
SEVEN!
SEVEN FREAKING WISDOM TEETH!
With a smile on his face he told me that he was a freak of nature. T and I spent a lot of money on orthodontics for him, so it's important he have the extractions before it messes up the work we have already done.
Those are the highlights that come to mind.
I am so very proud of my boys. Baseball starts soon, and I can tell that J is very excited about the season starting. It will be his last season of high school sports. I bet I cry after his last game.
Friday, December 11, 2015
Encouragement
I read this during one of my quiet times this week in Psalm 139.
For
You formed my inward parts;
You wove me in my mother’s womb.
I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
You wove me in my mother’s womb.
I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
Monday, November 16, 2015
Frustrated
Frustrated beyond measure.
To be asked for assistance with something, and when providing requested assistance, I'm told I'm doing it wrong. "That's not the way I do it".
Seriously?
Why are you asking for help if you already know how to do it? Why are you asking for help if you're not going to listen?
I'm done.
To be asked for assistance with something, and when providing requested assistance, I'm told I'm doing it wrong. "That's not the way I do it".
Seriously?
Why are you asking for help if you already know how to do it? Why are you asking for help if you're not going to listen?
I'm done.
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Are schools relying too much on technology?
I was in the kitchen, focused on cooking my scrambled eggs.
The anguished, mournful sobbing of my oldest son broke my concentration and instantly claimed my attention.
He had worked on a pass / fail project late into the night as part of his first semester finals. He was due to present it in his third hour class today.
Prior to leaving for school, he had checked the website where the required project had been completed only to discover that there was no sign of his work.
It was gone.
Through his tears he swore a blue streak that he had saved his work. His mom had seen it before she went to bed. But this morning it was not there, and there was no time to replicate it before his class. He is a conscientious kid who strives for great grades. If he says he saved his work, I believe him.
I hugged him, and encouraged him to relax and compose himself.
He powered up his mom's laptop and browsed to the website. Lo and behold, his project was there.
I saw it, his mom saw it again. If it wasn't there when it was time to present it at least he had the testimony of two adults that the work was complete and had been there.
Where did it go for those those few minutes (that I'm sure were an eternity to him)?
This isn't the first time he has had issues with homework disappearing from one of these websites. Each time there is an issue, whether it's passwords that stop working or completed assignments vanishing, tears are sure to follow.
I work in a technology industry. I know that computers only do what you tell them to do. The most common computer error is a PEBKAC (Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair) error. But I too have experienced passwords changing, saved work mysteriously being lost, and generally strange phenomenon occurring when using a computer or website.
It happens.
But... to give a student a pass / fail end-of-semester-final-exam-assignment that relies on the performance of a third party website... well, to me, that's just wrong.
Not just for my child either.
I know it's 2015, and nearly all households have internet access and a computer. But what about the homes that don't? What about the homes that don't have a technologically savvy mom or dad? What do they do? How do they cope when this kind of thing happens?
There must be a better way.
*** Update ***
Once at school, my son was unable to access the website where his work was stored. Obviously my son was distraught, and the tears were flowing again. One of the school's IT guys was engaged for assistance. He was able to get my son logged in, but his work was not there.
Great.
The anguished, mournful sobbing of my oldest son broke my concentration and instantly claimed my attention.
He had worked on a pass / fail project late into the night as part of his first semester finals. He was due to present it in his third hour class today.
Prior to leaving for school, he had checked the website where the required project had been completed only to discover that there was no sign of his work.
It was gone.
Through his tears he swore a blue streak that he had saved his work. His mom had seen it before she went to bed. But this morning it was not there, and there was no time to replicate it before his class. He is a conscientious kid who strives for great grades. If he says he saved his work, I believe him.
I hugged him, and encouraged him to relax and compose himself.
He powered up his mom's laptop and browsed to the website. Lo and behold, his project was there.
I saw it, his mom saw it again. If it wasn't there when it was time to present it at least he had the testimony of two adults that the work was complete and had been there.
Where did it go for those those few minutes (that I'm sure were an eternity to him)?
This isn't the first time he has had issues with homework disappearing from one of these websites. Each time there is an issue, whether it's passwords that stop working or completed assignments vanishing, tears are sure to follow.
I work in a technology industry. I know that computers only do what you tell them to do. The most common computer error is a PEBKAC (Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair) error. But I too have experienced passwords changing, saved work mysteriously being lost, and generally strange phenomenon occurring when using a computer or website.
It happens.
But... to give a student a pass / fail end-of-semester-final-exam-assignment that relies on the performance of a third party website... well, to me, that's just wrong.
Not just for my child either.
I know it's 2015, and nearly all households have internet access and a computer. But what about the homes that don't? What about the homes that don't have a technologically savvy mom or dad? What do they do? How do they cope when this kind of thing happens?
There must be a better way.
*** Update ***
Once at school, my son was unable to access the website where his work was stored. Obviously my son was distraught, and the tears were flowing again. One of the school's IT guys was engaged for assistance. He was able to get my son logged in, but his work was not there.
Great.
Saturday, November 22, 2014
Bible study
I lead a Wednesday night adult Bible study. We just finished an incredible study in the book of Ruth. Ruth is only four short chapters but it took our group about ten weeks to do the study.
If you have never read or studied this book, do it. It is a beautiful love story detailing many relationships. There is just enough vagueness in the text to force you to look elsewhere in scripture for answers.
What made the study of Ruth so fantastic for me is that I have a deep affection for everyone that came to the study. My folks, my neighbors, couples (young and old) from church, long time Christians, new Christians, shy, bold... you name it they were represented.
We'll take a week off and then we'll start the book of Esther.
If you have never read or studied this book, do it. It is a beautiful love story detailing many relationships. There is just enough vagueness in the text to force you to look elsewhere in scripture for answers.
What made the study of Ruth so fantastic for me is that I have a deep affection for everyone that came to the study. My folks, my neighbors, couples (young and old) from church, long time Christians, new Christians, shy, bold... you name it they were represented.
We'll take a week off and then we'll start the book of Esther.
Are glucose meter reading scientific...
...or are they just wild ass guesses?
After reporting six consecutive glucose readings at or near 100, suddenly I am struggling to keep them under 150.
I guess the water and air where I live must be rich in carbohydrates.
After reporting six consecutive glucose readings at or near 100, suddenly I am struggling to keep them under 150.
I guess the water and air where I live must be rich in carbohydrates.
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