On jobs and such...

So, the blog has been dark for a bit... Here's an explanation...



If you cannot see the video, click here. While we're rolling. if you have an embarrassing story or online gaffe you'd like to share - fire away in the comments.

Okay, so the question not answered in the video is No, I did not get the job. It may have been because of the phone, but then again...

I just don't think so. For the record for any future potential employers coming by the blog, I LOVE - huh...

What too much?

Okay, Talking on the phone for business and talking to your Uncle whom you love dearly, (in case he's reading) but does not know how to talk on the phone and / or hang up are completely separate issues. Business very often needs to be face to face or voice to voice if you will, and I am absolutely okay with that interaction.

Oh, and here's the incriminating post in case you were curious.

Alright, before I call it a day and because I am talking about jobs I want to talk about something I have going on tomorrow that is pretty cool.

I am a member of the Communications and Satisfaction team for Tech Connect Ohio. This is a terrific program put together by Dan Harris with the assistance of Rocky VanBrimmer in only about 4 weeks I might add.

From the website: In an effort to support these, (Central Ohio technology driven) companies and advance Ohio' s tech initiatives, promote the jobs available and help experienced tech professionals, recent graduates, and interns find and secure these important positions TechConnect Ohio was created. 

So really, how cool is that?

Roh roh:

I received a message last night that I have missed somebody and folks, I hate that. 

So, let's fix it right...

Let me tell you about Jodi Hoye. Jodi is the one responsible for recruiting, communicating, orchestrating and caring for ALL the sponsors who agreed to sign-up and attend this event. She managed this entire event from start to finish and is a key to this events success going forward. In fact, I've been told this would not have happened with out Jodi Hoye's involvement, and how I missed that is completely beyond me. 

Jodi's named responsibility was Sponsorship and Business Development. She did much, much more. Without question, Jodi was "instrumental" to the program's success, and Jodi if you're reading... I am very sorry.


Major bonus that I get to be on that team!

I believe the term is SCORE!

Ahem, sorry... Yes, I am a little excited.

In case you're interested - here is a list of the companies involved.
FastSwitch - http://bit.ly/FastSwitchJobs
TDCI - http://bit.ly/TDCIJobs
Manta - http://bit.ly/MantaJobs
Halcyon Solutions - http://bit.ly/HalcyonJobs
Limited Brands - http://bit.ly/LimitedBrandJobs
Northwoods Consulting - http://bit.ly/NorthwoodsJobs
Oxford Consulting - http://bit.ly/OxfordJobs
Nationwide Insurance - http://bit.ly/NationwideJobs
Huntington Bank - http://bit.ly/HuntingtonJobs
Ecommerce Advanced Services http://bit.ly/ecommjobs
BMW Financial- http://bit.ly/BMWFinJobs
Thirty One Gifts - http://bit.ly/thirtyoneJobs
NetJets - http://bit.ly/NetJetJobs
Motorists Mutual Insurance - http://bit.ly/MotoristJobs
2Checkout - http://bit.ly/2checkoutJobs

I know I have some friends out there who are looking... If I don't see you tomorrow, I hope you at least get a chance to check out the list.

Pray

We heard the sirens during the band booster meeting we were attending. We went to bed fairly certain that once again kids in our community were facing tragedy. We woke this morning to find that was indeed the case, to learn their names, and to know a man had lost his life in the accident.

Netter and the girls usually leave about an  hour before I do in the mornings. They always come in and kiss me goodbye. We tell each other “love you, have a good day, see you later,” and such and then I fall back to sleep grateful I still have that hour or so.

Today that didn’t happen. I could tell as Netter leaned down to kiss me that something was amiss, something was different. So, I asked  her.

“Nothing,” she said: “Well not nothing um, the kids that were in the accident. Well, we know who it was.”

I sat up a little and asked who and she told me their names. I didn’t know any of them personally. One of their parents were friends of friends. I’d done some computer work for them. Dad had played in Golf for Joy one year. Mom and I are Facebook friends. Acquaintances. Still, I could feel it in my gut.

Netter assured me she had talked with the girls and they were okay. We said goodbye with extra emphasis on the “see you later,” (because I believe that makes it so) and I lay back down in bed.

I didn’t fall back asleep this time though. I got up to call Mulligan to help comfort me, and darned if that dog wasn’t standing outside the door waiting for me to let him in. His sensitivity still amazes me. I’ve no idea how he does it.

Mulligan and I laid in bed snuggling, and I dozed a bit, but mostly I just thought of those boys and the accident, of the multitude of things I have done behind the wheel of a car in my lifetime that could have landed me in  jail, or the hospital, or yes, even the morgue, and how many times presently that  I am afraid of driving, afraid I’ve used up all my chances.

I thought about K, who is in the process of taking driving lessons, but not very eager to finish her in car session, and how I might be okay with that... Now.

I thought about D who declared recently that she never wanted to drive and Netter who waited until she was 25 to get her license, and how that might not be such a bad idea for the girls.

Then I rolled over, picked up my phone and read a text I received from our friends of the friends telling me about the boy in the hospital, knowing I would want to know.

I got ready and came to work and went online to read the articles, and watch the slide show and the video about the accident, and unfortunately began reading the comments after those articles.

Apparently only a few of those folks were ever teenagers who ever did anything wrong, and didn’t understand that a car is essentially a 2 - 3 thousand pound missile just waiting to go off. I know I didn’t. I thought I was invincible. But the adults in the comments section have apparently always been sensible, and well mostly judgmental and yes, it pisses me off.

So I stopped reading those comments and checked on the status of our young friend who is still in the hospital and sat down to write, mostly because it helps me collect my thoughts and find calm.

There were mistakes made in judgment. There was at least one child who will have to live with the consequences of his actions for the rest of his life. There was the  tragic loss of a young father, only 31 and there was once again, the unfair, unexplainable, and seemingly random happening that makes us ask “why?”

Nobody really has any good answers. All we can do is make this a lesson, and remind ourselves that each second, each minute, each hour, every day, and every year is not to be taken for granted.

Throw up a prayer, look up, sideways, around, whatever you do to send good mojo and thoughts to the young men involved, to the family of the man whose life is gone, to all involved, and all affected...

That they may find peace. 

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

When I met my wife, she had this really cool car, an Acura Integra LS. Flip up headlights, sunroof. The whole nine yards.

I had a beat up Chevy Nova that we actually sold before she even got to ride in it.



For years we only had one car. It was okay. We worked at the same place and did most everything together. Occasionally we would borrow a friend's vehicle if we really needed to go somewhere without the other. When Netter went to work at another library location I had friends drive me home from work when necessary.

After we had the twins we decided we needed a second car, a bigger car, a family car, but I did not want a minivan. No Way. No How. No minivan.

It was the first of a number of changes we would make in our life after the loss of Meghan Joy. We weren't waiting for anything anymore (another post for another day). Much to my surprise, my wife told me she wanted an SUV, and not just any SUV, but a sporty SUV to boot.

I thought that was sexy! (and certainly not a minivan) So the shopping started...

After a few weeks of looking at new and used SUVs of every type and model we determined that we wanted to buy the new Honda Passport. That was almost 15 years ago.

This week we're saying goodbye to our old friend, that treasured vehicle. Netter long ago dubbed this incredibly reliable car Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. In 1995, I told the dealer I wasn't interested in a lease because we were going to drive that car until the wheels came off, and it fell down around us. We almost made it that far.Final mileage was 234,790.

In February, after determining that the cost of repair for belts and hoses was a good chunk of change towards a newer replacement vehicle we had been considering purchasing, we parked the Passport in front of the house until further review. K was almost 16, she would be driving soon, a repaired Passport might be a good option for her.

We purchased the newer vehicle - a minivan, go figure...

K just finally got her temps a few weeks ago and we have decided to go another route with the Passport. The tags are going to expire on Saturday. It seems silly to continue to pay for registration and insurance for a vehicle that likely won't be used until at least March 2010. It's time to say goodbye.

We posted the car on Craig'sList on Monday. I'm pretty sure it will be sold within the next few days.

When I think about all of the things we have done and the places that car has taken us, I can't help but smile. She was my first, (and only) new vehicle - ever.

The summer of 1995 saw us take the first of two trips to North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. A trip with great friends, time on the beach, four grand golf courses. It was so, so much fun.

In 1996 we used the Passport to move into our new home, (more of that not waiting stuff) and 5 days later welcomed our baby D into the world. Of course the Passport brought her home from the hospital. Mommy got to bring her baby home with her this time. Monitors be damned.

We used the Passport to haul all the material to finish our basement in 2000 when Netter started doing home daycare. That same year a friend drove the Passport to Pittsburgh to buy the first bed he would share with his wife. We were in their wedding the very next summer.

Of course with my family in Michigan, and my roots in the D(etroit) we also made several trips to Michigan. We made the last of two journeys to Tiger Stadium for the 3rd to last game to be played at that historic venue, in September 1999. We saw the Lions play in 2002, the first year that Ford Field was open. Yes, they lost.

Earlier in 2002 we made our last journey to North Myrtle Beach. Different friends, more great times, lots of seafood (crab for me every day in fact), more beautiful golf courses. Throw in some Bloody Mary's and too many good stories to share in one space and the trip was just as awesome as our first.

Our first trip to Greenville, South Carolina to visit my fave cousin Butch, and all the Brochowski family for Thanksgiving in 2003, (I think) might have been the last of the long trips we would take in our Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car. I remember my Dad telling me the steel belts were showing on my tires and that it was time to replace them, and my cousin Christy's husband Yousef marveling at the 148,000 miles on the odometer at the time.

Of course, not all of our trips were joyous, but the memories will live on. Our trusted friend took us to say goodbye to my Babcia, and to my Uncle Jerry - probably the man I admire most in the whole world. I have the greatest golf story ever from the trip for Uncle Jerry's funeral. I'll spare you the details and just share that teaching Yousef how to say Titleist - was one of the funniest things ever.

Happy or sad, good times or bad, great stories, good friends, great times - the Passport just kept going.

Goodbye old friend.

Bureaucracy

I had to do it. I had to go. The dreaded place. The one place in the world none of us would want to go. It's dark there. It smells funny. It's hot. It's cramped. They are rude to you. They are mean to you. They make you follow rules that are...well they just seem arbitrary.

You know where I'm talking about... Anyone over the age of 16 knows exactly where I'm talking about.

Today I went to:

The

B

M

V

AAAAAAAAAAAaaaHHHHHHhhhhhhhh!

I know right?

It couldn't be avoided. We need to get a title, registration, plates and such for our new (to us) van.

So this morning, I dropped my lovely wife off at work and went to visit our friends at the BMV. It was 8:40 a.m. For me, on my day off, I call that "o'dark thirty."

I was ready though, I had some Starbucks. I took my iPod. I had my cell phone to text or maybe even tweet.

My first sign of trouble came when I started to walk from my truck to the building. In HUGE RED LETTERS across the front window: "No Food or Drink."

Sigh! Okay, coffee goes back into the truck. I'm pondering the question of why you can eat or drink at the library where there are hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of computers and books, but you can do neither at the BMV where you might spill on ... on... What? The floor? The line divider? Maybe the hard wooden bench or card table chairs they have for some to sit on?

Walking in the door, I noted that the line didn't seem very long. Wow! That's different. Okay, let me just check my cell - Oh, look at that big sign. NO CELLPHONE USE WHATSOEVER - Okay, never mind.

Not even gonna risk the iPod with the short line.

Shortly it was my turn. "Next" came the shout from "Corky." Now, I'm not judging, but "Corky" is your baseball coach, or your bartender. Do you really expect Corky to be the lady behind the counter at the BMV?

"Hi," I said, "I bought a van and I need to get a title, plates, the whole nine yards."

"We don't do titles here," Corky explained. "To get a title you have to go to 1970 Broad Street, where they do titles. Unless you want us to do it, but it won't be ready for two weeks." Corky then handed me directions to 1970 Broad Street.

I couldn't help but wonder how it could take two weeks to get my title from 1970 Broad Street to where we were in Hilliard. Is that a covered wagon trip? Bicycle courier with a lot of breaks in between? Pony Express?

"I can wait," I said which led to this little exchange.

Corky: Do you have plates?

Jim: We have plates.

Corky: From another car?

Jim: No, there are plates on the car from our friends who sold us the van.

Corky: Those are no good as soon as you buy the vehicle. We can sell you a temporary tag while you wait for your title though.

Jim: How much is a temporary tag? (All the while considering gas costs for the obviously long trip to 1970 Broad Street.)

Corky: $10.50.

Jim: Okay, what do we do next?

Corky set about entering whatever she needed to enter in her "not visible to me" computer? I'm guessing.

A young man came to the counter to be helped by the lady next to me. He was playing football at Ohio State he explained (I didn't recognize him. He'll probably win a Heisman or something) and he needed to get his license switched from Florida to Ohio. The woman at the counter told him that he would need his social security card. "Where is your social security card?" She asked. "Um, in Florida." Poor kid, bet he had to go to 1970 Broad Street too. I didn't hear the rest of the transaction clearly.

Another young man approached. (Corky was taking her time.) "I need to get my i.d." he said handing what looked like a photocopied birth record of some sort to the lady. "OH," she said, "this is a photocopy." She then went on a long rant about how it was obviously a photocopy from a scrapbook, and she really wasn't concerned about how it was all the young man had and all his mother had to give him, and NO she could not accept that. She could see notebook marks on it even.

Ouch?

"What color is the vehicle?" (Corky was ready for me again.)

"Champagne," I said. Hey, that's what Netter called it.

"Point to the chart." Corky said, clearly irritated.

Sure enough, on the counter there was a chart for vehicle color. Our van is not champagne at all. It is number 15, tan.

Alrighty then.

Corky asked a co-worker to figure out my sales tax, told me to write my check to Northwest Kiwanis, (not the BMV?) and $265 later I have a piece of cardboard / temporary tag, a certificate of registration, and a promise that in two weeks I can come back and buy my real license plates.

Just waiting on the covered wagon I guess.

Plugged In? Why?

What's your goal Jimmer? What are you trying to accomplish?

These questions have been popping into my head all day. This is partly because of my discussion with my wife last Friday, but also for another reason...

Last weekend I came to the realization that I am almost always plugged in. I spend the larger majority of my time on a computer at home or work, If I'm working in the public service area at work I'm usually still checking my Twitter account. Heck even my cell phone is set to get some of those Twitter updates.

Save driving (I only drive when I have to), sleeping(I don't sleep much and usually in fits and starts), showering and such - I'm plugged in.

Yikes! Right?

Or is it okay?

So, I'm back to the question - what's your goal Jimmer? Why are you always plugged in?

Let's break this down.

Here are the networks I plug into (almost) every day and my primary reasons for doing so.

Email - This is a must do. If I could, I'd get rid of email - ALL of it.

LinkedIn & Plaxo - This is purely professional, trying to make business contacts.

Facebook - This is admittedly more personal than anything, but I have also made some professional connections. Just today one of our HR folks tracked me down via Facebook.

Twitter - This is both personal and professional, but the larger majority of the people I follow I at least started to follow for professional reasons. Getting to know them and building relationships has been a bonus.

I think that may be my answer. I'm building relationships.

I'm also learning better ways to communicate.

I've talked a lot this year about finding a focus for my blog, thinking my subject matter was all over the map. Hmmm...

I've also heard quite a bit lately that a number of folks think my blog is all about self revelation, introspection and such - but not just for me, for my readers too.

Hey - wait a minute I think I've got it.

Maybe I do have a focus after all. While the blog does cover a variety of topics they really all come back to the same things.

I'm all about the conversation, and building relationships. That's why I'm plugged in.

What do you think? Where do I go from here?

Oh the Weather Outside Is...

YEACH!

Somebody mentioned to me yesterday that having grown up in the cold and rain and snow of Michigan and Ohio I should love Winter.

I think she was kidding.

Winter? Really?

Again - YEACH!

Is there anything good about Winter besides hockey season? We know how to make ice indoors now you know.

Oh wait - something called Christmas? and New Years you say and the warmth of a fire and Oh alright, alright - I don't hate winter for the cold or the snow or the rain anyway.

Here's why I hate winter -

I can't drive in it.

Really, that's it. The one and only reason I hate winter.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of shoveling snow - but I remember building caves in the snow mounds our shoveling had created during a good old fashioned Michigan winter. I also remember a couple times we made some serious dough shoveling snow. (Hey, check me out - I'm a poet. Wish I'd done that on purpose.)

Sledding, snow men, snow angels, (Hey a little I.G. for the man, it hasn't been out in a while), hot chocolate, marshmallows, big woolen socks, big strong and heavy boots, Tuques, mittens, idiot mittens, Gloves and yes even special gloves.

All crazy cool stuff - until you have to drive in it.

Some folks are better than others driving in the snow. Some folks are crazier than others, and some folks are just plain stupid. Yeah, it had to be said.

Me - I'm just not good at it. Never have been. Not sure I ever will be.

Frankly, at this point in my life I have a hard time driving in a hard rain storm. Out traveling in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike last fall a gust of wind hit the car. I drove straight across 3 lanes of traffic and gave the steering wheel to my lovely wife.

That's right - I'm not just bad at driving in the snow, I'm also afraid.

I wasn't always afraid, but one morning last winter coming into downtown on I 670 I got caught in some stop and go traffic in the middle of a snow storm.

My little truck, (which weighs about 3 pounds on ice) and I were having some difficult to begin with - a little fishtail, a little tirespin, and a little sliding and then...

Cresting the top of the 670 turn into downtown my truck decided it was going to not just fishtail and not just slide. No, instead we were going to slide sideways entirely.

Now, I'll grant you that I was only going about 5 miles an hour and there were plenty of cars and barriers around to break our fall as it were. I wasn't worried about that.

I was worried about the semi that was bearing down on my passenger door as I started to slide sideways back across traffic.

I did what I think anyone would have done. I slammed my foot on the accelerator as fast as I could, caught some semi dry pavement and gunned my way to the exit ramp, horns honking at me all the way.

I made it to work, but had to sit in the truck for 10 minutes while I stopped shaking. I took a little inventory, calmed myself down and thought I would be fine.

I've never been the same behind the wheel of a vehicle again.

So there you have it. It's not winter I hate after all.

It's the wintry roads.

How do you feel about winter?