I have started the new job. It’s a little bit slow at first, but what do you expect…I’m getting trained and I’m sharing a cube and a PC.

I HOPE my request for a new PC comes through…if not, I’m going to have to fight hard to get some more memory in this thing, as it only has 128MB of ram and running Windows 2000. If not, I’ll have to install my own memory, as 128MB of ram is just WAY too slow for me.

I’ll feel MUCH better when the first six months is up and I actually get hired direct. Then…my life will be on cruise control, in terms of a job, I hope.

My attempts to get out-of-town this weekend were thwarted every which way I turned. First, I wanted to go to Phoenix, couldn’t. Tickets were too much, and the looming war scared my wife. She didn’t want anything to happen to me. Who’s to blame her? Second, I wanted to visit some of my friends in Chicago. One friend is probably still stuck in Denver (fun snowboarding for him, though!!!), and is booked all weekend, and my other friends are actually coming to Michigan for the weekend to visit family. Oh well. I’ll stick around here and “rest” until my work week starts Monday morning.

We’re back in the house-hunt again!!! We’re going to look at two houses this evening in a neighborhood we really like that is close to where we live and close to Stony Creek Park, where we do most of our running at during the summer. I guess I’m a runner, or part-time runner. We are going to do the Detroit Marathon this October 5, unless something goes awry. It’ll be my second and Michelle’s third. She has a goal to quality for the boston marathon. To do this, she has to run 8:20/mile pace. Me, I’d have to run 7:56 (not gonna happen) pace. I just want to best my 10:16 pace from last year, by, say…a whole 1:00 per mile. Hopefully, my weeks of weight training prior to the June 1 training start-date and my continued weight training during the early weeks of running will help me succeed in my goal(s).

Have a good day. Let’s hope this war in Iraq ends quickly, with minimal loss of life.

Oh boy!!! Finally! I got a job!!! Yippee!!! Six long months, and yes, they were very long. They were a little bit fun at first; I could stay up late at night, playing computer games, doing my “computer lifing” and all, sleeping in, etc. However, what I didn’t do during those first few months was hit the gym and hit it hard. I was lazy, partially depressed, if you will. I won’t, I never get depressed, but a man’s spirits get a little bit low when you find yourself in that predicament.

Now, however, things have changed. I’ve started working out, religiously, four weeks ago, so things are going well in the exercise and muscle-building area, and also, I found a job, with a very large company. I’ll be working for Ford as a contractor for six months, and then I’ll be brought in, direct, as a Ford employee. This is all part of their PreView program, designed to bring people into Ford, and possibly into their IT arena. I believe their new CIO wants to “bring in” a lot of the IT work that was once outsourced as a push to strengthen their core comptencies! Let it happen. Here I am, over here…here…here!!!

So, I go into this weekend happy as hell. My wife, Michelle, is THRILLED to death that she’s not the sole breadwinner anymore. We can continue looking for a house again, and resume where we left off on September 20, 2002. I am HOPING I start work on March 24 so I can have some free time to finally ENJOY my time off and go visit my friends out in Phoenix, maybe even get some sun!

Have a good weekend!

Here we are, at the beginning of March… ALMOST Spring… OH boy!!! With Spring comes nice weather, fun thunderstorms, and the beginning of outdoor season. What’s outdoor season? Well, it’s that season in Michigan where you can actually start playing outside, planning to play outside, and WANTING to play outside. Playing outside can be a simple walk with your lovely wife, a relaxing bikeride around a park, or even a grueling 6 mile run around that same park!

Spring can also be a time of renewal. A time for Spring Cleaning. And not just Spring Cleaning of your domicile, but also of your mind. Perhaps Spring Cleaning can be put to good use on our outlooks, on or aspirations, and our push in to the future. Maybve I’m just writing this nonsense because I’ve been laid off for FIVE FUCKING MONTHS, and it dosn’t seem to be getting any better. Well, it is. I’m starting to get a few calls from companies. You know, I was thinking about this job hunt business… all I want is for people to call back, write back (personally, not with an autoresponder), or write back with snail mail. At least this way, I know that some human being is actually LOOKING at the e-mail and snail mail resume submissions I’m providing. At least I can get potential interviews. If I could just interview once a week, and fail at every one of them, I’d at least have a chance to grow and build from my tribulations…and in time, have a triumph!!

Besides a wonderful wife, and a great marriage, one of the other things that has been going well for me is Axim Users Dot Com. I’ve got well over 600 members now, and the site has only been up for 2 months! I’m starting to consider advertising on the site, too. With some advertising, I can hopefully grow the site into something large, more useful for the Axim community out there. Stay tuned for that…

Had my final in Accounting yesterday afternoon. ARGH! Studied for a few days…even prepared a 3.5″ note card which was about as usefull as a typewriter would’ve been on the exam. Sheesh, when you think you actually KNOW some material, and you can’t put it to good use, that’s when you feel like an ass. Well, I have my financial analysis project to redeem my grade (I went into the final with an A). I am going to analyze Dell’s 2001 Annual Report. Hopefully I’ll learn something about the company, about accounting, and about the economy in general, as well as get my grade up and safe into the B range.