Denied

There's this guy at work, an Asian fellow who seems nice. He works in another division. My work and his work have no connection, therefore we do not speak. I met him a few days ago when his division (he's a salesperson) quoted something to my division (I'm the engineer). Therefore, we were in a conference together.

Last night, I checked my e-mail and noticed I had a "Facebook friend" request from him. Right. Ignore, delete e-mail, forget it. Then today, my phone rings and it's him, Mr. Kim, and he said "I linked you on Facebook". I just gave a little laugh and said "oh heh, heh". Then, he said "You know, Facebook. I added you as a friend".

Then, someone today walks by my desk and says "So when are you getting married" and I just said "I don't know" and then another guy (if you talk to me, you know who this is) turns around and says "WHAT!? When did you propose!?".

My. Gosh. Mind your own business people. That's how rumors start. I don't know WHAT it is about where I work, but people are spies. Little itty bitty busy-body spies...ALL of them. Nosey is what they are, and private is what I am.

GARH!

Sunday Smash

Leslie and I ate some really great ($$$) food last night. Dan and Molly invited us to go to The Melting Pot with them. I had never been before and neither had Dan, but Leslie and Molly had been. We ordered the Fondue Feast, a 3 course meal you cook yourself for only $86 per couple. That expensive, but it was a real dining experience I suppose, not just a meal. The whole dinner took 3 hours, and the desert was amazing. Brownies, rice krispie treats, strawberries, bananas, oreo covered marshmellows, cheesecake, which you can dip in chocolate. Although it was pretty expensive it was very good.

Leslie and I both have Memorial Day off. I'm very excited about that. Since today is Sunday, it really is only like Saturday, when you think about it from that point of view. I took Walter over to Leslie's store yesterday and we went out to lunch. All the girls in her store were going crazy over Walter. For someone who gets so much attention, he's very apathetic towards people. He'd give his tail a quick wag, let them pat his head once, then he'd turn his head and be done with them. That's just how he is, not affectionate at all. He got really, really hot though from being outside and called it a day early. He slept the whole car ride back and the rest of the day yesterday too.

I've still been doing yardwork and cleaning up the house. I'm really happy with how things have turned out in one year. Next Saturday, I'm participating in "Motor City Makeover" with a church here. We go into Detroit, to houses that look abandoned, and fix them up for people. I wanted to do it to give a little something back, and it might be sort of fun. I'm going to be scraping the outside of a house and doing painting on it. It's in inner city Detroit, so that should be interesting.

Leslie's getting a new car this week. She's ending her lease early on her Jeep Liberty because she's over on her mileage and buying a new Ford Escape. The key word is BUYing. I'm so proud of her. Actually, she told me to pick it out and work out the deal, so I helped her with that. She was going to have to pay a huge amount of money in mileage, like, thousands, so this is cheaper. Plus Chrysler is bankrupt, and the Escape is very efficient for an SUV. So I'm happy for her.

Work, I don't really want to re-hash here. Let's just say I'm looking for another job, and I really want another job. I'm sort of "done" with this one, mentally and physically. I put in my time, and get out. The politics, negativity, and fakeness of that place is not for me anymore. I felt like I joined some sort of fraternity by working there, and it's completely unprofessional and not a good place to work as a first job, in my opinion (i.e. not a good place to develop professional work habbits). Anyway, I'm looking and I hope I can make a change soon.

That's about all for now I suppose. June is going to be a great month because Dad is coming up, and Paul, and Lindsey, so lots of good visitors!

Here, You Babies

A special blog posting from a unique location: Boston Logan International Airport! Don’t pee in your pants, it’s not that exciting. I thought maybe I would post while on my trip in Maine, but that didn’t happen. We’re on our way back to Detroit, and although we had a direct flight on the way to Bangor, we have to change planes in Boston this time. At least I can say I was in Massachusetts, for whatever that’s worth. Don’t you wish you were in Boston, in an airport, at 7:00 on a Friday night? That’s right, I’m here and you’re not.

I have noticed and seen a few interesting things though:
1) Boston’s airport is very un-ergonomic. I think I dislike this airport more than Atlanta. So far, Greenville/Spartanburg wins the best airport in the world award.
2) We walked past a gate with tons of red headed people speaking in Gaelic accents and I realized it was for an Aer Lingus flight to Dublin
3) I ate Chinese food twice today, lunch and dinner. Lunch was boneless ribs and dinner was General Tso’s chicken. My fortune at lunch said “out of hard times comes opportunity”. That was a good one, considering I may not have a job much longer. More on that later.
4) Traveling with my boss was pretty good. We played racquetball at Gold’s Gym last night and that was actually a lot of fun.
5) I got to see my favorite manufacturing engineer in the whole wide world at our plant in Maine. This lady is the BOMB. I told my boss she should be hired in Northville as a comedienne. She’s one of the funniest people I’ve ever met, and laughing so hard my cheeks hurt yesterday was a good feeling.
6) I’m reading Harry Potter, the 1st book. I think I would live in the Ravenclaw house, but Leslie said Griffendorf.
7) Right now I’m listening to Death Cab For Cutie: Where Soul Meets Body.
8) Paul (roommate Paul, not Hart or little Miska) called today and said he worked from home, and let Walter stay outside and the lady who lives behind me came over and said she didn’t think Walter should stay outside that long…she was concerned. It was in the high 40’s there today. He’s fine.
9) I miss Leslie

Gosh lists feel good to write. Just glance up for a minute. Go ahead do it. No, up, above this; those numbers 1-9. Those look organized don’t they? Yes, they do. What else…what else is there to say? Oh yeah, job stuff. It’s really so screwed up right now I’m not even worried. There are rumors of 10% salary cuts (which means after 2 years of experience I would essentially go back in pay to LESS than I did right out of college) so that’s awesome. Then there’s layoffs. I’m really not scared of losing my job to be honest. I have always had above average reviews, and I’m a degreed engineer. We have people in our group who are not degreed engineers, who have bad reviews, and contractors, so those would have to go first.

A Sad Thing

I had to experience one of the saddest things ever Tuesday. Monday our VP announced my company would close its very first plant ever opened in North America, due to market conditions. This plant is in Maine. I work with two of our plants for my programs, one is in Michigan and the other is Maine. The difference is night and day, and to be brief, I like Maine better. I've developed a close working relationship with an engineer, let's call her "Sue". She always, always helps me out with whatever I need. She goes the extra mile for me, and we work very well together. I do for her, and she does for me. I found out before hand this plant was closing, but they had no idea until Monday, when our VP went there in person and told them they were closing the plant. I called "Sue" on Tuesday morning to ask her a few questions, and she started bawling. It was such a hard thing to listen to. It wasn't like a normal cry, more of a wimper, a REAL pain in her voice you could tell, like the crying you see when someone dies or something really, really bad happens. I didn't even know what to say, which made it even more akward. What do you say? "I'm sorry" doesn't seem to cut it, it almost seems brash.

So I feel really, really bad for them. I feel bad that their plant pretty much established our presence in North America and now they're getting the boot and their products are going to the great land of slave labor known as Mexico, who can't make water with a hose. It's going to be awesome.

Today we had a information session with the VP, who tried to confidently and forcefully describe why this decision was made, and how we have to support it. Did I mention whenever he was asked a question the answer was "you know I'm going to leave that up to my team of experts...". That must be nice, to make over 100K a year (I'm speculating) and make decisions, and leave all the work up to other people. HOW do these people work in the real world? "Work" is a relative term. I'd use the term "shuffle" instead. I'm not sure ONE single person has the vision or insight a company needs to be successful, so why do they get the power?

So, since it's up to this "team of experts" I'm pretty much going to demand that I go to Maine in the next few weeks, and LEARN the product line. I design parts, and have NO idea how they're built, isn't that good? So, basically "team of experts" means I have no clue in hell what I'm doing, and we haven't made a plan, so we'll just figure it out as we stumble along. Nuh uh, that doesn't sit well with me. Since the travel budget was CUT for 2009, it's going to be interesting how all this is transfered from Maine to Mexico.

This make so much sense it's not even funny. (IRONY!)

Well, That Didn't Take Long

Today is Tuesday, 1 week and 2 days back into work and I hate it again. That happened a lot sooner than I thought. I figured I could make it until March or something before this set in. I've thought a lot about it and I feel one of the main reasons I feel the way I do is more ethical than anything. To sum it up shortly, I was asked point blank, to lie (not tell the whole truth) and now it's a rush covering up lies while finding a solution. I just don't want any part of it, and to be frank, I don't care. I don't have any motivation to find a solution because as far as I'm concerned this is messed up because of lies.

So, if you had a migraine headache, how would you like to spend 4 hours this afternoon:
1) Chewing glass
2) Splashing your eyes with battery acid
3) Sitting in a pile of fireants
4) Listening to some German with an agenda read a 36 page technical document full of stuff that DOESN'T MATTER

Which one did you choose? Well I had to endure scenario #4 this afternoon. I'm trying to be as patient as possible, to find my purpose here. It's not this job, I'm pretty sure of that much. Something has to change.

Also, I do have a hernia. I have an inguinal hernia, and it will require surgery to be corrected. The surgery is up to me, as far as when I would like to have it done, and I'm leaning more toward sooner than later.

Dusty Wood

Time to dust off the blog, and write a new post. What's it been...too long?

Instead of making up an excuse for why I haven't posted I'll just get right into it.

I have a roomate now! Paul is my new roomate, and he is in my small group at church. Paul needed a roomate because the condo he was living in had too many people, according to the condo association, so he had to find a new place to live. Which works out well for me, because I wanted to get a roomate, but didn't quite know how to really search for one. I was sort of holding off until someone I knew needed a place to live, and it all worked out.

I'm also seeing a girl now. We're dating, but we've only been on 3 dates so until we go on more I wouldn't call her a girlfriend just yet. I do know we get along really well, and that I'm attracted to her, and I'm pretty sure she's attracted to me, so it's going well. The dates are fun and she is laid back, and has a good sense of humor which I enjoy.

Work is work, not much to update there. I'm thankful I have a job now with the economy, but I am still working on getting my resume all cleaned and polished and will keep an eye open for other opportunities that may arise. Until then, I'm trying my best to go to work, do my best, and leave out all the rest.

I'm really looking forward to Christmas break, really, I am. I'm looking forward to spending time with my family, friends, and a break from frigid air.

Something else is that I've been having problems with my Honda. Some observations about Honda:
- They don't like to admit when their products exhibit a problem
- They don't have good customer service (not as good as Saturn)

I told the regional manager, when he called me to talk about my problems, that one of the reasons I bought a Honda was because of the repuputation for reliability and good service, but that hasn't been my case so far (4 times to the dealership in 12,000 miles). He said "Well, Mr. Smith, that's your opinion, not a fact and I work off of facts". Ooof. I forgot, you can tell someone their feelings are opinions and not valid, because that's the right thing to say as a customer service representative. Anyway, my Honda is at the dealership overnight tonight being fixed and I have a loaner car, which I am thankful for, although it's a Nissan.

I'm off to bed now, I need sleep to finish out 4 more days of work until freedom.

Thanky G

This past Thanksgiving was one of the best I can remember, for multiple reasons (these are the things I'm thankful for):
- I suprised my family with a visit
- I went to Florida away from the snow for 4 days and saw the sun
- I didn't throw up this year from overeating like I did 2 years ago
- I watched Home Alone on TV
- I saw 2 great 80's movies - Mannequin and Karate Kid
- I finished my book, "The Curious Incident of the Dog in The Night-time". It's REALLY good, especially if you like math and/or you're midly-severely autistic
- I slept on a comfortable couch
- Walter was happy to see me
- A 14 hour "welcome back" workday - I'm thankful I have a job and money since apparantly my house tax went up $1,200 for 2009. I think this is a mistake, so I need to get that figured out soon

Anyway, I'm back, and I feel refreshed, and 14 hours of work (see past posts for about 3 months of how much I hate it) can't bring me down today. Welcome home.

A Long Update

A lot has happened since I wrote a good, well thought out post. So here we go.

I guess the first thing I can start with is work. Paul told me he has this rule, and it goes like this. You don't think about work outside of work - ever, for any reason, period. If you do, you put an end to those thoughts immediately. Maybe this post will count as thinking about work outside of work, but it's a good way to get thoughts down and you can be updated at the same time.

For the past 3-4 months work has just been getting worse for me. I can also say my attitude has gotten worse, to be fair, but I'm having some thoughts about my career and what I'm doing with my life. I've been told what I'm feeling is normal, it's called that 20 something crisis, where you get out of school, realize the real world isn't what you thought it would be, suck it up, sedate yourself to work, and just get through it. There has to be more to it than this though. If all work were like this, there's no motivation to better yourself. If engineering is like this, I'm not sure what would motivate someone to do this. I can honestly say the challenge in school is what pushed me. To prove to myself that I could do it was the best reward ever. To look back and know I made it, was an accomplishment that I think will be hard to surpass. But what now?

What if what you thought you always wanted to do, wasn't the case? For a long, long time I have always wanted to design car parts. I've always wanted to see a car driving, with a part I designed on it. I'll get that chance in a few months, so it's here. What happens when you achieve that goal you wanted to so badly, so early in your career? I suppose the logical answer would be that your goal wasn't high enough, or that you need a new goal to work towards. What if you don't know what that goal is though? I'm in this rut right now. I'm achieving the goal I wanted to badly, but I'm only 24 and don't know what else now. What else do I do? I don't want to keep doing this forever. More school seems like a choice, but I have no money right now, and I need money for school.

I admit, a big problem for me, is constantly looking forward. I'm not just content with what I'm doing for the moment. Maybe that's a positive thing, in a way, because you're pushing yourself, but maybe it's also a bad thing because you'll constantly be looking for that thing that makes you happy, and at the end, you'll realize you just wished your whole life away by not enjoying the moment. That's a big problem.

So that's one part of work. That's my attitude, and my outlook. The other concern is that I honestly do question some of our management and the decisions made. Some of these decisions are not what I would consider ethically just. It's hard to watch someone ignore an issue, or take the easy way out, when it's not the right way. I have a hard time stomaching this. Then there's the bullshit. The fakeness, the politics if you will. I will admit, this was a BIG part of me choosing engineering, because I thought, the "games" would be minimized. It literally makes me sick to watch them play out. To listen to someone say one thing, and really "mean" it with passion, then get in a meeting and do the EXACT opposite of what they say - is hard.

So here's what happened last Thursday at work. I had my weekly morning meeting with my manager. He started to pester me about things I had no control over (manufacturing, testing, etc.). I tried to do the normal "I'm taking care of it" stuff, but about half way through I thought to myself "no, David, there's a problem with this - tell him". So I told him how I felt. I told him my patience was running thin, that I had about as much as I could take. He lightened up a bit and instead of taking the authoritative attitude he had more of a helpful approach, which I appreciated. At the end of this meeting, my head started to hurt and it was only 10:00. At 10:30 we had our big engineering meeting, and the chief engineer was a special guest. This was like a bullshit-athon for people in our group. Everyone had to get their words in, everyone had to finish each others sentences to prove they knew more. By this point, I was as apathetic as a person could be, sitting with my eyes closed taking deep breaths. After about 1.5 hours, the meeting was over. I went to my desk, got my car keys, phone, and left. I decided I wasn't coming back for the rest of the day. I came home, and stayed home for the rest of the day. As a precaution, if I had gone back, I probably wouldn't have a job right now.

I know I let it get to me, I know I do. But I am disappointed at times with work, the attitude, the atmosphere, and the politics. I needed a break. So I raked leaves in the yard for the rest of the day, and that was nice.

I'm not sure at this point what I will do. I do know, for now, I'll keep doing the best I can and take that paycheck. The "magic" is gone for the most part, so that spark I had might not be apparant. I'll perform as well as I can. I was told at my midyear review I was a "benchmark" for our group, but I'm not sure I can keep that role up. I will do what I can though. In the meantime, I need to be working on what I want to do. I will be working on this. So, that's work in a nutshell, I can move onto something else.

Gina and I decided not to date anymore. To be honest, I'm fine with that. I didn't feel it going anywhere, and there really was no point to keep it up. It was mutual, and we decided just to stay in touch. Even though we were only 3 years apart, I felt we didn't have a lot in common at all, and I never really felt too comfortable around her. It felt a little fake to me. She's a very nice girl though and I do wish her the best. That's so much shorter than work, huh? I guess you can see where my mind has been.

I'm really looking forward to going to South Carolina this weekend. I mean REALLY looking forward to it. If it weren't planned, I think I would go anyway. I will get an entire 2 weeks there at Christmas and that will be great. I want 2 whole weeks with my family, away from here.

As a side note: Some of this may be seasonal. I'm looking into day lamps, and actually a tanning bed. Not to get tan, but get vitamin D. It literally is dark when I go to work, grey when I'm work, and dark when I get home. I am exposed to no sun. I need to work on that.

Until next time.

Half Way Through

This week has been pretty good so far. Work has been fine for the most part. I'm trying to be more focused with things outside of work and keep myself busy with things in the evenings that don't involve work - or any aspect of it.

Sometimes when I get distraught, I become more productive and focused on progression. I'm not really sure what's happened, but the past month has been very weird for me. I've been apathetic and uncaring about work - to the point of downright hating it which is not typical for me. Me waking up in the morning and thinking about calling in sick because I don't want to go is not normal for me. I'm feeling better now though, but it's a little scary because I know it's not right. I'm not sure what's triggering it either other than the fact that this is my career - and if I don't like it I'm stuck for a while. I don't think at 24 you should hate your job, so that's what's sad. I also feel bad because I know I'm unappreciative of what I have - and that really is a shame because I have it a lot better of than most people. I suppose I need more goals, but I don't know what they are yet so that's driving me crazy.

I'm hosting the book club at my house this Friday. That means I'm making dinner for everyone. I'm making mini-buffalo chicken sandwiches, coleslaw, and there will be cheese and crackers and grapes.

Europe - A Summary and Recap

A few quick notes about Europe before I begin:

1) It's overpriced
2) French people aren't as bad as people say
3) It's very dog friendly
4) Anything goes in Amsterdam - and I do mean anything

Overall going to Europe for a week was a good experience. It's strange, because while it was LOT of fun and educational, it's just not a place I'd really desire to go back to for a vacation. I guess part of my problem is that I'm not really into history very much. Well, I take that back. I enjoy it, I've just never had any formal education in it; so I'm a little unappreciative of the stuff. I guess this is me being American, but sometimes it's nice to see a new building or a giant shopping center.

Anyway Europe was really great to see. Out of all the places, France was definately my favorite. I was a little nervous about the French, but overall I didn't have any problems. I would make an effort to speak what French I remembered from 7th grade, and when I'd stumble they'd pick up in English.

Instead of saying much more, I'll let some of my favorite pictures speak for themselves:

Saturday Night Post

I haven't updated the Pokemon of the week in a very long time, so I fixed that tonight.

The leaves are starting to change here. For some reason, the tree in front of my neighbor's house turned a bright vibrant yellow, and all the leaves fell off this past week. The tree in front of my house is still green and hasn't even started to change yet.

Church was really amazing tonight. I feel like I'm growing a lot spiritually lately, or have been for the past few months. Doing the study through Matthew with Dan is really helping me a lot. I'm learning a lot about Jesus as a person, and really examining his life and his teaching style is helping me to learn about who he really was, and what his intentions were. It's pretty amazing, because you learn new things about him that you weren't always taught. One of the biggest suprises is that he had quite an attitude, and didn't put up with BS from anyone. Church tonight was amazing because at the end of the service, they played a choir version of Amazing Grace, and had actual people walk out on stage, one by one, with black posters. One one side was a problem, and the other side had what was happening now because of it. Some examples that stuck out to me were:

Side 1: "Our son was born deaf"
Side 2: "What a beautiful boy God blessed us with!"

Side 1: "Because of promiscuity I had two abortions"
Side 2: "God has forgiven and healed me - I now have twins"

Side 1: "I became a Christian at 59 years old"
Side 2: "Life is just beggining!"

Side 1: "We are barren"
Side 2: "We have adopted 5 amazing children"

Side 1: "My husband a three children were murdered on Christmas Eve"
Side 2: "I will see them again in Heaven!"

It was pretty powerful to see how God works in others. Those were just a few of the ones that stuck out to me.

I think this week at work will be pretty busy. I will be leaving for training in Germany October 25th, so I have a lot of things to do before I leave. This past week at work kicked my butt...to the point I was ready to just quit. Pretty much everything that could get messed up did, and the work kept piling on and on. E-mails flodding in with "I need" or "I'm requesting". I'm just going to take it one day at a time and keep doing the best I can. Wish me luck

A Bad Day Post

I used to care about politics. I used to think it mattered, and that it made a difference. This election year I am apathetic, and it's sad to say. I will vote, only so I can complain in 3 years if I feel like it, but not because I think it matters. I just don't care. I think things are screwed up right now, and I think any change will be a good one.

On that note, what makes me more apathetic is someone who sends political e-mails at work. These aren't the "joke" e-mails either, it's bashing one party or the other trying to push your own view. Work lately sucks enough as it is, and I don't really want political trash making it any worse.

On another note, please don't ask me to discuss politics with you, only to have you attack my view on certain issues, or give me the "you're ignorant" face if I don't share your point of view.

On one more not, today sucked if you can't tell already. It was just one of those days where you want to crawl under the covers and not come out until tomorrow.

Good Start

Today was a good day for a few key reasons:

1) I jumped a pay grade at work (a raise!)
2) I went to the dentist, and had no cavities
3) I got a free Starbucks coffee and coconut chocolate chip cookie at the dentist
4) I saw the Transformers movie

I was greeted by someone this morning having a panic attack about what happened to the stock market last night. That is probably THE dumbest thing to worry about, in my opinion. Worrying, while not a good way to fix anything, will certainly not fix Wall Street. So I don't let it bother me. I think I pissed someone off by saying "It's not affecting my day to day routine, so it doesn't concern me". That might sound immature and brash, but honestly...does it? If what happens on Wall Street doesn't stop you from getting a paycheck and buying groceries or paying for shelter...what's the difference? All I know is I live happier not concerning myself with it, so I'm good.

While at the dentist, I saw Sarah Palin on TV. I like her. She expressed her view on a key issue, and said she was "unapologetic" about it. That was a nice way of telling people too bad if they didn't like it. I also like her because people seem to be picking on her for the dumbest things...and that gives her more credit in my book.

PS...why don't I see any dirt on Barak Obama on the magazines in the stores? So far all I see is McCain and Palin bashed for *gasp* having a pregnant teenage daughter!

Case of Mondays

I lost my temper at work today. I'll be honest, the "newness" has worn off after a little over a year now. I still like the job a lot, but the politics are a little clearer now. I'd say ignorance is bliss is a true saying, because once you learn more...you start to form an opinion on certain things. I felt like a ping pong ball today, being bounced between our manufacturing plant and the design center. Over something superficial and downright petty.

When I had enough, I raised my voice and told a few people I was pretty sure there are 3rd graders out there with more maturity, and I'm done dealing with petty garbage. I'm just ready for a vacation - or get away for a while because I want a break from some of this.

Anyway, I'm done with that for now. The weekend was really nice having mom and dad visit. I think we got a lot of great work done. They were also nice enough to get me a grill, a patio table with chairs, an area rug, and some yard tools for the garage. They were all very much appreciated. We landscaped the front and side of the house, and mom painted the living room and dining room. Saturday dad and I went to the Woodward Cruise, which is an event with around 1 million people (seriously) driving classic cars up and down Woodward Avenue from Detroit to Birmingham. It was really interesting to see all the people and all the cars.

I go to Subaru in Indiana Wednesday and Thursday this week. I'm looking forward to it actually. Getting out of the office for 1.5 days is what I'm looking forward to and dealing with a good customer is nice.

Oh, and another thing I just remembered. Tomorrow night I start going to a small group through church. I'm looking forward to doing that. It's a group of 6 guys, ages 21-28 who meet once a week to do a Bible study and hang out. I'm really hoping it will be a good opportunity and praying that it's a good group for me to fit into. I suppose I'll have more on that later.

This video is a good rendition of what my day was like.

Thank You, Chrysler

Today was interesting. I met Paul at work at 6:00 AM to make the 4.5 hour drive to Shelbyville, IN to visit a supplier. Our rental car was dropped off Friday afternoon so it would be ready this morning. So there it was, a 2008 Chrysler Sebring with only 13,000 miles on it. I drove it for about 1.5 hours until we met up with another guy from work at a Park and Ride. We picked him up, and drove the rest of the way.

On the way back today, all was going well. I even took a nap in the car. Right before we entered back into Michigan the car suddenly lurched forward and the warning chime came on. The check engine light was on. The car went into some sort of "limp" mode because it wouldn't down-shift and had no acceleration at all. It started shuttering really bad and the check engine light started flashing and the chime kept binging. So I looked in the owner's manual and it said if the check engine light flashes, the car should not be driven because severe catalytic converter damage could occur. Oh well, it's not my car and Enterprise shouldn't buy junk. So we kept driving it. In our defense...would it be wiser to pull over on the side of the road and wait for help, or drive to a dealer? I think drive to a dealer. The car was under warranty anyway so it's not like the damage wouldn't be paid for by someone other than Chrysler.

When we got back to Michigan we pulled back into the Park and Ride lot and I suggested shutting the car off, and re-starting it to see if the error message cleared itself (I thought the car just mis-fired and got confused). So we shut it off, and when we went back to start it the car just cranked and cranked and cranked and I finally floored the gas and it started rough. Paul was nervous about driving the car anymore. So next to the lot, there was a Chrysler dealer. We drove the car over (it was around 7:00 PM now) and asked them to pull the code so we could find out if we should keep going back to Detroit in it or not. Well, the car never set a code. It just said "Fault". When they started the car, something was REALLY wrong. The car was knocking and shuttering and would almost stall, then rev really high, then shutter and act like it would die. The service manager said he would NOT advise us driving this car anymore and to call Enterprise. So we called Enterprise, but the office was closed so we couldn't get another car. So...a taxi ended up taking us the rest of the way back. I finally got home at 10:00 PM. A long day, and a junky car.

Tomorrow's the Big Day

Gosh I haven't posted in a long time. The summer will do that to you. That and buying a house.

Tonight is my last night of not owning a home. Tomorrow, I officially become a home owner. That's a scary thought but it's exciting at the same time. I think this makes you grow up really fast, owning a home. The responsiblity seems to be overwhelming. I'm looking forward to the challenge though.

I'm taking a half day at work tomorrow. I'm going to do a final walkthrough of the house and the closing is at 12:00 PM. This weekend I'm going to the land of the weird (Ohio). Dan and Terissa and I are going to meet Alex in Columbus for a board game expo. I think it's going to be a lot of fun and there will be lots of fun games to play.

The first thing I have to do with my house is patch a few spaces in the walls and do some painting. I will be moving in very slowly. Housewarming gifts are always welcome...because I'll need lots!

Maybe you're wondering about what happened with that email at work? Nothing. My boss brought it up jokingly, but didn't make a big deal about it and nothing ever happened. That was scary though.

I'll post back after I have my new house!

Damage Control

Something really bad happened at work Friday. Let me start off by saying that if something SHOULD go wrong, it will for me. If I take a chance on something, I usually get the blunt end of things. That's what I've noticed in my 24 years so far.

Friday a guy I work with was sending me e-mails joking around since I wouldn't go to lunch with them. I kept replying back, saying things like he better watch himself, he was going to get kicked, etc. Well I had an email window open from a co-worker in Japan. My manager, account manager, and a few others (all internal) were copied in this email. I accidentally replied back to the email to Japan instead of my co-worker. Basically it said to watch himself, that he was going to be drop-kicked and to wear a helmet if he wants to leave work alive. Yep, that's bad. It went to the entirely wrong audience. Someone sitting beside me was copied on the email and an hour later asked "what in the WORLD did you send to Japan"? Then the panic set in. Tools, options, recall message. The bad thing is recalling a message does nothing. So I wrote an apology email, called my manager and explained the situation, and panicked. I thought about what would happen if I lost my job. Mainly I'm upset because I have what I think is a good reputation at work and I don't want some stupid email to ruin that.

Another thing I've learned in 24 years is that people remember the good you do, but people REALLY remember the ONE wrong thing you do. So it's hard to make up for it. My co-workers all thought it was hilarious, mainly for the irony of the fact that I'm wound so tight and the one time I do joke around it backfires on me. Others said it was awesome and I'd get more respect when people see I mess around every once in a while. Either way I'm a little worried and I hope nothing serious happens. I guess I will find out tomorrow.

Today I also lost my debit card. I mean, I know where I left it (at the ATM) and it's gone. So I called and got that cancelled. It's wonderful how Chase tries to get you to apply for a credit card while you call their lost card hotline. That's another reminder for me to leave Chase - horrible.

So that's about it. Be thinking about me, and my job. I really don't want to get in trouble...and I hope it all just goes away and nobody makes a huge fuss over it.

Boring

So there is really not much interesting to talk about. In fact, today was a very blah day. I got to work, had a phone conference, sat around for a while, went to lunch, came back, did some work, and that's how it went.

I'm not sure if I'm becoming more used to work, or what, but these past 2 weeks have honestly been very boring. I haven't felt challenged lately so the learning curve seems to by dying off some. It's funny because when I first started and was learning at such a fast pace I wanted it to slow down so I could catch my breath. Well now I'm rested and ready for it to pick back up. It's not that I don't HAVE work to do, it's that the design portion of the work is done, but the production doesn't start for another year so I have to be available for changes, back up, etc. In the meantime though I need something to work on for a quotation or something...

So after that blah day at work I came home and had more blah. I did go to the gym after work though. Then I went to Target, came back and read on the couch and actually just laid there for a minute becuase I thought I would fall asleep.

I couldn't decide if I wanted to go back to South Carolina for the 4th of July or go down to Indianapolis and hang out with Matt. I think I have decided on Indianapolis for a few reasons: 1) money 2) time. I'll be going back to South Carolina eventually to pick Walter up in August or so I assume, so buying a plane ticket to go there isn't really such a good idea, especially since I need money for the house.

Here's hoping tomorrow isn't so blah...

FOUND

Today was a rollercoaster day. It started out good because I found my W2 this morning. Then at work someone starting mouthing off to me about buying a *Japanese* car. I don't deal well with ignorance in the morning so that made work get off to a bad start. The rest of the day at work was just boring and dull. Not a fun day.

But tonight was a special game night. Alex picked out "Wealth of Nations" which is a game of Economics. One must choose an area of a market to specialize in, try to obtain a monopoly in that market, and keep prices of things like food, power, etc. high. It's VERY strategic and involves no luck at all (not even a dice roll). So Paul, you probably wouldn't be good at it.

Overall he made us read the directions before we came tonight so we could get right to playing. The game lasted about 4.5 hours but it went by SO fast. I have NEVER felt such intense nervousness while playing a game in my life. My hand was visibly shaking at one point. Halfway through the game I mis-calculated a production phase and earned no money, and was barely keeping my head above water. I actually came out tied for 2nd which I was REALLY happy with. Alex only won by 4 points (He was at 111 and Dan and I tied at 107). I'm just happy I didn't hear any dumb comments about my strategy and scared them a little.

What You've Been Waiting For

The Pokemon of The Week is a good one this week, if you ask me. While finding this Pokemon of The Week I learned that this particular PT Cruiser was given away in some sort of contest. What is important to know, is that someone from OHIO of all places won this car. If you've read this blog or know me at all, you know what I think of people from OHIO. They all have a few screws loose in one way or another, for good or bad. It's fitting, that this car goes to someone from OHIO though. It doesn't belong in any other state.

This weekend was LOT of fun, mainly because of Saturday. I spent the day with a few other people from work at Ford's Proving Grounds for an SAE conference. The morning was a panel discussion about Engineering for a Sustainable Future. Speakers were there from Ford, GM, Tesla, and Toyota. The afternoon is where the real fun happened. We spend about 4 hours on their test track doing anything imaginable in cars WE got to drive. There were 9 events, and they shuttled groups all around the proving grounds to different drive events. We started driving Ford Fusions on a wet track to test the car's stability under wet roads. Then we drove Ford Taurus's through a slalom course. I LOVED getting in the car and being told to get the car to 60 MPH as fast as I could, and take it around a hairpin turn, with the rear end sliding around. Next, we took Ford Edges/Lincoln MKX's through a slalom course. This time I was driving it much more agressively and this event was REALLY fun because of the high center of gravity. The rear end of the MKX I was driving started to slide around in one turn which was so much fun.

The next set of events had the best one of all. It was titled "Giddy Up Mustang". They had drivers for us, and 4 Bullet Mustangs - with V8's and manual transmissions. We had to wear helmets and the drivers asked "How comfortable do you feel being more aggressive?" I told him to be as aggressive as he could, that I wouldn't be scared. It was AMAZING. The car was powersliding around turns and we got air as we went over hills. So much fun. They also had Ford Escapes/Mercury Mariner/Mazda Tribute Hybrid SUV's for us to take around slalom courses. I actually got to drive one with just me and the instructor, and he said he didn't care what I did as long as I didn't hit cones so I drove that one very hard through the course.

The last set of events was made up of high speed driving on a banked track and rough road testing (potholes, cobblestones, etc.). I got to drive the new Ford Flex (the crossover my stabi-link will be on). The high speed driving was made up of a Ford F-150, Flex, Lincoln MKS, and 2 Ford Focuses. There were no instructors present in the cars for the high speed course, you just filled the car with kids and drove the track following a pace car. I got in one of the Ford Focuses with 3 other guys. I was in the backseat and noticed a loud roar from the tires. I learned why. The guy driving got on the backside of the track, and slowed the car way down to get space ahead of him. He was in a spot where the control tower couldn't see him. He punched the gas and got the car up to 90 MPH then yanked up on the emergency brake. The rear tires locked and the car started fishtailing down the course. That was a little scary and definately not allowed. I can imagine the tires on that Focus had a bunch of flat spots in them. Apparantly, those 3 guys had been taking turns driving and doing that to the car the whole time.

It was an AMAZING opportunity though to be at the proving grounds and see how cars are tested. The best part was it was free.

Today I did much of nothing, except for grocery shopping, car washing, and laundry. It was a nice "me" day.

The *maybe* house seems to be more "it will happen" now. The price has been agreed upon by the bank and I (although a little higher than I originally thought). The closing is supposedly supposed to be at the end of this month which is WAY sooner than I thought. I'm nervous, excited, and I guess some other things I'm not sure of yet. The emotions come and go. Sometimes I think it's scary and I shouldn't do it, but mostly that goes away when I know living in an apartment is an absolute waste of time and money (in my opinion). It will be an adventure, for sure.

One thing I do know is that I love one of Dan's cats: Harley. She is not like any other cat I've met. She comes when you call her, she's extremely affectionate, and she doesn't act ungrateful or hateful like most cats. She's gotten so close with me that I let her sleep up on my bed. This was her today, taking a nap. I'm going to miss her.