Long time, no write

Sorry it's been so long but the new job has taken up most of my time and especially my brain. I've been commuting to Portland for most of the last several weeks for training, and will be down there for the next 2 weeks on the street. Things are going well and I'm confident this will be a great opportunity. I'll try to let you know how it goes.

On the Nascar front I'd like to congratulate Jimmy Johnson and the 48 team on winning the championship. They were the best team and deserved to win, and they did so in spite of a Chase format that will some day make a champion out of a team that was 10th best for most of the season.
I did finally win the fantasy season game on our message board, something I've been trying to do for at least 10 years...miracles do occur.
I'm optimistic about the progress of Petty Enterprises and think next year could see them improve even more, to the point where a win would be a distinct possibility. It was also great to have a Nascar season where one of my favorites won several races. That hasn't happened since Richard Petty in the '70's. So congrats on a great year for Kasey Kahne. I think they're a definite Cup contender for next year. That would certainly warm the heart of this Mopar fan.

Finally, I'd like to do a quick blog intro and let you know that several of us from the Under da Porch message board have started a Nascar blog, which you can find here. I'll mention more about it after we've had a chance to build it up some, but please stop by and wish us well and give us any input you'd like.

Have a great Thanksgiving. And last but certainly not least, today is Munchkin's 16th birthday. Happy Birthday, sweetie! (Wow, I can't believe the youngest is now 16 or that I've been through this 6 times!)

128 & 321

Maybe I'm starting to get things consistent bowling-wise. I bowled a 128 on my second string Wednesday night!! (though I am disappointed that I didn't get to 130 because the guys had me laughing so hard I gutter-balled a 0 on one of the spares. LOL) Started with a 91, then the 128 and finished with a 102 for 321. The 102 should have been better since I opened with two spares. But still, I've been better every week.

New job's going fine. Still job shadowing. Early this week it was with folks who support the DSR's (direct sales reps), like dispatch, field techs, etc. Then the last 2 days has been classroom instruction in Portland, as will all of next week and at least part of the week after. Cuz, I'm a half-mile from where you work...we should hook up for lunch one day.

Squirt's play starts tonight and runs next week. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm going tomorrow night. She'll be great as always. I'll get Shel to update her blog about it since she goes to every performance. She updated recently about the family, etc, if you haven't seen it.

Hope to have a political blog up this weekend; I know it's been awhile.

Splitting wood

Munchkin and I spent the day at Gram's splitting up the wood for winter...over did it a bit but it's all done. I knew I'd have today, watching the race and football, to recoup a little...though Monday's training in the office. So no bigs there.

The first week at the new job went well...mostly job shadowing a couple of salesmen. This coming week will be job shadowing in the office, a day with service techs and the end of the week will be learning the billing program.

I should've played the lottery today. Why, you ask? Well, when's the last time all 3 of my favorite drivers finished in the top 10 in a Nascar race? I'm thinking it's never happened. The 43 used pit strategy plus getting the car better all race long to finish 3rd. Way to go, Bobby. Kinda the same with Kasey, though he ran better than the 43 most of the day, who finished 6th. The most consistent of the 3 was Kyle Petty, though he finished 10th; but he ran in the top 15 the whole race. That's a sight for sore eyes, for sure.
I'm somehow leading my fantasy league by about 60 points before the race started, but all I had left to pick from was pretty much mid to back packers. I had planned on using Bobby Labonte at Martinsville, but he didn't run that great in the spring there and has been good on the Charlotte/Atlanta type tracks. So in the end I decided to save him for Atlanta or TX, same with Ken Schrader (who ran in the top 10 all day today until a wreck finished him off...phew) So I settled on Jeff Green for M'ville, and he qualified 8th and ran between 8 and 12th all day, finishing 8th. Maybe I'll finally win that league.

Limestone

I spent the day Friday in Limestone visiting with Em and touring the Maine School of Science & Math. Let me start by saying what an interesting area it is. The town of Limestone couldn't be much smaller, a main street with a handful of businesses; but sitting on the hill on the way into town are these two very large school buildings...a reminder of what things were like in Limestone when Loring AFB still existed. You'd scratch your head if you didn't know why there's a large high school in this tiny town with a large auditorium and swimming pool, etc. The former middle school sits next door and has been converted to dorms for the MSSM students. Between MSSM students and LHS students there's about 200 kids, less than half the students the place was built for.
A quick aside: Last time I was in Limestone was 1979, losing a high school baseball playoff game 1-0. In the trophy case there sits the 1979 Class B State Championship trophy.
It is a great school for kids like Em, over-achievers, kids who aren't challenged in most traditional schools. The curriculum is very tough and many kids can't handle being there in an environment where they have to be self-motivated. As expected, Em is thriving in such an environment. She loves the school, its teachers, the town (my wonderful tree hugging, vegan, nerd!!) and being in a place surrounded by students like her.
Aside from being able to tour the school and meet with the teachers, the students put on a variety show that evening, as well as some of them (including Em) sang a capella during supper. Emily sang a song with the chorus, and she and another student performed 3 songs from the play "Wicked." I don't get to hear her sing very often, so that was a highlight. Another highlight was her performing a song from Phantom of the Opera as a piano solo!! Dad's very proud of you!

Finally, Shelly updated her blog recently with news about our family. I know many of you have asked about what's going on with my step "children," especially Tim in Korea. So you can read about them there.

Chase Race #5

Before I get to my thoughts on the race, I want to say GET WELL SOON to my friend Buff, who just had hip replacement surgery. I know he's loopy on drugs but happy to have it over with and looking forward to walking normal again. The timing must've been tough though, because it meant him missing last night's race in person. Get well, Buff, and start that blog you've been talking about.
And congrats to Dave's Tigers for sweeping the A's for the American League Pennant...10th trip to the World Series for the Tigers, first since '84. How about a round of Two Boats, Dave?

I have to say I don't like the smaller fuel cells. It takes a lot of the strategy out of the racing and doesn't give the cars enough time to shake out and see who has good set-ups over long runs. The numerous caution flags contributed to that problem as well. Here's to hoping that new surface cures soon. I know it's always been a fast and tricky track but this is crazy. I can't complain though because Kasey won his 6th race of the season and a sweep of the Charlotte races. Love the Mopar logo on it this weekend but not sure about the color. That team seems to be getting things together and should be one of the favorites to win next year, though things will be leveled with everyone learning the "car of tomorrow." Bobby Labonte had perhaps the quietest 5th place finish I've seen in a long time. Yes, the announcers mentioned them a couple of times but it seems he got there in stealth mode. I'll never get tired of seeing the 43 run well, of course.

Mark Martin's career bad luck streak continues. A late accident that was pure bad luck probably eliminated him from a championship because he hasn't had a dominant car to gain a lot of points...they've just been consistent enough to hang in there.

I'm rushing this together because I'm getting ready for orientation tomorrow. So sorry this isn't an in-depth article. I'm still planning on writing a piece about why I don't like the Chase format, as well as telling everyone what a great day I had with my daughter on Friday. I'll get to that soon.

Mark Martin Mopar Petty Tigers Charlotte Kahne Labonte Nascar Chase

Candlepin

On the bowling front: Getting better every week, especially now that I've straightened out my mechanics...still need to get them more consistent but discovered last night that part of the inconsistency is the house shows (sure, Zeb, blame the shoes). Now that I have the mechanics consistent I'm able to tell that my front foot slides inconsistently. I had a string last night with 3 6's and a 5 but still managed an 89 (those numbers make no sense to the fake bowlers of the Ten Pin world). So a new pair of shoes are now a high priority. It's frustrating when you know you're throwing well (first string 104 last night) but something you can't control messes it up. My team finally had 5 bowlers last night, so for the first time this year we took some points...not sure how many yet because our 5th is new and his handicap was yet to be calculated and added in.

I'm heading off to Limestone tomorrow to spend part of the day with my eldest daughter at the Maine School of Science & Math (4 hours away). She'll be participating in various concerts and a variety show. I'll report back this weekend on all of that. I haven't seen her since the beginning of the school year. So I can't wait.

I have orientation at Time Warner on Monday and then start training Tuesday. I'm excited about the opportunity and eager to get started.

Oh, anyone else getting into the new show "Heroes?"

I was going to do a Todd update but I can't get the picture uploader to work. So I'll do that another time.

Apple Festival and such

Spent a very nice couple of days with my youngest daughter Friday and Saturday. We spent some time Friday morning setting up her blog. Then we headed out to run some errands. I took care of my Time Warner pee test, and then we headed off for lunch at Red Robin, which opened here a few months ago. I lived w/in a mile of one in California years ago and went quite often; but this is the first one I've seen since then, almost 20 years later. She had a bacon cheeseburger and I tried something called burger parmaseana...a nice big burger covered with a deep fried mozzarella patty, sautered onions and peppers and red sauce. Quite, quite messy and quite good.
Her 16th birthday is coming up in November and I didn't want to delay any longer getting her sweet 16 charm bracelet ready. So off we went to Kay Jewelers, where I know the manager and where they had done my other daughter's last year. We figured out what heirloom pieces could be turned into charms and picked out a new one from the catalog to order...should be ready in a week or so.
My wife volunteered to organize and run a booth at the Winthrop Apple Festival to raise money for Squirt's HS theater group to go to NYC again. Unfortunately this was Homecoming Weekend, so not as many helpers as there would be otherwise. So Munchkin and I went and spent the afternoon helping out there. They raised lots of money for the trip and I got to listen to some very good local bluegrass bands all afternoon.

I know I haven't blogged about Nascar in a while. Think I might do a separate one later. Congrats to Brian Vickers on his first win, but that is also the prime example where Nascar throws the caution flag too early and where they should still allow racing back to the line. No, not because Kasey would have won either.

Goodbye Yankees, goodbye!!!! I put up a little blog about them losing on BoSox Tavern.

Another good thing about the Time Warner job is that I won't be working a job on second shift and should be able to continue to bowl Wednesday nights. I've bowled 3 weeks and am getting the rust off and mechanics straightened out. I hope to update each week and maybe can get Lil Cuz to chime in.
Not being out at night all the time also means I can better keep up with my politics and blog, as well as be able to watch the Bruins and Celtics and Patriots (it was possible I would've had to work Sundays at W-M), and blog about them here on occasion as well. Though not overpowering, still a nice win for the Pats yesterday, which I think pretty much locks up the division already. LOL The Bruins looked awful in their opener but came back to win the second game of the season. I don't expect much but at least they won't lose every game.

Todd is doing well. I hope to have the Mrs. update her blog soon. Guess that covers things for now.

Vickers candlepin bowling Boston Bruins Patriots Nascar Nextel Cup Kahne

The search ends

I've accepted an offer from Time Warner to do sales. Good thing I went to that job fair two weeks ago, since everything else I thought would result in an offer in the end didn't. I'd be near suicidal right now because I've had multiple interviews with companies who were hiring multiple people, only in the end to be completely shocked I didn't get an offer.
My new boss was at the job fair booth and I'd made it a point to talk to every company, even though many I figured would have nothing for me. We hit it off immediately. He was impressed with me and my resume, and practically offered me a job at that point. When I didn't hear from him for several days and was expecting an offer from Wal-Mart, I pressed the issue because I wanted to have all my options in front of me. Good thing.
After 3 very good interviews with Wal-Mart to work in the distribution facility, I got a no-thank-you card in the mail yesterday, after I'd already accepted the offer from Time Warner. A couple of weeks ago I interviewed initially with T-Mobile, then spent 3 hours taking tests, which I was told during the next interview that I'd aced, only to get another dis a couple days later.
Word to the wise: If you're smart and educated and experienced, "good luck," because no one will want you.

This opportunity with Time Warner fortunately seems to be more than having to take a job. So things worked out well in the end. It pays well, fits my background and work preferences, and has growth opportunities.

I'll update again after I get started. I'll also put a post up probably tomorrow about other life stuff.

Work Search and Such

Just a quick update on things. Late last week I applied, got tested ("inspected, detected, neglected...") and consequently interviewed at T-Mobile. I expect to be offered a job this week. The pay's not great, but enough on the short term to consider taking it as I fully expect I'd be promoted rather quickly. I have a 2nd interview with Wal-Mart to work at the distribution center tomorrow. The pay's better than T-Mobile but not sure the job would be as much in the right direction as T-Mobile would be. Both jobs I'd start out working night shifts and parts of weekends. Put in a resume to a company a mile from my house for a marketing assistant position. Now that job I'd take almost no matter the pay because it would definitely be in the right direction. Spent a few hours this morning at a job fair that was reasonably fruitfull. I'll need to hear from some of them real soon because I won't be able to make these other companies wait too long.

On the personal side I help my son-law-law work on his house Friday, tearing off old siding as well as taking down a small entry-way. It's nice to have the time to help out. Then Saturday I cut up a bunch of wood at Mom's. Need to get up there again soon to finish the cutting and then rent a splitter.

Boy, did the Patriots look overmatched Sunday night. Think they could use a wide receiver that would cause the other team's defense to play honest? (duh, that was rhetorical)

Hope to have a new post on Inside Zebster in the next day or 2. I've had time to write and some time to catch up on news but don't yet have the beginnings of one in my head.

Free Agency

Yours truly is a free agent once again. By Friday of last week I was on pace for a 90 hour week in a very physical job with no relief in the near future. Couple that with my disappointment that nothing had changed within the company as far as the support system for the salesman who are the key to the company's success, I quit...first time I've quit really anything in my life. I have more time to blog but won't be doing much until things are settled. I have to find a good job real quick or two mediocre ones almost as fast. Wish me luck.
At least I have the flexibility for a while to do some things that are important to me. I'll be helping my son-in-law work on his house later this week, and I'll be at my mother's Saturday cutting and splitting firewood for the winter. And even though it's 2 weeks into the season, I'll be able to bowl as well. I hope to put up weekly updates about how I'm faring in that regard, as well as maybe an explanation for those of you who are not familiar or maybe haven't even heard of candlepin bowling.