Hey everybody. I know it's been a million years or so since I last wrote in this blog. I think the last time I wrote I didn't know I was going to be student teaching yet. Yeah, it was a strange turn of events. I was #7 out of 6 student teachers I didn't think my phone would ring this summer, but fate intervened. Brother Barker, whom I have not met but I have every reason to believe is a fine upstanding teacher, had ASU up his credit requirement and he didn't graduate. Since you have to have a Bachelor's degree to teach, he got bumped and I got his spot. It's certainly a lot like being called up from the minor leagues in baseball: you don't get to come up unless someone else gets hurt. Anyway, I got my call from Brother Moon and he asked if I would like to teach and it took less than a millisecond to decide.
So I've been teaching for nearly a month now (yeah, I know I'm covering ground everybody is familiar with now, but I need to have a record of it so I can look back and remember) and it's been a bit of an emotional roller-coaster. At first I had just two classes out in Queen Creek. The schools out in Queen Creek are on a modified year-round schedule, so I started teaching on the 19th of August. It was a bit weird because at first I was making the big commute out to Queen Creek bright and early to teach my first and second hour classes, coming back home to change into my work duds and working the last half of the day at the balloon store. Working at the balloon store got a little depressing because it was a job that paid the bills, but it wasn't what I wanted to be doing with my life.
Fast forward to the point where I had been teaching at Queen Creek for a week and a half and we were having our last preservice inservice, and Brother Moon asked if anyone wanted to pick up another class. I told him I would pick up the extra class and he told me he would work on it for me. I was super excited because I thought I could quit my job at the balloon store and start focusing on just teaching. Brother Moon called me back and initially told me I would get the class, but he then called me back and told me that they wouldn't have the class for me after all. During this time I had put in my two week notice at the balloon store and had to retract it. Then I got another call from Brother Moon who offered me a class at Heritage Academy. Once I got that class I put my two week notice in again and I was off and rolling.
The fun thing about Heritage Academy is that Brady Bingham is the other teacher there. It's funny because they're the other people Paul and Carrie stay with when they're down here. So all the stars were aligning and it was hard to believe that this would be anything but a bed of roses.
Of course the truth of it is that it hasn't been a complete bed of roses. When I taught my two weeks at Mesa while I was taking the classes, I was working with a class that wasn't mine. They liked having a change of pace for two weeks, but they knew that in the end they would be going right back to Brother Dixon. I've found it a very different experience teaching a class that is mine and mine alone.
It's been an out of the frying pan into the fire type of experience. There are classroom management things that I'm having to take care of that I've never taken care of before. There are discipline issues that I'm taking care of that I've never taken care of before. I've even changed around my seating chart because two of my students went on a bad date and some feelings were hurt and they needed to not sit so close to each other.
Also, the strengths I have always fallen back on as a teacher don't seem to matter right now. I know I'm being pulled and stretched, but I have to admit that at times I go home and wonder if I'll ever learn to teach the way that seminary teachers are supposed to teach. My problem is that I talk too much and I don't let my students do enough. That has consistently been my weakness.
Not only that, but I had an evaluation this week and I didn't even get into the important part of the lesson because it was a shortened day and there was too much business to get through at the top of the class. So my evaluation came back really poor and I got a, "Why did you think they needed this lesson?" type question. It's been very hard to handle. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever grow up to be a good teacher.
Now that I've taken everything down, here's the up: every seminary teacher I've talked to has had experiences like the ones I've had. Brother Johnson, one of the other teachers at Queen Creek, told me that when people tell his wife they are thinking of going into CES she tells them, "Are you sure? Are you really really sure?" She asks because he felt a lot of the same things I've felt so far. The good thing is that Brother Moon is a very nice guy. Brother Woodbrey had a preservice director who used to say really mean things like, "I can't believe I thought it was a good idea to put you in the classroom" or my personal favorite: "Your students would have been better off if they had ditched today." Brother Moon is very good when he gives me criticism and I take it in the spirit in which it is intended.
Also, I understand that in order for me to become a good teacher, I have to rid myself of some bad habits and allow myself to be rebuilt from scratch in places. I am putting all my time and efforts into becoming the teacher I'm sure you all think I am. I know I can be a good teacher and I'm not giving up on the dream. There's still no reason to think that I couldn't turn this all around and become a very good seminary teacher. I just needed to make sure I record the fact that it hasn't been a bowl of cherries. It's hard to be a seminary teacher. It's harder work and more exhausting than you would think. I am only now beginning to understand why there is such a tough screening process. Not everyone is meant to do this for a living. Very few people get to do it. I just hope I get to be one of them.
Sunday, September 06, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Down From Four
Hey everybody. I've only got a couple spare minutes and then I need to head out to a stake priesthood meeting, but I wanted to drop a quick post because it's about time.
Megan and I took a bit of a quick trip to Pima this weekend. Megan wanted to go to Christine's baby shower, but didn't want to make the trip if I wasn't coming. So we worked it out for us to go spend the night at Kimberly's and then Megan, Kimberly, Kelly, and Carrie could go to the baby shower together and Emmett, Paul, and I could light stuff on fire and whatnot.
Anyway, we had a nice time at Kimberly's. They are the proud first recipients of the first batch of Badger Family Classics. As some of you may know, I'm working on making DVD's of movies we love that have never been released on DVD. Things like Pure Luck and One of Our Dinosaurs is missing. Anyway, since Kimberly and Emmett don't run on DVD's too much anyway, I ripped my copies of the DVD's to their Apple TV.
It's getting to the point where Megan and I have a little bit of a harder time leaving home because Gamera is getting almost too big to fit in his old terrarium. Actually, he's way to big to live in his old one, but we can let him spend the night in it. When Megan and I take some time off over the 4th of July (We're going back to St. Johns, so if anyone else thinks that might be a good time to go home, we'll be there. So if that isn't a reason to go, I don't know what is) we'll have to pay one of the neighbor kids to come feed him. There's no way we're going to take him with us because his new terrarium (that Megan and I built with our own bare hands) is too big to move around.
I got released from some callings today. I got a default release from my Elder's Quorum teaching gig because they got someone else to do it. I was also released from teaching Sunday School for the 14-15 year olds. It was funny because I had only taught them for a few weeks but they were really upset when I told them I wouldn't be teaching them anymore. They told me they had scared off a couple teachers before and they didn't want me to go. They can be a rowdy bunch, but I liked teaching them. It's funny because I can really feel myself settling into my Elder's Quorum calling. I would much rather teach, but I find myself concerned with home teaching and other such stuff, so I guess I'll stick with this calling for a while. They still haven't released me from being a clerk, but I guess that'll come with time. The ward clerk has been gone the last couple weeks, so I've actually gotten some clerk stuff done despite him telling me, "Don't even worry about clerk stuff. You have too much going on as it is."
Well, that's all my time for today. Megan and I are doing well. We'll miss you all at the reunion, but it just doesn't look like it's going to happen. We'll get 'em next year.
Megan and I took a bit of a quick trip to Pima this weekend. Megan wanted to go to Christine's baby shower, but didn't want to make the trip if I wasn't coming. So we worked it out for us to go spend the night at Kimberly's and then Megan, Kimberly, Kelly, and Carrie could go to the baby shower together and Emmett, Paul, and I could light stuff on fire and whatnot.
Anyway, we had a nice time at Kimberly's. They are the proud first recipients of the first batch of Badger Family Classics. As some of you may know, I'm working on making DVD's of movies we love that have never been released on DVD. Things like Pure Luck and One of Our Dinosaurs is missing. Anyway, since Kimberly and Emmett don't run on DVD's too much anyway, I ripped my copies of the DVD's to their Apple TV.
It's getting to the point where Megan and I have a little bit of a harder time leaving home because Gamera is getting almost too big to fit in his old terrarium. Actually, he's way to big to live in his old one, but we can let him spend the night in it. When Megan and I take some time off over the 4th of July (We're going back to St. Johns, so if anyone else thinks that might be a good time to go home, we'll be there. So if that isn't a reason to go, I don't know what is) we'll have to pay one of the neighbor kids to come feed him. There's no way we're going to take him with us because his new terrarium (that Megan and I built with our own bare hands) is too big to move around.
I got released from some callings today. I got a default release from my Elder's Quorum teaching gig because they got someone else to do it. I was also released from teaching Sunday School for the 14-15 year olds. It was funny because I had only taught them for a few weeks but they were really upset when I told them I wouldn't be teaching them anymore. They told me they had scared off a couple teachers before and they didn't want me to go. They can be a rowdy bunch, but I liked teaching them. It's funny because I can really feel myself settling into my Elder's Quorum calling. I would much rather teach, but I find myself concerned with home teaching and other such stuff, so I guess I'll stick with this calling for a while. They still haven't released me from being a clerk, but I guess that'll come with time. The ward clerk has been gone the last couple weeks, so I've actually gotten some clerk stuff done despite him telling me, "Don't even worry about clerk stuff. You have too much going on as it is."
Well, that's all my time for today. Megan and I are doing well. We'll miss you all at the reunion, but it just doesn't look like it's going to happen. We'll get 'em next year.
Monday, June 01, 2009
Real Quick
Hey everybody. I had a minute and I was sitting in front of the computer so I thought I'd drop a quick post while I have the chance.
I'm posting from my Ubuntu box (my old desktop). I don't know if you knew, but Megan and I have had some funny business going on with our computers in days past. My desktop was getting really finicky and hers was just plain quitting on her. To solve my computer woes I got to buy a new computer. I didn't buy a top of the line machine. My old machine is 6 years old, which makes it a dinosaur in computer years, so it didn't take much to buy a better machine. I got a decent computer and slapped some spare parts in it and made it better than it was off the assembly line. As for Megan's computer, we bought her a new 1Tb (That's terabyte, not tablespoon) drive and it came right back to life. My new machine also has a terabyte hard drive.
Anyway, since I got a new machine, I have my old one just sitting around. Since I am the self-titled King of Used Electronics, I figured it just wouldn't be right to leave my old trusty rusty machine to collect dust. So I backed some of the more important files up and turned this machine into a Linux Box. I'm running the latest and greatest installment of Ubuntu. I am really loving it. I guess I'm slowly but surely turning into open source Greg.
Well, this post has taken a turn for the nerdy. I was just super excited to be posting in Ubuntu. It's a first.
So Megan has girl's camp coming up and she'll miss a day of work. Then she will be taking 10 days to do some freelance for Skyline, which is the last company she worked for. It's going to be an interesting month. I won't see her as often as I usually do. It's funny because I've gotten used to seeing Megan all day every day. We work together and we come home together. There aren't very many times when we're apart. The couple times I had to spend at work when she was sick a couple months ago were hard. I guess I'm spoiled to have her around as often as I do. I do, however, think it's funny how many people ask us if there's any tension with us working together. It's the classic sitcom plot: the husband and wife work together and the wife shows up or embarrasses the husband and the they find they don't work together as well as they thought. That hasn't been the case with us at all. We've been basically the exact opposite.
I'm going to really start pounding the pavement for a better job soon. As most of you know, I'm no fan of job searches. It's part of the reason I'll stay at a less-than-ideal job for way longer than I really should. But Megan and I need to be moving onward and upward and I really need to pick up the slack and go win some bread for us.
I guess we should post some pictures sometime soon and show what we did with the living room. I don't think most of you have seen our amazing paint job. Also, I need to show you the new terrarium we built for Gamera. He was getting too big for his old one. He's really growing. We hope he'll be comfy in his current home for at least another 6 months or so.
Well, this post has been all nerdy, disjointed, and fairly pointless. I'm a little rusty. Give me a little time and I'll try to start posting a little better and a little more often.
I'm posting from my Ubuntu box (my old desktop). I don't know if you knew, but Megan and I have had some funny business going on with our computers in days past. My desktop was getting really finicky and hers was just plain quitting on her. To solve my computer woes I got to buy a new computer. I didn't buy a top of the line machine. My old machine is 6 years old, which makes it a dinosaur in computer years, so it didn't take much to buy a better machine. I got a decent computer and slapped some spare parts in it and made it better than it was off the assembly line. As for Megan's computer, we bought her a new 1Tb (That's terabyte, not tablespoon) drive and it came right back to life. My new machine also has a terabyte hard drive.
Anyway, since I got a new machine, I have my old one just sitting around. Since I am the self-titled King of Used Electronics, I figured it just wouldn't be right to leave my old trusty rusty machine to collect dust. So I backed some of the more important files up and turned this machine into a Linux Box. I'm running the latest and greatest installment of Ubuntu. I am really loving it. I guess I'm slowly but surely turning into open source Greg.
Well, this post has taken a turn for the nerdy. I was just super excited to be posting in Ubuntu. It's a first.
So Megan has girl's camp coming up and she'll miss a day of work. Then she will be taking 10 days to do some freelance for Skyline, which is the last company she worked for. It's going to be an interesting month. I won't see her as often as I usually do. It's funny because I've gotten used to seeing Megan all day every day. We work together and we come home together. There aren't very many times when we're apart. The couple times I had to spend at work when she was sick a couple months ago were hard. I guess I'm spoiled to have her around as often as I do. I do, however, think it's funny how many people ask us if there's any tension with us working together. It's the classic sitcom plot: the husband and wife work together and the wife shows up or embarrasses the husband and the they find they don't work together as well as they thought. That hasn't been the case with us at all. We've been basically the exact opposite.
I'm going to really start pounding the pavement for a better job soon. As most of you know, I'm no fan of job searches. It's part of the reason I'll stay at a less-than-ideal job for way longer than I really should. But Megan and I need to be moving onward and upward and I really need to pick up the slack and go win some bread for us.
I guess we should post some pictures sometime soon and show what we did with the living room. I don't think most of you have seen our amazing paint job. Also, I need to show you the new terrarium we built for Gamera. He was getting too big for his old one. He's really growing. We hope he'll be comfy in his current home for at least another 6 months or so.
Well, this post has been all nerdy, disjointed, and fairly pointless. I'm a little rusty. Give me a little time and I'll try to start posting a little better and a little more often.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Thoughts on Our First Year
Hey everybody. As you may well know, it's been a really long time since I posted here. Part of that is due to the fact that I'm not sitting in front of a computer with nothing to do all day like I was when I worked at the library. The other part of it is that I really didn't want to talk about taking 7th place in the seminary teaching sweepstakes. Then days turned into weeks and I don't know how many months it's been, but I don't want to bother looking at the moment. Let's just suffice it to say that some time has passed and I have a little catching up to do.
I guess all sorts of interesting things have happened since I wrote last. But let me do something else entirely before I launch into a discussion of things you may want to know (and some you might not. I dunno. I just write this thing).
It was a year ago today that Megan and I were married. In some ways it feels like it's flown by all too quickly and in other ways it feels like we really should be married for more than a year by now. I feel like I've known Megan forever and I can hardly remember what life was like before having her around. I can still vividly remember how excited I was the first time we held hands, the first time we kissed, and when I finally convinced her to marry me. It's all been one amazing ride thus far.
In the past year we've had more than our fair share of trials and hardships. I'm proud to say that during all our trials Megan and I have pulled together rather than apart and we have grown so much closer than we were a year ago. Our first year of marriage has definitely been an interesting one. Megan and I have lost three jobs between us. I've held more callings than I thought one person ever legally could. We've somehow managed to stay afloat financially in difficult times. We have been blessed beyond measure, but we've also been lead to some transitional states and I honestly don't know where we'll end up. It's all been one amazing and frightening roller coaster ride thus far and I'm sure it will continue to be interesting in the years to come.
I am grateful to have Megan in my life. I can't even quantify how much better my life is since she's been in it. She inspires me to be my best self and believes so much in what I can become. I have been told time and time again by various people how lucky I am to have Megan as my wife. I know I'm lucky. She has been an amazing wife. I have been happier in the last year of my life, trials and all, than I have ever been at any other time. I love Megan more than I have power to express. I think if I can hold on to her, no matter what happens in life I'll be ok.
Yesterday we went over to the temple to do some sealings in commemoration of our anniversary. It's always great to be reminded of the covenants we've made and the blessings that come with them. After the temple, we went over to Deseret Book to pick up a picture of Christ to put in our living room. We have pictures of our wedding, and a picture of the temple, but we really wanted to get a picture of Christ. We really wanted to get "O Jerusalem" by Greg Olsen (pictured below)
But they wanted $50 for it and that seemed way too much for a print. We ended up buying this picture, which is a detail from "Christ and the Rich Young Ruler" by Heinrich Hoffman.
I really like this picture and it will look really nice in our living room. As time goes by and we build more and more memories here, this house is really starting to feel like home.
So I got set apart for my fourth calling today. That's right: I currently have four callings. They gave me another one and haven't released me from any of the others. My four callings are 1) Membership Clerk 2) Elder's Quorum Teacher 3) Sunday School teacher for the 14-15 year olds and 4) 1st counselor in the Elder's Quorum. I just got set apart in the Elder's Quorum today. A couple members of the bishopric joked that they might have another few callings for me before all is said and done. At this point I don't know whether I should take them seriously or not.
I'm glad to serve in the callings I have, but I have not sought out these callings at all. This has been the 2nd time in the year that we've been in this ward that I got the "We have a calling for you. Bring your wife" call from the Stake Presidency. I don't mind serving but I don't want to get a reputation as a mover and a shaker. I'd like to get one good calling and stick with it for a while.
When I told the ward clerk about my fourth calling he said, "Yeah, I heard about it in bishopric meeting. I told them that the third calling was funny but the fourth was just cruel." I thought the third was funny and the fourth was scary. The ward clerk all but kicked me out of the clerk's office today telling me I had way too many things to worry about right now and the last thing I need to be doing is figuring out why a new child of record shows up as accountable (I still don't know how I took a left turn in making that record. We might just leave it because he'll be accountable 8 years from now). All I can say is that this is an interesting position to be in.
So I guess I ought to talk a little about being #7 in seminary teaching. I knew going in that this was going to be a hard year. There were 2 guys in my class who were already teaching seminary classes due to some interesting circumstances. So they basically had a semester's head start on the rest of the class. I also knew they were taking fewer student teachers and that I had some pretty stiff competition. Before the evaluations began, my Mom talked to Brother Greer, my old seminary teacher, and he said, "Couldn't James have picked some other year to go into seminary teaching?"
As fate would have it, it has been an extremely difficult year for seminary teaching. There were 5 preservice locations that didn't have any student teachers hired (Arizona was one). Everybody has been surprised by how difficult this year has been for student teachers and prospective student teachers.
When I went in for my interview with Brother Moon, I expected him to tell me how much he enjoyed my teaching, which he did. I expected him to mention how well I bonded with the kids, which he did. Then I expected him to say I was either #2 or #3. I was being realistic and I knew my competition. When he told me I was #7 and that I was the first alternate and would not be teaching next semester unless someone drops out, I was stunned. I thought I would be teaching for sure. Everything in my life had aligned for me to take the classes and all signs were pointing to me student teaching next year. I just couldn't figure out why things didn't work out.
As I've considered my options in moving onward and upward in my life, I can't escape the fact that I have never been as excited to do any job as much as I was to teach seminary. I loved doing it. There are very few things in this world that I have loved as much as I loved my two weeks of teaching. Of course I'm frustrated not to be doing it this year, but there has to be a reason for it.
One reason I am seriously considering is timing. It would be very difficult to get hired if I was student teaching this coming semester. Chances are it will be easier to get hired next year. So I'm not letting go. Of course I'll be applying for other jobs and moving on with my life any which way I can, but there's no reason why I can't go back next year and try it all over again (aside from them telling me I can't, which I haven't explored yet). So there is still hope that maybe someday I might get to teach seminary. Also, as the first alternate, I'll be the first one called if anyone drops out and Brother Moon said he's never had a summer where he didn't have to use the alternate. This could be the first summer where he doesn't. I don't know how it will go. But I'm not giving up on the dream too easily.
Well, I feel like I've written enough. I need to go and spend some more time with the wife now. It is our anniversary after all. I won't make any promises about how often I'll write in the future. I'll only tell you that I'll try.
I guess all sorts of interesting things have happened since I wrote last. But let me do something else entirely before I launch into a discussion of things you may want to know (and some you might not. I dunno. I just write this thing).
It was a year ago today that Megan and I were married. In some ways it feels like it's flown by all too quickly and in other ways it feels like we really should be married for more than a year by now. I feel like I've known Megan forever and I can hardly remember what life was like before having her around. I can still vividly remember how excited I was the first time we held hands, the first time we kissed, and when I finally convinced her to marry me. It's all been one amazing ride thus far.
In the past year we've had more than our fair share of trials and hardships. I'm proud to say that during all our trials Megan and I have pulled together rather than apart and we have grown so much closer than we were a year ago. Our first year of marriage has definitely been an interesting one. Megan and I have lost three jobs between us. I've held more callings than I thought one person ever legally could. We've somehow managed to stay afloat financially in difficult times. We have been blessed beyond measure, but we've also been lead to some transitional states and I honestly don't know where we'll end up. It's all been one amazing and frightening roller coaster ride thus far and I'm sure it will continue to be interesting in the years to come.
I am grateful to have Megan in my life. I can't even quantify how much better my life is since she's been in it. She inspires me to be my best self and believes so much in what I can become. I have been told time and time again by various people how lucky I am to have Megan as my wife. I know I'm lucky. She has been an amazing wife. I have been happier in the last year of my life, trials and all, than I have ever been at any other time. I love Megan more than I have power to express. I think if I can hold on to her, no matter what happens in life I'll be ok.
Yesterday we went over to the temple to do some sealings in commemoration of our anniversary. It's always great to be reminded of the covenants we've made and the blessings that come with them. After the temple, we went over to Deseret Book to pick up a picture of Christ to put in our living room. We have pictures of our wedding, and a picture of the temple, but we really wanted to get a picture of Christ. We really wanted to get "O Jerusalem" by Greg Olsen (pictured below)
But they wanted $50 for it and that seemed way too much for a print. We ended up buying this picture, which is a detail from "Christ and the Rich Young Ruler" by Heinrich Hoffman.
I really like this picture and it will look really nice in our living room. As time goes by and we build more and more memories here, this house is really starting to feel like home.
So I got set apart for my fourth calling today. That's right: I currently have four callings. They gave me another one and haven't released me from any of the others. My four callings are 1) Membership Clerk 2) Elder's Quorum Teacher 3) Sunday School teacher for the 14-15 year olds and 4) 1st counselor in the Elder's Quorum. I just got set apart in the Elder's Quorum today. A couple members of the bishopric joked that they might have another few callings for me before all is said and done. At this point I don't know whether I should take them seriously or not.
I'm glad to serve in the callings I have, but I have not sought out these callings at all. This has been the 2nd time in the year that we've been in this ward that I got the "We have a calling for you. Bring your wife" call from the Stake Presidency. I don't mind serving but I don't want to get a reputation as a mover and a shaker. I'd like to get one good calling and stick with it for a while.
When I told the ward clerk about my fourth calling he said, "Yeah, I heard about it in bishopric meeting. I told them that the third calling was funny but the fourth was just cruel." I thought the third was funny and the fourth was scary. The ward clerk all but kicked me out of the clerk's office today telling me I had way too many things to worry about right now and the last thing I need to be doing is figuring out why a new child of record shows up as accountable (I still don't know how I took a left turn in making that record. We might just leave it because he'll be accountable 8 years from now). All I can say is that this is an interesting position to be in.
So I guess I ought to talk a little about being #7 in seminary teaching. I knew going in that this was going to be a hard year. There were 2 guys in my class who were already teaching seminary classes due to some interesting circumstances. So they basically had a semester's head start on the rest of the class. I also knew they were taking fewer student teachers and that I had some pretty stiff competition. Before the evaluations began, my Mom talked to Brother Greer, my old seminary teacher, and he said, "Couldn't James have picked some other year to go into seminary teaching?"
As fate would have it, it has been an extremely difficult year for seminary teaching. There were 5 preservice locations that didn't have any student teachers hired (Arizona was one). Everybody has been surprised by how difficult this year has been for student teachers and prospective student teachers.
When I went in for my interview with Brother Moon, I expected him to tell me how much he enjoyed my teaching, which he did. I expected him to mention how well I bonded with the kids, which he did. Then I expected him to say I was either #2 or #3. I was being realistic and I knew my competition. When he told me I was #7 and that I was the first alternate and would not be teaching next semester unless someone drops out, I was stunned. I thought I would be teaching for sure. Everything in my life had aligned for me to take the classes and all signs were pointing to me student teaching next year. I just couldn't figure out why things didn't work out.
As I've considered my options in moving onward and upward in my life, I can't escape the fact that I have never been as excited to do any job as much as I was to teach seminary. I loved doing it. There are very few things in this world that I have loved as much as I loved my two weeks of teaching. Of course I'm frustrated not to be doing it this year, but there has to be a reason for it.
One reason I am seriously considering is timing. It would be very difficult to get hired if I was student teaching this coming semester. Chances are it will be easier to get hired next year. So I'm not letting go. Of course I'll be applying for other jobs and moving on with my life any which way I can, but there's no reason why I can't go back next year and try it all over again (aside from them telling me I can't, which I haven't explored yet). So there is still hope that maybe someday I might get to teach seminary. Also, as the first alternate, I'll be the first one called if anyone drops out and Brother Moon said he's never had a summer where he didn't have to use the alternate. This could be the first summer where he doesn't. I don't know how it will go. But I'm not giving up on the dream too easily.
Well, I feel like I've written enough. I need to go and spend some more time with the wife now. It is our anniversary after all. I won't make any promises about how often I'll write in the future. I'll only tell you that I'll try.
Friday, March 20, 2009
What it Takes
Hey everybody. As you may have noticed, I just don't update this thing very often anymore. Mainly it's because it cuts into my weekend. I can't write updates from the balloon store so that leaves me with my weekend, and lately I've been doing things with my weekends. But, as luck would have it, my back went out so I'm not at work at the moment. I feel bad having my back go out again. I don't want the nice folks at the balloon store to think they hired Greg Oden.
On the bright side of things, I'm watching the ASU vs Temple game (March Madness: Catch It!) and writing in this blog so aside from not getting paid for the day, it's a win-win.
As I mentioned before and as I'm sure you all know, I'm taking the seminary teaching classes at the institute. I have no idea how this all will turn out for us. Some days I feel like a sure bet and other days I feel like there's no way I'll be getting in. You know, standard overthinking and paranoia. I have only spent one day teaching so far (I'll get two weeks to teach at the end of the semester and that's when they'll decide whether or not I get to move into the next phase) and although I did get some really good feedback from the teacher whose class I was teaching in, I have been obsessing for a while over the things I could've done better. I really want to get back in the classroom and show that I've learned a lot since my first teaching experience, but I guess my two week teaching assignment will be right around the corner (late April and early May).
It's funny because I had sort of forgotten about the fact that I told people I might want to be a seminary teacher back when I was in high school. I think I was mainly inspired by the fact that Brother Greer was as sarcastic as I was and yet he managed to be a seminary teacher. After I got back from my mission I thought I might want to be a seminary teacher. Mainly it was because I had no idea what I could do with my life and the only thing I had been doing over the previous two years was teaching the gospel and seminary was the only way I could think of to teach the gospel and make money at it was to teach seminary. Coincidentally, not knowing what to do with your life and not wanting to come home from your mission are two of the worst reasons to get into seminary teaching. I'd like to think that over the last few years I've gotten my reasons right. It can't just be because you don't know what else to do. You have to really have a desire to teach and be smart enough to know that it isn't as much about you as it is the kids you can influence. If I've learned one thing in my studies thus far, it's that teachers have less to do with effective teaching than you could possibly think. A good teacher knows when to stop talking, when to listen, and when not to get in the way of learning. Those are all things I still need to work on.
So as we get closer and closer to the day when ASU stops paying me for not working, we get a little more nervous. We have a lot of plans in the works to get some supplemental income going, but a lot will depend on whether or not I'm moving onward and upward in seminary teaching. We'll see how it all shakes down, but there are a lot of question marks out there for us. At the very least, our lives have been so much better since I got laid off. I don't think either or us would trade the last couple months for anything.
I wish I had more to report on. There are a lot of things going on right now, and a lot of them are too personal for me to write about them here. As much as I have hope and faith that I can move on to the next phase of seminary teaching (which is kind of like an internship) I still know I have a lot of work to do. I have a lot to learn and a lot of bad teaching habits to break down. I just have a whole lot that I need to do. So because I have the time to do it, I think I'll end this entry now and go get a little something done today.
On the bright side of things, I'm watching the ASU vs Temple game (March Madness: Catch It!) and writing in this blog so aside from not getting paid for the day, it's a win-win.
As I mentioned before and as I'm sure you all know, I'm taking the seminary teaching classes at the institute. I have no idea how this all will turn out for us. Some days I feel like a sure bet and other days I feel like there's no way I'll be getting in. You know, standard overthinking and paranoia. I have only spent one day teaching so far (I'll get two weeks to teach at the end of the semester and that's when they'll decide whether or not I get to move into the next phase) and although I did get some really good feedback from the teacher whose class I was teaching in, I have been obsessing for a while over the things I could've done better. I really want to get back in the classroom and show that I've learned a lot since my first teaching experience, but I guess my two week teaching assignment will be right around the corner (late April and early May).
It's funny because I had sort of forgotten about the fact that I told people I might want to be a seminary teacher back when I was in high school. I think I was mainly inspired by the fact that Brother Greer was as sarcastic as I was and yet he managed to be a seminary teacher. After I got back from my mission I thought I might want to be a seminary teacher. Mainly it was because I had no idea what I could do with my life and the only thing I had been doing over the previous two years was teaching the gospel and seminary was the only way I could think of to teach the gospel and make money at it was to teach seminary. Coincidentally, not knowing what to do with your life and not wanting to come home from your mission are two of the worst reasons to get into seminary teaching. I'd like to think that over the last few years I've gotten my reasons right. It can't just be because you don't know what else to do. You have to really have a desire to teach and be smart enough to know that it isn't as much about you as it is the kids you can influence. If I've learned one thing in my studies thus far, it's that teachers have less to do with effective teaching than you could possibly think. A good teacher knows when to stop talking, when to listen, and when not to get in the way of learning. Those are all things I still need to work on.
So as we get closer and closer to the day when ASU stops paying me for not working, we get a little more nervous. We have a lot of plans in the works to get some supplemental income going, but a lot will depend on whether or not I'm moving onward and upward in seminary teaching. We'll see how it all shakes down, but there are a lot of question marks out there for us. At the very least, our lives have been so much better since I got laid off. I don't think either or us would trade the last couple months for anything.
I wish I had more to report on. There are a lot of things going on right now, and a lot of them are too personal for me to write about them here. As much as I have hope and faith that I can move on to the next phase of seminary teaching (which is kind of like an internship) I still know I have a lot of work to do. I have a lot to learn and a lot of bad teaching habits to break down. I just have a whole lot that I need to do. So because I have the time to do it, I think I'll end this entry now and go get a little something done today.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Time to Show Those Evil Spuds What's What
Hey everybody. I've got a couple minutes here and I thought I'd take the time to let you know what we're up to at the moment.
Megan and I are feeling fine and dandy these days. Never underestimate the positive effects of eliminating the main cause of frustration and aggravation in your life. That's a lesson I've learned a few times over. Look back to my old blog when I was dealing with difficult roommates. Then look what's happening now that I'm not under skeletor's thumb anymore. There is an immediate benefit to distancing yourself from people who drag you down. It sounds like elementary logic, and it is, but it's absolutely true.
Megan and I have smiled bigger, laughed harder, and have felt closer in the last two weeks than we have at any other time. Not that the first 8 months of our marriage has been anything less than stellar. We've had a great time being married up until now, but I can see a big change in the way things have gone lately. When I get home from work she doesn't have to be the person I vent to. I don't have to release all this anger, tension, and frustration before being able to relax and enjoy being home like I used to. We're able to go to work together and be happy, then come home and be happy. I can't even begin to describe how much better life is now.
One thing that I would like to throw out there: I have completely forgiven the boss man for everything he's done to me. He really went out of his way to make a miserable working environment for me, but it hardly matters now. He is no longer an influence in my life. I always knew and frequently commented to Megan that the boss man's life is way worse than mine in a number of ways. He has no friends. He is not respected by his employees and colleagues. He has a way of making very bitter and lasting enemies of people. He is now living in my old apartment complex (I'm so glad Megan and I have a house). He doesn't have a very good education. He isn't qualified to do anything other than what he's doing (and some would say he's not even qualified to do the job he does). He's a 57 year old anorexic whose appearance is shocking and frightening to many. The campus police told us they get suspicious person calls about him when he's just walking from his car to work. Granted, a lot of the things that are wrong with his life have to do with the way he treats people and himself. That being the case, I still feel more pity for him now than I do anger or hostility. I imagine he must have been treated very poorly at some point in his life to act the way he does now. He might be a victim of abuse or just a lonely guy with no idea how to connect with people. Whatever his story is, I bear him no ill will now. Releasing the anger and hostility I had toward him has been a major factor in the increase of happiness in my life. You can't be happy when you're lugging a grudge around. Now that it's all behind me, life is exponentially better.
Now for a subtle shift in gears. Megan and I bought a new weed eater today. We're trying to kick some shape into our back yard. It's been slow going thus far. We have about a billion tons of gravel to shovel and another billion tons of river rock to move. We were thinking of trying to rope some of our brothers-in-law into coming over and pitching in. Anyway, I mowed down all the gigantic weeds that were growing in the old jellybean shaped lawn. Megan pulled some of the bigger weeds growing up through the gravel. I think she did a lot more work than I did. All the while, we let Gamera roam around the yard. It's good for him to get a feel for what will someday be his domain. Sometimes he seems really excited to explore the yard and other times he picks a nice shady place to relax. It'll be fun once we have a yard and Gamera is big enough to own it.
The other day Megan notice a problem with our house (one of the joys of home ownership). We noticed a bunch of our insulation on the ground. We looked up and saw that something had broken through the mesh on one of the vent holes into our attic. Most likely we have some winged rats living in our attic now. So when we were at the Home Despot (Yes, I spelled it that way on purpose. Yes, I think I'm funny) we picked up some aluminum mesh to replace the fiberglass mesh that the birds found no trouble in getting through. So next weekend I get to roll around in fiberglass and try to evict the unwanted new tenants in our house. Megan and I are so glad we didn't get any of the fixer-uppers we looked at. This house has given us plenty to do and it's in really good shape.
As for jobs, I'm not looking too actively right now. I know it seems crazy, but I've got myself a super good situation at the moment. The balloon store is a great place to work and Megan and I are really enjoying working together. At the same time that I stop getting double paychecks, I'll finish my seminary teaching classes. I don't know if I'll be able to jump into seminary teaching right off the bat, but you never know. I feel good about how things are going at the moment. Just so you don't worry, you need to know that I have been working with ASU's HR in seeking to use my reemployment rights. So when I send in the last bit of paperwork (I'll get it to the guy on Monday) I'll get an email anytime a job I even remotely qualify for becomes available to us rif'ed employees (rif means Reduction in Force. It's the term they use to try and take the edge off the layoff. I thought laid off was the term they used instead of terms like pink-slipped, canned, booted, and sacked. I guess there needs to be six degrees of separation between what's actually happening and the words that describe it). So I'm throwing my hat into that ring. I'll also kick off the job hunt in earnest as we get closer to the day when I won't be collecting double paychecks. I just don't want to get myself into a situation where I can't finish my seminary teaching classes. I've thought about trying my hand at seminary teaching for a long time, and now that I'm taking steps in that direction I'm inclined to keep moving that way until I feel I ought to do otherwise. As always, I'll keep my ear to the ground and I won't pass on any good opportunities, but things are really good right now. Seriously. It's true.
One last thing before I wrap this up and Megan and I go watch some Star Trek (We finished watching M*A*S*H*, and watching Star Trek was actually Megan's idea. She's great). Anyway, a couple weeks ago when Megan was out with the young women, I was feeling not quite myself. I just felt sort of...I guess you would say bad. I hadn't done anything or thought anything bad. There was no real reason I should feel that way at all, but I did. So I left the house and just started driving. While I was driving, I remembered that I needed to buy some new oil to consecrate. So I drove down to Deseret Book and picked some up. While I was thumbing through piles and piles of commentaries, biographies, histories, and other good but non-scriptural books it hit me that I needed to go home and read my scriptures. Megan and I have been reading together almost every night since we got married. My personal scripture study kind of got crowded out as life came crowding in. The last time I had read the Book of Mormon was right before we got married. I finished Moroni either the night before or two nights before our actual wedding (oddly enough, that was in connection with a goal I made to finish the Book of Mormon one more time before we got married). So I picked up my Book of Mormon and started with 1st Nephi Chapter 1 Verse 1. I made it my goal to finish in a month. So far I have been right on time. I've had to pull a couple marathon sessions to make things even out because February is a short month, but I should be done next week, which is right on the money for the goal I set.
I'm not bringing all this up because I want anyone to be impressed with my ability to read. I bring it up because I can feel a definite difference in my life when I'm taking time to do my own personal study in addition to what I get in institute, church, and at home with Megan. So when the end of this month rolls around, I intend to keep on reading. I don't know what pace I'll set for myself the next time through. I might want to slow down or I might want to keep tearing through it. That isn't important. What is important is that I'm gaining insights that I've never had before even though I'm whipping through the Book of Mormon at breakneck speed. It's been good. The lesson, as always, is to never let life crowd out your personal scripture study regardless of how much scripture study you get from other sources.
Well, that's about all I have for the moment. I intended this to be shorter and take less time to write than it did, but you know how long winded I can be. Yeah.
Megan and I are feeling fine and dandy these days. Never underestimate the positive effects of eliminating the main cause of frustration and aggravation in your life. That's a lesson I've learned a few times over. Look back to my old blog when I was dealing with difficult roommates. Then look what's happening now that I'm not under skeletor's thumb anymore. There is an immediate benefit to distancing yourself from people who drag you down. It sounds like elementary logic, and it is, but it's absolutely true.
Megan and I have smiled bigger, laughed harder, and have felt closer in the last two weeks than we have at any other time. Not that the first 8 months of our marriage has been anything less than stellar. We've had a great time being married up until now, but I can see a big change in the way things have gone lately. When I get home from work she doesn't have to be the person I vent to. I don't have to release all this anger, tension, and frustration before being able to relax and enjoy being home like I used to. We're able to go to work together and be happy, then come home and be happy. I can't even begin to describe how much better life is now.
One thing that I would like to throw out there: I have completely forgiven the boss man for everything he's done to me. He really went out of his way to make a miserable working environment for me, but it hardly matters now. He is no longer an influence in my life. I always knew and frequently commented to Megan that the boss man's life is way worse than mine in a number of ways. He has no friends. He is not respected by his employees and colleagues. He has a way of making very bitter and lasting enemies of people. He is now living in my old apartment complex (I'm so glad Megan and I have a house). He doesn't have a very good education. He isn't qualified to do anything other than what he's doing (and some would say he's not even qualified to do the job he does). He's a 57 year old anorexic whose appearance is shocking and frightening to many. The campus police told us they get suspicious person calls about him when he's just walking from his car to work. Granted, a lot of the things that are wrong with his life have to do with the way he treats people and himself. That being the case, I still feel more pity for him now than I do anger or hostility. I imagine he must have been treated very poorly at some point in his life to act the way he does now. He might be a victim of abuse or just a lonely guy with no idea how to connect with people. Whatever his story is, I bear him no ill will now. Releasing the anger and hostility I had toward him has been a major factor in the increase of happiness in my life. You can't be happy when you're lugging a grudge around. Now that it's all behind me, life is exponentially better.
Now for a subtle shift in gears. Megan and I bought a new weed eater today. We're trying to kick some shape into our back yard. It's been slow going thus far. We have about a billion tons of gravel to shovel and another billion tons of river rock to move. We were thinking of trying to rope some of our brothers-in-law into coming over and pitching in. Anyway, I mowed down all the gigantic weeds that were growing in the old jellybean shaped lawn. Megan pulled some of the bigger weeds growing up through the gravel. I think she did a lot more work than I did. All the while, we let Gamera roam around the yard. It's good for him to get a feel for what will someday be his domain. Sometimes he seems really excited to explore the yard and other times he picks a nice shady place to relax. It'll be fun once we have a yard and Gamera is big enough to own it.
The other day Megan notice a problem with our house (one of the joys of home ownership). We noticed a bunch of our insulation on the ground. We looked up and saw that something had broken through the mesh on one of the vent holes into our attic. Most likely we have some winged rats living in our attic now. So when we were at the Home Despot (Yes, I spelled it that way on purpose. Yes, I think I'm funny) we picked up some aluminum mesh to replace the fiberglass mesh that the birds found no trouble in getting through. So next weekend I get to roll around in fiberglass and try to evict the unwanted new tenants in our house. Megan and I are so glad we didn't get any of the fixer-uppers we looked at. This house has given us plenty to do and it's in really good shape.
As for jobs, I'm not looking too actively right now. I know it seems crazy, but I've got myself a super good situation at the moment. The balloon store is a great place to work and Megan and I are really enjoying working together. At the same time that I stop getting double paychecks, I'll finish my seminary teaching classes. I don't know if I'll be able to jump into seminary teaching right off the bat, but you never know. I feel good about how things are going at the moment. Just so you don't worry, you need to know that I have been working with ASU's HR in seeking to use my reemployment rights. So when I send in the last bit of paperwork (I'll get it to the guy on Monday) I'll get an email anytime a job I even remotely qualify for becomes available to us rif'ed employees (rif means Reduction in Force. It's the term they use to try and take the edge off the layoff. I thought laid off was the term they used instead of terms like pink-slipped, canned, booted, and sacked. I guess there needs to be six degrees of separation between what's actually happening and the words that describe it). So I'm throwing my hat into that ring. I'll also kick off the job hunt in earnest as we get closer to the day when I won't be collecting double paychecks. I just don't want to get myself into a situation where I can't finish my seminary teaching classes. I've thought about trying my hand at seminary teaching for a long time, and now that I'm taking steps in that direction I'm inclined to keep moving that way until I feel I ought to do otherwise. As always, I'll keep my ear to the ground and I won't pass on any good opportunities, but things are really good right now. Seriously. It's true.
One last thing before I wrap this up and Megan and I go watch some Star Trek (We finished watching M*A*S*H*, and watching Star Trek was actually Megan's idea. She's great). Anyway, a couple weeks ago when Megan was out with the young women, I was feeling not quite myself. I just felt sort of...I guess you would say bad. I hadn't done anything or thought anything bad. There was no real reason I should feel that way at all, but I did. So I left the house and just started driving. While I was driving, I remembered that I needed to buy some new oil to consecrate. So I drove down to Deseret Book and picked some up. While I was thumbing through piles and piles of commentaries, biographies, histories, and other good but non-scriptural books it hit me that I needed to go home and read my scriptures. Megan and I have been reading together almost every night since we got married. My personal scripture study kind of got crowded out as life came crowding in. The last time I had read the Book of Mormon was right before we got married. I finished Moroni either the night before or two nights before our actual wedding (oddly enough, that was in connection with a goal I made to finish the Book of Mormon one more time before we got married). So I picked up my Book of Mormon and started with 1st Nephi Chapter 1 Verse 1. I made it my goal to finish in a month. So far I have been right on time. I've had to pull a couple marathon sessions to make things even out because February is a short month, but I should be done next week, which is right on the money for the goal I set.
I'm not bringing all this up because I want anyone to be impressed with my ability to read. I bring it up because I can feel a definite difference in my life when I'm taking time to do my own personal study in addition to what I get in institute, church, and at home with Megan. So when the end of this month rolls around, I intend to keep on reading. I don't know what pace I'll set for myself the next time through. I might want to slow down or I might want to keep tearing through it. That isn't important. What is important is that I'm gaining insights that I've never had before even though I'm whipping through the Book of Mormon at breakneck speed. It's been good. The lesson, as always, is to never let life crowd out your personal scripture study regardless of how much scripture study you get from other sources.
Well, that's about all I have for the moment. I intended this to be shorter and take less time to write than it did, but you know how long winded I can be. Yeah.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
A Quick Line or Two
Hey everybody. As you probably noticed, I don't have as much time to update this thing as I used to. I'm not working a job where I have a lot of down time while sitting in front a computer like I used to. I also don't work at a job I hate, so everything balances out.
Things at the balloon store are fine. For the time being I'm earning a double income. I still get paid by ASU because I'm on administrative leave until the end of April. Sometimes working at the balloon store can be a little grueling, but it's still better than the library in every measurable way. It's fun working with Megan. I know there are a lot of people for whom working together would be a big problem, but it hasn't been a big deal for Megan and I at all. We get to carpool on days when I don't have institute and we have lunch together every day, which is fun.
I recently found out that I can take the two seminary teaching classes concurrently. It seems about half the people in my Intro to Seminary Teaching class are also in my Methods of Seminary Teaching class, so I'm not the only person who decided to take both classes at once. At this point in the game, I'm not sure how many more steps there would be between taking a couple institute classes and actually getting a job teaching seminary but I'm taking a decent step in that direction. I don't know how it will pan out, but this is something I've always wanted to try. I guess we'll see how it goes, but I'm hopeful. I think I could be very happy teaching seminary.
For the time being I'm not looking too hard for a new job. I know I'll eventually want to get out of the balloon store, but my double paychecks will end around the same time that my institute classes do. The balloon store is really understanding about letting me take the classes, so I'm inclined to stick with them for the moment. Megan and I can actually make it on our balloon store pay. She's making a lot more than she was when she was just twisting balloons and I'm not making that much less than I was when I worked at the library. We'll eventually move on to greener pastures but for the time being the balloon store is a godsend.
Anyway, I just wanted you all to know that we're doing fine even though we don't update that often. We keep making ends meet every month and we'll actually be building up our savings for the next few months. Getting laid off has been great for us thus far. I don't think it will ever cease being a blessing. I can't even call it a blessing in disguise anymore because I saw it as a blessing from the beginning a and I still see it as a blessing now.
Things at the balloon store are fine. For the time being I'm earning a double income. I still get paid by ASU because I'm on administrative leave until the end of April. Sometimes working at the balloon store can be a little grueling, but it's still better than the library in every measurable way. It's fun working with Megan. I know there are a lot of people for whom working together would be a big problem, but it hasn't been a big deal for Megan and I at all. We get to carpool on days when I don't have institute and we have lunch together every day, which is fun.
I recently found out that I can take the two seminary teaching classes concurrently. It seems about half the people in my Intro to Seminary Teaching class are also in my Methods of Seminary Teaching class, so I'm not the only person who decided to take both classes at once. At this point in the game, I'm not sure how many more steps there would be between taking a couple institute classes and actually getting a job teaching seminary but I'm taking a decent step in that direction. I don't know how it will pan out, but this is something I've always wanted to try. I guess we'll see how it goes, but I'm hopeful. I think I could be very happy teaching seminary.
For the time being I'm not looking too hard for a new job. I know I'll eventually want to get out of the balloon store, but my double paychecks will end around the same time that my institute classes do. The balloon store is really understanding about letting me take the classes, so I'm inclined to stick with them for the moment. Megan and I can actually make it on our balloon store pay. She's making a lot more than she was when she was just twisting balloons and I'm not making that much less than I was when I worked at the library. We'll eventually move on to greener pastures but for the time being the balloon store is a godsend.
Anyway, I just wanted you all to know that we're doing fine even though we don't update that often. We keep making ends meet every month and we'll actually be building up our savings for the next few months. Getting laid off has been great for us thus far. I don't think it will ever cease being a blessing. I can't even call it a blessing in disguise anymore because I saw it as a blessing from the beginning a and I still see it as a blessing now.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Good News and Bad News Depend on Your Perspective
Hey everybody. As I'm sure most of you know by now, I got laid off on Monday. Megan and I knew it was a possibility and we prepared ourselves for it as best as we could. As you know, she has been working at the balloon store where she buys her balloons for twisting. So it's not as bad as it would be if we were both unemployed in a terrible economy brought on by years of corporate deregulation and an epidemic of predatory lending.
Anyway, let me tell this story chronologically. There are many tangents I could run off on and I want to make sure I at least hit the high points. So I came into work on Monday as usual. I knew that the layoff proposal had been accepted and that layoffs were sure to follow, but nobody knew when. I came in, logged onto my computer, and talked to Nick. He told me that skeletor was out of the library until 1:00 in the afternoon because he had a meeting. I took this as a good sign because the head librarian was also out until Wednesday because she was at a conference.
Not too long after I settled into my desk and got things up and running, we saw the Associate Dean of Libraries and one other official-looking person come into the library. They unlocked the head librarian's office and started setting things up for something, but we didn't know what. Shortly after monving a few things around, the Associate Dean came into the office and asked if I had a minute to talk with her. At that moment I knew I was gone.
I was ushered into the head librarians office where the Associate Dean proceeded to read slowly through the letter that told me exactly what I already knew: there were layoffs in the library system and one of the positions chosen for elimination was mine. After she got done with her deal, I got a talk from an HR rep who told me about rehiring rights (which may or may not be in effect because ASU just announced a hiring freeze that even affects jobs HR has approved). They both told me how sorry they were to let me go, thanked me for my service, and handed me a box.
When I came out of the office holding a box, it confirmed for Nick and Ali the very thing they feared: I was being laid off. I took the box back into the office and began going through my desk. It didn't take me too long to decide that they had picked a crappy box for me. The top didn't fit and the bottom looked like it would fall out. I decided that if I was leaving, I would leave in whatever style I might muster. So I pulled a brand new box from skeletor's stash and loaded my things into it.
At the time, I was trying hard not to think about what was happening. Nick and Ali on the other hand, were blown away. They told me how bad things would be without me and that they'd miss me. Nick told me he was envious of me in a way: I was getting out and getting paid to do it.
It took me a while to load all my stuff into the box and move all my files off the computer. There was a guy I had never seen before who was pacing back and forth, waiting for me to be done. I was afraid that, shame of shames, they would escort me off the premises. When I got all my stuff together, I said my goodbyes to Nick and Ali. I motioned to the guy that I was ready to go. He opened the door for me, told me he was sorry, and let me walk out alone. That was a sad, sad walk across campus.
Before I left, Nick and I took some time to dissect the situation. Skeletor said he was at a meeting at Hayden for half the day, but when someone from Hayden called for him, they were surprised to find that he was supposed to be over there. They didn't know anything about it. As for the head librarian's conference, we looked that up: the conference isn't until May. So basically both of the people who should've been there to give me the bad news intentionally ditched the opportunity. I thought that was classless, gutless, and completely normal thing for them to do. I've gotten used to the idea of them not wanting to deal with me in any way, shape, or form so having them shrug the responsibility of letting me go came as no surprise. I will say one thing: in a way I'm glad skeletor wasn't there. Nick tells me he was smiling when he found out I got pink slipped. I'm glad I wasn't there to provide him any opportunity for schadenfreude.
So where does this all leave me? Well, I'm on administrative leave for the next three months, which means I'm getting paid to not work for skeletor. That's the greatest thing I've ever been paid for in my life. During the next three months I'll have the opportunity to beat the streets and find a new job. It's not a bad deal as far as severance packages go.
I spent most of this week laying around the house and contemplating how lucky I am to have escaped that bad work environment. Megan asked the people at the balloon company if they're still hiring, and they are. I picked up an application yesterday and when she took it in today they decided to hire me sight unseen. They actually wanted me to start today, but the day was already half over and I was looking forward to getting some things done around the house. So tomorrow will be my first day working at the balloon company. They are allowing me to come in a little late on Mondays and Wednesdays so I can take my "Intro to Seminary Teaching" class, and they already know that I'll be looking for other jobs. They're fine with it. So yeah, things definitely aren't as bad as they seem.
All in all I was pretty happy to get laid off. I told myself after the meeting where they announced the layoff that if Megan had a job when it came time to lay people off I would be hoping and praying to be let go. So I am now free of the worst influence in my life and the greatest stressful factor in my life. This week felt like a fantastic vacation in many ways.
Anyway, I'll keep you posted on how the job hunt goes. I know this post is rambling and the grammar is atrocious, but I've just been banging it out. I needed to write this quickly and still say everything I needed to say. As always, Megan and I will be grateful for your thoughts and prayers. We aren't on 100% stable footing yet, but there's no way but up from here.
Anyway, let me tell this story chronologically. There are many tangents I could run off on and I want to make sure I at least hit the high points. So I came into work on Monday as usual. I knew that the layoff proposal had been accepted and that layoffs were sure to follow, but nobody knew when. I came in, logged onto my computer, and talked to Nick. He told me that skeletor was out of the library until 1:00 in the afternoon because he had a meeting. I took this as a good sign because the head librarian was also out until Wednesday because she was at a conference.
Not too long after I settled into my desk and got things up and running, we saw the Associate Dean of Libraries and one other official-looking person come into the library. They unlocked the head librarian's office and started setting things up for something, but we didn't know what. Shortly after monving a few things around, the Associate Dean came into the office and asked if I had a minute to talk with her. At that moment I knew I was gone.
I was ushered into the head librarians office where the Associate Dean proceeded to read slowly through the letter that told me exactly what I already knew: there were layoffs in the library system and one of the positions chosen for elimination was mine. After she got done with her deal, I got a talk from an HR rep who told me about rehiring rights (which may or may not be in effect because ASU just announced a hiring freeze that even affects jobs HR has approved). They both told me how sorry they were to let me go, thanked me for my service, and handed me a box.
When I came out of the office holding a box, it confirmed for Nick and Ali the very thing they feared: I was being laid off. I took the box back into the office and began going through my desk. It didn't take me too long to decide that they had picked a crappy box for me. The top didn't fit and the bottom looked like it would fall out. I decided that if I was leaving, I would leave in whatever style I might muster. So I pulled a brand new box from skeletor's stash and loaded my things into it.
At the time, I was trying hard not to think about what was happening. Nick and Ali on the other hand, were blown away. They told me how bad things would be without me and that they'd miss me. Nick told me he was envious of me in a way: I was getting out and getting paid to do it.
It took me a while to load all my stuff into the box and move all my files off the computer. There was a guy I had never seen before who was pacing back and forth, waiting for me to be done. I was afraid that, shame of shames, they would escort me off the premises. When I got all my stuff together, I said my goodbyes to Nick and Ali. I motioned to the guy that I was ready to go. He opened the door for me, told me he was sorry, and let me walk out alone. That was a sad, sad walk across campus.
Before I left, Nick and I took some time to dissect the situation. Skeletor said he was at a meeting at Hayden for half the day, but when someone from Hayden called for him, they were surprised to find that he was supposed to be over there. They didn't know anything about it. As for the head librarian's conference, we looked that up: the conference isn't until May. So basically both of the people who should've been there to give me the bad news intentionally ditched the opportunity. I thought that was classless, gutless, and completely normal thing for them to do. I've gotten used to the idea of them not wanting to deal with me in any way, shape, or form so having them shrug the responsibility of letting me go came as no surprise. I will say one thing: in a way I'm glad skeletor wasn't there. Nick tells me he was smiling when he found out I got pink slipped. I'm glad I wasn't there to provide him any opportunity for schadenfreude.
So where does this all leave me? Well, I'm on administrative leave for the next three months, which means I'm getting paid to not work for skeletor. That's the greatest thing I've ever been paid for in my life. During the next three months I'll have the opportunity to beat the streets and find a new job. It's not a bad deal as far as severance packages go.
I spent most of this week laying around the house and contemplating how lucky I am to have escaped that bad work environment. Megan asked the people at the balloon company if they're still hiring, and they are. I picked up an application yesterday and when she took it in today they decided to hire me sight unseen. They actually wanted me to start today, but the day was already half over and I was looking forward to getting some things done around the house. So tomorrow will be my first day working at the balloon company. They are allowing me to come in a little late on Mondays and Wednesdays so I can take my "Intro to Seminary Teaching" class, and they already know that I'll be looking for other jobs. They're fine with it. So yeah, things definitely aren't as bad as they seem.
All in all I was pretty happy to get laid off. I told myself after the meeting where they announced the layoff that if Megan had a job when it came time to lay people off I would be hoping and praying to be let go. So I am now free of the worst influence in my life and the greatest stressful factor in my life. This week felt like a fantastic vacation in many ways.
Anyway, I'll keep you posted on how the job hunt goes. I know this post is rambling and the grammar is atrocious, but I've just been banging it out. I needed to write this quickly and still say everything I needed to say. As always, Megan and I will be grateful for your thoughts and prayers. We aren't on 100% stable footing yet, but there's no way but up from here.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Catching Up
Sorry I haven't been writing lately. Things have been kuh-razy around here. I actually have only 15 minutes so I'm going to be pretty brief.
It's been hard to want to write in the blog when the only things in my head are paranoia and anxiety. It isn't the sort of thing I would want to read and it definitely isn't the sort of thing I want to write. But things being what they are, I have reason for concern.
The state of Arizona (greatest state in the union dontcha know) is officially in the terlet. I guess we don't have it as badly as California, who will be sending IOU's instead of tax refunds this year, but as far as this recession affects me it's pretty bad.
A couple days ago our governor was added to the Obama cabinet (I never really liked her all that much, but whaddaya do) and the lines of succession brought us a new governor, one who does not have a college education (I do not state this to imply anything about her intelligence, but I state it as a fact that may have bearing on her commitment to education). Our new state government, in an attempt to right the ship and get us out of the mess we're in, decided to let the heaviest part of the axe what cuts the state budget fall on education.
Yesterday every ASU employee received a frightening email from President Crow (you know him, he read my blog and emailed me about it once) detailing the possible ramifications of the proposed budget cut. Among the points he made, he stated that in order to cut the millions from the budget that the state would mandate, he might be forced to lay off another thousand or so employees (in addition to those who are already being laid off. We don't know yet who is getting the ol' pink slip, but the cuts would mean even more people would be going) and close a satellite campus or two. These are drastic measures and would certainly damage the stability of the university, not to mention my job.
We found out recently that the revised layoff for the library system has been approved. We don't know who's going yet, but everything has already been decided. Even if I don't get cut the first time 'round, who's to say I won't get cut the next time or how many rounds of layoffs there will be.
I don't worry about losing my job in the sense that it would be nice to not work here and get paid for 3 months. The part that worries me is the part where I would have to find a new job during the worst recession of my lifetime (thanks to years of corporate deregulation which lead to the creation of a bubble economy which has officially burst and lost every bit of air that it once held). These are not easy times. Megan was unemployed for 4 months before taking a job that wasn't as good as the jobs she is qualified for. I don't know how I would fare in this job market.
Anyway, it's a frightening time. I know that any day I walk in here I could be getting a letter from the university telling me that I am getting the ol' shaft. So forgive me for not wanting to write about this sort of stuff every day. I just try to keep my mind off it.
Thanks for remembering us in your prayers. We always need it.
It's been hard to want to write in the blog when the only things in my head are paranoia and anxiety. It isn't the sort of thing I would want to read and it definitely isn't the sort of thing I want to write. But things being what they are, I have reason for concern.
The state of Arizona (greatest state in the union dontcha know) is officially in the terlet. I guess we don't have it as badly as California, who will be sending IOU's instead of tax refunds this year, but as far as this recession affects me it's pretty bad.
A couple days ago our governor was added to the Obama cabinet (I never really liked her all that much, but whaddaya do) and the lines of succession brought us a new governor, one who does not have a college education (I do not state this to imply anything about her intelligence, but I state it as a fact that may have bearing on her commitment to education). Our new state government, in an attempt to right the ship and get us out of the mess we're in, decided to let the heaviest part of the axe what cuts the state budget fall on education.
Yesterday every ASU employee received a frightening email from President Crow (you know him, he read my blog and emailed me about it once) detailing the possible ramifications of the proposed budget cut. Among the points he made, he stated that in order to cut the millions from the budget that the state would mandate, he might be forced to lay off another thousand or so employees (in addition to those who are already being laid off. We don't know yet who is getting the ol' pink slip, but the cuts would mean even more people would be going) and close a satellite campus or two. These are drastic measures and would certainly damage the stability of the university, not to mention my job.
We found out recently that the revised layoff for the library system has been approved. We don't know who's going yet, but everything has already been decided. Even if I don't get cut the first time 'round, who's to say I won't get cut the next time or how many rounds of layoffs there will be.
I don't worry about losing my job in the sense that it would be nice to not work here and get paid for 3 months. The part that worries me is the part where I would have to find a new job during the worst recession of my lifetime (thanks to years of corporate deregulation which lead to the creation of a bubble economy which has officially burst and lost every bit of air that it once held). These are not easy times. Megan was unemployed for 4 months before taking a job that wasn't as good as the jobs she is qualified for. I don't know how I would fare in this job market.
Anyway, it's a frightening time. I know that any day I walk in here I could be getting a letter from the university telling me that I am getting the ol' shaft. So forgive me for not wanting to write about this sort of stuff every day. I just try to keep my mind off it.
Thanks for remembering us in your prayers. We always need it.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
The 30 Minute Drill
So I have exactly 30 minutes to fill you in on everything that has happened in our lives since last I wrote. Shouldn't be a big deal, right? Yeah, I thought not.
First of all, I'm sorry I haven't written. I've been sick, Megan's been sick, we've both been busy, I've been lazy, what more do you want from us? I know I should've written something about Christmas, New Years, Paul's wedding, the alien invasion that enslaved all of humanity, and Megan's new job, but I haven't. What can ya do?
So let's take the most important things first. Megan and I have a new little friend in the house. Megan's parents were nice enough to buy us the African Spurred tortoise we've always wanted. We named him Gamera after the tortoise monster from the Godzilla movies. He'll someday grow to be quite large and will eventually live in our back yard, but for now he's living in Turbo's old terrarium and seems to enjoy it. He's a lot more active and a bigger eater than Turbo ever was, which we're glad to see. We take him out of his terrarium every couple days and let him roam around. He seems to really enjoy it and he's super fast for a tortoise. It's nice to have a new pet in the house. Turbo really did leave a big void in our lives when he died and we're growing more fond of Gamera all the time.
Megan has a new job, but it isn't the job she would've wanted. She's working at the balloon store where she buys her balloons for twisting. She does a little bit of everything and so far it's been pretty hard work. They don't pay her a tonne, which is why we'll still be looking for better opportunities but in the short term it provides us with a little more financial stability and having that steady paycheck will make our monthly budget a little easier to balance. So hooray for that.
We were back in the old Gila Valley last weekend for Paul and Carrie's wedding reception. We got to stay with Uncle Gary and Aunt Betty, which was nice. They wanted to get to know Megan better so we obliged and let them feed and house us for a couple nights. Paul and Carrie's reception was nice, but it was nicer to be with the family. We had a lot of fun hanging out at Kimberly and Emmett's a couple hours before and after the reception. Kimberly's kids have definitely chosen Megan and I as the favorite uncle and aunt. It's only a matter of time before we get t-shirts and/or mugs certifying such, so we send our condolences to all those who competed and lost (Paul and Carrie, I'm talkin' to you).
Things are as uncertain here at my job. We might not find out in January whether or not our jobs are safe. The proposed layoff the dean submitted last week was denied and sent back to the drawing board. Apparently my coworker and I understand the Reduction in Force guidelines better than some of those big wigs. It doesn't surprise me. Now that Megan has at least a steady job that pays her some money every week, I'm a little less worried about losing my job. I've said it before: if I lose my job, I can pretty much guarantee it's a blessing in a not-too-clever disguise. I'll keep you posted as news comes in, but we still might not know in the month of January. Exciting, eh?
Well, my time is up. I hop you have enjoyed this rushed, semi-coherent jumble. If not, go stare at your mail box. A full and complete refund is on its way, I swear.
First of all, I'm sorry I haven't written. I've been sick, Megan's been sick, we've both been busy, I've been lazy, what more do you want from us? I know I should've written something about Christmas, New Years, Paul's wedding, the alien invasion that enslaved all of humanity, and Megan's new job, but I haven't. What can ya do?
So let's take the most important things first. Megan and I have a new little friend in the house. Megan's parents were nice enough to buy us the African Spurred tortoise we've always wanted. We named him Gamera after the tortoise monster from the Godzilla movies. He'll someday grow to be quite large and will eventually live in our back yard, but for now he's living in Turbo's old terrarium and seems to enjoy it. He's a lot more active and a bigger eater than Turbo ever was, which we're glad to see. We take him out of his terrarium every couple days and let him roam around. He seems to really enjoy it and he's super fast for a tortoise. It's nice to have a new pet in the house. Turbo really did leave a big void in our lives when he died and we're growing more fond of Gamera all the time.
Megan has a new job, but it isn't the job she would've wanted. She's working at the balloon store where she buys her balloons for twisting. She does a little bit of everything and so far it's been pretty hard work. They don't pay her a tonne, which is why we'll still be looking for better opportunities but in the short term it provides us with a little more financial stability and having that steady paycheck will make our monthly budget a little easier to balance. So hooray for that.
We were back in the old Gila Valley last weekend for Paul and Carrie's wedding reception. We got to stay with Uncle Gary and Aunt Betty, which was nice. They wanted to get to know Megan better so we obliged and let them feed and house us for a couple nights. Paul and Carrie's reception was nice, but it was nicer to be with the family. We had a lot of fun hanging out at Kimberly and Emmett's a couple hours before and after the reception. Kimberly's kids have definitely chosen Megan and I as the favorite uncle and aunt. It's only a matter of time before we get t-shirts and/or mugs certifying such, so we send our condolences to all those who competed and lost (Paul and Carrie, I'm talkin' to you).
Things are as uncertain here at my job. We might not find out in January whether or not our jobs are safe. The proposed layoff the dean submitted last week was denied and sent back to the drawing board. Apparently my coworker and I understand the Reduction in Force guidelines better than some of those big wigs. It doesn't surprise me. Now that Megan has at least a steady job that pays her some money every week, I'm a little less worried about losing my job. I've said it before: if I lose my job, I can pretty much guarantee it's a blessing in a not-too-clever disguise. I'll keep you posted as news comes in, but we still might not know in the month of January. Exciting, eh?
Well, my time is up. I hop you have enjoyed this rushed, semi-coherent jumble. If not, go stare at your mail box. A full and complete refund is on its way, I swear.
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