On July the 31st I started a new job in downtown Charleston. I am working in Information Technology which is probably no surprise to you. I was pleasantly surprised when a previous supervisor contacted me in the later part of July and asked me if I was available to give her a hand where she worked. When I was told that I would be working in the mainframe world I immediately told her that I did not have any experience in that part of I.T. My ex boss told me that she was sure that if anyone could learn something new quickly that I was the man for the job. So, before I know it she offers me a six month temp position and told me that it could very well turn into something more permanent. I was faced with working security 20 hours per week or get a substantial raise and work 40+ hours per week in a computer operations center. It took me all of 20 seconds to accept the position.
My contract ended in Moncks Corner when I worked as a network engineer for Systemtec out of Columbia SC. From June 23rd until the third week of July I was busier than a one armed man in a wind tunnel hanging paper trying to find a new job. My preference would have been full time with benefits but you have to walk through whatever doors are opened to you at the time. The whole month of July really messed up my schedule. I went from working 8 am to 5pm to whatever crazy hours the security company would give me. I worked mostly evenings but then wound up working some midnight shifts which really screwed up my sleep cycle.
For the last sixteen years I have worked in I.T. doing some type of pc/lan/wan/network support and most of the time the Network Operating System has been either Novell Netware or Microsoft Windows. I have always worked around the computer operators that maintain the BIG IRON mainframes. So, when I entered into this role I was already feeling like a fish out of water as I learned all the many different commands that I had to use while editing and printing and running jobs on the main frame. Open VMS is the OS of choice where I am working now and apparently it has been around a very long time.
My first two weeks were very stressful because my boss has high expectations that I will step into this role and pick up whatever skills I need very quickly so that I can be a resource for her in this department. I look back now and I remember that on the very first day I wanted to leave so many times it was not even funny. Probably the only thing that kept me there was a deep seated need for a regular paycheck that would help pay my bills and keep the toy fund alive. On top of my having to learn a completely new OS and understand the many tasks that happen on a daily basis in the Ops center I also entered into a less than perfect working environment. All I can say is that there was and still is some underlying tension between certain folks within our group. My hope and prayer is that those issues will be worked out very soon and that everyone can be a team member and we can all get our jobs done and get along while we are doing it.
Why must there be drama in the work place? I am a man working in a predominately female work environment. Usually it is the other way around however the roles have been reversed on me. The other day I was in a coworkers office and she laughed when I told her about the drama that I was having to listen to on a daily basis. This lady told me that she would much rather work with a bunch of men than with a bunch of women because the drama can be rather thick at times. I also have a friend of mine from church that works in an office with primarily women and she tells me all the time about the bickering and backstabbing ,rumor mill and drama in general. I just want to go to work and get the work done and then leave at the end of the day and forget about it all. I love technology because it allows me to solve problems. I also love technology because it changes all the time and it forces me to learn now things, like open VMS. There is not a day that I go to work that I don't learn something new and interesting.
Justin and Kristina went back to school this week at Berkeley County schools and Katy went back to her teaching job in a Charleston County school. Life as we know it is back to normal. We all scatter to the winds around 7 am each morning and then we come back together as a family unit in the late afternoon and early evening hours. Justin is in 5th grade and Kristina is in 8th grade. Thus far both children have been AB Honor role students for the last several years so I am pretty happy about that. Justin is in the gifted and talented class which means that he is taking advanced subjects of study for his age. GO KIDS GO. Get that education that you desperately need to survive in this world.
Back in May of this year I got serious about losing weight. Ok, let me correct that. I got serious about trying to do something about losing weight. Thus far I have not been very successful at that goal. I have lost ten pounds and then I will put some of it back on and lose it again and well, you get the picture. I have a 10 lb weight range that I keep taking off and putting back on. One of the things that I did accomplish was to get my blood pressure under control. Imagine that, there are benefits to regular exercise. I went from having a 140/90+ bp to 110/70 bp. That in and of itself is worth all of the exercise. I have been educating myself on counting calories and exercising. My body has been educating me about overdoing things as well. I have been using the treadmill for 20 minutes and the elliptical trainer for 20 minutes every other day and then hitting the weights. At first I was using too much weight and the trainer there told me that I needed to do less weight and more repetitions so I can tone my muscles and not build them. Muscles are heavier than fat and that was one of the things causing me to gain weight instead of lose it.
My left knee and right shoulder have been complaining to me for the last two weeks. So, thanks to the pain I have refrained from going to the gym. I finally went back to the gym today and figured out that my right shoulder does not like the bench press. As of tonight my right shoulder is not very happy with me. I am thinking it probably has something to do with my rotater cuff since it only hurts in the joint when I move it a specific way. Thus far my left knee is not hollering too much. I am going to stay away from the weights and stick to the tread mill this week. I am going to try and go early in the morning before work around 6 am. Starting over is my motto. Every day I start over learning how to eat less food, better food, less junk food and getting the right type of aerobic exercise for my heart. My focus is on living healthier more than just losing weight. If I can keep my focus right then the weight loss will come eventually. At least that is the game plan for now...
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