What day is this again?

I'm at Mom's going through my mountains of stuff. The paperwork is making it's rounds on the new job, so all I can do is wait. I plan to head to Phoenix sometime around the 15th. That plan is very tentative, though. My start date at the new job is either the 22nd or 29th of April.

I landed at Mom's last Saturday on her birthday. I said 'great birthday present, huh? Your 50-mumble unemployed daughter shows up at your doorstep looking for a place to stay." She takes it all in stride, though. She feeds me and gives up her bed for me to sleep in. I would sleep in the recliner, but the fight to change her isn't worth the energy.

Before I leave I want to swap out one of the 10'x20' storage units for a 10'x10' one. The jeep is no longer in storage so I don't need at much room now. Even when my stuff gets here from Honduras I won't need that large a unit. So, maybe today or tomorrow at the latest I'll go see the manager and see what he can do for me. I'm getting a good deal on that unit as it isn't cosmetically as nice as his others, being one of the older units. Mom used to work for him when he first opened, and he knows I pay up several months at a time, so he really works with me.

Yesterday I went and started the process of sorting the things in the jeep unit as there isn't as much in that unit. Today I'll go and pack back up all that I unpacked yesterday in a way that hopefully makes it easier to find what I want. I am getting rid of some things, but not as much as I need to. It's a process for me. I have at least a week to get more organized, do my taxes, get the jeep serviced, and pack up to leave.

Now for something completely different...

I'm not in Chicago anymore. I just couldn't handle the job, the situation, anything about what was going on. My boss and I parted on good terms, I think. I have never walked off a job with no notice and no job to go to. Then again, I've never been in a similar situation as I found myself in there.

Today I accepted a job in Phoenix. If the background check comes back clean, and it should, I will head to AZ in a few weeks. If nothing else, my life is now not boring.

I Passed

I passed the final of the three classes to be certified in whatever it is I'm doing now. I still am not sure I can handle the full job physically, or what I'll do in the warehouse, but I guess I'll find out starting tomorrow. Everyone is still finding their way in this new company.

Chicago is way too cold. If the weather doesn't break soon I will need to hit the stores somewhere this weekend and find more warm clothes. I have some with me, but I need thicker base layers (long johns to those of us a bit older) and a warmer jacket. I did find my winter hats/beanies and gloves, which should help.

No real time or opportunity to do much that is interesting. When it warms up I want to get out more into downtown. However, the idea of heading to Navy Pier in 20-30 degree weather doesn't do much for me. We did go out last Friday night and get some great Chicago pizza. The guys liked it, but I don't know if anyone is up for it again. I'm getting really tired of fast food and so I hope we move to someplace with kitchen facilities soon. There are some interesting looking ethnic and Asian super markets around here, but with no stove or fridge I don't even want to go in and look yet.

And so the adventure continues.

More of the Same

This past weekend I ran back down the Nashville so that Monday morning I could go into the Codes office and get the last permit. The inspector worked with me and made the permit more wide open to things that might need to be fixed once the other inspections are complete, as well as making sure that the person doing the work for me can get permits in my name if I'm not there. I drove back to Chicago yesterday after taking care of that business, and the weather cooperated so I made good time. I'm still in the hotel with the questionable internet, so I'm not online much. This is driving me nuts, so some solution will have to be found soon. The upshot is that I'm fine, if frustrated, and the house in Nashville will be on the market by the end of the month (hopefully) so that frees my money up a lot. That in turn frees me up a lot. Then I can make some more life decisions.

Ping Pong

That's what it feels like I'm doing, ping ponging around. Right now I'm back at Mom's place for the weekend. I need tools and more winter clothes that are in storage here in MO, and I need to store some of the stuff I had with me. Now that I have a (slightly)smaller target to hit with what things I need I'm here to organize a bit. It is early so Mom is still asleep in the living room, so I'm on the computer catching up. I do miss having my desktop computer. I just thought I might keep my biggest laptop with the 17" screen with me after all. My eyes just don't do well on the smaller screens as my primary computer. The wireless at the hotel where we've been staying has been spotty, so all in all I haven't been spending much time on-line.

I went through rain last night on the way in. I'm hoping it gets rid of all the snow and I don't have to see any more for the foreseeable future. I took my time and stopped a lot on the way and while I was tired when I got here, I am able to be up and about early today. This is good as I need to drive back to Chicago tomorrow for another class on Monday. A couple of the guys in the group just came in from Afghanistan, so I'm in awe of their ability to make the temperature transition. The guys who will be up on the towers and roofs will be working this weekend if the weather cooperates, so I hope it at least warms up for them. I can see that I need to start working out to strengthen my back. The good thing is that as I'm moving around more and lifting (mostly my stuff in and out of the Jeep at this point), the soreness doesn't last as long. Each morning I'm ok again, even though I'm stiff and sore at night.

All in all it is an adventure. Very different than most of what I've done before. It is a new company so there isn't a lot of structure right now. It is a mix of younger guys and a couple of us older ones who have been around this kind of thing before. I'm sure there will be things to work out. For once there is another female, and she will be in class with me next week. She is cool, and has a lot of stories to tell from her time in the military. Neither she nor I are much used to working with other women, so that is something we will work out.

As for why Chicago, that is where I am told they need me. I murmured about going to Seattle, but the main boss said he needs me in Chicago. Turns out I worked with him in Honduras as well, so he knows me. Maybe once this site is up and running I can move around a bit. It is all a work in progress.

Chicago It Is

I am in Chicago, and it would seem I'll be here for awhile. I'm working for the same company I worked for in Honduras, but a different contract. So far I've been in training this week, and I managed to pass the final test for the class. That gets me more training next week.

I need to head to Mom's to change the stuff I have with me as I have way too much in my Jeep, and I don't have some things I need. I need more winter clothes! Chicago got snow all week, which I had managed to avoid up until I got here. I remember why I moved south! I don't need 'interview' clothes as I will be employed at least for awhile now.

So far, so good. The only down side is that my internet access is spotty. I'm working on that so I can update more often.

Meet the new boss...

Same as the old boss. My conracting company has signed me on to get training in Chicago starting Tuesday. I started wrapping things up here in Nashville by getting a permit to tear off the front deck, and starting the process of getting a permit to build a landing back. Next up is packing up and finding room in the Jeep for not only all the stuff I brought out here from Mom's, but also all the stuff I bought to be able to live in the vacant house. I won't be getting back to Mom's in the near future to off-load the things I don't need and pick up some of the stuff that has since arrived from Honduras that I'd like to have with me, but I'll make do. I'll be living out of hotel rooms for as far out as I can see right now.

It has been good to be back in my house for a few days. Even if it is snowing right now. I managed to avoid snow for most of 4 years, but it has caught up with me. Hopefully it will be gone by the time I leave here to head north on Monday morning. So far everything is working out better than I could have thought possible.

Catching up with myself

If I do not get this down about the steps I've already taken I won't be able to figure it out later so bear with me.  I flew out of Honduras on Friday February 15 and mom picked me up at the airport late that night. I spent Saturday and Sunday doing things for Mom and packing for Las Vegas.  Monday morning I flew out to Las Vegas for 5 days. I had fun but didn't win much money. Late Saturday mom picked me up at the airport and we went back to her place. All day Sunday I kept hearing about a bad snow storm was going to hit sometime Monday, so I threw everything that I had mailed from Honduras into the Jeep and made a run for Tennessee. After being at Moms place for less than 24 hours I drove all night and hobbled into my friend Turtleladys house around 7:30 the next morning.  A couple hours of sleep and some good strong coffee and conversation I headed to my house in Nashville.<p>

Some of this sounds like I'm typing in strange sentences it is because I'm also playing with the voice recognition app.  It doesn't understand me a lot :).<p>

So I am possibly looking at a career change and need to be in Chicago at some unspecified time or I need to be in Seattle a week from next Monday.  I may find out which today or tomorrow.  One job has constant travel and so I am looking for a very lightweight travel trailer.  My Jeep is a base model Wrangler and won't pull anything too heavy.  An older class C would be nice but I probably can't afford one that is reliable enough.  If any of you know of any deals let me know. <p>

I'm learning my phone as I go here as I never much texted or phone posted before.  I don't seem to have a comma for instance so forgive the absence of appropriate punctuation.  Once the voice recognition app gets me trained I'm sure I'll post more often.

Testing email posting

Trsting to see if this still works.

Real Life

So, it is back to real life for me now. I did not win my retirement in Vegas. I did manage to stick to my budget (the money I won in slots while in Honduras). I'm in Kansas City, and I'm looking at a huge storm heading this way. I need to get the heck out of here and go to Nashville. I haven't driven in winter conditions in about 4 years, so I really need to get going.

I am coming to terms with the fact that back here I am no longer in the 1%. No one at the hotels calls me by name, servers get testy with me when I make (to me) reasonable requests, my clothes don't fit the weather, and I don't automatically earn points with strangers when I say where I live. Back to fading into the background and being boring. Consider that fair warning. Those who considered me boring when I lived in Honduras, well, I guess there is little room to fall. :)

I'm getting data working on my fancy phone, learning to text message, learning that I have hot water at all the sinks here, and I can make coffee from the water at the faucet. I throw my clothes into Mom's washer and dryer and have clean dry clothes in an hour or less, rather than doing the hand laundry I did in Honduras. My Jeep will need gas today, and suddenly the gas prices Mom is always talking about get more interesting to me. After spending so long packing things up to get back here I find the fact that Mom is looking at the ads in today's newspaper to see if she 'needs' anything to be a strange idea. Heck, a newspaper I could actually read is strange to me.

So, in about 12 or so hours I'll head east as fast as my Jeep can haul me, and figure if there is anything I need that I don't have with me I can go to a Goodwill or other thrift store and get whatever it is. Not sure what I'll find at my house since I haven't seen it in a year and a half.

The adventure continues.