So, Julie is out of town for a while.....She left early this morning to go to OK to spend time with her grandma, aunts, and madre celebrating her grandma's bday. She's excited......Tuesday she heads to Wichita Falls for work and finally she is back home Thursday night.....so, we'll be spending lots of time apart - since I was in San Antonio Monday - Thursday last week.
I already miss her which is crazy:)
Last week - I was in San Antonio for training which was fun.
I had a busy day on Monday getting geared up to head out of town for 3 days, so I had a lot of last minute stuff I had to finalize for work. The plan was to leave around 4 that afternoon to head for old SA......did that work out? Not so much.
I got a call to head out to Nolan to a wind farm, they had a bunch of stuff to get rid of and needed someone there that day. So, I headed that way thinking I'd be out there for about an hour - my bad.....I was out there for 3 1/2 hours - It was a great meeting though and well worth my time but it delayed my trip to SA by almost 4 hours. I finally got on the road around 8pm.....putting me in SA at midnight - it was a long.....LONG drive. I dang near lost my voice because I was singing so loud to stay awake. I'm not kidding......I stopped more than I ever have on that drive (once in Brady, then in Mason, then again in Fredericksburg) because I was so tired.
but, I made it....got about 4 hours of sleep, got up and sat on my butt for 9 hours for training.
I hung out with my parents and got to eat some great food at Pappadeux Tuesday night - I love that place. Julie doesn't really like seafood so I jumped all over the opportunity to stuff myself - almost to the point that I was sick - full of fish....Man....Abilene needs a Pappadeux!
Wednesday night I went with the group to eat at Iron Cactus on the riverwalk......we were trying to eat and get out of there so we could all go back and study for our presentations the next day - that didn't so much happen. We sat down about 10 minutes after a 40 person table sat down....man - we were there for about 2 1/2 hours. Management felt bad so they said they'd give us a 30% discount - which he later corrected and said he'd give us $30 off. My food was good - had fish tacos but it wasn't worth waiting that long....and we didn't even have dessert.
But, Thursday was a beating. There were 9 of us in the class and each one had to get up in from of the class and pretty much do a full blown sales presentation with the teacher as the customer. I was glad when it was over.....We all did good but it was brutal. We didn't get down until about 2.....and then it was FINALLY time for lunch......I eat WAY too much and too often to wait that long to eat.
So we went to Alamo cafe before everyone went their different directions.
My day went from good to bad pretty quick. My mom sent me a text message and said Mamaw wasn't doing very good and was back in the hospital. She was having a hard time breathing (she has emphysema) and once she got out of the hospital she'd have to live in an assisted living home.
Then, I went to get some coffee with a few high school friends, and my good friend I've known for about 10 years told me she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. I was heart broken.
So, I finally got out of SA about 4 pm and back to abilene around 8ish.
Now....I'm here....hanging out with the dogs.....which, we had a rough start to our time away from mom....Boomer got in the trash - ate about 5 tortillas, some salsa, and who knows what else....has had bad gas ALL day long (I swear it smelt so bad I thought he sharted...no joke)
but, they finally calmed down and are back to their lazy selfs - thank goodness - i didn't want to put a for sale sign on them and let them start walking the streets only hours after Julie left:)
That's about all she wrote....I have 2 HUGE appointments on Tuesday so hopefully those will go well.
Please keep my grandma (Mamaw) and my friend in your prayers. They both definitely need them.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
and...he's....back
Wow - i just realized how long it has been since I've posted a new blog. Thank you ALL for being so patient...haha...by ALL i mean....the 2 that actually read this blog! haha
Things have been so incredibly busy with life and work....well, mostly life. Over the last 2 months i've been hustling and bustling, just trying to get to see current customers as well as pick up some new business. It's going great and I still love my job. I'm working long hours but I know it will pay off in the long run.
A few stories from my travels:
A few weeks ago I spent the day in San Angelo (well...that's pretty much every week) but this drive home was definitely....interesting to say the least.
I'm jammin in the "Short Bus" (that's my BRIGHT yellow, GMC Astro's nick name), probably listening to talk radio (as usual) when a single cab toyota tacoma passes me. I didn't think anything of it b/c people typically pass me (short bus doesn't have cruise control - so i typically drive 75 mph but will, without realizing, slow down to 65.
So, we're cruising a long when all of a sudden, he gets really, REALLY close to the guard rail in the left lane. He gets back on the highway and off he goes again. So i start watching.....the dude is completely....and utterly HAMMERED out of his mind. It was obvious. He would go from lane to lane, and even from ditch to ditch (no joke.) After about the 3rd time he ran off into the ditch I decided to call the cops. The operator answers the phone, ask where I'm at, and what type of vehicle it was, yada yada...then says, Sir, you're the 5th person that's called about this vehicle. Holy wow!! That's a lot. Unfortunately we just entered Runnels county from Tom Green county so it took them a while to get someone out there.
I counted.....he was in the ditch 10 times and in the median (almost going into oncoming traffic) 9 times.....we lost 2 highway signs that day......and finally 4 police cars come hauling butt down the street....and he pulled over.
It was unbelievable - it was only 2:30 in the afternoon and this guy could have killed some one.
I'm totally surprised he did not flip his truck since he would hit the ditch/median driving about 75mph.
So, that was a fun day and made the trip home go by pretty fast.
What else - not a whole lot. Julie and I, Jeff and Hayley, and Katie and Donnie all went to the rodeo last weekend and had a blast. typically the fair is packed (which it was) which means parking is a pain. So, being the smart guy I am, I parked in the first spot I saw....come to find out, it was the furthest parking spot from the entrance - which would typically be no big deal except the fact that there were about 100 parking spots between where we parked and the entrance....I swear, I need a water break and a nap before we got to the entrance.....then, my bride had the great idea of going out the south entrance b/c it'd be closer....oh no....we walked like 10 miles.......after eating a lot.......it was not a pretty sight.....haha - we probably walked eleventy billion miles that night - no exaggeration:)
But, we did have a great time....Jeff and the crew left so Julie and I hung out with my co-worker Brent, his wife Tiffany, and their 3 (almost 4 according to her) Mallory the rest of the night. She was a blast - wanted to ride everything, telling her dad she didn't get scared on the roller coaster, and having a ball!!
I toned it down a notch this year as far as food goes for the fair - last year I was miserable - here's my list (and i'm sticking to it)
1) Fajita burrito
2) Cheese fries
3) Funnel Cake
4) Dr Pepper
That's it - I'm not kidding.
On another note, I'm playing softball again this season......which is fun except the fact that we've played 1 game out of 3.....the others have been rained out...which they just tack on to the end of the season...so we might be done with this season in January.....2010 or something like that.
The game we did play, it actually rained about 2 hours earlier......i don't think i've mentioned this but we had a bit of a mesquito problem late August......they were bad....frickin everywhere....and did you know that when you add water and humidity - they get WORSE!!! So we all hosed down with off and what not - but oh no...it didn't help....not at all....those suckers were out of control!!
It was not fun playing in the outfield that night - but hey - on the other hand at least we won our game - oh wait...no we didn't!! but, we only lost by 10 - it was a close one:)
Julie and I did go to the ranch a few weekends ago - man...I love that place.....It's so relaxing.
Saturday Mike, Barbara, and I went to Archer to load the feeders with corn which I thoroughly enjoyed. I got the crap bit out of my by a fire ant - and not just any fire ant but the ones that are HUGE!! They look like mini horses - no lie - that sucker hurt - I cried...not really - but it did sting for about an hour.
Then we ate at the Wildcatter in Graham - Julie has pics on her blog - it....was.....AWESOME...great food, great atmosphere, great scenary - I loved it.
That my friends is all for me. I promise, for the "It Is What It Is" faithful, i'll try to do a better job updating you on everything.
Things have been so incredibly busy with life and work....well, mostly life. Over the last 2 months i've been hustling and bustling, just trying to get to see current customers as well as pick up some new business. It's going great and I still love my job. I'm working long hours but I know it will pay off in the long run.
A few stories from my travels:
A few weeks ago I spent the day in San Angelo (well...that's pretty much every week) but this drive home was definitely....interesting to say the least.
I'm jammin in the "Short Bus" (that's my BRIGHT yellow, GMC Astro's nick name), probably listening to talk radio (as usual) when a single cab toyota tacoma passes me. I didn't think anything of it b/c people typically pass me (short bus doesn't have cruise control - so i typically drive 75 mph but will, without realizing, slow down to 65.
So, we're cruising a long when all of a sudden, he gets really, REALLY close to the guard rail in the left lane. He gets back on the highway and off he goes again. So i start watching.....the dude is completely....and utterly HAMMERED out of his mind. It was obvious. He would go from lane to lane, and even from ditch to ditch (no joke.) After about the 3rd time he ran off into the ditch I decided to call the cops. The operator answers the phone, ask where I'm at, and what type of vehicle it was, yada yada...then says, Sir, you're the 5th person that's called about this vehicle. Holy wow!! That's a lot. Unfortunately we just entered Runnels county from Tom Green county so it took them a while to get someone out there.
I counted.....he was in the ditch 10 times and in the median (almost going into oncoming traffic) 9 times.....we lost 2 highway signs that day......and finally 4 police cars come hauling butt down the street....and he pulled over.
It was unbelievable - it was only 2:30 in the afternoon and this guy could have killed some one.
I'm totally surprised he did not flip his truck since he would hit the ditch/median driving about 75mph.
So, that was a fun day and made the trip home go by pretty fast.
What else - not a whole lot. Julie and I, Jeff and Hayley, and Katie and Donnie all went to the rodeo last weekend and had a blast. typically the fair is packed (which it was) which means parking is a pain. So, being the smart guy I am, I parked in the first spot I saw....come to find out, it was the furthest parking spot from the entrance - which would typically be no big deal except the fact that there were about 100 parking spots between where we parked and the entrance....I swear, I need a water break and a nap before we got to the entrance.....then, my bride had the great idea of going out the south entrance b/c it'd be closer....oh no....we walked like 10 miles.......after eating a lot.......it was not a pretty sight.....haha - we probably walked eleventy billion miles that night - no exaggeration:)
But, we did have a great time....Jeff and the crew left so Julie and I hung out with my co-worker Brent, his wife Tiffany, and their 3 (almost 4 according to her) Mallory the rest of the night. She was a blast - wanted to ride everything, telling her dad she didn't get scared on the roller coaster, and having a ball!!
I toned it down a notch this year as far as food goes for the fair - last year I was miserable - here's my list (and i'm sticking to it)
1) Fajita burrito
2) Cheese fries
3) Funnel Cake
4) Dr Pepper
That's it - I'm not kidding.
On another note, I'm playing softball again this season......which is fun except the fact that we've played 1 game out of 3.....the others have been rained out...which they just tack on to the end of the season...so we might be done with this season in January.....2010 or something like that.
The game we did play, it actually rained about 2 hours earlier......i don't think i've mentioned this but we had a bit of a mesquito problem late August......they were bad....frickin everywhere....and did you know that when you add water and humidity - they get WORSE!!! So we all hosed down with off and what not - but oh no...it didn't help....not at all....those suckers were out of control!!
It was not fun playing in the outfield that night - but hey - on the other hand at least we won our game - oh wait...no we didn't!! but, we only lost by 10 - it was a close one:)
Julie and I did go to the ranch a few weekends ago - man...I love that place.....It's so relaxing.
Saturday Mike, Barbara, and I went to Archer to load the feeders with corn which I thoroughly enjoyed. I got the crap bit out of my by a fire ant - and not just any fire ant but the ones that are HUGE!! They look like mini horses - no lie - that sucker hurt - I cried...not really - but it did sting for about an hour.
Then we ate at the Wildcatter in Graham - Julie has pics on her blog - it....was.....AWESOME...great food, great atmosphere, great scenary - I loved it.
That my friends is all for me. I promise, for the "It Is What It Is" faithful, i'll try to do a better job updating you on everything.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
i'm pooped
It has been a long....long week....but it has been very good.
There's a lot of good stuff happening right now with work...which makes me happy.
We've had a lot of work done around our house as well. Since our last electric bill was OUT FRAPPIN RAGEOUS - we decided it was time to get some A/C and attic work done.
We met with the guy on Monday (which, come to find out is married to a good friend of mine from college - it's a small world....especially in the Abilene bubble) He said it might take a little while for his guy to start working on it....crazy enough they were here the next day and got all the work done. They added a "fan deal" in the attic as well as about 10 vents in the siding of our house to help cool down the attic. He also added some other vent deal to the front of our house that we did not even notice - it blended in so well.
Yesterday they came and blew in better insulation in the attic since the crap we have up there right now is just that....crap.
Saturday they're coming out to finish the project....Peep this, apparently there's an air filter in the unit up in the attic as well. Well.....someone.....we have no idea who or when....took the filter out and left the filter cap completely off - which means that the unit was pulling in dust, dirt, HOT AIR, and who knows what else from the attic into the ac unit - with no way to filter it all out....which means that our coils are probably all jacked up (that's the technical term.)
So that's what they're doing saturday - cleaning that coil as well as leveling out the compressor outside (which looks like it's about to fall off the containment)
So, we started Monday, and in 5 days, we'll have a much cooler, more energy efficient house. Isn't that special.
Any who. Apparently I caused a lot of chaos when I left California Friday. They couldn't handle seeing me leave so they tried to bury the state in the ocean with the earthquake. That was the craziest thing ever.....If i would have been there just 4 days later, i'd experienced the whole thing since Santa Ana is only about 30 miles from LA. That's whack - makes me count my blessings though.
Tomorrow is my cousin's quads 1 year bday - I cannot believe it! They're so big and time has gone by so fast. Seems like yesterday Julie and I were visiting them in the NICU.....I wish we could go to the party but we'll be celebrating one of Julie's friends weddings......yippee skippy....another one bites the dust
There's a lot of good stuff happening right now with work...which makes me happy.
We've had a lot of work done around our house as well. Since our last electric bill was OUT FRAPPIN RAGEOUS - we decided it was time to get some A/C and attic work done.
We met with the guy on Monday (which, come to find out is married to a good friend of mine from college - it's a small world....especially in the Abilene bubble) He said it might take a little while for his guy to start working on it....crazy enough they were here the next day and got all the work done. They added a "fan deal" in the attic as well as about 10 vents in the siding of our house to help cool down the attic. He also added some other vent deal to the front of our house that we did not even notice - it blended in so well.
Yesterday they came and blew in better insulation in the attic since the crap we have up there right now is just that....crap.
Saturday they're coming out to finish the project....Peep this, apparently there's an air filter in the unit up in the attic as well. Well.....someone.....we have no idea who or when....took the filter out and left the filter cap completely off - which means that the unit was pulling in dust, dirt, HOT AIR, and who knows what else from the attic into the ac unit - with no way to filter it all out....which means that our coils are probably all jacked up (that's the technical term.)
So that's what they're doing saturday - cleaning that coil as well as leveling out the compressor outside (which looks like it's about to fall off the containment)
So, we started Monday, and in 5 days, we'll have a much cooler, more energy efficient house. Isn't that special.
Any who. Apparently I caused a lot of chaos when I left California Friday. They couldn't handle seeing me leave so they tried to bury the state in the ocean with the earthquake. That was the craziest thing ever.....If i would have been there just 4 days later, i'd experienced the whole thing since Santa Ana is only about 30 miles from LA. That's whack - makes me count my blessings though.
Tomorrow is my cousin's quads 1 year bday - I cannot believe it! They're so big and time has gone by so fast. Seems like yesterday Julie and I were visiting them in the NICU.....I wish we could go to the party but we'll be celebrating one of Julie's friends weddings......yippee skippy....another one bites the dust
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
California and what not
I know, it's been a frappin' long time since I've posted anything.....I know...you're very sad because you don't know what's going on in my life....I know....i stink at posting......dah well.
It's been a crazy hectic few weeks. Feels like I've been here, there, and every where.
Right now I'm in Santa Ana, California!! The weather here is awesome. Low to mid 80's during the day and low 60's at night. I got here late Monday night and leave Friday morning around 9:30 Pacific.
Here's the link to where I'm staying at:
http://www.hiltonorangecountycostamesa.com/
My wife is super jealous - she loves the Hilton hotels. It's a pretty swank place. I'm on the 6th floor, have a balcony, 2 queen beds, etc.
The first night was a little rough. I get here and pretty much every hotel you stay at...especially when your company is paying for it....require you to put down a credit card - hold out about 75-150 bucks on that card - just for incidentals (ie, buying movies, long distance phone calls, or you burn down the place) No big deal - I kind of expected it. Well - all i carry is a debit card, which means it actually comes out of your account until you check out.
So, the dude checking me in, says we need a card for a $75.00 incidental fee. No problem - here's my debit card......then preceeds to say - what happened....called a manager over to take a look....and said it's no big deal.....he then says, my mistake, I acidentally charged your ENTIRE stay to your debit card....So instead of $75 it was....wait for it....wait for it....$625 bucks.....out of my account.......wowza......I said that was not ok - I'm not rich....I don't have 600 plus bucks just chillin' in my account for YOUR mistake. The manager comes back over and says...well, we can't do anything about it tonight because our accounts payable department is gone for the day - AWESOME...so we had negative bucks in our account.....good thing i had a little cash or i wouldn't be able to do anything.......Luckily - they got it taken care of the next day - still very frustrating.
I'm in training, actually learning about the products we sale - which is awesome - that way i actually know what I'm selling and how to talk to customers about it. It's pretty good stuff!!
I think tomorrow after class a group of us are going to chill at the beach - that'll be fun.....I didn't bring any t-shirts (IDIOT), so I'll be "That guy" possibly going to the beach in swim shorts and a collared shirt - that's hot.
Work has been extremely busy which is good - because busy = money in the life of a sales rep. I'm learning a lot and trying to continue my training all the while selling. It's a jugling task but when you're dealing with complicated stuff like hazardous waste - you have to know what you're doing.
I can't wait to get home....I miss my wife...and dogs....but it has been a nice break from the stresses of my job. I just wish Julie was here with me....She'd love it.
Each morning I get up around 6:00 am - go out to the balcony to drink my cup of coffee in shorts and an undershirt (since I'm an idiot and didn't bring t-shirts) and actually get a little chilled...it's pretty cooliolio.
It's been a crazy hectic few weeks. Feels like I've been here, there, and every where.
Right now I'm in Santa Ana, California!! The weather here is awesome. Low to mid 80's during the day and low 60's at night. I got here late Monday night and leave Friday morning around 9:30 Pacific.
Here's the link to where I'm staying at:
http://www.hiltonorangecountycostamesa.com/
My wife is super jealous - she loves the Hilton hotels. It's a pretty swank place. I'm on the 6th floor, have a balcony, 2 queen beds, etc.
The first night was a little rough. I get here and pretty much every hotel you stay at...especially when your company is paying for it....require you to put down a credit card - hold out about 75-150 bucks on that card - just for incidentals (ie, buying movies, long distance phone calls, or you burn down the place) No big deal - I kind of expected it. Well - all i carry is a debit card, which means it actually comes out of your account until you check out.
So, the dude checking me in, says we need a card for a $75.00 incidental fee. No problem - here's my debit card......then preceeds to say - what happened....called a manager over to take a look....and said it's no big deal.....he then says, my mistake, I acidentally charged your ENTIRE stay to your debit card....So instead of $75 it was....wait for it....wait for it....$625 bucks.....out of my account.......wowza......I said that was not ok - I'm not rich....I don't have 600 plus bucks just chillin' in my account for YOUR mistake. The manager comes back over and says...well, we can't do anything about it tonight because our accounts payable department is gone for the day - AWESOME...so we had negative bucks in our account.....good thing i had a little cash or i wouldn't be able to do anything.......Luckily - they got it taken care of the next day - still very frustrating.
I'm in training, actually learning about the products we sale - which is awesome - that way i actually know what I'm selling and how to talk to customers about it. It's pretty good stuff!!
I think tomorrow after class a group of us are going to chill at the beach - that'll be fun.....I didn't bring any t-shirts (IDIOT), so I'll be "That guy" possibly going to the beach in swim shorts and a collared shirt - that's hot.
Work has been extremely busy which is good - because busy = money in the life of a sales rep. I'm learning a lot and trying to continue my training all the while selling. It's a jugling task but when you're dealing with complicated stuff like hazardous waste - you have to know what you're doing.
I can't wait to get home....I miss my wife...and dogs....but it has been a nice break from the stresses of my job. I just wish Julie was here with me....She'd love it.
Each morning I get up around 6:00 am - go out to the balcony to drink my cup of coffee in shorts and an undershirt (since I'm an idiot and didn't bring t-shirts) and actually get a little chilled...it's pretty cooliolio.
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