2011, A Whirlwind of a Year, A Whirlwind of Change

Posted on January 2, 2012
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Wow! It has been a LONG time since I have updated this blog and in that time there has been TONS of changes in my life! I guess the only way to actually get into this story is to start at the beginning of the year and take things chronologically so without further adieu….

January 2011 – Working on finishing up my internship with the Technology Department at Bloomington School District 87. I’ve been here since November of 2010 and have been enjoying this leisurely break-in to a new career choice from my last career of Ironworking. I spent 22 years as a Union Ironworker and this new career path (Information Technology) is a complete paradigm shift from busting my rear end in a rod patch somewhere. Here at D87 I am being exposed to numerous technologies that I probably would not be exposed to in my future jobs and I really wish I could stay at D87 but this is not to be. There are no positions available for me here so I am busy working on finding a real, permanent job with better pay and benefits.

February 2011 – First and foremost was the birth of our grandson on Feb. 15th! This little bundle of joy (did I say little? He was 10 lbs. 11 oz. and was 2 weeks early!) is the joy of our lives right now. It is an amazing feeling to hold my grandson (and it is a close second to the feeling of holding my son and daughter). Am very proud of my daughter and son-in-law and wish them all the best!  Still at D87, still loving it, still finding new things to do here although it is very slow paced and at many times boring. Am helping out with the SIT conference this year and that is quite interesting. In case you don’t know, SIT (Students Involved with Technology) is a conference held in numerous cities in Illinois for students in Illinois K thru 12 grades. It is staffed by teachers and volunteers and this year there were over 500 attendees. It was great to see all these kids eager to experience new technologies and express an interest in learning more about IT. I also applied for a position at Integrity Technology Solutions as a PC Technician with their Country Companies team. With regret I gave my two weeks notice at D87.

March 2011 – Started my new career with Integrity Technology Solutions. This is a totally new experience for me as I am now working in a corporate environment for the first time ever. So with that being said, I’ve had to learn to be very careful of what I say, where I say it, and whom I say it to. That is a constant problem for me as those of you who know me know that I usually am quite adept at speaking my mind. This is a lesson that I am learning though and will strive to not make mistakes in this department. The rest of the month consisted of learning about my duties at Integrity and continuing my schooling at Heartland.

April 2011 – Watching my grandson grow exponentially every week as Jean watches him on Monday and sometimes on Thursday evenings while our daughter attends school. This is a great way for my wife and I to experience grandparenting first hand and I highly recommend it to anyone who has the opportunity to do so. They grow up so quickly and you don’t wish to miss a thing!

May 2011 – Started trying to get my garden tilled and ready to be planted. I’m way late on this but don’t have access to a tiller so it will have to wait until I get a tiller or can borrow one as I am not going to till it by hand this year. Am trying to learn more about this Open Book Management that Integrity utilizes as their business plan. Seems like a good thing and it allows us to earn bonus’ each quarter according to the entire company’s performance. Open book management shows each employee exactly what is being spent where in the company and allows us to take a pro-active stance on making a difference on the profit margin. I’ve also started training in the Depot and Receiving area of our Country Companie’s team at work. I’m excited to learn this aspect of work but not so excited to be moving from the installs and replacements as I’ll be stuck in the office and not making trips to the outlying buildings.

June 2011 – My 50th birthday, another milestone in my life. Jean surprised me with a party in which numerous of my friends were able to come. We had cake and burgers and hot dogs and best yet was that I did not have to cook! Thanks to my son and son-in-law for taking care of that chore for me and for helping Jean out with setting this all up. I also was able to pick up a cultivator for the garden and finally got it planted. Better late than never I guess. Next year I’m starting in March! Work has picked up a huge amount lately. I’m definitely not going anywhere from the receiving end of work right now as we are just too busy and are short handed as we have had a PC Tech transfer to another department at Integrity. Jean has undergone surgery on her ankle and will be in a boot for at least 3 months after she gets the cast off in a couple of weeks. The doctor did not find as much damage as expected and had her in surgery less than we thought. I’ve taken a couple of days off of work in order to take care of her and then Nikki will be over to help out as well. Life is just plain busy!

July 2011 – Jean is out of the cast and in the boot with a knee cart to help her be mobile. She still has some pain but it is being controlled via medication and her recovery is going well. She is hoping to be out of the boot by the time that school starts and it seems as if she just might make that deadline. July 4th is always a good time for us. We went to Jean’s aunt and uncle’s house in Clinton as they always have a big blowout. Lots of fireworks, food and booze and they are in town as well! Basically there is an unwritten agreement with the locals that we don’t cause problems and behave ourselves and they will leave us alone. However, this year one of the neighbors decided to throw his own bash without clearing it with those same authorities and this caused the premature ending of our celebration. Hopefully this will be worked out by July of 2012. More work but it should be slowing down soon I hope.

August 2011 – Jean is out of the boot! That is great news. She got out of the boot and then her, our daughter, our grandson and our son-in-law all took a vacation to Florida WITHOUT ME! How rude is that? Work is finally slowing down a bit, just in time to start back to school for what should be my last semester of college. With any luck I will be getting my degree in December 2011 finally. I is a collage gadiate (well not yet but soon!).

September 2011 – Ok so I’ve decided to drop one of my classes and just focus on the required coursework. I just don’t have the time between work and school to do both classes and homework. I don’t really need the DMED class anyway so it is going to go away. Jean is busy at work and watching Bug (our grandson) a couple of time a week. She is also taking other trips to see him and his mother pretty much once a week or so to help out. Finally getting some crop out of my garden (a few ears of some VERY small corn and some beans). Next year I will get the crops in earlier and take better care of the garden. Jean’s ankle is healing up nicely and I’m getting ready for bow season to start up. Hoping to get a deer this year but even if I don’t I’ll still enjoy just getting out in the timber.

October 2011 – Well work slowed down only to have a major issue crop up and now it is super busy again. Without going into detail we basically had to recall about 1500 desktops and laptops and replace them ASAP. This has made a major headache for me as we have had to re-write some protocols that we utilize at work. It is a work in progress and I’m certain that it will all work out for the better. I really miss going out “in the field” and doing the installs and replacements. Oh well. Jean and I also went to the Poconos for our anniversary this year. That was an experience all of it’s own and a subject for a separate blog post in the near future. Suffice it to say that it was an interesting experience and for the most part enjoyable. By the way, in case I have not stated it lately, I love my wife!

November 2011 – Work, class, grandson, son, wife, daughter and then turn around and do it all again. Mike is looking for a different job so hopefull he will find a permanent position soon. Right now he is looking into temp agencies.

December 2011 – Tis the season, for Christmas, not for shopping. I have issues with the commercialization of Christmas and it usually shows around this time of year. Hopefully I will get over that sometime. We had a good Christmas and I got a present I was not expecting (a Kindle Touch). Got Jean a Keurig and of course Bug got LOTS of toys LOL.

Basically that was 2011 in a nutshell. It’s not complete and please forgive any omissions such as our trip to visit Tish and Marty on the river and the trip to the Balloonfest in Lincoln, IL. Maybe those will be for another blog post soon. Until then, have a great year in 2012 and don’t look for the world to end in December of 2012 (I’m not a proponent of Mayan Doomsday prophecy). God bless…..

Jack

Change can be a good thing…..

Posted on April 8, 2011
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Well I’ve been working at my new profession for just over a month now and I’ve begun to notice a few key items. I’m not certain if this is true for all people or even for most but I am certain that it is true for me and my experience with Integrity Technology Solutions. I have to admit to some degree of trepidation when I was first hired on with ITS. I was not certain if I would be happy working in an environment that I have found myself in or if I would soon become bored with what my duties turn out to be. I had not worked any iron since November and even then I had not worked enough iron in the last year to justify trying to eek out that existence much longer. Face it people, I’m not getting any younger and the ironworker profession was getting tougher and tougher to handle both physically and financially. So with that thought in mind I turned towards my second love, computers.

My first leap into the tech world came with my internship with District 87 Schools in Bloomington, IL. A very exciting time for me considering what all the different technologies I would be exposed to. Unfortunately, even though I loved working there, I would not be able to make it a career due to the lack of full time positions available there. They just simply could not create a position for me especially since this was a negotiation year for the teacher’s union. Being a union member myself I clearly understood the dilemma and went into the agreement with both eyes open. The other thing about D87 was merely their lack of actual work for an intern to perform. Yes, I did work there but it was not the type nor the quality of work that I had expected. Basically I was able to set my own hours within reason and could take what time I needed to get personal work done. So I spent 3 months performing various duties without the luxury of actually making much difference to the network of D87. Can’t say as I blame them a whole lot as I would not turn loose a green intern on my network either. Just too much risk involved there! So anyway, since I knew there would be no chance at a career at D87 I looked elsewhere.

This is where ITS came into the picture. I had interviewed with a few other companies over the last year but always with little success (the exception was D87, thanks Jim!). ITS called me in for an interview and was extremely positive with me and made me feel at home. There was some trepidation with my friends at D87 as there had been some issues with Integrity Schools but I was assured that the two companies were separate from each other while still sharing some managerial resources (payroll mainly). So shortly after my first interview I was contacted for a second interview and then a third interview to visit the site I would be working at to see if I thought I would fit in. This job is not about in-depth diagnosis and repair as much as it is maintenance of existing leased systems and managing the turnover of those machines that are going off of lease. There is some components of repair if the systems are within certain parameters but the majority of my work is changing systems out and the paperwork that is connected with that.

This surprisingly enough seems to work for me as it allows me to get “out in the field” to meet other people and to do “hands on” work on systems. Also it will allow me to gain some more certifications which I will begin studying for sometime in May (my HP certs). I enjoy working with my co-workers and to this date they have all been quite helpful and friendly. I have also made a few observations concerning the nature of my own personality and my employment.

While I was ironworking I portrayed a very rough and rugged lifestyle that I believe reflected a portion of my likes and abilities that was mainly physical in nature. I have always been an outdoorsy type who enjoyed a good physical challenge and very much liked to test my own metal so to speak. Ironworking allowed me to do all of that and more. It allowed me to face many of my fears head on and to overcome them. Fears that were both physical and mental in nature were presented to me on almost a daily basis on the job. Ironworking is a VERY physical and mentally challenging field as well as being extremely dangerous in spite of OSHA’s attempt to make it safer. That being said, it must also be noted that it is largely a profession for the younger, more in shape generation. That is not to say that older men cannot perform in ironworking. Quite the contrary. Most of the more aged ironworkers however are relegated to the less physical aspects of actually running a crew by relying on the intellect and experience of that person. But when a person find himself in the financial straits that our current economy places him into, one must go back to the roots of his profession and perform physically in a manner of a younger person. Competing with a younger generation. Quite frankly I am tired of hurting from the years of abuse I’ve put my body through by doing just that.

This pain that I have been constantly carrying with me the past 5 years or so has caused me to be irrascible and what one might call a curmudgeon. I quite often found fault in others that I feel I would not have actually capitalized on if I had not been in so much pain (and stubbornly did not medicate). With this new job I am in much less pain and as such I have found myself to be a much more agreeable person (at least I think so!). I have found that I have a much less dreary outlook on my life and the struggles that we are facing as a family. That I am much more positive when troubles crop up and rear their ugly head. I even dare to say that my son and I are actually getting along better (not a whole lot but remember I said something about positive outlook?).

The people that I am working with seem to be quite helpful and understanding about me changing jobs. They appear to be happy with my work and my work habits. The work is not extremely challenging but it does keep  me busy (especially when I am doing receiving or depot work) and as such the time goes by quite quickly. I have opportunities to expand my knowledge and gain certifications within the I.T. field that can do nothing less than make me more marketable and valuable to the company.

Yes, I can truly state that change can be a good thing. I can also state that without God blessing me and my family these changes just would not come to pass. I really am not concerned if you agree with that statement or not as each person is allowed to think and to worship (or not worship) in their own way. I can only attest to what I feel has happened in my life and what has been behind that change according to my perspectives. I give all the credit to the Lord and thank Him for his generosity.

Well folks, that’s all until next time. Feel free to comment all you wish. Have a wonderful day!

Jack

Students Involved with Technology Conference

Posted on February 18, 2011
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I was privileged to have been a part of a very special type of conference last Saturday morning (February 12th). The Students Involved with Technology (SIT for short) conference is a conference featuring all aspects of technology that is conducted by kids for kids ages 3rd grade through the 12th grade. Where this is brought to the kids through various school districts (District 87, DeKalb, Charleston, and others) as well as Heartland Community College and ISU, the conference sessions are conducted by the kids themselves for the most part. Some of the topics that are covered range from televised broadcasting (the kids create a mock newscast), usage of a robotic arm, making an flashing LED button, understanding World of Warcraft, and just about anything else the kids wish to teach as long as it concerns some type of technology. As part of the incentive for attendance and for the presenters various gifts are awarded throughout the course of the day. The extremely interesting portion of this conference is that the content is kid-generated which means that the interest level is usually quite high and the sessions are well attended.

This conference originated in Bloomington, IL twelve years ago and has since grown to most of the state of Illinois. This was a fabulous opportunity to see how much technology plays in the education of our children and not just in the entertainment of them.

Here’s some highlights for you to enjoy:

These times they are a changin’

Posted on February 6, 2011
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Where to begin? Looks like 2010/2011 is going to become one of the most turbulent years of my life recently. I have taken some pretty huge steps to ensure that I can make a successful and eventful life change by starting my journey into the “white collar” end of a career instead of continuing within the “blue collar” job choice I had been following in the last 20 years. I am currently in my 3rd month of an Information Technology Internship with District 87 Technology through Heartland Community College. Where this is not necessarily a required element of my degree (as I have already taken a level 200 technology course with takes the place of a required internship) I decided to take on an internship to provide me with some much needed “professional” experience. I emphasize “professional” only to make it known that although I have a lot of experience, none of it is within the business realm that companies are seeking verification through. I am not complaining though as the employer that I’m coupled with (District 87) is on the cutting edge of technology in the state of Illinois. This company is highly vested in such technologies as wireless, SaaS, Virtual Machines, Cloud computing technology, and others as well. District 87 has also been designated as one of only three (3) data centers for the educational community in Illinois. Now the issue I have with D87 has nothing to do with the employees or the management. No, instead it stems from our current economy and the fact that due to the economical atmosphere we currently find ourselves in they cannot hire on any new full time employees. That is unfortunate as I really do enjoy working here.

However, I also have been actively seeking employment the entire time I have been working at D87 (and for many months before my employment as my regular readers will surely recall). I am happy to say that there could be some light at the end of the tunnel. Although I don’t wish to tip my hand at this time, I have had two (2) successful interviews with a local company that provides PC Support for a large local company (among others as well). Hopefully I will hear from this company by the end of this week about whether or not I will be working for them on a permanent basis. This is a huge move for me as it means more money but best of all, benefits!

Now, even though these things seem to be great blessings in my life the best is still yet to come. My daughter went into the hospital last Friday afternoon with what eventually turned out to be Pre-clampsia (sp?). It started out as just high blood pressure but they have had some issues on getting it under control and keeping it there. So after spending 24 hours in the hospital they stabilized her BP and did a urine study then sent her home with orders for bed rest and to take it easy on the sodium. She goes back to the doctor on Tuesday and he basically told her that unless she goes into labor prior to 2 weeks time he is likely to induce her then. So, looks like I’ll be Grumps in about 2 weeks people. Now doesn’t that sound like a load of fun waiting to happen? I think so! Looking forward to my first grandson to arrive so I can spoil him silly and teach him things like hunting, camping, canoeing and all of the other woodcraft that I know.

Now I’m wondering exactly what else life has in store for me in the upcoming months? Only time will tell…. but I know that with my wife, my family, our small group, and God on my side it will be both uplifting and rewarding.

God bless!

Christmas Dinner (Fire Roasted Rib Roast – Bone in)

Posted on December 24, 2010
Filed Under Family, food, Uncategorized | Comments Off

My lovely wife bought me a new wireless thermometer for doing the Christmas dinner with this year. This is my first attempt at using this thermometer and hopefully it will turn out as good as it sounds! I’ll add pictures later on….

Wireless Thermometer that Jean bought me

Bed of potatoes

pre-seared roast

The finished Rib Roast. Done to perfection!

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