Senior Operational Trainer – DENIED!

April 18th, 2011

This position was first listed on HRDirect at the end of February, nearly 2 month ago to the day. It was re-posted on Friday; I applied this morning.

I’ve wanted to teach, or be a trainer for more than 10 years. I became excited about the opportunity since, in February, the job was posted in error. I reached out to everyone I know in the office who could help and/or put in a good word. I also asked a few handfuls of friends and family members to pray for me to get the job.

About an hour ago I got an email that the position is no longer available. I think I’m going to scream!

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Money. (An Evernote from 05.12.2010)

April 17th, 2011

I don’t understand money, or the concepts of saving and spending. Finance, for me, is very emotional; I don’t think it’s supposed to be that way.

Money controls my life. I’m always thinking about what I don’t have, what I can’t afford, how much I could’ve made, etc. I don’t see a light at the end of this dreary tunnel of misfortune.

I don’t plan…anything, well maybe some things. I don’t plan how I’m going to spend money, and I sure as heck don’t [plan to] save! I did plan to graduate VWCC. I plan to go to Virginia Tech this fall. I “hope” to weigh 170 pounds. :(

I’m convinced that more money will equal greater peace of mind and happiness. With money, all things are possible. Money. Money. Money.

It seems so simple. Now, money is more of a set of numbers on a computer screen than paper and metal. I wonder if it loses value when it doesn’t seem real? Do I not understand money because I don’t handle it?

I’m not going to “What if?”. It’s not worth it. I will, however, plan to do some things.

A budget, the concept seems so easy: money in, money out. Period. Now you have a budget.

Money In
Where did the money come from?
How much?
When was it earned/received?

Money Out
Where WILL the money go?
How much will you allow/can you afford?
When was it spent?

Is it easier to earn more, or spend less? Spend less, right?

Why don’t I just spend less, and save more…or at all? I don’t understand where the “I Need This Now” feeling comes from. At times, I’m overwhelmed with the need/burning desire to spend money, and buy things. Hmmm.

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Diet Diary

April 13th, 2011

Earlier today a friend and I were discussing each others eating habits. We’re both trying to lose weight and taking two very different approaches to the same goal. He’s going the diet pill, heavy protein, no carbs (and no fruits and veggies for that matter), work-out-until-you-pass-out route. I’m going the Paleo Diet-ish and regular exercise route I’m not an official Paleo Dieter, but I use that philosophy as I think about what I’m going to eat. I use the rule if it were at one time living, it’s OK to eat, with as little processing as possible. (I’ll talk more about this later)

As he and I talked about our choices in food I thought it might help to share what I’m eating and how I’m approaching the task of losing 40 pounds. Below is the list of foods I ate today. I don’t know the exact quantities and don’t really care; I don’t count calories or weigh my food. I eat a modest amount of everything, and I try to snack (on what I have listed) throughout the day.

Breakfast

banana
peanut butter

Post-Workout Snack

large apple

Lunch

carrots
grapes
salad: iceberg lettuce, black olives, fresh mozarella (home-made, but not by me), cucumbers and sunflower seeds

Post-Work Snack

provolone cheese
raisins

Dinner

steak
onion
green peppers
rice

Not every day is this healthy, but I’m making a concerted effort. I put my lunch together in the morning before leaving to go to the gym. I’m up at 5:30am and try to be out the door by, or before 5:45am, so I don’t have much time. I use Rubbermaid Easy Find Lids containers because they’re reusable, they pack a tight seal, the lids stick to the bottom of the container, and I’m trying to be more Eco-Friendly. :)

Dinner is usually off the cuff. My wife and I start talking about the evening meal just before it happens. I’d like to have a meal calendar with breakfast, lunch and dinner planned in advance, but for now we just wing it. I’m planning to follow the Paleo Diet meal plan which will make some of my erratic preparation unnecessary and the task of food preparation much simpler.

Afterthought: the Paleo Diet (as I understand it) was championed by Loren Cordain, PhD. I bought his book and read it with vigor. I soaked up all the scientific explanations about how our bodies process food and how important it is to eat lean meats, fruits and vegetables. I’ve found some other websites about the Paleo Diet school of thought that I found useful:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleolithic_diet
http://paleodietlifestyle.com/
http://altmed.creighton.edu/Paleodiet/Foodlist.html
http://www.earth360.com/diet_paleodiet_balzer.html

After, afterthought: I’m also experimenting with sourdough (thank you, Mom); it’s not exactly Paleo, but it’s healthy and fun. :)

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Barefoot running, research.

April 13th, 2011

I’ve been reading about barefoot running for nearly a month and written about it before. It makes sense to me even without scientific evidence. I can easily believe that our ancestors (10s, 100s, 1000s of years ago) traversed their home terrain without shoes, so the idea of barefoot running seems logical. Of course, it helps when the scientific evidence that proves the barefoot running community is not intellectually challenged, as some have said. Enjoy.

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Music and how it’s changed.

April 9th, 2011

I’ve always loved music. As a young whipper snapper I remember sitting on the floor of my bedroom with a radio waiting for my favorite songs to come on. I would sneak cassette tapes from our family stash and put tape over the slots on top. This I learned from a friend allowed me to overwrite the pre-recorded contents with my music! When my song would come on I’d simultaneously press the RECORD and PLAY buttons as close to the beginning as possible. I would then listen through and hit STOP when it was over.

Times have changed, and dramatically doesn’t begin to describe these changes. I no longer have to wait, nor do I need Scotch and cassette tapes or have to deliberately overwrite content on ‘removable media’. We live in the digital age and music and information is freely and readily available. I thought back to those days sitting on my bedroom floor this morning as I drove to work. Instead of tuning my radio to a favorite station I simply unlocked my iPhone, opened my last.fm app and started playing “Shinedown Radio”. There’s no DJ and I can choose virtually any artist imaginable. The service aggregates music tastes among its users and then plays similar songs to the bands you like.

In the recent past, music was exclusively available stored on records, cassettes tapes and over the airwaves. The advances in technology have changed the music landscape in terms of its recording and distribution. Think Napster, Grokster, Kazaa, Limewire. I’m not advocating you illegally “file-share”, but what I am saying is that music is increasingly prolific. A more legal approach would be over-the-air music distribution via live-feed like Pandora and last.fm.

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