Since nobody is reading this...

I believe that there is nobody out there who will find this, so I'll write semi-candidly.  I realize that this isn't really a journal, so I won't announce anything that I wouldn't say in conversation.

I'm working now at a company that provides online educational content with support for K-12 through graduate level courses.

Needless to say, it's rather more corporate than I've dealt with in a while.  Previous employers may have thought this a poor fit for me and my "style."  But, it's not.  I think I fit in quite well in this environment.  While I was a student I worked part-time for the university doing computer stuff and at that time I didn't fit in quite as well.  In hindsight I think that had more to do with the environment at that particular job than with an incompatibility between me and large-ish corporate culture.

In fact, I'm quite adept at functioning within the odd sub and meta-cultures that exist among corporations.  I learn systems quickly and I understand that the "way we do things" exists for reasons that must be investigated from the perspectives of nearly every person involved in order to understand them.  I also enjoy the process of learning to participate in these procedural actions.  It's almost like being a part of something larger and accomplishing more together than I could alone.

Currently I'm reviewing a process that was invented and maintained by my predecessor.  It takes course data which has had large portions of the formatting removed by the "export" process and attempts to guess at putting it back in.  As anyone reading this might guess; my current assumption is that this should be changed.  If format loss must be undone, why not simply change the process to not remove it in the first place.  Well, the answer in the past was that it was impossible.  However, that is one excuse I attempt to never use.

And so - I'm writing a full documentation novel on exactly what I feel should be modified about the current process.  And, as is typical for me, it far overshoots the mark on what would technically fix the problem.

And now I need to get back on it.

Nobody knows

I've had the impulse lately to write in a blog, and since I have this one I thought I'd put it here. I've changed the name and everything to reflect my new theme - no theme at all.

I'm very excited to be done with school. I do have this strange feeling in the back of my mind that I'm not done for good, but I think I am. I have a final paper to finish, an Old Testament exam to take, and pretty much an entire on-line physics class to finish. I feel close. The physics is mostly just word problems like the classic two-trains one.

I think I have a finish-related problem. Whenever I'm close to the end of a project or anything like that I feel this strange desire to stretch it out, almost like I'm afraid of being done for some reason. It doesn't make sense. I feel lazy because of it. I feel like I'm not getting enough done purely because I don't want to get anything completed... I know I have a lot to do after I'm done, but the last step is always hard to make myself take. It's like that with my last paper. It's supposed to be about 10 pages. I have 8 and I know what I need to write to finish it. Why am I writing a blog instead? Because I want to understand why I don't feel like finishing this class, and I hoped that writing about my feelings would help them become clearer to me.

They're not.

I also have a project to finish for work that I am having trouble focusing on. I think that's a little different, though. For some reason when it comes to work and school my brain won't allow me to really focus on both. I can't even really switch between them. If I'm working on a project for work then I neglect my homework. If I'm working on homework I can't seem to add 1 and 1 for work. The simplest things become hard. I think these two problems might be related, but I don't know why or how.

My wife, on the other hand, is a master at finishing things (except food and diet coke cans).  She writes well and fast.  Well fast.  I envy her that.  She is so organized and I am trying hard to learn that from her.  I do my best to keep the house clean.  I've even started washing the dishes even before I'm done cooking.  That makes the food cold by the time we eat, but that's the sacrifice I make for cleanliness.  Unfortunately cleanliness is not the same as organization.  It's part, I'm sure... but whenever my wonderful wife cleans my office I feel like it becomes less organized.  I guess I'm not taking this cleanliness thing to heart.

But I digest...

I am going to finish that paper NOW!!!

Luke vs the Volcanic Cough

I've been feeling a little "coughy" lately.  It seems like it is a seasonal thing, which suggests allergies.  What I'm pretty sure is that it's a cough that's caused by a post nasal drip.  Again that seems to indicate allergies.  Whatever is causing it I wish it would stop.

I've read a bit about possible causes/cures on the Internet and I actually bought one of those weird "dump water through your nose" things... I think it's called a Neti pot.  Anyway - it's not a pleasant thing to pour water into your nose.  My reasoning?  Why would I do this?  Well, there are a number of reasons one develops a post nasal drip.  One is that there is simply too much mucus in the sinuses.  Another is a potential fungal infection.  A third is an allergy.  Since the problem presents itself mostly indoors and around spring/summer I am inclined to believe that it's an allergy.  Probably a dust allergy (it's easy to imagine me being allergic to the feces of dust mites).  For any of these potential problems a simple solution is to clean out the allergen/fungus/mucus with a wash.  We'll see if it helps.  I'm not sure it will, but I hope so.

My beautiful wife thinks I'm just over analyzing it.  I hope she's right and it's just a cough or whatever. 

I also ran across this video on YouTube. It's pretty cool, though has nothing to do with what I'm talking about.

Disregard

Luke's last post. He's crazy and doesn't know what he's talking about...seriously, I think he might be insane. Someone help me! Ah! jk. But seriously, disregard it entirely. We don't watch HGTV nor do we even live together. I don't know what he's talking about.

House...

I have been dreaming of one day owning a house. We (Brittany and I) watch the Home and Garden channel a lot and get bothered by all the people who seem to think that the colors on the walls are a good reason to not buy a house, or a good reason to buy one. There's a lot of shows about staging, which seems odd. There can't really be that many people willing to pay lots of money to get someone else to have all the fun of designing and decorating their house.

It's also difficult to dream about being able to change things in your own house and then not even having the freedom to fix things that need fixing. Our bathroom floors are kind of gross. They seem to get that way normally, but this is a little excessive. There is more to it than dirt. They are stained, torn and warped... a lot. Probably other stuff too. You'd have to ask Brittany to get a full list.

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Also I am a poor communicator. I keep blaming it on my wife and it's not fair. That is all.

My Wife: The Sweetest Thing

It's been a while since I've written a blog, and it's about time!

I dedicate this blog henceforth and forever to my wife. She is the best and her blogs inspire me to also contribute to the vast nothingness that is internet publishing. Hers is the brightest light guiding me in a sea of largely unimportant (and often inaccurate) facts, opinions and innuendo. Happily for me I understand her innuendo.

This semester has been unique. I have been (for the most part) very responsible about doing my homework and reading my assignments. Most of the time I only really do the first 10 or so reading assignments and only start my writing assignments 12 hours or less before they are due (often 12 or so hours after). This semester I have done nearly every scriptural reading assignment and about 90% of my writing was done more than 12 hours before it was due! This has had very little effect (I think) on how much I actually learned, but it has been more relaxing and less taxing on my mind. It's all because my wife inspires me. She's not perfect, but scholastically compared to me she is much much closer. She is also more creative than me, which is saying a lot since I am so creative. Ok, maybe it's only saying a little since I am at least a little creative. Either way I admire her writing a lot.

I love her.

She has had a difficult semester and I am so proud of her. She has worked hard and done (I think) admirably under the pressure of working full time as well as being a full time student. Lucky for me she has somehow also found time to be with me and make me feel like the luckiest man alive (which is only natural; since I am) to be her husband. She really is the sweetest thing. Brittany, you're the best and I think you're also the only one who will actually read this.

Here's to you! Cheers!

Concentration

Focus. Determination. Destination. Understanding. Clarity. Progress. Collection. Recollection. Consideration. Forethought. Organization. Plan. Goal. Score. Tally. Success. Afterthought.