16
Oct
So in my search to simplify my life I have been thinking about my online life as well. It is a lot more complex than it needs to be. Right now I maintain some of presence on a wide range of sites even beyond social networking sites. Mind you this is just my personal life and none of the work related stuff that I do. In short I have been making a list of everywhere on the web that could be seen as a responsibility, if you use the word loosely, and coming up with thoughts about each one. I figured I’d post the and my thoughts here so I have a point of reference.
First off I have this little corner of the web where I can post lengthy pieces wherein I pontificate and ruminate on various topics. The length of my posts is generally longer than what is allowed in a Facebook post. Even with my absences at various times I have an established presence here that I wouldn’t have any other place. Through various iterations this blog has been around longer than most of my children and due to that I do have some emotional attachment to this particular virtual establishment. In the end I would probably give up everything else before I let go of this URL and this server. Then there is the fact that I have complete control of this site and it is my leased server. So I will keep this around and actually try to write more. Of course I think I mentioned this in my first post back after my recent and extended absence.
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19
May
Well it’s been a long damn time, again, and not I am trying to figure out where to start catching up and there doesn’t seem to be a good single place. So if this is scattered I ain’t apologizing.
My last job was fun and I generally liked everyone with which I worked but one day someone dug around the web and found my joking on Twitter about feeling “stabby” and took that right to HR who then looked around and saw me mention that the company meeting needed clowns and a midget (which I still insist that it did) and I got a talkin’ to at the end of which I had to promise not to say disparaging things about the company and not to be threatening to my coworkers via social media. This is all in spite of my never mentioning anyone with which I worked or even the company name. All they had was admission that it was, in fact, my Twitter feed that had been reported. This was also in spite of the fact the internal method of communications, a secure IRC solution known as SILC, was full of pr0n links and threats worse that someone feeling “stabby”. I left that meeting feeling violated to be completely honest. They had found 4 things in over 3,000 tweets that, taken completely out of context, could be even remotely upsetting to them and jumped on me over them. I felt like I had been ogled by a biker who had prison-bedroom eyes and wasn’t taking no for an answer.
My response was to lock down my Twitter feed and all but drop off of the internets for fear I might offend someone at work and have to go visit with HR again. It was probably overkill (better be careful using that word too) but it’s how I handled it. Without any outlet I got way stressed out and this spiraled out of control in to me not talking about anything to anyone.
Well one day I got a call from a friend about a job. A beautiful new job. A higher paying better job. So I took and left the old one behind. For the first time in my life I did it right. Proper notice, worked until my last day, made nice with everyone and didn’t once give a piece of my mind to anyone who might have deserved it. I am on my third week at the new gig and no-one here gives a damn about my blog or social media so I am starting to loosen the hell up and get back in the swing of things. As usual I won’t be mentioning my employer ’round these parts because I honestly think it is better that way but I am back dammit…
24
Jan
So while the network is down here at the office (I am tethered to my ‘droid phone) I thought I might mention where I have been and what I have been up to lately. In short: nowhere and nothing. I have been soul searching these last couple of weeks sort of quiet contemplation if you will. My life is mess but I don’t want to whine about. It’s been a mess for a long time and I have whined about it for long enough without really fixing anything. What I have been contemplating is how to fix all the crap I want to fix about my messed up life. In doing this I have pretty much disappeared from the web. I haven’t been tweeting much, posting on 9b or posting here. I have come up with some plans and will most likely use this space to flesh them out. I want to chronicle this so that succeed or fail I have a record of the process. I think here will be better than my notebook as I can type a lot more than I can write (my hand cramps up pretty quick these days). I may need a little more time to put everything in a logical progression but I am alive and well and will begin posting again soon. I think I may post a skeleton tonight or tomorrow and see where it goes from there. Re-defining your life is a long process and that’s what I need to do right now. Obviously I don’t mean changing the base but changing myself to better reflect that base. A lot of thought has gone in to this so I think it will take more than a post or two to sort it all out…
7
Sep
I spent today thinking it was Monday. This means the project I agreed to present on Thursday really only has one day for me to be ready. This makes me less than happy on a couple of levels but not nearly enough to abate the excitement left over from last Thursday. I have two posts on 9B out of it and a ton if video! And to top it off some great plans for this coming weekend. I wish I wasn’t posting from my phone so I could toss you some video love but woe and alas you will have to wait for that.
We started school today but there’s not a lot to report. The clan is going to take time to get used to being able to learn and explore their freedom. I am excited about the process and think that soon I will be posting a lot of “check out how cool my kid is” posts.
I am optimistic about everything at the moment and for no good reason. It’s actually kind of neat.
Someone recently pointed out to me that I have a rather drama filled life although through no fault of my own. In recent weeks I have been laid off, failed to have all of the help I needed come through, had a kid disappear for hours and ended up involving the cops, had my dad in the ER with random pain, and most recently discovered that there is no way in hell I can make the Suburban Home Records anniversary party that I have been planning to attend for about a year. I guess that’s more than one person’s fair share of drama and most of it was nothing I could have done anything about. I, like most people, tend to talk about the bad stuff more often than the good stuff mostly due to the fact that what stresses us is what is on our mind. So today I took a look around and tried to find some good stuff in my life and not surprisingly there is plenty. The funny thing is that I am an advocate of finding the good in life and concentrating on it. Recently that has been a real bitch for me because it seems that things are just piling up with no end in sight. This affects my attitude overall and more to the point what I post here and on Twitter. So please forgive me if I have become a soap opera as of late. I really didn’t mean to go down that road.
On the upside my ex-wife has moved back to Houston. That’s a good thing because she already came and got the kids. They will be staying with her for a week and while I will miss them they need a better relationship with her. She’s not real close to us but it’s under an hour drive with no traffic to their place. She, in the past few years, renewed her relationship with her father and they are living in the same triplex as him. So the kids, Anna and Aoghdan, get to develop a relationship with him as well. There’s still the issue of child support, which I could really use right about now but she has never paid it so it’s not like I have come to expect anything from her. She has matured over the years and I am stoked that the kids will finally get to develop a relationship with her that isn’t just a few weeks in the summer. I really don’t have any hard feelings towards her and everything in the past stays where it belongs so this is a very good thing.
I also have made a commitment to be more involved in the kids schooling. This won’t be easy for me but it will be bad ass for everyone involved. It means that I have to not just fall on to the couch when I get home but rather go over the day with each kid and find out what they did, how it went, where they need help and what they are interested in learning. You see we are also dropping a set curriculum and go with unschooling. I used to think that unschooling was an excuse for lazy parents but having read up on the practices and ideas behind it I think it’s a better way to do things. I think the kids will take some time to adjust as will Michelle and I but in the end I think it will be a much better way to teach them what they need to know to get into college and function as adults. I am actually very excited about doing this!
I also recently acquired, or will be acquiring, enough hardwood flooring to do the living/dining area of the house. This means that all I have to buy is the underlayer and can lay it in probably a weekend. It’s a lot of work but that means we are less than a couple of months away from being able to have people over the house again for dinner and parties. We haven’t been able to in a long while and it drives me nuts. I will be so happy when we get it all fixed up. Believe me it’s a long road but there’s light at the end of that tunnel.
So there’s some good things that are going on in my life at the moment. There’s more but I think that’s enough for a Friday post. If you know anyone who wants to fund my going to Denver with the wife in about two weeks please send them my way. It’ll be the first time her and I have ever taken a vacation without the kids. I know it’s a long shot at this point and am not getting my hopes up but maybe one of my readers is wealthy or five of them have sixty bucks sitting around and want to see me and the wife be able to take our fist vacation. Not much of a bleg I know but I figured it couldn’t hurt to give it a shot.
Since I am probably not going to Denver I will be making a Suburban Home mix tape over the next little while and posting it some time in the future so keep your eyes open…
