Today I patched the second hole in the garage that leads into the basement. This hole was sealed better than the first and I believe this is because there was nothing to simply press against the hole. The board that was covering this hole (which I identified as an old cutting board) was screwed flush to the wall and behind it was a piece of mesh screen, presumably meant to assist with keeping out rodents. This was a nice precautionary measure that was not present on the first hole. This patch went quicker than the first for a couple of reasons; first, there was no sink to move out-of-the-way, and second, I was able to apply the lessons learned from the first patch. I am very pleased with myself for being able to take care of some things around the house on my own, and I am very happy that I continue to learn new skills. There are a couple more issues I need to address in regards to patches in the garage, but these two were by far the most pressing and I am happy they are completed.
Category Archives: Ed
A Verbal Offer
Today, at the end of a team meeting, I (and hopefully my colleagues) received some very good news from my manager. My manager told me that I was officially coming on board as a full-time non-contract employee of the company! Based on the success of the last three months and what seems to be a good fit with the team and the company, I was hoping for this outcome. Though my teammates had told me that they wanted me to stay and felt that I have been a great asset and addition to their team, I did not want to get my hopes up. Needless to say this verbal confirmation has taken some stress off of me, though I am still waiting on the official offer letter from human resources or staffing. I am looking forward to this new leg of my career and the challenges and rewards it will bring, both personally and professionally.
Third Anniversary Celebration
Melissa and I were able to celebrate our third anniversary today! The day started off with her picking up an additional 2.5 hour shift at work, which is always a fun way to celebrate. Afterwards though, we went to Emagine Theater to enjoy Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2, which was very enjoyable. Afterwards we took a trip down to Dundee to partake in a wine tasting and customer appreciation event at St. Julian’s, and to pick up our quarterly wine shipment. The event was a lot of fun, there was music and food provided by EJ’s Gourmet Street Cuisine. We had never had food from EJ’s before, but I can’t recommend them highly enough now! Their kielbasa and mac and cheese are hands down the best I’ve had, we may have to track them down in Ann Arbor to have it again! Once we finished at St. Julian’s we then went to Bed Bath and Beyond to get new dishes and a few other things; then we went home and relaxed with some television. While we didn’t do anything glamorous, we did enjoy having a day to spend together. I look forward to many more days with you Melissa. Happy Anniversary, I love you.
Third Anniversary
Happy third anniversary to my beautiful wife! Unfortunately we both worked over 12 hours today and didn’t get to celebrate, or even see each other much, it was still a good day with the time we did have. I am very grateful to have you in my life! This past year had it’s ups and downs, but we have come through stronger and we will continue to grow together for many more years to come. Thank you for all you do, for helping me to be a better person, and for loving me through it all. Here’s to many more years my love!
Sink and a Hole
We have a sink in the garage that has come in very handy from time to time, particularly after doing any type of yard work as I can wash my hands out there before going into the house. However, this sink has also always had a slight problem, it leaks from the faucet. Today I attempted to fix that problem along with patching a hole that has been in the wall next to this sink since we purchased the house. The hole was an interesting issue as it was clearly something the previous owner had cut into the wall to access the basement. It had been poorly covered with a loose board that was held in place by pressure from the sink cabinet. Once I got the sink moved out I was able to successfully patch the hole. The sink faucet is a different story… Once I got the old faucet removed and replaced with the spare that I found it turned out the spare also leaks. If the faucet is turned off there is no problem, it just means I will need to get a new faucet and revisit this project a second time. I think when that happens I will also look to add water shut-off valves that will only be for this sink, as opposed to the current configuration which turns off water to the basement utility sink and the washer in addition to this sink. I learned a good bit over the few hours that I worked on this project and I am looking forward to putting that knowledge to use when I patch the second hole in the garage (yes, they made two!) that is near a hose spigot that also needs work. Oh the joys of home-ownership.
Stomp!
In the early 1990’s I was made aware of a percussion show like no other that I would follow off an on via television performances, and later video clips online, for over twenty years. The infusion of percussion, dance, and even comedy made it an ever-present member of my mental list of theatrical events that I hoped to someday see. That show is Stomp, 
and today that 20+ year-long item has been removed from the list! Today Melissa, Kylie, and I all went out to the Wharton Center and watched an amazing show like none other I have ever seen. The interaction with the audience and the comedy that stemmed from it is something that I completely did not expect, and added to the enjoy-ability of the show immensely. I am overjoyed that I was able to see this show, and even more so that it was so enjoyable for Melissa and Kylie as well. The Wharton Center is rapidly becoming one of my favorite venues as well because there is basically not a bad seat in the house. I highly recommend both the venue and this show to anyone that has the opportunity to partake in either.
Party for a Cause
Tonight is the annual Woodhaven Police Unity Tour fundraising party. The Police Unity Tour is an event that raises awareness for law enforcement officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty (more information on their website). My friend Nicole’s brother is a Woodhaven Police Officer who, with other officers, participates in this great event. Each year he throws a party to help raise funds that go towards various things ranging from donating to the families of officers in his community that have lost a family member, to helping to fund his participation in the tour, and the general donation to the tour. It’s a great cause and it is a really fun night. This will be the second year that we are attending, and I believe this is now officially a tradition as I do not see us not going to this event in the future. We are really looking forward to a fun night ahead of us!
Contract Begins
After a number of setbacks and delays due to various reasons, today was finally my first day at AAA! I was honestly starting to think this day was not going to come. Everyone I’ve met so far has been very friendly and seem like they will be easy to work with. It is certainly going to take me some time to learn my way around the building though, as it is much larger than I had realized. I should rephrase that, I knew the building was large I just didn’t realize that the entire thing was all AAA. My last position was also in a large building, but we were one of many companies in the building, that is not the case here. I will also need to go shopping, as I now will be required to wear more business dress than business casual clothing. This mainly means that I need to go get myself a couple of pairs of slacks, as I currently do not own any. Additionally, I am going to have to adjust to the amount of noise, or rather the lack of noise, here. Even though there is a very large call center right below my current cube, which overlooks the main first floor walkway, and the call center is composed of many short walled cubes, the amount of background noise from conversations is minimal. I attribute that to the approximately 6 foot high cubicle walls that I am now surrounded by, which is also something I will need to get accustomed too. As far as first days go, it was decent but odd. Typically the first few days are spent going to orientations and going over various policies and such, but I was able to jump right in and attend meetings with my team. I still need to get all my access to systems and applications straightened out, but I do not expect that to happen in the first week. If I am 100% honest, this atmosphere and environment type is not my first choice, however, it is certainly manageable. This will be a good opportunity for me, and I think that I genuinely bring a lot of value to the team. I guess we will have to see how the next three months go to know though. In either case, it was really nice to back in an office and contributing to a team again.
A New Beginning
Today I verbally accepted a position to work for AAA – The Auto Club Group as a contractor through Insight Global. I’ll be working out of their headquarters in Dearborn. The job functionality will be pretty much the same as I was doing in my previous roles, that being of a Storage Engineer. I already know that my skills will be an asset to this team, particularly as they are already looking to implement something I suggested to them in my interview that should help improve performance of one of their arrays. The atmosphere is more corporate than I have been used to for the last few years, but similar to my previous environments at Thomson Reuters. It will take me a moment to adjust, but I have no concerns there. It’s a three-month contract to hire position, which is something I have never done before. The first three months are basically a trial period wherein either party can decide it’s not working and end the contract, with the expectation that if all goes well during that time I will then be hired directly into the company. From what I have been told, the majority of the team have all been with the company for a long time. By this I mean the manager has been there 5 years and is the newest member of the team, the rest have been with the company for upwards of 30 years or more. I’d like to think that this says a lot about the company in regards to how it treats their employees, and perhaps it does, but I will need to wait and see that for myself. I do not have an official start date yet, but they seemed pretty eager to have me join the team, so hopefully it will be soon. While I have enjoyed having a month off (stress levels aside that is) I am definitely a person who would rather be working, and as such I am ready to be back contributing to a team.
Happy New Year a Little Early
Melissa and I are doing something tonight that we haven’t done in all our years together, we are going to our friends house for New Year’s Eve. We typically go out for dinner and maybe a movie but are then home for the turning of the new year. Spending the evening together has been our tradition since our first New Year’s Eve and is something we typically enjoy. However, this year, our friends Alex and Nicole have asked us to join them at their new house for a small gathering and one of our fun-filled game nights! We are looking forward to spending the New Year’s with good friends and good fun. We will stay the night there seeing as they now live a bit further away and we will have a late night and probably a few adult beverages. We hope everyone has a safe and happy New Years!