Transition Time

I am currently in transition.  My last job position wrapped on November 1.  I've been working with a career consultant to get my resume updated and to develop a cogent career search strategy.

Snowing in the Metroplex

I drove to work in the snow this morning. Actually, before I could leave the driveway, I had to sweep the snow off my car. It's not currently below freezing, and not supposed to today, but it might tonight.

RTB-Dallas January '10 Meeting

We had the first meeting of the year today for the Reasons to Believe (RTB) - Dallas Network. We had twelve people in attendance, including three first-time visitors.

Toastmasters Learning Institute and Old Haunts

We just got back from the Toastmasters Leadership Institute at Concord Baptist Church in the southern side of Dallas, close to Dallas Executive Airport and Southwest Center Mall. I was there to take Vice President of Education training on behalf of Hillcrest Club. Roxanne was there to take Sergeant at Arms training on behalf of Roving 49ers.

Since we were down there, I was curious to see what the area looks like now. Some places I recognized and some places have changed so much that I couldn't even remember what they used to look like.

We went inside the mall, which was a rather unsettling experience. It seemed to be run down and to have a really low occupancy rate. We drove by our old house on Canelo and Mark Trail Way. On the whole, the exterior of the house looks about the same. There are now windows where the doors were in the garage that my dad had built behind the house. It made me wonder if they've turned the garage into an apartment.

The old West Cliff Mall up the street was torn down years ago and replaced with a strip mall. St. Elizabeth Catholic Church, where my Scout Troop was, is still there.

We drove over to the old church building for Beverly Hills Baptist Church. It's still standing, but looked like maintenance is marginal at best. I thought I saw what looked like ceiling hanging down in one of the upstairs rooms.

The old Bronco Bowl entertainment center is gone. In its place is a Home Depot.

I wish we'd had more time to drive around and explore, but I didn't want to spend the whole day over there, either.

Home Maintenance

We've been having some major home maintence work for the last two weeks. Our plumber has had to chisel a hole through our coat closet to get to a broken line under the house. Meanwhile, we've also had the house re-insulated and put in new garage doors with openers.

The door openers required having an electrician come out to run a new power outlet. In the process, he managed to slip and punch through the garage ceiling.

The plumbing is fixed, but now he's got to come back and fill in the hole.

We're also going to have the electrician come back to do some work to bring our wiring closer to current code.

Let's Try This Again

Hmmm... The last post on this blog was May 2008. Who would know that I'm a writer by profession?

Update

I used to have a recurring nightmare that I was back in college, it was the week of finals, and I suddenly remembered that I had signed up for a class that I'd only attended once. I wondered if that particular dream had something to do with a fear that I was neglecting responsibilities or opportunities.

A friend recently reminded me that I have this blog and that he hadn't seen any recent entrees in it. Oops. I didn't know anyone actually checked this thing.

Okay, so here's a quick update:

I went permanent at Fujitsu in late January.

I'm still in Toastmasters. Starting in July, I'm taking over as area governor for Area 72 in District 50.

Starting back in January, the Dallas chapter of Reasons to Believe restarted monthly meetings. Most have been at our house. I'm nearly finished with the volunteer apologist training program. I have to finish a paper to complete the second course. It's taking forever to write the paper, but I'm roughly halfway done.

Roxanne and I are still volunteering with ISI. We had the summer welcome party for ICF last night. Last weekend, we went to a Frisco Roughriders game and an ICF leadership retreat.

We are active members of Heritage Church in Richardson. Roxanne sings on the worship team. I'm an usher, among other things. A few weeks ago, I received a certificate for completing Pastor Sheats' Leadership Institute program, which involved 2 yearss of classes.

In a few weeks, Roxanne and I are going to California. Her family is having a reunion in Stockton. Since we'll be there already, we plan to spend a few days in the San Francisco area.

That's all for now.

Back to Work

I've fallen off of the blog wagon lately. I was doing so well for a while.

Anyway, I am going back to work! I'd heard that Fujitsu had some positions come open, so I contacted my former manager. His first question was how soon I could get back in.

I've cleared all the paperwork and obligatory screening. I'm not sure right now if I'm supposed to come in tomorrow or Monday.

In other news, I finally completed the Creation & the Bible course I was taking online with Reasons Institute. That puts me a big chunk of the way toward my RTB Certified Apologist rating which I'm trying to obtain.

No News is Not Necessarily Bad News

No news on the job front. I had a v-e-r-y long distance phone interview last Wednesday night with a manager in China. They said I'd probably hear back from them this week. With the holiday on Monday, things are probably a little backed up.

Interview Encore

One of the companies I interviewed with on Friday asked me to return today and talk to two people who were out on Friday. One person was the manager I will report to if I'm hired.

There is a high possibility that I will be asked to spend several weeks in China if I'm hired. The 13-hour time delay may also require working some odd hours in order to confer with colleagues in China.

Another advantage of working for this company is that the office would be about five minutes from the house and about one minute from UTD.

Two Interviews on Friday

After weeks with little job activity, I had two in-person interviews yesterday. One was for a company in Richardson that develops technology-based solutions to the retail financial services industry. The other one was at a China-based telecommunications company. Both were less than ten minutes from the house. One is about to move practically down the street from us.

I think both interviews went well. I made a few missteps that I was kicking myself for afterward, but I think they were both still promising. Meanwhile, I'm hoping to hear back from the other company that called me earlier in the week.

Promising Phone Call Today

I received a phone call this afternoon from a telecommunications company in Plano. I was supposed to have had an interview with them a few weeks ago, but it fell through at the last minute. It seems that they are again trying to bring in some new writers. The person I spoke with was a writer and we seemed to hit it off well. Apparently, that was the phone interview. The actual hiring manager, however, is out of town. He did say that he would tell her that I should be placed at the top of the candidate list.

There's no way to know what will come of this, but it's probably the most promising lead I've had in a while.

ICF Fall Welcome Party '07

Tonight was the Fall '07 Welcome Party for the International Christian Fellowship group at UT-Dallas. We had a huge turnout. In fact, it was nearly too huge. We came very close to becoming victims of our own success.

The university is getting really serious about some of their rules concerning event sizes. One rule is that any meeting of 200 people or more requires the campus police to be present to ensure security. Further, at least seventy-five percent of attendees must be students. We were probably okay with regard to the student/volunteer ratio, but we came right to the limits with regard to attendance. There were actually campus staff present who were checking our numbers and threatening to shut us down if any more people came in.

Dealing with bureaucracy can be trying, and there have been times when it seemed as if they have especially had Christian groups in their cross hairs. Yet I can also see their perspective on this issue. There were a few times tonight when the crowd did seem as if it could easily become unmanageable. The case could also be made that putting a lot of people together who don't know each other and who are from very different parts of the world does carry a certain degree of risk.

I've wondered a lot lately if the Christian world overly conditions us to gauge success by numbers. I often hear churches described in terms of attendance. Evangelists are usually praised for the size of their crusades. Yet examples abound in which unchecked growth leads to catastrophe. Organizations which grow too fast frequently implode. Large animal species are acutely vulnerable to extinction threats. Stars that grow too big can collapse under their own gravity into black holes. Bigger is simply not always better.

As the international student ministry at UTD matures, I pray that the Lord will provide His guidance to ensure that the growth we experience is meaningful growth and that we will have the wisdom to be good stewards of those He sends us.

Trip to Houston

We arrived home yesterday about 4 p.m. from a 5-day trip to Houston. We stayed with my aunt Nancy in the Clear Lake area. Nancy moved there earlier this spring after living in the same house in South Houston for as long as I remember. She's now within walking distance of her daughter Teresa and son-in-law Mark.

Trip Summary

Monday evening
We left about 6:30 p.m. and drove to Houston. We arrived about 11:30 p.m. Amazingly, we didn't get into any construction delays. That may be a first for driving in Houston.

Tuesday
Nancy's oven had gone out and a guy from her home warranty company was supposed to arrive mid-morning to replace it. He ran late, really late. I think he finally left close to 4 p.m. That evening, we drove to Galveston and had dinner at Casey's on the seawall.


Wednesday
We had lunch with Nancy and my cousin Teresa at a restaurant called Thai Cottage. I had the Chicken Pad Thai, described on the menu as "Rice noodles with chicken, onion, bean sprouts, and peanuts." It was terrific.

In the afternoon, Roxanne, Nancy & I went to see Ratatouille at the local cinema. For dinner, we cooked spaghetti at home to try to slightly offset all the eating out.

Thursday: We cooked breakfast at home. Most mornings, Nancy ran out for kolaches. Compared to Dallas, Houston has tons of kolache bakeries. In the afternoon, we went to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, which has free admission on Thursdays. I'm not a huge art fan, but they had a really nice exhibition of panoramic photos of the Great Wall of China. The main exhibit, called Red Hot, was on contemporary Asian art. I don't normally say this, but this is one of the few museum exhibits I've ever seen that I'm trying to forget. I can't try to describe it because doing so evokes too many disturbing images in my head. I think Roxanne and Nancy were a little traumatized by it, too. If it had been up to me, I would have put a parental advisory notice on the entrance.

Thursday evening, we drove out to Kema and met up with my cousin Kirk, his wife Brandi and their daughter Reagan.

We had dinner at the Flying Dutchman outside on the boardwalk. After dinner, we walked along the boardwalk and watched while Reagan went on some of the rides.

Friday: We were all a little slow getting going on Friday. We finally did get out of the house and went to the Houston Museum of Natural Science. They had an interesting, albeit very small, exhibit on the ancient Scythian culture, now present day Kazakhstan. The museum also has a terrific collection of gems and minerals. For dinner Friday night, we went to Gringo's Mexican Kitchen.

Saturday: We were slow again getting up. We had a very late breakfast at the Seabrook Classic Cafe, right by the Clear Lake waterfront. We split a spinach & mushroom omelet, an order of beignets, and an interesting dish called a fresh fruit club. We spent a few minutes walking along the waterfront.

After that, we went by Half Price Books for a while. I found a book to add to my reference library.

Saturday afternoon, we drove to Galveston again. We walked around The Strand District, then went for dinner at a hamburger place on the seawall called The Spot. It's a very popular place. We waited in line for at least 20 minutes, then were told at the counter that it would be a 45-minute wait for our order to be ready. No problem. We were on vacation, after all. The burgers, waffle fries and onion rings were terrific. We did tease Nancy about bringing us to a biker bar.



We left The Spot about 11:10 p.m. and drove home. We were nearly home when we witnessed a very interesting car accident. As we pulled up to the left turn lane on El Dorado Blvd at Torrey Pines, a car ran the red light and hit a Houston Police car. The officer was unhurt, but she had to crawl out of her car on the passenger side. Being the only witnesses, she asked us to stay until the accident investigator arrived. It turns out that the accident investigator had to come from downtown Houston, easily a 30-minute drive from where were were. He arrived about 12:30 a.m., we gave our statements and contact information, and finally got home about 12:50 a.m. It made for a memorable ending to the trip!

Sunday: Nancy left for church about 10 a.m. We left about 10:30 a.m. Other than a restroom break at the Outlet mall in Conroe, a gas/restroom stop in Buffalo, and a quick trip by the Buffalo cemetery, we drove straight through. We got behind an accident a few miles out of Fairfield, but still managed to arrive home about 3:58 p.m.

It was a really great trip. I hope we get to go back soon.

P.S. When we arrived home, we found that our housesitter Dan had done quite a bit of housework for us. That was a nice surprise. Thanks, Dan!

Robert D. (Bob) Ballard (May 26, 1935 - June 30, 2007)

This morning (Saturday) I attended a memorial service for Bob Ballard. Bob was a member of Hillcrest Church and once attended a class I taught. I knew him best from Hillcrest Toastmasters, which he often attended. Bob was never very interested in giving prepared speeches, but he liked listening to other people give speeches and he would often participate in Table Topics.

Bob was quite a character. He was licensed with the State Bar of Texas, but was no longer practicing law. He loved history and conducting interviews with famous people. He also did some stand-up comedy. One of his favorite routines was his impersonation of Richard Nixon. When he was attending my class, I commented on the similarity of his name to the Robert Ballard who found the Titanic. Bob was quick to point out that they even shared the same middle initial, if not the same middle name. He clearly took great pleasure in sharing his name with a famous adventurer.

At this morning's service, a number of Bob's relatives told their favorite stories of him. Without a doubt, he was known as a colorful figure, but also a committed Christian and a reliable friend. Hearing their reminiscences provided a lot more perspective on someone I was only able to know for a short time near the end of a unique life.

We should probably be more grateful for those unique people who add so much variety to the world around us.

Roxanne is Changing Jobs

On Monday of this week, Roxanne turned in a 1-week notice at the Addison school where she works. On Tuesday, she found out that the owner of the school has sold it to a larger company. The sale didn't help her situation, however, so it still looks like a good thing that she is putting this place behind her and moving on with her life.

She finished her last summer class tonight. Next week, we're planning to spend a few days with my aunt in Houston.

Job Hunt Continues

Still job hunting. I was supposed to have a telephone interview today, but the company did not call. The recruiter who arranged the interview told me he is checking to see what happened and when the interview can be rescheduled.

Roxanne is closing in on finals for the summer semester.

Interview Next Monday

I have an interview confirmed for a technical writer position at a company close to the house. I'm scheduled to go in Monday for a 2-1/2 hour interview with several people.

Why My High School Isn't in My Facebook Profile

This is a note I recently posted on my Facebook profile. The link to my profile is http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=902655062

Why My High School Isn't in My Facebook Profile

My high school alma mater is Beverly Hills Christian School of Dallas, Texas. I've been trying since I subscribed to Facebook to include BHCS in my education profile. Why is this a problem? Because it isn't in the drop down list for schools in Dallas, Texas.

This weekend, I finally received replies from the Facebook staff. They told me that the reason my requests have been ignored is because BHCS is not a currently open school. It closed in 1986, one year after I graduated.

So, I can't include BHCS because Facebook won't list it as a Dallas school, even a past one, and I can't even manually enter it into my own profile.

Go figure.

Pre-Memorial Day in East Texas

I normally discourage starting off a weekend by waking up at 6am. Unfortunately, we didn't have much choice today. Roxanne and I went down to Oakwood, Texas for a Richmond family memorial day gathering, and we had to be on the road by 8 a.m. at the very latest in order to get there by 10 a.m. To make getting up at 6 a.m. even more fun, I didn't get into bed until almost midnight the night before.

We did get there on time (*yawn*). Afterward, we drove over to Buffalo and put new flowers for the Kirkpatrick family plot. Amazingly, we got home to Richardson a little after 5 p.m.