Life in Smallville

I don't know what this would imply or signal in my life, but I forgot a complete hour yesterday. Maybe I am getting older, maybe I am getting senile, maybe I am ... I don't know.

When I got off work yesterday at 5:30, I thought about how the day went. As I reflected on the day, I could not recall what I did for my lunch break. I had no recollection of the courtyard; that is where I eat if I bring a lunch, but I knew I didn't bring a lunch, so I would have gone to the cafeteria to eat. I had no recollection of going into the cafeteria though. I wasn't even planning on eating lunch because I had breakfast, and I was meeting a friend at Chipotle for dinner. (You have to have a plan for lunch if you are doing Chipotle for dinner.) However, even if I don't eat I go outside, or walking around or socializing or something for my lunch break. I had no recollection of doing any of that. I even have little reminders pop up on my screen that tell me when to take breaks and lunch. I remember seeing my reminder for lunch, but I don't remember lunch. It bothered me all night.

When I came into work this morning I talked to my manager about it. Wondering if he remembered anything, but nope, he didn't. However, we were able to look up on his computer, when I logged onto the phones and when I logged off and how long I was logged in. Turns out I logged in at 830 and off at 530 and was on for a total of 9 hours! Much to my surprise, I worked straight through lunch. Typically I would be aware that I was doing it at the time, but I maybe a little more absentminded than I used to be.

On a little side note, I understand the phrase "Absent minded professor" now. I seem to be so disorganized now that I have started teaching at the college here. I have papers all over the place, things that need graded, juices and foods in my bag and on my desk and just a complete mess.

Ciao.

Posted by supermn at 4:03 PM | Permalink | Comments

Working for Microsoft as a support technician, I get phone calls all day, that's what I do. Since Microsoft is based out of Redmond, WA, I get a lot of calls from employees out there needing help. Today our weather was very similar to that of the Northwest: wet, cold, and dreary. Whenever the weather is like this in Colorado, I get in a mood. I have not decided or determined if the mood I get in is good or bad; it is just a mood. This mood can be best described as pensive. I think about life, my life, my friends, my past, my future, etc. For some reason as well, there is a peace that comes with the weather. There is a peace that everything will work out for the best, and life is going to be ok. Just how you feel when you listen to some good Frank Sinatra. No matter what's going on, it pales in comparison to the future and what lies ahead. Que sera sera.

As for other things, I spent the weekend in Boulder visiting my best friend Jesse. He is going to school up there at the University of Colorado, wanting to be an accountant. This semester he is taking a foreign language that he needs to graduate. Instead of choosing an easy one like Spanish, Jesse decided to take Arabic. While it would be incredibly difficult, it certainly could be incredibly useful. I heard this morning on the radio that there are thousands and thousands of hours of tapes in Arabic from Iraq that have not been listened to. The FBI might be recruiting Jesse after just one semester! Ok, maybe not, but it could make him a hot commodity when he graduates... if he ever graduates (I love you Jesse).

Sunday I met up with my friends Tyler and Jenny. These are friends that I made 5 years ago as a freshman in college. Tyler was my roommate, and Jenny lived across the hall from us. We all met the first week of college, but all hit it off. I know of few people that could stand their roommate freshman year (even if they were friends at the start), and even fewer that enjoyed their roommate. Tyler and I had a lot in common and were able to balance each other out in several ways. So, five years later we are still friends and scheduling time to meet with each other and see how each others lives are going. Jenny was an integral part of that as well. The three of us spent many nights up late, eating pizza, and talking about life.

Life is good.
Ciao

Posted by supermn at 9:47 PM | Permalink | Comments

Well, the teaching college thing is going great. I am loving it, and it feels pretty natural. If all goes well, next semester I'll do it again and maybe pick up another section of the class (could always use the money). I thought I was knowledgeable enough to teach the class, and I still feel that I am but now and again I learn something new. The big thing is not letting on to the class that I just learned it too.

I grew up being around computers quite a bit and felt pretty knowledge about. I was never a master at the art of writing (which I am sure you have figured out if you read my posts). However, I picked up the basics of grammar and formatting for papers, especially with computers. I was always taught where to put periods, commas, and other punctuation. While I struggle sometimes with when square brackets are appropriate or making sure I use the colon right, I always knew I had mastered the space. I knew when where and how many to use. One between words, two between sentences, and new lines for new paragraphs. Apparently now that is wrong! I learned last week that instead of using two spaces between sentences (like I have been doing this whole post because of habit), the correct way to do it now is to use one. Like that, just there. One space. Just as I am typing this, I can't keep my thumbs from tapping the space bar twice after my ring finger hits the periods. SEE! space space. Ahhhh! Now the question is why? Why would the change it from two spaces to one space?

This takes me to my prediction. Just as we had tree huggers in the 90s to save paper and "save the trees" and make us aware of how we need to be conscious of the environment, I think we will see similar people in the 21st century. With the increased use of technology and number of people getting on the internet, we will see "data huggers" coming out of nowhere. The only conceivable reason to go from two spaces to one is to make files smaller. I don't know how much of a difference it makes; maybe it makes enough of a difference to change. It's not changing because we have less and less space on computers; quite the opposite, we have hard drives with 250 GB of storage space and HVDs (Holographic versatile Discs) that hold 1TB (TeraByte - a thousand GBs) of data! I think it's because we are becoming an online society. A place where everyone has a computer, communicates over email and IM, and rarely use paper anymore. If more and more people start using the internet, the bandwidth will be come clogged. In order to be more techno-conscious, and save data, we need to eliminate a space. Could one space really be that much of a waste? Interesting question. Maybe I'll do a thesis on it for my masters degree. Something to think about, but just in spite of the new "standard," I am going to use a space where I shouldn't .

Ciao.

Posted by supermn at 1:37 PM | Permalink | Comments

First let me apologize for not keeping my blog up-to-date. I apologize to all two of you: Travis and the other person.

I was never one who did the Greek Life in college. The fraternities and sororities didn't appeal that much to me. My perception of that life was always the obsessive partying, crazy tailgates, and skipping class. While I was not the most ambitious student, I did see the benefit of college and wanted to get the most out of it. The most being a good balance of academia and socializing. I always thought that people in the Greek societies did all of the latter and non of the former. I never really change my perception throughout college because no one I knew broke the stereotype. Still no one has done anything to change that perception of mine, but I am joining a frat.

Most of you (apparently the two that read this) know that I am heading into a bit of high school ministry. The plan was to co-lead a high school small group on Sunday nights and help with the youth group on Wednesday nights. My co-leader could not continue to lead with me, so instead of having a co-ed group of high schoolers, I get to mentor just men... Or boys. The way New Life does this is through what is called The FRAT. It's basically a fraternity; a way for older men to mentor and disciple younger men - a great idea. Earlier I mentioned the program Six (6*). Basically it is made up of The FRAT (for boys), become (for girls), Burn (application only), and The Climb (coed small groups). Tonight is the big kick off where all groups get together to fellowship and have fun and get to know each other; leaders get to know students and students get to know leaders. We are doing a Ho-Down (sp?). Apparently at summer camp there was one and the kids loved it, so I think it should be a great time.

More on the FRAT though. It will meet Sunday nights at 6. The first 45 minutes, all the "brothers" (about 40) will meet together for a teaching. Then we will break off into smaller groups of a bout 10. The different groups will cover different topics, but stuff that's related to the boys. Some days we will do competitions and get them all worked up cause that's what boys do. I am looking forward to being able to pour my life into these boys cause God knows it was good for me when other men did that. Feel free to ask any questions, I'd love you hear from you.

Ciao

Posted by supermn at 5:09 PM | Permalink | Comments

Here I sit at my new job, in "training." Since this is the end of the training period, there isn't really a whole lot to do while I wait for phone calls to come in. Some of the time is taken up by chatting with other co-workers on IM, checking e-mails every 2 minutes, and browsing the interent for exciting new stuff. Today has been an especially slow day on the phones; I should enjoy it while it lasts because when I start in Networking next week it will be quite busy. I have just another hour today before I go back to "studying" the stuff I already know.

The reason I come here to post a message though, is because I found it. I have had so much free time, I found the end of the internet. If you have not yet made it to the end of the internet, you can jump there from this link: End of the Internet. Be sure to read the page carefully so you know what to do next!

Now I am going to head to the beginning of the internet...
Ryan

Posted by supermn at 1:54 PM | Permalink | Comments

Well, here I am at the end of the second week of my two jobs.

Working for Microsoft at the Help Desk has been great so far. I have been making some great friends and getting a real feel for how to do a lot of the things I will be troubleshooting. It doesn't seem too difficult, but also can provide the opportunity for me to move in different directions horizontally and hopefully vertically too. It's nice to have a foot in the door; once again, thanks for all the prayers.

Being a teacher is a blast! It feels really natural, and I am loving it. However, I have been putting more work in this one class that I am teaching then I ever remember putting into the classes I was in at CSU. I never realized how much work the teachers have to do for the class. There is preparation ahead of time for the class, grading homework, putting together quizzes and tests, and building labs to be done! Not only do I have to grade the homework, but I have to do it too to make sure it is right... sheesh. Even though it is more work than being in class, I am enjoying it more. I can let you know how I feel towards the end of the semester cause it might all change by then. If I still like it, I will do it again next semester (if they have me back), and maybe do two classes. Who knows where this will lead, but I am excited whatever the future holds.

With all this going on I rarely have free time, but manage to get all the house and yard work done on weekends. I have been waiting to have this feeling for a while. Being out of college, I never really felt I was in the next stage of life, but with all this happening to and around me, I am there. And it's nothing like Afghanistan.

Ciao,
Ryan

Posted by supermn at 4:23 PM | Permalink | Comments