Yesterday I had an interview for a job that is outside my field of experience. I have spent the last six years installing professional audio and video broadcast gear and now I am trying to get a job in another field. Changing careers is a daunting proposition but I feel that it is time to move on.
No small part of this decision is my girlfriend's advice and support. The interview was with the same company that she works at but in a different position and with a different team. I know that trying to work for the same company as your significant other can be a bad idea but the positives so steeply outweigh the negatives that I have to give it a shot.
I am now in that uncomfortable waiting period where I have done all that I can do and now must wait for their decision. I am not still searching right now because I have months more work at my current job. I feel a little guilty because I may be ditching my team at a critical point where they need me, but I have to do what I think is right for myself and for my future.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Change of Role
People have different inclinations and different strengths. Some people are very athletic, some people are intelligent, and some people are supportive friends. These strengths and weaknesses can sometimes define a relationship and other times be defined by a relationship.
I am reluctant to make comparisons between my ex and my girlfriend but this post is not about comparing these women but about my personal growth and how my life is influenced by the personalities of others. The reason I am using this example is because it is so unique of a situation, where the person in the role of significant other has changed but the repercussions of that role are much the same. I had six months to recenter myself as a single person and now another six months to align myself with this girlfriend and there are very compelling differences.
When I was with my ex-girlfriend, I was the more intellectual person in the couple. I had the inclination to read books and to plan projects and measure things, whereas she found the process of preparation to be fatally boring. I was the one to handle logistics and the one to drive. She was the driving force for physical things like running or hiking, and with a strong need to be outside and moving, she drove me to being a more physically active person. The roles in that relationship were assigned in a certain way and I became used to that.
Now I am in a different relationship with a very different woman and the roles are predictably very different. I am now the less intellectual one and the more physical one. I am the runner and she in running to share in my interest. I am reading one of her books (The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde) and learning to speak Spanish. I am coming to grips with that shift in perspective. I was the "smart" one and now I am not.
The idea of self identity is not something everyone ponders but I do. I have defined myself to some extent by my intelligence but now here in this pairing I am not exceptional. There is little use in trying to find some arbitrary scale that will accurately define which of us is smarter, but I can say this with certainty: she is much better educated than I am. So now comes the part where I could be threatened or insecure about this change in position but I am not. I am now in a place where I can debate and discover, consider and collaborate on the topics that interest us.
The physical role in an interesting reversal as well. I have been used to being overweight and awkward for so much of my life that now with my running and martial arts I am feeling strong and confident in a way I never have before. I want to share this with my girlfriend so that she can feel what I feel when I jump easily over a barrier or finish off a 5 mile run. (its been quite a while since I have run more than 3 miles but I am getting there) I am now the instigating force in things like this (she dances but dancing and running are not the same level of cardio) and it is a strange place to be in.
I am reluctant to make comparisons between my ex and my girlfriend but this post is not about comparing these women but about my personal growth and how my life is influenced by the personalities of others. The reason I am using this example is because it is so unique of a situation, where the person in the role of significant other has changed but the repercussions of that role are much the same. I had six months to recenter myself as a single person and now another six months to align myself with this girlfriend and there are very compelling differences.
When I was with my ex-girlfriend, I was the more intellectual person in the couple. I had the inclination to read books and to plan projects and measure things, whereas she found the process of preparation to be fatally boring. I was the one to handle logistics and the one to drive. She was the driving force for physical things like running or hiking, and with a strong need to be outside and moving, she drove me to being a more physically active person. The roles in that relationship were assigned in a certain way and I became used to that.
Now I am in a different relationship with a very different woman and the roles are predictably very different. I am now the less intellectual one and the more physical one. I am the runner and she in running to share in my interest. I am reading one of her books (The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde) and learning to speak Spanish. I am coming to grips with that shift in perspective. I was the "smart" one and now I am not.
The idea of self identity is not something everyone ponders but I do. I have defined myself to some extent by my intelligence but now here in this pairing I am not exceptional. There is little use in trying to find some arbitrary scale that will accurately define which of us is smarter, but I can say this with certainty: she is much better educated than I am. So now comes the part where I could be threatened or insecure about this change in position but I am not. I am now in a place where I can debate and discover, consider and collaborate on the topics that interest us.
The physical role in an interesting reversal as well. I have been used to being overweight and awkward for so much of my life that now with my running and martial arts I am feeling strong and confident in a way I never have before. I want to share this with my girlfriend so that she can feel what I feel when I jump easily over a barrier or finish off a 5 mile run. (its been quite a while since I have run more than 3 miles but I am getting there) I am now the instigating force in things like this (she dances but dancing and running are not the same level of cardio) and it is a strange place to be in.
Monday, October 11, 2010
SCA Aspects
SCA stands for Society for Creative Anachronism. Basically it is a reenactment group that focuses on Europe from about 600AD to 1500AD. The resultant culture and experience is a cultural hodgepodge of eras and locations, technological levels and styles of dress. I could go on for pages and pages (screens?) of description and analysis of the SCA but for my purposes here I am going to assume a passing level of knowledge.
I went to a weekend camping event called Great Western War this past weekend and I have been thinking about how much of my time I want to dedicate and how deep I want to get in. There is so much to do that one could make it a full time adventure. There is garb and camp gear to be made and fighting or period crafts to perfect. Some people get so immersed that their 'mundane' identity becomes the secondary one and the SCA becomes their real life. I don't think that I ever want to get to that point but I do want to become more part of the society. There are people that share my love of handcrafts and are willing to share their knowledge.
I have been to two large camping events this season and the experiences make me want to make the SCA a part of my life. The question remains as to how to take action and fit myself in. I think that I am going to make contact with a few of the master craftsmen and attempt to persuade them to teach me something of their crafts (mainly ceramics and metalworking) and to make time to hang out with the locals at the weekly meetup.
I went to a weekend camping event called Great Western War this past weekend and I have been thinking about how much of my time I want to dedicate and how deep I want to get in. There is so much to do that one could make it a full time adventure. There is garb and camp gear to be made and fighting or period crafts to perfect. Some people get so immersed that their 'mundane' identity becomes the secondary one and the SCA becomes their real life. I don't think that I ever want to get to that point but I do want to become more part of the society. There are people that share my love of handcrafts and are willing to share their knowledge.
I have been to two large camping events this season and the experiences make me want to make the SCA a part of my life. The question remains as to how to take action and fit myself in. I think that I am going to make contact with a few of the master craftsmen and attempt to persuade them to teach me something of their crafts (mainly ceramics and metalworking) and to make time to hang out with the locals at the weekly meetup.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Europe Vacation Part 1: Travel
I went to Europe for the third time in my life in the end of August and the beginning of September. The trip was new and amazing in so many ways that I am going to have to break up the posts to be able to get it all down. I am not going to write up a travelogue but may post the one my girlfriend wrote up for the sake of expediency.
The airplane ticket to get to Athens cost almost as much as the 9 day cruise that we were going to take. The plan was to get to Athens five days before the cruise was set to depart and to deal with accommodations once we got there. At the airport we headed over to an information booth to begin the process. I felt beaten and tired and out of my element so I let my girlfriend handle the reservation. She bounced from the information booth to a booth for hotels to a calling card machine, back to the information booth and finally to a phone booth. It turned out that a hotel room would run us something like 100 euro but a local hostel would only be 16 euro per person. We settled on the hostel on the premise that we wouldn't be spending any time in our room anyway.
The most useful thing in the world for a traveler is a good metro system and Athens has one. We took the metro from the airport to the hostel without any trouble and checked in. I was amazed at how easily everything worked out. We were able to talk to almost anyone in English and to go wherever we wanted mostly on foot. We only used the metro few times to get to the airport or some place that was a little farther then we had time to walk. With ancient ruins or monuments almost everywhere you go, easy travel, and easy communication, I was blown away at how little of a hassle it was to have a great time.
I have been on cruises before (but only to Mexico or the Bahamas) so I knew what to expect there and I wasn't disappointed. The ship took us to places where we rushed off to hit the sites for as long as possible before the ship left again. The cruise was a mixed blessing. On one hand it was like we woke up in our hotel every day in a new city but we only had a limited number of hours at each location to see what we wanted to see before we were off again. In a trip that included Athens, Myconos, Delos, Crete, Istanbul, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Giza I only felt like I got a good look at Athens. The other places went by in sort of a blur. I loved getting to see all that I was able to see but they were tours and not a explorations.
This trip has really shown me a few different ways to travel that I had not really tried before and my options were spread wide before me. I saw how easy things can be made, how to stay in hostels and how to pack light and move fast. I really enjoyed my girlfriend's travel mentality of spending as much time out as possible. I am looking forward to more trips with her to more places.
The airplane ticket to get to Athens cost almost as much as the 9 day cruise that we were going to take. The plan was to get to Athens five days before the cruise was set to depart and to deal with accommodations once we got there. At the airport we headed over to an information booth to begin the process. I felt beaten and tired and out of my element so I let my girlfriend handle the reservation. She bounced from the information booth to a booth for hotels to a calling card machine, back to the information booth and finally to a phone booth. It turned out that a hotel room would run us something like 100 euro but a local hostel would only be 16 euro per person. We settled on the hostel on the premise that we wouldn't be spending any time in our room anyway.
The most useful thing in the world for a traveler is a good metro system and Athens has one. We took the metro from the airport to the hostel without any trouble and checked in. I was amazed at how easily everything worked out. We were able to talk to almost anyone in English and to go wherever we wanted mostly on foot. We only used the metro few times to get to the airport or some place that was a little farther then we had time to walk. With ancient ruins or monuments almost everywhere you go, easy travel, and easy communication, I was blown away at how little of a hassle it was to have a great time.
I have been on cruises before (but only to Mexico or the Bahamas) so I knew what to expect there and I wasn't disappointed. The ship took us to places where we rushed off to hit the sites for as long as possible before the ship left again. The cruise was a mixed blessing. On one hand it was like we woke up in our hotel every day in a new city but we only had a limited number of hours at each location to see what we wanted to see before we were off again. In a trip that included Athens, Myconos, Delos, Crete, Istanbul, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Giza I only felt like I got a good look at Athens. The other places went by in sort of a blur. I loved getting to see all that I was able to see but they were tours and not a explorations.
This trip has really shown me a few different ways to travel that I had not really tried before and my options were spread wide before me. I saw how easy things can be made, how to stay in hostels and how to pack light and move fast. I really enjoyed my girlfriend's travel mentality of spending as much time out as possible. I am looking forward to more trips with her to more places.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Athens
I am on vacation in Europe right now and I have been in Athens for a few days. I have been learning so much about ancient Greek civilisation. The beliefs, lives, and art of the people who lived here 2000 to 3000 years ago. I have been to the Acropolis, the Agora, several museums and seen many ruins spread about the city. Ancient periods lay on top and next to each other so that sometimes its hard to tell what is from when. I have made a point to read whatever plaques that I can and learn as much about what I am seeing as I can. My head is buzzing with all the new things that I have put into it.
The trip is less than half over and I still have several countries to visit and I have already seen so much and learned so much. I would love to write more but there is more city to explore and I can't bring myself to sit here on the computer for very long.
The trip is less than half over and I still have several countries to visit and I have already seen so much and learned so much. I would love to write more but there is more city to explore and I can't bring myself to sit here on the computer for very long.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Education
In my search for a new job, I have come to question a decision that I had made about my education. When I finished with high school I went to a local community college. I did this mostly because college is what you do after high school. I was not sure for a long time about what kind of a career I wanted and what kind of education that I needed to achieve that. I finally became interested in video production and with that to focus on, I finished an associates degree.
I then found a job installing professional video gear and worked there for years. That job has come to an end and I am left wondering what I am going to do next. I have written out a resume and applied for a few jobs but we are in a recession and there are few jobs to be had. Now that I am sifting through job postings I am coming to the realization that my lack of a four year degree is limiting me.
Now I am second guessing myself. Should I try and go back to school? What kind of jobs are open to me and which are closed? At this juncture it is not difficult for me to go back to school, but it would mean dropping work for a few years. I don't want to do that, I don't think there is much for me at school; any degree I would earn would only be a trophy to show others and not a real representation of accomplishment. I seem to have the ability to learn things for myself or from books, and when I want to know something I look into it and figure it out.
The goal seems to be to make money. I have met a few self made millionaires in my life. The common thread is not education, but proper management of money. I do want to make a pile of money not for the sake of pure opulence but to be able to pursue the arts and crafts that interest me. I am just not sure what path is the right one for me to take to that goal. I am going to have to do some serious out of the box thinking
I then found a job installing professional video gear and worked there for years. That job has come to an end and I am left wondering what I am going to do next. I have written out a resume and applied for a few jobs but we are in a recession and there are few jobs to be had. Now that I am sifting through job postings I am coming to the realization that my lack of a four year degree is limiting me.
Now I am second guessing myself. Should I try and go back to school? What kind of jobs are open to me and which are closed? At this juncture it is not difficult for me to go back to school, but it would mean dropping work for a few years. I don't want to do that, I don't think there is much for me at school; any degree I would earn would only be a trophy to show others and not a real representation of accomplishment. I seem to have the ability to learn things for myself or from books, and when I want to know something I look into it and figure it out.
The goal seems to be to make money. I have met a few self made millionaires in my life. The common thread is not education, but proper management of money. I do want to make a pile of money not for the sake of pure opulence but to be able to pursue the arts and crafts that interest me. I am just not sure what path is the right one for me to take to that goal. I am going to have to do some serious out of the box thinking
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