I'm Coming Home (Probably)

I guess before I give the results of my meeting this morning I should go into a little history.  About 2 weeks ago we had a meeting and we were praised for the longevity of our crew.  All but 1 employee in my department has been with the company for 10+ years, most over 15.  That same day, the one employee under 10 year gave notice that he was transferring to a new department… since then the shit has hit the fan.

 

2 Weeks ago: Tim and his Wife have a new child which causes Tim to spend a good deal of time at home with his wife and new baby! (YAY TIM)

 

Tuesday 9am: We are told that one of the programmers, Jeff, has gone into surgery for a triple bypass.  He will be out for up to 2 months.

 

Tuesday 10am: We are told that Cole gave 3 weeks notice and is moving to Alabama (Sweet home Alabama) to start a company with his brother.

 

So, with all this, it makes me asking to work remotely a little more difficult.  But after spending several hours with Jenna working out a proposal and figuring out how to present it (THANK YOU JENNA), I decided to go ahead with it.  I walked into Craig’s office 8am this morning and told him that all though I love working for the company, I feel that it’s time for me to be back with my family and friends in Philadelphia, and that for me the ultimate scenario would be to keep the job I love, while working in Philadelphia.

 

The response I received, all though not ideal, was VERY favorable.  My boss let me know that he has little to no problem with having a remote employee, but of course he would have to speak to Lisa (my team lead), and of course his boss, which he felt would refer back to him on the decision.  He seemed genuinely happy that instead of seeking employment with another company that I was considering options that would keep me with this company. 

 

This was ALL good, and from the way he was talking I felt that it was a pretty much done deal.  The “not ideal” part is that he did not want to add the work that would need to be done before this could happen on to an already difficult couple of months.  With Jeff out, Maksim gone and Cole quitting we are understaffed and potentially very behind schedule for the AAO.  So he asked if we could resume discussion on how to make this happen in a couple of months (mid June).  So, all though it looks like there is a very good chance of this happening, I more then likely won’t know for sure until June. 

 

One plus to that is, if all goes well in June, I will be back in Philadelphia in July!!!!

This is the week

Been a while since I’ve written so just wanted to stop by and say everything is good. Had a fantastic weekend home over St. Patty’s day (more on that later). I’ve been working on my house getting it ready to sell. And the diet is going REALLY well, my first official weigh in is this Friday morning, so hopefully I’ll have an update for you all then!

As for my major goal for this year, I’m planning on talking to my boss this week about getting back to Philadelphia. I’ve never wanted something so badly in my life, and have never been so nervous about anything either. I’ll probably be asking Thursday or Friday, so please keep me in your prayers and send good vibes my way!

Introducing Jenna

Yep, that's right. I have a girlfriend. Now, of course, me being me means that it cannot possibly be a normal relationship. Don't worry, she doesn't have a 3rd arm or anything. The problem is that in my current status as an Atlantian (blah), she lives 800 miles away. The good news is, it just so happens she lives right where I want to be, back in Philly! Sadly for now it seems we will be forced to play the long distance relationship game, which I must tell you, sucks on many many different levels. But hey, I'm with an awesome woman so I can't complain too much.

Jenna and I met while cheering on Nicole while she ran her marathon in Philadelphia. It was the day after I got home for the holidays and Beth, Jenna and I drove down to Philly with a couple bags of pretzel nubs, some Gatorade, twizlers and a jar of Vaseline (complete with sign stating "Say No To Chaffing"). It really was an awesome, fun and motivational day, it is amazing to watch so many people pushing their bodies and minds to the limit to accomplish a goal most people would never even dream of attempting. After spending a day with Jenna I thought for sure I had found a new friend, I didn't have any idea that a friendship was going to be just the start of something a lot bigger.

A couple days later Jenna and a couple of her friends showed up at General Lafayette's to hang with Nicole and the rest of the Gside Posse' for our annual pre-Thanksgiving festivities. While the night wound down and the Gside crew got set to leave, Jenna asked me to stick around, which I did and we ended up talking pretty much the whole night. About half way through the evening I realized (yes it took me that long) that I was being flirted with (WOOHOO). We ended up hooking up that evening (and then most subsequent evenings afterwards). What started as a friendship morphed into a casual hookup and, over the next 6 weeks while I was in Philly, a lot more. I couldn't be happier!

Today, March 19th marks 4 months since Jenna came into my life and every day I find myself falling more and more in love with her. I look back and think, what are the chances of things working out the way they did? Being able to come home and work from Philly over the holidays, meeting Jenna only 12 hours after ariving back home, being able to spend 6 weeks getting to know each other and falling in Love. One little thing in a giant equation is different, and it's possible we never meet... it's all pretty amazing.

So, for those of you who haven't met her. Jenna, my friends; my friends, Jenna. You'll be seeing a lot of her and me thinks you are gonna like her.

Skiing in Steamboat

Day 1 - March 2, 2007
I've arrived in Colorado by way of an air conveyance called an airplane where I was forced to sit in seats only slightly larger then by butt. Sadly due to my larger then normal shoulder girth (read, I'm a fat man) I was treated to several pummelings by people walking up and down the aisles as well as a giant metal sled containing drinks and snacks (for 5.00). I now feel I can safely say I know what a sardine feels like. After a 30 minute drive by coach to the town of steamboat, I checked into my room, which had a fantastic view of the surrounding area (see pic below). My companions were due to arrive later that evening due to a lack of a flight crew in the Philadelphia airport (how the hell do you lose your flight crew?), so I took the local shuttle to the markets and purchased some food for the evening. I had myself some of the local purveyance and sat on the porch to enjoy the view till my friends arrived. It was a good day!

Day 2 - March 3, 2007
My friends didn't arrive until well after midnight the previous evening so we decided to sleep in instead of trying to get up early to ski. Derek, Jenny and Sean went right out while Sharron and I made our way down to Gondola Square to rent some skis. Since it's been 5 years since my previous skiing expedition, I thought it best to start out slow, which turned out to be a mistake. Most of the mountain marked Green were actually a good deal more tiring due to the complete lack of hill. This causes one to be forced to "pole" everywhere. After about 2 hours of pushing myself around in the snow with my poles, we were ready to call it a day. Man was I tired (mental note 1: don't be fat next trip). After the others returned we made our way to the hot tub (outdoors and hot as blazes) then went out to ski town square for some dinner. Had a good steak... mmmmm Cow! Today was also a good day. (you may also notice I dropped the Lewis and Clark pretentious explorer thing, could only keep that up for so long)

Yes, that is a snowman on my head

Day 3 - March 4, 2007 (I'm beginning the think you might be picking up the progression here, but just in case I'll continue to date).
We managed to get out of bed a tad earlier today and decided to go into town and get some breakfast. We all pretty much stuck together on the mountain and did some intermediate blues. I felt a TON better on the blues due to the fact that I was actually able to ski down the mountain instead of trying to ski up and across it. Skiing up a mountain is not only tiring, it is just plain stupid and I don't advise anyone to try it. We did have a little excitement about half way through the day, while skiing down I had passed another skier and shouted, "On your right", in which he cut right almost directly into me (shouting, on your right means, I'm here on your right hand side, don't turn this way). He then called me a piece of shit ass hole and continued to curse me the rest of the way down. Even though it was his fault, I still apologized and let it drop. This guy, obviously being a meat head asshole, wouldn't and called more more names while passing me further down the mountain. My friend Sean proceeded to spend the next 1/2 hour cutting him off every chance he got. Thank You Sean! Yet another Good day!

Day 4 - Take a guess on the date
Woke up early (well, earlier then most days) and was on the mountain by 10:00 thanks to our resident slave driver Derek. Today was one of my better days skiing. Was able to do more challenging hills and felt good about my stamina. Called it a day after close to 4 hours and wasn't nearly as tired as the other two days. I was, however, still looking forward to a day off tomorrow. We went to the local steak place and had a really good meal. We all (well, all except Jenny who is allergic to alcohol... poor poor girl) shared a bottle of wine and I had one of the better steaks I've had in my life. Today was a GREAT day.

Day 5 - I'm not even bothering
Took the day off skiing, went shopping. Got stuff for me, got stuff for Jenna (yes yes, I know. The story of Jenna will come next I promise). Found a place called Fuzziwigs, this place I would swear is my father's Mecca. There is candy as far as the eye can see. The coolest thing about this place is how much "old time" candy they had. Now, by old time I mean, in my youth type of stuff, not truly old time, we're talking Razzles, nerds (original flavors), and the candies that fizz when you eat them so you can act like a rabid dog. They also had some of the best English Toffee I've every had in my life.

That evening we all went to the Hot Springs. It was dark, clothing was optional and someone stole all my cloths. Luckily, I opted for clothing on. So I was running around in 25 degree weather, in a wet bathing suit trying to figure out where my pants, shirt, jacket, wallet (with ID) and camera were. This was far better then running around w/out my bathing suit. Luckily after about 30 minutes I found someone who said she saw a girl pick up a bunch of stuff that wasn't hers. She then realized it wasn't hers and said (so I'm told) "I don't know what to do with this stuff I picked up". Ummmmm How bout PUTTING IT BACK WHERE YOU GOT IT?, of course not the brainless girl said to herself and she put it in a someone else's pile of cloths on the other side of the springs (people are just stupid). It was good I ran into those guys who saw it happen or I would have never found it. As a side note, it turns out that the people that optioned to not use clothing don't like you using a flash light to find things. It was a good day, that turned into a bad day, then back to a good day (yay boobies!).

Day 6 - Just two more days, bare* with me.
I skied 6 hours today. It was warm, snow was slush, I was TIRED, but I did some of the hardest hills yet. Did a couple black diamonds, didn't fall. Did a couple jumps, didn't fall. Did a green to get back home, fell right on my head. I now understand why everyone is now wearing helmets. Jenny and Sean went to get massages (no happy endings) and Derek, Sharron and I went on to the local Mexican place. Good food, horrible service. The kid (and I say that because he was obviously someones son and not old enough to actually be working there) gave us a bowl of green chili salsa, which he accidentally put his hand in... 3 times in a row. After the 3rd time we asked for a new one we opted to just eat the red one. Today, an Excellent day
*yes, this was a pun to the above clothing optional statements.

The Day after the last day posted above:
It SNOWED!!! A lot. I got to ski powder for only the second time ever. It's technically a lot easier, however, physically it is exhausting. Jenny, Sean and I headed to the top of the mountain and did a bunch of black/blues. I did pretty well, at least so I'm told, but I was tired for sure, especially after the 6 hour ski session the day before. The snow and fog was so bad at times you couldn't see more then a 10 feet in front of you, so I ended up bailing after about 3 hours and started heading back to the condo. The way back was horrible, towards the middle of the mountain the snow turned to ice and you literally couldn't see 2 feet in front of you. On the way down I got nailed in the back by a skier who was not watching where he was going, he said "Sorry, I didn't see you because I was looking down at my feet", well DUH! After returning my rentals, and spending 1/2 hour in the hot tub, Jenny made everyone dinner. Today was gruelling, and a hell of a lot of fun, making it... A good day!

The Final Day
Today I woke up, and travelled from 11am to 1am. Since my rebirth into this world as a fat man, I've decided I HATE airplanes. I'm not big enough that I need more then my seat but I do use all of it, however, I've found that others are big enough to require extra room, and they are always sitting next to me. How exactly is it fair for the person next to me to take up his entire seat, and half of mine? Am I able to charge that person a portion of my ticket? On the flight home there were 7 first class seats unoccupied. I was slammed against the side of the airplane because I was sitting next to the incredible Hulk. I asked a stewardess if it was OK for me to sit in one of the first class seats just till we start to land so I could have a little room and was told no, I then asked if there was another seat somewhere else, maybe next to someone who takes up only their own seat and was told no again, do airlines really wonder why they are going out of business? To top off a bad travel day, I spent the last couple hours of the day fighting with the gf (we made up, however being in a LD relationship makes for really lousy make up sex) Today... not a great day, however, the last day of vacations rarely are, at least it was an excellent week.

Want to see some pictures? Take a peak at my web album here!

What 2007 may hold!

Well, it's now March 1, I've created my goals for 2007, I've written em down, I've changed their order of importance, I've re-written them, I've stared at them, posted em on the wall, and so far, haven't done a damn thing with em other then that. So, it's time to get them out there for the world (or the 1 or 2 people who might read this) to see. 2007 is looking to be the year of change for the better, so without further ado

"Things to do in 2007 - AKA: The List:".

Goal Numero UNO, Number 1, The big enchilada:
Get my ass back to Philadelphia. Yes, that is right, I said it. I am done with Atlanta. I always knew Philly is where I wanted to be, but I had just procrastinated too damn long. I am a Godfather to my sister's oldest (and yes, I said oldest, another one is on the way in July), One of my closest friends has had 3 boys, another has a son who is 1. Katie, who was a newborn when I left home is now Six! And know what, I've missed it all. And on top of all that, on my last trip home I met one of the most amazing women, and get this... she's into ME. Not sure what that is all about, but hey, who am I to question right? So, anyway, back to Philly for me!

Number B:
As most of you who know me already know. I've been on a diet since JAMS and z cavarichi's were in style. Since I've started dieting, I've gained about 60 pounds (very effective diets I've been on). 40 of that I've put on since moving to Atlanta. My goal for 2007 is to leave Atlanta's 40 pounds in Atlanta. So, no more fad diets (mmmmm bacon diet), we're doing it the good 'ol healthy eating, exercise way. So, expect me to be tired and cranky for the next month or so.. ;)

And Last but Not least:
Debt be gone!! I've struggled with credit card debt just about all of my adult life. Mostly because I'm an idiot and don't know how to handle my money. Also, because I like nice, shiny, new toys and since I am still paying for the 15 pound brick cell phone I bought in 1992, I've never quite caught up to my own spending. So 2007 is the year I let technology get ahead of me. This year is all about getting my credit card debt down to ZERO. There is a lot there, so this is going to be a pretty lofty goal, but I'm convinced that I can do it! This year, PJ is gonna be El-Cheapo!

So wow 2 posts in 2 days, and I actually have a good deal more to tell you all about, so maybe this whole blog thing will stick.

Coming Attractions:
1. All about the new girlfriend Jenna.
2. Poi and the art of fire spinning (aka, why PJ will no longer have hair on his arms)
3. Skiing in Colorado - Pics and stories