Recently I got word that the Milliken plant (called the Defore plant in Clemson, SC) where I used to be Supply Chain Manager before I started my current job HAS BEEN CLOSED. They called it a consolidation according to my source which just means they still had some business and it was moved to other Milliken plants in other cities. This is sorta sad news because I feel bad for all the folks I worked with there who were still there, but I’m really not surprised. In fact one of the reasons I left was because I suspected the plant would be closed and I didn’t want to be there when it did because I’ve known other people who experienced plant closings and were either forced to relocate or just plain given the shaft. I didn’t know it would take a few more years before it happened but I was pretty confident it would indeed happen. I just pray the people who were affected are being taken care of or finding other work so they can provide for their families.
Allergies?
September 17, 2008 by Leave a Comment
For about 29 years of my life I was for the most part allergy free. Now that I’m 30 it seems like I have a regular stream of snot coming out of my head.
There was a short span of my life when my dad and I got poison ivy every time we went to cut fire wood and we would have to bathe in calamine lotion for a week to get rid of it. If I recall correctly (I was very young – dad taught me to work at an early age) it only took about two years and probably three major poison ivy episodes for my parents to decide dad and I should seek medical assistance in this area (because the last thing we were going to do was avoid cutting firewood). So the doctor gave us a series of shots (I was a very tough kid) that basically gave us immunity to poison ivy. I’ve never had to worry about poison ivy from that time on, and for the most part I don’t recall ever having any other major allergy problems…until now – age 30.
It seems like for the last year or so I’ve been officially allergic to waking up. That’s what I’m declaring it until someone smart informs me or I take the time to educate myself on what the heck my morning problem is. I’m not talking about being allergic to GETTING up. I’m seriously saying I have a problem when I WAKE up. The normal half coherent rolling over in sleep type of ‘waking up’ doesn’t bother me. It’s only when I’m truly awakened in a way that my brain begins functioning on a conscious level – snot begins to flow out of my head. It’s like snot is the oil of my brain and my nose is the oil leak – brain cranks up and nose begins to leak.
For a while I thought maybe I’ve developed an allergy to dust or something, so we cleaned our room very thoroughly. Maybe it’s our dog sleeping in our room (on the floor on his own special bed – NOT in our bed – that’s another story). But it couldn’t be a dog allergy because I don’t have this sneezy snotty problem in the middle of the day when I’m around dogs – or dust either for that matter. I’ve ridden this thing out for at least a year, making it through every season, just to confirm it isn’t pollen or whatever other seasonal allergies. Nope – none of that explains this snotty phenomenon I only experience when I truly wake up from sleep.
I’m wide open to professional explanations from anyone who will be so kind to explain. Until then or until I do some research I’m officially diagnosing myself as allergic to waking up.
Vacation!!!
August 15, 2008 by Leave a Comment
Last week was vacation (8/2 – 8/10). Yeah baby! A week of mostly no phone calls, mostly no emails, and mostly no stress (we did still have the kids with us so there was still just a little bit of stress). It was very fun and relaxing. Here’s the highlights from the week:
Sunday – drove to Montgomery, AL (which is halfway to our destination) to stay the night before proceeding to Gulf Shores, AL. While there we went to Circuit City because we had noticed the Wii was on sale for $249 (which is the best I’ve seen it). We’ve been talking about getting one for our family for Christmas, and I had already put the money aside for it, so we did it (yes – we’re already shopping for Christmas, but the Wii probably won’t wait til Christmas befor we use it).
Monday – drove the rest of the way to Gulf Shores (more precisely Orange Beach, AL – just down the road from Gulf Shores). You might be asking why did we go there. The answer is we know some people who own a condo there and Shawna’s mom had been given a free week to stay there, so she let us take advantage of the free week with her – thanks GG (Grandma Grace). After we got there I took the kids straight to the ocean and after about 10 minutes they wanted to go straight to the pool, so we did.
Tuesday – slept in. Went to the pool and ocean again (ocean a bit longer this time and more than once, but still spent more time at the pool). Lost my sunglasses in the ocean. Bought some new ones for an outrageous $10 at ‘Surf Style’ (that was $5 too high for my taste because I can get sunglasses any weekend at the Jockey Lot for $5). Relaxation deluxe – all day long. Ate good. Had TCBY ice cream.
Wednesday – got up at 6am and walked the beach. I knew the tide would be low and wanted to find some sea shells for the kids because they hadbeen looking for them since we got there. I happened to find 3 pairs of sunglasses washing up with the seashells. One pair is Oakley and the other two aren’t bad either. They’re a little scratched but not too bad. Took the kids to the pool and ocean again. This time we stayed at the ocean for quite a while because I bought them some sand toys to play with. I built a sand castle and Devin immediately tore it down with the shovel I got him. Went to Lambart’s (http://www.throwedrolls.com/). What an experience. They literally throw the rolls to you. Excellent food.
Thursday – took Devin to the National Naval Aviation Museum. Another wonderful experience. There are so many planes on display. Devin loved getting in the cockpits of several different types of planes. We also saw a pretty cool Imax movie. Hopefully we’ll have the opportunity to go do that again when Devin is older so he can learn more about the planes and their history.
Friday – The girls went shopping which left Devin and I without transportation and with little interest in going to the pool or the beach by ourselves. So we made an adventure out of it and walked down the beach about a mile to the nearest souvenir shop where I bought Devin a snorkel and goggles. Then we walked back. That was as close as I got to a workout all week so I’ll have to pick up the slack now that we’re home.
Saturday – Pretty much all day was spent at the beach. Someone in our building pulled the fire alarm so the fire trucks came. That was interesting. But we spent most of the day playing in the sand and enjoying the ocean that we rarely get to see. It was nice and relaxing but at the same time I was already starting to dread the packing up and driving home.
Sunday – We drove all the way back home in one day. We stopped probably 5 times in the first 5 hours (3 hours of it was actual driving time) to get souvenirs, get snacks, pee, etc etc, then stopped to eat at Cracker Barrel. Then after we ate we drove 5 hours straight without stopping. Home sweet home.
What a wonderful vacation. We really enjoyed the gulf coast of Alabama. It’s really quite nice for family vacationing and we’ll most likely do it again. I’m sure there are so many details I’m not thinking of at the moment but I don’t want to delay posting something about our vacation any longer. When I think of more stuff I’ll write about it.
I’ll upload a bunch of pics for the next post.
Another Post About Porn
August 13, 2008 by Leave a Comment
If you’ve read this blog for a while you might recall several posts I’ve done about porn. I continue to fight the battle against temptation not necessarily always specifically regarding porn but more often regarding eye control in public and when inappropriate commercials pop up on TV. But I do still protect myself against porn and help friends who want accountability with the same. One resource I recently stumbled upon is www.no-porn.com. Check it out. There are books, softwares, forums, etc for helping to overcome sexual temptations on many levels.
Latest Reading – I Was Broke Now I’m Not
August 8, 2008 by Leave a Comment
Just read Joe Sangl’s book. I have a note from Joe in my copy along with his autograph, so that makes it valuable – but I’m not selling it. It’s priceless to me because of the information in it.
I’ve heard Joe teach pretty much everything he has written in the book either in his FLE or in one on one counseling with him. But it was reinvigorating to read it all in the book and make notes of some things I need to re-focus on regarding our finances. In the year and a half that we’ve been following Joe’s methods we have made huge progress toward improving our finances. It is very exciting.
In case you haven’t read Joe’s book – I HIGHLY recommend it. It is the most simple material to read AND apply that I have ever come across (it took me about 3 hours to read it and I stopped to jot some personal notes in several places). I also highly recommend scheduling one on one counseling with Joe so he can share his insight in to your finances. He is not bossy or judgemental (in fact he’s the exact opposite) but he is inspiring and challenging in sharing his experience and knowledge and using it to offer suggestions that will help your unique situation.
Now that I’m going on and on about it I’ll go so far as to say that if you haven’t read Joe’s book you are really missing out. And if you think you don’t need to read Joe’s book you are a freakin idiot. There is something for everybody to learn in Joe’s book. I don’t care if you’re wiping with $100 bills – there is still something for you to learn from Joe’s book (like you might get some better ideas of something good you could be doing with your money besides wiping with it).
Shawna and I just love Joe and Jenn – both as friends and as financial mentors. I can’t say much else about it.
Upgraded Luxurious Office
August 2, 2008 by Leave a Comment
I upgraded my office!
Anybody who has known me for more than two seconds probably knows I work from home, and we have a small house with three children so space is limited. Therefore my office is set up in a corner of the garage. Very plush except for when it’s so hot outside that it’s 95 degrees in the garage.
For 4 summers now I’ve managed to survive by running a fan in the garage until the temperature got to 85 degrees and once it got to 85 I would go inside and work in our bedroom. It was that or stay out in the garage and literally bake as the temperature continued to rise.
BUT now, in my 5th summer of working at home (in the garage) I have upgraded my luxurious office to make it more plush than ever. I got a portable air conditioner unit!!! That combined with my faithful fan allows me to beat the heat to at least a tolerable temperature.
One of these days my goal is to have a space that is mine and mine alone (I won’t have to share it with the cars, lawn equipment, tools, kids toys, and miscellaneous other junk). The options for how to achieve that are endless and all cost money that I’m not ready to spend, so as for now I’m just as productive in my little corner with A/C.
Holler Ain’t Necessarily Redneck
July 28, 2008 by Leave a Comment
If you’ve lived in the south for more than 2 minutes you’ve heard somebody say the word ‘holler’.
“Holler at-im tu git ovur hier” (modern translation – Holler at him to get over here).
“Holler at dem yungins” (Holler at those young ones – aka children)
“Quit hollerin at me”…..
See -you’ve heard it.
I personally don’t use that word unless I’m being silly and intentionally speaking more southern than I normally do (I’m 100% southern but non-southerners can at least understand my normal speech).
So I was writing an email to one of my cousins who lives in Florida. He’s on the Asbell side of the family, of which mostly resides around the Cairo and Thomasville areas of south Georgia, therefore he understands redneck. So at the end of my email I started to type ‘Holler back soon’ to throw a bit of southern lingo in to the message. I fully expected to see the red underline under ‘holler’ as though there was a spelling error. Didn’t happen. I was curious and decided to check to see if holler is considered a proper word, and it is. That sparked an interest in me to check other ‘southern’ or ‘redneck’ terms.
Southerners ain’t so stupid after all (it says ain’t isn’t a standard word, but they still defined it). You folks from over yonder just ain’t as cultured as you thought you were. If you’d listen more closely you wouldn’t get hollered at.
Emotional Moment at Live Free Live Loud Concert
July 25, 2008 by Leave a Comment
The third annual (I think it was the third one) Live Free Live Loud concert was a few weeks ago at the Anderson Civic Center ampitheater (or whatever it’s called).
Of course we forgot our camera so the only pictures we have are from my
phone. Here they are:
phone. Here they are:
Devin and his buddies Ethan, Elliott, and Brody. They’re watching the
fireworks that were shot off when it was still daylight.
Skyler and her friend Olivia sitting with Mr. Eric watching the daylight
fireworks.
Kylee sleeping through the fireworks.
Here’s what happened that was so emotional. On the way out of the
ampitheater (or whatever it’s called) was dark and there were so many
people. I was pulling our wagon full of stuff with one hand and holding
Devin’s hand with the other hand. Shawna was pushing Kylee in the stroller
with one hand and holding Skyler’s hand with the other hand. Devin was
holding an umbrella in the opposite hand from the one I was holding.
Obviously we all had our hands full. The last words we said to both Devin &
Skyler as we began to walk in the crowd was ‘DO NOT let go of mommy &
daddy’s hands’.
ampitheater (or whatever it’s called) was dark and there were so many
people. I was pulling our wagon full of stuff with one hand and holding
Devin’s hand with the other hand. Shawna was pushing Kylee in the stroller
with one hand and holding Skyler’s hand with the other hand. Devin was
holding an umbrella in the opposite hand from the one I was holding.
Obviously we all had our hands full. The last words we said to both Devin &
Skyler as we began to walk in the crowd was ‘DO NOT let go of mommy &
daddy’s hands’.
The problem was the pants Devin had on that night were a little too big
around the waist (or they were just stretchy enough that the more he played
the looser they got). As we were walking along and talking to some friends
that were walking beside us Devin’s pants began to fall. Worse than that
was I didn’t know what was happening. We got almost out of the ampitheater
and I became abruptly aware of the situation. I don’t remember exactly what
happened other than somehow I finally looked down in Devin’s direction
beside me and noticed his shorts were around his ankles. I hoped it had
just happened and we hadn’t been walking along like that very long. I
immediately stopped and let go of the wagon and helped him pull his pants
up. Devin was so embarrassed. He grabbed his shirt to pull it over his
King Kong underwear, and looked up at the people behind us who began to
laugh. (It was probably a cute moment from their point of view but they
really made him feel very embarrassed and in hindsight I wish I would have
cussed and bowed up a back hand at them – men and women alike – I was ticked
later on). I’ve never seen Devin so upset with embarrassment. We quickly
grabbed our things and made our way toward the exit – this time with one of
Devin’s hands holding my hand and the other holding his pants instead of the
umbrella.
When we got out of the ampitheater and out of everyone’s way I stopped to
hold Devin who at this point was crying he was so upset. I got down on my
knees and held him and tried to comfort him. It was at that moment he said
“Daddy I tried to tell you my pants were falling but you didn’t listen”. My
heart was immediately broken into a million pieces. I had failed my son in
a way I thought I would never fail him. All I had to do was be more
attentive to him walking beside me, but instead I was too engulfed in my own
conversation with someone else.
I couldn’t help it. I broke into tears and just held Devin as close as I
could. People were walking by and I’m sure staring, but I didn’t even care
at that moment. I was now giving my undivided attention to my son. I
apologized to him over and over and told him it would never happen again,
but the tears weren’t slowing down – his or mine. So I picked him up and
carried him the remaining 100 yards or more that we had to walk to our
vehicle. At this point I was so mad at myself and the laughing people, and
crushed with the pain of failing my son – I was physically numb. Carrying a
50lb boy and pulling a 100lb wagon full of stuff, and crying like a baby.
Devin started telling me to stop. I realized my crying wasn’t helping him
calm down so I started to regain my composure.
We spent a lot of time in the car in traffic as we left and that gave us all
a closed environment to just talk it all out and work through the emotions
and frustrations. Devin expressed himself and his anger. Kids are so
innocent and forgiving. He forgave me almost instantly and forgot that I
had failed and could have prevented the whole thing by paying attention.
Instead he turned his anger and frustration at the people who made him feel
so embarrassed. He told us how mad he was at those people for laughing at
him and how he wanted to hit them and kick them. I could understand that.
He wanted to hurt them the way he had been hurt and the only way he knew how
was to physically hurt them. We helped him talk through it and understand
that it was no big deal that his pants fell down and those people didn’t
really see his underwear and they were mean for laughing but that’s just how
people are sometimes etc etc etc. He said he never wants to wear those
shorts again so as far as I’m concerned he’ll never have to wear them again
because I don’t want to give him any reason to remember that incident.
By the time we finally got home Devin was pretty much over it. I had a hard
time going to sleep that night, but when I prayed and accepted once again
that I’m not perfect and I’m going to make mistakes I was able to get over
it too. Devin hasn’t said another word about that night. It’s like he’s
forgotten all about it, which I’m thankful for.