Thursday, April 19, 2007

One Big Ramble....

Over the past couple weeks there have been so many things to comment on but just have not known how to put them in words. I am going to finally attempt as I think it is time. This may ramble but I will try to keep focus. :-)

First...to the victims, their families, friends, those injured and anyone touched by the tragedy that happened at Virginia Tech this week...my prayers go to you. I have not been able to quit listening to the stories and trying to understand what makes something like this happen. There is just no good reason. Kids are supposed to be safe. Parents are supposed to be able to send their children away to college with the peace of mind that they are safe and things like this will not happen. In the lives of those students it is their first step to independence. A time that is supposed to let them learn to not fear and to know they can survive out on their own and make it on their own. It is that transitional step from living at home with your parents to being out on your own.

I read a transcript of a conversation between a mother and a daughter at VT. The daughter was in the building and just laying low but managed to get online and speak with her brother and mother. You could hear the fear in her conversation. The mother just tried to comfort her and have her relax. Told her that she would be ok. The only thing this girl wanted was to go home and be with her family. I just cannot imagine being a mother watching that on TV and then having your daughter on the inside giving you the play by play and wondering with every pause in conversation if something has gone bad. Towards the end of their conversation all the girl wanted was to get home and be with her family. I hope she was able to get that.

Living so far away from my family, I know that feeling of just needing a hug from a Mom, Dad, Brother or Sister. I have never been through anything like they were but when times get hard you always want to be able to get to those close to you that support you and will stand behind you no matter what. For that reason I miss my family, it is not easy to just get back home and get that hug.

Second...this is a little older but the entire Don Imus debacle. Let me begin by saying, I do not condone what he said and I think he was wrong for taking away from the accomplishments the women's basketball team at Rutgers had just enjoyed. That is the story that was lost, this was a team that pulled together and brought themselves to the top of their game and together prospered.

That having been said. Was it necessary to drag this through the media the way that it was and turn it into the spectacle that it became? If this had not hit the media, I would have never known that he made the comment. My guess is that the majority of people that were at the center of these stories never would have heard these comments either. I also believe that most of the people that did hear it were able to shake their heads and say to themselves "That's just Imus".

I believe the media and all the attention given this situation is where the hate comes from. We sow those seeds by drawing attention to it. I was becoming angry with the whole situation the more I heard about it. It angered me that people seem to call for us to be angry. They want us to get mad and to be angry over this.

We learn early in life that if we want wounds to heal we cannot pick at them and aggravate them. We have to leave them alone and let them heal on their own. This is a constant picking of a wound that will not allow us to become one. I hope someday this is figured out and that this country can become greater than it already is.

Third...Monday I had a job interview with a big box retailer like Best Buy. As I went to this interview I had to ask myself if this was a place I would want to work or not. I still wonder the same things. You see, I believe customer service is very important at all levels of a business. Especially when it comes to that very first impression. I walked into an office with white walls, folding tables and chairs spread around a room in total disarray. One of the tables was set up like a receptionist desk. On the door as I entered was a hand written sign that said the name of the company and District Office.

Is this how this company really wants to be perceived? I believe that if you want someone to work for you you need to show that you are going to be a nice place to work. When I arrived, I was not greeted or given any direction. I was handed an application and told to fill it out. My interview was scheduled for 10am and as that time passed by I was never given any direction or even information that they were running behind. It was 10:30 and finally someone came out and asked me to come back. My problem here is not that it was late but the fact that I was not given any information. If I had showed up late for my 10am interview they certainly would have noted it and probably formed an opinion on my reliability. Especially if I gave them no reason for being late. I believe that as someone being interviewed I deserve the same respect that I give to them. I arrived early and I told them who I was and why I was there. They told me nothing but to fill out their paperwork and sit down. On the upside it was positive and I am going for a second interview tomorrow. I do not know what will come of it but it is a start to something that might work out.

Finally...SAYONARA Sanjaya....I have been waiting for Sanjaya to be gone for weeks. I cannot believe he made it this far. It has been a long disturbing rise for someone that just could not figure out how to showcase the talent that he has. Now I can finally look forward to all the performances each week on American Idol. As for my choice, I am a Melinda Doolittle fan.

Well there you have a few things that have been on my mind for as long as a couple weeks. I have not reread what I wrote so I hope I did not ramble in too many circles. Sometimes when I get so many thoughts in my head I tend to ramble and not take my time to focus. I Look forward to comments and blogging more soon.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

It Is Finished!!!!!!!

Well I did it! Today I took the final exam and passed. I have officially completed the pre-licensing course for the Florida Real Estate License.

Now the next step is to pass the state exam. I cannot take that exam until my license application has been completed by the state. Hopefully all of that will be complete soon, it is definitely in the process.

Just wanted to provide the update and let everyone know that I have completed the first big step to obtaining my Real Estate License.

Monday, March 26, 2007

Almost There...

Well today I completed and passed all units and pretests of my Florida Real Estate License Course. I only have one last task to complete.

I have to take the final exam. That is 100 questions and once you start you cannot stop. I feel like I am ready to attempt it but I am being a little cautious with jumping into it. If you do not score a 70 or better then you fail. If you fail, you must wait 30 days and then retake the test. I do not want to fail and I certainly do not want to have to wait to retake the exam.

I have pretty much decided that tomorrow morning I am going to once again take the practice exam, which is also 100 questions and then as long as all goes well I will go ahead and jump into the final.

Wish me luck, I will let everyone know how it goes.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

A Game to Remember...

Growing up in Florida and all through school, everything was about football. I never went to a basketball game during my high school years and I am not sure very many other people did either. But since going to college in Kentucky I have learned to really enjoy college basketball. Especially love March Madness.

Tonight I was watching the Ohio State - Tennessee game and have to say through most of the first half I was disenchanted. It was not exciting and Ohio State actually was losing by as many as twenty points at one time.

Then as I was watching the second half the Buckeyes seemed to wake up. Before I knew it I noticed they were losing by only 6 points and then eventually it was tied. Once tied it kept going back and forth never really giving me a comfort that the Buckeyes would pull it out. Finally with 6 seconds left, Ohio State took the lead for the last time and that was where it ended. Ohio State wins 85-84.

Now that was exciting! Yes it was even better that Ohio State won, but it would have been a great game regardless of the outcome. Just a little harder to swallow.

I guess that is about it for now. Just wanted to share my exciting night of basketball. Hope the rest of the weekend is as exciting as tonight has been. Go Buckeyes!!!!!!

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Three Days and Going Strong

Well I have officially completed my third day of working on completing the Florida Real Estate course. I sit here and study all day long and just when I wonder if I am getting it, I have to take a test and it is validating that I am getting it.

As of today I have completed 33 hours of a 63 hour course. It almost scares me that it seems to be going so fast. Yesterday I struggled a little as I was learning a lot of law but no matter how difficult I seem to have grasped the topics.

Today I learned about land and surveys and how land in Florida is defined and given an exact location. Really was quite fascinating. To my surprise I got a perfect score on the test for that unit. Then it was over to Real Estate contracts. Now this is not real exciting. A lot of legal language again and it was by far the longest unit that I have had to work on. When it came time to complete the unit test, again I surprised myself with a perfect score.

What a feeling to know that things seem to be clicking so well with me. This is something I really have always wanted to do. I can remember being in high school and thinking about my future and I started dreaming about Real Estate. To this day I can remember standing in my Dad's family room and telling him that I had been thinking about going to Real Estate school instead of college. Of course, that did not go over well and I guess I let it go. Then through the years it has always been in my head. I actually began a couple years ago and applied for my license but never took the course.

It is exciting to finally be doing something that I have always wanted to. Something that I think I can be really good at. Something that I feel like I will pour my everything into. I truly believe that I can make this extremely profitable for me. Is it what I will do full time for now. That I do not know, I mean I do need to get that business going. It is not an easy thing to start. It is really something that I need to do on the side.

Well whatever I decide and however it works, just know that I am excited about it and looking forward to what lies ahead. I hope everyone can share my excitement with me.

Monday, March 19, 2007

And we're off...

Well I did it! As I mentioned in my previous post I am going to get my Florida Real Estate License. Today I enrolled in the course and completed the first 6 units out of 25 total. It kinda felt good to be working for something today.

I was up early, went to breakfast, stopped by the bank and post office then came home so that I could begin by 9:30am. I was here and worked on Real Estate all day. I turned the TV off and just focused. Some of it was hard, some of it pretty easy but what is important is that I am started.

Not sure how long it will take me to complete and pass the course. I know if you take the course in a classroom it is 10 full days. They say it is 63 hours. Today I completed what amounts to about 14 hours of class time. My goal is to have completed the course and passed the final exam by the end of next week. I would like to stick to the 10 day max time frame.

Well....I guess that is about it. Just wanted to give an update on my progress. Not much new happening right now.

Friday, March 16, 2007

I know, I know...

Again it has been a little while since my last post. But in all fairness, I have been sick. Actually ended up going to the doctor. I do not do that often but the flu kicked my backside pretty good. I am feeling much better now and glad that it is gone. The doctor was right, those were good drugs and I did not get any worse than I was at the time I was in his office.

So I have decided to do something I have been wanting to do for quite a while. I have always wanted to get my license to sell real estate and have decided to go ahead and do it. Today I applied for my state license and in a few minutes I will be going to be fingerprinted and have them sent in to complete my state license application. I also intend to enroll in the class online so that I can complete this at my own speed. Hopefully that will be a fast paced for me.

Once I complete the course, I should be ready to go ahead and take the state exam to be licensed to sell real estate in the state of Florida. I decided on the state of Florida because it is where I call home. I believe that I have better contacts and could build a better network faster if I were to start there.

I am still continuing my job search as I am going to need to have something to keep me going while I get my feet on the ground. I may shift my focus to concentrate more on jobs in Florida rather than here in Texas. It might be the time to make that shift.

Might also be getting close to the right time to put the house on the market. My biggest fear is that the money runs out and I am stuck with a house. I would much rather get rid of the house and still have the money left. Seems to make better sense to me.

Anyway, just wanted to update on things that have been going on with me. Hope everyone is doing well. I am off to be fingerprinted now.

Sunday, March 04, 2007

One Thing Leads to Another...

What a long day today was. There has been water standing in my yard where my main waterline runs to my house. I was originally told that the water was a result of all the moisture and run off and it was normal to be there at times and to not worry it will go away.

Recently this water seems to have been there much longer than ever before so I had a friend of mine come over and look at it with me. He looked at it right away and said I have a leak. We started trying to get the water away and as we got the level lower we quickly found the leak. I asked him who I should call to get it fixed and he simply asked me if I had a shovel.

We ended up having to dig up a rather large portion of my yard around this area and we quickly found just how poorly these lines were laid. As we started trying to isolate the leak other sections started breaking as well and it turned into about 4 different leaks that had to be repaired. Fortunately from his past he is a licensed plumber and someone that I really trust with all of this. He decided we should fix it correctly rather than just trying to piece it back together. This should hopefully avoid any future issues.

For me, one that is not plumbing savvy, it was easy to see that it was pretty shoddy work. Once we got everything fixed and put back together in a better way it was easy to see how much better it was now. We turn the water back on and immediately there is another leak. Right in the middle of the main water line. So back to Home Depot we go and fortunately we were able to fix that pretty quick.

After testing we found that all was working well and we put the ground and everything back together. What a big job it was. I learned what real mud really is. Having grown up in Florida, I have never seen mud quite like this. I believe it would actually form into pretty hard rock when dry. Once all done, except for some mud left on the surface you could barely tell that we had done all the work that we had.

It was amazing to me how easy the work really was. Also amazing the that we repaired everything for less than $20. I would guess a plumber would have charged me at least $500 and probably not taken the time to do the job quite as good as we did.

Thanks to my buddy Earl that helped me out with this.

Ok, Ok, I am blogging again...

Ok so it has been a VERY long time since I last blogged. I have no excuse for not blogging other than I just have not done it. However, I have been keeping up with the blogs I read on a regular basis just have not felt inspired or creative enough to post.

I am not sure that tonight I have anymore creativity but I was pretty much told it is time for me to get my blogging fingers back to work. So here I am. This is brief but I promise to start blogging again and trying to stay on top of it.

So what is new with me? I am in the job market. This is a new world for job searching and one I am trying to learn very fast. The fact is you cannot just walk into the front door of a company anymore and talk to someone about working for them. There is no phone number you can call and you cannot talk to a person. Heck, you are even lucky if you find the name of someone to address a cover letter to.

When you try to make contacts you get the same responses all the time and that is to submit your info using their website. The fact is only about 15% of the jobs filled are filled in this manner. 80% of the jobs are filled by people knowing people. This makes that old saying "It is not what you know, but who you know", very true. The name of the game is networking.

I am guessing that networking is something that many people struggle with. It is hard to meet random strangers and then make the transition to this is what I do and who do you know that could help me. Finding the leads and the contacts is very difficult.

This makes me think of that Six Degrees game. It is the theory that any two people can be linked together by a string of six or less people. It sure would be an interesting test to try and see how easily you can make these links. Hmmm that gives me an idea for a reality tv show.

Well this blog is brief and not focused but it starts the ball rolling again. I am tired so I hope it is not too much of a ramble. These are just some things that have been in my head lately. Look forward to blogging more soon. Goodnight!