The Year of the Blog

I started keeping a schedule with my blogging in early March 2013, just before I moved to Maryland.  Since then, I've been posting at least three days a week.  Occasionally I've missed a day, but every time that's happened I've written a make-up post.  Add to that, "Tuesdays with Media" that lasted for nearly three months, and you get even more posts.

According to my math, if I posted three times a week for the entire year, I'd have 156 posts completed.  According to Google (who hosts my blog), this is my 168th post of the year.

Also of note, I wrote and posted eleven short stories in 2014 (there were twelve stories posted, but one was written back in 2009).  Before this year, I had written and posted three stories, and one was a class assignment.  In fact, prior to last year, I don't think I had ever written any short stories that weren't for a class assignment.

This blog has helped in other ways, too.  I don't always have the best memory, but with this blog, I'm able to review experiences that I've written about.  I've even used this blog to help me get the dates right of past jobs that I've worked when applying to new jobs.  I've also written essays on topics ranging from women portrayed in films to my position about being labeled a "millennial," which helps me better understand what I think on the matters.

So thank you, dear readers, for giving me a place to practice my writing and organizing my thoughts.  As mentioned above, this blog has been very helpful for me.  Let's see if we can't do even more posts next year.

More Than Friends

I stopped by the Simciks' home last night to drop something off and was invited inside.  I'm invited in pretty much any time I stop by for any reason, so I wasn't really surprised by it this time.  What I was surprised by was the fact that they had other members of their family over visiting and they were all sitting at the table, having just finished dinner.

I was really embarrassed for interrupting their time with family and said that I would be on my way, but they insisted that I sit down and join them for dessert.  I protested a little more, but before I knew what was going on, I was sitting at the table and meeting the other members of the family.  My simple drop-off turned into a nearly hour-long visit.  One of their daughters, who was visiting from college and I've talked with several times, even told me that she thinks of me as her brother.  I have never had any friends before where I was so welcomed by every member of the family that I'm practically a member myself.  And the best part is that the feeling is mutual.

I don't get see too many members of my actual family very often, so it's nice to know that I have another one so close by.

Christmas 2014

This Christmas was a little different than I've had in recent years, because it involved more family than usual.  With my family spread across the country in practically every time zone, it isn't easy to get together.  Despite the long trip, my parents and Grandma Bonnie came to visit me and my brother's family, as well as my sister's family in New Jersey later on.

The traveling trio arrived in Baltimore at around 9:30 in the morning on Sunday after traveling for nearly twelve hours.  Due to the timing of their trip, they arrived with a little bit of time before my ward started, so we planned on them attending Church with me.  I knew they would be hungry so I arranged with the Simciks to be able to use their kitchen to cook my family breakfast - my apartment is on the third floor and that's not easy to get to when walking with a cane, so I was very happy to have a place where I could still give my family a warm welcome.  I decided to take a page out of my time at IHOP and I cooked spinach and grilled onion omelets with bacon.  Everyone that ate was happy for the energy so they could sit through Church without falling asleep.  At Church, I sang two songs with the Ward Choir and taught my final Sunday School lesson before the visitors decided that they needed to get on the road and head south to Ian's if they were going to be alert enough.  I wished them "so long" until we'd see each later in the week.

On Christmas Eve, I joined my family at Ian's.  I was a bit overly ambitious with my baking that morning, but since I didn't have any physical presents for everyone, I wanted to make sure everyone had something to enjoy.  Before leaving my apartment, I made brownies, pfeffernusse cookies, and a double-sweet pumpkin pie to take with me.  Once at Ian's, I started making dinner, which was a roasted chicken with steamed quinoa, steamed carrots and apples, and a spinach salad (made by my mom).  Due to my overly ambition from earlier in the day, dinner was later than it should have been, but everyone agreed that it was tasty.

On Christmas day, we started the day with presents, mostly for Clara and Henry.  After presents were opened (to many screams of "This is just what I wanted!"), I started working on breakfast.  I hadn't planned on breakfast this day like I had for the previous Sunday, but I saw that Ian had some frozen blueberries and pancake mix, so of course I thought of blueberry pancakes - I made a quick compote and then just dropped frozen blueberries into the pancakes after putting the batter on the hot griddle.  Along with the scrambled eggs that Ian whipped up, it was a full breakfast.  Later that day, I put on a pork roast.  Not only was this meal ready on time, but it was really tasty, too.  It was served with steamed broccoli and buttered dinner rolls.

I know that I mostly wrote about food this post, but that's what I gave my family this year.  I do have a great job right now, but I only just started and it's difficult for me to give presents right now.  One thing that I can do, however, is provide service in the form of cooking and baking.  And my gifts went over very well with everyone - Ian even said that the two dinners that I cooked were some of the most complete meals he had had in a long time.  I was happy to provide some gifts that were not just enjoyable, but nutritious as well.

I hope everyone had a Happy Christmas!

Changing of the Guard

I was released from my calling as Gospel Doctrine teacher on Sunday.  I've been teaching Sunday School for a little over a year now, and it's been very rewarding.  In addition to helping me better understand the Old Testament (the Standard Work that I'm least familiar with), it also gave me a reason to make it to church.  In the last year, I've gone through two bouts of unemployment, which inevitably led to depression.  I know that having a responsibility that required me to make it to Church each week was a major blessing during those times.

Not only was I released, I was extended another calling: I'm the new Assistant Teacher's Quorum Adviser.  When I got the calling, I thought that it sounded like fun, but not terribly challenging.  I asked for a summary of my responsibilities and was told that I would help out in the Quorum and in the equivalent portion of the scouting program.  That means that I'll need to go camping ... about once a month.

I believe very strongly that we receive callings so that we can be taught something.  Yes, we bring something to the calling so that others can gain from our service, but there's some important lesson that we need to gain during our tenure.  I don't know what the specific lesson for me is, but it appears to include gaining some appreciation for sleeping on the ground (current ground-sleeping appreciation level: zero).

One nice thing that happened was that my introduction wasn't met with only blank stares.  The Simcik's son, Johnny, is a Teacher and not only insisted that I sit next to him when I arrived to the meeting room, he announced to everyone that "Jordan's awesome!"  I hadn't realized that I had had such a positive impact on him during our interactions, so I was surprised by his reaction.  We'll have to work on him calling me "Brother Larsen" while I'm serving in the capacity of my calling, but still a great welcome.

I may not know what challenges and responsibilities this calling will bring but I'm ready for what the Lord has planned for me.

The First Christmas

Read the new story here!

The Worst Part

I have said more than once that the worst thing about my job is the commute, but that's unfair.  Not because the company I work for has no control over how far their office is from where I live, but because having a longer commute has its benefits.

In the morning, I take time to pray vocally.  It's a wonderful experience to be able to converse with my Father in Heaven everyday.  Even in the short time that I've been working for Danfoss, I've received some revelations regarding challenges that I face and I don't think I would have gotten them if I hadn't set aside time every morning to have a conversation with Him.

After I pray, I drive in silence for a while.  Life is full of too many distractions, so it's nice to just drive and let my mind wander - introspection is not a terrible thing after all.

After a few minutes, I turn on the radio and listen to the news.  This may seem to contradict what I just said about having some quiet time, but this is actually important.  Working in an office, I'm obligated to make small talk with people from time to time.  While I don't have to be familiar with every recent event to get by, it's still a good idea to have at least a vague sense of what's happening in the world.

In the evening, I'm tired from a full day of work, so having something to occupy my mind is helpful in keeping me alert.  I've listened to a few podcasts, but I recently started listening to an audiobook.  Again, this is just in the evening, but it's something that I look forward to.

And so with a little creativity, the worst part of my job is not only not that bad anymore, but it's actually an important part of my day.

Building a Reputation

I've been working at Danfoss for just over two weeks now and I've only worked on a few assignments.  For the most part, I've spent my time either doing research or talking to people who are experts in their particular field.  It's been a slow start, but considering that I'm brand new to the HVAC industry, that shouldn't be surprising.

Despite my inexperience in this industry, I'm not a novice in my field.  Just a few weeks back, I was talking to my dad and excitedly telling him about a recent time when I realized that I was thinking like a technical writer.  And while I haven't fully adopted that way of thinking just yet, I'm able to get in that mindset easily enough that it's not a big deal any more.  And the people I work with have been noticing.

Last week I sent an email to one of the managers (I report only to the Marketing Manager, but I take assignments from the Product Manager and the Sales Manager, too) to ask some questions about a document that I was editing.  When he responded, he threw in something extra:

I have gotten some good feedback from people that have met you, and I think you have the right strategy with digesting the information and asking very direct questions.

That may seem like a something small, but it means that in the very short time that I've been with the company, I've already started making good impressions with people.  And it's a wonderful thing to do your job well and be noticed for it.  I can't wait until I get an assignment I can really sink my teeth into.

New Blog!

I've decided to launch a new blog dedicated to my fictional writings.  It is now easier than ever to read my short stories and other works of fiction by visiting thefictionalworksofjordanclarsen.blogspot.com, which is also a link on the right side of this blog.  It already has all of the stories previously posted on this blog and will be the new home of any new writing in the future.  In fact, there's a new story debuting there today, so follow the link and check it out!

As always, feedback is appreciated.

Job Satisfaction

Since I am now the go-to writer in my office, I was tasked this week with editing an article written for a trade magazine.  I was happy to oblige since it meant that I got to have an actual assignment, but I was surprised at the writer's style choices.

You see, while I was never given a company style guide (and had been told that we didn't have one), I went digging around on the company's intranet and found something close: a writer's guide.  The guide didn't teach me anything new, but it did give me some clear guidance on stylistic matters.  I bring this up because it was pretty clear that the article's writer had not seen the writer's guide.

For example, the writer's guide recommends using short sentences whenever possible.  I agree with this technique and often use it myself.  This article, however, was written with overly-long and complex sentence that were cumbersome to read at best and hard to follow at worst.

Another problem was repeated word usage.  In technical documents, even articles, it's important to establish a vocabulary and use it the same way each time, but only for the technical parts.  Since the article was about the benefits of different refrigerants, each fluid would need to be introduced and then only referred to by that name (you shouldn't bring up the trademarked "Puron" and then call it by its generic name "R-410A").  That said, the other words are not locked in and the writer seemed to not have a lot of creativity when it came to transitions and used the same two throughout the article.

Now, I don't fault the writer of this article for making these mistakes (the second issue wasn't even covered in the writer's guide), but they stood out to me.

This story is just an example of why my position in the company is necessary and why I already like my job so much.

Busy, Busy

You may have noticed that this post is uncharacteristically late.  That is because I may have stretched myself a bit too thin.

First of all, because of my commute, my work day is definitely on the long side.  Don't get me wrong, everything's going great, but I'm losing just under two hours everyday to the road.

Then, I hit the gym because if I don't, my stress levels can easily become unmanageable.  My stress levels are fine right now, but it's better to have the habits in place for when I start having more responsibilities.

Then on top of all of that, I have two choir practices to attend: one is the Ward Choir, the other is a basic quartet.  I was also in the Stake Choir, but I dropped out of that one because it was beyond what I could handle, at least right now.

What I'm saying is that by the time I got home last night, after a day of work, the gym, and choir practice, I just ate dinner and went to bed.  Things should be easier once the new year rolls around.

First Week at Danfoss

I'm sure that all of my faithful readers (all six of you, according to Blogger) are curious about my first week at my new job at the HVAC components manufacturer, Danfoss.  It was, well ... a little weird.

On Monday, I couldn't get up when my alarm went off and I fell back asleep.  I did wake up a few hours later though, this time in a panic.  I immediately called the office and said that I slept through my alarm - which is kind of true - and said I would get there as soon as I could.  I quickly got ready and left.  Thanks to it being the day after the Thanksgiving weekend, traffic was light and I got there in about twenty-five minutes.  I was supposed to be there at 8:30, but arrived at 10. Not a good start, but everyone was very understanding.  According to the HR Director, if I had been there on time, I would have just been waiting since she had had computer trouble for about an hour.  While it's never good to be late to work, if I had to do it, the first day is probably the day that will cause the least amount of damage to my standing with the company.  And rest easy: I was on time the rest of the week.

The first couple of days, I mostly read various HVAC pages on Wikipedia.  Danfoss has a site on its intranet called "E-Learning" that's designed to help newbies get up to speed in the HVAC market.  However, that site is down and won't be back up until January, so I spent some time reading up on Wikipedia.  That may sound lame, and it is a little, but I did learn a lot and I have a better understanding than if I hadn't spent my time reading.

What will my duties be?  A little bit of everything.  I was brought on, along with other employees, as part of an initiative called Project Boulder.  Project Boulder's purpose is to help the company go after "Millennials" who are entering the industry.  That means that as a company, Danfoss needs to reevaluate how it conducts business, and then make improvements.  I'll be helping to redesign the product packaging, instructions, advertisements in industry magazines, making how-to videos for installing the products, creating and reformatting catalogs, even writing articles for the previously mentioned industry magazines that push the company's products.  Like I said, a little bit of everything.

One of the other weird things that I learned was that I am the only member of the Marketing Department, aside from the Marketing Manager.  The week before I started, the two other members of the department resigned together (which sound a bit like a suicide pact).  What this means is that my boss is having to do the work of three people right now, which means that I'm not getting a lot of direction from her on how I use my time.  But since I'm working with so many different departments, that's not as big of an issue as it might otherwise be.  In fact, on Thursday, I asked the Product Manager if he had any documents for me to work on.  He gave me a catalog that needed updating, and I spent the next day-and-a-half reformatting the entire thing.  I showed him a quick look at some of the changes I had made and he was really pleased with the improvements.

The worst thing about my job is the commute, but even that's not too bad.  I take a tunnel to work - which does involve a toll - that shaves off at least twenty minutes from my route.  All told, my commute is between forty-five and fifty minutes each way.  Still, as long as the drive is less than an hour, I'm fine.

Overall, this week was a good one.  No, the start was not my best showing, but I think I made up for that pretty quickly.  I have a good feeling about this.

Amateur Professional

My sister, Margot, has a really nice camera.  I had a chance to mess around with it and take some pictures outside.  Even with my lousy picture taking skills, I think they look pretty nice.

 

Isn't it amazing what you can do when you have the right tools?

Thanksgiving 2014

I'm going to do something different this time and just let some pictures speak for themselves.  So, sit back and enjoy some visual proof that I had a great Thanksgiving and a Black Friday spent at the best mall there is: the National Mall.

 

I hope that everyone had a happy Thanksgiving.

The Hunt

I wrote most of this story while working at the temp job a couple of weeks back. It has some VERY SUBTLE symbolism that seemed appropriate for today.

Argus sat on the tree branch, waiting. The waiting was the hardest part of the hunt. Sharpening your weapons, reinforcing your cords, that was one thing: at least you were doing something. With waiting, all you did was, well, wait.

This hunt had lasted a few weeks, with little sign that his prey was close. In his youth, he had stalked his prey, but he now realized that wasn’t terribly practical – with each prey that came near, he’d have to change so much about his behavior to get close, and that was exhausting. So instead, he now puts out bait and sits, waiting.

Very subtly, Argus felt the air shift. The other creatures of the forest became very still and the silence that stayed behind was palpable. Now, the true test began. Argus gripped his lariat in his right hand, using only his forefinger to keep the loop in place, the excess cord held loosely in his left hand. All of his attention was focused on watching the tree line for his prey and being ready to pounce.

With little warning, four creatures exploded into the sky from the forest canopy. They flew without wings, propelled by some unknown force. Argus had only the briefest of moments to decide which prey to pursue. He could have chosen the fastest or the biggest one, but Argus had studied these creatures and knew that the best one to go after was simply the closest one. He adjusted his stance to a crouch and watched the flying creatures’ flight pattern. As soon as a creature was in range, Argus let his lariat fly. The cord found a home around the end of the long, rat-like tail and Argus let the coiled excess spill out. He watched the cord fly out after the lead and jumped from the tree just as the cord pulled his chest harness it was attached to.

This is where the hunt really got exciting, Argus thought as he climbed the cord up towards the creature. This close to his prey, he could see the details up close. The scales that covered its body were large and shimmering in the early morning light. The two limbs it had in place of arms were short numbs with a long, single claw attached to the ends. From his current position below and behind, he couldn’t see the head, but they all look about the same with their rodent-like teeth obscured by large, full lips and their soulless, black eyes, staring into nothingness. Truly, they are fearsome creatures to behold and many hunters have been intimidated on their first encounter, but Argus had grown accustomed to the chase.

He quickly scaled the cord and was soon climbing on to the creature itself. He had to move carefully to not cut himself on the sides of the large, hand-sized scales. His heavy boots and gloves provided some protection, but even some hunters that wore full armor had lost a limb simply to the scales. Every preparation in the world would mean nothing if one was careless in the moment. To help lend some stability, Argus pulled his pickaxe from its holster at the back of his belt. It was made from a previous kill’s claw, which was incredibly strong. With each swing of the axe down into the side of his prey, slowly moving Argus forward, the creature cried out with high-pitched, whistle-like screams, steam pouring out of the single nostril on the top of its head.

Despite the danger of traversing the creature as it swung its body about violently, Argus was soon at the head. He quickly holstered his pickaxe and unsheathed the sword on his back. The sword was built out of a bone from a previously killed creature with the edge made up of razor-sharp scales. He positioned the point of the sword directly over the nostril on the creature’s head – the only vulnerable part on the whole of the creature – and thrust downward. Rather than the whistle-like scream from before, the creature let out a deep bellow. As Argus’ body vibrated with the sound emanating from his prey, he pressed the sword deep into the creature’s brain, dark green blood pouring out of its head. Now the creature’s path was curving downward, unable to stay aloft through its mysterious means. Argus held tight to his sword, as much for stability as to ensure the death of his prey. Trees crashed around them as they plowed a path through the forest. With a thunderous crash, the creature met the ground, though it continued sliding for nearly a half-mile.

When the creature finally came to a stop, Argus – who was quite exhausted at this point – pulled out the mouth pipe from its loop on the left side of his belt. He took a deep breath and let out four distinct calls, a pattern that was unique to successful hunters. Soon, the village would arrive and help him harvest everything useful from his kill. He slowly began his climb down from the top of the animal. On the ground again, he took inventory of his extremities. Everything was accounted for, though he did have a few minor cuts and scrapes. Argus had known hunters that had lost fingers without realizing it, the thrill of the hunt had been so strong. If he had any wounds that needed attention, now was the time for it. However, without the need for first-aid, Argus sat down and leaned back against a still upright tree as he waited for the others.

He did not have to wait long. Just as he was truly getting comfortable, he heard the village’s chief call to him.

“Argus!” the older man called. “Quite the impressive jaub you have here.”

“Aye,” Argus called back, turning in the direction of his elder tribesman. “It will sustain our people for some time, Orion.”

“I think a jaub like this will offer much in food and textiles.” Orion was now in front of Argus and he extended his hand to help the other man to his feet. “I hope that the benefits of this one will also be bounteous, but we will not know for certain until we have sliced it open.”

“Please let me know the quality of the jaub when the assessment has been completed. Now excuse me, I must go and look for Eos.” Orion nodded and went to observe the deconstruction and appraisal of the newly landed jaub while Argus wearily began looking for his wife amongst the crowd that had formed. While he was searching, a hand lightly touched his shoulder, causing him to turn and look for the hand’s owner. He was met by the face of his wife, Eos, with her violet-grey eyes and reddish-blonde hair (though a few streaks of white had started to come in). She was carrying their young child, a boy named Aether.

“Quite the jaub you have landed, Argus,” she said to him, proudly. She turned to face Aether, “Your father is the best at finding and landing jaubs, young one.”

Argus looked at his little family, happy that he could provide a good life for them through his efforts. After all, everything comes from the jaubs that he lands: food, clothing, tools, medicine, even materials for their houses. In the past, hunters would go after other animals as prey, but no other creature provided as much to men as jaubs did, so now that was the only prey worth going after. Once the jaub was landed, other men and women of the village would deconstruct it down to the various components to be used. The various insides, called benefits, were especially valuable since they were essential components in medicines. However, no part of the jaub could be utilized without the jaub itself first being landed. In many ways, Argus thought, the hunter was the most important role in the village.

With his wife and child beside him, Argus slowly walked back to the village for a well-deserved rest. The hunt would begin again soon, but for now, he would enjoy his time off.