Real Understanding
As a technical writer, I'm not expected to be an expert in the subject that I'm writing on but an expert writer and researcher. I seek out the information I need and use it in such a way that the reader thinks I'm an expert. I still have to have a basic understanding of the subject but that usually develops as I do the research. Yesterday at work, I finally started to "get" what I'm writing about, which is good since it's an instructional guide. Up to this point, I've just been copying information from another document. It's still early for me on this project but I'm really pleased that I've started to internalize the material.
Stress Reducer
When I wrote about my trials in getting a Maryland driver's license, my dad left a comment asking me what I can do to prevent something like that happening again. I thought about his question a lot and realized that I was neglecting one of the four things that I need to do regularly to manage my anxiety. I've been eating healthy, studying my scriptures daily, and (mostly) getting plenty of sleep, but I haven't been exercising like I should. A lot of that is due to the bad weather we've had which would throw my entire routine off. So, to better combat Mother Nature, I've decided to join a gym. I've done a lot of research and found a decent gym for $10 a month, which is super reasonable even for me and my lean budget. I even pass it coming home from work. Since I haven't gotten paid yet, I probably won't start until next week, but I'm excited to be able to hit the gym again.
Roommate's Milestone
After Church on Sunday, Samuel went to visit a member of the ward who is unable to attend church and blessed the sacrament for the first time. I didn't go, but Samuel came back beaming. He told me how excited he was to have finally blessed the sacramental water and that he is eager to do it again. (In case I haven't mentioned it, Samuel is a convert and is still very new to the gospel).
Vegetarian No More
Monday was the last day of my cleanse, which means I'm eating meat on a regular basis again. I've certainly dropped the weight that I gained while unemployed and, I suspect, a little bit extra that I didn't need to lose. I guess that means that I'll have to pack on the pounds by pumping iron.
"Now run!"
While I was visiting the Larsen's to celebrate my birthday, Henry and Clara showed me a new game that they've discovered. It's the classic activity where a kid grabs an adult's leg and is dragged along while the adult walks. However, walking got old and they started asking that I run. Not that I would actually run, I did try to move a bit faster for them, though with little success. As with countless uncles before me, I tired before they did. Still, they were both super excited that we got to play together, which never gets old.
Showing posts with label Shorties. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shorties. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Monday, February 24, 2014
Shorties 5
Nailed It!
I had a phone interview on Friday. I had to move my lunch back at my temp job to accommodate the interview, but everything worked out. The job is for a technical writing job with a local tech firm and it looks like I would be a good fit for me. While all of that is nice, what is really exciting is that this was pretty much the opposite of the interview with PayPal. I remember when I hung up the phone after the interview had concluded, I actually thought to myself, "Nailed it!" I should hear back next week if they want to move forward with an in-person interview; even if they don't, I feel like I've already had success with this one.
T-Minus 5 Days
On Saturday, I had Samuel come by my apartment complex's leasing office to fill out some preliminary paperwork so that he can move in. The lease won't change, but the office needs to have information on all tenants for liability purposes. While he was here, Samuel mentioned his concern that he would stink up the apartment with his traditional Nigerian cooking. I assured him that it was no problem, but he still seemed nervous.
One thing that I anticipate that is making Samuel nervous is that he is still learning the culture of the US and Maryland and since I will be his first native-born American roommate, he's trying to be careful to not offend. I'm sure that we'll have some disagreements and that there will be an adjustment period, but I'm pretty confident that we'll be able to work past them. Regardless of how easy the transition will be, I'll have a new roommate by this Saturday.
KO'd
Yesterday, as I was preparing to leave to pick up Samuel to take him to church, I recognized I was having an allergic reaction. Now, this reaction was the most mild that I think I've had, but I was still concerned that if I didn't catch it right away, I would end up in the ER again. So I took some Benedryl and started making some calls. I called the Sunday School President and asked him to find a replacement for me (we had about 50 minutes before church started, so at least he had some warning this time). Then I frantically called the a few members in the Elder's Quorum Presidency and asked if they knew of anyone that could pick up Samuel. They said they would try their best. I kept Samuel appraised of what was happening, but I knew my time being awake was limited. Just as I was about to pass out, I looked at the time and saw that church had just started.
I woke up - about an hour after church had gotten out - to the sound of my phone ringing. It was the Elder's Quorum Presidency's second counselor (and my home teacher) who was checking on me. I told him that I was fine, just groggy. He told me that there wasn't time to find Samuel a ride. I said that it was fine since Samuel lives about 25 minutes from the meeting house and when I had first made the call, there was barely enough time for someone to pick him up and make it back in time. When we finished our conversation, I texted Samuel and apologized again and explained why he didn't get picked up. He accepted the explanation and said that it would work out better next week. Since we'll be roommates next week, I heartily agreed.
I had a phone interview on Friday. I had to move my lunch back at my temp job to accommodate the interview, but everything worked out. The job is for a technical writing job with a local tech firm and it looks like I would be a good fit for me. While all of that is nice, what is really exciting is that this was pretty much the opposite of the interview with PayPal. I remember when I hung up the phone after the interview had concluded, I actually thought to myself, "Nailed it!" I should hear back next week if they want to move forward with an in-person interview; even if they don't, I feel like I've already had success with this one.
T-Minus 5 Days
On Saturday, I had Samuel come by my apartment complex's leasing office to fill out some preliminary paperwork so that he can move in. The lease won't change, but the office needs to have information on all tenants for liability purposes. While he was here, Samuel mentioned his concern that he would stink up the apartment with his traditional Nigerian cooking. I assured him that it was no problem, but he still seemed nervous.
One thing that I anticipate that is making Samuel nervous is that he is still learning the culture of the US and Maryland and since I will be his first native-born American roommate, he's trying to be careful to not offend. I'm sure that we'll have some disagreements and that there will be an adjustment period, but I'm pretty confident that we'll be able to work past them. Regardless of how easy the transition will be, I'll have a new roommate by this Saturday.
KO'd
Yesterday, as I was preparing to leave to pick up Samuel to take him to church, I recognized I was having an allergic reaction. Now, this reaction was the most mild that I think I've had, but I was still concerned that if I didn't catch it right away, I would end up in the ER again. So I took some Benedryl and started making some calls. I called the Sunday School President and asked him to find a replacement for me (we had about 50 minutes before church started, so at least he had some warning this time). Then I frantically called the a few members in the Elder's Quorum Presidency and asked if they knew of anyone that could pick up Samuel. They said they would try their best. I kept Samuel appraised of what was happening, but I knew my time being awake was limited. Just as I was about to pass out, I looked at the time and saw that church had just started.
I woke up - about an hour after church had gotten out - to the sound of my phone ringing. It was the Elder's Quorum Presidency's second counselor (and my home teacher) who was checking on me. I told him that I was fine, just groggy. He told me that there wasn't time to find Samuel a ride. I said that it was fine since Samuel lives about 25 minutes from the meeting house and when I had first made the call, there was barely enough time for someone to pick him up and make it back in time. When we finished our conversation, I texted Samuel and apologized again and explained why he didn't get picked up. He accepted the explanation and said that it would work out better next week. Since we'll be roommates next week, I heartily agreed.
Monday, February 3, 2014
Shorties 4
Finding Happiness through Trials
Since I teach Sunday School and get the chance to bare my testimony every week, I'm often reluctant to get up during Fast and Testimony meeting. However, I've been thinking a lot lately about my unemployment and what I need to learn from it. I even mentioned in a conversation with someone that "suffering is pointless if we don't learn anything from it." Because of this, my thoughts turned to Section 122 of the Doctrine and Covenants. The relevant part is: "... if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good. The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?" I felt compelled to share my testimony yesterday and I was even the first one on the stand once the floor was opened up. I shared what I did above and said that trials bring experience and that while we should never seek them, we should be thankful for them and look for the lesson that our Father wants us to learn. I praised the Lord for suffering for our sakes and closed by saying how grateful I was for the Atonement.
Uncle Jordan!
Ian and Amanda invited me to attend their Super Bowl party, which I happily attended. When I got there, Clara and Henry came running over, happily shouting "Uncle Jordan!" I scooped them up and shook them around a little, which got the appropriate response: giggles. They asked what treat I had brought (brownies), but their dad quickly told them that they were going to bed and could have some tomorrow. Even though they only saw me for a few minutes, they were super happy to see me and I them. It feels nice to be the cool uncle (sorry, their five other uncles).
Poor Peyton
As Amanda so accurately stated to the other guests, I couldn't give half a crap about football. No, I went simply to hang out, but I figured I might as well pick a team. I was planning on rooting for the Sea Hawks (for no real reason), but Ian was wearing a Broncos jersey and Amanda was very vocal about cheering on Denver, so I quickly switched sides - it didn't matter to me either way, so I figured I might as well go with the crowd on it. And then the Broncos lost hard. Their quarterback, Peyton Manning, looked so angry during the first half (where they were losing 0-29), but by the time the final quarter started, he just looked sad. Awww ...
New Roommate
I've mentioned on here before that I regularly give rides to Church to a member in the Ward named Samuel. Last week, I told him if things don't work out with his current roommate (who has been kind of a jerk to him), then he was welcome to stay with me. After thinking it over, he accepted when I saw him yesterday, though he is being kind enough to his current roommate that he gave him a month's notice of his departure. I originally could only offer him the sofa-bed, but a family in the Ward sent out an email asking if anyone could use a mattress set that they were getting rid of. My Elder's Quorum President claimed it for Samuel to use at my place. While I only have a one-bedroom apartment, I think with some rope and and a few sheets, I can convert the dinning area into a pseudo-bedroom. It'll be weird having a roommate again, but I welcome the company.
Friday, August 16, 2013
Shorties 2
Once again, instead of one big post, I'm collecting a bunch of smaller ones.
Guest Bed
I recently acquired a free sofa-bed from a family that is moving out of the ward. It's definitely used, but not overly so. There's some fraying of the seams here and there, but nothing that threatens the structural integrity of the sofa. I bring this up, because it looks like I'll be sleeping on it tonight. The air mattress that the Larsens lent me won't stay inflated anymore (looks like I'll be buy them a replacement soon) and I woke up nearly touching the floor. Nice to have a back-up plan.
Have [TV], Will Travel
Speaking of free furniture, Ian found me a free TV and small entertainment center online. I only needed to go pick it up. The problem with that is that the TV is an old-style tube-driven one and it's really, really heavy. The previous owner helped me get it into the car, but then I couldn't get it inside unassisted. Luckily, my Elder's Quorum President, along with his teenaged daughter, was willing to lend a hand. Even with three of us moving it, it was still really, really heavy (it's a 32"). We were all breathing heavily by the time we made it to the third floor. (I think the funniest thing about the situation is that I haven't bothered to plug it in yet, since I haven't had time for TV. Heh.)
One Ring to Rule Them
At work yesterday, a bunch of us married men were discussing our wedding bands: how they fit (or fail to, in some cases), why we chose the styles we did, how often we wear them, etc. I was surprised to learn that one of my coworkers barely wears his outside of when he's at the office. I only take mine off when I run because I'm afraid it may come off (I've experienced enough weight-loss since I picked it out that it's a bit loose), but otherwise it's always on.
Run Like the Wind
Speaking of running, I've changed things up recently by doing hill-sprints. I was talking to a coworker (the same one that barely wears his ring) about how I was frustrated that no matter what I did, I couldn't complete my run any faster than at an eight-minute-per-mile pace. He suggested that I trying sprinting up hills for a couple of weeks, then go back to see how I improve. I know that Ian does hill-sprints sometimes as a part of his PT training, so I gave it a go this week. It's amazing how difficult it was just to get the form down. I've been doing fairly long-distance runs for about over a year now and switching to sprinting, which has a completely different feel to it, isn't as easy as I thought. Still, nice to have a change up.
[-]ate
Did anyone notice all of the hyphens in today's post? I don't know, it seemed like an unusually high volume.
I hope you enjoyed another round of Shorties. I'll have to do this again soon.
Guest Bed
I recently acquired a free sofa-bed from a family that is moving out of the ward. It's definitely used, but not overly so. There's some fraying of the seams here and there, but nothing that threatens the structural integrity of the sofa. I bring this up, because it looks like I'll be sleeping on it tonight. The air mattress that the Larsens lent me won't stay inflated anymore (looks like I'll be buy them a replacement soon) and I woke up nearly touching the floor. Nice to have a back-up plan.
Have [TV], Will Travel
Speaking of free furniture, Ian found me a free TV and small entertainment center online. I only needed to go pick it up. The problem with that is that the TV is an old-style tube-driven one and it's really, really heavy. The previous owner helped me get it into the car, but then I couldn't get it inside unassisted. Luckily, my Elder's Quorum President, along with his teenaged daughter, was willing to lend a hand. Even with three of us moving it, it was still really, really heavy (it's a 32"). We were all breathing heavily by the time we made it to the third floor. (I think the funniest thing about the situation is that I haven't bothered to plug it in yet, since I haven't had time for TV. Heh.)
One Ring to Rule Them
At work yesterday, a bunch of us married men were discussing our wedding bands: how they fit (or fail to, in some cases), why we chose the styles we did, how often we wear them, etc. I was surprised to learn that one of my coworkers barely wears his outside of when he's at the office. I only take mine off when I run because I'm afraid it may come off (I've experienced enough weight-loss since I picked it out that it's a bit loose), but otherwise it's always on.
Run Like the Wind
Speaking of running, I've changed things up recently by doing hill-sprints. I was talking to a coworker (the same one that barely wears his ring) about how I was frustrated that no matter what I did, I couldn't complete my run any faster than at an eight-minute-per-mile pace. He suggested that I trying sprinting up hills for a couple of weeks, then go back to see how I improve. I know that Ian does hill-sprints sometimes as a part of his PT training, so I gave it a go this week. It's amazing how difficult it was just to get the form down. I've been doing fairly long-distance runs for about over a year now and switching to sprinting, which has a completely different feel to it, isn't as easy as I thought. Still, nice to have a change up.
[-]ate
Did anyone notice all of the hyphens in today's post? I don't know, it seemed like an unusually high volume.
I hope you enjoyed another round of Shorties. I'll have to do this again soon.
Friday, May 10, 2013
Shorties
I have a few things that I want to blog about but they aren't really enough to warrant their own posts, so I figured I would do some micro-blogging and squeeze them into one post.
Name Game
I experienced something for the first time this week: someone asked me how to pronounce my last name. Not how to spell it; how to say it. How many ways can you pronounce Larsen?
Choices Made While Behind the Wheel
There's one long stretch on my commute home where the traffic becomes bumper-to-bumper every day. Knowing that I will allows be slowed down at this point, I just relax and barely move the car for about ten minutes. I also try to be polite and let other drivers turn into the barely moving line of cars. The other day, there was a gentleman who forced his way in (I had already decided I would wave him in) and then flipped off the car in front of him (I was behind) and honked, I think because the other car wasn't moving fast enough to allow him in. I'll remind you, the traffic was thick and every car was pretty much right up against the car in front. Contrast that behavior with another fellow who, after I let him in about five minutes later, waved as a "thank you."
Sugar-High
A couple of weeks ago, Clara explained to me that she wasn't supposed to have sugar close to bedtime because it'll make her hyperactive.
Me: Sugar can make you a little crazy.
Clara: Yeah, crazy like a noodle!
Green Screen
The trees are so thick and green here that when I look deep into any given grove, it seems like there are few trees in front of a green wall. Even Ohio never had so much foliage.
I hope you liked the shorter format. I may do this again when I have just a few smaller things to share.
Name Game
I experienced something for the first time this week: someone asked me how to pronounce my last name. Not how to spell it; how to say it. How many ways can you pronounce Larsen?
Choices Made While Behind the Wheel
There's one long stretch on my commute home where the traffic becomes bumper-to-bumper every day. Knowing that I will allows be slowed down at this point, I just relax and barely move the car for about ten minutes. I also try to be polite and let other drivers turn into the barely moving line of cars. The other day, there was a gentleman who forced his way in (I had already decided I would wave him in) and then flipped off the car in front of him (I was behind) and honked, I think because the other car wasn't moving fast enough to allow him in. I'll remind you, the traffic was thick and every car was pretty much right up against the car in front. Contrast that behavior with another fellow who, after I let him in about five minutes later, waved as a "thank you."
Sugar-High
A couple of weeks ago, Clara explained to me that she wasn't supposed to have sugar close to bedtime because it'll make her hyperactive.
Me: Sugar can make you a little crazy.
Clara: Yeah, crazy like a noodle!
Green Screen
The trees are so thick and green here that when I look deep into any given grove, it seems like there are few trees in front of a green wall. Even Ohio never had so much foliage.
I hope you liked the shorter format. I may do this again when I have just a few smaller things to share.
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