Coming up this Saturday ... Jim Gleason's Little People - Part 2

From WWR

14 November 2008:

Spent the last three days cleaning the garage and making some sense of it. I really need to build some cabinets and shelves to go over the workbench... Anyhow, today was spent cleaning the kitchen, touching up the ceiling texture in the garage and patching the walls (yes, I'm going to paint it, before building any cabinets) and starting on the living room. Tomorrow, I will hit the main bathroom and finish the living room.

12 November 2008:

Jombob read this post this evening while I was still editing it... I need to be more mindful in the future, as I really need to re-read things through a few dozen times to ensure clarity and intent before I post them...

I saw the very beautiful and talented Tracy Grammar in concert at the Performing Arts Center in Norman, Oklahoma on Sunday. The show started at 7PM and had two fairly lengthy sets (six trains passed by the station, but only two were during sets). Tracy spent a fair amount of time talking about Dave Carter and the inspiration for various songs he wrote. For the most part the show seemed to be a tribute to the music of Dave Carter rather than a showcase of Tracy's not inconsiderable talent (Please keep in mind I rank Dave Carter right up there with James Taylor).

I was interested in her narrative of the years following Dave's passing. She talked at length of the "second loss" she felt when the grieving lessened. She said that while grieving, she felt a certain detachment where literally everything grated against the rawness of her perceptions. She said this made everything seem much more immediate and tactile. Her grief raised her consciousness of what was really important; while paradoxically, being more detached from the world around her. This created a sense of clarity she wished to be able to reconnect to at will; a perception that diminished imperceptibly over time. She said the eventual recognition of this "second loss" was in some ways, as painful as the loss that brought it on.

She did not come out and say it, but it seemed she was trying to communicate some final lesson Dave Carter had to pass on: That while it is a part of the human condition to get absorbed in the trivia of the day-to-day, forgetting that there are things greater than what we perceive in the here and now; we need to remain mindful of the bigger picture, the ties that connect us to each other and to all of creation.

07 November 2008:

Starting to get a bit stressed about the new job. I have filled out all the paperwork, now they are waiting on funding??? Meanwhile my bank account is dropping ever closer to zero with nothing going into the plus column. If I don't hear from them by Wednesday then I'll call OU back and see if they were serious about the consultant work.

01 November 2008:

Well, time to buckle down and finish a few projects and get the house cleaned up. I'll be on the road quite a bit in a few weeks, so I need to get a house/cat sitter in here, which means that the place should be clean and livable. I'll be listening in while I work. I hope everyone else is enjoying their weekend. - Jim

29 October 2008:

Filled up the truck today, gas was $2.15 so I splurged.

25 October 2008:

I was offered a position at the University of Oklahoma in the Radar Innovations Laboratory. It is very interesting work, and if I was 10 years younger I'd be all over it, but I was offered much more money by a contractor for the National Weather Service to upgrade the HVAC controllers at the central region sites. As it is the OU benefits package (which is exceptional) does not exceed my veterans benefits plus the other offer. It was a very, very difficult decision for me to make, as I place a large value on job satisfaction/quality of life. So I guess I'm just a mercenary after all. Anyhow, the new job title is "Special Projects Engineer" and I will be on the road A LOT, with something like 68 sites to hit and two days at each site (by contract I have to return to Norman, OK between each site). I have until June to complete all the sites and they will supply tools, a vehicle, perdiem and travel expenses plus a "helper". When this project is finished, they will either have another "Special Project" lined up, or I will take another position with the same contractor. The university is still trying to set up a deal to hire me on an hourly basis as a consultant, which would eat into my free time (working two jobs when I'm in town), but I'd probably enjoy the work. Either way, I will probably continue to look for a civil service job at a Forecast Office(FO). There is an opening right now at the Boulder, CO office that I'd love to have, but the timing is not good, as I still have to finish the bathroom and a few other minor projects (the #1 mistake sellers make is putting the house on the market before it's ready). I'd like to finish and sell while the market is hurting though... OKC property values never went crazy so they have not dropped as much as most areas have, and I'd like to buy elsewhere while they are still low.

The bathroom... well I have all the lights/fans installed and the shower fittings are in (unless I change my mind again), I am waiting on some help to get the sheetrock installed, then I will get the floor tiled, and install the toilet and vanity. Then I will install the shower plumbing installed and get the walls up and the bathroom will be done. I still have to figure out just what tile/stone/marble/whatever I will use in the shower, which will affect the placement of the fittings, so this will be a longer process than I thought at first.

I spent today working on the yard. I needed a break from decisions and shopping. I cleared some tree limbs for a neighbor and re-stacked my woodpile. I also helped him get some of his stuff packed (he's moving temporarily and renting the house out (furnished). As of this moment I am sitting on the back patio next to a fire. It's nice and peaceful, but the street noise is bothering me, and for some reason, I do not think I will find misses right while sitting in my back yard. I have got to get back to the gym and loose the weight I put on since my terminal leave started. Somehow working on the house beats me up while I get more out of shape.

Hey TundraDawg - thanks for sharing all this, and in such detail. You write well, making me feel as though I'm right there going through some of the same thought processes. It sounds like you have several good opportunities and you're obviously a thoughtful person, so I'm guessing everything is unfolding in a good direction. I don't envy the bathroom decisions - but here - I'll make it easy. Black. Like Henry Ford, just give yourself one color choice. Black. There - decision made. Jim (talk/contribs) 04:10, October 26, 2008 (AKDT)

Hey Jimbob... Jeesh, for a minute there I thought I was being taken to task. Black huh... I'll have to give it some thought. I was planning on using travertine, just like everybody else.

14 September 2008:

Had a fairly good interview at the university last week and a second one scheduled for this week. Also have a telephone interview at Duluth, MN later in the week. I may drive up next week to do a personal interview. So things are looking better in the job search arena.

Still working on the house. I've completely gutted the master bath and installed better insulation in the ceiling and part of one wall, new ventilation fans and ductwork (the old ones vented into the old blown insulation). Next is re-routing some plumbing, replacing the sheet rock and starting on rebuilding the shower.

The original shower pan was leaking quite a bit. Code calls for there to be a sloped bed under the pan liner so the drain is the lowest point, in mine the drain was the highest point, so water that penetrated to the liner ran to the outer edges. Also the walls were sheet rock instead of concrete backer-board; to make matters worse there was no waterproof barrier, so the insulation was soaked and growing mold as well. The new shower will have tile over Durarock and I'll use plastic vapor barrier, for extra insurance I'll put tar-paper underneath. I'll also be installing a seat and a second shower head with a hand shower attached.

08 August 20008:

Still waiting and hoping for the position at OU, they will not be reviewing applications until sometime in September though, which is longer than I am comfortable with, so I'll keep putting irons in the fire for a while yet. I've just applied for a position I'd also like up in Duluth, MN. I'd be nice to need a jacket again... I'd have to co6ntract out the rest of the work on my house, but the paycheck would make it tolerable. I'm also thinking of applying for a position in Tulsa as well, which would be closer to OKC and allow me to work on my house on the weekends until I can sell it.

31 July 2008:

Well the job in Boise did not pan out. It seems they could not wait an extra 30 days for me to show up. Oh well, it's their loss. I'm presently hoping for a position at OU in their Atmospheric RADAR Research Center. It would allow me to continue working on my house and add to my education (if I finish the house). There may also be a new job opening up at the radar operations center working with network and circuit administration that I'd like. If all else fails, I will look for positions at WFO's around the country. I was asked to apply at Miami if an opening comes up (possibly in December). My pension would just about cover my homeowners insurance down there, so it's an option.

Meanwhile, I will be taking all of September and October off from work and I may get to the Winfield festival.

Not So Recent News:

Well, I am all set to retire in November. I have an application in at the forecast office in Boise, ID that I've been told to expect to hear good news on. However, there is an opening at the tsunami warning center in Palmer, AK. It's not equipment I've ever worked on and it involves a lot of travel to really remote locations around AK. Frankly I am torn... I lived near Boise for 11 years and enjoyed the last five a lot. Desert, mountains, snow, rivers... Alaska, everything but the dust, far enough from Los Anchorage to allow me to have some acreage, but a few extra $$ to visit mom... I think I'll apply for the Palmer job and see what happens anyway...