We just took a left turn

Posted on 11/04/2008 by RLW3

Like most people, we are spending the night keeping track of the election returns. It does not look like a good night for freedom. You can read more of my thoughts on this topic at CounterCultureSquared.

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Can’t say that I am surprised

Posted on 10/31/2008 by RLW3

I was supposed to receive an official offer from my new employer yesterday…

I still don’t have it.

I can’t say that I am all that surprised. It would have been strange if things had actually gone as planned.

The delay is altering my plans. 

Once I received the offer, I was going to go sign a rental agreement for our new residence. Once I signed a rental agreement, I was going to enroll the kids in their new school.

Then I wanted to register my old F-150 in our new state since the it expires today!

But, all of those things will now have to be done next week.

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A tough decision just might get a little tougher

Posted on 10/29/2008 by RLW3

After dropping my wife off at Costco, I got inspired to go talk to the wrestling coach in my children’s potential new school. 

I wanted to see if there is a realistic chance that my son would even make the team. It would be silly to include that as one of the factor’s in my decision if it isn’t a possibility. After all, the school finished fifth in the state last year and the #1 team in the state was rated the #1 high school team in the entire nation.

He said that he thought it was possible. I told him that I was just gathering information to make as wise a  decision as possible because there is a 50% chance that we will move.

I kid you not, as I drove home, I got a call from a recruiter for an aerospace company in Overland Park who saw my résumé on the Web! He interviewed me nearly the entire drive home.

When I informed him that I should be receiving an offer tomorrow from another company, he said that he was forwarding my résumé over immediately and would follow up with a call tomorrow.

I am going to have to interrogate of my wife to see if she has any connection with this guy. If I take the most recent poll results into account, I think that she might just be trying to exert undue influence on the final decision.

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We took a chance

Posted on 10/28/2008 by RLW3

Well, after my interview yesterday, I talked with my wife about the decisions that we will be facing.

Since most of our money is tied up in the stock market (?!%^#$), we do not have a big stack of cash for a down payment. And even after I start working, it will be two months before we can qualify for a mortgage.

However, wrestling season is starting in the next week or two. If we are going to make a move, it needs to be sooner rather than later!

I told her about the open house that I attended and that I thought the owner’s might be willing to do a creative real estate deal. By that I mean, that they might be willing to loan us the money to buy their house until we can qualify with a bank.

Since both of us have wanted to do something like this, we decided to try.

We drove up to their house, rang the doorbell and I jumped right in by explaining our potential interest in their house and the limitations in our financial situation.

To make a long story short, the owner’s wife gave my wife the cook’s tour of the house and the husband said that he was open to the idea but would have to think about it.

I told him that I would get back to him after I received the actual offer from the company.

We’ll see what happens!

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The latest poll results

Posted on 10/28/2008 by RLW3

With all of the political polling going on, I decided to poll my family members around the dinner table about their preferences as to where we should live.

The choices are:

Stay in Overland Park and attend the same school, move to Stilwell and attend the same school or move to Blue Springs, MO near my new job and change schools.

There was a two way tie between Overland Park and Blue Springs. My wife rated Overland Park first and I rated Blue Springs as my top choice.

We’ll see what happens…

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They want to hire me

Posted on 10/27/2008 by RLW3

Well, my interview went well! It lasted for 2 hours and they definitely want to hire me!

When the owner asked if I wanted to work there, I told him that I would like to know what they are willing to pay me before I answer.

He said that he would have an offer to me by Thursday since he will be out of town for the next two days.

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Scouting out the land

Posted on 10/25/2008 by RLW3

In anticipation of a positive interview, I decided to drive to the area to “scout out the land” just in case this actually works out.

First of all, it is 28 miles away! Even if we get a car that gets 30 MPG, that will still cost me a pretty penny just for gas to get to work, not to mention the time spent driving every day. With our nation’s recent gas shortages in the Southeast in mind, I decided to look at houses.

I drove through most of the neighborhoods to get a feel for each one. Guess what I discovered?

It just so happens that the company is one mile from the local high school where one of my son’s coaches at Mo-West is the wrestling coach!

After awhile, I had to find a bathroom. I saw a sign for an “Open House” in a nice neighborhood that is close to the business and the high school so I went in.

It turned out that I entered the house just as the realtor was setting up her papers. The owners were still there and I ended up talking to the husband for a few minutes. The house was nice and it was in our projected price range. If this works out, I will have to see what my wife thinks of it.

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I’m not making this up

Posted on 10/24/2008 by RLW3

Since searching for a job using the Internet has not been going well, I decided to try my hand at something that I am just not good at: networking.

A little over one month ago, we visited a new church. After the service, we met a jeweler who really wanted to help us. He referred me to a realtor, a banker who had some properties in foreclosure and a man who “knows everyone in town” that might be able to help me find a job.

Well, I had called the man who “knows everyone in town” and dropped off a few copies of my résumé at his house. He then gave it to a man who works for the John Deere company, who put it into the company’s database and wished me luck in my job search. That result bore a strong resemblance to the responses I have been getting from my Internet applications.

Well, last week, when I didn’t receive a call back from the man who said that he wanted to hire me, I called the man who “knows everyone in town” and set up an appointment at Starbucks.

We met on Wednesday for an hour and a half. Both of us thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company.

Yesterday morning, he called me and said that he had called two men and told them to expect a call from me. The first one is a senior leader at IHOP and knows lots of businessmen in the city. He won’t be back in town until next Monday.

The second man is responsible for several hundred churches here in the Midwest. I called that man yesterday afternoon and spoke with him for 1/2 hour. He asked me to send him my résumé so he and a few other men could interview me on the 13th of next month!…TO WORK AS A MINISTER!!! Talk about a surprise development!

I spent all afternoon today composing my “ministry” résumé and just e-mailed it to him.

We’ll see what happens…

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He is in the winepress

Posted on 10/24/2008 by RLW3

As if the front of his neck being covered with scabs, a major conflict with his teacher, not being able to train with the wrestling team or being able to work at his job because of his skin condition weren’t enough to overcome, my son got into his first accident!

He was driving Wild Bill in the rain and couldn’t stop quick enough.

The damage to the truck is inconsequential. In fact, it just gives it a little more character. However, I wonder what this will do to his insurance rates???

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The balloon was losing a little air

Posted on 10/24/2008 by RLW3

As you probably know, I have been eagerly anticipating a call from a man who wants to hire me. I had to wait all last week because the man that currently does the job that I will be doing was on his honeymoon with his third wife.

I was supposed to receive a call on Monday but it never came. That’s understandable. The guy is probably swamped with work after having been out for a week.

On Tuesday afternoon, after the boss had time to take the guy out for lunch, I still had not heard anything. So, I called him and left a message, reminding him that I was waiting to here from him.

Well, today, I finally heard from him. I have an interview on Monday!

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