Bizarre Bradyisms

Cooking yet again

This afternoon I got into one of those moods again and while sporting my manly, leather apron I cooked up another concoction of mine. This time it was some chicken Shish-Kabobs with potatoes, onions, green peppers, and pineapple. As you may or may not be able to tell, I really like to cook and am quite proud about how well most of my plates turn out (although I have had my own share of kitchen mishaps). I was thinking about why it is I like to cook recently, because, while I do like eating, food is food to me and I do not really enjoy eating. The answer I came up with is because while I cook, I can take as much time as I want and just think about things, life, and everything or nothing without any worries about what needs to happen next. In other words, a time to simply relax.

Today at church a number of things were going through my mind for some reason or another and I felt really uplifted I guess you could call it. There was nothing new that was taught nor any piece of deep doctrine discussed, but lets just say it was good stuff. Obedience and repentance were the topics and it everything that was mentioned just kind of melded together into something that I truly needed to hear and be reminded of. Sundays are just wonderful that way.

Now, it is not that I am embarrassed by this, but it is a bit awkward to talk about, especially publicly, however, a really cute girl was teaching today and as is normal for me and I would suppose for any other guy as well, I analyzed things a bit too much. Things such as “she is too good for me,” or “her major as a recreational therapist would never fit well with an IT major,” or “she must be 25 and I’m not even 23,” and others went through my head. While growing up I have had a lot of time to think about why it is such thoughts go through my mind the way they do and what I have come up with is simple. I do not have what I would call a low self-esteem, but I do recognize and have accepted what I am. In other words, I have learned what is within my reach and in contrast, what I would assume to be out of my league, if you get my drift. She is out of my league. Or so I think and will continue to do so until something can significantly change my perspective. I mentioned this once to my mother and she brought up the fact that it is not really my place to assume such things, that my dad thought the same of her before they started dating and that if it is something that I am interested in, then I should persue it and leave the decision in the hands of the other person. Honestly, I don’t think that I will do anything to persue the specifically her, but I do need to ponder and contemplate about the so-called situation .

A nap and a sunburn

Today on my day off I went biking again and believe it or not, I forgot to wear sunscreen again, which means that as I write this I am drugged up on Ibuprofen and moving very slowly to get anything done. Besides that, it was a great ride and I really enjoyed it as well. I rode down from Provo into Springville and up into Hobblecreek Canyon. I brought my GPS with me this time and the whole trip turned out to be just short of 30 miles. Now, although the path was all paved and it was not anything near to what can be considered true mountain biking, there were a number of steep slopes that sure gave me a work out. At one point I realized I had taken a wrong turn and had to stop stop at the top of a small, dirt mountain and contemplate if I wanted to that the risk and ride down it or just walk. Now truthfully, I am usually a chicken when it comes to these sort of things, but this time after about 5 minutes of second guessing myself I got brave and went for it. Going down was fun and pretty crazy but within 3 seconds the trail had disappeared and shortly found myself on my side with my bike some 5 feet below me. I survived, no cuts or anything serious, but now that I think that about it, I believe I did lose my sunglasses there.

After about 2 hours riding I round a nice park and stopped for lunch. It was such I nice view that I decided to lose my shoes and just lay out enjoying life. I eventually took off my shirt to see if I could get a tan somewhere else besies just my forearms. I took a short, ~2 hour nap there laying on the grass and listening to the birds and the wind, and all of nature that surrounded me. I honestly could not have asked for anything better. I did however get a bad sunburn which turned me all red and is already causing me great deal of pain. I wonder how that happened.

After lunch, I went down into the city of Springville and went to the cemetary there to find the headstone of my grandparents who are buried there. I was quite young when they both passed away, but it good to just contemplate life for a few minutes and just be grateful for them, and my mother, and all the opportunities that I have becuase of my ancestors. Also, I was able to think about the gospel a bit and ponder the testimony that I have about the blessings and promises of the gospel with respect to life and death and the eternities. I know they are real and am grateful for that knowledge. It is interesting when such realizations come into your mind and how they can effect your life. Although only in a small way, I think that this was one of those.

All in all a good, well-rounded, eventful day.

My new job

My first week at my new job has been really boring. The first few days all I did was listen in to other people’s calls and every now and then log the notes about the cases into the computer. Actually, that is all I have done all week and while Monday and Tuesday were okay, yesterday and today were completely and absolutely boring. I have begun to wonder how long I will be able to make it at this job and if the benefits of having them pay for school and really worth it to me. Now, I don’t really mean that and I realize that I have a bad attitude and that it is up to me to make the most of the situation. On the plus side, I was researching things here and there and learned that one of the products that our group supports is actually what I would call a flag-ship product and that if I can become familiar enough with it, it will actually help build my resume and help with my experience as well. Keeping that in mind I am looking forward to next week when training actually begins and I will get to play with and learn about the equipment that I will be supporting.

In contrast, today after work, I went back to my previous job and went up with a number of friends from my shift to Salt Lake City for a VIP tour of all of the tunnels and buildings that the church has up there. If I can remember correctly, I had been though them all 10 years ago during a stake youth trip, but it was fun nonetheless. We went into the Church Office Building and went down underneath (actually on the side of) the temple and into the Visitor’s Center and eventually into the Conference Center. What was neat about it all this time was although I have been to conference a couple of times, I had never been on top of the building (Conference Center) where they have it all landscaped with trees and fountains, and fields of grass and flowers. Really quite remarkable and very hard to believe that it is actually on top of a building some five stories in the air.

On another positive note, it was nice to spend some time with the guys from work who are my same age and in close to the same position in life. Definitely a lot easier to relate to them instead of the older people that I work with now. The evening kind of made my day and actually my week all worthwhile.

My last day

Tommorrow is going to be an exciting day! I got the job that I have been speaking of recently and I start first thing in the morning at 8am. According to the person that hired me this first week will just be me getting familiar with the whole environment and listening in to other people’s call and such. Then after that I will go through a month long training to get certified with the equipment that I will be supporting. I don’t know how to really explain how I am feeling, kind of excited, not really nervous, but anxious to be able to finally learn something new at my job. Anyways, it will be great. Plus, a pretty good jump in pay as well.

Of course, I had to tell my current employer that I had recieved and accepted a new job, but I told her also that I would like to stay there and work just little bit when possible (~1 or 2 hours a week). That was fine with her and she explained that whatever bit of time that could have me still working there would be great and didn’t really want to lose me as an employee. Also, new changes in the way the jub is currently organized are coming and she would like me to eventually apply for a 3rd level support technician. That can make someone feel good to know that your work is appreciated and that what you do is noticied.

So, yesterday was my last real, full day and my job and all of my co-workers were a bit taken back when I told them I was leaving. So, along with the US playing in the world cup and my exodus from the shift at work, we ordered pizza and had a small ‘party.’ I can say right now that I really will miss the people that I have worked with. They truly are great people and the whole envionment has always been so open and overall wonderful. I can only hope that something similiar awaits me.

Well, after work on Saturday I went up to Salt Lake City to be with my Grandmother and Aunt and spend Father’s day weekend with them. It was nice to just be with family and relax. Of course, they stuffed me full of food and and sent even more of it home with me, but that is one of the great benefits of family.

I just have to say that life is great. Things are going really well and I feel good about the direction that I am going although I don’t have a family of my own and no real prospects as of yet, I feel that I am be given the opportunity to prepare myself financially and educationally (is that a real word?) for when the time comes. 

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Something that I have missed greatly is cooking. Back at my other apartment complex we had a number of us (~8) who took turns cooking dinner during the week so when we got home after class and work we always had a nice plate of food waiting for us and each of us only had to cook once every two weeks. It was wonderful. The best part, like I said, was that I could cook a lot and really came to enjoy it. Now, it is not that I can’t, but that I don’t as much because spending 1 – 2+ hours just to feed yourself is not as fulfilling. But the urge overcame me the other day and I made one heck of a dish. Now, even though the picture is nice, the food was a lot better than what it looked like.

Have you ever felt completely confused with where you are in life? I think that is where I am right now. I have so many different possibilities and decisions to make in the near future that may lead me into two completely different directions and I am not sure what it is exactly that I want in life. I have been searching for a new job recently, no because I don’t like the one I have now, but because I am bored with it. I have not learned anything new there in like 6 months and hve been constantly asking management for new opportunities but they have not been very helpful in that respect. I really like the people that I work with and the opportunities I have to network with people there, but like I said, I am bored with it. So, I interviewed recently with Convergys for a job position as a telephony engineer working with Nortel Networks. The interview went well and at the end they stated they had a couple of good candidates but that I was one of the stronger ones. That is always nice to hear, but I must remeber to take that statement with a grain of salt, per say. So, I have been really hoping to hear back from them soon becuase they would pay for tuition, a lot of the Cisco and other certifications that I want to take, and offer me health insurance for when I get kicked off of my mother’s for being too old. Can you tell that I am excited? The only issue is that I would need to take my classes entirely at night and maybe even up in Salt Lake for one of them and it is 7.6 miles away from where I live right now. On the plus side, the say would be much, much, better and I would be learning a whole lot more while gaining corporate buisness experience. Because it is so far away from campus I have been thinking and asking myself if it still makes sense living so close to campus and paying the premium in rent for doing so or could I rent out a house (or in the near future start buying one) like I have always wanted to do? The issue there is would being outside of the BYU singles ward atmosphere make it that much more difficult to eventualy get married? I just don’t know. And this is all just based on a job position that I have not even been officially offered yet. Can you tell I over analyze everything? Enough of that. Although I would like to place another emphasis on how much I would like to get married, have a family, own a home, etc. I suppose I should start with dating a little though. But anyways.

I enjoyed a birthday party that I attended for one of my friends who was turning 21 recently. It was really funny because another mutual friend of ours who has a better sense of style took him out shopping for some new clothes earlier that day. It was really great to see him dressed really well (although I hear he was actually the one who made most of the fashion decisions and the other guy only offered advice), because it has always been quite difficult for nerds like us to handle something so complex as fashion without help. Other than that, the party was nice (not a lot of people and noise which is always better), good food, good friends and other people I have met in the past, and a great movie (Phantom of the Opera) on a projection screen.

I went biking again the other day for like 4+ hours and I completely forgot to wear any sunscreen. By the time I was done, my arms were a bright red and quite painful. I think I do this every year. I forget sunscreen, I get burned, I learn and don’t forget until the next summer. Anyways, I did however remember that my arms do tan quite well. Compared to my upper arm where my sleeve is always at, my arms are nice and toasty brown. Besides that, I actually went on a somewhat difficult trail this time (dirt, hills, rocks, sharp turns, etc) on the side of the mountain and almost killed myself a few times. It was great fun. Then I went out to Utah Lake, had a nice relaxing lunch, and went back along the Provo River Trail which is quite beautiful. Check out the video below.

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I love nice, peaceful trails with a canopy of trees overhead and a gentle river adding its subtle whisper to the ambience of the already calm, gentle breeze working through the leaves and bushes. It is difficult for me to imagine anything better. In fact, if and when I every do get married, having a home next to or near something similiar will be an important requirement. The lake was really pretty too and although it seems like I take a lot of pictures of myself, it is just to see what my helmet has done to my hair during the bike ride. I always get these cartoon devil like horns which I think are really quite hilarious. On a side note I am thinking about going camping here real soon and maybe taking my bike up with me. We shall see.