Jordan and Katie (Lailah's mom & dad) drive over to the house this morning to pick something up for her. Jordan comes into the house, leaving the two girls (mom & daughter) in their running car, keeping themselves warm. It's just too cold for them to go through the effort of unbuckling her, walking to the front door, just to walk out again with the thing they were picking up. Made perfect … [Read more...]
Chapter One.
September 21, 2016 By
"Red Avalanche, Grey Envoy", a book of fiction by B. Scott Williams. Part one - "The Fjord" Chapter one - Southbound. The tall, overweight man stands with a dozen others, on the street corner, waiting for the next Southbound bus to arrive and take everyone to their suburban homes. He's tired after a day at the office, typing away at his keyboard: Type. Type. Type. Click, drag, drop, … [Read more...]
Kelsey’s mom has passed away
August 20, 2016 By
My best friend's mom passed way on Wednesday. She was 97. Please keep Kelsey and his family in your thoughts. Thank you. … [Read more...]
Neighbor’s passing
August 20, 2016 By
Before I turned on my "find your device" app (see previous post), I was out in my truck searching for my phone. My next door neighbor pulls into her driveway, opens her car window, and calls my name. This is pretty rare for her. Although we lived next door for the past ten years, we usually just wave, and just say "hi". I get out of my truck and walk over to her. She starts telling me about how … [Read more...]
Lost my cell phone, or so I thought
August 20, 2016 By
So. I left the house to do some errands this morning about an hour or so ago. Right when I was turning off my street, I remembered I had forgotten my phone. No worries I said, I don't need it. Did my errands, and came home, put away the groceries, dry cleaning, etc. Then remembered to go check the phone in case I had missed any calls/texts. Of course, couldn't find it where I usually put it upon … [Read more...]
IT departments – different standards, different policy/procedures
August 19, 2016 By
It's interesting: "large" (Fortune 500) companies with IT depts, each of them have their own way of doing things, their own policies and procedures, etc. Unisys was a bit "loosey-goosey" with the app I worked on, allowing the developers to move new code into production (I.e., having privileged / admin access). While, both Wells Fargo and USPS, definitely did NOT and do NOT allow this to be done … [Read more...]
Home from Appleton, WI – Thrivent first week
August 19, 2016 By
Well folks, I'm home. It was a "longish" week, traveling to Appleton, WI for the new job ("on-boarding", "orientation", and meeting most of my colleagues). In a way, it was good that I got to do this - meeting my Appleton colleagues gave both myself and them a chance to put a face to a name, etc. Left Appleton this afternoon around 3:30, getting home at 8:30 pm (after stopping for a 5guys burger … [Read more...]
Alex Baldwin…
August 18, 2016 By
What the heck: flipping channels in the hotel room, coming across "The Match Game", with Alec Baldwin as the host, even including the iconic Gene Rayburn (stylish) microphone (long and skinny). Always loved him in Hunt for Red October. Even more than Harrison Ford. I know he was in "hit" TV series 30rock (never watched it), but, now, a game show host?? … [Read more...]
First day at Thrivent
August 15, 2016 By
Day one over. Mostly on-boarding stuff, getting access to all things Thrivent. Reading some docs. Met two members of my team who are based here (both are almost straight out of college and are really nice fellows). The third member is based in MPLS and is on vac this week (but I've already met him during the interviewing process). The HQ here is a really nice, relaxing, gorgeous (huge) campus, … [Read more...]
Scope of Thrivent’s Headquarters.
August 15, 2016 By
Haha. 30 to 45 mins early. I didn't scope out the "office" location (via goggle satellite maps), until this morning. The HQ is in the middle of a rural area, having a huge open field campus. The building itself is quite large, more spread out than tall. Attached are the satellite views. A bit nervous. … [Read more...]
