Montana thus far...
Well, I'm pretty much all settled here in Bozeman! After living with my cousins for about a week and half and living out of a suitcase, I signed my lease on a brand new 2-bedroom condo up in Belgrade (a small town about 8 miles outside of Bozeman). I really like my place, it's super cute and cozy. Also, radiant floor heating is amazing.
The initial move went suprisingly smooth with MUCH thanks to Dave, Alex, and especially Nick and Rachel! Nick, Rachel and I got into town on December 30th and they stayed to celebrate New Years with me. The drive went well, a normally 4.5 hour drive took over 7 due to a TON of snow over the passes in Idaho. We had two really fun nights staying in downtown Bozeman, went out to the bars and explored the town. We all agreed that this has got to be the most friendly town that we have ever been in. Everywhere we went, we ended up meeting people and bullshiting with strangers.
I started my new job on January 2nd with the most unusual sales call in the history of the company. We went down South of Livingston to the Paradise Valley and into a bomb shelter that had not been opened in 18 years prior to us being there. The bomb shelters were built back in the 80's after a prophet of the Church of Universal Triumph (CUT) prophasized the end of world in 89'. So all up in these beautiful hills are concrete doors in the sides of hills and small towers coming out of the ground. After the world did not end, these members were out hundreds of thousands of dollars after spending soo much to build these complex shelters and also, as the world was going to end, most of the members put most of the supplies and food storage on credit. Not to mention all the tanks, semis, and anti-missle weaponary that they bought.
Anyways, as a way to make back some of their loss, the church leased out a shelter to a medicinal marijuana operation, a perfectly legal group that is supplying care to people in need. This way, they can safeguard their crop as it is under ground and under about 3' of steel and concrete. They needed pure and organic water for their crop, so they called us! I went down for the sales call and again a week and a half later for the installation. It's a very eerie place to be, but the second time I was down there was a lot more comforatable... but I guess 8 guys toking constantly inside a bomb shelter with a little raggae will put anybody in that mood!
The next day I was in a $25+ million dollar house in the Yellowstone Club, where I had to have an FBI background check before setting foot on the premises. Pretty neat to be in an area like that, to where everybody you pass is either somebody working there or a multi-millionare or celebrity. They have their own private ski-hill for Gods sake.
Everybody at the office is super friendly and nice, I get along really well with everybody. Amy, our receptionist and I have became pretty good friends and just giggle a lot. The job is super technical and I'm doing a lot of reading and research outside of work. I'm also kicking myself in the ass for not taking chemistry classes in HS or college. Not only is it filled with chemistry, but very technical because I'm having to learn a lot of plumbing and electical information as I have to bid the jobs and figure out where the systems will be going and what we'll need to install it. I have my first home show next weekend... so that means I'll be working 7 days next week. BUT, another bonus about my job is that I actually get paid overtime, which is really unheard of for a salary job. I'm looking forward to it though, I'm sure I'll learn a lot. Just a lot of kissing hands and shaking babies.
I've been out on about 4 dates with a Mister Rich Needham and am really enjoying his company. I met him on New Years Eve at The Crystal downtown, he got a bottle of champagne and we just visited, smooched on New Years and he called me the next day. We went out to supper and I tried escargot for the first time and actually enjoyed it. Since then, we've gone out for drinks, he came over and I made him supper, we watched "3:10 to Yuma" and went out to the bars in Belgrade for awhile and then last week he made me supper and took me out to the Tuesday Night Fights in Bozeman. He's quite the gentleman, a good mix of class and outdoorsman. The only problem is that he's a bartender at two different bars and so our scheduals are completely opposite. This week I'll probably get to see him on Tuesday and Wednesday night and then after that... probably not again until the following Tuesday, unless I go to his bar after work some night.
Other than that... I've hung out with a couple people from Cd'A that live here; Jash, Travis and Raela and will hopefully be hanging out with them more. Amy, who I work with, and I get along great and her boyfriend is super nice, so I'm sure we'll be going out together as well. We had a late company Christmas party on Friday night at a fly fishing lodge here in town and the 3 of us just laughed our asses off. It's a good feeling.
Well... that's about it in a nutshell. Just trying to be a professional after being a jackass for the last 3.5 years at the shop is a little different, but I can swing it. I got my work shirts so I look all professional in khakis and jeans and a blue button up and black coat with the companies name on it. I get my company cell phone this week and hopefully my business cards before the trade show. I get a company car in March and it looks like I'll be getting a Tahoe which I'm stoked about... especially because I get to use it for personal use as well :)
Hope everybody is doing well!
Also, it's -2º here with a low of -20º and a high tomorrow of 5º with snow for the next 3 days, as we've had for the last 4. There's about a foot and a half on the ground and I love it! I need to layer!
The initial move went suprisingly smooth with MUCH thanks to Dave, Alex, and especially Nick and Rachel! Nick, Rachel and I got into town on December 30th and they stayed to celebrate New Years with me. The drive went well, a normally 4.5 hour drive took over 7 due to a TON of snow over the passes in Idaho. We had two really fun nights staying in downtown Bozeman, went out to the bars and explored the town. We all agreed that this has got to be the most friendly town that we have ever been in. Everywhere we went, we ended up meeting people and bullshiting with strangers.
I started my new job on January 2nd with the most unusual sales call in the history of the company. We went down South of Livingston to the Paradise Valley and into a bomb shelter that had not been opened in 18 years prior to us being there. The bomb shelters were built back in the 80's after a prophet of the Church of Universal Triumph (CUT) prophasized the end of world in 89'. So all up in these beautiful hills are concrete doors in the sides of hills and small towers coming out of the ground. After the world did not end, these members were out hundreds of thousands of dollars after spending soo much to build these complex shelters and also, as the world was going to end, most of the members put most of the supplies and food storage on credit. Not to mention all the tanks, semis, and anti-missle weaponary that they bought.
Anyways, as a way to make back some of their loss, the church leased out a shelter to a medicinal marijuana operation, a perfectly legal group that is supplying care to people in need. This way, they can safeguard their crop as it is under ground and under about 3' of steel and concrete. They needed pure and organic water for their crop, so they called us! I went down for the sales call and again a week and a half later for the installation. It's a very eerie place to be, but the second time I was down there was a lot more comforatable... but I guess 8 guys toking constantly inside a bomb shelter with a little raggae will put anybody in that mood!
The next day I was in a $25+ million dollar house in the Yellowstone Club, where I had to have an FBI background check before setting foot on the premises. Pretty neat to be in an area like that, to where everybody you pass is either somebody working there or a multi-millionare or celebrity. They have their own private ski-hill for Gods sake.
Everybody at the office is super friendly and nice, I get along really well with everybody. Amy, our receptionist and I have became pretty good friends and just giggle a lot. The job is super technical and I'm doing a lot of reading and research outside of work. I'm also kicking myself in the ass for not taking chemistry classes in HS or college. Not only is it filled with chemistry, but very technical because I'm having to learn a lot of plumbing and electical information as I have to bid the jobs and figure out where the systems will be going and what we'll need to install it. I have my first home show next weekend... so that means I'll be working 7 days next week. BUT, another bonus about my job is that I actually get paid overtime, which is really unheard of for a salary job. I'm looking forward to it though, I'm sure I'll learn a lot. Just a lot of kissing hands and shaking babies.
I've been out on about 4 dates with a Mister Rich Needham and am really enjoying his company. I met him on New Years Eve at The Crystal downtown, he got a bottle of champagne and we just visited, smooched on New Years and he called me the next day. We went out to supper and I tried escargot for the first time and actually enjoyed it. Since then, we've gone out for drinks, he came over and I made him supper, we watched "3:10 to Yuma" and went out to the bars in Belgrade for awhile and then last week he made me supper and took me out to the Tuesday Night Fights in Bozeman. He's quite the gentleman, a good mix of class and outdoorsman. The only problem is that he's a bartender at two different bars and so our scheduals are completely opposite. This week I'll probably get to see him on Tuesday and Wednesday night and then after that... probably not again until the following Tuesday, unless I go to his bar after work some night.
Other than that... I've hung out with a couple people from Cd'A that live here; Jash, Travis and Raela and will hopefully be hanging out with them more. Amy, who I work with, and I get along great and her boyfriend is super nice, so I'm sure we'll be going out together as well. We had a late company Christmas party on Friday night at a fly fishing lodge here in town and the 3 of us just laughed our asses off. It's a good feeling.
Well... that's about it in a nutshell. Just trying to be a professional after being a jackass for the last 3.5 years at the shop is a little different, but I can swing it. I got my work shirts so I look all professional in khakis and jeans and a blue button up and black coat with the companies name on it. I get my company cell phone this week and hopefully my business cards before the trade show. I get a company car in March and it looks like I'll be getting a Tahoe which I'm stoked about... especially because I get to use it for personal use as well :)
Hope everybody is doing well!
Also, it's -2º here with a low of -20º and a high tomorrow of 5º with snow for the next 3 days, as we've had for the last 4. There's about a foot and a half on the ground and I love it! I need to layer!
