And, past that note...
This might be a long one. I haven't really touched this journal in a while, and I'm not sure how many people, if any, are listening to these ramblings anyway.
Firstly, I recently dated someone I was seeing about ten years ago for a short while. Things ended quickly but amiably; we're still friends and there's absolutely no hard feelings. However, things were muddied by an ex of mine getting involved. I left that particular ex to pursue my Celica, and it turns out I made a good decision on that. I'd rather not waste time and mental focus on relationship drama, but good riddance. Unfortunately, I am a bit gunshy about trying again. I'm starting to wonder if this will become a cycle... I get involved with someone and things get torn apart by someone who obviously thinks that I shouldn't be seeing anyone else. Just discouraging.
Work is, well, dragging on. I'm not sure how to put it other than that. Something happened which I'll try to explain briefly, but some background is necessary to understand this. As I think I've mentioned before, the company I work for was purchased by a much larger one about a year ago. That company is made up of two divisions. The main company is a major international healthcare specialty services company(I'm being intentionally vague here; I'd rather not identify my employer online) that 'teamed up' with a large, national collection of doctors' clinics a while back. The clinical company is headquartered in Los Angeles; the main company is headquartered in Denver.
The main company is wanting to move a large portion of the California executives to Denver, and they asked us if we could spare a technician to come up a few days a week to the Denver area in order to help with the transition. They were looking for volunteers. As this was a very unpopular thing to have happen(frankly, we're kind of understaffed and 'top-heavy'; I have more bosses than I do peers at this moment in time) I decided to raise my hand and volunteer. I just said I was interested, and that was the end of it.
However, they picked someone else. I'm not sure what to think about this, but part of me wonders if I'm too valuable for them to lose. While I get no feedback on how well I am doing, they asked me to stay part-time when I decided to go back to my folks' shop in January 2014, and jumped at the opportunity to take me back full-time last December. I've managed to keep hanging on, and I had senior people from other departments express their happiness that I've stayed on here. The CEO(well, former CEO since the buyout, but she still heads our operations) also said that I was one of their better techs.I still feel like I'm personally struggling, however. How much of that is my personal feelings and how much of this is actual truth I'm unsure.
They picked someone else to do this; one of our newer people who has been here since February. There's talk that this could be a permanent position in Denver, so perhaps that is for the best. The new guy likely wouldn't mind relocating there, while wild horses couldn't drag me away from the Springs(for those who aren't familiar with Colorado, I live about 70mi/115km south of Denver; about an hour's drive without traffic and easily triple that if there's trouble... not to mention harsh winter conditions). While the initial offer was enticing as they would be paying me my regular rate for my travel time as well as mileage reimbursement, perhaps this might be for the best.
This doesn't mean I'm giving up on actually making my personal PC repair business a reality, however. I've just kind of faded away for a bit to get my bearings and build my foundations up. I'm making enough money to actually get those foundations built but I need to do so wisely. I'll go into some of this below.
Firstly, I'm selling off my primary laptop, which is a bit too large to be practical. It's a 17.3" mobile workstation, and while it's been a very powerful companion it's heavy to lug around on a call whenever I've needed it. Now that I've built my desktop it's mainly been collecting dust or just being used to Netflix in my bedroom; hardly proper use for such a beast. I've downsized to a 14" ThinkPad T430, which I've loaded up completely with SSDs and will upgrade a bit further once time/funds allow. The battery life is also better, which could prove to be a boon. There's some things I want to do to my desktop, but that's on the back burner. The laptop is going to a friend of mine who has expressed interest and needs a powerhouse of a machine.
Additionally, I'm selling my BMW. While I got it mostly running with some of the easier fixes, I'm a little tired of dumping money into it. Almost the entire time I've had it I've had problems, and throwing thousands into this car hasn't fixed it. I'm not exaggerating this, but over the three years I've owned this car I've put enough money into it that I could have bought a brand new entry-level car outright... to the tune of nearly $15K. And that's for a car that almost stranded me across town at one of my workplace's remote sites when I tried driving it regularly a couple of weeks ago. If I hadn't had enough room to push-start it it would have. I'm thinking massive vacuum leaks are sidelining it, but I need something more reliable. The Celica has been an awesome runner, I've got 4600mi on her so far; over 10% of this car's total use has been under my care. Other than a dead blower motor(which took me half an hour to replace) and some heater problems I fixed up last weekend I've had very few issues with this car. There's some clunking from the front suspension that needs to be addressed, but once I get things going she'll be put up for the winter and have a good looking over when I can do so. I'm sure I can rely on her until I get the BMW's replacements.
My plan is to get two vehicles with the laptop, the BMW, and some of my own savings. The first is my stepdad's truck, a 1995 Toyota Tacoma with indeterminate miles. However, these trucks are stone cold reliable and while this is definitely a beater truck it will be absolutely dependable as it has been for my family over the past few years. It's the absolute base model with the smallest engine and RWD, but some sandbags in the bed should help in gnarly weather. Since it shares DNA with the indestructible Top Gear Toyota Hilux I should be fine with it.
The second vehicle is another Toyota... I'm returning back to my roots, seems like. I'm planning on a '95-'97 Lexus LS400. It's also RWD, but most have traction control and good snow tires should be just fine. They're spacious, comfy, and have the luxobarge toys I'll be missing with the BMW. Additionally, I'm experienced with RWD in the snow; last year I preferred my BMW over the FWD Pontiac Bonneville I had. The Lexus is also quite reliable but will need more upkeep than the truck, but the million-mile Lexus that's been popping up all over the Internet is the same model I'm considering. I think I'll be well served by this set. The GT-Four will be my weekend/autocross toy, the Tacoma will be my utility/hauler/beater/mpg car, and the LS400 will be my business/daily driver. And, having three vehicles will give me some options.
I'm continuing to do my 'getting toys out of the way' before buckling down. After the vehicles and needed maintenance, I'll get the final bits done to my desktop and laptop, then maybe a couple of other things. I'm not sure what else I'll chase after, but I'm almost done. I just want to get things settled before I get the business documents drafted up and things rolling, as that will be my primary focus after all the dust settles.
Wish me luck?
Firstly, I recently dated someone I was seeing about ten years ago for a short while. Things ended quickly but amiably; we're still friends and there's absolutely no hard feelings. However, things were muddied by an ex of mine getting involved. I left that particular ex to pursue my Celica, and it turns out I made a good decision on that. I'd rather not waste time and mental focus on relationship drama, but good riddance. Unfortunately, I am a bit gunshy about trying again. I'm starting to wonder if this will become a cycle... I get involved with someone and things get torn apart by someone who obviously thinks that I shouldn't be seeing anyone else. Just discouraging.
Work is, well, dragging on. I'm not sure how to put it other than that. Something happened which I'll try to explain briefly, but some background is necessary to understand this. As I think I've mentioned before, the company I work for was purchased by a much larger one about a year ago. That company is made up of two divisions. The main company is a major international healthcare specialty services company(I'm being intentionally vague here; I'd rather not identify my employer online) that 'teamed up' with a large, national collection of doctors' clinics a while back. The clinical company is headquartered in Los Angeles; the main company is headquartered in Denver.
The main company is wanting to move a large portion of the California executives to Denver, and they asked us if we could spare a technician to come up a few days a week to the Denver area in order to help with the transition. They were looking for volunteers. As this was a very unpopular thing to have happen(frankly, we're kind of understaffed and 'top-heavy'; I have more bosses than I do peers at this moment in time) I decided to raise my hand and volunteer. I just said I was interested, and that was the end of it.
However, they picked someone else. I'm not sure what to think about this, but part of me wonders if I'm too valuable for them to lose. While I get no feedback on how well I am doing, they asked me to stay part-time when I decided to go back to my folks' shop in January 2014, and jumped at the opportunity to take me back full-time last December. I've managed to keep hanging on, and I had senior people from other departments express their happiness that I've stayed on here. The CEO(well, former CEO since the buyout, but she still heads our operations) also said that I was one of their better techs.I still feel like I'm personally struggling, however. How much of that is my personal feelings and how much of this is actual truth I'm unsure.
They picked someone else to do this; one of our newer people who has been here since February. There's talk that this could be a permanent position in Denver, so perhaps that is for the best. The new guy likely wouldn't mind relocating there, while wild horses couldn't drag me away from the Springs(for those who aren't familiar with Colorado, I live about 70mi/115km south of Denver; about an hour's drive without traffic and easily triple that if there's trouble... not to mention harsh winter conditions). While the initial offer was enticing as they would be paying me my regular rate for my travel time as well as mileage reimbursement, perhaps this might be for the best.
This doesn't mean I'm giving up on actually making my personal PC repair business a reality, however. I've just kind of faded away for a bit to get my bearings and build my foundations up. I'm making enough money to actually get those foundations built but I need to do so wisely. I'll go into some of this below.
Firstly, I'm selling off my primary laptop, which is a bit too large to be practical. It's a 17.3" mobile workstation, and while it's been a very powerful companion it's heavy to lug around on a call whenever I've needed it. Now that I've built my desktop it's mainly been collecting dust or just being used to Netflix in my bedroom; hardly proper use for such a beast. I've downsized to a 14" ThinkPad T430, which I've loaded up completely with SSDs and will upgrade a bit further once time/funds allow. The battery life is also better, which could prove to be a boon. There's some things I want to do to my desktop, but that's on the back burner. The laptop is going to a friend of mine who has expressed interest and needs a powerhouse of a machine.
Additionally, I'm selling my BMW. While I got it mostly running with some of the easier fixes, I'm a little tired of dumping money into it. Almost the entire time I've had it I've had problems, and throwing thousands into this car hasn't fixed it. I'm not exaggerating this, but over the three years I've owned this car I've put enough money into it that I could have bought a brand new entry-level car outright... to the tune of nearly $15K. And that's for a car that almost stranded me across town at one of my workplace's remote sites when I tried driving it regularly a couple of weeks ago. If I hadn't had enough room to push-start it it would have. I'm thinking massive vacuum leaks are sidelining it, but I need something more reliable. The Celica has been an awesome runner, I've got 4600mi on her so far; over 10% of this car's total use has been under my care. Other than a dead blower motor(which took me half an hour to replace) and some heater problems I fixed up last weekend I've had very few issues with this car. There's some clunking from the front suspension that needs to be addressed, but once I get things going she'll be put up for the winter and have a good looking over when I can do so. I'm sure I can rely on her until I get the BMW's replacements.
My plan is to get two vehicles with the laptop, the BMW, and some of my own savings. The first is my stepdad's truck, a 1995 Toyota Tacoma with indeterminate miles. However, these trucks are stone cold reliable and while this is definitely a beater truck it will be absolutely dependable as it has been for my family over the past few years. It's the absolute base model with the smallest engine and RWD, but some sandbags in the bed should help in gnarly weather. Since it shares DNA with the indestructible Top Gear Toyota Hilux I should be fine with it.
The second vehicle is another Toyota... I'm returning back to my roots, seems like. I'm planning on a '95-'97 Lexus LS400. It's also RWD, but most have traction control and good snow tires should be just fine. They're spacious, comfy, and have the luxobarge toys I'll be missing with the BMW. Additionally, I'm experienced with RWD in the snow; last year I preferred my BMW over the FWD Pontiac Bonneville I had. The Lexus is also quite reliable but will need more upkeep than the truck, but the million-mile Lexus that's been popping up all over the Internet is the same model I'm considering. I think I'll be well served by this set. The GT-Four will be my weekend/autocross toy, the Tacoma will be my utility/hauler/beater/mpg car, and the LS400 will be my business/daily driver. And, having three vehicles will give me some options.
I'm continuing to do my 'getting toys out of the way' before buckling down. After the vehicles and needed maintenance, I'll get the final bits done to my desktop and laptop, then maybe a couple of other things. I'm not sure what else I'll chase after, but I'm almost done. I just want to get things settled before I get the business documents drafted up and things rolling, as that will be my primary focus after all the dust settles.
Wish me luck?