New Home

Between driving out here and searching for a job I was also looking for a place to live. I was planning on renting an apartment for a couple of months to give Kerrie and I chance to get used to the city before committing to purchasing a home. Instead I got some pretty strong arguments from a lot of people to go ahead and buy a house right away. That didn't much time at all to find a house because I need to have this squared away before Kerrie and the cats arrived on 12/5/05. Needless to say this was a little stressful because I really wasn't in a financial position to do it but the first time home buyer's programs really helped out and I got some help from family too.

We found a small 3-bedroom house (1350 sqft) with a 2-car garage for a monthly payment that was little more than what it would cost me to rent a halfway decent 2-bedroom apartment. So in the long run this was right decision. It allows us to gain some equity and it gives us more space and privacy than what you can get from an apartment. So it is all good.

Job Hunting Part 2

After the cross country trip and several weeks of job hunting my funds were running low and I was feeling pretty desperate about earning a pay check. So I started to focus my job hunting on my marketable skills even though I didn't really want to be working in any of those fields. I submitted my resume to any opening that looked even vaguely similar to any of the following: sales, electro-mechanical assembly, quality inspection, internal auditor, CMM operator / programer, technical writing / illustration, and photography. I lost track of the number of resumes that I sent out and in my desperation I took the first position that was offered at a decent wage that had medical benefits.

That rash decision landed me a job at Sun Country Industries as a Quality Inspector and CMM operator / programmer. The shop was a filthy whole in the wall that produced aircraft parts for primarily GE and Eclipse. Some of the parts were technically interesting and others were on a completely different scale of size than what I had worked with at Hypertherm.

About a week after I accepted the job I received three more offers from other companies that looked much more promising but I felt that I had made a commitment and should see where it goes. My gut reaction is telling me that I just made a big mistake. I guess only time will tell.

Ventilating the Convertible

I can't believe what someone did to my poor car. It looks like some one threw a chunk of concrete out of a moving car and they were aiming for my rear window. Instead they missed the glass and the chunk of concrete ripped through the canvas top, hit the roll bar, and shattered through out the interior of the car. It made a total mess and a surprisingly larger bill. There was over $3,500 dollars worth of damage and a long lead time to get the replacement parts from Japan. This is sad because I hadn't even gotten the chance to have the rocker panel repaired (dent caused by avoiding the ice machine) before I have to file another insurance claim.

Job Hunting

When I got out to Albuquerque, it felt like I was getting a clean start and wanted to try earning a living in as a photographer. I saw several opportunities but each one was lacking in one way or another. One job was described as an "action photographer" and would entail driving across the Southwest to photograph different events covering gymnastics, karate, motocross... Another was an assistant photographer at a local portrait studio. She looked at my portfolio and my resume for quite a while. She said that she would have loved to hire me but the wage she could offer would have been an insult because I was over qualified for the position. Then there was a local jewelry distributer who liked my work, offered a decent starting wage, but didn't offer any benefits. That was a deal breaker because in the state of New Mexico I can't get my own health insurance policy because I have diabetes.

Arrival in ABQ

The drive from Oklahoma to Albuquerque, New Mexico was thankfully uneventful and it was refreshing to reach the end of the line. My sister Kristin and her family were nice enough to let me stay with them until I got employment and housing settled. For the time being I'm camping out in their 5th wheel trailer.

Tulsa's Horse Taj Mahal

The drive from Tennessee to Tulsa, Oklahoma was completely uneventful in comparison to the rest of the trip. It was nice to visit with my sister Barbara and family. She took me out to the horse stables where she works and I was stunned when I saw its scale. When I tried to take a picture of it I had to back all of the way down the access road to get the whole thing in the frame and that was with a 18mm wide-angle lens! Click on the title of the post to check out the Silver Creek Farms website and slideshow. The pictures don't do it justice.

I also stopped by Edmond, Oklahoma to visit with Chris and his family. It was just a quick layover but it was great to see them again.

Tail of the Dragon

Last night, with the Flamin' Beer Guy, was pretty exciting and I was half expecting a dull drive down to Tennese today. I was surprised by the amount of traffic all. It didn't let up until I left Virginia. While I was driving in all of that congestion I did have a hair raising moment. The cars in front of me were driving very erractically and they were trying to either stop or scatter. When the cars moved I got a good view of the obstruction in the road and I had a hard time believing my eyes. They were telling me that there was an industrial sized ice machine laying on its side and complete blocking the left lane. A panic stop was out of the question because I had an 18-wheeler right behind me. The car in front of me was trying hard to move to the right and blocking that escape route. So that only left the median. A light touch with the controls kept the car pointed the right direction and out of harms way. Whew! Sorry, I didn't get a chance to snap a picture of the ice machine. I was too busy keeping myself safe.


The day ended on a good note. I had a chance to drive the Tail of the Dragon before the sunset. Wow! That was a cool ride. It was just one switch back after another. I tried to capture the feel of it with my camera but it just doesn't do it justice.