I went to UPS for the third time today. The purpose was to "interview" with them once more, but the reality of it was that I needed to show them my passport and sign some papers. I wonder if I could have sped up the process by one week if I had brought my checkbook (for the routing and account numbers) and my passport. It seemed like I could have done everything that I needed to do at home right there in the office if I had those two things with me at the second meeting / first interview.
Anyway, it sounds like I may have gotten the job. The human resources lady told me that I would probably be hired on March 6th, but that I should call her Thursday to see if she could take me on Monday, the 28th of February, which happens to be my 23rd birthday. That would be a sweet hire date for sure.
Wow; I'm excited! Apple has come out with a few cool new things that are affordable enough for someone like me to finally get in on all the fun. I have been oggling apple computers for a few years now wanting to be an Apple + PC user, but so far their products have been consistantly out of my price range.
Now I could get a new Apple computer for just over $500.
Also, they offer a new iPod for the financially challenged too. Check it out -->
Normally, I am holding some stock in one or more companies for the better part of any year, but this year (ever since mid-October actually) I have simply been avoiding the stock market. I don't really know what is going on with me other than to say that I am stock shy. I had been buying, holding and selling different equities for years now, and then I had two mediocre trades and now I don't feel like doing it anymore.
I think that some of it had to do with how busy I was during the winter with things, part of it is that I don't have an Internet connection in my room, then there was January, which I had felt was going to go badly before it even started because of how well everything did in November and December.
Now it is the middle of February, and even though I haven't really looked into the markets much, I have the same feeling I had in November -- that things will be doing alright in the short run and that I should go ahead and buy into some company.
The problem is that I am somewhat busy with school and visiting people in Gainesville. I haven't even had much time to write entries in my blog! So, spending the time to look into a company seems to be unrealistic right now. I am almost tempted to just buy into an 'old faithful' because some return is better than the return I get with the money market.
Oh well!
I subvocalize when I read. I didn't know this was even an issue until I heard about the problems it causes for me when I try to speed-read. Recently, I realized that I also subvocalize when I write. This should have been an obvious next step, but it took me a few years after the first realization to come to the second. The funny thing is that I always knew that I did this. I just never consciously thought about it.
I don't really see it as a problem, but it is interesting to think about it. When people are writing in TV and movies they almost always have a voice over so the audience can know what is being written or read. This may be part of the reason that I continue to subvocalize when reading or writing. It is probably just a part of a more complex puzzle, but it definately reinforced my acceptance of subvocalization while no one had ever said anything against it.
Anyway, I subvocalize when I write. I wonder if someone could notice this from reading my writing. I also wonder if it makes me a better or worse writer at all. I think that if you read my poetry it would be pretty obvious that I subvocalize when I write because the sound of the words is so important to my poetry. I feel that they demand to be read aloud. Of course, this is a bit pretentious, but I really do think that some poetry just has more appeal if it is read aloud, whereas other poems are fine without it, because they don't make use of sound.
Alright, when you start to bore yourself with your writing it is time to stop writing -- even if there is no real point or conclusion.
This past Sunday I sat in a High School Sunday school class with Dr. Steven Meyer, Nate's Dad. I am sitting in on two of his classes to see how he teaches his group of kids. After two weeks of watching I will be presenting something for them.
It was pretty interesting to go and watch this. I haven't been around High School students in a long time. They are very similar to what I remember High School being like, but at the same time it felt really foreign to be with them.
I don't really know what I am going to present or attempt to teach them just yet. That is part of the reason Dr. Meyer is happy to have me teach with him. Neither of us knows what the kids want/need to hear. Dr. Meyer's approach is to go through the book of Acts chapter by chapter, but he doesn't feel that it is resonating with our group.
I don't know these guys yet, so I don't know what they want or need just yet. I have had many ideas of topics that I could present, but I don't know which will spark the interest of this group. Neither does Dr. Meyer, so he decided that I'd begin next week with about five minutes to go over my different ideas and see if any of them resonated with the group.
This Sunday the group was 14 High Schoolers -- three girls and eleven guys.
At the beginning of the first class a few jokes and comments were made as the group got used to me being there. One guy said of Dr. Meyer, "It takes a certain kind of self confidence to be a Sunday school teacher." This made me laugh and was pretty memorable. A different guy said, "We come here for the food." At first this was just funny, but it stuck in my head, and after rolling around up there for a few days, I imparted a double meaning to it. Now, I realize that they do come to get the cookies, doughnuts and orange juice, but most of them can drive. So, they could get that elsewhere without sitting through an hour of Sunday school. The reason most people come to churches is to recieve or participate in the giving of spiritual food. So now I am left thinking, 'They come here for the food. Maybe God will help me feed them.'
Discipline is...
strength, spiritual, punctual, learning, healthy, successful, wealthy, maturity, sexy, wise, religious, skilled, knowledgeable, defining, endearing, perseverant, dependable, respect, faithful, beloved.
Discipline becomes any of these things and more – whatever you choose.
Discipline is a trait that I have lacked for most of my life, but my resolve to become disciplined has been renewed, and I am praying daily to stay faithful to many disciplines.