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| Good evening everyone... it's late and I don't wanna go to bed, but a journal entry just might hit the spot.
I've got one month left and I'm counting down the days. This long weekend is making me realize how much I need this change... I'm so bored and tired of this town it's amazing. All I do is work, with little or no social life to keep me sane. And the worst part is I have no desire to improve my social life here in Victoria because I'll be leaving soon. I dunno, part of it's my personality - I prefer being alone most of the time, and I've always found it hard to actively make new friends. Not a problem, I'll be among many of my good friends soon once I make the big move.
I've been doing jury duty since last Monday, and it will probably go until Wednesday of this week. This case is crazy... it's a murder trial and gang related, and on Friday we found the guy guilty of all four charges. I guess he has the option of having the jury sentence him, so on Tuesday we have to go back and listen to more testimony related to his sentence. I just want to get out of there... his family and several un-reputible looking characters are in the audience, and the police officers have been escorting us to our cars every day after court. Craziness! I'm glad I'm moving out of Victoria soon, I didn't realize how much gang activity goes on around here.
My replacement starts on Tuesday. I'm going to hit him hard right
away... I'm proud of my work down here, and it will be tough passing
everything I've worked on for the past 3+ years onto someone else. So
I'm going to teach as much as I can and tell him where to find all the
info he needs, because I can't teach everything in a month. But it will
be a relief to have my replacement here, and in a way it will ease the
transition for everyone. I just hope he'll work out.
In other news, I've got my new apartment all set up. Starting July 2nd I'll be living in the Vista apartment complex in Gahanna, near the intersection of Hamilton and Morse roads. Not sure of phone numbers yet, but my official address will be:
373 Vista Dr
Gahanna, OH 43230
You all had better visit me! I hope to have at least one party for anyone who is interested, probably in August. I may just have to make some good Texas BBQ (complete with Guacamole and Dos Equis cervesa).
Well, I still don't wanna go to bed, but I've run out of random Andy news. Hope you all are doing well!
-AH
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| It's official - My last day in Texas is June 29th. I'll be moved in to my new apartment in Gahanna by July 3rd, and I officially start in my new position July 9th.
For those familiar with AEP, I'll be working in the SPE standards group in Gahanna. To start I'll be given a couple projects, mainly to become familiar with the design process, and then I'll probably end up in the outsourcing group or somewhere else. I've been blessed... many people, both in Texas and in Ohio, are impressed with my work and are basically holding the door for me wherever I want to go.
This career move has been about 6 months in the making. I interviewed for two jobs and applied for three before I got a serious response back, and only then because I started dropping hints of leaving the company. AEP was dragging their heels a little bit on this because they want/need me down here... we have a lot going on, and they need every employee they can get. This is kind of a good thing, I guess, because I'm needed, but it made initiating this job move very hard. In the end I made a deal to work an additional few months (this was agreed upon about 6-8 weeks ago) until a certain set date, and in the meantime they can hire someone that I can train before I go. It has only just now been finalized to a point where I feel confident of my definite move.
So I'm excited, relieved, sad, and stressed all at the same time. Excited because this is a great opportunity for me, and I'm looking forward to learning the design part of the power industry. Relieved because I'm finally moving on from this un-ideal career path that I've been on (I call it a "career correction"), and because I will be closer to my family, of which I have learned to appreciate more and more these past few years. I'm sad because I will be leaving my friends and coworkers here in Texas, who have basically been my family for the past three years. If I could take everyone I have met here with me, I would in a second. And finally, I'm stressed as hell, partly because I can't wait to get out of here and move on with my life, but mostly because I hate knowing that the people around me (the people I care about) think that I chose another life over theirs. When asked, it's always the same conversation, and I have to put on my sad-but-determined face and describe why this choice is best for me.
And this is the best choice for me, there's no doubt about that. Okay, there's plenty of doubt... but that's because "the grass is always greener" and with any big decision there comes self-questioning. I am unhappy here. And it's not just one reason, or even a handful. It's the entire package... the work, the family, and most importantly the social life. And ironically, it has very little to do with geography and more to do with the job itself. I travel constantly... this has been only the second week since Christmas that I have been in Victoria during the workweek. Typically I am 200+ miles away in Laredo, or Corpus Christi, or Brownsville. Sure, South Padre Island has its perks, but who can enjoy them while working until 8pm every night and 60-70 hours a week? It is for this reason that I have very little social life, as well... I get back to my apartment after a week's worth of travelling and just crash. Why go out on Friday or Saturday nights? I'm too tired, and what would I do anyway? I'm not smooth enough to pick up girls, and the girls I could pick up here in Victoria aren't worth it anyway. I'm not much of a one-night-stand kinda guy, anyway.
Shit, I know that most of the above is just an excuse and I could do well down here if I wanted to, but I don't. I want to start over, and I want to do it in a place that I can see myself settling down in. Columbus does not have to be the place, but it is convenient as hell because I can do well with AEP there. And I definitely would like to be closer to my family, because some day when I do meet Miss Right I want them to be close (but not necessarily too close...). This 3 day drive or $350 plane ticket thing is getting old, and I don't have the vacation time or patience for it.
Anyways, I would like to use this paragraph to apologize for not updating this journal more often. I've been waiting for some good solid news to report before making this entry, and even though most of the above was a rant full of self-pity, I am very pleased with how things are working out for me. I've had a great 3 years down here, and I don't regret one minute of it.
So what else has been going on in the life of Andy Howley?
I've been working out quite a bit lately, and in two weeks will be participating in a 23 mile bicycle ride (not race, thank God) near Victoria. It will take about 2 hours or so to complete, and should be pretty challenging for me... I'm excited to be doing it, I just hope I don't have a heart attack or something at mile 2. So far this week I've done a 10 and 12 mile ride, so I should be fine if I keep it up before the big day. The bonus is that just for participating I'll get a free T-shirt! Score!
In January I played two semi-professional trombone gigs, one with a small jazz combo and another with a local dixieland band. I practiced my ass off, and I was very happy with my performance. My improv skills improved quite a bit before and during those gigs, and my passion for jazz trombone has grown a lot. Since then, of course, I've kinda slacked off due to lack of challenging gigs and an increase in schoolwork, but oh well.
If all goes as planned I should get my MBA next December. This semester I'm taking three classes, which will put me ahead enough to take two in the summer and two in the fall, with a fall graduation. It will be good to get it over with, but I'm glad I've been taking these classes now while I'm still young and have (almost too much) free time.
I was sorry to hear about Rosie. She was a wonderful woman, and will be greatly missed by everyone that knew her. Please, if you have any spare money at all, consider donating to cancer research. Cancer has killed some of the finest people I have ever known, but we can beat it with everyone's help.
Well, I think I've covered most of the major updates. There's more that's going on, but I'll sum it up in three words: Life is good. Maybe later I'll post some follow-up entries. Shit, I don't even know if anybody even reads Xanga anymore. Oh well, I suppose I'll make some sort of announcement of my move on facebook, but it just doesn't seem as intimate as Xanga has been for me to post a blog entry.
Anyways, I hope you all are doing well.
Laters -AH
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| Just for the record, I am rooting for Ohio State this weekend. UT embarassed us last year... it's payback time! And while it's true that I've given in and bought a pickup truck and cowboy boots, I just can't abandon my Buckeyes. Go Bucks! -AH | | |
| Hey everyone, thought I would post a quick update tonight. It's been a while, and I don't want to lose touch with all of my good friends back home.
Life has been kinda wierd for me lately. I'm not quite over the breakup, but I know it will just take time. I want to call her and talk to her, but I know it will only make things worse. I just hope she's doing okay. I miss her bad. I'm lonely, and wish I could just press a big fast forward button to skip all this shit. I dunno, when I'm at work or out doing something (anything) life is good... but whenever I get back to my apartment I start to go a little crazy. I procrastinate, watch too much tv, mess around on the computer, sleep in, etc. I'm just not my usual self. Weekends are the worst... but I think it will get better starting next weekend because school will be over with. Maybe I'll go fishing or go to the beach or something. I may just have to start playing my guitar again (goal: learn "Una Mas Cervesa" by memory by fall).
Luckily work has been keeping me very busy. Between that and school I really don't have much free time, and I've had random jazz band events to keep me energized. I've also started working out a little bit more, which helps. I dunno, I know I'm a little depressed right now, but it will get better (slowly).
Okay... enough talking about me and my selfish issues.
My sister got a job and moved to N. Carolina last week. I'm so proud of her... she's teaching 2nd grade at a school just east of Charlotte (I have no idea what the city name is). My parents helped move her out there last weekend. I wanted to fly over and meet them, but the plane ticket costs were just too high for me to pull it off. Houston airfare sucks. But I'm incredibly proud of her and can't wait to visit... Thanksgiving in NC maybe?
Work has been crazy lately. ERCOT (the power regulating agency for Texas) is doing an audit in a few weeks, and I've been put in charge of repairing some equipment that has basically been ignored in Corpus Christi and the Valley. My area is pristine, of course  So this means that all next week I'll be travelling to Corpus and down by South Padre Island with some new hires to train them and fix this equipment. Can we say "Swim-up Bar on the AEP Credit Card" ? I've also been travelling a lot to Laredo for the big projects going on there. It sucks travelling so much right now, but in a way it's been good for me. David told me today that our director (my boss's boss) mentioned that he may give me a raise to compensate for my long hours and travelling. That would be excellent.
Cory Canon had a pretty bad accident a few days ago... please pray for him.
Hmm, think that's about it. Laters... -AH | | |
| Random cartoon on this random workday:
Hope everyone is having a good day!
-AH | | |
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