10th Event Delay Again

I trained all Summer and had my Fundraising complete. I was all ready for San Diego and really looking forward to it. Now it’s the Monday before the 3-Day and I wake up with a sore throat, headache, and ear pain. Feels like an ear or sinus infection. Coincidentally today was also the day that I got the e-mail from Komen about the Health Questionnaire. I am not feeling horrible and I doubt that I am infectious but it looks like I am going to have to put off event 10 for another year. I am not going to take chances of making anyone else sick and I really want to be at my best when I am traveling. I am going to miss being out there but it’s the right thing to do. I have already registered for Denver next year and some of my team is also registered for San Diego so at this point I am going to just start my fund raising and decide later which site to do next year.

Not Stopping at 10

I have been relatively healthy this year and am feeling pretty good. I am thankful for that.  Unfortunately I have heard of too many friends and family that are battling Cancer.  I also had a bit of a scare myself earlier this year where I found a small lump on my chest.  I saw the Dr who ordered an ultra sound and mammogram and they analysis did not look to be a concern but I have to follow up in a couple months to check again.  These factors together have led me to sign up for another 3-Day next year.  I will be walking in event number 10 in San Diego this year and have registered to walk in Denver next September.  As always I am forever grateful to all who have and will continue to support me as I walk to raise money to help others fight Breast Cancer and to hopefully one day find a cure for Cancer.

God Bless

Joining the Lions

So this summer I had been thinking about some opportunities to get involved in my community more.  Since my daughters are out of college and working and no longer depending on Dad's Uber service, I have more time on my hands.  I joined a bowling league last fall and a golf league this summer so that has taken up some of my time but I still felt like I could be doing more.  One night this summer I was out for dinner and drinks with some friends and one of them was discussing many of the ways the Lions get help our community.  I thought about it for a short time and decided that this would be a good opportunity to join an organization that is doing a lot of good in Oak Creek.  I worked at the Lions Fest as a volunteer this summer and was inducted as a Lion on 9/11.  Looking forward to opportunities to get serve.

First Weekend Training Walk

 Took advantage of some decent weather and free time to do a short training walk.  I call it short because it was under 10 miles.  It was still decent though as I had not been walking more than 5 miles yet this Summer.  Was able to do the 6.5 Miles without any issue so will be looking to do a longer walk soon.

6/10 Training Walk

My 10th Komen 3-Day Event

I have been trying to complete my 10th Komen 3-Day for several years now.  I have been interrupted by family issues, covid, and changing jobs.  I registered for the 2022 San Diego 3-Day last fall and had met my fundraising minimum by the end of January.  Then I started having respiratory issues.  I had Covid in December and again in March and my lungs had been giving me all kinds of issues off and on that made training a real challenge.  I got to the point in June that I put my 3-Day registration on hold because I just didn't think I was going to be able to do it this year.  Well I decided today that one way or another I am going to try and walk in San Diego.  Over the last month I have worked with my Doctors and tried different medicines and right now I have been able to exercise for a couple weeks straight and my lungs are actually feeling pretty decent.  It's time to get into some more serious training and get ready because San Diego is waiting.  I e-mailed the San Diego coach and asked for my registration to be reactivated.  I worked hard to raise the money and I really want to complete my 10th event.  After that I am not sure what the future holds for participation but we shall see.

A New Job

After an extensive interview process that had some scheduling issues that took a bit of time and coordination to work out I finally completed the process and received and accepted a new job offer.  I will be retiring from AT&T and going to work at NorthwesternMutual.  I am really excited about the new job.  The environment is going to be a bit different than what I have been working on but the locations are local and I can split work from home with being in the office.  I am looking forward to actually working with a team in person again.

Calibrating Weather Station

 This Spring I received a Weather Station for my Birthday.  It was something that I had wanted to do for some time and so far I am happy I did it.  The Tempest Weather Station is a newer technology for Weather Stations as it has no moving parts.  For the most part I have been very please with the Tempest and it has been fairly accurate with one exception.  That exception is rainfall. The haptic rain sensor has been off by quite a bit according to the rain gauge that I have about 10 feet away.  I am currently going through the process to have the station calibrated by the vendor to see if we can increase the accuracy.  I hope so but even if the rain is not the most accurate, I have found the rest of the station to provide good data and I enjoy having it.  

Interview Experience

 Had an interview today and it was kind of a different experience because of Covid.  I was on a Zoom call with an interview with members of the organization that I would be working in.  The interview was a mixture of technical content along with getting to know more about me and how I might fit in with the company.  I think it went well.  

Restarting the Search

 I have been working on developing some skills and updating my resume and have been getting antsy about waiting until closer to the end of the year to find a new job.  I have actively started looking at Jobs and have applied for a couple that I thought were interesting or a good fit.  I really hope this works out sooner rather that later.

Getting Ready for a New Job

 I had started looking at new jobs but after looking at quite a few different posts I have decided that I am going to try to stay at AT&T until later in the year.  This will help me maximize my current salary but will also give me time to develop some new skills and refresh some old ones.  In looking at job posting for Network Engineers, most employers are looking for certifications and programming experience using python and or ansible.  I have identified a couple projects in my current job that I can justify learning ansible for and that should help me when I am looking for a job.  I am also looking at what it will take to pass the CCNP test again.  I let my CCNP lapse many years ago because it was really not doing anything for me within AT&T.