This is why I'm still cheap...

I did not have a lot of power in my household growing up, but fortunately my parents respected my opinion anyway.  Maybe not all the time, but enough to leave a lasting, positive impression.

I've know this pattern all my life.

The best example was when my mother wanted to replace our kitchen plates with a new pattern.  The ones we had ever since I could remember were white with green trim (not sure if they were plants or just leaves) and she wanted to get off-white plates with a sharp country blue trim.  Honestly, the new ones were really good looking.  But I had two problems with the concept.  First, I thought the ones we already had were also sharp.  Secondly, the ones we already had were perfectly fine!  I voiced these objections.

It was not that I wanted the money spent on other things, or that I had ideas on where the money could be better spent or invested.  In fact, back in those days, I did not even know how to invest or terms like "asset allocation" or "returns on investment," but I understood the value of a dollar, and I have the simple philosophy that if it's not broke, don't replace it.

Obviously, there were a lot of factors that I was overlooking back in those days, primarily how different our household income was to our household expenses, but my mother at least respected my opinion enough to reason with me.  It may have been a joke, or last resort at the time, but she finally shut me up by promising that she would keep all of the plates and silverware (by the way, she was also "upgrading" our silverware at the same time) for when I went off to college and I had my own apartment.

Anyone who knows me well would not be surprised to learn that I still have all those plates and the silverware in my place.  I have lived on my own since 1997, and when my mother came to visit me once in 1998 or 1999 at the latest, she said that she had a big surprise for me.  It was the rest of the set (I had already been given several plates and enough silverware).

I still don't know what all the plates are called or how all the utensils are supposed to be used, but when I recently made my first steaks at home last month, I used one of the larger plates for the first time.

One of my cats (unfortunately, I don't know which one exactly -- although, I'm leaning towards Needles) broke one of my plates tonight, and it was a bit more upsetting to me than it should have been.  Especially since I have a cabinet full of those plates.

But as each one breaks, I move one plate closer from having to buy a whole new set.

This is why I love Twitter

Year Of Change

My year of change has come to an end, and it was easily the most productive year of my entire adult life.  From quitting my job to changing cellphone providers, there were many changes made throughout the year, mostly by design and, by large, for the better.

After the last rays of hope dimmed at my job last year, I used my days off to visit Phoenix College and enroll in their paralegal certification program.  I was not sure how I would approach it exactly, but I knew my time in finance was limited.  I am good at finance, but my involvement was always from the outskirts in entry level positions at a highly regarded investment company.  I learned a LOT about the industry, more than the average person understands, and I felt I had two options: either advance my career or find another career.  I took a couple job interviews within my company to get moved to another department, but nothing worked out for me at the time, so I knew the time to part ways had finally come.

I owe a lot of that to my most recent ex-girlfriend, because I had never quit a job in my life before that point.  I had several jobs where I was hired with the departure date known when I took the job, and then I had a couple other jobs where the company closed and I moved on with my life.  The activity of separating myself from the relationship (personal or work) was an experience that I had never had, so when my relationship with Amy reached the point where we started building more resentment than relationship.  She was the one who initiated the conversation, not so coincidentally a few days after returning from Florida where she had gone to see Christopher Titus perform.  His show was in support of his special entitled "Love Is Evol," during which he quickly proclaimed "tonight's show will either save your relationship, or destroy it!  Either way, you're welcome!"

Christopher Titus was right.  His words struck a chord with Amy and she knew our relationship was not worth saving (or even working to rebuild).  We were just friends at that point, so we broke up and maintained our friendship easily.  A lot of that had to do with the fact that we had no expressed resentment towards the relationship ending nor the relationship itself.  We ended it right when it should have ended, and that was that.

That said, my relationship with my employer reached the point where it needed to end, so I ended it.  I had no need for them, and they had no need for me.  The future there was meek and depressing, and I thought about how things were when I started.  One of the first things I noted about that department at that point was how it was full of people who loved working and hated their jobs.  As a result, there was a mass exodus from the department.  Things got better, but then they got worse before getting better again, and then, they got worse.  I recognized the pattern.  Our managers were rewarded for resolving problems, so they created issues in order to fix them.  It made them look better and it made our jobs unbearable.  The only end in sight was the exit door, so that's where I was drawn.  Additionally, I realized that the changes that took place were made because my former-colleagues were leaving, so now it was my turn.

In order to commit to my decision, I called in sick on the worst possible day for them.  It was the day after Martin Luther King Day, and the allotment for time off was exceeded.  I had a disgruntled friend who really wanted everyone to call out on the same day as a protest, so I texted him that I was sick and I probably wouldn't make it to the office the next day.  He deciphered the code and called out as well.  I didn't ask how bad things were, but I could tell it was a rough day.  They created enough of them for us, it was time to turn the tables.  Additionally, it ended six years of Perfect Attendance.  Pride leads to bad decisions, and I had always taken pride in my attendance.  Now I had nothing left to enjoy at work.  Nothing against the people who were working there, but no one was interesting enough to stay on board to maintain my friendship with them.  All my closest friends from work had moved on to other things.

During all my talk of changes, Amy was equally inspired and she decided to move back home where she had the opportunity to buy a house (in a "difficult" housing market, so I'm especially happy of her for qualifying for a home loan).  She took every necessary step to complete the move, including her rental truck.  Unfortunately, she was working every day up until her move and then the day following her arrival, so she picked up the truck just before one shift and then drove out the next day.  Unfortunately, her dog Jericho did not cooperate.  The cab was too high for him to enter or exit safely.  By March, he was 11 years old and weighed over 100 pounds.  Therefore, I made the decision to drive him back to Illinois in my car.  It was the best option and the only way I could fully say good-bye to the three of them (Amy, Jericho, and her cat Kaena).  They moved out to Arizona in 2007 to be closer to me, so I felt it was fitting to get them back home safely.

When Amy dropped off her cable box, I found out how easy it would be for me to upgrade my service.  And inexpensive to boot.  My drive back to Illinois delayed the change in service, but I made the change (as well as changing to high-speed Internet, which finally ended my AOL dial-up service).

To avoid repetition, I can skip ahead past my last day since I think I may have already covered the other events in prior entries.

Recap last day at Vanguard, updates since that time.

My first semester was the summer session and I took three classes.

My second semester started in Fall, and I took three more classes.

I registered for Spring semester taking on four classes.

Made it back home for Christmas for the first time since my sister had her children.

Next summer, I need another three classes to complete the program.

Obviously, this article is currently under construction but I hope to finish it shortly.