It has been a while since I have posted and for a very good reason. The item consuming my mind for the past few months was the impending transition to Houston and Halliburton. I couldn’t very well spill the beans here and have the world know too soon.
I am officially in the Oil & Gas industry now. I was able to go to one of the many Halliburton facilities today to see a tool that is in development. The guys who knew what they were looking at were very excited. As the newbie, I was just excited to see anything at all. What a different world this is going to be. So far I am having a blast and learning a lot. As long as that continues, I’ll be fine.
Having Beth and the kids still in Austin is not at all the ideal situation, but it seems to working so far. The house in Kyle will sell soon. We keep telling each other that. We both know it will be over soon.
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
2008-08-06
2008-04-10
Is telecommuting an option?
After being back from sabbatical for three days, I feel like I am back in the swing of things. I already have a trip to California scheduled for later this month and a ton of things to keep me busy. I have to give credit to those on my team that filled in for me while I was away. Without them, my return would have been a much rougher experience.
Everything at home is also getting back to normal, which is a terrible way to describe a life with four kids. There isn’t much that is normal, but I love every minute of it. Beth had to run to Houston tonight to pick up our nieces and nephew. The plan is for me to get the kids off to school and go on to work. Emma isn’t feeling well, so I may be working from home with a sick kid. That’s the beauty of the internet though; I can work anywhere I can get an internet connection. All of my phone numbers route to a single cell phone, so the transition from the office to the home office is nearly seamless. This brings me to another topic: Gas Prices.
I was talking with my life-long friend Aaron tonight about the cost of commuting. I did some numbers in the back of my head while we were talking but I wanted to see what the real numbers were. I opened up Excel and here are the results. I drive 26 miles one way to get to work with an average mpg of 16. (I know this is low, but I love my Suburban.) With gas at $3.20 per gallon and assuming I drive to work 5 days per week for 50 weeks each year, my annual cost for gas just to get to work is $2,600. By working from home just one day per week, I can save around $520 per year and reduce the miles on my car from 13k per year to 10.4k per year. That sounds like a pretty compelling argument to start working from home when possible.
Everything at home is also getting back to normal, which is a terrible way to describe a life with four kids. There isn’t much that is normal, but I love every minute of it. Beth had to run to Houston tonight to pick up our nieces and nephew. The plan is for me to get the kids off to school and go on to work. Emma isn’t feeling well, so I may be working from home with a sick kid. That’s the beauty of the internet though; I can work anywhere I can get an internet connection. All of my phone numbers route to a single cell phone, so the transition from the office to the home office is nearly seamless. This brings me to another topic: Gas Prices.
I was talking with my life-long friend Aaron tonight about the cost of commuting. I did some numbers in the back of my head while we were talking but I wanted to see what the real numbers were. I opened up Excel and here are the results. I drive 26 miles one way to get to work with an average mpg of 16. (I know this is low, but I love my Suburban.) With gas at $3.20 per gallon and assuming I drive to work 5 days per week for 50 weeks each year, my annual cost for gas just to get to work is $2,600. By working from home just one day per week, I can save around $520 per year and reduce the miles on my car from 13k per year to 10.4k per year. That sounds like a pretty compelling argument to start working from home when possible.
2008-04-07
Back in the Saddle…
Today is my first day back to work after four glorious weeks of sabbatical. I am glad to get back to the routine and I am sure that I’ll be going 100mph for the next couple of weeks to catch up on the things I missed. I had a great time that included a trip to Disney World and many fun activities with the family. I’ll post more later about Disney.
2007-08-20
Vacations and broken bones
It has been a while, so let’s see what we have missed.
1) I broke my wrist. I am now wearing a brace that is a pain in the butt.
2) I have not run since I got the brace until today. Not a god excuse. I know.
3) I am on vacation for the next two days. Gotta love forced vacations.
I don’t have much time now. I’ll be back.
1) I broke my wrist. I am now wearing a brace that is a pain in the butt.
2) I have not run since I got the brace until today. Not a god excuse. I know.
3) I am on vacation for the next two days. Gotta love forced vacations.
I don’t have much time now. I’ll be back.
2007-08-10
thoughts at 32k feet
I am on the plane back to Austin. The pilot said that the ground temperature in Austin was 91 when we took off from San Jose. That’s really hard to imagine after leaving Sunnyvale with temps in the 70’s .
Beth sent me a video of the kids on her cell earlier today. I have only been gone a couple of days, but I miss them terribly. Only about two more hours until I sneak into the room to kiss them good night.
I am really looking forward to this weekend. We are heading down to Galveston and won’t be back until Tuesday. The kids love to fish, swim, and play. This brings me back to the importance of play. Jack Nicholson provided his commentary the lead character in the Shining: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. I am not saying that the movie is a realistic example. There is some truth in it though. You will lose your mind if work is what life is all about.
You should value the things that value you. Take your company and your family for example. If you were hit by a truck tomorrow, which one would be affected more severely? Your company would send flowers to the wake with a nice card. Some of your coworker might attend the service. Six months down the road, your position is filled and you are no more than water cooler chatter.
Your family on the other hand will never be the same. Your spouse will be left to handle alone everything you once shared. Your kids will have lost one of the most respected and influential person in their lives. Six months down the road, the pain of your loss will still be intensely felt.
I need to keep this in perspective. I’ll be back for more later.
Beth sent me a video of the kids on her cell earlier today. I have only been gone a couple of days, but I miss them terribly. Only about two more hours until I sneak into the room to kiss them good night.
I am really looking forward to this weekend. We are heading down to Galveston and won’t be back until Tuesday. The kids love to fish, swim, and play. This brings me back to the importance of play. Jack Nicholson provided his commentary the lead character in the Shining: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. I am not saying that the movie is a realistic example. There is some truth in it though. You will lose your mind if work is what life is all about.
You should value the things that value you. Take your company and your family for example. If you were hit by a truck tomorrow, which one would be affected more severely? Your company would send flowers to the wake with a nice card. Some of your coworker might attend the service. Six months down the road, your position is filled and you are no more than water cooler chatter.
Your family on the other hand will never be the same. Your spouse will be left to handle alone everything you once shared. Your kids will have lost one of the most respected and influential person in their lives. Six months down the road, the pain of your loss will still be intensely felt.
I need to keep this in perspective. I’ll be back for more later.
2007-08-09
Running and Being
The problem is that I have done much more being than running lately. I am still on the road. I am eating more than I should and not exercising. This combination is not a good one. I am having a great time, but I miss the family. I wish they could be here to see all the sights I am seeing.
Thursday night, I’ll be on a plane back to the sweltering heat of Austin, TX. I just got off the phone with my wife. In less than 24 hours, I’ll be asleep in my own bed.
Life is going great and I think it all has to do with perspective. I choose to be happy in what I am doing. I love my job. I am learning something new everyday. I have a bunch of kids that still think I am great. I have a beautiful wife that adores me. I have in-laws that I actually love to be around. I have nothing to complain about. All is good.
As part of my reading, Dr. Sheehan wrote, “Shakespeare was wrong. To play or not to play: that is the question. Anyone with a sense of humor can see that life is a joke, not a tragedy. It is also a riddle and, like all riddles, has an obvious answer: play, not suicide”
What he is saying is that the question “to be or not to be” is nothing more than an eloquent contemplation of suicide. You are. In other words, if you are reading this you have chosen “to be.” Good choice. In his interrogative: to play or not to play, Dr, Sheehan is pointing out that we have a choice how we spend the time between being and not being.
The person in the most perfect form is the child. The child doesn’t “know” enough to think of himself as foolish for acting on impulse and imagination. The child is not inhibited by social etiquette that limits volume and speed. My kids play at full speed until they drop. My youngest is the best example of this. We find him asleep in some of the strangest places. There is no moderation. 100mph until you run out of gas. That’s the joy of acting like a kid.
I get the same feeling from running. There is no work, no deadlines, and no politics to distract me when I am running. There is only me and the road. Sometimes I listen to my mp3 player, but often I run without it so I can hear the birds, my feet hitting the pavement, and the other sounds that people in their cars just don’t hear.
I’ll be back for more. For now, I am heading to bed.
Thursday night, I’ll be on a plane back to the sweltering heat of Austin, TX. I just got off the phone with my wife. In less than 24 hours, I’ll be asleep in my own bed.
Life is going great and I think it all has to do with perspective. I choose to be happy in what I am doing. I love my job. I am learning something new everyday. I have a bunch of kids that still think I am great. I have a beautiful wife that adores me. I have in-laws that I actually love to be around. I have nothing to complain about. All is good.
As part of my reading, Dr. Sheehan wrote, “Shakespeare was wrong. To play or not to play: that is the question. Anyone with a sense of humor can see that life is a joke, not a tragedy. It is also a riddle and, like all riddles, has an obvious answer: play, not suicide”
What he is saying is that the question “to be or not to be” is nothing more than an eloquent contemplation of suicide. You are. In other words, if you are reading this you have chosen “to be.” Good choice. In his interrogative: to play or not to play, Dr, Sheehan is pointing out that we have a choice how we spend the time between being and not being.
The person in the most perfect form is the child. The child doesn’t “know” enough to think of himself as foolish for acting on impulse and imagination. The child is not inhibited by social etiquette that limits volume and speed. My kids play at full speed until they drop. My youngest is the best example of this. We find him asleep in some of the strangest places. There is no moderation. 100mph until you run out of gas. That’s the joy of acting like a kid.
I get the same feeling from running. There is no work, no deadlines, and no politics to distract me when I am running. There is only me and the road. Sometimes I listen to my mp3 player, but often I run without it so I can hear the birds, my feet hitting the pavement, and the other sounds that people in their cars just don’t hear.
I’ll be back for more. For now, I am heading to bed.
2007-08-08
Six Flags
It’s been a while since I have posted. I have not made the time. I am sitting in the LAX airport waiting to board my flight to San Jose. I have nothing but time for the next 30 minutes.
The running program has not been what I had planned. There are excuses, but none of them good enough to share. Because of travel timing Beth and I did not run the Moonlight Margarita run as planned. Instead, I took that day off and took the girls to Six Flags in San Antonio. Just the four of us had a great time. The girls rode the Boomerang. It has two loops and a corkscrew. They were terrified, but they made it.
More to come.
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