ProtusMose.com

Dearest reader(s),

I humbly apologize for the recent lack of updates. I’ve been rather busy lately.

At work.

w00t!

Things don’t appear to be settling down anytime soon. I’ve got another two weeks of training or so before being thrown into the wolves. As if that isn’t unnerving enough, I’m going back to school starting next Wednesday. So, I’ll go to work and get beat up from 7 – 4, then come home and be mentally assaulted by learning Java programming and other fun stuff at night. If I get out of this alive, by this time next year, I’ll upgrade my Associate’s to a Bacherlor’s. Not bad for 10 years, eh?

I foresee a great deal of coffee being consumed for the next 12 months.

I am employed again. I’ll report for my first day on March 9th. I’m really excited about it. I don’t have any reservations about it, other than the drive. Compared to my previous commute, this one will be ugly. The shift should be early enough to beat most of the rush traffic on both sides, though.

It’ll be nice not to have to dip into savings every two weeks. We’re not going to go back to spending like we did before. One good thing about this situation is that it showed us we can just about make it on my wife’s income alone. We’re only coming short $200 or so every paycheck. If it wasn’t for our debt, we’d be able to have one of us stay home with the kids full time, albeit with the same sacrifices we’re making now. Before I switched jobs, we were barely making it. How were we barely getting by with twice as much money? Apparently we were blowing a lot of it. I definitely think this is something God wanted me (us) to learn before he led us out of this valley. “See? Look at how much you had. Look at how you squandered my blessings.” I do see now. I used to think we’d never get out of debt. Now I can see how “easy” it will be to get out. We’re going to keep living like we have been (maybe a little more stable), build up savings, and then start attacking these bills. If we didn’t “need” the extra couple hundred bucks a paycheck, it can be used to pay down balances. Then we’ll know freedom. And it’ll be sweet.

This isn’t the show we were at, but you get the idea.

Rock.

That is all.

As a married father of two, I don’t get to go to as many concerts as I did when I was a free-wheelin’ teenager. My lovely wife has been gracious enough to accompany me to a few shows over the years, and I’ve always had a blast. I love her for taking one for the team to spend time with me doing something she knows I enjoy. It’s epic amounts of brownie points.

A few weeks ago, we went to go see Barlow Girl and Benjamin Shafer. The tickets were a present from my mother-in-law; however, my wife agreed to spring for the upgrade to VIP tickets. That’s when the lulz ensued.

We showed up nice and way early for the show to go to the VIP event. After sitting around the lobby for 15 minutes, surrounded by 14 year old girls, we overhear someone say the VIP meet & greet hullabaloo was down the hall. We go down, expecting to find some adults. We found them, escorting their 12 year old daughters. It was the most awkward half hour or so of my life thus far. My wife and I surrounded by little girls during a Q&A session. Granted, this is a band comprised of three girls. But they’re all in their mid/late 20s, like myself. I didn’t expect it to be a 7th grade party.

We then moved into the auditorium and waited around for an hour with nothing to do. Older people started showing up, and the balcony started filling up with teenagers, which left me feeling a little less weird. Apparently it was just the little girls parents and my wife who shelled out the VIP tickets. At least I got a cool souvenir pass.

Benjamin Shafer opened up the show. Even though he did a really short set, it was great. I hadn’t ever heard of him before but immediately recognized him as the front man from a local band, 10th Hour Calling. We ended up getting his CD later. (You probably should too. It’s great!)

Finally, BarlowGirl came out. It was worth the wait and humiliation. They really rocked the house and delivered. Like a schmuck, I forgot our camera and was able to capture some horrible video and pictures on my cell phone. To show you how bad they are, this is the best of the batch.

It really was a great show, though. Very cathartic with a lot of the stuff we’ve been going through lately. Words of truth were spoken. Jesus was proclaimed. And I got some Barlow Girl drumsticks.

Rawk.

So, if you haven’t been blessed with the opportunity to rock with BarlowGirl yet, check ’em out. Buy some CDs. Become a fan. If you do, maybe my wife and I won’t be the only people over 20 willingly at the next show.

On a personal tangent, I’m waiting to hear from a potential employer later this week on a decision. I’ve got my fingers crossed. I’m really loving the time I get with my girls, but, financially, we’re going to what’s left of our savings in another paycheck or two. Then, we’ll be in real trouble. So, if you’re inclined to pray, it would be most appreciated.

I’m still waiting to hear from B-town, Sarpy County, and Papio on cop jobs, but those won’t happen at least until March. I’ve preliminarily signed up for testing with OPD, much to my wife’s chagrin. Their testing process takes 3 months to even finish though. I liked doing them all in one day better. :/

Mosecrest out.

Well, today was a good day of honest, hard work. We took care of business, got stuff done, and made it home through the ice-storm in one peice. It was also my last full-time day working with my good buddy Bob. With the economy tanking, there really isn’t going to be enough work going forward to keep me around, and the schedule was taking its toll on both my wife and the kids. I’m needed around here more than I’ve been able to be. We also need to pay bills, so I’m still looking for another job until Bellevue PD, Sarpy County Sheriffs, or Papillion PD realize how awesome I am. Technically, I still work there, but (extremely) part time. I’m effectively on-call for nights and weekends. When the other guy is out of town (like today) or doesn’t want to go out at night, I’ll take care of it. It’s a good arrangement.

I applied for a help-desk job yesterday, that may pan out. If anything, I’m overqualified for the position, but not so much that it should prevent them from considering me. If you know anything about my self-deprecating nature, you know that I’m not a braggart by any stretch of the imagination; but, this company would be foolish not to hire me for this position. We’ll have to see if I can make them see that.

Coming back to the ice-storm, it kind of hit me out of nowhere. I guess that’s what I get for not watching the news. I didn’t have an ice-scraper in the car, and both of the driver’s side windows were covered with ice. So, I carefully drove to the gas station and proceeded to humiliate myself. I started the gas going and went into the station to purchase an ice-scraper. I also got a Bananas Foster Cappuccino. (Fantastic by the way!) Then I went back out to the car. I put the coffee in the car and start scraping the heck out of the windows. I finally got them cleared, got back into the car and pulled away.

Did you spot it?

That’s right, I drove away with the gas nozzle still in the tank. I’m not even a woman. How is that even possible? I got 5′ away when I heard a thunk. *CRAP* I turn around and, sure enough, there’s no hose hanging from the pump. I get out and find the nozzle still embedded in the tank. I put it back and tried to reattach the hose. I then take a walk of shame into the station to confess my sin. The two girls manning the shop were both watching and one of them was apparently already on the phone with a maintenance guy. I stop and say, “You both just saw that happen, huh?” 😐 Luckily, they make the hoses idiot-proof these days. They shut off and disengage at some sort of release nut. They let me know it was okay and sent me on my way. I screwed it back in to the best of my abilities and slowly drove away with my tail between my legs. The worst part of this is I can no longer make fun of other idiots who do this.

On the good news front, my mother-in-law was super enough to buy us tickets for the upcoming BarlowGirl concert. We’ve got a babysitter lined up and will make a night of it. Yes, I love BarlowGirl. They are my escape from the Christian Hardcore/Metal world, yet they still rock. Check ’em out.

You’re welcome.

Mosecrest out.

So, in regards to this, I had my impromptu interview with the Bellevue Police Department on Friday. Immediately afterward I felt I had knocked it out of the park. Later on I got more nervous about some of my responses; however, it’s done now and constantly fretting over it isn’t going to do anything at all. The gracious Lieutenant seemed generally impressed. When I handed him my four year old license, I had to tell him, “Ignore the weight, I lost 50 lbs a few years ago.” That seemed to catch his attention. Hopefully it shows discipline and responsibility. He also seemed generally pleased with my current “exercise regimen.”

Of course, I had to endure the “situational” interview questions. I really can’t stand “Tell me about a time” questions. In this case, they were actually relevant to the position itself, so I can’t complain too much. The only thing I did “wrong” by classical advice, was in reference to a previous employer. I know you aren’t supposed to say anything bad about your past employer, but in a few of the questions, it really was the only honest answer. Everything I’ve read about trying to get a job in this field contains this advice: “They’re not looking for perfect people. They’re looking for honest people.” Hopefully the lieutenant understood the pertinence of the answers and weighed them on their merit as such.

In the end, he said he would get my paperwork in with everyone else who already had a real interview and they would begin selections to move on to background checks. I can’t help but fear that my little paperwork snafu has hurt me in the process. However, I have absolute faith that, if this is truly God’s will, He won’t let that stop us. If I recall correctly, he said they would start that in January, or make a decision in January. Something like that. If this doesn’t work out, the other two agencies I applied for will also hire in the first half of next year.

Prayers are eagerly welcomed, both for this and for work in the meantime to pay bills. Savings is shrinking.

*PS* Check out the Gallery link up top!

File under B for “Bonehead maneuver”

So I called the recruiter for Bellevue PD on Friday to inquire as to why I wasn’t selected to go further. He looked into it and called me back today. Page 11, clear as day. “All applications must be returned with copies of the following documents: Birth Certificate, Social Security Card, Driver’s License, High School Diploma, College Diploma. Guess I what I turned in…. Just the application. The Lieutenant is a fantastic human being and agreed to meet with me on Friday so I could turn all that in and have a pseudo-interview. I know it’s just a meeting and not necessarily an official “interview”, but I can’t help but get excited.

There’s still hope…

In organizational news, I now know where my diplomas and birth certificates are.

I’ve added a last.fm plugin that shows what music I am/have been listening to. None of you care, but I think it’s nifty. So, there. Deal with it.

If you ever happen to see the Jonas Brothers listed, it’s just a mistake. Pay no attention to it. I don’t have any Jonas Brothers albums downloaded. I don’t even know who the Jonas Brothers are.

So, I’m going to work tomorrow. It feels good. Really good. I didn’t get a new job per se, but my good friend Bob is short-handed and has been kind enough to let me do some work for him this week. I’m really grateful he’s giving me this chance. I’ve helped him out once before when he needed a hand with a night job. I really enjoyed it. It’s good old-fashioned hard work. No desk. No computer. And certainly none of this crap:

I’m not banking on the police thing 100%. I can’t read God’s mind, so I can’t be absolutely certain that’s his plan. I don’t think it’s untrusting to be looking around for other opportunities. I’ve applied for positions with the TSA, FBI, a great Christian investment firm, and some other places. If something comes out of those, great. I’ll ride it out until I get a call from a law-enforcement agency. I will not, however, go back to a call-center. I will not sit in a halficle (if it doesn’t have four walls, it’s not a cubicle) with a lame headset, taking call after call. If I happen to have a phone on my desk at my next job, it will have one of these.

HANDSETHANDSETHANDSETHANDSETHANDSETHANDSET

Consider it a solemn vow.

Things are shaking and things are moving. It seems like everything is in a constant state of flux right now. Trying to get into school, looking for a new job, potentially changing career fields, my wife starting a new job, the kids growing up so quick. It’s hard to stay grounded and keep my bearings. There’s just so many things going on right now. Still, it’s exciting. I can see God moving in five or six places and have given up trying to keep track of what He’s doing. Right now I’m just holding on for the ride. Around and ’round she goes. Where she’ll stop, nobody knows. In the end, I think all of this is moving towards blessing us and bringing Glory to God. Leigh Ann’s promotion alone seems to testify to the movement of His hand. It was practically handed to her on a golden platter. While she’s certainly worked hard enough to earn it, the ease with which it came is astounding.

So for now, we’ll continue to praise God for the work He’s doing and faithfully await what’s to come.