That's President Obama...

I feel bad that it has taken me this long to respond to the election that we just had. But better late than never...right? About two days ago the 2008 election came to a close and something happened that I (and I bet a lot of other people) honestly believed that would never happen in my life time. The United States of America electing to the highest office in the land a minority a black man...and I could not be more proud of this country. And I mean that last point and no way am I taking back that statement. So congratulations to you President-Elect Barack Obama. I truly hope you and your adminstration does a great job and put this country back on the right track. I think that's all that needs to be said on that.


Until next time...

[picture source]

And Here We Go...

Two months to go. The American public has two months to decide who will run this country for the next four years.

Scratch that those who have not yet made up their minds as to who they will vote for have two months to decide who they will vote for when the time comes for them to get in that booth and do whatever it is that they have to do to pick the next president of The United States of America. Now even though I have a Bachelors degree in Political Science and would love to go crazy with speculation about the history that is being made in American politics. I find myself not wanting to interject myself into political discussions with friends and co-workers, especially the latter. Now I see myself as a Democrat, a Liberal, a proud member of a party that included FDR, Kennedy and Clinton [Oddly enough all of those guys cheated on their wives...]. But I don't go around yelling and screaming to my Republican counterparts as to why they are wrong and stupid for believing in Bush or O'Bama is better than McCain. What good would that do? Nothing

Politics in this country has, in my opinion, degenerated into a whining little infant. One would think that after 232 years we would of evolved to a point in our political thinking where we vote because the person is smart, the person sounds like he knows what he/she is doing, and not "who we want to have a beer, pancakes or moose stew with." This country is supposed to show the world, especially those fledgling countries we oh so love, how a democracy functions. Yet we show them that when we pick a president, we base it on political affiliation, personal stories and stale-mate issues [Abortion and Gay rights...give me a break].

During the past two weeks I tried, really tried, to watch both parties' national convention. Mission Not Accomplished. It was hard, I'll be honest about that part. To sit up and watch these guys talk and trying to keep myself from falling asleep. One thing I can agree both convention were hard to watch. Especially [sorry for picking on you Republicans] the robotic answer each time someone asked about Gov. Palin. For awhile there I thought each person they had asked was reading off a telepromter or had a mic in their ear. And to be fair and equal, O'Bama...I think you need to tone it down just a bit. Watching your speech had me thinking I was watching a Superbowl game.

Politics, after studying it in school for as long as I did. You start to get a distaste for it. You realize American politics is not pure and holy, and that it never was. Ever since the days of George Washington, American politics has been nasty, harsh, and downright dirty. And what a surprise it still is.

Each candiate promises change, one belongs to the party that created they mess he wants to change. And one belongs to a party that just gained power and craves more of that power.

And here we go...
picture above was taken from: http://www.daylife.com/photo/0f2abns5xve6K

Destination: Travel

It feels good to be writing again. To have an outlet and a voice somewhere on this massive globe. Even though the voice I project maybe me drowned out by the other many voices on the world wide web. It is still a voice, and one that I will still enjoy doing.

I thought that now that I have truly settled in and slowly getting acclimated to the area, that I create some new goals before the year is out. As I had said in my previous post, I love my job...love it. The potential income that is just waiting to be claimed there made the move to Orlando worth. Now the job is tough, I won't lie there. I was never much of a sale person and doubt I will ever be a top sales guy within the company, that much is true. But one thing I do have is that will to never give up and always to go above and beyond what is normally asked of me. Luckily I'm surrounded by people that make going to work every morning, that includes the sometimes 30 minute drive to work bearable, a pleasure.

So what's the new goal?

...To start travelling to other countries. My sister and I have yet to pick the European country that we want to visit. We have a few in mind, like: London, Spain and Hungry, but who knows where we will end up. Some people might say that I should be scared about traveling over seas. Screw the notion that things in the world are not safe right now. How many opportunities will one person get to see the world. If I see the opportunity, I'm going to take it.

Well I'm starting to get tired here, so I'm going to have to make this a short one.

Until next time,

The Genesis of Change.

This is the next chapter...and sheesh it took a while to get here.

I'm finally back and blogging. After spending a month sleeping on my air mattress at my cousin's condo, driving 400 (200 miles from Gainesville to Orlando and and back again) and spending about $80.00 worth of gas each weekend. I finally have a place to call home. Well I have been actually living in my new apartment for about a month now. Now I won't bore anyone with the details of my move and the details of my new job. But I will offer highlights...kind of like how LOST recaps the previous episode.

Previously on GreG's Novel de Noir...I was offered a job by Sprint during the last week of March. Since Sprint's Human Resource informed me on short notice, I was unable to give my full two weeks notice. And really never got sent off proper. I start at Sprint, do three weeks of training, which I ace...sort of. They push me out on the sales floor. I spend 5 weeks looking for a place to live, until I settle for an apartment complex in Lake Mary. I move from Gainesville to Lake Mary, it's a tough move. And here we are...me sitting comfortably at my job, living in my new apartment and finally getting a good night sleep. Now I have to work on getting a woman/girlfriend and I'll be set.


And that's all that has happened. I am very very grateful to have made many friends at my new place. And don't know if I could of have stayed at Sprint if I was somewhat isolated and alone. Also, it is going to take me a while to get use to doing the sales part of my job, but like with all jobs I'm growing into it.

So now as I sit back and think about it. I was able to accomplish one goal I had set out at the beginning of the year. To move out of Gainesville and get myself of a new job. And so far I've done, trust me I surprised that I was able to accomplish this.

Well I think that's all I got for right now. I had originally thought I was going to write more than a short flashback, but I guess that's all I have to offer at this moment.

Well...until next time.

The picture above is of the new apartment complex I live at in the Lake Mary area. My bedroom window over looks a nice pond-small lake that has ducks and I think fishes in it.

Away From The Computer

Just a quick update.
I did get the job in Orlando, FL and had started March 31, 2008. But since the place I am crashing at doesn't have a spare computer for me to use. I will have to make due when I travel back to Gainesville to use my personal computer or when I finally rent an apartment over there and get things settle.

Everything is traveling a bit hetic right now, but hopefully that will pass. Well need to get back to packing and head on back to Orlando. It has been storming all day so hopefully I don't encounter any problems on my two hour drive back to central Florida.

Until next time.

The Post-Interview Wrap-Up

Even though this posting is a few days late.

I did want to take the time and write about the job interview I had with Sprint early Monday morning. First be reminded that my job interview was at 9:00AM [that was my bad. As I had picked the time to meet the HR department for my interview] and that I live about two hours away from Altamonte Springs (just outside of Orlando).

Now I won't bore you with the narrative story of what happened during those three hours from when I left my house (around 6:20AM), to when I arrived at the front doors of Sprint (around 8:55AM). All I can say is that despite the fact I got lost and had to do a few turnarounds and quick stops. I was still able to make it to my job interview...ON TIME! (...well actually five minutes before my interview started)

I was nervous...that's no lie. I feel interviewing for a job is like playing a game of chess. The other person knows what moves to put on you [or in this case, questions to ask you] to get you out of your comfort zone to see what type of player/employee you are. And as the challenger, you have to show that no matter what they throw at you. That you are confident that you will rise to the top and show that you are a worthy adversary...if that line makes any sense at all.

So far, the whisperings I'm hearing is that my interview went well and that I should be receiving a call sometime shortly. (Me being the impatient person that I am, will try to find what's going on Friday afternoon). Hopefully the call is Sprint making a formal offer as to my salary and to when I would start working. I am very excited about working at somewhere new, where a new set of challenges will be placed before me to try and figure out. Plus it does not hurt that the work environment seems very welcoming and relaxing.

And tonight I'll end this posting on a videogame note. God of War: Chains of Olympus came out early this week. I was pretty bummed that when i showed up to my local Gamestop on Tuesday to pick-up my copy. That they had told me it was coming out Wednesday (despite the face that all the gaming magazines and TV spots said the game came out today). And that's fine, I'll just go to Best Buy this weekend and use a coupon for 10% and get the game a bit cheaper than the $40.00 price tag. So far I've heard the game is short...real short, like 5-6 hours short. Which isn't really that bad for a PSP game, since most people probably want to play the game for a few minutes at a time. Since I am a fan of both God of War and God of War II. I am really anticipating a great game on a smaller scale.

Well that's it for now, if anything else happens in this so-called life of mines. I'll make sure to post some of it.

Eyes Swollen Shut.

Started to look at my blog and noticed...I haven't blogged in awhile.

Well on reason for that is that I have been fairly busy. Since this is "leasing season" at my job, traffic is starting to pick-up as people start looking for places to live for the upcoming fall [August]. On top of that I have been chugging along as I try to find employment in Orlando and a house to rent in Orlando. One thing I do notice is that job hunting has been very hard. Thank you President Bush for making that possible. Also I do get frustrated that every time I have found a home that I want to rent, that in a matter of a few days it is gone. Since I am looking to move late-March to mid-April. I have these realtors telling me wait a few weeks before I want to move in to sign a lease. Which means me constantly having to check the websites and crossing my fingers in the hopes that the house I want isn't gone. Hopefully some good ones pop up next month that I can jump on and sign right away.

So...I had a very interesting weekend. It all started Sunday evening when I noticed that my eyelids were starting to swell. At first I had no idea what as going on. I thought maybe some shrimp I had eaten earlier that day was giving me a bad allergic reaction or that when I was cooking the shrimp some raw shrimp got into my eyes. Whatever it was, I spent Sunday night on the couch with a ice pack over my eyes. It took a doctor visit Monday morning to find out that my eyes were swollen due to pollen...Al Gore wasn't kidding when he said Mother Earth is getting upset. The only reason this eye problem had extremely suck was I had a job interview that Monday morning in Orlando. I am so lucky that they were very understanding and allowed me to reschedule.

I'll have to write more, hopefully good news, when I get back from my job interview Monday.

Hopefully this time, nothing bad happens.

Sex, Lies, and Politics

January is finally...finally over!

And here we are a few weeks into February. The month of Black History Month, Valentine's Day and a few president's birthday added in for kicks!

Talk about the year starting out good and taking a nosedive to WTF territory.

How one gets to WTF territory beats me. But I bet it's near Albuquerque (Old Bugs Bunny joke).

Now this blog entry is not about some rampant sex scandal going on in the White House (thought itwouldn't hurt if we had one though...ahhh the good old days). I basically saw that the month of January could be broken up in to those three categories. Sex being about relationships, dating, and my experience in getting into all of that again. The Lies aspect revolves around work, co-workers, and trust (or the lack thereof). And finally, Politic...with all the primaries, caucuses and polling going around. There is no way to escape the fact that in about nine months we as a nation, will be selecting a new president. And I for one am very excited about that.

Relationships, finding one and maintaining them are never suppose to be easy. The last time we left our unsung hero [that would be me of course]. I was up bachelor creek without a paddle, possibly the worst situation a 20-something could find themselves at--especially this late in the game. When the new year came I thought my luck would somewhat change. And you know what? It did...for a while.

I should be thankful that compared to last year my dating activity has increased. But the one thing I never thought about how awkward I would feel doing the whole dating thing again. Meeting the person for the first time and feeling your heart wants to jump out and hitchhike back home. Or making sure that the words that come out of my mouth are somewhat intelligible. I should be grateful that the date went well, even though there were a few hiccups along the way [well actually the only hiccup was the fact that the restaurant wasn't all that great]. Now if we both were not so busy most of the time, maybe we could spend more time. But that maybe a persisting problem because at my work, things are going down the drain and are going fast.

Lies...we all tell them. Sometimes we are aware of the lies we tell, other time we hide behind a mask of fake sincerity. In the past I have...voiced my opinion about what I do for a living, and I've come to the understanding that I have no one else to blame but my own. The month of January, work-wise, has been one of the hardest I've had to deal with for a long time. Early on in the year, there arose a situation where one co-worker [and close friend of mines] was let go (or as the cover-up story at the office go, they quit). Let's just say that on one weekend the perfect storm of bad luck that could befall a small work office happened. Now mistakes were made and everyone (well mostly everyone) owns up to them. But to terminate a person because they were ill...come on! Now you may be asking where does the Lying part fit into all of this? And here is my answer...for a long time, I felt that everyone in the office [everyone from upper-management to maintenance guys] was like family and that we all looked out for each other no matter what. However, with all that went down it just showed that none of that really matters.

The event that has been eight years in the making is finally upon us, the 2008 elections. It would be the understatement of the year to say that a majority of the American public is unsatisfied with the current administration. But that is where we as a country find ourselves, hungry for change. In about a few short months Bush will be out and someone else will take his place. I don't know if a Democrat or Republican will be elected to the position of president, but anyone has to be better than the current guy, right? The one thing I thought I would never, ever see in my life is happening all at the same time.

For a while now I've been saying how backward America in regards to their elected officials. It never ceases to amaze that we complain about the status quo, yet always elect the status quo (we always end up electing those WASP). You have other industrialized countries that have already looked passed gender and elected the person they felt was best suited for the job. Us, on the other hand feel the need to elect people based on party loyalty and not intelligence and experience. Seriously, we are just seeing a civilized Crips vs. Blood on political stage--I mean they do share the same color [Democrats:Blue, Republicans:Red].

Now I'm not telling people to elect Barack or Hillary in order to make history. Just base your decision other than if the person has a [D] or [R] in front of their name.

Nine months to go...until we elect our new president.

The New Year: Vincit qui se vincit

Two days after the fact the clock struck midnight and I said good-bye to 2007 and wassup to 2008...

The new year is finally here and without much fanfare.

But I shouldn't be too down on the year 2008, many good things will come.

One thing I should be looking forward to is that this is an election year. Now excluding the fact that there is too much media fanfare about who will win the nomination from each party. I'm surprised that no one is talking about what guest stars will be appearing that the DNC and RNC.

One thing I find myself wondering...when President Bush does leave office, what will he do? I honestly don't see the man as a humanitarian type person who is going to go around and do good deeds. If anything I bet you the man will spend the days on his Crawford Ranch, clearing brush. That damn brush, we clear them there so I don't have to do it here.

I make no qualms about who I support (I should say what party I support), but don't confuse me for a hardline Democrat. I am one of those people (probably the few), that will vote on what the person does, stand for and job record. I don't feel I need to vote because one person can out-God someone else. Or as the Republican candidates have been doing, trying to out-gun/hunt the competition. Picking candidates now, to me that is, seem more like picking student body president at a high school. We don't go for those who are qualified and can actually articulate what they mean, we just go with the ones that look snazzy, and has eyes that can bat so lovely when the light hits it juust right. Here an example: if we were truly picking presidental candidates from both parties based on experience alone [and I could be wrong here]. On one side of the fence, for the Democrats: Biden (runner up: Richardson) and for the Republicans McCain (runner up: Guiliani). But as a country we go for whatever has that new car smell .

As I sit back in my chair and wonder, I have a feeling that 2008 will be one of those years I'll look back at and go "Whoa...now that's a year that was fucking interesting!'

Hmmm....I guess that's all I have to say about this new year.
Already starting this year on a short note.