Category: B-Town

Opportunity or Not?

While making dinner this evening, I received a phone call.  The phone was ringing like crazy today, but this one was way out of left field.

It was the Herald-Times, asking me if I was interested in becoming a paper carrier.  I had sent them my resume about a month ago when a carrier position opened up.  It just happens that the carrier for “my” area quit.

I’ve agreed to go on a “test” run tomorrow morning, bright and early at 4:15.

This is something that I would love to do, but a 7 day a week commitment is tough for a young individual like myself.  We occasionally spend the night at friends and family members homes.  I wouldn’t want to be grounded.

In other job seeking news, I had an interview at the VA clinic in town, and got another call for an interview with what seems to be a general contracting company in town.

The interview at the VA clinic went well.  It’s a position in their front office, I’m just worried that my lack of experience in a medical office setting puts me at a disadvantage.

It would definitely be exciting to work for a general contractor again, but my back isn’t what it used to be.

Due to these concerns, I’m giving this some serious consideration.

I don’t want to work for KFC again, anything but fast food.

Primarily Undecided

For the first time in my lifetime, the Indiana Primary has become an important step in the process of deciding who will become the next president of the United States.

The hardest part, for this household anyway is deciding on who to vote for.  We are not “hardline” party voters.  We instead vote for the issues that are more important to us, and try to make an effort to vote for a person who will do their job, and do it well.

Since G.W.’s administration has made everything under the sun a nightmare, we are voting Democratic this time.  One point I have been making since it has become a Obama vs. Clinton showdown is that history will be made no matter who wins the nomination.

Both canidates have made appearances in Bloomington.
Obama showed up for the Little 500, and was here last night.  He gave a speech at Assembly Hall with a crowd of 13,000 present.  I sat comfortably at home and watched it via a live feed on the Herald-Times website.
Hillary, Chelsea and Bill Clinton have all made appearances here.  While I have not gotten a chance to see any of them speak, I haven’t heard much buzz regarding those appearances either.

When all of this began I was leaning towards voting for Hillary, but I have changed my mind, I think.  The turning point for me was last night when Obama said that, his entire campaign was funded by the american people, one $25 check at a time.”

Last night, we went to my grandmothers for dinner.  We have to drive by the airport to get there, and saw a large plane.  It had an american flag and “The United States” printed on the sides of it.  We knew it was for Obama.  While there, we were watching the news and they had a live feed from Indianapolis.  He was there speaking.  About 11pm, long after his speech here was over, we felt that plane leave.  It was an experience unto itself.

This country needs a change, and while I see it happening with either canidate, I see it happening better with Obama behind the wheel.

It’s A Jungle Out There (In My Yard)

Since taking my mower to the shop to have it repaired, I have not been able to mow the lawn.

When I first mowed the lawn, I only mowed the front yard.  On top of that, I fertilized it as well.  Now the problem is that everyone is starting to mow their lawns on a regular basis.

I’m not as concerned with the back yard, as not many people see it, and it’s still a mess.  I’m hoping to at least get the hole from where our pool was filled in this year.  I have finally found someone selling dirt, it’s not that cheap at $25 a yard but they do offer delivery. 

I might have to wait until next year on re-grading of the back yard.  If anyone near me (Bloomington, IN) has a small tractor with a bucket and/or a yardbox reads this, leave a comment.  I need the use of you or your tractor, and I’m willing to pay for it.

It’s not a big job, but it’s a job that can’t really be done by hand.

The Heat is On

This is my last week at Technology Services until next semester, at the earliest.  The CSR is going to begin to slow down, but there might be a large study to do.  It’s just a waiting game until then.

I have been applying to positions at what seems like a crazy pace at times.  I’ve had several interviews, but nothing has panned out thus far.

Hopefully I can find something to do this summer, at least.

I’m beginning to wonder if my situation would be applicable for unemployment benefits.  I haven’t quit any jobs, there is just a “lack of work” situation.

Situations such as these always work themselves out in the end, so I am sure everything will be okay.

The Little Mower That Could (For A While Anyway)

When we bought our home there was a big argument regarding how we would care for the yard.  At .47 acres, it’s not small, but not large.  I wanted a riding mower, but Rachel wanted to push mow the lawn.

At the same time we were having this argument, mainly regarding cost, a co-worker of mine told me about a used John Deere riding mower she saw for sale a few miles down the road.  During my lunch I drove down and took a look at this mower, and fell in love with it.  The only mystery was the cost.

To make a long story short we bought that mower, and I still own it to this day.  It’s a John Deere STX38, and about as old as I am.  I believe it’s an early to mid 80’s model.

It’s much different than many riding mowers available today, even other John Deere models.  Many of the safety features are not there and the biggest difference is the lack of engine power.  This mower only has a 12.5 hp engine.  Many might be in disbelief, because the lowest hp ratings I’ve seen in a few years is 17, but you have to remember that this is around 25 years old.

Last weekend, with the help of my daughter, I performed the yearly maintenance on the mower.  This includes changing the oil and oil filter, replacing the spark plug and fuel filter and the air filters.  It’s a pretty straight foward process.

I noticed that the mower wasn’t it’s normal self and was very sluggish.  I thought I would just see if it got worse before taking action, and it got worse.

I believe it needs it’s carburetor rebuilt or cleaned or something else, as the smell of gas eminanates from it while running.  I took it to John Deere yesterday.

They told me that they were 3 days out and they would call me with an estimate on repairs.  I’m not too worried, I’d rather spend a little money to repair this one than spend almost 2k to get a model similar to it.

UPDATE:  John Deere called on Monday and said the “throttle arm” was broken and that it needed a new carb.  They said it’s going to run about $200 to repair it.  I think money well spent.   I also found out with some hard research, that this model was made from 1988 – 1997.  They even made a “racing” model.  The first few years had a yellow deck, so this mower is around 20 years old.

Take a Listen, If You Can

There are many creative minds at work at the CSR.  Many of us enjoy the video production/editing fields.  There are 2 ladies with Ph.D.’s, a jewelry maker, and the list goes on from there.

For most of us, the CSR is just a stepping stone.  I hope it is for me, as I’m tired of assembling NSSE survey packets.  It’s mind numbing work, and when you’re scolded for speaking, it’s just that much worse.

A fellow co-worker makes his own music.  It’s electronic and kind of a mix between new age and techno.  It’s the best thing I’ve heard or seen in a while, so I thought I’d share.  I think with the right exposure, this kid and his music could really go places.

He’s a little leery of allowing it to be downloaded so I have a selection of his songs setup for streaming, but I have been made aware of some issues.  This will only work with IE, as it’s setup with Windows Media to stream.  I’ve personally tried Safari and Firefox with no luck.  So you are warned!  I am currently working on a way for all platforms to play, but I don’t have it in place yet.

Listen Here: Music by Luc

If anyone out there has any better ideas, please let me know!  I tried last.fm, but to add one of their “playlists” you have to have a minimum of 15 songs.

If anyone out there has any better ideas, please let me know!  I tried , but to add one of their “playlists” you have to have a minimum of 15 songs.
Or, if there’s enough support, he just might let the nice people who read my blog download it.  If he does, I will add links.

UPDATE:  I somewhat solved the problem.  If you cannot view or play the media player, click on the link directly below the song title, it will play the song on your systems native player.

I’m Hot for Cheerleader

Pictures of an IU cheerleader in the buff are on the net.  The HT did a story about it, and she is quoted as saying that “she’s been harrassed via e-mail so much since they (the pictures) were published that she had to leave Bloomington for California.”

What???

Apparently, an ex-boyfriend is to blame.  He wanted revenge.

The moral of the story here is:

If you don’t want people to see what you’ve done in this digital age, don’t do it!  This isn’t the first time something like this has happened, and I’m sure it won’t be the last.

If I were a young coed, I would love to have a body like that.  I’m sure my wife would as well.

The Doors Are Opening

It was hard to schedule at first, but I interviewed for a computer support position at the Kelley School of Business.  It sounded interesting, but I felt like I didn’t have the skills necessary.  I was offered the job within hours of my interview.

As a touch of deja vu, it is in the “Technical Services” department, the same department I worked in at Baxter.

The customer base is very small, as they only support faculty, staff and graduate students.  It is also filtered more because they only deal with certain issues, larger problems are delegated to UITS.

I started yesterday, and didn’t do a whole lot but read.  I see this opening the doors to something greater in the future though.

Although it’s only 8 hours a week, hopefully I can add this to my resume and wow people some more.

One of my new co-workers actually said that when they saw my resume, people said that they called it the “uber-resume.”

I can’t take credit for that as my wife mainly designed it.

I Need A Graphic Designer, or Become One

I have made some strides in this new website development.  However, there are some things that I still have problems figuring out.

I have figured out this Joomla CMS tool that I am now using, but I need a graphic designer to remove some “white space” from my tattoo picture.  I would also like a version of it that is white, and one that is inverted from its current colors.

I also need to learn a little more about CSS and XHTML.  I have found many templates for Joomla that I like, but none of them blow me away.  If I could modify them or join 2 of them into one template, I would be halfway there.


I’m still adding content, and trying to figure out how to get PayPal to work with this in the grand scheme of things.  I think the grand re-launch will be a few months away.


Check it out!  I have the website online at www.lmlvideoservices.com/joomla


IU offers a Digital Design Certificate, I really want to do it.  Depending on how things go I might in the fall.  It focuses on design of brochures and such.  It also teaches about the Adobe Creative Suite.  I have a part of it, Photoshop CS3, but haven’t gotten my hands on the other programs thus far.  Who knows, LML Video Services might start to offer Graphic Design services in the future.

A Change Will Do Me Good

One thing I truly need for lmlvideoservices.com is a new website.  Over the past couple of years I have used free templates I have found on the internet.  That has been a tremendous help as it hasn’t cost me anything for design and it enabled me to get my face out there.
I believe that is one thing that has gotten me where my business is at today, but times they are a changin’.

I need a professional website.  Not necessarily created by a professional, just one that looks professional.  I don’t have the skills for complex things such as PHP or JavaScript.  I admire to have something as nice as APM Studio, they are who I achieve to be someday.
If someone out there who wants to add something to their resume, or if you’re a student who needs to create a website for a school project.  Leave me a comment.  I’ll make it worth your wild.

The next change needed is marketing, or the current lack thereof.  My wife and I had talked about marketing my products and services to local photographers, funeral homes and various other small businesses.  I just haven’t done anything constructive with those conversations thus far.

I currently have some very good ideas.  Getting those ideas to a workable plan and seeing that plan to completion is a different story though.
The current idea is to send a letter with a personalized pamphlet to each business.  It would be your typical sales letter I guess.  In the letter it will state that I would like to make an appointment to meet with the owner or manager of each business.  After a couple of weeks I would call each place to try to set up said appointment.  I’m trying to make this personal and not some piece of “junk mail” like many businesses receive.


I am also undergoing an attempt to redesign my logo.  It’s been hard.  I removed my tattoo, as I think it looks clean and more professional.  Rachel tells me that it looks too plan and “blah!” however.  I do not want to change the conjoined LML, as this is something I actually “designed” in 4th grade.  It was to be my “celebrity” signature should I become famous, LML is my initials.

I’d like your opinions on the matter.  If you have any ideas or suggestions, I might use em. (with your okay of course)