Highlights of 2008: My job at an address verification company

The big thing that defined 2008 for me was my working for an address verification company in Raleigh. Getting that job made a lot of things possible and losing it made many not as possible.

A friend of a friend told me about the company in late 2007. I met the local boss and liked what I saw. I had been feeling frustrated by the one-way communication I got from my boss at my work-from-home job, so I needed a change. I met the owner and liked him. We agreed on a salary and a general job description: North America Support Manager. I came onboard the first of February and was generally happy I did.
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GPS talk is Friday!

I’ve been glad that one thing hasn’t gotten derailed by my job situation, and that is the talk I’m giving Friday to a fifth-grade class on Global Positioning System. While I’m no expert on GPS, I can tell the students how I used GPS in the Navy and some basic information on how it works.

I’m really looking forward to it!

Renewing your license? Take the bus!

I’ve been dreading renewing my driver license because I never look forward to spending half a day waiting around. Since my license expires in two weeks my options were running out.

That’s why I was glad I went to the N.C. DMV website and discovered the mobile DMV office. It just so happens it would be downtown today and tomorrow, so I figured I’d take my chances there. My hunch was that since this office is mobile there would be no lines. I was right!
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Walking to school

The biggest thing I’d change about my new job would be its hours. I’m really going to miss the opportunity to walk Hallie to school. It’s a special time between me and her that I have to give up if I need to be in RTP by 8 o’clock.

Since I won’t be starting the new job until next week (as I alluded to before), at least I have one more week to enjoy this special treat.

NC ESC web hammered again

Remember the trouble I had with filing my unemployment insurance claim? Tonight the N.C. ESC’s website is non-functional again.

Since I didn’t work last week (and won’t work this week as my start date has been moved back a week), I’m looking to spend my 30 seconds filling out the ESC’s five question form so I can get paid. Ain’t happening so far.

This is yet another troubling sign for North Carolina’s economy.

Here’s the error message I get (when I get an error message):

CICS.XFAPIN.1 error ‘800a0837’

(2103) The connect request failed. IP Address: 207.192.50.90, Port: 3020, Error description: Connection timed out

/include/login/gLoginCode.asp, line 74

Update 5 Jan 12:30 PM: WRAL has an update. Seems “too many people” were accessing the site. Also, I just successfully filed my claim. Looks like the site is still being hammered, though.

Paper towel dispensers

Having been on the road for a bit lately, I’ve seen my share of public restrooms. I’ve wondered why people have an aversion to touching paper towel dispensers. Its gotten to be such a concern that dispenser companies are creating ads around their products.

Its the people who don’t touch the towel dispenser that bother me. They’re the ones who aren’t washing their hands. Anyone who reaches for a paper towel likely already has clean hands.

Destinated

We got home a little before 8 PM after a smooth trip from Virginia. Everyone seemed to enjoy the ride. Even Rocket didn’t complain much about being cooped up in the back of the car.

We borrowed a Thule roof-mount cargo container from Kelly’s parents to haul our stuff back. It worked very well! I think its great to have extra storage for the car when we need it and to be able to remove it when we don’t.

Speaking of cars, we may spend time tomorrow looking at cars. We may finally become a two-car family again. If we don’t find what we need right away, our neighbors have graciously agreed to let us borrow their extra car.

And for those who are wondering, I’m cooking up a post on my uncle’s funeral. I wrote a good bit of it last night but I don’t want to post it until I get it right. Perhaps sometime tomorrow it will appear.

Heading home

We’re heading home today after a few fun days with Kelly’s parents and the Naylors. Then it will be a typical weekend before everyone gets back to the school/work routine.

I may or may not be starting Monday at $WORK, depending on how far my paperwork has made it through the staffing office. I hope to find out sometime this weekend if I’m on or not yet. Something to look forward to, anyway!