There are several things I would like to talk to you about today, but there's only one that I'm going to talk about, because it is a discussion that needs to be had. If you haven't heard about the events of this past week, you are clearly living under a rock. I'm of course talking about the mass shooting in Uvalde Texas. I haven't done this in a very long time because I switched to one post a week and my input and timing were late, so unnecessary, but it is very much needed now. These are the victims of this horrible incident.
Makenna Lee Elrod, 10
Layla Salazar, 11
Maranada Mathis, 11
Nevaeh Bravo, 10
Jose Manuel Flores Jr., 10
Xavier Lopez, 10
Tess Marie Mata, 10
Rojelio Torres, 10
Eliahna "Ellie" Amyah Garcia, 9
Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez, 10
Jackie Cazares, 9
Uziyah Garcia, 10
Jayce Carmelo Luevanos, 10
Maite Yuleana Rodriguez, 10
Jailah Nicole Silguero, 10
Irma Garcia, 48
Eva Mireles, 44
Amerie Jo Garza, 10
Alexandria "Lexi" Aniyah Rubio, 10
Alithia Ramirez, 10
I want those names and ages to really sink in. These were children that only had 2 days left in their school year. They were thinking about spending time with their family and friends, maybe going on fun vacations to new places they've never been and now will never be.
Once again we are caught in the throws of, "this isn't the time to talk about this'. I've always thought that was a bunch of bull, because if now is not the time then when is it. It seems like once this passes, an we have all learned that it will, they will say why should we talk about it now, and this endless cycle of never getting anything done to, at the very least make the number of mass shootings to go down. I am now a gun owner, something I never really thought I would say. That makes me see things a bit differently, but not as you would think. I've always had a long standing belief that we need comprehensive background checks in order to buy a gun of any kind. I have gone through a number of background checks in the past few months and can truly say that if you are up in arms about getting a background check in order to buy a gun, you do not deserve a gun. Remember, the 2nd Amendment begins with "A well regulated militia". The word regulation freaking there. That means that a regulation can be put on you getting a gun. That doesn't mean that it is infringing on your right to have one, it just means that their can be qualifiers to you having one. Now that was written over 200 years ago and things have changed, but regulated still means the same today as it did then. Like I said, I've had 8 background checks performed on me in the last few months, and I have one more coming for a certain clearance I will be receiving very soon, so you can frag off about whining over a background check.
Where my view has changed a bit is in the training I had to go through in order to get my "D' and "G" licenses. One my "G" license it doesn't say Armed Security anywhere on it, it does say 'Statewide "Firearms License'. My instructor of the class mentioned several times how he wished that it was a 7 day course as opposed to a 3 day course, and I absolutely agree with him. I would have truly relished 4 more days of training, because the training I received in those 3 days was abundant and far more than I could have imagined, so how well prepared would I be with 7 days? The rest of my training now falls to me. There are more courses I can take, and I eventually will, but for the meantime, but training consist of me practicing what I was trained to do, and going to the gun range to improve my accuracy. It is a fact that most gun owners never practice with their firearms. They have them and expect that when the time comes they will just naturally be a marksman. That is not the case. Without training you will freeze up. I believe that in order to get a gun, every person that wants one must take a course similar to the 3 day course I took. That course covered firearms safety, the 4 universal gun safety rules, 4 step draw, proper storing of your weapon, proper discharge of your weapon ( actually shooting on a range ), and proper maintenance and cleaning of your weapon. It is my belief that if you think that by having to take a course like that in order to buy a gun infringes on your right to have a gun, then you shouldn't have a right to own a gun. Doing something in order to understand the proper use of a gun, and even though this course was for handguns, it can translate over to rifles as well, but I would say that a course specific to that would be in order, is a must. I'm not going to give a comparison for anything about what you need to do in order to be able to do other things, because you already know comparisons.
I'm truly tired of all the senseless death in this country, and that is not me condemning or saying I don't want to be a part of this country, that is me saying that I'm proud to be an American and I know that we can do and be better. Being proud of your country doesn't mean mindlessly following along with the status quo, it means standing up when you see a wrong and trying with everything you have to make it right. Stating when your country is wrong is not anti your country, it's saying you want it to be better. I want this country to be better, and right now we aren't doing it on so many fronts.
I only mentioned two things that should be done to make things a little less easier for a mass shooting to happen. There are so many more things that should and need to be done, but I will leave it at the two that I directly have experience with and I know can make a pretty big impact. We need to be better as a people and a country, peace in and good night.
I know this is a day early, but that's because I'm going to be doing a 12 hour shift tomorrow starting at 6 in the morning. This week has been wild. After writing this last week, I went in to work then got a call around 8 at night from my supervisor. He was having car trouble and asked if I could fill in for him on his morning shift. I of course said yes. That meant I was leaving the site that nite at 10pm then turning around and coming back in at 6 in the morning to do a double that would have me leaving at 10pm that night. If you have never done a double shift after doing a late shift the day before, you haven't lived. I'm being very sarcastic there. It was brutal, but there is the little fact that my site is my site, and I absolutely love it. Because of that double though, they canceled my shift for launch day, but I'll get to that in a bit, because there is a lot to that. Ok, since I took over for my supervisor I got to experience a tour going through. It was a delegation of the Florida legislative branch, which meant a very important person was leading that tour, that person is a good person to impress, and guess who managed to do that? That's right, your boy right here. That person oversees certain level of access within the company, and my supervisor requested that I move up the line in that and that certain individual can speed up that process, so fingers crossed. I know that is very vague and pretty hard to follow, but maybe someday if I see you in person I can explain it all to you, but it's a really big deal, and when I saw really big, I mean it deserves all caps, but I'm not a schmuck so I won't do that.
Ok, so the rest of my week went as planned with a day off on Wednesday, and then the added Thursday which was launch day. The reason was because they didn't want to over work me and it came down from higher up in the company. You will see why that is hilarious in just a bit. Since I have access to get out on property, I went out for the launch and it was really exciting to be there for a pretty historic launch. This was Boeing's first successful launch in a few years at the least. I kept getting mixed numbers of how many years, so I'll just stick with a few. While I was out there, mu supervisor told me of the new revised schedule. he is possibly being moved to a new site and his first day was going to be Friday, which was a surprise to all of us, which meant he had to scramble to get people to fill for him. All these people that said they wanted more shifts and hours all of a sudden couldn't make it, so he had the overnight guy extend his shift by 6 hours and then asked if I would come in to fill 7 hours then go to my 12 hour shift at the other building. It was short notice and he really needed somebody so I went for it. I've learned a lesson from all of this. Don't do a 19 hour shift ever again. That being said, some good things came out of it. There happened to be another tour on Friday, and I once again managed to impress some pretty important people. The tour guide being one. He went out of his way to get me a mission patch which as he told me, is very rare and hard to come by since they only made a very small amount of them. This one is mine.
I'm sure you can understand how stoked I am about this patch, just with it being purple alone, but the simple fact that I am one of a select few people that have one is freaking incredible. Oh, should put the video of the launch here as well. Short little note about that. I was watching the livestream of the countdown and decided that I would cut that off at 10 seconds to start filming the launch, but the stream was 30 seconds behind so I nearly missed it, that is why it starts with the rocket already in the air, and you might hear me mention that if you have the volume up which I suggest that you do so you can hear the sound of the rocket. Rockets have a unique sound when you are that close to them and the phones microphone picks it up pretty well.
Ok, so the video is processing again, let's see if this works for a second time in a row. Ok, so my plans for staying up on Thursday night to get my body acclimated to staying up the whole night were shot, since I know had to be at work at 11 in the morning. That of course meant that m body decided that I didn't need sleep and woke up at 2 and didn't get anything more than maybe an hour of sleep after that. That meant that I was already exhausted when I went in. I still represented as I said I impressed a couple more important people. After my 7 on my normal site I took the short drive to the other building which is basically a 1 minute drive away. Now this building I can finally talk a little about. Generally not much goes on there, but when Starliner goes up, the building goes up to 24 hour security. Normally it is just 7-4 Monday to Friday. The reason it goes to 24 hours is because that is where Boeing houses their mission control. Now the NASA mission control is of course in Houston, but Boeing's is in the building and they monitor everything that is going on with the capsule. Here was the big thing that just blew me away. Certain people have access to mission control. That means they can go in and out of the room with no problems. Those people are usually VIPs and the actual employees that are working in that area. Guess who has approved access? Your boy once again. Now, I could have badged in and watched the docking of the capsule with the ISS ( International Space Station ), but I chose not to. I just wanted to let them do their work and get the job done. I was just super excited to be on the list. That was enough for me. I simply watched the NASA TV feed from my security desk and congratulated everyone as they came passed my post. Even though the docking took over an hour, it was pretty exciting to watch considering I had seen that very capsule pass right by me as it made it's way to be mounted on an Atlas V rocket. I truly have the greatest job ever.
With all of the being done the night was very long, but I made it to 6 and then went home to get some sleep. My goal was to get a solid 5 hours in but Ri Ri wasn't having that, so it looks like 3 is it for me. This should work out for the best though, since I'm off today, but have to be at that same building at 6 in the morning tomorrow. I'm sure I will sleep well tonight. My schedule as it stand now will have me doing a 12 tomorrow, Monday, then have Tuesday off, with an overnight on Wednesday, then I should be back to my normal second shift at my normal site on Friday. We will see if that holds up. Either way my check for next week is going to be pretty big, because I was told that I was getting double overtime for I think 3 of my hours last night, since I went over the standard double of 16 hours. That's all going to add up in the end and will make it all worth it. I'm very much ok with all this time, because I know this is just a busy week and it won't last, so I should take advantage of it.
Back to my supervisor moving to a new post. He told me he really doesn't want to leave Boeing and is kind of hoping that they will allow him both posts, but it's looking like he will be moving on. The good news in that is that he told me that he recommended me and one other officer to take over as supervisor of that site. I know that I won't get it, but it is another big deal that he recommended me for the position. That means I'm all impressing him which eventually pay off in the long run. Even though my site is considered one of the top security sites in the area, people tend to move on quickly for one reason or another, so it's just a matter of time before I'm running that site.
That's really all I have for this week. I think I'm going to forgo FSOTW since I have some pretty epic stuff above. Oh, the video is still processing, so my hope of it actually working this time is dwindling. I do hope you had the chance to see it when it was up on my Instagram story which was also shared to my Facebook story.
Ok, have a fantastic week an most of all, peace in and goodnight.
Where to begin today. I guess I'll just start with the rug. So, the house has hardwood floors and when my mom passed I got rid of the ramp that I made going from the living room to the TV room. The ramp left a small blemish in the floor where screw must have scraped along the floor, so I needed a way to hide that. An optical illusion rug seemed like the proper and possibly humorous choice. Well, joke was on me cause the black and white rug is now gray and white thanks to my two dirty dogs, but this is what it looked like when I put it down.
By the way, both dogs really love it. Ri Ri is often laying on it, mostly because it is right at the foot of my chair and she has to be right next to me at most times. She downgraded from all times lately. She's a happy pup now, and not so anxious, although the me going to work has her in a slight tizzy, but she is getting better with each day that I'm gone.
Ok, next photo is from work, well kind of. I have to do frequent and mostly random patrols of the interior and exterior of my building, and on Friday I walked out and found a bald eagle taking a bath or maybe just getting a drink from the puddle that forms in this small area of grass. This was the second cool thing I saw that day, but this was the only picture of events that I have. I'll get back to that other cool thing in just a bit.
Pretty freaking cool right. I'm sure that has to be some kind of good omen or something. Ok, now for that other cool thing. The final push to my work is a 3-5 mile road that leads to the area where the VAB is, as I was driving down that road and nearing the last quarter mile there was something going on. I saw a lot of lights flashing and a very large transport vehicle, as I got closer I could make out a large cylindrical object laying on the top of the transport. It was mostly black so it kind of threw me as to what exactly it was. I knew it was a rocket of some sort, but it wasn't until I was driving passed it that I saw that it was the Falcon 9 first stage that can return and land. I had no idea that it would be mostly back, but it made sense once I thought about it. That final burn when it land is pretty intense and basically scorches the entire outside of it. That was only my first day back to work after my first 2 days off. Then Saturday happened.
Ok, before we get to Saturday at work, I have to mention that I finally scattered my mom's ashes. It wasn't the experience I thought it would be. I expected it to be more emotional, but it was much more a sense of completion. I spread about 2/3rds of her ashes in the garden and backyard as she wished. I still need to spread some in the front yard around a particular bush that she really loved, then the rest I will hold onto, so that I can take them with me when I travel to anywhere I think or know that she would have wanted to visit. This will be my way of letting her visit those places she never got to go to.
Ok, now for the rest of Saturday, and I really hope this video loads up. I've had trouble with loading videos directly to this blog in the past, so here goes. Saturday was the first time I got to watch a launch from work. Space X was putting another Starlink satellite launch up and I was going to be there. Now this video really doesn't do it justice. With the naked eye the visual is much better. I actually had to zoom in the camera to get half the clarity that I saw. I'm not kidding when I tell you that I could practically read the words on the side of the Falcon 9 rocket. Despite the wind noise in the phone, it did capture the audio experience for the most part.
Ok, as I'm typing this it says that it's processing the video, so I hope it works this time. Anyway, if you don't see it here, and you have a chance before it expires on my Instagram story, you can see it there. When I post this you will have about 9 hours left to see it there or on Facebook since it shares it there as well. Still no happy about that whole Facebook share thing but it is what it is, and it gives people more of a chance to see my stores. Well well, it looks like the video worked. Now lets see if it makes it through the email process for my subscribers.
Next week is when the Starliner launches which is the capsule I showed you pictures of 2 weeks ago. It's going to be quite crazy and although I wasn't on the schedule to work the day of the launch I talked my way into working that day, so if the launch goes off as scheduled I will be right there for it, and the launch site for the Starliner on top of the Atlas V is quite a bit closer than Space X's launch pad. I'm hoping for a better video for you next week. I can actually see the pad from the building where as Space X'x pad is hidden by a few small buildings and trees, it is also about a mile further away from where I am.
I also found out that I will be posted at the other building on Space Center property. That building is where all the action is going to be next week, and I have a few shifts on the overnight. The first night I'll be there is when Starlink is supposed to dock with the International Space Station (ISS). That will be a big night if all goes as planned. That is also when All the important people will be there. I can't say more than that for a couple of reasons. The first being that I'm not allowed, and the second being that I really don't know much more about what is going to happen there. I just have feeling that it's going to be epic.
Oh, I should mention that I finally finished all the classes a processes I needed to get all of my clearances. Once again I can't really tell you what that mean, and this time it's because I simply can't tell you, just understand that it's a really cool thing.
Ok, going to wrap this up with Favorite Song of the Week. This is from a band I'm pretty sure that I've shared before. They may be one of the most technical bands alive, and once you watch the video and hear the song you will see why. Oh, and even though it's a video the song is actually playable as it sounds with the exception of any keyboards that are in it. Those are pre-recorded and added in, but the drums, bass an especially guitar are all as they are with now doubling or anything like that. You are about to see why it is important for you to know that. I present to you Polyphia with their new song, "Playing God".
Do you see what I mean now. Normally Polyphia are known for being electric, but it was a nice touch with them going acoustic for this one, and it really highlights their skills where as sometimes effects peddles can sometimes cover up some of that.
That's all for this week. I really hope to have some great video for you next week. Until then, peace in and goodnight.
It has been a very long week, but in the best way possible. I've completed most of my training, I still have one more class to take to finalize my credentials, but I've already been sent out on my own. I have to say, that I absolutely love this job. The people are great, the atmosphere is fantastic, and I'm in a location that I wouldn't have believed I would ever be in my wildest dreams. I can't say much about my job and you will see why when I share the photos. I was given permission to share these so I've chosen to do so here rather than on social media. Not much for sharing things on the whole social media sites.
So as I mentioned previously, I'm working at two different sites. One is very laid back and does have the secrecy or restrictions of the other site, but does have some Top Secret level stuff going on. That's going to be my weekend post when my schedule finally kicks in. More on the schedule in a bit. The other site is on very restricted property and has some very big stuff going on. My first day of training there, which was my only day of training there was a huge day for the company. Oh, I should mention that I work for a security company which contracts employees to business for security, and my contract is with Boeing, yeah that Boeing. Anyway, my first day was a huge day for the company and the next picture will show you exactly why.
That is the Starliner Space Capsule poking its head around the corner as it leaves the building heading for it's pairing with and Atlas V rocket. When I was a kid I got to go to the Space Center and they would give these bus tours that would drive us right up close to the Vehicle Assembly Building. The day we were there they had a rocket in the bay and we couldn't see inside, Top Secret stuff when they are assembling the rockets. So with that little story you can see that I've always loved the space program and the potential it holds, but never thought in my life would I ever be that close to an actual space vehicle, and here I was watching one go by on it's transport like it was driving down the street in a parade.
I have a few more pictures I can share as well, and for me, these are mind blowing that I'm this close to these iconic things. The first two are the VAB, or Vehicle Assembly Building. This is just to show you exactly how close I am to it.
How crazy is that? I mean ever day that I'm out on this site, the little kid in me is going bonkerz. Yeah I spelled that with a z because that is how bonkerz I'm going. The final picture is the one that really gets me excited, and I very soon I will get to see this one in action. This is the crawler that transports the rockets to the launch sites. Turns out that there are 3 of these crawlers and they are so impressive to see this close.
Yeah, that's right on the other side of the fence from where my site is. I get to see all of this stuff each and every day that I'm out there. How could I not love this job?
Ok, now for the schedule. I was hired as a part time employee, which I was a bit bummed about, but the plus side was I knew these were the locations I was going to be at, so it was incredibly hard to turn this down, which is why I didn't. With being part time, that means I get 32 hours a week, which really won't cut it, but it turns out the Space Center site has some issues with lack of officers to be at the post so I"m going to get hours. I've also been asked my availability at the other site as well. Since last Sunday, I have worked every day this week with a 9hr and a 12hr shift already. I'm scheduled to work 3 more days this week which will give me 10 straight days of working hours, which means I hit some over time in there. When I was at the office I did here a conversation with the CEO asking about an employee that was part time but putting in a bunch of hours and he told them to just shift him to full time status. I'm hoping I will be the next one to get that. Full time means benefits which is really what I'm wanting. Gotta get that health insurance.
The only problems with all these hours is that it keeps me away from the pooches, and I've had to cancel my appointment to apply for my "G" License. I have rescheduled for this week in the morning of a day that I'll work. I'm on a later shift so I'll be able to get it in. The dogs though are dealing pretty good. Morty had a few years with me where I worked so he is just really happy to see me when I get home, but Ri Ri has always had me here all day as long as she has known me, so she is taking some time to adjust. I have a few bags of clothing items that I still need to take for drop off and she has torn into one of them and has been eating clothes hangers. It makes me laugh a bit, but I know that is her being stressed out, so I give her lots of extra attention when I'm home.
I learned a few other things about my job this week which I can't go into, but I can tell you that there is some exciting stuff in the future that could take this career to some insane heights. Right now I'm being pulled toward the Space Center site with lots of hours, but I want to maintain an appearance at the other site as well. That is supposed to be my weekend gig and I want to keep that. Right now my schedule should be Thursday-Sunday with Monday-Wednesday off. I've told both supervisors that if they need me those days to just let me know. I think The Space Center site will take the most advantage of that, so there is a good chance I'm looking at a minimum of 48hrs a week, but I have a feeling it will be more. After 3 years of doing nothing, I'm ready to work. I know that some will say that caring for my mother was nothing, but that honestly didn't feel like work to me, that was just something I was going to do without hesitation, so that's why I say I wasn't working.
Oh, before we get into Favorite Song of the Week I have to tell you about this very odd situation I have experienced while in uniform. If you have seen any security officer you know that there uniform slightly resembles law enforcement. Although recently law enforcement has gone more toward a tactical look the traditional uniform is still the norm. Ok, so when I'm in uniform I get this very, well very strange to me, level of respect, especially from law enforcement. Everyone knows about the brotherhood/sisterhood that officers have, but apparently that extends a bit towards security officers as well. I guess it is more like a little brother/sister for them though, but still a level of respect I didn't get when I was in civilian clothes. There has also been a moment when I was at a convenient store and the clerk gave me the LEO discount when I bought a couple of sodas. It's a bit weird to me to be even seen in that same light as a law enforcement officer. I know with the costumer that here is respect because we are there to protect them and prevent harm to them, the customer in my case being the Boeing employees. We are the first line of defense in harm to them in any way from violence, where we are there as a deterrent. We are seen as an authority so with just our presence it makes people think twice. We are also a line of defense against fire. Our purview is to seek out potential fire hazards and eliminate them. Since at my post were are also CPR certified, we are there to in worst case scenarios, to help aid in saving their lives, so I get the respect we get from them but from your average person and law enforcement seems really weird to me. I guess it's just something I'm going to have to get used to.
Ok, time for FSOTW. I gave you a little preview last week of this so you should know it's another Harry Styles song. I promise this will be the last one for a while, but this is his latest song, and it is so good. Not only that, but the video is artistically stunning. So I give to you Harry Styles with his latest song,"As It Was".
Are you starting to see why I compare him to David Bowie now? Ok, one last thing before I go. I missed Friday Night Vinyl this week because I was working, and if my schedule kicks in then I will be at work each Friday when I'm supposed to do that, so I'm going to have to get all the pictures for the post in advance and then post it on Friday night, so just know that I won't actually be listening to the album when I post it from now on. I just wanted that transparency with you so that you would know the truth of the matter. Ok everyone have a great week, I know I will. Peace in and goodnight.
This has been a week that seems to not be quite over yet. The not over part is the fact that my internet and cable have not yet been restored even though I've spoken with them twice now, the latest being yesterday which the swore that in a few hours it would be back on. I did learn something from this whole process though. Even when the suspend services they still allow a very small bandwidth to go through, which is how I've been able to watch Netflix, but no other streaming services, and write this right here. There are certain websites I haven't been able to access due to a high bandwidth for the initial site download, which is keeping me from downloading the software for my new printer/scanner. This has been a very big problem but we will get into that later.
Monday I was able to apply for me concealed carry license and like before they said it could take 40 days and that after 5 weeks I could go to a certain website to check up on it's progress. Since my "D" license came so fast I decided to check the site early and it worked. My license was issued on the 28th and is in the process of being printed and mailed, so I expect it will be here later this week. Why is that license important? Not for the reason you would think, at least not to me anyway. I really don't plan to carry like most people with that license would, but the thing is, that if I do get an armed guard position, that license allows me to transport my firearm to and from the work site. Without that license you could actually get arrested for illegally carrying a firearm even though you are a licensed armed security officer. It's all about the details.
I began training on site for the new job, but since I will be posted at two different locations, this is only the first round of training. I begin training for the other site later this week. That one is the one I need specific credentials since it will be on Space Center property. The first location is a nice gig. I've already got a handle on the patrols and what I physically need to do, but there are a whole slew of computer related things that need to get done as well, and that will just take me learning the system, which seems pretty simple. My issue is just getting in there and getting a chance to do it first hand. The supervisor is a great guy, but a little slow, especially with the computer, so there was a bit of a situation on Friday where I ended up guiding him through a process I've never seen before so that he could get it done right. In essence, I was instructing him on how to do his job, but I kept it very relaxed and made sure it was more of a collaborative effort and he was leading the course of action. One of the things I learned in my "D" class was, "don't outshine the master". The reason for this is that it can come back to smack you in the face later on. The way I saw the whole thing was it was a learning experience for me with practical real life scenario since it was actually happening in real life and not a simulation. There's also the fact that this supervisor has already made two rather telling statements. 1. He kind of wants to go back to the second shift which is more of a sit back and watch the day go by type of shift, and 2. That I would make a great supervisor. By lifting him up and not making him look bad for not knowing how to do that thing earlier, It keeps a good relationship with him that if he ever decides to step down from the supervisor position, he will recommend me for the post.
When I was offered this post the hiring manager told me to bring a book or my phone cause you will have plenty of time to just goof around. In my head I said to myself, "nah, that's not me, I'm going to prove to you that you made the right choice in hiring my, but the wrong choice in making it only part time.". I'm going to do my patrols, take my notes, and right great reports, so that I move up in the company as fast as I can. I've already shown that to my own supervisor and he is already looking at letting me pick up more shifts once I finish my training.
The one issue with all this training is that I have to postpone applying for my "G" license. Oh wait, I buried the lead with that. I successfully qualified for my "G" license. I shot 90% and as I believed, I aced the written part of the test with 100%. After going through this class and the certification I truly believe that anyone who buys a gun should have to go through a class like this. Even though I knew proper gun safety, I learned so much from this class that I didn't know, which tells me that just some schmo coming off the street to buy a gun knows nothing and really should learn. I'm pretty proud of that 90% because it was the number that I would feel happy with to qualify considering it's been 34 years or so since I last shot a gun. I will have to recertify every year, so I plan on raising that 90% quite a bit by the time a recertify next year, or really in 8 months. I will have to get a bunch of range time in there in order to do that, so my goal is to hit it at last once a month and fire off a hundred rounds minimum. The only way I will get better is through practice.
Ok, now for a little better news. Yeah I know that a most of that was pretty positive stuff, but I've finally been able to clear a few hurdles with the finances. The first one is that I'm finally actually making a paycheck now, which is fantastic, but I was also able to meet with the lawyer that did my mother's trust and she did a huge solid by giving me a discounted rate in order to write up a few documents that would help me out with things, which they did. I was finally after a month of effort, able to close my mother's bank accounts and free up that money. I've already divided that amount appropriately and checks are on their way. I'm having a little bit of a hang up with PayPal in that they are only allowing me to transfer so much into my account which I need in order to pay back that family member that gave me the life saving loan. If you are reading this I know that we have already spoken, but it is all in the process. Right now it's looking like it could take until the end of next week but it will be paid back soon. I know you aren't all that concerned about it, but I am and want to see this done sooner rather than later. It was a truly wonderful thing that you did so I don't want to delay the return. The problem is also that they are taking 3-5 days to process each transfer and it doesn't tell me how much is in the process, so I have to wait and see if the first to transfers have taken hold and then I will hopefully get the final transfer in so that I can send that money along it's merry way. I will be happy and relieved once that is over.
The lawyer also helped me with another document that allows me to get the simple IRA account of my mother's freed up. I've sent that document along with a death certificate so it's a matter of time for that one. That will be the last account that I have to divide up and then I should be done with that whole process, which has been hanging over me like the pendulum in Edgar Allen Poe's Pit and the Pendulum. Please tell me you know what I'm talking about, cause I'm not going to explain it any further than that. The last one which I'm having an issue with, and need the internet for is the annuity. That one only pertains to me so it's not a huge deal if I don't take care of it, but the company wants me to scan in all the documents and email it to them, so they never gave me a hard address to send it to. I have all the documents ready but since I'm still dealing with getting the internet re activated, I'm in a stand still with it. When I requested the appropriate documents I did have them send hard copies as well, since this is the second time dealing with them over this because they never sent me the email the first time. If I can't get this internet reinstated in time, I'm hoping the hard copies come with a return address. Now that I'm working and I've got the balls rolling on the last financial thing that I need to divide, I'm not all that concerned with money. I can make what I need to live so if I never see the money from that annuity it won't be a big deal.
Oh, after taking care of the bank I did celebrate by going to the record store. I had to miss Record Store Day, since I was doing that "G" training this weekend, so I did miss out on a few things that I wanted it. Turns out the Taylor Swift release was the big one to get and it is all gone. I did get one of the David Bowie releases, so I'm happy about that, and I was able to pick up the release from St. Vincent. I"m content with that. Sure I'm bummed I didn't get those other records, but they won't break me. I'm in a very good place right now and I'm going to just keep riding this high for now and see where it takes me.
I don't have any picture this week. I'll hopefully spread my mom's ashes this week and get the mulch down on the garden so it will like right and proper for a good photo. I did get some plants that I'm sure that my mom would approve of and they are in the ground. I'm just waiting for a good day to spread her ashes before putting that mulch down. I had plans to do all of this earlier but you know about best laid plans and all.
Ok, time for Favorite Song of the Week, and I'm going back to Harry Styles again. I'm telling you this kid has something that I really like and this is a great song from his first solo album. He does have brand new song out that will definitely bee a FSOTW in the future. Here is Harry Styles with his song "Two Ghosts".
That's a great song right there. Give this guy a chance and you won't be disappointed.
Oh, I do have one last thing to talk about and I can't believe I nearly forgot about it. On Thursday I got a text with and audio file from my "G" instructor. He had contracted Covid from apparently someone in the class. Now I think I mentioned that the guy sitting next to me was showing possible symptoms during the 3 days I was there, but get this, I don't think it was him. I truly think he did have allergies as he was saying. The instructor normally stood in the same location in the class room which was by the table across the aisle or other side of the room from my table. One of the gentlemen at that time also texted that they were having symptoms. I think that it was the other guy that was sitting at that table that brought it into the room. This is also the guy that I'm absolutely sure I will see on the news some day that he shot somebody on duty and that it will not be a righteous shooting. The funny thing about this is that my instructor went on a rant about how Covid was all a hoax and that if it were true then everyone already had it and it's over. Guess he found out that wasn't quite the case. He is doing better since he went and got the monoclonal antibodies, not sure what the other guy did though or how many other people felt symptoms. I immediately contacted everyone I had come in contact with to let them know of potential infection. I never experienced any symptoms at all so guess what? The vaccine works. I'm double boosted and either that fought off the virus completely or I was asymptomatic all week. I can say that no one I came into contact with has experienced any symptoms either, so I'm leaning on the, it complete fought it off train of thought and I never caught it. So get that vaccine it does it's job.
Ok, that's it for this week, oh yeah there was one more thing I wanted to say today. If you were expecting pictures of me in uniform or of my pistol, I'm sorry but those are never going to be taken. For several reasons but mostly because that just isn't who I am at all. I have no desire to display my firearm to the world or what I look like in uniform. Goodnight and peace in.
I got some pretty big wins this week, and I needed them. Today was huge in this, but let's go in order. Oh, I must point out the terrifying moment on Monday when I realized that I had misplace my driver's license. I went grocery shopping on Monday morning like I normally do, but when I went to check out, I noticed my blue card where my license should be. My blue card is that temporary license for doing security work, which I had placed directly under my license. I started brain storming where my license could be, mind you that I needed that for the meeting I had on Tuesday with my new employer. I finally came to the conclusion that I had left it at the classroom where I did that baton/handcuff/OC spray certification. I called up the instructor and told him I would be up there when they took lunch. That meant a special trip to Maitland which is on the other side of Orlando. I made it there before lunch so I had to interrupt class. As I got to the door I heard the instructor saying that they were just about to break so I knocked and he came to the door. He greeted me with a smile and told me that my license was in fact there and invited me in. I said hi to the new glass and apologized for interrupting them and told them that I was where they were not too long ago. That's when the instructor came out with my license and asked me to address the glass and tell them about my experience and and pointers I could give them to help them out. I was more than happy to do that, so I took court and laid it all down for them. I told them about how they needed to take good notes, and keep slide notes separate from video notes, and how they really needed to listen to the instructor and trust what he had to say. Then I wrapped it up by confirming what he would have already told them about Thursday, which as I mentioned before is professional Thursday. I reiterated to them that there was no reason to leave that class without a job and how I had two offers that were waiting on Federal clearance. (more on that later). Then I mentioned how they really did need to dress nice for the day, and threw in the old saying, "Dress for the job you want, and not the job you have". That got some wide approval. Then I wished them good luck and apologized again for interrupting.
With my license in hand, I was ready for Tuesday now. This was when I finally met the hiring manager and the site manager for the first time, so I could fill out the applications for that clearance. One problem though, I still didn't have my birth certificate. I had to apply for a certified copy and new that it would take about a week to 10 days before it arrived. Since I was in that stand still I mentioned I signed up for the G license course. Big problem there, I needed 3 magazines for the class, and although I had ordered 3 more for my gun, there was no guarantee that they would be here in time. I got the shipping notification Tuesday morning, so I saw that as a plus, but still tracking would take up to 24 hours. I still wasn't safe. I figured worst case scenario was that I ended up renting a gun from the instructor. I was going on to that class no matter what. Anyway, the meeting on Tuesday went well even though I'm in the holding pattern of remaining employed but jobless. I also got the news that I was getting another certification under my belt with them. CPR was on the list of things I planned on doing on my own, but now I didn't have to, the company was taking care of it and they could certify me at the office on Thursday. That's another win, because I got the certification and didn't have to pay for it. Double bonus on that one.
Later on Tuesday I got the notification that my birth certificate was on the way, they still mentioned 5-10 days so it was going to take time and wouldn't interfere with taking the G course. Thursday came and went, got CPR certified and a level I hadn't anticipated. It wasn't just CPR and Heimlich, but also wound care, burn treatment, drug overdose care, and even more. It was pretty intense. I got home to find out that my magazines were going to show up that day, 2 days ahead of schedule. I was stoked. I only had to get ear and eye protection for the range. Ears were easy, just stopped at the gun shop and bought a compact pair, but they had no eyes, then I remembered that I had an old pair of Oakley's with interchangeable lenses, and one of those lenses is clear and ballistic tested. Score again with another win. I got those approved today.
I'm just going to skip to today since Friday was really uneventful other than the first day of G class. Today was the first step in qualifying for my G license. We had to bring our guns so that we could do a lot of dry firing, learning proper technique in handling the gun, that meant the draw how to hold and point the gun in a safe manner as well as so so much more. The end of class was the written exam and the safety inspection. The failure on either of those meant you didn't make it to the range tomorrow to do the final qualifying which was shooting with live rounds. For the safety inspection you had to display proper technique in the draw, competency in fixing a jam in a quick and safe manner, single hand firing techniques with both hands, and speed and retention loading. I'm not going to go into what those are, but you can guess it has to do with putting the magazines in the gun. Now, if when I heard him reading off the scores for the written exam and the tests where in the order he received them, mine was the second to last on the bottom, since I was the second person to turn mine in. That test was 100%. I'm kind of really wanting that hundred percent. The two around that were 96 and 98, which aren't bad, but I feel like that 100 would be another big win. Tomorrow will be the first time I fire a gun since I was like 16. I have a story about why it's been that long, but let's finish out today first. There's more for this day.
I got home checked the mail and there were two letters, well three letters in there for me. One was my pay stub for getting paid for doing the onboarding last week. Very small amount but it still counts as a paycheck. The other two were bigger, way bigger. The first was from the Florida Department of Agriculture. It was my D license. It came way sooner than I expected it to be here. When I left the appointment I had there last week, they told me that it would take 90 days and that after 5 weeks I could go to this site mentioned on my receipt to check on the status of my license. To say I was blown away is an understatement. The other letter was my birth certificate. It got here a few days early, but I'm going to wait until Monday to call it in, for two reason. The first is that I have the range tomorrow for final qualification, and Monday I have another appointment with FDoA to get my conceal carry license. Oh yeah, one more reason. For my G license I need to get my employer to sponsor me so that I may be able to get an active temporary license while I'm waiting for the real thing to arrive. I feel that I need to actually pass qualification first before I do that, but if I do, I can turn in the BC as well as get that paperwork signed at the same time. I did go ahead and make an appointment for the 3 of May for that application with the FDoA. I found out I need to get a physical as part of that whole thing, so I need to try to make an appointment for that this week to knock it out of the way. I know, I'm talking as if I'm confident I will pass qualification, but I really don't know if I will. It's not going to be easy but I'm going to give it my all.
Ok, quickly to that story on shooting guns. When I was 16 or so, I had this friend that was a bit of a delinquent. He had a few guns and decided we needed to go out and shoot them. Of my friends at that time, I was the only one that had any prior experience actually shooting guns, so I laid a few rules down. We were in the middle of these woods where there was an old junk car, and I told everyone shoot at the doors, the windows the rear quarter panels, but don't aim for the front or the wheels. Those were two areas with very hard steel that would cause a ricochet. The engine less likely because of the front quarter panels, but still a possibility. My delinquent friend said," Hey watch this, I'm going to shoot the wheel." I screamed out, "NO!!!!!" right as he shot. You heard the gun fire, then the ping of the wheel and then the high speed whir of the bullet as it passed right between us at head level. Mind you, we were only a few feet apart. I sat his gun down and said I'm done and walked as far away from them as I could. I was done from that moment on. It's not that it was so traumatic that I couldn't pick a gun up, I just never had any desire what so ever to do it. I've just never been a gun guy. The only reason I'm doing this now is to help advance my new career. Do I think if the need arises could I fire on someone? I do, but my goal is to never draw my gun at all. I'm going to do everything I can possibly do to deescalate the situation to keep everyone safe. In the end of the day, when I go to work, I want everyone to go home safe, even if they aren't such great people. There is also the chance that I could get into executive security which is like bodyguard type stuff. I'm already hearing stories from instructors about that possibility.
All of these wins will help me out in the long run, but the short term is still pretty much a disaster, but I'm going to ride this high of wins for the time being. There was no Friday night vinyl due to the G course, and I'm writing this of course on Saturday night since I will be half way across the state firing my pistol when I would normally write this. I really hope you have a great week. Peace in and goodnight.
It has been such an up and down week, and full of unforeseen delays. I guess I'll just start with Monday. I finally had to seemingly force that phone interview I was supposed to get, and that was a bit of a disaster. I waited until 11:45 and then I sent an email questioning if we needed to just simply reschedule the interview, with that I got an almost immediate phone call, and that is where things got a bit weird. As I told you, I met with that Assistant Director within the company and he was going to recommend me for a supervisors position, but when I mentioned his name in connection with something else that he had mentioned, they acted like he didn't exist. They then said they would look into it and call me back. I didn't get the call back I got an email response to an earlier email that I had sent. They said that they spoke with him and then wondered if I wanted to be hired in Orlando, which wasn't at all the point of why I mentioned him. I asked to stay in the same area I lived and then they replied with telling me the hiring manager would call me soon. I have no idea what soon is to them since it took me 4 days to get that phone interviewed that I had scheduled with them.
While I was waiting for the new phone interview with the hiring manager I thought I would start another process that would take time and buy a pistol. Since this is Florida and freedom is a four letter word to illicit liberal tears, I went to the closest gun shop to me which is literally 5 minutes away. By the way Once this whole process I over I will be the conservatives worst nightmare, a liberal not only with a gun but a license to carry it. You know, everything they hate. Anyway, I went to the shop and talked with the owner and discussed what I might need and a budget I can work with. I really can't work with it but you got to spend money to make money right? He recommends a particular gun that is apparently gaining a lot of popularity recently with how cheap it is, but also how you get far more quality for the price of the unit, so I began the background check. This made the first of many background checks to go on this week. I'm pretty popular with the government right now. We have the 3 day wait period in Florida which I had no concern over. I could have gone my whole life without owning a gun so 3 days wan't that long at all. I of course could have gotten around the 3 day wait if I had gotten my concealed carry license, but once again, I had no need of a gun before. All of this meant that I couldn't pick up the gun until Thursday when it arrive at the shop. He was placing a special order for it and actually gave me a discount, so plus plus. This was one of the good things this week.
On Tuesday morning I got the call from the hiring agent who had gotten word that I had my "G" license, which I don't. The "G" license allows a security officer with their "D" license to legally carry a pistol, there are a few other things as well, but that isn't important. The hiring manager had a job for me in armed security right away, but of course that wasn't possible without the "G", so he did a quick search of what was available and offered me a part time gig that I normally wouldn't have accepted, but this one was a definite exception. The pay was very low compared to what I've made in the past but 2 of the 4 days I would be working would be on Space Center property, that means federal clearance. The location on property would ensure me the best seat in the entire county when a launch would occur during my post. The little space nerd kid in me jumped at that chance, to see a behind the scene of the space program that I would never dream of being able to see. This also gave me a foot in the door so that I could prove myself since the Assistant Director's name never came up again so I just went with the believe that they didn't accept his recommendation. I know it is more than likely something else, but I'm just happy with the idea of my little positive spin on things.
With the job offer in hand I began the background check there. That's number 2, and here comes number 3. As I mention last week, I had an appointment with the Department of Agriculture, well I should say the Florida Dept. of Agriculture, for my license application. Just having the certification isn't the whole thing, once you have that you have to apply for the license. Since the nearest regional office to me is in Orlando, on Wednesday morning, I woke up and left 2 hours early, which was good and bad. I completely overcompensated for traffic and arrive an hour early. That's when I hit a 7-11 and grabbed this.
Yep, a flavored Liquid Death. It was a little weird but very good. Had a very nice berry flavor but it is their sparkling water so it still had that weird bitterness which canceled out a lot of the sweetness. I would still recommend it especially if you like sparkling water. It is still by far the best sparkling water I've ever had. Anyway back to the application. I walked into the building with a half hour left of my wait and then proceeded to wait outside the door to their office. Fifteen minutes later their security officer came out and told us to respond to the text confirmation that we received with "Here" and that they would all arrive at the office at 8 on the dot. I got a return text 15 minutes later asking who I was and if I had an appointment. I told them and then they told me that my appointment was for next week. I know exactly where I went wrong. When I scheduled the appointment I looked at the first available Wednesday and never actually looked at the date. Now, in my class one of the lessons was to be assertive, so I took a shot and asked if they could some how fit me in since I was already there. They listed a few openings they had in the day, so I took the first one which was at 10am. I would gladly sit in my car for 2 hours rather than have to make that drive again as well as having to wait an extra week to start the application process. Good thing number 2, I can't remember the actual number but these are all going to even out very soon. I got my Blue card which is the temporary license that allows you to go to work while you wait the 90 days for the official license.
I got a call later that day from the hiring manager again and mentioned that I had picked up my Blue card, an he was stoked by that news and then threw me a curve ball. He wanted to start all the paper work that day and mentioned I would need my birth certificate. Now, I know I have one, it just hasn't been in the location it was supposed to be, and I have yet to find it. He mentioned that I needed that in order to get the clearance needed for the job I was up for. I told him that I would toss the house looking for it, so we were in a holding pattern until I could find that little piece of paper. Spoiler, I still haven't found it but I did submit for a certified copy of it and have mailed out the proper paperwork for that. I'm hoping that will come by next week.
The hiring manager called me again Thursday morning and asked if I could come in to do paperwork again where I mentioned that I still haven't found my birth certificate, this caused a bit of pause on his part and then he asked me a few more questions, one of which was where did I take my certification class at. I told him and he was real happy about that, he then said he would call me back while he figured this all out. An hour later he returned that call with a new offer for me, and I'm absolutely sure this was because of which class I took. The new offer was a full time position with a very large company that wouldn't be on Space Center property but is related to the space industry as well as many government contracts. It also paid a little more money, still not anywhere near what I was making in the past, but much better and with overtime I could actually exceed my previous salaries. I told him I would take that one over the part time, although I would miss that chance at those incredible launch visuals I would surely miss out on. This job also needed my birth certificate for clearance, so I'm still in that holding pattern. He then asked if I could go to their Orlando office for onboarding that day, I only had to be ready in 3 hours, which was plenty of time for me. He also mentioned I would need my BC for that as well, but we might be able to work around by saying that I was going to get it to him as soon as I found it. Turns out I didn't need it for the onboarding and I was officially hired by the company. The drug test was a trip though. I could watch it come up negative for each drug their were testing for while I sat there. Once again, I haven't been at all worried about any of these tests, the backgrounds or the drug test simply because my life is so boring that paint watches me. Oh yeah, I should mention the reason why I was onboarded was because I cleared that background check. I called him when I was out of the onboarding and we set up an appointment so that I could start some paperwork and get a few uniforms. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, the new job has a physical fitness requirement that I would have to pass, but he said it's real simple. One of the requirements is to complete a mile in under 18 minutes. I got that, also I need to be CPR certified, which was something I was already looking into. Turns out they are going to cover all of that. I have that appointment with the hiring manager on Tuesday morning.
On the way home from the onboarding I thought I would just stop by the gun shop and pick up the pistol I had ordered. It hadn't come in, and the tracking was not available through FEDEX for some reason so the owner had no idea where it was or when it would get there, so I just told him I would come back tomorrow. We are up to Friday now.
I decided Friday would be simply a free day since I have been dealing non stop with all of this and my mom's finances which still aren't done at all, and seem like they never will be. I'm nearing a point where I just want to give up and throw the money away, but I can't do that because the money isn't only going to me. I just want to move on and even though I feel fine, I believe that this may be stalling my grieving process and delaying things that I may have once again compartmentalized and don't really know it. I'm actually going to reach out to the bereavement team tomorrow that Hospice has notified me about tomorrow to talk to them about whether I'm normal or not. I just feel like something is off and I can't place what it is. I'm just handling this all too well, and that really isn't me. Anyway, back to Friday. I waited until about 3 in the afternoon to check on the gun shop and guess what? The gun still hadn't arrived. I told him I was free the rest of the day, and he said he would give me a call if it came in, to save me a trip driving there to check on it. I finally got that call a few hours later and then ran up and finally picked up the pistol. Since we were the only ones in there when I picked up, he decided to start a little small talk and get into a political discussion with me. I didn't bite, I just acted like it was all news to me and kept my opinions to myself. One awkward discussion avoided. I put that in the win column for the week.
Saturday was certification day, and with the pistol in hand I could check with my instructor on whether it was adequate for the "G" License course. He was an hour late, which was ok, because that was all I had planned for the day. He apologized still and then told me he was only going to charge me half price for the class. I was the lone student which made it really weird, but the half price wasn't the only thing that he did for me. We discussed the non recommendation and then he went to work. This was also because I mentioned to him that I wanted to get as many certifications under my belt as I possible could, so he threw it all at me, and knocked out 3 certifications. Not only did I get the baton/handcuff/pepper spray certification, but also a self defense one, and then he threw me 2 huge solids and went through the basic concealed carry course and wrote up a certificate for completion of supervisor training. Those last two are pretty big deals and cost a lot of money that he didn't even charge me. With that I'm no certified so that I can apply for my concealed carry license, which I wasn't even planning on getting, but it will actually help me with the job as well as the "G" course. Then he asked me about the "G" and I mentioned I wasn't sure what my schedule was going to be this coming week and he told me that if I mentioned to them that I registered for the class and already paid they would simply let me have the time to take it, so I registered for my "G" license course and am taking that next weekend. I'm still a little worried about it, but I think I'll be fine. Only thing is, I am missing one of the requirements for the class which is 3 magazines. My pistol only came with 2. I ordered 3 more, but there is no guarantee that they will be here before next Saturday. I may be able to squeak through if I can prove with tracking that they will arrive on Saturday, but I definitely need them by Sunday which is the range day. I'm just going to wing it which has kind of been this whole week. With the "G"license I can get armed officer positions within the company and make quite a bit more money, so I'm going to do everything I have to in order to pass this class. Once I have that certification in hand I'll schedule another appointment with Dept. of Ag, and get both my CCW and "G" applications taken care of.
Whew, that was a lot. I hope you stuck with me this far cause it's time for Favorite Song of the Week. I'm pretty sure that I've posted this one before, but it is so fitting for this week and the way I feel, so I'm happy to do it again. This is William DeVaugn with his smooth funk classic "Be Thankful For What You Got".
"Diamond in the back, sunroof top, digging' the scene with a gangsta lean, hmmmhmmm." I mean come on is there any more iconic image of the 70's than that. This song has truly made me happy this week and I hope it brings you the same joy it has brought me. Peace in and goodnight.
