Hello World. Something new is coming to Kansas City. #startup #videomarketing pic.twitter.com/fpMpZXjo1e

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Long time no "Write"

Long time no "Write".

Where are all those gray hairs coming from???????

So I haven't been keeping up with this blog or my journals the way I once did.  No particular reason outside the fact that I'm working and learning.  I don't feel like I have a lot of things to communicate.  I'm relativley boring.  I go to work, come home (still studying) and take care of my family.  

I have been working on a side project that may take off.  Eventually I will be a part of another business.  This is the bigger dream and direction for me.  I am an entreprenuer and I think and dream like one.  This project has a lot of potential.  Yet, so did Mo Wine Tours.  What is important is that I keep working on these things. 

The man who doesn’t make up his mind to cultivate the habit of thinking misses the greatest pleasure in life.”

I'm still doing web support at Vin Solutions.  I'm still contracting but I've been made an offer for one position.  I may hold off and wait for another position inside the company that is more technical.  I find that in my new career field I'm still noticed for the "Customer Service" and "Soft Skills".  Funny, I don't try to hide these things but I'm aware that this could take me down a path that I've already been down.

I want to focus on code and building.  Although I have experience and training in Sales, Customer Service......I can not take a position that takes me away from development.  I've been down that rode before and I'm not going back.

I've been given an opportunity to interview for a company that would however be VERY good for me.  It would utilize all my strengths in a way that would enable me to keep climbing in the direction that I want to go.

I won't say anything else till after I interview.  If this comes through.....I will truly come full circle.

Spring 2015

Ready for Spring......

So I 've been busy getting acclimated to the new job and to my new surroundings.  I have really fallen off on blogging and keeping up with a few other things that I enjoy doing.  

First off Vin Solutions:

I enjoy this job thouroughly.  I guess I should correct an earlier blog entry.  My title is "Web Tech Specialist".  I am not a "Developer" as I first thought upon starting.  That's fine.  The majority of the time I work in the HTML, CSS and JQuery/JavaScript.  Now what does get interesting is that although I work in the .Net Stack and on websites that are Web Forms; I do not have access to any of the C# files and I am mostly working on the their CMS platform.  

Good and Bad.  The good is it is relativley easy to change certain parts of the website through their CMS.  The bad (which is good for my development), many times I find myself scripting a change to work around the restrictrive nature of their system.  It's clear why they have these boundaries set up.  Although, the scripted work around is very common practice here.

Great people, good environment.  It is a J.O.B. and with every J.O.B. there are things that you don't particularly enjoy.  This one has those too.  Yet, I refuse to complain because I'm happy to have the opportunity to work.  Take the good with the not so good right?

Secondly Family:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/115248427878314440966/stories/eb057ab8-646d-36f8-abc1-10374ba008a914c8da6c07a

Things have been going well.  We have adjusted to the new house.  I must admit that my kiddos seem quite happy!.  I'm happy too.  

More to come.

So now that 2015 is upon us.  I'm proud to proclaim that I have accepted a position with a company called  VIN Solutions.  I will be a "Web Development Specialist".  It is a JR development role and I will start out as a contracter through a third party contracting agency.

It's funny because I actually interviewed with them about 3 months ago.  I apparently did not make the cut for that particular round of interviews.  So I was ready for the interview and I really just approached it as......"I got nothing to loose".   Woo Hoo!  Thank you guys for the opportunity.

January 5th will be my first day on site.  It is located in Mission Kansas and I already know a few of the guys from Centriq.  It would appear that it is heavily focused on JQuery and front end development.

Cool with me.   I'm pretty sure that I'm a front end developer......lol.  Man, I'm just thankful for the chance.

2015 here we come...........

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy New Year....

2014 was a ride to say the least........ 

I'm getting natious just thinking about it.

Are the any Beatles fan's out there???????  Well if there are......The above picture is one of my all time favorite songs.  "Here comes the Sun" written by George Harrison.

Eric Clapton tells story's of how George would just show up sometimes early in the morning and walk with him.  They would bring a guitar and just play and create.  "He was just magical" was Eric's exact words.  One such day George forced Clapton up to walk out into the gardens of his then sprawling estate just before sun rise.  George was known to meditate of a morning while the sun came up.(he was very big into transcendental meditation)  This particular time they both had the guitars with them, strumming out random melodies and George started singing......"Duuuuuu mmmmm dooooo dooo Here comes the sun".

So cool.  love that story.  Although it's actually quite cold outside......I've just had this song in my head for the last week.

So as the Holiday approaches things are getting busy.  As I stated in my prior blog, we are staying in Kansas City.  Funny, my children are so happy to be staying in their particular school as well.  So I've been pretty focused on doing some freelance work.  I also have a couple good prospects for jobs as well.

I took a small contract with the KC school district doing some IT Admin stuff till the end of December.  It's not exactly creating applications but its just good to work around people.  It's lonely out there working for yourself.  I miss working with a talented team, having a group collectively building something.

All in do time.......I have a feeling the perfect spot will be coming across my path.  I'll keep ya posted.  till then.

What you can always count on.

It seems that change is inevitable. My wife had an opportunity with a job out of state and we began making the adjustments to take the entire family that direction.  This is not a small thing either.

Then "Life" stepped in and swiftly changed our direction again.  It was a very good thing that her job sputtered out and didn't work before we had fully committed.  I will be honest.....I wasn't excited to move to a small town in Iowa anyway.  We are city folk.

I love this town.  My family and I are happy to be staying in Kansas City.....my home town.  Love this city.

I've built two projects for business friends of mine.  It feels really good to code and build.  I will continue to pursue free lance projects and start up kansas city.

Change doesn't always mean that you loose something.  It is the opportunity to find other things that are new and interesting.  You never know, it might mean that you gain something much greater in the end.

The Kansas City Royals

I must admit.  I have been swept up in the Royals this year.  Funny because I started watching them again around August.  It was kinda fun to see the royals playing well.

I really haven't watched baseball since the strike back in the day.  I do however remember watching the world series with my grandmother in Carrollton.  I was young......

The math here is 29 years ago the Royals were in the world series.  If I'm 37 years old now, how old was I when I watched those games.  8 Years old.   Yep, one year younger than my twins now.

Ha! That's crazy.  29 years.  That is the longest streak in professional sports.  UUUUUUHHH  Maybe that is why I stopped watching all those years ago.  Although, over the last couple months, I've just absolutely been taken by this team.  All of them are just scrappy little suckers.  I Love it!  Its awakened the fun in Baseball for me.  The playoffs and now the World Series.  I'm telling ya, "I believe!"

Game 7 tonight........If we win, the kids and I are heading down town to go to the parade.  Calling out, kids too..........

This team has been So exciting to watch.  I can not wait to watch this game tonight.

GO ROYALS!!

The Job Search

. 

I have been out in the job market looking for work.  It's interesting.  I've really been focused for about three months.  Looking through all of the job boards and actively.  seeking a position to to start with.What I've learned is that there is a HIGH demand for these skill sets yet.......as a novice.  There is a distinct level of experience that the employers are looking for.  3-5 years experience.  So when working with the recruiting network it is an eminent question.  

They want verifiable experience.  So once you drill down to the junior level development positions even those require at least 1 year.The Centriq folks tell you to tout the experience you gained through the track is at least 1-2 years worth of working practice.

So......the interviews that I've been on will have the dreaded "technical interview".  This is by the strangest combination of technical knowledge, and company culture.   I've had only one interview in which the person giving the interview had any idea what the answers were.

I have to admit that I am at this strange point in my life as well.  I'm almost 40 and most of my classmates are in their early twenties.   I've noticed that I was different when I went through the class.  I'm older and traveled in different industries.  Not the Technical.  

I don't think that I look and speak like a technical junior developer.  Long story short.  I've just struck out for the majority of the jobs that I've gone for.  

Mean while, many of my classmates are landing the positions and starting work.  I know that it is possible.  It just hasn't happened for me yet.  I haven't lost heart but I'm quite frustrated.

If I were completley honest with myself.  I do want to freelance.  I'm just a touch trigger shy after my last business struggles.  

I will say that My wife has a wonderful opportunity that has come up that we may have to look at.  If this executive position with the hospital works out.  I may be moving to another state.  More to come.................

The job search begins.....I'm still on a Beatles High from Paul McCartney last week

Random Post.



The Job search begins....My obsession with the beatles continues.