Update XVIII: 15 Miles From Lunch

[Joe Biden 2020]

If this job is in OKC, can you just break the lease in Tulsa and move out of there, presumably paying some sort of penalty?  How high would such a penalty be?  Cheaper than maintaining two separate apartments for all this time?  Or is breaking the lease legally impossible?

I will stay rent-free with my grandmother while I'm down here.  I am going to keep the apartment just in case this job ends after 3-4 months.  If it does, I will take my experience back to Tulsa and resume life up there.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Among the litany of issues you may have Jeff, execution is chief among them.

You do have a vision for yourself -- from what I can tell, it's to be an independent provider, a head-of-household who puts in a Dick van Dyke style day, comes home after a solid eight hours to trip over the ottoman and into the arms of your housewife and your 2.4 children, waiting for you in your modest ranch-style house with the white picket fence.

The problem is, vision without execution is worthless. Anyone can say that they know they need to practice the skills they need to build a career. Anyone can say they need to exercise and lose weight. In fact, anyone can set an arbitrary goal associated with their vision -- even baby steps -- and if they don't actually do anything to work toward that goal or vision, it's worthless.

Jeff -- this is largely your modus operandi.

If you're ever, ever, ever going to pull yourself out of this seemingly endless cycle, you'll need to actually follow through toward your vision. Based on your work performance, I suspect that your actual execution on the job is more like the type of person who hopes to hide in the workplace and hope the boss never notices you, rather than someone who is actually interested in building a career.

You're not wrong to believe in yourself, and while I don't think you're anywhere near a good judge of your own abilities, it's not wrong to have a dream. But you're painfully bad at actually following through on, well, anything.

You ought to try something very simple in order to start making progress. This is an old story about (I believe) Andrew Carnegie. Each night before you go to bed, take a 3x5 notecard and write the five most important things that you can do the next day, and rank them in order of importance.

My guess is that this list would never include "Watching four football games" or "Eat at Braums." The list should be meaningful and important things that help you build toward your vision. Make the first (as an example):

1. Spend one hour doing AutoCADD training on Lynda.com
2. Take a 20-minute walk
3. Go to the grocery store and buy a week's worth of fruits and vegetables
4. Call and email contacts at CADD school to ask about potential connections for the job search
5. Research how to sublease your Tulsa apartment, in the event you land a job in OKC

At the beginning of each day, review your list and knock off the items one by one. Make sure these items build toward larger goals and, ultimately, your vision.

Jeff, I do hope you treat this opportunity better than the last and actually follow through on bettering yourself. Scoring a new position is not the end of your challenge; it's the beginning.

Will you at least try this method for a period of time (not say "that's a good idea!" and immediately dismiss or tell us "I'll think about it," but actually do it)? You can post your top five here and use the forum as an accountability tool, which would be an incredible benefit to you.

Now is about actions, not words or optimism or warm fuzzies or delusion. Action. What will you do to ensure your success from here on out?

What I am going to do differently is play with my AutoCAD every evening.  Like King suggested, I'm going to block off 45 minutes most every evening except Wednesday to play with it distraction free.  I will try to keep it at the same time or close to the same time every evening so it's easier to maintain.  While on the job, I will also pay more attention to detail and pay as close of attention as I can while they train me.  I want to do everything within my power to prove myself worthy of going the full contract and being put on another contract.  I learned a lot of things from my previous opportunity and plan to make a lot of changes.  This is not by any means an exhaustive list of things I'm going to do.  I've got a whole list worth that would take a couple long posts.  Instead, suffice it to say that I am going to take this job much more seriously than I did the last job.

[Joe Biden 2020]

On the plus side, he should be fired from the job in plenty of time to Focus on Christmas full time.

It is so much easier and so much more fun to focus on Christmas when you have a job.  The 3 months won't end until February 1.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Did you take a nap today yesterday?

I did take a nap yesterday.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Lol. A  big time defense contractor hired Bushie in 10 minutes. Another BS job he's pulling on us.  Oh and RIP Granny.

I thought it was awful fast myself, but I'm not going to question it and neither should you.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Has anyone reviewed this job yet? It sounds a bit...strange...that a large defense firm hired Bushie that quickly. His first job sort of made sense, small mom and pop operation, but this sounds strange.

I've PM'd it to J-Mann and Smash, who both have "approved" of the job.  During the interview, he asked me about 10 questions, which I gave the correct answers to, and performed a drafting demonstration right there in the interview room.  They told me as I was walking out it would be a week or two before they reached a decision.  So, I proceeded to head up to Tulsa to that customer service job fair when I happened to get hungry and stopped at the McDonald's on the Turnpike between OKC and Tulsa.  I sat down to eat and happened to check my phone and had a voicemail from my recruiter.  I first thought, "Oh crap, no job."  Then, I checked my email on my iPhone and saw an email from her that said "Offer!!" in the subject line.  I checked the voicemail and sure enough that's what she said.  The voice mail was already 25 minutes old and I was already 65 miles up the road, so about an hour given city traffic at 10:45-11:30 in the morning.  I called her right away and confirmed the details and then I proceeded to choke down my burger and got back in the car, called Mom, Grandma, and then posted on FB and the Forum, then I got off at the next exit and proceeded to head back to my parents so we could talk strategy.  It may have been 30 minutes that elapsed between interview and offer, but still not much time.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Security Clearance Level: Bushie

I have had a security clearance before, but it is not needed for this job.

[Joe Biden 2020]

If this job is in OKC, can you just break the lease in Tulsa and move out of there, presumably paying some sort of penalty?  How high would such a penalty be?  Cheaper than maintaining two separate apartments for all this time?  Or is breaking the lease legally impossible?

You're assuming continuous employment for the next 3-6 months. The track record isn't good enough for an assumption like that, MM.

You're right, you cannot assume something that's not there.  However, I can do my best and by doing the things that I mentioned yesterday evening, I can make it 3-6 months of continuous employment, or longer.

[Joe Biden 2020]

It's still rather frustrating when you consider how many people with far better work histories than Jeff have to spend months or years unemployed before they finally get an offer.

Life is not fair.

[Joe Biden 2020]

I'll agree that was a prideful response.  I apologize if it offended anybody.

[Joe Biden 2020]

I made it back to Tulsa at 1000 and have been busy finishing the paperwork for employment.  I will get my drug test done here at 1300 and then I'm headed back home until church time tonight.

[Joe Biden 2020]

As a good son, I did call my mother and thank her.  Now, we can start snowballing onto the next bill in November which is my college loan.

[Joe Biden 2020]

As a good son, I did call my mother and thank her.  Now, we can start snowballing onto the next bill in November which is my college loan.

why is it always 'we'. 

and bushie is tonight the first night of autocad study?

I helped a little with the bills when I was working.  Granted, this payoff was all her, but I helped get it down to where I could pay it off.

As far as AutoCAD, I do plan on revving it up tonight, making sure it still works and all and playing with it for a little while after church while I watch Game 2 of the World Series.

[Joe Biden 2020]

As a good son, I did call my mother and thank her.  Now, we can start snowballing onto the next bill in November which is my college loan.

why is it always 'we'. 

and bushie is tonight the first night of autocad study?

I helped a little with the bills when I was working.  Granted, this payoff was all her, but I helped get it down to where I could pay it off.

As far as AutoCAD, I do plan on revving it up tonight, making sure it still works and all and playing with it for a little while after church while I watch Game 2 of the World Series.

you helped a 'little' when you were working?

Trying to be humble and give her more credit.  Of course I helped with what my budget would allow.  She picked up the slack.

[Joe Biden 2020]

ummm it's a computer program, not an old car, why wouldn't it still work?

Do you plan on ever practicing your CAD(D) with the television off?

Just make sure my license hasn't expired.  It's supposed to be a 3-year license, so I should be okay, but I want to make sure.

Yes, when the computer is over at Grandma's and I am staying over there, the computer will be in a room with only standard definition cable on a small TV, so it would be less straining on the eyes to just turn the TV off.

[Joe Biden 2020]

I just checked and it opens like a charm.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Just make sure my license hasn't expired.  It's supposed to be a 3-year license, so I should be okay, but I want to make sure.

If you're uncertain then you haven't turned the program on in ages, in spite of telling us that you did.

It had been a couple months.

[Joe Biden 2020]

I love Bushie. "I just paid off a bill!" when in reality his parents paid it off.

Are all your bills paid off now like credit cards, etc, or are those still a problem?

Mom and I are working on more bills.  We will be snowballing onto my college loan in November.

[Joe Biden 2020]

12 nights/11 days are all that remain in my unemployment stretch.  I confirmed earlier today that I will start on Monday, November 3, 2014 at 0800.  I will work the typical 8-5.  I will stay in Tulsa until this coming Monday, October 27, 2014 and will go back to my parents' sometime that afternoon.  Mom and I will go shopping for a pair of slacks on Tuesday, October 28 since this is a business casual environment.  My aunt and uncle will come back through on Thursday, October 30 and she is the seamstress in the family so we will have her take up the pant legs.  I will come back up to Tulsa on Saturday, November 1 to cast my ballot since I will be working on Election Day about 120 miles from my polling place.  I begin work on Monday, November 3.  I will start staying with Grandma on Wednesday, November 5 after church.  Finally, I will come back to Tulsa the night of Friday, November 7 after work and spend the night in my apartment just to make sure everything is okay and I will go back to Grandma's Saturday afternoon late, November 8 to get ready for church on Sunday.

[Joe Biden 2020]

You are telling me that you dont own a pair of khakis or can't buy something off the rack.  You dont need a bloody tailor...

I've got 3 pair of slacks, I need one more to be comfortable.  I usually wear one pair twice depending on how dirty or sweaty I get.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Did you guys have fun making fun of me overnight?  The stuff I'm going to be doing maybe strange to some, but no one can say they are really wrong.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Did you guys have fun making fun of me overnight?  The stuff I'm going to be doing maybe strange to some, but no one can say they are really wrong.

Oh Bushie.  Making fun of hanging with Granny, Mom, and Dad is lighthearted teasing at the worst.  Have you not been spending a ton of time with the family? 

We all know you're a strange bird in some respects.  No doubt about that.

I'm not upset about anything here, I know it's light hearted.  I was just asking if you all had fun.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Jeff. What are you going to do to start thriving instead of simply surviving?

I am going to go to work everyday and put everything I have into my new job.  I will hang out with my church family in both OKC and Tulsa when I can, so long as it doesn't interfere with my job.  My job comes first.  I will also continue to hang out with my biological family as we are a very close knit group.  I will also continue to read my Bible every night (though I've slacked off the past few weeks) and see what God has to say to me each night.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Will you nap everyday until your new job starts?

I napped today, and I will probably continue to take naps, but taper them off as the job gets closer (like the last half of next week).

[Joe Biden 2020]

You guys are funny.

I talked with my recruiter and she told me all we are waiting on is my background check and drug test which should both come back either tomorrow or Monday.  When those come back, I will get the employment documents (I-9, W-4, etc.) and once I submit those, I will get the official start instructions.  I know I will start on November 3 at 8 am, but she will e-mail me all the start instructions once all the other paperwork is completed.  So, I should get the start instructions somewhere between the end of the day tomorrow or end of the day Monday or sometime Tuesday.