Planes are great, when they are working

Sorry for the delay since my last post. I will catch you up once I am at a computer again. Right now I am sitting on delta flight 1487 which was supposed to leave at 10:35am. It is currently 11:30. The flight was initially delayed for an 11am departure. We boarded and pushed away from the gate and got to the runway and then the pilot said that some computer wasn't working so we would have to go back to the gate to get it fixed. So we are sitting on the plane at the gate while they "fix" the plane. Hopefully they will get it fixed soon.

Ryan, thanks for the ride this morning.

Montreat West (ft collins, co) or bust!
-Robert

Sent via BlackBerry from Cingular Wireless

My Civic Duty

As you are aware, this upcoming Thursday is my last day with my current company. But instead of packing up my cube, transitioning my responsibilities, and trying to steal trade secrets and office supplies I am performing my civic duty. That's right, I was called to jury duty this morning.

It is an interesting process. I showed up at 8:15 AM as requested. By 8:45 AM I was in court room 5D with 47 other suckers. The lawyers for both the prosecution and defense proceeded to ask what they called "general" questions where were asked to raise our hands if we answered in the positive. This was followed by individual questions where each juror was asked to stand up and then the prosecution and defense asked individual questions to gain more knowledge of each juror. At 11:30 AM we had gotten through 12 of the 48 jurors. The judge let jurors 1-12 (who had already been interviewed) and jurors 25-48 leave for lunch while they continued with jurors 13-24. I was juror 26. We came back at 1:30 PM and they finished the individual interviews at around 2:40 PM. At 2:45 PM, I was one of 13 lucky jurors to be picked for the jury. They let the other 35 jurors leave and the 13 of us got new instructions and were sent to the jury room. When we came back (with our notepads) we had to be sworn in as jurors and then the lawyers gave their opening remarks.

I can't tell you any specifics about the trial until it is over, but I can tell you that it is a criminal case and the defendant is charged with 2 counts of aggravated assault with a gun (they have eluded that it may be a gang related shooting, but that is yet to be determined). I will update you when the trial is over, but it should be interesting. The judge and lawyers said that they anticipate the trial to run through at least Thursday.

A lot of the people at the courthouse were complaining about having to be there today. I can see where if you have children that you are responsible for or if you are really busy at work how this could be really inconvenient. However, for me, considering I really have NOTHING to do at work this week, I actually am excited about the opportunity to see how our judicial system works and to be a part of it. Hopefully I will do a good job and hopefully justice will be done.

God Bless America,

-Juror #26

"Me Church"

Resignation is bitter sweet!!!!

Well, it is official. I officially resigned from my current job this afternoon. My last day here will be June 15th. I have accepted an offer at another IT Consulting firm and I will begin there on July 10th. The reason for the time in between is that I have to go to the Montreat West Youth Conference during that period as a planning team member.

Resigning is no fun. I was nervous and wasn't sure what to say or what the reaction would be. However, fortunately for me, my boss was out of the office today, so I had to resign via a phone call. The fortunate part was that allowed me to write down exactly what I wanted to say which made me more relaxed and confident. I believe she was surprised, but when I told her my reasoning she understood.

So, now you are asking why I quit one IT firm to go to another. Well, as you know I have been struggling for about a year now with what career path God is calling me to. I have yet to determine what God's will is, however I believe that this is a step in the right direction. I believe that before I just give up on this IT consulting gig that I need to get another perspective on this industry. There have been moments that I have loved my job and so maybe what I don't like is my current employer. Or maybe I will get to the new place and realize what I don't like is the industry. Either way, I feel like I need to go and try before I make a drastic change in my life, particularly when I don't know what that change would be to.

So, I am taking a step towards figuring out what this 'Quest' is all about. I haven't figured it all out yet, but I am praying to God and I am trying to listen and right now this is the step I must take.