New job

Well it is my third day at my new job and I have officially done nothing. In the consulting industry everyone is assigned a project. When you are not on a project, then you are waiting to get on a project. Every company has a name for the waiting time. My old company called it "on the bench" which is a common name in the industry. My current company calls it "on the beach". Well, I was actually on the beach last week and this cubicle looks nothing like it...

Wishing life actually was a Corona commercial,
-Peter Gibbons

Sent via BlackBerry from Cingular Wireless

A quick recap

Yeah, I know I have been dormant for a while. And I am sure that every morning you all click with excitement to my blog just to find disappointment due to my lack of blogging. Well, I apologize. I have been pretty busy the last few weeks. Let's see if I can give a quick recap...

Jury Duty ended after 3 days with a guilty verdict and the defendant receiving 15 years in jail for two different counts of 'aggravated assualt with a weapon (gun)'. Basically it was a gang shooting between the 18th street gang and the Laraza gang. These are both hispanic gangs. For those of you familiar with ATL, the shooting occured behind the Advanced Auto Parts store at Clairmont and Buford Highway. The defendant basically shot at 2 different people and shot one of them at point-blank range in the chest with a 9mm. The shot went straight through the guy and he lived and showed us his scars in court.

So court ended on Wednesday and then Thursday was my last day at CGI-AMS. It was un-eventful... Just like any other day. I did nothing all day, went to lunch with Steve and Warren, and then packed up and left. I am going to miss the people at CGI-AMS and I owe a lot of them for the knowledge and experience I have gained over the past 5.5 years. However, it is time to move on.

Friday through Tuesday was spent running errands, cleaning the house, doing laundry, etc. Morgan got back from Montreat on Saturday and we spent some quality time hanging out and getting ready for Montreat West.

Wednesday we headed to the airport (via Ryan, thanks). Our plane had some trouble. End result was we were on the plane for 5 hours for a 2.5 hour flight while they fixed the plane. It sucked. After the flight to Denver and the 2 hour shuttle to Ft Collins, we finally arrived only about 1 hour late for the meetings.

Wednesday through Sunday was spent with the Montreat West Planning team getting things ready for the conference. Finally Sunday night arrived and we started the conference. I dressed up as Nacho Libre for the opening skit (will share pics later)and we were off...

The conference was awesome. Jeffrey Harper (Music), J Herbert Nelson (Preacher), Cindy Edwards (Keynoter), and Kenneth Slifer (Recreation) all did a great job. Our planning team (made up of 4 adults- Rick, Kari, Chris, and Myself, 4 youth- Missy, Rex, Alyson, and Matt, and 2 co-directors- Lita and Leslie) did a wonderful job. It was one of the best teams I have worked on/with in the past 10 years of volunteering with Montreat. It was a great conference and in the end, the 4 hours of sleep each night was worth it...

The conference ended on Friday night with worship. Saturday was spent packing up and flying home. We got back to ATL at about 11pm and after the taxi ride were in bed by midnight. We slept in and then started doing laundry and then packed up and drove down to PCB (that is Panama City Beach, aka "Redneck Riviera") and we are staying at Gulftreat (the church camp my dad is in charge of). Just Morgan, Miller, and Me. We will be here until Friday and then we will head back. I have been sitting in the shallow end of the pool and throwing a tennis ball and Miller will swim and get it and bring it back. A much needed vacation!!!!!

I start my new job on Monday morning. I am sure I will have more updates after that.

Gotta go get my airbrushed t-shirt,
-Robert

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.

Family, food, and heritage!

Memorial day is to honor and remember all of those who have died to protect the freedoms that we hold so dear. But for me, Memorial day has always been more. It has always been a time to enjoy the company of those that you love. So, this Memorial Day, Morgan, Miller, and I headed up to Montreat to visit with her parents and to participate in Montreat's Kirk'n of the Tartans. Here is recap of the weekend:

Friday night: Dinner at the mexican restaurant with my brother and Morgan's mom.

Saturday: Big breakfast on the porch with Morgan's parents. Morgan's parents then had to go to a wedding, so Morgan and I went into Asheville and saw 'The DaVinci Code' movie. It was good and had some twists that were not in the book. After the movie and the wedding, Morgan's dad had cooked a pork butt and we had their famous potato salad (YUM YUM).

Sunday: The Kirk'n of the Tartans is a celebration of Presbyterian Heritage that mainly surrounds around the presentation of all the different Scottish Tartans. I carried in the 'Hay' tartan, my cousin Lisle carried in the 'Craig' tartan, and Morgan's mom carried in the 'Anderson' tartan. In all, there were 60 tartans presented and probably around 1000 people in attendance at the worship service that included the Montreat Scottish Society Pipe and Drum band. It was a great service. It was followed by a huge lunch at Assembly Inn with Nana (my grandmothers), Andy (uncle), Lisle (cousin), Emelyn (cousin), Kevin (brother), Debbie (mother-in-law), Mike (father-in-law), Morgan (my bride), and me. Sunday night, Morgan's dad cooked steaks on the grill and Kevin joined us as we ate dinner on their porch looking at the mountains and trying to get the dogs (Fred, Barney, and Miller) to behave.

Monday: We headed home with full bellies and vowed to stop eating forever!!!!

One step closer...

I just completed a step along 'The Quest' that may take me closer towards figuring all this stuff out. Can't share details now, but I will when I can.

Let Thy will be done!!!!

Morgan is old!!!

Happy Birthday Morgan!!!!!

Morgan's birthday was yesterday and she is now officially 28 years old which is like the late twenties which is like almost 30 which is like over the hill (sorry, for all the likes, it is an inside joke between Morgan and I about when Jessica Simpson turned 23 and how she explained how old she was...)!!!

So, you ask, what did we do to celebrate? Well, we went to the GA Aquarium, had dinner catered by Wolfgang Puck, and spent the night at the Embassy Suites across the street overlooking Olympic Park!!! Sounds romantic, except that the dinner at the Aquarium was actually a work party and celebration and we spent 2 hours listening to managers talk. Good thing they had alcohol...

The hotel room was a gift from Uncle Jeff and was awesome!!!!! Thanks Jeff!

Happy Birthday anyways, Morgan!!!!

Charleston in May

This past weekend my friend Greg got married (finally). So, we made the trip up to Charleston for the weekend. Stew and Sue rode with us and we arrived early enough Friday afternoon to head downtown and have a few drinks. We then got all pretty and went to the Rehearsal dinner. It was really nice and the food was wonderful.

Saturday we slept in and then headed out towards Kiawah Island. We stopped at the shops right before Kiawah and had lunch at the old timey drug store. Then we headed to the church for the service. This was my first Catholic service experience. I was totally lost the entire time. As much as I know about Presbyterian and Protestant traditions, I am very uneducated about Catholic polity and process.

The reception was back at the hotel we were staying in. It was a buffet meal with a full bar and pretty cool band. After food, drinks, and dancing, we bid the happy couple farewell as they drove off in Nicole's (bride) dad's Rolls Royce. Then the party really started. We all headed downtown and closed down the bars. What I learned on this trip is that I am no longer 21 and I cannot drink drink after drink in smokey bars and then feel fine the next day. I woke up on Sunday and felt like a train had hit me and then I had to drive us all back to ATL. Whew, I am tired.

War Damn Eagle!!!!

Our new State of Georgia license plates arrived this weekend. As you can see, Georgia has added Auburn University license plates. I think it is the best thing the state of Georgia has done since adding the education lottery. War Damn Eagle!!!!

I have joined the iPod cult!!!!!

Yep, I finally have joined the dark side. I asked for and received a 30GB Video iPod (in black, as shown above) for my birthday (which was Saturday, I turned 28). I have basically spent every minute since I opened it playing with iTunes and my iPod. I am an "iPod Virgin" so if anyone has some advice, I would love to hear it. I am looking for advice on iTunes, helpful iPod software, and any tips and tricks you have picked up along the way.

-iRobert

PS- Also, any advice on the extended warranty that 'Best Buy' offers would be appreciated. My wife bought the extra warranty, but we have 30 days to return the warranty if we don't want it. Still trying to decide.

Fun at "Wedding Picardy's" Wedding

IMG_4888
Originally uploaded by rshayjr.

This past weekend, Morgan and I attended our friend's wedding. Thomas (the groom) is one of my fraternity brothers. Over the past 5 years, he has watched as all of his friends have gotten married. He normally is a very calm and controlled person, however at wedding receptions he opens up and gains some 'liquid courage'. It has been at the weddings over the past 5 years that we have come to know Thomas' alter-ego. We refer to his alter-ego as "Wedding Picardy". This past weekend we sadly laid to rest "Wedding Picardy" and welcomed a new chapter in Thomas' life; marriage.

You're my boy blue,
-Frank the tank

Calling all bloggers!!!!

As you can see I have a pretty nice list of friends on the sidebar that have blogs. Unfortunately, many of those people's blogs have been dormant for quite sometime. So, this blog is to thank those who have been blogging and to chastise those that have not.

Thanks goes to the following people for actually posting in the month of April:
Warren
Andy
Andrew
Alan
Sarah

And now to the chastising. The following people need to get on the ball and post some stuff so that I have something to read while at work (the last time they posted is in parenthesis):
Ryan (03/30/06)
James (03/18/06)
Amy (03/16/06)
Jeff (03/12/06)
Davis and Julie (03/06/06)
Melanie (03/03/06)
Elizabeth (02/24/06)
Morgan (01/15/06)
Chris (10/24/05)
Nick (07/13/05)

Thanks to those who help me get through the work day by posting. To those of you who haven't been posting, get on it. I am getting sick of reading CNN.com and the Presbyterian News Service.

Peace,
boredatwork

The Da Vinci Code Quest

Google, in cooperation with Sony Pictures, has started a game based on The Da Vinci Code entitled 'The Quest'. Essentially everyday between now and the day the movie premieres, you can try and solve puzzles and answer questions based on the book/movie. If you make it to the end of the game, you will be entered into a drawing to win prizes. Since I just finished the book and it is still fresh in my mind I thought that I would give it a shot. So, click here to go to the home page for the game.

Good Luck,
-Robert Langdon

PS- Yes, they did steal the name of my blog for the name of their game and I will be suing for copyright infringement!!!!!

Easter isn't about a bunny, it is about Jesus...

and the following video shows you exactly why no one should ever celebrate the Easter Bunny:

Thanks to Warren for the video link!!!!

Napa Valley

Wine Cellar at Robert Mondavi.

Regusci (where we had picnic).

Terrace at Sterling.

Mumm (duh).

After playing Bocce at Rubicon.

Mud Baths at Golden Haven.

Before dinner on Friday night.

Muir Woods

San Francisco: Golden Gate Bridge

Robert driving (note: my hands are at '10 and 2') across the bridge.


What it looks like from the car.


After we conquered it.

San Francisco: Barnes & Noble

Morgan doing some research and travel planning while we tried to get out of the rain and warm up with some Starbucks in the local Barnes & Noble.