Frustrated with my job

Well, I am once again frustrated with my job. First off, I have worked every day since last Tuesday including Christmas Eve and Christmas night. Oh did I mention that my next day off isn't until Thursday!!! Also, 2nd shift didn't do their job again last night, they left all the working security vehicles with less than 1/4 of a tank of gas. We aren't supposed to let them get down below 1/2! Right now one of them is sitting on east campus stuck becuase it ran out of gas while the other unit was attempting to do a patrol over there. This isn't the first time this has happened either. The last night I was headquarters and had to forward traffic to Peidmont so that I could bring schedules to 12 and 13. There were only 2 of us last night and yet 2nd shift had over 6 and couldn't find a way to deliver the schedules!!! It may sound like I am only frustrated with 2nd shift, but that is not the only thing I am frustrated with. I am also sick of some people being treated as favorites here at LUPD, even though I have been here longer than some of them. Oh well, it is a job and it does pay my bills, so whatever right? Anyways, since Jewell is the only one I know that reads this so far, I guess I will stop ranting for now, and attempt to get to work. Oh yeah, I guess I will have to walk around campus, since we can't get fuel until after 6am when the gas station opens again.

Where do I go from here?

Well, I will be getting a 50 cent raise to start out next year, after I take the First Responder class and pass the test on January 7th. However, not all is going that well. Jewell and I are going through a difficult time right now, we are still technically engaged, although she isn't wearing the ring. A lot has happened and we are both working on things to get our relationship back to where it once was. We are also trying to get ourselves to where we should be spiritually. Right now, I can't be the spiritual leader that I should be, because I haven't been having a consistant walk at all and have been struggling with some issues. I still love Jewell with all that I am, but now I just need to show it more to her. One of the main things that is making this whole thing so difficult is that I have broken her trust. I won't go into how, but it will take time for her to fully trust me again. No, I didn't cheat on her with anyone, but I did cause the trust to be broken in another way.
Anyways, not all is going bad, but the bad has been overshadowing the good that has gone on. My Patriots are looking to return to the playoffs and maybe to yet another Championship. The hated Steelers might be eliminated from a chance at the playoffs with a loss this week. Also, the New York Giants may also lock up their playoff chance with a win at Philidelphia this week. If my Pats don't go to the Superbowl I want to see the battle of the Manning brothers in Superbowl XL. I hate Indianapolis, but I think the Giants could take them; they have a better defense with 2 guys at around 10 sacks each and they have a better running game as well with Tiki Barber having an amazing season. It would be a great game either way, although I would still prefer to see both my teams in the Superbowl!!!

Back at Gate 1

Well, I am back up at Gate 1 again tonight. I can also now carry my gun on duty. I qualified Saturday with a 271 out of 300 which was plenty to qualify for the department. I also picked up my ammo tonight (.40 Caliper Smith & Wesson Jacketed hollow points), and now have my gun with me and fully loaded. So far it has been a quiet night and I hope it stays that way.

This past weekend was a great one as far as football is concerned. The Michigan Wolverines beat up on Northwestern to go to 4-2 in the Big ten and 6-3 overall, leaving a small chance that they can still win the Big Ten championship and make a good bowl game. Then on Sunday, both the New York Giants and the New England Patriots won their games. The Giants shutout the Redskins 36-0 with a dominating performance that sent them alone at the top of the NFC East (5-2, 1-1 conf.) and the Pats won a close one 21-16 over Buffalo, despite being outplayed most of the game. The Defense really stepped up and they came roaring back in the fourth with 2 touchdowns (14 pts) within a minute of each other, the second one coming off an Asante Samuel Interception leaping in front of Eric moulds which was returned to the 20. Brady did the rest by pushing it into the endzone. That leaves the Pats at the top of the AFC East with a 4-3 (1-0 conf.) record. They have a tough one this week against the still undefeated Indianapolis Colts, but get to play in front of the home crowd which just might make the difference.

Anyways, it has taken me over a 1/2 hour to write this because I got distracted checking next weeks schedules so I will go ahead and post this.

Chicago Wins!!!

For those that haven't figured it out yet, the Chicago White Sox are now World Series Champs! There was no collapse as there has been so many times in the past, they actually won it all. They swept the Red Sox in round 1, beat the Angels 4 games to 1 (with 4 complete games!!!), and then swept the Houston Astros in four straight games to become World Series Champions!!! I have been a fan of theirs for some time now, even though I grew up 45 minutes from Boston. I used to always go to Fenway when both Sox teams were playing each other and show up wearing my Frank Thomas Shirt or some other Chicago White Sox shirt. I have also cheered for Boston, but Chicago has always come first to me. It was 88 years since Chicago last won the World Series back in 1917. In fact, they hadn't won even a first round series since then. I was cheering for Houston in the first two rounds in the National League playoffs since I don't like Atlanta or St. Louis and I have a lot of respect for Roger Clemens, Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell, but once their opponent was my White Sox, I had to cheer against them. What would really make me happy this year though, is to see my Patriots win another Superbowl and cement themselves as a true dynasty. It will be tough with the loss of Rodney Harrison and just recently Tyrone Poole. We should be getting Bruschi back this week on the field though and that will help the run defense. Anyways, this post was supposed to be dedicated to the World Series Champs, so I will end it here. Click the link to see more about this great team!!!

Working all night...

...Sleeping all day. Well that pretty much describes my current work situation. I work graveyard at LUPD and work from 11PM to 7AM and then sleep until about 3 or 4PM on the average day that I work. When I have a day off the next day, which they normally come in 2's I will normally stay up and sleep that night so that I can attempt to live during first shift on my days off. That is the only way I can spend time with a lot of my friends and atleast temporarily join the normal world. I am hoping that sometime soon I won't be working the graveyard shift any longer. Actually, I hope to be a Youth Pastor, as this blog is titled, and plan someday soon to be doing that. In the mean time, I continue to work at my church volunteering as JR. High Director of the Awana program and as a youth leader on Sunday nights. Pray for me as I seek to find the place that God is preparing for me to minister to. Well that is all for tonight...more next time!

Even Youth Pastors/Leaders get sick!

Well, I am off for my two days off this week and I think I am starting to get sick. Actually, I know I am already sick, I wasn't able to fall asleep until about 2AM last night and haven't been feeling the greatest. Right now I am in the comp lab at LU waiting for Jewell to get out of class so that I can bring her home and then hopefully get some more rest. Thankfully I usually only get sick once every winter, although this time it is a lot earlier than normal for it. Maybe it has something to do with working 3rd shift now as opposed to 1st, or I guess it could be the fact that I have worked several times this past week in the cold and rain. Oh well, I will get over this cold and keep on pressing on. Hope you all are feeling better than I am.

Getting back on my routine

Well, I am getting back into the swing of things after having 9 days off in a row. It was a great time up in NY with a lot of good memories, the most exciting to me was getting to drive a Cadillac Escalade for the weekend. That is one sweet ride, heated leather seats, a sunroof, and only 1700 original miles on it when I started with it (over 1800 when I returned it on Sunday!!!) It was a well needed and well deserved time away from work and to top off the week my White Sox are now just 2 wins away from being World Series Champs!!! GO SOX! Well, anyways, I am at work right now so I better get going and actually do some work. TAlk to you all later!

Leaving today for NY...

Today is Thursday and it is currently about 12:00 Noon. In about 2 hours Jewell and I will be leaving VA enroute to the Rochester, NY area for the wedding of my Best Friend Kevin. The wedding is Saturday and we will be gone until sometime Monday. Feel free to drop me an email or you can just give me a call on my Cell if you have the #. I should have pretty good signal even up there and unless I am roaming, I will answer the calls that come in. Just keep us in your prayers and I will talk to everyone sometime later!!!

Last day before a needed vacation!

Well, another night up here at Gate 1. It has gone pretty good so far tonight, no major calls and oh yeah, THE YANKEES LOST!!! Being from Massachusetts I have always hated the yankees. The White Sox have always been my first team and then the Red Sox. I know, I know, I shouldn't have two teams in the same league, but at least they are in different divisions. It did make for a tough week last week though, considering the White Sox had to beat the Red Sox enroute to the ALCS where they will face the Angels starting tomorrow night. I would have liked to see the Red Sox win another one, but it is worth it to have my White Sox 4 wins from the World series and with their first series win since 1917 in the playoffs when they last won it all. It will be kind of weird not having Frank Thomas being a major factor or as of right now, a non-factor, but victory is sweet no matter how you cut it. It may be the year that both my other teams win their perspective Championships: the White Sox in Baseball and the NY Giants in Football, although I am not counting out my, defending Champions and winners of 3 out of the last 4 Super Bowls, New England Patriots. They are 3 and 2 but have beat both the Steelers and the Falcons so far this season, with yet again a long list of injured players. It will be tough for them to overcome the loss of Rodney Harrison for the year, but we lost Ty Law and Tyrone Poole last year, along with several other key guys and still managed to win another Superbowl!!! Anyways, enough rambling for now about sports, but expect more to come in the future as the season continues in football and the Playoffs go on in baseball!

First Post in a long series of posts to come...

Right now I am working overnight at Gate 1 here at LU. For those of you who don't know, I work the graveyard shift for LUPD doing Security. I have completed all the training I can do right now, and will soon be carrying a gun while on duty, though I hope I will never have to use it, except on the range to practice. I switched to graveyard shift just over 3 weeks ago, so that I could finally have the Sunday mornings off that I was promised back in February when I started. I am on day 7 of 8 straight days with the only day off being last Sunday (Oct. 2) which can't really be counted as a day off since I am at church most of the day every Sunday. I also just finished up a 59+ hour week with overtime due to Super Conference this past week. After tomorrow night, however, I am off for 9 straight days, five of which are vacation days as I travel to New York to be the best man in my Best friend Kevin's wedding. Jewell will be traveling with me and it should be a great time to relax and have a good time, which is just what the doctor ordered.

Since this is my first post ever to a blog, feel free to look at my other website which as always is a work in progress. I will try to keep current things posted here as I divulge the life of an Aspiring Youth Pastor. I will be kept pretty busy though as I continue to watch my White Sox enroute to becoming World Series Champs as well as watching the newest "dynasty" in the NFL, my New England Patriots as they strive to win their 4th Super Bowl in 5 Years. Go Pats!!!