First day at work...

Today was my first day at work for Scott Paint! Same stuff, different paint store. It's tough learning all the new products, and how they tint, but it's basically exactly what I was doing before. Except it's a slower store. Verrrrrrrrrrrrry much slower. At Kwal I was used to doing five grand in business before nine o'clock in the morning. Today at work we did four grand all day. That's slowwwwwwwwwwww. Oh well, at least I found a job!

And tonight's my first ever draft in Fantasy Football. That happens in about a half hour actually. I've been reading all the little magazines and articles online, I know who I want on my team, so we'll see how it goes. I'll probably come in dead last at the end of the season, but I'll be talkin' smack all the way! Go Team Mansquatch!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chuck Norris can sneeze with his eyes open.

Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, I've been checking Scott Paint's website everyday looking for job openings. Well, yesterday they put up that they were hiring for Managers, Asst Managers, and Store Clerks. I jumped on that and sent the HR department a short email just saying that I've got experience and am looking for a job. Later that afternoon the Regional Store Director called me and wanted me to come over to their corporate office in Sarasota this morning to fill out an app and interview. I showed up early, filled out the app, we sat down in his office, he looked at the app for about 30 seconds, and then said "Okay, we'll start you at $11. When can you start?"

That's all para-phrasing and what not, but it's not to far off. We were literally talking for about two minutes before he told me I'm hired. I'll be working at a store in Sarasota, about a mile and a half from Siesta Key beach. The Ass Man just quit, and the Managers last day before he retires is next Friday, so I'll pretty much be the top dog until they find a replacement for the Store Manager. I'll basically be doing the exact same job as I was at Kwal, just for more money! ;-)

Oh, and one more little tidbit. If your going to college, and your major has something to do with the paint industry (apparently math counts according to the district manager), and you get all A's, they 100% pay for college. 100%. Holy crap, this place rocks! o_O

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is no "ctl" button on Chuck Norris' computer. Chuck Norris is always in control.

Reporting on TS Fay...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you have five dollars, and Chuck Norris has five dollars, Chuck Norris has more money than you.

Tropical Storm Fay...

Oh, what a blustery day! The wind's blowing outside, but we haven't even gotten any rain! I'm kinda disappointed actually. I was looking forward to seeing stuff flying around outside, and having to hunker down with the flashlights and candles. ;-)

Fay looks like it's gonna miss us by a lot, so nothing to get all excited about. Shucks...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chuck Norris can kill two stones with one bird.

Hurricane Fay...

Well, I'm sitting in the living room at Aunt Anne's, watching Women's Beach Volleyball in the Olympics (oh yeaaah), and I just checked the latest news on Tropical Storm Fay. It's not a hurricane just yet, still a tropical storm, but it could still strengthen into a hurricane. It looks like it will be either passing by or passing over Bradenton sometime by 2 pm tomorrow. I'll be sure to take pictures of my first hurricane! ;-)

I might have a line on a job though! Only one paint store in this area, and there's a lot of them, is hiring right now. I applied today, but the manager wasn't in. I'm going to go back there tomorrow and see if I can talk to him about getting a job. Here's hoping!

As for right now, I'm gonna go outside and have me a smokey treat! I'll post tomorrow if we have power and let ya'll know how this little rain cloud is going ;-)

My first week in Bradenton...

Alrighty, so I'm in paradise! This place is awesome! The weather is beautiful. We've had rain on and off all week, but it's not bad. It'll rain a lot for fifteen minutes or so, and then it clears upand is suny all day. I talked to my mom yesterday, and she was saying that the high in Fort Collins was only 55 degrees. Nothing but cold, dreary, dark rain for three days straight. And I just go outside and stand under a palm tree and smoke a cigarette. Oooohh, I love it!

So I started out the week by looking for a job. I thought that I had a job coming out here, but that changed. Color Wheel is a paint company based in Florida that is owned by the same corporation as Kwal, where I worked at in Fort Collins. Well, I thought I would be able to just transfer. I was in contact with the District Manager out here, and one of their stores close by had an opening. Well, I got ahold of him on Monday, but he told me that they had already filled the spot. Needless to say, I was just a little perturbed. I was kind of hoping to have a job right away, but oh well, it is what it is. My car shouldn't have made it out here, but it did. I'm here for a reason, and have a purpose, and now I'm just trusting that God will provide a job for me. I'm still looking though! Beating the pavement, going to all the different paint stores around here. Hopefully I'll find something in the next week or two.

I love it here, but it is different. It's tough not having anyone that I know around. I know my grandparents and my aunt that I'm staying with, but it's not the same as being around the people that you've known all your life, ya know? I just can't wait to find a job and get into my own place so that I can get some sense of normalcy going again.

The only bad thing that I can see about Florida: hurricanes. I'm not worried about them here in Bradenton and Sarasota, but it can still bring on some crappy weather, even if it hits on the east coast. Just now actually, I saw on the news an update on tropical Storm Fay. It's expcted to hit Florida sometime on Monday, and could possibly develope into a category 1 storm as it passes by Sarasota and St. Pete. I'll keep ya'll posted on what it does, but it could get interesting, so keep us in your prayers!

Tomorrow morning I'm going to go to Aunt Anne's church and scope it out, see if I like it and all. I really miss my old church Rez. Those sermons and Pastor John really were something else! Hopefully I can find a church around here that is similar to that. I think we might also try to get out to Disney World tomorrow afternoon, so that'll be fun!

Anywho, I've gotta go and watch Phelps win another gold medal, so I'll leave it at that!

Last day of the trip....

Well, last day with Ty and Trapper. We all slept in really late this morning. It was nice to sleep in a real bed finally! We hung out for awhile at the house, chit chatting with the family, and then we went down to Siesta Key Beach. That was nice! Beautiful weather, nice and clear, and the water was perfect! I love the sand on that beach. It’s so soft and cool. We stayed there until the sun set, and then headed back to Bradenton. We had to leave for the airport by three in the morning. So we got up all early, and headed out for the airport, making a quick pit stop at 24 hour Starbucks. Yes, I said 24 hour Starbucks! Dad, if your reading this, I know your jealous for that! How many times are you out jonesing for a cup o’ joe, and Starbucks is closed? Not here!

Anywho, we got to the airport and it was goodbye to the last of my family from Colorado. Now it’s just me. I have family out here that I know, but it’s goodbye to the people I’ve known and been around for my whole life.

Now I just have to figure out what to do next….