Shane Life

I’ve been working from home this week on a really time-consuming project. I love working from home because I get to work in my cutoff sweats, don’t have to shower, can listen to music as loudly as I want without headphones and I actually get more work done than I would in the office with all the distractions.

I took the above pic with a timer to show what my week’s looked like. Click through to Flickr to see all the notes I put on it of what everything is. Including my sleeping dog. Come on. You know you want to.

Did you know that the translation of Beck’s title track from his last album is “What’s up honky?” At least that’s something I heard.

So…save a couple of random posts here and there over the last couple months, I’ve been absent from this here blog. I’ve been anxious to talk about lots of things, but I’m running into a couple problems.

1. I can’t figure out where to start
2. I can’t figure out what to leave out
3. I can’t find the time

As far as #3 goes…I have time this evening. I’ve been playing around on my computer with a new design for my blog…maybe I’ll start there. Check it out and let me know what you think.

OK, so that accomplishes #1 above. After looking at it a little closer, I recognize that it has some similarity to graphicPUSH, a deisgn blog that I admire very much…it wasn’t intentional, but you’ll see the similarity a little, I think.

Once I decide to make the switch, I’ll have to learn how to create a theme in Wordpress. That will be an interesting exercise, I think.

I’m about 2 weeks away from 3 months at my new job and I’m really starting to hit my stride. The other day, my boss complimented me on something I said in a meeting. He said, “I really was impressed by your understanding of the business when you said that.” Maybe not a direct quote, but that was pretty close. Anyway, that made me feel good and like I am contributing…something I certainly didn’t always feel at my last position.

So that is good.

I love my new home office. It is so awesome to have a great space at home to work in. I don’t have any pictures uploaded yet that have it with everything in it, but this should give you some idea:

That is also good.

February has not been the best month for Alli and me health-wise. I went to the hospital last week with chest pains - fortunately it was only Costochondritis, an inflammation of the cartilage that connects the ribs and sternum. That wasn’t fun, but it did impress me how quickly I was attended to by the ER doctors when I mentioned I was having chest pains. The following day, Alli spent another few hours at the ER with her sister and then unsurprisingly, caught what her sister had. She is just now getting over it. Unfortunately, she had to miss the church retreat last weekend where her dad was the guest minister. He did a great job and I know that the congregation was very appreciative.

I’ve been speaking out in the Mission Center quite a bit these day and it is certainly taxing. I’ll be off to Leavenworth this Sunday and next month, I’ll be taking a 2-hour trek to Holton, Kansas. I’ve certainly seen a lot of Kansas since I joined the ranks of traveling speakers, but I like it. Alli is always willing to go with me too, which is great.

I have lots more to say, but for now, I’ll sign off. I know that only, like, 5 people read this…I hope I didn’t lose you.

Alli’s been in Ohio since Wednesday morning with her mom because her grandma is in the hospital. I know how much Carol appreciates Alli being there, but I sure miss her a lot. Dreyfuss acts so strange when only one of us is at the house for extended periods of time. It’s funny, but weird…he’s really perceptive for a mutt. I got kind of sick on Wednesday and worked from home on Wednesday and Thursday (our new bed was delivered Wednesday, so I needed to be there for that).

I like working from home, but it will be lots more enjoyable after THIS Wednesday when my new office is delivered. For Christmas, my parents purchased me a custom California Closets built-in workspace and I can’t wait for it to get here. My office at the house has been in some serious need of some love ever since we moved in and I’m psyched to get it. Alli also got me a new chair for Christmas to go with my new desk. It’s going to be awesome. In fact, I’m planning on painting the walls today. I’m considering doing this really awesome chalkboard wall calendar that I saw on Martha Stewart’s site (go ahead and make fun - you’ll be jealous when I get done), but I am way behind on just getting everything cleaned out. It’s kind of a trainwreck in my office. For a long time, it’s been the catchall of the house. I’m excited to finally have a place to store everything.

Not much else has really happened. I’m still feeling the effects of my illness and the holiday party for my new company was last night. It was very nice and I’m enjoying getting to know my new co-workers better. Once my room is done, I’ll post pictures…it’s gonna be LEGENDARY.

OK, so it’s Wednesday of week 3…here’s my overview of how things are going.

Meetings. Meetings. And More Meetings.

First, I’ve never had more meetings than I’ve had in the first 2-1/2 weeks here. Orientation meetings. Training meetings. Introductory meetings. Lots and lots of meetings. All necessary, mind you…just a lot of them.

Work Space

I’m getting used to having an office and not a cubicle. I never had that luxury previously and I like it so far. There will be some transition because my new company is getting ready to move half of its staff into a new office. Once that occurs, there will be some reconfiguration done. (Right now, I’m sharing an office…after the move, I should have my own. There’s something to be said about having direct exposure to sunlight…makes a huge difference in your daily disposition.

The Industry

I’ve learned more about financing and leasing equipment in the past 2 weeks and I have a pretty good feeling I could hold down a decent conversation with someone regarding the topic. It’s funny…my dad does a very similar thing, just for the airline industry rather than the heavy equipment industry.

Team Dynamics

I really like the people on my team. I think that there are really good talents balanced across everyone and I’m looking forward to contributing in every way I can. I am particularly excited about being able to contribute significantly in strategic planning. I’ve always been more of a big picture thinker and I’m looking forward to using that talent here.

Commute

I’m still figuring out my travel to and from work. It is a much different commute. I have to tackle the mess that is I-35 North in the morning and the mess that is the reverse at night. Time is a HUGE factor in how long it takes me to get there. If I leave home before 7:10, it usually only takes 20-25 minutes to get in. Anytime after 7:15 and I won’t roll in until about 8. It’s amazing how much of a difference 5 minutes makes.

Overall

It’s a strange thing changing from a job that you spent 6-1/2 years in, particularly when that was your first job out of college. Starting a new job felt like that all over again. But I’m looking forward very excited about what the future is going to hold. I’ll be re-designing their entire corporate web site…an exciting task that I am anxious to start.

I’ll try to keep the blog updated, but it is difficult this time of year. If you are interested in buying me something for my birthday or for Christmas, check out my Amazon.com wish list. You know you want to.

On Monday, I did something that I really didn’t know if I could do.

I gave my notice of resignation at Perceptive Software, the company where I’ve worked for the last six-and-a-half years.

For some clarity on how huge this is, read this post. It kind of sums it up, but I’ll go into a little more detail.

In the spring of 2000, I was just a young pup a couple months out of school who was getting married in July. I had graduated in December, but was really in no hurry to get a job at first. I didn’t do much through all of January. I kind of got things in order. I was living with my folks and driving up to Graceland to see Alli at least once-a-week.

February breezed by and I got an offer to be an editor at a bio-medical trade magazine which I passed on (why? 1. it was in Quality Hill, and 2. the pay was terrible). I thought to myself, Oh, I’ll just get a job at Sprint like everyone in Kansas City does. I’m not worried.

We got to March and I didn’t have anything. I started to get a little worried. I was 4 months away from being married and was yet to be gainfully employed. I got a little more vigorous at my resume-sending and a little more annoying at my networking. Still nothing.

In April, I did something stupid. I hired a company that was basically like a head hunter in reverse. I paid them (check that…my parents paid them) and exorbitant amount of money to help me access a “secret job market” as yet unseen by me. They retooled my resume, gave me a binder full of tips & tricks, mock interviewed me, and gave me a lot of other sage advice that I could have gotten at about 1/10th the cost by paying for the premium membership at monster or careerbuilder. The company has been subsequently sued by several states for their less-than-truthful practices. I’ve even heard of several people who sued them and got their money back.

Then I got a call from a company called Perceptive Vision, Inc.

At first, I thought it was some sort of Optometry conglomerate or perhaps an eye surgery center. Little did I know that it was an emerging document imaging and management software manufacturer, right smack dab in the middle of Shawnee, KS.

Since I’m a bit of a nerd, I fit in quickly. I have a decent understanding of technology, but nothing near what some of the people I was working with had. At first, it was a small company that had a lot of fun. There were initially about 20 employees there when I started (I was maybe #18 or so) and we used to play ping pong in the storage room to break up the days.

It wasn’t really busy initially. I was writing case studies and newsletters as a Marketing Communications Specialist. As the company grew, we needed someone to manage our trade show schedule, which, at the time, included about 80 trade shows annually. It was busy and it was at that time that I really ever first considered leaving the company.

I stuck it out though and moved into graphic design. I had been doing some of that all along, just not tons since I was self-taught and all that. I did a little of everything in design and eventually moved to a more interactive focus. I enjoyed working with Flash, but I wasn’t a huge fan of a really specific mindset. I’ve never been someone who wanted to specialize in one discipline. I’ve always considered myself kind of a Renaissance Man (not in the Danny DeVito sense).

But I love my job and I love the company that I work for, so the decision to go somewhere else wasn’t easy.

However, I think this opportunity represents a real step up for me. I wouldn’t say that I’ve gotten complacent, but I definitely believe that I’m ready for a change. I want more responsibility and I want to get back to writing, something that I’ve really only been able to do on this blog since I became a full-time designer. I miss it.

So off I go.

On the Monday following Turkey Day, I’ll be starting a new job at a financing company that specializes in heavy equipment. It’s a smaller company than Perceptive Software, but it’s growing and has the potential to be very successful. In my interviews, I met with some great, energetic people that I’ll be working with and they have lots of ideas as to how we can grow their business and I will be a major part of the marketing from strategy to execution, which is really exciting to me.

With that excitement comes melancholy. I have made (and brought) many friends at Perceptive Software and I will miss working with all of them. I have the utmost amount of respect for the members of the Marketing and Creative teams and I wish them and the rest of the company nothing but success.

One thing is for certain. There is no way that I could have made it through this process without Alli’s incredible support. She has been more than patient with me during this stressful time and she has always made it clear that the thing that is most important is that I am happy in my job and feel fulfilled. Thanks, honey.

It’s a new beginning for me…wish me luck.

I think I’ve mentioned it before, but it bears mentioning again. I LOVE the company that I work for.

We have a dodgeball court.

This past weekend, we held our first annual charity dodgeball tournament. It was awesome.

Since I was gone two weekends ago, I couldn’t volunteer for the event, but I was able to get there this weekend. It was a lot of fun and I got my serious dodgeball ref whistle on.

My company co-sponsored the event with a local sports radio station and we ran it and hosted it in our official “dodgeball arena”. We had 56 teams participating, over 450 players, and we raised over $10,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the Union Broadcasting Foundation, which benefits local Kansas City charities.

The outpouring of support was fantastic. What surprised me was how so many people are completely into dodgeball. And they were seriously competitive. We had two “almost-fights” that had to be “almost-broken-up”. And I’ll tell you something else…being a dodgeball referee is freaking TOUGH. Too many things going on at once. We had 5 referees watching the game at once and there were still calls that were contested. Players wouldn’t leave the court unless we told them to.

But for the winners (the Klown Punchers), it paid off. They received:

• $1,000 cash
• Entry into the National Dodgeball Championship in Schaumburg, IL
• 8 free tickets on Southwest Airlines, and
• 8 Richard Petty Driving Experiences from the Kansas Speedway

Not a bad prize. And a great tournament. We are probably going to start planning for next year’s tournament a lot sooner.

Good times.

This is kind of train of thought…it jumps all over the place. I apologize in advance.

*****

Sorry, it’s a bit hectic with our company open house coming up. My company is in the middle of a big move right now…we are consolidating our three buildings into one, high-tech, centralized facility, which is totally sweet.

I’ve been in there since yesterday permanently and there is still a lot of construction going on around us, but it’s nice to finally be in a centralized place. I doubt it will be a permanent home…this is only supposed to last for another 2 and a half years before we outgrow it. We have rights to the same size land directly adjacent to our new facility. Marketing departments are always the first to move.

*****

Saw a great movie last night…North Country. Incredible acting all around, but a really rough subject, sexual harassment.

This might not be a movie that I would go see normally, but I had a free pass and there is a lot of awards buzz surrounding the movie so we went. And I was glad I saw it. Good (albeit somewhat predictable) story, compelling characters and great acting. Charlize Theron continues to impress me with her acting skills. Not bad for a former model from South Africa.

*****

Chiefs looked decent last week against Washington. It will be interesting to see what they can do tomorrow night on the truncated time table against Miami. I’m hoping for them to really blow them out…for the offense to really explode like they haven’t yet this year.

We’ll see.

In Good Company represents the beginning of the evolution of Topher Grace. The That 70’s show star has decided to leave the lucrative sitcom next year and focus on his movie career.

His first significant starring effort, In Good Company, is extremely strong. Scarlett Johanssen is continuing to impress me. While I didn’t really like last year’s critically acclaimed Lost in Translation, I still thought that she did a really good job.

The person that was most impressive was Dennis Quaid. I’ve never really thought too highly of him as an actor (mostly I thought of him as the guy that Meg Ryan dumped for Russell Crowe), but that break-up has turned out pretty well for him. Meg is getting botox and starring in bad movies while he is enjoying a renewal in his career.

What I liked most about the movie was that it seemed real and personal. We can’t really expect less from Chris and Paul Weitz…the writer/director brothers who brought us last year’s About a Boy (Hugh Grant at his all-time best) and American Pie (despite its crudeness, American Pie was one of the best teen movies of the last 20 years). They bring life to the characters and tell a story that you might have heard somewhere.

Overall, I really liked it. There are those who will lament the ending (including some that I went with) but I thought it fit perfectly.

IMDb rating >> 8 out of 10