Hello again, I’m your friendly slacker blogger Phil. I’m the guy that’s been posting once a month on average lately. Many apologies for that, and I can honestly say that it’s not because there’s nothing going on. A lot has happened recently so let me share what’s been going on.
I have to start by sharing the good news that I am getting another promotion! Just a few months after getting promoted for the first time, I’ve been offered another position as a Site Supervisor. It’s my first job in management and I’m very excited. There are many things that I love about this new job, and many of them have to do with the fact that it’s not my old job. It hasn’t been the smoothest 9 months of my life, but this is what they promised me when I took the first promotion so in the end I’m happy. It will be some more money too, which is always nice when you have a car payment every month.
We did get a new car a few weeks ago. We got a 2005 Chrysler Sebring and it’s very nice. As I said in my post a few weeks ago, we decided that it was not in our best interest to lease a new car. It all worked out well and we’re very happy with the car we have. It’s a very cool color which I haven’t seen before. I guess the best way to describe it is that it’s a graphite/metallic black color. My favorite part is that it has green and purple flecks in the paint that sparkle in the sun and make the car look maroon. It’s pretty awesome. I’ve attached a few pictures of the car for your enjoyment.
We also got a really great deal on a Nintendo Wii off of Craigslist. I’ve wanted one since it was known as the Nintendo Revolution long before it was announced to the public. Now we have one and it’s awesome. Cassie and I play against each other all the time and she’s getting way too good at some games. I still kick her butt on Wii Sports.
Lily is still growing and developing at breakneck speed. She’s talking so much now and she’s also got a new love of singing. Watch for yourself.
Things are good in this Hull house, but the rest of my family is struggling right now. Both my dad and my sister need new jobs and my mom is having knee replacement surgery soon. Please pray that my dad finds work before she goes in for her surgery. They are terrified of being without an income for six weeks or more. God will provide, but it won’t hurt if everyone prays to remind him. Angela also needs to hear about a job at her church that she’s been waiting on for years.
It’s 4th of July weekend and I’m going to go have some fun now. (I take that back, it looks like I’m going to go clear out the closet in our bedroom.) I am ready for some fireworks tomorrow though. I love me some fireworks.
I’ve been terrible about updating my blog. Now that I have Facebook and Twitter, I find that there is a lot less drive to come on here and write new stuff. I am working on a post that is very important in regards to the future and God’s plans for it, I’m just not ready to publish it yet.
We’re still doing well in our weight loss. As of this past weekend, I’ve lost 42 pounds and Cassie has lost 27. I’m still hoping to hit 50 pounds by my birthday, but it’s now less than 2 weeks away and my weight loss has been slowing down the past couple of weeks. I’m still very happy with how things have gone and I’m still losing weight each week so I can’t complain. My workouts are getting more intense each week. I’m now walking a mile, riding the exercise bike three miles, and then swimming over half a mile at most of my workouts. We’re going to work towards running in the 5K the day of the Detroit marathon in October, and I will be running the whole way. I’m shooting for doing the whole 3.1 miles in 30 minutes, which would be a big deal for me. Thankfully it’s a long way away and I’ve got time to train.
I’m looking forward to April 1st at work because I’m going to be working for a new manager. I’m in a difficult spot in my job because I like what I’m doing in general, but there are certain things about my job that are very frustrating. A lot of the frustrations have to do with my manager and “team leader” who both leave a lot to be desired. I’m hoping that with some changes my job will not cause as many headaches as it has. I’m also still on the lookout for a management level position and I think one may be on the horizon that I would be perfect for.
Cassie may also have work related news in the future, but it’s far too early to mention it right now.
I’m looking forward to the Easter Sunday service at church. The creative arts team always does a fantastic job with the Easter presentation and I hope this year will be no different. And on the subject of creative arts at church, I’m becoming more involved with the Reality worship team and I’ve even been singing of late. I never realized how much I missed leading worship until I started playing again. Now I just need a decent guitar to play so I don’t have to keep borrowing other guys equipment. I have a beat up old Yamaha guitar that’s fine for playing at home and practicing, but it’s not a performance guitar. We don’t have the money to buy a new one either, so I guess I’m stuck borrowing for now. At least the guitars I’m borrowing are Taylors and they sound incredible.
I’m off to the gym. I’ve got another crazy workout to do.
I know I’ve been writing a lot lately about our quest to become much more healthy and fit, but there is more going on with my life than just my diet.
I am constantly amazed at how fortunate I am with the family that God has blessed me with. Cassie is such a wonderful partner and friend, I can’t believe how lucky I am that I get to be with her the rest of my life. I wrote last week about my absent-mindedness when it came to our anniversary, but she hasn’t used my mistake as a club to beat me with. She’s a wonderful, gracious, loving, and sweet woman and an outstanding mom. If you don’t know Cassie that well, I can tell you that you are missing out. She brightens the life of everyone she comes into contact with. We’ve been together for almost ten years now and I am amazed to see the woman she has become. She has grown so much and it is a blessing to me to have been there to watch it.
Now if that wasn’t enough, God has blessed us with the most wonderful child that we could have ever hoped for. When you dream about your children before they are born, you want them to be smart, good natured, happy, and loving. Lily is the child that parents dream about. It’s not that she does no wrong, just spend an hour with her and you’ll see what kind of disaster she leaves in her wake, but she is wonderful. She is so observant. She sees and hears everything that we do and she can imitate it so well. I love the fact that she can communicate now.  And I’m amazed how I can talk to her and she seems to understand what I’m saying. I just love being around her, even though there are times when she doesn’t want me around. (Usually after she’s been put in time out.)
I also have an awesome family. We were lucky to spend a lot of time with my parents and my sister over the holidays and I realized how much I miss them. And I realized how much I miss my brother, because it wasn’t the same without him there with all of us.
I find I am much happier in my new position at work that I began in November. I think the change of scenery has been very good for me and I enjoy my new job. Right now I’m on a long-term assignment at one site that doesn’t seem to be ending any time soon, which is fine with me. I’m biding my time until a management-level position opens up and then I hope to move up the ladder a bit.
I think the best thing is that I’m happy. I love my life and I’m thankful for all God has blessed me with.
Many people have been asking me how my new job (a new position with the same company, actually) is going, so I think I’ll write about it here to save myself from more questions in the future.
My new position is not your traditional kind of job. My official title is Field Service Representative, and what I do is somewhat complicated. I don’t have regular duties or tasks that I am assigned to complete, I don’t have a place that I am supposed to report to work every day, and I don’t know what I could be doing a month from now.  I guess the best way you could describe my job is a permanent replacement. My job is to go to a site that has hired my company to provide a service, which could be anything from running a copy center to fixing computer printers, and to provide that service to our customer with little or no training. I could be filling in for someone who is sick or on vacation, or I could (as I am doing now) be filling a position that is open until a permanent person is hired.
It hasn’t been a difficult transition for me so far, but it’s only been a week and a half since I started. The working environment where I am at now is so different from where I was working before, it has taken some time to adjust. At my previous job, I spent a majority of the day alone in the basement of a very old building with asbestos tile floors and no windows. At my current site, I am working on the top floor of a 3 year old office building in the middle of dozens of cubicles. I have people around all day long and there is a big row of windows within just a few yards of my cubicle. I am trying not to get too settled in here, because as soon as someone is hired and trained in this position I’ll be moving on.
There have been several moments over the past few days where I wished I was back in my comfortable old job, but this position is for the best.  I have career goals that I want to achieve and this job is a step on the path toward management. I won’t be in this job forever, and I’m hoping it will only be for 6 months to a year until I’m moved into a management position. Until then, I’m excited for what’s to come.
Sometime in the next couple of weeks I am going to be transitioning into my new position at work and I cannot wait. I have been in my current job for about 15 months and it has been more than enough for me. I took this job because it was a better opportunity with a good company making better money, but the job itself is tough to deal with. I work in a dark basement with no windows and asbestos everywhere. I work completely alone about 80% of the time and the nearest person to me is about 50 yards away down the hall. I have a very repetitive job that is difficult to get excited about.
In July, my previous manager told me he was transferring to another site and he was recommending me to take his place. I interviewed for the position, but I didn’t have enough management experience to get the job. I was asked about taking another position within my company which would give me a chance to get some management training and put me in a better position when another management job became available.
It has taken months for everything to work itself out, but soon I will be moving out of the basement and into my new position. It can’t come soon enough. I’m ready for a change and I will be glad to be doing something different every day. I must admit that making more money will be nice as well. I believe my last day in my current job will be October 26th, but that hasn’t been finalized yet. Whenever it is, I’ll be a happier man.
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