Yeah, that’s right…more updates got missed.  What can I tell ya?  I’m a busy guy these days.  What with the kids and the wife and the work and the dog and the cat and the…pardon me while I steal a sec or two to take a breath.

For starters, the work environment has changed.  I am now doing stagehand work for the Casino.  Right now, that means doing lights, sound engineering, and DJ/MC work for the Elements Lounge, the nightclub space inside the casino.  It sits idle several nights a week, so the hours are painfully thin right now.  Even so, it’s a higher hourly rate than I was getting on the night audit job, so that takes a bit of the edge off.  As the season progresses and more people come in, things should pick up.

On the home front, things are changing really quickly.  For one thing, we got a new dog.  He’s a Shepherd/Husky mix that we named Nikolai.  He’s only four months old and he’s alreadytipping the scales at thirty pounds.  By all indications, he’s going to be a big puppy when he gets older (the huge paws on this guy give it away).  Things ought to get more interesting as time goes on.  The kids are still a bit nervous around him because the puppy plays a bit rough still.  The other day, he scratched Evan down his face to the point that Evan had a bruise and a cut under his eye.  He’ll calm down as time goes on, but the tension among the kids concerning the dog worries me at times.  In the meantime, the dog gets a short leash and a close eye.

The kids are doing OK for the most part.  Adam’s grades are actually picking up, but Brendan is starting to slip a bit.  I think the realization that he’ll be a high school student next year is starting to get to him.  He is slowly going to be more responsible for his future than he was before.  Cameron is doing great, despite his habit of sneaking toys to school sometimes.  Even is still getting used to the idea of going to two different school buildings every day.  He goes to the Suttons Bay elementary school for an early childhood program inthe morning and he’s over at the Benodjenh Center for Early Head Start every afternoon.  We drive him over to the school in the morning and he takes the bus home right now, but he may take the bus both ways next year.  Amy and I are still getting used to the fact that we’ll have TWO high school students in the house next year.

Anyway, that’s enough harping from me for now.  In the meantime, the cat entertains itself…

Gee…who didn’t see THAT coming?  Hmmmmm?

OK, to bring things back up to speed…

The night audit job is, by my choice, history.  Frankly, I’m glad to be rid of it.  The hours sucked – midnight to 10 AM four night a week.  I got FAR too punchy from lack of sleep over the summer.  For the sake of (what was left of) my sanity, I had to go looking for something else.  I found it in December and I started working for the entertainment department earlier this month.  The day I got the call from entertainment with the job offer, I put in my notice at the Lodge.  Right now, I’m doing sound and DJ work for the Elements lounge at Leelanau Sands.  Wow…it feels good to be able to sleep when the sun’s down again.  The latest they’d have me on is 2:30AM on the weekends.  Hours are a bit lean right now because of the general economic slowdown (things are tough all over), but all concerned are confident that things will pick up as the year wears on.

On to family stuff…

The kids went back to school in September.  Adam is now well into his sophomore year of high school, Brendan is into eighth grade, and Cam is in third grade in a new multi-age classroom at the elementary school.  Evan is now in an early childhood program at the elementary school in the morning (real similar to Young Fives) and in Head Start in the afternoons.  All of them have jumped into the new school year and are plodding along as would be expected.  Amy’s brother Alec and his girlfriend Katrina got married in late September and got themselves a house in Traverse City.  Amy was in the wedding and the whole thing went great.  Her folks now finally have the house to themselves. We ended up hosting both Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas dinner – both went off without a hitch.  Christmas was a little leaner than years past, but the kids were in good spirits nonetheless.  A group of Adam’s friends from school pooled some money and bought him a copy of Need For Speed: Undercover as a late Christmas/birthday present.  I thought that was a pretty cool thing to do on their part.  On top of all else, we got ourselves a new dog.  He’s a Shepherd/Husky mix we named Nikolai.  At about three months old, he’s already about twenty pounds and his paws are huge – this little guy’s gonna be a big pup and soon.

My brothers and sisters and I all got together downstate for (Jim’s son) Dan and Elizabeth’s wedding back in July.  It was good to see everyone again.  We all got together for a picnic get-together at a park in Kalamazoo on the Sunday before everyone headed home.  A few of the Sullivan cousins even stopped in.  At the very least, we all got updated pictures of everyone.  My sister Cathy moved back to Traverse City just before the Holidays.  She and Harry came out to get settled in while Fred stayed in Salt Lake to get their old house sold.  She went to work for a law firm in Traverse City.  My brother Jim and his family finally got sick of living in southern California and moved up to the Seattle area.  He has gone into business doing sail work again.  My niece Lacey (one of Rob’s daughters) got married back in November in Tennessee.  She and her husband have a beautiful baby girl.  Beth had a slight problem with some flooding at her house in Zeeland (they had some really heavy fall rains down there), but seems to have come out of it OK.  Haven’t heard much from Rob or Jeannie to report since the picnic in K-Zoo.

For the most part, things are well.  Been trying my damnedest to keep up on my HTML and CSS work.  My biggest peeve at the moment is that I ended up starting smoking again back in December.  I’ve been kicking myself for the last two months over that one.  I was doing so well, too – I was tobacco-free for five years.  Amy and I went to a ghost supper at her aunt’s place in Benzonia back in November and a key part of the ceremonials is to burn tobacco for our departed relatives.  That and the stress of that bloody night audit job just got the better of me.  Anyway, I have an appointment next week with a doctor to get help in quitting (again…grrrr) and to get some more functional suggestions for weight loss.  Thankfully, I’m not getting any heavier, but my weight seems to have stabilized a little too high for my tastes.  I’d like to get back down at least around 200.  So far, the dog has been keeping me hopping.  It looks right now that little Nikolai may turn out to be my best training partner, especially if I let the pup set the pace.  If things go the way they are right now, I might be a bit lighter by next ski season.

Well, that’s about it for now.  Maybe now I can be a little better about keeping this thing updated.  In the meantime, DJ Cool Cat rocks da house!

I knew that this thing would trip up and get missed for a while at some point. Life as I know it kinda got in the way for a while. Anyhow, I finally got a few quiet moments to update this blog and bring everyone up to speed.

For starters, the job hunt continues. The resort job got passed up because the pay wasn’t as great as originally quoted and gas prices (it’s about $4.13 a gallon here right now!) aren’t exactly conducive to a 40-miles-in-each-direction commute five times a week. The tech job didn’t fly quite yet because the company I interviewed with is cutting back and holding off on hiring anyone new. I was told that things could change in the near future and to keep my options open in their regard, so the door didn’t completely slam shut on this one yet. It’s a wait-and-see situation on this one.

The kids are up to their usual craziness. Despite some frantic work to get a few late assignments turned in, Adam ended up going down in flames in two classes. He has some credits to make up now if he intends to graduate with his class in three years. Brendan and Cameron did okay and just wanted to school year to be over (gee, how typical-kid is that?). Evan is still going to his Early Head Start until the end of July and it looks like he will be getting speech therapy through the school district to make up for the speech delays brought on by his hearing problems. He got the tubes put in back in March and has been doing better as time drew on.

Amy finally got free of the Lodge and got into a new position at the new Turtle Creek hotel. She has been in training for the new stuff for the last few weeks and she’s looking forward to getting started out there. Meanwhile, the woman they hired out at the Lodge to replace Amy on the other night audit shifts…lasted less than a month. Thanks to her taking off, my schedule got shifted around. Instead of working three ten-hour shifts, I have five eight-hour slots. This actually works out better for me because with this schedule, I won’t end up scrounging for extra hours every week and I get out at an okay time every day (8 AM instead of 10). The work isn’t any less mind-numbing, but there’s two hours less of it at a stretch every night.

We got everything set up for the trip downstate for the wedding. We have two night at a Days Inn in Augusta and we will have plenty to do while we’re down there, what with the wedding and all the other family stuff going on. We’re also going to work on getting everyone set up online so we can keep in better touch in between reunions. One thing I may do is suggest to everyone to set up a page on Facebook or MySpace and I can compile links to everyone’s pages on my site.

More to come later, folks. In the meantime…A little target practice with Onizuka-sensei…

Apparently, the resort I used to work for really wants me to come back. My old supervisor recently called me and asked me to put in for the assistant manager spot (her old post before she was promoted) because the last crop of applicants they had for the job failed to produce anyone they really liked for the job. This in mind, I put in an application and a resume’ to see what happens. Keep in mind that I am also waiting to see what happens with the tech support position with the web design company. Wow, it’s nice to be in demand, I guess. Now it has come down to whomever calls me back with the better offer wins. Either way, I will be better off than my current spot; for starters, no more vampire hours. Nothing I can do now but wait and see who jumps first.

The weekend, of course, was a normal weekend of kid-chasing. I got Amy’s van looked at this morning and it turns out it might need a new wiring harness to take care of a few minor electrical problems. The good part is that the lot will most likely be paying for the work. I have to take my Suzuki in later this week to get the exhaust checked out after the back foot or so of pipe rusted apart over the winter. Our little dog Dolly has a new home now with Alec and Katrina (Amy’s younger brother and his fiance’) and the house is much quieter now. Now the poor cat has nobody to jump on but us.

More to come later, friends. In the meantime, you might want to stock up on cat litter…

In conversations with friends both in the real world and in that strange little microcosm that is internet message boards, there has been a lot of talk about patriotism, especially since we’re in an election year. Naturally, there is considerable difference of opinion about what it really means to be a patriot. I thought about it long and hard and narrowed it down to the idea that real patriots ask questions.

It is the duty, responsibility, and obligation of every American who considers themselves any kind of a patriot to ask tough questions of their elected leaders, even in times of tension such as these (especially in times of tension such as these). Doing so serves several vital functions:
- It reminds our elected officials that the people they have to thank for their jobs are paying attention to them and are aware of what they are up to.
- It reminds our elected officials just who they are ultimately accountable to – US, the citizens (and registered voters) of America. It is US who will decide who among them will last past November. If this means they need the figurative pitchfork in the butt to remind them of this fact, then so be it.
- It serves to remind those who live under totalitarian regimes in other parts of the world that there is something better than the yoke they live under. It reminds them that the actions and policies of their leaders CAN be called into question and put under the light of public scrutiny and debate. It will reinforce this concept:”If the citizens in America can question their leaders, why can’t we question ours?”If you ask no questions and simply accept what they hand you, then you are ripe for being on the receiving end of deceit and tyranny. As the old saying goes: “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll go for anything”.
Sadly, there are those who feel that criticizing the government is an unpatriotic act. Nothing could be further from the truth. Those who criticize their government do so BECAUSE they love their country. They level their criticism out of a sense of belief that things are not right in the halls of power – but instead of just sitting back and letting things happen, they speak up and make their concerns known. These same folks are also aware of the fact that the well-being of America, her people, and her Constitution are far more important than any presidential administration or political party. Anyone who considers people who criticize politicians “traitors” should reexamine that idea because no individual politician is more important than the constituency they were elected to serve.

Well, that’s enough of a rant for now. More to come later, friends. In the meantime, a little exercise might do us some good…

I had the interview with the web design company today. All in all, it was quite a low-stress experience. It lasted for almost an hour, but everyone concerned (including me) were quite relaxed. When the body of the interview was over, I was given a tour of the office and was introduced to most of the staff (a good sign). If this flies, it looks like it will be a truly rewarding experience. I was surprised I was able to function during the interview considering I did an audit shift the night before and I was flying on about two hours of sleep. Nonetheless, I was alert and chipper through the whole visit. Sure enough, I went straight back to bed when I got home again.

Frankly, I’m looking forward to the idea of a change of scenery, even though I’ve only worked at this hotel for about four months. Then again, I’ve worked here before in different capacities and I’ve already seen how things get done here. This in mind, the change of scenery is looking better and better.

Home-wise, things are starting to shape up. Adam did his job shadow day at the GTB auto shop with Duane and worked on his Lindbergh report prior to that, topped off with his baseball practice. I helped Brendan with his science homework before he became too tired to go on. The younger kids, of course, were quite themselves – running laps through the house. All in all, a typical hectic evening in the Kitchen house. Sure makes you appreciate the silence when everyone falls asleep.

More to come later, folks. In the meantime, a little snack wouldn’t hurt…

Remember the resume’ I sent off to inquire about the tech support position with the web design company? Well, they called me back yesterday. I have an interview with them this afternoon at three. If this flies, the hotel audit job is history, replaced by better hours, more money, and better job satisfaction. Definitely one for the win column.

The weekend was…a typical weekend. Lots of kid-chasing, laundry-washing, and mom-snoozing. Little Evan went in on Friday and got tubes in his ears to help them drain so he can hear properly. Other than the fluid coming from his ears, all went well. I took him to see the doctor on Monday because of all the blood that came from his ear over Saturday. The doctor said that everything was healing up nicely and that the bleeding had stopped. Other than occasionally having to stop him to put antibiotic drops in his ears, he was his usual rambunctious self. He is also setting up to go back to the speech therapist to hopefully get his speech development back on track.

More to come later, folks. In the meantime…jam on, monkey, jam on.

I got a rather interesting phone call yesterday morning. At the last job I had (at a resort hotel), we had the department head quit for another job about three weeks before I left. My immediate supervisor at the time now sits at the department head’s desk. She called me to inform me that her old spot (a coordinator position with a reasonable amount of responsibility) was going to become available and that she wanted me to put in for the job. She thought I would do well in this position. While I definitely appreciate the vote of confidence and appreciate the fact that she gave me a heads-up call before the opening was made known to the general public, I’m also still waiting to hear about the tech support job. Frankly, either position woudl suit me well. Both offer a better pay rate, batter working conditions, and more than enough intellectual challenge to keep me interested. At this point, I guess it’s become a waiting game to see who calls first. If the tech job doesn’t call, I will most likely put in for the resort job. This oughta be good.

On the home front, Amy and the kids will be going up to Petoskey for her cousin’s funeral tomorrow. They are going to have to get on the road before I get done with work in the morning (after a ten-hour shift that started at midnight the night before), so I won’t be able to go up with them. Not the best of solutions, but under the circumstances, it couldn’t be helped. Since I will be sticking close to home, I will have plenty to do. In the evening, I will need to go to parent-teacher conferences at the school to get caught up on how the kids are doing.

More to come later, friends. In the meantime, a reminder that dogs generally get nervous in zero gravity…

Sadly, I had a feeling that would happen at some point. I missed yesterday’s update not because I got stupid and just plain forgot (which wouldn’t be completely out of character for me), but because I was too busy to put together anything coherent. I had a busy weekend with the family and a busy night last night, so the update went bye-bye until now. It pretty much goes without saying that this won’t be the last time something like this happens – as with any blog, occasional missed updates are a given, no matter who is doing them.

Nothing much to report, really. There is good news on the work front in that I was told that the folks I sent my resume’ to last week did indeed receive it and will start making calls to schedule interviews next week. The fact that they called me to tell me this might actually say something.

Things are going to get weird later this week, though. As of noon tomorrow, the kids are out of school until Monday because of parent-teacher conferences. I am anticipating an interesting conversation with a couple of my eldest son’s teachers (he’s bombing in two classes that we know he could ace if he tried). On top of all that, we have to go up to Petoskey for a funeral. My wife’s cousin had an inoperable brain tumor and passed away over the weekend. The service is on Thursday, so we’re going up for the day to attend the funeral and the dinner afterward. As long as the weather doesn’t get cranky on us, it should be an interesting day.

Something new from the songs-stuck-in-my-head file: “Killing in the Name” by Rage Against The Machine. Here is a link to the video on YouTube. (May not be suitable for the young or easily offended)

While I was tooling around in YouTube, I also found this cool clip of Henry Rollins talking in Israel about visiting wounded soldiers at Walter Reed. Henry has got to be one of the most intense individuals on this planet and this clip is a great example of this. He takes what he does and says very seriously. He has a talk show on IFC that is quite good.

More to come later, folks. In the meantime, take a bow…

Why are the fingers crossed? I sent off a resume’ today. A friend of mine works for a local web design company and told me that they were looking for some tech support help. After getting the contact info, I printed off a resume’, pieced together a cover letter, and sent the whole thing off. Nothing to do now but wait and see if the phone rings. Otherwise, I still have my overnight gig for the time being. It would be nice to work real-human hours, though. This overnight stuff is starting to get to me. It would be nice to have a job in which I might actually learn something useful instead of just being a wage slave.

At home, things are getting interesting. We just got a letter from the high school concerning my eldest son’s grades. Not good news. Looks like the boy is going to have to do some make-up work for assignments he missed, that’s all. Unfortunately, his baseball season is toast unless he gets his grades back up. He now knows what he must do, so let’s just see if he does it now.

More to come later, friends. In the meantime, a bit of fun with odd camera angles…