I just realized tonight that I haven’t updated my blog since May. I have been so caught up with everything that I simply skipped it. I can’t say that I forgot about it. I have thought about it often, but always seemed to have something else to do. A co-worker mentioned visiting my site before I was hired, which led me here. I hope to do a better job updating the site, but don’t hold me to it.
I am with my wife Staci in Pigeon Forge attempting to relax. My employment at Eastman has been taking a great deal of my time, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I get to do what I love everyday. I would actually like to get my hands into more, but I don’t think that will happen. I believe they may think I am a bit wild. I just like to learn.
I am currently in the Global Network and Communications Architecture group as the primary network infrastruture monitoring architect,I think. It sounds good anyways. My official HR status is Systems Analyst. An explanation of what I do would be network and performance monitoring and troubleshooting. I also was recently taked with taking over DNS/DHCP/IPAM, which tickles me to death. The more I learn and do, the better. I am sure there will come a time when it is too overwhelming. When that time comes, I will let them know.
Well this is a short and sweet update. Staci and the kids are doing great. Staci has been a bit under the weather lately and has had some tests run. Let’s hope all is well. Wish us luck. We are going to celebrate Valentine’s day this weekend and relax. More to come later.
We have the garden started. I am tickled to death. We planted very early, and was almost wiped out by the latest cold spell, but we came through fine. We actually moved some plants inside and convered a few up which seemed to work. We lost many flowers, and had to replant almost everything, but we are back to where we were. I will post some picture later.
I started martial arts training again tonight. It has been 20 years since my last class. I am working with John Street and have the whole family involved. We are focusing on Kenpo and Aikido. I like both of these disiplines and feel that my family can learn and use these most effectively. I definitely need the disipline of martial arts in my life and hope these can help me to become more focused.
The work at Eastman continues. I have been focused on a single project which at first I was a bit paranoid about due to the stigma it carried and the culture behind it. I was met with a bit of negativity as I plowed through the process of moving forward which caused me to have some worries, but after today I feel great about the project. I made many advances forward today and I am very pleased with the progress of the project.
I really need to get ahead on this project so that I can start focusing on other areas. I feel as though I am falling far behind. I need to get up to date on our current technolgies which are not the standard that most companies have. Eastman is smart. Just because a company holds 80% market share on a product doesn’t mean that it is the best and Eastman proves that daily. I am very impressed with the calibur of employees and the professionalism this company has. I am even more impressed by the local talent we have. I work with what I consider some of the best analysts in the world, and many are from Upper East Tennessee and many are ETSU graduates. That speaks volumes about this area and its people.
Well, so far all is great. It is the best job I have ever had. It is a bit different as compared to my previous employment experiences, but I will learn to conform to the Eastman way. I continue to work on a very exciting project that I think will drive change and expand the horizons for IT at Eastman. Everyone I work with is great and very professional. I look forward to a long career with Eastman and hope that I get an opportunity to make a difference in the company.
One great thing is the meidcal care you receive. Eastman promotes health and wellness and offers many programs that can help any employee lead a healthier lifestyle. I hope that I can take this opportunity to change my eating habits and gain a greater and healthier outlook on life. So far I have been working out in some capacity daily. I missed today because I forgot my shoes, but I tried to make up for it by walking when I got home and by cleaning the house. I can honestly say that I have been gradually feeling much better than I have in the past.
Greetings all! Long time/No write. I know. It has almost become cliche’. I finally started at Eastman. I stared on January 22nd. I have now worked for two weeks. I love it. So far it is an experience like no other. I have never been exposed to such a professional and respectful working enviroment. Everyone is very nice and helpful. I can honestly state that it is nothing like working in a “soap opera” enviroment as many of my previous previous positions exposed me to.
I am working on a very exciting project that I think can revolutionize IT. I can’t wait to see the outcome of this project. I was also able to help the company even before my official start date. I was able to inform human resources of a financial opportunity that they had not been using. The savings can be very substantial to the company. It as an opportunity that many companies do not use or know nothing about.
I guess my next objective is to work on purchasing a new house or to add on to this one. I can’t make up my mind. Staci really doesn’t want to move from Hampton, but I want to move to Kingsport. I have no ties here really other than my mother. I plan on taking her with us if we move. We may compromise and buy a place close by and rent this house and trailer out. That would be a very substantial monthly income that could be added to the rest of the inverment opportunities we have. I am still not sure what we will do. I will make an offer to Renee for her property. That will definitely help in making our decisions. More to come later.
I was recently installed as an officer of Dashiell Lodge #238 in Elizabethton, TN. I am the Senior Stewart. I was very pleased to be honored with this post to which I was appointed. I love Masonry. Out of all of the things I have done in my life, I am most pround of being a Mason. It has been one of the greatest learning experiences of my life. I was definitely in the dark before. All of the things many others had told me about Masonry was completely wrong.
My next step will be to become a Shriner. I was a patient of the Shriner’s Hospital in Greenville, TN from the age of 2 until I was approximately 17 years of age. They helped me with many orthopedic problems. Without them I would most likley not be able to walk or stand normally. They are a great organization and I can’t wait to help out by donating my time to their cause which is helping children.
I know…yet again, long time, no post. Well, I have lots of news. First and foremost, I was made an offer by Eastman, and I accepted. The offer was fair and I had no problem accepting it. Considering the benefits package, the salary, and the fact that I have always wanted to work at Eastman, I must say that I am very pleased with everything. The drive time is a bit much. It varies from 45 minutes to over an hour according to traffic, but it is worth it. We plan to move closer sometime in the future. I can handle the drive until then. I will be working in global telecommunications and storage. I am assuming I will cover a wide variety of network and system administration tasks, which is the are of information technology I most enjoy. I also like that we work in teams. It will all be like puzzles that need to be completed. I like puzzles.
My official start state was set for January 8th, but it was moved to the 22nd due to the results of my physical. There were some problems, but I have all of it under control now. Everything looks good at this point. It seems that 6 1/2 years of college and university took its toll on my health, but luckily I am recovering nicely.
Speaking of education, I finished up this semester with a 3.33 GPA. I decided before I started graduate school that I was not going to kill myself as I did in my undergraduate work. I actually stayed out of class a few times for no legitimate reason, went to a concert on campus, and attended my extracurricular activites. From now on, I will not be killing myself on school work. I will be focusing most of my attention on the new job. I will most liley take this spring semester off so that I can fully acclimate to my new position. I will return to school in the summer or fall. I am not sure what I will do just yet.
I had a second onsite interview yesterday at Eatman. It was with the Telecommunications/Storage team. This is exactly where I would like to be. I was asked if I had a choice which area I would rather be in. I was torn. I couldn’t really make a decision. I am so passionate about UNIX/Linux, network administration, and system administration that it made it almost impossible to choose which one I like. I would like to float from one to the other. I want to learn everything they have to offer.
I was asked questions by the last interviewer about neworking. It has been so long since I worked with anything involving networking that I couldn’t answer things off of the top of my head. Plus, I was nervous. I have never been good at oral exams. If I had been asked those questions after I graduated from NSTCC I would have answered each one with confidence. Unfortunately, ETSU is so development intensive that I have purged much of the networking information out. Being trapped in the TA world for a year ruined me. I will need to drag out all of the books. Oddly enough, being a kinetic and visual learner, I can still set down at a system and configure about anything. I can’t quote commands off of the top of my head.
It is the last day of classes for me today. I have some huge projects to present tonight. Next week is finals. I can’t wait for it to be over. I have so much to do. I will post more letter.
Sorry about the late post, but I just now had the opportunity to make a post. The interview process at Eastman was great. I stayed at Meadowview and the service was excellent. I arrived around eleven that night and was in bed by midnight. I didn’t take advantage of the many offers of service while I was there, but allow me to be the first to tell you that they had it all. I did get the bell hop to carry my luggage up and then gave him a ten dollar tip for his troubles. He fixed my room up for me afterwards, got ice for me, and made sure I was ready for my stay before he left.
The next morning I left around seven thirty and arrived at Eastman around fifteen minutes until eight. I met Sallie Page at the front where she gave me a visitor’s tag and led me to a small meeting room in Eastman University. Dustin Dishner was there, as well as some Eastman employees. We had breakfast and received a small presentation about Eastman. We then went off to our five interviews.
The entire process was great, and afterwards we were treated to lunch. I feel very confident about each interview, and feel that I answered all of the questions honestly. I was straight forward and tried my best to articulate and convey what I wanted from Eastman and I also listened for what they wanted from me. As usual, tt was a learning process and at the close of each interview I was asked if I had any quesitons, and I asked what I could do to be a better interviewee. They each had very positive comments about me and also gave great advise that I have added to my interview tool bag.
No matter the result, I am very pleased with everything. All of the folks I met and the entire process was a class act. I hope all goes well and everything finalizes soon.