Fly 'til I die...

There will be a gargantuan amount of security in Detroit this weekend...

I opened my mailbox this morning to pick up yesterday's mail and spotted a peculiar letter from work. I thought it was my exit interview paperwork or something along those lines, but it wasn't. It was a letter from HR stating that the position I had interviewed for, that got me in all this mess, was going to someone else. I just kinda shrugged it off and threw it away. I had suspected that they might want someone cheaper since I was technically overqualified for it. But then I started wondering if my boss had something to do with it or if HR had leaked my situation to the guy doing the hiring. Oh well, worrying about it is not trusting in Him, right?

I'm not really sure what I'm going to do at work this week other than pack up my stuff and do a small amount of training. I applied for three other jobs and I hope to hear from a small lab near me that is looking for good people. Something will present itself soon enough. I've just got to face one of my bigger weaknesses...impatience! My New Year's resolution last year was to improve my patience and in some aspects I have, but I haven't owned it. It's so hard for a type A to do! Well, I'm praying for a good week and hopefully I can be somewhat productive and secure a job at the very least!

As of yesterday morning, I was informed by my boss that Friday, February 3 will be my last day at work. This comes as a result of my decision to pursue other opportunities rather than stay in my current position. I'm still traumatized at how he deceptively pushed me out, but according to HR, I can't do anything. As one of my co-workers told me, my boss is cold hearted and I'm nice and big-hearted. I think the research is right that says that nice guys really do finish last and shorter guys tend to be less successful (I've been meaning to blog about those scientific findings). I did this to myself, but God's been with me the whole way. Live and learn. I wonder if that means that something's going to happen to him or the lab in the long term that He doesn't want me there to be a part of. Or, maybe He knows that I can't give my all to my current job with my morale being so low. Truthfully, I'm just downright depressed! But I'm not medicating my woes as some do, I'm praying and I know many others are. I give a sincere "thank you" to all of you! I'm going to read in Job this week to see how he handled all his challenges that were thrown at him. I went to the Loop tonight and Andy Savage talked about how important it is to "turn down the volume" in our lives and listen to what God has to say. I can honestly say that everything has kind of slowed down to the point that I can finally listen to Him. He's been trying to get my attention for some time now, and now I'm listening! Isn't that the way it always goes? I feel convicted by that and I should, right? I'm praying that the position I interviewed for over the past two weeks will come to fruition, hopefully before the 3rd!

Click the title for the link. For some reason, I can't insert a link with Blogger's tool so I have to do this or just paste in the whole link for someone else to copy and paste...that's a pain so I chose this method.

Ok, I haven't posted in a while because entirely too much crap has been happening at work in my quest to attain another job there. I'll make it short: I will know something about my new job this week. Hopefully I have it and I'm pretty confident I do since the interviews went so well. The people were very nice and I'm looking forward to having a "regime change." On Friday, another opportunity opened up in another lab so I'm guessing that I'll have some major stress and thinking to do this week. Why, oh why, can decisions not be easier! To relieve some of the stress I was feeling this week, I went to Range USA on Thursday with my friend, Rob Walker. This is an indoor shooting range and I took my first "caps" with a Glock 19 9mm handgun available for rental. Wow! What a rush! Rob chose the Glock 27, a 40 caliber "piece" that has a bit more kick to it than the 9. I didn't like it as much and it kept wanting to shoot high and right on the target. We also tried out a subcompact 9 and a .38 Special revolver 6-shot. All were fun to shoot and we were actually quite accurate for novices. My money's on the Glock 19 for accuracy and shooting ease. My target is now without a heart area after I pumped him full of lead. After turning in the guns when we were done, we noticed what the CSI's on TV call GSR or gun shot residue on our hands. We are planning to get some of the ladies from Bev Elliott's community group to join ours for a night of "Gunning for Jesus." Nothing says Jesus like 9MM right? Ok, I know that's terrible...sorry! Our future CIA hopeful, Megan Waters, is totally pumped and ready to put a cap in whatever she can. Oh yes! You better believe we're taking the camera to see the ladies in action. We'll compare targets after it's over and see who's the true crackshot!

Well, the job interviews went well. I had three yesterday, the first being with the chair of the new department. The other two were with his employees he brought with him from California. I enjoyed meeting with both of them and seeing what I would be doing. I'd basically become the robotics guru that would handle all the drug testing for malaria, flu, and cancer. I have two more interviews tomorrow with other workers who could not meet with me yesterday. I'll find out next week whether I fit the bill. By all the indicators I received yesterday, it's mine for the taking. I didn't expect this process to come up so soon, but it's really happening fast. That's scary in itself! They're looking to move quickly on hiring so the stress will kick in next week when I will have to make a decision. My current boss will most likely not be happy that I'm leaving, but what can I say? It's his own fault that he doesn't know how to protect his employees. It will be interesting to see if he tries to keep me around. I might enjoy the groveling! Keeps those prayers coming!

As I posted previously, I was thinking of applying for a different position at St. Jude. Last week, I applied for one that I was interested in in Chemical Biology and Therapeutics that I felt I could do well at. Well, I was initially told that they wanted a regular research tech instead of a senior tech, but they wanted me to apply anyway and see what happens. Today, the recruiter emailed me to tell me that the chair and two of his employees want to interview me tomorrow afternoon! I feel a little under-prepared, but I'll pray about it and just be myself tomorrow. I would ask for your prayers for the interview tomorrow. Hopefully I will be a good fit for the job (and they'll let me keep my present salary!). If not, I'll keep looking, but I'd like to get my foot in the door on the therapeutics side. Either way, God knows what's best, wants what's best, and gives what's best. I'll let you know how it goes.

I find it so hard to work when the times are such as these. Heck, I find it hard to post anything on my blog aside from this kind of stuff, but I can't help it! I'm at lunch at the moment, having just read the attached article and sitting here wondering how to do something about it. If only I'd concentrated my studies on being a spy or a superhero! Of course, the only thing that really comes to mind that I can do is pray and encourage others to pray about this because a lot of people are going to die if Iran detonates a nuke. And you can bet they'll aim it at Israel with all their talk of wiping Isael off the map. I'm praying hard that we don't witness something like that because you know the news will be all over it. I'm going to surmise that Putin is Gog since he seems to be the chief guy in all this that is taking place. I saw some reports last week that some of our spies are in Iran checking things out and discussing strategery for taking out the nuke facilities. 2006 is already proving to be an interesting year.

2006 was brought in on a festive note at Bev Elliott's house this year. As the pictures will show, we had a great time!

Curt and Sarah found this little treasure sitting at the end of a cove where we parked for the party. Of course, I had to seize the moment and strike a pose for the camera!
Curt and Sarah welcoming in the New Year on the cove throne
8 Ball Paul (the source of my name, although he denies it), 8 Ball Gray, and up and coming comedian, Shawn Matheney
The Non-Stop Party Goddesses (l to r), Bev, Jessica, Monica, Meghan, and Tanya
The Queen Bee's Court-Bev, Sarah, Queen Bee Melissa, Jessica, and Tatiyana
New Year's Eve King and Queen...although you might be confused who's the queen since Bev insisted I wear that hat until I could pass it off to another guy
My golf buddy and friend, Rob and Melissa-Much to my delight, Rob has agreed to give Melissa golf lessons this year...that'll test his patience!

The folks, food, and libations made for a great party, but once Hannah's booty music was cranked up, the party swelled with revelers. This year's party was much better than last year's post-party, totally unnecessary field sobriety test in Arkansas. Although I wasn't too fond of 2005 for personal reasons, the last party of the year was a good send-off! Happy 2006!