Long time no see

Hello all! I'm back from the dead of the internet to give the world an update on my job situation. Back in April when I last posted things were dark, I wasn't sure about my future and I was still far away from finding a job.

Fast forward to now and things have changed big time. I've been working since late June for a music company that focuses on teaching children, as well as renting them instruments for their schools music programs. I was brought on to help with the assigning and shipment of rental instruments to children all over Northern New Jersey. It was a busy, crazy, and intense summer but, one that saw many success for myself and the company. I was able to help improv shipments of rentals to kids and reduce the failure rate big time. Overall our success rate was 98% which was a huge improvement from the previous summer.

I was only supposed to stay till the end of the summer/fall busy season when the rentals for the new school year are at there highest. But, I have stayed on and have been working there ever since. Currently my role fluctuates a lot depending on the day of the week from managing the warehouse to helping with improving the companies online presence. It seems like I'm going to be staying here for a while if the money is right.

This job is the first one I have ever had where I've felt an extreme sense of personal satisfaction with my own work. Everyone here works well together and we all work towards the common goal of helping the company provided an excellent level of service to our customers. There were many days where I would come home exhausted but I never felt like I didn't want to be there. The exhaustion I felt was good it made me feel like I had accomplished something everyday I went to work.

The future is looking bright for the first time in a long time. Hopefully this will continue into the new year and hopefully I will be writing more for this blog.

Till then stay positive my friends, you never know what will fall into your lap when you least expect it.

Did I make a mistake?

I wanted to say to everyone I know including my family that I'm sorry. I'm sorry I haven't been able to succeed like you expected. It was my hope by now that I'd be working again and actually doing something with my life. Instead I find myself in massive debt barely holding on and on the verge of a total financial collapse. 

Did I make the right choices? No looking back now I didn't. Should I have gotten a degree that would be worth something? Yeah I should have. I didn't do what was in the best investment for the long term. It was my mistake and now I'm paying the price for it. 

It's my hope that by saying this out loud others will learn from my mistakes and do better then I did. 

Once again I'm sorry to my family, friends, and my girlfriend Marlee. I know you all expected more from me and I have failed you. 

I need to now step back and evaluate my life and see what to do next. 

 

I got laid...off

This a post I didn't think I would have to write but here it is. Since October 10th I have been unemployed. The contracting firm I worked for was contacted by IBM and told that they had to cut contracts by 50% immediately so IBM could save money. It was a sudden announcement and one that took me aback the minute I heard it. For the first time I have no job at all, I'm currently waiting to see if I can get some work at my old job even temporarily and I just started doing a little freelance writing for someone too. The fact I'm unemployed doesn't scare me as much as the prospect of having no income to keep myself afloat. As I've mentioned in the past my loans, bills, and a car payment are always taking a huge chunk of my earning each month. Now there is no paycheck and I don't know how long I can skirt by on just unemployment.

It's a scary time for me, usually I have a plan to keep myself going and to keep the money coming in. This time I don't. There is no plan and for once in my life everything is up in the air. Hopefully that will change sooner rather then later. I can't imagine being out of work for a long time. We shall see what happens next. Till then I'm asking my readers for support or even suggestions for work. It would be greatly appreciated by me. 

Thank you very much,

Christian G. Geisler

Learning what you excel at!

As I sit at my desk enjoying a small glass of whiskey I find myself thinking what am I good at? What am I good at? It's a question that we all get asked at some point in our lives. Yet for many it is a difficult question to answer. I myself have always had a hard time answering it because I don't usually notice what I'm good at. That comes from being too modest about myself. When you are like that, you usually forget what makes you unique and what skills you excel at. It's only been recently that I have felt comfortable saying to others what I am good at. That is because as I have gotten older I have learned that it's okay to show off your skills. It can lead to more opportunities and even give you a chance to shine in something you never would have thought of before.

 The more I work at IBM the more I have had opportunities to use my skills in writing, computers, and problem solving. My coworkers like having input from me when it comes to new problems and sometimes I come up with a solution that works. To be included in problem solving as well as creating new ideas is something I have enjoyed while working there. It's lead to more work in areas that involve creative solutions as well as writing detailed proposals. I have to admit I missed writing technical information and it's been nice to get back into the groove again. Currently I'm working on new proposal for security upgrades and I feel like my writing has improved dramatically. It feels professional and has all the information that is needed.

Overall I feel more confident in my skill set of writing, computers, and creative solutions. I know I can talk, create, and even contribute in ways I never thought I could before. It's helped me feel more confident about myself and also I feel more confident about the work I create. It only took 25 years for me to realize what I am good at!

Keeping busy having fun and loving it all

Well I told you I would write something else today and here it is. As many of you may have noticed I haven't posted since March. To be honest I haven't had motivation to do it recently. Between working at my new job and just being busy in general I haven't had time to write.

Enjoying the sun

Hello everyone! It's me Christian. You know Christian the guy who was going to blog all the time. Yeah I know I haven't talked to you since March but life and work got in the way. To make up for it here are some pictures from this past weekend. Marlee and I took advantage of the warm weather to enjoy the sun.
Later on today I'll give a full update on everything going on in my life.

I'm a grown up now

The most expensive piece of paper I own!

At some point in your life you have to face the facts, you can't be a child forever. Eventually either by the natural progression of events or through a sudden change in circumstances we all become adults. It's inevitable, we can't fight it no matter how hard we try. For me it was a slow progression to becoming a real adult, but I feel it became reality after I had to start paying back all my student loans.

The mid-week in review: February 28th 2014

I know I haven't done one of these in a long time but to be honest not a lot has been going on recently. Life was in a sort of stand still state for a while. That has changed though in the last fews days. I can now say after a couple weeks of filling out paper work and interviews that I have a full time job! As of 11:00 am this morning I put in my two weeks notice and will be starting a full time position with IBM in March.

As many people know I have been looking for work since I graduated college in December of 2011, while looking for jobs I continued to work at my local computer repair shop. I didn't work long hours there but the pay was good and I liked the people I worked with. For almost seven years I have worked there. That's a long time to spend at a small part time job. In that time I learned a lot about customer service, fixing computers, and working at a small business. It had its ups and downs but overall I wouldn't trade my time here for anything in the whole world.

Looking back to when I first started working here I was new to the whole world of dealing with customers on a daily basis. It honestly scared me to be on the front lines dealing with peoples problems. Fast forward to today and I can't see not being involved on that level with people. If anything I have learned that I like helping people and seeing them be happy when I fix their problem always puts a smile on my face.

Now I will be leaving the world of small business computer repair to work for IBM fixing computers. It won't be a huge change in terms of what I will be doing on a daily basis but the one major change is I won't be interacting with customers like I do now. That will be the one thing I will honestly miss.

So thats that my new full time job will start soon and I can't wait for that to happen!

Best pizza in the whole world

Last night, for the first time in a long time my mother made pizza. Her pizza is the best pizza I have ever eaten and I have several people who will agree with me. She used to make it every Friday when we were growing up but after I went to college and she started working more that stopped. Mom makes the dough from scratch and creates pizzas that are out of this world.

Yesterday she made 4 pies including, plain, pepperoni, cheese fry, and pesto with ricotta cheese and fresh tomatoes. I myself prefer the classics so I only eat the plain and pepperoni but what she creates with the special pies is amazing. Particularly the pesto pie, according to Marlee it tasted amazing and was so delicious. I remember growing up and having homemade pizza every Friday, it was one of the highlights of the week for me because it meant good pizza, maybe watch a movie with the family, it was a good way to start the weekend.

When I was in school, I used to invite friends over to eat my moms pizza, I considered it a special right if you were invited to eat it. Like a secret moms' pizza club. In my mind if you were invited to enjoy her pizza it meant I saw you as a good friend. Not many people get to enjoy her pizza but the ones who do universally agree it's amazing. The one comment I get all the time from people who eat it is,"wow there is cheese in the crust!" it's like the one thing everyone loves. Mom started putting cheese in the crust a long time ago because we asked about it and to this day she still does it.

I always seem to take for granted the fact that my mother cooks for us all the time. A lot of people I know are lucky to get a couple home cooked meals a week. It's something that I grew up with and to me it's something I will miss when I eventually move. If anything it makes me want to learn how to make my own pizza as well as lots of other dishes. I can't rely on her to make dinner forever so I better start learning how to cook now.

One of the dinners Marlee and I have made

Luckily since dating Marlee the two of us have been learning to cook. It's a fun experience to learn with someone who is at the same level as me. We make a couple basic dishes and are always trying new things. It's a great way to learn as well as a great way to spend time together. Nothing is more fun then cooking a nice dinner with her.

Learning to cook is an essential life skill and one that I hope to master. I can't imagine not cooking, it's fun and cooking a meal yourself makes it taste that much better. Maybe one day I'll make pizza from scratch for my mother and let her enjoy it completely like I do every time she makes it.

What is normal?

When taking a look at my life from an outsiders perspective, it's hard to outline six items that standout about me. In my own opinion I don't feel like I'm anything but normal, just a normal guy, living a normal life.

Nothing about me seems special or amazing. It's hard to put together a list of accomplishments, odd traits, or unique things about myself. Maybe in my mind everything I do is normal or maybe I don't see myself as anything special at all. After thinking about this question for almost no time at all I have decided that I will list six things about my life that maybe unique, weird or amazing about me. Let me know what you think about them.

Attached at the hip: My phone and me

Something I still can't get used to after all these years is having a cell phone. I've had one of my own for a long time and it's great but I still can't handle having one. It's reached the point now where my cell phone is always with me. I can't go anywhere without it because it helps me stay connected to everyone as well as provide me a direct line to the internet at all times. There are days where I wish I didn't have a cell phone, I imagine productivity would increase dramatically without it. It has become a necessary accessory like my watch. I can't go anywhere without it and I feel like something is missing if it's not there.

Yet if I were to describe my relationship with my phone I would say it's a relationship filled with a lot of annoyances. Having it constantly around does at times make it hard to disconnect completely from the world. Even now as I'm typing this post my phone is sitting next to me waiting to send me a text or to inform me about something happening on Facebook. The phone to me at times is like a small little dog that never stops yapping at you no matter what you do. It's that little reminder that there is a lot going on in the world and you need to be paying attention to it.

Now I'm not saying that I would get rid of my phone tomorrow if I could, if I did that my life would suck so much. Not being able to communicate directly with people I care about or not being able to keep up on whats going on in the world would drive me crazy. If anything I should make time to disconnect from it more often. Like the next time I take a vacation I'm going to try and not use my phone at all unless I have to. Let it be there when I need it and not when it needs me. Even doing that for a couple days would be amazing.

My phone is a big part of my daily life, but it doesn't have to be the only big part of it. It's time to step back from the phone and let it be that part of life you don't need to cling to all day long.

The new human memory?

When I write, I usually write in either my room or in the office I work in after everyone else has gone home for the day. Both locations provide me with different atmospheres and different feels. My room is mine it's filled with things I love, memories, and items that make me smile. The office I work in is a bit bigger, filled with other peoples' computers, their lives are there right in front of me. It's like having access to the sole of someone else. Not to say I look at other peoples' data that would be wrong but, when you take away someones computer you are in a way taking away there memories. A lot of data can be stored on ones computer like, pictures of days gone by, important dates in the future, a letter from someone they care about. The computer is itself a imprint of important moments in the persons life. You take that away from them and they feel lost. 

Finding that missing piece

Goofing around with my love

Finding that one person who is the missing piece of your life is difficult. Many never find that one person, they either settle for something close to perfect or they wander around looking forever. It's been a long time since I have talked about Marlee and the importance of her love in my life. She is that piece I have been looking for. The one person who knows everything about me and what makes me tick. I'm not one to talk a lot about my personal life or myself in general. Anyone who has been friends with me for a long time can tell you it takes a lot for me to open up. It takes a lot for me to express my feelings and thoughts to anyone in person. That comes from years of being picked on and belittled in school, it broke me in many ways. It's only been in the last few years that I have finally started to gain back what was taken from me. Having a group of good friends and blogging more has helped me express myself more then ever before.

The mid-week in review: January 29th 2014

After 27 days, over 40 hours of body work, and roughly $12,000 I finally got my car back last Friday! The car looks perfect, like it never was in a major accident. I have to give a ton of thanks to Chatham Collision for making it look perfect. Having it back has made me feel extremely happy this week and overall it's been a good week for me.

The best thing since sliced bread? Google it!

The phrase "That's the best thing since sliced bread" is used a lot to describe something that is so amazing. It almost is used ubiquitously in conversations by everyone at some point in their lives. But, what is something that is worthy of that catch all phrase? What is something that is so much better then sliced bread?

The mid-week in review: January 23rd 2014

I know the mid week review should have been done yesterday to keep consistency with last weeks but, nothing inspired me to write it last night. But, now though as I sit in my room on a sunny Thursday afternoon looking at the snow covered lawns outside. I find myself inspired to write. This is the first week in almost a year where I haven't had to work in the mornings so I have been taken advantage of it by sleeping later, eating a nice breakfast, and actually keeping up on shows I watch. Sure I would prefer to be working right now, making extra cash to keep up with the bills, but for right now it's nice to slow down for a little bit. This week is my recharge week. Next week will have more structure to it and more job hunting as well.

Time to rework the old resume

As I mentioned last week, I just finished up a contract job I had as a technical writer for a local alumni insurance company. For the first time in a long time I am looking at my resume and saying to myself it's time to rewrite it completely. This past year as a technical writer has given me experience that I hope to translate into more work in the future. It has also given me a ton of sample work which I was lacking before. I put together several samples from that job of all different sizes and types. They will help me show I can do the work at any technical writing job I apply for.

Writing under the wire

One of my goals for 2014 is to try and blog everyday and for the first time I am blogging very close to the wire. Which has pushed me into the topic about myself. I don't like talking about myself, as anyone who has know me for a long time can tell you. I'm usually the one who keeps quiet and doesn't tell people about his problems or what makes me a great person. I'm perfectly happy with that, but for once I'm going to toot my own horn for a change.

One of the things that I am most proud of about myself is my ability to write and create under tight deadlines. Throughout college and even right now I always have been able to create my best work when the clock was ticking down to zero. My best papers were always created at the last minute and even this blog post for Thursday the 16th is being done under the wire with only a few minutes to spare. I don't know why I write well under tight deadlines, maybe it's because I like knowing that there isn't any time left to make it? Maybe it's because it ignites my creative juices into overdrive to create something amazing at the last possible second. Who knows, all I know is that I find that to be one of my greatest traits. The ability to create under tight time constraints and with little time to second guess yourself is something I see as a great ability. When working under the gun you are more honest with your work and more likely to create something thought provoking for your reader.

At the end of the day it comes down to the simple act of being able to write what you have to no matter what. This blog entry proves it! 

The mid-week in review: January 15th 2014

Sitting here in my room, enjoying a nice beer, and thinking about what to write today I find myself not 100% sure what to write about. Maybe I can tell you that the beer I'm drinking is a new rye style brew from Yards. It's got a strong rye taste and a simple name 'Rye.' Maybe I can tell you that I'm doing all of my writing now from my new Macbook Air, after 6 and a half years of using my Macbook Pro I figured it was time to get something new. It's battery is amazing and I love the way the keys feel while I type. I see a lot of writing in this computers future.

A clean look at my room

My Room

As an exercise in writing descriptive narrative I decided to write a detailed description of my bedroom as someone who has never been in it before.

Looking around my room as someone who has never seen it before I'm intrigued by how unique it is in its layout. The walls are a dark green with light brown painted trim. Giving the room a sort of late 1800's study vibe. The giant roll top desk to the right as you walk in stands out in a room this small. Papers and nicknacks are scattered all over it. It makes you wonder if this desk is ever used for its true purpose. A chair is in front of the desk covered in clothes and papers, making it impossible to sit in.