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

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.

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.

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?

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! 

Your life the book

I'm only 25, I haven't lived a full life yet but if a book was written about my life up to this point would I want to read it? Would I want to remember everything that has happened to me in the past? Every horrible day, every triumph, every failure? My quick answer would be no, why would I ever want to remember the past. It's the past no point in dwelling on it. It happened, you can't change it, why bother?

I've been asked about my past particularly my time in public school, I don't like talking about my life growing up and going to school. It wasn't the most perfect time in my life. I know we are lead to believe that school is great and everyone makes friends but that is a lie. I really don't have many great memories of school. I have blocked a lot of that time out in my mind. It happened, I went to school, I graduated, I left. Thats how I see going to school as a kid. Second grade to sophomore year of high school is mostly blanked out in my mind. It wasn't a perfect time in my life I was picked on a lot. I had a gym teacher in elementary school who started calling me Geisler and as such all the kids did. For the longest time a lot of kids didn't call me Christian. That always stung so much, not being called my own name.

It was right when I started sophomore year of high school that I finally started to love school. I had great classes, friends, and I was getting recognized for my work in school. It was a real confidence booster for me after years of being picked on. My english teacher at the time, nominated me for a bell award. It's a achievement award given to students who not only do well academically in a subject but also do more for the school and the classroom. I have to find the little blurb that was written about me it made me smile so much back then.

The last two years of high school were also much better then all my previous years of school combined. It was a nice time in my life, I was doing well in school, had a lot of good friends, and it was just overall a much better time then before. As senior year was coming to a close, we had the senior awards show, which as I saw it was a time to reward all the super smart kids and athletes. Not someone like me, a nobody. It was right near the end of the show, I was bored and tired of sitting there hearing about how all these people were better then me. I wasn't really paying attention to the teacher speaking at the time. They were talking about someone who had spent a lot of his own time working with the school during his lunch hour to fix computers. I didn't register till they said my name that it was an award for me and all my time working as a technology intern over the last three years. I was taken a back to say the least. For a few brief moments I was the center of attention it felt amazing.

When high school ended, I was glad to close that chapter of my life completely. It was the best time I had in public school but I wouldn't want to relieve it all again. I feel like anyone who wanted to read my life story would feel the sadness and pain I did on a regular basses. It wasn't great but it was a part of my life, its a part of my story. Those chapters are the foundation of my life now and my future.

It all comes back to, would I ever want to read my life story? Maybe one day when I'm old and grey I will. Just to see how far I have come as man and to see how much my life has changed for the better. Other then that time, I'd rather burn that book then read it.

32 Goals for 2014

It's a new year and another new chance to write all I can. Taking a look at the list of writing prompts that my friend Joey gave me I find that today is entitled 32 flavors. Which means its time for a list of some sort. Since this is my first post of the new year I'm going to put a list together of 32 things I hope to do in 2014. In this case the order of importance doesn't really matter.

2013: Year in Review Addendum

The new car pre-damage.

2013 decided to throw one more punch at me last night just for kicks. Someone not paying attention to the road hit my parked car at full force in the back and damaged it. Currently I'm waiting to hear back from the insurance company on the status of the car. The fact this has happened to me twice in one year is mind blowing to say the least. I know I should stay positive and only think about the positive aspects of 2013 but that is hard to do when this happens again right at the end. 2013 really can't end fast enough now!

2013: The Year in Review

Since we are in the last weekend of 2013 I figured I'd do a recap of the past year of my life. 2013 was a interesting year to say the least. For me it was filled with some very high moments as well as some very low points. If I were to give an overall view of 2013 I would say it was a year that saw a lot happen that never had happened before.

Time to make some changes

As we get closer to the end of the year, and I get closer to my 25 birthday, it has become apparent that a lot has to change in my life. Not to say that life right now isn't great but, it does need to be shaken up a bit. I've been working for the same computer repair company since I was 18, I'm gonna be 25 next month, that's 6 years of my life in the same job doing the same thing everyday. It's reaching the point where I'm due to make the switch to something new and honestly less boring.

Back from the dead

It's October and once again I haven't blogged in forever. Due to issues with Wordpress I've decided to make the switch to Google's Blogger tools instead. Hopefully this post will be the first in a long line of post in the future. I'll update with more information later but I wanted to just start saying welcome to the third iteration of my blog. Lets hope this one sticks!