Man, I need to get on here more often.  So I'm in the middle of GA insurance licensing training just after two weeks of training in Boston two weeks ago.  Almost half of my time working has been occupied by training.  Work is getting better though.  My car died twice in three days, the second time four hours after shelling out $530 to get it fixed.  So now I have my brother's car and he's in Mississippi for a while.  New car, here I come! 

My friend is trying to hook me up with a girl he is currently dating, and he thinks it will work out between me and her.  We shall see.  Should be interesting, fun, and confusing all at the same time.  Thanks buddy!  I went to Clemson this weekend for the first time in a month and met some new people, had great seats at the game and a fun time on Saturday night.  This weekend I will be at the Clemson/Georgia Tech game here in Atlanta and I may have an extra ticket, so if you are in the area I will keep you posted.  FSU game is in 3 weeks and I hope to make bad decisions while I'm there. :)

Uh oh, it's after 10pm.  Bed time. 

And thanks to CoreyAJ for showing some love on your page.  I actually AM kinda photogenic.  That's kinda....awesome...

I'm in the middle of my second week of work and things aren't all that bad right now.  Last week was a bit slow with new hire orientation, but this week I am doing some work, being brought along slowly, and am finally sitting with the team so I can ask all the questions that pop into my clueless head here.  It's also casual week, so everything is nice and relaxed, but next week we'll return to professional dress.  How come the men have to wear ties but the ladies here can pretty much dress down and comfortably and wear whatever they want?  Not very fair, in my mind. 

I have a training trip to Weston, Mass (just outside of Boston) for two weeks at the end of the month.  So if anyone is going to be up there, call or email me.  I'm looking to have some fun since I have never been there before.  I'm getting lots of tips from other people at work who have been to training there, and we get a rental car so it should be fun.  Knowing that I will have disposable income when I arrive could be a lot of trouble.  Good thing my corporate card will take care of food, 'cause I can eat! 

How 'bout those Tigers?!?!  Pulling one out in the season opener against Texas A&M last Saturday, 25-24.  So we didn't score a touchdown, but the offense looked good, and now we're ranked in one poll.  No one outside of Clemson, SC thought we could win that one, but now things are looking up.  Next up is Maryland at College Park.  Hope all of our fans pack your teflon vests, because those fans up there are rowdy, and we have the better team so they will be sore losers.  Be safe. 

Still broke...I would have logged three weeks before my first check, and I'm counting the days.  Gas prices are stupid and I'm on empty all the time, and with a 25 mile trip each way to work and back, I'm struggling...still.  But hope is on the horizon. 

Work will be slow for the time being, so I will post more until the time comes when I forget to. ;)

HALLELUJAH!  I finally got a job!  And not just any job, but the job I really wanted!  And it only took three months!  ;)  Really, it did, but I got it, and I start on August 29.  I'll be working at Liberty Mutual as a Claims Case Manager, which roughly means "Claims Adjuster."  So the job may not be real exciting and all, but I have two close friends from Clemson that work there, and the office is very young, and did I mention I waited for 3 months to get this job?!?!  Of course I'm excited.  Being broke should be a thing of the past, but I said that before and ended up unemployed, so I'll just be very careful with my money this time around.  And there's a two-week trip to either Florida or Boston at the Liberty Mutual headquarters.  I hope it's Boston for me, it's already hot in Atlanta and I'm sure Florida is a sauna this time of year.  Plus, I don't want to have to worry about impending fear from hurricanes.  I also have to get licensed in Georgia, so more studying of insurance concepts and another exam for Jonté.  OK, enough of the rambling, but I'm excited that I'm back in the working world again.  Keep your fingers crossed and wish me luck...I may get my own place by October and all the world can share in my joy! (Meaning "come down and visit once I get my own place!")

Now another thing this job allows me to do is GO BACK TO CLEMSON FOOTBALL GAMES!!!  HELL YEAH!!!  I only hope I can make it for the first one against Texas A&M.  It's just a matter of gas money, and I won't get paid until the 9th if I'm lucky.  But there is that temp job I'm doing next week, so I will get a lil sumthin on Sept 2nd.  Look out Death Valley, here I come!  And I hope I will have a ticket!  (I have people working on that.  It's great to have great friends.)

I really enjoy blowing off all this steam.  I've been so frustrated this summer, had lots of lows, but now things are finally turning around for me.  I've neglected coming on here to update all 2 of you on my blog ;) but now I will do a better job since I'm in a better mood.  Y'all didn't want me coming on complaining about how life sucked, did ya?  So in order for me to do this, I will need a computer.  And it just so happened that my big brother came through once again for me.  I'm buying his wonderful lady's computer from them for $50.  He told me to take it off his hands, even though it'll just sit at my aunt's place for two months.  He's also the one who hooked me up with the temp job.  Good looking out, Brandon.

The one thing that did piss me off was the $3 I spent to park in a garage for 45 minutes.  I went to do paperwork for this temp job I am doing for one week only, since I do need to pay some bills before I start work at Liberty Mutual.  The lady who had me filling out this stuff told me they were about to move so they no longer had any of the validation tickets you give to the park deck nazi, so she stamped the back of her card and signed it and told me it should work.  Lo and behold, the park deck nazi said no, I need the actual "coupon" to get through.  So I turned around, drove back up two flights to the visitor parking, went up to the 18th floor, rang the bell to the office, and the lady said she couldn't help me and closed the door on me.  So yeah, I was pissed when I had to go back down, drive to the exit and pay "only $3" for 45 minutes of parking.  And the building that this was in?  The Marsh Building in Buckhead.  And if "Marsh" looks familiar, it should be.  Why?  Because that's where I worked in Memphis!  Talk about your royally getting screwed in a weird deja vu sort of way...

But I'm over it, but still broke.  So here's to getting through the next 3 weeks so I can get back on my feet.  And thanks to my family and friends that have been so supportive and patient with me during these last few months.  This isn't the worst thing that's happened to me this summer, which made me realize that these struggles we may go through from time to time only strengthen  you.  Don't worry, no philosophical thoughts today, just take care of your family and cherish them while they are still here.  You just never know when they will depart this life and make a difference in the next.

Long time, no blog.  A lot has happened since I last posted.  My former employer terminated my position, and 3,000 people lost their jobs including me.  I moved to Atlanta last weekend, and I'm staying with relatives until I can land a new job.  I thought my job search last week was a positive, until I found out that all of the places I interviewed for were a bit sketchy and did not offer benefits.  No benefits?!?  That, and I need to work for salary.  So I went to Clemson last week for a few days to look at my job search a bit differently, and talk to some professors and former employers to see what I should do.  I'm starting over, all over again.  Here's to finding a new job...salud!

Next blog won't take as long as this one, at least I hope it doesn't. 

Jonte's bracket passed away on Friday night.  It suffered multiple gunshot wounds and didn't have a chance...

Talk about your bracket busters!  Where is Bucknell?  Are you kidding me, Vermont?!?!  And how about Wisconsin-Milwaukee to the Sweet 16?!?!  My office bracket didn't even survive one day.  I'll never do another bracket again.  Wake Forest to the Final Four?  Yeah, right.  Damn Mountaineers!  At least the ACC still has 3 teams left in the Tournament. 

Football can't get here soon enough.