COMMUNITY>COFFEE

i've realized a few things this morning.

as i'm waiting for my clearances here at my new job, i'm amazingly bored. i have done very little substantive work, and its kinda been wearing on me. its ok - because i know that this is part of the industry i work in. i just wish it could speed up a little bit. for all of the new hires waiting for clearances, there is a huge room they call "the colony"... where they all wait together till they get cleared, then they go up with their supervisors to do classified work. my boss found a place for me up in our building just outside of the classified area (where i don't have access to yet), where i can be close, sit in on some meetings, and meet some of the people who i'll be working with.

but strangest thing... in my little cube, in my little hall, i have met 1 of the 6 people around me, and not surprisingly i'm sleepy and bored. I realized this - i don't need coffee when i have community. if i could come in the morning and say hello to people around me, and get to work with these people, etc. I would not be yawning and nearly falling asleep, and needing coffee, and watching the clock as hours creep by.

i know thats how it goes, but i do know that i realized for me, its incredibly important that I have people around me.

funny thing just happened... 2 young guys just stopped by my office - and Lindsey, my friend who told me about the opening here, told me about them - nice guys who are in our department. it was great to meet them, and i look forward to working with them. ha. its funny how that happens - literally right in the middle of me writing about community.

i can't wait to get started on my program- i just met my program manager... seems like a really nice guy. he's the guy i'll be reporting to.


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Also recently, i've been conflicted, or my thoughts have just been stirred about a topic - blue collar work. or not blue collar work per se, but work that doesn't necessarily require highly skilled training or education. i'll explain... there is a nice guy i've seen around the campus here - he wears this cool bank of america hat, and he's black. he is some kind of maintenance guy/staff support - i'm not sure what his title is, but he's really nice. i don't know what kind of training he has or what his story is, or what education he has... etc. but i know this: if i was in a position like that, i think that i would be a little bitter. now i must be clear here - i want to explain how humbled i feel to have got to the position i am in - i have an incredible job, and got to get my masters in 5 years, and i don't necessarily feel like i've earned the things that i have... which i guess is good... i'm amazingly grateful to my parents, to my friends, to the Lord, for all that i have - opportunities, importantly.

what i am NOT saying is that this guy is unhappy, or unfulfilled, or upset, or bitter, or angry, or jealous, or whatever. i don't know his mindset, and quite honestly - i will ALWAYS wish peace and happiness upon people - doing whatever they want as a job, serving wherever they feel led, etc. i know that people won't find soul-filling happiness outside of the Lord, but i do know that they can enjoy what they do, if they enjoy what they do. my observation is simply this - that if i was in a position like his, ***and i knew that i was capable of more*** i would not enjoy it, and might hold a bit of resentment. now, i can't truly know if i would feel this, because i haven't been in a situation like that, yet. but i'm just conjecturing, and blogging, and this is where i like to share some thoughts.

i'll tell you this much too, you should probably start blogging, and stop just reading. this is directed at someone different.


the astros are doing fairly poorly as of late, but thats ok.

i'm really bummed that payday is still a week away, and i've been workign for a week and a half. brtual.

jenny is so great. this girl is really special.