...and a little bit more

Wow. What a start! Sometimes, the phrase “A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step” REALLY tells the story. I will use this blog to comment on whatever is on my mind at each sitting, but also as a historical reference for Noel. You see, a lot has happened to me and my little family over the past few years, and I feel like it is time to try and make sense of it all. My mom told me I should write a book, but I just don’t have that in me at the moment, so I will try to sort it all out in a blog. I am not sure how this will work out over time, but I feel good having just made the first post, and now this subsequent one. The historical stuff will start from about the time Dana, my wife, and I relocated to the Charlotte, NC area for my job in the Spring of 2005. The short history is the move has been a complete disaster. COMPLETE. DISASTER. I’m not sure there is enough HTML code in the world to emphasize that. I’ll try to make sense of it as we go.

The examination of this period of time will undoubtedly require looking further back than four years, and some into the future, as well, I imagine. It will also call for some deep and serious self-introspection. I am generally good at this, but not usually until it is much too late. Maybe I can get ahead of myself on a few things by attacking it in this way. We shall see.
OK, short story is this:

· I left my job early in 2004, while in the middle of pursuing my MBA at the University of Florida
· Went to work for a completely f’d up little company in Kentucky (that gig lasted 4 months).
· Finished my MBA and my wife had our second daughter in November of ’04.
· Went back to work for previous employer, which required a move to Charlotte, NC (gee, guess who that could be – no, really, guess. I’ll give you two chances, and the first is not Wachovia/First Union) from beautiful, lovely, gosh I really miss it Jacksonville, FL.
· Suffered a traumatic brain injury in May of 2005 AT WORK (out of work for 19 months, and had a LOT of rehabilitation and recovery).
· Excitedly returned to work at BIG BANK OF NORTHERN HEMISPHERE, only to be let go the day I returned, while I was still on partial disability…
· Looked for job, could not find job, started own financial services company in mid-2007.
· CRASH!!!
· Desperately seeking work now.

The long story will be better, I promise, but will build basically on the above framework.
In the interim, I have suffered physical pain and mental anguish, detached myself from many of the things and people that meant the most to me for reasons I cannot adequately explain to you, them, or myself, and have cost many people around me something or another which I wish I had not. Explanations to come.

So, this is where we will pick things up next time, and begin to move along the dreamline… (gratuitous RUSH reference [that is two now, both from the same album/CD – interesting… {it’s not like I am Larry King or anything, but I just noticed I do like to use the ellipsis}]).

P.S. You may have gotten an e-mail pointing you to my blog. That happened on purpose. I thought of a few people I wanted to share this ride with, so I added you to my notification list. I am sorry if this is the first you have heard from me in some time; it will not be the last. Please give me some time to build on this beginning and try to reconnect to you. I hope it will be worth it for you. I said before that I miss you, and it is true; I DO miss you.

Talk to you soon…

Why are we here...?

Yes, I am a RUSH fan. No, that is not what this blog is about.

So, why ARE we here? Well, I am here because, at the age of 40, I find myself experiencing that old cliché mid-life crisis, and I want to talk about it without boring anyone to tears in a REAL conversation. This way, if you want to excuse yourself from the conversation, you don't have to even be polite about it. Good for you, huh? Me, too, actually, as I get to talk without interruption, which many will tell you is my favorite pastime.

So, why are YOU here? Well, hopefully it is because you care about me and I told you to drop on by to see what I was up to. Maybe you have rediscovered me, your friend, by accident even though I didn't tell you to take a look. If that is the case, let me first tell you I am sorry. I have not been a very good friend to many of the most important people in my life the last few years; I think I have a good reason for that... You may not think so. Read on, however, and maybe I can share enough with you of my last three or four years to make sense of things to you. I hope so. I miss you.

Maybe you are here by accident, or are a serial blog-reader and I was next in line. Regardless, stick around, read a bit, maybe we will get to know each other. Maybe not. Either way, I wish you the best as you move to the next (probably not as well-written or exciting - I kid) blog.

<tangent>I always wanted to write. We all have the Great American Novel poking around somewhere inside of us, right? Maybe this is my Frustrated Writer alter ego working itself out. Who knows? I will promise to you, right now, that I will try to write well. Not content-wise, perhaps, but grammar-wise and American English Rules-wise. OK, content-wise, too. I am hoping to be a bit stream-of-conscious about the writing, but if it seems to read really well, with great flow and good grammar, I probably edited before publishing. Speaking of grammar, or more precisely, words/language, I try not to work blue, but I do cuss at times. You have been warned. </tangent>(aren’t HTML tags geeky?!)

I will use this space to discuss many things, most likely. My situation, my family, books I read, politics, sex, sports, the ongoing crisis in the Middle East – you know, the regular stuff. And, I will, over time, fill you in on how I got HERE, now, at this place and time, which is not such a great place and time at the moment. I hope you share the journey with me.

So, here we are. Why? …because we’re here.