Looking back at my 2009

New Years is always a good time to reflect back at the past year. My 2009 was clearly divided in three phases: 1) The hunker down and make do phase while out of work from January to mid June; 2) Work long and hard while preparing for the long anticipated and planned move from mid June until about Halloween; and 3) Getting inured to Colorado Springs and being careful while still in transition the final two months of the year.

The focus of most of 2009, as had been the case in 2008 and much of 2007, was to finally get the hell of Cheyenne. This had been my purpose largely for many months and my seemingly sole goal and omnipresent obsession for 2009. Thankfully it was achieved. I can now say without any equivocacy that Cheyenne was about the most hapless and hopeless place I ever had this misfortune of residing in. One cannot understate whatsoever how horrible the weather is there and what the negative impact it has on most everyone one encounters, making them embittered, full of angst, and figuratively with deep pits and chips in their shoulders from their years of coping with that bleeping eternal wind ! This amazingly positive vicissitude of being able to leave there offsets everything else that occurred negatively in the year 2009. I cannot begin to state and explain how much I hated living there. Thank goodness those 34 months are done with !!!

There was one significant negative that occurred in 2009, and that was the demise and eventual loss of my truck, which had been part of my life since 1987. I still miss not seeing it as I leave to go out on my travels, adventures, or drudgery of my upcoming day. The replacement vehicle is a means to an end: getting to the point of being able to purchase another truck. Hopefully I can do that in 2010.

The first five and one-half months of 2009 saw me unemployed and largely in a static status. I had anticipated getting called back to work three months earlier than it actually would happen which left me broke and behind on regular monthly household expenses. It took about 5 weeks to get things back on track, but I exercised thrift and discipline to not let this challenge take away from achieving my goal. With the exception of my weekend trip in mid May to Houston to take in my niece Lindsey's graduation from Texas State University and spend some wonderful time with family, most of those months were spent in seclusion and solitude. The uncertainty compelled me to be very cautious with spending kept to a minimum and activity left to almost zero. The extreme hostile climate of Cheyenne and its nasty hostile climate with the never ending wind just perpetuated that lifestyle. I did see Todd about 3 times probably but really no one else during this time.

I did get the call back to work in early June and my first day back was the 15th. The timing could have been much better- either seriously much earlier, or perhaps about week later as I had agreed to tend my brother's dog Dave while he would travel to Southern California for vacation and fun with his family. Regrettably, I was not able to do that, and Dave passed away on 4 July. I was deeply saddened that I was unable to see the good old boy one last time and spend a little time with him before he passed. I held a deep hatred towards the plant manager for being ruthlessly selfish in not letting me start one week later with the passing of Dave. My hatred of some of the plant management fueled my passion to achieve my objective so I could get the hell of that job and city. The job was the same as it was in 2009 and I spent my often seemingly endless days mindlessly laboring in the oppressive heat in the facility and daydreaming about how much longer I would at this and what I had to do and achieve. I went until the first week of August without a vehicle which made transportation at times a challenge and hassle. But I made it through and survived. The four plus months of work went by as I labored without much respite and achieved my goals, allowing me to finally end it there on 16 October. After months of pain, particularly with my hands and wrists, the long march and ordeal there was done.

The challenge of a move was imposing in a sense, but I was fully confident and organized to get it accomplished efficiently and orderly. Pre-planning as usual was vital and I achieved all objectives largely in the planned time windows with the exception of the final end, disrupted by a major blizzard which kept the final departure delayed for three extra days the days before and over Halloween weekend. As I drove out of Cheyenne for a final time in early afternoon on Monday 2 November, I felt a strong sense of accomplishment, relief, and exhilaration.

Since then, I have settled in to my temporary residence at the Spruce Lodge in Colorado Springs just north of downtown. I have done some exploring of my new city and have gotten somewhat acclimated. After almost two months I am still positive and upbeat about making the change as the community has much more natural beauty, a much better climate, and greater accessibility to activities and locales that interest me. Had I stayed in Cheyenne I was headed for a repeat of last winter with little exception. Although the job hunt here is very challenging, the outlook is decidedly better than what it would have been in Cheyenne. I know I would have been laid off once again from the factory, this time about a month earlier in mid to late November with no prospects for work there. In Colorado Springs, there is reason for hope and optimism, and the environment, scenery, and climate help enormously to abet that; rather than in Cheyenne, where the bleak desolate prairie; the moribund and dying town; the hapless, bitter, and nasty people; and the eternally incessant hostile winds and harsh climate strongly reinforced my gloom, depression, and malaise to a perilous extent.

Thank goodness I got this relocation and move done in 2009 so I can move forward in 2010.

Happy 2010 .... as Frank Sinatra sang, "The Best is Yet to Come !" .....

Best of 2009:

1) Successfully completing the move and relocation to Colorado Springs.

2) Traveling to Houston to enjoy time with my sisters and their families and experiencing my eldest niece's college graduation.

3) Being able on a number of occasions to enjoy time with my nieces and their parents in Castle Rock

4) Getting increased opportunities to talk on the phone with my sisters, and also communicate through other technology like texting, internet email, and Facebook.

5) Reconnecting on an initial level with my brother Vince.

6) My great and rewarding friendships with Matt, Todd, and Brant, who all helped me out in so many little and big ways throughout the year on so many occasions. 2010 should even be better.

7) Being able to have a say about many different things, both personal and impersonal, near and far, and seriously and humorously with this blog, my other blogs, Facebook , and other internet sites.

8) Enjoying a pennant race through the summer with the Colorado Rockies, and a great Autumn 2oo9 with the Colorado Avalanche. I also enjoyed watching many other sporting events throughout the year.

9) Good food and beverages, both home and out on the town.

10) Still maintaining pretty good health, and having enough strength and stamina to all but fully move myself out a second story apartment in a matter of just over two weeks with no health consequences.

Worst of 2009:

1) Having to be in Cheyenne for ten months of the year; but it was a means to an end.

2) Getting older and realizing one's body is in a very slow decline.

3) The end of The White Knight, my 1978 Ford F-150 truck, in my life after over 22 years.

4) The very long stretches of joblessness; and when I did work, being at that horrible factory job with all its negatives, oppressive heat, stupid jackasses of people, regular hellishness, and the horrible pains I endured from working, starting with my hands and wrists almost always and elsewhere physically regularly and at times.

5) Not having the opportunity to take a bath for most of the year with only having a shower stall in my apartment ! That will change in '10 !

6) Seeing hated teams have success: New York Skankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Detroit Dead Wings, BYpew, TexASS, Dallass Cocaineboys, Ohio State, the evil satanic Lakers, and others.

7) The failure to see any change in achieving the progressive and economically just agenda in the year after the election of Obama and gains in Congress.

8) Continued economic collapse and hardship; travails and troubles for many citizens in our declining nation as well as elsewhere globally; environmental degradation and decline; and greed and manipulation of everything in the world by most corporations and their government lackeys and the braindead citizenry.

9) The passing of Dave the dog, a good friend who I always looked forward to seeing and playing ball with ....

10) My largely continuing isolation, solitude, and seclusion with its psychological and mental consequences that have to be always battled hard and struggled with. I may not like it, but it seems this is my fate and destiny for my coming years.

What I would like to accomplish in 2010:

1) Get another pickup truck.

2) Travel, including visits to my sisters and their families.

3) Go fishing in the mountains.

4) Get new eyeglasses, and maybe bifocal contact lenses.

5) Eat a couple of steaks, good seafood, and some meatloaf.

6) Be in a comfortable apartment that is more roomy than my last one.

7) Attend some Rockies and Sky Sox games.

8) Spend more time with HBL and his girls.

9) Attend some more movies, some concerts, and other things/events (in other words, get out more).

10) Do something, go somewhere that at this point is completely unexpected and unknown.


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Newly Released DVD Box Sets

The Oldies collections are from The Beatles (on a USB stick drive); Elvis Presley; Chuck Berry; Buddy Holly and The Crickets; and Woody Guthrie.

The Classic rock box sets are from AC/DC; Big Star; Creedence Clearwater Revival; the Southern California Sound of 1965-68; Neil Young; and Thee Midnighters.

The Jazz box sets are from Billie Holiday; Louis Armstrong; Medeski Martin and Wood; Miles Davis; Oscar Peterson; and my favorite, John Coltrane.

The Country selections are from Dolly Parton; as well as a collection of lost music recorded by Hank Williams that has been only recently released.

There are also some superb live performance collections that are being released for the holidays; as well some R&B collections; a folk music box set; some pop collections; and some unique special content in box sets.

http://mediagallery.usatoday.com/Box-sets/G1349

http://mediagallery.usatoday.com/Box-sets/Classic-rock/G1349,A5933

http://mediagallery.usatoday.com/Box-sets/Jazz/G1349,A5918

http://mediagallery.usatoday.com/Box-sets/Country/G1349,A5922

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13 Employment Growth Areas for 2010

I will probably be unsuccessful in acquiring employment in these closing three to four weeks of 2009, but 2010 is already showing signs of being better as the local economy here in this region has news of growth and increased opportunity ....

... from the THR 3 DEC edition of the Colorado Springs Gazette....

"Thirteen companies and organizations were honored Thursday by the Colorado Springs Regional Economic Development Corp. for moving to or expanding in Colorado Springs, with plans to hire more than 2,000 people during the next five years.

The 2,046 expected jobs pay an average annual salary of $39,345 and will generate an annual economic impact of $81.7 million, the EDC said. The incoming jobs more than offset 1,193 layoffs in the Springs so far this year. EDC’s goal is to attract employers that will create 2,400 jobs each year for those who are laid off or entering the job market.

“Things look even better in 2010,” EDC President Mike Kazmierski told about 200 business and civic leaders attending a luncheon Thursday at Cheyenne Mountain Resort honoring the 13 companies. “In this environment, the community has more than 20,000 people looking for job opportunities. We should remember that it is one job that makes a difference for those who are out of work, and we all know someone who needs a job right now.”

EDC also said an unnamed 14th employer will expand here and hire 500 but declined to identify the firm at its request, for competitive reasons.

The 13 employers include:

• Affiliated Computer Services Inc., which has hired 600 during the past four months to staff a new customer service center for an unidentified wireless carrier.

• Alliance Financial Partners, a residential and commercial real estate lender, which moved its headquarters last month from California and plans to hire 37 during the next four years.

• Association of Gospel Rescue Missions, which raises awareness about the homeless, poor and needy and moved its headquarters in July from Kansas City, Mo. It plans to employ six here during the next year.

• Billet Racing Products LLC, which designs, manufactures and distributes off-road and motorcycle parts, and moved its headquarters in September from Laguna Hills, Calif., and plans to hire 10 during the next year.

• CodeBaby Corp., a startup company that creates customized animated digital characters and plans to hire 500 during the next five years.

• Convergent Performance LLC, a consulting and training company specializing in aviation and other industries, which announced plans in October to move its headquarters from Tennessee and hire 30 during the next two years.

• FedEx Services Corp., which began work in June to expand its data center in northern Colorado Springs; the project is expected to be completed in late 2010 and expand the company’s local staff by 68 during the next two years.

• FirstSource Solutions Ltd., which announced plans in May to expand its customer service operation here and hire another 150 during the next two years. The company’s local center handles calls for Barclays PLC credit card operation.

• Hewlett-Packard Co., which will spend $260 million to build a new regional data center to serve its corporate and outside clients’ needs. The company will add 10 people here when the center is completed.

• Jabil Inc., which opened a design center in northern Colorado Springs in April for its computer-storage operations that will employ 15 within two years.

• NEK Advanced Securities Group Inc., which provides operations-related services to the federal government. NEK moved its headquarters in April from Albuquerque, N.M. and plans to hire 80 during the next three years.

• Ranch Hand Inc., which opened a warehouse, distribution and showroom here in February for heavy-duty after-market truck accessories, with plans to hire 10 during the next three years.

• Wild Pig Aerospace Inc., which manufactures small satellites and related systems and moved its headquarters in January from Virginia with plans to hire 30 during the next two years."

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