New beginnings

The page turns. A new chapter begins.

Today, I started a new job.

Last year, on New Year’s Day, I began my job search in earnest. I passed the word to my network of friends - including many of the folks reading this blog - that I was on the job market. I sent emails and Facebook notes, I joined some job boards, I retooled my resume.

I left no stone unturned in my search for a new position combing through website after website. Meanwhile, as I continued in my old position, I redoubled my efforts to do the best job possible until a new opportunity came along. Winter bloomed into spring; spring grew into summer; summer faded to fall.

When fall rolled around, I could detect a new trend. Maybe it was the election? Optimism over a potential change, or at least, satisfaction that a resolution to a two-year old contest was drawing near. In any case, I started to come across some very tangible leads.

About a month ago, I interviewed for the head marketing position for NOCCR and recently, they offered me the position. Last week, I wrote about saying goodbye at my old job; today I am blogging about my first day on the new job.

It’s fun and exciting work. The team was very warm and welcoming when I came to work today. And it’s nice to be back doing the work I have focused on for most of my career.

Thanks to all of my friends who offered encouragement and support. Thanks, too, for reading Coach Jeff.

I’ll have a little more time to focus on this blog now that I won’t need to be reading the latest job search blog!

JG

Originally posted 11/12/2012

The Boys in the Woods

Over the last few weeks, I have had the occasion to work outside a great deal. It really has been a beautiful fall season in 2012.

Around here, we’ve had a ton of leaves this fall. Lisa suggested that maybe we have more leaves this year because we had fewer leaves last year in the wake of the infamous hail storm that brought so many of them down in the spring of 2011.

Or maybe it just seems like there are more.

Anyway, I’ve been raking, blowing and toting them to various spots at the edge of our woods as I told you a couple weeks back.

Almost every time I’m outside these days, I hear a symphony of sounds:

• The Red-tailed Hawks that nest in our woods
• A few barking dogs off in the distance
• The occasional jet passing over in the landing path for McGhee Tyson Airport (the other day I noticed a Fedex plane making its final descent)

And recently, I’ve been hearing a new sound - the boys in the woods. 

Our house is on a street at the edge of our neighborhood. Behind our house and the others on our street are the aforementioned woods.

On the other side of these woods - or the ‘forest’ as these youngsters would consider it - is another street from the neighboring neighborhood. From what I have observed, I believe these young fellahs (seems like there are two of them) must live in one of those homes. Maybe they are brothers or possibly just good pals.

And from what I’ve been able to determine, they’ve been having a 'big time’ exploring the forest this fall.

Sometimes, I will hear them playing some sort of 'explorer’ game. At other times, they will be exploring and will say something about some discovery. And on other occasions, you’ll just hear them talking. Boys being boys.

I figure they must be around 11 or so. Their banter reminds me of some of the playing we used to do when I was a kid.

One other thing about these guys…one of them is quite a singer. And he has quite a diverse repertoire of musical selections. Many of his musical numbers seem to have a country flair (not really my taste) but I have heard him singing some pop tunes as well.

He can really belt out a tune.

Any way, as I’ve been raking leaves or winterizing things around the outside of my house, I’ve gotten a kick out of hearing these guys. They’ve been having a lot of fun and they have brought a smile to my face a time or two this fall from the a twang of a somewhat off-key song to their boyish excitement of just being outside on a nice day.

JG

Originally posted 11/11/2012

17

The number 17 plays an extraordinary role in our family. Numerologists could have a field day with this information.

I’ve honestly lost count of all the family members - on both sides of both sides - who have birthdays on the 17th, for example. In this household, alone, three of the four were born on the 17th (I’m the odd man out).

Holly loves being a St. Paddy’s girl and we have a green-tinted celebration each year.

Paul loves his number 17 so much, in fact, that it became his uniform number on the Choppers all those years.

I don’t think Lisa gives it that much thought!

I honestly thought the birthday club started with my grandfather - also born on the 17th - but when I was diving into genealogy research during the spring and summer, I found other 17ers on the family tree before Pap.

It’s not just birthdays, though, that bring the number 17 into our family focus. These digits seem to come up again and again. Lisa and I met each other in a classroom in the Communications Building when we were in college at the University of Tennessee. It was Room 317. (I wish I could tell you we met on the 17th, but that would be stretching the truth…we actually met on the 9th).

Anyway, as it turns out, the 28th anniversary of the day we met in Room 317 is tomorrow.

I happened to be on the UT campus earlier this week. I dropped by to see Lisa for a minute and, on my way out of the building, I spotted Holly. She was sitting on one of the benches in the hall by the Tennessee Newspaper Hall of Fame. I spent many hours on those same benches when I was a student.

I can’t tell you how many times I walked past this collection of photos over the years. On some occasions, I’d pause to consider the place of these individuals in the history of this great state. More often, I breezed past them on my way to a study session or my next class.

I probably also hurried past them on the morning of November 9 on my way to my Communications History class which met in Room 317.

There we were the other day, just outside good ol’ 317 when I realized something that somehow escaped me. Room 317 is no longer simply ‘the room where Jeff and Lisa met.’ It is now the Peyton Manning Classroom.

The University dedicated this room to the football legend (and alumnus of the College) in September of 2010 (without looking, I’m guessing that was a bye week in the NFL schedule for Manning’s former NFL team, the Colts). Not sure how it happened, but I missed this story.

In any case, our hallowed ground now has greater notoriety and association with a UT legend.

Oh and by the way, when he played college ball, Peyton Manning wore uniform #16; in the NFL he wears #18. In between is, well…you know.

You can’t make this stuff up.

JG

(Source: utk.edu)

Originally posted 11/8/2012

The Day After

I went outside, this morning, to do a small task. On the day after a nearly grueling two year election, I was going to remove the (insert name of candidate) sign from my front yard.

Someone beat me to the punch.

Was it an:

• Overzealous Partisan
• Impish Prankster
• Objecting Neighbor

In any case, it’s gone. G-O-N-E. Like the last campaign fundraising solicitation.

Not sure when that happened - last night or early this morning. But somewhere, someone has helped themselves to a souvenir.

Bon chance!

Anyway, before the campaign totally fades from our collective memory, let’s take a moment to reflect.

This was an important election in the course of our family history. For one thing, it was the first election in which Holly could participate as a voter (she early voted last week at the University Center at UT). It was also the first election that Paul really paid much attention to.

And, in true Paul fashion, he stayed with the election returns up to the point where the election was called just after 11 p.m. last night.

Globally, what did this year’s race tell us? For one thing, it told us you could spend a lot of money - $1B, as both parties collectively did - and essentially wind up exactly where you were before the spending started.

Talk about an economic stimulus package!

There has also been a lot of talk about cooling down the heated rhetoric. I think representatives from both sides realize it got a smidge nasty down the stretch. One thing I have heard from liberals and conservatives is that it is time to work together; to move past all this.

Another thought is how long this election lasted - literally two years (since we wrapped up the midterms in ‘10). Some folks say it is “too long.”

On the other hand, I have already seen speculation about the candidates for 2016. My pithy one-word response to that…

Really?

JG

Originally posted 11/7/2012

Decision 2012

A few weeks ago, I found out about a really promising job opportunity.

I did my homework and prepared well. I interviewed for the position on a day off and I felt really good about my interview at the time.

Needless to say, I was ecstatic when I got the job offer.

Funny thing…for months, the job market was really stagnant. But, within the last few weeks, I have seen a number of excellent opportunities pop up in the marketing and public relations fields in town. And this one was the right one for me. Call it: “Decision 2012.”

More on the new job later. Today is about saying goodbye to the old one.

That’s the odd thing about transitions in our lives. For every win, there’s a loss. For every down, there’s an up. For every hello, there’s a goodbye.

Next week, I will say ‘Hello’ to the new; today, I’m saying ‘Goodbye’ to the old.

As a long-term marketing and P.R. professional, I never really trained to become a proposal writer. When I signed on with Jacobs in 2009, I was hired to be a part of the public relations team supporting the TVA Ash Recovery Project in Kingston. The good news is the cleanup has gone very well. The cleanup went so well, in fact, that our team in Roane County was downsized by quite a bit when the cleanup moved from the more Time Critical phase to the current Non-Time Critical phase.

When my position was no longer needed in Roane County, the good folks in Oak Ridge offered me a spot in their business development area inside sales. It was a sort of a lifeboat; a chance to continue to earn a living while I worked to contribute to this team and learned some new skills.

I spent the last two years right here.

I wrote resumes and project descriptions. I learned a lot about tech editing and I honed my Microsoft Office skills. On one proposal, I even served as a subject matter expert writing a section about public relations.

At the end of the day, though, I always longed for a chance to return to my chosen field of work, which I now have the opportunity to do.

I’m grateful, too, for the chance I have had to help the Jacobs team in Oak Ridge. I’ve met some nice people here and learned some helpful skills. I hope I have made some worthwhile contributions and I feel that I have.

And now, as I head out, I want to say ‘thanks’ and wish the team well.

JG

Originally posted 11/6/2012

Faithful fans

There are times when you just have to come to a realization that your team isn’t very good. I think, for Paul and I – seating among a throng of raucous Chicago Bears fans – that realization came about halfway through the 1st quarter yesterday.

Our Tennessee Titans just aren’t very good.

Really, they haven’t been good for a while. You could argue the decline started, in earnest, the day (former Titans QB) Vince Young chucked his shoulder pads into the stands at L.P. Field.

Paul and I were there that day, too.

You could make the argument that the feud between Young and former Titans Coach Jeff Fisher put an end to Fisher’s coaching run. And the end of the Fisher tenure has meant the end of an era of winning football for the Tennessee Titans.

Man, do I miss Coach Fisher!

It’s not that I dislike current Coach Mike Munchak. I just don’t feel like I know very much about him. The one thing I know is that for the last couple of years, the Titans have been lousy.

When you’re sitting in your own home stadium and the place is filled with expressive fans for the visiting team (I can’t tell you how many times I heard one of the Chicagoans shout ‘Da Bears!’ yesterday).

Really? Wasn’t that worn out about 1991 or so?

In any case, clichés aside, you have to give them their props for travelling the 469 miles from Soldier Field to L.P. Field to support their team. And, really, it’s not that surprising that Titans’ faithful would be willing to sell their tickets to Chicago fans. This season is going no where fast and memories of the last Titans playoff run – the 2008 season – are fading fast.

For a team that was routinely a playoff contender in the early part of the 2000-2010 decade, the last five years have been a spiral downward. At a certain point, you get tired of losing. At a certain point, you get tired of watching your team losing.

Holly and I drove over in September to see them get waxed by the Patriots 34-13; Paul and I did the same yesterday (final score 51-20…and really, the game wasn’t that close).

Losses aside, the two days were absolutely wonderful.

We got three hours in the car, over and back, with limited interruptions from electronics. Paul and I enjoyed a great lunch. And yesterday, Paul and I talked about some of our past Titans adventures. We also discussed his future college plans. We talked about his recent Jekyll/Hyde show and he talked about the spring musical. He told me about his friends and some of the latest details.

Holly and I had similar conversations during our September outing although she argues he got the better lunch. I promised she’d get an ‘upgrade’ next time!

So, no matter the score, anyone would have to say that both of these examples of ‘Any Given Sunday’ were big wins for the home team, our team, the Gary team.

Like that old Mastercard commercial used to say, “Priceless.”

JG  

(Source: tennessean.com)

Originally posted 11/5/2012

Be Kinder, Gentler…ok?

When the first President Bush was elected, he promised a ‘Kinder and Gentler’ America. With all due respect to #41, if he thought things were ‘Meaner and Rougher’ back then, how would he label this current political climate?

We’re just five days from Election Day 2012 and by all accounts, this is a nail-biter. If you read the left-leaning blogs and watch the ultra-liberal MSNBC, they’ll tell you their guy has it in the bag. “Not so fast,” reply the politicos on the right – on Fox News and in right-wing publications. Their guy is going to pull it out and they’ve crunched the numbers to prove it.

Throw all of that out and listen to the few neutral political scientists and see the trusted polls and they’ll tell you we’re in for a late night next Tuesday.

#cliffhanger!

In a race that is essentially50/50, I worry as much about the aftermath as I do the outcome. Remember how much hatred and venom was spewed after the 2000 election was settled?

It has become common practice in this NON ‘Kinder and Gentler’ climate to hurtle crude personal insults at your political opponent. The notion of scholarly debate has given way to cheap name calling.

Nowhere is this more evident than in chat rooms, on blogs and on your local Facebook wall. Try posting a firm political statement and see how long it takes for your friends and colleagues from across the aisle to begin casting you as a freak and an extremist. It’s really a metaphor for real world resentment…only it’s easier and more comfortable to throw stones when you’re protected by the safety of your laptop.

Recently, I teased one of my friends online about how she cancelled out my vote when we both early voted. Within a half hour, four people chided me about my choice. And, here’s the thing, by comparison, they were all good natured about it!

Politics has always been a hard-knuckle sport but at the end of the day, when one party was victorious, everyone coalesced behind the winner. Opponents shook hands and a sense of bi-partisan spirit led to good government. Now, in the modern era with the internet and 24/7 news coverage on cable (“Yelling shows,” Lisa calls it), those days are over. Gridlock reigns.

And on Tuesday, roughly half of the country is going to be disappointed when their guy loses. And the amazing thing is that, 5 days out, we just don’t know who that will be.

Here’s my call to action – to anyone who is reading; to anyone who is listening. Once the decision is final, come together; work together.

If there is anything that we’ve learned from a two-year Presidential campaign, $1B in campaign advertising, four debates and days and weeks of news coverage of Election 2012, it is that we have challenges as a nation. We have real problems that need real solutions - not slogans and sound bytes.

Those solutions won’t be easy; the decisions and debate to reach those solutions will be even harder.

We need leaders from the left and leaders from the right to work together to get this job done – from the debt and deficit to jobs and health care.

No one will hear the good ideas expressed by one side if the other side is yelling.

Be good sports when your side loses; be gracious winners when your side wins. Remember, 50/50 means the country is equally split. And you remember what President Lincoln once said about the ‘house divided.’

JG   

(Source: realclearpolitics.com)

Originally posted 11/1/2012