Dan Richardson:  

I told it one too many times to not act on it, but that's a story for another time... Workplace Work work work.. that's the thing about us 'merkans, we tie our lives so closely to work. Ah well, I can't change that just yet! I worked for the Carrier corporation for about 2 years - doing some Co-Op (some people call it "interning", I call it getting paid a lot while you're still in college!) quarters in Syracuse. It was good work - I had a great boss (and boss' boss), and I learned a heck of a lot while there. What I didn't like was the lifestyle - I was really depressed during that time. I was bouncing around a long (for the time) running relationship back in school, trying to get a life in Syracuse, while knowing I would be leaving in a matter of weeks. Not exactly a "centered" lifestyle. Plus, whatever the school's reputation, Syracuse the city is a pit! Yeah, curcify me for that, but it's a toxic waste dump - I've got pictures to prove it. From there, I worked for Carrier after graduation in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. Now, THAT was a good lifestyle. The people were friendly, the job was fun, and the environment was awesome. I really really liked Arkansas - despite the overt racism (as opposed to the covert racism I was used to back North), the people were really down-to-Earth. Had I wanted to get married after 9 months of living there, I would have stayed, and my life would be very different today. But I left. I went to Penn State to Grad School (more under Colleges), and after that, I headed West, young man. I packed up my Sanford And Son pickup truck, and drove from State College to Portland, Oregon in 3 days back in the booming mid-90's (1995). I took a Co-Op job with one of my "stretch" companies - Hewlett Packard. I fought to work there, actually. I ended up staying on (no need to finish the degree, right? Hmm... :-/), and have been there until Feb. 3rd, 2005 - coming up soon. That's 9.66666667 years, folks. That's a LONG time to work at one place - and most of it was good, too. The last 2 years were horrible, but I won't bore you with the details - let's just say that in big companies, when the times are good, they're very good. When times are tight, they're terrible. So what am I doing now? Since August, 2004, I've been working on my home, my new relationship, and trying to figure out what I'm going to do with myself for the near future. It's a lot harder than you'd thing - I've been working straight through since I was 8 years old. NOT working is really taxing for me! For now, I'm going to enjoy the mild winter here in Portland, and in January I'm going to head to Guatemala to learn Spanish. I hear the people are great, and the experience is really transforming. From there, who knows... I suppose it's a "more to come!" Military None... though I've protested a few illegal military actions by our sitting ruler, and debated a bit with my Air Force brother, but I never decided to join in the fray myself, outside of a few video games...