The Naked Green

2008.3.28 Friday

First Goals

Filed under: Personal, Work — Mr. Green @ 9.40 pm

I’m sure I must have written some goals at some point, but I can’t remember them. Electrical work has been very slow lately which led to a second installment of a long meeting. Our boss had us write a list of goals for the future and I thought I would list some of them here:

  • Three year goals (January 2010)
    • Make $50,000 a year
    • Learn Spanish
    • Be a Journeyman electrician

Edit: Work hasn’t been slow lately, I just found this post in my drafts and couldn’t think of anything that needed to be added. For some reason, I thought it would post with the original date…silly me. It was written some time during the winter of ‘06-’07

2005.8.30 Tuesday

Shocking!

Filed under: Work — Mr. Green @ 3.37 pm

Last Friday, Chris and I were working in a commercial building of a company that does a lot of the kitchen and bathroom remodels here in town. They needed some work done and decided to try us out which could lead to lots of business for us.

Not wanting to shut anything down, we were working on everything hot. It’s not difficult, you just have to be careful to only touch one thing at a time. Unfortunately, I had to re-wire two switches, which means pulling wire out of the stab holes that are made to hold the wire in. So I had my trusty Leatherman in the release hole which is also hot (apparently). I was pushing the wire out with my other hand and as my arm pivoted, my elbow hit the coffee maker. Needless to say, I got more of a jolt than caffeine from that coffee maker as it completed the circuit through my body!

Everything went black and faded back in with a hum as I stared at Chris in front of me. I laughed it off, but it was kind of scary and left my head and arms feeling weird for a while. It was my first real hit besides getting tickled, which I figure officially makes me a “Sparky”.

2005.6.16 Thursday

Hectic List

Filed under: Personal, Work — Mr. Green @ 4.43 pm

Here’s a quick update on what has been going on in my life and why I haven’t written here:

  • Started my Algebra class (May 31)
  • We bought a house and moved in the same day (June 1)!
  • Interviewed for a job with a local electrician (June 6).
  • Dropped Algebra class (June 8).
  • Started work as an electrician! (June 13).

During all that, I was trying to get settled in a new house (still ongoing), read three of the Dune books and did homework while it lasted. Needless to say, I have had very brief spurts of internet usage and I still have no internet service at home which tends to put a damper on things.

Life is busy and life is good! More later, if I have time….

2005.4.20 Wednesday

Life Trickles By

Filed under: News, Personal, Work — Mr. Green @ 9.11 pm

It’s when life gets busy and full of things to talk about that the blogging slows to a trickle. It’s sad that the best amateur writing is about the most boring things because there’s so much time to embellish. You have to have some pretty good material to make it interesting without embellishment and even that takes talent and time. I digress.

It’s official! Green Light Works, my business, now has a website and I’ve been littering the town with business cards. This is the time to try making money out of a hobby I love: web design. You laugh? Well, it’s also a time to help my Dad out with his flooring business. Add in a math class to meet the criteria for an electrician apprenticeship and you start to get the idea: I’m busy and my mind is working faster than it likes to. Emotions are…well…emotional.

I’m not at all saying that my life is somehow unbearable or “too busy”. Others work hard for that title and I have no intention of taking it away. There is a lot going on in my life for me personally, though. More than the volume, it’s the alien feeling I get doing such crazy things. I mean, living the “American Dream”…who would have thought?

2005.3.24 Thursday

Goals or Ghouls

Filed under: Personal, Work — Mr. Green @ 6.16 pm

Goals or Ghouls? This whole post may be a hodge podge of points on a flat landscape due to this very question. Where do I stand? Am I just reacting or is there some sort of goal? I have an idea where I want to end up in the end and what I’m going to do next, but the path seems non-existent. It may be a fear of commitment or some other neurotic aversion, but I think the question deals with more than the spelling.

Starting a “web design” business has set me to questioning myself and what I’m doing. I love doing web design and believe I’m good enough to start charging money to do it. I know it’s very difficult to make a living at it, though, which leaves me in this sort of temporary state. How can I define the path and where am I headed? I design websites and install hardwood floors for Pete’s sake!

That’s where the whole “electrician thing” comes in. It makes sense: A trade that I can make a decent wage while I learn how to do it and then provide for my family…happily ever after. It’s not that I’m against the idea, either…it’s a good one. I go into it hoping that some day I can bring it around to computers, the internet, design…the things I love to do (for now). No problem. So what’s the big deal?

I’m just thinking at the expense of anyone who reads this blog, that’s all. I was in a particularly down mood about the whole thing this morning and just now, I read an article: My Web Professional Career. I feel like he does: Not confident, fearing failure, and lacking direction. It got me thinking and I decided to write…about goals. Where are they? Well, what the heck, here’s a few:

  • I want my business and any work I do to have kingdom impact (God’s kingdom). That’s too vague though, isn’t it?
  • I plan to be able to be the sole provider for my family within…let’s say two years (from next year).
  • I will try to not delete these goals

I can’t even write them seriously! I suppose I can keep the last one, but why is it that I have such an aversion to being tied down? I think you could say I have effectively stepped out on the line quitting my job and starting a business. There’s really no risk, though. It’s more risky to commit to something…for the long haul.

That’s it for now. No closer to a solution, but I have a soup on the stove that needs stirring.

2005.3.23 Wednesday

Update from Code-Head

Filed under: Personal, Web Design, Work — Mr. Green @ 9.21 am

Only in Colorado does a geek ride his mountain bike up and down hills to get to the library only to pick up books on PHP & MySQL, take a drink from his Nalgene, ride back and actually enjoy it.

Soon, I hope to be designing database driven websites that are so simple to maintain, even the client can do it. Why I want to work myself out of a job, I don’t know. My new found knowledge will probably be used on my business website first. There is some serious learning to do before then, though, which explains why I picked up MySQL/PHP Database Applications. I hope to spend enough time with my head in the book to make some headway progress before I get busy again with two prospective jobs in April as well as some flooring.

Side note: Thanks to Simon Wheeler, creator of phpdev, who made it a breeze to get PHP MySQL and Apache running on my Win machine in minutes! I’m excited to get going and the last thing I need is to spend hours trying to configure programs.

2005.3.9 Wednesday

Floor One

Filed under: Work — Mr. Green @ 9.46 pm

Work has taken on a new meaning as I’ve been pounding on a floor (very carefully) since Monday. My desktop calendar still says it’s Sunday, but my knees, hands, back…actually, my whole body tells me otherwise. We’ve been putting in long hours to get a small town home with enormously large floors covered in prefinished oak. Tom decided it would be good to throw in a border for free (called advertising or something…something like “my head hurts”).

It’s all the debut performance of a well honed (we will be by the end of this job) new company on the block: Hardwood Cafe. Tom is the owner and has sentenced the two of us (my brother and I) to appear each morning as far away from 8.00 possible. We’re enjoying our duties, but the help gets a bit out of line (I’ll let Stephen tell you about it). Humor aside, it’s great to be working with my hands and I appreciate the job.

As hinted in previous posts, I am also the proud papa of hardwoodcafe.com as my first commercial project. I hope to add more clients to the list of “The Portfolio of Mr. Green” on my own company’s website (yet to be built (yes both)). An exciting new leaf is turned and it must weigh about as much as a box of hardwood flooring because I’m beat.

Jamie also has some work excitement, but that’s a story for another blog.

Now it’s time to finish up the laundry.

2005.2.28 Monday

Training Day

Filed under: Work — Mr. Green @ 7.24 pm

My last day “on the job” was last Friday, but I spent the day today training my boss and a lesser manager. I will also spend tomorrow training another manager. Apparently, it will take three well paid managers to do my job for half days while they search for a suitable replacement. Is that an ego boost or what?

The position was great in that I had plenty of time to myself in a quiet room to play on a computer. I “owned” the position and could was very much in control of how things happened. It was also very detailed work.

I’m glad to be moving on, though. It’s hard to do something day in and day out that is losing your company money. It was a dead end job and I could feel it. The satisfaction was just not there. Working tomorrow will be good because it means I get medical insurance for March, but I need to get on to my web design work. The first phase deadline is this Friday…that’s more exciting.

2005.2.21 Monday

Homemaking Practice

Filed under: Personal, Work — Mr. Green @ 10.19 am

I’m home from work today for President’s Day, but instead of vacationing, I decided to do some other work. It’s in preparation of my last day at my job this Friday when I’ll be free from the “nine to five” and will have to cajole myself into the self-discipline of the foreboding “freelance” work.

I’m working today on our church website as well as cooking, cleaning, and preparing for guests tonight. Of course I have to do some obligatory “work time” blogging as well.

2005.2.13 Sunday

Two Weeks

Filed under: Personal, Work — Mr. Green @ 10.41 pm

I sent an email to my boss on Friday with that magical phrase: “Two weeks notice”. I believe it’s time to move on and I’m looking forward to what God has in store for me.

There will be plenty to do as I have my first paying client for web design and others on the horizon. I will be working with my Dad who just started a flooring business and of course, snow plowing when it comes. I’m also looking forward to taking some of the load off of Jamie with house work (can you believe it?).

This move will give me much more flexibility to explore different venues of work and education. I will remain open to missions work in the near future and be able to work toward that. I’m excited about the change! Hey, change is good (if it’s smart change). :)

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