Narf!

When I was in high school I would come home from school every day and turn on cartoons. I watched Animaniacs religiously. They were, along with their spin-off Pinky and the Brain, my favorite television. It was a sad day for me when those shows were taken off the air and replaced with the unimpressive stuff that is on now.

I recently acquired the first set of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection, which was something I have eyed for quite some time now. Last week I was at Target looking for a way to use a gift card that I had and I saw it there: Animaniacs Volume 1. I had to buy it. There were just no two ways about it. I have since been enjoying watching the first episodes, remembering the delight of my youth. It has been fun.

In other news, I have been very busy. My weekend was packed full of stuff, but it was fun and fulfilling. I went on a hay ride at the pastor's house and then played pool for a couple of hours after that. We (my roommate and another friend and I) had a surprise birthday party for a lady from church and put on a nice dinner for her. Last night we went to dinner, which was also quite nice. Work has been going well and I should be on my own and working evenings starting next week. I am sure other things have happened since my last update, but I really can't think of much!

My winter coat

Yesterday I wore my winter coat for the first time this season. The temperature when I left for work was just barely above freezing. The northern part of the state got hit with the same storm that went through the Midwest, but we had beautiful white, puffy clouds in our skies. All we got was lower temperatures. The almanac says that we are supposed to have a colder than normal winter with average snowfall and an early and warm spring. It will be interesting to see whether or not the almanac is correct.

I was glad that I wore the coat because it was rather chilly out and we ended up walking from the building I work in up the street to one of our other buildings where the cable system "headend" is. The headend is the starting and ending point for the Time Warner Cable signals, so it is where the television information is processed from the satellites and sent out to customers and where internet and phone signals are received and sent out as well. It was cool to see that. The walk was short, but long enough to make me appreciate warm clothing. I resist pulling out the coat for as long as possible, but the time had come. I think I probably won't need it much more for the next few weeks, but it's there for when I do.

We also got to do some hands-on training on how to properly set up cable equipment. I worked with two other ladies and we set up an HD DVR (this is a high definition cable box with a digital video recorder build into it), since the HDTVs have the most complicated set of cables of any. We set up a regular TV to work with digital cable and a DVD player, too. It's just one more set of cords to plug in. We then set up a digital phone modem and a high speed internet modem, both of which worked. It was a fun day, over all.

There is a phenomenon with cable television that happens twice every year. It is called a sun outage. Most satellites are in orbit around the earth's equator, so when the equinox comes around in spring and fall, the satellite passes directly between the sun and the earth. That causes problems with the satellite signal. It will cause bad pictures on cable channels for about 5-15 minutes per channel for about two days depending on the exact location of the channel's satellite. It sounds like something out of a science fiction novel, but it is completely true. The things you learn when you work for the cable company...

As an American I just can't...

I was perusing some of my classical music and was struck by one name: Arcangelo Corelli. He was a Baroque composer, which means I should probably pay more attention to him since I particularly enjoy Baroque music. While I am listening to and enjoying a piece that he wrote, it's not the music that stands out. His name is Arcangelo. How cool is that? His parents named him Archangel. I couldn't do it as an American. It would be a little bit too weird, but more power to the Italians for that one!

In other news, work continues to go well for me. Training is going way too slowly for me, so I spent part of my abundant down time making worksheets to be used in future training classes. They were unsolicited, but I have some ideas for how the class could be conducted differently in the future (we are the guinea pigs, since they haven't taught the class in this way before) to help people understand the concepts better. They younger ones among us have caught on quickly, but some of the older trainees are taking a little bit longer and I was observing where the difficulties seem to lie for them and made the worksheets with those difficulties in mind. The trainer is going to use them later on in the training and use them from the beginning with the next group, so that's exciting. She wants a second person to do the stuff she's doing, and I think she would like to have me fill that role. I would love it, but I can't get my hopes up at this time. Perhaps those doors will open in due time.

How Can I Keep From Singing

How Can I Keep From Singing
From See the Morning, Chris Tomlin

There is an endless song
Echoes in my soul
I hear the music ring

And though the storms may come
I am holding on
To the rock I cling

How can I keep from singing Your praise
How can I ever say enough
How amazing is Your love
How can I keep from shouting Your name
I know I am loved by the King
And it makes my heart want to sing

I will lift my eyes
In the darkest night
For I know my Savior lives

And I will walk with You
Knowing You'll see me through
And sing the songs You give

I can sing the troubled times
Sing when I win
I can sing when I lose my step
And fall down again
I can sing 'cause You pick me up
Sing 'cause You're there
I can sing 'cause You hear me, Lord
When I call to You in prayer
I can sing with my last breath
Sing for I know
That I'll sing with the angels
And the saints around the throne

Am I ashamed?

Romans 1:16 ~ For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

The gospel is the power of God - the power that made the universe, the power that raised men from the dead, the power that calmed the storm with a word, the power that raised up men and nations and destroyed others, the power that brought me into being - that's the most powerful power that ever has or ever will exist. This is not something of which I ought to be ashamed. Am I? I think there have been times when I have been very much ashamed. Now it seems that I cannot speak to someone for very long without making it known that I am a Christian. Do I tell them the gospel? Not yet. I should, which tells me that in some ways I am still ashamed of it. I will claim it but not explain it. I need to tell what I believe, not just that I believe. I am being selfish with God's power when He would like to use it liberally to save more lost souls.

Time is flying by!

They say that time flies when you're having fun. I must be having fun these days because time is flying by! Was it really Tuesday when I last posted? It has been a long absence, but it certainly didn't feel like it. Wednesday I sat with someone on the phones for most of the day and had a little bit of classroom training. We had a worship night at church that evening for the the youth and the college and career groups. Thursday I listened to phone calls all day. Thursday evening I went to dinner and a movie with my roommate and one of our friends from church. We saw The Devil Wears Prada at the "Cinema Saver" (the cheap theater that only charges $3). Yesterday I rode with a tech all day and observed what he did to fix people's problems and install new service. At one house there were two girls, a 4th grader and a 3 year old. Both children were anything but shy with me. The older one is homeschooled and thought it was the coolest thing that I was homeschooled when I was her age. She then drew pictures for me of a ballerina and an octopus after I asked her if she colored the VeggieTales stuff that was up on the refrigerator. That was cute. Meanwhile the younger one was stuffing her little plush panda in my back pocket. VeggieTales and homeschool? My kind of place! The day was interesting overall and I did enjoy myself. Last night Nicole and I were looking at clothes online and decided that we needed to go shopping, so that was on the agenda for the day. I made breakfast after I had been up for a while and then cleaned the kitchen and vacuumed the common rooms of the apartment. In the middle of cleaning my mom called to go through the clothes I left back in California piece by piece so I could tell her what to send me and what to get rid of. I own a lot of clothes. So I bought more today. I also returned all of my library books to the university library. Some were coming due and I just decided that they would all go back regardless of due dates. I would like to leave graduate school far behind me!

The heat came on in our apartment last night. It was near freezing overnight. The trees are really starting to change color and it looks like winter will be here soon. If it passes as quickly as summer did, spring will be here in no time at all!

Earmarked?

Yesterday it became quite obvious that the young lady who is in charge of training the call center people trusts my ability to handle technical tasks. That's nice. I was also called out specifically to listen to the higher level tech support group's calls while everyone else sat with people who are doing the same thing that they will be doing. I think I've made an impression and that I have been earmarked for performing a cut above the average person hired into my position. That feels nice! I also offered my services to help with the online training course review process. I love to proof read and edit things and have some experience with developing (and teaching) course material for Microsoft Office training. They have some demand for Office training, so they may have me help with that. I would enjoy that a lot and it would probably be a good thing for me to do since I love the idea of getting into training at some point in the future. I think that I managed to make an impression in just a few days at work, and that feels good. It looks like a place where I could make a career until God calls me elsewhere.

I am attempting to adjust to my new schedule, so I am a little bit tired. My body clock is slowly aligning itself with my new hours, which is good. As soon as my laundry is done tonight I will be going to bed! My sleepy state is partly responsible for my lack of blogging of late, as is my generally busier schedule. I must say that I greatly prefer working full time to being in school full time. It just works better for me and I feel so much more productive and responsible.

I went to an event at church last night. It was a tea for the ladies with a special guest speaker as part of my church's month of missions. It was very encouraging and challenging. It reminded me of my commitment to going wherever God wants me whenever He wants me to go to do whatever He wants me to do. Sometimes I need a reminder. Right now I am certain that this is where I am supposed to be, although the what part is still a little bit hazy. I think He has good works prepared in advance for me to do that I have not yet begun.

A new name

I have to come up with a new name to use at work. I can't use my given name because there are already people with my first name (both Angela and Angie) and my middle name (one of those names that really cannot be shortened), so I must find something else to go by on the phone with customers. I'm thinking I might use Lizzie. I use that name online as it is...