Outside my bubble

As I sit here on my plane headed back to Alabama, I'm starring out the window at a world much larger than the protective bubble of the Shoals area I have always lived in. I'm leaving what could have been the most educational and eye-opening vacations I have ever been on.
This is the first vacation that has not been to a beach type location. I actually took time to wonder around Washington DC and marvel at the history of our nation. I have seen all of these monuments online, tv and in history classes.. But I never had the appreciation for the beauty and scale until now. Going to the most powerful city in the world leaves me wanting more. I walked the steps where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I have a dream" speech. I saw the Capital and the White House and caught myself wondering who was in office and what legislation was being discussed. I toured the museums that the Smithsonian so carefully crafted to educate us about our past. I feel a little smarter heading home.
Also on this trip I spent a lot of time observing people from different backgrounds. It was easy to spot the tourist like myself, we had on something other than black or grey. The city seems to be a mix of young optimistic people ready to take command of their destiny.
Of all the the adventures this week, some rank near the top.. Truckeroo was great. 25 food trucks gathered at the Nationals stadium along with bands and and pretty much had a block party with good ranging from lobster rolls, mac n cheese, lamb gyros to cupcakes. Also up there was taking moonshine shots in a bar in DC with good fiends. I promise I walked more in the past 4 days than I have in a year.
To be honest, I'm not sure what is in my future, but I would love the opportunity to move to a great city like DC. I do however know that life is too short to not like what you do. So don't be surprised if I'm up and gone soon from the Shoals.
I can not close this out without saying a huge thank you to Brian and Amy. Without you this trip would not have been possible. The best tour guides in town and for sure the most hospitable. So Thanks again. My faith in the US has been renewed and I hope not to take for granted this great nation we live in.

Do Your Dots Connect?

"You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle." - Steve Jobs

This is an excert from a commencment speech delived by Steve Jobs to Stanford University. These lines made me question my life in its entirety. Am I doing what I love? Am I passionate about what I do? Did I settle? Unfortunely, I think that the answers are not answers that I want to hear. After 29 years I am still searching for that one career path that will drive me to be great.

I feel as if I have taken the easy route. Now, let me explain that. Nothing about my job is easy. I may work 80 hours a week spread out between nights, evenings and weekends. I just feel that taking a job just because the pay is good and not taking a risk to see what else is out there is the easy way. Sometimes I think that I am just floating by wasting the best years of my life just beacuse I am affraid of what will happen if I let go and take a chance. For those of you lucky enough to have found that one passion..... I envy you. Growing up I always wanted to teach. I felt that if I could make a change in someones life, that would mean that I was successful. Right now the only change I make in someones life is the beer can they drink from.

I guess what I am rambling about is that I am still looking for my way to do great work. The drive to not settle is still there.... just the dots are not connecting. Maybe in the next few months or years I can look back and see that the dots did connect in a round about way.

Social Media Challenged

Most anyone who understands the concept of blogs, or that can even navigate themselves to this posting for that much, tend to pretty much have a basic if not advanced knowledge of most social media sites. However, there are those out there that stumble through and break every basic rule of public politeness and just plain common sense. This post is dedicated to the social network challenged out there.

For starters, let's take on some advice for Facebook with this post.

1. No one "Pokes" people.

2. FB is not an online dating community, do not send messages to random girls/guys you have never met. This is creepy.

3. Just because you are family does not mean people want you involved in their everyday life.

4. If you refer to the home page as your profile page, stop reading now and delete your account.

5. Just because it is posted on FB does not mean it's true,

6. This is very important.... YOU DO NOT HAVE 894 friends. Most of the people just want to keep tabs on you to see how they measure up.

7. FB is FREE, stop re-posting that stupid post about turning your name blue and it will be free. your name is already blue if you have not noticed.

8. If you "like" a picture of a girl in a swimsuit.... you will most likely be defriended.. so do not do it.

9. Just because you are in a picture does not mean you need to be tagged.

10. Anyone can stalk you.... even of you think you are private.

11. Girls, turning sideways in pictures with your hand on your hip and elbow out does not make you look skinny... just makes you look uncomfortable and unnatural pose.

12. Bosses actually do look you up before you get hired.. I know, I have done this.

13. Guys, even if you look like Brad Pitt in Fight Club, if you have your shirt off in your main profile picture, its a good chance you think more of yourself than most other people think of you.

14. If your girlfriend/boyfriend deletes the account while you are dating for privacy concerns, it's a good indication that he/she is cheating. This too I know from experience.

15. Randomly change you location to another part of the world to see how many people that you have not talked to in years will comment on it. Then immediately delete them because they are paying way to close attention to you.

16. Do not message someone just because they are now "single"

17. Stop sending mass messages. No one likes them even if it is because your son is in the band and need you to come to a yard sale to raise money for a new woodwind.

18. FB is not a place to have conversations when a phone would work.

19. People are mean, FB is more powerful than you realize. Anything that you do not want in public, do not post.

20. MOST IMPORTANT....... DO NOT LIVE YOUR LIFE VIA FACEBOOK. As one of my friends posted not to long ago... less social media, more living. (Thanks Jordyn!)

Hope you enjoyed this, feel free to add to my list.

Peace out.

Cars and dreams

Funny how we attach emotions and memories to objects. For me... nothing I own holds more memories that my car. I remember my first car, a 1974 MG midget. This $500 go kart was a rusty colored two seater convertible. No ac, cd player, power steering or anything power for that matter. The top would leak and sometimes the windshield wipers wouldn't work. Now to most of you this car sounds like something that should be been junked, but to me... it was beautiful.

I remember the proud look on my dads face when I got my car, I also remember the sheer look of panic on my moms. This car represents so much of my life at this point in time. This car was what held most of my memories of high school dating, parties and driving to football games. I was carefree, laid back and had the potential to go anywhere the road could take me.

As I got older I sold my beloved MG because I thought that I wanted bigger and better. I moved up to a Explorer. This was also a very nice vehicle. It also cost more. This meant a job and the responsibility of making payments and up keep. I spent most of my money from my summer job to install speakers and a cd player. This is the car that would take me to college.

After a few months of driving this perfectly good Explorer, my high school girlfriend and I split up after 7 years. I felt the need to cut ties with anything to do with her. I sold my Explorer and bought a blue Jeep Wrangler, packed my bags and headed south to Orlando with my best friend Kyle. Now this jeep had no air and the top leaked... again. All that being said, it was just what I wanted. I still think about trips to Daytona and Cocoa Beach and long road trips. This Jeep was a sign of a slight rebellion in my life. I was wanting to show my parents that I was an adult and could live on my own and have the time of my life doing it. I did.... for a short while. Then after being irresponsible with my job, I lost it and had to turn the blue jeep around and head north.

I decided it was time to get my head on straight and head back to college. I sold the jeep and got another Explorer. Nothing fancy, two door white explorer. I had this car for about 6 months and then thought I needed a Land Rover. After selling the Explorer, I got a blue Land Rover Discovery. Now this gas guzzling tank is what I drove most of my college career. It managed to survive extended spring break trips, off road hill climbing and the countless DD trips to drive home intoxicated college coeds and fraternity bothers. Some of my favorite memories are tied to that car. The only problem is that I am a guy that tends to loose interest and seeks change. I decided to trade the Land Rover for an Audi.

This Audi was sleek, silver and had a turbo on it. I thought I was driving a luxury race car. I was working as a warehouse manager at the time and thought that this car was a symbol that I was moving up. No one knew that this car was a ticking time bomb that would set me back finicallyfor years. With high end cars comes high end maintenance. I had decided to move back to Orlando and had an interview. Instead of flying I was going to drive to save some money. All was good until I hit Gainsville, FL. The engine was blown. This is a $5000 problem. I decided to trade it in.

Thanks to a fraternity brother if mine, I was able to trade it in for a brand new 2007 Ford Focus. Yes... exactly what I wanted after driving Land Rovers and Audi's. Needless to say I was happy to have it. This car would eventually lead a long and eventful life. I spent many nights on the road to Tunica, Starkville, and Auburn during this cars tenure. I was laid off, heart broken and broke... but the simple Focus was always there and dependable. It was not the most beautiful car on the road but it never let me down. Always started and never failed to get me to my destination.

When my relationship failed and I got a new job, I started feeling the need to upgrade my car and shed the memories of the Focus. I purchased a new to me Mini Cooper S JCW edition. This car is a supercharged, six speed race car that is just what I wanted. Six months into this journey, I have a few memories and a few problems. Already I have had a major engine malfunction. Pumping money into high end cars seems to be a pattern for me.

I tend to believe that my car is a symbol of where I am in my life. Kind of a measuring stick. The problem with that is that I just realized I have been looking at it all wrong. The two happiest times in my life are when I had the two cheapest cars. When I had my MG I was full of optimism and hope and when I had the Focus I had the support of my friends and was grounded and dependable.

It's not the flashy cars in life that make us who we are. It is how we handle adversity and how we make the others around us feel. I just hate that it took me 29 years to understand that.

So.... if your in that point in your life and you are in that Focus.... keep driving it until the wheels fall off. The BMW across the street only brings more problems. Take time to appreciate the dependability you already have.

365 till 30

I sit here at my computer with a Miller Lite in hand thinking back over the last 29 years. For some reason every year gets longer and harder as life moves forward. A lot has changed from 25 till now. Friends have come and gone, jobs have changed, good times were had and some rough times have shown up as well. At times I feel unaccomplished while other times I feel blessed. I try not to compare my life to anyone else because then it becomes a matter of measuring up. That is not a game that I want to get caught up in.

Looking back at 28, it was a good year for me. I said goodbye to my job and friends at Billy Reid to pursue a career opportunity at Wise Alloys. This transition has not been easy. Getting acclimated to shift work and losing contact with my friends due to my work schedule has been a little stressful. All of that is just a sacrifice that is now giving me the financial freedom to do things I have never been able to. For starters, I am thinking ahead and planning for life after 50. Putting money in a 401k used to seem like something that only my Dad did... now I realize that I am not a teenager anymore and need be proactive about my future. I am also in the process of booking a trip to Hawaii... this could never have been possible without taking that leap and changing jobs.

Over the years as my life has changed and been somewhat chaotic, my family has always been my constant. I am very proud of all of them and my niece and nephews are pretty much the stars of the family. It's kind of weird to have a twin brother that has been married 7 years and has a 2 year old daughter, and here I sit single and pretty much free to do as I please. If you went back to high school and asked I am positive that everyone would have guessed these roles would have been reversed. My Mom has had a tough time here lately with her health but for the most part the issues seem to be medicine related and are working themselves out. Then there is my Dad.... I now understand some of the sacrifices he has made of the years working at Wise to provide for us and put me through college. Working at Wise has completely changed our relationship. It was never bad, but now it seems that we are more like friends than just father, son. I can relate to the stress, lack of sleep and crazy shifts he has worked for the past 40

+ years.

As for the next 365 days.. who knows what will be in store for my last year in my twenties. I look forward to what is coming and hope for the best. I will try to make the best of 29 and hopefully I am blessed with 29 more. So here is a big Happy Birthday to my twin brother Ben and to myself.

All about nothing

Welcome to my very unprofessional, uneducated blog. A little background about me. I am a home grown product of small town Tuscumbia, AL. I spent pretty much the majority of my life in school, well, at least enrolled in one. I attended The University of North Alabama for the better part of a decade and bounced around from job to job. I have worked in some great industries such as satellite TV, banking, and fashion. I currently work for an aluminum company as a supervisor and basically melt used beverage containers into usable metal that you now drink your cold beers and sodas from. People watching and the observance of the obscure situations in everyday life are a couple of my hobbies. Basically, I am just your everyday no-one trying to share some of my opinions with you out there in the universe.

I have never been a person that could articulate my thoughts out loud. It seems like my brain is faster than my tongue and everything I say turns into a collision of Forrest Gump and Charlie Brown's teacher arguing about tongue twisters. Expression though writing is something that I have always had a gift for. Could be why English comp classes were always an easy A. I never really thought about public writing until one day my Uncle (Sam) read some postings I had written on his blog and suggested that I try to write a little and see where it goes. So... here I am.

To be honest I don't know where this blog will go or what I will focus on. One day I might be talking about some gadget that I bought or I might be talking about social issues that most people shy away from, or I might even just get on here and unload my feelings about the day. Who knows. One thing I can say is that I will try to keep things interesting and hopefully someone can find this funny, ridiculous, offending, beautiful, outlandish or crazy.

In the end my goal is to just enlighten your mind with some thoughts from a simple southern dude. Enjoy, or not... but I prefer that you do.

Will