A Dream Come True

Hello my dear blog...looks like you've done some changes since last I checked in LOL! I did say I would keep in touch more often, but this time, I have a pretty legitimate reason for not checking in. For the last few months, despite changes on the job (mostly for the worst rather than for the better), I have been working hard to save up money for one of my biggest accomplishments yet: storm chasing for class credit!! Yes...I was actually able to enroll in a class for a grade as well as get to do something I could only dream of since I was in the fourth grade! Even now, just three days into the trip, I'm still amazed that I'm even here to begin with. Opportunities like this one don't come around very often, and when it does come and you're ready, you should do it if you're blessed and able. Right now, I'm more blessed than anything because Lord knows how much my heart is into the weather. I left on June 8th to come to Kansas City where we started off, and so far so good! I was very nervous about flying on my own, but surprisingly, I didn't get lost or anything! The plane ride was very smooth and beautiful. I was also nervous because when I made it to Kansas City, I realized that not only was I the ONLY female, but I was the ONLY African-American person out of the whole group! Needless to say I fit right in, and being the only girl has its privileges. I know my stuff quite well which is always a plus, and I was able to socialize with the guys and fit right into the conversations, especially when it came to the NBA Finals and football LOL! I was also close enough to enjoy a wonderful dinner and hang out evening with my cousin Ashley. I so wish I was able to hang out longer, but it was time for us to get on the road the next day, so playtime was over for now. Yesterday, we started out heading towards Beatrice, Nebraska which is in the southeastern portion of Nebraska. This was super exciting being that I've never come to Nebraska to hang out. I did pass through it when we went to Ashley's college graduation, but we never stayed put in Nebraska. I saw everything from dairy farms to the Flood Plains from I-29 as we traveled. By 2:15, we had arrived in Beatrice with the targeted cold front 60 miles to our west, and while we waited for the storms to come to us, the guys and I were throwing a frisbee and passing a football while the breeze cooled us off some, even though it was hot. We spent about an hour at Robertson Park there before it was time to get moving again. Before leaving, our professor checked the data again and realized that all of the instability (the fuel needed for the storms) had moved to a new area, so it was on the road again for us going north. We ended up going south towards a cell 35 miles away from our location which produced some amazing cumulus clouds, placing us in Maryville, KS. We enjoyed the view of the updraft going into the storm as well as an amazing shelf cloud moving along with the front. It was nothing I had seen before and I just had to get a shot of it! Off to the west near Wichita, we were able to see another major storm explode, producing one of the best lightning displays I'd seen in a while! On our way to Salina, we were even able to see Kansas State University which was a very nice campus. We didn't get in until after 11 and had to be back up and ready by 8 so you know we barely slept. Today, our target area was Abeline, Texas, but it was so hard to stay awake only sleeping FOUR hours! The group went due south into Texas, and on the way there, I was able to see Oklahoma State, the outskirts of Hesston, Kansas which is one of my favorite places due to the tornado that struck in March of 1991, the Kansas Turnpike (also famous for a tornado event in which a storm chaser, his kids, and colleague survived under an overpass), and even a wind plant coming into Texas! We covered over 700 miles today which made it difficult at times to keep our eyes open, but we were in for a show. We started seeing the clouds build around Stamford, and the closer we came into Coleman, TX, the darker the skies were. It even had a bit of a greenish tint to the skies as we continued down the highway. I saw tons of CG (cloud-to-ground) lightning, felt phenominal winds, and saw my first ever rain foot, the section of the storm where the precipitation was pushed out and rolls up at the surface like a foot. That was some pretty amazing stuff!! The ride back was the best not only because of the beautiful sunset, but we were able to see another storm pop up off to the northeast that had an overshooting top, something I don't really get to see much at home. Since Subway has been our main courses the last few days, two of the guys and I decided to go across the street and eat dinner at The Pizza Place (yes, the place is called "The Pizza Place" hahahaha! It was pretty tasty, too! For now, I'm about to touch up on some of my homework to turn in by Friday since I know we'll be on the road a lot and can't really read and study in the car, but I just wanted to reflect on the day. Even though we haven't seen any tornadoes just yet, the storms I have seen were amazing! There's really no other way for me to put it besides amazing. Just seeing the sights of the Plains as well as seeing Mother Nature at her worst...ah one can only dream. The only difference right now is that the dream has become a reality for me. I always saw myself going out there and chasing storms and hoping to gain a better perspective from them, and now it's happening...it's FINALLY happening! I couldn't be more thankful and proud of myself for never giving up on my dreams no matter how difficult things in life may be. ALWAYS look to God first, and HE will be the one to guide you through anything and everything. Without Him, none of what I'm doing would be possible, and I couldn't be more happier doing something that I love genuinely. Hopefully one day I'll get to go out there again, but for now, I'm going to keep living in the moment and enjoy the beauty of nature as well as visiting new places. Take care, and I hope to check back with you very soon while I'm out in the field :-D!

New Year, New Adventure, Big Changes

Hello my dear blog and Happy New Year!! Now I know I was supposed to be writing in this since last summer, but life happened and I have been a very busy person as of late! I was able to successfully finish my first full semester back in school (the summer didn't work out too good with my work schedule, so I had to start from scratch in the fall), and needless to say, it wasn't all that bad! In terms of an education, nothing makes me happier than learning more stuff about the weather :-D! Now...I wasn't able to get the grades that I wanted thanks to the split shift I had to work for the last six months, but I guarantee you that this semester coming, I am going to make a complete 360 and make sure I stay on top of things. Besides, with a full semester learning about severe weather, how can I possibly fall off?! In other news regarding school, I will actually be taking a storm chasing course. That's right...I'll be going out into the field for a grade and a thrilling experience! Since we are still in the dark about the dates, I'm looking at going in June for an entire week. I simply cannot wait to be a part of something that I have only dreamt of as a child with an incredible group of people from Mississippi State. I wish I could just pack and go now, but of course, it isn't severe weather season just yet LOL!

The year 2011 had its ups and downs for me from starting a new job, dealing with the passing of someone I admired dearly (even if I never even knew him personally) to being able to share my mother's retirement with my family that also spent the holidays at home. Time and life is short and limited, and it's imporant to spend more time with the ones you love because as the saying goes, "Tomorrow is not guaranteed." I was also able to experience history at the Saints game seeing my favorite player break the all-time passing record. I was absolutely floored with the energy in the building from the start of the game up to when he broke that record. I was so happy I started crying as I tried to catch everything on camera LOL! That was one of the best Christmas presents to ever have besides my family being home for the holidays :-). Work is still going as usual, but of course, things are getting even more complicated. We're basically not even a single department anymore because we have to help everyone else without having our own back up. However, I am proud to say that I turned everything around in six months for the shift bid and ended up going from 109th to 19th! That's right...I worked hard, tried to sell as much as I could and provide excellent customer service within that time, and I actually made it to a top 20 spot! While I still have to work evenings, I'm just glad my weekends will be free again...until June anyway. I can also take a three-day weekend if I ever want or need one.

School starts in five days, and I plan to get a head start on reading for my Severe Weather class since that was the only book I had to purchase for the semester. I feel that 2012 is going to be an even better year for me and everyone around me if they truly believe it. My main goals for the year are to excel in my classes, possibly get promoted within the company, stress even less and love more, and get back into shape because I slacked off big time during the holidays with all the food and desserts we had. I'm not chunky or anything, but I am out of shape so when it warms up, it's back to jogging and hopefully playing basketball somewhere. I've had some rough moments since the near year started, but those moments are what's going to make me rise above the rest. With that being said, here's to a new year with hope and success and hopefully writing more in this blog when I'm not pounded with work LOL! Again, Happy New Year and God Bless!!

Decisions, Decisions...

Hello dear blog! Once again, I have delayed writing in you, but tonight is one of those nights where I have a LOT on my brain. Due to some recent events, I haven't had the best of evenings. It really has the wheels in my head turning. Remember how I was saying how great and awesome that my job at Cox was? Well...that actually turned out to be a big lie. I was constantly being told that I was doing "exceptionally well" and then some, but that was before the shift bid. Little did I know, I was all the way to the bottom of the list...literally. I was placed at 109th out of 111 representatives total. That already hurt my heart because of the fact I have gone out of my way above and beyond for the company, the customers, and myself and I still end up pretty much at rock bottom. With some inspiration from my peers, I tried not to feel too bad about being ranked so low. All of that changed in a heartbeat Wednesday evening.

During my phone calls, I heard nothing but people cheering and saying, "Thank you Jesus!" after the schedules were released. I was quite hesistant about even looking at mine because the whole time I stayed positive about having decent hours for when I make a return to school for the fall. However, that was too good to be true as well. I went to schedule some time off (because I needed it with all of the work and overwork I have been doing), and much to my surprise, I was stuck with a split shift of ALL things. Split shifts can be great...for people who live five minutes away, but for this person, all it was was a big slap in the face. My heart sank into my stomach when I had to see that the first part of my day would be spent working from 8-12, having a whole six hours in between and living where the traffic is horrible and having to fight traffic to get back to work on time, and then closing from 6-10, most of the time getting out at 10 is not guaranteed at all. I mean I knew I was too low to get anything superb, but I live 20 minutes away from my job, and after six hours of a break, who REALLY wants to come back? I had to deal with everyone else celebrating and being joyful while I sat at my desk, eyes full and getting choked up every time I thought about my schedule or even spoke about it. Eventually, I just did not want to talk anymore period about it. Even now as I write this blog, my eyes are getting misty.

Some say I was too hard on myself, others say they told me so, but no one ever commended me on how I am really doing. As a hard working person, I try not to let my guard down, even on my off days. I show up promptly at work every single day I am on the schedule, I never have a nasty attitude with people no matter how pissed off they may be, and I always reach my numbers. I just do not understand why I ended up at the bottom at all...but wait...I do. It is because I did not have enough sales. Keyword there: sales. I went into Cox with hopes for a job in Technical Support, not SALES. I never was nor will I ever be a top salesman or have my name on an e-mail every other day of the week trying to sell extra stuff people can't really afford. In all honesty, if they tell us that everything is "performance based" when it comes down to those schedules, then I know in my heart I should have been in the top 60 at least, not way at 109. My scorecards are always very good, I STAY working overtime when I don't have to come in on my days off at all, and just because I do not get perfect scores on my QA (Quality Assurance)or sell a whole bunch of items, that doesn't mean I should not qualify to have a schedule that will benefit me and my future. I was told to talk to my supervisor, but I don't even think it will be necessary. Besides, knowing how a lot of those people are in the business, nobody wants to have a shift where they're off six hours between shifts or closing. That's just how it is.

With school on my mind and a heavy heart with the situation, I guess I have a LOT to think about tonight, mainly what my future will hold with Cox Communications. I am already tired of customer service as it is, and I am ready to get my career started so that I can go places. Cox only showed me that the only way to go places is to be a suck-up and constantly beg people to buy their products, and that is NOT the person I am. Being that I am a customer myself, I believe that people stay because of our service to them, not for the fact we may have the best prices and package deals for the services. If you treat people with the utmost respect and see them as being at the top of the pedestal, they will continue to come back, not because of what movie deals you have at a certain price or what service you can add on in order for the company to profit from. I guess that is really how corporate America has become, and it is actually quite sickening that people forgot the REAL value of customer service. I just know that my time is running short, and my patience is quite thin dealing with all of these unfair changes. If I knew I wouldn't be fired for speaking my mind, this blog would have been sent to corporate right about now.

You know how that saying goes..."Nice guys finish last?" Well...I guess in my case, that is the truth. I hate to have to keep searching and searching for the best job for me that will fit in my happiness zone, but I know that Cox has taken each and every lit bit of everything I stood for with them and ran it straight into the ground because of their favoritism and not having an open mind for their employees. On that note, I guess it's back to the drawing board and very soon. I hate to sound so mean and bitter...and sad, but that's really all I've felt all day. I just hate to have so much of my abilities shine and they still go unnoticed. One day, I WILL succeed and I WILL be doing what I love. This is merely an obstacle, but it has been a learning experience hands down. What it has taught me most is never let your light shine too brightly. People will seem blind to it even if they are able to see it. I have already decided on stepping down from working overtime for good while I am still there, and the next thing is to start posting my resume again. Maybe someone WILL notice me and appreciate what I can do for the company instead of seeing me as just another number or another sale or statistic. Thank you for listening my dear blog. Hopefully next time, I will be in a much better mood when I write in you again :). For now, I will let the clouds hang, the rain poor, and the lightning strike until it all blows over and the sun will come out again.

Chapter 2: Graduate School and Work Changes

Once again, I have delayed writing in my lovely blog since I am super tied up with work and then some. While I am in much better spirits than I was when I wrote that last one, I am happy to report some amazing news. After months of waiting patiently and constantly checking my e-mail constantly, I am proud to say that I am now a member of the Mississippi State University graduate program!! That's right...I WILL be working on my master's in Applied Meteorology! I almost cried when I received that e-mail that I had been accepted. I am so blessed and privileged to have things going the right way by never giving up and a LOT of prayer and faith. I am due to start very soon for the summer semester, but of course, it takes a while for some schools to get their information out in a timely fashion. Due to my bachelor's degree concentration, I have to take a couple of hours of undergraduate classes before the heavy duty stuff which is completely fine by me! Anything that will get me started and where I need to be so I can move forward in my career as an on-camera meteorologist is a huge help!

On May 25, I turned 25 and celebrated with my family and friends. Even though I had to spend the day of at my desk, it was a really good birthday. There's really no change since I've become 25, but what I can say is that I'm glad to look more and more like my mom every day and that I still look like a teenager LOL! I was also able to see Hangover Part 2 (which was HILARIOUS by the way) that I was anticipating since I heard that the sequel was indeed happening! All I can say is this...I walked out of the theater in tears from laughing so hard, and Ed Helms who plays Stu is gorgeous...just sayin LOL!

I did mention work, too, and I have soooo much to say about Cox at the moment. I am heading towards being there for 5 months on the 18th, and it has its good days and bad ones. Lately, I've been feeling a lot of heavy burdens since they've changed a great deal of things. Not only are we responsible for troubleshooting, but now they want us to sell products that customers may not have AND try to fix everything in a timely manner. Most of what we have to fix takes a very long time to repair, and if we don't get it right the first time, we don't have a choice but to send technicians out. It makes it hard because we can only do so much to help people and things, and it creates a great deal of pressure. It's almost as if they don't want to see people succeed doing a great job as they are now! Adding on these extra "perks" also means that ranks are jeopardized in a sense of getting better schedules or even getting a promotion within the company. As my mom told me when I had a conversation with her about the recent changes, "You can only do so much, and you just go in there and do what you're supposed to do." Ever since I permanently moved onto the floor, I have been volunteering for overtime nonstop and going the extra mile for my customers, but do you think any of us who do that gets ANY credit at all? I know companies have to make adjustments and things to keep running, but I feel that since they changed a lot of things around, we're taking the bulk of the problems and they won't accept where they're wrong. I hate to vent about work, but just imagine being as stressed out as I am on top of trying to get all of the graduate school things together. It's a nightmare you can't seem to get away from!

Alright...I think I'm done venting for the time being. Starting school again after a year feels really good, and no matter what, I will have a good feeling about going to work, even if they did change all of those things for us. I just do as my mom says and keep my eyes on the prize. Eventually, I will make my way off those phones and into a TV studio somewhere...someday soon and very soon :-)

Work....and More of It

Alright so I totally got off track from writing, and for that, I feel guilty...sorry blog!!! Anyways, just thought I would come in and give an update on how I'm doing. Coming up on May 18, it will make four whole months that I have been a part of the Cox Communications family. Wow how time flies, huh?! After several bouts of training since January, I can finally say that I made it through, weathered the storm, and made it to the other end of the rainbow! So far, tech support has its good days and its bad days with the bad sometimes outweighing the good. I have never come across so many people getting upset over cable, not to mention taking their frustrations out on us because we can't fix it right away. This past weekend was a doozy for me being that I was the last one to leave two nights in a row past 10:30. While I love doing what I do, it sucks to have to take the backlash from others because they expect you to do magic and solve it all at one time.

By the end of the day, I feel that I have done all I can do, but at the same time, I'm still learning. Technical support is probably the biggest challenge I've ever had to deal with because of how much information is involved with troubleshooting, but if you get those cooperative customers, it makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside. Once you get the really rude and grumpy ones, that's a whole different ball game! I feel that I have done a LOT of growing as of late and I am handling my attitude a lot better (even though those who know me would be shocked to know I have a temper). Praying also makes for better days within the workplace as well. I had my moments with my co-workers I trained with, too, but since we ended strong, we all get along quite well.

Needless to say...I'm content as to where I am now, but I have a LOT of work to do...a LOT!! Hopefully by next month or July, I will be able to be sit amongst the best and continue to succeed as a tech support representative. Until then, I have to get through the obstacles the day may bring and get through those. Oh yeah....I'm turning 25 this month, too! I'm pretty excited...25 on the 25th! Then the Hangover Part 2 comes out the following day...what a birthday for me!! Hopefully I will be back to update again very soon as I continue to move along on the job. I may be starting grad school as well, so I'm sure there will be a full chapter on that IF and WHEN I get accepted :-D!

Happiness is Back Again!!!

Now that I have gotten past the grief from the previous two weeks, I have something good to report. Remember how I mentioned that I ended up landing a new job with Cox Communications back on the 13th last month? Cox has been FANTASTIC!!! While the work load is getting a bit more challenging, the feel of the place never leaves. I mean you can have the day from hell before you walk in the door, and all of that is gone in an instant. The people are amazing and so genuine, and the company itself treats all of their employees like royalty. I got a taste of that yesterday when they decided to let our class leave earlier because of the weather. Most of the jobs I've held only let us get out if it was really bad as in a hurricane coming. Other than that, we never had a chance to leave. Just for us to be safe, they ordered lunch today and yesterday for the employees so that way, they wouldn't have to travel out into the weather since we had sleet and ice most of the day here.

My overall experience, by far, has been a great one! Our training class is like a family, and it's only been three weeks into the job. We tend to have a lot of fun, but we get the work done and learn that's for sure. The trainer...a riot (in a good way)! She will have us laughing so hard about ourselves and the things she's seen within the company and then some. I don't think learning has been more fun since I graduated! Even training for the last job wasn't as great as this one has been! I really hope that I will be able to stick around for as long as I can with Cox because they have the total package when it comes to benefits, perks, and more. If I can stay on for a year or more, I am looking to work in Productions since they have their own TV station. I just hope that with this job period, I will be able to move up because I have always been strong willed and determined to make it in this world, no matter what all I had to do to get where I want and need to be in life. On top of other things, I can honestly say that I am HAPPY! I haven't smiled this much in a long time, and I thank God for second chances so that I can smile and have my joy. Even the littlest things bring me joy but even moreso as an adult. As Annie would say, "I think I'm gonna like it here!"

Saying Farewell

Here I am back again with a brand new blog only this time, it has a different mood. As it nears Saturday, I begin to start feeling bittersweet about the day because of the fact that a truly remarkable human being that I admired greatly is being laid to rest. On January 2, 2000, I was bored and flipping through channels to see what was on that night because on most Sundays, nothing was really on TV unless you were lucky enough to find a game or documentary on. I just so happened to stumble across what was on CBS, thinking that it was a movie because all of the people were at a New Year's party dressed in their tuxedos and ball dresses. I figured I would leave it there since it looked interesting. After the first few seconds, I saw two familiar faces that I had seen as a child before seeing the next one that completely changed things in an instant. My eyes became locked on a handsome man who appeared to be in his early to mid 30s with sandy blond hair, green eyes, and a great sense of charm. I ended up adding on to the list of crushes after that one. As I continued watching the show, I had to find out what the show was and what his name was. Come to find out....it was 'Touched By An Angel,' one of the hottest shows on CBS at the time and thought why I didn't start watching the show sooner. Of course, I later found out that his name was John.

The entire episode, I couldn't get over how gorgeous he was and how great of an actor he was, too. It was almost like he WAS who he was on the screen off the screen, too! I made it through the entire show, and eventually, it turned into watching every Sunday night, grasping the messages that the angels would bring to people and to let us know how much God loves us and is there for everyone. Now I will admit...the crush definitely grew after a while, but what was the most important thing was seeing issues that people went through in the real world as well as words from the Father. As I got better with internet, I started researching on how to contact cast members of the show (since I am big on collecting autographs and letting people know how much I appreciate their work and such), and I was in luck. Before starting my Freshman year of high school, I sent a letter to him saying how I had become a big fan over time and that he was such a great actor and part of why I no longer fear death like I did since he was portraying Andrew, the angel of death. I wrote him a poem too which I thought was kinda cheesy but I figured it would grab his attention.

*Fast Forward a year*
Right around my Sophomore year at East Ascension, I received one of the greatest gifts of all...an 8X10 sized manilla envelope address to me and was titled "Miss" in front of my name....in John's handwriting! I opened it and saw an autographed picture just for me as well as a note saying "Thanks for the poem. Beautiful" and then he signed that too! I think I broke the walls in my house a little at a time from all the screaming I did! That was the second time in my life that someone I looked up to actually took time and got back to me despite a busy schedule. I took that autograph everywhere, to school, family functions...you name the place, I brought it with me! Getting settled into school took a lot of my free time, so one day when we actually had down time in class, I decided to sit down and try to write a thank you letter to him for the little present. Of course, that came with trying to get a date for Homecoming too because when you're in high school and you constantly got rejected by the guys there, it was time to move up to bigger and better...and you didn't want to miss out on the dances and such! Unfortunately, that letter never got to him because after the 9/11 events, a lot of networks were turning away fan mail due to the anthrax threats, so that letter was sent right back to me.

As I continued to keep up with the show until it ended near the end of my Junior year, I always kept it in mind that one day, I would get the chance to actually say thanks and then some. For the time being, I had to settle for reruns of the show which made me sad and think about what he could be doing since the cast went their separate ways. I know that since then, he did do a few films but they weren't anything major. I just at least knew that he was still around somewhere and was alright.

*Present Day-2011*
Going into Christmas, I had a tradition of watching the two movies he did with Kathy Ireland (both which are great by the way), and so even after the holiday, I still watched the movie. I also watched some of my favorite 'Touched By An Angel' episodes I had on the DVR in recent days, too. I had even stayed up four nights in a row reading a story I wrote about him within one week and had a cast photo at my desk at Home Depot hanging next to one of my favorite singers. On January 13, I went off to Marksville with my family to enjoy a night stay at Paragon, reading that story in the car once more and changing my iPod wallpaper to one of my favorite pictures of him. Everything seemed to be going great....until dinner time. I had been texting occasionally due to the lack of cell phone service, and I felt the phone in my pocket when it vibrated. It was one of my close friends texting me to say hi and to see if I had seen the news and that she thought about me in the process. Now I'm thinking that something happened at home or closeby, but when I asked what happened, she broke the news to me. John had passed away from a heart attack on the 10th, but the news just broke that day. I had no desire to eat my lemon meringue pie anymore after hearing that. I had a lump in my throat so bad I thought I was going to be sick, and my eyes started to get misty. I kept thinking, "This HAS to be a hoax...it just has to." Soon I checked the main page on Yahoo and saw his picture there and the article saying that he had died at 47. My heart broke into millions of tiny peaces and fell into my stomach. I had to keep it together since I was with my family, and they were already giving me grief about the issue just because I didn't know him personally. I don't think they understand that when you love someone and admire them for what they did and who they were, something tragic happening to them, and at such a young age, is devastating. Losing someone like that is like losing a friend whether you knew them personally or not. That night before I went to sleep, I went through my pictures in my phone and found the one I had and kissed it and said how much I loved him quietly and then said a prayer before tossing and turning an hour or two.

As I stated not too long ago, it's very sad to know that someone you admired whole heartedly passes away. It cuts like a knife because it's a shock when you just saw the person and they have crossed your mind as of late. What I do know is that he is with the real angels now in a better place, and that in itself makes me happy. It is hard to say goodbye, but ever since that day, I have done nothing but look back at all the good times and smiled, even shed a few tears as I laughed. Since he is being laid to rest tomorrow, I wanted to write this blog to get all of my feelings out. Thank you so much for all of the good times, great memories, and all that you gave while you were here. You will ALWAYS be in my heart, and you will never be forgotten. R.I.P. Johnny....God Bless.