Mike Needs a Life Archive

Mike Needs a Life Blog Reposts – Part 27

August 19, 2009
Started a new Blog

I decided out of sheer boredom and a desire to learn more about ‘real’ blogging, to start up a new blog. It’s called Conch Tales and it’s here: www.conchtales.com.

I really have no idea what I’m doing, but it fills my days. I’ve decided that I’m going to visit every single bar on the Island and write a little blurb about it. Also I have a section to write about day to day things that happen because I don’t think I can realistically go out to 5 bars a week.. haha. Anyways, check it out.. it could be fun.

Other than that, I’m still searching for a job. Not much new on the horizon there. It’s beginning to get a little old, not working. I’m going to have to start visualizing better….

2010 edit: And the rest is as they say… history.

Mike Needs a Life Blog Reposts – Part 26

August 17, 2009
Holy CRAP

OK, so I just realized that It’s my one year anniversary of getting laid off !!!

I’ve pretty much (Except for the short stint at Millenia) been out of work for a year! I remember telling everyone when I got laid off that I was going to move to the Caribbean and disappear… I didn’t have any idea how in the hell I could pull that off, but I was saying it anyways. Well, I’m a lot closer to that goal now than I was then.. I guess the power of positive thinking really does effect your life even if you don’t know how the hell it’s going to work!

I have to attribute a lot of this to Christina’s strength and capacity for positive visualization, without her I’d probably be sleeping in that alley between Cleo’s and Cairo downtown Orlando.. haha. You rock Christina. (It’s OK for me to say that here, she doesn’t ready my blog)

I went back and read my first couple of posts in this blog from back when I was set free, and I can’t believe the difference in the way I feel about life now vs. then. Back then I was slogging through my days and weeks just moving along aimlessly… like walking with my eyes focused on the ground.. just waiting for the next day of the same old same old. When you get to that place in life where you’re just floating in the murky stream of some job you really could care less about only to have it abruptly taken away from you, it’s a real shock to the system. You kind of have to learn how to breathe again. I look back on it now and liken it to that scene in the matrix when Neo wakes up in the pod and finally has a look around himself at the real world. The only difference is that in my instance, I woke up in reverse of that.. I left the real-world battery pod for the matrix world.

Now I feel like I have so much going on and there are so many possibilities of cool things to do and be involved in, I don’t know how to prioritize. Of course I’m not making any MONEY, but I am certainly much happier being poor and enlivened than rich and rudderless.

Let’s hope that in another year, I’ll look back at this post and be in an even better place! Keep climbing out of the muck into the fantasy!

Mike Needs a Life Blog Reposts – Part 25

August 16, 2009
Hurricane season starts!

Well, I guess we’ll be having some hurricane parties on the porch here pretty soon.. looks like there are a few storms coming our way. Gotta make sure the freezer is stocked with lots of rum!

Connor went back last week on Wednesday after 4 weeks vegging out at Fort Zach beach, snorkeling, and playing video games. Funny story about that. Last Tuesday night Tina called to talk to Connor and said how happy she was that he was “coming home tomorrow”. Huh? No, I said, he’s flying out Saturday!! Um, no.. she said, look at the itinerary.. so I did.. and sure enough.. plane leaves at 2:00 on WEDNESDAY.

From Sanford.

Panic set in… It’s 9:00 at night, and it’s a 7 hour drive to Sanford with no traffic.. ug. Needless to say, we packed and went to bed early so we could get up at 3:30 AM.. Left at 4:30 and hit Downtown O-Town in 6 and a half hours flat.. not bad time at all.. We had some Chik-Fil-A (a necessary stop since they have none of that fancy gourmet food where he lives) and headed out to Sanford. Made it there with plenty of time to spare.. a Sam Adams and a 4 dollar DR. Pepper later (I drank the Sam Adams), he boarded the plane and was off. 3 Hours later he landed in NY and had another hour or so drive to get back home.. talk about a long day of travel. Next time I’m looking for flights into some airport a little closer to the keys!

I spent the remainder of the week visiting some friends and such.. then drove home Sunday.

So it’s Monday, and its now time to seriously start looking for a job. UG! I’m updating my web page, and my linkedin page, and hoping something cool will present itself. I don’t have any experience to speak of in any service or sales-based industry so that pretty much wipes out about 95% of the open positions down here – every ad I’ve seen states very explicitly that you MUST have experience to even get a foot in the door. Right now I’m kind of leaning toward going after some handyman/maintenance positions. That seems like something I’d really enjoy, especially if it’s for some old bed and breakfast kinda thing.. who knows. Graphics jobs are very few and far between, and there is a steep local vs. outsider curve to get over around here before people will even look at you for an open position.. I’m trying to maintain a positive attitude!

A couple of weeks ago I got in touch with Frank Everhart who coordinates the “Haunting of Fort Zach” every year for Fantasy Fest. They basically turn the old fort into a haunted house for the week.. cool stuff! I told him I had had a yearly party and now that I was in KW, I needed an outlet for some halloween creativity, and I’d like to volunteer for the event. He told me to come on down to Schooner Wharf some evening so we could meet. He runs the “Magic Bar” there.. a little bar tucked into the back corner where he entertains folks with some really astoundingly cool sleight of hand card shows. I’ve never been into magic much, but I was very impressed.. he’s definitely an interesting guy, and I look forward to working on the haunted fort and hopefully getting to meet some more cool folks. I only have 9 years and 10 months to go before I can call myself a conch… I need all the local contact I can get. I’ll be updating their web page here pretty soon, it definitely needs the help! No offense Frank, you rule at magic, but web pages…. … Granted it’s done in Word Press which is notoriously difficult to format, so I’ll cut slack for that haha. Check it out here: http://hauntedkeywestfort.com/

I took my first finished steampunk sculpture up to Jeff League when I went up to Orlando to get Connor a month ago. He’s taken some cool photos of it and placed it in the Gallery! He tells me everyone likes it quite a bit, and are wondering when I can send them more.. guess I’d better get busy! I’ll post pix when he sends them to me.

Anyways.. that’s what I got goin’ on..

Mike Needs a Life Blog Reposts – Part 24

July 14, 2009
Sorry, been busy doin’ alot of nothin!

Well, it’s been a couple of weeks and people are getting antsy to know what’s exciting in Key West. Let’s see….

hmm…

Dave Claus and his wife Jane came down this past weekend to visit, that was a nice time. Friday night we took them to the Garden of Eden rooftop bar which is above the whistle stop bar on duval. It’s a clothing optional bar, and it never fails to amuse.. nothing like a few naked old men to take the hotness out of a bunch of topless chicks bouncing around.. definately a bittersweet experience . Saturday we went to the beach and floated in rafts and drank, watched the sunset, then wound up back home on the front porch after a nap on the floor… didnt get to bet until 3 am… ouch. I paid for that Sunday and most of the day Monday.

Connor is set to arrive in Sanford Wednesday evening, my mom and sister are picking him up at the airport. I’ll be driving up Friday to spend the weekend at moms and then Connor and I will get in the car for the long drive back.. I’m hoping he enjoys himself this summer, I think this place might be a bit more interesting than Orlando would be to a 14-year old.. he does love the beach. And I’m sure he’ll love the garden of eden….

I’m considering picking up writing my book again, I got frustrated a while back, but I think I’ve come up with the answer to my plot issues. I’m also considering posting it a chapter at a time on this or another blog since I seem to have an easier time writing if I think someone is actually reading what I’m putting down, even if it is in a rough draft.. input is always fun, even if it’s not constructive. And perhaps posting it in a blog will keep me from re-writing everything 4 or 5 times before I get the whole idea out.. I’ll be sure and let you know if I do that so you can read it if you’re so inclined.

Well, that’s just about it! I haven’t been doing much of anything else the last couple weeks, just getting settled in, perousing the daily job postings online and in the local paper, waiting for that dream job to rear its ugly head…

Mike Needs a Life Blog Reposts – Part 23

June 29, 2009
Another Friday, let’s see… what happened this week.

Monday I called the dude back from Workforce. I think he remembered me, but I’m not entirely certain. Anyways, I set up another meeting for tuesday..

I spent the remainder of the day putzing around the apartment, and surfing job sites on the web. There are a LOT of service industry and healthcare jobs down here, and very few others. Of course I knew this going in so I’m not surprised. There are also quite a few IT positions, I get the impression they have a hard time keeping competent (and sober) professionals in Key West. I’ve seriously considered getting certified in IT and chasing those jobs, but I’m afraid that while I’m certain I could do the work easily, I’d really start to feel like I sold out to the man again. I mean, part of the dream was to go LIVE the dream, not work for the man, and live a stress and bullshit-free life. Of course, all jobs come with bullshit.. so…. quandary. I continue to coast..

Tuesday I went to see the guy at Workforce, and lo and behold, he was there this time! We chit chatted about my experience and such, blah blah blah.. in the end what he told me in his professional opinion was that I should start my own business. Sigh. Thanks buddy.

Wednesday I dropped Christina off at work and took the car to Sears to have a nail removed from the tire and the hole patched. I got there at 8:01, the doors had just opened and there were no cars in the bays, and only two people in front of me in line. This should be quick! I thought to myself. Hmph.

Two and a half hours later I wander out of the waiting room thinking that if they havent even moved the car into the service bays yet I was gonna just leave, but the car was in a different spot.. WTF. I had to hunt down someone to ask if the car was ready or not.. I assumed that since they had moved it, it was finished. Yes in fact it was finished the guy told me with a smile.. I paid and walked out wondering how goddamned long it had been done while I sat there killing my brain with Regis and Kathy Lee. Customer service with a smile.

Wednesday night Christina drove to Miami for two more days of training. I watched movies and went to bed early.

Thursday it rained all day, I spent a couple hours fighting with our bubblejet printer to try to get it working again. The black printer cartridge had gone tits up. I rode my bike down to CVS to see if they had some, nope, walgreens on duval, nope.. ok, small town living has its disadvantages. There is an Office Max, but it’s up on Stock Island and I wasnt about to ride my bike up there in the rain for a freakin printer cartridge.. so back home. Was it time to start drinking yet? 12:30… sure why not.

Drink in hand, I cruised the job postings for the day.. I found an interesting opening at the City of Key West for a helpdesk person.. now, I’m pretty competent with computers, and as I said, am willing to go into IT if I have to to get a decent job, but helpdesk… yikes. Dealing with people, and on top of that, government people.. I just don’t know if I’m willing to sacrifice every bit of my happiness for a job.. I’m still considering this one.

So here it is Friday, Christina will be back this evening. I think I’m going to hop on my bike and cruise around, I cant stand to spend another day cooped up in this apartment. It’s hard to truly enjoy yourself out and about when you feel like you should be glued to the computer waiting for someone to post a job, but I think I’ve come to the point where it’s either force myself to go out and enjoy, or spiral into self loathing and depression.. and that’s just not acceptible in the Keys!