Tim Hawkins - A Homeschool Family

Update 6.2

So last Thursday (10/15) I came into work and was given the news that the Suspension was canceled and was not suppose to be delivered. So yes my Union is filing a grievance to get me paid for those days. This is so far the only reason I like having a union. It is complicated but there is other reasons I don't like unions. This week I tried requesting two days off so I could possibly join my family in Tennessee for our last weekend out of town before the SUPER COLD gets here. But I had TWO not ONE Managers come to me and say we can not approve your request because... BEATING AROUND THE BUSH... Stuff about my seniority is the lowest in the garage and I'm under 6 months. What BS. The only reason they should bring up seniority is if someone else requested that time off too but NO they did not and why is the stupid 6 months so important. Most companies do 90 days but not AT&T... I so need to get a transfer to a different garage. I do not want to miss the possible upcoming preference...

I got my paycheck the other day and I got my signing bonus and retro pay since we renewed our contract the 1st. I had a over $3000 dollar paycheck before taxes. I hope the put a lot of the money away. This is a big stop to saving up for JAPAN...

[OLD CAR]

[NEW CAR]

Here is the LONG awaited picture of my new (used) 2002 Toyota Rav4 I bought a couple months ago. The thing is fun to drive and gets good MPG. I'm getting 21 to 26 MPG. I got the OIL changed today at the dealership since I have been doing a ton of driving and also today I received my IPASS in the mail. I'm so happy because now I can drive the toll roads without borrowing my dad's IPASS. I also included a picture of my old 1993 Ford Mustang.

C3

Update 6.1

To continue my last post. I last said that I was delivered a suspension notice for a so called preventable vehicle accident but was put on hold for the week until the suspension is approved my my Union but I was redelivered the notice last week on Oct 7th. But this time they changed the dates to the 8th, 13th and 14th. I asked my Union Stuart if this suspension was approved but so far she dose not know. But she said that if the suspension was unjust then they will file a grievance that will get me paid for the three days of suspension.

We have two employees in my garage who like to mess with each other. Yesterday I found that one of the employees had wrapped a reel of coax around the others truck. Just a little funny side note I thought I would share.

As I also mentioned in my last post I was attending a Japanese Christian Outreach Conference last week on Oct 10th. I went and had a great time and learned a lot of new information. If I had to pick one thing I learned it was that we christian need to let Japanese Know when reaching out in Japan that they can honor there Japanese Culture and use it to worship god. Most churches in Japan are very Westernized. Most Japanese view Christianity as a "western" religion but it is not God had his hand in Japan from the very beginning. Many christian researchers believe that even though the Japanese believe in Many gods and spirits (also know as "Kami") but wall scrolls in two of the oldest temples in Japan show that there is three gods who created everything with no begin nor end. Christian researchers believe this is reference to God, Jesus and the Holy Ghost. This conference gave me a positive encouragement for Japan but the side effect is it just made me want to go even more.

I also met a guy by the name Paul who has a passion for media creation to outreach to Japan. He has made about 8 short movies filmed in Japan in Japanese but none of them have been released due to distribution problems he said hopefully you will see them out in 8 to 10 months. The cool thing is these are not your typical christian film with bible verses and strong christian morals no these films are mode to be accepted by the main stream media and so far they are. One of the films has been running in film festivals for the last 4 months and has gotten excellent results.

Sayonara,
C3

Update 6

Well September has come and gone now it is time for upcoming Fall Fun to begin.

I regret to inform my blog reader that on September 26th I was rear ending in my AT&T Truck. As much as I was trying to be a good little tech bad things just seem to find you and I know what you all are thinking "But it was not your fault you got read ended". Well, Even though the cops say the other guy is at fault. AT&T does not care and is out to get me. I will summarize what has happened so far. That afternoon around 2:30 I just got done with a Install on Pershing in Cicero (For all you direction savvy people) and tried dispatching for work but our system said no work was available well I was very hungry since I had not eaten breakfast nor lunch so I figured I should take the opportunity to get something before I call dispatch. I drove to a place called Freddies on the corner of Pershing and Harlem. Unfortunate for me the parking lot was very tight and all the open spots were to shallow for my truck. So I decided to find some where else to eat. I ended up driving south and since I needed gas I stopped by the gas station south of Archer and Harlem. On the way there I noticed the Arby's on the left side of the road so I decided to go there on the way back north. I made a left out of the gas station heading north. Immediately after Archer I changed lanes into the right lane after knowing that the lane was clear and the car was truly at least 100ft behind me. (During all this I did use my turn signal) As I slowed down and start turning right and as I was half way though my turn BANG the guy behind me hit me in the driver side bumper pushing me 10 ft forward. We pulled in the lot ahead and waited an hour for Chicago police (Yippy, For all places for a accident it was in the tail reach of the city of Chicago.). The other driver told the cop I cut in front of him. I have the feeling that he did it on purpose since at first he claimed that he was aware I changed lanes. The guy barely spoke English and called some other people to the scene. At first he was asking me "DO YOU HAVE INSURANCE?" I told him it was none of his concern. Then later he asks me "DO YOU DRIVERS LICENSE?" by that point my manager showed up and told him we were going to exchange information with the cops not him. When the cops showed up and asked us for Driver License and Insurance I handed it to them and who ever this lady was he called asks the cop "Does he have a Drivers License?" What is this mexico? Is this reverse racism. (OH YAH!!!, Thats right Obama said we were a Muslim Nation so I guess you can now question if a Natural Born American is legal. OK, I'm done with that. And yes that is what he said please don't try to justify it. He said what he said.)

So now fast forward to the next morning as I am told that Monday I will have a meeting with our safety manager. I come in Monday and man that guy questioned everything I did that day for hours before the accident. The come to this morning when I am delivered a 3 day Suspension Notice for the accident. (WHAT?) My managers beat around the bush as they claim the accident was preventable that is why and this is really the only reason why Unions help is my Union Rep disputed the suspension and asked how was it preventable? And they claim I was 2.8 miles out of route. My Union Rep asked "Put a paper in front of me and show me where it says he can not go 2.8 miles to get lunch. All it says is he has a 30 minutes for lunch if he is their and back within that time." So he disputed it and got to put off until next weekend. He said he will not agree to it unless he sees indisputable proof that the accident was preventable. So soon I will find out if I really am suspended.

On a litter note a friend of mine told me about a Christian Conference next weekend at a Evangelical Church in Arlington Heights about reaching the Japanese for Christ. I CAN NOT WAIT. I requested it off so I am going. Please if anyone what to come with me it is October 10th, 2009 at 8am. Registration is $35. Details Here: http://rjcmidwest.wordpress.com/conference-info-1/.

Sorry for not uploading picture of my Toyota RAV4. Hope to add some soon!!!

Sayonara,
C3