tanjou-bi omedetou to me

tanjou-bi omedetou to me. It is now official. I am now 23 Years and 23 Hours Old. (WEIRD! Or is it even weirder that 23 is one of the lost numbers. Oh Well!) I have had a interest past week. Starting with CHRISTmas when we opened our presents. I mainly got a pair of hunters gloves (for working with telephone wire in the cold), Insulated Jeans and Rosetta Stone in Japanese. FUN!!! Then yesterday we all went out to eat at Famous Dave's. I opened my presents and got a Bilingual Japanese and English Bible (Last Years Present I never got), the last three books in the manga series Yotsuba&! and a how to draw manga book.


I never realized how many people I'm friends with on Facebook until I get about 13 Happy Birthdays on my wall. A little note to you people who read my Blog Posts though Facebook should really read it though my blogger site at http://blog.joelgreene.ws/ in which you can see my full blog and see the little extras like Pictures and Videos I embed in my posts. Which unforchently Facebook takes out.

Happy CHRISTmas?

CHRISTMAS is tomorrow and everyone is my house is excited and can not wait until its gift opening time. I'm at a complete lost on what I can expect to receive since I never made any requests but I am more excited about what I got other people. In which I will post a complete list afterwords.

Well, couple weeks ago I found out that I had been taken off of Christmas day and instead had the day off. That is good news for me since my family enjoys Christmas together. Today I discovered that Best Buy now has a Anime Section. Which I guess that is a sign that Anime is becoming more and more popular everyday. On that same subject I want to let people know that I have decided to start my own website dedicated to reviewing Anime & Manga with a christian point of view for people who want to have a better understanding of a titles content before blindly watching or even buying a title. My new website is http://www.getpluggedanime.com. I know the address is very similar to the http://pluggedinonline.com that reviews American Media from Focus on the Family. So please if you are a otaku or any type of anime fan please visit it. I'm also interested in finding volunteers to assist me with reviewing title. If you are interested please contact me.

So here it is

Happy CHRISTmas

Update 7

At the beginning of this year when I decided this would be my year of growth in which I was correct. In this year alone I have got a new job that's paying me more then any other I have ever had. I also got a brand new(USED) car. I'm still wondering about next year though.

In three days I will have OFFICIALLY hit my official 6 months and my boss can finally drop that silly excuse of why I can't do or have things and I will have my first week of vacation available for my long desired JAPAN TRIP. My Union Stuart said I have a total of 13 days off (7 days vacation, 3 floating and 3 personal. I think!) So I had her project them into June. It still is not set in stone but if June works then I will take all that time off in June before June 12th and then I will immediacy take my next set a vacation days off right after that. So I will have a total of 26 days available to enjoy Japan. I better have enough money saved up. $5000 Minimum... I guess I will stop hoping for other people to help me out in my quest for Japan and I not talking money. I'm talking Support. Yes, My parents, Grandparents(Dot and Gary) have been the most supportive but people like my Grandparents on the other side sort of disappoint me with their WHY JAPAN??? attitude. They ask why not just settle down with a American Wife and exceed in your job till they put you in the grave... NOOOOO... I have never been normal nor am I willing to accept normal. If something is normal I make it abnormal on purpose. I have a bumper sticker in my car window that says "NO NORMAL HUMANS ALLOWED" in both English and Japanese with the outline of one the most abnormal characters from one of my favorite Animes to show some flare. So please every one who reads this just accept me for my DREAM and just accept that is what I want to do. My BIG dream is to get it to Japan and meet a VERY CUTE Japanese Christian Girl and get married and possibly one day follow my dream of Japanese Ministry. And I'm not talking the preaching on the stage stuff. I talking work that will help someone else expand their ministry by giving them IT support. It surprises me some people still just do not believe I will carry out this DREAM. I fell like they are calling me loser and a failure before I can have the chance to decide for my self.

So I back from Florida and it went fine. I got a short breather from the craziness of work but yet I'm return to it yesterday. I fount out that my schedule it super crazy this month start with yesterday when came in expecting a 7:30 or 8:30 shift but no I got scheduled for 11:30 super surprising since I never had the chance to see the schedule before hand. At least my boss let my start earlier since I was there. But Wednesday though Saturday I will start at 11:30 like now I'm waiting for that magic 10:30 to come around so I can leave. Then I got to work Sunday for the first time ever at AT&T. then I have Monday and Tuesday off. I scheduled to work 11:30 the week of CHRISTmas including working CHRISTmas day. This is a insane month so please wish me luck.

I will post video of my Florida trip very soon. Stay Tuned!!!

Sayonara,
C3

December Already!!!

I know I did not post before letting people now this but I am in Florida... My brother and I came down on Wednesday December 2nd and returning on Monday December 7th. I found out I had three floating holidays I needed to use before December 12th and so I decided to take a long weekend trip to Melbourne, Florida to see my grandparents. I will post a much more extensive post soon. But in the mean time here is a video by me and my brother we recorded at my uncles new laundry facility in St. Petersburg, Florida yesterday.

November Update

It always amazes me how fast the year can come and go. Before I know it I've worked 5 months at AT&T, Got a new used car, It's getting cold outside and I'm almost 23 years old. (Most scary of all.) As I mentioned before my union is filing a grievance over the whole suspension thing which was approved. I got my paycheck and was only paid for two of the three days. Will let them know. Our stewards said that our garage almost never fills grievances and not because we have no problems it's just a lot of employees are ignorant. They said if a manager says your BAD numbers out loud or you work more/less overtime then everyone else on a regular basis then that is a grievance. Yesterday I was on 111th street and at 4pm (quitting time) my manager sent me to the other side of our area for a simple 1 box install. Over a 111 blocks away. Took me an hour to get there and once I got there a text message went out saying all AM tech could go home. Something was wrong when he said that there was still tons of jobs left. I did not get home until 10 o'clock and yes I do get paid for it but I really don't care about that.

The weather is awesome but we have rain scheduled for tomorrow.

This morning I heard the news that the house on Saturday at 12am passed the Nancy Polosi Health Care bill the most radical of them all with the public option and more!!!. The government is now one step closer to controlling all aspects of your life. You may ask how Socialized Health Care controls our lives? Well, Once the government is paying for all your health care bills they will use that as a excuse to dictate what you eat plus how and when you exercise. Imagine going to Wendy's and ordering a Baconator but given a salad instead and when you ask why they say you failed your health exam "It's The Law!!!" or how about getting a letter in the mail say you have been automaticly scheduled for a routine Health Exam. It's bad enough getting a drivers exam or jury duty. This is just one of the several reasons why Socialized Health Care is not the way to fix the Health Care Issue. We could cover the uninsured for far less then a trillion dollars. At least the Senate has not passed it yet. Watch this cartoon I found from 1948 about government take over of the private sector.



C3

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

Update 5.4

Nothing much to report. It is hard to keep productivity numbers up at my job. But yesterday I did 2 installs hope it gave me a good number. Asakichi told me that just being a friend in America is worth it exchange for sending me gifts. I do wish I could think of something to send him. I told him I would make it up to him someday. He did finally told me what he likes other then rakugo. American Cooking. I should of guessed. Most Japanese like American Food.

Update 5.3 - 2 of 2

This day was crazy. First I got a job to install service I called and went to the premise with no answer. So I had to JEP (Skip, Cancel, Return. You Pick your favorite.) the job for NO ACCESS and pickup a new job. So I ended up getting two repairs which I hate repairs. You never know what the install did and you have to hunt for a problem. But I believe tomorrow will be better then come Thursday is my day off and my mom and me are going on a date to Mitsuwa (Japanese Grocery Store) and IKEA. I'm staying in my sisters room until we refinish my old room aka the basement. So we are going to IKEA for some decorating ideas.

C3

Update 5.3 - 1 of 2

I am 10 minutes away from leaving for work. I am so excited because today I officially go LIVE. More details to come latter.

Update 5.2

It is official September 1st is my go live date. I am excited to announce I finally got a new car. It is a 2002 Toyota Rav4 (Silver) (Built in Japan). I bought it at Planet Honda in the Matteson Auto Mall. I do regret to say that because I still have no Credit the bank would not let me finance the car not even with my dad co-signing and even when my dad signed by him self we got a some what of a OK deal. Bummer, Speaking that I owned my mustang in my name. The car has 67000 miles on it and the only know problem is the power steering is a bit tight when sitting still. Other then that I love the car and now all I need is to find a new home for my old 1993 Ford Mustang Convertible. So yes please let me know if you are interested. My paychecks will be a bit tight for the next 3 weeks since I had to put $1500.00 down and all I had was $800.00 so I owe some people money for my down payment. I regret to say I still have not figured out a present for my dear friend Asakichi in Japan. He sent me Matcha about a month ago and I can not think of a single gift for him.

Sayonara,
C3

Update 5.1

I think I finally found my new car. Friday my manager called me and asked if I wanted Saturday off. So since I was not felling that great I decided to. So that morning I asked my dad hey can we go to the Matteson Auto Mall and look at some cars. So we did and this time we went to Planet Honda and looked around. They were very nice and up front about the price they even put a price quote in front of us WITH THE PRICE THEY PAID FOR IT ON IT. I recommend them to anyone who is looking for a new cars. Lets continue since I am done with advertisement. So we walked on the lot and test drove three cars. I have been looking at the Hyundai Santa Fe but after driving a Santa Fe, CRV and a Toyota Rav4, I just loved the Rav4 (No, I am not getting it since my Aunt has one.). The dealership did not push us nor insist on running our credit. In the end we ended up taking the Rav4 home on loan til Monday without any trouble. After driving it more I am going to get it for sure. We are going back after I work to make an offer tomorrow. They paid only $8500 and the asking price is only $9988. What a steal being in perfect condition and only 67000 Miles on it. I never realized that I would fall in love with a car that I was not looking at in the first place nor even planing on visiting the dealership. The best thing is it is a JAPANESE CAR. I opened the door on the Rav4 this morning and a Japanese Beetle flew out and I made the joke a Japanese Beetle in a Japanese Car. It must be a sign??? Just joking.

As far as my job goes I finally got an answer when I start and my manager said September 1st. I can not wait.

C3

Update 5

Back to my usual updates and like always for the last several days there has not been much new developments in my Job. First I still am not live. I am under new management as of August 1st. He was transferred from a different garage and he says nothing gets done around our garage. He really wants me to go live but Justin my old manager says THE MANAGERS HAVE TO HAVE MEETING TO DECIDE. What? A Meeting? AT&T Corp thinks I'm live already. Ever since I moved up stairs people have been using my Computer and TV like it is theirs. So since it seems someone spilled something StIcKy in my keyboard which is giving my arms a work out to push the buttons I will make this short.

Job: Still not live.
Health: Got hit in the eye with a rock from the lawn mower on Tuesday. Better the next day.
Politics: Still Corrupt.
Paycheck: Shorted Travel Pay for my last week of training in Westmont.
Latest Anime I'm watching: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

Today at church I talked to someone about my job and I ended up getting on the subject of my love for Anime and Japanese Culture so after talking to him I find out his Son and Sons Friend love to draw Anime. I saw his sons friends work and I was very impressed I encouraged him to pursue his dream and after his dad came up to me and thanked me for encouraging his son. That makes me fell good that I can help influence someone.

C3

AT&T Training - Day 44 of 44

WOW... I can not believe it was 7 weeks ago that I started my job at the American Telegraph and Telephone Company. According to what I hear from my manager starting Monday the eight of us trainees will do one of two things either finish our tests (No it is not part of our training because all the other techs have to do it.) or do a two team ride together on the road.

Tonight we are going to a restaurant in Chicago to celebrate my new job. Also today I moved into my little sisters room since she does not use it much and because for the next month or two my room in the basement is under renovation because when it rains I get water. My next update will be next week sometime.

Sayonara,
C3

AT&T Training - Day 43 of 44

Tomorrow is my last day of training. Then Monday I should be going live. But not if I don't get my tests done. This morning my IFD (Laptop) would not boot. I waited almost an hour yesterday getting on the phone to fix it. Turned out to be a bad hard drive. The person 24 to 48 hours until a replacement drive will arrive. Bummer!!! Yesterday and Today I drove my truck instead and followed another tech. I tell you those truck fell bigger once you drive them and I mean big since I had driven my dads truck before. My last training update will be tomorrow after that I will update every week, okay?

C4

AT&T Training - Day 41 of 44

I feel a whole lot more official now because I GOT MY TRUCK TODAY. I got my tools also all I am missing now is my IFD (Laptop) and JDSU (Tester). There is 8 new techs at my garage and they all but me and one other guy got NEW TRUCKS. So is a bit a disappointment because as so as I got in my truck I almost chock to death because the previous guy was a smoker. I hope I can get some air fresheners for my truck. Well Monday is my official start day. YEAH MAN!!!

C3

AT&T Training - Day 40 of 46

Today was a hand full. Tomorrow I might be getting my Truck which I hope will not be disappointing. Example: Broken Printer, Missing... Things... Anyways. Something will happen for better or ...... better. (':

Today I got a package from Asakichi in Japan. He sent me some more green tea and some green tea cookies. They are awesome. I need to send him something real nice since he goes out of his way to send me gifts. I'm still at a lost what I should send him. But I am sure something will come to mind soon.

C3

AT&T Training - Day 39 of 46

I am done with class room training. I am so happy. So Friday was truly canceled and I went to my garage. I went to my garage on Friday and found out that I am getting a different manager again effective August 1st. That will be interesting.

TATA for now.

C3