Days of Bushie's Life (Update Thread v4)

[Joe Biden 2020]

Losing weight is a primary concern.....limiting calories is the primary way of achieving this goal, etc etc., but this isn't the only thing that's relevant.

Living a healthy lifestyle, all in all, is more important in the long-term than being able to claim 20 lbs. less than your record weight. And living a healthy lifestyle includes things like physical activity, limiting the amount of junk food (fast food) you consume....and you have to really want these things. You have to want to be healthy.

Doesn't mean you shouldn't have the occassional hamburger and a beer, but it's rather telling that you can't walk across an airport building because you're out of "energy"....when you have 15 hours to make the long journey back and forth.

I probably would have walked, but I would have had to lug my carry on and laptop sachel around, plus tear down my computer and put it in.  The bags werent heavy, but they would not stay on my shoulder because of my heavy coat.  It was enough of a hassle to go to the bathroom.  Yes, thats another excuse, but its all I've got!

[Joe Biden 2020]

What are you going to do if there is 5 inches of snow on the ground when you land back in SLC?  You have a job to get back to.

Sure about that, Grumps?

Actually, I'm not, which is probably why he avoided answering.....Just started the job, put in 2 days or so......off to OkieLand.........loses job.

Does that plot sound reasonable, my friend? 

Going to Oklahoma was in my contract.  I told my recruiter that I wouldn't take the job unless I could still go to Oklahoma.  My recruiter contacted my boss and my boss agreed to let me come to Oklahoma and then get started back with training on Nov 19.  I will not take off again at least the rest of the year.  This is my Christmas trip home.

[Joe Biden 2020]

I know its risky, and if I lose my job because of it, so be it.  Its not like I haven't been down this road before.  There was no way I would have missed coming home because my tickets were unrefundable.  The next place I go will be to Kenya and that likely not until June or July.  I may come home around Memorial Day when I only have to take one day off.  If I didnt come now, I likely would have not seen my family over the holidays.  We are having our Thanksgiving Dinner as a family this Tuesday.  I will be okay even if I do lose the job.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Something's wrong if you take losing a job so flippantly.

No, I just know family is more important.  I dont believe I will be let go, but if I do its not the end of the world.  I've lost several jobs, but I've survived all of them.  I will survive this one, too, if it comes to that.

[Joe Biden 2020]

I know its risky, and if I lose my job because of it, so be it. 

Why is it risky, you said your contract said it was ok.......or was that a lie too?

Going to Oklahoma was in my contract. 

It is in my contract, so everything will be fine, but if its not its not the end of the world.

[Joe Biden 2020]

If you're going to lie everytime you tell us something, lock the thread and stop posting

Who says I am lying?  I said what was in the contract, but I also acknowledged the risk involved in taking a vacation during week 2 on the job.

[Joe Biden 2020]

If you're going to lie everytime you tell us something, lock the thread and stop posting

Who says I am lying?  I said what was in the contract, but I also acknowledged the risk involved in taking a vacation during week 2 on the job.

Day two, you mean. But where would there be a risk if you had it in a contract? Are they supposed to go whenever you come back and say "ah, we're firing you, even though we said we wouldn't!"

Week 2, I started last Tuesday.

[Joe Biden 2020]

If you're going to lie everytime you tell us something, lock the thread and stop posting

Who says I am lying?  I said what was in the contract, but I also acknowledged the risk involved in taking a vacation during week 2 on the job.

Day two, you mean. But where would there be a risk if you had it in a contract? Are they supposed to go whenever you come back and say "ah, we're firing you, even though we said we wouldn't!"

Based on the bad breaks I've had in the past, I am to the point where I say there is always a risk, no matter what you do.  You could be the best employee in the history of the company, never missing a day, or even an hour, period, never making a mistake in the work you are hired to do, and still find yourself looking in the classified ads with a highlighter and a phone.  I'm not as trusting as I once was, yet, I trust them enough to hold my position for me until I get back on November 19.  In return, I am promising them not to miss another day at least until March, barring MAJOR circumstances.

[Joe Biden 2020]

And how many days have you worked?

4

[Joe Biden 2020]

And how many days have you worked?

4

4 days is not 2 weeks.

I'm taking a vacation during week 2.  I've already worked 4 days which is close enough to a full week.

[Joe Biden 2020]

I'm done for good with Bushie's threads.....pointing out his embellishments and never-ending lies is tiring.  Have fun, boys.

Gramps, don't exaggerate... Bushie's never substantially lied about anything.  You just try to catch him on technicalities.

I cant tell if this is attempting to defend me or sarcasm...  I'll make myself feel better and say the former.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Good Monday Evening!  I have had a tremendous day!  Got the house cleaned out this morning, took a nap this afternoon, had Spaghetti for dinner and now I'm about ready to head to my cousins for a little bit to visit with them.  Tomorrow, is the Brown Family Thanksgiving Dinner 2012.  Mom and I will head over to Grandma's about noon and play Skip-Bo.  A family friend will join us about 2:00 or 2:30, then Dad will join us about 4:45 and we'll eat about 5:15 tomorrow evening.  Wednesday, Mom and I will make our annual trip to Mardel's in search of Christmas music.  We normally like to go the first Saturday in November, but since I wasn't here, we have to do it now.  Wednesday evening, we will be eating dinner together as a family at On the Border and then Thursday is a day mostly to relax and pack.  We'll be leaving the house at Mom and Dad's to begin my journey back to Midvale, Utah.  My vacation is rapidly approaching the half way mark.

[Joe Biden 2020]

I'm done for good with Bushie's threads.....pointing out his embellishments and never-ending lies is tiring.  Have fun, boys.

Gramps, don't exaggerate... Bushie's never substantially lied about anything.  You just try to catch him on technicalities.

I cant tell if this is attempting to defend me or sarcasm...  I'll make myself feel better and say the former.

If you honestly think that I think you've never substantially lied about anything, then you either

1) think I'm an idiot;
2) have a very seriously skewed version of what constitutes either reality or a lie.

I figured it was the latter, but I was telling myself it was the former, though I knew better.  Yes, I have lied quite a few times on the forum, but I do not lie about everything.  Most of what I say is truth, though, sadly, not all of it is.

The past few posters have totally missed the subtle (probably poor) attempt at sarcasm myself.  I'm trying to inject a little humor, but the humor sailed way above everyone's heads.

[Joe Biden 2020]

I know its risky, and if I lose my job because of it, so be it.  Its not like I haven't been down this road before.  There was no way I would have missed coming home because my tickets were unrefundable.  The next place I go will be to Kenya and that likely not until June or July.  I may come home around Memorial Day when I only have to take one day off.  If I didnt come now, I likely would have not seen my family over the holidays.  We are having our Thanksgiving Dinner as a family this Tuesday.  I will be okay even if I do lose the job.

How is it risky if it's in your contract?  If they fire you, you could sue for breach of contract and recover damages for the wages of at least the rest of your contract term.  If you have a contractual guarantee for this vacation time, you literally have a 0% risk of not seeing that money, either through continued employment or court judgment.

Its not risky in my situation, but I'm just saying it is, because most of the time it is very risky in normal circumstances to take off for a week just a week into the job.  I could hold quite a few companies accountable for breach of contract, but I choose not to, because I do not sue.  I have better things to do than to sue companies.  Plus, I would rather be wronged and be able to show the love of Christ than to get what's coming to me and miss an opportunity to nurture someone's soul or plant a seed.  My ultimate mission on this earth is not to hold down a job, although that is very vital to my mission, but the mission itself is to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ to the masses.  Holding down a job is a very vital aspect to that mission, and I will admit, I have failed in that respect.  I have failed in so many areas, but God still picks me up, dusts me off, and holds my hand as I walk with Him.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Just a thought... did you ever think "maybe God is actually trying to teach me a lesson"?

Oh, I think that everyday.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Just a thought... did you ever think "maybe God is actually trying to teach me a lesson"?

Oh, I think that everyday.

And what lessons have you learned?

1) Patience - This is the biggy.
2) Thankfulness for what I do have and quit dwelling on things I do not have.
3) Total reliance on Him (Rely on Him for the strength to do my work each and every day.)
4) Taking things one day at a time (this is a hard lesson for me to learn).
5) Plan things out, but with the reality that God can and sometimes will change your plans.  James 5:14.

There are more, but those are the top five lessons I'm "studying" right now from my God.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Tuesday, November 13, 2012 – I am thankful for being able to open my heart to my mother.  I finally told her tonight in depth of my plans for Kenya.  I told her about the Maisha Medical Clinic that was recently completed.  I told her about the Maisha Academy that will be starting in 2014 and the volunteer home in 2015.  I was able to tell her of my plans and how God has been speaking to me the past year about where He wants my life to head.  I told her that after the volunteer home is built that I will be spending a month down there to test it out living down there and working.  I told her how I would support myself and I told her how Utah fits into that plan.  I also reassured her that it will be anywhere between summer 2016 and summer 2018, depending on how long it takes them to build the volunteer home.

[Joe Biden 2020]

I thought you already "came out" about Kenya?

I did, for the most part, like she knew I wanted to move to Kenya, but didn't know how I was going to support myself (valid question), or how I came to that decision.  I told her this evening why and how I've come to that conclusion.

And, Simfan, she took the news quite well.  I think she was pleased and was comforted by the fact that I now have a way to, or am very close to finalizing a way to support myself down there without becoming another mouth to feed.  She was also comforted by the fact that I'm not planning to move anytime soon.  The infrastructure is not yet in place for me to move down there and neither is this support.  The Academy has to be built first and then the Volunteer Home.  The Volunteer Home is not slated to begin for another 2 1/2 - 3 years, so it probably won't be finished until late 2016 at the earliest.  I imagine I won't test it out until summer 2017 and probably won't move there until summer 2018.  That's later than I had thought originally, but its with the latest information straight from the Maisha Director herself.

[Joe Biden 2020]

How do you plan on supporting yourself?

I will be working for Maisha, and while it is mostly volunteer, they will provide the basics such shelter and food.

[Joe Biden 2020]

How do you plan on supporting yourself?

I will be working for Maisha, and while it is mostly volunteer, they will provide the basics such shelter and food.

That is someone else supporting you, not supporting yourself.

It would be a job that would pay.  It won't pay very much, but in Kenya, you don't need a lot of money to survive (compared to US Dollars).  If someone makes 30,000 Kenyan Schillings a year that is the equivalent of $350.  Besides, when it all is boiled down, even here in the United States and other Western Nations, one's employer is the provider of shelter, food, clothing, and the basic necessities of life as well as the luxuries.  You work for Company A and Company A agrees to pay you x dollars to buy whatever you need and that includes shelter, food, clothing.  Its no different in third world countries.  Your employer provides the basics.  The only difference is that Maisha would provide the actual shelter instead of the money to get the shelter.  Moreover, in America, in Kenya, and everywhere you go it is God who provides all these necessities.  He gives you the health and wakes you up of a morning to go to a job and perform your duties to satisfactory or above levels.

[Joe Biden 2020]

How can you provide for your future by volunteering? You can't fly back to your family without making money... you can't provide for a future family without it. It's great to want to help, but without some real funds in the bank, it could be tough.

I'm not looking for it to be easy.  I'm looking for it to be doable.  Nothing in life that's worth anything comes without a price.

[Joe Biden 2020]

How can you provide for your future by volunteering? You can't fly back to your family without making money... you can't provide for a future family without it. It's great to want to help, but without some real funds in the bank, it could be tough.

I'm not looking for it to be easy.  I'm looking for it to be doable.  Nothing in life that's worth anything comes without a price.

Well it will certainly be hard if you aren't making any real money. You won't be able to afford to travel unless you keep hitting up your parents for money!

Like I said previously, we still have a lot of work to do.  Nothing has been nailed down and rightfully so, since I won't be there for at least another 4-6 years.

[Joe Biden 2020]

24 hours until I'm in Salt Lake City!

[Joe Biden 2020]

I am about ready to hit the sack for the final time on this vacation in Oklahoma.  It will be a short night as I have to be up by 4:00 am CST to leave by 5:00 am.  My flight leaves at 7:25 am, so that gives right at 2 hours to check in and go through security and chill for a bit before boarding.  Again, I've got a 3 hour 20 minute layover in Phoenix and should land in Salt Lake City around 1:50 pm MST (that's when my plane is scheduled to land).  If all goes well, I should be to my apartment by 3:30-4:00 pm.  The weather in Salt Lake City is supposed to be low 50s and Mostly Cloudy at landing.  There is still a possibility I will be able to come home for Christmas once again.  I am not going to ask for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off, but I'm going to ask if I have them off automatically.  I will ask about Thanksgiving and New Year's at the same so it doesn't look suspicious.  If I have to work, I'm not going to ask off and will stay in Utah and work, but if I do have sufficient time off (minimum 4 consecutive days) automatically, Mom and Grandma are going to split the ticket for me to come home.  I'm not going to do anything to jeopardize my job.  I just got finished with a 6 day vacation, so the only way I'm coming home is if I have time off automatically built into the calendar.  If not, I will be working and making money.  I will ask probably Monday or Tuesday so if I can come home, we can go ahead and book the tickets before December 1 before the prices go up and the seats are full.

[Joe Biden 2020]

You're at a call center for Xerox doing what exactly?

Tech Support for the US Forest Service.