For the last week I haven’t gotten more than 4 consecutive hours of sleep each night. I really can’t say for sure what is keeping me awake. It is possible that I am simply drinking to much caffeine during the day. I know it isn’t from anything I am taking such as Phentermine because I don’t even take a daily vitamin. What I really think it is from is simply being away from home for too long. Thankfully all of the traveling I have been doing should be over here in another week.

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As we traveled about Pittsburgh I had a very open conversation with my wife. In the course of that conversation we both stated that we wished we had never left Philadelphia four years ago. A couple of months ago my wife had the opportunity to return to her old job in Phili that she loved very much. Had we been being honest with ourselves I would have jumped on the bandwagon and looked at jobs in Philadelphia. It is too late now to do anything about it but at least we know where our hearts would be if all things were possible. I suppose the best thing we can do is to buck up and try to make the best life possible where we are for now.

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It thrilled me to find out this week that my training is not going to be quite as long as I had been told it would be. The training itself has been a great learning experience and I have enough take home material to fills a dozen books but I am ready to go home. In just a week and half it will all be over! The scary thing is that I will be expected to start doing the actual job the very next day after training is over. What I will be doing requires a ton of paperwork and is extremely dependent upon my careful attention to detail to do the job well. As with any job, I am expecting that doing the job is far different from learning about the job. I am hoping it won’t all be as bad as I am expecting and I am not thrown to the wolves off the bat.

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We were sitting in church a few weeks ago and for some reason I found the conversation around me funny. Actually we were sitting in our adult Sunday School class and the topic of conversation was MP3 players. I don’t know why it surprised me but most of the people in this class owned one. They have never struck me as a particularly technologically driven group but indeed they are. The conversation centered around the pros and cons of ipods versus other MP3 players. I sat back and listened amazed to be learning so much about what makes the people around me drawn to particular products based on their individual needs and interests. It just goes to show that you think you know people but you really don’t.

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Staying in a hotel has some downsides. For example I now have this disorder I have dubbed “hotel neck”. This is a pain in my back and neck from watching too much television while sitting propped up in bed. It isn’t like there is any theater seating available. I have been propping myself up with about 6 pillows but I am still finding this an odd position to watch television. There is a certain strain being put on my neck that I can’t seem to fix no matter how I position the pillows or myself. There is probably some correlation between sitting at a desk all day and then sitting in bed most of the night watching television. My body just isn’t familiar with either of these activities. My old job had me running in and out of the office all day and we don’t have cable at home so watching television for hours wasn’t an option. I suppose the solution is to get out and get some physical activity in the evenings but I just am not motivated to do that yet.

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This week my hotel stay was booked at a different hotel from where I stayed last week. Instead of a chain hotel or a condo hotel my accommodations were made at a historic inn. I have to say I had lofty expectations of this inn based on the per night rate they charge online and that this inn was rated a top “historic inn”. Let’s just say this hotel is interesting to say the least. My room has a canopy bed which from a distance is very pretty but up close you can truly see the “history”. In general the room is nice but in need of serious upgrading due to peeling wallpaper, leaking faucets, and worn bedding. Otherwise it is a nice large room with little oddities that add character not found in chain hotels but there is absolutely no way I would ever pay the $150.00 per night room rate listed online for this room.

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You might have read earlier that I am away from home for several weeks training for a new job. What was supposed to be 6 weeks of training has now become 8 weeks. To top off the sheer boredom of living in a hotel room the weather has totally sucked. It isn’t warm enough to bust out my swimwear and kill some time in the pool or anything outside. Some days it might top out at 75 degrees but with the rain and overcast skies it feel like it is in the 60’s. I need to find the library or something and at least get some books to read because summertime cable television programming is awful. Could I complain much more? I suppose not but I really truly am completely bored silly.

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I am just sitting here picturing life back home and wondering how my wife is faring. It has got to be hard being left with two kids and a bunch of stressful life situations to manage for 8 weeks. She also had surgery yesterday to really top things off properly. Today when I talked to her I could just tell she is sad and depressed about everything in general. We are only 3 weeks into this 8 week period of me being away from home. I really wondering how much of that fiery spirit of hers will be left after the 8 weeks is over? If I had the money I would look into New York City travel options and send her away for a little time to herself when I get back. Right now I think all the lady needs is a good night’s sleep and a lot of hugs to put a smile on her face. I wish I were there to give her these things but instead I am stuck here in this hotel room.

Popularity: 45% [?]