This Week
This week is “in between” time.
I’m in the middle of the process for obtaining Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from the Project Management Institute. I’ve had the skills for years, but never got the certification. My wife already has this certification.
It’s a lot of work getting this certification. I had to document 4,500 hours of work leading project tasks over a period including at least 36 months of time. I also had to document 35 contact hours of training. The process of documenting that alone took me a solid week.
Then I chose to take an exam prep training class to make up the 35 hours. I found out later that I already had the 35 hours (my previous boss reminded me of an in-house training class that counted), so I should be able to carry some hours into the next reporting period.
I completed the training class yesterday and submitted my application. Now I’m in the up to 5 day waiting period while they decide whether or not to approve my application. Then I pay for the test and either immediately scheduled the test or go through the 5-day audit process.
This PMP certification will open up a lot of jobs that I am qualified for aside from not possessing the certificate. Many large and medium-sized companies require this certification for project management jobs.
I had to put the job search on hold while doing the documentation and training. I should be restarting it now, but I believe it would be more effective to get the certification and update my resume and then start. So this is limbo time.
Tomorrow is busy anyway. I need to drive to Philadelphia (in the rain and/or snow) to pick up a city ID card for my volunteer work with the Philadelphia Digital TV project. I was recruited by the local FCC office as a ham radio operator to assist with the installation of Digital TV converters for the elderly or disabled. I may be volunteering this Friday to do this work. Then in the evening my church committee Project Open Door is presenting our final report to the church Session.
Thursday I’m having lunch with somebody from the church.
Friday as I mentioned above, I may be volunteering in Philly. There is a Trenton Devils hockey game that night.
Saturday evening is a major event. The Trenton Devils are retiring the number of Scott Bertoli – who played his entire professional career (aside from a few trips up one league) with the Trenton Titans. I’m definitely going to that game and getting out all of my old Trenton Titans stuff.
Sunday I have coffee duty for the deacons at church, and youth group in the evening.
Goodbye, Trenton Titans
The Trenton Times is reporting that on Friday, May 18 the NJ Devils will be holding a press conference in Trenton to announce that the Trenton Titans hockey team (ECHL) is being renamed to the Trenton Devils. A new logo will be shown as well.
There is still some question about the league that this team will end up in. The AHL Lowell Devils have one year remaining on their lease in Lowell, MA. The Lowell city council is getting ready to take steps that implement a loophole in the contract that allows them to kick the Devils out now. That would leave the AHL Devils with no home. There has been rampant speculation in Trenton ever since the Titans were bought by the NJ Devils that the AHL team would be relocated to Trenton, possibly for this fall. Other options for the AHL team include sharing the new Prudential Center in Newark, NJ or possibly going to Hartford, CT.
So we may have the ECHL Trenton Devils or the AHL Trenton Devils tomorrow.
We know that it won’t be the Titans. The Titans played for 8 years and only failed to make the playoffs once in that time. They contended for the Kelly Cup twice, winning it once. I hope (probably in vain) that the NJ Devils will retain that history and keep the Titans banners hanging in Trenton.
The Lowell Devils are wholly owned by the NJ Devils. The Trenton Titans are 80% owned by the NJ Devils, with the remaining 20% currently held by the founding Berman family.
Busy Week
Here’s my crazy schedule for the rest of the week.
Wednesday – 6:30 – 8:30pm – Youth Sunday rehearsal
Thursday – 6pm – 10pm – Trenton Titans playoff game
Friday – 6:30pm – 10:30pm – Trenton Titans playoff game (if they win Thursday)
Saturday – 10:30am – 1pm – Youth Sunday rehearsal
Then Sunday:
8:45am – leave for church
9am – 9:30am – set up for Earth Day adult forum
9:30am – be adult shepherd for ushers for Youth Sunday
10am – Youth Sunday service
11am-ish – as soon as the service is over, run directly to the lounge
11:15am – be the speaker for the 1st 15 minutes of the Earth Day adult forum
Noon – Adult Forum ends, go home
1:30pm – leave for opera (Boheme Opera – Rigoletto)
1:45pm – pre-curtain talk (always worth the time)
3pm – 6pm – opera
6:30pm – come home, collapse
Unfortunately, I have to miss the post-Youth Sunday service lunch with all participants in order to do the Earth Day presentation.
Snow Day (sort of)
Today was a snow day – kinda.
Last night and all day today we’ve been getting a mix of sleet and freezing rain totalling about 1 inch (it’s over now).
The local schools all closed. Many local businesses had delayed openings, including the local Air Force base and IRS. My company didn’t even do a delayed opening.
I got to work on time doing 25-45MPH on the highway. It was quite slippery but doable. When I got there I discovered that only 1/3 of the company had bothered to come in. Many co-workers were “working from home”. I hope they enjoyed the Price Is Right.
Then, at noon, the power failed. Apparently a 30KVa line two blocks over failed. They let us go home about 1:15pm. Of course, those working from home have to continue working. HAH!
Tonight we go to a Trenton Titans hockey game as long as they are still holding it (looks like it, but who knows whether the other team’s bus will make it on time).
Tomorrow I’m taking a planned vacation day for hot water heater replacement. It’s 11 years old and the dip tube has failed (meaning the hot water stays at the bottom of the tank and you only get about 3/4 of a tub worth before it gets cold).
Holiday Roundup
Here’s a roundup of how the holiday went.
- Flew with my flight instructor for the last time before my instrument rating checkride. Checkride is scheduled for January 6, weather permitting. If I didn’t mention it previously, I got a 95% on my written test.
- Went to 4 hockey Trenton Titans hockey games. Went with friends, family and co-workers the first two (they lost). Went with just Carolyn for the last two (they won).
- Went to 2 services at church on Christmas Eve. First the morning 4th Sunday of Advent service. Then the 11pm Candlelight service, which was lovely and included wonderful music. Then on New Year’s Eve I went in the morning to the regular service (2 baptisms!) and then to the special intimate New Year’s Eve Communion service in the evening (which was also lovely).
- Went to see Mom, Dad, sister, brother and sister-in-law at Mom and Dad’s on Christmas Day. We did the gift exchange thing (which is always hilarious for some reason) and had dinner. Good time. Everybody seemed to like my gifts and vice versa.
- Discovered a flat tire the afternoon of 12/26. 30 minutes to replace with the spare – 1 hour to get it fixed and reinstalled at the local Goodyear.
- On 12/26, Carolyn’s parents came for the Christmas thing and stayed overnight.
- Watched the Rutgers football slaughter of Kansas State in the Texas Bowl. Go RU!
- Got the 15,000 mile service done on the Highlander Hybrid (three days after the tire repair).
- Rested early and often. I’ve been overscheduling myself lately between church, flying, hockey and the rest of my life.
I had planned to blog on “Buyer’s Remorse” in terms of joining my church, but a few experiences yesterday told me that the issues I planned to blog about are turning around. So I’ll hold those thoughts for now.
Happy New Year!
Presbyopic Presbyterian
As I mentioned last week, I have aged sufficiently that I now need reading glasses. I picked them up last night.
I’m still adjusting. They worked really well reading in bed last night. Today I’m using them with the computer. I’m getting minor headaches, but I suspect that’s just my brain adjusting. I’m also still learning all of the “glasses” stuff like how not to forget them, how to keep them clean, when to use and when not to use them (these readers make anything beyond computer monitor distance blurry). Any suggestions are appreciated.
This is gonna be a busy end of week and next week.
Tonight – NJ Devils home opener (which we are likely to skip – Carolyn is a bit sick)
Tomorrow evening – Trenton Titans season ticket pickup party
Saturday – Camp Johnsonburg fundraising golf tournament
Sunday – Carolyn and my 12th wedding anniversary
Tuesday – ASME Trenton Section (Carolyn is a member) dinner – “Great Engineering Disasters”
Thursday – open house for employee families at my office (with free food)
Saturday 10/21 – the first day of New Member Classes for church, plus a cross-country flight in the afternoon for my flight training
I need one of those double-wicked candles.
NJ Devils buy Trenton Titans
As long-time readers of this blog know, I’ve been a season ticket holder for the Trenton Titans hockey team. They are in the ECHL league – the hockey equivalent of AA baseball.
The Titans have been Philadelphia Flyers affiliates for years and have been owned by the Berman family – business owners from the area.
The NJ Devils have bought a controlling stake in the team. The team will be renamed to the Devils for the 2007-08 season.
One good move announced at today’s press conference is that the Devils will be giving free tickets to the Devils’ home opener to all Titans season ticket holders. Sure, they’ll be nose-bleed seats but that’s more than we ever got from the Flyers.
The Flyers affiliation will continue this year and then presumably end.
RIP, NHL 2004-2005 Season
Today, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced that the entire 2004-2005 season has been cancelled. This the first time since the league was established that the championship was cancelled with the exception of 1919 (when an influenza epidemic ended the season).
The NHL locked out the players after the players announced a strike against the league before the season started in September. The league has pushed for a salary cap from the beginning – the players have resisted any salary cap.
I put the entire blame on the players. There is no reason for someone who plays hockey to make multi-millions per year to play what is at best the lowest rung major league sport in North America. The inflated salaries have priced the game out of the reach of most fans. The owners have to raise ticket prices in order to cover these exorbitant salaries.
In Philadelphia, the most expensive seats cost $85 each! The LEAST expensive cost $23 each! Contrast that with the NY Yankees, who only charge $12 per tickets for the cheapest seats.
While I’ll miss the season (and I already have missed it from October until now), it’ll only affect my TV viewing as I really can’t afford to go to many NHL games. I’ll be watching my ECHL Trenton Titans where the entire 36-game season costs no more than $27 per game (including parking), and the cheapest seats are $10.50 for adults and $8.50 for children (who are $8.50 for all seats but the two rows next to the glass). The caliber of ECHL play has been above par this year, as the lack of injury callups has kept the AHL and ECHL rosters full of high quality players (who would normally move up due to NHL injuries). In fact, I’ll be at tonight’s game in Trenton!
A quick life update
I haven’t blogged for a while, so here’s a quick life update.
Flying – I am still at it. I am probably within a month of getting my pilot license – maybe less if the weather cooperates. I have to do another lesson or two to prepare for the test. After that I have to take a “mock” checkride with another instructor from the club. After that – the big day. I already know who the examiner will be – he’s a pilot for Continental so I’ll probably need to take a vacation day for that as his schedule can be wacky.
Solar Panels – still cooking. With the cooler temparatures and sunny days this week, we are pumping (selling) lots of power back into the grid. Be sure to go to Smith Electric Company for pictures and stories of the installation. I’ll update that blog as soon as I have news.
Hockey – Hockey is almost here again. The NHL is on strike, but my Trenton Titans (ECHL) are still playing. I’ll be attending a game on October 11 between the Titans and their AHL affiliates the Philadelphia Phantoms. Since I’m such a good husband, I give my wife an opera or two every year to offset the 30 or so hockey games that she goes to. Unfortunately for me, the local company is performing their fall presentation on October 22, the same night as the Titans’ opening game. I’ll have another two weeks to wait for the next home game!
My Wife’s Job – She’s settling in. She still has to finish out her old Black Belt work, and she has one new person frustrating her on two projects. However, she’s coming home a little less frazzled every day. I think that’s a good sign. She’s been on vacation without me all week – tomorrow I’ll be home too.
Cats – they’re fine. They’ve enjoyed having my wife home all day this week. They are starting to get snuggly again now that the temparatures are beginning to drop. Still shedding a lot, though.
That’s the roundup!
Bachelor for a Few Days
My wife is off to a company training class in Orlando, FL. She flies out today, and back on Saturday.
That makes me a bachelor for a few days. But will I be doing anything exciting?
Nah. I’ll be staying home tonight and tomorrow, and going to see the Trenton Titans with my sister on Friday night.
I’m so boring.
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