Daniel Tharp :: Blog

Today was a good day.

Okay no that’s all I’ve got in relation to Ice Cube. Today just went about as well as I could ever hope for a day to go. Woke up with no pain or stiffness in my ankle, got out of bed refreshed and sat in front of the new 32″ monitor (the computer hasn’t acted up in almost a week now), some Brian Eno playing as the creative juices stirred and I found myself completely caught up on my reviewing. Well, so I say, I’ve still got a bit over 30 reviews to go but I’m caught up in the niche experiment.

I’ve been in the process of trying to move up within the Office Depot company; it’s been unsuccessful but not for lack of effort. I’m currently in what’s considered a Level 1 position, and the next step up is (surprise) Level 2. One of the major conditions for working at the store I’m at currently is that I would be able to be promoted to this Level 2 position fairly quickly. Sure enough, about a month into my tenure there a spot opened up. I was told, yup, we’re all set, just gotta key you in for it. Fast forward to a week later. Nothing. Fast forward. Nothing, it never happened. The position simply isn’t there now, they chose not to fill it at all.

That wouldn’t have bothered me too much except that I was continually being led to believe that I was getting this position. If you’re not gonna do it, tell me you’re not gonna do it. Combine that with the fact that the manager in question is not what I consider a model leader (I’m wording this carefully), and it becomes pretty clear what my course of action was when I saw another Level 2 spot open up in another store in Louisville.

Turns out it’s just a bit further out, and the staff there is arguably the most highly respected in the city. Their store manager has a tremendous reputation with every manager I’ve talked to, and one of their department managers and I used to work together back at the Paducah store.

I visited the store for the first time today, it is about 5 miles further but the roads and traffic are such that the time difference is negligible. It’s also easily the nicest looking store I’ve ever been to, pictured above. Talked to the managers and everything went fantastic, I think I made a good first impression. Decided to leave and let them discuss it, went home and cooked lunch, gave them a call back around 3:30.

Here’s the situation in a nutshell. My current manager has the opportunity to match this new store’s offer; that is, either I get the promotion and raise here, or get it there. It’s entirely up to my current manager. If he realizes my worth he’ll keep me but I don’t think he does. In all truth I’d be happier at the new store so no great lost, I take a great deal of pleasure in proving people wrong about me.

Something about today’s given me a much-needed spark that’d been starting to fade. I’m more upbeat about tomorrow, confident in what I need to do and really just a hell of a lot happier than I was a week ago. Now I can only hope that everything goes as expected.

Wish me luck.

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I’m falling for a girl, and she told me to go ahead and fall.

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Went to cook dinner tonight and I realized I didn’t have any aluminum foil.

Rather than be hungry, I came up with a solution.

My food was goddamn delicious.

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Hello from the Bernheim Mansion.  This place is sweet and I’ve just about got the apartment the way I want it.  Pics in a couple days.

Oh, and I can ride my bike to UofL, takes about 5 minutes.  I couldn’t find a parking space and walk from the lot that quick!

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It’s amazing how quickly 36 hours turns into 20 turns into 10, especially when there’s a lot of stuff to be done.  But against all odds, just about everything is loaded up.  I still have some boxing up to do, but the hard work is over.  For this half, anyway.  The other half starts in about 16 hours.  I imagine I will be amazed at how quick that arrives too.

But, among the things left to pack up is this computer, so I am unplugging.  The next blog entry will be from my new place in Louisville.

See you then.

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With less than 36 hours to the move I have to say…holy crap I still have a ton of stuff to do.

And I’m getting sick.

And I may or may not sleep tonight.

Or tomorrow night.

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So things were going just a little too well as the days closed to the move.  I just hit a raccoon and my radiator appears to be shot, though it’s hard to tell with no light.  Taking it to the dealer tomorrow and hoping they can get it fixed Thursday or Friday at the latest.

This does put pretty much everything I’ve worked for over the past two months at risk.

*headdesk*

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With six days to the move I find myself awake, after three hours of what would be best described as a full body shutdown.  The stress, the frantic running around, the bureaucratic shuffle with UofL, it all caught up with me today, during my last day of work at the Office Depot in Paducah.  I spent most of my day in a daze, wandering, thinking, feeling and shutting off conscious thought, to the point of stopping mid-sentence with customers a few times.

A week ago, I was thinking.  It was a driving, frenzied sort of train of thought that left sleep totally out of the equation.  So at 4 in the morning, I pour myself some coffee and sit down with the dogs, thinking about the future.

The conscious act of deciding what to do for the next 20 to 30 years is massive.  To ponder that act is itself even more terrifying.

Computer Engineering and Computer Science.  That’s what it says on my transcript.  A field I couldn’t honestly tell you why I selected.  Actually that’s a lie, I know exactly why:  Money.  Prestige, comfort, security.  Materialism.  While I consider myself something of an expert with these machines I have no aspiration to shepherd a farm of servers for the rest of my life.  Nor do I, if I am honest with myself, want to be a database administrator.  I picked Oracle because it was the richest database to master.  Though some of you wouldn’t expect it of me, my favorite thing to do with these things is design things.  Not even cool stuff like models, but flyers and advertisements and stuff.  Graphic Design is even a little too binding a term because I’m not much of an artist, but the act (the art?) of laying out an ad I find to be a unique sort of challenge every time.  Given a choice between this and web design, I would still do layouts.  Why?  Nothing against the actual act of designing web pages, it’s a guilty pleasure.  I’ve repeatedly told others that if I can sketch a website on paper I can code it.  No, the problem is the bane of all web designers.  Interoperability, cross-platform support, all the buzzwords for making one website look the same on every browser.  Would it go against convention to say that this shouldn’t be something I should have to worry about?  Probably.

But even after all that, everything I just wrote takes a backseat to another passion.  From an early age, I’ve had a love affair with the English language.  The subtle intricacies always draw me in; if I were to indulge and cast myself into the crucible of this romance I would have no room to live for all the books I would own.  I have never been a scientist of the language (should I say, a lexiconologist?)  Instead, the sequence, the grammar, it’s always had an unmistakable flow.  I don’t think I could diagram a sentence if I tried.  But an English degree?  What does that do for you?  Many of my friends from high school are pursuing degrees in Journalism, and good for them.  And despite the fact that my writings on here could pass for journalism depending on the point of view, the thought of sitting in a newsroom hammering away at an article with, say, an hour to spare before the deadline…that does not appeal to me.  I don’t like writing under pressure, hell, half the time I feel like I don’t like writing at all.

It was during this reverie that my mind kept going back to high school, to English class with Mr. Quertermous.  A great man, and a great teacher.

I wanted to be a teacher.

If it weren’t for him, I think my high school career would have gone completely off course.  He gave advice and knowledge in equal amounts, his presence was a source of comfort.  He listened, and reached out to children that many teachers would have, and some already had, given up on.  If I could illuminate minds as he did mine, the materialism falls away and I am left with more abstract, but equally powerful things.  Pride, contentment.  Satisfaction.  Altruism is unlike me, or is it?  Maybe beneath the exterior of a cynic and confirmed skeptic is a man that only wants to better those around him.

Unfortunately, if I’m going to become a teacher, I’ve wasted a lot of time and a lot of money going down a path that many courses will not transfer from.  But, as I’ve been told, there was a lot of experience down the path as well, and that counts for something.

I have nine days until the return to the University of Louisville, two months of class, and come August…the decision will have to be made.

Tags: Life by Daniel
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Isn’t that the most ridiculous thing you’ve seen in your life? Maybe not, but considering it’s me? Thought so. Here’s a little history lesson for you, the Bernheim Mansion (above, obv.)

This fine example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture was built in 1893 and contains over 8,000 square feet of exotic woods and interesting woodwork. This home is built of stone and its main exterior feature is a stunning triple archway entry. The interior centers around a curved stairwell crowned with stained glass windows.

Early owners were Mr. W.W. Hite (1893) of the Louisville and Evansville Mail Company. By 1899, the house passed to Bernard Bernheim of the Bernheim Distilling Company, whose many charities include the Louisville Park System and the Jefferson Memorial Statue.

So I live in an 8,000 sq. ft. crib. Sweet deal. Of course the whole place isn’t mine, I’m actually living in what was the kitchen (the fact that the kitchen is large enough to comfortably live in speaks volumes). Hardwood in the bedroom, the living room and kitchen have the original 1893-era tile, bathroom’s completely remodeled. I get the feeling this will be the nicest place I will live in for the foreseeable future.

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This is bullshit. This has to stop. I just want to go to bed! It’s not all about you, whether you think so or not. I have very important things to do in the morning that extend beyond “sleepin’”. And I realize it’s sudden, changing my mind after a week or 10 days. But I can’t do it anymore. I’ve got too much stuff to do.

zZz…

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