Baby Owen Zachary Stowers

I know, I know... it's been nearly a year since my last blog entry (on this site anyways). Times have been crazy busy: at my job, with ministry, and 9 weeks ago having a baby! Boy time flies.

Well, I thought I'd send a shout out here to say that I am still alive and do blog every now and then ; ) Actually, in the next couple of months, an actual website may be in the workings... (to host photo galleries, have personalized email, a spot for blogging, and other fun things). But we'll see.

Here's a picture of Owen (looking all cute). He's 9 weeks old (as of Saturday, Sept 15). He's over 13 lbs now, and at least 24 inches long!


(N.B. This picture was actually taken just over a month ago... but I still think it's a cute one!)

Vacation

Hey all. Work is going well... and surprisingly there's a lot for me to do already--that's why I've decided to take a vacation ; ) Well, actually I had this planned before I began interviewing for a job.

This week I'm going to Kelley's Island with some in-laws, and then this coming weekend, Amy and I are going to Niagara Falls with my cousin and his wife. It should be some good times.

I must admit I kind of feel like the president a little bit during his first term: I worked for 7 days, and I am taking 5 days of vacation : )

It's Official

It's official that I'm a lame-o because I have posted in a while... that, or it's official I'm busy because I haven't posted in a while.

Naw, it's official that I received the official offer and officially accepted the position at MI&ES... officially speaking, of course. : )

I begin THIS THURSDAY, July 13. I had to wait two weeks from the time I returned the acceptance form, which was 2 weeks ago this coming Thursday, of course. As part of the position, I need to get a "Top Secret Clearance." What that essentially translates into is a bunch of crap work looking up where I've lived the past 10 years... who I worked for the past 10 years... my family members, their spouses, their cousins, their uncle's cousin's former roommate... etc. And then people who are not my spouse or relatives to vouch for where I've lived / worked, etc. Yea...

But I am excited to start working and use a degree it took me 5 years to get (legitimately--I didn't "squeeze 4 yrs into 5 or anything"). I've kinda missed problem solving--I know, I'm a geek. So be it.

Guess What?!

For my birthday present, I got a professional massage on Friday. I suggest them!

Also, I talked today with the hiring manager for the MI&ES position that is open (see previous posts below). There is nothing "official" yet (because I still have to interview for 2 other positions), but as long as the position is approved, they would like to offer me the position... which is good news, because these other 2 jobs I am interviewing for, from what I've heard described to me thus far, are not as appealing as this one!

Yea! That also takes some pressure off of my interviews tomorrow.

It's Been A While, I Know

It's been a bit since I've updated, and a lot has gone on--thus me being too busy to update : )

Interviews:
~Phone Interview, June 12: I passed the screening and I have an in-plant interview tomorrow, Wednesday June 21.
~In-Plant Interview, June 15: I was there from ~10 am to 4 pm. I had 5 interviews for this position in the "Military Inlet & Exhaust Systems" (MI&ES). Overall, I was getting good feedback from the people. (e.g. "You previous experience is very applicable to this position," "It looks like you'd be a great match here," "I'm impressed with... XYZ," etc.) I have a follow-up phone call with the hiring manager today, so we'll see...
~Phone Interview, June 19: A third position contacted me Wednesday June 14 inquiring about some things. I had a phone interview yesterday, and they would like to see me tomorrow when I come in for my other in-plant interview.
~In-Plant Interviews, June 21: I have interviews regarding 2 different positions (at least) tomorrow. One is Mission Analysis in the Rotating Parts Center of Excellence (my 6/12 phone interview & original 6/21 in-plant interview), and the other is in Military Performance Engineearing (my 6/19 phone interview & the add-on in-plant interview tomorrow 6/21).

I should hear back from all of these within a couple weeks with a "yea / nay" answer. There is NO competing within GE, so if all three of them want to offer me a position, all the hiring managers talk, agree on salary, etc., and then I get to choose. If you pointed a gun at me and told me today to choose, from what I have heard thus far from these departments and managers, the position in MI&ES is by far the best.

This Past Weekend:
It has been a while since Amy & I went to Norwalk, and we did that this past weekend. We went up Friday (June 16, MY BIRTHDAY... I am now 24 in case you are wondering), her cousin got married Saturday in Toledo, and we came back home Sunday.

Sorry to end this post on a sad note, but Amy's family has had 2 dogs for a long time now (almost 8 years?): an Alaskan Malamute female (named Phoenix) and a black Labrador [mix maybe] male (named Danny). Well, Phoenix has had a surgery to remove some kind of benign fatty tumor right behind her left front leg area. She hadn't been using it really since the operation, and just hopping around using 3 legs. She went from weighing 115 lbs to 93 lbs! After doing all they could, Amy's parents took Pheeny (aka Phoenix) to the vet again to see why she just seems to be lazy, not eating much, not wanting to try and use her leg, etc... and they've been noticing she's panting a lot more than usual. When the vet saw that, she decided to take x-rays of Pheeny's chest and saw that there is cancer all around her lungs & that there's nothing more she could do to make Phoenix more comfortable. So, they decided the best thing to do was to not allow her to suffer any more and put her down yesterday. Like I said, they've had her about her whole life, and she was around 8 yrs old... which from what I hear is pretty good for big dogs such as herself. She was to be a show dog, but due to her size (being too huge... 115 lbs, people!!), that's when the previous owner's sold her to my in-laws.

So, around 8 yrs ago, they had gotten Danny from the pound, and about a week later, they got Pheeny. Now, they still have Danny, and he's a good dog, too, just as Pheeny was a good dog.
(I would post a photo, but I do not have one right now... at least not any where I can think where they are.)

Phone Interview

Well I just had a phone interview today for a job at GE. If I "passed" this screening, then I get called in next week for a face to face panel interview. We'll see how it all goes.

This Thursday I have an interview at GE for a different job (as I posted a few days ago). So it seems things are happening, but at a snail's pace.

Another item of interest I found out through it all is that GE as a business is going to a mandatory 4 hours of over time a week (it is paid). I don't know if I like that. I have things to do outside of work: family time, ministry, etc. And all these things take time.

More Reviews Updated

If you peruse the links on the side, you'll notice that more Reviews have been updated (books, movies, and tv). If you want something reviewed (whether an item or a category of things), let me know. My experience is vast and deep... unfortunately a bit too much with some pop culture stuff.

I'm thinking of adding "Game Reviews"... what do you think about that?

The 5 hr Interview

Guess what? GE contacted me again, and wanted to set up a time for interviewing me. The date is set for next Thursday, June 15... from about 10 am to 3 pm! I have five 45 minute interviews (the HR manager, the hiring manager, etc.).

I hope they don't ask me questions like "If you were an animal, what animal would you be and why?"

Read Any Comics Lately?

This sunday while at home in Cuyahoga Falls (*shout out to homeys*), I read the Sunday comics (the "in color" version!) for the first time in a loooong while. With me being as computer savvy as I am, I duly noted the comics that referenced our technological / computer age in which we live.

So, in order for you to enjoy, as I did, the in color, comic relief of Sunday, I have posted them on one of my other blogs, namely An Action Verb. Or you can just link straight to it here: "Comics: Computers".

Restaurants

With the scare of fast foods (e.g. McDonald's after the movie "Supersize Me," a piece of rat found in a salad bar at a Wendy's, etc.), restaurants in general might be in some dire straits.

To help counter this possible anarchy against the food industry, I've decided it is in the best interest of both me and my readers (that's you) to provide an honest feedback system--dare I say, "Review"--of any restaurants I go to.

So, in the very near future, probably the next couple of days, Restaurant Reviews will be added to "My Reviews." I understand for those of you who want to get up on more reviews that I haven't posted new ones lately, BUT I will let you know that there are many drafts saved of movies and books, etc. Soon, a plethora of reviews will be released... and be forewarned, you may go into "hyper-ophthalmological info sensory overload shock syndrome" (or what I like to call: HOISOSS). {Don't look that up in a medical dictionary, you won't find it because I just made it up.}