You do get paid while waiting right?

You are kidding, right? No, I do not get paid. It's another week without a pay check. My wife is quite frustrated about this as she's the smart one to handle the bills. Also, her minivan just needs to have $800 work done to it. It's quite frustrating. We could take the 10 days with no pay, but one extra week is pushing it. Then throw on the car repairs.

No, not really kidding, if I were to start a job and they're not ready for me, that's their problem, my contract starts at a certain date, that's what we've signed for after all.

Hopefully the job'll be more than worth it, financially and personally!

So far the job seems pretty cool. I'm a Project Manager and have worked at very large corporations. I'm working at a smaller company (medium sized?) and they use Agile process a lot. It's very...free form. I actually like it. I don't have to use MS Project! So....so far it seems pretty cool. Everyone knows each other. Everyone seems laid back. I can wear jeans, which is great.

The only bad thing so far is the commute. I used to take the bus, but now I work on the far side of town. It's the most crowded part of Charlotte. Without traffic, it would be about 30 min drive. Today took me 70 minutes to get here. It's taking me about 50 min every day. I know there are other parts of the country that this is normal, but it's a huge change for me. It's a bit stressful and takes up a chunk of my day.

Still....excited about the job!

Possibilities to work from home? Starting earlier or later?

Otherwise, put on some audiobooks and use the time as personal time to relax and get on with stuff like that, my commute is an hour as well and the time in the car helps me unwind. .

Working at a place where everbody knows each other is something I'm starting to miss more and more of late, there's about 6000 people in the building and I know maybe 100 people in the entire company (of 27000). It's nice having an italian restaurant in the basement, and a gym, and a fish restaurant and a few coffee bars, but it's all a bit to anonymous for my tastes.

Dark Disciple was the audio book that I just finished. I don't have one queued up next. I've been listening to X-wing podcasts, but they don't come out as often as my own podcast. The worst is that I have a car from 2003 that I like, but it doesn't have any bluetooth or aux plug. I might have to spring for a new stereo that has blue tooth or at least an aux plug. I use a cheap FM transmitter that plugs into my headphone jack. Sometimes....it just stops working. Sucks. Oh, and I finally found a channel that isn't occupied. Some new station just knocked the old one I was using.

I'm used to working slightly earlier hours. I help get the kids out and I go too, then I used to work through lunch and leave at 4pm. I like it. The downside to Agile is that it's all about face to face meetings. So...they require you to be in the office from 9-5. I need to work 8 hours a day and lunch is optional. Leaving at 5pm really screws me.

I'll be able to work from home when it's necessary, but not on a regular basis.

I'm a contractor for hire with the idea that they hire me in 6 months (assuming they still like me and their company hasn't tanked). I don't want to make any waves until I'm hired perm. Also, my manager works on my side of town and even a little further out than me. So, he's got it worse than me!

Podcast recording time is going to have to change, too. I normally go to game night on Thursdays and then head home to record. There isn't enough time to do both. I can't change game night, so it looks like recording time has to change. I hope it isn't going to be too disruptive. I think I found a new time to record. If so, then it means I'll actually get more gaming time as I won't have to rush home on Thursday nights to record. That makes me happy as I was only getting in about 2 games a week.

Ah, so you can carpool with your boss? That'll leave either of you some free time to get some extra work in on the way to or from work. .

And get yourself a cheap bluetooth headset and put the podcasts on the phone, much quicker and you'll be able to make calls if needed. I couldn't live without my headset these days, and I've switched to going by train the past month.

Funny about the Agile though, it's what we use here and working from home is actively encouraged (to the point that there's no room to put everybody ). Ah well, different approaches I guess. You'll adjust to the new schedule, it's early days still.

So far the job seems pretty cool. I'm a Project Manager and have worked at very large corporations. I'm working at a smaller company (medium sized?) and they use Agile process a lot. It's very...free form. I actually like it. I don't have to use MS Project! So....so far it seems pretty cool. Everyone knows each other. Everyone seems laid back. I can wear jeans, which is great.

The only bad thing so far is the commute. I used to take the bus, but now I work on the far side of town. It's the most crowded part of Charlotte. Without traffic, it would be about 30 min drive. Today took me 70 minutes to get here. It's taking me about 50 min every day. I know there are other parts of the country that this is normal, but it's a huge change for me. It's a bit stressful and takes up a chunk of my day.

Still....excited about the job!

You just described my commute to the project office... (not project manager, merely a document manager answering to the PM) 30 minutes if I get straight line - but particularly my drive home is typically 50 minutes... And it's taken 2 hours in a snow storm because of bad drivers unprepared for the weather. I've started listening to an XWing podcast on my way home... maybe you heard of it - Shuttle Tyderium.

I crank the volume on my phone and put it in my shirt pocket, or cupholder...

I crank the volume on my phone and put it in my shirt pocket, or cupholder...

You too, just get a cheap bluetooth headset. Makes life much easier, you can even use it while working out or something. And you still have one ear open to the rest of the world.

Ah, so you can carpool with your boss? That'll leave either of you some free time to get some extra work in on the way to or from work. .

And get yourself a cheap bluetooth headset and put the podcasts on the phone, much quicker and you'll be able to make calls if needed. I couldn't live without my headset these days, and I've switched to going by train the past month.

Well....I'm wondering about car pooling with the boss. It's still the first week, though. Also, I'll be tied to whatever time he wants to come in/leave. So...I'm not sure on that one. It's possible in the future.

I've looked into vanpooling and used the Nextdoor app to try to find someone to car pool with. No luck. Charlotte's weird in that 90% of people work downtown. It's nearly a mono-industry with all the banks. Almost everyone lives on the south side of town and it's incredibly overcrowded. Really bad city planning. I avoided that by living on the NW side, but the problem is that I can't find a bus, vanpool, or car ride with anyone going the same way. Everyone either already lives around the office or are going downtown. Bleh.

Oh....the headphones. I have some good ones, but the Mrs. says it's illegal to drive with headphones on. She really doesn't like me doing it. Says it's a hazard as I might not hear something like a siren or a giant crash.

I've started listening to an XWing podcast on my way home... maybe you heard of it - Shuttle Tyderium.

I crank the volume on my phone and put it in my shirt pocket, or cupholder...

I'll have to check it out!

I have a nifty phone holder for my car. I put a metal disc on the back of my phone and stick a magnetic holder in an air vent. Then, I can just stick my phone on the holder and see my screen for GPS and such. It's nifty, but not the best when it comes to listening to something.

I have looked and I think I can get a cheap enough car stereo for less than $150. I think I saw some sale at Best Buy that they install them for free? I don't really have that money laying around. I did just have 3 weeks with no paycheck and the whole Xmas thing. Maybe eventually I could get one, though. I have some private money stashed, but I'm waiting for the rest of Wave 10 and now the C-ROC.

If you're looking for stuff to listen to, there's no shortage of good podcasts in a wide variety of subjects. Here's a few of my recommendations (skewed heavily by the recent ancient history kick I've been on):

Hardcore History (basically the best history podcast ever): Long and short form discussion of a variety of history topics, slick and professional.

Radiolab: Podcast of the NPR radio program. Interesting stories about a huge variety of true things.

History of Exploration Podcast: Definitely more on the amateur side, but very well done, with some really fascinating stories.

Ancient Greek History: a Yale undergraduate history course recorded and made available in podcast form. I was a science major that took history classes for fun, so be warned. The professor teaching this is a really excellent lecturer, and I've seen quite a few, so I should know.

Trojan War Podcast: This is sort of a weird one. It's a professional storyteller telling his version of the Trojan War story drawing on a large pile of ancient sources and picking the versions he likes.

I carpool with the company boss on occassion, but that's because I knew him for a year before working for him. Other than that, laid back job but it has a lot of work for a simple Tux Rental and uniform outfitter store. Helps out when your car needs work or when it's light and doesn't do well in the snow. Although with the New Yorkers driving up and down, they don't drive well in any condition.

The only problem is socializing, I don't. By now most people have figured out I'm a miserable nasty bastard when the wrong side of me is tipped off, and I'll be the first to admit I don't care about Disney Wars or if the userbases brains suddenly hemmorhage and their eyes explode onto their screens. You're alright in that regard.

Hey Jim, you could get a portable bluetooth speaker. It may be cheaper than a new radio on a 15 year old car... Just a thought.

If you're looking for stuff to listen to, there's no shortage of good podcasts in a wide variety of subjects. Here's a few of my recommendations (skewed heavily by the recent ancient history kick I've been on):

Hardcore History (basically the best history podcast ever): Long and short form discussion of a variety of history topics, slick and professional.

Radiolab: Podcast of the NPR radio program. Interesting stories about a huge variety of true things.

History of Exploration Podcast: Definitely more on the amateur side, but very well done, with some really fascinating stories.

Ancient Greek History: a Yale undergraduate history course recorded and made available in podcast form. I was a science major that took history classes for fun, so be warned. The professor teaching this is a really excellent lecturer, and I've seen quite a few, so I should know.

Trojan War Podcast: This is sort of a weird one. It's a professional storyteller telling his version of the Trojan War story drawing on a large pile of ancient sources and picking the versions he likes.

Thanks! Personally, I love Hardcore History. The only downside is that if you catch up to what he's producing, it's a crippling amount of time until the next episode is out. My son is in 6th grade and is studying world history. I told him about the Persian discussion and we have been listening to it at bed time. It's either the latest Star Wars comic or this. He is loving it, which makes me proud. He even gets excited when Herodotus comes up in other discussions and loved that he got to correct my wife when she tried to say the name. We are almost done with the Persian stuff and I've been wondering what to do once we are done and you have some good suggestions. I'm tempted to start the WWI episodes as he just started playing BF1. That will take FOREVER to go through.

On a side note, you don't know anything about Irish History podcasts, do you? We might be taking a family trip to Ireland this summer and it would be cool to learn about stuff before we get there.

Your other suggestions seem pretty cool, as well. I'll have to see which ones will stick. I'm torn between History of Exploration one and the Greek classes. The NPR will probably have too many news items about Trump and I'm kind of going to listen to a lot less news for the next 4 years for my own sanity. I love NPR, though.

Hey Jim, you could get a portable bluetooth speaker. It may be cheaper than a new radio on a 15 year old car... Just a thought.

I actually thought of that this weekend! So, I think I'll go with that. I have a cheap bluetooth speaker, but maybe I can spring for a nicer one instead of a car stereo. Thanks for the thought!

Radiolab isn't a news cast. They take 20-40 minutes and discuss a single topic in depth. It occasionally gets into politics, but it's rare, and the story description will tell you if it's something annoying. For example, three random selections I've recently heard ranged from a,story about a young woman with no paper trail because she was born and raised under unusual circumstances, forest fungus that connects tree roots into vast nutrient systems, and the changing face of K-pop journalism over the past 10-12 years. It's very random.

I haven't hit Irish history yet, but I'll keep my ears open.

You've got to reserve the big long-form Hardcore History episodes for long drives or something, or you'll never get through them. There are plenty of shorter ones in the back-catalog, though. The WWI stuff might take,a,bit of the shine off of BF1,though, as he doesn't flinch about going into the awfulness of trench warfare. History of Exploration is probably more 6th grader friendly than Ancient Greek History, unless he finds the political and economic conditions that gave rise to the specific format of Greek city-states fascinating. I do, because it's a pretty unique situation and the Greeks are pretty important to western civilization. It's also basically a post-apocalyptic story, and I'm a sucker for those.

I did love the WW 1 episodes and feel like I actually learned quite a bit from it. I especially found the bit where he even just touched on the whole alliance system. It's the most in depth I've actually heard on it. Most places just say "complicated ally system that was hard to understand". I didn't quite realize that it fell apart due to the new Kaiser and getting rid of ....was it Mitternick? Or was he the Austrian. I also love the aspect about the whole assassination. Very nicely done. I would not mind listening to that one again.

I really want to hear the one on Eastern Front WWII, but didn't listen to it then and didn't download. I have been debating buying them to download as I love Ostfront WWII.

My son might actually like the college course on Greek History. I think he really digs it and he is a clever lad. Of course, I haven't heard it yet. I figure I could try it and see what he thinks. He might find it too boring, but maybe not. I find if you enjoy a subject, you can get into it more. Ancient Greece is generally considered the start of Western Civ, so him having a solid foundation on it would be awesome. I've already pointed out the 3 main types of greek pillars to him. He'll go around and shout out "Ionic!" whenever we drive by one.

Man, I start this thread saying I won't be around much, but today has me with too much free time this morning. My boss/instructor has been too busy doing his job to really tell me how to do mine. I've got my first big meeting coming up this afternoon, though, so that's exciting.

WWI had roots in the loss of Bismarck and the failure of his successors to keep France isolated and especially away from Russia.

WWI had roots in the loss of Bismarck and the failure of his successors to keep France isolated and especially away from Russia.

Yes, it was Bismark. Still...it was some seriously weird stuff that Bismark set up. It was things like supporting French miners of a certain area and supporting another odd fringe group in a different area. To Bismark, it made sense and worked. Once he was booted out, no one could really make sense of the minute details of the whole thing. Well....they couldn't even keep track of the larger things, either! France became allied with Russia and that was the worst thing that could happen.

If anyone cares, that is.

"complicated ally system that was hard to understand".

I do care, since you are a member of a complicated system of allies who LOVES EPIC!!

And you seem like pretty cool peoples.

WWI had roots in the loss of Bismarck and the failure of his successors to keep France isolated and especially away from Russia.

Yes, it was Bismark. Still...it was some seriously weird stuff that Bismark set up. It was things like supporting French miners of a certain area and supporting another odd fringe group in a different area. To Bismark, it made sense and worked. Once he was booted out, no one could really make sense of the minute details of the whole thing. Well....they couldn't even keep track of the larger things, either! France became allied with Russia and that was the worst thing that could happen.

Well, it was bad, but if they'd not gone through Belgium (or had gone faster, like they did 20 years later) then it still would've been manageable.

Or, conversely, had they not tried to grab as much as possible once Russia crumbled thanks to the revolution, but had moved all those armies to the Western Front, then they'd still have pulled out a win. There were some other things, laid out in Haffner's book The seven deadly sins of the German Empire in the First World War

This site is a great resource, but it can get graphic in a lot of the pictures (including the one on the homepage, not for the young, the queasy or those at work)

http://www.greatwar.nl/

I know much more about WWII than WWI. With the anniversaries popping up, it is interesting to review a lot of this.

Extra History has a nicely narrated rundown of the last few days (I think? Mabye the timeframe is shorter) before World War 1, they called it "the seminal tragedy".

Extra History is a series Extra Credits does on the side by the ways. It is great being digestable, entertaining, with a big focus on personalities. They always tell a story as well as history. And they don't just focus on big things, they also cover some rather obscure topics (the south sea bubble!). Greatest thing always is the "Lies" episode where they discuss screwups and things they left out, though. It is a video format, but doesn't really need the video to work, I listen to it when cleaning.

Edit: First video

I know much more about WWII than WWI. With the anniversaries popping up, it is interesting to review a lot of this.

I have been to both Ypres and Normandy. I was surprised to find out how much more "personal" WWI was, and how much bitterness is still felt over The Great War.

Few military graveyards have been as imposing as the German one in Langemark, in all its starkness. And all around Ieper, the small graveyards of a few British soldiers in what is now forever England.

Hope you're doing better. I just got more things to fix.

The ankle is much better. I still can't stand for super long periods of time and game night always makes me hurt the next day. Still, I am doing these stand up meetings every morning for 20 minutes or so and it helps me build my endurance. I'm off all pain meds at this point, so I'm getting there. Still won't be "normal" until this August or so.

That's what makes the therapy great. I've got more car repairs to situate.