I have been busy

I have been training all week.  My new day job is going well. I will try to update again soon.

I have been taking on new challenges in life.  One major change has been the effort to improve my employment.  Back in October, I was faced with the upcoming New Year.  I wanted to make 2012 a great year for me.  I set new goals. I was considering a new job.  I had grown in my company but had reached a place of boredom and complacency.  I had even considered moving to a new city.  So many of my good friends had moved, and I felt abandoned.  

I weighed my options and consulted with the important people in my life.  I felt I would try to change things.  I started first by making other friends.  I have such a wide variety of friends.  I have gotten to know new people and currently feel like this was a good thing.  I enjoy them very much.  This included being more out going and friendly to people I already was acquainted with. 

Next I approached my current Manager at work.  I was interested in exploring other departments. But first I asked to be cross trained with another department.  I made the point that it would benefit our work group.  He said yes.  I figured it would give me more visability and help my resume in the long run.  This was a great thing.  I trained with our department lead.  He showed me more in-depth working our department.  I made me more aware of the workings of our group.   I felt good.  I was even asked d to fill in the lead spot while he was out for a few days due to a family situation.  I gained visability in the group as someone who can be counted on to be flexible. 

My Manager also told me about other departments.  He asked if I would be interested in observing.  This could consist of spending the day there, meeting management, and getting an idea about what the departments functions are. Also I would be able to promote myself to potential departmetn heads.   I said yes!  It took a few phone calls and set up time, but He made it happen.  I was allowed to observe in Sales and Customer service department.  I had a great day and met several supervisor and managers.  Most of all I liked the enviroment.  I was encouraged at the end of the day when I sat down with a few managers in an informal review of my day.  They had several questions about me, my back ground and my goals.  They encouraged me to look for upcoming oepning with in their group.  It was no gaurentee, but overall. I knew they liked me and appreciated my skill set.  When the postitions finally came open the work I had put into paid off.  My resume was perfect. My interview skills were sharp and my knowledge was vast due to the information I had been aborbing from any cource I could find.  I had spent my evening preparing.  It was the hardest interview. But I impressed them.  I had left  the panel open to the idea of letting me join them.  It was a huge leap from one job to another.  I knew I could do it, I had the portential to learn and grown and finally I got the call.

Yes,  I landed a new job, a start of a new chapter in my life.  This new postion was the blessing I needed, wanted and worked hard to obtain.  Now the rest is up to me.  I must learn fast, learn well and prove to my new group that I belong there.  I did not have to leave my job, but found a new position.  Sometimes change is good. 

random things

Just some random things about me.

I love Reese’s peanut butter cups.

I like Vodka and seven. Or some times a beer.

I recently got to see some of the “girls” from back home.  I enjoyed them.

My best buddy from work is off today. Bummer.

a quick snap shot during last nights show.

I love when my sister texts me funny lines from our favorite movies.

I cleaned the house yesterday incase someone showed up unexpected. No one did.

My drag luggage is still in the trunk from last nights show. 

Pipe dreams

When I was a kid, my dad worked for an oil field supply company. Growing up in Texas many families relied on the oil business. These businesses created labor jobs.I t gave people dreams of buying a house and raising kids in a nice neighborhood.  It was a place for poorly educated, hard working people like my Dad to earn a decent living. His job was to work in the pipe yard and was some times called upon to make deliveries to job sites.  These were no ordinary jobs. They were oil field jobs. Big oil rig were set up to pump crude oil from the ground.  An oil well is a general term for any boring through the earth‘s surface designed to find and acquire petroleum oil hydrocarbons. Usually some natural gas is produced along with the oil. A well that is designed to produce mainly or only gas may be termed a gas well. The sites were located in rural towns and remote locations.  Often times, roads were created just to access these remote locations. 
Oil drilling uses different type of pipe and supplies such as hoses, rods, pipe fittings, and gauges.  All were available from Flusche Supply Company, where my dad worked.   There are many types of pipe used to pump oil from the ground.  They vary in diameter and length. They would usually have to be hauled by large truck and specialty pipe trailers.   The pipe also had to be tested to withstand pressures.  This was done by hand.  Each one had to meet standards. You can think of this in the same way the doctor checks your blood pressure. One end of the pipe would be capped. Then a supply line and gauge would pump high pressure water in the pipe.  It would make a loud buzzing sound and the waters filled the pipe and almost vibrated form the high pressure. I remember my dad saying how the crew has to “buzz” some pipe before it went out. All I knew is it was loud.  The gauge would need to reach a set pressure with out failing.  Then the pipe would be expected to hold that pressure for the duration of the test.  If the pipe burst, it was scrapped. It was not uncommon to see water plumes spraying from open wounds of the failed pipe.  The dirty water also made a muddy mess in the pipe yard.  No oil rig wants pipe that could not with stand the pressures of the drilling process.  The scraped pipe might then be sold to metal shops.  The used it for structural purposes. 

The pipe was stored on tall racks around the pipe yard.  These racks were some times six feet off the ground.  It made loading and unloading of pipe easier.  Some times the pipe would be rolled one a time on the trailer parked parallel.  I remember seeing my Dad standing on the stack of long pipe. And he would roll the pipe with his feet.  It was like watching a circus performer.  He would balance and walk backwards pushing the pipe forward at the same time.  One by one they would roll on the pipe trailer.  I don’t know where he learned this, I suspect from watching other men do it on the job.  My dad was the shortest and lightest of all the men.  I suppose that was a good thing.  You have to be careful when rolling pipe this way. One wrong slip and you could catch your foot between the pipe and risk falling to the ground. 

That is what happed in 1988.  My Dad hurt his back.  It was a tough time.  I am not sure how we made it.  My mom worked as a cook. She earned just a dollar over minimum wage.  And my Dad was off work and collected disability from the insurance company before finally settling the claim.  I remember thinking. We must be rich.  But like all things in life, money does not last forever. My parents paid off the house. They thought it was important to do so. The oil field help many families survive and also left others barely hanging on. I remember my brother once working for a oil company.  I never understood why he would want to work there. It was tough work.  I saw it as a trap.  All that remains is old wells and memories of better times. I tried hard to get out of that small town and find a new life.

pain in the neck

I have not written my blog this week. I was sick over the weekend and it escalated to an ER visit on Monday night.  I noticed a pain in the back of my neck and severe head ache on Saturday.  I was supposed to go out of town for a show.  I went even though my neck hurt.  At the show I did all slow songs. That was some thing I never do.  I wore the same hair all night and was not my usual out going drag self.  I was in so much pain; I knew it was best not to drink alcohol.  I sipped on sprite all night.  I also left as soon as the show ended.  I drove back to Irving the next day and tried to rest for work the next day.  I was still hurting.  I went to work, but felt like crap.  By this time the lump on the back of my head was about the size of a potato.  It made it hard to sleep, so I decided to go to the ER.  After about 3 hours of waiting, the ER doctor told me I had an infection.  He gave me antibiotics.  I took the next day off and slept all day.  The swelling was the same but not any better.  After a few day of medication, I feel better.  But unfortunately I had to cancel my upcoming trip to Tulsa on Saturday.  Some times you have to put yourself first.  I will be back on the road next weekend. 
 Note:  the ER Doctor was hot.  If your ever sick in DFW, go to the Emergency Room at Los Colinas Medical Center.  The cute doctor even gave me some jewlery....a plastic braclet with me listed as the patient and him listed as doctor....we were meant to be together. I even shared a moment in the exam room.  He said " you may feel a slight pressure"  ha ha

Picture from my Talent.

 

I have had these pictures in my phone for a while now. I finally got around to posting them. They are from my talent number at Miss Texas State at Large pageant back in Sept 2011. It is my Big time/Dreams talent.   I jokingly call it my “Pretty-Pretty Princess” talent.  While making the costumes, I told my Sister I felt like a princess.  The joke stuck.  I loved this talent. I had a great mix of music. It started off with sound bites from Cinderella. The music would start and I came elegantly walking out and start singing to ‘Its time’ by Linda Eder. The music refers to following your dreams.  The clock lights up and chimes.  Then the music transitions to ‘Big Time’ by Linda Eder.  I do a costume change on stage by spinning out of the tulle skit and putting on a coat with tails.  I danced the rest of the song while expressing my dreams to make it big.  I had worked very hard on costumes, props, and choreography.  It was a great talent number. (if you look close, in one of the picture, you can see my sister Wendy, holding my jacket. She was waiting for the right cue.  She is always helping me and I love her.)