Here

So I'm finally here! Krissi and I turned a 10 hour trip into like a 12 hour trip. We were supposed to leave between 9 and 10 in the morning on Friday, I think we finally got on the road around 2. Krissi drove the majority of the time, which was surprising to both of us. We saw lots of semis but only got a few of them to honk, we played the alphabet game like 5 times, it was crazy. Pretty sure Krissi has a bruise on her arm and I have one on my leg from the license plate game, then the drive got interesting. Coming through Wichita the highway we needed was closed off because of construction, we didn't realize this until the Tom Tom had taken us on our 4th figure 8, called dad and he figured out an alternative route. Pulled into a little town in Kansas for dinner, quickly pulled out due to the horrendous smell. On our quick exit we almost hit not one, but two deer, Krissi saw the one on her side, swerved to miss it and almost took out another one on my side. After the initial shock was gone, we couldn't stop laughing at what had happened. We pulled into another little town right outside of Colorado and waited what seemed like an eternity for our Arby's. The last 124 miles seemed like the took forever!! We finally pulled into Denver around 12:30 here (1:30 Tulsa time). We tried to find the hotel, it was hidden in an apartment complex, that was an adventure trying to figure out. Once we found it and got checked in some of the funniest things happened. We loaded up the bell hop cart thing w/ our bags and while we were getting things out of the back seat I turned to see all of our bags flying down the hill, I'm pretty sure neither one of us have ran that fast before. After getting the car unloaded and the cart under control we realized Krissi's Iphone had gotten shut in the back hatch, it was shattered. After I parked it took forever to get the cart in the doors because of our bags being put on crazy and laughing so hard. We got the cart in the elevator after about 5 minutes of trying and then we just sat there, Krissi forgot to push the button so we sat there for a few minutes. I think the whole process of getting stuff from the car and up to the room took us at least 30 minutes. Needless to say there was a ton of laughter for the day, more to come on the weekend later! Hope everyone is well.

Top 10

So I’m sitting at dispatch at work and Seth walks into my office singing “Teardrops on my Guitar” by Taylor Swift. Probably the highlight of my day! Nothing like working and then all of a sudden hearing “Drew looks, at me…” coming from a man who you would expect to listen to rock, possibly rap and maybe some top 40’s. He actually did a decent job of singing it.

I only have 10 days left at Airco!!!! This is such a crazy thought for me, since I’ve been working there for going on 6 years full-time, and a total of 10 years if you include all my time spent working during high school summers and vacations. The last couple of years have been rough, with all kinds of ups and downs; it’s been like a crazy rollercoaster that goes all over the place. People have come and gone, the building has changed, positions have changed, people have changed. Airco became a part of my routine so long ago and while aspects of that routine have changed, the basics haven’t. While over the past few years I’ve never thought I would really say this, I’m going to miss Airco, several things about it. So here’s my list, my top ten;

10. Late nights – Okay I know this sounds crazy because I complain about the late nights a lot, and while they do frustrate me and get old and wear on my personal life, some great memories have come out of them. Arlo and I have played Battleship online, created our own version of stickball using rulers and rubber band balls. You can actually create a lot of very fun games with a rubber band ball. I could probably write a book with all of them.

9. Random projects/problem solving – I’m often referred to as the “extra hand in the pot” this is because a lot of the time something will need to be done and instead of giving it to the people who normally take care of it or the ones who have already been involved it will typically land in front of me. I actually enjoy the projects because it’s a change of pace from my normal routine and love the problem solving because it tends to be a game for me with my competitive nature, being able to finish or solve something before someone else.

8. Helping customers – One of my favorite things to do is to talk to an upset or irate customer, no kidding. I love to calm them down and help them work out whatever is going on. Customer service makes me happy, I’m weird I know.

7. Serious convos/teaching convos –These typically happen with Rick, but sometimes Kenny, my dad, or one of the older techs will get in on it too. I love listening to Rick talk about current news and issues, the economy, and even random stuff. He has such a vast knowledge; he would totally be my phone a friend on game shows. Then there are the conversations Rick, Dad, and others have where they teach me about heat & air, electric, plumbing, cars, anything mechanical or how something works, I really like these.

6. My heat and air technicians – Most are so much like brothers to me, they drive me absolutely crazy at times, but I still love them. I’ll miss their antagonizing ways and the many nicknames they give me. It was actually here that I got the nickname Deno, several years ago from one of my favorites, Dano!

5. “Arguing” with Rick – Dad always says, “Arguing with Rick is like wrestling with a pig, when will you realize he loves it.” This is the most accurate statement ever.

4. Playing with Mikey – Rubber band fights, marker wars, boxing matches, and tickling fights have made for some great memories. I promise we actually do work most of the time.

3. Donna – From our random lunches we started my junior year of high school, to all of our hilarious conversations, arguments, and adventures online. She has been a constant in my life since I was 5, a friend, mother, sister, boss, co-worker. She is my OAO!

2. Seth & Matt – These two along with a few others are some of my favorite guys in the world. Both have seen me through my fair share of issues up here and have always had my back and been an ear to listen to me go crazy. They also never fail at making me laugh or smile; I owe what is left of my sanity in part to them.

1. Dad – I know it sounds weird, but the relationship that I have with my dad at work is different then what I have at home, mainly because it’s something we share in common that no one else in our family does. A lot of the time I’ll get off and just go chill in his office and talk, watch funny e-mails, or help him with something. And then sometimes I just sit, if I added up all of the hours I’ve spent sitting across from him I think it could equal close to 2 of the years that I’ve worked here.

Concept of Time

I quit working at Airco in 45 days! I leave for Colorado in 65 days!! I am in complete shock with this. When we're kids time seems endless, we're told only 15 days until our birthday and 15 days seems like 15 months. But as we get older our concept of time changes, time seems to fly by. Or at least for me it does. As I was talking to some friends about leaving tonight, I gave the numbers 45 and 65 for the first time. As I was driving home tonight after college group, thinking about everything we had talked about, I just couldn't get out of my head how soon 45 and 65 days seem. I feel like I'm going to wake up in the morning and it's going to be the day I leave. I have so much I want and need to accomplish before I leave, I guess this is just the motivation I need to get on the ball with getting them done.

Getting Started

So I'm new to the whole blogging thing, so take it easy on me. My plan is to update this at least once a week from Colorado to keep everyone updated. Once I get settled in, I'll decide my basic routine for updating. Until I leave for Colorado, I'm going to be updating and telling of my experience while I prepare for this journey, as well as what has led me to this decision. I hope that you all enjoy reading and if you want more info or one-on-one, let me know and we can e-mail. Thanks for all your prayers and support.

Much love,
D