RoadTrippin'

On the road again...

It's early...as i write this, I'm sitting in a hotel room listening to my family breathing while they sleep.  Another Christmas has come and gone, and we are headed feet first into 2013.  Yesterday we began our trek across the Northwest with a destination of Roseberg, OR to see the In-Laws.  And like clockwork, that is when mother nature decides to through a bunch of snow and ice in the way.  Not wanting to take any chances, we watched the weather, and road conditions like any normal people would do.  Our van is packed with blankets, chains, shovel, food and drinks as I like to be prepared for anything.  As we got going the roads were pretty good.  Snow was falling, but only small flurries, so we were making good time.

Good things never seem to last too long as the picture to the right, mutated to the picture below.  Don't get me wrong.  Becky was driving while I took these pictures.  We were going at a nice slow pace.  Despite the weather warning, snow on the ground, we passed several vehicles that had slid off the road.  Ironically, there were all trucks.  One of which was a full size P/U, probably with 4-wheel drive and a driver who was too over confident.  No matter what you do, you can't beat physics.  When you slide, you slide.  I didn't stop to take pictures, but I did wonder if they had sufficient coverage in their insurance policies.  Yeah, I have to do a plug as I'm now an agent for FARMERS.  Let me give you a free quote!

"Roads?  Where we're going, we don't need roads"
- Dr E. Brown

As we chugged along, I finally took over driving and we pulled into Bend, OR around 6pm.  Not wanting to drive over the mountain pass at night (again), we opted to stay the night at a hotel.  Having been on this same trip multiple times, we are becoming quite familiar with Bend and some of the lodging/dining options available.

Once we had cell service, Becky jumped on her phone and began looking for deals.  This year we ended up at the Shilo Inn.  I'm actually very impressed with the features available considering the low price we paid.  Centrally located, indoor pool (Isaac got to go swimming last night), restaurant (that will provide a free breakfast in a few hours), and free wi-fi that is letting me post this blog.

As for the dining option, this time I went to FaceBook to ask the locals as I do know some people that live here (ironically, non of them responded.)  Most of the recommendations were for local breweries, however neither of us are beer drinkers.  The first suggest was for a placed called "Taste of Thailand".  Thai food sounded good so we ventured out to find this place, the only problem is that instead of Thai food, we found a Dry Cleaners.  And as Gollum said, 'they don't taste very good, do they precious'  (in reference to orcs, but you get the idea).  With visions of Pad Thai on our brains, and armed with not one, but two smart phones, we quickly found ourselves walking into a little place called Angel Thai.  The food was awesome!  I ordered the Mongolian Beef (I know, not traditional Thai) with a spice factor of 3, from a scale of 1-5.  It came with a mound of white rice.  I needed 5 cups of water, and some more soup, and some of Becky's Pad Thai to put our the flames.  My lips still burned for a good hour afterwards, but it was well worth it.

I made the picture bigger so you can see the flavor...and all the little red pepper flakes

Have a fun and safe New Year!!!!  Till then.....

And so it begins...I bought a Farm!

You know, I couldn't tell you WHAT my last blog was...without looking, I couldn't even tell you WHEN my last blog was.  But I do recall stating that I would be writing more, so here goes . . . .something.

Many changes have occurred over the last 6 months.  My life went from a predictable 8-5 job, making enough $ to cover life's expenses.  I was suddenly released from the predictable, and entered the "less than exiting" stage.  I spent nearly two months looking for a new job.  I had lots of interviews and lots of disappointments.  My family had to re-evaluate how things were done.  Thank God for the Dave Ramsey class we took that helped us become debt free and build an emergency fund for just such an occasion.  As the money slowly disappeared, I started to look for jobs that weren't exactly in my field.

I thought sales would be fun, so I ended up in an interview with Farmer's Insurance and was very tempted by the possibilities of working in an industry that doesn't sell Insurance, but helps people become whole again after the worst situations.  That was the bright side of the coin, the less shiny side said that I needed to get my own license, pay for courses, testing, and other fees.  While we couldn't decide what to do, I found myself up in Fruitland, ID selling used cars.  I found satisfaction in seeing good people drive off in a good reliable car.  I enjoyed meeting new people and helping them meet their needs.  Seeing the "under belly" of the auto business really left a bad taste in my mouth, and I knew it wasn't something I could do for a long time.  So I started thinking about an exit plan.  The problem I had was that when you are working almost 13 hours a day 5-6 days a week, there isn't much room to do anything else.  Because of a blessing, I was able to go back to Farmer's and say that I was interested after all, and proceeded with the interview process, and began studying for my Licensing exams.

BING!

I'm happy to say that I am now licensed in the state of Idaho, to market, negotiate, and sell auto, home, and commercial insurance on behalf of Farmer's Insurance.  I am not license to say "BING" as part of a sales pitch, and if I ever do, please slap me.  One of the top 3 Insurance Provider's in the Nation, with a District Manager who is one of the top 3 DM's in the company, not just Idaho, but the whole company!  I am honored and humble to be working with this team of people.  It's a far cry from the shark tank I worked at in Fruitland.

So today I had my first day of training and I now have an excellent handle on Auto Policies and how under-insured most people are, and I'm also super excited to get out there and start working with people.  This is the beginning of a new career, and hopefully a new life for me and my family as the opportunity that is ahead of us is wide open.