Lots of Fun

  Besides working, it is important to develop a social aspect in an effort to make someone more well rounded.  I did just that as this past weekend brought in a lot of fun.  Went over to a friends' home of my brother where there was festivities centering around this years' KY Derby.  It was awesome as we were greeted by nice people, food as part of a buffet line, even an encouragement to place a bet on a certain horse that one wanted to see finish first along with the odds. 
  The women who were there were dressed in a festival way by wearing one of those traditional hats that all women wear while attending the Derby at Churchill Downs.  The hosts/hostess also went a step further by providing the words to My Old Kentucky Home as we all sang as the horses marched onto the track.  Below is a picture of a guy who could have easily been apart of our party.

  I also saw this years' Eugene Marathon were thousands of runners took part in the annual event.  It was fun cheering the runners on as several passed us often in crowded packs.  Even saw a family member part take as my brothers' sister-in-law and brother-in-law competed.  It was fun to see them full of energy as we mutually saw one another.

 

  I thought the city did a good job in coordinating the event where the course meandered throughout the city so that the locals can get a glimpse of the runners as they passed at various mile markers.  The runners were seen through downtown streets, bike paths, neighborhoods with a climatic finish at the end.  The track and field facility at the U of O opened up their gates allowing the runner to finish up inside a cheering stadium something similar if you recall of how the marathon was run back in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Pictures of Me in Action @ Next Step

  In my last entry I tried to provide a description of what I do at Next Step.  This entry, I will provide pictures courtesy of my paparazzi who surprised me when he made an unannounced visit with camera in hand at work.  Clearly these pictures should give you, the reader, a sense of the several pieces that we deal with once we unscrew the screws that keep the cover in place in our efforts to revitalize a machine that somebody once thought was unusable.  Below is a picture of me just screwing in my last screw as I just changed the Hard Drive.  The old hard drive that I removed is right by the jar full of screws.

  This shot shows me using software in an attempt of getting the computer to recognize the parts that I installed.  Once this is done I will use more software to make sure the parts that I installed are indeed working.  If an error did show on the screen I would have to shut down the computer and figure out which part needed further attention.  I think on my first computer when I was a rookie I did get a few errors that required further attention.  Lucky for me,  I am surrounded by top of the line people who can help me if I continue to get stuck.

  This last picture shows my observer/my supervisor taking a peek over my shoulder making sure that I did everything correctly.  You can also see others busy trying to rebuild their own computer.

My Job/Volunteer at Next Step

  I thought I would take a moment and share what I am doing volunteer wise at Next Step.  Depending on the type of computer I am dealing with, I may be involved in what is called harvesting which is simply dismantling the machine trying to salvage some parts to be used elsewhere or simply trying to rebuild a computer from scratch.  The key difference between harvesting and rebuilding is that one does not have to remember how to insert a new part in once the old has been removed.  I think one can imagine several pieces scattered about on the table and the confusion of saying to oneself does this go here?  Luckily there are experts near by in case I forget.
  At first it is a very slow process of matching up the information of the computer that I am dealing with to the chart that guides me regarding the necessary parts that I need to install but I am getting it.  We are installing new hard drives, optical drives, dvd drives along with memory cards to various sticks of ram.  To make things simple, I try to remove one part at a time, then install it before tackling something else that requires attention that way it prevents forgetting how a piece literally fits inside.
  Once all the parts have been literally changed it is time to hook up the computer and insert some software to make sure that the part that was placed inside the machine works.  This can be tough to figure out which part is faulty but is required as a precaution in making sure the parts are working, after all the goal is trying to rebuild something and get something working that was once considered to be dead or unusable.
  Hope this helps in trying to gage as to the role I fulfill at this important recycling facility.

Another Thank You

  I really do appreciate everybody's enthusiasm regarding my situation.  I understand your reason to be optimistic but I am not sure I can take any personal credit or for that matter that same reason to be optimistic has not trickled down for me to sense those feelings as well.  Not sure why but simply I am stating that I have not yet felt those feelings yet.  Maybe I will.  For the most part I am doing ok.  I do have my ups and I do have my downs as I try to not only understand what I am dealing with as well situations that are simply of discomfort to me.
  Went to the U of O the other day and lost a few more chess games but the game did present some kind of challenge.  Below is a picture of me nestled in with some of the smart people that make up the club.

My Thank You

  I know it took a major effort for everybody to work hard on my behalf and so this blog will be tribute to your efforts.  As I enter my second week in town, I am not sure what to expect as everything is still relatively brand new to me except for a few modifications.  I am hoping to get into some positive groove at my volunteer position where I can understand how things are done as well as feeling comfortable at whatever I am doing.  I am also hoping to make a few friends along the way and get to know others a little bit more as I am trying to build upon my social life.
  I recognize the effort on a lot of people who worked hard on my behalf in an effort to give me another fresh start.  I promised to you guys as well as to myself that I would not let you down as I am here to give it my best effort as we all try to gaze into the future of the likely changes that will occur.  The way that I see it, if I win then we all win as this is a group effort.
  It is still a little too early to ask me particulars as I am still new to the area and still trying to make a positive impact in the area.  Whether it be this job or some other job, I am not sure but as promised I here to do my best.
  I should say that I attended a chess club at the University of Oregon and lost the two games that I played.  Still it was fun.  Went to church last Sunday, my first appearance in several years.  I also went down to Saturday's Market this past weekend in the downtown area and checked out the benders that had set up a booth.  Below is a picture of me pushing my nephew as he got tired of walking.

1st Day as Volunteer

  I have to say that yesterday was a tough day to get acclimated to this volunteer position.  Below are two pictures that show me involved in one of the first steps when a computer arrives at this location.  What I am doing is called harvesting or dismantling some usable internal circuitry that are found inside a computer tower so that it can be used in another phase of the operation.
  The people who I briefly met appear to be very nice and approachable whenever one may have a question.  Besides dismantling a computer tower I was involved in breaking down old floppy disks so that their parts could be used elsewhere.

 

Casual Day

  Though today was a casual day I was still on the run.  Participated in a small workout with my sister-in-law peddling away on a life cycle bike for 30 minutes.  Later on in the day I watched my nephew as he was involved in a swim lesson.  His picture is below.
  I also was able to get my picture which you can see on the right margin of my blog.