Ideas

http://www.ted.com/talks/steven_johnson_where_good_ideas_come_from.html

So I was introduced to this site through a teacher (possibly the one I learned the most from my entire college career). It has all sorts of interesting stuff on it and really gets you thinking. I came across this video today after not visiting the site for some time. I found it at just the right time. In the video Johnson talks about a coffee house in Oxford, England and how it was the first of its kind. It served as a place where people from all backgrounds would gather and share ideas. He says "their ideas would have sex. This coffee shop was their conjugal bed."

The past few days have been rough. We haven't been on the same page about anything it seems and it's beginning to wear both of us down. Neither of us wants to come out and admit shame for what we have said/done/haven't done. That's nothing new, we're both the most hard headed individuals you could probably ever meet. Lately it feels as if something is off though. We need a conjugal coffee shop. We need a break for just us so that we can recollect and share our thoughts. Not career, financial or kid thoughts. Random, sometimes meaningless, put-a-smile-on-your-face thoughts. Writers read new materials or travel to cure writers block, photographers go to new, foreign locations, CEO's take walks in the park. Everyone has to hit the reset button at some point. We are just in a funk right now and we gotta do something new or different then what we have been for so long now. Do I think our marriage is crumbling? No, we're just going through it.

It's funny how much trust you can put into what someone says who you don't even know. A while ago I waited on this old couple who said they were celebrating their 56th wedding anniversary. Actually it was on September 10th because we had just celebrated our 6 years of dating the previous day. They told us to hang in there and go through all the ups and downs....that it was "worth it." Even though everyone's worth is determined differently and you don't know if your ups and downs will be as high or as low as theirs or vice versa, you trust them. I knew nothing about these people, whether they had the easy life or whether they had survived horrible situations. And I don't know what is in store for us either. But for whatever reason I know they're right and that it is worth it.

Another concept Johnson talks about is that most ideas come from not only sharing our thoughts with others, but sharing our mistakes or errors we have noticed. Sometimes pinpointing the mistake can be difficult....vocalizing it can be even harder. After figuring out what the error is and verbalizing it, the other party's acceptance may be difficult to get. We see this happen everyday. People still don't believe in global warming. When I think about the fact that this happens on such a large scale everyday, it makes me feel a little bit better because, well, misery loves company. I know that we will work through this trivial stuff if billions of people can solve world dilemmas.

Johnson's "Slow Hunch" theory also applies to all of this. I swear to you, finding this video at this time has been amazing. It's like when you hear a song when you are angry/sad/upset and you are like "man, that was the PERFECT song right now." Anyways, the slow hunch theory says that you go through time solving the little problems but you know there is a bigger problem there that you can't fix because you don't have the tools to fix it yet. Great ideas fade into view over time. We're not going to wake up one day and have the solution to marriage. But as time goes on I guess you get the answer...maybe those old folks do know something.

Is it time to move yet?

I have been in such a weird mood today. I had a rough weekend and then it just rolled over into this morning. I am going to blame it on stress. Not entirely sure that that is what it is, but I'm gonna go with it. Vernon works so much now it's ridiculous. He works Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights (and leaves straight from his AF job), so he is gone from 6:30am until about 8 at night. Tuesday he is either with a client or playing in some sort of sport (football or softball) and Thursday nights he has class. Then I work Saturday nights and Sunday mornings. I love that he is doing what he loves but it's just hard adjusting.

I've been constantly looking for jobs and researching the Tampa area. We had our hearts set on Atlanta but have recently opened up to the idea of Tampa. It's the city meets the beach. Kinda sounds like paradise right? I hope so....

So I had my first phone interview with AT&T. Not the best job ever, but the pay is good and the benefits are good. The main reason I applied there is because the location I chose also needs a manager. So I plan on mentioning that I really want to work towards the manager position from the beginning.....once/if I get the face-to-face interview. I also have an interview for a government job on the 30th of this month. Obviously the pay for that is great and the benefits are amazing, but the location may not be. MacDill AFB (in Tampa) is a possibility, and if that is the case then I will hop on it. If the Tampa base isn't an option then I can apply for the two bases here (Eglin & Hurlburt). We really don't want to stay here. So there's going to be big decisions to be made. I'm still job hunting, but it's hard to find a job that isn't sales related or medical related when you don't live in the area that you are looking to go to.

It's so stressful. The only thing that keeps me motivated is looking at houses in the area. I cannot BELIEVE that we are about to buy a house. I have wanted this FOREVER. I will do anything to be able to buy one. When I go through like 5 pages of jobs that I cannot apply for, I look at houses for a little to stay motivated.

I can't wait for all of this to actually start happening. Vernon is so over the AF. Not to mention there is a 6 month deployment coming up in June of 2011. That right there is reason enough for us. All of it just isn't worth it. I can't WAIT until his last day, he is going to be so excited. I can't wait for my last day at Longhorn. I'm tired of the attitudes and the jealousy and everything else that comes with that place. I realized that that place started to change me a little. When I started working less and getting farther and farther away from there I could see it better. Ugh just thinking about that place puts me in a bad mood.