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Lone Star continued

Posted on June 18th, 2007 by Hersey.
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I wrote these thoughts over the course of a few days. I’m sharing just to give you guys an idea of the transition.

My first two nights in Austin were interesting. After the 12-hour drive, I was able to get a room in the same Super 8 Motel I stayed in my last night here on my first visit. After a brief night in the hotel, I had to head out to Apple to sign my offer letter and do a little paperwork. I couldn’t stay a second night in the hotel because the Austin Bike Rally is tomorrow. I noticed all the motorcycles in the parking lot when I arrived but had no idea the bulk of motorcycle riders in Central Texas was about to converge on Austin.

It was raining Thursday morning and I was glad because it equated to a free car wash. Driving from Arizona to Central Texas means three states worth of dead bugs all over the front of my car. The hard rain washed away a lot of the bug residue. The Apple campus is nice, it’s part of the Riata complex in North Austin. The Riata is like a corporate park. It’s really nice with plenty of trees (I love how green it is here) a pond and running trails. There are a bunch of technology companies with campuses in North Austin and there are quite a few in the Riata. There is also a sizable apartment complex that houses many of the workers. I took a look on my first visit. I’d be a nice place to live because I wouldn’t have to drive to work but I can’t afford to move in there right now.

My living situation became a pressing reality after I finished my appointment. I called back on the numbers of people with rooms for rent. I left voicemails and debated what to do next. With a good chunk of my possessions in the back-seat of my car, I needed to find something quick. I had until Monday morning before I had anywhere to be. I stopped at a Schlotsky’s Deli not too far from my job to eat something and think about where to start looking for an apartment. I started driving toward downtown. I remember looking at once place in Hyde Park and I drove toward that part of the city hoping to see apartment buildings.

I pulled over in a neighborhood that had a few buildings and some rent signs planted in front. I called a few and most had leases ending in August. I called one for a company called Apartment Finders and Mike broke it down to me. Hyde Park is a hip neighborhood. Just north of downtown and the University of Texas, the Hyde Park houses are older but everyone wants to live there so of course- it’s expensive. The lease terms end in August because a lot of the rental companies align themselves with the semesters at UT. Thus there no openings in this neighborhood and I still hadn’t gotten a call back from the rooms for rent in this area. Mike invited me to come by his office.

Mike was really helpful. He gave me a handful of listings in the price range I could afford today and called to check into deals and ASAP availability. He led me to the first place too, which I thought was really cool. It was a no go. The lease terms were a tad long and it was closer to downtown than my job. I ventured to the second place and of course it wasn’t on the map he gave me. I had to call him back because I got lost in a hilly neighborhood. Sidenote: Lance Armstrong lives in Austin (my Tucson neighbor is friends with him) and there were encouraging slogans for Lance written in the streets of this neighborhood.

I found the place and it’s a nice complex called the G’s, in an area referred to as the Arboretum. There is a mall with the same name down the street. The manager showed me all the units they had today and they were all nice. Two I could afford and of those two, one was significantly larger and not much more expensive. I had a good feeling about it but I felt obliged to check out another place because they were offering a smoking deal that had to be taken today. As I pulled up to the exit, one of things happened. Those little things that happen that you notice but don’t want to think too much about but you can’t help but think about because it obviously seemed like a sign. As I pulled away, I thought this was the place I’m going to live.

The third place was on some bullshit. They had the smoking deal, they were a tad bit closer to my job than the last place and it looked quite nice. The girl I dealt with nice and not as slick as the other apartment I dealt with and suffering from the same allergy problem I was. We had a hoarse and congested conversation about the unit that I never saw. They wanted applicants to earn 4X times the rent as opposed to the somewhat customary 3X. She told me she couldn’t even live there unless she took a small one bedroom. Indeed. now I was getting tired and it was getting late. If I didn’t make it back to the G’s by at least 5, they wouldn’t be able to process my application and I’d be stuck looking for hotel with every biker in Texas in town.

I couldn’t find the fourth place and a call from one of the people with a room for rent had me even more confused when I couldn’t find it. I was exhausted, I had driven nearly 14 hours the day before and now I was chasing a habitat all over the city. I pulled over and called my family. We talked about it and the Gables was the way to go. I hurried back and filled out the paperwork. They got it back quickly and I had a place to live. Nothing like the sight of an empty apartment and a guy laying on the floor in a sleeping bag in front of a 42 inch plasma TV.

I start work tomorrow and I really can’t wait. A few Apple ads hit the airwaves tonight and the official release date for the iPhone is June 29. That means our training should be pretty fun. Knowing I’m part of something big for Apple feels kinda cool. Working for Apple feels right if for no other reason, their stuff is a big part of my normal day. My Powerbook might be my favorite thing I’ve ever owned. I could go on and on about the Apple stuff I own and have owned but that’s the point. I work for company I’ve always wanted to work for and whose stuff I use and love.

That’s the reason I moved here and it’s perfect because when I really needed a jumpstart and a J-O-B, this situation came along. It’s been intense and I’ve had a lot of help and cooperation from everyone involved and most of all I think it’s worth it. I have a lot of enthusiasm for this and I don’t have that nagging feeling that I’m not doing what I want to be doing. So many jobs in the past have felt like that. The dreaded feeling that I’m settling. Now that mindset isn’t there and I have simple and honest enthusiasm. I suppose I’m already drinking the Kool-Aid.

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Lone Star

Posted on May 25th, 2007 by Hersey.
Categories: .

The last seven days have been a bit of a whirlwind. I’ve had a tough time in Tucson the last few months and I logged a lot of miles attending my grandmother’s funeral in Oakland. Last Wednesday I watched the most depressing basketball game ever while hanging out at my friend TJ’s house. I returned home to find a strange voicemail. The person coughed into the phone and hung up on the first attempt. The second attempt was an apologetic representative from Apple. They wanted me to interview for a position in Austin Texas…in 48 hours.

I made some calls. I looked at some maps. I saw a 12-13 hour journey through the nothingness of the Southwest to a city that has interested me for a while. This package was attractive, the company I’ve always wanted to work for and a town I’ve thought about living in.

I spent the weekend out there and ventured home on Monday. The city is beautiful. The Apple campus is really nice as is the park it is situated in. There is a lot happening in the city, it’s the capitol and it’s a college town. I met with a devotee gathering on Sunday and they well really nice and put together a nice program.

I returned home hopeful that I’d get the job and confident I would. I got an email last night and it’s official. There is plenty to sort through but I’m excited. A new chapter in my life is about to begin.

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742

Posted on May 1st, 2007 by Hersey.
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I finally did something I’ve been saying I should do for two years. Go to Chase Field and catch the San Francisco Giants versus the Diamondbacks. My favorite baseball team comes to town a few times a year and I continually miss all of spring training and let the season float by without catching a game. I planned on coming up here before the funeral plans but I finally took the initiative and bought tickets for me and my Uncle Robert to go to middle game of the three-game series.

Being a Giants fan of course that means I openly root for Barry Bonds. Barry is in hot pursuit of the career homerun record, 755, which may be the most important record in all of sports. Of course given the issues baseball has had with steroids, whether or not Barry has taken them is being used to undermine his accomplishment even though he was the best player in baseball during the 90’s and further evolved into the most feared hitter of all time in the last seven years.

Having never been to Chase Field, the pricey gem of a baseball stadium that Jerry Colangelo got financed with public money using an obscure county law, I was excited for a game. The gate we walked into happened to be right in front of our section in the bleachers. We walked straight to our seats and slightly below street level we were in the left field bleachers. I couldn’t get a total grasp of how beautiful the place is from where we were sitting but the place is really nice. The retractable roof was closed due to the chance of rain, which effectively made it a dome and probably kept a few well-hit balls from carrying out.

That wasn’t an issue in Bonds first at bat. With a runner on second and two out, the D’Backs chose to pitch to him. This same team walked him three times the game before rather than pitch to him in a tight game. Tonight they want to roll the dice. The crowd starts booing lustfully. It was surreal. No other opposing players were booed, just Bonds. A few other Giants fans cheer and I do as well. Bonds crushes a pitch into deep center that bounces into the seats near the big video board. It’s number 742 in his career which leaves him just 13 from the record.

Sitting in left field meant Bonds was right in front of us. When Bonds takes the field in the bottom of the first (and every inning after), he is booed by the fans around us. Whenever he catches a ball, he is booed. Bonds would crush another ball in his second at bat but it was just a loud out. He seriously crushes that ball, you can hear it very clearly throughout the stadium. He would walk in his final two plate appearances before being lifted for a pinch runner during a failed Giants rally in the 8th.

I find it strange that due to Bonds’ icey relationship with the media (baseball writers are a bitchy bunch) most coverage of him is negative. I tend to ignore it and just check the boxscores and highlights of whether the Giants win and whether Bonds connects. I was really happy I was there tonight because I witnessed some history. What’s lost in all the junk surrounding Bonds is that he’s the best hitter many of us will ever see. There are only three guys to ever hit 700 homeruns. One is Babe Ruth, whose legend is inseperable from baseball’s place in American culture. Hank Aaron, a classy quiet man, whose team relocated to the South and he received threats and hate mail as he marched toward Ruth’s record. Barry Bonds, who is booed at every stadium in baseball other than his home park. Many stadiums have extra security on the field when he comes to town. Fans wave signs with asterisks to signify that he cheated and his record shouldn’t be seen on the same level as Aaron’s number.

I got to see one of the best to ever play tonight. I got to cheer him on as he marched toward greatness and a unique place in his profession that people are too busy booing to appreciate.

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Projects

Posted on January 22nd, 2007 by Hersey.
Categories: .

School has started again and I’m finding I have a lot of projects. There’s the obvious school stuff I have to get done but there’s also things for Green Phoenix and little personal things to be done and try. I think I’m busier than I’ve ever been. But I keep looking for things to do.

Now that we live in a new city, we find that socializing isn’t an automatic option anymore. I have to cultivate friendships and explore. Don’t even get me started on meeting people who also have children.

Not that I’m complaining. If anything you’ll have more to read here on the site. I’m going to try and document more of the things I’m doing and provide more pictures and videos of Aliya for my family scattered over the globe. I’m making more of an effort to use this technology and refocus on my original intention for starting this site in the first place- to communicate with my family. Should be a fun project.

much love
Md

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2007

Posted on January 1st, 2007 by Hersey.
Categories: .

Happy New Year!
I’m in the process of redesigning the site so things should be totally working in about a week.
I’m adding a new feature to the site. I’ll be writing posts on Mac/iPod oriented topics, with tips and tricks. Keep checking back.

much love
Md

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Phoenix Suns

Posted on November 18th, 2006 by Hersey.
Categories: .

I’m blogging about the Phoenix Suns this year. Click on the link in the sidebar to read my running commentary on th 2006-07 season.

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Shop is up

Posted on November 14th, 2006 by Hersey.
Categories: .

The Green Phoenix site is pretty much done. The online shop is up and you can get the shirts now. Check it out.

much love
Md

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One thing at a time

Posted on November 10th, 2006 by Hersey.
Categories: .

One thing at a time

This phrase is a powerful reminder of the most effective strategy for accomplishing tasks. Back in early 2001, this was the first thing out of my mouth whenever I saw someone stressed out. Last weekend when all of my stressors came to a head, that was the advice I got from my mom.

After a productive week, I can enjoy my Veterans’ Day Weekend.

much love
Md

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Turning Point

Posted on October 19th, 2006 by Hersey.
Categories: .

Green Phoenix is burning up my old habits and failures. So of course this has proven frustrating when I try to return an old habit or when I find myself perplexed when I face a challenge. My kneejerk reactions are giving way to caution, candor and confidence. Being a father does that to you eventually.

The point of Green Phoenix is healing. Healing is all that’s left in a world that increasingly seems to be preoccupied with pain.

Excuse me while I feel good.

I love sitting down and thinking of stuff to do. I love getting the elements together and doing it. This is my joy.

This is Green Phoenix. I want to facilitate healing. I want you to help.

much love
Jearold Hersey
President, Green Phoenix Network

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Walking Tall

Posted on September 13th, 2006 by Hersey.
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