I’m sick…maybe…I think, uh … yeah-no

“We don’t know what’s wrong.”

Great. Just great.

“But we think it may be <insert ailment here>.”

Oh?

“Or it could be <insert nastier ailment here>.”

Oh…

For those of you who don’t know, I’m sick. Maybe…sort of. Does that make sense? Here’s the short version: last year I took a trip, and when I came back I was having problems feeling the lower half of my body (weird, right?) So a friend tells me to go to the doctor. I go to the doctor and in two days I’m in the hospital! The treatment makes me sicker than the symptoms did, I get drugged up for awhile and then lo and behold! … the symptoms go away! Yay! I’m cured! Now, fast forward 7 months…

The symptoms are back – worse. I have trouble walking, I have pain all the time. The drugs help – some days. Some days they might as well be sugar pills (and maybe they are!) My friends are concerned. My family is frantic. My doctors seem to be clueless. And I’m caught in the middle, reeling from the whirlwind.

The most current diagnosis is a chronic B12 deficiency. My doctors tell me that a chronic B12 deficiency causes neurological symptoms. Okay, at least that is a direction to pursue. But the real question is why … I eat right, I take vitamins – I do the things that are considered “good for me”, but still they can’t figure out what is wrong.

My most recent doctor says that restoring the B12 deficiency can stop the progress of the symptoms, possibly. Or they may have to shut down my immune system because the antibodies in my blood are attacking my nerves … apples to apples, right?

One thing remains, though – faith. Every time I think back to when things were bad – God provided an out. We were out of money? I got a check for some work I had done and forgotten about. We thought we were about to be a month behind on the house payment? Turns out we were a month ahead! We seem to forget that WE ARE NOT IN CONTROL OF THE GOOD THINGS AND BAD THINGS THAT HAPPEN TO US – the only thing we are in control of is how we react to them!

When Job’s faith was tested, he never turned his back on God. I hope that I can remain a small fraction of the man that Job was. Peace.

Junior High Essays

“Pick a topic and start writing.”

I would hear those words high school journalism class and stare for a full minute before something would come. It never came easy for me, just ‘picking a topic’. I would need some fire, some passion before I could fully attack a piece of paper with real gusto. And paper … I hate paper. Really. Handwriting isn’t one of my strong suits, and handwriting for FOUR PAGES was like bamboo shoots underneath my fingernails. Hand cramps would come first, followed by arm cramps, followed by blurred vision, and finally I would just pass out! I’m exaggerating of course, but to this day I can’t look at a sheet of college ruled without shuddering.

I find that writing comes very naturally to me. It didn’t always. I can remember a point in junior high where I was complaining to my English teacher about having to write an essay. She told me “Just talk to the paper.” An intriguing notion, I must admit. I tried it and fell in love. Never again would I agonize over what words to say. Whatever popped into my head was what ended up on the paper. In the beginning it was a reader’s nightmare, my idea of sentence variation was starting each one with different word. After a time, though, things began to improve. I began to actually enjoy writing!

In college, I hated writing research papers. All of the style rules, and bibliographical hoops to jump through didn’t really sit too well with me. Creative writing was more my forte. I haven’t written any pieces for several years now, but as this blog illustrates, there is a new beginning for almost anything.

As a new dawn approaches on my writing, I hope to fulfill some unseen need that compels me. Like a panther stalking prey unawares I hope to pounce on any inspiration and wrestle it to the jungle floor and rip it wide open, spouting glorious effervescence and gorging myself until no more could possibly fit.

My junior high teacher also said to leave all your pieces on a high note, even better if you could squeeze in a metaphor that reeks of imagery. And a personal anecdote was tops.

Hey … three out three. I’m out. Peace.

“Back to school…back to school…”

Get ready for a shocker.

Are you ready?

I don’t think you are.

Okay! Okay…If you didn’t already gather from the title of this post, I jumped in with both feet and went back to school. I’m currently a student of American Sentinel University in the Masters’ of Science in Computer Science (MSCS).

I told you that you would be shocked. “Daniel, studying computers? Can what you are saying possibly be true?” Yeah, it is.

This is actually a bit of an academic stretch for me, historically speaking. My first degree was a BA in Advertising from Harding University. We were more concerned with how to sell computers than how to operate one. Of course, I have been “in to” computers my whole life. I’ve been doing websites, programming, video editing and digital graphics “for fun” for quite awhile. Yeah. I’m a big nerd, I’ll wait for you to catch your breath … … all right now? Good. But the direction my career has taken is one that I would never have predicted.

Straight out of school (May 2005) I went to work for Fox Television in Memphis, TN. While I was there I did everything from sweeping the floor to operating million-dollar microwave transceivers. While I was still working for Fox, I also gained employment for Apple Computer, Inc., working at their Germantown, TN retail store. I began as what they like to call a “Mac Specialist”…a moniker that is misapplied more often than cheap makeup. Not in my case of course, but upon returning to the store in my post-Apple days, I cringe at the, what I like to call, “burger-joint-caliber” fresh-faced teenagers that mill about in black shirts asking, “Hi! Welcome to the Apple Store! How can we help you today! *smile*” and then just stare blankly when you ask a question that any 10 year-old with an iMac could answer. *sigh* I digress. I did that for about 6 months when a new position opened up called “Creative”. What do you think a creative might do? “Oh, Daniel, I don’t know … CREATE ????” Yeah, that’s what I thought. Actually, what we did was help other people create. Not quite as glamorous, but still pretty cool. Basically, a customer comes in with a project, let’s say some video footage that they want to turn into a DVD, and we direct them in accomplishing said task. 90% of the time it was a whole lot of fun, the other 10% was excruciating … I’ll let you figure out why :-)

During my “Creative” days, someone (I won’t name any names … Ken Finzer :-) clued me in as to what a real job pays and I sought a position and gained one with FedEx (thanks again to the unnamed one!) At this point in my professional exploits is where the computer science aspect really comes into focus. My title at FedEx is “Customer Integration Consultant” (sounds impressive, I know!) My function is to integrate customers’ systems with our Automated Shipping Devices. For instance, enabling a customer to eliminate redundant data entry by allowing them to pull in address/package information from their database … boring stuff like that. All of this “automating” requires special programming. I happen to like this programming and I want to pursue it further, hence … MSCS at American Sentinel University.

I’ve only been attending “classes” (everything is online) for a few days now, and the prerequisite class I’m taking right now I could do in my sleep, but I think I will be able to stick with it and in a couple of years be able to add some letters to the end of my name. Of course I won’t stop there, I want to continue and get (at least) an MBA and possibly a doctorate in something.

Dr. Mullins … yeah, I’ll take that. :-)

Blogging for the sake of blogging?

I’m going to try out this blogging thing. Why? Because I want to join everyone else in the world in spouting my opinion, likes, dislikes, ideas, wants, desires and dreams for everyone to read.

Who cares?

Me. :-)