Long Time, No Blog

Time for a little update...

Since the last week of August, I've been temping for Anthem Online College. When I first started, there were eight temps. Anthem had recently purchased a new learning management system called ANGEL, which is similar to Blackboard and WebCT. Our job was to reformat all course content in order to establish them in ANGEL. We reformatted assessments, user-tested instructions (this is what the student sees when they are “learning”), upload learning activities, etc. Because there were eight temps, we learned each little procedure, one by one. Eventually, some of us started to pick up on the big picture of ANGEL…

In late September, the eight temps were cut to four. We continued formatting courses, while some people excelled and some did not. A few weeks ago, the four temps were cut down to two – and I’m one of them. You could call me a System Administrator. You could also call me a Product Developer (the product being educational information). Because I found this job through a temp agency, I can’t be hired without Anthem paying a buyout price. Thus, I must work 1,000 hours to eliminate the buyout so Anthem can hire me outright...

In February, they are obligated to make me an offer. At that point, Product Development wants to snatch me off my current team (the ANGEL Learning Management System team). They would like to hire me in as an Instructional Designer. I would mainly be writing and editing curriculum; however, I get the feeling they’re grooming me to be their in-house style guru – someone to help teach and enforce whichever style they commit to, which will probably be Chicago Manual of Style. I would be salaried with benefits. I’m just not so sure I can make it on this hourly, temp B.S. until then. We’ll see how long my credit line can survive…

In other news, Coop and I are enjoying our exploration of Arizona. Although he’s been here for almost two years, he never really found a “playmate.” We’ve been to the Grand Canyon. For Coop’s birthday, we went to Fossil Creek Canyon in Strawberry (Payson, AZ), which turned out to be a slight bust in the fun department, but we almost walked into a rattlesnake and almost drove over a six foot long “tree” snake. Fun! We went out a farm in the middle of nowhere, east of Tempe for Alice Cooper’s haunted house at Halloween (The Nest). This past weekend, we went to the Phoenix Art Museum for the grand opening of its’ $40 million renovations. The opening exhibition is a set of Ansel Adams photographs from the University of Arizona archive. Coop and I both drooled over one of our favorite photographers…

Speaking of photographers, for photos of Fossil Creek Canyon and of my impromptu trip to San Diego for 24 hours with a long lost friend, check out my Flickr account: | Road Warrior |

Tempe is quickly becoming our Detroit. We saw four shows in five weeks: Massive Attack, Bone Thugs N Harmony, Roger Waters and the Deftones. (If I even began to tell you about the Roger Waters show, this blog would become a book!) In late November, I have tickets to go see Imogen Heap and also Calexico. Coop and I are attempting to get tickets for the Suns v. Cavaliers game in mid-January. Every which way you look at it, our weekends are full of movies, music, culture, nature and plain old fun…

For T’Giving, I’m cooking my first very own dinner. Coop’s planning to spend the night so we can get up at the crack of dawn to have Bloody Marys and watch the parade. We’re going to attempt a full meal: turkey and stuffing, mashed potatoes, and my famous homemade croutons and Caesar dressing. I’d love to try my hand at baking a pie—I’ve assisted a few times with my mom—but, I can’t really afford to invest in the kitchen accessories you need to be a successful baker. In the end, I’m hoping for a decent meal, plenty of booze and a day of great football games…

For X’Mas, my parents are coming down here. Coop and I are going to rustle up a real tree and I believe my ornament collection is on its’ way, via a huge, heavily insured package. It will be delightfully special to decorate my first tree, as this is the first time my ornaments have (1) been separated from the Keefer family collection and (2) are in my possession on my tree in my apartment. I can’t wait…

As for Dante, when I first moved in, he was VERY bad! Because of my work schedule, he was inside all day. Because of the 100+ degree August heat, he refused to go outside even when I was home. Therefore, he started peeing on the carpet and eating things. He’s got more attitude in one paw than most dogs have in their whole body! Anyway, once the weather cooled down a bit, Dante got comfortable with the environment. Now, he stays out all night, walking the perimeter and fighting like a mountain cat and comes in during the day. Usually, on Sundays, we both lounge on the couch for our day of rest. He’ll be three in March and, even though I’ve sometimes considering getting rid of him, he’s growing up to be a wicked cool cat. Dante, the crazy kitty is finally “at home” in Arizona…

Well, I think this “little” update should suffice. Hope you all are happy and healthy and enjoying your respective corners of the world!

View from road, #3
Originally uploaded by | Road Warrior |.