Haunted House

Throughout college I wanted to go to a haunted house or haunted corn maze with my friends. In four years, we never did go. But this past Friday I finally got to go to a "haunted house," in Little Rock. My mom and I took my niece to the "Old Haunted Warehouse" in Little Rock, located right behind the Pulaski County Jail.

I wanted to go as soon as I saw the flier at Spirit Halloween Store and the clerk said it was well worth it. Not only is it a "haunted house," it is in a bad section of town, behind the county jail and visitors have to walk from the parking area to the warehouse. I loved it. Of course, I am almost 24 years old and male. I'm not stupid, I know nothing is really dangerous inside and that people in costumes are going to be jumping out at me. I was never scared, never even jumped. But I did laugh the entire time.

My niece is 10. It was dark inside but my eyes had adjusted. I could tell where there would likely be people hiding and I kept my eyes on all of the figures. When I walked around a corner, I put my back to the wall so that I wouldn't be surprised. In another room I was watching my surroundings -- that is all I can say because I don't want to give away the surprise. I will say my favorite part was the strobe lights. Again, I won't say more than that.

I think I may go again with some other friends. If the staff will let me, I have a few tricks up my sleeve (or at least one) that I would like to pull to further scare my friends since I already know the layout and whats coming. Anyway, if you are looking for a good haunted house in the Little Rock/Central Arkansas area, the "Old Haunted Warehouse" on Brown Street (off of Roosevelt) behind the jail is one good option.

Guardian Angel

Two times in less than 72 hours, I have narrowly escaped nasty accidents. Both times, if I were alone in the car, I probably would have been dead or in a hospital. But I wasn't alone, I'm sure of it.

The first time was Friday evening after I got off work. I needed to fill my car up with gas before going to Jonesboro the following morning. The best way for me to get gas is taking exit 7 for Pratt Road off of I-530. It had rained some that day and the road was damp and oily. The exit is short and involves a very sharp turn. Of course, I was going 70 when I hit the off ramp. I tried to slow down but began to hydroplane. "I'm about to crash and it is going to be ugly," I thought to myself as I let off the break and tried to gently turn into the curve so that I would be on the inside. I felt the back end sliding. I made it around the curve and stopped by he end of the ramp. But I knew that I was about to go flying off the road at 50+ miles per hour and into a tree.

The next one happened this evening. I didn't have any problems going to Jonesboro, but the trouble was on the way home. For some reason, there always seems to be a wreck around the I-40/I-30 interchange. Tonight was no difference. I had to speed up to 70 to get into the lane I needed, as a car was letting me in, even though they were speeding. Probably 20 seconds later, everyone was slamming on their breaks, including me. I wasn't slamming hard enough and swerved into the far left lane, narrowly missing the car in front of my by mere inches. That would have probably been at 50+ mph as well and been a multiple car pile up.

Those stories said, I am very thankful to have avoided both accidents and firmly believe I was not alone in the car.

Lifelong Learning

Sometimes I wish that "student" could truly be a profession. I sometimes wish that I could be paid to go to school. Of course, what would be the purpose of that education then?

When I started High School, I wanted to be an author. I wanted to write children's books. Then I discovered journalism. By my junior year, I was writing for my school newspaper. When I graduated, I chose a school based on my desired major: journalism. I even received a journalism scholarship my first year there.

It had its ups and downs. I loved (and still do) writing. I started out as hard news and wrote a variety of articles including features, opinions and even sports on occasion. I interned at the Army News Service in Washington, D.C. at the end of my junior year. By that point, I was losing confidence in my own abilities. Is it just a thing that writers have where they hate their own work even when others say it is great? I definitely wasn't sure I wanted to follow through with journalism. But what choice did I have? I was almost through with college. If I switched my major then, I would be there for another year or two without scholarships to help me make it through.

I stuck with Journalism, knowing that the communication background could come in handy even in another field. More and more, I wanted to make a difference. I thought maybe I could do in depth stories with the homeless and try to bring light to their stories. But I didn't even know how to get started. My senior year of college, I found a way to make a difference.

My professor and newspaper adviser forwarded the class an email advertising a communications internship at an organization I had learned about a few years prior. It was an organization that, although I didn't know a lot about, I knew enough that I supported their mission. I even hoped I might be able to work there one day. Little did I know that two days after I graduated, I would begin a communications internship at Heifer International.

Before graduating I had also added a second major, Spanish. I had a few opportunities during the internship to speak Spanish with some of the international staff from Latin America. I never took any classes in video production or editing, but quickly learned some on the job and was able to help teach some other coworkers. I continued learning.

Later, I went to Spain for almost a year. Once again, that was an experience full of lessons and learning. Some lessons were a little tougher than others. Not only did I learn my Spanish was no where nearly as good as I thought it was, I learned a little more about Embassies and consulates after losing my passport on a trip to England. I also learned how big a difference just having someone to talk to can make in a person's life after spending countless hours alone in my apartment  Then there were the cultural lessons. Perhaps the most important lesson I learned was in perseverance  After three months, it was hard to leave for Christmas. And then in June it was hard to come home, knowing that I was leaving many new friends behind and didn't even have a job to go back to.

Less than a month after arriving home in the United States, I was offered a temporary position working in Human Resources at Heifer. I had no experience in that field. My task was working with company polices, reviewing and updating them. I learned. It has been a continuing learning experience all together as I researched what types of things should be policies, what policy manuals should contain etc. I have even helped with other tasks and have already learned a ton about Excel. What has surprised me the most is what I have learned about myself.

In tracking information, I have found that I actually enjoy some of the tedious work. I enjoy looking at the statistics, making charts and graphs. Even if I wasn't a math major and never had an interest in it. Applied to the real world it is interesting. I have been working in the Human Resources department for a little over three months now and am still learning. Of course, learning continues for a lifetime.

Smart Phone

When I got back from Spain, I had to have a new phone. For some reason or other, both of my batteries had blown up. Well, not literally, but neither would hold a charge for more than an hour or two when the phone wasn't even in use. So in June I got a Samsung Droid smartphone. Smart. Yeah right.

This short blog isn't really about how dumb those phones can be though. The more features you add, the harder a phone is to use as a phone. I think mine serves more as a computer now. It is super hard to type with the tiny keys though so I don't do a lot of typing. But because I am not on the computer nearly as much now, that means I am not spending nearly as much time with Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and you guessed it, my blog. So that is one reason I haven't written much.

The other is that I forget my ideas by the time I make it home from work. Or I am just too tired. But when I get on, I try to write a few blogs. Maybe I should be setting a schedule or something?