I'm alive! And well! And... working?

It has been roughly 4 months since my last post. A bit of a hiatus from the computer, and the Internet in general. I was mainly burned by the sudden and quick death of online poker, a passion of mine. As some of you know, I was gunning for a WSOP run in June, but was promptly shot down. Being a regular Joe, I can't afford a 10k buy in, plus hotel, food and expenses. I gave up on that dream until later in life when I can sustain a dream such as that, or when our government gets its head out of its big, liberal ass and chill out with the fucking regulations on everything.

"HTC Evo 4G torn apart, bad camera."

But with bad news, comes good news. After a lengthy term of unemployment, I finally caught a break. With the help of a close friend, we spruced up my ailing resume and I quickly applied for an interesting position with Sprint. After an initial scuffle with a less than friendly HR guy, I was contacted by an internal recruiter and offered an interview. After a week, 4 interviews with 7 different managers, I was offered an excellent position as a Technical Consultant. What do I do? Nerdy electronics stuff. Stuff I could only dream of. And I get paid! A lot! American dream, baby.

I have to say, I am impressed with this job. I've been a very happy Sprint customer for a little over a year and have had nothing but amazing customer service, amazing service coverage and an excellent device. Sadly, my area does not have 4G service yet. On a recent trip to Pittsburgh I was able to experience the screaming speed of Sprint 4G and was honestly wowed by the performance. My rooted EVO acted as a hotspot and provided an excellent source of internet while I waited a grueling 4 hours in a strange city for friends to arrive. I even managed to log in to EVE Online and do some mission grinding while I waited without a single hiccup.

As an employee of Sprint, I am incredibly happy with the attitude and leadership so far. From what I have seen, the company is truly trying to improve every day. Upgrading infrastructure, introducing new products, training employees on new technology. Even providing an advocate program for device testing at a store level! Everyone I've worked with has been incredibly friendly, willing to help and eager to make an impression on a new employee. The training is comprehensive and exhaustive, but in a way that leaves you with so much knowledge your brain hurts after you go home. My first week was nothing but sleep and Tyenol when I got home.

I am glad to be back to work. To finally have a use in this big, scary world. I am thankful for my time off. Not everyone gets a 1 year "vacation" from work. Let me tell you, it was no vacation. Many things were lost, many things were done without, and I let some people down in the process. I think it made me a better person having gone through such an event, and I'm glad for it. I learned a lot from my period of unemployment, my sacrifices, my loss, and finding out who my real friends and family are.

To anyone out there fighting the fight, don't give up. I was ready to toss in the towel. I was ready to enlist in the Army just to have some purpose to my life. While I still aspire to volunteer for my country some day, I'm glad I didn't this time. Keep struggling, keep fighting. The man who gives up never really tried to begin with.