Hi Everyone,
I’ll just come right out and say it. This past Friday, Harley-Davidson called me and informed me that my start date is July 14th. The conversation only lasted a couple of minutes and we talked briefly about some first day details and such, but to make a long story short, I GOT THE JOB! It was such a huge relief. I spent so much time and effort throughout the past 4-5 years of my life for that moment. Between earning my degree, working on interviews and resumes and cover letters and all that stuff – it all culminated to that very moment. Granted, I was under the assumption over the past 6-7 months that my job with Harley was secured and waiting for me when I got better. I can guarantee everyone one thing for sure, and that is that they will never regret making this decision. I am going to go into that company and raise eyebrows from day one. Work hard – play hard. I am just so relieved that I won’t be having to go back on the job hunt again and that at least my near future, as far as my career goes, is secure. I’ve got my foot in the door at an amazing company and I couldn’t be more happy about it. I’ve got another 3 weeks or so before I start, so I’ll have just a little bit more time to recover some strength. And this is all if I can successfully pass a drug test…yeah right! I think I have a free pass in that category….something I will have to talk with them about beforehand.
I got a chance to go back up to Two Rivers again this past weekend to spend some more time with friends and family. I’m sure my mom wouldn’t want me mentioning this, but we celebrated my dad and mom’s 50th birthday at my Uncle Greg’s house in Green Bay. I also went golfing on Thursday and Saturday. I had some great conversations with some family members of mine. The support that I have gotten has just been absolutely amazing. A lot of times, people would come up to me and just explain to me that they don’t even know what to say. But I really had an amazing time and got to catch up with a lot of people. That is one thing that I am truly grateful for…my family. The McLean crew is a wonderful group of human beings. I only wish I were able to see them more than I do.
My diet has drastically improved over the past week. On Saturday alone, I probably ate over 10,000 calories…without any regrets. Brats, burgers, salads, chips, dip, veggie trays, cake, desserts, cookies, etc…I just couldn’t stop. Of course, my gut paid for it in the end. By the end of the night, my stomach was in a bit of pain. Luckily, I remembered to bring along some of my pain meds just in case that were to happen. I think food tastes 10x better to me now than it ever used to. For six months, everything tasted like garbage. Now that all of my taste buds have returned/recovered, I can’t seem to stop wanting delicious food. Hence, I expect my weight to slowly creep back up on me. Not that that’s a bad thing. I’ve lost enough weight that I have a little bit of leeway. Once I start working at Harley though, I’ll take full advantage of their exercise facilities that they provide the employees with. One of the new meds that my doc has me on actually causes my upper arm and leg muscles to deteriorate, so it is important that I do some weight training to keep that up to par.
Mike’s Ironman race is coming up pretty soon here…I believe it is in September already. He’s been training for quite awhile now and I think his workouts now are pure running. That seems to be his weakest of the three so he’s really working hard to get that up to snuff. I’ll be there again this time around to cheer him on. Hopefully the weather turns out well. He’s had races in some pretty insane heat and in the cold rain. It would be great to get something somewhere in between those two.
This coming weekend I bought my parents tickets to go see Rush at Summerfest for their birthday/wedding anniversary. I have a friend who works in administration with Summerfest and I was able to purchase tickets before anybody else. 5th row…right in the center. Mike also got them a hotel room in downtown Milwaukee for that night…should be an awesome time!
Other than that, I hope that all of your summers are going as well as mine. Every day I wake up is the best of my life. Tomorrow I am sure will be better than today.
Take care,
Eric