Jersey's Blog

[Jersey]

I suppose this will be my blog.

There's been quite a lot going on in my life the last couple of months. From finally getting a decent job with fair pay, to physically getting myself ready for football camp, to dealing with getting my truck fixed, and finally getting my feet wet with archaeology, it's been one hell of a busy summer.

I've been working as a lifeguard this summer. No, I'm not one of those guys you see bounding down the beach on Baywatch. Lord knows I certainly don't look that good. I'm one of those bored looking guys with the red tube watching the old folks swim at the senior citizen pools at their gated communities. I'm making $9.50 an hour, and moved from initially working 6.5 hour days to 8 hour ones. 12-8 is a pretty long day, but it's not too bad as I just basically sit around, with the normal responsibilities of taking care of a pool such as testing the chemicals, adding when needed, cleaning up, and vaccuming. I tend to need my whistle often, since grandkids often come around and their favorite activities include running around the pool, jumping in the pool, and beating the crap out of each other with the pool noodles. Since the running and the jumping are against pool rules, as well as a personal pet peeve, I'm usually whistling at them.

My size alone usually gets the point across. I haven't made anybody cry yet, which is good. Imposing but friendly is my mana.

As far as football camp is concerned, I've been really busting my ass getting ready to go. The thing is, I don't really want to go. My body is tired. I'm tired. I don't find football exciting anymore, and I find myself having a hard time enjoying it. It's my senior year coming up. I've decided that even though I'm tired out and frustrated, I'll at least finish what I started and complete my four years in the program. A lot of my frustrations come after three years of hard work with little to no rewards. I wound up missing all of last year due to my knee injury that turned into a surgery. During last year my coaches gave me the cold shoulder and barely spoke to me. Their attitude reflects that of coaches who believe their player is faking his injury and making a big situation out of a small one. My position coach has barely spoken to me in that span of time. My relationship with the head coach has deteriorated to the point where I can hardly stand him. I'm still angry with him from our meeting last December when he basically told me I should quit the team without telling me to quit.

As far as my fifth year is concerned, there are several factors riding on whether or not I'm going to bother with it.

1. The level of respect and courtesy I'm met with from my coaches. It's declined over the last four years, since I haven't been permitted to set foot on the field and I was seriously injured. They've been treating me like extra baggage of late. I don't like that. At all. If this doesn't change, I'll be hanging it up after this year.

2. The amount of playing time I receive this year. If I'm a senior player stuck on the scout team and the sidelines, I'm finished. I've put four years of work into this damn program and it's time I got paid. Even though I was sidelined for 2008-2009 year, I was at every single practice (once I could move), every single meeting, every lift, every morning conditioning session, on top of my own rehab sessions. I'd say that I deserve something back.

3. The way in which I'm treated by my teammates. Last year I caught a whiff of a rumor going around that I was faking my injury. I was furious about it. Fortunately someone quelled it before it gained ground, but I also received several comments, one in which said that I didn't deserve to be on this team. If I hear anything similar to these things, I'm finished.

These are just a few of the major ones. As of right now, my feeling is that this is my last season. I'm a non-scholarship player. As a result, I don't play. Scholarship guys get to play on the field with this team. Which is a problem for guys like me. I get $7000 a year for my academics. $0 from football. Not nearly enough, seeing that I've carried an average just above a 3.0 through all three years so far. If I was scholarship, the fifth year wouldn't be a question. The only factor that would cause me to come out again for the fifth year is, basically, an awesome season this time around. Playing time, traveling with the team to every game. Steping on the field. Winning the conference. Feeling involved.

I'm not being spoiled. I'm not asking to be a starter. I just want to get in the game. If I don't get that opportunity this year after so much hard work, as a senior year athlete, I frankly don't see the point in coming back for a fifth season. How ridiculous would it be to look at a fifth year senior playing on the scout team and standing around on the sidelines with his arms folded in disgust? It would raise your eyebrows. That humiliation isn't for me. If it happens this year, I'll put up with it. But that will be the last time I do.

That's enough for now. I'll post more when I get the time. Sorry I haven't been around much, but I've been busy with a lot of things.

[Blastgirl]

I think you'd be just like the guys in Baywatch.

I'm sorry Football has become less enjoyable for you Jersey.

Hopefully a new supporting coach will embrace you and that will rise your position with the rest of the coaching staff.

This might be the year of hanging it up. Classic is all but positive this is his last year on the field.

[Jason O'Lewa]

life gard. your lucky. when my dad gets up maybe I will go swimming today if he will let me.
its hot today and there have not been that many hot days this year im in the mood to swim

[Jersey]

I really should keep up with this blog whenever I log in.

Currently I'm in Graduate school. I felt that the best course of action for me after I graduated with my Bachelors Degree in History with a minor in Archaeology this past May was to continue my education. Thanks to Obama and the liberals in Congress wrecking the economy, job prospects were not going to be looking up. Many of my colleauges are finding that out the hard way, because everytime I log into Facebook I see more and more wall postings about people being unable to find jobs. It's the job climate right now.

So, why try and look for a career job now? And with a Bachelor's Degree to boot, essentially the new High School diploma? It's better to just stay in school and gain a much more advanced degree while the job climate is miserable, so that by the time I finish the Masters program the newly elected conservatives should have it all back on track and a newer (and better paying, thanks to the higher degree) job will open up for me. I've already spoken with my Archaeology professor personally. Not only is he one of New Jersey's leading professional Archaeologists, he has a wide spread influence and is quite well known throughout the state in most Historical Society's. He has already promised that he will help me get an internship, perhaps as soon as next summer. I'm going to shoot for that. If I can get my foot in the door at a Historical Society, even a museum, I'll be able to get experience and maybe break into the field as soon as summer 2012, a month or so after I graduate again, but with my Masters Degree in History with a primary focus in Archaeology.

So that's school. I have everything planned out at the moment, and I see no reason why it won't happen the way I've planned. I'm also thinking I'll stick to two classes per semester, with one class during the summer, since it helps keep the workload under control and allows me to keep working as a lifeguard as much as I can. Plus, I'll still be able to graduate in two years on the dot, rather than a bit earlier than that. I want to keep pulling in money while I'm doing Graduate school, so I've had my supervisor put me at the indoor pools as often as possible. It works well for me two ways: I make money, and during down time when nobody is in the pool, I'm able to read my class assignments.

With other stuff, I've been doing well. I've been helping in the Jon Runyan campaign against John Adler in order to direct some of my ever-increasing political energy somewhere. I have an antique Atwater Kent radio that I received over the summer (for free) that I've restored in with a man that knows radios and can do the wiring for me. I can sand, paint, strip rust, do practically everything else but electronic stuff is not my thing. It will be fantastic when its all done and working. I'll be sure to post pictures of it when I have it ready. I'd love to do a side-by-side comparison of what it looked like before and after the restoration, but my camera was being borrowed at the time so it didn't quite happen that way.

As for other antiques, I've been able to acquire three more pocket watches to add to the one I got five years ago. I'll post more detailed pictures on those, plus I'll tell the stories about the deals I got on them.

So that's about it for now. I'll post more when more happens.

[Phil]

I'm sure you can get a good job in the field with your 4 year degree. That's not to say that a masters isn't a great thing to have. But you have a ton of options right now.