Apprenticeship Training

I am a member of several online forums, but I hardly sign in to check messages. I signed in to one this afternoon and saw the notification for an unread message. Upon inspection of the message, it was entirely in a form of Cryllic text.
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Сколько ни прогоняй грустные размышления, а они всё равно тебя достанут. Я в очередной раз раздумывала о том, что в моей судьбе не достаёт эмоций, сочных красок, хороших новостей. А, возможно, нужно хоть что-то сделать, чтобы внести изменения в такую обстановку? Например, куда-либо сходить с друзьями. Определить, в конце концов, за какую цену можно сбыть старенькую машину и приобрести более новую. Отослать резюме и сменить надоевшую работу. Следовательно, мне требуется различная информация о нашем Житомире. Выбрать достойный информативный сайт города оказалось нетрудно.

олевский янтарь

Заинтересовавшись событиями города, я даже запамятовала, зачем заходила. Как оказалось, у нас в развлекательном центре вскоре открытие выставки, премьерный показ мелодрамы,а я раздумывала, куда же новенький пуловер одеть! А тут и перерыв на работе истёк. Засияло солнышко, и реальность перестала казаться настолько бесцветной. Тем более, что я таки составила и отослала личное резюме. Да и одна работа меня уже привлекла. Правильно считается, важные изменения стартуют с незначительных усилий.
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Normally I'd just delete such spammery, but this time I was intrigued enough to investigate. I tossed the text into Google Translate and it came out with the following:

[Detected language: Russian]

No matter how much banishes sad reflections, and they still would get you. I once again wondered about that in my life lacks emotions, rich colors, good news. And, you may need at least do something to make a change in this situation? For example, somewhere to go with friends. Determine, in the end, at what price can sell an old car and buy a new one. Send resume and replace the boring work. Therefore, I need different information about this Zhitomir. Choose a worthy informative site of the city was easy.

Olevskii amber

Intrigued by the events of the city, I even have forgotten why sign up. As it turned out, in our entertainment center soon opened an exhibition premiere of melodrama, and I was thinking, where is a brand new sweater dress! A break here and at work has expired. The sun shone, and the reality is no longer seem so colorless. Especially because I was still private and sent the resume. And one work has already attracted me. Properly considered, important changes start with little effort.

Now I'm just intrigued even more. Whoever you are, dear Forum Note Sender, I hope you get yourself a brand new sweater dress.




I've been up to quite a bit lately. Something I discovered this past week was that if I get up really, really early when nobody else wants to be awake, I can call in to a local Christian radio station and be the first caller of the day. I got to talk to Host Bryon on Life 101.9 four days in a row and he declared that it was some type of record.

I don't get up early just to talk to Bryon, even though that was a lot of fun. The reason I found myself rising hours before the sun each morning last week was to attend my first week of HVAC Apprenticeship training classes, which were held at the Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids.

I found out I need to be licensed if I desire to continue in my line of work. I certainly desire it, so I've enrolled in classes. My apprenticeship license will take four years of classes and 8,000 hours of on-the-job-training to obtain. It's not so bad, though. Each year consists of 144 hours of classes (which is accomplished in two weeks), 2,000 hours of on-the-job-training, and some online quizzes. After the apprenticeship, I'll have two years of classes to obtain my Journeyman licensing, at which point I can study for the Master's license.

Fortunately, I was able to submit hours that I've previously worked toward the 8,000 hour requirement. I've got 7,000 hours already finished. Now that I'm done with the first week of classes, I'm practically 1/8th of an Apprentice.

My classmates were a pleasant bunch, although a little rough around the edges. We were all in the same proverbial boat, sandwiched between changing regulations in the HVAC field and the necessity to get licensed. Through the week, we worked together to get various lab assignments done. We learned about electrical circuits and sheet metal fabrication, and I enjoyed it a lot. Safety regulations prevented us from using a majority of the more useful (albiet dangerous) tools, so a lot of our time was spent figuring out how to accomplish our assignments using "safe" tools that weren't as capable as the dangerous ones. 

The class instructor was awesome. A good teacher can change the entire outlook of a class, and Mr. Victor Schmidt did exactly that. None of us relished starting classes at 7am and slogging through them until 4:15pm, but Vic did an excellent job teaching the course material. Contemporary hipster liberals would probably classify our teacher as "Old-fashioned, prudish, square." But that would mean they'd classify me using the same terms because Mr. Schmidt and I were like two peas in a pod. "I'll reveal some of the secrets behind how this works, but don't you worry--I won't ruin the magic," Victor would say with a grin, delving into electromagnets and step-down transformers. "Ruining the magic" became one of his catchphrases through the week. At one point, he said "Fellas, if you ever stumble across a pornographic film, avert your eyes. Just avert 'em! Porn really ruins the magic of a marriage." While most of the class rolled their eyes, I was like, "Ayyyyy-MEN!" I'm not entirely sure what inspired his proclamation, but it was common for Vic to interject anecdotes about his own small heating and cooling business or dole out wisdom and advice about life in general. He spoke my jive.

On that very same subject, I just got back from the Passion conference in Atlanta and Pastor Judah Smith speaks my jive as well. Judah is my spirit animal. Perhaps not in his apparel...were those women's high-heeled boots he was wearing?! But in his speech and behavior and mannerisms, yeah, I can relate. Even though Judah Smith was my favorite, I loved all the speakers and worship leaders at Passion and I highly recommend attending one of their shindigs if you can. It was a time of focusing on Jesus alongside 20,000 other believers. That injection of fervor and joy was precisely what I needed in order to prepare for the upcoming Land of Promise conference that's taking place this week in my hometown. I'm getting all psyched up about it, you don't even KNOW. Steve and Dorcas Stutzman are dear friends and mentors of mine and they've been hosting these conferences all over the USA and Canada. I've wanted them to host one in Kalona for ages, and it's finally happening for real, after a scheduling change that shifted the conference from its initial date in September 2014. People from all over the landscape are heading to our little town for the 4-day conference and I can already tell that there is going to be some hardcore spiritual battling that will take place. It's difficult to explain what all takes place at these conferences but essentially they are jam-packed with sessions that deal with root issues in a person's life. There's worship, prayer, intercession, counseling, teaching, loads of Scripture reading, and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Much like my HVAC training, I feel like a spiritual apprentice. There is so much to learn, so much wisdom to gain, so many virtues to hone, so many truths to unveil...I've been following Jesus for 17 years but I still feel like I'm only just starting.

I know this is last-minute but you should come to the Land of Promise conference, dear reader. Many of you may think that spiritual conferences are hoaxy and I can't argue with that, because there are some real shammy charlatans out there professing to know God but actually serve the almighty dollar. If you're in the area and want to check this Land of Promise conference out for yourself, you are welcome to attend the Wednesday evening service tomorrow night, 6pm at Fairview Church. If you like what you see and want to continue, you can register and pay for the rest of the conference, which goes all day Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. If you cannot attend but the conference pops into your mind anytime this week, please send up a prayer on our behalf. We want to put our selfish flesh to death and serve Jesus alone. Already I've been sensing "a disturbance in the force" as George Lucas would say. It's difficult to describe, but the evil spiritual realm is not pleased with this conference and is already trying to delay, distract, and destroy it. Regardless of what takes place, it's going to be a wild ride.