Permission to Start Jiu -Jitsu Club

Yesterday I called the staff at the recreation center about starting the jiu jitsu club. Long story short, I got the okay. However, there are quite a few steps that I must follow in order to do so. I have to fill out about 7 forms including a criminal background check worksheet. I have to rent the building at a minimum of two hours each time. They had the cost at $20 an hour but since I said that I wanted to do it two days per week they lowered it to $10. That’s still $40 a week and if no one shows then that is $160 a month for nothing. So, I am going to see if I can get the same price for one day a week. I am willing to pay $80 by myself. I didn’t plan to charge anyone at first but now since I have to rent it out I am thinking about charging $25 a month. They also provide mats so that is awesome. I will probably take all of the paperwork back Wednesday and I am trying to start sessions in early September.

They asked me to bring in my credentials and I told them that there is no belt ranking system with no gi jiu jitsu. I had to pull out my green belt in judo (white, yellow, green, brown, black), my championship medal that I won in a tournament and a picture of me in my gi with my medal on. I also brought a book that has a lot of pictures of submission wrestling.

The lady I was talking to was dealing with a higher up in the back room and I think they were a little spooked by the pictures because they asked if children would be training (No) and they kept my book for a very long time. But in the end I got the okay.

On my wife’s end, she is at a meeting at the board of education for prospective substitute teachers and teachers. She doesn’t want to work in accounting anymore and this is the follow up to training she had to go through last week. I hope all goes well for her and us.   

When Will I be Paid?/7 Days Left

Nothing much to report in these last two days. I called the Human Resource office (HR) to find out the pay schedule and to learn if I will be paid at the end of August. My report date is August the 13th and the woman in HR stated that I will receive a payment at the end of that month. She also stated that if I have a 10 month contract, which I do, then my salary will be split over 10 months and if I work during the summer then I will be paid separately. I already knew this but it was good to hear it confirmed.

When I was hired the Department Chair (DC) told me that I could earn a third of my salary if I teach during the summer months. I am used to doing that so it is no big deal. Also my well has been running dry for a while now so I will jump at the chance to earn extra money to rebuild my safety net and nest egg. I will probably be a little burned out by the summer but I’d rather work than not. We’ll see.

On another note, my wife says that she is really excited and can’t wait. She wants to work for a year so we can regain our footing then she wants to go back to college. She’s tired of being an accountant. She has my support, 100%.

Moving Truck

We were able to secure a moving truck with no hassle. At this point everything is in order for us to complete our move. We are going to try and load the truck, drive it to the new city and unload it on the same day even though we will have the truck for two days. However, after thinking about what I just wrote, I’ll talk to my small group of helpers about unloading the truck the next day.

I haven’t heard from the college since our last trip to find housing. During that trip, the chairman of the department (COD) took me on a tour of where my office would be and where I would teach most of my classes. It was a technology enhanced classroom and had a lot of room available so I am very satisfied. My office is also nice; it is quaint and right next to the chair of the department. So I will be right in the hub of activity. He also provided me with two course books for one of the classes but they seem more like reference books than actual texts for teaching. I will have to find out if that is the case.

By the way, my wife and I have been scoping out activities to pursue since the day we knew we were moving to the area. I found a recreation center about 5 miles from where we live that offers a lot of activities so we probably will be playing a lot of tennis down there. I haven’t been able to find any place in a 40 or 50 mile radius that offers Jiu jitsu so I am disappointed in that respect. The same center offered a Judo class, of which I have a green belt in from my early college years and even won a tournament (my division) in Milledgeville, GA. But as luck would have it, the guy who taught the class has been deployed and is no longer teaching. Since I have had no luck finding a class I have decided that I will just form a club when I get there and hopefully at the recreation center.

10 Days Before the Big Move

Only 10 days before we move to our new city. We chose a city 20 miles away from the college and a total of 30 miles from where we will be living. It has a population 10 times the size of the town I will be teaching in and it is next to a military base. The drive will take me about 30 to 40 minutes and the majority of it is a highway shot. It’s a good drive but it is no different than driving from place to place in other big cities.

I called to set up the electricity so we could move into our next place; however, the company said they would not be able to turn it on until I showed up in their office with some form of ID. The representative told me that this is to avoid people turning on electricity in other people’s name. Major problem. We can’t move into our new place until the electricity is turned on. To make a long story short, I asked to speak to management. I explained to them that I was coming from out of town, would be teaching at a nearby college and couldn’t come there a day before our scheduled arrival just so I could come to their office and show and ID. The supervisor I spoke to stated she would turn my electricity on but I would have to come in to their office the following week to present an ID.  I could do nothing else but agree. Do they have that much of a problem with people using other people’s information to turn on their electricity?

Our next hurdle is trying to arrange for a moving truck….

Other than that I am continuing to prepare for my job through my daily ritual of reading subject matter on the subject I will be teaching, listening to iTunes which have podcasts on journalism, media and telecommunication issues and further developing my research results from my dissertation into articles I can send out for publication. I’m also writing on the side for my public writing. I try to do at least one page a day in that regard. I figure one page a day equals 365 pages after a year which is more than enough for a book. I also read other books in other topics just to stay well rounded. I feel more than ready to meet my professional obligations at this point.