Blog Question and update about blogs silence as of late

Hey everyone, I know this blog has been quite and truthfully, I have been lucky to be working at a great job post AmeriCorps that I really enjoy but it has meant that I have been working outside 35 - 37 hours a week and I have been spending most of my extra time (two days a week) relaxing for the next stent of work. That being said, I really can't complain too much because working at a job you can genuinely enjoy is always a wish come true, particularly in this economy.

That being said, I would like to start with a question I was sent by a reader of this blog. You may recognize the question and if you do, please shout yourself out in the comments to this post.
Question: "Did you get a two week break for thanksgiving holiday AND some sort of break for the Christmas/New Year time?"

My answer: Keep in mind, this is based off my experience and the best source would be one of the top staff members at your campus, but during my term we only got one of them off. From what I remember, each campus would give their corps one of the two holiday seasons off (two week period) while others were "on" then they would switch. If it is still run that way, you will get one of the periods off but probably not the other. You'd have to ask your TL or campus staff to find out which.

With your break, my advice, take the time to rest up and visit with family and friends. If FEMA still provides their FEMA Corps with free WIFI, take full advantage of it but be aware that they can track anything you view so keep that in mind and don't get yourself in a bad spot. Motel wifi can also be used, but I highly suggest investing in Pandora One while you are serving with AmeriCorps if you are given WIFI. It made work a while lot more enjoyable, and bringing some digital music from home (say on a flash drive) was very nice during my time. Spending 10 months away will give you a change to really get to appreciate and enjoy things you may have never thought of before. For me, it was being able to listen to music outside of YouTube which very well might still be blocked on those wonderful blackberries.

Let me know if there are any other questions (forum widget on the right side is the best way) and I will do my best to answer them. It is a motivation to post outside of talking more about memories I have from my time.
P.S. More posts about my time in Colorado and general advice still to come, just finding the time due to the reasons stated at the top of this post.

Stay tuned.

Out-Processing and future posts

Regarding the absence of entries this past month, there are more on the way as well as a continuation of the Colorado posts in the near future.    The Q&A area is still open for questions (see the right side of the blog for the submission form) and will remain open.

Out processing started off on a Friday as teams gradually arrived back to the region campus followed by the weekend which was open and free to visit with friends from other teams.  Starting on Monday there was a week of activities and meetings that were needed to finish up our ten month term of service.  Each day the things on the agenda would range from three to four things on a busy day to two things on a slower day for us, usually involving turning in equipment and so on.   This being said, the schedule did change a number of times and this was simply one closeout at our campus and experiences will vary some depending on the region campus.

By the time we all arrived back, many of us were ready to finish the ten months and were keeping track of how many days left we had before we were done.   Its been a great time all in all and our corp has had many great people volunteer ten months of their life to help those affected by disasters.   Many corp members may have not seen the end result from their work during some of their assignments but the contributions made have made a difference.    For me, Colorado made the ten months for me in addition to spending the time with my team and the transitions with the corp as a whole.

Keep an eye out for new posts and new questions are always welcome.  More to come.

Entertainment for off days (Colorado Post #1)

This is the first of a series of posts about my time in Colorado.   We worked six days a week and there wasn't much time to write new blog posts, so here goes.   

Entertainment for days off:

On days off depending on how many days you are working and how busy you are at work, you may feel inclined to spend your off day/s relaxing and taking it easy.  When it comes to entertainment, many blogs have suggested local libraries as a place to borrow movies and books to enjoy for days off.  However, with the chances of short notices when it comes to changing housing could make it hard to return library material. 

My suggestion, look into Redbox as a way to borrow movies on the weekends or your day/s off.     Also, consider signing up for Netflix once you finish training if you are working with FEMA and getting the blackberry that has a mobile WiFi hotspot.     Both of these options can be cheap ways to enjoy movies without having to worry about late fees or having to pay different library systems for DVDs you weren't able to return.

Also, try to take some time to explore the local areas where you get sent.   AmeriCorp NCCC programs give you a financially free ability to travel to different parts of the country, so take advantage of this and explore.   Get the most out of each place you go and take pictures to remember where you have been.    More posts to come.