The last month of 2007 was a pretty big month for me.  I got a promotion at work, the holidays came and went, and for reasons I don’t really feel like discussing – it ended up being an emotional roller coaster.

But, the end of one year and the beginning of another has got me thinking about where I am in life, and just how exactly I got here.  This Unordered lists attempts to bring to light the obvious and not-so-obvious key things that I feel have brought me to where I am today.

• My Parents. Plain and simple, my parents are directly responsible for who I am today.  Without them, I’m not sure I would have studied in High school to get decent grades, I’m not sure I would have gone to college, I’m not sure of anything – I just cannot imagine where I would be without them.  From my father teaching me to shave and showing me how cool it is to be bald, to my mother supporting me through my first rough report card and teaching me value in hard work.  Every little bit adds up to contribute to the person I am now – which hopefully says alot about my parents.  I’ll always consider myself lucky to have them.
• My Brother.  I am so glad I didn’t have a little sister.  There’s just something that you get out of life when your little brother is wiling to wreck whitey for you.  (p.s. nobody but Vanbergs can possibly know what that means – But it is literally “Shake n’ Bake” 15 years before Shake n’ Bake)
• Grand Valley State University.  This is a big one.  I can distinctly remember applying to GVSU and Ferris State University.  I got accepted to both, but Ferris was always my “Plan B” if I didn’t get into GVSU for some reason.  I did get in and the first year at GVSU brought me to Robinson Hall where I built friendships that have lasted ever since.  I learned and matured alot during that first year, and it was a big turning point for me being my first year “out on my own” so to speak.  The next few years at GVSU resulted a quality education, my first I.T. job, not to mention meeting my future wife.  When I really think about it – It’s really pretty amazing how much in my life has come from choosing to attend Grand Valley State University.
• The “Shitway”.  Not many people will truly understand what the shitway was.  But it played a very significant role in my life.  The shitway could otherwise be known as a Gateway model personal computer, my first.  It was literally a turbo charged 486 with 33 mhz of processing power (100 mhz if you pressed the TURBO button).  Right about now, the average reader is saying “What the ef does that have to do with anything at all, Vanberge?”.  Well, it sparked my interest and started me on the hobby that is computers.  My father taught me alot with that computer.  In the weeks before I moved out to attend college, he and I re-built that computer from the ground up.  We installed a hard drive, Cd ROM, RAM, and he showed me how to use boot disks to format the hard drive.  To cap it all off, we installed Windows 95 on it.  I can safely say that both my educational studies and my career choice are rooted in that computer.
• Counter Strike.  This multiplayer online computer game showed me a whole new side of myself.  I killed hundreds of virtual people.  I was killed by hundreds of virtual people.  I screamed and cussed at people that I was CERTAIN were cheating and wall-hacking.  I bled, sweat, and cried my soul into that game for more hours than I could even begin to count.  To this day, there will never be a game that I play more than counter strike.
• John McGovern.  The owner and “president” of the first Company I worked for after graduating from GVSU.  This man is single handedly the most complete asshole I can ever imagine dealing with.  He regularly yelled, screamed, and cussed, and overall iron-fisted the company in no particular direction.  He was responsible for an extremely hostile work environment that affected me even when I wasn’t at work.  It was a deplorable situation to be in – and it still burns my blood with raw fury and absolute malice to even recall wasting a year of my life at that hell hole.   HOWEVER – It was this man’s unfiltered assheadedness that prompted me to quit my job at an immediate rate.  I didn’t have another job lined up, and I didnt care.  All that mattered was quitting that job.  If that man hadn’t been the worst person in the entire charted universe, I might never have left that company.  Which, in turn, would mean that I would not have the job I currently do.  Hence, all the negatives add up to an extreme positive in this case.
• Research in Motion’s “Blackberry”.  These savvy communication devices have done alot for me.  They began to gain popularity just as I was starting my current job, and I ended up being the main support person for these Blackberries.  In the beginning, I detested these devices with all fibers of all living things.  But the products have improved and they have become easier to support and deploy over time.  This might all sound insignificant, but I regularly interface with top executives and have always been able to help them with their Blackberries.  They know me by my first name, and I couldn’t say that about every other employee at our company.
• Meijer.   Even though I don’t really shop there for anything besides food anymore, Meijer helped me build a decent starting wardrobe of shirts and ties at an affordable price.   
  
• My Friends.  There’s not really any way to put 10 years of friendships into words.  But all my friendships have played a role on the person I’ve become today.  Skateboarding in our living room, stacking picnic tables 5 high, concerts, parties, uccello’s, computer labs, action movies, knockout matches, bachelor parties, heroics, billiards, Lions…  I could go on forever and it just wouldn’t be enough words.
• My Wife.  While this isn’t much the subject for the internet – She means the world to me and has made me realize how lucky I really am.

Happy new year everyone.

This week I’ve finally been able to burn up my last 4 vacation days.

It seems like taking vacation time is always a challenge for me – but I really try to do it because I don’t get reimbursed for untaken days and they do not roll over into next year. It’s “use ’em or lose ’em” scenario.

I guess it’s not a bad problem to have; but I sometimes feel like I have more vacation than I know what to even do with. After volunteering with Habitat for a couple saturdays, I literally had 4 and 1/2 weeks of vacation to work with. Next year will be even worse because I’ll have 5 weeks. I did manage to knock out most of it earlier in the year, and wound up with just these last 4 days left.

So far in these last 4 days I’ve played Forza 2 with Vanbergs, eaten at Mongolian BBQ, played Gears of War, flashed my phone with the newest firmware, watched “Doom, watched “Rambo II”, watched “Rambo III”, watched “Brick”, saw “I am Legend” on Imax, bought a new wireless card on ebay for 6.50, painted my hallway with two coats of “Parmesan” satin, and finally got the chance to use my behemoth snowblower…

I’ll see what else I can add to this list today. It is still pretty early.

I’ve recently become certain that there is simply not enough free time on this planet.

Between things like work, home ownership, being married, etc – I could seriously spend all my within that realm.  Don’t get me wrong, spending time in this “Adult” realm is definitely not a bad thing…  But for the most part, the days of the 10 hour Counter Strike sessions are long forgotten relics of a previous life.

I’m still having a little trouble transitioning though.  There is definitely a large party of my being that is still very immature.  I very often find myself wanting to shrug off all responsibilities.  Definitely been a bit of a struggle lately… I guess you could say I’m hanging onto the “college” mentality.  For example, my college mentality tells me:  I should beat Halo 3 again.  I should play through Fear.  I should play through Forza 2.  I should finish Gears of War.  I should watch the 237 (yes, two hundred thirty seven) movies in my Netflix queue.  I should get Guitar Hero 3.  I should mod my Xbox.  I should get digital HD cable.  I  should get a DVD/Nav system for my car.  I should get a Wii.  I should make a Mii.  Apple should make itunes for linux.  I should get a new video card.  I should get another 19” monitor.  I should get a new laptop.  I should get surround sound for my upstairs.  I should get a blueray player.  I should plug in my effing Super Nintendo and play “Pilot Wings” from start to mother effing finish.

Then there’s the responsible side, telling me things like:  I should paint my hallway.  I should fix my garage door trim.  I should put in new floors (wood laminate).  I should completely remodel the bathroom.  I should rake the yard.  I should sweep the drive way.   I should clean the carpets in the basement.  I should put in an exhaust fan in the bathroom.  I should change the shitty outlet in the living room that plugs don’t even stay in.  I should put the final touches on the finished basement.  I should save for a new furnace because mine is exactly as old as me.  I should clean the gutters on my garage.  I should power wash the deck.  I should stain the deck.  I should water treat the deck.  I should paint the annoying wall in the kitchen.  I should get new cupboards in the kitchen.  I should get a new motion light for the back yard.  I should cut down the basketball pole that there is no basketball hoop fastened to.  I should fix the garage walls. I should put real siding on the garage.  I should see my father without a mustache at least one time.  I should read a book.  I should lose a little weight.  I should clean the air filter in my car.  I should change the front brakes in my wifes car.  I should buy a floor jack to jack up both cars.  I should unplug the effing Super Nintendo.

Obviously there is a solution to this profound predicament:  Balance both of these worlds.

Provide a good home, but enjoy the home.  Sit out on the deck you just stained and have a cold beer.  Have a nice dinner in the kitchen you just put nice new floors in.   Hell, even take a bubble bath in your remodeled bathroom.

With an answer so clear, its amazing that I am even finding myself troubled with this.