Now In Lemon Scented!

As you probably noticed, the look of this blog has changed somewhat since I first started it. Blogger, the host of this blog - hence chrisbehnke.blogspot.com - upgraded their service and introduced a whole bunch of new templates. So, I took the chance and made a change.

Now, my friends Kevin and John both maintain blogs as well. Unfortunately, they updated their templates before me. This means that I had to choose something other than what they did since I didn't want to look like I was a big loser and had to do whatever someone else was doing. Granted, not a big fan of the look that Kevin went for on his Candle in the Wind Remix blog, but still...

So here I am with a new template that I'm not completely happy with since I think that the text column is a bit too narrow and I can't for the life of me figure out how to add my links back in. I've spent a good 10-15 minutes looking through the template code trying to see where I can insert my links but so far no go. Maybe one day I will stumble across someone else who is using the same template as I and I'll be able to figure it out. On the plus side, beginning with this post you will be able to write your comments about my entries. There are some additional pluses to the recent upgrade, such as the ability to add pictures and a personal profile, but I haven't yet taken the time to really get those going.

In Other News
Many of you are aware that I recently applied and interviewed for the position of manager over the group that I am currently a part of. Unfortunately, I did not get the job. I always knew, in my heart of hearts, that I was a long shot for the position. Eleven other people applied for the position and I'm sure that most of them brought more actual management experience to the table than I did. On the bright side though, by applying for the position my new manager and director are aware that I am looking for growth. This has lead to some interesting discussions with both of them, as well as Human Resources, about my future plans and how they could help me along. With both my director and HR I heard that one of my major "problems" is that I only have experience with one product within one division. Thankfully, this is going to change in the very near term. My division has been folded in with some other products to create the CRM (Customer Relationship Management)Services Group. Over the next couple of months we will be picking up 4 additional products to support - all software based. And as many of you know, I'm damn good when it comes to understanding software and making it work (both the way it should and also how I need it to). The downside to all of this is that I'm staying here in Dayton for the foreseeable future.

I will be heading back to Chicago over the Memorial Day weekend to go camping and - potentially - to jump out of an airplane. We're going to Skydive Chicago in Ottawa, IL. A bunch of us went last year and it was a blast. I took the Tuesday after Memorial Day off as well, so I'll be stretching it into a 4 day weekend. Too bad I'll be in a car for 5-1/2 hours.

Anyway, not much else to report for the moment...See you soon!