Obituary

Robert Douglas Cotton, father of Jeff Cotton and my godfather, passed away this morning, Wednesday, December 15, 2010 at or about 8:00 a.m.

InfiTech USA

After an impromptu interview with Bounsou Vongdeuane of InfiTech USA on Sunday, December 5th, I traveled to Carrollton, TX for a week of training.  I will be working with a DNS team installing semiconductor manufacturing equipment at Samsung Austin Semiconductor.  Toolset model numbers may be confidential, so I won't post them here. Over a year and 3 months of unemployment has come to an end.  One caveat:  This is a short term contract.  Although there are further opportunities, there are no guarantees.  Nevertheless, I'm excited and think this is a very good thing.

KickStart

Joshua was promoted to Orange Belt on Wednesday, December 8th at the KLMS KickStart belt ceremony held at Hendrickson High school.  I was out of town and could not attend.  My loss, because Chuck Norris (founder of the KickStart program) was there... in person!
Click here for more info about KickStart

Deployed!

No, I'm not going to Afghanistan.  As part of Point of Grace (PoG) Church's 10th anniversary, my family and I participated in a large scale community service day.  Over 250 people were "deployed" into the community in teams of various sizes to serve others.  My team pulled weeds and mulched flower beds at the Pflugerville Pregnancy Resource Center.  The politics of Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice never entered my mind until it was brought to my attention after-the-fact, I was there with a servant's heart to fulfill a need.  In addition to the Resource Center, PoG deployed teams to local schools, nursing homes, Little League baseball fields, and some private residences (just to name a few). There were so many projects going on that we still could have used some more hands.  Maybe next time a multi-congregation work day can be organized.  It was a good experience for Amanda and Joshua to not only participate but to see the other people, adults & children, helping others.  I think they are a little pleased with themselves for the work they did.

Today I passed another certification exam and I'm now CompTIA Network + certified.

CompTIA A+

Today I passed the second portion of the CompTIA A+ certification exam and am now officially Certified... some think I'm certifiable. :-)

CompTIA Network + is next!

CompTIA A+

Today I passed the first portion of my CompTIA A+ Certification exam.
Click here for more info on CompTIA A+ 
The CompTIA A+ certification is the industry standard for computer support technicians. The international, vendor-neutral certification proves competence in areas such as installation, preventative maintenance, networking, security and troubleshooting. CompTIA A+ certified technicians also have excellent customer service and communication skills to work with clients.


CompTIA A+ is part of the certification track for corporations such as Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Cisco and Novell. Other technology companies, including CompuCom and Ricoh, have made CompTIA A+ certification mandatory for their service technicians. More than 700,000 people worldwide have become CompTIA A+ certified since the program’s inception in 1993.

Point of Grace

Officially introduced to congregation as new members of Point of Grace Church, Pflugerville, Texas

CompTIA A+

Scheduled CompTIA A+ Essentials exam (220-701) for July 7th, 2010

Point of Grace

Margareth and I attended a membership orientation for Point of Grace Church

At KLMS Family Fun Night with Joshua.

We're watching Ghostbusters II so I made some ectoplasm (Jello) for dessert!

Kickstart

Joshua was awarded his purple belt in Chuck Norris' Kickstart program at Kelly Lane Middle School. Congratulations Joshua... great job!

CompTIA A+

First day of CompTIA A+ training at CyberTex!!

Lawn Care

Mowed the front yard today. Just a kiss and a promise to keep the HOA police at bay. Last week's edge and trim still looks good. Backyard grass is not tall enough to justify the gasoline, ozone, noise, etc. I start IT school tomorrow and may not have time to mow afterwards. I don't like to mow on Sunday but sometimes one must get the ox out of the ditch (Luke 14:5).

Yesterday, Friday May 14th, my TRA training plan was approved! I start Monday.

Training

I signed a TAA Reemployment & Training Plan for the Texas Workforce Commision today and took a VALPAR (Pro3000) assessment test. If all goes as planned, training will begin soon for IT certification in Network Administration.

Twitter Business Card

http://twtbizcard.com/DLHENSLEE

Newsflash: KLMS 6th grade band wins Best in Class!!

Chaperoning KLMS band trip. Praying for POG MICA retreat!

Mobile connectivity test.

Unemployed

Unemployed since August 2009. 

Worked for Agere Systems, Inc. (formerly Lucent Technologies, fmrly AT&T Microelectronics) in Orlando Florida from May 1996 to September 2005.  Unemployed from September 2005, until ~September 2006.  Worked for TSA at Orlando International Airport for a few months, then accepted a temporary position with Applied Materials In austin, Texas from January 2007 to December 2007.  Accepted position with Samsung Austin Semiconductor (SAS) and started working on January 7, 2008.  Sold house in Saint Cloud, Florida and moved family to Pflugerville, Texas on July 1, 2008.  Economic crisis hits the United States. Laid off August 18, 2009 as part of a reduction in force as SAS began plans to retool Fab 1.

At the time of this writing, I am planning to start training for several Information Technology (IT) certifications.