The New Career

Day number two now under my belt, and I have a feeling I've made a great decision. One month ago I put the stresses of LB Productions behind me, forever. Now I embark on what is already proving to be a wise move. I am finding this new position with the State of Oregon is just a fraction of what I did on a daily basis with my own business. This makes me able to concentrate on the task at hand with more focus and is giving me time to decompress from the past 10 years of my life that I've been running around like a crazy man.

I have already learned a lot with this new position. The state only contracts with certain vendors. Unlike my business, I can't just go to anyone and order something. No, no, no... a certain policy has to be followed each and every time. The process is redundant and might as well be recorded in stone. My job consists of helping the employees of ODOT order technology related products and software for their units. There are about 150 people who work under the same roof I do. It is my job to consult with them to find solutions that will work for their division.

Another thing I have noticed, is I need to find ways to keep myself occupied when I'm not helping facilitate orders. I know once things get rolling I will be doing a lot more, but in the meantime it's been a lot of paper work and finding things to do so I don't go crazy. This is a very good thing though, as I for once have time to take a breath in what use to be a very hectic lifestyle.

Now to the fun part - my radiation treatments. On Monday I left work at 4:30 racing to Portland to have my treatment. I was a half hour late! So this morning (Tuesday), I sat down with my supervisor and explained my situation. We worked it out so now I will be going in at 7:30am as opposed to 8, and I will be able to leave at 4:00pm. Today, I made it in the knick of time by leaving a half hour earlier. You're talking to a guy who rarely got up before 9:00am in the past seven or so years, so as you can imagine this schedule change is BRUTAL!

Nevertheless, despite the time adjustment, I feel I have made a great life change. I am enjoying meeting my new coworkers, who for the most part are extremely nice. It is an organization that I feel great about joining and proud to be a part of for years to come.

-LB

Fact or Fiction?

Hello folks! It's me again reporting from the west side of the state, or as some people describe it "the wet side." I'm still not totally convinced... but I will say it rained pretty good today, and I imagine it was a lot dryer on the east side. I suspect some of my friends will report back and let me know.

So, I'd like to address some rumors floating around in my hometown of Joseph. Since it's such a small town, it's fairly easy for a rumor to get back to a person... and guess what... I've heard things! The first one is this: "Levi has sold out of his business because he could no longer afford it due to staggering medical bills he is facing" Fact or fiction? Well, if you know me, you are probably already laughing... it's FICTION! However, this is the fact: I've been looking to live in the Willamette Valley now for 5+ years. My friends and family know this. Even some of my more frequent customers knew I was "shopping" for a new life. This summer I became very serious about it, and started looking for a job. I found one with the Oregon Department of Transportation... a darn good one too! I am their new technology coordinator. Plus, I have pretty decent insurance and it's covering 80+% of my medical bills. Not that it's still not going to be a lot of money, but why would I shut down the only thing that was making me money? = MY BUSINESS!? Duuuuh people!!!

Fact: I've been very burnt out on my business for at least the past 18 months... Fiction: Wal-Mart's new agreement with Dell to sell their computers has hurt my business. Fact: Business actually got better with their ads appearing everywhere. People in Wallowa County knew that they weren't going to get the service from Wal-Mart that they would from LB Productions. Fiction: I got out of my business because I was almost "pushing up daisies." Fact: Though, I've had some recent health problems, none of them have affected my daily life to a great extent. I have lymphoma on my right foot, and it's being taken care of with radiation. Yeah, sometimes I have trouble walking, and I am in pain (less now that radiation has started), but from my shin up I'm in good shape (well not fit, but at least healthy)! The biggest whopper of them all: I've been seeing older women around town... HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! The two ladies you know of, are two good friends... that is it. Ask them! Fact: One of the reasons I actually moved to this area is so I could meet people my age and perhaps start a relationship... because as we all know it -- Joseph doesn't have much to offer in that department. So now that I've settled these small town rumors, could we just all move on with our lives already? Since I have left town, I suppose the gossips of Joseph will have to look for someone else to talk about, DARN! :-)

-LB

Blogger Buzz Update

For those of you who haven't noticed, I've merged my website "THE BUZZ" into my "NEWS BLOG." Rather than maintaining it all separately, it only made sense to conglomerate it all into one, easy to edit, easy to update, more "live" interface. If you go to my original site address: levi.lbsites.com you will end up here at: levijosephbobbitt.blogspot.com -- either way you shake it, you will get where you need to go. Also, a couple weeks ago I moved my blog hosting over to Google from my own hosting because it only made sense to have Google's free hosting rather than fill up for my own 'paid for' space.

I hope you like what you see here. Keep watching as I add more features and continue to dress things up a bit. I will continue to add my favorite websites to the left-hand column, add to my story and history, and write things about my friends.

Also, if you've noticed you started receiving my blog entries in your email box when you never use to, that is probably because I added your email to the group list. The email: thegang@lbsites.com will send to everyone on the list (this is the blog's email). And, in all honesty, if you're not interested in hearing about my boring life -- I don't blame you and won't have any hard feelings. Simply email me: levi@lbsites.com and tell me you would like to unsubscribe. I will take you off the list -- no questions asked. Additionally, if you're reading this via my blog site -- and would like to start having my entires delivered to your email box, just email to the address above letting me know you'd like your address to be included to the list. As always, I promise not to put you on any other mailing lists beyond this one.

Thank you all for reading my mindless drivel!

-LB

Radiation Begins

That's right, it finally happened. Today, Tuesday I officially started radiation, and it couldn't have happened a moment sooner. It was originally supposed to start last Thursday, but for some reason it got pushed out to this Thursday, then they decided to have it start yesterday, only to cancel it again and have it start today.

It didn't happen easily today either, oh no... my mom and I were left sitting in an exam room for some two hours before I got to actually go under the "rays." The exam room was hot and stuffy, not to mention I hadn't taken any pain medication all day, so I felt terrible. But once they got me in I was relieved... and I didn't feel a thing. It amazes me how something this powerful doesn't even hurt.

The docs think I might even start seeing results by the weekend. If that's the case, I will be impressed!

In other news... I was able to move most of my personal stuff out of my house this past weekend, leaving behind only what I want the future renters to use or see.

My trip to Joseph this last Friday was an interesting one! I found myself d0zing off at the wheel on the freeway! I recall being in the right lane, and then hearing a loud buzzing, which turned out to be the rumble strip on the left shoulder. I had nearly crossed the entire freeway heading towards to median. It was at this point (near Hermiston) I decided I was tempting fate, and I had better get a motel room and catch up on some rest. Usually, even when I am tired I can handle driving from Salem to Joseph without issue, but with these meds, it's a completely different story.

Made it back safe and sound to Salem with my mom driving the majority of the way (except in the metro areas where she is a bit timid). Nevertheless, it was very helpful not having to drive the bulk of the trip. We were greeted with some beautiful weather. It's hopefully going to be a nice peaceful week before I start my new career on Monday.

-LB

I Forgot

While I was planning on leaving Thursday to head home to Joseph to tie up some loose ends, I was unexpectedly greeted with a message from Dr. Simpson's office reminding me of my Friday appointment at OHSU Dermatology -- OOOPS! So I will be hanging out in Salem for another couple of days. I say oh well, because I really do enjoy it down here. It is already feeling like home I have to say and I've been seeing my friends down here more often than normal. That's about obvious, as they are about 300 miles closer.

People say the west side is known as the "wet side." They are right, I have noticed it is not afraid to rain here. But what I don't think people get is that once it rains here, it tends to clear right out. That's what it did today, as soon as it was done raining the sun came out. I know a lot of times in the Wallowa Valley the storms would hang in by the mountains for days. I think though it might rain here more, as far as total cloudy and gloomy days go, Salem and Joseph might be a lot closer than you think. Speaking of storms, I hear of a real hell of a storm that is supposed to come in later tonight and into tomorrow. The winds are supposed to reach 75 mph on the coast, 40 mph here in the valley, and 50 mph on the east side of the state.

Today was fairly uneventful, but still productive. I got a microwave and a toaster oven at the Wal-Mart. Other than that, I stayed fairly close to home and began work on some websites that have been on the back burner for a while. The main thing is that I am consolidating all the sites onto the same server. I have a buddy of mine down here in Portland who has his own hosting company and they (including lbsites) are going there.

Well I am tired, this medication has been doing me in as far as energy goes. I can't wait to have my normal life back following next week's scheduled radiation.

-LB

Blog Upgrades

Hi folks, I am currently working on some new upgrades to my blog. I hope you enjoy them, and if you have my old blog bookmarked, please update your bookmarks to: levijosephbobbitt.blogspot.com -- the old blog will forward to this one, but probably not forever. This new space is allowing me to store stuff on Google's servers rather than filling up my own to the gills (which is what was happening). Plus, I'm able to be a little more interactive here which will be cool!

-LB

Dealing With The Pain

People often ask me "how's your pain?" and my reaction is inevitably "terrible." Fortunately, with modern medicine, dealing with cancer pain isn't what it use to be. I am under a variety of medications to keep me out of the pain zone. Some evenings I have unbearable pain, and for some reason the medication won't touch it. For the most part, however, my pain can be taken away with medication.

I had an incident with a loved one this weekend that I found no pain medication could touch. No pain med could take away the sadness I was feeling. This person is someone I love very much, and it is because of that love, the words said to me were all that much harder to take.

I am not asking anyone to feel sorry for me or to expect to have to wait on me because of what I'm going through. I would not expect anymore attention as a result of going through this horrible disease. I also expect friends and family to be honest with me always. I would not wish what I'm going through on anyone, not even an enemy. I don't want things to be different because of what I'm going through, but it seems no matter how hard I try, they are. I do know that even with the pain I've endured both physically, mentally, and emotionally, I will come out of this a stronger person.

I guess the only thing I ask of my family and friends are to take it easy on me. I am going through some pretty rough times -- but also some very exciting times in my life as well. It is a time of change, both unwelcome and welcome.

Sometimes words hurt more than physical pain. Physical wounds can heal quickly, as emotional ones can take much longer. Be careful what you say, because band aids and medication won't heal emotional wounds any faster, this is something only time can take care of. No matter how deep the emotional wound may be, no matter how much you may dislike your family and friends at times, in the end, you will always love them.

-LB

On Track

All I can say is things are on track -- and that is good news.

The radiation consult went well. It was a bit of a long wait, but I found out that I'll be coming back next week to start radiation. First, I'll have an appointment for the planning process on where exactly they are going to point the radiation, then I start the radiation officially later in the week. Each treatment will only be a few minutes which is good news. After that, the treatments will become fewer and more far between. Things should pretty much wrap up before I start my new job on October 29th.

Speaking of which, I found a place to live in Salem today! After an exhausting weekend of searching through place after place, I located an apartment behind the Outback Steakhouse in Salem. Out of all the places for me to end up! I have a feeling they've just met their best 'curb side take-away' customer over the next several months! My new digs will overlook the pool and is upstairs (which is what I wanted). It is such a relief to have that part behind me. Moving will happen over the next couple of weeks.

Depending on how my Monday goes, I will either return back to Wallowa County late evening or sometime on Tuesday at the latest.

-LB

Radiation Consult

Made it to Portland safe and sound! My sis and I are staying at the Wilsonville Holiday Inn and having a blast so far. It was yet another long trip to the Willamette Valley, as I have been coming down about once a week. I just thought I'd check in and let you know I have a consultation with the radiation department at OHSU tomorrow (Friday) where I will find out when I start treatment. It is likely it will happen right around the first of the week.

I also received a call from Dr. Simpson regarding my biopsy today. It was indeed officially declared to be T-Cell Lymphoma. It came as no surprise to anyone including myself because the first biopsy was evident of this. The radiation is going to be necessary to kill this, but should be "no big deal" in my eyes. In 2-3 weeks the whole ordeal will most likely be behind me. This I am happy for! Additionally, I received the results of the CT scan today which totally showed up clear, again I was filled with happiness!

The drive down was a bit interesting with my sister driving my Envoy. She almost sideswiped a Lincoln, and then almost flipped the car doing a U-turn on some slick railroad tracks. I am mostly joking of course, but I was having fun giving her a bad time about her driving!

For some of you, this is probably a mystery on why you are receiving an email with my blog entry -- this is a result of adding a boatload of new emails to my address list. I figured this probably was a good idea with me leaving Wallowa County and wanting to keep my friends up to date with the 'goings on.' If you just think my life is too boring to hear about it, then I say "FINE" and you can send an email to webmaster@lbsites.com letting me know if your choosing to 'opt-out.' Seriously, though, I will not have any hard feelings. If you're reading this on my website and would like to start receiving my blog in your email box each time I do an entry, please send me an email (to the address above) letting me know if your interest in my life.

I will be looking for a place to live in Salem this weekend, I am very excited to find a house! I also found out I get a week reprieve from starting. My start date has been pushed out to October 29th, which gives me plenty of breathing room for the move and to give my goodbyes to Wallowa County.

-LB

LB Productions Under New Ownership

October 1st, 2007 was the first official day which LB Productions ran under the helm of the new owners - Elizabeth and Dan DeBoie. Both Elizabeth and Dan are excited for this new venture and look forward to serving Wallowa County with the very best computer sales, service and video production. "We are happy for Levi, and glad we had this opportunity," said Elizabeth in regards to her new acquisition. Levi J. Bobbitt sold the business on the heals of his annoucement that he was accepting a position with the Oregon Department of Transportation as their new technology coordinator. "I am thrilled for the DeBoies to have this wonderful opportunity in the IT field here in Wallowa County. I will deeply miss Joseph, but will be back every chance I get," Bobbitt said. Levi will be no stranger to the newly owned business as he will continue to advise the DeBoies from his new home in Salem. "I plan to still be a voice in the business, helping Elizabeth and Dan from the transition to the first several months of operation," he said.

The sale of the business did not include everything, as Levi will be retaining the website development division of LB Productions. The remaining portion of the business will be renamed "LBSITES" to avoid any confusion with the computer and video operation in Joseph.

Additionally, LB Productions will move back to downtown Joseph (after a month's hiatus while being ran out of Levi's home). It will be located at 102 W McCully in Joseph right behind the Art Angle. From there the DeBoies hope to offer everything that has been offered in the past and possibly more. "We will just see what our customers want and go from there," according to Elizabeth. Though not every single detail will remain the same, the business will retain it's initial integrity: offering quality customer service with hometown friendliness. Both Bobbitt and the Deboies are excited for their new ventures and look forward to the new challenges the lie ahead in their lives.