Friday, October 21, 2011

Looking Back and Looking Forward: Big Changes

The drought is over! Last week I was offered and accepted a job. Who knows how many jobs I applied to, easily in the hundreds, and the several interviews, probably 20+, that I had, but it has all paid off. This Monday, I help decrease the unemployed population by one! It is a significant pay cut, but it is a job that will be a great experience and uses and builds off of what I have already been doing. Plus I will get to learn more about solar power and how it all works. I will be a Buyer for a company called Teyma USA. Their offices are in Victorville. They are helping build a $1.2 billion solar field in Mojave. When I interviewed for the job, the purchasing department had 3 or 4 people in it. I was told that when it was filled, there would be 10 to 12 people, so I'm getting in kind of early. I also know that there are two others that started this past week. It will be an interesting start too. I received an e-mail today saying that I have a hotel reservation for Sunday night at a hotel where I will have training all day Monday. Where is the hotel? Costa Mesa: about 1/3 of the distance to Victorville. The sad thing is it will probably take me as long to get home Monday from Costa Mesa as it will from Victorville.

Looking back at this unemployment journey, it has been a very long road. Only by God's blessings have we been able to make it as long as we have. I never pictured myself being unemployed for a year when I was let go last October from Chevron. As I mentioned, I applied to a ton of jobs. I was fortunate to get a number of interviews too. There were three companies I actually had multiple interviews with: Kaiser Permanente, Southern California Gas Company and Hawaiian Airlines. The rejects of the first two of those were disappointing, but the rejection from Hawaiian really hurt. When I was told why I was not chosen to move on, there were three reasons given, two of which were based on assumptions made by the interviewer, which were false assumptions. (The third one was legit.) That really upset me and changed my attitude somewhat for a while back around June. There were also many other companies I interviewed with a single time and was ultimately rejected from, including my dream employer Disney. Although I got rejected by Disney, I am glad that I was at least given a chance to interview. Now I can eliminate the "What if they just gave me a chance to interview?" question. So with all the experiences from my year plus of unemployment, I have a new chapter of my life complete. It just adds to my personal testimony of faith in God. Looking forward, there will be some big changes, which I'm sure will add more to that.

Since the job is located in Victorville, some 73 miles from home, it is not ideal, long-term, to commute daily. For the short-term it will be fine. So starting Tuesday, my first day in V-ville, I will do the nearly 150-mile round trip drive daily. One thing in my favor is that I will be going against traffic (headed to L.A.) The two times I have been to Victorville, for the interview and house hunting, it has taken about one hour and 15 minutes each direction each time. I can live with that. It's really not to different from the time spent driving between home in Whittier and my previous jobs in Irvine and El Segundo.

However, the biggest change that will occur as a result of this job, is the family and I will be moving to Victorville. The last time Traci and I moved was 10 years ago when we moved into this house, had been married for just 2 years and had no kids. In the last 10 years, we have accumulated a number of things, including our two kids. Well, maybe we didn't exactly "accumulate" them, but you know what I mean. As I mentioned above, we (Traci and I) have gone house hunting once so far. We saw four houses and liked two of them. On the 30th, we, this time all four of us, will head back out there for some more house hunting.

With me being a nerd, I have done my share of analysis over the last week or two. Lately this has focused on the school districts out there. This has also helped us to nail down the city we would like to live in. There really are three cities that would be fine to live in logistically: Victorville, Apple Valley and Hesperia. After looking at the three school districts, here is what my analysis has shown us, and why we have chosen Victorville as our city of choice. Apple Valley has generally good schools, and not so great homes (for rent). Victorville has a mix of schools and some great homes. Hesperia has some great homes, but the schools are generally not that good. So with Victorville's mix of schools and good housing options, we are planning to move there. Also a plus for Victor Elementary School District, is you can enroll in any school in the district, about half of which are charter school and generally perform very well, regardless of where in V-ville you live. So, like many people, you can tell us the schools in Victorville are not good, but based on my research, it depends on what school you are looking at.

Back to the houses in Victorville that we have seen. The first one we liked was 4br, 3ba, 2334 sq ft with a very open floor plan one-story house. The second one we really liked, we would have tried to lock up instantly if we were at that point. It was 4br, 3ba, 2788 sq ft two-story house with an upstairs bonus room that was at least the size of our kitchen and living room combined. (I tried to claim it as a man-cave, but Traci wasn't too keen on that idea...I can't figure out why.) We have another appointment to meet with my friend from high school, who is a realtor out there, a week from Sunday. It actually works out really well because not only will we be taking the girls with us this time, but our realtors (at home) are holding an open house at our home that day. Just in case any of are looking, or know someone who is looking, to buy a house, here is the link to our listing and here is a virtual tour of our house.

On the flip side, it has been some experience putting our house up for sale. It was something we never wanted to do, but here we are with the sign in the front yard, the lockbox on our front door and the fliers ready for prospective buyers on our coffee table. I happened to be mowing the lawn when they guy came by and put up the stake-thing for the sign. It felt like a little piece of me had been taken away. Then later that day when I returned home, the realtors' sign was up and that took a little more of me away. It is sad to be going through this, but I am trying to set my mind as right as possible. I know that home ownership is the "American Dream", but ultimately, it seems as though we are living out God's dream for us, and that is what comforts me somewhat. Although we won't own a home anymore (believe me, we've looked at our options and this is the best one), we will still have a home to live in out in Victorville and for that we should be grateful since there are millions (if not billions) of people worldwide who would kill themselves to live in something the size of our bedroom, or smaller. Our home has been a bog part of our lives for 10 years now, and it's the only home Courtney and Skyler have known, but in the end, it really is just a temporary home anyway. God has prepared a permanent residence for all 4 of us in Heaven. So anything we have on Earth is nothing compared to what we have with Him.

I have to admit the one thing I was really hoping not to do was have the girls change schools mid-year, but that is the path we are headed down. On the bright side, they are both very friendly and make new friends pretty easily. I have a feeling that will come in handy with the move, at least I sure hope so. Which school they will go to...well, that's something we're still working on. Plus whatever school we choose, we need to make sure they actually have openings for the girls.

So back to work I go on Monday. I haven't been this excited to work in a long time, if ever! Traci will have to adjust to me being gone every day again. I will have to readjust to not seeing my family as much as I'm used to. We will all have to adjust to the changes associated with moving (around the holidays, no less). Fortunately, we are a strong family with strong faith in Christ. He will ultimately get us through this transition, and who knows what he has planned for us out there. And besides, I'm sure it will be the adventure of a lifetime for our family. Here we go!

Friday, September 30, 2011

1 Year

It's hard to believe that as of tomorrow I will have been unemployed for 1 year.  And if you told me that we would still be in our house and not have touched our 401k's, I would have thought you were crazy.  However, here we stand one year later and it's all true still.

I'm still searching for jobs just as hard, if not harder, than I have so far.  And lately it's paid off somewhat.  I had one interview this past Monday, one yesterday, and have one more coming up on Monday.  All the while, I'm still in the running and waiting to hear back from Paramount Petroleum (in Paramount) about the purchasing position at their refinery.  Of the four jobs I'm currently in the running for, Paramount is easily the top choice, with Southern California Edison (Long Beach...past Monday) being second and Abener Teyma (Victorville, yesterday) being third.  As for where Monday's interview's company lies (SF Bay area), we'll have to wait and see my impression of the job after the interview.  My guess is that it will wind up as my second preference behind the refinery job.

As for other things in life that are keeping my spirits up and my mind off being employed, coaching soccer is at the top.  Even though my older team is challenging in the sense that it is hard to keep their attention, I still enjoy coaching them.  Skyler team is low maintenance and always fun. 

Today I did something else that I really enjoyed.  I went to the girls' school for Read Across OD Day (for the first time) and got to read a from a couple of books to Courtney's class.  They were so quiet and paid attention the whole time.  It was great!  Also, since I had expressed interest to the teacher about helping with math in the classroom at Back to School Night, she asked if I would like to come in for 45 minutes of Fridays starting next week to do just that.  I agreed and therefore will be helping in her class on Fridays.  That should be a lot of fun.

As for this coming weekend, church should be more fun than normal.  We'll be celebrating our church's 40th anniversary and there will be a huge picnic type thing starting after the 9:30 service.  While I was at church taking pictures of Courtney's choir for their Christmas performance, I heard the band practicing for Sunday's service and they were practicing my favorite worship song..."Everything".  It is an amazing song and I don't think I could ever get tired of that song.  It's on my song blog so you can check it out here if you'd like to.

Hopefully I'll have some good news on the job front in the next week or so as I expect to find out about the Paramount job next week.  Stay tuned...

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

The Horror of the Summer, 8/5/11

It's been a little crazy since my adventures to St. Louis.  I can't believe I haven't blogged about the accident we witnessed and suffered some minor car damage from back in early August.  So here it goes.  Warning: some of my descriptions will be pretty graphic.

The first weekend of August is traditionally when we take off on our annual camping trip with Traci's family.  Normally it's off to Shaver Lake in the Sierras east of Fresno.  However, this year, we headed to Lake of the Springs, which was about and hour and 20 minutes north of Sacramento (460 miles from home roughly).  So we hit the road pretty early, just after 4:00 AM. 

Over the Grapevine we go and down into the Central Valley.  Maybe a half hour after the Grapevine, we witnessed the most horrific accident any of us have ever seen, and hopefully never see again.  Let me give you a play by play as best I can.  This happened around 6:1 5AM on August 5.

Cruising along at about 60 MPH, following Traci's parents who are towing a 5th wheel (trailer), I happen to notice a white SUV (Suburban) passing us in the left lane (on a 2-lane each direction highway).  While I'm watching it after it passed us, the rear right wheel--tire on rim--rolls right off the car.  Instantly the back rotor hits the road and starts kicking up gravel and sparks right onto our car which is maybe 100 feet behind them in the neighboring lane.  That pulls the car right, slightly into our lane, freaking me out.  Then it swerves left across the lane they were just in, continues into the center median which is all dirt and dry brush and about 40-50 feet wide (we were west of Bakersfield on I-5) and then begins to come back up onto the road into the left lane where they began.  As soon it was back up on the road, headed almost straight across our side of the highway, it flips.  Not just once, but several times, with at least the first complete rotation occurring completely in the air.  Once it lands back on the pavement, it continues to rolls at least a few more times.  I estimate it probably rolled a total of 4 or 5 times in all.  Meanwhile, everything is flying out of the car.  This was part of a family from Baldwin Park headed to Napa Valley for vacation we found out later, so the back of this Suburban was packed.  Suitcases flew out, which opened sending all contents flying, at least one ice chest opened as it flew out sending everything in it flying.  This doesn't count all the pieces of gravel, which were like little fireballs from the friction of the accident as well as parts of the car flying all around that car and into our car which I was in the process of stopping to avoid running into this flying, rolling car.  During this scene, something very large and metal hits our car, which is where our damage came from on the passenger's side of the front of our car.  Eventually the SUV stops, right side up somehow amazingly, and we are in shock as we are the closest car to them.  Once we make sure the girls were ok, and they were thankfully, we told them to stay right where they were so that we could help the people in the car.

There is nothing that can prepare you for this scene if you are not an EMT, cop, etc.  When all is said and done, our car is within 150 feet probably of where the other car came to a rest.  I-5 is now completely shut down going north since they are in the middle of the two lanes on our side of the 5.  Debris is covering from the freeway from several feet behind our car to probably over 100 feet ahead of where the car stopped rolling, from gutter to center median: clothes, ice, drinks, car parts, shattered glass...you name it, it was on the freeway.  Fortunately, the one thing that did not fly out of the car and onto the freeway was bodies.  All 7 people in the car had seat belts on.  As we (Traci and I) approach the car, it was like something straight out of the movies or tv (like ER).  Everybody in the car is in shock and has blood running down some part of them except for a 5 year old in the middle of the back (3rd) row.  The driver's head, an older gentleman, is cut and has blood running down his head and face.  The passenger next to him, his sister we found out, was dead and had a major gash in her forehead.  This went from the middle of her forehead just above the point between her eyes, to past her right eye by a good inch, and was wide open, at least an inch and a half, so that when I saw it, I was looking at her scull.  In hindsight it was obvious that she was dead.  This huge wide open gash on her forehead did not have blood flowing from it, meaning the heart was not beating.In the middle row of seats the people were able to get out on their own, but had blood all over them.  The back row had the other most disturbing injuries to a person.  The little boy in the middle looked just fine, no blood, no cuts or scratches that we could see.  He was strapped in his booster seat.  The driver's side passenger was injured and had blood going like everybody else. The passenger on the passenger's side was in and out of consciousness.  Her shirt was saturated (so much so it was kind of shiny, you know like when you're fresh out of the pool in your bathing suit) in blood.  When she was conscious, she would just moan/cry/scream.  Her face had blood running down it as well.

The car that was behind them in their lane when this went down also got out to help and was the first to call 911.  He approached the car just as we did.  Meanwhile Traci's parents were freaking out.  As I said we were following them, but they were ahead of the accident.  When it happened, all they saw was a cloud of debris and dust behind them.  They lost sight of us and thought the worst.  Fortunately, when the dust settled, they saw that we were ok and backed up to come back to help.  They stayed with the girls in the car for the most part, although Traci's mom helped the family as well since she used to be a nurse.  There was another car that backed up to help out with the accident as well.  It was the other part of the family that was in the car that just flipped.  They were amazingly calm after seeing what had happened to their family.  They helped out where needed with their family.  They comforted the two injured girls that were crying, initially from their own injuries and then more when they realized that they were looking at their dead mother.  They also helped the other that were injured.  They seemed very appreciative when we said goodbye.

We wound up using 6 of the 8 towels we had packed on the people of the accident to help stop all the bleeding.  Traci applied pressure on a girl with a severs cut to her foot (that literally gushed when she showed it to one of the EMTs that arrived).  Traci mom helped with compressions on the dead woman once I and two other men helped lift her body out of the car and onto the ground.  Not what I had planned for vacation, that's for sure.

They wound up closing both sides of I-5 as a result of the accident.  They needed to land a helicopter to airlift the one girl in the back seat I talked about.  Let's just say it was controlled chaos.  Ultimately there were 3 or 4 cops/highway patrolmen, two fire trucks and crews, and at least two ambulances with their crews.  Once they arrived, it was amazing to see them go to work.  I learned that code black = dead, code red = severe/life-threatening injuries, code yellow = injuries, but not severe and code green = fine.

After it was all said and done and I had calmed down as much as is possible after witnessing something like that, and we had given the cops our statements and got their clearance to leave, we headed back on our way.  This was about an hour and a half after the accident occurred, so we still needed breakfast.  So we headed to IHOP and continued as best we could to our vacation.

The girls were fortunate enough to have been each given a teddy bear from one of the firemen on the scene.  It was very cute and they were very happy about that.  It was also fortunate that all they saw was the bloody driver and a the girl being carted to the helicopter.  They didn't see much if any of the accident as it happened.

I may have left out some details, but I really don't feel like trying to figure that out.  We were also very fortunate that all we had happen was some minor damage to our car.  Repairs totaled just under $3,000, but we wound up not having to pay a penny once our deductible was refunded to us.  The one thing I can really take away from this is to cherish each moment you can because you truly do not know when God will call you home.  You never plan on something like this happening, but you also never know when it will.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

St. Louis

If you follow me on Facebook, you know that I was in the St. Louis area a couple of weeks ago.  This was because one of my good friends (Eric) was getting married and I was lucky enough to be asked to be a part of the wedding.  So it was off to St. Louis on July 28.

I had never been to St. Louis prior to this trip so I had some high expectations about how fun it would be, although I realized most of the trip would be centered around the wedding, which was to be expected.

Once I landed it was off to get my rental car, which wound up being a Chevy HHR.  (Not a bad car for a rental, but it's not a car I would want to buy.)  From there it was off to my hotel in Downtown St. Louis, across the street from The Arch.  I was excited when I arrived at the hotel without getting lost.  It was about half the distance from LAX to Whittier.

Eric, who I shared a room with that first night, was not yet there since he was still out helping with wedding preparations.  Once he got there, it was up to the room to drop my stuff.  Not too long after that, it was off to Busch Stadium to take in a Cardinals game.  This is another stadium that has been crossed off my list of stadiums visited.  I've now seen MLB baseball games at Dodger Stadium, Angel Stadium, Qualcomm Stadium (pre-Petco San Diego Padres), Fenway Park (Boston Red Sox), Minute Maid Park (Houston Astros) and Busch Stadium.  It was so fun being in another stadium.  The weather really sucked as it was 97 degrees at game time, versus 105 when I first arrived in St. Louis, and the humidity was very high, which made it that much worse.  After the game and some freshening up, it was down to the hotel lobby for Eric and I to hang out and chat.

Friday was a whirlwind as I ran around with Eric and his fiance (Stacey) doing some final preps for the wedding and a family brunch.  I just remember that once we left the brunch in the early afternoon, the intensity really picked up since the rehearsal was only a couple of hours away.  Once we got back to the hotel, I met up with another friend, Micah, who came in from Texas for the wedding, who I roomed with for the final two nights.

The rehearsal went well and was fun.  The dinner was even better as went to a local Benihana-style restaurant called the Japanese Garden.  I had never been to a place like this so it was very fun and fascinating seeing the chef cook on our table and all of his tricks while cooking.  The food was really good too!

Once back at the hotel, it became social hour for those who were in town for the wedding.  Lots of drinking and hanging out, making new friends and meeting up with some who hadn't been seen in a while.  Being the introvert, I didn't do as much talking as most other people, but I did more than normal.  I was just enjoying how happy everybody was and that everybody was there to support Eric and Stacey.

Saturday was the wedding, which meant lots of busyness.  Eric, Micah and I headed down for breakfast in the hotel lobby's restaurant.  It's hard to go wrong with a breakfast buffet, and this was no exception.  After that, it was wedding prep time and, well, after that was the wedding.  It was a beautiful wedding and everything went as planned except for the wrong verse being read, but fortunately, the verse still fit.  It was off to the Paebaek (Korean traditional wedding ritual) and reception at a country club in Belleville, IL after that.  It was very fascinating watching the Paebaek, as it was very colorful and symbolic of the two families coming together to support the new couple.  Everything ended around 11:00, with the wedding ceremony having started at 2:30, but it was a lot of fun.  I was very happy to be a part of it.  I could tell Eric and Stacey were loving it all and taking as much of it in as they could, which is the way it should be.

Sunday was very much a wind-down kind of day.  It started with a family brunch back at the country club.  After about an hour there, I took Micah to the airport since he had an earlier flight than I did. After dropping him off, it was back to the city for some sightseeing.  I headed to the Arch with plans of going up in it, but when I found out my ticket would have been for two hours later, I opted for a one-hour Mississippi River cruise that started in about a half-hour.  It was cool and worth it.  After that, it was off to the airport for my evening flight back home.

Surprise! My flight out of STL was delayed by 3 hours (due to weather in Florida), which meant I could not make my connecting flight out of Las Vegas.  Fortunately, Southwest was good enough to rearrange my flights so that I would go to Houston and then LAX while getting home about the same time.  It was good to be home and see Traci and the kids again.  I missed them, but had a great trip.  Congratulations to the new couple, Eric and Stacey!!!

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Time of Month, Update #1

I can add another name to the potential employer list.  I talked with DirecTV this morning and they are passing my information onto the hiring manager to see if they want to interview me.  The pay is great and the position would start as a 3-month contract assignment and then transition into a DirecTV employee after that.  It's in El Segundo, across the 105 from LAX, an area I'm familiar with as Chevron is about a mile and a half from there.

I also sent a follow up e-mail to Accenture since they said they should be in touch with me by today.  We'll see what kind of response I get.  Hopefully I'll be posting another update soon.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

That Time of the Month

Hahahaha.  The title of this entry cracks me up.  No it has nothing to do with the female species or my wife.  It just happens to refer to a pattern of activity I have noticed during my job search being let go last October.  It seems, very much so, that this job search thing is cyclical.  There will be times of dealing with multiple potential employers, and then there will be times without any contacts.  It seems as though the entire cycle (busy to slow and back again) will last about a month to a month and a half.  Right now is one of those busy times, and it happens to be the most exciting activity I have had yet.  That is because I will be setting up an interview with my dream company: Disney!

I worked for Disney as a Ride Operator in Disneyland from 1995-1999 and only left when I became a teacher.  They offered me a promotion to stay at Disney, which in hindsight I should have taken, but I elected to pursue my desire which was teaching.  Ever since I left teaching (2001), I have sent in multiple resumes for a number of positions at Disney.  I have never been contacted by them other than the generic "Thank you, but no thank you" e-mails.  When they initially contacted me via e-mail last week, I couldn't believe it.  After speaking with the Disney HR recruiter last week, she let me know that she would pass my information on to the hiring manager and will let me know if they decide I should move forward with the interview process.

Yesterday (and today) I received an e-mail stating the hiring manager/team would like to meet with me, as well as a call making sure I received the e-mail.  She said that one of her recruiters would be contacting me to look at my schedule and setup an interview for the week of August 1st.  Needless to say, I am very excited to have gotten this far.  I feel like this is my one opportunity to get back in at Disney.  I will feel horrible if it doesn't work out, but I will feel a little better knowing that at least I was given a chance.  Hopefully at this time next month, I'll be making the long drive to Burbank on a daily basis, but only God knows if that will be the case.

So while Disney is easily my main focus right now, they are not the only potential employer that I have had communication with.  I also had a screening call with Accenture (based out of Mountain View/San Jose) and am awaiting a notification (tomorrow probably based on what the recruiter told me) as to whether or not they want me to move forward in the interview process with them.  I also received a confirmation from the federal government (yes, in Washington, DC) that I had been certified to have my information forwarded to the hiring manager.   I haven't spoken with anybody yet, but I made it past the first small step apparently, which is a step in the right direction.  I also expect to hear from Chevron next month since I put in for a position at the Salt Lake City Refinery for the same position I was doing at the El Segundo Refinery.  If I don't at least get considered for that position (assuming I don't already have a new job), that will tell me that there may be more problems with Chevron than it already seems there are.

One of the nice things that makes more confident about wanting to pursue the three opportunities (not Chevron  yet) above is that I know salary will be not be an issue with any of them.  Disney's target/goal for salary is slightly above what I was making at Chevron, Accenture didn't have a problem with my minimum requirement, and the DC position starts at about 10% above what I was making at Chevron.

So it is that time of the month where I enjoy the job search activity and get very hopeful.  However, the stakes feel a bit higher since Disney is in the picture.  Oh, and for what it's worth, I applied for this Disney position back in April.  Here's to hoping the end of unemployment is near!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Summer Travels

After spending a long day in El Cajon last Saturday, helping our pastor friend and his family move, I realized that this coming weekend (starting in a few minutes), will be the last entire weekend I spend at home/in town at least until mid-August.  I guess I better enjoy it.

Next weekend, we head to San Diego for a day for Traci's family's (dad's side) annual family reunion in Mission Bay in San Diego.  It's always fun and when it's not overcast, it's great weather usually.

The weekend after that, I am in St. Louis for my friends wedding, which I am a groomsman in.  I'm very excited about this because we have been friend for about 20 years now.  Also, I've never been to St. Louis, and the night I get there (two weeks from today), I will be enjoying a Cardinals-Astros game at Busch Stadium; another ballpark I can check off my list!

The weekend after that is our annual camping trip with Traci's family, which normally is at Shaver Lake, but this year will be at a new place in northern California.

Th weekend after that, we will be in the San Diego area (again!) to support our pastor who is being installed as the new Co-lead Pastor of a young church in La Mesa.

The weekend after that, we are all home for the weekend.  The weekend after that, I will be camping with the guys from my Bible study group.  And believe it or not, that leads up to the week that the girls go back to school.  No wonder Summer flies by so quickly!

Hopefully somewhere in all that craziness, I will start a new job.  I have a few prospects out there, and they are scattered all over the U.S.  The job I want the most is also the one local prospect I have right now:  Disney!!!!  If you know me, you may know that I worked at Disneyland (1995-1999) while working on my undergraduate degree.  I loved it and once I realized teaching was not where I wanted to be, I wished I had stayed with Disney because I loved working there.  Well, this may be the one opportunity I have to land something there.  I have sent them so many resumes over the years and to actually talk to a Disney HR recruiting employee this week was awesome!  It seemed like the screening call we had went pretty well.  I should know by Friday (tomorrow) whether or not they want to interview me for the position.  The commute would not be fun as the job would be located in Burbank, but for Disney, I would do it in a heartbeat!  I'm praying and hoping that this works out.  Only God knows, and I hope this is His plan for me, but that is for Him to know and me to find out.

I also have a resume in with Chevron for the same type of position (same exact work) I was doing before the layoff.  However, this position is located in Salt Lake City.  That would be interesting since the weather is a lot different than here and we have no family there.  Fortunately we do have some friends that live in that area.  I haven't heard anything from Chevron yet since the posting is open until July 29.

The other prospect is for the government, and is located in Washington, DC, but the salary starts at about 10% above what I was making at Chevron and goes up from there.  Again, much different weather, but for that much money, it would be worth the move, and the extra money could go towards travel to come back and visit family once in a while.

However, I still sit here waiting for more calls regarding positions I've applied for and continue looking for new jobs and using new job search resources I learn about.  I'll tell you though, if you are currently searching for a job, I highly highly highly recommend LinkedIn.  I have been contacted by a number of recruiters who came across my profile there.

I should probably sign off now since it's about midnight, which means it's almost Friday, which means it's the day I should hear back from Disney, which could be the beginning of something magical!

Friday, July 8, 2011

Crazy Week

This week has the busiest one in a while and it's not slowing down.  The girls started swim lessons this week and will finish them up next Friday.  i love watching them because they love to be int he water and swim.  It just makes me a proud daddy...makes me very happy.

It all goes back to Sunday.  If you remember, last weekend was a bad weekend emotionally for me due to the rejection from Hawaiian Airlines.  But nonetheless, life goes on.  Sunday after church, we went to a picnic at the park with my Bible Study group and their families, which was pretty fun.  After that we spent the evening at our church for their Patriotic Concert on the Lawn.

Monday, of course, was the 4th.  We started off going to a friend's house for an lunchtime holiday BBQ and the kids had fun with some water play.  After that it was straight to Traci's aunt and uncle's house for a huge block party and fireworks.  Skyler was scared by most of the fireworks, especially the illegally professional ones that were very loud.  There was actually one down the street that exploded before leaving the ground.  I couldn't tell if anybody got hurt, but it was pretty scary to see.

Tuesday the girls started swim lessons and that was pretty much it besides my quarterly psych appointment.

Wednesday after swim lessons, we headed to the beach for the first time this year.  Of course the girls had a ton of fun.  This also represented the first time that we let the girls go in the water without holding their hands, so Traci and I were kind of on edge watching them nearby.  They actually did pretty well and between that and playing in the sand, they were pretty happy.  After that we headed to my sister's mother-in-law's fiance's house for an impromptu BBQ.  She treats our girls as if they were her own granddaughters which is very sweet.  It gave us a chance to get to know her fiance a little better too, which was nice.  He has two dogs and the girls enjoyed playing with them and petting them.  Dinner was also great!  We all even took a walk to a nearby park where the girls got play a little before we finally headed home.

Thursday after swim lessons we headed to a friend's house for some fun swim time.  I was used as a floating jungle gym by the girls, and it was a lot of fun.  It's times like those I really cherish.  After that, we went home for a little bit before heading off to my kickball game, the first time Traci and the girls had been able to make it to a game.  I enjoyed having them there to watch, and we won so that was pretty cool too.  (We are 2-1 now, by the way!)

Today after lessons, our swim day was cancelled which was nice because it gave enough time to come home and prep the girls for their auditions today.  Yesterday we were notified that each girl had an audition today, so Traci took Skyler to her audition in Santa Monica while I took Courtney to her audition in Hollywood.  When Courtney and I arrived, we learned that the casting people were on lunch for another 45 minutes so we walked down the street (in Hollywood, remember) to a nearby Jack in the Box for a snack.  As we arrived, there were a man and a woman yelling at each other looking like they were going to go at it (fight) right outside the JITB.  I calmly walked Courtney way around them and into the restaurant to make sure we were both safe.  Once inside we got our food and I had to let Courtney know not to stare at a woman who was talking to people who weren't there, if you know what I mean.  Ahhhh...just another day in Hollywood!  After we made it home, we had a chance to eat dinner and get the girls packed and over to Traci's parents' house for a sleepover tonight.  The reason for the sleepover?

Tomorrow morning, Traci and I head over the house of one of our pastors to help them move to their new house in El Cajon, near San Diego, since he is becoming Co-lead Pastor of a church down there.  Needless to say it will be a busy Saturday...again.

Despite all this busyness, I have still made time to apply to a number of jobs.  How many will I actually have a chance at?  Based on my success so far...none.  But if I don't keep trying, nothing will happen.  However, I am getting in touch with a recruiter that helped one my friends a little while back.  I'm hoping that may help end the drought, but I'll believe once it happens.  So in honor of Will and Kate's visit to L.A., chin up!

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Rough Weekend

Usually this is a very fun weekend as we celebrate the birth of our country.  This year has been a little different so far, though.  As you may or may not know, I recently had two interviews with Hawaiian Airlines.  This would have been a major move as we would have needed to relocate to Hawaii since the position was based out of Honolulu.  However, yesterday morning I received an e-mail from the recruiter who originally contacted me about the position.  It said that they decided to pass on me and provided 3 reasons the VP, who most recently interviewed me, gave for taking me out of the running.  Two of those three reasons were total crap, which is the main reason I am so pissed and upset about this missed opportunity.  The one that gets me the most is that he didn't understand why I left Chevron because he assumed they were doing fine.  Here's the two part problem I have with that.  First, he assumed!  Secondly, he never asked me!  I'll give him the fact that although Chevron was crying that they weren't doing well (I guess only making $10 billion in 2009 isn't good enough, never mind the $20 billion they made last year, you know, the year they made all the workforce cuts...don't even get me started on that).  Most companies would be fine with that, but not Chevronor other oil companies.  Regardless, if he wondered about it, why didn't he freakin' bring it up?  But, what's done is done.  However, if the first guy "really liked" me (per the recruiter who talked with him), did he talk to the VP?  Now I'm just running "what if?" scenarios through my head.

Of course our parents are glad that we aren't moving, but I don't care and don't want to hear that right now.  That's almost motivation for me to look exclusively for jobs outside our current area.  (Can you tell I'm a little bitter?)  I really had my hopes up for this possibility, especially since the first interviewer liked me so much.  All I've got to say is thank goodness for my meds.  If I didn't have those, who knows how low I would have gotten this weekend; yesterday was bad enough on them.  At least I have my next psych appointment on Tuesday.

I have applied for a couple of jobs since the rejection, one based in Texas (with another airline) and one based locally with a high-end sunglasses company.  I'm not expecting anything to happen, but at least I've applied.

I have become very frustrated with this whole job search thing.  My career coach said that if you get in for an interview, you are 80% of the way there (to getting hired).  He also gave me a stat about if you get a second interview.  I think it was over 90%, but I'm going to assume only 90% for hte purpose of the following calculation.  If it were true, that would mean that I have a (.1 x .1 x .1 =) .001 = .1% chance of not getting hired by any of those three employers.  So does that mean that I suck that bad or am I just lucky to be the one person out every 1,000 that has 2 interviews with 3 different employers and doesn't get hired.  See where I'm going with this?  If I assume that the probability was 95% instead of 90%, there would be a .0125% chance of me not getting any of the three jobs.

Now that I have passed the 9-month unemployment mark I feel like my faith is starting to be challenged.  I know God has a plan for me, but what is it and how long will this continue?  Is He going to take me to the edge again, like 2 years ago?  Is this some kind of test?  Whatever it is He's doing, I hope He enlightens me soon.  I'm getting sick of this waiting game!

Oh and on top of all this, there are other things to worry about...big things.  We have only one payment (for August) left on our temporary loan modification plan.  After that, we are done with payments if I'm still unemployed, which means we will have to get rid of the house.  Then, after October 1 (ironically, the 1-year anniversary of me being unemployed), my unemployment claim maxes out and we will have pretty much no income.  Feels like a perfect storm is brewing to me.

One more thing that irks me is that I keep hearing that those who are currently working have an easier time finding a new job that those who are unemployed.  Please tell me I'm stupid, because this doesn't make sense to me.

Ok, I think I'm done venting.  Now I just need to calm down so I can actually sleep tonight.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Summer Vacation

It's hard to believe that Skyler is on vacation already and Courtney will be once she finishes up school tomorrow.  When I was let go back in October, I never imagined myself still being unemployed come Summer Vacation.  But here we are and here I am.  All in all, I'm kind of excited about it, though.  It will be fun to spend a lot of time with the girls being home all day.  I'm sure there will be days when I don't feel that way, but I think it will be fun overall.

This is shaping up to be a very interesting and potentially big-changes kind of Summer.  I'm currently in the process of working on three job leads.  One feels dead though since my last interview was the end of March, even thought they have told me they haven't filled the position.  One is just getting restarted thanks to a request for a lower pay rate.  The other, most promising, opportunity is being delayed by people taking vacations.  This opportunity would relocate us pretty far away, but I have at least two more rounds of interviews, so it's far from a sure thing.  They have told me they are in the process of coordinating schedules for the second interview, but with some people being out of town, that really slows things up.  I'll know next week though.  I won't give any more details on it because there is such a ways to go in the process.  However, if I get flown out for an interview, that will sound like a very strong possibility and will probably give more insight then.  For now, we wait.

Our family has our first fun Summer activity planned for next week.  We have our first visit to the Getty Museum planned for next week.  I'm not a big museum guy, but this should be worth it.  It will make for a good day trip.  It happens to be on the 17th anniversary of my high school graduation, which is pretty scary to think about.

I'm also doing something kind of crazy.  I am on a kickball team.  Yes, a game that I hadn't played since elementary school until our practice this past Monday.  I am still recovering physically from that, but it was a lot of fun.  I'm looking forward to playing, currently as a sub, and seeing how that all goes.  The first game is Thursday next week and we'll have to see if I'm able to get out of bed on Friday.  Hopefully I will...me and Traci's 12th anniversary is that Sunday, the 26th.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Another Interview

Had an interview for a position with BP today.  It's a local position based out of Carson.  I think it went pretty well and should know something by the end of this week, according to the guy who interviewed me.  It is only a 6-month contract position, but it would be living off of unemployment and savings.  Although it seemed to go well, it would only be a good short-term solution, not long-term, which is a concern for me.  If I were to accept this position, if it is offered to me, I would not stop looking for other jobs or take myself out of the interview process for Hawaiian Airlines, which is a full-time, employee position, with benefits and everything.  (BP would just be pay, no benefits, paid time off, etc.)

The concerns about the long-term picture with BP has more than one component.  One is that it is pretty certain to be just a 6-month position, meaning I would be without a job come the beginning of 2012.  While they are currently looking to fill the position with a contracted worker, they would still be searching and interviewing to fill it with a "permanent" full-time employee, meaning I may or may not be in the running.  Secondly, the refinery I would be working at is in the process of being sold.  When the sale happens, who knows what that could mean for me as an employee there.  I could be kept around by the new owner or I could be let go if they decide they have someone else in mind that they would like to bring in.  Of course they could offer me the position and everything could work out, but it seems like that has as much of a chance of happening as the concerns I just pointed out.  It will be interesting to see what happens.

Meanwhile, I'm waiting to hear on when my second interview with Hawaiian Airlines will be.  The guy who interviewed me the first time (Sr. Director of Strategic Procurement) is now on vacation the rest of this week.  I haven't gotten a call back from the (external) recruiter for this position, who is traveling today, either.  I'm assuming I will know when the next interview is sometime next week, which could be a problem depending on whether or not BP makes an offer.  It's a lot to think about, but I'm really just running possible scenarios through my head at this point since nothing has happened.  With my active mind, stuff like this constantly runs through my head and I try to think of what I would do in the different possible situations, but who knows.  There could be something else out there that I don't know about yet.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

8 Months

It's hard to believe that I've been unemployed for 8 months now.  However, with the recent activity in the job search, it seems like that may come to an end soon, possibly before the 9 month mark.  Last week, I had interviews with an employment agency and Hawaiian Airlines.  The agency then called me back later last week with a possibility, but I requested not to be considered for it because of the 25% pay decrease and my current search activity.  Hawaiian Airlines is currently in the process of arranging a second interview (phone) and I should  hear back from them once they have found a time that all 5 of their employees can talk.  Then earlier this morning, I received confirmation of my interview with BP next Tuesday.  It's nice to have all this activity right now.  I'm just really hoping I can land one of these.

School's almost out for the kids.  Skyler finishes up preschool next week and Courtney finishes school the week after.  When I was let go last October, I never imagined I would still be unemployed when Summer vacation rolled around, let alone still have some money.

Plans for Summer vacation are forming pretty well.  We have our annual camping trip in early August scheduled, which comes right after my (alone) trip to St. Louis to be in my friend's wedding at the end of July.  The girls will have swimming lessons like usual and there is a reading program at the library again, which they did last Summer.  We also have our first trip to the Getty Museum planned for later this month.  Depending on how the next interview goes with Hawaiian Airlines, Traci and I may be making a brief trip to Honolulu for final interviews, but I need to get past the next one first.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Job Search - Still Going

After seven and a half months after my last day at Chevron, I am still looking for a job.  When I was let go, I never pictured being out of work this long.  On the bright side, I have had many interviews and am much more comfortable interviewing than I have ever been.  It's funny how job search activity seems to be very cyclical, at least for me.  It seems like I'll have a week or two where I have multiple interviews and then a few weeks without anything.  Fortunately, this week is one of the busy ones.

I had an interview today with LA Business Personnel, a job search firm based in L.A.  My interview today was more of an assessment, though.  I took tests for MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint and a typing test as well as a brief interview so they could better understand my job experience.  It went well, but will help them look for job possibilities for me.  I still have to go through the normal interview process with whatever company they find for me.

Tomorrow's interview is more interesting.  I'll be having lunch at CPK while interviewing with Hawaiian Airlines.  If anything develops from the HA interview, things could get very interesting, but I'll leave it at that for now. It was originally going to be a phone interview since the guy I'm interviewing with is based out of Hawaii.  He happens to be travelling back to Hawaii from Chicago and will be in town tomorrow; thus the face to face interview.

My last interview with The Gas Co. was on March 31.  They have not yet filled the position and have not yet made a decision.  I have no idea what the holdup is, but at least it's still a possibility.  My (and Traci's) hope is that they are trying to get the ok to open up a second position, which they mentioned to me in my last interview, and try to hire me for that one. Ii have no idea if that is what is going on, so we'll see.

Otherwise, life is going fairly well.  The girls are getting ready to finish up school in a few weeks.  We're especially excited about Skyler finishing up preschool for a couple of reasons.  First, that means she will be in kindergarten in the Fall.  Secondly, because we will no longer have the monthly preschool payment!! We've been getting some financial aid the past few months, but we are still paying the majority of it and we will lose that payment after our last payment next week.

Softball season is over (see my last posting), but I was asked if I was interested in the being on the League's Board.  It sounds like a good idea, especially since I've seen some inefficiencies that shouldn't be that hard to improve.  We'll have to see if they like me enough to put add me to the Board.  Although I'm not doing it for the resume, it won't look bad on there either.

Memorial Day weekend is coming up and the girls are very excited to be going camping with us and Traci's parents.  The girls love camping and the fact that the campground we are going to has a huge pool.  They haven't gone swimming in a long time and they live for that.

The Dodgers have been very disappointing this season.  I feel like it's already a lost cause.  Hopefully once the ownership situation and the issues surrounding that get worked out, things will turn around.

Just got off the phone with the guy I'm interviewing with tomorrow.  He needed to change the time of our meeting tomorrow so now we're having breakfast at South Coast Plaza instead of lunch at CPK.  I like morning interviews because then it's over early and I don't have to worry about it as much during the day.  I'll have to deal with some rush hour traffic, but it should be worth it.

Monday, May 9, 2011

2011 Softball Reflections

The softball season has come and gone and I now have my first season as a coach under my belt.  Overall, it was a very good experience.  I knew it would be fun and there may be moments where I wouldn't enjoy it, and it turned out that way.  The good very much outweighs the bad, however, and I am thankful for that.

It was very fun getting to know all of the girls and their different personalities and watching them improve as the season went on.  Sure it was frustrating at times when things didn't go the way I hoped, but that's part of the game and being a coach.

I loved encouraging the girls, especially when they did really well.  There were a number of funny instances, as can be expected at this level.  Whenever the girls found ladybugs in the grass either before a game or at practice, things would come to a halt instantly.  Sometimes the dirt formations were more interesting than the game itself.  Girls would be singing while in the field, including Courtney.

I was fortunate to have a good team mom and great coaches that helped out a lot.  That made the experience more enjoyable since that meant it wasn't all up to me.

Things didn't always go our way.  The controversy of the rules and how the opposing coach changed them while already playing the game, in our second playoff game, when we lost.  A number of our parents, including me, have been vocal to the league about that since it sounds like the same coach did the same thing last year, and won the tournament both years.  Very sad, especially at this level.  As a result there are at least two families from my team that will be leaving the league next year.  Fortunately, I got a good response from the league President, who at the end of his e-mail asked me if I had considered being on the Board.  It's something I'm now looking into, so we'll see what happens with that.

I'm hoping I am able to coach again next year, when Courtney moves up into the next division.  It will definitely be more challenging, but I loved the strategic planning associated with the post-season tournament this year.  At the next level, I'll get to do that every game!  But first, I need to get a job and make sure that my schedule will allow me to coach.

For the time being, though, I will continue my search for a new job, which has lasted for over 7 months now.  Being able to coach the girls' softball team was definitely something to take advantage of while I had the time.  Next up, coaching soccer in the Fall at church.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Gas Prices...Self-inflicted?

What the heck am I doing writing something like this?  Well, I'm tried of seeing these signs around Whittier saying not to drill in our hills, and those same people (well everybody I guess these days) is complaining about the high cost of gas (and I'm not in the greatest of moods).  Here's my two cents worth...IT'S YOUR FAULT!

Maybe it's not all your fault, but at least a portion of it is.  Let me try to lay out my reasoning for this.  Keep in mind that although I used to work for Chevron, I do not anymore.  And while that may allow me to have a little additional information than the average person, in no way does that make me an expert on this subject.  I'm just trying to apply some common sense.  I accept arguments that have solid logic behind them, which is why I have such an issue with this topic, which has become somewhat more of an issue locally since there is a big deal being made about new (or resumed) drilling in the Whittier Hills.  So please try to hear me out.  If you have an opinion on this, please feel free to post it.

Everybody is upset now that crude is over $100 per barrel and about $4.00 per gallon at the pump.  So let's take a step back and look at this from what I feel is a logical point of view.  Speculators (who are an issue all by themselves in my opinion) are the ones who increase the cost for a barrel of crude, based on their speculation of current conditions.  Lately this seems to based on the conflicts in the Middle East.  That is somewhat understandable, but until they oil supply is cut off from the rest of the world, there should not be an issue.

However, even if they decided to cut off our supplies, you would think we would have enough access to oil elsewhere in the world to help us get through a crisis like that.  This is where my biggest complaint comes into play and where I think a lot of the logic of people (at least some) complaining has no weight in my opinion.  You want us to be less reliant on foreign oil (more specifically the Middle East), but you don't want to drill locally because of your fear of some type of accident and how that may affect you.  While this is a valid concern, it's like saying you're scared to fly because of the plane crashes you hear about.  yes, they happen, but they are few and far between.  So, if we go with that argument, then we should not drill near any of our national population.

But wait!  We can't drill offshore because of the same concerns and how that would affect sea life.  So we can't drill offshore either.  Therefore, we are required to rely on foreign oil, a large portion of which is in the Middle East.  But per the speculators, they could cut off our supply anytime.  So, we can't drill near US population, we can't drill offshore because we might hurt some sea life, and a large part of our foreign supply could be lost at any minute.  Ever heard of supply and demand???  Decreased supply + roughly the same demand = increased prices.

One more key point that needs to be brought up, which I didn't know before I worked for Chevron...The refineries (i.e. Chevron, Shell, Cononco, etc.) do not get their crude supply from within the company.  The very small part of the crude they do get from their own company, they still have to pay the Upstream (drilling/exploration) "company" within the company and they are charging the increased per barrel cost you hear about on the market (although they buy months in advance).  So, the costs to refineries to process the crude into fuel that we can use increase when the market price increases, and they have to make up for that increase somehow.  SO they charge the stations (most of which are like license agreements and not owned by the oil companies) have to pay the higher prices for gas to get it to their stations to sell to us.  Therefore, they must pass their increased costs onto us, which coupled with the whole supply and demand thing, explains why prices are so high.  And again, I argue that this is at least somewhat self-inflicted because we force ourselves to rely on foreign oil.

Oh, and please stop with the "Don't buy gas from this station" or "Don't buy gas on this day" chain e-mails.  snopes.com explains it very well why those are so poorly thought out approaches.  Those just piss me off when I see them

What are your thoughts?

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

5 Months

I find it hard to believe that I have been out of work for 5 months now.  We are still in our house and current on payments we are current on all payments and actually have a little money to spare for the time being thanks to receiving my pension benefit this week.  When this layoff hit, I looked at the money I knew I had coming as part of the severance and figured we could make it into January without much trouble.  Here we are, March 2, and we're still here and in better shape than I imagined we would be in at this point.  This all points to one thing...God provides!  He has provided in so many ways.  I feel so unworthy to receive all these gifts and love, but I know God is providing it all.  So I will humbly accept what He is providing for us.

Don't get me wrong, unemployment sucks.  I'm just trying to make the best of it since that's the situation I (and the family) am in.  It has it's advantages, but the disadvantages can be down right scary.  I'm receiving the maximum unemployment possible, but that is equal to about 3 days of work at my last job and I'm only receiving it once every two weeks.  We've made some necessary adjustments and continue to look at additional ways to cut costs.  I think next up is cell phone cost cuts.  The funny thing is I'll probably end up with a better phone while saving pretty significant money every month ($60-80/month).  We were able to get our lender to temporarily (up to 6 months) lower our mortgage payment about 75%.  I just received my pension benefit (not my 410(k)...still haven't touched that thankfully) and it was bigger than expected.

Obviously, unemployment is the big life situation that has been at the forefront for sometime now, 5 months to be exact, but there is other good stuff going on that keeps me excited, hopeful and happy.  (Please indulge me while I talk about them.)

First, I'm coaching Courtney and Skyler's softball team.  Based on the age cutoffs for the League, this will be the only year they play on the same team.  It seemed like a no-brainer to coach this year.  Last Saturday was supposed to be our first game, but it got rained out, despite it not actually raining last Saturday.  I'm sure the field was pretty soggy from the all the rain the day and night before, though.  Regardless, our first game is this Saturday now and I am excited.  All the girls on the team seem to be having a good time, which is good.  I'm excited to see how they do in games,

Second, I joined a Bible Study small group about a month ago.  This is something I've wanted to do because I know my knowledge of the Bible is well below where it should be.  Fortunately, a friend of mine invited me to join his group and since I already knew most of the guys at least a little, it has been easy to fit in to the group.  The way this group is setup is pretty much what I had hoped for in a Bible Study group.  it's a great group of guys and as of yesterday, we all began the challenge.journey of reading through the Bible in an entire year.  I haven't done this before, and after studying John1 the other night, I'm really looking forward to making this reading a daily part of my life.  This group is also planning a men's retreat for our church this fall, which should be fun.  I haven't gone to the men's retreat before because it's always been in October and, if you know me, that means the playoffs and World Series are happening then.  But if we are planning it, you can bet I'll go as long as I can afford it.

Next up, the cruise.  Having a photographer for a wife has its perks.  In just over three weeks, she will be shooting a wedding her sister-in-law's sister's wedding.  What does this entail?  Well, they are getting married on a cruise.  It's been worked out to where Traci and I get to go on the cruise for FREE as payment for her photography services!  I am so looking forward to this.  A vacation will be very nice, especially while unemployed.  I do have to miss one softball game, but I've got good coaches that will cover well for me.  (I'm so glad I have the coaches that I have!)  Unfortunately we can't take the kids with us, but they will have fun with my parents that weekend, I'm sure.

I'm hoping to be able to make another trip or two come July.  There are two out of town weddings I/we would love to go to.  The first is a cousin's wedding in Colorado in mid-July.  We go the save the date card, but this will be the toughest trip to make (of the three out of town weddings we have the opportunity to go to) because it would involve flying all four of us or driving to Colorado.  Gas prices are soaring so that's a lot less appealing, and flying 4 of us wouldn't be cheap.  I suspect this is a trip we won't make.  One of my best friends is getting married in late July in St. Louis and has asked me to be a part of the wedding if I can make it out.  He knows and understands  my job situation, thankfully, but I really want to be a part of this.  This is a trip I would go solo on, which would be much less costly than the Colorado trip.  It will depend on what kind of tax refund we get (should know in the next week or so), whether or not I get my annual Chevron bonus, as was rumored to be the case for those who were laid off, and whether or not I get a job.  Even if I do have a job and they are unwilling to let me take one or two days off to travel (understandable), I could work the travel out I'm sure.  It would just be a lot quicker turnaround than I would like.

There is some slight movement on the job front.  I received an e-mail yesterday from the Southern California Gas Company saying they would like to interview me for position.  The last time I submitted a resume to them was a few weeks ago.  It took some time on their end, but I was glad to hear from them.  Now I'm just waiting to hear back as to when they would like to interview me.  They asked about my availability next Monday and Tuesday so I figure it will be then.  Let's keep those prayers coming.  God has provided so much up to this point and I know He's now stopping now.  He has a plan and He will show it in time.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

January in Review (and a Little of February)

First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my lovely wife.  She is so special to me and I really hope that I can make this a special birthday for her!!!

One month down, 11 to go.  January seemed to go pretty fast, and a lot seemed to happen.  So I thought I would try to recap it here.

Of course we celebrated the new year to kick things off.  We also celebrated my brother-in-law Shawn's birthday since it was on the 3rd and he was going to be out of town for work on his birthday.  The kids always love cousin play time so we all had a good time.

Skyler's 5th birthday was the positive highlight of the month.  We had a smaller-than-usual party, which was really nice.  She even had her best friend from pre-school come.  They get along really well and are fun to watch when they play together.

Also, sometime during the month, I agreed to be a t-ball/6u (six and under) manager in Whittier Girls Softball League (WGSL).  This will be my first softball coaching experience and hopefully there will be many more after this.  I was able to get in touch with all the parents and starting getting ready for the season.  We had our first team meeting last night and it went well.  I already have a Team Mom and a couple of coaches...very encouraging.

Unfortunately, the month was highlighted by big injuries to both kids.  Skyler gave herself the biggest bump I have ever seen on a head.  Apparently she was running at my in-law's house and she wound up knocking her head on one of the dining room chairs.  The bump on her head was literally as big as half a golf ball.  I didn't think heads could swell that much.  After it went down, the bruise formed and colorful.  Fortunately, it was just a bad bruise and nothing else.  She's back to normal now although there is still some slight bruising that has yet to go away.

The moment of the month, although not fun at all, would have to be this past weekend at my parents' house.  We were over there to have dinner and celebrate my dad's birthday, which was on the 27th.  We brought the kids' scooters so they could ride them around the backyard.  While I'm on the phone with one of my softball parents, I hear Courtney come into the house crying.  I figure she fell and got hurt like she does on occasion.  I was right, but this was a lot worse.  She came in holding her hand under her chin.  Most of her chin up to the lip was solid red.  I realized when my mom reacted the way she did that it was serious.  With that much blood coming from her mouth (inside and out) I was a little freaked.  I don't like seeing my kids get hurt, let alone that much blood coming from them.  Turns out while on her scooter, she was turning, hit a groove, which stopped the scooter, but not her.  She landed on her left knee (really bad bruise) and the left side of her mouth.  Talk about being scared as a parent, boy was I.  We don't have insurance right now, but when I found out Urgent Care was open for another 20 minutes or so, I decided she should go.  Fortunately, they discounted the office visit and we got an antibiotic (generic).  All in all, we only paid $100 for everything related to the injury.  I'll take that.  Now she is healing.  The swelling is gone and a very large scab covers most of the left side of the left side of her lip.  I'm very glad that she is ok and talking more normal.  We kept her home from church on Sunday and school on Monday to allow it to heal a little before exposing it to the dangers of the school yard.  Her first day back was a little tough because she had to answer the question "What happened?" a million times.  It's hard as a parent to see your kids go through something like that, but you can't protect them from everything.  Just been there when they need you.

On a brighter note, there was some positive news on the job front.  I was contacted by two different companies, the same week, about openings they had and thought I may be a good fit for.  This week I have an interview with each.  I had my initial interview with a recruiter from Experian yesterday and will hear back early next week.  Tomorrow, I have an interview with Time Warner Cable (with the Controller).  I'm hoping one of these works out, but as I've learned, this is a very slow process.  God is teaching me patience, and apparently I need a lot of practice.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Quick Update - Good Day!

Today is turning out to be one of those days where everything seems to be going well.  We had to order a new printer because our other one is really flaky and Traci needs one in order to print model releases and CD covers for her business.  Fortunately, we found a really good deal at Costco.com and ordered it yesterday.  We chose standard shipping which said 7-10 business days.  It showed up today!  Sweet!!

I was supposed to get my softball roster yesterday (I'm managing Courtney and Skyler's team), but they wound up not getting released.  Therefore, I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of the team roster tonight in my e-mail.  Then I have to get right to work as uniform sizings are this Saturday (and I have no coaches as of now...something else I need to work on).  I can't wait for the season to start.

Finally, probably the most exciting this today, I was contacted today through LinkedIn by a recruiter for Experian about a job she thinks I could be a strong match for.  I responded that I am interested and am now waiting for a response or call back.

Let's hope things keep heading this positive direction!

Monday, January 17, 2011

Happy New Year

I just realized I haven't blogged in over a month.  Oops.  Oh well, that happens.  The holidays kind of keep things busy, though.  And once the holidays are past, we are full steam into birthday mode.

This past Saturday was Skyler's birthday party and it went really well.  We invited maybe half as many people as we normally do and it was much more comfortable in the house.  She got a lot of things to play with and some cute clothes.  The bouncer was a hit as always, and we got it for free since it was delivered a little after the party had started.  We were ready to stop using this place, but since they seemed genuinely sorry and let us use it for free, they are still on our usable list. 

Skyler is now 5 and she is very excited about.  Her class celebrated her birthday last Wednesday since she doesn't go on Thursdays.  She got to wear a special birthday hat and we brought Rice Crispie treats for their snack.  It was fun to be there for it.  Her teachers asked her how old she was and she said 4.  This confused the teachers until they asked how old she would be tomorrow.  She said that tomorrow (Thursday) she would be 5.  She is so literal...just like me.

Traci's photography is going well.  We found a good deal on a 2TB external hard drive so we now have that and our computer and all of Traci's pictures, are backed up.  It's nice to have that comfort.  After all, we've had our computer for 6 years now.  We've had our printer for 2 1/2 years and it's on it's last leg.  One of the nice things about Traci's business is that so many of our purchases are write offs!  It also has other perks.  Traci has booked her first wedding in March, and it turns out that payment for her services is that we get to go on the cruise where the wedding is...FOR FREE!!!!

I'm still looking for a job now that I have been out of work for 3 1/2 months.  Money has been ok to this point, but it's starting to get scary.  I've had a couple of good leads and prospects, but they haven't panned out.  I had two interviews with Kaiser, but they decided to go with internal people.  I met with a construction management company about being a Project (contract) manager, but the only thing I was missing was medical equipment purchasing experience.  I was contacted a week ago about submitting my resume for a position at Chevron as a contractor.  It would be an 18-month contract.  There would be no benefits or paid time off, but it would be like a promotion with higher pay.  Looking strictly at base pay (salary before and hourly for this), it's about a 50% pay increase.  I think I could manage that.  However, it is one of those too good to be true type feelings I have so I don't' have any expectations.  They said they wanted to fill it as quickly as possible, but I didn't hear anything back last week after I was contacted on Monday.  I sent a couple of e-mails and left a voice mail so I'm going to try to not contact them too much this week for fear of irritating them, but still let them know that I am very interested in this position.  We'll see.

Softball season is coming up and both girls are signed up.  This is the first year Skyler has been eligible so this is the only year she and Courtney will be in the same division.  I have also signed up to be a coach so I'm especially looking forward to the season.  If I get a job before or during the season, that may complicate things, but we'll figure something out.

Over the weekend I was asked to be a part of a wedding this Summer if I am able to (i.e. have a job/am financially able to go).  It's in Missouri which is why the finances are an issue.  I'm hoping it works out because I really want to be a part of my good friend's wedding.

Well, I guess it's back to Facebook for me since Traci and the girls are at a teddy bear tea party.  TTFN!