I was at our refinery's business plan roll out today at the Disneyland Hotel and after a speech from our retiring President of Global Manufacturing (who oversees all of our refineries worldwide), it just helped me realize what life is about. He talked about retiring after being with Chevron for 32 years and that he wants to be a better husband, father and grandfather, while going out on top, in terms of his professional accomplishments, and also wanting to give back in the community in which he was raised in India. One of the last things he mentioned in his speech was how much he felt blessed by God, and that was very good to hear.
Before his speech this afternoon, I pretty much just saw him as one of the corporate big-wigs. However, after the speech, I saw him as a fellow human being in this journey called life. I could completely relate to his desire to spend time with his family. He talked about the fact that he has put his wife of 38 years through 18 moves during his career, and that in the last six years (while in his current position) he has logged about 8,000 hours of airtime (not counting time in the airport or for transfers) and that he has typically traveled about 2 1/2 weeks every month. From that I can understand why he wants to spend more time with his family. He gained a lot my respect today. I could tell there was a lot of personal emotion behind his speech today and that is why I feel for and can relate to him.
I will tell you now that I have no desire whatsoever to take on a position of any kind that will make me be away from my family that much. I also know that not wanting to relocate can limit the opportunities available to me at Chevron. However, I will not sacrifice my family for my career. I also know that having a family that I value could affect the perception of my performance relative to my peers. While I don't think that is fair, that just may be the way it seems to some people. Fortunately, that has not been the case so far. As my uncle says, I'm not living to work, I'm working to live.
I am very thankful for the family that I have and I believe God wants them to be my top priority (behind Him). Therefore, I structure my life that way. When all is said and done in my career and my life, I am most concerned that they will look at me and be proud of what I did and who I was. I don't want to embarrass them or have them feel ashamed of me. I want them to be glad that I was a part of their life for as long as I was here.
At Chevron, we have something called the Chevron Way, which explains what our company is about. The values associated with it align very well with how I want to conduct my life, and perhaps that is part of the reason I enjoy working for Chevron so much. Trust, honesty and integrity are three of the characteristics I want to incorporate in all areas of my life. From those, I believe respect is inevitable. And if I have the love and respect of my family, I will be a happy man.
On another note, I am excited for it to be Easter weekend. After all, it is because of Christ's death on the cross and His resurrection that we celebrate this holiday and can have eternal life. I always love our church's Easter services. This year, we're doing something different as we'll be attending service on Saturday instead of Sunday. Part of the reason is that so much of our family is going then: my parents, my grandma (who we still think is unsaved at the age of 95), Traci's parents and Traci's grandparents. Afterwards at least some of us will be having dinner together and then re-gathering on Sunday afternoon for the official Easter get-together. One extra thing to be excited about for the services this year is that Eden Espinosa who played Elphaba in Wicked. (She went to college with our worship pastor so he has the connections.) So if you happen to be looking for a good church to celebrate Easter at, hopefully that will encourage you to give WACC a try. Happy Easter everyone!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
The Weekend
I have to admit I'm really loving my 3-day weekends now with the new schedule. The longer workdays take their toll during the week, but when it really starts getting to me, it's the weekend again! And with this weekend comes lots of fun stuff.
Today we turned in Courtney's kindergarten registration packet and she is now officially enrolled for the fall at Orchard Dale, where Traci and I both went to school and where my mom works (when she's not recovering from hip surgery). I think Courtney is really going to like school and I think she'll do well. She has been starting to read on her own a little and that is very exciting. I have always been a little scared of that since I have never liked to read yet I want to encourage her to read whenever she wants to. So far so good.
Traci had her annual eye checkup today and we were scared of what new contacts would cost as she has been noticing a difference in her vision over time. However, last year, once we got on Chevron's benefits, we learned that our eye doctor didn't take our insurance. I wound up spending $500 for my appointment and glasses. Well, they just started accepting our insurance, EyeMed. Her contacts and appointment will cost us a total of $120. Much better than we were expecting. It turns out that they were almost forced to start accepting EyeMed since a lot of the people going to his practice have dropped VSP because it is too costly to their employers. I remember when working in underwriting at my last job that EyeMed was always cheaper than VSP and it is accepted at many large retail outlets (i.e. Sears, Target, Lens Crafters, etc.), which appeals to a lot of employees. So after cancelling my appointment for tomorrow (the time wouldn't have worked anyway...see below), I rescheduled for a couple weeks from now. We'll see what happens there.
I wound up taking my car into the shop since it stalled once yesterday coming home from work. I thought the new fuel pump and filter we installed last week had done the trick, but I guess not. It was due for an oil change anyway so I took up to a local shop here that I really trust. Unfortunately, they couldn't fix the problem, but were able to explain why. They said the coil (whatever that is and does) came up when the car was hooked up to their diagnostic machine. However, they said they had fixed that on other Jeeps like mine and it didn't fix the problem, but that it was probably the computer that runs the car. He said that it needs to be reflashed, which resets it apparently. That can only be done at a dealership, so I'll be taking it to a third place to get fixed. If after the reflashing, it still isn't fixed, then he said it probably needs a whole new computer, which will run in the $400-500 range, which is not what I want. Heck I'll flash the computer if that's all it takes! Ok, not really.
Tomorrow should be fun as we drop off the kids at the in-laws and then head with my parents and Nora (Mom's good friend) to Pasadena for her to get an employee-of-the-year-type award from her union. We weren't going to be able to go because our church had scheduled their Easter egg hunt for this weekend, but I found out earlier this week that they cancelled it. Mom was able to get a couple extra tickets so now we can go. It should be fun.
Then comes Sunday, the highlight of my weekend by far! Not only does the 2009 MLB season get under way, but a friend, just today, invited me over to his place for Wrestlemania 25! This is the same friend who will be going with me to Summerslam in August. Fortunately, we know them from church and he and his wife have two girls, just like us. So the wives will be keeping an eye on the kids and hanging out while we are secluded in our pay-per-view "suite" in their house. I could go into all the great matches planned for the 4-hour event, but most of you probably don't care. If you do, just check out the Wrestlemania site for yourself. Man do I love the gratuitous choreographed violence that is the man's soap opera called WWE!
And then after the weekend is over, it's back to work, but only for 3 days as our refinery's business plan roll out will be held at the Disneyland Hotel on Thursday, which I'm volunteering at. That means I have to be there at 5:30 in the morning, but it's over around 1:30 so it's a short day. And then another weekend, which includes Easter! And then another 3-day workweek as I'll be taking a vacation day on my birthday! Man, I love April!
Oh, I also posted an awesome new song on my other blog today so check it out if you have a chance.
Today we turned in Courtney's kindergarten registration packet and she is now officially enrolled for the fall at Orchard Dale, where Traci and I both went to school and where my mom works (when she's not recovering from hip surgery). I think Courtney is really going to like school and I think she'll do well. She has been starting to read on her own a little and that is very exciting. I have always been a little scared of that since I have never liked to read yet I want to encourage her to read whenever she wants to. So far so good.
Traci had her annual eye checkup today and we were scared of what new contacts would cost as she has been noticing a difference in her vision over time. However, last year, once we got on Chevron's benefits, we learned that our eye doctor didn't take our insurance. I wound up spending $500 for my appointment and glasses. Well, they just started accepting our insurance, EyeMed. Her contacts and appointment will cost us a total of $120. Much better than we were expecting. It turns out that they were almost forced to start accepting EyeMed since a lot of the people going to his practice have dropped VSP because it is too costly to their employers. I remember when working in underwriting at my last job that EyeMed was always cheaper than VSP and it is accepted at many large retail outlets (i.e. Sears, Target, Lens Crafters, etc.), which appeals to a lot of employees. So after cancelling my appointment for tomorrow (the time wouldn't have worked anyway...see below), I rescheduled for a couple weeks from now. We'll see what happens there.
I wound up taking my car into the shop since it stalled once yesterday coming home from work. I thought the new fuel pump and filter we installed last week had done the trick, but I guess not. It was due for an oil change anyway so I took up to a local shop here that I really trust. Unfortunately, they couldn't fix the problem, but were able to explain why. They said the coil (whatever that is and does) came up when the car was hooked up to their diagnostic machine. However, they said they had fixed that on other Jeeps like mine and it didn't fix the problem, but that it was probably the computer that runs the car. He said that it needs to be reflashed, which resets it apparently. That can only be done at a dealership, so I'll be taking it to a third place to get fixed. If after the reflashing, it still isn't fixed, then he said it probably needs a whole new computer, which will run in the $400-500 range, which is not what I want. Heck I'll flash the computer if that's all it takes! Ok, not really.
Tomorrow should be fun as we drop off the kids at the in-laws and then head with my parents and Nora (Mom's good friend) to Pasadena for her to get an employee-of-the-year-type award from her union. We weren't going to be able to go because our church had scheduled their Easter egg hunt for this weekend, but I found out earlier this week that they cancelled it. Mom was able to get a couple extra tickets so now we can go. It should be fun.
Then comes Sunday, the highlight of my weekend by far! Not only does the 2009 MLB season get under way, but a friend, just today, invited me over to his place for Wrestlemania 25! This is the same friend who will be going with me to Summerslam in August. Fortunately, we know them from church and he and his wife have two girls, just like us. So the wives will be keeping an eye on the kids and hanging out while we are secluded in our pay-per-view "suite" in their house. I could go into all the great matches planned for the 4-hour event, but most of you probably don't care. If you do, just check out the Wrestlemania site for yourself. Man do I love the gratuitous choreographed violence that is the man's soap opera called WWE!
And then after the weekend is over, it's back to work, but only for 3 days as our refinery's business plan roll out will be held at the Disneyland Hotel on Thursday, which I'm volunteering at. That means I have to be there at 5:30 in the morning, but it's over around 1:30 so it's a short day. And then another weekend, which includes Easter! And then another 3-day workweek as I'll be taking a vacation day on my birthday! Man, I love April!
Oh, I also posted an awesome new song on my other blog today so check it out if you have a chance.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Courtney Quote
I forgot to include this in my blog earlier today. Courtney was displaying her attitude towards Skyler (as usual) and when we told her she should be nice to her sister, she told us (and I quote word for word), "That is not my plan." She said it so matter-of-factly and calmly. Traci and I were shocked and busting up on the inside and had to look away from her so she wouldn't see us laughing. Fortunately, we were pretty successful since she didn't catch on. But hey, at least she's honest, right?
What's Going On
It's been a little while since I've posted, but I'm afraid this may be the new regularity. That is because with my new job at work, I have switched to a 4/10 schedule (work 10 hours M-Th with every Friday off). It's great because I now have every Friday off. It sucks because I now get home about 6:30 every night and only have about 2 hours with the girls before they go to bed. Plus I need to get to bed a little earlier, which takes some time away from Traci, since I'm getting up at 4:30, or at least trying to.
Last weekend I was able to get a little dirty with the help of a friend when we changed out the fuel pump in my car. This was no easy task since the pump is in the gas tank. Needless to say, we dropped the tank, changed out the pump and reconnected the tank. It sounds so simple, but when you've got 12 years of grime making sure things stick together pretty good, it takes that much more work. Fortunately our friend Bill (thanks, Bill!) is really good with cars and was willing to work on it. He did most of the work, but I was able to help out some. Took a little skin of my thumb in the process, but that's all part of the experience. Hopefully it won't stall anymore now. It needs to last at least until Skyler finishes pre-school in a little over 2 years.
If you have Facebook and check it regularly, you may have seen that Traci has allowed me to get some pretty cool tickets for my birthday. So, come August 23, I'll be going with a friend from church to WWE's Summerslam at the Staples Center. I've only been to one WWE (WWF at the time) event back in junior high with three members of the jr high staff at church and one of my good friends back then. It wasn't even a televised event though. Summerslam is a pay-per-view! Should be a fun time.
I was able to make a trip up to Dodger Stadium this morning to get my first tickets of the year. We (the four of us, my parents and good friend Eric) will be heading to see the Dodgers Manny-handle the Colorado Rockies on April 17. And there are fireworks after the game, just for my birthday! Ok, not really, but their fireworks are always awesome. We're going because I thought that would be a fun thing to do near my birthday, which is the day before. I also got 2 tickets to the May 7 game. Then my mom calls and asks if we want to go on May 1 with her union. The cool thing about the tickets I got at the stadium is that it was a total of 9 tickets that normally would have cost $240. I only paid $80! The reason for that is that last weekend when I was at the Honda dealership getting some maintenance done on the car, there was a sales guy selling a package of tickets. For $50, you get 6 buy-1-get-1-free vouchers (I used 3 of those today) and two vouchers good for 2 free tickets each (I used one for field level seats May 7, normally $50 each). Needless to say, considering I paid $50 and saved $160 today alone, I'm already ahead on the deal. The sales guy said they were selling the packs to get some demographic info on who is buying the tickets. I can handle a little spam (if I get any) for some Dodger tickets.
This weekend is our church's Serve Weekend. Traci and I are on the photography project, where we will be running to 10 different projects (9 on Saturday) to take pictures of those projects to be shown at the celebration at church on Sunday evening. I'm looking forward to it as we will be all over Whittier and poking into La Habra and Fullerton for a couple.
Considering we're dropping dinner off for some friends tonight (in less than an hour) before going to Disneyland for a birthday, I should go start getting ready.
Last weekend I was able to get a little dirty with the help of a friend when we changed out the fuel pump in my car. This was no easy task since the pump is in the gas tank. Needless to say, we dropped the tank, changed out the pump and reconnected the tank. It sounds so simple, but when you've got 12 years of grime making sure things stick together pretty good, it takes that much more work. Fortunately our friend Bill (thanks, Bill!) is really good with cars and was willing to work on it. He did most of the work, but I was able to help out some. Took a little skin of my thumb in the process, but that's all part of the experience. Hopefully it won't stall anymore now. It needs to last at least until Skyler finishes pre-school in a little over 2 years.
If you have Facebook and check it regularly, you may have seen that Traci has allowed me to get some pretty cool tickets for my birthday. So, come August 23, I'll be going with a friend from church to WWE's Summerslam at the Staples Center. I've only been to one WWE (WWF at the time) event back in junior high with three members of the jr high staff at church and one of my good friends back then. It wasn't even a televised event though. Summerslam is a pay-per-view! Should be a fun time.
I was able to make a trip up to Dodger Stadium this morning to get my first tickets of the year. We (the four of us, my parents and good friend Eric) will be heading to see the Dodgers Manny-handle the Colorado Rockies on April 17. And there are fireworks after the game, just for my birthday! Ok, not really, but their fireworks are always awesome. We're going because I thought that would be a fun thing to do near my birthday, which is the day before. I also got 2 tickets to the May 7 game. Then my mom calls and asks if we want to go on May 1 with her union. The cool thing about the tickets I got at the stadium is that it was a total of 9 tickets that normally would have cost $240. I only paid $80! The reason for that is that last weekend when I was at the Honda dealership getting some maintenance done on the car, there was a sales guy selling a package of tickets. For $50, you get 6 buy-1-get-1-free vouchers (I used 3 of those today) and two vouchers good for 2 free tickets each (I used one for field level seats May 7, normally $50 each). Needless to say, considering I paid $50 and saved $160 today alone, I'm already ahead on the deal. The sales guy said they were selling the packs to get some demographic info on who is buying the tickets. I can handle a little spam (if I get any) for some Dodger tickets.
This weekend is our church's Serve Weekend. Traci and I are on the photography project, where we will be running to 10 different projects (9 on Saturday) to take pictures of those projects to be shown at the celebration at church on Sunday evening. I'm looking forward to it as we will be all over Whittier and poking into La Habra and Fullerton for a couple.
Considering we're dropping dinner off for some friends tonight (in less than an hour) before going to Disneyland for a birthday, I should go start getting ready.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Breathing...A Good Thing
Today was the day we have been waiting for for a long time. Our federal tax refund landed in the bank today. With things having been so tight for so long, it was weird going to Costco and Ralphs tonight and feeling restrained as to how much we could get. We didn't go nuts tonight, just got some stuff we needed, but not feeling stressed about going to the store is not something I ever thought I would be so excited about. It's nice to be able to breathe again.
Unfortunately, we have plenty that needs to get done with this nice little tax money. Fortunately, it should all be covered with a little to spare. That means we can just let the state refund sit whenever we get it (if the state actually has the money for it). The same goes for my bonus when it rolls in next month (at the same time as a raise...happy birthday to me)!
On the work front, things are going well, but busy and about ready to change. I begin the transition into my new job on Monday, which involves a physical move back into the refinery. (I was up in San Ramon last week to transition my responsibilities over to the other analyst for our group.) That's not all bad though. I give up my 7th story window cubicle for an office that I will share with someone for two weeks before having it to myself. No windows, but having an office is pretty cool, I think. It should be interesting as my workload will be increasing and it sounds as though training will be minimal at best. I hope that changes but I'm not holding my breath. At least I know that the people I will be working with can help me out. Seems like a pretty fair trade off since I've already worked with them and done some training for them. And they are all good people, so that only helps. My new boss is pretty cool too. I'm looking forward to working with and for him. This is the first of what I hope will be many changes/promotions throughout my career at Chevron. Also, it's pretty weird to think that next month will mark two years that I've been there already. It's the third longest I've been at one place behind UABT (4 years, 4 months) and Disneyland (4 years, 5 months). And as I was telling a friend at lunch the other day, this is definitely the best job I've had since being at Disneyland.
With Spring training well under way and the World Baseball Classic in full swing, I am extremely excited for the season to start. (And how about that team from the Netherlands, shocking the Domincan Republic twice to move on to the second round and sending the Dominican players back to Spring Training for their respective teams!) In case you've been under a rock for the past week, Manny Ramirez re-signed with the Dodgers after an insanely long, but ultimately rewarding, negotiating process. We have made plans for 7 of us (me, Traci, Courtney, Skyler, my parents and my good friend Eric) to go to the Dodger game on April 17th, the day after my birthday. There are fireworks after the game so that should be fun as well. It makes it a little more fun that they are playing the Colorado Rockies too. I am looking forward to seeing the Dodgers beat them pretty handily (I'm thinking like 7-2) with a Manny home run in the mix. (Take that all you siblings who have moved to Colorado in the past two years!)
Well I guess I should go enjoy some of the yummy Costco cookies we picked up tonight before I go to bed. Oh, and Traci is awesome! 24 pounds gone! There is definitely less of her to love, but what's left gets more attention. =)
Unfortunately, we have plenty that needs to get done with this nice little tax money. Fortunately, it should all be covered with a little to spare. That means we can just let the state refund sit whenever we get it (if the state actually has the money for it). The same goes for my bonus when it rolls in next month (at the same time as a raise...happy birthday to me)!
On the work front, things are going well, but busy and about ready to change. I begin the transition into my new job on Monday, which involves a physical move back into the refinery. (I was up in San Ramon last week to transition my responsibilities over to the other analyst for our group.) That's not all bad though. I give up my 7th story window cubicle for an office that I will share with someone for two weeks before having it to myself. No windows, but having an office is pretty cool, I think. It should be interesting as my workload will be increasing and it sounds as though training will be minimal at best. I hope that changes but I'm not holding my breath. At least I know that the people I will be working with can help me out. Seems like a pretty fair trade off since I've already worked with them and done some training for them. And they are all good people, so that only helps. My new boss is pretty cool too. I'm looking forward to working with and for him. This is the first of what I hope will be many changes/promotions throughout my career at Chevron. Also, it's pretty weird to think that next month will mark two years that I've been there already. It's the third longest I've been at one place behind UABT (4 years, 4 months) and Disneyland (4 years, 5 months). And as I was telling a friend at lunch the other day, this is definitely the best job I've had since being at Disneyland.
With Spring training well under way and the World Baseball Classic in full swing, I am extremely excited for the season to start. (And how about that team from the Netherlands, shocking the Domincan Republic twice to move on to the second round and sending the Dominican players back to Spring Training for their respective teams!) In case you've been under a rock for the past week, Manny Ramirez re-signed with the Dodgers after an insanely long, but ultimately rewarding, negotiating process. We have made plans for 7 of us (me, Traci, Courtney, Skyler, my parents and my good friend Eric) to go to the Dodger game on April 17th, the day after my birthday. There are fireworks after the game so that should be fun as well. It makes it a little more fun that they are playing the Colorado Rockies too. I am looking forward to seeing the Dodgers beat them pretty handily (I'm thinking like 7-2) with a Manny home run in the mix. (Take that all you siblings who have moved to Colorado in the past two years!)
Well I guess I should go enjoy some of the yummy Costco cookies we picked up tonight before I go to bed. Oh, and Traci is awesome! 24 pounds gone! There is definitely less of her to love, but what's left gets more attention. =)
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Courtney and Taxes
So the title may be a little misleading as I will talk about Courtney and taxes, but as two separate topics. First up, the first born.
We had been wondering if her agents had been continuing to look for work for her or not since we hadn't heard from them since before Christmas. Well, she had a "fit model" audition today. A fit model is someone who will try on clothing to see how the fit is. This is the last thing done with the clothing before it goes into mass production...kind of like a dress rehearsal for a play. They use the models to see how the clothes fit and see how they feel when being worn. She just tried out for it today so we don't know if she'll get it or not. If she does, it could be an ongoing gig. There were a couple more kids coming in after her. This gig pays $90/hour (with a minimum of 1 hour)! Holy crap, that's way more than I make! It would be cool if she got the job, although driving to East LA a few times per week (potentially) may not be fun, it would be a good experience for her and she would enjoy it I'm sure since she likes to dress up so much. Oh and she has a print audition this Saturday too (which just happens to be Traci's dad's birthday). It is with one of the companies she tried out for before so maybe that gives her a leg up. We'll see.
I may have mentioned this, but we got our taxes done by Traci's cousin Teri on Sunday. I knew we would be getting less back this year since I had less withheld from my paycheck since we have been struggling. However, we are still getting a good return, about what I hoping/expecting. Also, Teri was going to e-file (and direct deposit) for us so we could get it quicker, but the stinkin' site would take Traci's information. She tried a few different ways to see if she could make it work, but it just didn't. So she suggested Traci call the Social Security Administration to see what they had for her name, ssn, and birthday. It turns out they had her birthday wrong! What's up with that. They had her birthday as Feb. 2 instead of Feb. 3. And apparently this dates back to when she changed her name when we got married nine and half years ago! Seriously? I don't get it, nor do I wish to spend the time trying to figure out how that happened. Regardless, we can now look forward to getting some money in a few weeks. (And after that comes my bonus and raise, both in April!)
Work has been crazy busy lately and it's not going to slow down anytime soon. I just accepted an offer to become the Procurement Analyst for procurement dept. So, next week it's off to San Ramon for the week to start turning over my current workload to the other analyst we work with. I fly up Monday morning and fly back Thursday afternoon (and then have Friday off). I think is as long a trip as I've had since working at Chevron. However, I must admit that I'm excited about my hotel because I know there is an In-N-Out very nearby! Double Double, here I come!
We had been wondering if her agents had been continuing to look for work for her or not since we hadn't heard from them since before Christmas. Well, she had a "fit model" audition today. A fit model is someone who will try on clothing to see how the fit is. This is the last thing done with the clothing before it goes into mass production...kind of like a dress rehearsal for a play. They use the models to see how the clothes fit and see how they feel when being worn. She just tried out for it today so we don't know if she'll get it or not. If she does, it could be an ongoing gig. There were a couple more kids coming in after her. This gig pays $90/hour (with a minimum of 1 hour)! Holy crap, that's way more than I make! It would be cool if she got the job, although driving to East LA a few times per week (potentially) may not be fun, it would be a good experience for her and she would enjoy it I'm sure since she likes to dress up so much. Oh and she has a print audition this Saturday too (which just happens to be Traci's dad's birthday). It is with one of the companies she tried out for before so maybe that gives her a leg up. We'll see.
I may have mentioned this, but we got our taxes done by Traci's cousin Teri on Sunday. I knew we would be getting less back this year since I had less withheld from my paycheck since we have been struggling. However, we are still getting a good return, about what I hoping/expecting. Also, Teri was going to e-file (and direct deposit) for us so we could get it quicker, but the stinkin' site would take Traci's information. She tried a few different ways to see if she could make it work, but it just didn't. So she suggested Traci call the Social Security Administration to see what they had for her name, ssn, and birthday. It turns out they had her birthday wrong! What's up with that. They had her birthday as Feb. 2 instead of Feb. 3. And apparently this dates back to when she changed her name when we got married nine and half years ago! Seriously? I don't get it, nor do I wish to spend the time trying to figure out how that happened. Regardless, we can now look forward to getting some money in a few weeks. (And after that comes my bonus and raise, both in April!)
Work has been crazy busy lately and it's not going to slow down anytime soon. I just accepted an offer to become the Procurement Analyst for procurement dept. So, next week it's off to San Ramon for the week to start turning over my current workload to the other analyst we work with. I fly up Monday morning and fly back Thursday afternoon (and then have Friday off). I think is as long a trip as I've had since working at Chevron. However, I must admit that I'm excited about my hotel because I know there is an In-N-Out very nearby! Double Double, here I come!
Monday, February 23, 2009
A Good Day
Today was one of those days you always look forward too having, but are never really sure when it's coming. Two cool things happened today, although we won't experience the effects for a little while.
First, Traci's cousin Teri prepared our taxes today. We went out to her house in Rancho Cucamonga yesterday to give her all the stuff she needed. Plus we hadn't seen her and Kevin's house before. We also visited for a little while. We don't see them very often so it was nice to visit. Well, she let us know what state and federal refund will be and they are about what I was expecting. I knew it would be less than last year because I increased my withholdings this year so we could have more money each paycheck. We still came out pretty good. It will help us catch our breath financially and should be here next month. (Well actually we won't know it's ours until we check our bank account...the joys of direct deposit.) Our state refund was actually a few hundred higher than last year, which surprised me, so that was good news too!
The other good news was that I got a formal job offer for the last position I applied for. It's a lateral move, but will allow for many additional opportunities in the future. So it feels like a promotion in that sense. The start date is March 1 (next week). However, I probably won't start the responsibilities associated with it until the following week because I will be in San Ramon transferring responsibilities to the rest of the team I'm on now, especially the other analyst for next week (Monday - Thursday). It's exciting as it is the first of what I hope will be many moves within Chevron's El Segundo refinery during my career.
A side note. It's kind of funny that we'll be picking up my parents at LAX next Sunday when they return from Colorado and then my dad is taking me to LAX the following morning for my trip. It's funny how when we go to LAX, the trips seem to come in clusters. Don't know why that is, but it's kind of funny.
It's good to have a good day coming off a busy and fun weekend where we celebrated Courtney's 5th birthday. I don't think I'll be posting any pictures here as I have already posted them on Facebook. Check them out there if you would like.
First, Traci's cousin Teri prepared our taxes today. We went out to her house in Rancho Cucamonga yesterday to give her all the stuff she needed. Plus we hadn't seen her and Kevin's house before. We also visited for a little while. We don't see them very often so it was nice to visit. Well, she let us know what state and federal refund will be and they are about what I was expecting. I knew it would be less than last year because I increased my withholdings this year so we could have more money each paycheck. We still came out pretty good. It will help us catch our breath financially and should be here next month. (Well actually we won't know it's ours until we check our bank account...the joys of direct deposit.) Our state refund was actually a few hundred higher than last year, which surprised me, so that was good news too!
The other good news was that I got a formal job offer for the last position I applied for. It's a lateral move, but will allow for many additional opportunities in the future. So it feels like a promotion in that sense. The start date is March 1 (next week). However, I probably won't start the responsibilities associated with it until the following week because I will be in San Ramon transferring responsibilities to the rest of the team I'm on now, especially the other analyst for next week (Monday - Thursday). It's exciting as it is the first of what I hope will be many moves within Chevron's El Segundo refinery during my career.
A side note. It's kind of funny that we'll be picking up my parents at LAX next Sunday when they return from Colorado and then my dad is taking me to LAX the following morning for my trip. It's funny how when we go to LAX, the trips seem to come in clusters. Don't know why that is, but it's kind of funny.
It's good to have a good day coming off a busy and fun weekend where we celebrated Courtney's 5th birthday. I don't think I'll be posting any pictures here as I have already posted them on Facebook. Check them out there if you would like.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Sick Again
Well, I was healthy for two weeks after being sick for two weeks. And now I'm sick again. Doesn't it figure. I'm home from work today. (We don't get it off at work unless you work a traditional 5/40 schedule.) I figured with everything coming up at the end of the week (Courtney's birthday, and therefore a Disneyland trip, on Friday and her birthday party on Saturday), I should probably rest up.
I also found another reason to rest up when I spoke with one of my (two) managers today. She wants me up there, San Ramon, for a week to begin transitioning my current duties and responsibilities to the other analyst on our team. Don't worry, I'm not getting laid off. They are assuming that I will be get this last job I applied for, which is a local procurement analyst. Since I already have a training scheduled for next week up there, odds are the trip would be next week. It would be nice to be healthy while traveling.
It didn't help being sick yesterday when I began a 5-week series on the Five Love Languages in our Sunday School class. It turned out well I think. We had 21 people there by my count, which about double what we have typically had on a Sunday. It was fun though.
As I mentioned, Courtney's birthday is this Friday and our first-born is turning 5 already! It's hard to believe she'll be kindergarten-age already. Another milestone to look forward to this Fall. After we pick her up from school on Friday, we'll head down to Disneyland to take full advantage of the $59 "Fun Card" she'll receive since she already has a pass. It will be nice to have her birthday off and it appears we'll actually have weather that will allow me to mow the yard, which I have been unable to do for 2-3 weeks now due to rain...what's up with that?! Then Saturday is the big Hannah Montana birthday party. (Just pretend the Nemo bouncer is really Hannah Montana dressed as Nemo.)
I also mentioned I applied for a local analyst position at work. This is after I was informed I didn't get the first position I interviewed for. I can't complain about not getting that one. The person who got it someone who I respect highly and know will do a great job. That position deals with creating and maintaining local contracts for the refinery. This position I'll hopefully be interviewing for this week, if half that and half analyst, which I do now (except currently I do global analysis for one category and would be doing local analysis for all categories...a lateral move that would allow for additional local opportunities down the road).
If I can figure out how to post a video from our camcorder, I may post a video of Courtney performing to "All for One" and "Fabulous" from High School Musical 2. It's pretty funny as she knows most of the words and a pretty good amount of the choreography from both songs. Quite impressive and entertaining if I do say do myself.
Oh, and from what I know, Susie has not gone into labor. She was due last Thursday and is scheduled for induction Wednesday. Very exciting times as we prepare to welcome Bella into the world. I've been pestering her almost daily about any updates, but gave her a day off yesterday. I'll have to resume today. Hey there's only a couple of days left!
I'm proud of Traci as she strives toward her weight loss goals. She is now down 19 pounds, and has been an inspiration to see going to the gym at least 5 times a week for the past several weeks.
I also found another reason to rest up when I spoke with one of my (two) managers today. She wants me up there, San Ramon, for a week to begin transitioning my current duties and responsibilities to the other analyst on our team. Don't worry, I'm not getting laid off. They are assuming that I will be get this last job I applied for, which is a local procurement analyst. Since I already have a training scheduled for next week up there, odds are the trip would be next week. It would be nice to be healthy while traveling.
It didn't help being sick yesterday when I began a 5-week series on the Five Love Languages in our Sunday School class. It turned out well I think. We had 21 people there by my count, which about double what we have typically had on a Sunday. It was fun though.
As I mentioned, Courtney's birthday is this Friday and our first-born is turning 5 already! It's hard to believe she'll be kindergarten-age already. Another milestone to look forward to this Fall. After we pick her up from school on Friday, we'll head down to Disneyland to take full advantage of the $59 "Fun Card" she'll receive since she already has a pass. It will be nice to have her birthday off and it appears we'll actually have weather that will allow me to mow the yard, which I have been unable to do for 2-3 weeks now due to rain...what's up with that?! Then Saturday is the big Hannah Montana birthday party. (Just pretend the Nemo bouncer is really Hannah Montana dressed as Nemo.)
I also mentioned I applied for a local analyst position at work. This is after I was informed I didn't get the first position I interviewed for. I can't complain about not getting that one. The person who got it someone who I respect highly and know will do a great job. That position deals with creating and maintaining local contracts for the refinery. This position I'll hopefully be interviewing for this week, if half that and half analyst, which I do now (except currently I do global analysis for one category and would be doing local analysis for all categories...a lateral move that would allow for additional local opportunities down the road).
If I can figure out how to post a video from our camcorder, I may post a video of Courtney performing to "All for One" and "Fabulous" from High School Musical 2. It's pretty funny as she knows most of the words and a pretty good amount of the choreography from both songs. Quite impressive and entertaining if I do say do myself.
Oh, and from what I know, Susie has not gone into labor. She was due last Thursday and is scheduled for induction Wednesday. Very exciting times as we prepare to welcome Bella into the world. I've been pestering her almost daily about any updates, but gave her a day off yesterday. I'll have to resume today. Hey there's only a couple of days left!
I'm proud of Traci as she strives toward her weight loss goals. She is now down 19 pounds, and has been an inspiration to see going to the gym at least 5 times a week for the past several weeks.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Evolution of Dance
I have a feeling you have probably seen this before. If not, then enjoy, it's pretty good. And now there's a sequel!
Passing Time
I just haven't felt like blogging lately. I've been trying to maximize my enjoyment of the FiOS TV experience. However, life goes on, and upon a brief, and I mean brief, reflection of the recent times, it has been busy as normal.
Earlier this week we got an e-mail from our tax man's wife saying he had passed away unexpectedly. A little scary considering he was around 50. Then just a day or two later, Traci finds out one her sorority sisters from CSUF passed away, and she was 16 weeks pregnant. That's even scarier. They say bad things come in 3's. Upon thinking that, 2 people immediately came to mind. Well, here's to hoping that's not the case. Traci's dad did have a scare the other day at work when his leg gave out due to numbness. He'll be having an MRI soon to find out what's going on there. (On the tax person front, we're having Traci's cousin do our taxes this year since she's certified. Thanks, Teri!)
This past Tuesday was Traci's birthday so we took advantage of Disneyland's birthday offer this year. I took the day off from work and we spent a while there. Very nice...mid-week + off-season = lots of stuff in a little time! Traci and Courtney got stuck under the waterfall going up the first lift when the ride broke down (thanks to some moron standing up near the end of the ride). Nonetheless, we had fun. One complaint about the Disneyland offer, though. If you have an annual pass, you can get a "Birthday Fun Card" which is essentially a gift card, but it can't be used just anywhere. You can't use it on food. What's that about? Anyway, Traci bought a new jacket to replace to the one that got torn when a cast member squeezed past Traci in the restroom a couple of times back. Disneyland wouldn't replace it, although they sent us a $25 check for "goodwill." Having worked there, I completely understand their stance on that, but having heard Traci tell what happened, I know they didn't do anything to investigate probably.
I found out yesterday I didn't get the job I applied for at work. Oh well. At least the person who got it deserves it. If I had to lose out on the job to anyone, I'm glad it was her. However, I also found out there will be another job posting that they want me to apply for that is a cross between the position I lost out on and what I do now. I have higher hopes for this one so we'll see what happens once it's posted.
I've been feeling physically anxious today, for a few hours now. Not a feeling I like. Reminds me a little of the heart issues I had back near the end of high school through the beginning of college, just without the rapid, chest-beating heartbeat. Hopefully this feeling goes away soon. I'm attributing it to writing bills and getting ready for our Sunday School kickoff on Sunday. It's the culmination of our "marketing" effort that I've been heading up since December. We're looking at having as many as 60 people, which is a big jump from the 10 or so we typically have on a Sunday. I'm really looking forward to it, but it's been a lot of work.
Glancing around the house, it appears I am the only one awake right now, so I'm going to take advantage of this and do some more preparation on the series I'll be leading in our Sunday School class (The Five Love Languages) beginning the 15th.
Earlier this week we got an e-mail from our tax man's wife saying he had passed away unexpectedly. A little scary considering he was around 50. Then just a day or two later, Traci finds out one her sorority sisters from CSUF passed away, and she was 16 weeks pregnant. That's even scarier. They say bad things come in 3's. Upon thinking that, 2 people immediately came to mind. Well, here's to hoping that's not the case. Traci's dad did have a scare the other day at work when his leg gave out due to numbness. He'll be having an MRI soon to find out what's going on there. (On the tax person front, we're having Traci's cousin do our taxes this year since she's certified. Thanks, Teri!)
This past Tuesday was Traci's birthday so we took advantage of Disneyland's birthday offer this year. I took the day off from work and we spent a while there. Very nice...mid-week + off-season = lots of stuff in a little time! Traci and Courtney got stuck under the waterfall going up the first lift when the ride broke down (thanks to some moron standing up near the end of the ride). Nonetheless, we had fun. One complaint about the Disneyland offer, though. If you have an annual pass, you can get a "Birthday Fun Card" which is essentially a gift card, but it can't be used just anywhere. You can't use it on food. What's that about? Anyway, Traci bought a new jacket to replace to the one that got torn when a cast member squeezed past Traci in the restroom a couple of times back. Disneyland wouldn't replace it, although they sent us a $25 check for "goodwill." Having worked there, I completely understand their stance on that, but having heard Traci tell what happened, I know they didn't do anything to investigate probably.
I found out yesterday I didn't get the job I applied for at work. Oh well. At least the person who got it deserves it. If I had to lose out on the job to anyone, I'm glad it was her. However, I also found out there will be another job posting that they want me to apply for that is a cross between the position I lost out on and what I do now. I have higher hopes for this one so we'll see what happens once it's posted.
I've been feeling physically anxious today, for a few hours now. Not a feeling I like. Reminds me a little of the heart issues I had back near the end of high school through the beginning of college, just without the rapid, chest-beating heartbeat. Hopefully this feeling goes away soon. I'm attributing it to writing bills and getting ready for our Sunday School kickoff on Sunday. It's the culmination of our "marketing" effort that I've been heading up since December. We're looking at having as many as 60 people, which is a big jump from the 10 or so we typically have on a Sunday. I'm really looking forward to it, but it's been a lot of work.
Glancing around the house, it appears I am the only one awake right now, so I'm going to take advantage of this and do some more preparation on the series I'll be leading in our Sunday School class (The Five Love Languages) beginning the 15th.
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