The New Job.

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 So, 3 full days into the new job, and so far so good.   Even after my 3rd day of getting up early, showering, getting dressed, and driving into work,  I’m still doing it with a smile on my face.  For me, this is proof positive that I’ve made the right decision. 

I have been learning about a whole new market segment as well as learning the ups and downs of the new products I will become intimately familiar with.  Its all very exciting and manageable.  And I can see how I can make money doing it.  Thats what I need, money, so I can by a little piece of California real estate.

So far, here is what I’m loving about the new company:

  • The People. All of the folks I’ve met so far are so nice.  Must be a requirement to work here…  This was the hardest part about leaving my old job…  Loved my co-workers.
  • The Company.  They fundamentally believe that their people are the most valuable asset and they back this up with great benefits and opportunity.  May seem small, but matching 401K and good health benefits make a big difference to me.
  • That I Get It.  That I understand what the products are about, the problems they are solving.  Product is pretty easy to learn and demo – ramp up time is one month. 
  • Learning Something New.  I’m learning a whole new market and industry.  Very cool.
  • Last but not least, Opportunity.  There is so much opportunity at this new company – they are growing in a healthy, defined way.  They are profitable. They have a healthy pipeline.  It’s mine to ruin.  I know I can make something happen for me…. my destiny is in my hands.

There is one bad thing about it though… the cats are very disappointed that I’m not home to take care of them.  They have been very needy when I have been home.  As a matter of fact, I’m typing this post up with a cat sprawled across my lap, one paw on the keyboard.  They like to eat at 4pm, I’ve not been home until after 6pm every night.  And I’m so tired that I’ve been eating dinner and then heading to bed… no going out for happy hours, much less drinking, but no exercise.

I will have to learn to find a balance – to make sure that I take care of myself and that the cats adjust…

A New Life.

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Wow, I’m sitting in my bed right now, realizing that life as I know it is going to end. Waking up at 7:55am, rolling into the home office at 8am for a call in my PJ’s is not going to happen for quite a while ….  ( I know, I know, anyone that knows me KNOWS that these are very generous timeframes)..

I now have a job that requires me to be in an office at 9am ish on a daily basis.  This is a BIG DEAL.  I honestly do NOT know how I’m going to deal with this… let alone how its going to effect the cats.  What are we all going to do at 6:3o am on Monday?  Shock and awe is what we all are going to experience.

BTW, do a quick search on new job, and here is an article you will get:  http://careerplanning.about.com/cs/firstjob/a/new_job.htm  I love it.  “Fitting In” and “What to Wear”.  If this is what my new colleagues are worried about, they are in quite a shocker.  These are not my issues.   God help anyone that interferes with me tommorrow before 10am (is that nice to say on the eve of my new job??).

Lordy lordy….. how am I going to do it?  8am IN THE OFFICE?  Go to bed now is key.  Good night yo’ll.

Making Progress.

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 This is a New Years Resolution update as well as a personal progress report.

I’m happy to share that I’ve lost 3 lbs to date. I know its not much, and I dont think you would really notice, but I’m happy the scale is moving in a downward direction. I’ve been able to accomplish this by adding additional workouts into my existing diet and exercise routine. I’ve signed up for a personal trainer for one hour a week (2 30 minute sessions twice a week). The trainer kicks my butt… and its working. I’m working on losing 7 more lbs before my birthday, which is in 1 month. Wish me luck!

I start my new job next week. I’m very excited about it. I think there is a lot of opportunity at my new company, and it feels good to feel so positive and energized about going to work. Given this, I’m chalking this up as the right change at the right time. All goodness.

On the financial front, I’m almost done with my taxes, and am working on getting pre-approved for a mortgage… I may not make the leap into home ownership just yet (I do live in CA, I think the market has not bottomed out), but it is helping me get my financial house in order. I like that.

Lastly, I’ve cut back on the booze. I know, I know, the folks that saw me at my local watering hole on Friday might not agree, but when I’m home alone, I’m not drinking nearly as much. As a matter of fact, I’ve had almost zero to drink since Sunday – which is unusual for me. Yes, I’ve been traveling and staying with family, but the big change for me is that I don’t miss it. Yes, I am looking forward to a glass (or two) of wine tonight with dinner, but I don’t have to have it, which is what I was concerned about (the need vs. the want). I attribute this change in large part to my new years resolution to NOT take a final-final cocktail to bed with me. A small behavioral change that has had a relatively big impact in my life.

So, things are moving forward. Slowly, but with purpose. Captain of my ship…. moving in a new and different direction. That, my friends, is progress in my book.

Lucky To Be Alive.

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I’m in Utah now, spending a few days with family.  I am here to work on purchasing another rental property, however, this trip’s purpose has taken another turn….   I am now here to see my niece.

She and her husband were in an accident on Friday night.  They were driving along a rural road in the evening, and came across a group of cows. They slowed down, but one of the cows moved out in front of the car and they were unable to stop – They hit the cow head on.  The cow flew over their car.  My niece and her husband are alive and well for the most part.  the cow, is dead.

Events like this make you realize that life is so short.  Sometimes we have just a brush with Death… and hopefully use these events to think about our lives, and how lucky we are to be alive.  This accident could have had a very different and disastrous outcome. We, the family, feel so lucky that it ONLY produced a totaled car, a dead cow, and a few injuries, back and foot and some facial lacerations, that will heal.   This is why I will be out of pocket tomorrow – I’m going to see my niece and do my best to take care of her, even if its just for a day.

I cannot wait to see her. I’ll take a few pictures – I hear her face is black and blue from hitting the airbag.  Better than it would have looked had her head hit the windshield I’m sure.

I’ll report later… out.

New Job.

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So, some big news to report.   I resigned from my current job.  I have accepted a new job, same position, with another company.

I have been unhappy with my company and my role for over a year now.  I don’t take switching jobs lightly (I do have a lot of responsibilities, including  two cats to provide for, rent, mortgage, etc.. !!), but something had to be done.   I did speak to my manager several times about my dissatisfaction and have offered up multiple solutions.  Nothing was done on their side, so it felt like it was time for me to move on.

I view my relationship with a company a lot like my personal relationships – All I can do is communicate my feelings/needs, be communicative, and open to options.  If the other person/company doesn’t respond, then they aren’t interested in growing together…  And I’m not interested in spending one moment in an “unhappy” state with anyone, including an employer.

So there you have it.  Captain of my ship and I’m steering my boat in a different direction.

My firsts day is April 19th and I’m excited about it.  Its feels good to be excited, to be  starting over and doing something new.!!

Here is How It Happened.

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Grrrrhhh.  O.k. So for whatever reason, I’ve received numerous emails this week from past work associates asking me why I’ve gone back to my maiden name.  These are folks still work with the Ex…I would love it if they would just ask him.  I know that the Ex and I were not doing well, but here are the turn of events that broke the camel’s back:

  • 2008 – Feb. – I went to Utah for two weeks to get two rental properties ready to sell. I lost my job. I decided to stay longer than the 2 weeks originally scheduled (why not, I’d lost my job).
  • 2008 – Early March – I was at one of my condo’s, cleaning it up to put it on the market, began looking for a job, learned to snowboard, drank to much, cried to much, saw family. One friend came to visit me.  I ASKED the EX to join me anytime, he was always too busy (you’ll see with what in a minute).
  • 2008 – Late March – I got a job, start date was middle of April.  The Ex came to visit me, said he wanted to make our relationship work.  I thought we decided together that we wanted the marriage to work.  I was sorely mistaken. What I think he meant to say was “please so no, I like someone else”.
  • 2008 – Early April – I arrived back in CA, ready to give our marriage another go (for what seemed like the 100th time).  The Ex and I had several “work” trips planned but I thought we agreed to work around it.   He took a “business trip”.. I then used this same suitcase for my trip. My trip was to Dallas for my new job.   As I packed my things into the suitcase, I found a condom.  I asked the Ex about it. Here were his excuses:
    • “Its one of ours”.  My response:  “No, its not, I checked. And we haven’t had sex in ages, which is one of my issues with this marriage”.
    • “Someone else put it there”.  My response:  “I found the condom on the INSIDE of the bag. Who would have access to put the condom on the inside?”   I remember thinking to myself, Um, yeah, that’s what TSA folks do to have a good laugh – stick condoms in random people’s bags.

The fact is, he was lying.  He was cheating and he was lying about it.  As the Ex drove me to the airport for my trip (yes, mere minutes after finding the condom),  I said I was done.  And I was.  The drama was so unnecessary.  He wanted to be somewhere else – go for it.  There was no argument from the Ex about the separation.   We just put the house on the market, sold it, and moved on.

Funny story, we were still living together, I think it was sometime in May of 2008 (around my birthday I believe), the Ex marked his FaceBook profile as Single.  Email/alerts went out to everyone… close friends, colleagues, family, etc.. Here we were, still living together, and he wanted to make sure someone knew he was available.  I brought it to his attention, he apologized, but the damage was done.

Anyway, I don’t know his timeline after this.  What I do know is that the Ex must have been busy “entertaining” without his condoms, because he got a co-worker pregnant. He now lives in Miami with his baby mama (who also happened to be married to someone else at the time…).

Why do I take the time to explain this now?  Because for whatever reason, I just received multiple emails from colleagues that don’t know we are divorced.  As with anything, word does get around. I also wish I could send a link to this posting to everyone and just say, “here is the story”, but I don’t want to blow my cover.  But this is the truth.

I am frustrated that this is a part of my life, the fact that I’m am in any way, shape, or form part of the Ex’s drama. It didn’t have to be this way – but it is because he was a coward with me.   Strong words, I know.  Just really frustrated right now.

Lesson learned for me:

  1. I will not and do not let this experience define me. I love men, I think there are a lot of good ones out there, I just didn’t pick one the first time around.  So be it. There is always a next time.
  2. Actions speak louder than words.  I will always pay attention to actions. If the actions don’t meet their words, then I’m moving on.  Hope is for the birds.  As a friend once said to me, “If a guy wants to be with you, he will show up”.

And thats all she said…. for now.  😉

Sophie’s Back!

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Sophie is back.  What a huge relief.   In the 4+ years I’ve had her, she has never roamed away.  I guess I will never know how she made it as far as she did.
Here is how finding her happened.  At 2:17 am this morning, I received a call (which I didn’t hear or pick up). When I woke up I noticed the call and listened to the message. A guy named Joshua said he was outside smoking a cigarette and Sophie came out of the bushes, meowing at him.  He said he would keep her until he heard back from me.

I called him at 9am, it went to his voice mail.  I guess anyone up at 2:17am smoking a cigarette isn’t necessarily a morning person (not that 9am is early)..  Anyway, he called me back around noon, gave me his address, and I immediately hopped in the car to pick her up.  I was very surprised how far she had gotten.  She ended up a mile or so away from the house, in a slim-shady neighborhood, on a street next to the freeway.

I was soo happy to see her.  She was happy to see me.. we laughed, we cried..  When I got home, I locked the cat door so she couldn’t get out.  She was behaving very strangely, walking around the house with a loud yowl type meow.  She couldn’t/wouldn’t settle down.  She finally did, and the picture you see is her baby, the other cat, loving on her, taking care of her.  So cute.

But here is the thing. How did I find her?  Her collar and a good samaritan.  I have cloth collar with her name and my number sewn into the collar (so there are no tags).   Someone saw the number on her collar and called.  Its as simple as that.    Here is everything I did to find her:

  • Collar – $15 about 2 years ago
  • Craigslist.org – $0 to post a missing pet add
  • SPCA – $0 – filed a missing pet report in person.  You also had to go back in-person to look for your pet.
  • UPS Store – $35 – to make 50 color flyers to hang up all over the neighborhood.
  • PetAmberAlert.com – $50 – First, it took them 24 hours to get a draft of a missing pet flyer to me.   The flyer they created was hideous so I changed it. Couldn’t do it online, I had to do it myself and then send them the pdf.   They posted it and send out the poster to neighboring businesses. However, they have yet to send me a list of everyone they sent the poster to…. Secondly, I have no way of marking my pet “found” and I have no idea what they do .. if anything, to alert people that the animal has been found.
  • Findtoto.com – $85 – for them to call 500 people within a mile radius of me.  Again, these folks will not send me a list of folks they called.  One good note is that there is a way to mark your pet as “found” on this website.  This website is so much easier to use and their turn-around time is immediate.  May not have helped me find Sophie, but doing it felt good, I felt like I was doing something and that someone was out there wanting to help me (unlike PetAmberAlert.com).

I think the best thing to do for any pet at this point, is to have a collar with a phone number on it (vs. dangling tags), insert a chip into the cat (wish it had GPS capabilities so I can look online at her location when she goes missing), and make flyers ON YOUR OWN and hang them up around the neighborhood.   As far as finding a lost pet,  I would definitely not pay for PetAmberAlert.com again.   If Findtoto.com could offer some additional services (like the flyer/business alert service at PetAmberAlert), they would rock.  Overall, I dont feel I got much value of either site, and because they aren’t able to tell me exactly what they did, It feels like a scam.

O.k. thats it for me tonight.  The cats are home safe, the pet door is locked, and I’m am exhausted.   I have more to write about all sorts of things, but that will just have to wait until tomorrrow.

Sophie’s Missing.

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My heart just hurts.. I cannot focus on anything. My little girl has been missing since Friday night.  She came home for dinner…  went out, and hasn’t returned.  I’m just beside myself.

I’ve created flyers and posted them all over the neighborhood. I called the SPCA and they aren’t open today (its Easter).  I’ve posted and paid for automated calls to the neighbors via findtoto.com. my baby is missing, It’s raining like mad here… no one has called me.. where is she?!?

I have a big demo tomorrow, and I cannot think of anything by my darling girl.  I’m struggling to keep the tears back, I have zero interest in software at the moment.

Please send well wishes my way – I want my baby home safe and sound and I’ll take all the well wishes I can get!

Connecting Family and Friends.

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One very good way to get out of a funk is to help others.

I did a fun thing today – I went to my best friends mothers house to set up a wireless network and help setup a new computer.   It was so much fun for me.  Her excitement about “getting connected”, to be able to email her family and friends from wherever they travel.

I love being around folks that are excited about technology, that want to use it to connect with people.  I have so much patience when the folks I’m helping are alive with energy, excited about “new stuff”, and clearly appreciative of just a bit of help.  With my help, she is now connected with her family – her kids… the most important part of her life.

So, now I’m home, on a Saturday night working on a demo. But its all worth it because I had a fabulous day today.

NAFTA.

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No political statements tonight, just some good fun.

My favorite episode of Family Guy is on – Its the one with Peter and Bill Clinton, its called Bill and Peter’s Bogus Journey.  Its hysterical…  but the funniest lines are as follows:

Bill Clinton: Hey, you up for a little NAFTA?
Lois Griffin: What’s that?
Bill Clinton: ‘Nother Afternoon F**king That Ass!

Honestly, there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about these lines in some way, shape, or form.  The way I think of this scene is probably along the same lines of how many times a guy thinks about sex… ALL THE TIME.  I can’t help it, it just pops into my head.

Anyway, for those of you who have not seen this episode, watch it, it is truly a classic.  BTW, the episode you can purchase on iTunes DOES NOT include this line, I dont know why. Its only on the TV and DVD version..