Let it snow, let it snow

I had the great privilege to drive my son and grandson up to the snow this morning. Up past Sly Park and up the Emigrant Trail until we dared not go further. You see the snow was getting deeper and deeper. My little Jeep Liberty dragging the undercarriage in the 10 inch deep snow on the road. The best part was stopping and watching JR and little Joe in the snow. Up the little snow bank and back down. What a great day. On the way home we stopped in Placerville and had Chinese food. The best part was giving little JOE some ice cream and latter some pudding.
It made being cold and wet enjoyable.

Dinner with CM and KM

Went to Outback for dinner with my son and daughter in love Sunday night. It was more than just a time to eat. The very enjoyable evening was spent talking about hopes and dreams, about past joys, and trivial. With laughs and chuckles we whiled away a couple of hours with a couple of very intelligent, well spoken, talented, and personable up-and-coming iconoclasts. Thank you for sharing your lives with Bon and I; you make life special.

EDD maze!

Its like winning the lottery! I have been attempting to contact the Employment Development Department by phone. Yesterday I called 273 times and was able to get into the phone tree 11 times, resulting in "there are more calls than they can handle, GoodBy" every time. I have them on speed dial. They open their office at 8:am, so I started calling at 7:55am. 24 attempts and finally I got through, it was a chance of a lifetime, to actually talk to a real person! I explain my circumstances; I lost a form. She asks me about fourty questions over a period of 32 minutes, and tells me she will submit the request. OK it is now a waiting game again. I wonder how many other applicants just give up. I would be willing to volunteer to answer calls for EDD if it would help others like myself. What a pain.

Quest for Wood

I am a fledgling cabinet worker. I have built a couple of shelf units, and two toy boxes. Each attempt gets a little better with increased knowledge and technique. My daughter has given me a picture of a new toy shelf for my granddaughter. Along with the picture were some dimensions. With a little drawing and estimation off I went to get materials. So I begin this next project. It is good sometimes just to be distracted from the all the rest of the turmoil in my life and focus on just working with wood. Wish me luck.

Interview with Otto

It felt good to get up scrape a couple of days beard off my face, put on a tie and a coat and go to a real interview. Otto at TEK invited me over for a face to face and look at some opportunities. He was both personable and encouraging. I am very hopeful.

Dad's bike

I moved my father's 71 Honda CB500 to the garage over the weekend. My son Larry, little Joe, and I dismantled it in hopes of cleaning it up and restoring it. My Dad found this old bike in a ditch quite a long time ago. The owner had run off the road into the water filled ditch and was completely submerged and had abandoned it. Dad pulled it out cleaned it up as well as he could and got it running again. After registration he rode it for a number of years before his death. Now it is my turn to clean it up. It probably will take a year or two. A large number of small steps will facilitate a long journey. It is one of the few things I have of my father and as I scrape, sand, paint, replace, rebuild, and hopefully ride it again I will remember my Father over and over again.

Come on SUN......

It is another gray day. I would love to go for a drive and find the sun but it is nowhere to be found. One of my fears is that the gray of the day becomes the gray of my life. Not that I am prone to melancholy, but with existing economy and the lack of fruitful response to inquiries, it can get you down.
I am keeping my mind engaged with new technology learnings: GoogleApps, cloud computing, CCNA studies, and Business Process analysis.
Come on SUN..........

Posessions

Spent 7 hours today cleaning the garage. Every box, hammer, nail, screw, piece of camping gear, and piece of wood was moved at least three times.  It seems to me the longer you live the more possessions one accumulates.  As I lugged box after box to a new place in the garage I realized some of this stuff I have not used or even looked at for over a year.  Why do we keep so many things? 
But then again as each box was moved I took the opportunity to see what treasures I was so adamant in keeping.  Found some pictures thought lost, books read but worth a second chance, wall hangings speaking from former homes; all more than their worth at a yard sale but less than a treasure. 
But I will move them again and again and again.  Not because of the worth defined by the rest of the world but what each mean to me.

Words and Expressions

It is amazing how a few words or a very explicit expression can melt a heart.
This evening I had the distinct pleasure of entertaining two of the most wonder inspiring individuals.  When I arrived home from town, at the window pressing against the blinds was a little angel straining for my attention; my little granddaughter. With a smile that she holds only for her Pop Pop she greeted me at the door with an unreserved expression of love and affection.  That little expression of surprise, joy, love, excitement, and expectation was priceless.  She ran to my arms and give me a hug of which I will never tire.  She hasn't a humongous vocabulary yet but when she was going home with mother, I said "I love you" and my little angel returns that verbal statement with a non verbal expression of pointing both fingers right back at me.  It was  a coy little smile and raising of one shoulder that says "right back at you" that pales my words. 
Later this evening who came to that same door but a my little blond bombshell grandson. A little more reserved with is displays of affection but when he utters words from that little sweet mouth, it melts me.  We were playing with cars and a ramp and I put a car that he did not like on the ramp he said, "No No Pop Pop" it was almost to much to bare.  Again when it was time to go little Joe responded to my "I love you" with a "I loug you, Pop Pop".
Words and expressions that will be with me all my life.  Life that is made by two little, perfect, sweet, adorable cherubs.

Lunch with Ron

Thank you for lunch today Ron.  It was both pleasant and thought provoking.  For me it was more remembering the feeling of being with other geeks and being myself.  You are a remarkable friend.  Your willingness to go back to the conflict in the Middle East for another deployment is both heart warming and humbling. I hope and pray that only the best is yours in the new year.

Another Day

Thursday and another overcast day in Rancho Murieta.  Things to look forward to today:  Lunch with a friend, College football championship game, start to clean out the garage, and apply for at least five new opportunities.  It is probably very good to set a goal for each day.  I used to do that sort of intellectual exercise and I prided myself on accomplishments no matter how small. A new day, a new start.

Employment is one of the most importa...

Employment is one of the most important challenges in my life.  I have deep within me a inner desire to be relevant, purpose driven, and active.  The very act of opening my computer every morning looking at all the job sites is discouraging.  I have applied to hundreds of jobs with little results.  I know full well that something will come up, but it does not keep really help much when you want to immediate responses.  Often head hunters call and my hope is brightened but but they don't call back, they don't give you updates, and finally nothing becomes the norm.