Hey, kids! Remember me?

It's been a hectic week here in Ladera Ranch. I've been attending workshops on resume writing, interviewing, networking and all types of things which supposedly should get me hired. Or at least beyond the HR door! I already have a couple of interviews scheduled, so let's all hope that things will work out and soon. I "graduated" on Friday and will be volunteering with Experience Unlimited a few hours each week until I get hired. It's a great program, sponsored by the state of California and held at various "One Stop Centers" here in The OC.

The weather out here continues to be nice, but that shouldn't surprise anybody familiar with California. We only had one rainy day here the past month, and that was only early in the morning. The last couple of days have been a tad chillier and I actually used the heater to clear the rear windows.

Had a great time last Sunday, when my old Navy buddy Jeff and his fiance, Sue, came down to visit. I haven't seen Jeff since we served on the Waddell together in the mid-70's. Boy, did he look older! :-)

I was happy to find the Los Angeles 'progressive' station KTLK on the AM dial, since I was missing my daily Air America fix. I'm now a big fan of Stephanie Miller and her morning crew. It was a surprise to hear Ed Schultz the first time, since I thought I had tuned into Rush by accident. Initially the speech pattern and voices are very similar, so it took me a couple of minutes to realize it was safe to listen.

If I get a few more free minutes this weekend I'm going to post some comments about the new TV season and such over on Shot's Shack. All the new and returning shows have debuted yet, but I do have some thoughts about what I've seen so far.

Later!

Not a whole heck of a lot to add since last time. Still sending out resumes and contacting various places for employment. Fingers crossed that something will turn up soon.

Donna and I both passed out California driver's exam this past week. Not a surprise for Donna, who used to live here, but I was delighted to only miss three questions out of the 36 on the test. You could get six wrong, so I guess I did a bit better than some other folks with whom I'll be sharing the roads.

Speaking of which, we also got our second car. We bought an extra car from Donna's younger sister & her husband, so we now have the Vue and an SL2 (both Saturns). This is actually the fifth Saturn we've owned, two of which we traded in and the other I drowned. (If I haven't told that story in a while, let me know!)

Believe it or not, I actually had to put on long pants for the first time (not counting for interviews) yesterday, as it was a bit chilly. I've been living in t-shirts & shorts since we moved out here and I've gotten a bit spoiled by that.

I don't think I mentioned this last time out, but I've gotten back in touch with an old shipmate of mine from my second Navy hitch. Jeff K. tracked me down via the 'net and after speaking on the phone a few times we've made plans to actually get together next weekend. I can't wait! Jeff and I were very close when we served on the USS Waddell together in San Diego during the mid-70s. Sadly we lost track of each other, briefly connecting in the '80s but then not staying in touch. Hope this time things work out differently, as we have twenty plus years of ex-wife stories to swap. :-)

Couldn't let the anniversary of the WTC tragedy go unmarked, but I'm not going to use it to be all political. We'll see if the President can keep his word and not turn his Oval Office speech into a campaign soapbox.

It doesn't seem like five years have passed since I got a phone call from Donna, who was at work, telling me that a plane had hit the first tower. By the time we got the television in the UNH library going we witnessed the second plane hitting. Only a couple of hours later I was at home watching with the rest of the world and waiting for Donna to get home from work, as she stayed (since she had heard from her family in NY and they were all well).

Are we safer today than we were back then? Not by much in my book, but I'm not an expert by any means. Although I do wonder how you get to be a 'terrorism' expert? It must pay pretty well since there are so many of them on television. Hell, I've got my military background and a Masters degree! Shouldn't that get me a few minutes on Fox?

Still now news on the job front, but I'm still sending out resumes (both via the Post Office & electronically) so something will eventually turn up, I'm sure. Going to be heading over to the Job Center here in Orange County to chat with one of the Veteran's reps, just so see if that gets anything moving. Might be time for one of those career shifts away from the library field, although I really would hate to do that at this late stage. I have sent out a couple of resumes to places looking for managerial types without an MLS to play things safe.

Also, waiting to get the second car out here in a couple of days, which will let Donna and I get around seperately should something turn up for either of us.

I'll keep you posted and will try to drop by here at least once a week if I can.

Nothing really to report on the job front, although I've been sending out lots of resumes. I have one interview this afternoon in Laguna Niguel, about which I'm nervous. I'll try to tell you how that goes as soon as I know.

We just got out internet hook up yesterday, so I hope to be posting a bit more often. It will also be nice to check on e-mail and the classifieds without going down the hall to the 'library.'

It is kind of cool to be sitting here at the computer looking out over the patio and viewing the arroyo. Early in the morning, before the fog burns off you can't even see across (about a mile) to the other homes facing us. At night you can only see a few house lights burning and nothing in between. It's easy to imagine at those times what this area must have been like a hundred years ago, with only ranches and open range. The arroyo narrows here, but looking south you can see miles of open & uninhabited country (not counting the power lines & repair roads, of course).

Donna and I have been busy unpacking and putting stuff away, so there are only a few boxes left. We hope to have fewer with the entertainment unit put together and the computer desk set up. Still have some boxes of books (not counting my four long comic boxes in the closet), so we will probably get a small bookcase for the living room.

That's it for now, but I'm going to try to post some stuff over on Shot's Shack later, just so folks skimming that will have something new.