Well we're Movin' on Up

On Sunday, Vanessa and I found a new place to live. Before I go any further, we are hiring a moving company this time. Now that our friends and parents are breathing again…

We are staying in Yorba Linda. We will be renting a 2-bedroom condo that is about the same size as our current 3-bedroom place. It is in a quiet neighborhood and has a large 2-car garage. It’s not attached, but it’s close. The condo is adjacent to a really nice park and a bike path. Hopefully this will inspire us to get away from the Tivo occasionally.

The plan is to be there for less than two years and buy a house. By then the median home price in Orange County should be around $900,000.00 :)

Thanks a MILLION...

My dad took Vanessa and I out for an amazing dinner last night to La Vie En Rose. Great food, great wine, and great conversation. Thanks dad.

Work, work, work, and more work...

I am really starting to enjoy my job. I have been at Paul Davril for almost 4 months now, but I feel like everything is just now starting to come together. It has been a difficult learning process. I have a lot of knowledge of warehousing systems and distribution, but I didn't know anything about the apparel industry. It has also taken me until recently to gain support from the IT department (programmers, networking, etc.). With their support, things are starting to get done.

The VP of Operations has very high standards, which has pushed me to perform at a higher level than I'm used to. I am used to people liking my ideas and agreeing with me, but he challenges me to prove myself.

I received phone calls this week from two different people I used to work with at Metropolitan Provisions (Operations Manager and Chief Financial Officer). They both offered me positions at the places they are working now. I'm not planning on going anywhere, but it is nice to be appreciated.

Stress relief

Vanessa and I got a lot done this weekend. We mailed all but 13 of the invitations (still need addresses), so people should start getting them early this week. We moved some stuff to my dad's house, so there is less to move to our new place later. We started organizing and cleaning the condo, so it is presentable when the owners are trying to sell it (I'm still not sure why I care). We took apart and threw out the king-size waterbed. I'll miss it, but it was time. We went to Norm and Amy's BBQ. Great meatballs! We cooked dinner for my dad while we watched a movie. We had salad w/ avacado and tomatos, steak, asparagas, and kabobs (w/ lobster tail, shrimp, and scallops), and wine. It was a really nice weekend.

More cheese please...

Yesterday was Vanessa’s last teaching day of the school year. We met-up in Irvine at a fondue restaurant (The Melting Pot) with some of the teachers and staff she works with. I always feel awkward at these events. There are about 10 teachers and some of them bring their husbands, but since the conversation mostly revolves around teaching and students I, along with the other husbands, spend our time just zoning out and pretending to listen.

I was fortunate that we sat with some interesting people this time, so that part wasn’t as painful. What was painful was the service at this place. Everything is expensive. The menu consists of 8 pages, but 5 of the pages are the wine list. We were there for FOUR HOURS!!! Most of those four hours was waiting for the serving staff to bring out the food. It took about 45 mintutes for them to bring the bill. Everyone was just sitting there waiting to leave. On top of it all, you have to cook your own food! I paid $120.00 for four hours of bad service, cooking my own food, and listening to teacher stories. To top it off the food was lousy, because I didn't know what I was doing.

Stephan… Jack Stephan

When we first moved into the condo in Yorba Linda (October 2002) the faucet in the hallway bathroom would leak from the handle when you turned on the water. I wanted to fix things myself, so I took apart the handle. Many of the parts were stripped, so it took a lot of work to get everything apart. Since everything was in such poor condition, I decided to replace the whole thing. Almost two years later, nothing has been done to the sink. The parts have just been sitting on the counter. We just don’t use the bathroom.

About two weeks ago, I decided I was going to take the time to finish the job. Since then I have made 4 trips to the Home Depot. At this point I have had to replace everything from the point where the copper pipe comes out of the wall, up to the handles. The handles are still the same. No one makes the original parts anymore; therefore none of the replacement parts fit with the original.

Saturday, I had the water to the house off so I could replace the shut-off valves under the sink. I replaced them and turned the water back on. It was leaking just a little bit, so I decided I would just tighten the connections with the water still on. As I was tightening the hot water valve, the fitting came loose. The valve shot out at me and scalding hot water came shooting out of the wall at me like a garden hose. I put my hands over the opening trying to slow the flow of the water while screaming for Vanessa to turn off the water to the house. She reacted quickly and ran downstairs. She had never done this before, but she learned very quickly.

When the water was shut off, I was soaked, my hands were burning, the water seeped under the hallway carpet, and the bathroom was in half an inch of water (the bathmats were literally floating on top of the water). So we went out to dinner. I fixed it the next day. The faucets still don’t work, but the shut-off valves aren’t leaking anymore. What a day.

11 times in 11 years...

We received a letter in the mail today from the landlords. The condo we are renting is owned by a small investment company that rents out properties. Well... they have decided to sell. This means we have 60 days to find a new place to live. The landlords were actually nice about it. They could give us 30 days if they wanted to. The letter was written on June 8th... so let's see.... add 60 days... AUGUST 7TH!!! THATS THE WEEKEND BEFORE THE WEDDING!!! This should make things interesting. Things were already starting to get stressful.

Vanessa and I decided the best way to deal with this is by going out for Mexican food (breaking our diet) and drinking margaritas (for me) and daquiris (for her). This will be the 11th time in 11 years I have moved. I am so sick of moving. I vowed I would live in this condo until I bought a house. We are at least a year away from buying a house.

We will be looking in the Yorba Linda area or around Cypress. Probrably a 5 or 10 mile radius around those areas. As long as it is a nice neighborhood and not more the $200 a month more than we are paying now. We may hire movers. I don't know... I can't think right now...

I would like a bacon double-cheesburger and hold the bun...

Vanessa and I have been on the Atkins diet now for around 3 months (since mid March). Towards the beginning we would cheat on the weekends and all of the pounds I would lose during the week would pile back on. This last month I have become stricter (except last weekend) and we have both been losing weight. As of last week Vanessa has lost 22 pounds and I have lost around 18.

I know there are a lot of critics out there about the diet. Vanessa makes sure that we both eat a variety of foods (veggies, meat, dairy, etc.) and we both read the book (well, most of it). I think the main problem is people don’t read the book, so they just start eating bacon and double-cheeseburgers wrapped in lettuce. I spoke with a doctor about the diet and she said it was fine. She was on it too. Since starting the diet my cholesterol level has dropped quite a bit. The diet works well for us and with the number of new products available it isn't nearly as difficult to find something to eat. I have roughly 10 more pounds I want to lose. I am hoping to reach that by the end of the month, but mid-July will make me happy too.

I am so excited on the days I get on the scale and see that I’ve lost more weight. Because of my size, my weight can vary as much as 3 or 4 pounds throughout the day, so I just try and stay within a certain range.

Oh yeah… In case you are curious I am 6’5” and 215 pounds. The weight is fine for my height, but if I am going to be 215 or 220 I need to swap the fat for muscle.

Meetings

I remember when I started my first “real” job (U.S. Foodservice) nine years ago.  I would always hear about Supervisors and Managers having to go to meetings.  I was always jealous.  I felt like they were insiders getting information that I was not to be trusted with.  At my next job with Marriott I would be a part of occasional meetings and I always looked forward to them.  Finally, I was included in something.  I would make sure to mention occasionally that I couldn’t do something, because I would be in a meeting.  I wouldn’t be arrogant about it and I would only bring it up if it was relevant, but I enjoyed it.  The longer the meeting was, the more important I felt.  The meetings were not about anything important; more of weekly seminars about the programs we were using.  

The position at my last job (Metropolitan) I was sure I would be included in the weekly management meetings and my boss told me he wanted me there.  Whenever it was time for him to go to the meeting he would leave me behind.  I think part of the reason was because he was getting chewed-out in the meetings.  After six months of working there (and my boss being replaced), I was finally invited to start attending weekly meetings in which I was actually included on what was going on.  It felt so good to be included and to know that on a small scale my ideas would have an influence on the company.

With my new position I have been here for just over three months and I am sick of meetings.  I have about 5 to 6 meetings throughout the week.  The Managers meeting is the least painful only lasting about 30 to 45 minutes.  The meetings I head-up are by far the worst for me.  They go on for 2 hours.  I dread them.  As I write this I know it sounds like I need to lead better meetings.  This is probably true in some aspects.  Part of the problem is that almost everyone in the meeting is higher on the organization chart than me.  It’s hard to tell someone in the position that they are they are spending too much time dissecting a topic that isn’t important.  The meetings consist of both presenting the Managers with the work I am doing as well as getting feedback from everyone.  The presentation lasts 15 minutes and the feedback lasts 2 hours.

It’s no longer about how many days it is until the weekend, now it’s a count down of meetings.  Today I have two meetings and one more tomorrow.  Then the weekend starts…    

Pppppbbbbtttthhhhh!!!

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I had a great time at Kirsten's grad party on Saturday. I ate 9 tacos (about 4 too many) and a good-sized peice of cake. It was great to see the old gang again. We really need to get together more often. I'm looking forward to the rehersal dinner.

Don't cry for me Philippines...

There is this Filipio guy who works in the office where I work. He's about 50 and about five times a day he will sing his favorite line from Celine Dion:

"'Cause I'm your lady and you are
My man."

Then he stops and goes back to work. He doesn't do it for laughs. I think he just can't get the song out of his head. It's kind of strange to see a older Filipino guy singing "'Cause I'm your lady"... Poor guy. Someone should shoot him.

What's better than one Bentley?

How about two? I was walking across the dock at work today when I glanced down into the indoor parking area (for the two owners). Sitting right next to one of the owner's 2004 Mercedes S55 AMG (and his chauffeur) was a brand new Bentley Continental GT. I'm not sure if he was having it delivered, or if he was "just looking" but at a $149,000 base price it's not something you do on a whim. It sparked my interest enough for me to do a little research on it. It is the worlds fastest 4 seat production car at 200 mph. It has 36 microprocessors (compared to your home computer, which has 1). As you can imagine at the price tag, it comes with everything. If you can imagine it, the car has it.

Barbequed – My neck and the Tri-tip

This Memorial Day weekend is one that will not be that memorable. We spent most of Saturday cleaning the house. Vanessa and I spent the morning running errands. We went to lunch at Cedar Creek Inn. It was soooo good. We just had salads, but the menu looked great. We will definitely be going back. After lunch, I picked-up some boxes from my dad's house. My grandmother died about two months ago. There are about 15 boxes of family history and pictures to go through. Saturday night Vanessa and I rented The Cooler. Good movie, not great. It stars William H. Macy as a "Cooler" who works for a old style casino in Vegas. As a "Cooler" Macy works for the casino. Every time he gets near someone they lose. The plot thickens (as they say) when his luck begins to change and people start winning.

Sunday I had my mom over. We went through some of the serving pieces I was fortunate enough to receive from my grandmother. Vanessa and I took her out to lunch at Fitness Pizza (another great restaurant). Afterwards, we went to the movies and saw Shrek 2. Not bad. Vanessa and I both liked the first one better. Either way, it was a good movie. Vanessa and I made a good dinner. Bacon-wrapped turkey and artichokes.

Monday, Vanessa and I helped out at the L.A. Equestrian center. Vanessa’s dad (John) is a Manager there. During the larger events he also runs a BBQ stand. I have done this 3 or 4 times now, but I think this is the last time. The money is good, but it wears me out standing in front o a BBQ for 7 to 12 hours a day. This one was by far the easiest, but I still ended up with a good sunburn on my neck and the back of my legs. The only thing that keeps me sane is having Mike Montez there. He keeps me entertained and he works hard. I guess I have been spoiled with my real job where I can sit at my desk all day and make more money.