Take me out to the ballgame.

I spent a wonderful day today in San Francisco at the Giants game. There's always something wonderful about actually going to a ballgame in person. The overpriced food, the crowds, the noise, the assholes and security everywhere...okay maybe it's not so great. But there few things better than sitting outside on a warm San Francisco afternoon with a cool ocean breeze lapping at you, watching the boats go by in the bay. I spent an assload on food too, but I'll be damned if tell you me that San Francisco doesn't have good food. I won't exactly say how much the Fish Sandwhich, the bowl of Chowder, and the huge ass lemonade cost me, but lets just say it was more than enough, but also worth it, as it was delicious. Unfortunately, the Giants lost the game. Actually they didn't so much lose, as get their asses handed to them by the score of 8-2. The middle of the game was so uninteresting that I spent it just walking around the ballpark, taking in the views from various different vantage points, and watching a hilarious game of impromptu frisbee by some kayakers in the cove next to the park. Afterwards I walked around a bit down by the ferry Building, and grabbed an early dinner of two carne asada tacos at this great little taqueria down on the embarcadero (that was very reasonably priced too!).

Yesterday I went for a nice little hike in a wooded area near my house. The path was all uphill though, and after only about 25 minutes of walking, I was getting way tired (plus I wasn't taking any real rests, had no water with me, etc). The scenery was fantastic, but I wasn't prepared, and after that I turned back. I have a goal to set though--on top of the hill at the end of the trail is a little transmission tower at elevation 1000 feet. I want to make it up there. I know some may be unimpressed, but lets face it, for someone who has been mostly inactive over the past few years, it would be nice to say something like "yeah I climbed to the top of that hill" or whatever. Of course it all starts at conquering hills, then bigger hills, then mountains...

And lastly, here a few photos I took yesterday evening at work.

Photo number 1 is a shot of the building through the rosebushes out front as the sun is going down. Photo number 2 is one of the fountains at night. Photo number 3 is a duck on the shore of the lake , silouetted by the light from the aforementioned fountain.

Spring is back

Since Saturday, we've had a return to the gloomy, almost rainy weather that dominated March and early April. Well today, finally, Spring is back! The air is warm, but theres a cool breeze that keeps it from getting *too* warm. The grasslands and the hills are green, still wet from all the rains, and brimming with life. Birds are *everywhere*. In fact, check out these quails that were cruising around my backyard the other day.Today, I went for a short walk at Shell Ridge, which is an open area in the next town over. I remember going there for the first time years and years ago, as a field trip in 8th or 9th grade. It's so named because of the amount of fossils in the area. However, I didn't find any. Likewise, I didn't quite go as far as I had planned. I'm not exactly in the kind of shape I'd like to be in, and the hilly terrain there wore me out pretty quickly. Although it didn't help me that I took an excursion through a litle creekbed trail, and of course had to go up and out of the creekbed up onto the hillside where the main trail runs. I think next time I'll just stick to the main trail and see how far it takes me. I should remember to bring my camera on one of these little walks too. Hopefully next time I will go a little further. Still, I know I covered probably a mile and a quarter to a mile and a half. Granted not the kind of distance that I can be super proud of, but surely its better than sitting all day.

Getting away next month will be good, but I'd love a real serious change of scenery. As far as next month goes though, I still have obligations to work through regarding my part time job. Basically as it stands, like usual, I'm not working enough to make great money, but I am working enough to where I still have an obligation to be there and I can't take off for a while. But damn, how I'd like to just get a couple hundred bucks, and take off for a few weeks to see how far that would take me. I'd love to see the desert southwest. I was reading last night the story of a phonebooth out in the middle of the Mojave Desert, some 15 miles off of I-15 near Baker, California. I'd like to see that phonebooth some day.

Okay, enough pointless rambling...

Back to Square One

Well, a huge setback in the job situation. Apparantly, someone within the city had priority for the position that I wanted to take, so that leaves me completely out in the cold. I haven't heard back from the mortgage place in over a week, but last time I heard, I was only the 3rd or 4th candidate anyway, so I can probably assume now that I'm not going to get that job.

So what next?

Well in the immediate future, I can at least look forward to my uncle's wedding next month (and it just only 5 weekends away now...). I should also redo my resume, partly to reword it, and change some of the contact info. I'll keep trying though. A shame though that of the flurry of activity I've had over the past month and a half, that ultimately nothing came of it. I did get the offer to do admin work in Emeryville, which should be encouraging, even if the job situation was pretty undesireable upon closer inspection.

I had an interesting dream last night. I was a director for a low-budget (it may have even been something like a school project) movie. It was my first time directing, and it wasn't even my story, I was just hired to do so for whatever reason. It was rather shaky too, because the actors I had to work with just had no energy at all, and kept mumbling. Very frustrating! Then for some reason, I had to take over doing the camera work as well, which was a real drag because I don't know how to film at all. Then there was something unrelated about walking through an old brick school house that was 5 stories tall...

Okay well the weekend is upon us, and it looks like its going to rain again, argh! Spring was here, and now it's gone.

Money is just flying out the door all of sudden...!

So it looks like things are more or less set in stone--I am going to be an usher in my uncle's wedding in a little over a month's time down in San Juan Capistrano. The problem is, while I do have dress clothes, I needed specifically a black suit. Okay, I have black slacks, black shoes, but shit, no white shirt, black tie, or coat. Well hey, no problem, as I got my tax refund yesterday, so why not just go out and drop an assload of cash. The shirt and tie together were a bit pricey, and the coat was pricey as well. Hmm, now I know why I buy most of my stuff at bargain stores...nice clothes are *expensive*. But they do look *nice*. Everything was top quality, and it all fit fairly nicely (though I had to go to an, *ahem* big and tall store for the coat...I'll leave it up to you to figure out which one I am, big or tall.).

Of course, then because of my horrible, crippling, music addiction, I just *had* to get the newest Yes DVD released yesterday, a reissue of their 80s concert flick "9012Live". The sad thing is, it's not even an incarnation of the band I really like that much (I mean I like the 80s tunes well enough, certainly for their time and genre they are far and away the best), but it's something I'd never seen before, and the completist "gotta have it" mentality took over. Not that I regret getting the thing, and it was only $13. Of course it didn't stop there, as I had to get Fank Zappa's 2nd album "Absolutely Free" on sale for $10.

Just on a tangent here, but actually (after having gone several weeks without getting anything), I've been on a bit of a CD spree lately. All recently, I've picked up
David Gilmour "On an Island"
Gentle Giant "Aquiring the Taste"
Radiohead "Hail to the Thief"
Richard Cheese "Lounge Against the Machine"
The Mermen "Food for Other Fish" (which I haven't even played all of yet!)
Weird Al Yankovic s/t
Peter Gabriel s/t
Henry Mancini "Days of Wine and Roses vol. 1"
Henry Cow "In Praise of Learning"

And of course the two I picked up today. Crap, I need to slow down money-wise. I also realised I need to get gas tomarrow...and its nearly $3 a gallon...show me the way to the hybrid dealerships!

New Repository for Photos

A friend of mine clued me into Flickr some time back, and I finally decided out of the blue today to create a photo account. You can access it here. I'll try and share some things that haven't been shared already in this blog, though there will be some duplicates.

There's some beautiful weather this week. Finally, spring has sprung! I went for a walk at Lime Ridge Open Space here in Concord, and saw not one, but two Coyotes prowling around the grasslands. They weren't more than 5 minutes apart, both near where the trails start at the parking lot. I also saw a lovely egret, and a nasty spider. A shame I didn't have my camera...

Easter

Easter, like a lot of holidays, are geared towards kids, which is why they hold basically no meaning for me anymore, except for an adbundance of tasty candy. Actually I'm a bit of a candy addict, and the months starting from October until April, there is a wealth of great, unusual candies available only for a short, yet delicious time. Sunday marks the end of candy season, and for now, those of us with sweet teeth will have to rely on whats on the shelves year round.

So a slight update in the job situation: the design job I was looking at seems to be moving further and further away from the realm of possibility for me. I called them up yesterday to check back on the status of the position, and they are still deciding who they want to bring back for the next round of interviews. I did get an honest apparisal from the guy though; right now, I'm probably the 3rd or 4th preference. Of course (as I would expect) the other people ahead of me have more experience. I'll hold out some hope, but honestly, not too much at this point.

But on the other hand, the secretary job where I work as a custodian is going to be very available in two weeks. The problem is: the hiring process could take months, assuming that my boss starts a new candidate process. He could just use an existing candidate list provided by the city, however its been several years since the last one was generated, so its entirely possible no one on the list is interested, or they've moved on, or whatever. However (and this is a big however) one of the other secretaries said that if indeed he starts the process where he would hire a new person, she would lobby for me to get the position on a temp basis while I work through the interview process, and because of that, I could essentially be a shoe-in for the job based on my experience with the job on a temp basis, and with the city as a whole.

Now granted this position has little or nothing to do with design, but it is at the least a very good job, with very good pay and benefits, in a place that I'm very familiar with, and well liked in. And there probably would be a few oppertunities to flex my design muscles as I could craft flyers for city events. Plus, I can always still freelance.

So where does that leave me right now? Im at least in a better standing than at the beginning of March, before the whole flurry of job possibilities took flight. And I did have one genuine offer, even if the job situation was kind of crummy. Hopefully, all I've done over the past few weeks won't be for naught...

Ask and ye shall receive

In the last post, I lamented the fact that I "needed" a vaction...well it looks like I'm going to get one, at least for an extended weekend next month. My uncle who lives in Orange County is getting married, and of course I'm invited for the wedding (I'll probably even have my hotel room paid for, yay!). It will only be a few days over the Memorial Day weekend, but hey, its something to look forward to, isn't it?

Amazingly enough, the one-year anniversery of this blog has passed. And even more amazing is that I've managed to keep it up semi-regularly! Perhaps theres hope for me yet...

Lastly, something important to share with you. The following is part one of a speech by David Ray Griffen given in Oakland some time back, which aired on the Pacifica Radio show "Guns and Butter" last week. It takes about an hour to listen to, and part two should be up on their site soon. It deals with several myths surrounding the tragic day known as "9/11". It challenges, for example, the accepted theory of how the buildings collasped, and discusses the failure to adhere to proper protocol regarding hijacking, as well asthe multiple lies presented with the official accounts. The conclusions he draws just very well may shock you, or piss you off.

911 The Myth & The Reality, Part One

Slipping through my fingers?

Well I thought maybe I'd hear about that job I interviewed for a week ago on Friday, but no dice. Is it slipping through my fingers? It is really a golden oppertunity, and I imagine the competition for it is pretty steep. If I dont hear from the place by about mid-afternoon tomarrow, I'm going to give them a call. But of course, if I don't get the job its not the end of the world--but it would be a damn good one to have.

Yesterday I had to be at my p/t job fairly early. Okay, 8 am may not seem all that early to the rest of you, but most days I'm still in bed by then. But if youre curious about where exactly I work, heres a photo of the building I took yesterday:


Thats it, the Heather Farms Community Center. As you can , its sets right on the edge of a man-made lake, complete with starburst fountains that light up at night. Its fairly common to have wedding receptions there, although there aren't as many actual weddings there. But as you can see, there was a setup for a wedding there out on the back deck. I don't work there terribly often, only a few times a week, but I've said it before and I'll say it again--its the best job I've ever had, bar none, hands down, or whatever other cliche you want to use. Yeah, not everything about the job is rosey, but still, I'd rather be in there mopping or whatever than out in a hot parking lot like another job I had some time ago. Anyway, they wanted some photos of the commuity center, especially of the setup inside, so I took it upon myself to use my camera to do just that.
This is a photo of the interior of the building. Obviously, these people really went all-out to have as nice a setting as possible. The chairs you see are ones they actually rented; the chairs we provide are basically just regulard folding chairs with some padded cushioning on the seat and back. Also, the building itself, which it was recently repainted and refinished, is full of wood grain and panelling, circa late 70s. But still, we get a fair amount of compliments on how lovely the building is, which I think speaks to how well we keep it maintained.

I had a pretty nice day today. After getting up at 11 am (gah!), I wanted to go for a walk. But I was sort of put off the idea of just going around the neighborhood, and plus I wanted some new things to have. So, I decided to take out some cash and go get a few books at Bay Books here in Concord. It's a fantastic, large used bookstore (actually they do have some new books). Really, its my favorite place to get books, as they have fantastic prices and a wide selection. I picked up Jack Kerouac's "On the Road", because I've always been interested in checking it out. Secondly, I got Douglas Adams' "Life, The Universe, and Everything", which is the 3rd book in the "Hitchhikers" saga. Lastly I got Kurt Vonnegut's "Welcome to the Monkey House". Vonnegut is one of my favorite authors, though the last book I tried to read of his, Player Piano, I just couldn't get with. I'm a bit weird with books that way--if the first 30 or 50 or so pages don't grab me, then I just stop reading the book, sometimes forever. But this Vonnegut is a collection of short stories, including one of my favorites, Harrison Bergeron.

After that, I drove over to the Martinez Regional Shoreline, which is about 20 minutes from here. Some of you may or may not remember me talking about that place a few months back I ended up walking just about the entire length of the park and back--all the way from the main parking lot at the marina to the end of the trail by where the railroad tracks hug the shoreline. I've no clue how far I went distance-wise, but I know it took me a good 20/25 minutes just to go one-way. It's a really lovely area though that I should go to more often, and its nice not to walk on pavement either.

After that I headed over to Rasputins because I wanted to pick up Peter Gabriel's first album, which I did, along with the CD of Weird Al's first disc (I'd only ever owned it on cassette), and a Henry Mancini compilation disc. After that, and a slice of pizza, I headed home.

I'd really like to get out of town. I don't know if I even "deserve" a vacation, though I do feel a bit cheated that the last time I got away to my grandma's after Christmas, I came down with the flu and had to head home prematurely. Depending on what the job situations shape up to be, maybe I'll go back up there again soon. I'd love to head out to the coast though, even if its for the day...

When it rains, it pours

Both figuratively, and literally.

I ended up rejecting the admin job. The idea that they wanted to these 6-month temp contracts or whatever (with no benefits either) just didn't sit well with me. I mean, I'm looking to really start a career, not just get "a job" (but if push comes to shove thats what I'll have to do...), and this job looked more and more like it would be just a regular job, instead of a chance to further my career. There didn't seem to be any oppertunities for improvement or advancement, they just wanted someone to type stuff in.

So I had another interview yesterday. Already, of the few I've had in the past few months, this one was far and away the best. It was for a mortgage company that wants to, for the first time in their company history, have an in-houe graphic designer. It looks like they are willing to hire someone young, judging by the fact that they were willing to talk to someone with only a degree and some freelance experience. In fact, the oppertunity really seemed great--full time, full benefits, and good pay. And plus, they really wanted someone who will be with them for a while at least, which is perfect because I need to be with someone for a while. The company is newer, but they are over a decade old so they are established enough to where I could have some job security, but they are also looking to really expand. I really hope it works out.

Then, someone with for the city I do my p/t job for called me today and asked if I wanted a job for a few hours a day helping at city hall doing oddjob errands and setups and stuff. Sure, why not? Of course the only problem, a few days interfere with my job at the community center, and its entirely possible I may not have more than a few weeks more of employement with the city period. But I accepted anyway, with those contingencies.

And, I don't know if I should mention this or not, but at the end of last week, one of the secretaries in the building I work for admitted to me that she may be leaving soon (then again I know no one at my work reads my blog, heh!). That may just be end up being a perfect position for me--after all, I know, and I'm on friendly terms with everyone at the building; I could easily handle whatever computer software they use; I know most of the procedures for the renters, and the rental contracts. Assuming nothing else works out, I'm going to go after that position. Now granted its not at all what I want to do career wise, but it wouldn't be an entirely bad move either, because at least I would be close to home (ie almost no commute), I would be decently paid, and I would get benefits. Coupled with that though--another contact I made in the city is going to hook me up with a graphic designer who contracts out work for the city for possible freelance jobs. Regardless of what I do job wise, that would totally kick some ass.

So job wise, I'm not entirely in a bad spot right now. I've had 3 interviews in the past month, two of them for jobs I really wanted, 1 of them for a job I didn't really want (but was at least offered), as well as being offered more work at my existing job, and the possibility of another job opening up soon that I may want. All figuratively speaking...when it rains, it pours.

Literally speaking though, just a brief commentary on the weather lately--this was the wettest (and I imagine by far snowiest) March in Bay Area history. And so far, April has been no different. Levees are breaking, land is sliding, and trees are toppling. Gotta love California...