Sipping a beverage on a Sunday

5:30pm, apartment, Chandler, Arizona, Sunday evening, February 27, 2022. Made it back to Arizona after a weekend in California. Did the usual morning walk followed by coffee. After my daughter woke up we watched more anime before I left at 10:30am. Traffic wasn’t too bad so I got in at a decent hour. Now I am listening to John Prine and sipping a beverage.

I like driving

8:55am, palm desert, California, Saturday morning, February 26, 2022. Stopped in palm desert on my way to Orange County. This will be the third weekend in a row I visit my daughter. Which makes me happy. I can’t see many reasons to stay in Arizona if I don’t have to. It gets lonely in my apartment, there is nothing to do and besides, I like driving.

Friday news

5:35pm, apartment, Chandler, Arizona, Friday evening, February 25, 2022. No update from Orange County on the Wednesday job interview. Absolutely none. I expected something, either good or bad. This morning on our stand-up call I announced the news about the long time employee being let go yesterday. I did not get verbal feedback, but the silence afterwards said a lot. Today was busy. Good busy. It feels like my team is coming together. Census is trending in the right direction and we got a new referral this afternoon. Tomorrow I will go to Southern California to spend time with my daughter. I need to shop a little first, then we can settle in for a night of pizza and movies. I am going to eat dinner, stream some shows then go to bed.

Getting fired sucks

7:12pm, apartment, Chandler, Arizona, Thursday night, February 24, 2022. Did not hear back from the Orange County interview and don’t really expect to. In hindsight it was a pretty disappointing experience. Usually when a company flies a candidate in for an interview an offer follows. I expected more for having cleared a whole day to meet with them. I imagined a full itinerary. First, a sit down meeting to discuss more specifics details, followed by nice lunch and possibly a drive East to to the other location. Instead I was one of three tightly stacked in person interviews. They even said they had another phone interview! Weird. I guess every situation is unique, they can do what they want. On another note, the company I am with now fired our longest tenured employee today. Only a couple of people know and they are devastated. Morale will be low for the next couple days. I called him after work and we had a good talk. Nice guy. He has a lot going for him and it was time for a change. But still, getting fired sucks.

Not exciting or different

6:27pm, back of an airplane, Phoenix, Arizona, Wednesday evening, February 23, 2022. Interview went fine but didn’t last very long. I was late because of flight delays and they had a meeting right after me. Just before I arrived an issue at work blew up so I was more invested in that than the questions. We did have a chance to talk salary; there is a chance for more money but the job and company don’t seem all that exciting. Or different.

Free trip home

9:18am, airport in Phoenix, Wednesday morning, February 23, 2022. Waiting for my flight to Orange County, which has been slightly delayed. The interview is supposed to be at 10:30 but will have to be pushed back. The guy arranging my travel said they have back to back meetings so the interview won’t last long. At least I get a free trip home out of the experience.

A difficult decision to be made

5:53pm, apartment, Chandler, Arizona, Tuesday evening, February 22, 2022. This morning was busy with back to back meetings. The afternoon was slower so I caught up on overdue assignments. Tomorrow I fly to a job interview in Orange County. The choice to stay in Arizona or go back to California looms large. Either way a difficult decision will need to be made.

February Sunday

5:50pm, apartment, Chandler, Arizona, Sunday evening, February 20, 2022. Made it back to arizona after a long weekend in Orange County. This morning I took the dog for a walk and drank coffee while watching anime with my daughter. I got on the road a little late but made good time because I only stopped once. Now I am sipping a beer and watching the weather.

Celebration

6:44pm, apartment in Dana Point, California, Saturday night, February 19, 2022. My birthday is coming up. To celebrate my daughter and I went to a movie. Afterwards we walked around the mall where she bought anime figures and I got pants. Later, we met her mom for dinner before getting ice cream for dessert. Now se are going to finish the night watching television and playing video games.