5:47pm, pacific standard time, hotel in Palm Desert, California, USA, Monday evening, February 6, 2023. The trip to Palm Desert was blustery, with lots of semi-truck traffic. Accounting for the blowing sand and frequent gusts of cold air left me exhausted. I arrived at 3pm and went to the office for some quick work before heading to the hotel. Now I am settled in for the night. After just finishing dinner. It should be a good week.
February 5, 2023, Sunday
6:36pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Aliso Viejo, California, USA, Sunday evening, February, 5, 2023. Went for a walk this morning, got coffee, then worked out and ran errands. At noon my daughter and I picked her friend up in Laguna Niguel. We went to the park and played baseball for an hour before coming back to the apartment. The friend is still here. My daughters mom will take her home soon. Not a bad Sunday in February.
Saturday February 4, 2023
5:34pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Aliso Viejo, California, USA, Saturday evening, February 4, 2023. Woke up shortly after five am, drove to Dana Point and went for the full walk. After that I picked up breakfast and did a quick workout. This afternoon my daughter and I ran errands before picking her friend up. Now we are hanging out, waiting for her mom to get back with dinner. Not an overly exciting day but a pretty good one nonetheless.
Promotion?
8:39pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Aliso Viejo, California, USA, Friday night, February 3, 2023. Got a call from my bosses boss this afternoon. She asked about my goals and desire to stay in California. I wasn’t sure what she was getting at until she asked if I was interested in moving up in the company. Apparently, there is a Vice President position in Seattle open and the possibility of splitting California into two regions. I told her I wasn’t interested in moving to Washington but taking a Southern California vice president job was definitely an option. Not sure if/when that will happen but, either way, it is nice to be appropriated and seen as someone worth promoting in near future.
Better day
6:19, pacific standard time, hotel in Palm Desert, California, USA, Thursday evening, February 2, 2023. Today was better at work. Not as demanding or stressful. I was able to get some reports finished and get to other neglected projects. I even ran a couple errands on my lunch break. Tomorrow morning I have two meetings. Once they are complete, I will pack up and to Orange County for the weekend.
Shutting down early
6:17pm, pacific standard time, hotel in Palm Desert, California, USA, Wednesday evening, February 1, 2023. One of those days that, by the time it is over, I am ready to crawl in bed and forget the world. Nothing terrible happened, rather, a large number of people have pressing projects that require reports and/or information from me. Reports that are time consuming. Those reports, and pressure to make the site profitable, has me feeling overwhelmed. I think I will shut it down early tonight and regroup for tomorrow.
A couple more days
6:47pm, pacific standard time, hotel in Palm Desert, California, USA, Tuesday evening, January 31, 2023. I didn’t leave the office all day except for a short walk in the morning. There were too many meetings scheduled back to back and the only window available to step out occurred when everyone else had already left for lunch. It is alright, I survived. There are only two full days left in my work week. After tomorrow and Thursday I will hit the road Friday morning. The weeks feel shorter now which reduces my anxiety. I can survive a couple more days and make it to the weekend.
The fifth Monday in January
5:35pm, pacific standard time, hotel in Palm Desert, California, USA, Monday night, January 30, 2023. Today is the fifth Monday of January. Which makes a long month feel even longer. Add overcast skies with drizzling rain and you have a very depressing day. I took my daughter to school this morning and drove to Palm Desert this afternoon. Work was slow so I left early to grab dinner and get settled. I am staying at another new hotel. This is a vacation club type resort, which is the third resort I have stayed at in Palm Desert. Of the three I like this one the best. It has a good energy, it is close to the office and the room is spacious. Hopefully, the week will go smooth and this trip will be a good one.
January 29, a nice weekend
5:54pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Aliso Viejo, California, USA, Sunday evening, January 29, 2023. There was no baseball game yesterday. Rather, the teams practiced technique and reviewed fundamentals. It was still a fun time and my daughter did well in every aspect. This morning, we got up early and went to a movie in Irvine. Afterwards, I dropped her off and ran errands by myself. All in all it was a nice weekend. Now the skies have turned gray and a little rain is falling. The forecast calls for precipitation tomorrow as well. My trip to Palm Desert might be interesting if it keeps up.
My daughter the baseball player
8:25am, pacific standard time, apartment in Aliso Viejo, California, USA, Saturday morning, January 28, 2023. My daughter has her first baseball game this morning. In preparation, we went to the ballfields after school and played catch. She has a good arm and isn’t too bad at catching. Impressive, considering it was her first time using a glove. I am nervous for her but, excited as well. She is athletic and wants to succeed. If she sticks with it she will have fun and be a good player.
