Orange County

Decmeber 12, 2024, Thursday afternoon, 2:18m, pacific standard time, office building parking lot, Laguna Niguel, California, USA. Just received a call from the Rancho VP. He was gauging my interest in taking the Orange County branch instead. I told him I would prefer that. We are scheduling a dinner for next week with the VP of sales and marketing. This could work out well. I need to get back into reality. I have spent too much time alone with my thoughts. It is making me stir crazy.

Wednesday

December 11,2024, Wednesday night, 6:44pm, pacific standard time, parking lot, rock school, San Juan Capistrano, California, USA. I have been feeling under the weather since Monday morning. DayQuil helped but it has worn off. My daughter is almost done with her singing lesson. Once I take her home I will get to my house and sleep. I haven’t heard from rancho this week. The VP texted me on Sunday saying he wanted to talk but hasn’t reached out yet. I’m the meantime I am going to spruce up my chaplain resume and see what happens. I got another email from The Humanist Society about sending Christmas cards to inmates. I will volunteer to do that.

Alignment

December 10,2024, Tuesday afternoon, 4:19pm, pacific standard time, Starbucks parking lot, Laguna Hills, California, USA. Just completed a survey for The Humanist Society. I committed to leading classes on end of life care and being a Humanist. That provides an outlet to interact with people. Which is good. I am getting tired of being in my own mind. I have been reflecting today on inner dialogue and outward interactions. Often I feel the thoughts in my head don’t align with my spoken words and actions. That could be why I find social settings draining. I am always putting on an act that exhausts me. My inner dialogue should be congruent with my outward relationships. I think the CEO/President/Chairman energy is what I need to honor inside and out. That is the most aligned I can be.

LAX redux and open to possibility

December 9, 2024, Monday afternoon, 2:05pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Dana Point, California, USA. I made it to LAX to pick up my family at 5:47am. They landed two hours later but I don’t mind waiting. Better than sitting in traffic. I hung out at the cell phone parking lot off Vicksburg and 96th St. on our way home we grabbed Dunkin. Then a short while later my daughter wanted Panera for lunch. Consequently I have spent the day picking her up and taking her places. She is tired and doesn’t want to go to school tomorrow. On a personal note I am being receptive to the universe. I will either continue not working, get a job comparable to what I had, find an opportunity bigger than my imagination can comprehend, pivot to a new industry, or go back to being a chaplain. I am open to all possibilities.

From flylax.com

Saturday

December 7, 2024, Saturday night, 8:02pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Aliso Viejo, California,USA. Walked this morning, worked out got coffee then spent the day with the dog. I have been re-reading Graham Greene’s The Power and the Glory. Also watching Brooklyn 99 and Black Dove. This evening I thought a good pursuit in between jobs would be to learn a new language. I am looking for an immersive Spanish tutor.

Rancho

December 6, 2024, Friday evening, 5:19pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Aliso Viejo, California, USA. I did not hear from the rancho group this week after they said a meeting with branch clinical leadership would be arranged. I will follow up Monday. I don’t like being beholden to this company. They don’t seem eager to get this issue resolved. . However there isn’t much else to do. Options will remain thin until January.

Chips

December 4, 2024, Wednesday evening 5:19pm, pacific standard time, parking lot of Albertsons, Ladera Ranch, California, USA. For various reasons I have six unopened bags of chips in my trunk, ten bottles of water and a box of crackers. I am feeling like a crazy old man. I need to figure out the job thing soon. Too much free time is driving me crazy.

Video

December 3, 2024, Tuesday afternoon, 1:50pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Dana Point, California, USA. Yesterday I contemplated how I interact with media. Though I read articles online I also watch videos on YouTube . If that is how I get information odds are most people do the same. So to engage with an audience I need to meet them where they are. But how? I have made videos in the past but never liked them and frankly found them boring. I needed a fresh approach. Then this morning I remembered videos I enjoyed where there were no words or narration. No on camera presence. Maybe I could do something like that? I decided to film waking up and my trip to the gym. I also filmed myself walking the dog. The good news is I got a lot of footage. The bad news is it takes a time and skill to edit it all. As a result my first video is me waking up. As I get better at filming and editing I can make longer videos. All in all I am proud of my first effort.