Tag: work

May 08 2008

Sketch 18

Wow,  I am for the most part done with my time at Canterbury.  Officially, I’m on the payroll until May 15th, and I’ve got a couple of things to wrap up before then, but for all intents and purposes I am done.  It has been an interesting experience, these past nine months.  I am definitely not where I thought I’d be going into it.  However, I have no regrets about coming to LA for this opportunity.  I’ve learned a lot about who I am, and what is important to me right now.  I will miss hanging out with the students though.  They are amazing in what they do and manage.

I’m still a little scared about what the next few months are going to look like.  I have thankfully at least got a part-time job already.  It’s 20 hours a week, working at a coffee shop.  It may not be glamorous or anything, but I think I’m going to enjoy it.  Now, I just need to find another part time job for the mornings. (I’ll be working 3.30 – 7:30 at the coffee shop.)

I move into my new apartment next Thursday.  So the packing has begun.  My books are all in boxes.  I’ve got the other stuff in some sort of order.  I just need to get a few more boxes…and I should probably cull some of the stuff from the closet.  I’m really excited for the new apartment though.  Since we aren’t planning on having a TV, we are going to have a big table in the Living Room, in order to host soon to be legendary dinner parties.

Not much else going on though, trying to spend as little money as possible until I figure out that second job.  I did get to go over to a friends house last Friday and play Mario Kart on the Wii all afternoon.  That brought back lots of good memories of Mario Kart on the N64 at the ECM House at the UofO.  And thankfully, when my friends 11 yr old daughter got home from school, I had enough practice in that I didn’t get powned.

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May 04 2008

Falling into place

Things are beginning to fall into place for my time after Canterbury.  I’ve found a new apt.  I’ll be living with a cool girl who is my age and teaches yoga.  I’m excited (and the main reason I went to see the place) because we won’t have a tv.  The majority of ads I saw on craigslist all featured their tv’s and semi-large cable bills.  I’ll be paying double rent for the second half of May, but it’ll totally be worth it.  She seems really cool (at least from the one time we talked when I saw the place).  So I’ll be moving in on May 15th.  Time to start packing.

I also started training at Cafe Corsa as a barista last Friday.  Its only part time, and I definitely need a second job quickly, but it is something.  So far I’m enjoying it, I’ll be training through the end of next week and then I’m on my own.  I’ll be working in the afternoon/evenings a few nights a week and Saturdays initially.

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Apr 01 2008

Sketch 13

For work I traveled to Salt Lake City over the weekend for the annual gathering of college students in Province VIII (basically the west coast states + one state in).  I was traveling with 5 students and my boss.  While waiting for our flight to begin boarding, I noticed what would be my second celebrity (albeit B/C-list) siting since moving to Los Angeles.

Ron Jeremy talks to the gate agent

Yes, Ron Jeremy was on our flight to Salt Lake City of all places. (Yeah, I know it may be hard to tell in this picture, but the short guy with long greasy hair is Ron Jeremy.) Later, I found out from one of the weeklys, that he was there to debate porn critic Michael Leahy at the local community college.

The rest of the weekend was pretty good, though a little bittersweet as well.  The conference went pretty well, no major glitches.  It was good to see my friends from throughout the province.  But it was a little bittersweet, because it may have been my last gathering as well.  After being involved with the gatherings for eleven years now, it may be time to take a break from this.  I’ve been going back and forth on this, at one point in the weekend I was totally ready to continue on.  But an interaction Saturday night pushed me back on the side of retiring from this ministry.

Nothing new to report on the job search.  There hasn’t been much interesting on Craigslist in Santa Rosa.  I’m starting to consider looking a little harder in Los Angeles as there are a few compelling reasons to stick around as well.  I’m trying to have hope that things will work out, but the end the month is coming quickly and its really freaking me out.

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Mar 27 2008

Sketch 12

Its the end of the month, and that inevitably means a late weekly post.  Work of course has been incredibly busy, with the monthly MiX event and the upcoming Prov Gathering happening at the same time.  I’m behind in my job search, which is to say, I’ve only applied for one job and never heard back.  I’ve basically got a month to find a new job.  Yikes!

Easter was ok.  As I said in my last post, I didn’t really enjoy the Maundy Thursday service at Beverly Hills.  I missed the Good Friday service at Beverly Hills, because I thought I had to work (which I found out I didn’t 3 hours after the Good Friday service).  I ended up not going to one of the evening options for Good Friday, because I wasn’t feeling well after eating too much pizza while watching basketball in the afternoon.  The Easter service was pretty good though.  It was a little long for my sore back (I had pinched a nerve or something, somehow).  After service, I drove out to Pasadena and met the Canterbury Group for Easter Brunch.  So I at least got a Easter dinner of sorts as well.

I’m off to Salt Lake City for the annual Province VIII Gathering for Ministry in Higher Ed this weekend.  It’ll be nice to get out of the smog of LA.  It may even snow in Salt Lake City.

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Feb 12 2008

Sketch 6

Finally a day off!!!

Saturday, I decided to take advantage of the wonderful weather here in So. Cal. and I drove up to Malibu to check out one of the beaches up there.  It was in the mid-70s.  I just sat on the beach, read, and listened to the ocean.  Oh and called some friends in less friendlier climates…from the beach…to rub it in.

In the evening, I met up with the “Cuddle Call” group at Masa in Echo Park.  It’s a group of young adults doing some sort of ministry.  A place where we can learn and build up each other.  I’m glad to finally have something like this.  I’ve really needed some place where I could find support.  Even though it has pretty much come too late, but that’s a different story.

Work is still incredibly busy and stressful.  Compounding it all, I’m feeling pretty disconnected from God, faith, spirituality.  It makes it difficult to come to work with passion for my projects.  I feel defeated by my job and the largely only negative feedback I’ve been getting pretty much the entire time I’ve been working here.  I know that should challenge me to make things better, but right now I just don’t feel like there is anything I can do.

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Feb 05 2008

Sketch 5

Well I mostly survived last week, despite working every day of it.  My next day off won’t come until Saturday, but the major stress of last week has lessened. 

The week was one full of meetings.  It started off with a meeting at the Diocesan offices on Saturday (my normal day off).  The meeting was a visioning meeting about campus ministry in the Diocese.  It actually ended up being a pretty good meeting (and not as drama filled as I thought it might be).  On Monday, there was a Religious Director’s Meeting talking about the search for a new Dean of Religious Life.  Interesting, but something I didn’t really have the time for.  On Tuesday, we had a Board Meeting for Canterbury.  Then on Friday, I flew to Salt Lake City for a provincial gathering planning meeting (that lasted through Saturday).

Smack in the middle of all those meetings, Wednesday was our third MiX:USC event.  This is the project that is supposed to take just under half of my time at work.  In reality it takes much more (as do all my projects).  I was really worried about the event, but over the last week, things really came together and the event was really good.  If only more people could have been there to see it.

So there wasn’t much time for much other than work last week.  I started Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra.  Its going to take a little time to get through, as its 914 pages long.  I watched Ratatouille one evening.  It was enjoyable, but not the best of the Pixar animated films.  Maybe its just the premise of rats cooking that’s just too much to get over.

Salt Lake was beautiful.  There was a few inches of snow on the ground, but we were between storms, so the weather wasn’t bad.  Most everyone else at the meeting found it a little cold, but I loved the cold, crisp, clean air.  Plus I just love the sight of the snow covered Wasatch Range.  I had a couple pints at Squatters Pub, aka Salt Lake City Brewing Co.  Both the “Captain Bastard’s Oatmeal Stout” and “Organic Amber Ale” were quite good.  I also had a sip of the “Provo Girl Pilsner” which was not bad for an American Pilsner.  It’s nice to have good beer, and I don’t get to have it as much living in Los Angeles.

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Jan 29 2008

Sketch 4

Tis going to be a short sketch this week.  Work is pretty insanely busy right now, lots of meetings and a major event happening this week.  I’m heading to Salt Lake City for a meeting on Friday and Saturday.

Basically I’m trying my hardest to survive without doing something stupid like quitting.

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Dec 31 2006

the end of 2006

I found out last night my grandma is back in ICU (this is after finding out the day before they brought her back from the rehab center to the hospital).  Nothing immediately life threatening, they just want to be able to observe her more completely.

I have no plans for New Year’s Eve.  I might just go to bed early.  If I had transportation, I’d go camping somewhere…or to the coast.  Just get away from the city for a bit.

I am looking forward to the new year however.  As of the 1st, I’ll be at .75FTE at my job.  I’ve got some ideas I’m going to check into for some more career advancement.  Great things are going to happen this year.  

Looking back at last year, there were some pretty negative things that happened over the first half of the year.  However, the second half of the year improved greatly and I believe that I’m in a much better place at the beginning of 2007 than I was at the beginning of 2006.

Have a great New Year’s everyone!!! 

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Dec 19 2006

December Update

I’m back to blogging after a short hiatus for most of December.  Between a webhost move and a general lack of inspiration, not much came out of me to blog about.  Anyway, a little of what has been going on with me over the past month or so.

On Nov. 27th, I became official at my job (I had been a temp employee since July).  For now I’m only working half time there, but its more than enough to live comfortably.  My boss is trying to find more budget, because she’d like me there full time.  Ideally, I think I’d like to get to .75 (or 30 hours per week).

I picked up a pretty nasty bug a couple weekends ago that had me pretty well whipped for my entire 4 day weekend.  Though I suppose its good that I didn’t have to take any sick days for it.

Last weekend was the annual Eugene Santa Pub Crawl, so I went down for that.  By the time Saturday night rolled around, my heart wasn’t quite in it, but I still had a good time.  Some pics are here.

Saturday morning my grandmother (dad’s side) had a stroke.  I’m pretty close to my grandparents as I lived in their mother-in-law’s suite for almost 8 years.  Anyway, I got to see her on Sunday afternoon for a little bit.  She recognized my dad and I and was able to talk to us.  I talked to my dad last night and she’s out of ICU and the bleeding in/on her brain has stopped.  So medically she’s doing pretty good.  The doctors think she’ll be in the hospital for a week, but that means she may be home before Christmas as long as things continue to go well. 

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Aug 19 2006

mountain climbing

Often when we have a goal in mind we try to take the straightest possible route to that goal.  However often, the straight route isn’t always the fastest or best route.  The example given to me this morning was of a sail boat tacking.  Since I haven’t done much sailing in my life, I can relate to it more in terms of hiking and climbing mountains.  When trails are built and there is a high grade of elevation gain to overcome, they are often built with switchbacks.  While in terms of distance, the trail becomes longer, it is actually easier on our bodies and often faster then trying to head straight up the side of a mountain.  (Actually come to think of it the principles are the same in sailing at trail building)

At my discernment meeting this morning, the group decided to bring itself to an end.  As a group (me included) it was discerned that now is not the time for me to pursue the priesthood.  It wasn’t a no, but a not yet.  I’m incrediably thankful for the members of my discernment group and all of the support they gave me throughout this part of the process.

So what does this all mean for me now?  Honestly, I have no clue.  For the immediate future, I am working up at OHSU as a Performance Analyst (at least that is what they are going to call the official position once they post it).  It’s actually a pretty cool job as office jobs go.  When they post the permanant position it’ll be only 0.6FTE, however that might not be a bad thing as it would give me the opportunity to explore other things.

What I need to remember now is: (1) Look for the positive things in the developments of the last week. (2) Learn from all the events that have affected my life in the last six months. (3) Pray and the Pray again.  (4) Be thankful for the wonderful friends I have.

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