Losing My Bearings

Yesterday, I concluded  two things: 1) I am probably not cut out to be an FBI agent or do any type of work that would require discretion or guarding of top-secret information and 2) I think God likes sending my signs because it's comic relief. Why, you ask? Well because I've been leaving important crap everywhere.

Yesterday morning, I got to work and realized that my work laptop was not in the van I was driving. After shitting a brick and triple-checking the van, I tried to remember when I last had it with me. The day before (this past Wednesday), I was in Downtown LA at Ernst & Young Plaza doing a vanpool outreach event. I had brought my laptop with me just in case potential vanpoolers wanted to take a look at our new ridesharing online community. I wasn't even going to demo the website, but the client had requested it so I brought the laptop. Turns out, there wasn't an electrical outlet for me to use so I packed the laptop under my table. Ironically, I didn't want to leave it in the van because someone might take it since the van was on display and all kinds of people were going to be crawling in and out of it.  Long story short, someone came up to me while I was closing up shop and we started talking about public transportation. After our talk, I quickly grabbed everything else I could see and jammed out of there. I didn't even know I had left my laptop under the table until the next morning! Once I finally realized what I had done, I called my contact at the building and a couple hours later, they located my laptop and I was able to pick it up yesterday afternoon.

I thought my absent-mindedness was done for the day...but it wasn't...

Yesterday night, after getting my laptop back, I headed home and decided to join my mom and brother for the nightly Mass at our church. Everything was great: I paid attention to the readings and homily, thanked God for all my blessings, and asked for a shitload of new blessings (hahaha...NOT kidding). Feeling good about spending some quality time at church, we all headed home to get dinner started. Once I had parked my car in the garage and turned the engine off, I realized that my purse wasn't in the car. Where was it??? Back at church, under the freakin' pew. I let my mom and brother out of the car and zoomed over to church to find my purse waiting for me where I had left it.

I sat down in the empty church and just took a minute to breathe. I looked at all the pictures of the Saints surrounding me and then looked at Jesus on the crucifix (btw, my Jesus has INSANE abs! Does yours?!). Somehow, I think me losing my shit and finding it again was a sign. Of what? Not sure, exactly, but God probably wants me to calm the fuck down and refocus my energy because I'm too preoccupied on a particularly negative aspect (read: work) of my life and it's only temporary.

Got it...Messaged received....Copy that.

God sure does work in strange ways, but I'm thankful for it and it reminds me not to take things so seriously.

P.S. I HAVE been taking pictures for the blog, but getting the pictures from camera to blog is another story. I'll get pictures up this month ;)

To San Francisco and Back and then some

The other week, I drove from Diamond Bar to San Diego and back home to Diamond Bar. The following day, I drove from Diamond Bar to San Luis Obispo to Downtown LA then back home. The next week (which was last week), I drove from Diamond Bar to Downtown LA to Vandenberg Air Force Base in Lompoc and back home. All that adds up to at least 1,033 miles driven (it's actually more because I stopped for bathroom breaks, breakfast and/or lunch, and to stretch at Vista Points) in 3 working days.

This week, I have two trips: one to Woodland Hills and the other to Pasadena. I have never looked forward to two-hour commutes during rush hour in my life...until now.

All this driving will be worth it if I can just get 20+ vans on the road this year, preferably before June...eeks!

Social Experiments 2011 in 3....2....1!

Last year, I applied for this Leadership Program offered by one of the transportation organizations I'm involved with. I found out before the holidays that I was accepted into the program (I'll tell you more about the program itself in another blog) and included with my acceptance letter was the first assignment.

The assignment was to read the first 30 pages, take the online assessment, and submit the results to the Director (of the organization). My guess is they're going to split the class into work groups based on our strengths.

This book is a really quick read and the assessment is just as quick, if not quicker. What the book says, in a nutshell, is that most people are SO focused on overcoming their weaknesses that they forget (or neglect) their strengths. This was particularly insightful to me because (to quote Kanye West), "I'm so gifted at findin' what I don't like the most." The book was right...I'm definitely one of those people who give 150% into trying to compensate for a weakness that I completely overlook what I'm actually good at. In fact, if you asked me, "What are your strengths?" or "What do you think you're good at?" I would give you some smart ass answer like, "Blow jobs" or some canned answer I read in a book about how to succeed in an interview.

The "reading" part of the book is really about 30 pages, the rest of the book describes the different talent themes you would fall into based on the online assessment. After taking the assessment and reading through the descriptions, I felt that I had a better idea of what my strengths are or a better way to articulate them. If you're one of those people who like to read and like the idea of broadening your perspective through books, then StrengthsFinder 2.0 is worth the $25.

Thanks to the book, I'm going to do little social experiments throughout the year to test out the author's theories. My first social experiment is actually one of my resolutions for 2011 - Focus on what I'm good at instead of trying to make up for what I'm not so good at. This has led to a lot of reevaluating where I'm at in all aspects of my life: family, love, career. With this new perspective, I feel great about where I'm at in everything  except for career...how ironic, since this book landed on my lap because of my job. LOL.

Stay tuned...

Road Warrior

I've been on the road... A LOT. With my new position came a new territory to market our program to, including Ventura County, Kern County, Santa Barbara County, San Luis Obispo County, and parts of Los Angeles County. I'm basically driving all over these counties trying to find new business. It's been a challenge, but I get to meet some cool people and discover more of Southern California. I also found out our Chatsworth office is about 20 minutes away from April's house (a.k.a potential sleepover location in the future...thanks Brill!).

Anyways, being on the road so much has opened the door to some weird/interesting sightings on my way to meetings or while stuck in traffic. For example, on my way to Edwards AFB (the same day I discovered that California has a 14 freeway), I saw a dog that looked like a mini horse, or maybe it was a mini horse that looked like a dog. Whatever it was, it was weird. I wish I had the guts to pull over and take a picture of it, but I was in the middle of nowhere and afraid I would be captured by some mutant freak out of a horror movie.

Last Friday while on my way to Pasadena, I saw some more interesting things on the road. And, since I was stuck in morning rush hour traffic, I decided to be reckless and snap a couple pictures for you:

I know I should have zoomed in a bit, but I was driving 30mph so it was tricky. You can kinda see it in this picture...the lady in the car has a face mask AND gloves on. Not to mention, she also has her seats covered by some linen (I'm assuming it's anti-allergen/anti-bacteria fabric or something). I felt bad for her because she doesn't even trust the air in her personal vehicle. Maybe she's sick and doesn't want to spread her germs, but I like the idea of someone out there being (WAY) more afraid of bacteria than I am - makes me look like less of a freak :)

Okay, when I saw this one, I immediately thought of Albert because he likes Math and I think if he were into tagging he would spray paint math equations.This picture is of a freight truck with a math equation scribbled on the side of it in white. I kinda wanna keep a piece of chalk with me from now on and write random equations on trucks. It's not vandalism if it's taught in school, right? Hahaha.

That's all I got for now, but I have quite a bit of road trips happening this week so I hope I have more to share with you. I may not have the most glamorous job, but it does have its perks :)

Done with designing...

...so it seems all I've been wanting to do with this blog is change the design. There's a lot I've been wanting to write about for this blog, but I've been writing posts for our corporate blog at work so that's kept me pretty busy. Now, I'm having writer's block for the other blog so I'm back here, where I can just write whatever without having to worry about being "corporate" or not. Plus, I think I've finally found a design that suits me.

Fantasy Football Update: I'm sucking. I've officially dropped to 8th place (4th place in the other league, but that one doesn't have money involved). I do want to give a shout out to Steve Johnson of the Buffalo Bills.

I have no idea who this guy is, but he scored me 34 freakin' fantasy points this past weekend. I still lost my game, BUT I'm glad I picked this guy up because Hakeem Nicks got injured during his game against the Eagles and will be out for a couple weeks.

I also cheated on Tom Brady by playing Mark Sanchez one week. Both QBs are punishing me. Brady does fantastic the week I play Sanchez, then Sanchez does awesome the following week when I play Brady. It's like they both know. It'd be crazy if they are actually reading this and coordinating when the other one plays well. It's highly unlikely since Tom Brady could give two shits about what the Jets do, but it's just a thought. Well, since there are no more Bye Weeks, it's Tom Brady all the way (sorry Mark!) until the season is finished. 

Work Update: Good news, I was promoted last month. My new title is REALLY fancy: Business Development Executive. Unfortunately, I do NOT make an executive salary BUT it'll be really pretty on a resume (hahah). Bad news, one of my favorite coworkers of all time, Pam,  resigned from the company and move back to her home town of New Iberia in Louisiana. Luckily, she got a Facebook account so we've been keeping in touch that way. With those two changes, work has been VERY different from what it was just two months ago. New boss, new project office to work with, new territory - all of which I'm trying to get used to without Pam to provide the comic relief or a lunchtime bitching session. I'll write more about all of that in separate blogs, but that's a quick summary of what's been going on at work.

Home Update: My mom and brother moved back into the condo in Diamond Bar. For a while my grandpa and his wife were staying with us too, but they moved in with other relatives in Garden Grove. So, in a matter of weeks I've went from living by myself, to living with four other people, to now living with two other people. It's been quite a challenge for all of us to get used to each other and the living habits we've developed over the past year and a half. I do think about moving our EVERY day, but I figure I have to stay put for now and try to save a down payment for something. It'd be nice to move into a place I own instead of one that I'm renting.

Well, that's all I've got for now. I hope to post more stuff up soon. Thanks for reading!!

Greetings from Palm Springs!

My company has sent me to Palm Springs for a transportation conference. Normally, this is my FAVORITE part of the job - traveling, learning about Transportation Demand Management and its relation to the environment, and networking/socializing with people outside of my company. This time around is off to a rocky start :\

First off, location. Last year's conference was in Washington, D.C. The year before that, my company sent me to Austin, Texas, for a conference on facility management. This year, it's Palm Springs. The weather is in triple digits and we have to walk past a scintillating pool to get to our workshops - that's a little tortuous. Add that it is tough to get around because of easily the area lacks accessible public transit and, if we could get around, there would be nowhere to go besides Moronogo and Cabazon outlets. Palms Springs just pales in comparison to the other places.

Second, and more important, my boss is here with me. Last year she didn't join me in DC, so I had a BLAST. Not that she isn't cool, because she is, but it's added pressure to perform and be "on point" when the boss is around. There's no down time to relax and really enjoy the conference because you always have to check-in with the boss, at least that's how I feel. There were so many times today where I wanted to go up to my room and chill out, but I felt obligated to stay and chat with our clients because she was.

Finally, I TOTALLY screwed up this morning by not turning on my work cell phone. I am adamant about not doing work on the weekends. I'm okay with checking emails on Sunday night just to get an idea of what to expect on Monday morning, but that's it. My laptop stays in its bag all weekend and I only use it on Sunday night before I got to bed, if at all. My work cell phone is turned off the minute I walk out of the office on Friday afternoon and not turned on until I get to the office on Monday morning. Well, after today's opening session, I go into the Exhibit Hall to check-in with the boss only to find out she had left me 6 messages about bringing more brochures from the office because the original shipment was lost in transit. Needless to say, when I showed up without the brochures and table display, I was questioned about why I hadn't been checking my messages and why I didn't have my phone on me at all times. There's a legitimate argument for both sides, but when it comes down to it I absolutely dropped the ball today. I felt horrible. I still feel horrible.

Hopefully, the rest of the conference goes smoothly and I have a chance to redeem myself. Lately, I've been feeling less and less enthusiastic about my job and it's made me very lazy at work. After today though, I've been given a swift kick in the ass because I really hate to let people down, especially if it's an authority figure like my boss. The real question is, once I redeem myself for fucking up this morning, will I still be motivated to do the best I can or will I go back to just do enough to cruise by?

On The Hunt

It's probably the worst time to look for a new job, but that's what I'm doing. It's not that I'm unhappy at my current job. Actually, I like what I do and my boss is really cool - two things that I didn't find at previous jobs. But, I've been feeling less and less motivated as the days go on. When it comes down to it,  I DO want more of a challenge and something more focused on the environment. While my current job helps companies create a "greener" image for themselves, I still feel my primary purpose is sales (I do try to educate people on how they can lighten their carbon footprint every chance I get). I know every company out there is about money and making more of it efficiently, but I think there is a job out there that will give me a little more satisfaction, not only in my day-to-day duties but my overall job objective as well. And, yes, I'm looking for AT LEAST a $10K increase in annual salary...AT LEAST (seeing my W-2 for last year was just sad). Let's face it, we're all looking to make the most amount of money in the least amount of time and effort, employer and employee alike.

With that said, I'm also REALLY tired of job hopping. Before this, the longest I held a job was for almost 2 years. I wasn't fired ((knock on wood)), I just got bored with what I did every day and/or annoyed with management each time. Now, I fully expect I won't always be happy with management and a future coworker is going to annoy the crap out of me (there's always one), but what will get me through it is my love for the work. If you're thinking, "NO ONE loves their job or what they do forever", then I would say look at our parents' generation. I know my mom stayed with one hospital for 20 years....my dad has been with the same employer since I was born...and most of my aunts and uncles can say they've stayed in the same profession or workplace (they climbed up the ladder of course) for at least 10 years. And, I like to believe they stayed with a job or company that long because they actually LOVED what they did/do. So, I want the same thing.

Because I'm satisfied with my job now, I am being really picky about my next job because I want it to be my "Roots Settling Job." This will be the job that I can see myself doing for the next 10 years (which is basically when I plan to settle down and maybe start a family, yanno, lay some roots...hence, the roots reference). Employers get to say what they're looking for from me, so I think I should say what I'm looking for in an employer (just so I can remind myself of it during the job hunting process):

Minimum Qualifications:

1) Must be a public or government agency (e.g. City of Los Angeles, Orange County Transit Authority, Metropolitan Water Department)

2) Core duties MUST be related to the environment or environmental science (e.g. testing air quality, ensuring compliance of environmental regulations, promoting company-wide participation in eco-friendly behavior, etc)

3) 30-50% travel required (i.e. part of the time in the office doing paperwork/reports, part of the time out in the field interacting with the public and saving the world)

Desirable Qualifications:

- Within 5-15 miles of my residence or public transit friendly

- Alternative schedule (9/80 or 4/10)

- Relaxed dress code

- My own office (I've had this before and it's SO hard to go from that to just a cube :\)

- Paid Holiday Shutdown (I've had this at every job so far...so, I'm a bit spoiled on this one)

- Access to company vehicle for field work

- Cafeteria

Yeah, I'm basically looking for the near-perfect job. Is it out there? I hope so. Wish me luck friends, I'll keep you updated :)