Here it is...

Details on my job. The office has about 20 people in it, only one of whom is licensed. There are four women in the interior side of things and then the rest are dudes (except for me) on the architectural side. It is an open office plan and it will be growing to have 8 more work stations in the next 3 months. There are of course other rooms such as a kitchen, conference room, Ken's (the boss) office and a plotter room. I've been working on the new plans and it is my first deadline, so I hope to have everything ready on Monday. I've also been working on redlines (corrections from the State Architect) for a school in Nevada City and ADA accessibility for a Medical Center in Sacramento. My co-workers are very friendly and professional and my age (for once!). Very few of them live in Davis because it is so expensive. There is a girl from Washington, but other than that I think they are all long time Californians. My station is grouped with 3 of the interior girls, so there is no shortage of things to talk about while we work (which is also very nice!). Today there were bagels in the office for breakfast and on Fridays people bring in pastries to share (although when I interviewed last Friday, they were having omlettes!). So far I've been getting there around 8 and am one of the first 5 people there. (Amazing for me since I haven't set my alarm in the last 6 months, but obviously I have to now.)
I appoligize for my blog being dreadfully boring with the lack of pictures, but we seemed to have lost our cable to download pictures. I hope to get a new one soon, but then I'll have to find something more exciting to do than go to work and the gym. If I go to Moterey this weekend, I'll have that to post next week. If it starts raining again (like crazy like last week) then I'll show you the meadow that turns into a lake (seriously, it is about 12 feet deep).
Thanks again everyone for your support. I believe this was meant to be. I know that most people don't get laid off and find a new job all in the same week.

Some good news, Some bad news

I had an interview this morning and it went well, so well that I'll be starting there on Monday morning! Next week I'll give the details.
Now for the unfortunate news, I did not receive my paycheck today (automatic deposit from work since the 7th). I think legally they have to have it to me, and I'll try again Monday.
Thanks for all your support!

The blogging wagon...

I almost fell off of it.
This week has thrown me for a little loop and I know we'll pull out of it, but it still stinks. I was laid off this week, just Tuesday afternoon in fact. So for the first time, I've filed for unemployment while I try to find another job. The market in California (for designers, engineers, contractors etc) is in really sad shape, so I am looking for jobs both in my field and out. The problem with that is I have very specific qualifications. I can't work in a coffee shop because I don't even know how to make it. I've never been a waitress so that is out, I have a degree (and almost my license) and I live in a college town with plenty of undergrads who are already trained for the non-specific jobs.

I walked in the door at home Tuesday night and Bob was typing away on his laptop. Without looking up he asked me how my day was, he then heard me set a box down on the floor and he knew what had happened. We knew last month this was a possibility, but it appeared that things were changing in the new year. I took it better than I did a month ago. I have sent out 4 applications so far and I am checking newspapers and websites daily (almost hourly).

So what else will I do to fill my hours? Maybe some cooking, some cleaning, reading, knitting, classes at the gym, or today I took Bob to campus and then went to the class he is a teaching assistant for "Ethics in Eating'. But looking for a job so far is a full time job itself. If you have any tips, or jobs for me, feel free to pass them along!

UPDATE: I got a call just before 5pm and I have an interview at 10am Friday, everyone think good thoughts :)

Writers Strike

I support strikes, unions, better pay and benefits etc, so I am not complaining about turning off the junk on TV or having to wait for my favorite new shows. I found this funny and thought I would share. If you want to read the whole piece, click here.
Essentially this is what could be on TV for the 08-09 season, think ahead 8 months...the author Ray Richmond, is making fun of us (the viewer) most of all.

MONDAY
8 p.m. "The Mentally Ill Say the Darndest Things!" (CBS); "To Catch a Senator" (NBC);"Dancing with SARS" (ABC); "America's Most Audited" (Fox); "Heroes of Facebook" (The CW)
9 p.m. "You Bet Your Kids" (CBS); "What Not to Lick" (NBC); "Something Where Regis Talks About Himself and Gives Away Money" (ABC); "The Next Pointless American War" (Fox); "Repossessing Spaces" (The CW)
10 p.m. "Brad Grey's Anatomy" (CBS); "My Name is Berle" (NBC); "Ron Howard Presents: The Best of 'Happy Days'" (ABC); "Viagra and Cialis Nightmares" (4 hrs., Fox); "Dead Things" (The CW)
TUESDAY
8 p.m. "Child Slavery (CBS); "$100,000 Name That Suspect" (NBC); "Just a Whole Mess of YouTube Videos" (ABC); "Bulimian Idol" (Fox); "Please, Mr. Surgeon, You Must Fix My Hideous Face!" (The CW)
9 p.m. "CSI: Beverly Hills Deli Counter" (CBS); "Scabs" (NBC); "My So-Called Guild" (ABC); "Are You Smarter Than a Striking Writer Who Doesn't Understand His Best Deal is On the Table Right Now and About to Go Away Forever?" (Fox); "Amish in the Ghetto" (The CW)
10 p.m. "Criminal Mimes" (CBS); "My Parents Need to Be Arrested Immediately" (NBC); "I Be Chillin' with My Peeps" (ABC); "So You Think You Can Panhandle" (Fox); "This Whore House" (The CW)
WEDNESDAY
8 p.m. "Voice Lessons with Hillary Clinton" (CBS); "I'll Give You a Million Dollars If You'll Just Shut Your Piehole!" (NBC); "Extreme Makeover: Personal Hygiene Edition" (ABC); "My Big Fat Obnoxious Gastroenterologist" (Fox); " America's Next Top Accountant" (The CW)
9 p.m. "When Animals Play Good Cop/Bad Cop" (CBS); "Law & Order: Special Repackaged Episodes Unit" (NBC); "Ugly Betty/"Sleeping Beauty" Digital Crossover) (ABC/ABC Family/Disney Channel); "What the Hell Did Jesse Jackson Just Say?" (Fox); "Busted Pilot Theatre" (The CW)
10 p.m. "M*A*S*H" (CBS); "Celebrity Waterboarding" (NBC); "Desperate Midwives" (ABC); "Illegal Alien Autopsy" (Fox); "Gilmore Girls Gone Wild!" (The CW)
THURSDAY
8 p.m. "Murder, She Illegally Wrote in Shameful Defiance of Her Union Brothers and Sisters" (CBS); "Meal or No Meal" (NBC); "Who Wants to Be My Special Friend?" (ABC); "Picking Up Dry Cleaning For the Stars" (Fox); "Humiliation Nation" (hidden camera) (The CW)
9 p.m. "Paranormal Tonight" (CBS); "Clash of the Network Reality Show Editors" (NBC); "Nanny Swap" (ABC); "Temptation Synagogue " (Fox); "Previously Written For the WB and UPN Hour" (The CW)
10 p.m. "Survivor: Bedford-Stuyvesant" (CBS); "My God Can Kick Your God's Sorry Ass!" (NBC); "Whose Kid Is It, Anyway?" (ABC); "The Real Prostitutes of Orange County" (Fox); "Own a Piece of Barack (paid political)" (The CW)
FRIDAY
8 p.m. "The Candidate Whisperer" (CBS); "Donald Trump Says Lots of Infantile Stuff, Mostly About Rosie O'Donnell's Weight" (NBC) ; "America's Wackiest Home Invasions" (ABC); "Where's Rupert?" (Fox); "My Name-a Borat, and I Like We Do Sexy Time Very Much" (The CW)
9 p.m. "World's Most Insufferable Clip Shows" (CBS); "What Would Seinfeld Do?" (NBC); "Product Placement Playhouse" (ABC); "Honey, Let's Get Divorced" (hidden camera) (Fox); "Television Writers: Portraits of Shame" (The CW)
10 p.m. "People Aged 18 to 49 Sitting Around Talking About Things of Enormous Interest to Nielsen Ratings Families" (CBS); "Last Cleric Molesting" (NBC); "Oprah Winfrey Presents: Oprah in Pictures, Poetry and Song" (ABC); "Prison Bake" (Fox); "A Dr. Phil Special: Hold Me Close, Britney Spears" (The CW)

Baby Barnett

Our friends are having a baby boy this spring, so I knit their little guy a tiny hat over the holidays.

President Clinton Speaks at UCD

So last minute, former President Bill Clinton decides to stop at UC Davis for a little chat to support Hillary. I am not a Hillary supporter, nor a big Clinton fan (it seems his 8 years in office were both good and bad, which may be better than the last 7 years, but could have been much more progressive) but how could I pass up an opportunity to see him speak for free. The line was incredible wrapping around 3 soccer fields (According to the UCD Democrats, the Pavilion holds 7,800 people and 3,500 were turned away). The guys decided not to push their way through the crowd to join us.

He spoke on a couple of things that I will highlight. 1. If you are voting for Hillary, don't do it just because she is a woman. 2. We, the young people, have more tomorrows than yesterdays and we should not only make the most of them, but make the best decisions for them. and 3. The US needs to become a more perfect union.

Go Edwards! The only one fighting for health care for everyone (affordable, not just tax breaks), the poor and middle class, the only one not taking money from prescription drug companies and large corporations. He is the only one that will remove all combat forces from Iraq in a timely matter. He is the only candidate that will not use Nuclear power to save the environment. If you want the same country we had 10 years ago vote Obama or Clinton, if you want something better, vote Edwards.

Two things that welcomed me back

We've been back in Davis just one week and there are two things here that I wanted to share. First, all my plants died except my Christmas cactus. I think it sucked the life out of everything else because for the first time - it is blooming! And second the project I've been working on has a coming soon sign. The colors are a little off, but it is my design (not the sign, the project). You would think the city would be paying us, look at the ugliness we will replace!

Things I like

Here is another simple list, things I like:

1. Soft things. I touch almost everything when shopping.
2. Warm things and warm places from hot tea to Hawaii.
3. Snow, which I know compromises the above comment, but I like snow when I am warm.
4. Dessert
5. Good Friends
6. Good Food or eating good food with good friends
7. Good Movies with good soundtracks ('Once' is a great example)
8. Gardening, although not so much this time of year.
9. Kittens, puppies
10. Sunny days spent by a swimming pool or ocean (preferably one warm enough to swim in)
11. Good books, preferably with numbers 2, 4 or 10.
12. POETS day (I just learned this, Piss Off Early Tomorrow is Saturday)

Addition to the list

13. Oregon's water is much better than California's. All of it, city or well.
14. Friends with babies want all their friends to have babies too.
15. Prolonged goodbyes are okay with me, but not with Bob.
16. The longer you stay somewhere on vacation, the more likely you are to forget more things.

Happy New Year

We are back in rainy California after almost three weeks of time in Oregon. Now I must decide how to start the blog of the new year, is it with a list of resolutions, of goals, of things I have learned this last year?

1. Going to 2 classes at the gym in one night does not make up for not going for 3 months.
2. Snow is better than rain, as long as I don't have to drive in it.
3. Where ever you are, there is always someone somewhere else that you will miss.
4. Divorce is crappy, no matter how you look at it.
5. Smaller dog does not equal smaller amount of work to take care of it.
6. Cats can hide for a very long time.
5. Three year olds love to run around naked and screaming.
6. Two years old is not so terrible, watch out for three and four.
7. Sweat pants tucked into boots does not look good, on anyone.
8. Sadly, Grandparents will not live forever.
9. If we left Hollywood alone, maybe it would grow up. (I'm talking about the singers and actors, not the writers)
10. Relying on the housing market in California is not a good idea.
11. War is ugly and should be avoided.
12. Health Care Companies should not be able to decide who to cover and what to cover. (Case of a 12 year old dying because she was denied a liver transplant. There is no reason why the US should have the highest death rate for treatable diseases among developed nations.)

So here is to 2008, make it a year of change, a year of good communication, better health and thinking about the decisions we make.