Nice Weekend!

Saturday was boring...I went to Goodwill to drop off my fiancee's last load of clothes and other items, and then I went to the recycling center in Upland to drop off my aluminum cans.

8 AM Sunday morning, Mark, John, and I rented a Penske truck from Pomona and moved my fiancee out of her apartment in Glendora.  The rental place didn't have the truck I reserved, so they gave me an enormous diesel truck.  It was pretty difficult to drive, but easy to get the hang of.  We were done packing the truck by 11:30.  After we unloaded the truck at the storage unit in Upland, we took the truck back to Pomona, fueled it (I got kerosene-smelling diesel fuel all over my hands), and took it back to the rental shop.

Afterward, we treated Mark and John to Dave n' Buster's at Ontario Mills.  Stacy and I were so grateful that everything went so smoothly.  We could not have asked for a better move!

Rusty

Rusty the old dog ran away on Sunday night from Montclair, and was gone for four days.  They just found him this morning in western Pomona.  What a long walk! I'm so glad he's OK!

Not Much

Not much happened last night.  I did my laundry and sat by the pool with my neighbor Mark for a couple of hours.

My fiancee and I will get most of the remaining packing done tonight and tomorrow night when I'm staying with her, and Sunday's move should go as planned.  I rented a Penske truck as usual, because they are always brand new.  I think they sell them to U-Haul when they get old! This morning was cold (for So Cal, at least), with temperatures in the mid 40's. There was a three-car pileup on the 210 at Mountain this morning, and traffic was backed up past Carnelian.  It was a mess.  I also forgot to set my second alarm last night for 5:45, so I overslept till 6:30.  I hate waking up, getting ready, and immediately running out the door.  I usually spend 30-45 minutes watching TV so I can "wake up" before driving to work, but not today.  Oh well! I'm getting pretty hungry, so I'll eat at 11:00 this morning.  Mexican sounds good! A bean and cheese burrito, extra cheese, and a beef taco with a hard shell.  Mmmmmmmmm.....

Last Few Days at Work in Pomona

I decided to take some time out of my not-so-busy day and blog about nothing.  Heck, I don't really care much.  I don't have all that much to do, just a couple of easy lab analyses.  My only dilemma now is whether or not I should start a new analysis with only 3 hours left in my day.  I don't want to do any unpaid overtime during my last couple of weeks here.  I have gained valuable experience here, even though it was a little unfulfilling due to the seemingly permanent hold put on the project I was hired to complete.

Tonight I plan to do my laundry, including my bed sheets, and possibly get some cleaning done before the end of the night.  I will stay with Stacy tomorrow and Thursday nights, and I hope we get all the packing done.

2012

Saturday was a cool, relaxing day...All I did was sit around and watch TV.  My fiancee was out running errands, so I decided to relax.  In the evening, Mark, John, and I went to see 2012 at the Ontario Mills AMC.  The movie was horrible.  Full of action, but not much else.  No story line, a very liberal political message, and the actors always seemed to defeat impossible odds.  We all agreed that it was a waste of money.  I slept pretty well Saturday night, and then I went to church with Stacy and her mom Sunday morning.  We ate at Millie's, a really good restaurant in Covina, for breakfast.  I spent the rest of the day helping Stacy pack for her move next Sunday.

Quick Update

I haven't blogged since February 2009, but I'm going to start this thing going again to chronicle my life as a newly expecting father.  Much has happened since I last blogged, so I won't even bother trying to say anything.

I have to go home tonight to do my laundry, which has been piling up for a while.  I've been at my fiancee's apartment for the past couple of days.  Last night I took care of some stuff at the church where our wedding will be in April (Sacred Heart in Covina, CA).  Our counselor gave us some tasks to perform before our next appointment in a couple of weeks, so I took care of them quickly.

Here is my Twitter page: http://twitter.com/ToddTheChemist
And my updated photo albums: http://community.webshots.com/user/toddthetank

Laid Off

I got laid off from work yesterday morning. They came and got us one by one. When all was said and done, our entire Analytical Development department was canned on the spot, along with many administrative and maintenance employees. I spent the day today talking with recruiters and job prospects, but I have room to be picky about salary. I got a very good severance package from my employer, which was a very nice gesture for a smooth transition to another stable job.

In all actuality, I needed a change. I have been flirting with changing jobs for some time now, and now I'm forced to change jobs. I just didn't want to leave a stable job and position myself on the bottom of the totem pole at a new company in this economy. It's in my nature to get tired of the same job tasks once a job switches from "learning new things" to "repetitive." From the looks of things, I won't have very much trouble finding a new job. I have many connections in the field who know how I work.

A Mushy Message:
To all those I leave behind, it has been great working with you over the past couple of years. I will have the opportunity to work with many of you again somewhere down the road, and I will no doubt stay in touch with as many of you as I can. To my former company and project directors, thanks for allowing me to learn so much through the hands-on experience and teaching possibilities you have given me; with no other company would I have been able to perform such a diverse and wide array of duties with my initial level of experience. From HPLC problem-solving to softball and holiday parties, the memories will forever remain with me.

The Weekend

Last weekend (Super Bowl 2009 weekend) was a good de-stresser. Saturday was spent sitting around all day, unwinding from the long week at work. Sunday, Markie, John and I went paint ballin up in the mountains. To make a long story short, I got ambushed. I took a direct hit off the top of my head, and my Dickie's jacket is now trash. But I'm old enough to make my own decisions (even bad ones). I just washed it, and when I pulled it out I noticed the resemblance of the jacket is closer to that of a painter's outfit. Oh well, no biggie. Afterwards, I took a well-deserved shower and we all watched the Super Bowl. Let's just say it reminded me why I'm not much of a football fan. The sport kinda sucks. But that means Spring Training is right around the corner! Go Padres and Angels!

This past weekend's photos are posted on my Webshots account at http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/569901025EmpNtH.

The Weekend in Alta Loma

This past weekend was a long one that tired me out. It was fun, though. I took lots of family pictures, which I will post tonight. Hang tight!

Introverted iNtuitive Thinking Judging (INTJ)

This morning I got to work super early, so I decided to do a little web surfing. I ran across this long survey that asks lots of questions on how I react to certain events and how my personality affects the way I perceive and accomplish things. Questions also asked how I organize my desk and lab spaces at work, how I react to learning situations alongside large groups of people, how my emotions play into my motivation for doing work, and how detail-oriented I tend to be. Here are the results, taken from http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JungType.htm:

My type is: INTJ (Introverted iNtuitive Thinking Judging)

% Strength of Preferences:
Introverted: 56
Intuitive: 62
Thinking: 1
Judging: 67

I am a:
Moderately expressed introvert
Distinctively expressed intuitive personality
Slightly expressed thinking personality
Distinctively expressed judging personality

When I conducted a search, I found tons of information about my personality. I was shocked at the accuracy of most of the information I read, and I can easily align these traits with the way I actually am. Two sites were of greatest help:

http://www.keirsey.com/handler.aspx?s=keirsey&f=fourtemps&tab=5&c=mastermind
This site gives a general overview of current established psychological views on the INTJ personality, describing it as the "Rational Portrait of the Mastermind." The site also lists several famous people with that personality, including Dwight D. Eisenhower, Sir Isaac Newton, Peter Jennings, and Alan Greenspan.

http://typelogic.com/intj.html
This site provides a very comprehensive analysis of INTJ and seems to adhere to current viewpoints.

I have probably bored the heck out of my audience (if I even have one) over this crap. But I decided to tell the world about my findings anyway. I was both shocked and intrigued about the information I read this morning.

Anyways, I finally got a haircut tonight. I have been pulling massive amounts of overtime at work and am again at the point of mental exhaustion. It's hard to get anything done outside of work when I come home late. But at least I'm dead efficient (and I still have a job hehe).