Orbits of a deluded mind

Packing update.. meh

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:26:20 GMT

Well the packers have come and gone today. They only sent two guys to work the job today due to scheduling issues. Damn... The kid's rooms are packed, as is the kitchen and most of the living room. That leaves my room, the guest bedroom, the den and the garage. The likelihood of getting the truck loaded tomorrow is slim.. Could be wrong, but I'm only about 60% packed. They're going to be back in the morning. I guess this means some creative driving to get back to schedule.

Nature Photo of the Day

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:44:30 GMT

Taking Flight
California Poppy Reserve - 2008

One more for the road

Get ready, Get set...

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 06:18:27 GMT

Well the movers delayed coming out till tomorrow morning. I've tried to use the extra time to disconnect things, get the car serviced and take care of some additional move requirements. I swear I think I'm done and I discover more stuff requiring attending to. My clothes are mostly packed, as is the essential office papers, and the employment documents.

I'm sitting here adjusting playlists and trying to ready for the madness in the next 48 hours.

Sigh..

Nature Photo of the Day

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:14:40 GMT

Descanso Gardens - 2008

The Calm Before the Storm

Folks, this feature has now been running for almost one full year. Much as I hate to interupt the feature, I can't guarantee updates over the next few weeks. The Nature photo of the day will return to regular daily postings on July 21st, 2008.

Best wished to all of you watching

Nature Photo of the Day

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:09:47 GMT

California Poppy Reserve - 2008

And now, something completely different

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 23:58:43 GMT

Your result for The Monty Python Movie Trivia Test...

Sir Lancelot

Sir Lancelot - obviously the Brad Pitt of the knights. He was the brave, good looking, smart knight. He wasn't king, mind you. But he was the closest to it given the bunch. You know your stuff. I recommend watching Meaning of Life a little closer and throw in some Life of Brian and you'll be King in no time!

Take The Monty Python Movie Trivia Test at HelloQuizzy

Family Notes and Motes (Part 1)

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 18:22:48 GMT

The Public Side
I’m going to write this in two parts because of the length of the entry and because of the nature of it. As the subtitle implies, this is the public accessible entry. Private stuff will follow.

In this entry, I’m dealing with the assessment of the job hunt, loss of income and the finally a reminder about the get together tonight.

Yesterday morning I was going through my old e-mails relating exclusively to the job hunt. To not lose any messages, I used the same e-mail address and filtered the incoming and outgoing messages to a specific folder. In the four and a half month span, I accumulated 276 e-mails. 118 of them were acknowledgement that I’d applied for a job on sites of 28 companies, 3 job engines and 1 Federal job board. 22 e-mails related to interviews (scheduling or location). Another 20 or so asked for additional info related to applications, security clearances and/or rejections for various positions. In the end, about 35 e-mails related to the two job offers I received.

Oh speaking of my security clearances, I did not lose them. When I was rattled about a letter from one of those companies that offered me a job, they noted I didn’t have a clearance. They clarified that as meaning I didn’t have a clearance for their program. I still have my government issued security clearance. As a note, there are only two Federal agencies who can remove a security clearance: the FBI and the DIS (Defense Investigative Service). In each case it usually requires hearing before a Federal judge, truck loads of paperwork and is usually followed by a long stay at the Federal prison in Leavenworth, Kansas. Needless to say, that has not happened.

Cost wise, I lost over $22,000 in lost income, and the family had to live on my tax refund, an inheritance (which most of which should have gone to my children’s college fund) and a loan from my mom. The family lost their medical benefits and security. Had I remained in California, my income earning potential would have been further been eroded due to the damage to my reputation in the industry. To explain, the complaint that was made to Lockheed, alleged that I was running my photography business from work. I was not. While I had a reference to my professional photography services, I never conducted business from my company computer. When I was let go from Lockheed, I was informed my internet usage had been excessive, not that I had been running a business. Had I known that accusation, I would have fought the charges and could have proven it false. Lockheed is the type of company that that will terminate an employee merely on the suspicion that there is a problem. They can afford to. The complaint from an outside source was all they needed to make a cursory investigation and fire me.

As for my internet (LJ) activities at work, one former friend here complained that I was screwing around at work. They’re a bit off base. Internet access was provided at work and so long as you got your job done (I was doing mine and frequently three other co-worker’s jobs), we were told point blank that they didn’t care. In fact, one of my co-workers was running his bicycle club from his government computer. Another co-worker was visiting his Mormon dating site from his Lockheed computer. One engineer was sending out announcements of when she was dancing professionally off her Air Force computer and I won’t even mention the fantasy sports sites many other employees ran on their computers. This is a difference that most blue collar workers or those new to the professional world simply can’t understand. In the white collar world, if you get your job done, and I got awards for how well I did, they don’t care what you do on the net as long as it was legal.

As is, the move to Alabama is moving along smoothly. I’ve emptied an entire dumpster full of stuff that I no longer needed, wanted or could afford to take with me. The estimates are in for the move and I should be able to cover my bills in the mean time. Either way, July and August will continue to be tight financially. Getting out there is going be a long drive that doesn’t look like I’m going to able to do exploring during. I’m getting compressed time wise to due drug screen requirements there prior to starting work and paying for the lease on the house. My house is also now leased and they assume the property after the movers are done.

I’m not going to be publicly or privately releasing my new address, phone number or place of employment on LJ. I’ll send out e-mails on that once I’m established there. There are certain people I do not want involved in my private life due to the damage they already caused. If anyone asks for my contact info then direct those requests to me. Additionally, there are going to be large scale changes to the blogging arrangements. More on those changes to be announced privately later.

Just as a reminder to everyone, tonight I will be at the El Cid Theater tonight at 8pm for dinner, drinks and the Club Schmutzig burlesque show (at 9:30p). Here’s the websites and directions:

The El Cid: http://www.elcidla.com/
Directions: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=4212+sunset+boulevard+los+angeles+ca&btnG=Search

Hope to see folks there if interested. I’ll be out on the patio at 8pm.

Nature Photo of the Day

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:01:31 GMT

Los Angeles Zoo - 2008

Nature Photo of the Week

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:47:23 GMT

Descanso Gardens - 2008

Nature Photo of the Day

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:16:03 GMT

Los Angeles Zoo - 2008
or
"I'm a bear and they gave me kibbles and celery?!

My Going Away Get Together

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:00:01 GMT

Ladies and gents, in a little more than a week, I move from cosmopolitan Los Angeles to lovely northern Alabama. If you aren't afraid of risque entertainment and enjoy a bit of the nightlife, meet me at The El Cid Theater on Sunset Blvd, edit: Thursday, June 26th, in the Silverlake District of Los Angeles for Club Schmutzig (Ref: http://events.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=events.detail&eventID=440694.95184). I'll be there at 8pm on the patio for food and drinks. At 9:30 the burlesque performance starts inside. This is the one event I am sure to attend prior to departing for Huntsville and I look forward to seeing many of my friends there.

This is the last guaranteed event that I will make it to in LA before moving. There is a small chance, I'll be at the Devil's Playground Show the following night, but this isn't a sure thing at the moment.

Nature Photo of the Day

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:05:26 GMT

California Poppy Reserve - 2008

Only 7 before the movers arrive

Nature Photo of the Day

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:14:29 GMT

Los Angeles Zoo - 2008

Nature Photo of the Day

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:50:20 GMT

Devils Punchbowl - 2007

Ever get the feeling you're being watched?...

Nature Photo of the Week

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:28:53 GMT

Los Angeles Zoo - 2008

Saw the weirdest thing today

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 01:07:17 GMT

While running errands in preparation for the move, I glaced to my right at an intersection and noticed a Jeep had a Bush political sticker on the back window. That was when I did the double take. It was one of those circular stickers that were out for the previous two elections, only this one read "W in 08"

WTF!?

Abandoned Places – Ventura County Refinery (Aug 07) – Conclusion

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:49:01 GMT

Given that southern California used to be a major oil producing region and there are many wells still operating here, I found it ironic to see a 60+ acre gasoline refinery completely decommissioned. The site was eerily quiet and surreal. Here’s the remainder of the site. Sorry for the delay, but getting ready to move is taking a large amount of time and planning.

The Refinery

Nature Photo of the Day

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:48:32 GMT

Descanso Gardens - 2008

Video of the whatever

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:35:05 GMT

Listen to the words and there's a message to those who screw with others.

Linkin Park - Shadow of the Day

Nature Photo of the Day

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:33:04 GMT

This is one of the reasons I will hate leaving my California home. The almond trees in full bloom in my back yard (March - 2008).

Abandoned Places – Ventura County Refinery (Aug 07) – part 3

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 20:11:29 GMT

Given that southern California used to be a major oil producing region and there are many wells still operating here, I found it ironic to see a 60+ acre gasoline refinery completely decommissioned. The site was eerily quiet and surreal. I’m breaking the refinery pictures into two sets merely for size of the download.

The Refinery

The pit of slime

Yes, I climbed to the top of one of the tanks.

More to follow soon

Nature Photo of the Day

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 18:43:00 GMT

Descanso Gardens - 2008

Nature Photo of the Day

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 17:54:43 GMT

Los Angeles Zoo - 2008

Even with the mild distortion caused by the fence, I think I did this fellow justice.

Nature Photo of the Day

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:39:06 GMT

Descanso Gardens (La Canada) - 2008

Nature Photo of the Day

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:25:11 GMT

LA Zoo - 2008