Greetings from Costa Mesa, California, USA!
Photo taken on Sunday, February 8, 2009.
Monday started with bad news - This would be my last week at my freelance job. The news sucks and the recession was not the cause. After nearly six months “The Powers That Be” decided that I was not the right person. My coworker was also my supervisor as she had seniority but less experience than I did. Everything had to be done her way which I did 95% of the time. The remaining 5% when I did things my way is likely the reason that I was cut loose.
The news did not take long to sink in. Better yet I quickly found a silver lining. The company’s chief operating officer had a “Big Brother” presence a la George Orwell’s novel 1984. I always felt everything – emails, phone calls, even casual conversations – was being monitored. With my job ending, I continued to do it as professionally as before but the specter of “Big Brother” no longer haunted me.
I even had a gold lining. Being my last week, I was no longer hesitant to ask for a longer lunch on Wednesday. The UC Irvine’s Athletics Department held a luncheon with guest speaker John Speraw, head coach of its men’s volleyball team. Speraw was also the assistant coach of the gold-winning USA’s Olympic men’s volleyball team and he presented a slideshow of his Beijng experience.
None of the Olympic team was there but the luncheon had open seating and I ended up at the guest speaker’s table. Speraw was not there long before being pulled away by other attendees and then his presentation. The slideshow was a very detailed and insightful look into an athlete’s (and coach’s) Olympic experience – from the pre-games orientation in the USA to the security, housing facilities, nightlife and competition in China to the victory celebrations there and back home.
Only bronze left to complete a medal analogy. I ended the workweek watching the Anteaters of UC Irvine win 3-0 against the Cardinals of Stanford University in men’s volleyball. The sport’s season started in January and UC Irvine’s team had the preseason ranking of 6th nationally. A month later, its standing has moved to 3rd. It’s a bit of a stretch but 3rd is bronze, right? The ‘Eaters swept the match and I have swept the medals.
Finally speaking of seasons, barely into February, the weather is far from cold, even for Southern California. In fact in this week’s photo, the whiteness in the trees and on the ground is not snow, but blossom petals. This may be the midst of winter but spring has taken a huge head start.
Angelo
Photo taken on Sunday, February 8, 2009.
Monday started with bad news - This would be my last week at my freelance job. The news sucks and the recession was not the cause. After nearly six months “The Powers That Be” decided that I was not the right person. My coworker was also my supervisor as she had seniority but less experience than I did. Everything had to be done her way which I did 95% of the time. The remaining 5% when I did things my way is likely the reason that I was cut loose.
The news did not take long to sink in. Better yet I quickly found a silver lining. The company’s chief operating officer had a “Big Brother” presence a la George Orwell’s novel 1984. I always felt everything – emails, phone calls, even casual conversations – was being monitored. With my job ending, I continued to do it as professionally as before but the specter of “Big Brother” no longer haunted me.
I even had a gold lining. Being my last week, I was no longer hesitant to ask for a longer lunch on Wednesday. The UC Irvine’s Athletics Department held a luncheon with guest speaker John Speraw, head coach of its men’s volleyball team. Speraw was also the assistant coach of the gold-winning USA’s Olympic men’s volleyball team and he presented a slideshow of his Beijng experience.
None of the Olympic team was there but the luncheon had open seating and I ended up at the guest speaker’s table. Speraw was not there long before being pulled away by other attendees and then his presentation. The slideshow was a very detailed and insightful look into an athlete’s (and coach’s) Olympic experience – from the pre-games orientation in the USA to the security, housing facilities, nightlife and competition in China to the victory celebrations there and back home.
Only bronze left to complete a medal analogy. I ended the workweek watching the Anteaters of UC Irvine win 3-0 against the Cardinals of Stanford University in men’s volleyball. The sport’s season started in January and UC Irvine’s team had the preseason ranking of 6th nationally. A month later, its standing has moved to 3rd. It’s a bit of a stretch but 3rd is bronze, right? The ‘Eaters swept the match and I have swept the medals.
Finally speaking of seasons, barely into February, the weather is far from cold, even for Southern California. In fact in this week’s photo, the whiteness in the trees and on the ground is not snow, but blossom petals. This may be the midst of winter but spring has taken a huge head start.
Angelo
