The Luckiest Girl

Friday, 30 September 2005

The Final Countdown

6 hours until I sign out for the last time at this job.

23 hours and 10 minutes until I leave for Hawaii.

I'm not sure which one I'm more excited about. Oh come on, who am I kidding? Of course I'm more excited about Hawaii! But I am also SO relieved to be leaving this job and moving into a new chapter in my professional life. I went yesterday to do all of my new hire stuff for the County, and everyone was so nice and friendly. Several people stopping by just to say Hi to the new person. It was nice. I think I'm really going to like it there...

Beyond that, I am patiently waiting for my exit interview at 2:00. I haven't decided exactly what I want to say, assuming I am given the opportunity to really say anything. Shall I just let everything go since I am leaving anyway? Or should I say what I really feel? I'll keep you posted on that. Until then...

Aloha!

posted by: squintzinca at September 30, 2005 17:06 | link | comments (1) |

Friday, 23 September 2005

Karen, Congrats on your new job. Feshizel Minizel!!!

posted by: MrKellyG at September 23, 2005 13:09 | link | comments (1) |

Thursday, 22 September 2005

Finally, everything comes together.

Well, I gave my official Letter of Resignation today at work. I've been offered a job with the County (finally!) and will start on October 11th. I'm so excited. Thank you so much to everyone who kept me in their prayers during this search!

It's funny how things work out, huh? I mean, I went on so many interviews with this County stuff that I was beginning to think that nothing would ever pan out! And then, I went to an interview for a temporary position, that I didn't want, but I figured, 'What the heck? It will be good practice." Wouldn't you know that's the job I was offered? But then, great news! The 'temporary position' has been changed to a limited term position. Still not as great as being a regular employee, but at least I'll be given full benefits. Also, the position is downtown, so I'll be able to walk or ride a bike to work, which will be awesome!

I guess things sure do have a way of working out...

posted by: squintzinca at September 22, 2005 21:44 | link | comments (3) |

Tuesday, 20 September 2005

So...have I mentioned lately that I am the luckiest girl, um...EVER???!!? In fact, I am considering changing the name of this blog to 'THE LUCKIEST GIRL - EVER!'

Ok, what's all the excitement about? Let me tell you. Ok, ready?

I'm going to Hawaii. Couldn't you just die from the excitment? Ok, well probably not, but I cannot wait! Now you may be saying to yourself, "Didn't she just go?" and yes, I did go to Hawaii just a little over a year ago. But this time I'm going to Maui, and I've never been there before. And anyone who's ever been to Hawaii will tell you that once a year is really not often enough.

"How can this be?" might be your next ponderation. Well, I'm tagging along with Mom and Dad for not quite half of their vacation, which they have so graciously allowed me to do. (Thanks you guys!) So I will be sharing their hotel and trailing behind them as they meander around the island. AND, of course, I will be spending some quality time at the beach. It's going to be great. All that time to relax and de-stress.

I know what you're thinking now. "What on earth can this girl, the luckiest girl-EVER', have to be stressed about??" I'm right, aren't I? That's what you were thinking! Well, to tell you the truth that is a very good question. One that I think will be best answered whilst I am lazing the days away in the Hawaiian sun. I promise to get back to you on that.

Aloha!

posted by: squintzinca at September 20, 2005 22:23 | link | comments (5) |

Tuesday, 13 September 2005

"What do you think about the FEMA Director, Michael Brown, resigning.... should he bare the blunt of the blame?"

This was the question on my email, from a friend who likes to debate politics with me. I gotta tell you, I am so tired of people blaming everyone else. IT WAS A HURRICANE! A natural disaster. They call them that for a reason. So here was my answer. I know a lot of people will disagree, but I don't care. This is my blog, and I'll rant if I want to.

The blunt of the blame? No, I think that goes to the Mayor of New Orleans, the Governor of La., and the residents who failed to heed the warnings given to them.

People keep saying that they "had no idea" it was going to be so bad. Who did? Had it just been the Hurricane, things would not have been this bad. The real problems came at the levee breach which flooded the city. No one could have seen that coming. However, it was a level 5 hurricane and was expected to be "the worst hurricane to hit the Gulf Coast in 40 years". Hmmm...you'd think that is pretty serious, huh?

What I want to know, is why these people, who refused to evacuate when they could have, are now screaming at anyone who will listen that their needs are not being met. At some point, there must be some personal responsibility taken. On Saturday afternoon, the President had already declared a National Disaster in those areas projected to be hit. It's not his fault (or FEMA's) that the Gov of La did not mobilize the Nat'l Guard at that time. I first learned of the seriousness of the danger on Saturday morning, around 11 am when the Mayor of NO was on TV asking residents to voluntarily evacuate. It should have been mandatory then. But they waited until Sunday to call for Mandatory evacuations. This obviously put a heavier burden on freeways, public transit, etc. New Orleans is a large city. It takes an hour to get out of the Arco Arena parking lot after a sold out game or concert, it takes more than a few hours to get thousands of people out of a city.

I find it poor logic to blame the government for a Natural Disaster. Yes, it took a while for supplies to get there following the hurricane. But I was evacuated to 150 miles East of the Hurricane landfall, and it took two days for roads and airports to be reopened that far away so that I could get home. We had disaster relief organizations camped with us waiting for the roads to open to get in with help. Roads were flooded from La to Miss, and boats go a little slower. Perhaps the State could have done more, utilizing the school busses to get people out, but would they have even left? And where would all of these people have gone? The Superdome was a shelter, unfortunately it's sturdiness was over-rated. At that time, there was no where for all of these people to go, unless they were fortunate enough to have relatives in other parts of the South. How can that be blamed on the government? Had the levee not failed, many of those people in the Superdome would have safely returned home, tired, saddened, but not too much worse for the wear. The flooding is what made that impossible. The same flooding that made it so hard to get help to the victims.

Life happens. Nobody has a crystal ball to see just how bad things are going to be. Bad stuff happens all the time. It's not somebody's fault. It's life. And sometimes, it sucks.

posted by: squintzinca at September 13, 2005 16:17 | link | comments (6) |

Friday, 09 September 2005

It's Friday...finally!

Despite having several days off and this being a short week due to the holiday, it has taken forever to get to Friday! Things in my life are good, going forward at a slow but steady pace. I had another interview with the county this week, and have yet another one set up for later this month. I finally heard from Kelley, who is in good spirits but I think really needs a hug. I wish I could give him one...

Anyway, he is temporarily relocating to Tampa, Florida and will hopefully be able to take some time to come out to California for a visit finally. It's been a long time since he was here, and there are several people who he'd like to see and who would like to see him. He said there are lots of volunteers there now helping to clear debris and just about everyone has power again, at least in his area. Mississippi is ahead of schedule with restoring power. TGIFridays gets big kudos for hauling in a big generator and a tanker of fuel to run their grills and then offering meals around the clock for just $5 for an entire meal, your choice. Kelley said he's been eating there a lot. Everyone is hanging in there, doing what they can and trying to keep putting one foot in front of the other. The weird thing is, in a few years, it will be some crazy thing that happened, and a few years after that it will be nothing more than a history lesson, maybe. Isn't that strange?

posted by: squintzinca at September 09, 2005 22:19 | link | comments |

Monday, 05 September 2005

Back to work

Well, the vacation's over, I'm headed back to work tomorrow. I haven't missed it at all. Not even a little bit. I don't think that's too good of a sign. I've been gone for 12 days. There will be SO MUCH catch up pver the next week or so. I'm not looking forward to it. I have another interview with the county on Thursday, I'm still hoping one of these days something will pan out for that. And I am still looking, keeping my options open as much as possible.

Today I am enjoying my time. Spending the day at my Parents house. Started off with biscuts and gravy this morning at Grandma's. YUMMY! And there was enough for me to bring a little home for left overs.

I haven't thought much about the hurricane. I've mostly ignored the news, and people have stopped calling me everytime they hear of the latest tradgedy from the gulf coast. It is just so sad. I want to tell you about it. Help you to understand a little of how it has changed me. But there are not sufficient words, or at least I do not have them. I guess the bottom line is that I really am one of the luckiest girls in the world. I don't ever want to forget that. Not ever.

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