August 6, 2017

A couple weeks ago, I felt that I needed to write in my journal every day. I think that it is common for me to want to write more, when I start the habit. Every day seems to have become more meaningful.

The week that I was in Utah. I applied to probably over 50 jobs. I had a job interview with Gidel and Kocal Construction on Monday afternoon. On the morning of Monday and the conclusion of applying to many jobs I realized that I can contact my network in California. I did a Skype interview with Columbia Stone a couple weeks earlier. They said that they have a project in Cupertino; although they are an Oregon based company. I contacted them to see if I could visit them. They called me later that day, and we had a spontaneous interview after visiting with Gidel and Kocal.

I also called Barry Swenson Builders because I saw that their assistant project manager position was still posted. David Gibbon said that the Santa Cruz office still needed one, so I arranged for interviews with them on Tuesday.

On Wednesday I got a job offer from Columbia Stone. Considering the other companies that I were speaking to, I figured that taking the job offer was a good fit for me because my experience has mainly been with subcontractors, and I love stone veneer. I manufactured it with Delta Stone Products for almost two years. I feel that it is a display of God's art when it is installed.

On Thursday I accepted the job offer.

We went to a free concert at the Capitola Beach on Wednesday.

My dad came to Idaho the previous week, saying that he renewed my car's registration, but he didn't open the letter, which said the DMV needed proof of my insurance. I called the insurance at that time to electronically send the proof, but they oddly required a fax number from me, and they sent me a document to fax them. I printed out the documents during this week, and I was surprised that it was fifty pages. My father has access to a fax machine. I live adjacent to the DMV, so I went to get the number. Browsing through pamphlets for information, I didn't want to wait in line. I decided to call the DMV. The call was actually pretty convenient. There was a wait, but I could sit and read. I got the fax number, and I told dad about the big document that the uninformed insurance company sent me to fax the DMV. Dad said that I would just need to fax my insurance card. Car insurance has been pretty useless to me.

Friday was Jessica's birthday, and we went to the Boardwalk.

Saturday we went to a Korean barbecue.

Jessica taught the Sunbeams at my home ward, and my family had me too busy to write in my journal last Sunday.

On Monday, the 31st of July, we started our search for a new apartment.

The next day I showed Jessica some scrapbooks that my mom made me.

Our search for apartments in Cupertino and bay area was overwhelming. I figured that there must be some sort of agency that knows the area. We drove to visit with bayrentals.com. We finally got an apartment last Friday.

Our next decision is between whether we should rent a trailer and install a hitch on our car or rent a moving truck and tow the car.

Gidel and Kocal Construction seemed to be a low class company. The first thing that expressed that was a manager bad mouthing the postal service. The company owner's daughter performed the interview. They did tenant improvement work. I learned in school that the construction of malls and the like are the armpit of the construction industry because anyone can do the work; therefore, the work is stupid competitive. The interview was shallow. I didn't want to work there even though I was offered the job.

Before the interview we bought a unique veggie pizza that Jessica liked. I ate my half after the interview because we couldn't eat together before. The unique thing about the pizza was that the topping was packed with vegetables, and they were placed on top raw after the pizza was cooked. Jessica wants to recreate it.

During the interview, I received a voice mail from Bradley Aird, the project manager at the Apple Cupertino site. He was uncertain why or how he got my resume, and I arranged to meet with him after lunch.

I told them about my Skype interview. I have interviewed a lot, and interviewing with Columbia Stone was very easy and relaxed. I think that my work experience let me feel comfortable in the interview, and I was confident. My Skype interview was only about 10 minutes long. Brad actually knew Delta Stone Products, and we got along well.

The next morning I interviewed with Barry Swenson Builders. When I arrived at the job site, I needed to use the restroom, and I saw some portable restrooms on site. I was yelled at by a superintendent, getting kicked off the site when I got out of the restroom. I thought to myself. That is not a good start to the interview. I headed straight for the jobsite trailer as the VP of operations told me. I waited there, and he came. He took me on a walk through the job site. He asked me good questions and showed me around. I believe that I showed incompetency as I asked simple questions. I attended a subcontractor meeting. The superintendent that kicked me out came in before the meeting, and I was wondering what his demeanor would be. He surprisingly apologized. The information that I learned about the company showed me that they are not put together well. They were behind schedule and over budget. I was invited to do a second interview at the office, and a project engineer drove me there. When we walked to the underground parking lot, we saw someone scrape his truck against the concrete wall. The project engineer said that the parking lot was designed too tight. I suspect that they will not fix the problem. The roof of the next floor felt low too as we walked down to her car. She said that it is 7 feet tall, but I don't think that she is compensating for the angle at which people are driving down into the underground parking lot. It can be shorter than she thinks. My second interview went okay, and I called another person, which I was told to interview with; however, the VP of Operations stopped the interview process, saying that he does not think my experience fits the position.

The job offer was exciting. Although I interviewed with other companies, I figured that they would not offer me a position. I feel that it is my time to shine, taking ownership of my role. Invest in relationships and settle into the company and community. University life can feel like time is limited. Life is only 14 weeks long before it restarts. Relationships can be shallow.

On Thursday I did the DMV correspondence. I recall doing it on that day because I printed the job offer letter to sign. The scanner did not work easily for me to send the document back. I had to practice my IT skills to fix it. I was able to get it working for me, finding that only part of the printer’s drives were installed.

Trevor took us to the Boardwalk, giving Jessica and I free day-passes. Trevor had only one ride that he did not go on yet. I think that it is called the Cyclone. Jessica did not want to go on the ride because she already went on a ride similar to it, not having a good experience. The ride swings back and forth, spinning at the same time. Trevor and I enjoyed it a lot. It was smooth, and the most thrilling part was being spun on the edge of the very top.

Afterwards Trevor showed me a Jamaican flower drink. I decided not to drink it because it was called a tea; although, Jamaica calls every drink a type of tea. The Word of Wisdom, the health law of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, calls for the saints to not drink tea. Some people believe that they know the true meaning for which tea that we should not drink, but I don't want to deal with the specifics that people theorize is the tea that they should not drink. I just avoid all of them. In Jamaica, a flower drink is called sorel. It is typically a holiday beverage. We got Horchata instead.

Trevor had to leave for work, and Jessica and I were left to enjoy ourselves. Jessica was not enjoying herself at first because she was home sick, wishing more people were with us especially her family. I gave her space to get over herself, and we enjoyed ourselves. We went on many rides. I never had a day-pass at the Boardwalk, so it was a new experience for me. The Fireball ride was shut down because another version of the ride fell apart at a fair in the east, killing one person and injuring nearly ten others. Trevor got a picture of us in front of it.

Saturday we went to a Korean barbecue with a coworker of mom's and family friends. The family friends were Korean, and they knew what good Korean barbecue was. I went to a Mexican barbecue, and all they served was meat. The Gen Korean barbecue kind of felt like that. They served a little kimchi and salad. I enjoyed the flavors. I was grateful to be sitting with our Korean friends to show us how it is done. The restaurant felt like a nightclub, blaring loud dance music.

The adventure of last week was finding an apartment. Our search online was very commercial at first. Only very luxurious apartments were our results at first. Cupertino is very expensive too. I figured that an agency had to know what is going on with the bay area rental property. Bayrentals.com popped up, and I called them. They said that I could come by for help. I expected more guidance from our appointment. They basically create an archive of all of the "available" properties to rent. A list of properties posted that day were given to me. After research of the properties, deciding on some to contact, I would find that the phone numbers are inaccurate. Some properties were rented out already, and some were not available yet. I found a specific area that is particularly walkable, having a grocery store and a park close by. After our disappointment, we found more luck. Jessica looked over the rest of the list as I researched other options. During my calls, I learned that most places required my wage to be three times the rent rate. I found one company that we have rented with before, knowing their business nature. I was confident, working with them. Their apartment complex was in the walkable area that I wanted to live at. We visited them last Friday, and we were approved on the spot. We got a second room because we plan to foster a child and have a family.

This is pretty much it; other than, Trevor had us run together a couple times. We tried cross training. Trevor couldn't do a pull up one our first run. He likes to race me sometimes when we run. We stop at Jade Street Park for Pokémon Go stops and a gym.

We play Machi Koro. I won a game yesterday, but I may have made a couple errors. Tony is very good. His strategy is very different from my understanding. I like to be very self-reliant, but his strategy is very tactical investing for the later game. Mickey is a new person of the Ocean YSA Branch, and he is very competitive.

Another thing that I missed is Pioneer day. I felt like a stranger in my home stake. We met at Delavega Park. I spoke to another member of my ward, one of a few that I recognize. He said the same thing about feeling like a stranger. Some pioneer music was played. After eating, I tried to be social talking to acquaintances.

Early last week Greg Madsen died. He was a long time member of my ward, but I don't feel that I know him well. I don't think that I ever spoke to him. He was never my immediate leader in Priesthood or Boy Scouts. It was good to learn of his great life as he was a life coach to thousands of people including Steve Young and Kate Hansen. Kate Hansen is a Winter Olympian that I follow with my Mormon YSA Blog Spot. She referred to Greg Madsen as her second father. I was wondering if I was going to see her at the funeral. She played Ukulele with another sister named Kate.