Transitioning

If you still don't have my new xanga screenname, please let me know via comment or email.  Thanks!

I lost a girlfriend...

...but gained a fiancee'!!!    Two days ago, on February 26, 2006, I asked Mary Ann to marry me... and she said "yes"!  If the list of couples getting married this year wasn't long enough, now we can add one more couple to the list.    Stay tuned for the proposal story.

More provision

Today after having pho for lunch, I was just driving on the road and thought I hit a rough spit on the freeway.  The noise didn't stop, so I realized that I must've gotten a flat tire.  This spot on the Ted Williams Freeway had plenty of construction going on, so we couldn't pull over immediately because of the concrete barricades.  So I mozied on over to the off-ramp.  As I started to do so, I felt the steering wheel vibrating very badly, with everything in the rear-view mirror very shaky, and I started losing control of the car because by this time, there was nothing left of the tire except the rim.  Thankfully, a spot cleared up, and I made it off the road.  That's blessing #1.

This shoulder was also under construction, so the ground was quite sandy -- and too unstable for the car jack to hold the car upright.  So we called Mary Ann's dad to help us out and bring his super-duper, uber-manly car jack to raise the car.  So I start to loosen the cap covering the lug nuts, but for some silly reason, there was a hubcap on the hubcap that was held in place by a large bolt -- requiring a screwdriver to undo it in order to get to the lugnuts (what the???   Poor design of a wheel, IMHO).  So we look for a toolkit, which amazingly, Pam happened to buy for YM just last week!  Blessing #2.  However, the new toolkit was sealed shut by a twist-tie... but was there any knife nearby?  Nope.

So MA's parents come to save the day, and amazingly, her mom happens to have a razor blade handy to cut the twist-tie!  Blessing #3.  And for an anti-climactic ending, the tire was replaced only 10 minutes later.    Mary Ann's dad is quite the man's man, and I have much to learn from him.

Homesick

One neat thing, too, is that I got really homesick for where I was living overseas.  So while changing the tire, I got plenty of grease on my hands and dirt on my shoes, and I just felt really manly.    ROAR!!  Anyway, I glanced down at my shoes that got caked in the dirt-dust and smiled, as it was reminiscent of everyday overseas.

Amazing provision

I've been in SD for 3 weeks, and I've spent most of that time getting established -- focusing on job, car, and lodging.  Check out the cool happenings:

• Job.  I've got my resume polished up and posted on Monster.com, careerbuilder.com, and dice.com.  I've applied to about 8 positions, but with no feedback.  Last week, through some personal connections, I got a "pre-visit" scheduled yesterday with the IT director and other managers at a large company.  I wanted that job so much, but I didn't have my head on straight, and I wasn't upwardly focused until as late as Thursday.    That company, however, isn't in a position to hire right now.  Bummer, huh?  But check this out...
  
  That very morning before my pre-visit, I got a call from a recruiter who saw my resume on Monster.com.  She connected me to an opening for a temp job in SD, then I got phone-interviewed, and then I got the job!!  I don't think it's coincidence that only when I was upwardly focused was I handed this job.  My stipulations were that I wanted to be a blessing to those in my workplace, and that the job I get would be where I am supposed to be right here, right now.  So the door for the big company closed, but this other door opened.    (It also turns out that someone in a different department at the original company wanted to see me Friday when I was at the office... so I might get a job there after all!)  I never cease to be amazed.
  
  
• Car. Mary Ann has been so gracious enough to drive me around everywhere since I've been here.  But now, thanks to Ying Mei, I can get around on my own using her car for 2 weeks while she's doing some traveling.  This is just what I needed at this time, and it gives Mary Ann a little more breathing room to work on her own stuff. AND, if I didn't have this car now, how would I get to work on Monday?    I stand amazed (and just realized the previous statement!).
  
  
• Lodging.  As of a week ago, I stayed at 2 places over the course of 2 weeks.  I was looking for a more-permanent place to live until January when I'll be able to move into permanent housing.  Then PD agreed to house me for the amount of time that I need.  This came just-in-time, as I had to move out of place #2 immediately.

Ahh, how amazing it is to know that I have everything provided for me.  Granted, often it's not clear or even on the horizon, yet provision comes at just the perfect time.  It never ceases to amaze me.  What fodder for humility!