Day One

Years ago, when in high school, an aptitude test was given to all graduating seniors. The test results would direct you to careers for your success. So what happens when you are in 100% in all the sections? That's no direction at all. "You can do anything you want to"... Wouldn't it be easier if I was stupid? Then there would be limits to my aspirations. I could be a dishwasher or a cook if I had the aptitude. So with no help whatsoever, off I was thrown into life. Fly little bird, Fly.

Currently, I am buried in a job that could be titled, "The Rise and Fall of the Frito Empire". There's nothing more grounding than be stuck in a low paying, dead end job, with no hope of advancement where you are told nearly daily, "be grateful you have a job". Especially when I have 15 years experience as a VP/CFO of a multimillion dollar corporation and a Master's degree from Pepperdine University. Yep, working for less than $10 an hour can really make you feel grounded, all right.

How in the world did I land here? by choice of course. After 9/11, I fled LA LA land for good. There's nothing like feeling you are living under a giant target, just waiting for a terrorist attack to kill you and your family. I was born and raised in Southern California, a post card perfect life. When you skip past the Watts riots and Rodney King riots... My mother, God bless her, bought some land, waaay out in the woods after the Watts riots. When you can see the glow of the fires burning down the cities, you think about things like a place to get away. After 9/11, it just seemed like it was time to do a reverse migration from California. It wasn't a sudden move, it had been planned for several years as "what we will do when it's time to retire", it's just that 9/11 put into operation, NOW.

What happens during a reverse migration? For all the best laid plans, there are giant potholes waiting to swallow you. All you can do is pull yourself out of them, modify plans and keep going. I am where I want to be. The job sucks. The so called "benefits" are awful. But I do have a job. It mostly pays the bills, but isn't what I was told it would be. Welcome to life. If the plans had worked right, I wouldn't be working at all, I'd be retired, playing farmer. Far, far away from the crowded cities and violence. Safe. That part is true and makes it all worth it.