BrianHimes.com » Work

Exciting News

Brian — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 22:22:16 +0000

I have some exciting news to share.

I just accepted an offer to be the Assistant Director of Volunteers at Union Station Homeless Services starting June 1st.

This has been in the works for quite a while and I'm excited to finally share the news.

Posted via email from brianhimes’s posterous

Weekend Update

Brian — Wed, 13 May 2009 02:26:00 +0000

My wife and sisters with a cow in La Mirada

Worked all day Saturday for Union Station Homeless Services. Erin joined me in the evening.
Split Mother’s Day with the in-laws and my family.
Watched the Lakers take a nap when they should have been playing basketball against the Houston Rockets.
Went on an adventure with my wife and sisters. We started out in search of an award-winning cow (seen above), and ended our adventure with Boba Loca (I did not partake).
Attempted to eat somewhere new, but after several failed attempts ended up at good old Foxy’s in Glendale.
Rested after working 15 hours on Saturday.

Random Thoughts

Brian — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 20:46:00 +0000

Don’t wear a tie to work for the heck of it. Everyone will think you’re going on an interview and they’ll ask you about it.
Having a cubicle next to a skylight during a rainstorm is awesome. The raindrops make an amazingly soothing sound.

Vacation Update

Brian — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:50:00 +0000

Now that I'm definitely back at work, here's a sort of vacation update. It's not necessarily in chronological order.

Visited with family
Attended numerous Christmas parties
Ate a bunch of really good food
Lead worship at church
Shopped for Christmas presents on Christmas Eve
Ate a great Christmas Eve dinner cooked by my mother-in-law
Got up early on Christmas morning to volunteer for Dinner in the Park but didn't go because of the rain
Ate biscuits and gravy for breakfast on Christmas day
Ate a delicious Christmas dinner cooked by my mother
Opened stockings with my wife (Santa visited our new home for the first time)
Watched Will Smith in 7 lbs. and cried like a girl
Finally got around to watching the Andromeda Strain mini-series from a year ago
Hung curtains in bedroom
Checked my work email once
Bought a love seat for the office/library
Cleaned the house
Ate a bunch of candy
Rearranged furniture in the office/library
Played a lot of Mario Kart and Guitar Hero World Tour
Listened to Feist's The Reminder
Listened to the Beatles' Revolver
Visited the optometrist
Ate BBQ at Barn Burner and celebrated a good friend's birthday
Played Bunco with friends and family New Year's Eve
Got up super early and watched the Rose Parade from Erin's office building
Halfway watched the Rose Bowl from bed
Watched the Maltese Falcon
Mowed the lawn and raked leaves
Ate out a bunch

First Day Back

Brian — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 17:33:00 +0000

Today's my first day back at work after a 9 day vacation. It was great to finally have an extended vacation during which the only plans were to relax. You're probably wondering why I would go back to work on a Friday, especially the day after New Year's Day. I just thought it would be a good quiet day during which I could play catch up, and besides I don't have much vacation time left. I need to conserve my days after this little break.

I am a little tired today because Erin and I took some friends and family to watch the Rose Parade. Erin's office building is on the parade route and provides a nice warm place for parade viewing. We probably got less than four hours sleep the night before the parade and even though I tried to catch up on sleep a little yesterday afternoon, I'm still tired.

Anyway, I'm not sure why I'm typing all of this. Really, all I wanted to say was that I'm back at work and back on the blog. Hope you had a happy New Year's Eve and Day.

Weekend Update: TIRED!

Brian — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 17:26:00 +0000

I AM TIRED! This was an exhausting weekend full of shopping, fundraising, Broadway musical numbers, and very little rest.

Friday Night

Immediately following work, Erin and I began our weekend by shopping for a little fundraiser that Erin was in charge of organizing for the Associated Women of Pepperdine (AWP). AWP provides scholarships to students at Pepperdine University, and the Associated Women, put on fundraisers throughout the year to collect funds for those scholarships. The fundraiser we were purchasing supplies for involved selling goodie bags to the parents of the current freshman class and delivering them to the students in their dorms.

Saturday

Saturday morning, I had a few hours to relax and drink my morning coffee before it was time to head out to Pasadena to work on my fundraiser. This weekend was Union Station Homeless Services’ annual jaz concert, An Evening for the Station. I helped setting up for the event in the morning and had a brief break in the afternoon, during which I went and helped Erin put together the goodie bags for her AWP fundraiser.

After my hour break, I loaded up 15, 20 lbs., bags of ice in the trunk of the Focus, and lugged them back to the concert venue. Shortly after I unloaded the ice, Erin arrived to help me with my event.

We worked hard and had a great time, and at about 11:30 PM it was time to head home and crash. It had been a long day.

Sunday

Sunday, after church, Erin and I had a quick lunch at Tallyrand and then headed over to John Burroughs High School to see Burroughs on Broadway. One of the girls from the youth group at church, Allie, had an amazing performance as Cossete in the song One Day More from Les Miserables. The entire set from Les Mis was great, but she was especially good.

After congratulating Allie on her performance, we rushed back to the church to help begin the set-up for our annual Fall Family Festival, which is this coming Friday night.

That was pretty much my weekend. It’s nice to be back at a desk this morning, although given the choice I would have preferred my bed.

You Aren’t Hurting Anyone

Brian — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 20:58:00 +0000

Let me give you a quick disclaimer. I am in charge of overseeing the direct mail program at a small non-profit organization in Southern California. Keep that in mind as you read this.

I understand that there are people out there who do not like direct mail. Heck, I’m not thrilled with the direct mail solicitations I get in the mail, but I understand it is a necessary evil. It’s a cheap way to raise money and with that money a lot of people can have better lives. Now, that said, I don’t understand those people who think it’s clever to send their their junk mail back in their response envelopes. Truth be told, it doesn’t hurt us one bit to open an envelope full of junk. In fact, if anything, it provides a little comic relief to my day. I’ve received jumbo-sized fake money, religious tracts, other people’s direct mail appeals and all sorts of odds and ends. It’s pretty humorous. I used to keep a wall in my cubicle covered with the best responses.

Now, I’m going to direct the rest of this post directly to these people who obviously are offended by receiving mail solicitations. If you think you’re making a point; the point is lost. It’s not going to cause us to think twice about sending out mailers. If you truly are opposed to receiving mail, send us your name and address and ask us to remove you from our mailing list. We will be happy to do so. If you don’t send us your name, and instead choose to send us your junk, we can’t do anything. We don’t know who you are. Personally, I think it’s rather passive aggressive and childish to not give us your name when you send us your trash, but that’s just me.

Photo: uzvards

A Weird Day

Brian — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 18:31:00 +0000

Today is a weird day… maybe it’s because of the Santa Anas.

Those hot dry winds that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands’ necks. Anything can happen.

—Raymond Chandler, “Red Wind”

If it’s not that, then I don’t know what’s going on.

After a emotionally and spiritually rough day yesterday all I wanted to do this morning was stay home. However, I was pretty sure I had a 9 AM conference call I had to attend so I came into work. Upon my arrival I learned that our phone system was down, which makes it tough to have a conference call. Apparently, I came in for not.

As 9 AM approached I thought it odd that my two co-workers, who were supposed to also be on the conference call, had yet to arrive. As it turns out, one of them had the windshield of her car smashed in this morning by a large, presumably round, object. The other had her blackberry die and simply forgot about the meeting.

In addition to those oddities there’s also the fire, and the stock market rally.

My normal Weekend Update will come later today.

Weekend Update

Brian — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 19:17:00 +0000

Friday Night

Erin and I went out to dinner with some friends. We had planned to see a movie as well, but timing didn’t quite work out so we just wandered around the streets of Glendale.

In our wanderings we happened upon a place called Bearded Papa’s at the Americana on Brand and they were serving cream puffs with your choice of filling. Erin and I shared a dark chocolate dipped puff filled with vanilla ice cream. It was amazing.

Saturday

For those who know of my ongoing saga with Erin’s car, which hasn’t been operational for over a year, there is renewed hope in a possible solution. Erin’s father, cousin, and I took apart the upper intake manifold and throttle body this rainy Saturday morning and discovered what seemed to be a leak between the two. It is now our theory that this is the cause of our troubles. We’re going to see if we can have the throttle body resurfaced, and if not we’re just going to have to suck it up and purchase a new one. At this point, I don’t care. I’m just ready for it to be fixed.

After a productive morning I spent the rest of the day and afternoon eating, sleeping ans watching TV. It was great, especially with the drizzle and cloudiness going on outside.

Sunday

Sunday was consumed with normal church activities, lunch, house cleaning and small group at our home. Since Saturday was largely a day of rest, it was good to get some stuff done on Sunday.

Monday

Today is destined to be a long long day. I have been out of the office at a training session for the last three work days and a ton of work has piled up on my desk. It seems that no matter how much you try to have everything taken care of while you are out, there’s still a ton to do when you get back.

In addition to having to play catch up, I have a meeting to attend which was rescheduled, unexpectedly, to tonight. So, I’ll definitely be here until at least 8 PM.

Oh, and to top it all off, I just heard our facilities manger on the phone explaining that the fans on our ac aren’t working. It’s going to be a long day.

Too Early

Brian — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:40:00 +0000

I realize very few people will ever encounter a problem such as this but I have to share it none the less. So, this morning I arrived at work too early. Yes, you heard me correctly. I was the first one to arrive at the administrative offices this morning and I don't have a key, so I was forced to just hang out in the parking lot until someone else arrived. It's a little annoying that I couldn't get in and start my day when I wanted to. My plan was to come in early to take care of a few things before everyone arrived, but that didn't really work out. Oh well, best laid plans…