14 November 2017
Last week I said that I am going to cover five areas at work, and the fifth area did not start until yesterday.
15 November 2017
This morning I worked on my secretary calling after publishing a Storify post, and before making my food for the day. The Elders Quorum President wanted me to record the productivity of our home teaching companionships. Doesn't this sound similar to my Project Engineer job, recording the productivity of the mason crews? The president knew that there were more home teaching done than recorded. Since my job has a form that the foreman fill out for his crews, I made a form for the home teaching companionships to use. I decided to make a personal excel sheet for each companionship with their assignments. I want to make the tool require the least amount of work for them to be most effective. I started the process. I basically duplicated the file multiple times. I should be able to send them out to each home teacher by the end of next week. I don't work very long. I just worked about twenty minutes or so. Things will work out little by little, one by one.
This week I started studying Jacob 5, quoting the prophet Zenos. In the allegory of the tame and wild olive trees, I was surprised that the Lord of the Vineyard said "it mattereth not that if it so be that the root of this tree perish, I may preserve the fruit thereof unto myself." This is in verse 8. He doesn't have an attachment to the tree. All he cares about is the fruit of the tame olive tree. What is the fruit of the tame olive tree symbolic of? It may be revealed to me as I continue reading the chapter. I think that it symbolizes righteous people, obtaining salvation. What are the roots of the tree?
The tree is getting old, beginning to decay and perish; although, trees are rarely thought of as getting old. It is not like they start to grow white hair and their body's functions worsen.
The Lord of the Vineyard seems to know the tree very well, and he is fond of the fruit of the olive tree characterized as tame. Tame means that it has been produced by cultivation. The Lord of the Vineyard looks for a specific taste of the fruit that he desires. I would be making assumption, if I were to describe the taste and the texture of the olives. He is looking for a particular type of flavor. One may want to look to the scriptures to learn of the nature that the Lord wants in his people. Think of the type of people that God wants. The nature is so dynamic, and I think that the word that best describes his people is meekness.
During Mutual, I transcribed grandpa's StoryWorth entry. He answered three questions in one recording.
19 November 2017
The fifteenth of November was a Wednesday, and Thursday and Friday was busy; Saturday too. On Thursday I had my three month review. I was supposed to have a lunch with the CEO at 11:30 AM, but they got caught up in something in the field. We ended up eating dinner about five pm together. The dinner was my first time communing with people drinking at a bar. I got water and a Thai noodle dish. They said that my effort is above average, but I need to be more assertive. The three month review is confidential, but I can teach a principle that Mike Twiss taught about the management side of the contractor's business. Project engineers should be aware of the difference between monitoring and managing. He did not go too much into the principle, so I don't remember much. Monitoring is not management. It is more like watching the work, and not putting your input in the project. Management is the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. This is a definition from Google. I would act like I am not a manager, just reporting numbers before. I have done minimal management influence on the project.
20 November 2017
I arrived home late after the three month review because I started eating about 5, and I wanted to spend time with the CEO and my project manager in a social setting. Jessica and my mother wanted to hear about the three month review. I seem to have made it a big deal for me because it was my first corporate review.
On Friday, I did not have time during lunch to write in my journal for some odd reason.
The seventeenth became a big day for me. First of all, Trevor gave me the new Pokémon Ultra Moon, which came out on Friday. The new Apple Visitor Center that Columbia Stone Inc worked on opened on the 17th, and the movie, Justice League, came out last Friday too. I wanted to have an evening with Trevor at the Apple Visitor Center. Nick Chao and Sarah Welch were interested in coming, but they didn't make it. I wanted Trevor to meet me right as I got off work, but I was informed that he was still playing Yu-Gi-Oh, when I called him after work. He arrived just barely before the visitor center closed. I bought a hat because Apollo Mechanical got me into hats. A lot of people at Apollo Mechanical would wear hats, and I got like four Apollo hats. I also got an Intel hat, when I worked with Apollo Mechanical. The Apple hat cost forty dollars. I guessed that it would. Trevor bought a shirt for forty dollars too, but there was nothing too special about the shirt. It just has their logo on it. It was nice walking around, seeing the completed project. Trevor appreciated the stairs. The stone is pretty plain. There is a balcony type story on the top. The wood flooring looks rushed. The view is not that good because there are trees blocking the scene of the main campus building.
We had pizza for dinner, and we decided to go to Capitola for the movie because Nick and friends were there. The November 17th celebration went as I hoped; although, it was not formally planned. I wish Nick and Sarah came to the Apple Visitor Center.
A lot of people were knocking the Justice League movie, but I don't understand their perspective. I loved the character development; however, the villain was lacking.
Trevor bought me a new 3DS for Pokémon Ultra Moon. We went a unique Best Buy that Trevor wanted to visit; although, we didn't plan to go. The Best Buy had a section devoted to start ups. I decided to have a team full of baby Pokémon. It makes the game more difficult and fun.
23 November 2017
Today is Thanksgiving, and I am currently waiting in line at Best Buy to by a Google Home. Trevor said that they are only 30 dollars. I was trying to recall why I have not written in my journal recently. It is mainly because I am have been distracted by the Pokémon game. I was trying to catch a Munchlax, and I finally caught one last night just before my first duel with Trevor. We played the game about the same amount of time, so the battle was fair. I couldn't only find three baby Pokémon before the first grand trial; however, I found four baby Pokémon within the last hour or so before I battled Trevor. I was able to defeat Trevor in our first battle, catching a Munchlax just before battling him. Snorlax is my favorite Pokémon.
On Tuesday night Jessica and I went out to dinner to celebrate our twentieth month anniversary. We still have ice-cream. We went to Dairy Queen for a quick meal. We got into the car; then, we realized that it is only a couple blocks away, so I drove around the parking lot to park it again. It was nice to walk.
24 November 2017
This morning my dad and I woke up early to go to the temple. I was worried that I would sleep a lot during the endowment session, but I did pretty well. I learned and pondered about things.
Last night dad was able to convince mom to play Tokaido with us, which is a rare occasion. I lost for the first time in the game. We played two games yesterday, a game Machi Koro and Tokaido, and Jessica won both games. Jessica says that she has a secret strategy for Machi Koro, and Jessica threw off the competition from the usual game-play of Tokaido by donating all her initial money to the temple. She was most risky, and it paid off.
Thanksgiving yesterday was great. There was a little drama with the Turkey. It leaked grease, igniting, when my dad opened the oven. Grease smoke filled the condominium. I hung out in the well ventilated space while Jessica was wanting to put the couch bed away. The situation resolved quickly by the wisdom of mother.
Trevor had to work from 5:00 pm to 1:00 am, so we had an early Thanksgiving. The meal was great. Trevor got a picture. Maybe I will upload it. I am not into describing all of the food. Jessica, Trevor, and I peeled and cut potatoes for the mashed potatoes. I also helped make the fruit salad a little.
Work this past week was chill. I only needed to work Monday through Wednesday.
I have not finished reading Jacob 5, but my thought about the Lord of the Olive Tree vineyard, not caring about the tree, was spoken too early because he said multiple times that it grieves him that he might lose the tree.
26 November 2017
On Thursday evening dad was able to convince mom to try the new game Tokaido. Mom had never really been interested in board games, but this game persuaded her of how board games are a wholesome activity. We tried to play another game last night, but Trevor left to hang out with Nick and friends for Allison's birthday. I believe. Mom likes the game because it has time to shop for souvenirs and dishes at a restaurant.
Thomas' family joined us for a second Thanksgiving last night too. We had a good time.
One thing that I wanted to say is that last weekend. We had the sister missionaries over for dinner. They gave me an invitation to a nativity scene event. I was planning to give the invitation to Robert, the guy who saved the old lady from a fire in San Jose. I basically had one day to invite him, and Satan put thoughts in my mind to cut corners in my work. There are two areas with very few stones to set, so I would just checked those areas. I usually check every corner every day; therefore, I would see Robert every day. Since I skipped checking every area, I most likely missed the opportunity to invite Robert to the event. Satan has very subtle tricks to hold back the work of God.
I got a new story from grandpa to transcribe.
