Lots of big news this year. The biggest is that we got the !@#* out of Texas and back to Los Angeles. ["swimmin' pools, movie stars..."] Things all came together at the beginning of the year when I found a new job here in Pasadena working at the Caltech Seismology laboratory. This enabled us to move last March, thus ending the long and sorry experiment of leaving California in search of a better way of life.
Of course, moving meant that Cathy had the unique experience of driving halfway across the continent with Cosmo the Wonder Dog in the car for company.
Another benefit of moving back to California was that I got my old personalized license plate back. After four years away, "IMA NERD" again.
We are now living in Pasadena, in a new house that we are still in the process of moving into. We rented a condo for six months while we looked for a house, and we just moved in before Thanksgiving. The house is quite nice. It is an older place, built in 1948, and it has lots of character. [And I don't mean that in a bad way, either.] We did a lot of cosmetic work on it, painting, as well as new blinds, carpet, and having the hardwood floors refinished. There are still a million little things to do, but that's just How It Is.
Cosmo is happy with the house, too. She now has a yard to patrol and guard against cats, squirrels, and other small animals.
As I mentioned before, I got a job working at the Seismology lab at Caltech, which has turned out to be both fun and an adventure. Besides, it's one of those 'Only in L.A.' kind of jobs, so I just had to try it. Now I'm more paranoid about earthquakes than ever before. Of course, I was never much concerned by them before, and generally regarded them as an interesting curiosity. Still, it's a good nerd-type job, since I get to work with real scientists and hang out at Caltech. Besides, I have a really cool office. It's in an old house, and it is the first time I've ever had a fireplace in my office.
Cathy also has a unique job. After some flopping around, she has landed at the Musicians' Credit Union in Hollywood. Ordinarily, Musicians and Credit are not words that we had thought go together, but there they are. Also, she says it is very strange to be in a banking environment where the word "gig" is used on a regular basis. It's a bit of a long commute from Pasadena, but it does have a seven hour work day and a good set of holidays. And she gets to see her customers on the "Soul Train Music Awards".
So, that's our year in review. We hope that each of you reading this has a happy holiday season and a good new year.
Stan and Cathy