The move to Pocatello is much closer today. Our house in Colorado Springs is under contract with a solid backup offer from another party. We made an offer today on a house and will learn tomorrow morning if the offer is acceptable. It’s a lovely home. The current owner has been in the house for just a few months and is being transferred out of town. As soon as we walked into the house, Nina knew it was the right place. We did look at one other house which is a beautiful home but on a poor piece of property. That house is right now the "backup house".

Nina’s been looking at houses all week. Last night we were pretty disappointed with what she’s been able to find. Just as we thought the options were very limited, our Realtor came up two excellent properties.

Land is relatively inexpensive in Pocatello when compared to Colorado Springs. House prices reflect that difference. However, when the land is subtracted from the price of property in both locations, it appears that building a house is more expensive by a couple of dollars per square foot. We did find what seems to be close to the perfect house.

The yard isn’t finished, but the current owner has scheduled the grass to be put in, which would finish that work. If all goes well, we’ll be moved in about June 24th or so. The house in Colorado Springs will close on June 17th. The movers will arrive on the 14th, pack for two days, and load on the 16th. We’ll close the next day and head for Pocatello. We’ll close on the new house the following Monday, and then move in over the next couple of days. Then the Colorado Chapter will be completely closed. It’s a bit nostalgic. Trading Houses — a good thing to do occasionally.

I’ve started the new job … kind of. As with all good companies, the first day is devoted to "orientation". Mostly that means sitting around and waiting. Much of the orientation here is done through the company’s computer based training system, but since there are several of us being oriented today, everyone needs to be done with all the training before we can go to the next topic.

The campground is very nice — small but clean and quiet. We’ve begun nesting. Much of the stuff has now been put away and we’re beginning to figure out how to live in the motorhome. It’s nice to be in one spot for a while! The campground is about 5 minutes from work which is also nice. Nina is out with the real estate guy taking the grand tour of Pocatello and surrounding areas. Tonight we’ll do some shopping. Since there isn’t much storage space in the motorhome, we’ll have to do some shopping just about every day.

The trip here was quite uneventful. We left Colorado Springs Friday about 11 a.m. and drove to Green River, Utah, where we spent the night in an RV park. Saturday we drove to Orem and parked at Heather’s house. Since Stephanie was in a play being put on by the Junior High School she attends, we attended that production on Saturday evening. Sunday we were up and on our way by 7:30 and arrived in Pocatello at the campground right at 11. The office didn’t open until noon, so we spent an hour driving around and looking at what stores are in town. There are more than enough places to spend money!

After checking in and parking the motorhome, we drove to Soda Springs to spend the afternoon with my folks for Mother’s Day. It takes a little under an hour to drive to Soda Springs and this time of the year everything is very green and pretty. It’ll be nice to be close enough to Soda Springs to be able to pop over from time to time. Since Pocatello is the closest shopping, they’ll come this way fairly often as well. We got back to the campground about 6 p.m., finished hooking everything up, and had a very quiet evening.

So, today a new chapter is starting. As the orientation began, the person from HR asked if I was the new Information Systems person. I told her that I was. She then told me how happy she was that I was here. I wonder what that means? I’m ready to get out of the starting gate and to go do something — besides orienting!

I’m finishing up my last day at LSI Logic. I started working at this company on June 6th, 1995, after being hired as the Information Services Director for Nihon Semiconductor, a wholly owned subsidiary of LSI Logic. A few weeks later I was off to Japan for a three-year assignment. I’ve completed almost nine years of service with the company. In looking back over my career, I haven’t worked for very many places:

• United States Air Force, May 1963 through August, 1968
• Purdue National Bank, September 1968 through March, 1969
• TRW, March 1969 through September, 1981
• Systemation, September 1981 through January 1989
• Thiokol Corporation, January 1989 through February 1993
• State of Utah, May 1993 through June 1995
• LSI Logic, June 1995 through May 2004
• And next will be AMI Semiconductor, May 2004 until ????

While this closes the chapter at LSI Logic, there is another, parallel chapter of being in Colorado Springs that will close in the next few weeks. We received the first offer on our house last night. It wasn’t much of an offer and not really worth taking my time, but the realtor is obligated to present all offers to us. We’ve rejected the offer and are sure that we’ll be seeing other offers much more in line with what we’re expecting. Meanwhile, I’m wrapping up at LSI Logic today and tomorrow I’ll officially be "Between Jobs"!

I’m in the phase now of doing "Things for the Last Time". Yesterday was my last day as an ordinance worker at the Denver Temple. The next time I’m in that temple (which will be this coming Thursday), I’ll be a normal patron and am not even supposed to know about things like Instruction Rooms, Study Rooms, Worker Locker Rooms, closets with Voban and towels, what’s in the bureau drawers, and all that sort of stuff. We had a new worker start yesterday. He’s the High Priest Group Leader in our ward, former Bishop, former High Councilor, and an all around good man. He was quite surprised at all the work and organization that goes on behind the scene so that Temple patrons can have a good, fulfilling experience at the temple. Nina still has two more shifts to work, so she’s not yet to her "Last Day as an Ordinance Worker in the Denver Temple". On the way home we decided that our main purpose for being in Colorado Springs was to work at the Denver Temple and become thoroughly acquainted with that critically important part of the Church. What will be our purpose in Pocatello, Idaho? Maybe when we’ve been there as long as we’ve been here that’ll start to become clear.

I’ve also been to my last Tuesday night Mutual activity. This coming week I’ll be in Milpitas, California, on Tuesday night for a going-away dinner sponsored by my boss. Next Sunday I’ll be released as Young Men’s President and won’t have that set of responsibility any more. I’ve only been in this calling for a little more than six months, but it has been a good experience for me. I’ve come to know a few of the young men quite well — and I now know all of their names. We’ve some very good young men in the ward who love the Lord and are figuring out their worth and relationship with our Savior. I’ll miss them and the opportunity to be more of an influence in their lives.

As I go places, I’ve started thinking,"Will I ever drive down this street again?" or, "Is this the last time I’ll be in this store?" In most cases it’s probably true, but certainly not life altering. However, a week from tomorrow, I’ll drive to my current office for the last time, never to be there again. On the other hand, I’ve still got the back end of my car full of junk computer stuff. There was supposed to have been a recycle day last Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. I drove over to be there right a 9 a.m. since we needed to leave at 10:15 to drive to Denver. Several other cars pulled up as I got there, but the doors were closed. Finally after about 20 minutes of waiting with no activity, I called Nina and got the phone number from the advertisement. The recorded message said that the activity had been called off due to bad weather. Thursday’s weather was bad, much of Friday’s was bad, but Friday afternoon was a lovely day and Saturday was a near perfect day. The recycle event hasn’t been rescheduled, so now I’ve got to figure out what to do with all this stuff. I’d think the weather would have to be absolutely miserable to call off such an event!

I’ve attended my last Sunday morning Leadership Meeting in this ward. This weekend was Ward Conference with sessions last night and this morning. We have a very spiritually engaged Stake Presidency and Bishopric and the conference was one of the best I’ve attended in many years. The theme of the conference was The Lord’s Love and we were well taught out of the scriptures and through testimony. In the general session this morning, the Stake President called up a number of people to bear their testimony. All of a sudden, Nina’s name was called. She sure was surprised! She bore a wonderful testimony that was referred to several times as the Stake President spoke later in the meeting. What an awesome woman!

We’re just about ready to list the house. We’ve a few minor things to do, some touch-up painting to get done, and some more stuff to bring up from the basement to go to the trash. The window washers are coming on Monday and the carpet cleaners will be here on Tuesday. We’ll sign the paperwork to list the house tomorrow and it’ll be on the market starting Wednesday. That’s another major milestone! We’re hoping that we’ve got it priced well so that it’ll move quickly. I think this is a good time to be selling a house. Hopefully it’ll be a good time to buy a house in Pocatello. We’re both thinking that there probably isn’t as much demand for housing in Pocatello as there is here in Colorado Springs.

Two weeks from today I’ll be settled into a campground in Pocatello getting ready to report for work at a new job. This coming week will be almost a whirlwind of activity followed by another week of wrap-up. Lots of "Things for the Last Time" over the next ten days. The mood is one of nostalgia coupled with a quiet excitement.

Getting a house ready for people to look at and want to buy it is a big task. The main floor and the upstairs have been pretty much sterilized. The basement is now the big task — and I do mean a big task. We’ve got some forty years of stuff down there! Every move we throw a little bit away and in between we accumulate twice as much as was thrown away. We’ll be giving the trash collectors a sizeable tip tomorrow — and next week again.

Stuff is hard to part with. Most of it has no tangible value, just memories and "just in case". I’ve got my car full of stuff to go to Goodwill and hopefully we’ll get another load to them early next week. Our realtor will be over on Sunday to finalize getting the house priced and hopefully we’ll then figure out what else we need to do before listing the property. We’ve had one inquiry so far, a hopeful sign.

Travel plans are finally in place. Nina and I will drive over to Heather’s place in Orem on Friday, May 7th. I’ll drive the RV pulling the Tracker and Nina will bring Bradica in the Toyota. We’ll stay in Orem until Sunday morning so we can go to the play that Stephanie is in on Saturday night. Monday, May 10th I’ll report for work at AMIS and do all the inprocessing and paperwork. I’ve made reservations for us at a campground in Pocatello starting on Sunday, May 9th for a month.

Meanwhile, I’ll make my last trip to Milpitas (as an LSI Logic employee) this coming week. I’ll fly out Tuesday afternoon and back Wednesday evening. There’s a farewell dinner on Tuesday evening and I’ll have a farewell luncheon with all my employees in Milpitas on Wednesday. After that I’ll attend my last staff meeting and return to Colorado Springs.

The next trip will be to Belgium to spend some time with my new boss over there. Travel arrangements are set up for me to fly out on Saturday, May 15th (arriving on Sunday). I’ll be flying back the following Thursday. It’s a short trip, but should be very interesting. Now we just have to figure out what to do with all that Stuff in the basement!

The deal is done. The paperwork is signed and delivered. Notice has been given. We’re headed to Pocatello, Idaho, in one of life’s interesting twists.

I’m changing jobs and companies. I’ll be going to work for AMI Semiconductor in Pocatello, Idaho, in charge of their information services department. It’s a very good job, an excellent title and position, along with a set of very interesting challenges. I’ll start there on Monday, May 10th.

I had really thought I’d retire from LSI Logic, even though that job was becoming less and less interesting and challenging. I felt that looking for another job would just be frustrating and perhaps somewhat demeaning, as seasoned professionals at my age just aren’t very much in demand. However, events proved to be somewhat different. Towards the end of March a recruiter called to see if I was interested in this new opportunity. We talked at some length and she was still very interested. They set up a video conference interview for the next day which went very well. They called later that day and set up an interview trip to Pocatello, Idaho. I flew in on a Wednesday night, spent the day in interviews, and flew back to Colorado Springs that night. I felt the interviews went very well. I spent the next week on a business trip to Milpitas, California. Mid-week the recruiting company called and set up another meeting with the recruiter who then told me that AMI was very interested and wanted to know what kinds of issues and questions I had. I gave them a long list of questions and concerns. I didn’t hear anything else for more than another week.

Meanwhile, I had a couple of conversations with my management about future job possibilities. One such opportunity might be an assignment in India. Someone will definitely be needed in India to manage the work being outsourced over there, but when that will happen and whether or not I would be the right person were decisions that would be made some time several months or more from now.

My job has been getting smaller and smaller since we came back from Japan. The company has been downsizing dramatically. The areas of responsibility have been adjusted and reorganized. While all of that made sense from a company point of view, it wasn’t what I wanted to be doing. Further, the company is spinning off a third of the business into a new entity, a transaction that’ll happen in the next couple of months. I was once again faced with another significant reduction in budget and possibly another reduction in people. I’d pretty well resigned myself to this continuing unpleasant situation.

About the time I had decided that AMI was going to do something else, the recruiter called to talk through the outline of an offer. Compensation was good. Relocation was included. The job content was everything I expected. The company has operations in Pocatello, Belgium, and the Philippines, good places to spend time (and I’ll spend significant time there). I told the recruiter that if AMI could put together the offer substantially as he outlined it, I would seriously consider it.

The official offer arrived two days later and needed only some minor alterations. I sent that information back to AMI and on this past Monday I got together with my boss to tell him that I had a good offer, there were some details to work out, but if those details did work out, I was planning to accept the offer. He asked for some time to see what might be done at LSI Logic to convince me to stay, beyond his asking me to stay.

There just wasn’t much the company could offer other than the prospect of an assignment in India sometime in the future, if everything worked out. AMI came through with the needed changes to the offer, so I’ve officially given notice to LSI Logic Corporation after nine years of service.

So, we’re busy uncluttering the house — making it a sterile environment for the Realtor to show. All of Nina’s wonderful collections are being put away. All of the pictures and other stuff that says "Roland and Nina Live Here!" are going into boxes and to the basement. When people look at the house, we want them to see the possibilities of how they would live in the house, rather than feeling like this is some kind of an eclectic museum. It’ll take until the end of next week to get enough done that the house can be listed. Hopefully it’ll sell quickly so we can really be "On the Move … Again!"

Last year about this time (actually April 14, 2003), I wrote about an April Fool’s edition of a college newspaper that caused the paper to be shut down and everyone associated with the newspaper to lose their jobs. Well, it seems that students at even the most prestigious colleges can’t seem to learn from the past. Today’s CNN web page carries a story about the April Fool’s edition of The Tartan, the student newspaper at Carnegie Mellon University. The edition featured a cartoon containing a racial slur.

The Tartan, the student paper at Carnegie Mellon University, fired the cartoonist, agreed not to publish again until autumn and decided to hire an ethics manager to review future issues. Two editors also resigned.

I’m continually amazed at the churlishness of today’s society that is being fostered at our colleges. The excuse offered by the newspaper was:

Editor in Chief Alex Meseguer said the cartoon made it into print because fatigue clouded editors’ judgment.

That implies that at some previous time, judgement was present…. I seriously doubt it.

Flitting about the country is an interesting exercise in patience. The airlines coupled with TSA (Transportation Security Agency) make travel a very wearing experience. In the past couple of weeks I’ve been on several different airlines and around much of the country. Northwest Airlines, Continental, Delta, Sky West, and United have all carried my body and stuff to Dallas, Atlanta, San Jose, and Idaho in the past couple of weeks. Amazingly enough, in the end everything got where it was supposed to be and home again.

In that course of events, I’ve been in big airports (Atlanta), mid-sized airports (Colorado Springs) and very small airports (Pocatello, Idaho). Security at these airports continually finds ways to amaze me. Some thoughts:

• I went through the Colorado Springs Airport security when it was very busy and again when I was almost the only passenger in the area. I zipped right through on the busy time of the day trip. However, when I came through a few days later at a very slow time of the day, TSA took the opportunity to go through everything — and do it several times. I sure hope they were training folks. It took a long time and a lot of patience.
• The security setup in Atlanta is the one seen most often on TV as CNN has their offices in Atlanta. Everything is set up for masses of folks, yet it is the slowest security of any place I’ve been. From the time that I’ve got my stuff ready to go into the scanning machine and I’m standing in front of the metal detector until I’m through and have collected my things takes at least twice as long as at every other big airport. There are simply too many chiefs and not enough indians for that operation.
• At Pocatello, security is only open just before flights depart. The rest of the time the door into the concourse is closed and locked. A good system in my opinion. Their method for handling checked luggage is also very efficient. After checking in at the counter and getting the bag tagged, you take it to the TSA counter and turn the bag over to them. The bag gets scanned and then goes down the chute to be loaded on the airplane. On the other hand, I don’t think I’ve ever had my small suitcase more thoroughly examined than in the Pocatello airport. The security guy took everything out, and then took every thing out of the toilet bag, checked all the pockets, and thoroughly examined everything. It wasn’t just me, either. He did the same thing to everyone boarding the flight.
• Suspenders are an interesting item. I take everything out of my pockets, take off my watch and rings. I take off my glasses. I take off my shoes. The only thing metal left on my body anywhere are the suspender adjustment devices, the zipper in my pants (sometimes this is plastic), and the clasp on my pants. Some places let me take my arms out of the suspenders and let the suspenders dangle. Others won’t let that happen. Most of the time if the suspenders are dangling, the alarm doesn’t go off. It always goes off if I have to wear them normally. Occasionally even dangling suspenders sets of the alarm, but then only after I’m completely through the metal detector and have taken a step away. It is just crazy. This shouldn’t set off the detectors!

The government is going to test a smart card this summer. It will have on the card some biometrics so they can verify that the person holding the card is physically the person the card was issued to. Getting the card will require having a background check made and coming up clean. Some folks don’t like this idea at all. Personally, I think those folks are all screwed up. Airport security is about the only place where normal people are routinely treated as though they are criminals, almost having to prove that they are not. But since they don’t know what they’re looking for, they have to subject everyone to the same scrutiny. Some civil libertarians think that we’re giving up our rights to privacy if we allow the government to make these background checks. That is all unadultrated baloney. The government already knows literally everything about me. Any law-abiding citizen is in the same category. Issue the cards — let normal law-abiding citizens proceed quickly through security and save TSA’s energy for the few who are not willing to subject themselves to a prior background check. I can hardly wait until the government gets this program implemented and rolled out. Bring it On!