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.