Ken's Latest Column Posted (In Full)

Ken's latest Kenversations(TM) column is now posted in full on LaughingPlace.com. The third and final part, about recent changes and trends in the theme park industry, went up today.

Part one is here - It is about major changes within the Disney Company in the last few years, and in the feature film industry, and animation.

Part two is here - It is about major changes over the last few years in cinemas, home viewing of feature films, DVDs, cable television, telecom, broadcast television networks, radio, and record companies.

Ultrasound Pictures of Keelie

Here are a couple of pictures of Keelie, our baby girl, taken on February 5, just before the halfway point for her time in the womb. She is due around Independence Day.

She's raising one arm up, and rubbing the other hand against her face, just like her mother. She was active during this ultrasound - moving around a lot.









This was also the ultrasound where it was very easy to see that she's a girl. How? There was a phone in her hand, and she had it up to her ear.

Second Part of Latest Kenversations(TM) Now Online

The second of three parts to Ken's latest Kenversation(TM) column is up at LaughingPlace.com. The first part is here.

In this part of the column, Ken talks about the big recent changes and trends in cinema, home viewing of feature films, DVDs, cable television, telecom, broadcast television networks, radio, and record companies.

Ken's Latest Column Now Online

The first part of the latest edition of Kenversations(TM) was posted today at http://www.LaughingPlace.com.

In this three-part column, Ken examines the big changes both inside Disney and around Disney over the last few years - in media, entertainment, communications, and theme parks.

Check out the column and tell Ken what you think by using the feedback form at the end of the column. Talk about the column with others by following the link at the end of the column to the discussion boards. Then, spread the word. Don't forget to check back for the second and third parts!

(Cross-posted just about everywhere.)

It's Been a Good Start to the Year

We had our latest ultrasound session today - pictures may follow later... need to scan them, having computer issues, etc. etc. etc...

Anyway, Aunt Kendra and Grandma 'Nanny' were there with us. Everything is looking great, and the baby is being very active. We finally confirmed for sure that the baby is a GIRL! That's right... the first granddaughter on either side of the family is kicking and waving and being shy. We have photographic evidence, however, that she's a girl. I'm sure she'll be happy that we kept those, oh, about 12 years from now.

Not much else to report. We caught some big football game on television yesterday.

We're trying to make the adjustments to being parents. I'm so proud of Kori.

Merry Christmas 2006

Greetings to you and your kin. We hope you are in good spirits, good fortune, good health, and filled with His peace.

It's been another big year for us and has involved some transitions. The most significant is that we found out that we have a baby on the way! That’s right – with our first child on the way, we’re now parents, though Kori is doing all of the work because, well, she is the one who is pregnant. Since the baby is due July 5, we’ve nicknamed him or her "Firecracker." We are so happy, and so far, Kori is handling pregnancy well. We had the most recent ultrasound session a few days ago, and there was the baby, beating heart and all (which we heard for the second time), waving, kicking, and looking like he or she had the hiccups. Many of our friends had their babies arrive this year or found out that they will be welcoming babies next year, too.


As for work - two of my (Ken) coworkers who’ve become good friends - True and Marina - left Public Works for another County of Los Angeles department, and some of our other coworkers left as well. I was already looking for a promotion inside or outside County government, but this heaped additional motivation on my search for other opportunities - it just seemed like the right time. At the urging of my two friends, I applied for a position with the County Department of Agricultural Commissioner/Weights & Measures (ACWM). ACWM was looking for someone to pioneer their Public Information Officer position. There was a long selection process that culminated with a two and half hour interview with the Director of ACWM, and at the end of it, he offered me the position. So, in late October, I finished packing up at DPW one day, and started at ACWM the next. It has been going well.


Meanwhile, Kori went to work for Long Beach Miller Children's Hospital (at Long Beach Memorial) for a 13-week contract, working four 12-hour overnight shifts a week. That meant there would be days at a time when we would literally not see each other. She enjoyed her time there and worked with some great people. For most of the year, Kori was still on the books at her previous employer - the one we’ve been having a dispute with since June of 2005 because, after four and a half years of being a great nurse for them even with her disability, they’d suddenly raised issues regarding her disability and wouldn’t let her work. A full day of mediation this year didn’t resolve the situation, though Kori handled the day with poise and strength. Later, they made a tactical offer to bring her back as a secretary - which was odd, considering they’d cited her speech as a reason to prevent her from returning to work. Turning down their offer allowed them to formally end her employment with them. We’re heading to arbitration.


To celebrate the anniversary of our first date, which falls near Valentine’s Day, we went to Las Vegas for a weekend. We enjoyed time with our friends the Wests and the Ippolitos - both families were gracious enough to let us crash with them for part of the trip. I surprised Kori with tickets to KA at the MGM Grand.


Bob and Julie got married April 30th, and I had the honor of being Best Man. Bob and I first met as teenagers who were both trying to figure out how to be first on the under-construction Splash Mountain at Disneyland. There were a lot of weddings this year, and we would have attended all of them if only we could! The ones we were able to witness were all beautiful and moving.

In early June, we went back to central Illinois - which we’ve done every year we’ve been together - this time to the Peoria area for my maternal grandfather’s funeral. He had been in fairly good health heading towards his 90th birthday, but felt like he’d lived too long, especially having lost Grandma almost two years prior. After several weeks of failing health, he passed away, leaving behind reassurance to us that he’d lived a full life. After that unplanned trip, we took a planned trip in the later part of June to the greater Dayton, Ohio area to see my dad’s side of the family and attend the wedding of my cousin Chris and his bride, Alex. I hadn’t been there since 1997, and it was great to see uncles, aunts, and cousins and for Kori to meet everyone. As a couple with a marriage that is still just starting out, it was great to witness another wedding and to talk at length with Uncle Bob & Aunt Sharon, who’ve now been married for over 50 years!

In August, we lost our friend Carlo after he fought hard against cancer for two years with True’s help. About a month before his funeral, we attended his wedding to True - the wedding being an example of how he and True lived life to the fullest in the face of his battle. This young man’s life-prolonging fight and his upbeat attitude, and True’s strength and caring were touching and inspiring.

There were a few other events of note - Kori’s ten-year high school reunion was in August; October brought a difficult session of jury duty for her; our second wedding anniversary, in early December, was kicked off by seeing The Lion King at the Pantages. I stood in line to have "Weird Al" Yankovic sign a copy of his latest Al-bum, though I’ve met him and had him autograph stuff at least a few times before. Other than all of the things I’ve discussed in the letter, life continues as usual. We’ve enjoyed having our holidays together for the past year and a half without me working the Disneyland job anymore. We continue to visit Disneyland with our annual passes, which are a little more expensive than free! Homecoming, our church-based group of friends, has been a great place to see babies on a weekly basis. The annual Keel Family Christmas Party went well. I haven’t been doing as much freelance writing as I’d like (TheDisneyBlog.com and LaughingPlace.com), but I hope to get back into the rhythm of that before the baby gets here. Kori bought me a nice headphones-and-microphone set so that I can now provide an audio version of my writing for those who’d prefer to listen more than read.


It is nice to have family and friends with whom we can share everything. Thanks for being there for us. Please keep us updated on what you’re up to. We hope 2007 will be a great year for you.

Merry Christmas!

Ken & Kori Pellman
(and Shelby)
December 2006

It's Been Quite a Week

Ken here.

We finished off this weekend with a visit to Boot Hill in Irvine earlier tonight. The place gets better and better every year. I used to help out with the operation. I certainly can't take any credit for the design and installation. There are some talented, imaginative, hard-working folks who put this together every year. The score was composed and performed by a professional composer I know and some of the sculpture work was done by another pro who does that sort of work for the film industry.

It's been quite a week.

Monday, I cleared out of my space at DPW. First thing Tuesday morning, I was doing my paperwork at ACWM. The three days I've spent there so far have been great. Seems like a great group of people working there, and I'm trying to soak up as much as I can about what they do and how they do it. My schedule has been filled with trips and classes.

Kori continues to sell on EBay. She's not doing it on a large scale, just some items here and there.

There's some other good news developing, but that will have to wait for a later time.

Let us know how are you are doing and what you're up to.

Farewell DPW, Hello ACWM

It can now be revealed that Kori was recently serving on a jury in a criminal case. The deliberations laster longer than expected, and the vote ended up being "not guilty".

She's also been keeping busy around the condo and running errands.

She drove up last Thursday to be at the Happy Hour held in honor of my promotion.

And, as of about 5:30pm today, I am no longer a DPW employee. Tomorrow, I begin my new position with Agriculture Commissioner/Weights & Measures.

Closing down at DPW was quite an operation for me. Six and a half years of accumulated work and memories had to be either filed, transferred, recycled, or boxed to take home.

Change is never easy for me. But some change is necessary.

There were some very touching well-wishes from my co-workers. I'm going to miss all of them.

-Ken

Ken's Getting Promoted

Kori has been on a special assignment (more on that at a later date, maybe).

As for me...

I'm getting ready to transition to another County of Los Angeles Department. Switching departments may not big a big deal a company, but in County terms, Departments are like their own little worlds, though most are run by someone appointed by the same elected Board of Supervisors. The switch I'm making, for instance, means I will be working in a different city with a whole different set of people who are responsible for entirely different services to the public than where I was before.

Since May 1, 2000, I have been with the Department of Public Works at the headquarters tower in Alhambra. It is just down the street from where I went to Elementary and High school in South Pasadena. When I started working there, oddly enough, I was living in Fullerton, which was about 45 minutes away without traffic, which meant it was really 60-90 minutes away. Then, I moved back to South Pasadena to get closer - about 10 minutes away max - to work.

It wasn't long before I got into the media relations activities and then starting functioning as a Public Information Officer. Finally, I got married and moved in with my beautiful bride in Anaheim, which is even further away than Fullerton, giving me a long commute again.

I've been poking around for new position for a while now.

For one thing, I dropped my part-time Disneyland job in the middle of 2005, so we lost that tiny additional income and my status as a "Part of the Magic". Also, being a newlywed gets you thinking about other major life changes. Secondly, given the County's job classification system and what "items" were available in my corner of Public Works and the reality of staffing changes, I had nowhere to advance there. Finally, some of my coworkers who had become some of my dearest of friends left for other County Departments.

Public Works is a great Department. The people there are highly dedicated, professional, and social, whether they are the people patching up potholes, sweeping streets, inspecting sewers, checking tap water, checking numbers in Accounts Payable, operating a dam, training, processing payroll, surveying, enforcing building codes, fighting graffiti, fixing vehicles, securing grants, investigating traffic conditions, providing lighting, inspecting bridges, checking underground storage tanks, reducing water pollution, issuing construction permits, planning for disasters, keeping our office technology running, keeping the Headquarters in shape, managing the construction of Sheriff and Fire stations... you name it.

In addition to the people and the great work that DPW does, I like the location and I like the building itself. It was used as the location for about half of "Weird Al" Yankovic's "It's All About the Pentiums" video, and since Yankovic is my favorite performing artist, you know I got a kick out of that. DPW also has two accomplished Toastmasters International clubs, and I have been an active member (and officer) of one of them.

But, as I wrote above, it was time to take that next step. In this case, that means getting a promotion within the County, but to a new place. I have accepted a position with the Agricultural Commissioner/Weights & Measures (ACWM) as their Public Information Officer. If you're asking "What does ACWM do?", then you're making one of the points as to why they need a PIO. They've never had one, so this is a great opportunity to create something new and serve a different team of County employees.

ACWM's two main objectives involve environmental protection (which is also something DPW is involved with), and consumer protection. I had a 150-minute interview with their Director, who seems like a terrific guy, and I'm looking forward to working for him and being able to continue serving the public. That seems to be something that's in the Pellman blood.

Since I start at ACWM on Tuesday, October 24, My last day with Public Works will be Monday, October 23. That's coming up so very quickly, and there's so much to do at DPW as far as transferring my work to others. Already, I've reverted back to missing my breaks (I was actually taking them for a few weeks there) and not leaving the office on time to go home.

So, that's the big news for now.

-Ken
*It should go without saying, but I'm going to say it anyway. This our personal blog, with our personal comments. I get paid to write and represent, so if you're not paying me to write this, then it is not written on your behalf and you don't get to approve or disapprove of them in a professional capacity as my employer. The comments are clearly my personal opinions and thoughts, written on my own time using my own resources and not presented on behalf of any employer with whom I have been, am currently, or will ever be employed. If that's still not enough, go here.*

Guess What We've Already Done This Weekend?

Well, we went to an Angels game and watched an inside-the-park homerun.

But that's not what I'm writing about.

See that brand new 2006 Toyota Sienna 8-passenger slate-colored minivan? The one behind that stunningly beautiful wife of mine?

Yeah?

Well, after all kinds of research, we went and bought it yesterday.

Today, we went back to pay for it. Not gonna spend a dime on interest. Nope. It's paid for.

So now we've got three vehicles, and still just the one carport spot.

Anyone want a 1997 Saturn SL with manual transmission?

Everything's Different Five Year Later

Kori and I have enjoyed a weekend home together, the second weekend home together in the last several months. She had surgery very early on Friday and has been recuperating while I've been taking care of her. While the pain has been intense, she wishes she would have had the surgery years ago.

Five years ago, as we were unknowingly on the eve of the biggest world event of our lives (so far), our lives were different. We didn't even know of each other. Now, we're a few months from our second anniversary. Back then, we both had different working schedules.

Life has changed a lot, both with world events and with our personal lives. Personally, we're both better off. (I think I got the better deal, but I can safely say we're both better off.)

We have friends who've recently given birth and some who will soon. More of our friends are married. There have been a couple of friends who've passed on. I guess that is the natural way at our ages.

Hopefully, your life is getting better, too.

-Ken

We'll Miss You, Carlo

It was a pleasure to know you.

You were brave.

You fought long and hard.

You lasted longer than it wanted you to.

The fight is over.

No more chemo.

No more pills.

No more struggle.

Rest now.

We'll meet again.

We Went to Kori's Ten-Year HS Reunion

Over the weekend, Kori and I attended her ten-year high school reunion - Class of '96 at Fountain Valley High School. It was nice to meet everyone in Costa Mesa. Don't become strangers!

-Ken

Ken's Now Contributing to The Disney Blog

Yes, I didn't have enough to do, so now I'm also contributing to The Disney Blog - http://www.TheDisneyBlog.com. If you bookmark The Disney Blog and LaughingPlace.com and visit them both frequently, you'll be up to speed on everything that's happening at The Mouse, why it is happening, and what it will mean for the future.
-Ken

Major New Appliance

Our new refrigerator is here. The old one we'd been using had been Kori's grandmother's extra refrigerator, and she passed away over five years ago.

-Ken

Attention All Residents of India

We don't need a new mortgage. Really. Stop calling us. And you aren't fooling anyone when you say your name is "Bob".

Anyone For Rabbit Stew?

I got up this morning to move my car so Kori could park her truck in the carport when she got back.

What did I see as I was walking back to our front door?

A bunny.

One of the neighbors must not be concerned that their pet is hopping around eating grass where cats and dogs can easily get to it.

I'm waiting for chickens to start roaming the grounds. It wouldn't surprise me.

-Ken

Ken's Latest DVD Reviews Now Online

Go to LaughingPlace.com to read Ken's reviews of "Jeff Lange Remembers Disneyland's 40th Anniversary" and "Jeff Lange Remembers Disneyland's 40th Birthday", two fan-created DVDs.

Happy Independence Day!

Thank Heaven I'm an American!

It's nice to pause and think about the courage and the vision that brought about the United States of America, where we can go to church without having to fear that some crazed person is going to run around cutting heads off, or that government soldiers are going to find us and send us to Siberia.

Kori and I had a rather busy June. She's working four shifts per week, and actually working more hours than me! How's that for a switch? We traveled out California twice in the month, going to Peoria, Illinois area for my grandather Kenneth's services, and two weeks later going to Dayton, Ohio area for my counsin-once-removed Chris' wedding to Alex. Hence, the picture. In both cases, it was nice to see family. Kori hadn't been to Ohio and it had been nine years since I'd been back there to see the kinfolk.

So, as we celebrate Independence Day, Chris and Alex are getting used to dependence on each other!
-Ken

Ken's Latest Column Now Online

The first part of the latest edition of Kenversations(TM) was posted today at http://www.LaughingPlace.com

In this multi-part column, we go back to 1990 Disneyland, when the park was celebrating "35 Years of Magic".