Snowbirds Living in the Philippines : Leif, Carenna and Ditas will be Moving to Washington DC Soon

Monday, April 11, 2022

Leif, Carenna and Ditas will be Moving to Washington DC Soon

Ditas and Carenna- Leif is at home-he was not allowed at this Party in Washington DC.

I am super proud as the aging Father and ex-Federal employee of Ditas Katague with this news today. She will be moving to Washington DC in the end of June to work for the Federal Government. This is her SES dream job. Of course her pet dog, Leif will be moving with her as well as Carenna. Carenna will be enrolling at the Elliot School of International Affairs, George Washington University. I will miss their frequent personal visits but we could always text or video call using my new cell phone with the What's App application that Ditas recently downloaded.

Good Looking Leif moving to Washington DC soon-in an airplane?

Again, my congratulations! A very, very proud father, indeed!

Here's the official announcement:

From: BOC BROADCAST (CENSUS/DIR) <boc.broadcast@census.gov>
Sent: Monday, April 11, 2022 11:28 AM
Subject: Staff Announcement: Ditas Katague, Associate Director for Communications

To: All Staff

From the Desk of Robert L. Santos, Director . . .

I am pleased to welcome Ditas Katague to the U.S. Census Bureau as the new Associate Director for Communications. Ditas will lead the internal and external communications activities, including media relations, congressional and intergovernmental affairs, customer service, internal communications, stakeholder engagement, and web and new media services.

Prior to joining the Census Bureau in 2022, Ditas was director of the California Complete Count – Census 2020 Office, the outreach and communications campaign that worked to ensure a complete population count of historically undercounted Californians. This built on her experience leading the state’s decennial census outreach efforts in 2000 and 2010. In 2000, as chief deputy campaign director for the Governor’s Census 2000 California Complete Count campaign, she led a groundbreaking multilingual, multimedia outreach effort that resulted in a mail-in return rate that outpaced the national rate. She also served as chief of staff to the California Public Utilities Commission, where she improved public participation and access to the energy and telecommunications utility rate and regulation process.

Ditas also served on the Census Bureau National Advisory Committee on Racial, Ethnic, and Other Populations from 2012 to 2018, including three years as its chair.

Ditas is an expert in multiethnic outreach and civic engagement. Since 1998, she has served on the Sacramento Center Advisory Board for the Sol Price School of Public Policy, University of Southern California. She holds an M.P.A. from the University of Southern California and a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Please join me in welcoming Ditas and thanking her for being willing to serve the Census Bureau and our country.

Meanwhile enjoy this photo of my first cacti bloom in my backyard

Here's the organizational Chart of the Bureau of Census showing 6 Associate Directors below the Director and Deputy Director for your information.

https://www2.census.gov/about/orgchart.pdf

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Joys of Retirement

I have been retired from USFDA since 2002. At first, I feel I have lost my identity as an individual or have lost my contribution to society. However, within a few weeks all these feelings were gone. It started when my wife and I started baby sitting one of our grandchildren. As some economics professor states: "Your children are your capital investments, but your grandchildren are your profits. That is why you love your grandchildren more than your children". I really agree with the statement. Retirement also gives you lots of time to do things you like to do, such as your hobbies and of course travel. In my case, I turned my hobby of gardening and landscaping into a small business in the Philippines. This endeavor was planned about five years before 2002. That year my wife and I started construction of our retirement home in Boac, Marinduque , Philippines. The next year we built a beach house, followed by a Conference Hall two years later. Needless to say, planning and executing the landscaping was a challenge and very enjoyable. With the help of local labor, I not only enjoy the time gardening and landscaping, but also help improved the economic situation of the province by providing work and jobs to the local residents. With plenty of time, I have engaged into two specific activities as follows: First, I created a website for my small business. By trial and error, I created and design the website, www.chateaudumer.com I have never been a computer nerd or expert. But with plenty of time and patience, the fruits of my labor could be enjoyed if you visit the website above. The second activity, I have not done before was to utilize on-line activities, such as shopping, paying bills ( save you stamps) and playing computer games in the Internet. I really enjoyed playing duplicate bridge on line. You play with players all over the world and can chat in between games. But be careful, you are not spending too much time in the computer. It is very addictive. With a lots of time, my wife and I devoted more time on our favorite humanitarian project. For the last 15 years, we have been involved with medical mission to the province of Marinduque. For details please visit the website: www.marinduqueinternational.org As a summary, the joy one gets on retirement is very specific for an individual. Some enjoy their free time by learning new activities, getting involved with humanitarian projects or spending more time with their grandchildren. Others hate it, since they missed their former jobs and co-workers. Others with no children still enjoy retirement by traveling, turning their hobbies into business or more community involvement. Of course those that retire and hate it, is believe to die earlier than those that enjoy their retirement years. So, plan your retirement as early as you can. The happier you are on retirement, the longer you will live.