Friday, March 28, 2008

Mindless reflections

It's been 3 weeks now and I still don't feel like I've moved.

A large part of the reason is because the fucking movers still haven't come here with my stuff. I'm pretty sure they've stolen it. Fuckers. I also don't know anyone around here - a fact that keeps getting brought up by my parents, my co-workers, everyone. Thanks for the reminder!

I have a job interview with the FBI tomorrow. I applied for a Special Agent position back when I sent my resume to anyone who seemed remotely interested and they contacted me last week. Although I've rejected most interview requests (and have little to no interest in this one), I decided it'd be fun to go just to see what kinds of questions they ask.

I don't believe in God. I believe in fate, luck and karma (and not necessarily in that order). It just makes more sense.

I had a pretty good experience in Dallas and I learned a lot about myself while living there. In my Austin days, no one considered me a leader and I wasn't always willing to try new things. Now, I have a lot more confidence and I'm ready to take more chances.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

New Job

I started my new job on Monday.

It's been a stressful last month or so, not knowing if I'd be able to find a job here in the DC area. But the timing worked out perfectly and my dad and I started driving from Dallas on Friday night and arrived at home on Sunday afternoon.

As often happens in my life, a million things could have gone wrong on the trip but none of them did.

Now I know what the difference is between working at a small company and a big company (or at least the difference between a shitty small company and a good, stable big company). People are much more focused on their jobs, and managers are much more focused on understanding the big picture rather than micromanaging.

It's also kind of ridiculous that all most engineers need to do their jobs is a cell phone and laptop and they're good to go.

What I'm not used to:
- No one checking to see if I'm in my seat at a certain time
- Not really having a seat - I was assigned a cubicle, but since most of the people I'll be working with for the next couple weeks are in a different building, I was told that I could move to a temporary cubicle - 2 cubes, what?
- Free coffee, which I need to take advantage of ASAP
- Off-work conversation focused on kids - um, yeah I have nothing to add to this conversation, but did you see that waitress, she was hot! no, nothing? ok, I'll be quiet now, tell me more about how your 3-year-old spit up on you yesterday...
- Co-workers busting out the Hindi randomly in meetings

The Spitzer Debacle

I didn't really care much about Eliot Spitzer soliciting prostitutes. But a couple of interesting things happened that piqued my interest.

First of all, I had no idea that he was the governor of New York. His name sounds like something out of a mobster movie and I thought he was some no-name senator or congressman from some Midwestern state.

Secondly, most hookers are ugly (or so I've heard). But then, I saw pictures of her, and damn. She's not bad. Maybe not worth $4,000/hour, but at least a thousand. Jay Leno joked last night that reporters were able to find her name, MySpace page, and pictures in a day and a half, but it's been 7 years and we still have no idea where Bin Laden is hiding.

So what happens to the girl? He's under prosecution and had to quit his job, but she gets major exposure and will probably be signed to a record deal? That's America for ya.

Monday, March 03, 2008

Going-Away Party

I hosted my own going-away party on Saturday night. It's only the second apartment party I've had, and this one was decidedly tamer than the last (case in point: I was awake when the last guest left!).

Apparently it was just a bad weekend for a lot of people and most of the people that came to my last party couldn't come this time. It's cool though - over the last few days, I've seen everyone I wanted to see (except for that one girl, but who's keeping track?).

It was still a fun party, just a completely different vibe. We did run out of beer which sucked. Normally, everyone brings some and we have a ton leftover. For some reason, only one person brought a 12-pack and that obviously wasn't enough.

Having the party also forced me to clean up my apartment a little and see where everything is in terms of packing. The living room and dining room are pretty much empty now and the major stuff is in the kitchen. I've already sold my TV and nightstand and hopefully, I'll be able to get rid of my desk and entertainment center by Thursday.

Tonight is my only night off. Tomorrow and Wednesday nights are both booked, then my dad comes Thursday evening and Friday it's driving time!
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If you're in Texas, don't forget to vote/caucus tomorrow!