when you don't wanna wake up
everything is fucked
everybody sucks
^^ From Mr. Durst's pen to my blog. Not that it's been a terrible day or anything, just one of those days. The good news is that I can definitively pinpoint quite a few things I learned today. Let's go chronologically:
8:37 AM - University of Dayton will come into your apartment when they damn well please. I was awoken at this hour by a middle aged bald guy unlocking and busting through our back door (which, incidentally, opens to my bedroom) to make sure the furnace wasn't going to burn the place down once it went on. I think he was probably the more shocked of the two of us, since three times already this year I have been awoken by the cable/AC/repair guys in the same fashion. Good thing I haven't been sleeping naked any of these times. This time I just said "Cool" and went back to sleep. He can figure out where the fuck the furnace is himself, then he can look at the thermostat and realize we've had the heat on already this year. Pwn'd.
11:30 AM - Fluid Mechanics is probably something that I should learn. Something about, oh I don't know, every field of engineering I'm interested in using it as the basis for pretty much everything. The good news is that I think this is possible.
4:20 PM - Phone interviews are pretty awkward. Given the choice between the two, I would definitely take face-to-face interviews from here on out if possible. I'm glad I got to experience one though, and even more glad that I think it went well. Not that I'm particularly antsy with my current situation, but options are always great to have. Especially if it means going out and seeing something new while I'm basically the most un-tied-down I'll ever be (.....I hope).
8:00 PM - I love decorating for Christmas. Early you say? It's never too early I respond. I'm still in the planning stages this year but I'm thinking a wrapping-paper wallpaper job would be classy. I also need to go get my mini-tree (aptly dubbed by my dad the Charlie Brown Tree) because that's all the apartment will hold. I kicked it off today though with a packet of those scented pine cones; it serves the dual purpose of being festive and getting the bacon smell out of our living room.
1:14 AM - I procrastinate like it's my job, but it's cool because IB English prepped me for this. Also, the keys on my new laptop (the old one died a couple weeks ago) squeak if not pressed perfectly straight down. This could be massively annoying in the coming years. Hopefully it's just a little bit of new car smell.
Showing posts with label steps to the "real" world. Show all posts
Showing posts with label steps to the "real" world. Show all posts
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Gettin back on that horse....
Yes, it's me again. I'm sure the RSS feeds did a double take before they posted me back up. To be honest, it's been a hectic month for me with plenty to talk about but not much of it being anything most anyone here would probably care to hear.
The sparknotes? Sure, I am now an uncle (congrats Sis), have been working 40-50 hours/week (but getting paid for 40), have had packed weekends (for the first time in my entire life I may label myself as a nap-taker....scary), and have done a ton of catching up with "myself." Call it what you want, I've settled with the term "Quarter-life crisis" to describe the past month.
In the end I have come out of it realizing most that in the routine of life I have not taken any time to just sit back for even an hour and reflect on me as a person. Who am I? What am I really doing with my life? Am I really going to be happy with the choices I need to make now, five, ten, even twenty years down the road? While I'm sure this may sound like some Zen bullshit, I can't recommend just getting away from everything enough. No phones, no facebook (gasp!), no internet, no PS3 (double gasp!), no friends. You'll be surprised how much you can learn about yourself in just a short time of doing this.
My "get-away" consisted of literally getting away from my comfort zone and going somewhere completely new where I would be a stranger to everyone. After looking at the prices for plane tickets (holy crap.... no wonder GE can pay me what they do....) I quickly realized that getting to LA or NYC was just not possible. So I looked closer, maybe a few nights somewhere within driving distance would be do-able. The problem with that however, is that I wasn't truly leaving any comfort zones at all. If there is anything I have gotten a lot of experience in this past year, it has been long-distance driving. I have even come to enjoy it quite a bit. While my goal wasn't to do something completely miserable, it was to push myself out of the comfort zone. That wasn't going to happen in my 2 door Escort.
After a little inspiration, I became dead set on a few nights of wilderness camping. Bare essentials, no outside contact, me and nature: perfect. I also (ignorantly) figured that this would be a low-cost venture; no plane tickets needed. In the end, the bill stacked well over $700. I left Monday, July 13 for Shawnee State Forest, with a ~45 lb backpack with enough in it to last three nights (four if needed) without any human contact.
The sparknotes:
- I'm amazed (and overwhelmingly appreciative) that my parents not only bought into the idea, but even supported me throughout it. Backpacking is tough. Solo backpacking is dangerous. Solo backpacking with zero backpacking experience, is about a dumb as you can get. I don't think I can thank them enough for the support.
- Maybe the only reason they didn't object too hard is because they have some weird sense of foresight beyond my wildest imaginations. After getting three miles in (of a 26 mile loop) on my first day, I stop at a creek side for lunch. After eating I take off my shoes only to find 6 blisters already formed, and popped, on both of my feet. At this point I knew that I could either trudge onward, and risk some serious - potentially long term - medical issues, or do the only smart move and turn around. After amount 10 minutes of sitting in disbelief and a fair amount of cussing, I begrudgingly started walking back the way I came.
So, mission accomplished? no. I did however, catch the "bug" and fully intend on "getting back on the horse" as soon as possible. Back to the Zen bullshit though: even in the few hours I was alone ("in the wild" as I say), I feel like I took monumental steps in discovering who I really am. I would be fooling myself to say that going on essentially a day-hike with a toddler strapped to my back solved all the craziness in my life - it did make it seem a lot more manageable.
So, that about wraps up the first 10 days of my absence. Obviously I have a lot of catching up to do, and I intend on doing it. I was not-so-subtlety reminded by someone recently why I first started this blog. It was not so much for the video game reviews (though I love talkin some polygons for a few minutes), or the youtube videos (Fuck yea!), but a way for me to stay connected to people that I don't want to lose contact with. Whether posts are monsterous (see: this), or tweet-esque (see: what I always intend on doing, but never actually do), it is still a helluva lot better than lately!
With that, I bid you adieu. Until next time - peace up, a-town down.
The sparknotes? Sure, I am now an uncle (congrats Sis), have been working 40-50 hours/week (but getting paid for 40), have had packed weekends (for the first time in my entire life I may label myself as a nap-taker....scary), and have done a ton of catching up with "myself." Call it what you want, I've settled with the term "Quarter-life crisis" to describe the past month.
In the end I have come out of it realizing most that in the routine of life I have not taken any time to just sit back for even an hour and reflect on me as a person. Who am I? What am I really doing with my life? Am I really going to be happy with the choices I need to make now, five, ten, even twenty years down the road? While I'm sure this may sound like some Zen bullshit, I can't recommend just getting away from everything enough. No phones, no facebook (gasp!), no internet, no PS3 (double gasp!), no friends. You'll be surprised how much you can learn about yourself in just a short time of doing this.
My "get-away" consisted of literally getting away from my comfort zone and going somewhere completely new where I would be a stranger to everyone. After looking at the prices for plane tickets (holy crap.... no wonder GE can pay me what they do....) I quickly realized that getting to LA or NYC was just not possible. So I looked closer, maybe a few nights somewhere within driving distance would be do-able. The problem with that however, is that I wasn't truly leaving any comfort zones at all. If there is anything I have gotten a lot of experience in this past year, it has been long-distance driving. I have even come to enjoy it quite a bit. While my goal wasn't to do something completely miserable, it was to push myself out of the comfort zone. That wasn't going to happen in my 2 door Escort.
After a little inspiration, I became dead set on a few nights of wilderness camping. Bare essentials, no outside contact, me and nature: perfect. I also (ignorantly) figured that this would be a low-cost venture; no plane tickets needed. In the end, the bill stacked well over $700. I left Monday, July 13 for Shawnee State Forest, with a ~45 lb backpack with enough in it to last three nights (four if needed) without any human contact.
The sparknotes:
- I'm amazed (and overwhelmingly appreciative) that my parents not only bought into the idea, but even supported me throughout it. Backpacking is tough. Solo backpacking is dangerous. Solo backpacking with zero backpacking experience, is about a dumb as you can get. I don't think I can thank them enough for the support.
- Maybe the only reason they didn't object too hard is because they have some weird sense of foresight beyond my wildest imaginations. After getting three miles in (of a 26 mile loop) on my first day, I stop at a creek side for lunch. After eating I take off my shoes only to find 6 blisters already formed, and popped, on both of my feet. At this point I knew that I could either trudge onward, and risk some serious - potentially long term - medical issues, or do the only smart move and turn around. After amount 10 minutes of sitting in disbelief and a fair amount of cussing, I begrudgingly started walking back the way I came.
So, mission accomplished? no. I did however, catch the "bug" and fully intend on "getting back on the horse" as soon as possible. Back to the Zen bullshit though: even in the few hours I was alone ("in the wild" as I say), I feel like I took monumental steps in discovering who I really am. I would be fooling myself to say that going on essentially a day-hike with a toddler strapped to my back solved all the craziness in my life - it did make it seem a lot more manageable.
So, that about wraps up the first 10 days of my absence. Obviously I have a lot of catching up to do, and I intend on doing it. I was not-so-subtlety reminded by someone recently why I first started this blog. It was not so much for the video game reviews (though I love talkin some polygons for a few minutes), or the youtube videos (Fuck yea!), but a way for me to stay connected to people that I don't want to lose contact with. Whether posts are monsterous (see: this), or tweet-esque (see: what I always intend on doing, but never actually do), it is still a helluva lot better than lately!
With that, I bid you adieu. Until next time - peace up, a-town down.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Finals Week Eve [slash] Finals Week
You guys know the drill, I suck. This week and next will be sporadic with school really picking up, then with the holidays I will probably take some R&R.
I'll post some shorties here and there, but as always, this is fairly high on the list of things to go (don't worry, Mom, PS3 is too) when the going gets rough.
The good news (that I'm not sure if I have mentioned here yet; if I have, ignore me) is that I will be home next semester working at GE (the "Aviation" portion) getting some much needed on-the-job training and making some serious dough stacks in the process. Well, compared to my current job of unemployed. I get to use my favorite division problem here: my pay rate increase will be x/0. Undefined ftw!
Anywho, back to finishing up these end of semester projects. Hollaaaaa
I'll post some shorties here and there, but as always, this is fairly high on the list of things to go (don't worry, Mom, PS3 is too) when the going gets rough.
The good news (that I'm not sure if I have mentioned here yet; if I have, ignore me) is that I will be home next semester working at GE (the "Aviation" portion) getting some much needed on-the-job training and making some serious dough stacks in the process. Well, compared to my current job of unemployed. I get to use my favorite division problem here: my pay rate increase will be x/0. Undefined ftw!
Anywho, back to finishing up these end of semester projects. Hollaaaaa
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Career Fair
Where every company that you want to work for comes in and, instead of you learning more about them, things turn into a semi-informal interview.
Sweet.
Make that about 50% less stressed than college apps.... Probably how it should be.
In other news, Happy 10th Birthday Google!!
Sweet.
Make that about 50% less stressed than college apps.... Probably how it should be.
In other news, Happy 10th Birthday Google!!
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
It's really sad
...and a sick commentary on this system when I feel about 200% less stressed (note: that doesn't mean relaxed...) in applying for Co-Op interviews than I did about college applications.
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