Poll:

Diamonds or rubies?

Sociality:

I find it interesting how much I can be defined by not only my social surroundings, but also my general social levels. For instance, I can often gauge how excited I am for an upcoming week based on the post-work activities I have planned out with people. If there is a dry spell then I am easily depressed and bored. This is all simple and intuitive, but to me the magnitude of influence these social variations have on me is surprising. I think I've become hooked and bought into the trendy concepts of 'community' and 'sharing life together' to the point of reliance.
This brings me to my next thought. Some people appear to me as very head-strong and immune to these variations. Though they may partake regularly in 'community', they are not defined by it. For example, if they were to say they wanted to go live on an oil rig for a few years, they would go ahead and follow that desire regardless of the community roots that they have developed. Perhaps it has something to do with the confidence they have in the fact that those friendships will endure. Something about that kind of confidence and the kind of confidence that leads one to follow their desires without regrets is extremely attractive to me. I believe that may be because I am lacking in those confidences and want to leech them off of others. Leech is a terrible word.

Dwelling:

How do you not dwell on things? You know, things you shouldn't/don't want to be constantly worried about, yet are. Some days I wish I was simply all robot.

Currency:

I've established a new rule for this month. Walking around Chinatown, I've found a ton of places I would love to try. All of these places, incidentally (or not), are quite a bit on the expensive side. However, I am currently not incurring any expenses other than transportation and eating out so I can rationalize the occasional good time out. Hence if you can arrange a solid evening date or group date with me during the week, I will treat you out to one of the places of which I crave their food. Deal.

Overtime:

I am adjusting fairly quickly and keeping quite busy at work. I'm progressively making my way towards being a productive member of the group, which makes things more enjoyable. Strangely, I also have not had adverse feelings towards staying overtime, though my supervisor has expressed that currently the budget is low and working extra should be kept to a minimum. Even so, the office is quiet and relaxing in the late afternoon so I don't mind staying an extra couple minutes to look a few things over and not getting paid for any of it. My attitude toward work has been fairly healthy and I hope it continues as time erodes away at my life.

So far I don't have anything planned for the holiday weekend except for Sunday night. This is an open invitation to coordinate with me to do something so that I am not bored and wasting away the precious weekend. Maybe I'll even take you out to dinner.

Tired:

Oh man, it's an hour and a half past my bed time. I'm still recovering from the weekend. And the nine bug bites.

Supplies:

Already I am starting to mesh with my work environment. I still have a long way to go, but I've been pretty quick picking up on the dynamics of my work group. Today I got to do two neat things. First, in the afternoon I got to go on my first field visit. Usually new people have to jump through a bunch of hoops and wait a few weeks before they're able to go out to the field, but I was able to pull a few strings. So from 2-4 pm I got paid to take a ride through the city, walk around the house, and take a few measurements... all while wearing a hard hat, neon vest, boots, and safety goggles. Second, I got my hands on the supplies catalog. It's a book about the size of a phone book which I get to go through and select whatever I want from it for my office. Yeah, I'll be getting the $40 Swingline chrome-coated stapler.

The days go by a lot quicker and are more exciting when I have something sweet planned for the evenings. No doubt.

Work:

Today marked the beginning of my first real job. I'll give you all the low-down on what I did today with periodic interjections concerning thoughts and impressions of the job position.

Orientation started at 8:30, but my ride to the metro began at 6:40 so I got there rather early. I decided to burn the time at Starbucks which is connected to the lobby of my building. After semi-awkwardly sipping a coffee by myself (see Joel's blog) I got my guest badge and began the video regiment. They sat the six of us new employees in a conference room and fed tapes into the VCR that had lame 80's/early 90's actors telling us about how to use a fire extinguisher and what sexual harassment is. Midway through the video marathon, the benefits guy came in and explained what benefits were available to us. I'm fairly impressed with what the company has to offer. One thing that I am excited about is that they are trying to promote fitness so the company will pay $100 each month to any gym membership you have. I hope that they will approve EarthTreks because that would cover all expenses! Anyway, this is also when things got a little awkward. The benefits guy asked who fell into the management category since they get an improved retirement plan and immediate medical coverage. I was the only one to raise my hand. And then I felt silly, being placed with the management group when all five other people in the room were older and more experienced than I was. One guy was already working for Pepco and was just switching departments... and there I was, green as grass grows reaping in the benefits. I could see why there is and always has been a divide between management and everywhere else. Maybe I was just being paranoid, but I was separated from the rest of the group from then on- sometimes physically, but mostly socially.

After all of the orientation stuff was done I got to go meet my group and get started. My direct supervisor is the cool lady I interviewed with, so it was nice to see a familiar face and exciting to get to work under her. I met probably 80 people really quickly as I was given the office tour and shook a bunch of hands. One of the guys I recognized from Maryland, but we had never met so it was cool to talk with him about school and stuff. Turns out he walked (that means graduated) with me and had already been working for two months. For the rest of the day I shadowed him as he started a project from the beginning so I could get an idea of what I would be doing. So here is what I do:

The city already has a fair amount of electrical systems infrastructure (power lines) provided by Pepco. A person who is building in the city or is expanding their electrical needs in any way will become one of our customers. They ask for power and I have to design the layout to give them that power. And from there it becomes amazingly complicated, even with the simplest of projects, when you have to consider codes, safety, and the builders who will be implementing the design. It's a little bit like complex legos. The job is not ultra-technical like where you're trying to model an oak tree by chiseling every detail out of stone. Rather it's like building the oak tree with legos, but you have to make sure the color of the pieces are all right and the pieces all fit so that the model is structurally sound and robust. There's my analogy.

Lastly, the environment. One of the first things my boss told me was to never come in a tie again. Nobody who works on that floor wears a tie. The people are pretty cool and a bunch of them have already invited me to ask them any questions I come across, so I plan to do that. My cubical is bare, but I plan to make it homelier soon. A plant and a couple of picture frames will liven up the place. With this long post, I think I've reported on everything. Day two begins in 7 hours and 20 minutes to I'm gonna hit the sack. Peace.

Physicality:

Nothing too new to report. Just a few quick thoughts.

Two things that do not mix in seminars- dramatic/energetic presentation and logical fallacies. Sometimes you can get away with presenting partial truths, as a comprehensive explanation would not be fitting to get the point across... however when stated in an excited fashion the partial is presented as an absolute truth. Doing such a thing irritates me to no end.

Volleyball is the chiznit. I find it really fun to play and quite enjoyable to learn. I believe, though, that it is too late for me to really get into it competitively so I will only play in the most casual of settings... unless an opportunity presents itself where I can truly commit to learn the sport (example: if there's a community or work league).

It's been a rather slow day on facebook. Not the sort of day I prefer.

I finished the third book of the Martin series. I gotta say, it's gotten too tedious and I don't think I want to read on. Mason, I can give you more thoughts and details if you want.

Messiah:

@ Messiah for the weekend. See ya'll later.

300:

Honestly, I'm trying to race my way to 400 posts. Not gonna lie.

Today I was watching the special features disc of 300 and was wondering whether any of the stunt men were scared. Of course, the fight scenes were choreographed and against the blue screen the motions look sluggish compared to what you see in the movie. But then again... there would be a large guy whose been working out 4 hours a day for 6 weeks straight charging at you with a stick. Sucks to be that guy.

On a different note, I'd like to mention my guilty pleasure #2: fantasy novels... of the knights and magic type stuff. I've started book three, the final book, of this series and once I finish it I might give a review of my thoughts. 'Might' because I still am embarrassed to show how much I take to these novels.

Choked:

As I was considering what to write here, I realized that I have not had any moments of nostalgia in a really long time. Perhaps I haven't had any due to the fact that I've become more worried about the future- trying to see where I'll be a few years ahead instead of subconsciously overlaying the past with the present.

Lately I've been immersed in conversation concerning money... and rightly so considering the drastic changes that will be happening in my life. I realize that I cannot/should not maintain the level of luxuries I've been able to enjoy this past week. Movies at the theater, eating out at expensive places, bars... parts will have to be cut out. While I won't have to worry about certain things that other people have to save for (ie. engagement rings, buying property and house for the family, wedding costs, etc.), I will have to make sure that I put aside enough so I can buy a nice European sports car aka chick-magnet. It's the only reasonable thing to do. A sports car and 24 inches of gold chain. Yeah that should do the trick.

Movies:

I want to buy 300 on blu-ray, but I haven't got a blu-ray player to watch it on.

Yesterday I went to a sushi buffet place that was really quite good for the price. The variety was very good and they didn't skimp on the good ingredients. Afterwards I watched the Bourne Ultimatum which was very fun to watch, despite being overly similar to the second movie. Before seeing it, I would recommend reviewing the very end of Supremacy.

That's all I've got for now.

Forward:

Things have indeed moved forward. By the end of this week I'll be receiving an offer from Pepco and they want me to make a decision and sign off on it by Tuesday. That doesn't give me a ton of time to think about it, but that's understandable since they don't want to wait for my other options to develop. Right now, the offer looks very attractive and I've had a positive feeling about it... thinking that there's a 94% chance that I'll probably take the offer and be working by August 20th.

I haven't fully weighted out what living and working would look like. I mean, there's the commute, work environment, post-work activities, financials all to consider with this new phase of life approaching. I haven't even talked to my parents about living in Baltimore yet. The whole thing seems daunting... exciting also, but still there is fear in me.

Anyway, there's still much I need to think through (is this the third time I've mentioned this?) so I'll keep ya'll posted on any developments.

Back:

Well, I'm back from the beach and life resumes. Thus far every single person I've come in contact with has commented on how tan I am and has pointed out that I will probably get skin cancer. Noobs.

New Jersey was a blast and relaxing. It was neat to live and spend time with people who make me laugh. For some reason, though, the whole trip felt like the end of an era- as if things are now meant to be different. Nothing is different around here. My circumstances have not changed at all. Perhaps that feeling is the motivation for me to move on, move forward. It sounds good in theory, but in reality I remain apprehensive. Recently, for every step forward I've taken two back. Progress has never been my forte and in the past it has always been easier for me to just let things lie where they lay instead of dealing with the issues at hand.

As of late I have been thinking about and tempted by the concept of a new slate. What would it be like if I found a job out in California? I could run away from all the good and bad things in my life and start over... meet new people, present myself however I cared to, discuss only choice parts of my past. Again, sounds great in theory but I know the reality of it can be very hard. Running away is, in most cases, the easier and less correct option. Anyway, there are many things here that I would not trade... even for a new start. While I've given up on many a dream here, I still have a few to chase.

Interviews:

Today everything sort of developed. I was running around doing laundry and trying to get some cash so that I could metro down to DC for my Pepco interview. However, around 10 am this guy calls me from the PTO to see if I want to do a 20 minute phone interview. I went ahead and answered his questions and found it to be good "practice" for later in the day. The phone interview was short and succinct, and the end of the conversation sounded positive. But, I was put a few minutes behind schedule so my decision making processes were rushed. I decided to not take my suit jacket. I got on the metro and everything was fine until the Bethesda stop when a couple of suits boarded the train. I immediately regretted not having a suit jacket. What if one of those guys was going to interview for the same position I was trying for? I would automatically be at a disadvantage. It took me a few minutes to rationalize things out. They had individually scheduled out an interviewing time for me so it was highly unlikely that they would be bringing in another candidate that day or even that week. Also, it turned out that I was not out-dressed by the interviewing panel which meant my attire was sufficient. But I've learned my lesson- always err on the side of fashionable... even when it is hot as butt outside.

Also I got an e-mail from booz today for an interviewing night next week, but I'll be out of town so I'm waiting to hear back from them on whether I can schedule something else.

The library books have all come in so I'll go pick them up tomorrow morning (Mason aka dreamboat).

The button on my shorts broke. Does anyone know how to sew a button on? Also, does anyone have a button they could lend me?

Schedule:

This week should be pretty cool since I've got things to do lined up. Here's what I'm doing, give me a call if you want in:

Tuesday- College Park for some, hang out with Schuch, birthday dinner at Cheesecake Factory
Wednesday- interview in DC, climbing at ET Rockville
Thursday- Harry Potter at night in DC
Friday- College Park, visit 1501 Lombard

and then away to the beach the next week!

Beer:

I want to go to one of those A&W restaurants. You know why? Because they got root beer on tap. Yeah buddy... root beer's the stuff.

Mozart:

Dear people who dislike classical music, this will probably be boring for you.

The other day I watched "Amadeus" which is a movie that portrays the rise and fall of Mozart the composer. You can IMDB it... I'm too lazy to put up the link for you. Anyway, I've seen this movie several times and I never get tired of it. The music, all composed by the man himself, is fantastic... pure genius. But what I love most about the movie is that it takes the music apart and analyzes it so that you can appreciate the beauty of the whole. Example- towards the end of the movie Mozart is dictating his composition to another man. He spells out each individual part separately (bass vocal, tenor, trumpet, strings, etc.) and you can hear the instrumental sound that he's imagining. Then all the parts are played in unison and the whole piece comes together in magnificent form.

Okay, I'm a nerd. I grew up on Mozart. The first play I ever saw was a take on the Magic Flute. His concertos are among my favorite. And the Requiem... man, don't mess with the Requiem. But see the movie if you think you can keep from being overly bored by it.

Update:

Hello friends. It has been quite some time since I've updated, but only because I haven't had much to post about. But here we go.

I was away on vacation last week on a cruise to Halifax, Nova Scotia. That's in Canada, by the way. It was fairly boring in terms as vacations go- with 3500 cruisers on board I would guess that 93% of them wore diapers and the average age was 68. I hope that I will not make it to the age of being crusty. On the plus side of the whole shebang, the food was pretty good.

In other news, my car was recovered. It was a pain getting it out of the impound, with the process of going to the police station and the MVA taking most of the day. Then there was the whole problem of it only going a few hundred yards before completely shutting down. As it turns out, there was a problem with the battery and the security system inhibiting the ignition. As of right now, the car has been fixed to working order and should be driving like new within the next week or so. Everything except for my backpack and my computer was left in the car, so now I can go climbing again with all my gear.

That's enough for now. I'll write more when my life isn't so boring.