Eris' Corner

Buckle Stores Near You

2011-01-24T10:41:00.003-05:00

I've talked about this store a few blog posts ago and I absolutely love the jewelry and accessories they have, so check it out and maybe there's a store near you. :-)

http://local.buckle.com/

Me and the other half will be training out to Arizona next month, so hopefully I'll be able to check out the AZ store. Pics to follow, just need to get wireless internet figured out for journey.

Quick Update

2010-01-07T10:32:00.001-05:00

(as I wait to meet my new hope-to-be boss for coffee, HA!!)

- had a great time playing Mommy with Abbey, hardest job in the world by far, but it's all worth it when your little monkey gives you a hug.
- I had my phone interview finally with the people I thought blew me off (re:shortly post) and they called me back and said they would hire me! WOOOOO!! Need to sign paperwork and such, but the first day should be 1/11/10. 011110 for you palindrome and binary fans out there.
- we also adopted our cute Blueberry from the Newington Humane Society. Expect kitteh picspam shortly

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T14:08:00.001-05:00

The gifts between Clive and me are unwrapped and we now prepare the house for the little one to arrive. The B will be arriving around 6:45, so T-minus OMG is approaching.

I'm really nervous. :-( But since she most definitely needs warmer clothing, we will hopefully bond over shopping, at Targeh of course. :-)

So Merry Christmas and have a happy New Year! Let's hope 2010 is a good one!
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

A Plague on both your houses!

2009-12-22T23:26:00.002-05:00

That's right, ATT and whatever it is that is making me sick!

Thankfully, the sickness is contained and very odd. Fever only lasted a few hours last night and then broke, but I'm now left with a weird icky cake batter where my normal post nasal drip would flow. Probably TMI, but I figure you've made it this far, we may as well share some bodily fluid stories, right?

Anyway...a greater Plague on ATT because ever since I moved to our new beloved Wallyworld, I get crap signals. So crappy in fact that I miss emails and more importantly SMS messages. Emails I'm willing to forgive, slightly, since we do have computer's here and ATT U-Verse for the house is phenomenal, however SMS messages!? Unforgivable.

So I cannot wait until January 31st when my contract with them is up and I will happily get Verizon. Not only was the main man Mark at the Orange Verizon very helpful, but since Clive wants a better phone, we can get the new Droid's!! Clive would get the new macdaddy Droid OMG with the keyboard thingy that comes out (I have no idea what that one is called because it's not nearly as important as mine) and I can get the Droid Eris (see that's why that's so much more important)!!

A phone with my avi name!!! YAY!!!! I'll drop a real keyboard for a virtual one for that apt name change I think. ;-)

hisses and runs back to bed

2009-12-21T11:45:00.001-05:00

I believe I've caught something and it's just beginning to brew. Lymph nodes are achy and a little swollen, my throat is beginning to get sore and I feel angry and like crap. That'd be a cold and probably the first of the season for me.

Run away! Save yourself! Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...*kneels on the floor and looks up with outstretched hands* Why have you forsaken me Ceiling Cat, why!?!?

Some Job Openings Here and There

2009-12-20T23:38:00.002-05:00

Meh, I did my scanning of the various job posting sites to see what may have opened up since last week. There are a few more structural positions which makes me feel a little better. I think either people are anticipating a building rush for this coming spring or have twisted a few client's arms into building something.

"C'mon, you just got a couple million dollar loan approval, build something you stingy bastard!"

"HEY! How did you find that out!?!"

"One of my drafters is dating your receptionist. HA! The money cat is out of the bag! You owe me a project! I gave you all those subs for no retainage!"

*ahem* I got on a slight tangent, but yes, that's probably how the conversation would go, but you didn't hear it from me...;-)

Anyway, a few more places have my resume and portfolio and the waiting game will be played yet again.

YAY, easier to read posts!

2009-12-19T20:08:00.002-05:00

It always used to bug me that, because of the white text on black background of my posts, my eyes would always go a little funny afterwards. So I now have a nice complementary blue background for my posts. HA! I know html too!

:-P

And no, I'm not going to steal from you! If that's the impression you got from my last post you missed the point of me posting it openly. :-P

Old, Hard Wired Habits

2009-12-19T15:20:00.003-05:00

It's interesting as you get older you begin to learn that not everything your parents taught you was the best. As you pass 25 (in my opinion, since I'm 27 and beginning to get mind f*cks about what I thought was normal behavior), you begin to look hard and without bias at rules or ways of being that you simply would not even begin to know how to question previously. Things you took to be as facts begin to crinkle around the edges and you finally pull them off to discover they were covering up something else.

Now, I'm not going to say that it was wrong of them or that it's wrong of every parent to do this. No one is perfect, we are all human and nothing is black and white in this world, especially in raising children. What works in raising one child may not work with the other and we're all children of our environment yadda yadda, all that stuff.

Today while checking out at the grocery store, there was a women ahead of us that left $50 in the change tray of the self-checkout lane. Without even thinking about the fact that it was from a woman that probably didn't know how to work the machine properly and more importantly looked as if she would really miss that $50, I took it. I took it because we really needed the money, I'm out of work and Clive has other legal responsibilities he's taking care of that are currently, but temporarily, cutting into our finances.

Clive said "no, give that to the cashier to credit to that woman's account." We did, and the cashier said they could easily put it on the woman's store loyalty card and then we left. However, I was upset, actually upset. Not at my dishonesty (which is what I'm now mad at), but because Clive gave back the money! Wow...

We talked afterwards and I admitted that that's how I grew up, if the opportunity arises and it won't directly hurt anyone that you care about (very important fact, hence all of you people reading this are safe), stealing is a way to show your love. The opportunity came up, someone left $50 in the tray, so I took it because that's more food for us or maybe something to put away for later. The logic being "that woman is stupid enough to let $50 go away from her, so that is a clean opportunity for me, she's not family or a friend of mine or someone I care about, so since this is here, it is now mine and ours."

I'm glad this happened though, this unfortunately was a very hard wired fact that only someone I care about on much deeper levels than even my family and someone who's been much more poor than I could ever dream could break in me.

Hi. My name is ... and I'm a recovering Robin Hood.

Calmer and Wrapping Presents

2009-12-16T20:43:00.001-05:00

Well, the person from that company that was supposed to give me a phone interview never called, so I placed a call of myself. Nothing mean or even sassy, just a "I'm letting you know what's going on behind your back" call.

I spoke with one of the receptionists and apparently they had no one working under the name of the "recruiter" that was contacting me. *sigh* So she took down my name and contact info. and said someone would be in contact with me.

I probably won't work for this place, even if they were to call me back, but still. It just made me feel better to call up someone and tell them what is going on and that people are being either lied too or just left to dangle in the wind. Not cool either way.

Calmer is my state of mood and getting presents together is my soundtrack.

short⋅ly [shawrt-lee] - adverb

2009-12-13T13:21:00.002-05:00

short⋅ly

[shawrt-lee]

Use shortly in a Sentence

See web results for shortly

See images of shortly

–adverb

1.	in a short time; soon.

2.	briefly; concisely.

3.	curtly; rudely.

Origin:
bef. 900; ME schortly, OE scortlīce; see short, -ly

~

OK, cool, that's what I thought shortly meant too.

So when someone says on Wednesday that they will be contacting you "shortly" for an interview that means "in a short time."

It's now Sunday and still no call.

You know what, WTF!? You contacted me saying that you liked my resume since you found it on Monster and that I'm the #1 candidate for the job, so...if you just planned on baiting me along anyway, what was the point of that initial touching of bases.

Don't mess around with me, not during this time especially. I just experienced my second layoff in the span of under a year from my very first lay off. I'm on unemployment, depressed slightly and really anxious and nervous. Don't f*ck with me.

I am an unemployed engineer: I have a bunch of time on my hands and MacGyver-like skills. Don't push me.

Been a while, but good to be back

2009-12-11T09:41:00.002-05:00

Hey there everybody. Glad to see that some of you people are still poking around here. Sorry for not updating, but life decided to happen and thus my blogging switch got turned off.

So here's a quick recap of what's been going on:
- I was hired again back in August. (yay)
-Decided to move closer to this job and move in with Clive (yay!) so we landed this cute "house in the sky" as we like to call it (3rd floor of a very well build house from the turn of the century: true 2x wood, very well blocked floors and in excellent condition).
-Got laid off from new job around Halloween. (BOO!) (Sadly that's all the font enhancing I can do at the moment and I do not feel it conveys my actually feeling about the situation, but I digress...)
-Moved in the end of November anyway and finally unpacked and decorated for Christmas. (yay and yay)
-Now very bored and looking for things to keep me occupied.

Oh yeah, and studying for the PE exam. I keep forgetting that I actually manned up (yes, I feel comfortable using the term manned up, HA!) and sent in the application. If all the paperwork goes through I should be taking it in April of 2010. W00t!! Really I'm so scared out of my mind that the portion of my brain that should be caring right now is hiding out somewhere with it's dolly and sucking it's thumb.

So yeah, that's the scoop right now. I have been dabbling a little with new painting techniques, ie. paint between two pieces of glass and the fun and coolness that ensues when the two pieces meet! Cool things indeed. I may start a whole series on this and I'm thinking of calling it the Squish series, cleverly named of course.

I have a small Flickr set to start, but will surely be adding more and more as I play around with the new medium.

Creative Juices Flowing Again

2009-09-30T12:23:00.002-04:00

Well, I'm finally happy and busy again which means that blood is finally getting over to that creative half of my brain that's been dormant and asleep for too long. A little depression or sadness is good for creating, but too much and I'm just happy to be able to make it out of my pajamas (I'm referring to the last 6 months or so when I was laid off). Now that I'm at work and spend hours dedicated to one major thing at a time, my brain always likes to float around and think up creative things to do for when I take a break. Drawing is something that's been coming to mind again.

It's been a while since I've picked up a pencil and sketchbook, I have to admit. I started dabbling into photography when I moved in '04 to my current place by the sea, so it would take some still lifes to get my skill level back up again. I'll have to see...

I've been getting some ideas to do little characters and maybe using one frame or two to take a look into their little experiences. Kind of like Calvin and Hobbes would do occasionally, but instead of delving into a story, I'd just keep it to one or two panels.

I'm thinking some good thinks and will try to get to some drawing again, so we shall see.

Managing Work Stress

2009-09-24T09:41:00.002-04:00

(and trying not to take it out on the people that you love). *sigh*

Having that 6 month spell of not having a boss to answer to has made me forget about one of my past Laws of Having a Stressful Job, never bring home your work!

By "work" I mean the collective meaning of work, the stresses involved with project turn over and more importantly the stresses involved with working under 2 very rigid minded bosses. They all mean well, but I have to learn to leave those feelings of submissiveness at my desk and not bring it home to take it out on the people that I love. Nipping at your boyfriend about the right time to go to Stop & Shop and over how things should be organized are not effective or healthy ways of dealing with work stress and feelings of lack of control at work. Controlling the minutiae of details at home is not a way to deal with your bosses controlling every aspect of what you do at work.

These are things I need to repeat to myself because I love my family and I know it's not any of them purposely doing things to tick me off, sadly it's how I'm perceiving them.

Old Injuries, Old Memories

2009-09-16T22:16:00.002-04:00

My ankle has been acting up for the past few months or so. This is of my own doing and it's frankly what I deserve for not following up with my stretching exercises (and thinking that they're stupid).

After not being able to wear girly shoes or go without and ACE bandage for more than a few days, what I have surmised is that THOSE STRETCHING EXERCISES ARE NOT STUPID, I AM.

Back in college, probably sophomore or junior year, I was taking the stairs down in the Math and Sciences Building (MSB for you UCONN savvy) and my right foot turned in and down as I took a step. I then fell down a fllight of stairs (well skidded really, thankfully) and ended up as a heap at the bottom. I thought I broke my leg and didn't know what to do. A teacher comes out and instead of helping me, kicked me out of the stairs, limping since, "YOU ARE IN THE WAY, MOVE." Thanks, I hope life has dealt you back all of your karma, but anyway...

My friends I was going to meet, call me up and they find me and then take me to the infirmary. They slap a bandage on me and call it a day. Over the course of the next week I get a tearing sensation whenever I lean or put weight on the ball of my foot, so I go back to the infirmary. Thankfully, UCONN has a whole sports medicine program ("and there was much rejoicing...yay!") so I began a month and a half expedition into rebuilding my ankle tendons and resetting my bones, literally.

What had happened is that one of the bones in my shin has popped out of it's base in the top of my foot (the ankle) because the tendons got maxed out, but they had not torn. So the physical therapy consisted of a) resetting my poor bones and b) strengthening my ankle. Hence, we get to that big b). I have certain exercises I should have been doing at least once a day that will help promote the healthy location of my bones and further strengthen the ankles. Have I been doing those, meh.

What do I get for "meh," a month of ACE bandages and pain.

*sigh*

I have to realize this is a life long condition. Thankfully, it's not something as severe as other life long conditions, but it's enough that if I don't remember to take care of, it effects my life. :-(

Ongoing Ground Zero Construction

2009-09-08T10:13:00.002-04:00

Here's a link so that you can watch the construction going on at Ground Zero:

http://www.earthcam.com/usa/newyork/groundzero/

Labor Day

2009-09-07T14:00:00.002-04:00

*waves to everyone*

Happy Labor Day everyone! I've been spending it catching up on a whole lot of nothing that I've been missing out on. With me starting my new job a few weeks ago I've had to catch up on all my TV programs and web links that kept me company during my 6 month layoff, Spongebob how I have missed you so...

Went into the city on Saturday and shopped at Loehmann's to catch some of their weekend sales. I hate you Loehmann's, you and your mountains of beautiful discount clothing. I should own stock if I could so that I could at least make some money for the future while it pours out of my wallet in the present. *shakes a fist*

Getting the Piss Taken Out of Me

2009-09-03T20:08:00.003-04:00

Well, it's official, I got the piss taken out of me at work today. Bright and early and before my morning cup of coffee, so I was completely taken off guard.

But before you go, "OMG, are you OK, were you fired" I must explain why this is good and why I was secretly looking forward to it.

My bosses do this to EVERYONE. The structural boss does it to assert dominance and to see how far he can push you before you start to defend yourself, very smart actually since I started to push back at a good time and brought up a very valid point at the same time.

The President of the firm, the boss' boss, took the piss out of me about paperwork. God help me, paperwork will be the death of me, I know this, they know this, but it was his first and very heavy handed attempt to try and drill home to me the fact that a) we can get our ass sued and b) people can get hurt. The last bit pertains to an example of say I find a mistake on someone's drawing and correct it, and I don't sent it out the official way and with the official paperwork, what happens then? Those changes may not be made and something could happen.

The President is also a squirrely little guy, someone who has to constantly reassert himself as head honcho and I kind of turn my nose down at that, but he knows I still do respect him and that I have his back. I may give him a cock-eyed look from time to time, but still.

Afterwards I bumped into one of the other ladies that I work with and we talked about it. Turns out that's initiation and it used to be much worse apparently. "Oh yeah, it happens to everyone, regularly, but it turns out they like you, so it'll be fine."

*rolls eyes* I guess this is why we drink it up on Friday's at 4:30 then. It all makes sense now.

But to be honest, my structural boss is a cool guy. He's really really experienced and is about to hid 80 soon, this is very very rare and I am cherishing having a head PE of this age. He's someone that used slide rulers...that's right SLIDE RULERS!! And apparently he digs my style, so *knocking on wood* I think this may work out. *crosses fingers, toes, legs and anything else I can*.

Happy and Kind of Dreamy

2009-09-02T13:58:00.002-04:00

It was a great month spent with Clive. We got each other's kinks and personal space down, we've developed our roles in the relationship and even had our first fight, in GCT no less ;-). I think that's a good month indeed. Now he's away to visit with his daughter back home and then take in as much California NIN as his budget and time will allow, plus pay a visit to all his old west coast buddies before he'll fly out to see me again for another month.

It's all very weird and happy and kind of dreamy, I'm still kind of learning how to deal with everything, plus the new job. I've pretty much had a reset button pushed on my life and it's nice to be able to share that with someone special. :-)

Now the fun stuff starts where we start to integrate the material into our lives; where his things will go, eventually finding a new, larger place to live so that we can have more space and he'll be able to work more comfortably at home in, and maybe teaching him how to drive with myself finding a proper bicycle.

As we approach autumn, my favorite season, I'm approaching a very contemplative portion of my life. I definitely need to get a nice brisk walk in before it turns into 80 degrees again. A good cold autumn walk always set my mind to rest and especially done in New Haven I'll be able to take a mental breather or two and sit down to write down something important or enjoy the scenery. All these new things to think about and plan for are entering my life and I'll need some time alone to let them sink in.

Checking In

2009-08-19T08:41:00.002-04:00

*waves from East Hartford*

Things are going OK, I think they dig my style just like I'm beginning to dig their style. Very loose, yet responsible; corporate, but only in how they file and keep records not in how they interact with people. Oh yeah, and there's beer and wine in the fridge. :-) Friday's they always have a little get together in the conference room.

I Haz a happy, it's small and still is afraid to come out of it's shell, but it does take a peek every now and then.

Road Trip: Part 3 - Wine Country

2009-08-12T20:27:00.002-04:00

On the way back from Buffalo, we headed to one of the wine trails in the Finger Lakes region, the Cayuga Lake Trail. Since we'd be driving by this way anyway, we both figured "what the hey."

So first off we started at the Montezuma Winery right at the top of Cayuga Lake. A very cute little nook of a place with very sweet wines and big tasting pours. They also had a cute gift shop and had a great staff that even gave us a big wine case so that we could safely store the wine we bought, plus some. They also had this nice honey derived vodka that was surprisingly smooth enough to even drink on the rocks. When those new paychecks start to come in, it's on like Donkey Kong.

Next, following a lovely scenic drive by the side of the Cayuga, was the Cobblestone Farm Winery. This place had a huge chunk of big sky above it and looked like a dream. They featured some great wines plus a bunch of jellies, jams and spice foods to enjoy and buy for presents. However, we were about a day too late for their annual cherry picking, but we were still able to frolic amongst the cherry trees and nibble on what we found.

Knapp Winery was next which was another vision set against the scenery of the lake. A very inviting place with a very large selection of wines, plus their own grappa, which was as deadly as was expected. A nice shot of lovely lighter fluid never hurt nobody. ;-)

Finally, we ended the wine trail with the Sheldrake Point Vineyard. It was getting near closing and we weren't the only ones capitalizing on that fact, so there was a bit of a tasting rush. One of the drier wines of the trip, so it was a nice change in flavors. Will have to go back and spend more time there and also check out their Simply Red Bistro. Since this was closed, we asked one of the workers where they would normally go to eat and they directed us to this hole in the wall place down the road called Mulligan's.

It was interesting, very down-home filled with regulars and soft country music. The food was a little over priced for what it was, but it was nice to support a local place. Plus they had a great view of the lake that hypnotized you as you ate. It whispered to you, "hey, you should get a boat and come and play with me! Or at least rent a home for the summer and enjoy me all to yourself!"

After this, it was back to our last hotel which was the Extended Stay of Syracuse. Clive started to catch a second wind by this time so it was off to absorb some local color and head to a dive bar, of course. So on Google Maps we found a great little hole in the wall called Gilligan's Pub. At first, it was a little frosty, but once we got in a couple games of pool with the locals and had some nice stiff drinks, all was well and we started really getting along with everyone. Clive even took over the jukebox, just like old times and a good night was had. Thanks so much Gilligan's Pub, you guys have a great place down there.

For all the lovely photos, take a venture over to my Flickr photoset for the whole trip and feel free to poke around my other sets as well. ;-)

Road Trip: Part 2 - Buffalo and Niagara Falls

2009-08-08T15:26:00.002-04:00

Once arrived and better half in tow, we were off to our friend's place right near the Buffalo Airport for a mini meetup of our own and to get our bearings of the city. There were presents and offerings and all types of goodies to share, including some local pizza and wings. Apparently there is a whole subculture to Buffalo in the pizza department: not as thick as Chicago, not as thin as NY and it's referred to in sheet sizes. Oooo eeee ooooo...where am I? But despite this initial weirdness, the pizza was awesome! And it was from a Mom & Pop place, there will be no orders placed for any chain pizza places under my watch. I consider those pizza abortions and an insult to real pizza.

After this mini meet, we were off to our first hotel of the night, Adam's Mark of Buffalo. This appears to be a midwest chain, so I wasn't familiar with it at all, but it was a beautiful hotel with free wifi and a cute gift shop where I bought up a bunch of cute Buffalo themed items for the family. We also splurged on a nice pastry breakfast for two and had so much left over that we were able to wrap most of it up and keep it for munchies along the way.

Then it was off to the Niagara Falls, but first we wanted to make a day out of it and decided to go out early and check out the rest of Niagara Falls, NY. We found this great park in the middle of the city just before The Falls called Hyde Park where we had a little picnic and enjoyed the view. It was such a cute and quaint park and even featured a rose garden that seemed like a relic from the 50's with it's mod type architecture. After our time in the park, it was off to The Falls.

Dotted along the way were these cute highway signs with a little graphic of a water fall, just in case you forgot where to go. Once we approached, the whole scenery changed: Niagara Falls, NY is a lovely suburban town with nice houses and nice lawns, but then all of sudden it becomes a tourist spot and it happens quite suddenly. Not in a bad way, don't get me wrong, but it's just something you need to witness, it's kind of cool actually.

So once we get there, we head up to the Observatory which had it's own uniqueness, to say the least. Up at the top, we catch some glimpses of The Falls as well as Canada and Rainbow Bridge which would take you up to Canada. Then once we got our bearings, it was time for a nice walk around The Falls and Goat Island.

The first things you see as you approach are the massive runoffs from The Falls. The sound of the water and the speed at which the water travels as it runs by is amazing. Then once you reach the actual Niagara Falls, you are treated with more sights and more sounds. It's incredible. After we got our fill, it was time to meander back and as we did we found some holes in the nearby tree line that allowed you to dip your feet in the waters that would lead to the Falls. Now, yes this was very illegal, but we had found a great area that was fine up until around 5' off of the shore to stand in, so there was no way we were going to get rushed away. But still, don't do what we did (even though it was pretty awesome).

Finally, we made our way back, checked into our second hotel, the Buffalo Marriott, rested a bit and then it was off to the official meet up back at our friend's place near the airport.

Cayuga Wine Trail and more to follow...

Road Trip: Part 1 - The Rainy Drive Up

2009-08-06T10:34:00.002-04:00

I set out early on Friday since I know I like to break up the length of my road trips with some stop overs at Service Areas and such, it's nice to take a break from driving every few hours and stretch your legs, use a nice bathroom and maybe grab a cute stuffed animal from the gift shop or a nice cup of coffee. So since Google told me it would be about 7 hours of a drive, I figure if I'm aiming to arrive at the BUF airport at 5PM leaving at 8 or 9AM should give me plenty of time.

So, I pack up, get the car gassed up and me properly caffeinated and get the hell outta dodge. Traffic was the least of my problems, however the weather up 91 and consequently the Mass Pike was atrocious. It was raining buckets so it made watching the roads and navigating a bit difficult. However, despite this, I was still able to take a few calls from Clive checking up on me and letting me know when he was boarding his plane and taking off, so that was nice.

One question though, why do the Mass Pike signs all feature a little pilgrim's hat? It's adorable and normally I don't scoff at anything cute, but really...a pilgrim's hat? You're a massive highway system and it's represented by a cute little pilgrim's hat? *sigh*New England, c'mon...

Another great thing was that once you got on the I-90 you got a nice seat to the beauty of New York state. It was so awesome to see all these vast farms and tractors, all in New York. It felt like I had been transplanted to Iowa or something, I didn't expect New York State to be so rural. But despite this ruralness, there were a bunch of great Service Areas along the way. All featuring great bathrooms and restaurants and each having a slightly unique spin of their own. Some featured history lessons in the form of big signs, some even had little separate houses where you could get a bunch of maps and learn a little about where you were.

By this time the sun had finally burned through the clouds and I could really set about enjoying the ride and try to keep the butterflies in my stomach at bay as I pick up Clive from the airport. All those same emotions coming up again: will we get along OK, will those sparks still be there, how will this month of living together really work out, will the cops get called...things like that. Hehehehe...

Pulled in So Many Directions

2009-07-27T19:54:00.002-04:00

This week I'll be somewhat wrapping up some work I've been doing: project in Brooklyn and the other houses I've been working on. The architect's draftsmen have already proven themselves as not the most reliable when it comes to structural drafting, there was a flitch plate that went up in one of my houses that was mysteriously sagging. It turns out there was a header beam neglected from the final drawings that would support this beam 2/3's of the length. Gee, maybe that's why it was sagging...*grumbles* Thankfully the great framers picked up on this and brought it to everyone's attention. Unfortunately, that's when the blame game gets played, but that just means you need to look over your old calculations and pray to god that you did it right. Turns out I did, HA!! Suck it!

Then on top of work stuff, I'm getting ready for my trip up to Buffalo at the end of the week. I've just collected the last of the goodies I'll be bringing up for my friend's BBQ and now I'll be doing some research into cool things to do and see in and around Buffalo and Niagara Falls, plus need to remember my passport for Ontario shenanigans to ensue.

Also, I'm preparing my widdle apartment for my someone special to live here for a whole month! Woooo!! So I'm clearing up some drawer spaces, getting some nice foodie and wine items together and trying to keep the worry wart inside me at bay. This is a big step for me, but hopefully things will work out and we won't end up hating each other and throwing things out the windows, I know my super would frown upon that. ;-)

So wish me luck and make sure to follow me on Twitter @chobson for all my trip pics enroute to that whole other part of New York that I've never been too.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes...

2009-07-24T09:55:00.002-04:00

Today I got the first call from HR at my new job. This was to make sure that papers would be sent to the correct address and also allow me an opportunity to talk with her and get acquainted with the office. So we discussed the usual: clothing policy, what was in the breakroom, they have a Keurig (YAY!!), but an itty bitty refridgerator (boo!) so it'll be like I'm working in Italy which I'm not opposed too.

Now, I like to throw in loaded questions to any HR person, nothing mean spirited or foolish, but something that requires more than looking at the company manual to answer and helps me to figure out the mood of the office. I asked about the music policy and volunteered that I have an external hard drive where all my legal *ahem* *wink wink* music lives and if it was OK to listen to music. At first she wasn't too thrilled about it and said that I would be too busy with calls and questions to listen to music, but then I told her that I normally keep the speaker music level low enough for me to hear, but that won't interfere with my hearing the phone ringing or office people needing my help with something. To that I got an "OHH, then that's totally fine then, I just assumed you meant that you would use headphones. Speakers are totally fine and won't shut you off from everyone."

So this means two very important things: the place is laid back, but still corporate meaning that they have policies to follow, but aren't going to be incredibly stuffy about; I will be an essential employee, meaning that I'm going to be in the chain of command and this makes me very anxious and nervous.

I really hope that I'll be able to perform well for this place. I don't want what happened at my first corporate gig to happen again, where I was hired as a statistic and wasn't acquainted with anything and just thrown to the lions knowing that I would be disposed of 5 months later, just short of being able to collect unemployment. I want to be able to work and not play politics, I want to be able to sit down, get some work done and not be judged because I went out with friends the night before. More importantly, I don't want to work under constant scrutiny; constructive criticism and learning are what I desire, not picking apart everything I do in order to belittle me.

So, I will play by the rules and I won't ruffle too many feathers (not until my first year is up anyway). My nose will be to the grindstone, as I have to learn another few programs for this place and I will do my best to represent myself and the company.

However, my desk buddy will be coming along with me for my very first day, this should be a precursor for my personality and an olive branch I will extend.

He goes on top of my monitor because I love him. :-)

Commence Yay Week!

2009-07-19T15:29:00.002-04:00

So, since I got hired and am no longer worried about getting hired, I can finally enjoy this time of no work and actually call it a vacation! I had gotten advice earlier on when I had just gotten laid off to just sit back and enjoy the time to yourself, but knowing me and how my one anchor in life had been removed I knew that there was no way I would be able to just sit back and enjoy, that was time to be spent worrying and scouring the ads for employment.

Now that I have gotten my anchor back I now feel free to venture off and enjoy the midweek outside to myself away from office workers and students inside, so this week will be spent out in coffee shops and boutiques and food shops, preparing for my massive month of August filled with a very special visitor and a very extreme road trip up to Buffalo, NY.

Yay Week begins today enjoying my Sunday inside away from all the beach goers and tourists getting my computers and apartment in working order. Tomorrow, weather willing, I will venture out and enjoy the WiFi of some local coffee places and plan out the road trip up North.

Hired!

2009-07-13T12:49:00.002-04:00

My search is over, my 6 months of scraping by and scavenging for work is over, I have been hired by the firm out of East Hartford. I will start 8/10 and begin a new portion of my career.

This has probably been the most trying few months of my life and I am glad it is over with. A recession means that no one's job is safe and I've been humbled tremendously by my layoff. It also taught me to save more and not squander my money, so even though it hurt and depressed me I was able to glean some good out of this. I will turn over a new leaf and be smarter with my money.

Also, I appreciate and love all of my friends and family that have helped me out in this time. Some of you know how low I almost got and I really appreciate you being there for me, even though you probably had no idea how much you helped me. I'm a Cancer, I hide things from people, so you'll never know, truly, how much that phone call or that little link via IM really helped me that day. Thank you.

Busy Bee...bzzzzz bzzzz

2009-07-12T18:18:00.003-04:00

Yeah, if you haven't heard from me or have wondered what happened to that crazy Twitter/blogging girl that you used to follow, she's been quite busy.

The last few weeks have been insane because of wrapping up a certain project that had been tweaked substantially from it's original layout, so much so that it required a complete redesign. *sigh* But it's more work that keeps me busy so I will not complain. Also, in the midst of this I had some cool Twitter meetups as well as summertime shenanigans with my local friends.

Had an awesome Twappy Hour with @fairfielddesign and friends on his lovely boat in the Fairfield Marina. Then got a random invite from another friend for some Saturday sailing shenanigans. So I've been a proper Connecticut girl and have been boating already twice this summer. Jeeves, I think it's time for my second gin and tonic, I'll be out by the dock sunning myself...*has a CT snob moment*

And more importantly, and what has been really keeping my life and sanity together for these past few months, my someone-very-special will be coming up for nearly the month of August. <3

I am beyond words and still nervously shocked about everything. It'll be so nice to have that someone here with me, even doing the mundane things like washing the dishes or watching some TV. Just knowing that he'll be with me will be the best thing ever. I'm so happy I want to burst, but I know there are obstacles up ahead and am willing to see where this love rabbit hole leads too...So I am getting some nice food and drink goodies together, getting everything cleaned up and some drawer space cleared and hoping that this crazy odyssey (as I've labeled it) really is real and not something that's been living in my head. It'll be cool to poke him in the shoulder and say, "hey, you really do exist!"

*crossing fingers and wiping away some tears* :'-)

Interview #3 and a renewed hope

2009-07-06T02:58:00.000-04:00

Well, since this was only my third interview in nearly 6 months, I've now gone completely superstitious and refused to announce to the internetz that I actually went on an interview. So now I feel I can actually talk about it since I don't think any bad juju can fall onto the prospect (I hope, *pulls out beads for St. Jude*).

I received a call last Saturday, on my birthday no less, from this company out of East Hartford. The pre-interview went well, even though this is a bit out of my driving range I figured, what the hell, they sound like a good place and do everything from HVAC to architectural goodies as well as structural stuff. So I agreed to an interview on Thursday at 2.

I checked the place out and tried to figure out where they got my info. from (I didn't want to be rude and ask "so where did you get my resume from??" I felt that may be too desperate even for me). Turns out I didn't apply for them, they must have found me from somewhere. So, since I know nothing besides what was said over the phone, I find them on good old Google.

Turns out they are a great mid size company: they actually are in a real office building (that they designed no less, the showoffs...hehehe), they have a cool young dude in control and an even cooler old dude that started the firm who is one of those eccentric engineers birthed from MIT (I see a good relationship that could form as I myself am just a wee bit eccentric too ;-) ) and they have a great website. Plus they have a broad design portfolio that is pretty decent (I would link to it, but as normal superstitious behavior dictates, I can't as that would bring m bad juju.)

So it is a bit of a drive into foreign territory, East Hartford. Around 50-60 minute commute one way taking I-91 (another foreign land filled with traffic patterns I am not at all used to). However, it's in a officey area with all types of fooderies and even a couple parks, so that's pretty cool.

The interview went well, I would say. We stayed there about an hour and a half gabbing about our experiences, the architects we loved and hated as well as our favorite structural engineers that we went all starry eyed over (I have a crush on Cecil Balmond, he uses chaos theory shapes as structures, *swoons*). And more importantly, I didn't feel a pit of dread in my stomach as I left the interview. Unlike the place in Chelsea, he didn't mention to me the epic battle over the position and they didn't make me feel bad for causing them stress in making a decision. Hence, these guys are pros.

So they said they'd get back to me in a few weeks and we'll go from there. At this point, I was just happy to get called for an interview. I would love to work with them however, I know how many people are probably vying for this position, so I will keep my hopes low and keep my bridges open and running for the other options that may be presented to me.

But c'mon, it's a crazy MIT guy, who wouldn't like him as your boss?! Especially in an engineering office!? OMG the antics that we could get away with...I would have to introduce him to the whole Cube Warfare division of Thinkgeek. ;-)

*fingers crosses and prayers for St. Jude (yes, that's the Patron Saint of Lost Causes, I know what kind of economy we are in, get those hands up and praying!)*
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

"You say it's your birthday..."

2009-06-27T00:05:00.000-04:00

It's my birthday too--yeah
They say it's your birthday
We're gonna have a good time
I'm glad it's your birthday
Happy birthday to you."

:-)

Happy Father's Day/Anniversary!

2009-06-21T10:50:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was my parent's 28th anniversary (yeah, I don't how they stayed married this long either) and today of course is Father's Day. So in a while I'll be marching over to my parent's with both kinds of presents and cards in tow. :-)

I love my parents and appreciate all the sacrifices they made in raising our family. I think they're both unique, good hearted people that made my sister and me the people we are today. I love them both so much. <3

Also Happy Father's Day to all the Daddies out there as well!

Taking Emotional Stock

2009-06-20T14:27:00.002-04:00

Things are going well and I'm in a much better mood. My sister spent the night last night and we caught up and gabbed properly. Things are good with her and her new boyfriend (Yay! My sister's dating someone!), things are going well at her job and life is treating her well. To be honest, hearing all these good things about my sister totally brightened my mood, I'm still the big sister after all and want the best for my little sis. So when she's happy, I am happy. :-)

On the job front, as some people know already, someone may make an honest woman out of me. ;-) We touched on the subject since he brought it up first, so we'll see what happens next.

Money-wise, meh. It could be better, but I'm slowly getting things balanced and organized. There was an annual fee on one of my credit cards that came up unexpectedly, but it will get paid like normal soon, just need to wait a little while longer. #1 order of business when I get settled is to pay off my little credit cards. I'm sick and tired of having them and having weird fees and shenanigans get tacked on unexpectedly. *grumble*

Relationship front, :-). Friends front, yay varily!

So overall, things are good; definitely above "meh," but not exactly "yay" and definitely not "YAY!" So I am happy.

Grinding My Gears

2009-06-19T18:42:00.002-04:00

I'm having major focusing problems today. I can tell because when I was getting down to work yesterday I was sailing through it like old times and wasn't even getting distracted by Twitter or Facebook shenanigans. I know what the difference is today though as I sit at my kitchen table and eat a toasted PB&J while I reflect on why my mind keeps going over certain things. I'm becoming an "adult" and it's kind of freaking me out a little.

What I mean is that it's not necessarily stuff going on in me that somehow makes me an "adult" now that's making me unsettled, it's seeing how other people react to me and treat me that is causing me to feel a little weird. It could be that since I'm getting back on my feet again and am rejoining the economy in a way that maybe I'm losing that youthful vulnerability I had gained when I got laid off. And by that I mean getting laid off knocked me down a couple pegs and back down to the mentality and demeanor of a struggling college kid again.

People were really nice to me wherever I went without knowing anything about me, people were a bit more helpful and open (maybe the whiff of defeat mixed with new ambition helped out with that, who knows), but now things have started to drop off a little and two particular things are really kind of messing with me a little.

I went to this festival today for lunch where I met up with a friend of mine. We were standing in line to get some pizza and one of the pizza staff was handing out paper plates to all the people waiting in line. Now, I overheard the guy ahead of me request a bunch of plates and the pizza staff guy said "how many, 6, 7...what?" He then handed him his plates. It's my turn next and I said nicely "oh, just one for me." As I make a grab for the plate he's giving me, he continues to hold it and tugs back a little and then says "well that's all I was going to give you anyway, I don't know what you were thinking."

Now you can say that that was the guy messing with me a little or flirting maybe, but that kind of hurt a little. I laughed it off at the time, but in my head I was like "f*ck you dude, I was just trying to be cordial, and if that was your attempt at becoming a comedian I suggest you keep your pizza day job." *grumble*

The second thing that's still rattling around in my head is what happened last night when I went to go visit a friend's studio. His studio is in a building with other artists and they were having an open house, so you can mill around, have a drink or two and get to expose yourself to different types of artwork. Everyone was pretty cool, but I did notice everyone started out very standoffish to me. Not making any eye contact, not responding to anything I asked or said, even after offering praise to one of them concerning their artwork I just got blank stares. I guess saying "wow, I really like your stuff" was not the "cool" thing to say. *grumble*

Then, one artist started playing The Downward Spiral which honestly did go along well with his type of deconstructionist art even though it did seem a bit odd to start playing it at that moment of time. I guess they are just THAT angsty and rebellious, so angsty and rebellious that when I asked them about their interest in NIN, they were just too cool for school to answer me and actually made fun of me that I knew some things about the music and the band. I apparently was "kind of creepy." I'm sorry if it's "creepy" to try to start a conversation with people that may have a shared interest in something with me. I guess all conversations should start with praise to you followed immediately by how awesome I think you are, then followed by if you would like some beer or weed or something like that. I guess I did not get the new hipsters memo in the mail regarding how to properly greet an "artist."

Listen, I think your art is fabulous, I really do. But boyo, you need to get just a little bit more exposure first before you start playing the celebrity card. And even then, what is it to be cordial to people looking at your art for the first time? I know Andy Warhol and Keith Harring weren't exactly PC, but they were at least cordial to people visiting their studios. Basquiat used to sell his work in order to pay rent for Christ's sake, so don't get too holier than though newbie.

So yeah, I'm a little raw as to how I'm getting treated by some people. It could be just me, maybe I'm cranky today and giving off a weird vibe of "please treat me like an asshole," but it still hurts. Especially when you appreciate art and new artists in general and were just trying to get exposed to new things in order to spawn some creativity on your end.

I am not your emotional punching bag, OK. Don't project your feelings of inadequacy and mediocraty onto me just because you see me as a "square" or someone that just wouldn't understand. Never judge a book by it's cover; you have no idea of my struggles and abilities or interests so instead of putting me down because it makes you feel better or cooler, maybe we can talk and get to know one another and broaden each other's horizons a little.

Epic PA Roadtrip: 6/9-6/11

2009-06-13T12:23:00.002-04:00

All I can say to sum up is I now know why people accuse the tri-state area of having crazy drivers because after I slipped back into my neck of the woods I had to get reacquainted to speeding, passing people at top speed and crazy exits that are 4 lanes away at a distance of 100 feet.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike was such an experience in itself, it really became a main part of my vacation. Even though some portions were heavily monitored by speed cops, most of it is not and that is a very cool thing when the speed limit is set at a nice 65 mph. The turnpike is nice and wide open, you have the beautiful mountain views of Pennsylvania in the distance and, most importantly and why it took some reacclimation getting back home, the drivers are SO nice out there! Everyone followed the Audubon rules of driving, pass on the left, drive on the right. Way was always given to faster drivers and there was no such thing as stop and go traffic. The most that happened was that as you approach Pittsburg, there was some congestion getting down the hill, but they had a sign that told you about it! OMG a congestion sign! Really?!

Another great amenity, besides smooth driving, were the epic roadside service plazas. They were all recently constructed and impeccably designed and maintained. The bathrooms were clean, the food was great and they even had little doggie parks around so that your dogs could stretch their legs. :-)

So on to the main reason for the trip: visiting with friends from Buffalo and seeing my last NIN concert ever. We all met at a great hotel in Coraopolis, PA (somewhere just outside of the Post Gazette Pavilion in Burgettstown). We meet, we get acquainted again, we hug, then it was off to the venue for NIN shenanigans and such. Really dug Street Sweeper Social Club, featuring Tom Morello on guitars. NIN was awesome as usual and this concert was a fitting end to my touring rein, well done. Then Jane's Addiction ended the night with an epic set that reminded me of my youth growing up in the 90's. It was great to hear them play songs I had only heard on the radio or seen videos of, a really nice feeling.

Since we all ended up meeting in PA, there was no sojourn to Buffalo or the Adirondacks. That will be for another time and another road trip in the future. But it did make my trip back even easier and nicer since I was able to visit people and see things that I didn't have time for while driving out the first time, so it was all good. I got to meet up with my friends dotted throughout PA, Lorena in Philly, Mel and Matt kayaking somewhere on the Towpath Park.

Also, while in Pittsburgh I made it a point to check out the Warhol museum. Growing up, I never really "got" what he was trying to convey, but in my 20's I had a breakthrough and I now enjoy his art and others like his immensely. I think you need to do some living first and need to be exposed to the plastic parts of society first before you get what Andy is conveying/making fun of/commenting on/playing around with.

The later part of his life, he became great friends/art partners with Jean-Michel Basquiat, who is another absolute favorite of mine. A great feature of this museum is that it featured their joint works together which I believe is something Andy would have wanted. It was a pleasure seeing their work together and you can see how well they collaborated on a shared vision. Such a great time and worth the price of admission ($15, grumble grumble).

Potential Road Trip!

2009-05-28T16:08:00.004-04:00

I preface with "potential" because I may end up taking a train, but I think for my sanity I will just try to enjoy this time that I've been given and use it for good things like a massive PA road trip to Burgettstown, PA. Why you ask would I drive 8 hours away and through the most boring highway system ever, well the answer is NIN of course and if you didn't know that, shame on you. You should know that even casual NIN fans are willing to travel half way across the globe for a NIN show and to also meet up with their fellow NINnies for some NINtastic bar and club gatherings.

Also, I'm being called over by some awesome people that I haven't seen in almost a year and they're going to put me up for the night, so what the hell. It's NIN time and NIN time spent with NIN friends, YAY! (And how many times can I use NIN as an adjective? Hmm...)

So to break up the 8 hours I think I'll have a stop over in the capital of Harrisburg and soak up some of the local goodies that are there. I really love checking out antique stores, so I must hit up this place I found on Google Maps, Atomic Warehouse. It looks like a good spread of retro toys and clothing as well as some funky things in general. Perhaps I can expand on my cigar box collection, muahahahaa! I'm not above haggling with my local smoke shoppe for their left over empty cigar boxes and leaving with a whole bag full, so this should be no problem at all. :-)

Also, I found a really funky coffee shop called Cafe di Luna that I must check out as well and maybe have a bite to eat before I leave for Burgettstown. I mean it has the number one quality for a funky coffee shop, a cheesily designed website with a cute musak song in the background. It may as well be a beacon in the distance for me.

So yeah, once I decide and actually commit to the road trip, you guys will definitely get a telling of the whole experience. I have my Blogger linked with my Twitter and everyone plays nice now, so let the road trip blogging commence! This comes out of my disappointment at not keeping travel logs when I went to the UK a couple years back. I had such tremendous experiences and just no time to actually blog about it, let alone a computer connection to let that blogging happen, so some of the memories have been dulled over time. However, now with the acquisition of my Crackberry and all the blogging sites under creation at my disposal, it is on like Donkey Kong, as they say.

Meh...

2009-05-28T12:39:00.002-04:00

The place in Queens turned out to be a complete crap hole and had an equally disappointing guy in charge who said I would make a good wife and that I shouldn't bother taking the PE exam because women don't do too well on the exam. So hence, I am not working there. And yeah, he actually said all of that.

I guess I've been very sheltered from all that misogyny. I went to college from '00-'04 and had about a decent 60-40 ratio in my classes, the later representing the females. I had mostly guy friends and there was no "well I have a penis so I'm better than you at math," in fact everything was so not an issue that when other girls would come up to me and say I was "doing something groundbreaking" I got angry at them because I didn't understand what they meant. Even out of college, in the scary professional world filled with cavemen and ex-football players, really wasn't that much of a problem.

My first boss, even though by the end I think his lyme disease was slowly making him crazy, he was still OK. I did get some sporadic female hits at my latest place, but nothing in that realm of "you can't possibly know how to do this since you're a woman." They were mostly flirting hits or from the caveman ex-marketing guy who was later fired and that doesn't count. He was kind of like a big fly on it's last legs buzzing around the office annoying everyone, finally my boss did the right thing and cornered him in the back office and splatted him with his newspaper.

So, I'm never really prepared when it comes to situations like this. I grin and bare it, and if anything make the person feel dumb by saying, "well of course I'm going to take my PE exam since you only have your PE Civil and don't have your PE Structural." That's code for "you wimped out and took the easier civil exam you waste of space, so go f*ck yourself." But then later on I feel icky about even stepping into an office like that and need to shower. Then I question my outfit, maybe I shouldn't have worn heels, maybe I should have worn my hair up, but then ultimately, nothing I could have done would make some guy like that take me more seriously. Hence why I'm not going to work for him.

So the plugging away with my resume continues, finding new leads from Google Maps and friends of mine. I have been getting some hits to my supersecret professional blog, so that makes me happy, since anything I've been sending out recently includes that address so it must be one of those people. The search continues...

Interview #2! w00t!

2009-05-07T21:49:00.002-04:00

I encountered a problem today with my penthouse that's going up in Chelsea. One of the columns was far too weak to handle the wind coming in from a certain direction and thankfully the mistake (and typo apparently) was caught by someone. And who do you think it was caught by? Not the 4 engineers that had the opportunity to check over the drawings, not the steel detailer; it was one of the glass installation dudes (highly technical term by the way "dude," use it wisely) attaching a scaffolding to the column. Thank you! If I'm ever out there again I can kiss one of you guys! Well, only on the cheek and no hug...maybe...

So while on a conference call with, I believe the final total was 6 people, my phone rings with some 718 area code. At first I thought it was the other people giving me a call back, but that's Chelsea. So since I'm having a silent panic attack already on the phone, I figure I'll let that go to voicemail. They don't leave a message.

After the phone call and the following call with the engineer I answer too, who was tremendously awesome about the mistake and blamed himself too (everything's cool, it was an oversight of everyone involved, everyone's to blame, blah blah blah), I figure I'll call back this phantom number from one of the other boroughs since god-help-me it may be someone lost in the conference call we had. I call and get this receptionist from an engineering firm. (YOWZA!) Apparently the PE was calling back applicants for job offers. (YOWZA again!) So she says he's on the phone and he'll call you back.

So he does (yay) and we talk and dish and discuss and all that other stuff that happens on the pre-interview-interview. It's a small firm out of Queens, but they've been in business for 15 years and are about to leap into the 21st century with a website and a new engineer. I set up a time to go there and he gives me directions, yay again.

So I look through all the places I've applied too since I printed out all the ads or blind posts from Craig's List and guess how long ago I sent them my resume? 3 months ago...*sigh*

You know, even though I'm on the receiving end of this crap stick of the economy, I feel bad for these poor bastards that have to review ALL of these resumes. Can you imagine how many resumes these people are receiving if it took them 3 months to get back to me??!! Good god man...

Daily Mitchism

2009-05-04T21:27:00.002-04:00

It's been a while, so here's a couple good ones:

"I hope the next time I move I get a real easy phone number, something that's real easy to remember. Something like two two two two two two two two. I would say 'Sweet.' And then people would say, 'Mitch, how do I get a hold of you?' I'd say, 'Just press two for a while. And when I answer, you will know you have pressed two enough.'"

"I was walking down the street with my friend and he said, 'I hear music', as if there is any other way you can take it in. You're not special, that's how I receive it too. I tried to taste it but it did not work."

And my favorite:

"This shirt is 'dry-clean only'...which means it's dirty."

"There can only be ONE..."

2009-04-27T17:13:00.005-04:00

So, interview went well in the city and am still here now blogging from this awesome little outdoor park on W27th street, it must have been an old alley that they gussied up and converted into park space.

I don't know, if you follow me on Twitter or are a Facebook buddy of mine you already got the brief feeling, but I've never left an interview feeling sad before. It's the weirdest thing in the world. I left the Principal of the company with quite a weighty decision to make, he admitted to me. And I could tell he wasn't just giving me a BS line or anything, the dude was upset and looked worried. You could just feel that he had a hard decision to make.

How it started was typical for a mid-size firm interview: a rather casual briefing of my work experience as well as an exchange of references and projects we've worked on, but then it got into a weird area. Mid way through, he admitted to me that, "you're perfect for our company, but this will be a hard decision to make, we've had so many candidates, more than we normally have and you all have unique and tremendous talents, I feel honored, actually."

That's when I realized, "wow, I'm in competition with someone right now, I'm going to have to do something unique and cool." So I basically started talking shop with the guy: relaying my experiences with particular projects and doing what I do best, personalizing. That's probably the only compliment I received from my short corporate gig is that apparently I possess a unique talent of communication, something that engineers either don't have or are just bad at all together. So I figure, let's use it.

So as we start swapping stories and I can see his body language changing dramatically. He started to open up more and talk to me like a mentor and a boss. Then he did something that was really kind of awesome and unexpected. He asked me my advice on a connection detail. Not one of those BS interview questions, but like a real question on something the way a client or even an engineer in need would ask me. It was in reference to something they were doing right now and it had to do with directly welding to an existing cast iron column. So I told him what I would do and recommend that he bring a portion to a testing facility and as I was mentioning the name of the firm I stopped myself and remembered, "HEY, this is an interview! I'm not giving away any secrets." So I stopped and we just gabbed a little bit more about it.

As the interview winded down he seemed to not want to let me go and wanted me to stay longer, but I figured an hour and a half had passed and I didn't want to overstay my welcome, so I shook hands with him and recommended he take a look at my job list and online portfolio. He then showed me around the office and I split.

At this point it can go either way, but he did say he would let me know by the end of the week about his decision. It was one of those, "I want to hire all of you and I know I'll never get this opportunity again since the only reason you people are available is because of the economy, but I can only pick one."

Oh yeah, and one last thing...

2009-04-22T23:21:00.002-04:00

I will now always bring my Crackberry with me into the bathroom, no questions asked. Why? Because as I was washing my face and was full of soap and water, my Crackberry dings from the other room.

I knew it was The Interview Dude giving me a call back so I rip the face towel off of the holder and try to take the soap off. Then I tried to open the door of my bathroom and because my hands were still soapy, the door knob wouldn't turn! IT WOULDN'T TURN! So I use the face towel to cover the door knob and get some friction as I'm turning it, then I make a dash for my phone. On the last ring, I pick up and finally get to talk to The Interview Dude. Whew...

So a rather eager, PC, professional small talk session ensued with me having soap in my eyes and trying to paw at it with a towel.

*sigh*

So yeah, that's it. Crackberry is coming into all bathrooms with me, be it a public bathroom or maybe even your bathroom, my fair Blog Reader. Muahahahaha! No bathroom is safe from my Crackberrying now! Watch as I cast aside decency and civility as I tap tap on my wee QWERTY board behind the bathroom stall or answer a call as I wash my hands. HA! Suffer!

So, I get an email this morning...

2009-04-22T22:52:00.002-04:00

But before that, let's go through why I flipped out and curled into a little ball and started to cry tears of happy.

As you may know, we're in a little bit of a recession/depression/doom right now and my profession along with anything remotely connected to the building of buildings was affected. Because of this, along with banks freezing up creating our own mini Ice Age, my boss had to reduce his work force drastically and I was one of those people let go. This was back in the end of January and as of now it's officially been 3 months for me of no full time employment.

So during this time, not only did I whip my resume into shape, I also (at the advice of an engineering placement firm) made a frickin' job list and a proper damn portfolio. *kicks myself* Of course it took forever and it's something that I should have started a long long (long) time ago, but I was so busy with work over the years that I never really stopped to take a breath and properly represent myself. So, maybe this was a good thing, in a sense, for me to collect myself and prepare for the next step of my career. But anyway, on to the good bits.

Once the resume was whipped into shape, I made it my job to find a job. That fat bastard of my resume got plastered everywhere! EVERYWHERE. Careerbuilder, Monster, anything that remotely looked like "engineering" on Craig's List, Indeed, sologig, Net Temps and finally a headhunters for engineering. I think in all I applied to about 30 different places and got some type of correspondence back from maybe between 5 and 8 places and had one interview. So, let's just say I was a little depressed.

So, despite my fragile emotions and wanting desperately to sleep all day, I made a point to wake up at 9. I wanted to still be among the living, so to speak. And in case I got an email or a call back from someone, I didn't want them to wake me up and catch my "AHHH, sleepy Christine angry" voice.

This morning, I wanted to tap my alarm and sleep an extra half hour, but I figured I'd check my Crackberry just in case. Thankfully I did because on it was a little email back from a firm I had applied to a few weeks ago wanting to see me for an interview!! So I check through my emails and try to find out through what mode of job seekering did I contact them with, sure enough it was dumb ol' Craig's List. *sigh*

I went through Craig's List again a few weeks ago in a desperate last stab at finding a job on my own. Later on I got picked up by a placement agency and essentially gave up trying to find anything on my own. So this was one of those last firms I had applied too. This is a place in Chelsea of Manhattan, and in a nice turn of luck it's right near where my penthouse is going up. This is a project I did with my now former employer, but still get some questions and calls from people if there are any problems or issues, so I made sure to point that out in my email to this potential firm. Turns out it worked and separated me out of the mass of resumes that they were wading through (the Principal emailed me and admitted to being smacked with MANY resumes, so you know he was being nice and really wanted to say "dudette, you're lucky we even found you in this dumpster full of paper.")

YAY!!

So yes, my interview is set for Monday at 2PM and I will be sweating and preparing all weekend up until that very 5 minutes before. Wish me luck!

And also, thanks to all my friends that have either helped me out emotionally, financially or whatever. You guys have been great and are true friends. :-)

Feeling Better and Getting Around

2009-04-03T12:46:00.003-04:00

Of course I'm starting to feel better, this a day after I set up a doctor's appointment for Monday. But since this is a potential new primary physician, I will dutifully go and tell him what my symptoms were and go from there.

My day at home yesterday worked out well though. I napped, listened to the radio and got some personal computer stuff out of the way. Later on last night I began to play around with LiveJournal again. I originally got a profile so that I can join in on the fun and commenting since I have friends that are sworn LJer's. Now I know why they stay there, it's because of the communities. (They are probably reading this and saying a collective "dUH!!1")

A while ago I had joined up on an engineers community that allowed us to post at will a long as we kept it on the topic of engineering. So, at around midnight, I test the waters and see who else has been laid off because of the economy. And much to the statement "misery loves company" I got a decent response over the course of the last 12 hours. People relaying their lay off stories and more importantly, what they are doing to pass the time. Another benefit was that we're all experiencing a lack of interviews when in years past, we would all have offers up the wazoo (technical term). Former blue chip's are now experiencing multiple months of unemployment with no interviews on the horizon and we're all floundering around a bit.

It's funny because I'm probably being a big baby, "waaaahh, it's been 2 months, waaaah," but you have to understand, this is a new feeling for me as well as for others in my profession. We're used to being scooped up within weeks of changing jobs and pretty much naming our salaries. So in a way this is a good example of bringing our expectations back down to earth, with the economy shrinking and construction money not being at the ready. But it's still scary and it was nice to hear from other engineers in similar prediciments. It's nice to band together and share our recession stories.

I remember my grandmother would recant stories back from the Great Depression; how they used to reuse everything and anything (hence why she was a bit of a pack rat), food never went to waste and you found friends where you could since any connection could mean work for a few weeks, "hey, my friend downtown has a sidewalk that needs pouring..." (for me it's more of a phone call for a house that needs framing, but very similar). Now I understand, you have to band together during tough times. It keeps your outlook positive and it helps you out if you need a few bucks to not overdraft or if you have extra eggs for someone to whip up dinner for their family.

It's nice to have a sense of community again. :-)

Sick

2009-04-02T10:53:00.002-04:00

Meh...*sniff*

It feels like I have oatmeal where my post nasal drip area is (I keep calling it the base of my sinuses, I could be wrong, but that area) and my lymph nodes are slightly swollen. I'm also tired, not exceptionally tired, but tired enough sometimes that I need a nap or at least a sit in front of the TV.

Another alarming facet, I think I have Pink Eye. AHHH!!! *hides under her robe* Even saying it makes me feel like I live in a condemned apartment building with pizza boxes piled up and years worth of dust and grime caked around. *shudder* But I have to face the facts: weeping eyes, redish "whites" and tenderness when I touch the eyelids. I'm banking on allergies just because I think it's slightly embarrassing to have Pink Eye as an adult, but I have to come to terms that it may be Pink Eye. Years of guilting me into a clean freak by my Mom makes me realize that it's probably not from me, but from travels around and encountering various sick/creepy people.

So I made an appointment with a new doctor for Monday, I had been putting off seeking a new primary care provider ever since I moved into my apartment 4 years ago, so I felt it was time to not only take care of things but branch out into The Havens. Since I grew up in Bridgeport, I have a slight rivalry with New Haven physicians. I know they have Yale-New Haven, but I'm very partial to my St. Vincent's and Bridgeport Hospital peeps. However, with the latest buy out of Bridgeport Hospital by Yale, the rivalry is over. And now I will be able to walk to my doctor instead of driving half an hour.

This just in from the NIN front...

2009-04-01T02:25:00.002-04:00

Breaking news today from frontman Trent Reznor:

"More information about this important event will get posted here when we get it. A very exciting time to be a NIN fan!"

I know I will be glued to my screen until the next update emerges!

A Light at the End of the Tunnel

2009-03-12T21:01:00.003-04:00

Well, I got an interesting wall post on Facebook from a fellow engineering gal of mine and she says her company is hiring. :-D

*crossing fingers*

Also, besides that opportunity, it seems people are building things again. There are a bunch more job postings on Careerbuilder starting this week, which would follow the normal spring construction boom. So the resume is out and about in a big way and hopefully people will start biting soon.

Oh and if you didn't know this already, getting things for free just make them totally better in general. My super had bought a fairly awesome toaster oven for his wife, but sadly she looked at it and scratched her head, so hence I have now inherited said toaster oven. I will say that yes, it's a little complicated, but once you get the hang of it's funky controls it is a wonderful oven replacement indeed. The kickass thing is that it utilizes the fact that it gives off so much heat by having a warming/toasting tray right on top. YAY toasty buns!! ;-)

And yes, I'm as easily amused as a 5 year old, but whatever. I just scoff at you stiffs out there that don't squee at glee for a free toaster oven with a toaster buns tray.

Rec(Depr)ession Backlash

2009-01-26T19:29:00.003-05:00

Some people who I know or frequent with on Twitter and/or Facebook probably already know this, but I may as well should blog about it to free up some space in my head and heart. On January 16th I became a statistic in this failed economy and was laid off from my firm.

It's a weird feeling to be let go because of your firm's finances. I'm a very straightforward person and prefer dealing with conflict, so because it wasn't due to a disagreement or a conflict of personalities I have no one to blame. I have no anger and because of that I am numb. It's such a weird non-feeling, all of a sudden you were working and now you are not because your boss can't afford to pay you anymore. What a sense of loss...

I do get waves of fear that maybe I won't get hired at all. We're in a bad situation financially and it's particularly effected professions such as mine. I can't even tell you how many emails I've sent out to job postings where a) they haven't updated their website in the last month and still have positions listed that they are no longer filling, b) love my resume, but are in a hiring freeze or c) "DUE TO THE HIGH VOLUME OF APPLICATIONS..." *sigh*

So for now, I'm working my existing connections, traveling a bit, studying for the upcoming PE exam which I'm forcing myself to take in October since I now have all this study time available, I don't have that whole job thing getting in the way. *eye roll and a laugh*

And see there it is, I go through waves of depression, but then get my hopes lifted because I see a new prospect on the horizon or get an answer back from someone. I was secretly looking to see what else was out there by the end of last year. I wanted to move to another firm that would let me grow, but who also had more criticism to give me, if that makes any sense. I wanted people to really look at what I was doing and maybe lend me their ways of doing things or refer me to a more rigorous set of calculations. So maybe this is the opportunity I was looking for, something that would upset my comfort zone of working for a comfortable place and make me work for someone that would force me to step up my game, force me to learn more.

However, those people that may have hired me a couple months ago, have also cut back their work force, some by 20% or more. So all I can do now is submit my resume, make a few calls and run some leg work. Hopefully that will push my resume up to the front of the line.

So I'm doing OK. Other portions of my life have begun to fill the voids for me and make me tremendously happy and help to pass the days. My friends and family have been great and I can't thank you guys enough. :-)

NINternetz Update

2009-01-26T01:45:00.002-05:00

Some very talented NINnies have been having their way with some excellent footage from many of the shows this year in the Lights in the Sky tour of Nine Inch Nails. What has surfaced is a totally fan collaborated DVD set called Another Version of the Truth: This One is On Us. And here's a little sneak peak:

For updates and general OMG fangirl/boy moments, please take a visit over to the fan site. And to show your support, place this image somewhere on your blog. Mine is resting nicely in my footer to serve as a wonderful anchor for my blog. It's keeping me grounded in a sense. :-)

One for the polar bears

2009-01-14T09:02:00.001-05:00

HA! Nature's fighting back bitcheeeeez!

Fractally Goodness

2009-01-12T10:57:00.002-05:00

*drool*

*snurched from Buttons for Mouse.

Beauty Weekend

2009-01-09T10:30:00.002-05:00

This weekend is filled with beauty type girly things, namely a hair cut and my first trip to a spa. Since one of my goals this year is to take care of myself, I figured why not kill as many birds as I can with my pretty pink stone and get everything done this weekend.

So I'll be getting my hair cut at my long time regular New Haven spot, SoHo. It'll be just a basic maintenance cut, but I'll inquire about their options to get rid of some grays that I'm beginning to notice. Yes, I'm 26 and starting to gray...*sigh* I amount it to half genetics and half stressful job.

As for the spa, I received as part of my bonus a trip to the Viso Bello Spa in Middlebury for a mani/pedi/facial. This will be a complete first for me and of course I'm wondering if I should prepare myself in some way since I don't want me to completely think I'm a huge green horn. I normally keep my nails in order, but I'm wondering if they will make fun of my cuticles. :-( I'm probably just worrying for nothing, but whatever.

So yes, it should be fun and you can definitely expect Twits as I am waiting (and waiting and waiting and waiting...).

Handcuffed man shot by cop - Oakland, CA

2009-01-08T11:30:00.002-05:00

Full article from San Francisco Bay View.

"For reasons unknown to us, the police officer pushed Grant to the ground. One officer kneeled on his neck while the other officer pulled out a gun and shot him point blank in the back. The bullet went through his back, hit the ground and bounced back up and pierced his lung, killing him."

What is wrong with you Oakland PD, don't you know that it's growing less and less easier to get away with stuff like this with the growing reach of cellphone cameras. (Warning, this is an actual video of the event.)

You shot a guy while he was down on the ground and handicuffed, in the back no less.

Updatery

2009-01-05T09:07:00.003-05:00

It's been a while since Christmas, but I've run into some car trouble and have been a little depressed because of it and some other things as well.

Firstly, I don't know what it's like for other car brands, but taking an Audi back to the dealership anywhere in Connecticut will just fill you with worry and woe. "OK, you need a whole new camshaft, so that'll be $2950, I'll give you until Friday to decide." "But wait good sir, how can it need an entire new camshaft, the car only has 67K on it and I don't drag race with it, you are describing something that happens at 200K?" *grumble* Thankfully though, I am not alone in the German car price gouge and am getting some help from a Passat owner. Gert will be getting towed there today sometime once I touch base with his guy, who is going to really determine what's wrong with the car, hopefully.

To be as vague as I normally am with Relationship Land: :-) mixed with a little :'-( because of "things." HA! Isn't that spectacularly vague!! :-P

Work is beginning to pick up slightly: I'm waiting back from an architect about another car dealership, we completed field measurements for a school where we're determining it's roof capacity and we're waiting for a couple long time clients to wake up, financially.

This economy blows, if you didn't know that already. My industry took a big hit. Why? Because when credit freezes, even wealthy clients panic. These are people who are used to getting what they want without having to back up a loan with actual things. You can't expect every wealthy person to want to put up their houses in order for a project to be financially backed, not coming out of the quick and easy economy we had not 6 months ago.

So, it is time to take stock and start studying for my upcoming exam which I've been horribly procrastinating so much so that I haven't even filled out the application yet. Why? Because it has a 38% passing rate that's f*cking why. It's essentially my Bar Exam, but this'll be my second one. I've already passed the FE exam out of college and this upcoming one is the PE exam to determine if I've been learning everything I should have and if I can call myself an Engineer. Right now I am an Engineer for my company, if I stop working I lose that and become an Engineer-in-Training. So to compare it to something, I'm in Residency now in a sense. Once I pass the PE exam, I'll be wearing a white coat.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T10:17:00.000-05:00

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Las Vegas Long Weekend Recap

2008-12-18T09:10:00.002-05:00

Well one thing that I noticed that I guess you can say is part of the je ne sais quoi of Las Vegas is the incessant flicking and flapping of prostitute cards by men wearing naked women tee shirts with advertisements for phone numbers and other points of contact. Other than that, I'd have to say I really enjoyed my Las Vegas trip and to be honest, is it Vegas without the hooker cards being flicked in front of your face?? I don't think so...

I was surprised by the amount of construction going on in that desert. Wow. There were some interesting risks being taken with steel and such and I can only amount it to the fact that there is no snow and no seismic events out there, just wind. Pictures to follow once I get a chance to upload them all.

Also, great Blackjack tables and dealers. We were able to snag a good $15 table around 11 AM, but by the time I got the cojones to actually play, the pit boss had turned it to a $25 table. :-( I won back some of my cojones though with free drinks and at the video blackjack tables, my problem is that I get intimidated by the dealer's and the other player's proficiency. But I'd say I'm decent for a $20 table, so I may have to take another wack at it then next time I'm at Mohegan or Foxwoods.

So yeah, I had a great time and as a result have the beginnings of a cold forming because of the good times affecting my sleep. So naps and soups are in order so that I don't explode into sickies.

Las Vegas NIN stage.

2008-12-13T23:22:00.000-05:00

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"They like me...they really like me!"

2008-12-10T09:34:00.002-05:00

So yes, I had a successful "performance review" on Monday. At it was a performance review in the sense that they "are happy with me" and that they "want to make sure I'm happy coming into work in the morning," however, both were short since this company has never done them before and it really consisted of them going "you are awesome and keep it up."

To be honest, I'm not going to complain much, I like working for a small company that is really a large company, but hasn't gone sterile yet. I like that I can wear what I want and that I don't have to practice my diction or grammar skills and I love that I can blast my music if I want too. However, now that I think of it, I have received some real criticisms and help towards improving my calculations and how I do my work. I work very closely with my structural boss and we have a good "thing" going on where we dive onto a project and pick it apart. Then I run with it, ask questions along the way and then he'll do a review of it. He'll suggest better ways of doing something or easier methods of construction and then I'll apply those to the project. Then he'll review it again and then give it to the big boss for final review.

I think the best thing gleaned from the review was both my bosses saying, "we don't really care what you do or how you do it, just make sure you meet those deadlines and don't kill anyone."

As for the question of the raise, because of our economic times especially in my industry, I've been put on the secret bonus list and will be up for a full raise in 4-6 months. We have to get some more projects coming in and definitely a few construction projects as well. That'll grease our financial engine a bit more and that'll mean a larger raise for me. So a real sign of the times indeed, but I understand.

Mongoose

2008-12-06T15:38:00.000-05:00

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Lemurs!

2008-12-06T15:34:00.000-05:00

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Snow Leopards

2008-12-06T13:52:00.000-05:00

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Polar Bears!

2008-12-06T13:43:00.000-05:00

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Tigers!

2008-12-06T13:33:00.000-05:00

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Deer!

2008-12-06T13:24:00.000-05:00

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Bronx Zoo

2008-12-06T13:20:00.000-05:00

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Winter Lights

2008-12-05T17:54:00.000-05:00

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A New Haven Christmas

2008-12-05T17:42:00.000-05:00

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Lobster Bisque

2008-12-05T15:21:00.000-05:00

This is the epic win soup that I made with my own two widdle hands last night.

And for me, anything above heating some canned soup up over the stove is a milestone in itself. Hence why I'm so proud of myself for being able to handle making a soup from scratch.
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"The Thrill is Gone..."

2008-12-05T15:15:00.002-05:00

I'll be visiting a friend of mine in the city tomorrow and it just hit me at how driving/training into the city no longer gives me the jitters and butterflies that it used to. It wasn't too long ago that preparing to go into New York was, not exactly nerve racking, but treated as any other trip would in my head: figuring out what to wear, should I bring this purse and these shoes, oh my god the weather, which train should I take, oh god why is he sitting next to me!?

I actually had to remind myself that I'll be going down their tomorrow, yikes. That's a first. Usually going into the city took priority in my head space stacking.

"Oh, Christmas tree..."

2008-11-30T17:39:00.000-05:00

There's my cute widdle Christmas tree. :-)
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Gobble gobble gobble!

2008-11-26T17:56:00.002-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Right now I'm sitting at my parent's kitchen table, my Mom is cleaning up the bathroom and getting fresh towels, my Dad is wrapped up like a burrito on the sofa watching Sci-Fi channel and my sister is sitting on the other sofa with her laptop. So yes, it's as if I never left. We're all casually doing are own thing and exchanging stories and conversation. We're also getting our Christmas lists together so that the shopping can commence.

Plus, we have little furry animals running around to play with! YAY!

*happy sigh*

Now, hopefully we'll maintain this calm since we've removed the huge stress of cooking this year from the menu. *crosses fingers*

A Heart-y Soup

2008-11-25T13:15:00.000-05:00

Hehehe, look at the widdle celery "heart," awwwww.
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Thanksgiving Cheater

2008-11-24T10:02:00.002-05:00

That's right, I'm just going to come right out and say it. My sister and I split the bill to have Thanksgiving catered in this year. *runs away and hides*

*looks out from under cover*
*creeps back out and brings soap box along*
*gets up on soap box*

Ever since I was able to walk I have helped my mom cook and prepare for Thanksgiving. Not in the classical Thanksgiving sense, I'm talking the Italian-American Thanksgiving sense. We're talking about people up to about 20, multiple meat courses (yup, that's right, we're not big fans of Turkey you may have gathered), multiple starch and vegetable courses, homemade sausage stuffing (you'll have to torture me to get the recipe out of me), soups, then desserts up the wazoo along with nuts and coffee to round everything out. Over the years, thankfully, the amount of people has gone down and we are happily left with just immediate family. Hence the idea of "hey, why don't be pay other people to do it this year?"

So, it'll be nice to just warm up food and chill out for Thanksgiving. No running around the kitchen or running back to the store for forgotten items. No yelling and screaming at each other people of the cooking stress and no f*cking peeling potatoes!!! F*ck you potatoes!! I love you, but damn it you are horrible on the hands!!

*steps down from soap box*

A Tough Broad

2008-11-18T08:19:00.002-05:00

My cousin Rachel made it through Basic Training on a broken ankle. Now that's a tough broad. ;-)

Thanksgiving?

2008-11-17T15:25:00.003-05:00

Wasn't there a holiday that was just before Christmas and Halloween??

Whether or not you believe in the holiday, I've definitely taken it as time to celebrate the family and friends that are worth you cooking a whole big meal for and being thankful for the year's blessings. Also, I have all these cute stuffed animals themed in Thanksgiving Day attire! Damn you Christmas for sneaking up and not allowing enough time for my Thanksgiving decorations!

*grumble*

Weekend Shopping

2008-11-12T09:50:00.002-05:00

While in South Jersey, there were many interesting places to shop in the downtown areas of Hammonton, NJ and Cape May. Coming from Connecticut I'm so used to paying out of my nose for anything remotely cool or useful, so I always love when I travel in the US because, besides traveling to NYC, I always end up saving money shopping in that area. Hence, my excitement at food and "cool things" prices, so much so that I had to ask one cashier "really...REALLY??"

Here's a breakdown of cool places with websites, if the place even has one. If not, then I included a Google Map pinpoint so that you can at least visit the place if you happen to be in the area.

Hammonton, NJ:
Antique Market Place: 111 12th Street, (609) 567-1889

an awesome selection of unique things from god knows when, set up into little displays to show off their qualities; like the dram of Avon perfume I bought for my mother was displayed in a little vanity set made to look like it was in some woman's bedroom from the past.
CHEAP; I can't stress that enough, I walked away with a BUNCH of items and only spent a small amount considering what I had purchased.
baseball cards and sport memorabilia.
great selection of china and service wear from all over the place; I got this great tea and luncheon set from Shofu Japan that is pre-WWII. Now I bought it because it's gorgeous, if it happens to be worth anything, meh, not interested in selling.
great staff; the owner helped me wrap up everything since he knew I was traveling back by car and needed some added insulation, plus he gave me a discount on everything, so YAY!

Cape May, NJ:
Dellas 5 & 10: 501-503 Washington Street

harkens back to the time period where the "five & dime" ruled, before the mega stores ruled the world and these mini department stores reined.
has an old-fashioned soda fountain in the back where you have to go to purchase your items, so yes, tempting people with food as they cashed out started way back when.
they had these amazing items that looked like they came out of a time capsule: chattering teeth, classic prank items like sour popcorn and disappearing ink as well as magic items
incase you were a traveller desperately indeed of a pair of clean clothing, you were in the right place as they had everything down to undies and shoes available
a must go if you are in Cape May

Import Bazaar: 306 Washington Street Mall

the review on Google says it all: "Always worth a stroll inside if for nothing else but to oggle the array of kitsch. Like an oversized garage sale there is something for everyone or no one."
so I walked away with a walking stick (hehehe, did you see what I did there :-P), a back scratcher and some other things that only a place like that would sell.

More to come once I dig up all the business cards I took that are sitting in one of my coats.

The Chelsea

2008-11-10T14:29:00.004-05:00

I have to say that this was by far the best hotel I've stayed at in my little life of hotel staying, The Chelsea of Atlantic City. Not only were the hotel rooms impeccably clean and styled, but the kind people at the late night staff took it upon themselves to let us check in 12 hours early since they felt bad for us having our original room for the night of the 5th (in a completely different hotel) sell ours out from underneath us. Apparently paying for a room is not enough of a claim to a hotel room, not when there's a teachers conference in town.

Anyways, moving on to better things...the styling of The Chelsea is very mod and reminded me of one of my favorite shows, Mad Men on AMC. It's very 50's/60's with a kitschy, jet setter flare to it. A cream base, accented by pale blues and dark browns and blacks and full of patterns from that time period as well as accent pieces that Urban Outfitters only dreams about.

At first you don't think it works together, but it does in an interesting way. A very pale blue light with a textured light browny barely green wallpaper.

Light blue velvet curtains with a brown trim. Accented by a large brass light fixture. And the use of the blue made it OK to mix the metal finishes in the room which I didn't think I would like.

And just look at the bathroom...*drools* The pattern is just simple brown circles on a cream base and with the quadrants of the circles darkened a bit. The granite floors made the countertop and the wall pattern flow nicely. And just look at the huge backlit mirror! *wants*

Last but not least, the accent pieces. Oh yes, you are looking at a cockatoo bedside lamp, that's right. At first I have to say I was a bit turned off by it, but then if you take it along with the whole room into consideration, you begin to accept the bird's presence in the room. And there's a look at the heavy black headboard with white trim.

All in all, a superb hotel with wonderful staff and an impeccably interesting decor. A must see if you are staying for the night in Atlantic City.

A Long Weekend to Remember

2008-11-10T14:23:00.002-05:00

Executive Summary:

- great times spent hopping around Philadelphia, Atlantic City, Cape May and Hammonton, NJ.
- did some great antique shopping which will continue the next time I make it down there
- met some interesting people down in South Jersey
- saw a great scaled down NIN show in Atlantic City
- hung out with some great people and met some new ones

...and more importantly I didn't spend all of my money either. I may actually be able to pay all my bills! Isn't that cool. :-)

Elaboration will continue when I find some time and can collect my thoughts.

Lucy

2008-11-07T12:52:00.000-05:00

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Atlantic City

2008-11-06T14:01:00.000-05:00

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President Obama

2008-11-05T00:19:00.000-05:00

I am proud to be an American again. We have a regime change that we've been needing for quite sometime and I am honored to have cast my vote in this election.
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At the Top

2008-11-01T17:08:00.000-04:00

Yay for gym time. Woooooo!
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238th St. Stairs of Doom

2008-11-01T17:05:00.000-04:00

Yes, I have to climb those.
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Building Pr0n

2008-11-01T16:10:00.000-04:00

Amsterdam & 70th
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Verdi Statue

2008-11-01T16:07:00.000-04:00

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Verdi Square

2008-11-01T15:10:00.000-04:00

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Waiting for the Train

2008-11-01T14:38:00.000-04:00

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Starbuck's in Riverdale

2008-11-01T13:09:00.000-04:00

Man, it's warm out today.
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End of the Week Wrap Up & Rant

2008-10-31T22:12:00.004-04:00

Oh yeah, and also end of the month too.

Happy Halloween everyone! I'm sitting this one out as I've enjoyed my fair share of parties, trick or treating and drunken shenanigans while wearing questionable outfits. I'm relaxing at Laura Anne's and tending to her kitties (which are doing well, if you are reading this Laura Anne, Boomer is currently playing with paper and I scooped the litter box out as well) as well as planning my weekend well spent in New York in autumn. So that means bargain hunting, vintage shop scavenging and fancy food feasting.

This week has been interesting to say the least. Work has been good, except certain people I work with. One in particular has turned into a complete whiny baby and I have a feeling those anabolic pills he's taking cannot be helping his already dwindled hold on reality. Apparently telling someone to turn down their speakers makes you a completely vicious and horrible person. How dare I ask that you either turn down your speakers in the early morning or that you actually use the door of your office and close it for once.

It's sad because he has the potential to be a really great person and he's someone that I had a little thing for in the past. But I'm just worried that those pills are turning him and his emotions into swiss cheese. Dude, I just asked you to turn your speakers, that's all. I wasn't trying to attack you. I told you I was a little on edge from finding out I have another cousin that's going to be deployed soon and some how that even became an issue. That's not cool and I worry about you.

So besides this weirdness, I have a full day planned ahead of me and I'm turning in now to watch some DVD's and then sleep. :-)

I am not a drafter

2008-10-27T12:35:00.004-04:00

A couple months ago we laid off our only structural drafter. Now granted the guy had some issues, some of you know them and I'm just going to leave it at that, but to be honest, the guy used to run the friggin' the structural drafting department at his previous jobs, so regardless of his personal life the dude was f*cking money on drafting.

So as a result of his departure, the engineering department now has no dedicated drafter. I and my structural boss now have to tap people in the architectural drafting department if we want anything done. This means that we have someone who can draw, but who does not know the language we are talking. For example, a structural drafter will know how to draw something if we just call it out: "can you make this a moment connection," "can you add another angle here and weld it using a fillet weld" or more importantly and the number one thing we need done "can you stretch this out a few feet." So now that we have someone who doesn't understand our language drawing up what we need, I now have to spend extra time either drafting things myself or sketching out what I mean and going through a mini training session.

Now, don't get me wrong, I enjoy teaching people. I love that the drafter's are beginning to understand our language and aren't so reticent when I tap them for help with drafting. However, when you add a deadline that I need to fulfill to the mix, we have ourselves a problem when I'm trying to teach someone at the same time. Therefore, I've been taking the structural drafting reins.

I engineered and drafted for 3 years at the first company I worked for and I'm very happy to still have the skills enough to actually draft and help us out. However, I am not a drafter. Therefore, problems will arise because I'm not familiar with our drafting styles at this firm and our architect has expectations that he and our client's like to like to meet. Hence, there are going to be some problems and errors that will arise when you have a switchhitter at the drafting bat.

I had a mini blow up at both our architect and our COO to let them know that I can't be taking the reins for much longer. If we start to pick up again project wise, we will need to look for a structural drafter or steal someone from the architectural department, permanently. I can't be relied on for the structural drafting alone, I have plenty of engineering tasks at hand and will so in the future.

So after my discussion (yes, I'm using the term as if talking to my child, "no, mommy and daddy are having a 'discussion,' we're not fighting") everyone now knows my view on things. And then afterwards I offered everyone nice stinky cheese as a peace offering. :-) (stinky = good, that's my nickname)

I'm glad I finally said it, but also a part of me worries that maybe I should just keep my mouth shut. However, my structural boss and myself are getting fed up about things and know that in time this will be a HUGE problem if we have deadlines to meet and we can't get things drawn in time. And I'm not going to be doing two jobs and only getting paid for one, I'm not that nice and I don't have a "Welcome" mat as a shirt.

So I'm happy I said it so that I can vent to the proper person, all my cards are on the table and it seems like it was the right thing to do. I just hope no one is secretly like "oh my god, I hate that engineer" or "she is overstepping her bounds, she shouldn't be questioning that." But to be honest, I've always been this way, my boss hired me as such, so it shouldn't be a problem. I do worry though which is what I do best, and I worry that maybe I did overstep my bounds. However, I went to the right person to vent my issue and it was within ear shot of my big boss and nothing bad happened. Later on my big boss gave me a problem to solve about a garage addition we were doing and everything seemed OK.

Stone (40,000 BC) vs. iPhone (2008)

2008-10-14T11:51:00.001-04:00

Lovingly snurched from Shreena:

*cough cough*Crackberry rulz*cough cough*

My Gloriously Messy Desk

2008-10-10T09:31:00.000-04:00

I couldn't even fit it all in one picture. :-)

And I don't know why that makes me so happy, but it does. Maybe it means that I'm working so hard that I can't be bothered to clean it? Perhaps...
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Job YAY

2008-10-07T09:25:00.002-04:00

I guess this shouldn't cause me so much joy, but I'm like a little damaged work doggie that constantly needs to be told that it's doing a good job, "such a good girl Eris, yes you are!" But, my boss was going over my drawings for the car dealership that we're doing and he was very pleased.

Aside from some alterations he wants to make since he knows WAY more about construction than I do (15 years >> 4 years) it seems like he's pleased and really respects my opinion. His alterations consist of easier ways of actually building this thing i.e. he knows ways of keeping the concrete guys happy while also keeping the steel guys happy while also not breaking the hearts of the masonry guys. "OK, if you make this simply 1" change, you will eliminate a lot of headaches with the steel since it's easier for the concrete to be cut in the field and grouted then having to tell them in the steel shop." That's a typical statement young engineers will hear since we're still full of theories that work on paper, but not in the field.

So yay! Eris is happy and working away like a good worker bee. Bzzz bzzzz...

Economic Backlash

2008-10-03T09:46:00.002-04:00

My industry is now beginning to feel the crunch of the current economy. You know it's bad when wealthy people (I'm not talking rich people, I mean in the Chris Rock sense of the world wealthy "they sign the checks for the rich people to cash") are having difficulties digging up capital to build stuff. These wealthy people are no longer wanting to break ground so easily anymore because they are having similar problems that schmucks with bad credit (like me) typically only do and that is a very scary thing.

I'm not big into Reaganomics; as the current situation proves, we are in fact in a "trickle up" economy enough people defaulted on loans and mortgages that it actually created an effect. However, I do believe that there needs to be some type of bailout enacted in order to allow capital to start flowing to these people again, because (selfishly) these people like to build things. This keeps us architects/engineers fat and happy little piggies.

Right now is definitely a lean time, admittedly I actually have some down time during the day which is a bit frightening. I'm not used to having down time during work, typically me checking my email or venturing to my messageboards is a task left to a sneaky 5 minutes rounding out the hour so that I can take a mental break. However, now is the time to "take stock" as they say: I can start my PE exam studies, finally make sense of my past calculations and actually file and of course actually talk with the people in my office.

However, a little part of me is worried that people will get laid off and that I may be one of them. *sigh* Realistically, it doesn't seem like they would let me go since I'm pretty much the engineer in charge on a daily basis. The head structural engineer is typically off to meetings or off to handle larger problems/issues with the site guys and the big boss is off garnering clients for us and handling money issues. However, it gets to a point in any business' financial outlook that no one's job is safe and I've just coming up to my year, so who knows if I'm expendable or not.

*sigh* I think everything is OK though, I just needed to vent my feelings a bit and my general paranoia (which my boss and the COO typically point at me and laugh about, "awww, poor Eris, she's gettin' the shakes again!"). So I'm just going to get back to some busy work with this current project and get my head and heart in gear.

Halloween Decor

2008-09-29T15:53:00.000-04:00

Let the decorating begin! Look at my new desk pal. He's even bringing me a little pumpkin!
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Snacking by the Beach

2008-09-27T14:33:00.000-04:00

And dodging rain clouds.
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Natural Progression

2008-09-24T13:00:00.001-04:00

I guess I shouldn't have been miffed when I noticed that a particular person had de-friended me on Facebook. To be honest, I should have been the de-friender all things considered, so it really comes as no surprise. And I guess the 15 year old brat in me was more miffed at being the de-friendee, but all in all it was just the natural order to the failed friendship that it was.

I had become friends with this person really as a way to spring back from a casual dating venture that didn't work out back a couple years ago. My intentions were romantic, but it just wasn't "there" for both of us, so it slowly became a friendship. Then stuff got weird (I'm not going to go there on here) and I ended up ending communications. Now I see I am one friend down on Facebook and am content about it in the sense that this was closure to this thing that was created.

I guess it all makes sense that it ended in such a passive aggressive way. Now looking back, we were two different personalities that got along only tenuously as it was, and I think we were both too proud or too lonely to really admit that it had the life expectancy of an acquaintenceship and that was all it was meant to be.

If I were to bump into this person again, I'm not sure what I'd say or whether or not I would even stop to think about saying something. I guess it just depends on my mood when this does happen.

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Stanley and Sachs Bite the Dust

2008-09-22T09:13:00.003-04:00

Wow, this has been one hell of a week...

"The last two investment banks in the US, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, will become traditional bank holding companies after one of the most momentous weeks in Wall Street's history.

The Federal Reserve's surprise announcement, which came at 2.30am London time, places the last two independent Wall Street investment banks under supervision by bank regulators and gives the two firms easier access to credit to help them ride out the financial crisis.

The move spells the end of Wall Street as it has existed until now - a group of lightly regulated investment banks. The changes also allow Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs to go on an acquisition spree and rival larger firms like Citigroup, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase."

Dirty Desk

2008-09-22T08:52:00.000-04:00

I refuse to clean off my desk until I know for a fact that the drawing set I have been working on for a a week gets approved for a building permit.

I don't care what anyone says, I'm superstitious (and lazy)!

Thankfully, my apartment is always nice and clean, work though, not-so-much...
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Ah, autumn...how I love thee...

2008-09-19T12:46:00.002-04:00

...let me count the ways.

Today's high temperature will be all of 65 degrees today, it's sunny with a bit of a nip to the air, it's slightly breezy; yup, I do believe autumn has started.

I love this season. This time of year always brought the end of oppressive summers and marked the beginning of the school year. It was always time to start putting away summer clothes and start bringing out your fall/winter wardrobe or start a list of what you'll need. I can bring out my lovely suede boots again for New York shopping/carousing adventures and not fry on the subway platforms. And of course, it's that time of year to get hit in the face with the brilliant new color spectrum of changing leaves.

I may be from Fairfield County AKA the 6th borough, but I'm a New England girl when it comes to my changing leaves. You can expect many photo sets from me dedicated to the scenery changes and especially now that I work up in the woods, you'll be getting many questionably taken-while-driving Crackberry photos along my morning and evening commutes.

*does a little dance*

Active Duty Eris Family Members

2008-09-19T08:39:00.003-04:00

Currently, I have two active duty cousins. Anthony who is graduating today from Officer Training Camp and Rachel who is in basic training right now. In October, both will be finishing their training together in Georgia and from there will be serving.

Here's a proud picture of Anthony with his father and his new stripes:

(he's currently a Staff Sergeant)

And here's a picture of Rachel, seated second from the left, with a bunch of her roomies:

Brokity Broke Broke

2008-09-16T10:42:00.002-04:00

Well, at least I'm not the only schmuck that's broke...

HA, you all are too! Let's share in our misery and cook up some Ramen soup together for dinner tonight.

Yummy $1 soup!

Updatery

2008-09-12T15:19:00.002-04:00

Well, it's been a while and that means I've been happy, busy and sick all at different times.

More recently, I had some type of weird sickness where I suddenly came down with a fever of about 100.7 with swollen lymph nodes and everything plus abdominal cramping?! I ended up taking yesterday off so that I could recuperate and nap off whatever this weird illness was.

Yesterday was 9/11 and since I spent it home I got to quietly contemplate on my own the meaning of that day to me; not only personally but professionally as well. It's a day for structural engineers to remember to design redundantly, that we can't simply rely on things being up to code. We have to take into account the oddball scenarios that may not happen. Personally, I'll always feel close to my tri-state area people. I'll never feel lost or not at home on the subways or the Metro-North trains. I'll never feel alone walking around the city or even driving around to a meeting.

In the boy front: :-) (Yes, I'm being vague, MWAHAHAHA!! Suffer!!)

For this weekend:
- tonight will be spent with my sister and since I actually have money again (w00t) I'm actually going to take her out to dinner, like a proper older sister should
-tomorrow will be spent down in the Boogie Down (the Bronx) with Laura Anne, Gert will be happy to see his mommy again
-Sunday will be spend recuperating from the Boogie Down

For now I leave you with some YouTubery from my Philadelphia adventures:

What is LOVE??
Der Kommissar's in town...ah, oh no!

And it was all about this crazy guy...

Eris' Corner

Buckle Stores Near You

Quick Update

Merry Christmas!

A Plague on both your houses!

*hisses and runs back to bed*

Some Job Openings Here and There

YAY, easier to read posts!

Old, Hard Wired Habits

Calmer and Wrapping Presents

short⋅ly [shawrt-lee] - adverb

short⋅ly

Been a while, but good to be back

Creative Juices Flowing Again

Managing Work Stress

Old Injuries, Old Memories

Ongoing Ground Zero Construction

Labor Day

Getting the Piss Taken Out of Me

Happy and Kind of Dreamy

Checking In

Road Trip: Part 3 - Wine Country

Road Trip: Part 2 - Buffalo and Niagara Falls

Road Trip: Part 1 - The Rainy Drive Up

Pulled in So Many Directions

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes...

Commence Yay Week!

Hired!

Busy Bee...bzzzzz bzzzz

Interview #3 and a renewed hope

"You say it's your birthday..."

Happy Father's Day/Anniversary!

Taking Emotional Stock

Grinding My Gears

Epic PA Roadtrip: 6/9-6/11

Potential Road Trip!

Meh...

Interview #2! w00t!

Daily Mitchism

"There can only be ONE..."

Oh yeah, and one last thing...

So, I get an email this morning...

Feeling Better and Getting Around

Sick

This just in from the NIN front...

A Light at the End of the Tunnel

Rec(Depr)ession Backlash

NINternetz Update

One for the polar bears

Fractally Goodness

Beauty Weekend

Handcuffed man shot by cop - Oakland, CA

Updatery

Merry Christmas!

Las Vegas Long Weekend Recap

Las Vegas NIN stage.

"They like me...they really like me!"

Mongoose

Lemurs!

Snow Leopards

Polar Bears!

Tigers!

Deer!

Bronx Zoo

Winter Lights

A New Haven Christmas

Lobster Bisque

"The Thrill is Gone..."

"Oh, Christmas tree..."

Gobble gobble gobble!

A Heart-y Soup

Thanksgiving Cheater

A Tough Broad

Thanksgiving?

Weekend Shopping

The Chelsea

A Long Weekend to Remember

Lucy

Atlantic City

President Obama

hisses and runs back to bed