Side out you Orc !

So today's first day at Discover went extremely well I'm glad to say. I'm part of the Incident Management team of the Business Technology department. That's a mouthful I know but the short description of what I do is, I make sure if something breaks, the right people fix it in the shortest amount of time, while recording all the details, then meeting after a resolution to come up with ways to best avoid the same problem in the future. That's the gist of it anyway. They have alot of stuff planned for down the line as far as things my department wants to take over which is good since I'm getting in on everything early and will be able to help set stuff up. (Calculating). Got my ID and my parking sticker so I'm definitely official now yay!

Couple of other highlights from the day.

The first thing someone asks me was. "Do you play volleyball?" Here's me like.. um.. what? After driving around the multiple parking lots before finally settling on the parking garage I noticed as I was hiking to the building I work in that there was both an outdoor basketball court and a volleyball net with sand and all. Apparently the different departments in the company like to be.. competitive. And I guess my department being mostly on the geeky side fail at that whole hit the ball over the net thing hehe. Much to my trainer's approval I explained that yes, I used to play vball waaaayyyy back in High School (I'm old eh?), because rather than playing basketball with the thuggish dudes, I opted to play some volleyball with the girls. Laugh if you will, but then other guys figured out.. omg.. he's a genius.. next thing you know we had MANY people playing :P

Also there were um... cheerleaders from the AFL (that football league really does exist) and they were onsite handing on free t-shirts to anyone that had a Discover credit card. I'll have you know that if I ever wear that shirt, I won't need to be worried about being shot at while hunting.. unless I go with politicians eh?

The people and the atmosphere there is way cool. It's not ohmigod ohmigod corporate since it's a fair balance between corporate HQ and well.. a college campus minus the doe eyed coeds looking for unisex bathrooms. The cafeteria was even amusing. I think that alone was bigger than my last 3 or 4 apartments put together. They had different stations that served things from Italian, Asian, Indian, Mexican, Salads, a deli and get this.. fresh Sushi.. what the.. wow.. can I live there?

Oh and the other random thing was one of my new coworkers before I left insisted on asking me if I played World of Warcraft and if so what server I play on. Apparently not only have I been drafted to play volleyball but also WoW to. Odd. Teambuilding rocks sometimes?

Ok.. I gotta help people with homework. No really I do. Of course it isn't math homework that would be silly since I'm the anti-asian and prefer writing English papers to solving equations.

I'll still probably continue to do the security gig on the side just for the extra cash. Debts to payoff are still debts and all. That and man.. I have alot of plans that won't pay for themselves. When I start working my normal shift of 3pm to 11:30pm (Tue thru Sat) in a week and a half I won't really have much freetime for anything but at least it's a way to save money. See. I should have gone into investment banking to :)

It Pays to Discover...

So I know it's been quite some time since I've actually sat down and put some effort into writing anything but that's just the way it goes at times? On the up side, great news! Last week I went on an interview at Discover (the credit card company). The offices or rather should I say.. the compound/campus for Discover is for lack of better words.. intense. The security at the gate and in the main building I was in reminded me of old Indiana Jones villians as they were all blond haired blue eyed and spoke German. The place was so grand, it sported it's own pharmacy. What the hell? A pharmacy next to the deli?? Jeez. So anyway I interviewd with to two fellows who were quite nice actually. At the end of the interview they showed me around and informed me there were 15 people total that were going for the position I was. The next day I get a call from the consulting agency I have to go through for the job and they tell me Discover would like to make an offer. Sweet! I should have played the lottery. 15 to 1 odds works for me!

So I start tomorrow and do some training for a couple of weeks on some odd schedule, then after training when I go to my normal shift I think its something like.. Tuesday thru Saturday 3pm to 11pm. Well.. that doesn't make trying to plan things difficult at all! (not dripping sarcasm). Sigh. But I'm not going to complain. It's about time I got a real job, not counting the armed security stuff I've been doing. It's an odd thing that people will get drunk and do stupid things at a public place especially when there's people standing there with weapons and a badge? Silly people.

So.. with the job only a couple things need to happen until Life Rebooted 2.0 is completed. My life must be running on an older version of Windows.. cuz man it's taking a while to reboot :)

And yes, things are still going very well with Rei and I. Who knew? :)

- Nat

I keep on interviewing over and over again

Nat Update?

Hmm.. still interviewing at multiple places.. gonna get a job sooner rather hopefully than later.

Uhhhh.. Rei and I are doing well so that's good. Nothing much else is going on. Just stressing bout the job thing.

Hahaha was thinking about this song the other day so had to find a video that complimented it well.

A Happy Sadness

For Rei for when I can't see you when I want..

A dollar for everytime I've been sick

So I'm slowly getting over having the plague once again. Geez.. you'd think I'd have this being sick thing down cold. I felt bad I wasn't able to hang out with a friend of mine who was randomly in town last week because I was sick.. my bad Jodeci, I'll try to make it up to you sometime.. though the only reason you were in town is because you failed to bring your passport to get into Canada hahaha awesome.

Rei's sick to.. yeah probably my fault but hey, Lil T started it sooo I guess we're even ha!

It's unreal that I can't find a job to save my life right now. I'm debating knocking off some quickie marts, but I don't see a long career in that and I hear the benefits package for that is terrible. Lame.

Going paintballing (random) with some former and current EOP peeps I used to work with tomorrow. Maybe one of them will know someone that needs someone.. you get the picture.

Regardless though.. promises have been made so I'm not giving up and I'll reinforce my resolve with the thoughts of good things to come.

Sakura's wedding is approaching in what.. two months? Whoa.. I'm behind on alot of stuff I feel hehe.

I've been wondering how some people are doing... not sure if that's good or bad but it is what it is.

Anyway.. hope everyone that's connected to me in some way shape or form is well.

- Nat

Grrrrrrrrrr

So Monday I had an interview at Abbott Labs.. this is the job I applied for in December. Now it took them THREE months to say ok let's start interviewing people. I get my interview date and time and I'm like.. sweet. Get there at 1:30pm for a 2pm interview. 2:15 rolls by.. this lady comes out and says.. "wow.. I'm sorry you're here." Of course here's me sitting there all dressed up going WTF? WTH? WHAT?! Apparently they hired someone last week without cancelling pending interviews.. Awesome.

Friend of mine was like.. I dunno why you haven't found a job your resume rocks. I'm just like... well I don't know why either Sparky.. oh I didn't call him Sparky but still.

It's funny how there has to be at least one thing in my life that can't be easy. Before it was something else and work was fine.. now it's reversed. Man... that whole karma thing fails me I feel.

- Nat

Once more into the breach...

It's a little after 7 in the morning. I have to wake up in hmm.. four hours so I can wake up and get ready for another job interview. This time for Abbott Labs. This job opened in December and they're just now getting to the interviews. Awesome. It's not THE job I want.. but at this point I really want A job period. CDW has a position I'd rock at but they haven't hit me back yet on that one sadly. The one at Abbott Labs is for a Lotus Notes messaging admin type of thing. Could I do it? Sure. Do I want to? Prolly not. Will I take it if they offer? Pretty much yeah.

Ah well. Rei, T and I went to Sakura's for a St. Patty's thing Saturday. That was fun. Lil T apparently likes kitties, sadly Rei seems to be deathly allergic.. doh.

That's about it. Not much else is going on. Almost have all my credit card debt paid off I think. Let's hope this Abbott Labs things works out and I get employed by the real world Umbrella Corp... Milla where are you?! (That's a Resident Evil reference.. yes I did).

Best year ever?

Not trying to jinx myself yet, but if everything works out, 30 might be actually the best year EVER for me.

Have an interview at CDW on Monday afternoon (March 3rd), for the Systems Analyst, Project Management Tools position... well that's a mouthful. So yes wish me luck :P

Got to see some friends I've known for a loooong time on Saturday night so that was cool. Gollum had a... 'harem party'. Sadly I did not have a sultan outfit to wear but it was ok, and the belly dancing was cool.

Also had dinner with Elvis and his fam on Sunday night at this Italian restaurant that was in what used to be a church.. that was kinda trippy but I didn't burst into flames or even start smoking a little so that was encouraging. I think Elvis was a bit surprised to see me with Lil T. Who knew I could be that comfortable taking care of a 1yr old?

Sooooooo yes... here's to hoping my years of interviewing and corporate lingo experience mixed with some overall awesomeness helps me rock this thing Monday.

- Nat

Pics

Posted some pics on the myspace page just because.

I'll have to scan more in and post later. Damn the time before digital cameras...

- Nat

Pics section, myspace.com/lakota214

Every new beginning

The song from this video was recently dedicated to me. It's a sad fact that sometimes in life things change and even if it may seem it's for the better, it can still hurt.

This weekend I'm going to a friend's baby shower but since it's a dude throwing it apparently there's going to be lots of alcohol.. how odd. Then after that going to another party to see some friends I haven't seen for quite some time so that'll be nice to reconnect a bit I suppose. Think E.C. is going to go with me to. Things are going surprisingly well considering neither of us were expecting this and it's.. nice to be happy. I can only hope that everyone else is afforded the chance to be happy as well.

Nothing else really to say right now. Nothing to insightful or wise or even remotely witty.

'Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.'

- Nat

The biggest VDay to date...

So Happy Valentine's Day to everyone. I know there are those who are in the mindset of.. "Stupid made up hallmark holiday", but that's more 'Sweetest Day'. Valentine's Day is someone legit at least.

Let's see. Yesterday was pretty cool. Saw E.C. in the morning, had lunch and spent some time with Haruka, then hung with Sakura a bit.

Haha amusingly enough the family that Sakura was nannying (that a word?) for, one of the girls is six. She found out it was my birthday and made me a paper bracelet, a 'map' of the computer I was fixing at her house and a necklace with plastic or glass beads? Either way it was extremly cute so I was like awwww.

I'm not really going to mention much about my birthday since pfft, whatever :P I do want to say thank you for all those who have left me messages/gifts and such, they are all greatly appreciated.

I'm hoping with this new.. decade.. on life things will finally start going back up again since I've been in a bit of a funk and all.

Throughout the day today Sakura's been sending me txt messages of I am "the amazingest". She listed 30 things that made me laugh and smile so I'm thankful for that. I did want to post a couple of the really outstanding ones though.

7. Because of you I can order beyond sushi combo B

12. You have the best taste in angry music.

15. You understand that scurvy is a very real threat.

And probably the one that had me laughing the loudest and looking like an insane person as I was running errands earlier...

18. If you were a superhero your motto would be. 'Leave no woman unsaved." -- Your success rate is rather impressive.

27. You’ve inspire a duality in me at Mexican restaurants: desperately needing to order flan, and then urgently needing to poke it.

29. If someone asked you the difference between east coast and west coast glowsticking, you'd have an answer.

Awesome :)

Hmm what else.. I'm making a gift bag for E.C., I swear I'm not of the same sex persuasion. Cleaned the car out a bit, got the oil changed and the engine flushed (car talk for give me all your money). Should go get ready and all that going to go see some Blue Man Group tonight. Wasn't my original plans but hey, that's a part of life being able to think on your feet and go with it right?

Sooooo.. Ja Ne

- Nat

Fragile Folded Wings

I've been watching alot of Bleach lately since I've had free time due to lack of people calling me to tell me they want to pay me alot of money to do minimal work. The bastards. Just applied for two positions at CDW so here's hoping. Yes I still want to do the cop thing. No security gigs aren't paying my debts. Hence the need for an IT job so I can get paid, pay bills, and get back into my own place. That and I miss my stuff that's in storage. Sigh.

So yeah.. the latest opening theme song for Bleach gets to me in a good way. Here's the video with the english translations of the lyrics.

Aqua Timez - Alones

Are you scared?

Hahahaha my sister posted this on her myspace page and damn.. I think I've seen every movie these clips are taken from.

OMG OMG OMG

Sadly this is the best news I've had in months hehe. Stopped at WalMart last night, (not much else is open at 1am), after picking up my sister from work (her car's in the shop this week) and I was like.. I need cereal and BAM in the cereal aisle I see...



It was like the universe felt sorry for me and decided to throw me a bone of sweetened crisp happiness. Who am I to argue. I bought two boxes. One might make it through the rest of the day today. Hee.

I keep seeing calendars.. and I keep giving them the finger. Less than two weeks? Son of a.. The Abbott Labs job I've been waiting to hear back about now may take until next week again to get back to me. I hate them.. yet I want to work for them and get paid.. GET PAID SON! sigh.

Well back to job hunting.. again.. bother. Someone just needs to be like.. here you I'll pay you large sums of money to surf the internet and take breaks when you want to. That'd be hot.

- N -

As lost as I get...

Nin and Mirrormask. Hot. This is for E.C.

Scuse me can I check your purse?

Wow.. so today's the first day I've had time to stop and collect my thoughts after working 54 hours since Tuesday at the latest security gig. Sadly it's not an armed gig so I don't get paid as much but eventhough the hours are way long in a day I can't complain to much considering I'm hanging out in a college bookstore all day and uhh enjoying the sights. Would be nice if there was more 'action' I suppose but the thing with providing security in any capacity is that you're supposed to be ready to spring into action but ideally the hope is you won't need to do anything much besides nod and smile at people.

Should hear back bout the IT job next week at least for an interview which is good. Maybe I'll take out my earrings for that since I think Abbott Labs wouldn't be to keen on that and I can't portray myself as a youngin hehe.

Crap.. thinking of that youngin thing.. I was so drained from work this past week I wasn't able to call Koopa for his bday on the 23rd.. my bad man. If there's something I can't stand is failing in this case as a friend. This of course applies to people that consider themselves my friend as well.

Damn.. day off and I still don't even have time to even post a blog.. gotta go get ready.



- Nat

Old things new

Killing time as I do.. and watched the first episode of the new Macross Frontier series. The series was created to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Macross. Macross is the original Japanese version of a 'cartoon' that alot of US kids would know as Robotech. It's cool to see the changes in technology and animation that can clearly be seen if you watch one after the other. One of the most popular songs from the original series was remade for the closing credits of the new series. It's great to hear if you were a fan.

I dunno why but I really dig songs that do the whole absence of bass and just have singing (regardless of the language). Check out the video at 1:37 and that's what I'm talking about. Awesome.



Hmm starting a week long security gig tomorrow. Shouldn't be to dangerous but whatev. One more week to hear back bout the IT job at Abbott which would be hot. That whole karma thing needs to come back my way some now please? Ok thanks!

- Nat

Jrock eh?

This is the video of the group The Brilliant Green. They're a jp rock group and their song 'Ash Like Snow' is the new opening song of an anime I've been watching (Gundam 00). Though the video's kinda silly I do like the song.



---

This is how it's used for Gundam 00's opening.

Hmm

Worst test. ever.

You Belong in San Francisco

You crave an eclectic, urban environment. You're half California, half NYC. You're open minded, tolerant, and secretly think you're the best. People may dismiss you as a hippie, but you're also progressive, interesting, and rich!

Where Does Your Inner Californian Belong?

So the other night I worked a 17 hour straight security gig.. jeebus.. during hour 15 I bout lost it.. coffee never seemed so beautiful.

Still waiting to hear bout the IT job at the same time more security gigs coming up then I'll be applying for a PD.. neat.

- Nat

The word of the day is...

The word of the day is chagrin. It's a great word but outside of hearing it in random things how often can you use this in daily conversation with peple?

cha·grin (shə-grĭn')
n. A keen feeling of mental unease, as of annoyance or embarrassment, caused by failure, disappointment, or a disconcerting event: To her chagrin, the party ended just as she arrived.

tr.v. cha·grined, cha·grin·ing, cha·grins
To cause to feel chagrin; mortify or discomfit: He was chagrined at the poor sales of his book. See Synonyms at embarrass.

[French, possibly from dialectal French chagraigner, to distress, become gloomy, from Old French graim, sorrowful, gloomy, of Germanic origin.]

Word History: The ultimate etymology of the word chagrin, which comes directly to us from French, is considered uncertain by many etymologists. At one time chagrin was thought to be the same word as shagreen, "a leather or skin with a rough surface," derived from French chagrin. The reasoning was that in French the word for this rough material, which was used to smooth and polish things, was extended to the notion of troubles that fret and annoy a person. It was later decided, however, that the sense "rough leather" and the sense "sorrow" each belonged to a different French word chagrin. Other etymologists have offered an alternative explanation, suggesting that the French word chagrin, "sorrow," is a loan translation of the German word Katzenjammer, "a hangover from drinking." A loan translation is a type of borrowing from another language in which the elements of a foreign word, as in Katzen, "cats," and Jammer, "distress, seediness," are assumed to be translated literally by corresponding elements in another language, in this case, chat, "cat," and grigner, "to grimace." The actual etymology is less colorful, with the word probably going back to a Germanic word, *gramī, meaning "sorrow, trouble." Chagrin is first recorded in English in 1656 in the now obsolete sense "anxiety, melancholy."