Work Work Work

I'm a bit tired of always having to work at nights. This is not to get ahead of the game. This is just to keep a float. My billable hours are around 60 hours/week. That's just the billable hours. This is not including all the extra crap I do that I don't bill for.

When I was in the states, this is what I was doing. This is what burnt me out. This is one of the reason I wanted to leave the US for a while. Now, different hemisphere, same shit.

I keep thinking there will be a break soon with the holidays coming up. Most of my customers here have manatory shut downs (i.e., you can't come to work) which is really nice. I have a visit from a friend and a good trip planned to do some relaxing.

All this and I don't even get turkey this year. Boo.

I'm in Canada eh.

Here're some comments on my visit

• It was 1 degrees when I was there. I'm not saying that figuratively. It was 1 degree.
• I was detailed by immigration for 3 hours when I got off the plane. They asked why I was in town, I said hookers and drugs. They didn't think that was funny.
• Interestingly enough, when I eventually got to see an immigration officer, he said that if I would have said hookers and drugs, there wouldn't have been any problems.

• Things are very expensive in Canada. It used to be ok when we had a good exchange rate. Now, it's just sad to use the US dollar.
• I was watching the news over there. They covered news from around the world. That's right people, there are things happening than's outside of this country and what's on 'The Hills'.
• Every one that's not American spoke more than 1 language.
• There was a Japanese dude in my meeting named Hiro. I'm pretty sure he stopped time a few times when I was there.
• I had my first experience where teleconferencing actually worked perfectly. There were a few screens and we could see and hear people in offices around the globe in real time. It was really cool.
• I was all excited to buy cheap duty-free liquor. After the exchange rate, it was now more expensive to buy liquor at these place. Damn, the US dollar sucks.
• I sat in the same seat there and back. The very last seat in the corner. Suck.
• That's not nearly as bad as my co-worker who was stranded in Toronto. Her gate was next to mine, and I heard that O'hare had just closed down due to weather so no more flights. I waved and told her good luck. I wanted to buy her a bottle of liquor and say have a good night.
• People, avoid O'hare like the plague.

Ramblings on a 6 hour flight

Once again, I’m sitting here on the plane. Another trip across the country.

Seven hours is a long time to be spending on flight. Lucky for me, the flight isn’t very full so I have 2 seats to my self. That is alright by me.

Sitting here in the near darkness. With only the glow of the screen. You can’t help but think about things.

For example, I’m wondering what everyone else is thinking. I know what the guy behind me is thinking. Turn off that damn screen!

Wonder where these people are all going? Home after a very long holiday? Traveling to exotic locations? Trying to leave behind a broken life and starting a new one in a place no one knows their name?

Wow, I’ve totally got nothing.

Work’s been very stressful lately. Along with that, things haven’t been going that well lately in general. Not that there’s anything bad, just that there’s nothing good. I was by myself on Christmas eve and New Years eve. I had plenty of invites to go places. I just didn’t want to be anywhere else.

What did really cheer me up lately was finding this band called ‘West End Girls’. They’re a female Swedish duo that does covers of Pet Shop Boy songs. They put big dance beats behind all the songs too which is fantastic. This stuff is so candy pop it hurts my teeth when I listen to them. I think I may have to buy their CD from Sweden.

I know women are not Pet Shop Boy’s target audience, but it’s odd that I’ve never met another female PSB fan other than my sister.

Moving on. Yep. More ramblings.

Man, I wish I could move to Seattle. I think I would really like that. I say this cause they’re showing a thing on Seattle on the TV. That and I've wanted to move there since high school.

You now how I know I’m tired? I’m too tired to write those political posts. I have quite a few posts that I want to write about, but I tell ya. My brain’s got nothing lately. I mean come on, read this post. Oh.. yea, you already are.

Sucka…

You know what I was thinking about? I think I only know of 1 married couple that doesn’t have kids. I’m very curious about this. Why are so many people having kids lately? According to the government, there has been a 4% jump in kids lately. With the country in such a mess with a coming recession, the never ending and bankrupting war, losing of civil liberties, climate change, unrest around the world, why are all these people bringing a child into the world?

This is one theory of mine. Things are so bad out there. No one really wants to deal with it or think about it. Therefore, what they do is have a baby. A baby is the perfect excuse to never pay attention to anything else for the next 18 or so years. You world now revolves around the baby. You’ve created your own little world. All that matters to you now is the child.

Not that I’m saying putting your child first is a bad thing. I’m just wondering why so many people are deciding to have kids now. I think the escapisam that comes with the child is a good reason. If anyone has a better theory, please let me know.

This is good. The writing’s coming a little easier.

Oh, this is a sign things are too stressful at work. Last night when I was typing, my arm was in serious pain. It felt numb and all my fingers hurt. Yup, carpotunnel (sp?). I know. Totally bad.

Oh, it looks like we’re about to land so I guess I better turn this off…

Hopefully, I’ll have more to say or at least easier for to me to type on the trip back.

New York Minute Update

In lieu of an awesome show which would have allowed me to kick people in the face and some last-week-of-ultimate-before-our-tournment-this-weekend-games, here's some highlights of my stay here in NYC.

• Went to Brooklyn for the first time. I know it's not a big deal, but for some reason I thought it was since I've never been there.
• Went to a place call Barcade. It had one of the better beer selections I've ever seen and the place had wall to wall 80s' video games for a quarter. Sweetness.
• Ghost n' Goblins, Spy hunter, and Zaxxon are all still impossible games. Don't waste your money.
• Rampage and Gauntlet are good ideas for about 3 min. Then it's painfully boring.
• I'm not as good at Dig Dug as I've previously claimed. Someone at barcade had over 2 million points.
• I played Qbert all night so I can take out Furdell next time we meet.
• Having a great room in the middle of Times Square is still boring if you don't have anyone to go out with.
• You can't beat meat on a stick
• I have mastered the NY subway system. Owned.
• I had one of the better burgers ever. It was simple and plain delicious.
• I don't want to be an adult. I've seen what it's done to my friends and I don't like it.
• I just had a very delicious cupcake. I don't usually like sweets that much but I do like cupcakes. For some reason, cupcakes conjures an image of a cute girl with pig tails. Don't know how to explain that, but I like cupcakes.
• I hope Pup did not destroy the house while I've been gone. I'm hoping to get home early with an earlier flight. That way I'll catch him cleaning the place after the wild party he's probably having right now.

Sir, the line was back there.

I don’t mind the 50+ hour weeks. I don’t mind that I have customers that call me on the weekends or late at night. I don’t even mind the never ending load of work.

This however, is crossing the line.

I’ve been looking forward to going to a concert for a few months now. The concert is going to be next Tuesday. A concert that was surly going to kick ass and one that will allow me to kick other people’s ass in a fun friendly way.

Then I get the call yesterday. A customer wants me in NYC next week from Monday to Thursday. Oh.. I so don’t think so.

I argued and argued but they wouldn’t have any of it. It’s not that I’m not customer focused, but the meetings they want me for are for 2 hours each day. It’s not a good use of my time to go to NYC for 2 hour meetings each day that I can easily do over the phone. This all stems from the project manager leaving for vacation and is too anal to not have everyone onsite.

So, no kick ass concert for me. I’ve been waiting for years for one of the bands playing.

Talking to my boss yesterday, he mentioned that I may have to go up to NYC again (for another customer) the following week. I don't mind that, but of course, he picked a day when I was planning on going to another concert. What the hell? These are the first 2 concerts I’ve wanted to go to all year.

This does not make for a happy Pup.

When life give you lemons..

This was one hell of a one night trip.

I should’ve known this was going to be a bad trip when I drove up to my usual parking lot when I see a sign that said ‘Lot Full’. I proceeded to 3 more lots with the same sign. Finally, I get to a lot that was miles away with a few spots open.

Thing did get better as I was in first class of a very nice international plane. There was enough room for me to lay all the way down like a bed. Yea, that’s how nice the first class has it. Although I was feeling guilty and hating all the whiny first class passengers. Seriously, I’ve never seen people act so damn whiny in coach.

We got to about 12 feet from the terminal when the rain and lightning really started to come down. Because they didn’t want to endanger the ground crew, we waited for 2.5 hours on the plane before the opened the door! That’s right. 12 feet from the gate. Waited 2.5 hours.

It got a bit better as I checked into an insanely nice hotel. It was so nice the very accomodating attractive young lady that checked me in walked me to the door of my hotel. I wasn’t sure what’s going on. Was she coming in with me? Am I getting a nightcap? Is this why this room was so damn expensive? Hmm..

Sadly no, but it was still excellent service. The room too, was most excellent.

Check out this bed. Swanky.

Sadly, I was working till 3am and only got to enjoy that super nice bed for only 3 hours. The meeting in the morning went off just fine. When we got to the second meeting, the meeting that I was actually there for, they informed me that it was going to be cancelled because the team was running late.

I was actually quite excited about this. This meant that I would be able to catch an earlier flight and make it in time for my ultimate game. It was a bummer that I flew out here for nothing though but nonetheless, I’ll be back early. Yay!

I went to the airport and I was put on standby for the earlier flight. This is when all the bad started.

I was number 14 on the list. They put the first 12 on the plane. So I missed this flight. My flight wasn’t going to go for another 3 hours. I checked the schedule a few hours later, and it had been delayed an hour, then 2 hours. The final straw came when they cancelled my flight along with sever dozen other flights due to the weather in the Midwest and the South.

There was a mad scramble of people trying to rebook their flights. I talked to the travel agent that we use who wasn’t able to book me on anything on any other airline, nor was she able to find me anything the next day. The earliest flight she could get me on was Sat. afternoon. So instead of getting home early by 3 hours, I was going to get home 2 days late.

Due to the mass cancellation, all the hotels around the airport were booked as well. For some reason, almost all the hotels in the city were booked too. The cheapest hotel the travel agent could find was around $500. I was not about to stay at a place that expensive without some approvals.

I ended up calling my friend A & R. They lived closed to the airport so I thought that might be a good idea. Luckily for me, they said it was ok for me to stay with them. They’re cool like that.

The rest of Thursday night was a bit of a blur. As I mentioned before, I had 3 hours of sleep and I haven’t really had anything to eat. So while waiting for A & R to get home, I went to a nearby bar.

I think most of you who have drank with me will attest that I’m no light weight when it came to drinking. I had a couple of drinks before R got back from work. Then we had a couple together before heading home.

I had no recollection of getting home at all.

Luckily and unluckily for me, I can do my job anywhere there’s a high speed connection. So I work all day on Friday. Sad I know. So boring. I believe a certain Ko and I are switching roles.

Friday night got a bit more fun. A makes jewelry (awesomely pretty jewelry if I do say so myself) and she had a show at an event called ‘Girls night out’. Basically, it’s 2 floors of vendors so the girls can shop. The girls pay $20 to get in and it’s all you can drink. As she described it to me, it’s just wall to wall drunk women. Women to men ratio was about 400 to 1.

Now those are odds I can work with.

As she warned though, it’s insanely annoying. I threw her warning back in her face. Damn it, I need to explore it for all men out there. Is it the paradise we dream of or the nightmare A warned of?

I was all proud when I went into downtown from queens using the train. I know it’s not a big deal, but it was still a bit exciting to be doing it all by myself.

I met R at work and we went to grab some food and drinks before heading to the ‘Girl’s night out’. Walking into the place, it seems like some secret club that men have never seen. Girls everywhere, drinking and cutting up with each other. Not having a care in the world cause they’re not thinking of impressing some dude.

At first the whole thing was quite amusing. That lasted about 10 min. Just as A warned, the novelty of it wore off and it’s just a bunch of drunk women being loud. Being that I’m old and bitter, I was just generally unamused.

Since it’s a Girls thing, they catered the drinks to the population they were serving. The menu involved sweet drinks that were blue, red and orange. There was also coffee liquor (which was surprisingly good), and bud light. Wow, you’d think that selection would almost make me not drink.

It was still fun hanging out with A & R despite the women. Afterwards we went out for some real drinks. There was darts, pool, and meat on sticks (not a metaphor) involved. Good time for all.

I’m lucky those nights were there to salvage my crappy days. I left Saturday afternoon. There’s a funny story about how I amused a 7 yr old for 2.5 hours that involved paddy cakes, some other hand slapping game, drawing, writing a letter to her mom, and painting her finger nails with a highlighter (which she then returned the favor) during the flight.

Maybe another time. Just glad to be home.

I'm Back!

I'm happy to say that I did pretty much Zero work (emails, calls, etc.) for the last 10 days while I've been off on vacation.

I just checked my email. There are 672 messages in my inbox.


It's gonna be a long night.

I could have a problem

My work computer sits to the left of my home computer. I like this set up. During the day I can use one for work and the other as a distraction. This was a wonderful set up when I first started working from home. I would be able to surf the net while on a web meeting on the work computer when it got too boring.

I sit in this room a lot. Mainly because of work. I would say I’m in this chair over 14 hours a day. There always just seems to be more and more work. It piles and piles. Good for the company I suppose. Even when I’m playing on the home computer that work computer stares at me. Pay attention to me it would say.

It’s staring at me and the home computer with jealous even now as I type this.

I walk around the house to escape this room and that computer, but there’s really no avoiding it. It’s here. With both computers going, there’s a strange heat wave when you enter the room. No fans or open windows can subdue the heat glowing from the room. You know when you’ve entered the room.

At first, the heat was distracting and uncomfortable. I found myself leaving the room pretty often to escape the uncomfortable sensation. I felt like I had to refresh myself from this constant bombardment of electrons that shot out from these screens.

As the months went by and the hours I spent in front of these computers grew. Something changed. The heat in this room was no longer uncomfortable. It’s warm here. Not a temperature warm, but more like warmth. No matter how hot it is elsewhere, it always seems cold compared to this room. Even when it’s unbearably hot in this room, it’s where I want to be. It’s comfortable now. It’s no longer warm. It’s warmth that’s in this room now.

I found it harder and harder to tear myself away from the room.

Of course I know this is all in my head. It's so hot in this room that it's not physically comfortable for anyone.

When I type on the home computer, I find myself constantly sneaking a peek at the work computer. Seeing if there is an email I need to tend to. As if I don’t work on that computer enough. It still stares at me even during my time off. Even during time that I know I should be away from the work. It’s always there. Always tempting me to get something else done. Always just sitting to the left of me.

In less than a week, I’m going to take my real first vacation since I’ve started working. I have already promised that I would not take the work computer. I have been telling my clients that I can’t be reached during this week for over a month now. I don’t care if the sky is falling. Don’t contact me.

When I think about this, I start feeling anxious. I don’t think I’ve been away from the work computer for over 24 hours in the last 2 years. This is how you realize it’s a problem.

You know how I really know it’s a problem? After a night of drinking, if I haven’t passed out yet, I’ll still come to this room. Most of the time I can even get a little bit of work done.

Is it because I’m such a good employee?
Is it because these things are so urgent I had to get to them right then?

No. I sit there because I can’t resist the warmth and the computers must be attended to.

That is a problem.

Let’s see how the week without the work computer pans out for me. Maybe I'll be able to escape or maybe I'll just find a quick fix where I can and sneak some emails in.

Pup-lic Enemy #1

“OMG, I’m getting detained at the airport for having a butcher knife”
That was the text message I sent some of my friends last Wednesday.

It started with a 6am flight which I had to wake up at 4am for. I’m ok with coming home at 4am, but wake up at 4am I do not do. So even with the alarm blaring, I overslept a bit and didn’t get up till 5am.

It was a big ‘Holy S#@!’ moment as I put on a suit and ran out of the house. It usually takes about 40 min to get to the airport. I got there in under 20min. The footage of the drive would work great at a driver’s ed course for how to break every traffic law there is.

When I got to the airport, the check in machine notified me that I was too late to check in. It made me book on the next flight. I CANNOT miss this flight. This is a meeting that can’t be missed or be late for. I ran to the security line which for some insane reason was really busy (seriously, who the hell is flying at 5am?). Add to the fact that I always pick the longest/slowest line does not help me in getting to the gate quickly.

I ran to the gate counter and luckily they just called all seats and all rows. I ran to the guy working the ticket and just pleaded and begged. As fortune smiled on me, there was a seat for me still and he got me right on.

By the time I got on the plane, I was sweaty from the running (ATL airport is way too big and naturally my gate was almost the last one), and a suit is not good running attire. I felt bad for the guy sitting next to my sweaty ass, and he thought he was going to get seats all to himself. Ha.

This is probably the highlight of the trip. When I landed in NYC, there was a guy with a sign that read ‘Pup’. My customer had sent a car for me. OMG, I’ve always wanted a driver with my name on a sign. SO cool.

The meeting went well overall. My customers looked good in front of their bosses, so that looks good on me.

Before I left, they gave me a gift bag with lots of t-shirts, hats, and other little things. The guy I had been working with mentioned that he checked and there wasn’t any liquids in there. I said thanks and took off for the airport.

When I got to security the strangest thing happen. They asked me if I wanted to take my bag outside and come back later. I’m like ‘uh no?’. Then they ask again, ‘are you SURE you want to run this bag through security?’. Once again, I’m like ‘yea’. Finally they asked, ‘are you sure you want us to check your bag?’. I’m like ‘sure, go ahead’.

They all just shook their head. You see, I’m not very good with hints.

The lady checking bags pulled out a big butcher knife out of the bag that my customer gave me. I said ‘what the hell is that?!’ We tried to warn you, the security guys said.

Following procedure, they had to call their supervisor who in turn called the security with the M-16s. They took me away and asked me questions. Mainly, ‘Why’re you flying with a big knife?’

My answer was ‘I didn’t know it was there?’
They would ask ‘How did you not know what was in your bag?’.
My reply was ‘Cause I’m a dumbass.’

After what seemed to be forever of this, they took my driver’s license and went away for a while. The only thing I could think of was me listening to airport announcements that said ‘Make sure you know the contents of your bags’. I’ve always wondered what kind of dumbass doesn’t know what’s in their bag.

Obviously, I’m the dumbass they make those announcements for.

They came back with a good cop/bad cop thing. I thought that was just a movie/TV thing. They gave me the 3rd degree and eventually decided that I’m not a terrorist but just a dumbass. No laws against dumbasses yet.

It was strange, but I really didn't get that nervous during this whole thing. Even though I'm sure they couldn've sent me away to Gitmo forever. Although after such a long day, maybe that'd be a nice break.

Lucky for me, my flight was delayed. So I did catch my flight. I got home around 1am.

Now that’s a long and eventful day.

Watch out

Lately, I’ve been uncommonly mean. Not just regular mean, but bottom of the barrel sludge vileness. The things that are spewing out of my mouth are just plain hateful. It was like in any instance, I would choose the worst possible thing to say. Right after I say it, I'd find myself saying, damn that was mean, what the hell is wrong with you? You being me. Yes, I dissociate like that.

Unfortunately, this was also our semi-family reunion. My siblings live either in another country or across the country. We only see each other about once a year. I found that I was just generally unpleasant to be with all weekend. This is odd too since everyone else seems to be all cheery or at least trying to be cheery. This is traditionally my role to make everyone cheery, but it seems so reversed this weekend. I was just all kinds of hateful.

I think the main reason is work. It’s almost unreasonable how much work we have right now. Along with a few bad clients, this is putting me in a really bad mood. I have to use up all my patiences dealing with people all during the day. By the time I’m done I’m just a big ball of hatefulness.

I’m glad I don’t commute. Man, there’d be some road rage going on.

I’ve been trying to do more fun things to balance out this work stress. Every time I go out though, I’m still thinking about all the work that I’m not doing. This is even affecting how much I drink. I’m finding myself drinking less so I can still work after going out. See, told ya this is a real problem.

I even committed a personal cardinal sin yesterday because of work. I missed our winter end of season tournament. I blamed it on the weather, but it was only raining for a little bit. It was a perfect day to play. I backed out though to do work. I don’t back out of Ultimate, and especially an end of season tournament. I feel so guilty.

This is not something I want in case you think I enjoy working this much.

I’m not sure if this is just temporary or the beginning of a trend. I sure hope it’s not the beginning of a trend. My boss said that instead of us slowing down by April, it wouldn’t be till May or June this year. I was going to take off for a trip in April to give myself a break and my first real vacation (yea, I’ve never had one over 4 days), but looks like we’re going to have to move that. Although I think I’ll be able to go further away with going later in the year so that’ll be good.

I’m so ready to go somewhere as far away as I can and as soon as I can.

Traffic

I can’t tell you how much I enjoy listening to the traffic report each morning. Apparently, there were accidents and lights out on all major highways this morning and traffic is completely stopped up.

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha

That’s what you get for living out in the suburbs or way the hell out in the middle of nowhere.


I’m a bad person for laughing I know.

Cootie Pup

I've had 4 business trips cancelled on me in the last month. What the hell?

Someone spreading rumors that I have cooties or something?

Cut it out! That's not cool.

Working from Home: Day 3

So here we are on day 3 of working my new job from home. All I have to say is. Working in boxers ROCKS!!

So far, it’s been great. Of course, this is only day 3. Who knows when I’ll resort to

AllworkaNdnoplaymakespupadullboyAllworkandnoPlaymakespupadullbear AllworkaNdnoplaymakespuPadulldogaLlworkandnoplayMakespupadullboy
aAllworkandNoplaymAkeSpupadullpupAlLworkandnoplaymaKespupadullboy
AllwOrkandnOplAymaKesPUPadullboyAllWorkandnoplaymakespupadullboy
allworkandnoplaymAkespupadullboyallworkandnoplaymakespupadullstuff
aAllworkandnOplayMakespupadullboyAllwoRkandnoplaymakespupadullboy
AllworkandnoplaYmakespupadulldogAllworkandnopLaymakESpupadullboy
AllworkaNdnopLayMakespuPpadullboYallworkandnoplaYmakespupadullboy
AllworKandnoplaymakesPupadullpupAlLworkandnoplaymakEspupadullboy

Anyway.

It’s been really good. A lot of things that I thought I’d miss, mainly working with people, hasn’t really hit yet. I’m quite enjoying working by myself. I think I’m getting a lot more done than I would be if I was at an office.

There’s so much I have to learn with this new company. It gets overwhelming at times and I have 2 weeks to get all caught up. This is gonna be fun!

Fun like getting punched in the balls.

So I thought I needed some social interaction and went to play ultimate last night. Afterwards, I went to the bar that a couple guys and I always go to by myself. This is the first time that I’ve ever gone to a bar by myself. The others that usually go with me were no shows.

Since I only have 2 more chances to do this before my move, I figured I’d brave it. It wasn’t that bad though. I knew everyone working there and the couple that was at the bar.

I always thought it was odd how you make friends at the bar. For example, there’s this cool couple that’s usually there the same nights we are. I don’t think we’ve talked for the first few months we saw each other but there was general acknowledgement.

Then one night we were getting pretty hammered, as was the couple. We were watching muted Goodfellas on the TV and a few jagerbombs later, here we are (BTW, this couple can drink more jagerbombs than anyone I’ve ever met. I think they average about 6 per night (each) plus all the beer and drinks. They usually leave pretty sober. Amazing.)

So I hung out with them and the people that worked there last night. Last night’s conversation revolved around where sea monsters would more likely live. I said Pacific because the Atlantic ocean is wimpy.

Then the conversation went primal as more drinks were poured and the discussion of a karate monkey began.

This Karate Chimp.

So a good time was had by all. It’s gonna suck having to move and get established at a new bar.

Happy Wednesday!

Tagged.

This is from my tag from E-Lo.

Mother Nature, I give up. "So I was lying there mostly naked drowning in my own sweat."

I think I was talking about how I had to finally turn on the air conditioner because it was just unbearably hot in my apartment. Yea, I'm that cheap.

So now I pass the tag along to you...
The rules are:
1. Go into your archive.
2. Find your 23rd post.
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
5. Tag five other people to do the same.

Yea, this site isn’t popular enough to lose 5 more readers with tags. As a matter of fact, I don’t think we have 5 readers now. Negative number readers would be bad.

_________________

So today’s my official day of unemployment. I did a very poor job in negotiating between my old and new job. Initially I had wanted a month off between jobs. Then it went down to a week. The final agreement was 1 lousy day off between jobs.

Argh. What the hell happened?

You’d think I’d be sitting around doing nothing being that this is my only day off. Oh, but I wish. I’ve been up and running around non-stop since 7:30am this morning. Yes, that’s very early for me to be working. I think I was more productive this morning than I usually am all day.

This is the first time since maybe 4 years ago that I've really had a day to myself. Usually when I take a day off, I'm flying somewhere. Who knew there was so much to do around the house. With my move still not yet planned, there's so much to do. I need an assistant.

I'd ask Pup to help, but as usual, he's drunk and watch Jerry Springer.

OK, back to running around being productive.

I’ll leave you all with a funny.

"The president believes the government should be limited not in size, Jon, but in effectiveness. In terms of effectiveness, this is the most limited government we've ever had."--Daily Show correspondent Rob Corddry


Have a great weekend everyone!

Another Chapter in the Book

Today is Wednesday. Tomorrow will be my last day of work at my current job.

It’s always a weird feeling for me to leave a job. I often wonder how things will be once I leave. Will anyone even notice? Will things get better? Get worst? Then there’s always the sense that I am abandoning them. How could they possibly work without all my silliness and random interruptions? I think this is especially true with this move. My current group is going to be in a lot of trouble and lacking some serious manpower to run things with me and another person leaving. Even more serious than that, my boss has also decided to leave the group.

I’ve really liked my job here and the people that I’ve worked with. I’ve gotten to do some really cool things that I’ve read about in school. In the 2 years I’ve been here, a lot has changed. When I first got here, the company was laying off thousands of people. This is in sharp contrast to the recent merger and adding another 20,000 people to company. Having gone through major lay offs and merger between fortune 100 companies is something one doesn’t often experience.

It’s really too bad that my job is located in Kansas City and far away from anyone I know. I’ve always told everyone that I really liked my job, but can’t stand the place I lived at. Now, I’m going to a city with people that I know I’ll love, but the job is now the unknown.

I’ll be leaving some people here that I hope to keep in touch with. It seems that as people’s lives get more complicated (or just old), it gets harder and harder to keep up. What would I do without the random drunk calling (and now drunk text messaging)? I think that’s the only mechanism I have to keeping up with people I don’t talk to on a regular basis.

On Monday I’ll be starting my new job. This job will be very different in structure and scope from what I’ve done before. First of all, the company is virtual. That means pretty much everyone works from home. We will see how I adapt to being cooped up at home all day. I’m not sure how great that is for my sanity.

One big draw for the job is that I’ll be able to move back to Atlanta. I grew up mostly in Atlanta. I never did like it much back then. While I was growing up, I’ve always wanted to live Seattle and/or LA. And if you look at where I’ve lived, I was slowly creeping towards the west coast.

The longer I’ve been away from Atlanta, the more I’ve missed it. I’ve missed being able to order sweet tea without someone saying ‘there’s sugar packs on the table’. I’ve missed being close to people I know. I’ve missed being in the city that I’ve raved at many a warehouses. And lastly, I’ve missed the city I grew up in.

I’ve been moving around for quite a while now. Moving from job to job every couple of years. In an interview, I would explain it as my need to be exposed to different industries and companies, and that is true to some degree. I would however, say that my need to move is just part of a search. My search for a home.

Home doesn’t just mean a place. It also means the people that populate that place. I’ve lived in many areas that would be great to build a home, but a house doesn’t make for a home. A home is a stable place you know you will be for a while. A home is where you build your life. A home is where it’s surrounded by your people who make your home part of a group. A home is a place I want to share with someone else and grow old.

Another chapter of my life closes and a new one begins. This new road will be filled with uncertainty (job wise) that I have never experienced before, but I will be comforted by the familiar, yet seemingly unending, search for a home that I so much long for.

At LAST….. The PUP has come BACK to Atlaaaaaaaaaataaaaa!!
(If you know where this is from, cool points.)

So here’s the big change happening with my life. As of today, I have accepted a new job that will allow me to move back to Atlanta and have given my notice to Sprint. The new job is different from what I do now and my education, but I’m excited at learning some new things. I think it’ll be a good experience in the long run.

I’ll get to travel for this new job which I love to do, and there may also be opportunities for international travel which I’m very excited about. Then of course, there’s the Atlanta thing. As some of you know, I’ve been trying to get out of Kansas and move back to Atlanta for a while now. So Yay!

There are some big unknowns of course that I’ll have to get accustomed to. For one, I’ll be working from home. I’m one of these people that enjoys going to a different place for work, and seeing people. With just me and pup all day every day, I may go totally insane. One positive with this, with no commute, gas can now go up to $5 a gallon.

It took me a while to talk myself into the job. I was leaning toward saying no to this position, but things happened and I decided to go for it. The main thing being that there probably isn’t that much room for advancement here in my present job in the near future, and as I’m not a patient person when it comes to this, I decided to head for greener pastures. This new job will be vastly different, in both job duties and work environment, but I’m willing to give it a shot.

Moving back to ATL will mean that I’ll be able to hang out with a lot of my friends and be able to see my nephew (I won’t have to be trapped in the phone anymore) and niece (from now on be called baby-girl) all the time. With a strong established network of friends and family already in ATL, I think my quality of life will definitely improve.

Even more awesome, I’ll be able to start looking for a house. Maybe with a yard for a dog (Wink Wink CC). To have a house, a yard, and a dog would just kick SO much ass.

So I’ll be busy with coordinating all the moving, which is just the most expensive thing EVER, and preparing to leave my present job. Things will be hectic for a while so the posts maybe a bit more random.

Happy Hump Wednesday!!

Busy Busy

Work has been getting a little silly lately. For the last few days we’ve been locked in a room for 8 hours at a time doing work for the new company (in case you didn’t know, pending approval from the government, my company and one other one that sponsors the nascar cup are merging). It’s very cool stuff as we’re defining a lot of what and how everyone at the new company should behave and the new company values.

You WILL behave the way I tell you. Don’t make Pup have to choke a bitch.

Good times.

No time for a good real post, so stuff I’m thinking of:

I went out Saturday night with a couple of guys. I didn’t drink all week as part of my lower my tolerance campaign. It was just getting way too expensive. So on Saturday, I was ready to get my drink on. A few things I realized during this night of drunkenness:
- Pup is no bull rider. I tried it. It hurt me a lot more than I hurt the bull. I think I’ll be sore in some strange areas for a couple of days. I’ll have my revenge Mr. mechanical bull!!
- Having a good seat overlooking the street where all the bars let out at 3am is fun. Betting on how long it would be before the first fight broke out is even more fun.
- Drunk people are only funny when you are also drunk.
- Best food ever at 3am: Getting a meat-on-a-stick or Gyro after a long night of drinking.
- I don’t understand line dancing. I just don’t.
- I hate it when people try to make little extra moves during line dancing. You don’t look cool or special buddy, you look like a jackass.
- Why is hip-hop everywhere? It’s not that I don’t like it, but they play hip-hop in a country bar nowadays? WTF?
- Wearing a sleeveless black Metallica shirt with a black cowboy hat and a mullet takes courage. Stupid drunken courage. Especially since I saw you cut off your sleeves by the bathroom and hearing you say you’d get SO much tail tonight. Good luck with that.

I cleaned like I had OCD this weekend. The place is still a little messy, but it’s very clean. My apt. was getting quite nasty since I haven’t been there for the last 4 weekends.

Other than general nastiness, I also cleaned because I’m expecting a certain cross-country driving New Yorker tomorrow and other company this weekend. Nothing like shame of other people seeing your nastiness to get you motivated. I’m telling ya, if I didn’t invite people over every now and then, my place would be a breeding ground for biological weapons.

Ultimate was SO awesome last week! I think we have a really good team this year. We won our first game versus a slightly above average team (13-7). I’ve got high hopes for this season. If nothing else, everyone seems very friendly and it’ll be a good time this season.

I don’t know why this keeps popping into my head, but…

Agent Smith: I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area, and you multiply, and multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet, you are a plague, and we are the cure.

It’s SO true.

Happy Tuesday!

Meetings are fun!

Sitting here in this meeting. Oh.. why is it soooo long? I probably should be taking notes or paying attention. I hope they don’t call on me to answer anything cause I’m gonna have to give’em the ol’ “I’m sorry, what was that again?”

Goodness, why does that lady talk so much? I swear she loves hearing herself talk. Blady bla bla.... No, it doesn’t make you seem any more important or smarter, you’re just annoying the crap out of everyone by repeating what others have said. Shut the hell up already!

Yea, I’m looking at ya and smiling and nodding. I do not understand the words that are coming outa your mouth though. Go ahead, keep talking. Nothin’ coming in. I’ll just sit here and type. Man, I look so studious.

Oh.. here comes Mr. Pessimist again. Yea, nothing’s going to work, people will all be up in arms and hate it, it all sucks, bla bla bla... Must be hard living with you, and of course he’s married. Everyone here seems to be.

Whoa, look at the ring on her. Her hubby must be stacked. What the hell is she doing working? She can pawn that thing and live on an island for a couple of years. Run woman run! Tropical paradise and fruity drinks with umbrella awaits!

You know all those people that seem to have incredible amounts of time to waste and be protesting things? Not just here, but all over the world. They seriously need a job. If they were working, I swear there wouldn’t be nearly as much protesting.

As much as I’m passionate about some issues, after a 10 hour day, I ain’t protesting. I’m just not. Maybe a ranty post on the blog, but nothing that would make me go out and stand outside somewhere screaming.

It could just be me not being committed enough, but I want to veg. out in front of the TV for a while, eat some food, and grab a beer. If I’m lucky, talk to the chica, and wish people didn’t live so far away. That’s it though. No protesting here. I’m sure most working people can side with me on this one.

Oh... when is this ever going to end. Why do people call 3 hour meetings? Argh.... I can’t believe you’re still reading this.

Just answered a question from the pessimistic guy. Damn you and your end of the world scenarios. No, I don’t know what we’ll do if there’s a Godzilla attack on our cell phone towers. I guess people will have to deal with not having phone coverage while we try to get rid of this giant monster stomping through the city. EXCUUUUUUSSSE Me.

Oh.. another question. I think I sounded either brilliantly, or like a dumbass. No middle ground with that answer.

Getting sleepy…

Wha? Huh? Oh.

Nice meeting all of you. See you later!

Boo fucking hoo.

Yea, so much for the long run of good mood I was in. For a while there, things really seem to be picking up for ol’ Pup. Everything was coming up Pup (good for you if you know where that's from). Just as quickly as the doors to new opportunities and new things were opening up, they are just as quickly shut right in my face.

I’m probably just being a bit over-dramatic, but still. It really sucks when you have your heart set on something and it doesn’t work out.

In case you’re wondering what it is, it’s just a job thing. Nothing too overly serious I guess. Hence me thinking I’m being over-dramatic.

I didn’t get selected for a job I interviewed for. I know, this isn’t a big thing. I’ve been rejected for dozens and dozens of jobs before. For a few specific reasons, I’m especially down about this one.

The job was going to be great. It would be my current boss’s job but at another company. A company that’s in Atlanta. It’s exactly what I do now, but with management opportunities. I get my own group of peons!

It was also a great fit too. The new company is about 2 years behind as far as what I do. They want to set up the exact same group that I’m current in now, they’re in the same industry, and they even use all the same vendors as we do. What the hell? How did I not get it?

The Atlanta thing really was the biggest draw though. I’ve made up my mind about having to move back sometime this year. I’m tired of living in strange areas where I only know a few places and have only a few friends to hang out with. I know Atlanta, I have friends there and my family is there. Sweet tea is also the norm there.

I’m SO ready to settle down somewhere I want to be. I’m over this whole living in an apt. thing and the living in all areas of the country thing. It’s time I get a house with a yard.

Oh well, I guess I’ll try again if something else comes up.

Looking at the Brightside, at least I won’t have to get rid of tickets for “The Killers” I have for May. That and living here is closer to Southern Ill.

At least the Tournament starts on Thursday. I’ll just drink myself silly and forget all this crap.

Dum dum dummmmmmmmm.......

Just in time for me to start feeling better is our yearly review. That dreaded review of how you are doing at work. I don’t think I have much to worry about, I think my boss generally likes my work. However, being secretly very neurotic, the worryness is working overtime.

Why the review for the previous year doesn’t come until March, I do not know. I’ve never had one with my present employer or manager so I’m not sure what all to expect. I DO know that I’ll find out my raise for the year and perhaps a bonus.

Mmmmm... bonus.

That bonus is already being planned to take me straight to somewhere tropical where I can just sit and sip a drink with an umbrella.

Yea.. I said umbrella... Put it in there!!!!

Maybe I won't get near anywhere tropical. I hope I at least get a slab of ribs. That'd be a great bonus. Here you go Pup, slab of ribs and some beans.

I think I can be happy with that.

OR.... the best way EVER to determine your yearly bonus.


Come on… big money... big prizes.... no whammies…


STOP!