Week 5

So far so good at work. Things are looking well. I'm adapting, learning interesting stuff. Things are moving forward, so that's nice. The economy is still crap though but I'm feelin pretty happy to be where I'm at considering all that's gone on the past year. Still kinda amazing to think that this little journey started off almost a year ago with an announcement of getting laid off and hunting for a job and getting offers and hiring freezes and yet another layoff and trips to vegas, picking up a roomie, new car, the tennis coach craziness, the lame boyfriend, the constant stream of youngins that followed, and now...for a brief moment...some peace. Maybe its more than coincidence that I saw the movie The Beach for the first time this weekend. That sense of escape...all wrapped in a big ball of a confusing plot...but chances are its just a coincidence.

And now here we are with Michael Jackson dead. Was a bad weekend for celebrities in general no? I dunno....in a lot of ways MJ died years ago. The physical transformations, his facial metaphors for the breakdown going on inside. So much of it seems like what is bound to happen to a man who can't possibly grow up. He was doomed so long ago it feels. But perhaps he is out of his misery.

On a happier note, I had a great realization this weekend that I've been playing tennis now for about 5 years since picking it up on the regular. Been a while since when I broke up with my first ex and started playing D level tournaments to this weekend where I was playing very good tennis with A and Open level opponents. Nice to see that tennis still provides the outlet I need when these crazy ass guys are doin their thing.

Back to work

Amazingly enough, Monday sees me back to work. Orientation at 645am. Good god! They clearly don't know my usual pattern. Looks like I'm gonna have to adjust to being a morning person. Which is actually fine with me. More details after this first day is over. So far though, I'm excited and nervous. And my god, Nadal lost today. Federer must win the French this year.

Oh and by the way...

So the job hunt is finally over. I got the offer and am starting Jun 1. Hopefully this will turn out to be a much better experience than my last job. It's a fairly big company and they supposedly take good care of their employees. One thing that worries me slightly is I will have to adjust to waking up a lot earlier than I'm used to...but ya do what ya have to do. The nice thing is, contrary to the dumb ass recruiter who said I was gettin overpaid, they actually upped my pay from the last company, so that made me happy. On top of all the other benefits, its a great package.

In fact, 2 days after I got the offer, I booked a ticket to Honolulu and spent the week there. Love it. Totally relaxing. Great food. Fell in love with poke and li hing candies and zippys and learned how to cut up a pineapple. Now if only they weren't so damn expensive.

To close out this little period before I go back to work, I'm doing a trip to vegas this weekend with friends. No doubt this will be a kick ass weekend =)

And the verdict is....

apparently a hung jury on whether or not I get a job. So I'm waiting to hear from a pretty big govt contractor here in SD about a position I interviewed for over a month ago. Apparently they've created the req for me, but now need the okay to fill it with someone external. Ugh...we'll see.

Today I strung a tennis racket for the first time ever. It's actually not too terribly terrible, just takes some skillful fingers. The really nice thing is the shop that I'm stringing at is right next to the beach so the drive there is really pretty and if I walk out the door of the shop, voila! Ocean!

Oh and today I was ordering a burrito from Chipotle. I love em, but they kinda gross me out when they make them. If the counter isn't full of shit from the various trays or salsa, they use their damn gloves to pick food off the counter or out of the beans and go right back to making your burrito...ewww!

So now...

...we wait. I've interviewed. I think I rocked the interview pretty well. I mean I studied my ass off. I even studied my ass off for a 20 minute phone interview, which was pretty cool. And I can break out my people skills on demand. I was even able to speak coherently about technologies that I haven't used...but I understand the theory and get the gist of how it works. Thats pretty cool to me. So as usual, I don't think the problem for me is to pass the interview, its just getting the interview, which is also somewhat depressing. But alas, gotta keep my head up.

Sadly I overslept my tennis lesson Wednesday morning, which I really hate because it just gives my coach more ammo for being an ass. But ya know, that's fine, I've come to the conclusion that I'm just gonna have to take the bad with the good. Good instructor and leave it at that.

I did buy a new tennis racquet though. That makes me happy. I also have gone out a bit more which is kinda nice...though at this point, I'm really looking forward to working again and having disposable income once more....blah

Thank god Indian Wells is over

Because it almost makes me wish I lived in Miami. Then at least I could see Serena and Venus. And the Fox Sports coverage of the event the last two years has made me want to cry. We could've tortured people in Cuba with the nonstop ramblings, repetitions and ridiculousness that is Justin Gimblestob's commentary. At least this year the new guy was okay and Lindsey Davenport surprised me by being a fairly decent commentator. She had the voice and everything.

This week I suddenly have to revive my engineering self as I actually have job interviews. It's like, wham bang out of nowhere. A phone interview and 2 onsite interviews. All at companies that I believe largely focus on projects in the defense industry. This would indeed be a new one, but could be a good opportunity for me as well. We'll see how it goes

Back from the bay

So off to San francisco I went. I was expecting a crazy weekend of partying with a lot of booze. Well there wasn't quite as much booze as I expected since my friend was suffering from a bout of gout. But there was a lot of fun and there was a lot of asian gay clubbing. Which I think after this weekend, I've gotten my fix of for quite a while. In any case it was fun, and everytime I visit San Francisco, a little bit of me wishes I lived there.

Friday nite was supposed to be a trip to some place called Toad Hall. Weird name. I didn't actually get to go inside since my friend I was meeting there came stumbling out while leaning all up and down on his new boy. But it looked nice from the outside, and didn't seem as crazy crowded as Badlands and its usual madness. Instead it ended up being a nite out at Dragon. Which one of my friends calls Dlagon. This time I never made it past the bottom floor, which is probably a good thing because the top is usually overly crowded. A friend of mine works there and gave me the hook up with the drinks...so that was nice. Oh and apparently the Bar on Castro is now the Bar on Church. We discovered it after having dinner at Home....lol....love all these names in SF I can just throw out there. One of my friends' friends was right...the outdoor seating was part of what made Bar special, and without that it's just another bar/club.

Saturday nite was Shangri La at Endup. I was already burnt out on seeing asians prance around from the previous nite. And tonite everyone was out in full force for a couple bday parties of folks I knew up in LA. Least it's a big place. I had fun. Nothing special though....just another nite out. We ended the nite at Lime on Market, which I discovered is possibly the most pinoy-rific place I've been to. And a lot of folks were dolled up in their hip hop wear...is that what it is??? LOL. I dunno. I guess I was sobering up. I felt a little weird in there. And then some guy didn't leave the bathroom when I went in to pee. Now depending on how sketchy I may or may not be feeling at the moment....lol....nevermind....let me just say, not cute, and i'm pee shy....so nutthin was gonna happen there. Brunch and some final bar hopping and a Virgin America flight back to SD, and that trip is in the books. Good times!

And then Monday...followed up with my tennis coach. Needed to clear the air if you had read my previous blog. Well I was a little thrown because things seemed back to normal during the lesson/workout thing. I still made a point to talk to him after it was over. Told him I felt like he was acting like he didn't know me. I apologized for not calling, but told him I needed space and so on and so forth. In a manner very typical of him, lol, there was no admitting anything on his part, just an attempt to clarify what he might have told someone else who told me he was upset. In any case, it's not worth repeating, cuz it was nothing special. But least I think we've moved beyond that. Though in my head, it's one of those "oh you're like that" moments. Ya know, ya learn how someone works, you realized a little better perhaps something you didn't before and you decide to work with em in a way you can going forward. Do what ya gotta do I suppose!