Summatime

Just a little bit of what I've been doing,

On the home front
My mom has ejected me from the office, which I had taken over when I moved in. Now my office and library things are either in my room or at off-site storage. Forces me to be neater. There's no room to let my shredding pile up, which I guess is okay.

I started going a local small group, and was surprised to see people I knew there. One couple regularly saves my seat in church, while I often park next to another. I met a third couple who live down the street and remember when my brother delivered newspapers. It is likely that once school starts, I may not be able to attend regularly. But for now, it's a nice opportunity to discuss the weekend's sermon.

On the school front
I've been accepted into the MBA program as CSU East Bay (i.e., Hayward), where I'll be specializing in Information Technology Management. I've got my classes, signed up for the writing assessment, and bought my parking permit. (The rate went from $60 to $95. I ordered it online, where ~$10 for shipping and ~$9 for tax were added. Highway Robbery. I better not hear of any CSU administrators getting raises like the UC ones.) All that's left for me to do is get books and pay my fees. Unfortunately the online system says I have no charges, so I'm not sure how I'm supposed to pay my fees. JC this ain't.

On the job front
I've gotten a little more SQL programming experience, programming queries against our new database and exporting the results to excel. But I'd like to get out of and away from the insurance industry and into something more tech-y. The economy + my eclectic work history + my very junior level of programming skills and experience makes my job search especially challenging.

I did, however, interview for technical support/qa position. Though I didn't get the job, the people were kind and the VP I talked to recommended that I keep them in mind. It was an encouraging experience.

Ah Yea - Vacay
I was able to visit my dad in Massachusetts this summer. I rented a car and we drove down to the DC area to visit my uncle. He had a 4th of July Crab Feed. My first crab feed ever! Mmm Mmm Good. Even the eggs (which my uncle insisted I eat) weren't that bad. They remind me of liver.

Saw a lot of Florida license plates in Massachusetts. What's the opposite of a snowbird?

An English friend has told me that Worcester is essentially pronounced the way New Englanders say it - wors-ter. New England accent optional, of course.

I haven't seen most of my cousins in years, so it was exciting to see two of them. One came to the crab feed, and like a lost puppy dog, I think I followed her around half the time, I was so excited to see her. (Just call me dorkalicious.) I went to the other's home. She has two adorable sons, one of whom was not ashamed to try to eat all of the plantain off of my dinner plate. The plantain on his own plate he didn't much care for, but my plate…only a 3 year old, eh?

We were set to pick up another cousin and bring her back to Massachusetts with us. We'd pick up her luggage one day, then go back the next morning to get her and continue homeward.

We became thoroughly lost on our way to pick up the luggage. The street we were going to (Madison, I think it was called) was actually a circle, where buildings on one side were on N Madison, and those on another side were on S Madison. The building numbers are only progressive for their respective side. So we were looking for 10 N Madison, but only saw 225. (Oh, yeah, once we got into the circle, there were no 'North' or 'South' signs to be seen. And there were at least 4 streets leading up to or away from the circle. And the person who gave us the address neglected to mention that they were on N Madison (vs. simply 'Madison'), so we didn't put that information in on Mapquest when we pulled up the map before we left the house.)

We were on the right street. We were in the correct general location. But one turn and I couldn't get back to where we were. At one point we passed by Walter Reed Medical Center, a cool but sobering verification that we were no longer in the correct state. It took asking for directions 4 times before we made it to our destination.

Of course, we had slow downs going home, hitting crazy traffic in New York. Not in the city streets, but on the freeway. And I thought 580 East on a Friday afternoon was bad!

Did you know that the gas stations at the rest stops on the New Jersey turnpike are by law full service? Since my rental had Jersey plates, the service men were confused by my confusion. The New Jersey rest stops are second or tied with Maryland in their niceness. California should take notes.

Etcetera
I actually saw movies in the theatre, which is rare. Star Trek was awesome. Up was excellent. Wolverine was a'ight. And thanks to HBO, I got to see the Incredible Hulk (excellent). Seriously, I want to be Uhura, and am bummed that there's no way that I could ever be so fiercely sexy and intelligent and ambitious. I know. One outta three ain't bad.

And since the last Harry Potter book finally came out in paperback, I can now say I know what everyone else who read the book found out 3 or so years ago. I finished it in a weekend and may actually try to see the movies in the theatres to see how they work it out. Fabulous stuff.

Until next time,