TWENTY TEN IS COMING UP. And I don’t want to miss making the last post of the year!
So I guess I should probably check in with how life is going! Pretty exciting, I should say for the most part.
First and foremost: I got my own apartment! This was back in the beginning of October actually. Such a momentous occasion should have merited a blog post almost immediately, but again, I was just so damn busy with settling in and work. It’s a one-bedroom apartment in a building that was previously a brewery. The layout of the building is a bit awkward because of the conversion, but the place isn’t too shabby. I don’t have much furniture: a mattress and a chair. The living room is a very barren place. -_- I’m still saving up for a trip to IKEA or something. Maybe I should just check craigslist. That’s actually how I found both my job and apartment… so why not?
Also, a couple days ago, I was finally offered a full time position at work! YESSSssss!!!!! 
I’m very happy there, and the new position will be giving me more development experience that I’ve been wanting for a while now. AND I’ll be getting a nicer salary! AND BENEFITS! Oh, how I missed you, health, dental, and vision coverage… So yeah, looks like things are starting to take off!
I’m quite proud of myself for getting this far on my own. Independence is awesome. Also knowing that I accomplished this on my own merits and abilities makes it all the sweeter. But again, a HUGE BIG GIGANTIC thank you to my cousin and her boyfriend for letting me stay at their place while I looked for a job and my own apartment. I seriously wouldn’t have had this awesome opportunity without their generosity and support. I took a risk leaving my last job and coming here to Chicago, but I’m very glad I made it. There were many reasons for wanting to leave, and perhaps I’ll share them here one day, but let’s not dwell on the past, hm?
And just because I got a sweet job and my own apartment doesn’t mean I can slack off! My New Year’s resolution: Go to the gym and get back in shape! Yeah, that’s such a typical resolution, but now I actually do have time and money go, so no more excuses! And I also saw a friend over the holiday break who’s been hitting the gym like crazy—and she is looking GREAT. I’m quite motivated by that actually, so I have a LOT of catching up to do. So come next week, I’ll stop by the gym around my neighborhood and check it out. I got one more resolution, but I’ll post about that later… 
Have a safe and happy new year! Hope you had a great 2009, and that the next year will bring you more happiness than the last!
Doing What I Like
Computer, Work September 24th, 2009
I guess I can talk a little bit about my job.
When people ask me, “What do you do?” I usually respond, “I’m a producer for a website.” It’s basically a site for visitors to search for a home or property to buy. As a producer, I help a lot more with the front end stuff, working with HTML and CSS. Lately, I’ve gotten some extra projects that involve javascript and ruby, which has been a blast to work with. I do some basic coding and not any major programming, but I’ve been really happy working there. This is stuff that I usually did in my spare time during college and my last few jobs. I’m kind of psyched that all that work and learning I put in on my own time has finally paid off. And this job offers me new stuff to learn as well as the opportunity to sharpen my skills.
So yeah, I love coming to work. The people here are awesome. The environment is pretty lax; I love wearing jeans to work. Currently, I have a 10 minute walk to and from work, but that’ll change once I move to my own place. Work may be farther from my new place, but I think I’ll love the area that I’m moving to. And I’ve also grown to love working on an actual ‘product.’ This is a site that millions of users utilize, and it feels great to know that I’m putting something into that. It almost feels like something I’m a part of helping to create. If I could, I would work on websites as my career… Google, I’m looking at you! 
It’s a great job. The only downside is that it’s a contract job. They’ve extended it, which was really awesome. But I would really like to be there full time with benefits. However, I’ve been getting more and more projects that are a bit outside of the scope of the original role they intended. So hopefully working on these projects will show them how much value I can add to the team. Keepin’ those fingers crossed. 
Tags: CSS, HTML, Javascript, RoR, Ruby, Ruby on Rails, Web Design, web development, Work
Hey, sorry for the long absence again, guys.
Things have been real busy and chaotic the past month. I thought I’d just post something real quick before the month is up.
Biggest announcement: I got a job! ::does a happy dance:: I start July 1st, and I’ll post more about it then.
In addition to getting back into work this week, I got these things to look forward to:
- Dan and Trav are dropping by Chicago today. Excited to see what shenanigans we’ll be getting into!
- Flying to Maryland for the weekend! It’s July 4th, but also my birthday weekend! I really have no plans this year for it, but I’m really psyched to see friends back home. Still haven’t decided where I want to celebrate, but I’m kind of leaning towards Annapolis right now… we’ll see.
Stay tuned!
Really… what is there to stop me?
Personal, Travel, Work November 21st, 2008
“What’s to Stop Me?” from We The Robots
This little web comic strip from We The Robots perfectly describes how I feel when I go to work. Not that I don’t like work… I don’t love it, per se. But I am really eager to make the jump to Chicago. I don’t think I’ve mentioned that before. I’ll be moving to Chicago! At least, that’s the plan. I got the savings and a place to crash at. The only thing holding me back? The job situation. I don’t have one lined up. I feel like I can do a better job getting one once I’m over there. However, I can’t just bail on my current job, just like that. I could. I really could. But it just wouldn’t feel right to me to leave them hanging. Hence, the feeling that I’m stuck there right now. But after some pep talks with some friends who provided some choice words of encouragement, I’m determined to hang around just a bit longer. At the very least, I’ll be staying in Maryland until the new year.
The whole adventure of moving out of state and starting something new in an awesome city just gets me excited! The day I make the jump is coming closer and closer. I don’t expect it to be without its rough patches, but I can feel that this is something that I truly want. I guess we’ll see how it goes in the coming months…
PS: I also quit World of Warcraft a couple weeks ago. I’ll post about that later.
Freewrite Friday
Work February 29th, 2008
What is freewriting? Freewriting is writing whatever comes to mind, usually writing for a predetermined amount of time without regard to spelling, grammar, structure, etc. and no editing is done. We have chosen five minutes for right now, we will add or subtract from that in the weeks to come as we see fit.
So last weekend, I had a couple drinks with a girl at this club. I told her how I’m working at my parents’ storage business. And then she goes on to say something about how she heard about one time when one storage place was doing an auction (that’s where a tenant has failed to make payments, they are locked out of their unit, and then their belongings in the unit is sold at an auction to recover their missing payments). Apparently, when they opened it, there was a bin with a freaking human leg in it! What the hell? She didn’t have any details on the person that owned it, but the fact that someone would put human body parts in a storage facility never occurred to me (but then I just remembered Silence of the Lambs… or was it the sequel?) So now I’m a little bit paranoid at what people are putting in the units here. We don’t have access to their stuff, they get their own locks we have no keys to, so we can’t just go in without cutting off the locks (which we don’t do unless we do an auction). We have under air units too, and we make sure that no one is living in one. We do a walk around inspection before we close, and check that there are no unlocked units. If there are, we check inside to see if it is empty (usually those are people who move out without notifying us). And I am up and over 5 minutes! Isn’t a storage facility business fascinating?
Freewrite Friday is actually a great idea that I got from Shelli. Thanks!
Tags: Florida, Storage Business, Work
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