New Years

So I'm in the last hour of work in 2005 and I must say that all the previous work hours went fairly quickly. This one may prove to be a little different. But this is a magical holiday when we celebrate the annual arbitrary date that we as humans (except the Chinese and anyone else who celebrates a different New Years) decided to celebrate on. So this year, like last, my lady and I are heading to Bean town. Why Boston? I'm not exactly sure but it's a fun town to go to. I will sure beat sitting on my couch eating potato chips, like I'd probably otherwise do.

New Years is a time that we reflect on the joys and sorrows of the past year and look forward to the opprotunities that the new year brings. Here is one of my joys: graduating from college. And here is one of my sorrows: graduating from college. And what does the next year bring for me (or mead)? That's hard to tell but as of now it appears it holds 8 hours of work during weekdays except for bank holidays and producing and consuming alcohol afterhours. At least I have some balance in my life.

So whatever happens to you in past year I hope the next one will be the very best (unless I don't like you).

Adventures in Banking

In the last week I have deposited my bonus check, a payroll check, and Chirstmas gift money into my checking account, yet my balance is currently $27. This I find frusterating. My bonus check was deposited four days ago and still has not cleared. I suppose the bank does not believe that I can make a dseposit that large. Additionally, I had to deposit my payroll check at an ATM because I am changing the account my direct deposit goes into so my bank will stop charging my $6 a month. For the second pay period in a row the direct deposit has failed to automatically put the funds in the accout while I got charged another $6 fee. And then to top it all off I went to take some cash out for New Years and of course I accidently touched the button that withdrawls $400 from the account, so I had to take the money that I didn't want and throw it in a deposit envelope. The odd thing about that situation was that according to my account balance, I didn't even have $400 to withdraw. I hope that all the bankers are taking the week off so I can actually have some money to my name at one point.

Generation Y

So I was reading an article the Chicago Sun Times this afternoon about the characteristics of Generation Y and working. And I think that the description fits me very well. I don't want to seem to egotistical, but I feel that I am a capable worker that needs challenges. Also, my work and my life are very seperate unlike those previous generations that lived for their work. The article also pointed out that this generation looks at jobs as a means to accomplish life goals. Does this apply yo me? I'd say yes, yes, and yes. I find it interesting that characteristics span across a generation in such a broad way. I wonder why this is? Does it have something to do with the shared experiences a generation has? Or may shared parenting characteristics of the previous generation? But if that is the case then how are those parenting characteristics created? I say that this is quite a puzzling question.

An Open Letter to Apple

Dear Apple,
I recently recieved an iPod Shuffle as a Christmas gift from my wonderful parents. I was extremely excited to get home and try it out. Unfortunately the iPod software are unable to run on a computer running on Windows ME. Imagine my dissappointment. So I looked online to try to find a way I could use my iPod on my computer without chaning my whole operating system (the second most expensive part of a computer after the monitor). I found that some software exists that can talk to the player, but none of these are Apple applications, thereby forcing my hand to download the newest verison of RealPlayer to put music on my music player. Forcing me away from Apple software does not seem to be in your best interest. Ideally when I use your Apple software I should be so thrilled by how great it is that I should want to go right out and purchase an Apple computer if my current computer craps out in a couple a weeks (which it very well may). But you have denied me the opprotunity to see how good your software is and now I should be under the impression that Apple software is difficult to use because it is incompatible with other things.
Truely yours.

Merry Kitchen Tools

This Christmas I have furthered my quest to have the most technologically advanced kitchen of anyone less than a year out of college. Let me list the new amenities that have been added:
1) A deli quailty meat slicer
2) A digital kitchen scale
3) A hands-off garlic mincer
4) A crock pot complete with reciepe booklet
5) A new set of steak knives
Is it kind of gay that I get so excited about kitchen appliances or is it normal that I enjoy shiny things that plug into the wall and make a whirring noise?

I am Scrooge

I don't know about anyone else, but this Chirstmas music is really starting to get to me. I like Chirstmas music, for a little while. But when every place you go into loops a 4-song Christmas CD anyone could be driven to insanity. Who I really feel sorry for are those worker in the places that play nonstopped Christmas music. You can only hear "Rocking Around the Christmas Tree" so many times. I think the main problem with this is that the Christmas music starts too early (see 'Christmas in November'). I like it for a couple weeks, but after a month I think I really start to hate it. This would probably be the case for anything you hear almost nonstopped for a month.

Christmas

Here are three reasons that Christmas is great:
1) You get to spend time with family and friends
2) Presents, giving and recieving
3) You get to drink as much as you want without anyone saying anything

My Crotch

In the past 3 weeks I have ruined two pairs of khakis and a pair of bike shorts in the crotch. I have been wondering why the crotch of my pants is always the first thing to give. Is it the friction or is it under too much pressure? And if this is such a recurring problem then why aren't pant-makers doing something about it? I would not be that hard to reinforce the inseam of pants ... or am I overlooking some complication. It seems to me that science should be focusing more on this question.

Infestation

My house is being overrun by mice. They are eating my bread, crapping all over my house, and I think that they are also plotting to kill me. In defense against these rodents we have created an infantry of anti-mouse devices. We have the snap traps, the glue traps, the humane traps, and something called the tin cat, which appears to be a condo for up to 30 mice. During this war, we have already claimed one of the enemy, one named Marvin. Although Marvin's death broght cheers from the ranks including a rendition of "Ding Dong the Mouse is Dead." But despite this minor victory, the war wages on. We have encountered another foe, by the name of Sam. This mouse is smaller and more agile. He will indeed offer a great challenge to overcome.

Smokers

You know that something is wrong with people who go outside in the middle of winer and stand in freezing temperatures and snow so they can smoke a cigarette. I am looking forward to the Chicago smoking ban so these people have to stand out towards the street and freeze their asses off. This situation will provide a great reason to quit.

Act VII: Some Relief

Just when it appeared it couldn't get any worse a ray of light appeared, lunch time. This lunch served me some very important recover mechanisms: water, food, and rest. My half hour nap in the middle of the day greatly help me towards the path to salvation. I know that this relief is temporary until the full effects of the delirium sets in.

Act VI: Impending Madness

During a search of the world wide web I stumbled across a condition known as Delirium Tremens, which is a potentially fatal form of ethenol withdrawl. The symptoms include tremors, irritability, nausea, confusion, and delusions. The full effects of this ailment do not take full effect until 48 hours after withdrawl, thus I fear that these may be the last 48 hours of my life. I never thought it would end like this.

Act V: The Pain

The pain has started to set in now. It is becoming hard to see, my muscles are shaking from the internal abuse, my temper is starting to enrage me, my mind has been wondering all day, and the taste of vomit has become steadfast on my tounge. The storm is most certainly here.

Act IV: The First Assult

The time is 9 o'clock am. I an now officially in the process of sobering up, a very unfun process I might add. I have become very sleepy fighting this and my focus has been nearly eliminated. I don't know how much longer I can go on before I give out. Please pray for me.

Act III: The Heat Wave

As the clouds are preparing to dump on me, there seems to be a bit of a heat wave coming on. My extremities are becoming very warm and are beginning to sweat. Along with the heat my head is beginning to swim and it is making it hard to believe that I can do this today. This is not a good sign of things to come.

Act II: The Gas

So less than a half hour into my day, I have ate half a sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich. I ate only half because I was not able to choke the other half of it down. Eating anything (especially something so greasy) was probably good for me and bad for my coworkers as the first sign of the storm was coming, a foul smelling gas sneaking up on me from behind. I fear that the suffering has just begun...

Act I: The Opening Bell

So the bell just rang to begin my day. The fact that I made it to work today is an utter miracle. My phone ran out of batteries so it turned off. Somehow I had the presence of mind to plug in my cell phone and its alarm clock but not enough presence of mind to turn it on so the alarm would actually go off in the morning. So after waking up on my own accord, I stupidly ate my cereal and prepared myself for work. It was at this point I had realized that the hangover had not set in yet as the hand of drunkness still had it painful grip over my ability to do anything. Upon getting to work I found that many of my coworkers were in the same boat as me, proving the theory that an open bar holiday party is not best to have on a Wednesday. The fact that I was able to get to work and do my morning task was possible because of the nature of routine, because there was no thinkiong to be done this morning. On the walk over to my workplace I seriously considered getting a bloody mary to help me weather the storm. I feel that the dark clouds are gathering today waiting to move over my world and make it a living hell.

The Epic Hangover

Last night was our company's Chirstmas party. After consuming too much alcohol I awoke this morning still drunk. So I have decided to document this hangover and its progressions throughout the day. So follow me through this epic journey from drunkness to sobriety, won't you?

Heating Bill

So I got my first heating bill of the winter season and I must say that I am not impressed. Now before I disclose the amout I must mention the preparations that we took to keep our heating bill down. First we purchased a timer thermostat to turn the heat down during the day and night. Next we purchased plastic sheets to seal our old windows. And despite these precautions, our December heating bill amounted to $180. Ouch! What I am hoping is that since heating bills are based on estimates that our meter will give us a heafty discount on our next bill, but then again this may only be a faint hope.

Goals at Work

I don't know what to do after I have so quickly accomplished my working goals today. I beat my streak of 13 consecutive free cell wins by winning 16 in a row in the first hour of work today. So now I don't have anything else to do. I played a couple games of solitare, but I won a hand and now I don't feel like playing it anymore.

Laying Blame

What is it about our mind that forces us to lay blame on anything other than ourselves? Sure no one likes to make mistakes, but sometimes shit just happens. Is our ego such a part of personality that we are rarely willing to admit that we have made a mistake? I would say that in many instances this is true. There seems to be no rational reason for passing blame other than it makes us feel better about ourselves. If you make a mistake, then get over it learn from it and move on. Dragging it out by laying blame will not help anyone. Especially when I'm the one getting blamed!

TV

I never realized how much of my life is consumed by watching TV. Yesterday, I felt that all of my free time went to TV. Watching is quite addctive especially when you have a TV in almost every room. And one of the damnest things is that most of what I watch on TV, I have already seen. Don't I have anything better to do with my time? Apparently not.

And if you don't have anything better to do with your time, I suggest that you watch arrested development on Fox's Monday lineup. It's pretty damn good.

Chirstmas Shopping

So I've got some Christmas shopping done this weekend at the Watertower in downtown Chicago. I must say that I felt a little like a cow in a herd of cattle wandering the snowy streets of the city and then again travelling though the mall and then again going home on the train. But the good news is I actually got most of my shopping done, a feat I rarely accomplish this soon. During my shopping adventure, I made some observations. First, being sneaky is something that I think excites us. If we can operate without getting caught, we get a little rush. Next is the suprise element. The best gifts are not only things that the reciever wants or need but also something they were not expecting. And in these sneaky, underhanded ways we celebrate this magical holiday season.

Servicing Customer Service

This evening I have cancelled two credit cards and got my cable bill cut in half, and I have had some observations about customer service calls. First, my cable bill. I had been paying $35 for cable under a promotion. My latest bill was for $64 ... too much for cable. So I called first to ask about canceling the account and got little interest. Then I called back and got a more interested person on the phone. She immediately asked me why I wanted to cancel the service and we had about a ten minute conversation about how much the service should be worth and how it was a quality service. Then she suggested that I take some time to think about closing the account as they extended the promotional rate for another 6 months. Hmmm... interesting how these rates are so negotiable.

After getting a new credit card in the last month, my two new cards have become obsolete, thus I have decided to close the accounts and low my available credit line. In both cases, I was quickly transfer to a "specialist" who is obviously meant to charm you into staying. My first call, they offered to cut my rate in half, and I have to admit a 18% to 9% rate change actually made me consider keeping my card, but inevitably I did not. My second card, the "specialist" was eager to start me on a new better card with a rate of 13%, same as my new card. I explained how that rate was inferior to new rate and he even offered a rate just about 10%.

In my negotiations, I couldn't help but wonder about the people who pay all the interest that they may not have to if they just gave the company a call and argued more or less that competition has given the consumer the upper hand, and show that he or she is willing to use it.

Vacation Mode

How long is it acceptable for vacation mode to continue at work. I have now complete three days of work after my Flordia trip and I have been late twice and zoned out every day. Sooner or later I have to regain some focus...right?

Morning Rush

My morning started out with a mad rush to catch a train. I have two alarms on my phone, one to wake me up and one to tell me that it is time to leave for the train. So the first alarm woke me up (barely because I turned the volume down because I decided my ring was too loud). Shortly after, I fell right back asleep until my train alarm went off and I had that "oh shit" moment. The time: 5:20 am, time of train departure: 5:26. In my rush I managed to go from in bed to dressed at a train stop that is a quarter mile away by 5:25. Getting off the train, I noticed that my hamstring was pretty tight, and unfortunately it had given me no problem after a rugby match, but a dash to the train was too tough to handle. Maybe next time I should use that extra thirty seconds and get a little warm up before sprinting for a train.

Rugby in Orlando

Hello fellow rugby fans,
Orlando was great both the tournament and the weather. It was in the 70s and sunny all week and gave us perfect playing conditions. After arriving at our hotel at 2:30am on Wednesday night (or Thursday morning depending on how you want to look at it). But we had a rough start as we had some problem after the flight. First we had to wait about 45 minutes to rent a van. Then on the way to the hotel our driver got lost (in Disney World of all places) so a 20 minute drive became an hour. And to compound our late arrival, we had a 8 am meeting the next day. Our Friday game started around 1 o'clock against the Mid Atlantic. Our team played a tough game and lost 35 to 32. I did not see the field in the first game. Later that day, we had a developmental game against the West - the first of three games against the region. The developmental side played well and came out with a win. Although I dress as a reserve for the game, as I was not really on the team, I thought that I might get some time. No such luck. On Saturday, we had some free time in the morning and got some pool time in. I went down the water slide twice and it was fun. I believe that this is the first time I have been swimming in December. After our swim, we had a walk through and the development team had another game. They played well again and defeated the west for the second time in two days. Afterward we had dinner with the Midwest women's team. Sunday we were playing for third place and to stay in the upper tier for the tournament for next year. We got off to a fast start again but couldn't put them away. And after waiting for the first seven halves of rugby, I got to go on the field for the first time. I played fairly well making several tackles and having some nice runs. Unfortunately, the skill part of my position were a little behind the level of play. (Did I mention that this is probably the high level of competition in the US?) So anyway, we watched our lead slowly drift away and the game was forced into overtime. We jumped on them early and got up seven only to watch them answer about ten minutes later. Finally with about two minutes left in overtime, Dave Fee (US national team and Lake Forest grad) kick for posts and put our team up three for a lead that we would defend for the rest of the game. The final score: 35-32 (sound familiar?). Then they forced us to leave the nice weather and come back to Chicago, where we were greeted by snow on the ground and a chilly 20 degrees. Overall my trip was pretty good. I got to play 60 minutes at a very high level and spend the first couple days of what appears to be a frigid month in the Sunshine State.