Eye candy at the end ;)

So tomorrow is going to be another one of those busy days that solely exist to defy my sleep routine. After getting off of work at 6am, I'll have to rush home so that I can get as much sleep as possible (esp since I'm almost falling asleep here at work). Then wake up at noon to take a shower, get my suit on and drive to maplewood...a 40min drive if I'm lucky otherwise more like 1h20min if it snows more. Ick!

The reason for driving over there is to have a wonderful interview with the happy Pace Analytical people who contract their workers to 3M. To be honest I'm really not looking forward to it. I'm at the point at which I'm contemplating wearing some wack clothes...like wearing my workout clothes or even better clothes that is ripped in shreds...or crossdress (too bad I don't have a gf). Why would I even think of such atrocities? Because I don't want the job...I even feel compelled to say that I'ld rather be jobless than to work for them. Not only do they pay less, but its less working with people and more working with machines. On top of that I'ld have to move out of the place I'm in right now and go back to St. Paul. I've started enjoying living in Minnetonka and am not really willing to move for a crappy job as such. But yeah, that's not how things work. I'm going to end up dressing up as I should and being there on time. Who knows, maybe the 3M people will like me to the point of directly hiring me.

Anyways, wish me luck I guess. After the interview I'll have to return to my place in Minnetonka, get some food, a nap and go to work again. 3rd shift is nice for going to interviews, but going to interviews you don't care all that much seems like a waste of time.

Btw. If this job ends up being not what I want and I don't get any other job by the time my contract runs out I may just go to German for a week or two...And maybe I'll be able to convince my parent's to help me out financially so that I can make a trip out to Japan. Haven't been there and reading Isaac's blog just makes me want to experience the country again. Given that I'm way older than I was the first time I lived there I'm sure it'll be a new and exciting time. Anyways, just a thought...

And this is from Brent Kudak's Wedding...calling it eye candy is wrong in the sense that it objectifies them, but I gotta say, Olaf does have beautiful people (or had?). Anyways, if I were in that picture it would have been even better and you know it!...right?

Back to Zero? Not quite.

Getting into an efficient and working routine is hard. Especially when you're on 3rd shift. You get used to going to bed in the morning and getting up in the afternoon and after a couple days you realize that its the weekend - so you have to readjust again. On top of that I've been increasing my workout load. So my body exists in a constant state of exhaustion and pain and I can't seem to get proper sleep. I can only hope for a normal job at 3M or some other place. But I'm sure that I'll be getting used to the workout load sometime soon.

Speaking of jobs, I've been told that my place is trying to save up some $$ resulting in letting all temps go when their contracts run out. So come end of February I'll be out and in the need for a new job. I'm glad about this, bcs this way I won't get stuck at CIMA, but having to go through the entire procedure is really bothering. At least I'll have another opportunity to get to know more people and experience a different job environment. In all its a positive thing...Just the uncertainty of a job will kill me.

Update it already!

Alright, sorry for being absent for the longest time...I've been pretty busy lately and hardly ever at home. Anyhow, the season has changed...Is what I wanted to say, but to be honest its been the same for a while...But to give a nice little perspective on how it looks here for my friends in Germany - check out these pics:



First one is from this January of '06 then October, and finally past September.

I think its kinda nice to see what difference there is. This is the thing about Minnesota I love the most, the changing seasons really give the environment a new taste every couple months and really helps keeping things exciting.

So now to what is going on in my life. There are a bunch of things as usual. Though since much of it is NOYB (none-of-your-business) it may be in your interest to call or write me an email if you want the news. Otherwise, my job is going well - as I may have possibly posted earlier sometime - its been quite a while since my last post. Things are looking good and it seems more likely that I will get a full-time position at CIMA after my contract runs out. I'm still looking for a position at other places, but who knows how that'll work out.

Speaking of other jobs though, I guess working 3rd shift isn't all that easy as I had first perceived it to be. I had an interview with this awesome company lined up. Not only is it a great company, but this interview was also my second one with them( - I was one of the select few to get that far in). Anyways, so I got off of work at 2am instead of 6am so that I could get some sleep as people suggested. I set up 3 alarms so that I'm awake in time to take a shower and get prepared. I also took out my suit, shoes, and whatever I was thinking of wearing and placed them on my couch. So to make this increasingly long story short, non of the alarms woke me up and I ended up missing the interview. Yey for being prepared and being stabbed in the back by my sleeping cycle. I called them up and after bunch of talking I think that I should be getting the interview rescheduled...Still, you won't believe how sick I felt when I realized that I had slept over. Needless to say, I'm going to go get my big bad evil alarm clock out of storage that used to harass me in the mornings at Olaf. No way I'm sleeping through that ear-drum rape.

So that interview was one of the bigger things in life lately. I've also been spending a lot of time with some friends of mine that are dear to me, though I won't go further into detail for reasons I'ld have to kill you if you knew - just kidding.

Oh, and I also went to this LAN party with Jeff. LAN stands for local area network - the event was more or less a 150 man computer gaming party...Just without the standard party booze. Crazy stuff. We both got together with some other people we played with at the last LAN and entered the CSS (counter-strike source) tournament as a clan. Believe it or not we ended up being 2nd place. And you better believe it! The competition wasn't all that cheap either. There were a bunch of CAL-M (which is a league like the NFL or NHL) players we had to play against...And yes we lost, but as said, my point was to display that there was good competition. GG all in all and we get free entry at the next event. Can't wait to pwn them all again! Here is how it looked like:

So if you're interested in joining in on the fun at the LAN here is the address to get registered!

Sun Dog

This morning after working my ass off and right before going to bed (ok, I didn't have all that much work to accomplish nor was I going to bed - I was going to play some CSS) Jan came and told me to look outside. Lilia had just called telling him that you can see parhelia, otherwise known as sun dog, going on. So I run out, take the car and drive to a suitable place to take the picture...And this is what I got out of it. Its a really nice sun rise with 3 suns coming up - two of them being refraction as described here. If the weather is cold (as in -6F or -18C or whatever) go outside in the morning and you may be "blessed" by this natural phenomenon. And no, there was no God involved. But you can believe in whatever you want ;).

Random Events

So here is as promised the entry portraying the new things in my life.

First and for most, I got a job. I'm working at CIMA labs in Eden Prairie east of Minneapolis. Having gone through the efforts of a chem major at Olaf I was hoping that I may get a position in which I could take advantage of the knowledge, but apparently things don't go as expected. Anyhow, I'm working as a QA - auditor. This means that every hour I do inspections on the production line (of pills), making sure that the quality of the product complies with the FDA/DEA standards (cGMP and what-not). Its not the most challenging job, but I still need to be sure that I don't make any mistakes. My colleagues are really nice people and I get along well with them. I think that they like having me around as well :) Good stuff! I'm still in the hope of getting the position at 3M, but for right now I'm pretty happy...If it doesn't work out and I end up being a full-time at CIMA I think that I'll take the extra time to go to school and get some certificates or take some more business oriented classes. Oh, and what's funny about this job is that I work the 3rd shift. So work hours are from 10pm till 6am - sounds pretty bad, but I actually like it a lot.

The other news is that I found a place to stay. Having been here in Maplewood for almost 4 months now, I think that I've used up my welcome and its time to learn to be selfsufficient. I'm going to be living in Minnetonka at my friend's parents' house (and yes, she lives there too). Its pretty cheap rent and I have this entire side of the house to myself - which includes a kitchen, living/bed room, and my own bathroom with shower/tub. I'm going to be moving on the 19th and I can hardly wait. Its going to be great!

Finally, the last thing that is causing a bunch of excitement for me - I'm getting a new computer case, more memory, and a new video card. The case is from Cooler Master and has a sliding mobo tray, no windows (finally!) and in all looks awesome. The video card is an Ati x850xt platinum...By far the most expensive investment lately, but I think that this should last for at least 2 years. Its the fastest agp vid. card out there :-D Its time to frag some n00bs!! Oh, and the extra gig of ram will do well, too!

So I guess that's about it. This week is going to be pretty busy, but I'm looking forward to it...And in two more weeks and a couple of days it will be Brent's Wedding...I can't wait to see one of my closer friends turn into a husband...He's the first :D!

Big Brother is Watching You...thats for sure

I'm great, and life is going well. Though this isn't the reason I'm posting this one.
Tonight, I was looking around on digg.com and found this interesting article. Its a bit long, but just read the beginning part, I'm sure your interest will be awakend by then. http://www.commongroundcommonsense.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=34949

Anyways, I'll post another message when I get off of work. There is a bunch of changes that have taken place, but not now. Hope you all have a nice week!

News and news

So things change....Right when I was getting into this hopeless mode, not thinking that I'll ever be able to find a job, things changed rapidly. I found a job at CIMA Labs, which is located in Eden Prairie in the suburbs of Minneapolis. Sadly its the 3rd shift = grave yard shift that I'll be workin, but so far its been alright. I just feel like I'm missing out on a lot of sun time. Anyways, I just started so there isn't all that much I can say about this position, but for right now lets just say that I'm their new QA auditor. I'm basically there to make sure that the product coming out of production is of good quality...There is a lot more to it but whatever, you don't care ;)

Otherwise this last weekend was a hella fun time. I was in burnsville at a LAN party - there were about 150 people there with their computers playing all sorts of games. The main games that I saw were CS:S, CS:CZ, CS:1.6, BF2, and HALO1 &2. There were some nice people that I met as well as some power tripping admins (sorry, not some but one), but for the most part it was awesome. Jeff, Brandon and I got there around 11:30am and stayed till 8am the next day...And yes, we played cs:s all the time ;) Here is a pic of the event! It was great and I would recommend going to the next one which will be on the first weekend of Jan '06 (planned at least).

Thanksgiving and such

Thanksgiving is a yearly occurrence that's been pretty boring so far. Each year I was subjected to making food for myself and so far it was more a lonely time (except for the one time Christiana came up to Olaf). Well this year it was all different. I was invited to Ari's house to spend the time with his family eating all the gorgeous food that is customary to this event. Well to my surprise it wasn't just Ari, his parent's and I; no, his brother, sister and sister-in-law were also there. They were really nice and made the time pass by a bit faster than I'ld hoped. We even watched Blues Brothers....A movie I hadn't seen for the longest time - I had forgotten what a great movie it is and how awesome the music is. Anyways, so things went well and after almost losing control of my car driving a bit too fast on Ari's driveway I got back to Maplewood. In all it was a fun and memorable experience.

The last days have been equally interesting. Last week I had two interviews with a 3M subsidiary called Dyneon and today I had one with Cima Labs in Eaden Prairie. All interviews went well and I think that I have a decent chance of landing at least one of them...Though knowing my luck it may a bit too optimistic of thought. Oh well...But to change the topic I've been doing pretty well getting things done that I find important. I sent out about 5 emails that were in dire need and also got a lot of reading (the economist) done which makes me feel better. Now I just need to continue with this.

This coming weekend I'll be going to a LAN session in Burnsville at DC computer mods with Jeff and Brandon (both Olaf grads from '03). I know that it'll be fun and hopefully we'll be able to pwn some n00bs :-D. Hopefully I'll be able to take some pics so that I can post them here.

Here is a pic of the desert at Ari's place...yummm!

Weee!! Its crazy weekend time!

Its weekend again! Yes...Oh wait, the entire week is like a weekend for me :D. But anyhow, this weekend will be quite eventful. Tonight, I'm going to be watching Zorro with Tom and maybe Joel (yeah, sadly no girls). Then tomorrow I'm gonna go get winter tires on my Protege ( bah 120 bucks!). Later that afternoon I may go watch Christian dive and then finally drive down to Northfield with Erin to hang out with Erin and a bunch of others (two different Erins). There may even be a hot tub involved :D w00t! Then the next morning if I'm not too hung over possibly breakfast with Sarah and then meet up with Leah (they're all good friends...Yes, I'm single) - then finally I'll be able to drive back.

The weekend is looking pretty full, but this week was sort of full as well. While I did not go anywhere thanks to my summer tires and snow, I did get to do a lot here in the house. For one I moved from the upstairs room to a more private downstairs room, and I also applied to many many companies (about 30 to 40 positions). Though I know that almost all places won't be replying to me since they're assholes maybe a couple will be interested in employing me - hopefully the one in Switzerland :D. I do hope that something works out. Its getting pretty annoying not being able to have some routine in my life. And the more I have to do the merrier.

So next week will be the crucial week in which I do hope to land some interviews...And if I'm lucky a job as well. Whatever ends up happening I'll put up on here sometime during the week. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and nice week!

Life goes on

So quite a bit of time passed since my last blog update. There have been ups and downs since the last post; Though the downs have been more prevalent. First off, that job I was talking about didn't work out. They forgot to post it internally - Some dude found out about the job and promptly took it away from me. Can you believe such mistakes in a company that is competing globally? I can't! I'm not too pissed since it wasn't my "dream" job, but needless to say it was aggravating. So what's going on now? Well, I'm still looking around. I had three interviews with 3M - two directly and one through Pace Analytical and am hoping that 3M will decide for me. The interviews went pretty well for what I think, but considering that after a week they are still in the process of interviewing doesn't feel all to supportive of my cause. I'm going to call one of the interviewers tomorrow and see if I can get an update. If they say no, or that it may take another 2 weeks I'm just gonna go with Pace Analytical. I can always switch if needed. So tomorrow should provide me with insight into what steps to take next.

All the plans of working out so far has been unsuccessful. Since I'm a mad gamer I end up staying up late playing games - not that hanging out with friends till late has helped. The issue is that I don't want to be playing during the day. I just think that it would cast bad light on me. So I'll play in the evening, but I'm going to keep it down to max 1h a day. The workout though should start sometime soon. Tonight, I'm gonna be going to bed right after finishing this blog update in the hope that I can wake up at 7 am and start the day with a nice slow run. Furthermore I'm going to write down a long term workout schedule so that I'll be ready for another couple sprint triathlons next year.

Otherwise I have a whole list of things that need to be done - these things have been plaguing me, but having them written down does help. Time will show how efficient this approach will be.

Alright, so its time for sleep. One more thing that came to notice just a while ago: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4417024.stm
It seems that the US military made use of phosphorus weapons about a year ago during their attack in Fallujah...These suckers just burn human flesh while leaving the clothes intact. Coincidentally the US didn't sign the treaty in which they accept not to use such horrendous weaponry. While its questionable how come this information had to wait 1 year till it was revealed, the fact in itself that it may have been used is pretty disturbing. I hope its a hoax, but if not this will, again, pull the international US image further down. I strongly hope that there will be some positive news speaking of what good things the US has done (like in Pakistan). I can't see this country being able to afford more mishaps as such. Maybe its best to impeach the current president or even send him to Den Haag for trial. Hell, its not Bush's' fault, he's just a puppet. Why not impeach the entire Bush administration for either a equally crappy democratic party group or maybe, just maybe an enlightened group of intelligent and interested government administration people, be it from whatever party. All I can say is that politics are dirty and unless it gets cleaned its hard to see what's going on. Though its pretty questionable if it will ever be clear of corruption and deceit...No, its pretty clear that it will never happen :(
Here is a picture of a Finch that was in front of the Kitchen window. I hope this balances out the dark content of this post 0_0 .