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 .

Big changes

Here a list of the big changes.
1. The weather has changed and its become fall/almost winter - here is the evidence:
This is a picture of the neighborhood about two weeks ago.
And here today...Pretty sad ain't it?
2. Ewa, the girl that was living here with me, is gone. She is headed back to Poland where she'll be working her butt off studying for the certification exam to become a pharmacist in MN/somewhere in the US. While at the beginning I was troubled by her presence - not that I was jealous of anything or unhappy of her behavior - I become quite warm with her and really enjoyed spending time with her the last weeks. She is very honest and upright and really ambitious. And it was just nice to get better acquainted with her. I really hope things work out so that she can get herself back in the States :)

3. Yeah, this is the biggest of all changes. I found a job. Its at a company called Medtox and they do drug analyses. In my opinion, taking bioanalytical last interim really helped out to attain this job. I'm really not sure how it will turn out, but time will show and I am eager to start my real world carrier. Tomorrow, I have to go in to get some paper work done, take a drug test (done on site I guess :) ) and whatever else there is to do. It'll be a long day... Though even if its not what I want I should be fine - I'm still have an interview with 3M on Tuesday next week - I can't ignore the chance of being hired by this awesome company.

4. A little side note - the girl/woman I've been interested in for a long time, who is culturally pretty much in the same shoes as I am, told me that she used to be interested in me. She has a really nice boyfriend right now and seems happy, but it was nice and irritating at the same time to hear that. Esp with the prospect of seeing her frequently from now on and knowing that she is partially still attracted to me (that's at least what "others" have told me) What am I to do now? I like her more than ever and maybe its best not to see her at all. Shit...

Anyhow, so much to the changes. I'm still thinking of going to school in the evenings so I can figure out and ease my next couple steps in life. So for right now life seems to be going uphill!

new product from iaudio

never heard of iaudio? well, i've had two mp3 players from the company and I'm loving it! its the cowon u2 with 1 gig of space. it not only has mp3 playback and supports many other formats, but it also has a line in for recording, fm tuner, and a voice recorder (with a good quality mic). well, here is the next gen version of that (called the u3). It pretty and its smaller and it even has video support...though i question who'll be watching videos on it. I might just have to get it....in 5 years or so when my u2 breaks :D

Time to face reality

Yep, its that time in life where I'm in need to change something and everything all at once. Whilst thinking that everything was ok and going just as planned, I've finally realized that nothing is going according to that plan and I've settled myself in this non-constructive vacuum of doing nothing. I have a BA in chemistry, but fact is that I'm jobless and for right now worthless. For those that are reading this - is anybody reading it? - I had the plan to get back into the workout routine that I had at olaf (training for the triathlon), keep myself informed of the things taking place in this world, and getting a friggin job. Well, of all that nothing has taken place. I've been playing more cs than ever, NOT working out, and the economist I bought is still sitting there crying for my attention.

SO, its time to change all this. Since I am a gamer and I know that without it I'ld lose a part of myself - there is no chance that I'll quit. But instead of playing it during the day, I'm going to spend the time reading the economist and trying to apply to whatever spot there may be left in this oh so wonderful city. Gaming will be something I'll do in the evenings at 9pm for an hour or two. Secondly, I need to wake up at 7 or 8am and go running, and do to the ladder pushups. Oh, yeah, there's also the core workout that I need to work on. Since its really hard to think of anything to do when the computer calls me 24/7 I'm going to start writing down activities I need to accomplish. That way I won't waste too much time on the pc. Plus I can always use Linux, which would make it darn hard to play cs (actually impossible)

If all this will workout, I don't know. But I will give my best and getting even a part of it done would make a huge difference. The next entry should give more insight in what I've managed to do. Lots of positive encouragement would be helpful (non of that passive aggressive stuff...That just pisses me off). But wait...Who actually reads this anyways? Meh, life goes on.

PS: that job interview went well, but unfortunately I did not land it. I got another interview with ecolabs next Wednesday though. Thus the sports to make me look more healthy and attractive (haha, that last one is funny...attractive...me...haha)

LOL

Heh, just got this in an email! All I can say is that we're fu@#ed! I knew I shouldn't have taken all those English classes!

CONCERNED ABOUT TOO MANY CARBS IN YOUR DIET?

For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on
nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those
conflicting nutritional studies.

1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks
than Americans.

2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than
Americans.

3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart
attacks than Americans.

4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine and suffer fewer heart
attacks than Americans.

5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

CONCLUSION:

Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what
kills you.

Brrrr!!

As you can see in the picture, it seems that summer has left this State. While its not quite freezing cold yet, it sure makes me rethink going outside for a smoke. While the trees in the picture still have leaves (that are yellowish), other trees (like the one behind Jan's house) are pretty much bald. Thought it sure is a great time to go on walks... It couldn't be prettier!

Other than the weather I guess I'm doing alright. I have another interview tomorrow - this time with Aerotek Scientific (they hire people to contract out to other companies). If I get a job with them the $$ won't be as high, but I guess I can make some money while figuring out if I want to pursue chemistry, and additionally I would have the chance of being hired as a full time. I'll just have to see what happens...But I'm not gonna give up on the larger companies like 3M. I have yet to harass them into hiring me :)

I've also been busy getting some core (not really core I guess...But important to me) components for my computer and celly that really make me look more like a geek than anything. I got a bluetooth headset for both Skype and my celly, and I also (finally) got a DVD burner with dual-layer capabilities. Pretty cool stuff!

Another Picture of "my" car

So upon request here I display another picture of my "new" car. Its a 2000 Mazda Protege; looks good and drives well. Maybe not the strongest car, but I hope relatively reliable and long lasting.

ZOom zoom zoOM!

Yes! So I finally achieved to find a suitable car for my taste. There is a bunch of stuff I'ld like to say about the day - I've had many encounters with troublesome issues, but since I lost the entire text I wrote before I'll just say "Ende gut alles gut" - As long as the end is turns out well, everything is good. I got the car, its just as I had imagined it and I'm all happy.