Tomorrow is my grandparents' anniversary, and I've spent the better part of this month trying to find a card for them. Granted, it's difficult anyway because my grandma isn't the world's easiest person to shop for, even when just looking for a card. Anyway, I've spent several hours of time in various Hallmarks trying to find anniversary cards specifically for grandparents. You wouldn't think that would be difficult, would you? Well, apparently it's become passe to actually send grandparents an anniversary card. In most Hallmarks I was lucky if I could find one card for grandparents, and usually that was in the section labeled "Cards for Unique Needs." So, it's unique to want to send your grandparents an anniversary card?! What, do they just assume that grandparents don't stay together? I know the divorce rate is 50%, but this is slightly ridiculous.
I ended up just getting a non-special (or non-unique) anniversary card for them, because I didn't have much choice in the matter. I just find it odd that something that special, like my grandparents' anniversary, doesn't have a variety of cards devoted to it while other so-called holidays (Sweetest Day, Bosses Day, etc.) have entire racks of cards for them. Am I the only one bothered by this? Probably, but I needed to vent a bit...
In other news, no word yet on the Rutgers job. I'm not sure how to feel about that. They said I should know by last week. I'm guessing that I may still be in the running only because they didn't say that I didn't have the job right away. But, I'm also guessing that I'm not their first choice, and they're waiting for whoever was their first choice to make a decision. So, we'll see. Hopefully I'll find out soon. In either case, though, I may as well start putting in my application elsewhere. Of course, once I start doing that, I'll end up hearing from them, because that's just the way it works for me.
I definitely need to get a job soon. I just got my first bill to start repaying my student loans, and that's an extra bill I wasn't planning on getting quite yet. So, we'll see what happens. It's definitely a good thing I have some money put away in savings, though. I'd be totally screwed without that cushion.
Other than that, not much else is new. Tonight is big TV night. Ugly Betty and two repeats of Grey's Anatomy, which I'll watch anyway because that show is freakin' awesome. I could watch it over and over again and not get tired of it. OK, that may be a slight exaggeration, but not by much. So, I'm off to go hunker down in front of the TV.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Randomness from NJ and the rest of last week
I'm just really crappy at updating this thing lately, mainly because I don't have a very interesting life at the moment. However, since it has been a month since my last post, I feel that I should make some sort of entry, and this one is going to be just random thoughts, mainly from my trip to New Jersey.
- For those that don't know, I had an interview for a programming job at Rutgers last week. It was my first interview in a long time, and I think it went fairly well. I mean, it's probably not the best interview I had, but I don't feel completely ashamed by it. I'm really hoping to get the job, though. I'll find out sometime this week, hopefully.
- The drive to New Brunswick was fun. (Note the sarcasm.) I've been on Highway 22 pretty much throughout the state of PA, and I can say with certainty that for the most part, it sucks. The only good parts of 22 are when it's merged with an interstate. Then it isn't so bad. Construction was just horrible last Monday, though. I was at a standstill numerous times. Once right outside of State College when the road was down to just one lane for traffic in both directions, another time at a merge point in eastern PA. It's just really annoying dealing with construction. I didn't think there would be any work done last Monday because it was a holiday. But, hey, what do I know?
- Also on my way there, I was behind a vehicle that was smoking. Smoke was coming from somewhere near the front of the camper. It was trying to be nice to let me pass it by moving as far right as it could, but every time I would try to pass it (where it was legal.... PA doesn't seem to have very many large stretches of straight road), it would start to move back into the lane. I was so happy when I got to a part of the road that had two lanes for each direction of traffic.
- As is customary when I drive to a new place, I got lost in New Brunswick. I started off going in the correct direction once I got off the highway, but because the directions I got weren't clear about how long it would take to get to my next turn-off, I turned around. Then I had to turn around again, and finally I found the highway I was supposed to get on. Then when I got off that highway, I came to one of the smallest roundabouts I've ever seen, and I missed the point I was supposed to veer off of it toward the hotel, so I ended up taking a slight detour. Eventually, I made it to the hotel, and I was thrilled to be able to get out of the car.
- I hate that you can't pump your own gas in New Jersey.
- The night before my interview, I walked on campus a bit to get food. (I certainly didn't want to get back into my car again.) I must say that the campus center food I got there wasn't half bad. And I got a lot of food for a relatively cheap price. Especially French fries. I got so many I couldn't eat them all.
- The selection of TV channels in the hotel I stayed aren't wasn't great, but I did get to see Fashion House on what used to be UPN. It's basically an American telenovela, the equivalent of a nighttime soap. It was so wonderfully campy, I enjoyed it tremendously. There were catfights and high drama. And I must say that Morgan Fairchild plays an excellent bitch. Of course I knew that from her days on The City, but she's great on this show, too.
- I will admit that I thought I looked very nice for my interview. I got quite a bit of help deciding on what to wear from some friends in the meteo department. The only bad part about the outfit I wore was that it was mostly black, and it just happened to be in the mid-70s that day. However, I did look very nice, I think. That's saying something, too, because I rarely think I look good. Most of the time I have very low self-esteem, but dressing up seems to give me some confidence.
- Rutgers has a very beautiful campus. I think it's one of the prettiest campuses I've ever been on. Plus, the building I interviewed in was nice-looking. I don't think I've ever worked in a nice-looking building on a campus before. Usually I'm in the hideous eyesores.
- I was surprised to see one of the guys that was at the last team meeting I went to in an office right across the hall from the guy I interviewed with. It was a pleasant surprise. He's a very nice guy, and not bad to look at either. I even stopped back after walking around campus a bit to chat and say hi. Just another reason I wouldn't mind having a job there. (Yes, I have a shallow side, too....)
- Once I got back from Jersey, I had my work cut out for me because there was another team meeting this week. I didn't get to go, because Ray said it wouldn't be a good use of my time, which at the time, I agreed with. I'm only working part time anyway. However, this week I've been VERY unproductive. I think I may have burned myself out a little bit last week. I think both yesterday and today combined, I've worked about a half-hour. I'm slightly ashamed by that, but yet not really. I'm back to feeling like I'm just frittering my time away until I get a real job. Maybe I'll get back to having some motivation this week, but I'm not counting on it.
I guess that's about it for now. Hopefully my next entry won't be too far in the future. I'm also hoping I'll have good news to report. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high for this job, but I can't help but feel a little excited by it. Only time will tell, I guess....
- For those that don't know, I had an interview for a programming job at Rutgers last week. It was my first interview in a long time, and I think it went fairly well. I mean, it's probably not the best interview I had, but I don't feel completely ashamed by it. I'm really hoping to get the job, though. I'll find out sometime this week, hopefully.
- The drive to New Brunswick was fun. (Note the sarcasm.) I've been on Highway 22 pretty much throughout the state of PA, and I can say with certainty that for the most part, it sucks. The only good parts of 22 are when it's merged with an interstate. Then it isn't so bad. Construction was just horrible last Monday, though. I was at a standstill numerous times. Once right outside of State College when the road was down to just one lane for traffic in both directions, another time at a merge point in eastern PA. It's just really annoying dealing with construction. I didn't think there would be any work done last Monday because it was a holiday. But, hey, what do I know?
- Also on my way there, I was behind a vehicle that was smoking. Smoke was coming from somewhere near the front of the camper. It was trying to be nice to let me pass it by moving as far right as it could, but every time I would try to pass it (where it was legal.... PA doesn't seem to have very many large stretches of straight road), it would start to move back into the lane. I was so happy when I got to a part of the road that had two lanes for each direction of traffic.
- As is customary when I drive to a new place, I got lost in New Brunswick. I started off going in the correct direction once I got off the highway, but because the directions I got weren't clear about how long it would take to get to my next turn-off, I turned around. Then I had to turn around again, and finally I found the highway I was supposed to get on. Then when I got off that highway, I came to one of the smallest roundabouts I've ever seen, and I missed the point I was supposed to veer off of it toward the hotel, so I ended up taking a slight detour. Eventually, I made it to the hotel, and I was thrilled to be able to get out of the car.
- I hate that you can't pump your own gas in New Jersey.
- The night before my interview, I walked on campus a bit to get food. (I certainly didn't want to get back into my car again.) I must say that the campus center food I got there wasn't half bad. And I got a lot of food for a relatively cheap price. Especially French fries. I got so many I couldn't eat them all.
- The selection of TV channels in the hotel I stayed aren't wasn't great, but I did get to see Fashion House on what used to be UPN. It's basically an American telenovela, the equivalent of a nighttime soap. It was so wonderfully campy, I enjoyed it tremendously. There were catfights and high drama. And I must say that Morgan Fairchild plays an excellent bitch. Of course I knew that from her days on The City, but she's great on this show, too.
- I will admit that I thought I looked very nice for my interview. I got quite a bit of help deciding on what to wear from some friends in the meteo department. The only bad part about the outfit I wore was that it was mostly black, and it just happened to be in the mid-70s that day. However, I did look very nice, I think. That's saying something, too, because I rarely think I look good. Most of the time I have very low self-esteem, but dressing up seems to give me some confidence.
- Rutgers has a very beautiful campus. I think it's one of the prettiest campuses I've ever been on. Plus, the building I interviewed in was nice-looking. I don't think I've ever worked in a nice-looking building on a campus before. Usually I'm in the hideous eyesores.
- I was surprised to see one of the guys that was at the last team meeting I went to in an office right across the hall from the guy I interviewed with. It was a pleasant surprise. He's a very nice guy, and not bad to look at either. I even stopped back after walking around campus a bit to chat and say hi. Just another reason I wouldn't mind having a job there. (Yes, I have a shallow side, too....)
- Once I got back from Jersey, I had my work cut out for me because there was another team meeting this week. I didn't get to go, because Ray said it wouldn't be a good use of my time, which at the time, I agreed with. I'm only working part time anyway. However, this week I've been VERY unproductive. I think I may have burned myself out a little bit last week. I think both yesterday and today combined, I've worked about a half-hour. I'm slightly ashamed by that, but yet not really. I'm back to feeling like I'm just frittering my time away until I get a real job. Maybe I'll get back to having some motivation this week, but I'm not counting on it.
I guess that's about it for now. Hopefully my next entry won't be too far in the future. I'm also hoping I'll have good news to report. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high for this job, but I can't help but feel a little excited by it. Only time will tell, I guess....
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