September 2005
September 1, 2005
I slept a lot today. Like.. a lot. I was out by 11, despite a certain karaoke revolution going on in the next room with Yves, Janet, and a few young, hot, single coeds, which Yves had told me he invited over to bring me out of my hermit lifestyle. But alas, I was just too tired. And even though they pleaded and begged me to come out of my room, by enticing me with 'treats' and 'goodies' and full body massages with hot oils and fruity smelling lotions, I had to turn them down. Sadness! I then proceeded to take a two-hour nap this afternoon. Crazy, huh?
Okay, so on to non-made-up stories. Will finally accepted my Madden challenge and came over after dinner to take his Vick-ful Falcons head on against my vaunted Chiefs offense! And just as expected, the two-time defending noob.. humbled me, by playing smashmouth football and scoring a go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter. As a result, the final score was: Falcons 21, Chiefs 17. I demand a rematch! Let's see you bring it at Arrowhead!
So the question you've all been wondering. Where is Felix going to work later this month? Impax? ALZA? Impax? ALZA? For those of you who've been following this epic quest to secure an offer, there's supposedly a meeting later this (Thursday) afternoon to discuss the Mountain View-based company's openings and ability to hire, so all will be settled in the next 24-36 hours, I hope.
September 4, 2005
I have finally made a decision with regards to where I'll be working later this month, and if you still don't know where it is and/or you want to know the entire story behind it, then clearly you need to talk to me more.. or read on.
It started a few weeks ago when Impax made me an offer. The package was alright.. nothing spectacular, but I guess I wanted something more. And I was thrilled that ALZA gave me a thumbs up shortly after my interview with them. After all, it was the company where I had just finished up an internship last year! But then things started going awry.
Not long after my interview with them and my subsequent move home, I got a call from ALZA's HR and the basic message was this: “Felix! Everyone's really impressed with you! We're getting some paperwork together but the person who needs to sign it is out of town till later in the week, so just wait for a call from us, okay?” At this point, my mood meter was 8 on a scale of 1 to 10.
Later that week.. ALZA's hiring manager called and told me: “So the guy you'll be reporting to may have some issues that he would like you to address. There's no official offer on the table yet, and while I would like to hire you because I know your old boss and he's said great things about you, the offer's really contingent upon what he thinks of you.” On top of that, Impax gave me a soft deadline of that week to see whether they should proceed to the next step. Felix's mood meter: 4/10.
A day later.. I had this second phone interview with this guy who had the 'problem' and it went great! He told me he's going to make the recommendation to the hiring manager, and I should receive at least a verbal offer soon. Felix's mood meter: 7/10.
The next day.. I don't know if this had anything to do with it, but Merck lost a huge case and their stocks, along with the rest of the drug industry's stocks, tumbled. The hiring manager called me to say: “Hey look Felix, we want to make you this offer.. but HR had a meeting just today and they are concerned with head count, and so my hands are bound and I can't do anything until the board gets together in two weeks.” I'm like.. uh.. my offer with Impax is going to expire.. no, explode.. soon! They apologized and told me that nothing could be done for at least another two weeks. After that, I called Impax and told them my situation. They told me that they'll try to get me an extension, but guaranteed nothing. Felix's mood meter: 2/10.
The following week.. Impax's written offer arrived! The extension was granted to until Friday the 2nd at 5 pm! Felix's mood meter: 5/10.
Thursday, the 1st.. ALZA's HR called me to say that the board meeting was actually that day and not the following day, and so I should hear by the end of business hours. Woohoo! I gain an extra day.. or so I thought. Felix's mood meter: 7/10.
They heard nothing back that Thursday, and I threatened to sign with Impax unless they gave me their decision by 2 pm the following day. Felix's mood meter: 5/10.
Friday, the 2nd around noon.. HR can't get a hold of anyone who was at that meeting from the day before. I am starting to panic. Felix's mood meter: 3/10.
The 2nd around 1 pm.. HR called to tell me: “Sorry for leaving this on your voicemail, but I finally spoke to the person in charge and from what I gathered, it sounds like they are going to be making cuts on some of the new positions. In fact, your position will not be available anymore, but I just wanted to let you know that now so at least you have some time to accept the other offer.” Argh. WTF! How did I go from, 'your offer is in the bag' to 'hey look, your offer doesn't exist anymore!' I was so frustrated and I felt so played. I picked up the phone to call Impax to let them in on the good news, but hesitated. Felix's mood meter: 0/10.
Five minutes later with the phone still in my hand.. ALZA's hiring manager called me: “Hey, Felix. Glad I caught you just now. Just wanted to let you in on some good news. I just spoke with our VP and they're working the last minute details of your offer. Now I know you told us 2 today, but that's the time they're getting together for some final signatures and I can let you know by 3 what the situation is. How does that sound?” I'm like.. I'm so confused! But HR just told me the exact opposite of what you said. What the hell is going on? Felix's mood meter: 3/10.
I called HR back and told them this. They are just as confused as I am. They made some phone calls for me and were like, nope. Looks like you're still out of a job, bub. Felix's mood meter: 0/10.
Around 2:30ish.. HR called me back “Oh. Looks like something is in the works after all. I must be smoking crack! Want some? Oh wait, you're gonna have to take a drug test, so I probably shouldn't share this with you. Oh by the way, they're still signing papers and stuff. Just keep waiting, k? Wait, what? Your deadline's at 5 today? When did that happen?” Felix's mood meter: 3/10.
At 3 pm.. I called them and asked what their dealio was. They responded: “Yeah, so the president was a little late to the meeting.. give us another 15 to 20 minutes?” Late to the meeting!?! Oh my God. I'm going to kill something here! Felix's mood meter: 2/10.
What seemed like an eternity after.. Ring ring.. Hello? “Hi Felix, so I have an HR representative here on the phone with me, and we'd like to formally and officially present to you an offer of...” Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. So there is a happy ending after all. Felix's mood meter: 10/10!
Thus, ALZA of Mountain View it is, despite this epic adventure of jumping through hoops and undergoing this emotional rollercoaster. I think all in all, this company would provide for me a better environment for both my personal and professional development and I think I knew this all along, or why else would I have waited and gone through such turmoil? It's a better type of work -- more design and troubleshooting -- and the commute won't kill me as badly. Plus, I'm going to be working on making new drugs, which is something that I've developed a strong passion for during my time at Stanford!
So there you have it. I don't know what it is.. whether it be God's will, sheer luck, good timing, patience, or a combination of them all, but I got exactly what I had asked for. And now the story's out. Perhaps I can finally get a good night's sleep and enjoy the rest of this so-called vacation.
September 6, 2005
Had a good, productive weekend. It's nice when one doesn't have to worry about 'things'.
On Friday, after the stress-filled morning and afternoon, I tried to unwind by dancing and playing games with the usual peeps. The zydeco lesson was not worth the however many bucks that I had to pay to endure that two hours of torture, and that got me to think.. back when I was in Castano and when I first learned how to dance, I had my friends teach me and there was just a lot more value to it. I think a lot of the times, a bad first experience is what turns people away from trying new things.
Anyway, at game night, some of us cool kids played Cranium, while the others opted for the more traditional poker, and I just couldn't help but feel a little bit violated by David (Yves' brother) when he used me as a dummy to demonstrate a thief's lockpicking ability. But I'm one to forgive and forget, so all was cool and we further bonded over Mario Kart -- four player style!
As if the previous night didn't wear us out, Will, Tiff, and Diana came back the next day to settle their scores in a game of Settlers! Okay, that was kinda lame, I'll take out the quotes on 'settle' now. I didn't get to finish, because I had to meet some people in Palo Alto for Justin's belated birthday dinner, so I ducked out early, but I heard from an anonymous source that Will had won. This was only because David and I had screwed each other over early in the game.. no.. before the game even started by fighting over a useless piece of land. It wasn't even fertile land either. It was a port, near the beach. And I don't like the beach.
At the Cheesecake Factory, the eight of us (Eric, Brian, Justin, Kari, Chi-En, Tina, Melisa, and I) mingled and tried to catch up on what's going on in everyone's lives. One interesting topic that came up during casual conversation was how much is too much to pay for an engagement ring. While most of the guys at the table, including myself, came up with conservative estimates of what we would spend (10%, 5 to 10K, 1 to 2 months salary, etc.), the girls surprised us by saying they wouldn't want that expensive of a ring. The concensus was that as long as it's classy, then that's what matters, with the implication that the money would probably be better spent elsewhere, like buying a house for them. This is very good to know. The rest of the night was spent again at Brian's and Walter's place, this time, playing mah-jong and card tricks.
I went bed-browsing with Tiff Sunday at Mancini's, Sleep Train, and Costco before retiring for the day. I don't really remember what happened the rest of that evening, except maybe some long overdue WoW action with Hkakashi (Justin), Sanctorum (Brian), and Ayasilkrose (Eric), but other than that.. hmm. Oh! Tiff came over again that night -- midnight to be exact -- to have a good time. By having a good time, I meant playing Loaded Questions and keeping David awake so he wouldn't fall asleep before his 5 am departure. What were you thinking!?! When Yves went to bed, though, she left too, partly because she was tired and shouldn't have changed out of her cloud pajamas to come over to begin with, and partly, I assume, because she didn't want to scandalize the parents. David and I stayed strong, however, and armed with the can of Mountain Dew that I had at midnight and our entertainment that is Dreamcast, we made it! I crashed shortly after.. maybe not 5:01, but probably something closer to 5:02.
But then, Tiff came back, shortly after noon! You know. In some cultures, we'd be married already because that's just seeing someone a lot for that short amount of time. Come to think of it, we are married! In The Sims, that is. In fact, we have two kids together.. Andrew and Channing. Hahahaha. They are brats who like to splash in toilet water, so uh yeah, don't ever leave your kids unattended, for those of you who have kids. Anyway, where was I going with this? Right, so she came over because we wanted to finalize our bed buying, and we did, at Mancini's! In fact, I was able to negotiate a pretty good deal for us, despite the fact that our really nice sales manager kept telling us that's the price is as low as he can go. Yeah whatever, dude. You can go lower. I guess it helps too that I've had some negotiating experience under my belt. “What?? You want to sell me that essence of water for 9 gold? Screw you dude, I'm buying in bulk, so I'll give you 8 each. Final offer.”
September 8, 2005
I did something super crazy today. So crazy, in fact, that I think it might be considered banned in some red states. Come to think of it, the only reason I'm putting this down here is because I trust my readership to be non-judgmental people. Okay, here goes nothing.
Today, at In N Out, I mixed my drink: half iced tea and half lemonade. That's right! You heard it here first. It didn't taste that badly either. Maybe next time, I'll go one step further and sweeten my experiment by going three-quarters lemonade and one-quarter tea. Gasp! The horror, the horror.
My bed also arrived today. The mattress is a full-sized Serta (yes, the one with the sheep) Mystic Seaport Plush. Shortly after it was delivered to my place, I tested it out by doing something super crazy. So crazy, in fact..
September 9, 2005
You know, sticking needles in people is just something that everyone needs to get right the first time. Otherwise, you'd just end up with two cotton ball bandages, one on each arm, and looking very stupid as you're strolling around the aisles of Target. Ouch! At least the respirator test was more amusing and less painful.
September 14, 2005
So onwards to imitating Peter King from Sports Illustrated.. Here are my ten things I think I think (sports or non-sports related).
1. That's weird. My heart rate's running around 80-85 bpm right now, and I'm just sitting here! It must be that Coke that I had earlier this afternoon with lunch. I've read about stimulants doing strange things to one's body, but to actually feel my heart trying to jump out from my chest, now that's kinda creepy.
2. The Chiefs are for real this year. Still not sure if they're Super Bowl material yet, but they'll make the playoffs for sure. You heard it here first.
3. Kinda on that note, I am really excited about *the game* this Sunday. I still haven't told Tiffany yet that I've made the decision to wear my Chiefs shirt (probably underneath two other shirts, a sweater, and perhaps a jacket), but you gotta show your team some love. Boo Raiders!
4. My fantasy football team, Arcane Mages, is 0-1. My team last year was 11-2 when the regular season ended. This sucks.
5. That Veronica Mars? She's one hot uhm.. show.
6. My copy of The West Wing arrived, in all its non-defective glory! I guess third time's a charm.
7. Okay, true or false? Your ideal girlfriend should have the combination of all the best traits from your good female friends.
8. Years ago for Halloween, one of my best friends in middle school dressed up as Andre Agassi and I was his doubles partner, Michael Chang. Nobody knew who I was.
9. Hehe. I love Andre Agassi -- my hometown hero. Too bad he can't win big anymore.
10. I'm pretty sure my start date's Monday, the 19th.
September 16, 2005
Yup. Monday it is. 8 am, too. Three more days of freedom. Wheeee!
September 19, 2005
Hey, I'm getting pretty good at this! In a conversation with Tiff regarding her picks this week..
Rosesxoxo: i need the kansas city oakland score too
Fefoofix: oh
Fefoofix: really?
Rosesxoxo: yeah
Fefoofix: okay
Fefoofix: kc 24, oakland 17
Rosesxoxo: k
Rosesxoxo: i will send you will's picks when I get them =)
Final score: Chiefs 23, Raiders 17
And I saw it live too! Woot! A recap about this weekend and the awesome game to come, I'm sure.
September 20, 2005
They're right! This working thing takes a toll on ya, even though I didn't do much today except walked around the office/labs and read psuedo ChemE books. Unexpected highlight of the day: I got my own office, with a key and everything! You can't be a cube monkey if you don't have a cube, right? Hehe..
Hmm, I still want to write about the Chiefs game among other stuff. Maybe later.
Oh! Arcane Mages squeaked by Shadow Wolves, just barely. Thank you, Joe Horn, for fumbling out of bounds at the one yard line for a touchback. That particular play at the very end of the game meant the difference between my winning and losing this game. Who said fantasy football isn't exciting?
---
Quick snippets, cuz that's all I got these days.
- That Chiefs entry isn't going to happen. Yes, that means I lied. Yes, that means I'm a buttmunch, but seriously, did you really care that I didn't write about football? Sigh.. alright, fine! Here goes: Two fourth and one conversions on the first series. “Booyah,” says Dick Vermeil! Pictures are here.
- Got my work laptop today! Yay!
- I really should do laundry soon.
- Got through *two* episodes of The West Wing! Good times.
- David's coming back up this Saturday. That means school starts next week!
September 22, 2005
Oh my gosh, I am never eating a gallon of rice ever again. Yeah, that whole tub of cooked rice that I had in my fridge? It's all gone now. I had cooked it all in the hopes that I could eat some of it for lunch tomorrow, cuz seriously, it was a lot, but I was watching tv and it tasted so good (darn me for being a good fried rice cooker!) and one bite led to another, and before you knew it, it was gone!
In other unrelated news, I found out that I am famous at work today. So I was down in the coater room chatting it up with my new intern/coop friend (a Berkeley ChemE.. hiss, boo!) and this girl from another group came in, and so naturally we exchanged introductory pleasantries and then she was like.. oh, you're the guy they brought in despite the hiring freeze, huh? Haha! My own office, a newish laptop hooked up to a flat screen, free reign to be creative and design my own experiments, a gigantor 10' x 5' white board, and known across multiple departments.. I'd say that this is a pretty nice gig. Can't wait till my lab coat and steel-toed shoes come in!
September 23, 2005
Hehe.. Deadly Plague Hits Warcraft World
September 25, 2005
I finally won my first Settlers game! And all it took was three consecutive rolls of a six by the others and my not rolling a seven when I had 20 cards in my hand. Woohoo.. two-for-one brick port for the win! Here are some commentaries left from tonight:
Auto response from Fefoofix: chillaxin' with hkakashi, ayasilkrose, and sanctorum
...
jenono8: haha you guys are such dorks
...
TPiglette: I just realized that over there you guys have 4 of my favorite guys! hahahaha
...
Brian's email later in the night: No more 6s!
...
JuKa828: that was a good game
JuKa828: except for me
JuKa828: poor brian
JuKa828: he got screwed
September 27, 2005
Hehehe. I was giddy at work today.. I love it! Before lunch, I saw a CSTR *and* a heat exchanger doing what they do best, stirring and exchanging heat. Uhm, yeah. Yay ChemE!
September 29, 2005
I was just gonna grab a sandwich today at the crapfeteria when I bumped into my director and so he was like.. hey, let's take a walk to M10 (the corporate building down the street) and have lunch there. Needless to say, he didn't have to ask me twice, and so we headed over to the main campus. I had forgotten how beautiful it was there.
Anyway.. there at M10, I saw Michael Jackson! Yes.. the Michael.. as in the president of my company! He was sitting just a couple of tables away from us and having his lunch. Yeah, shut up. I bet you wish the president of your company was a rock star too.
So, I've decided that I really like being an engineer. There's something inherently cool about screwing something up, only to fix it again. Best of all, even as a rookie, I get to order people around to do things for me. And so far, everyone's been really nice and accommodating. Oh, plus when something really screws up or when they can't get a hold of me by phone, I get paged on the PA system. You get a high, I think.. kinda like reading about yourself in someone else's blog. Yeah, you know that feeling. ;-)
I slept a lot today. Like.. a lot. I was out by 11, despite a certain karaoke revolution going on in the next room with Yves, Janet, and a few young, hot, single coeds, which Yves had told me he invited over to bring me out of my hermit lifestyle. But alas, I was just too tired. And even though they pleaded and begged me to come out of my room, by enticing me with 'treats' and 'goodies' and full body massages with hot oils and fruity smelling lotions, I had to turn them down. Sadness! I then proceeded to take a two-hour nap this afternoon. Crazy, huh?
Okay, so on to non-made-up stories. Will finally accepted my Madden challenge and came over after dinner to take his Vick-ful Falcons head on against my vaunted Chiefs offense! And just as expected, the two-time defending noob.. humbled me, by playing smashmouth football and scoring a go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter. As a result, the final score was: Falcons 21, Chiefs 17. I demand a rematch! Let's see you bring it at Arrowhead!
So the question you've all been wondering. Where is Felix going to work later this month? Impax? ALZA? Impax? ALZA? For those of you who've been following this epic quest to secure an offer, there's supposedly a meeting later this (Thursday) afternoon to discuss the Mountain View-based company's openings and ability to hire, so all will be settled in the next 24-36 hours, I hope.
September 4, 2005
I have finally made a decision with regards to where I'll be working later this month, and if you still don't know where it is and/or you want to know the entire story behind it, then clearly you need to talk to me more.. or read on.
It started a few weeks ago when Impax made me an offer. The package was alright.. nothing spectacular, but I guess I wanted something more. And I was thrilled that ALZA gave me a thumbs up shortly after my interview with them. After all, it was the company where I had just finished up an internship last year! But then things started going awry.
Not long after my interview with them and my subsequent move home, I got a call from ALZA's HR and the basic message was this: “Felix! Everyone's really impressed with you! We're getting some paperwork together but the person who needs to sign it is out of town till later in the week, so just wait for a call from us, okay?” At this point, my mood meter was 8 on a scale of 1 to 10.
Later that week.. ALZA's hiring manager called and told me: “So the guy you'll be reporting to may have some issues that he would like you to address. There's no official offer on the table yet, and while I would like to hire you because I know your old boss and he's said great things about you, the offer's really contingent upon what he thinks of you.” On top of that, Impax gave me a soft deadline of that week to see whether they should proceed to the next step. Felix's mood meter: 4/10.
A day later.. I had this second phone interview with this guy who had the 'problem' and it went great! He told me he's going to make the recommendation to the hiring manager, and I should receive at least a verbal offer soon. Felix's mood meter: 7/10.
The next day.. I don't know if this had anything to do with it, but Merck lost a huge case and their stocks, along with the rest of the drug industry's stocks, tumbled. The hiring manager called me to say: “Hey look Felix, we want to make you this offer.. but HR had a meeting just today and they are concerned with head count, and so my hands are bound and I can't do anything until the board gets together in two weeks.” I'm like.. uh.. my offer with Impax is going to expire.. no, explode.. soon! They apologized and told me that nothing could be done for at least another two weeks. After that, I called Impax and told them my situation. They told me that they'll try to get me an extension, but guaranteed nothing. Felix's mood meter: 2/10.
The following week.. Impax's written offer arrived! The extension was granted to until Friday the 2nd at 5 pm! Felix's mood meter: 5/10.
Thursday, the 1st.. ALZA's HR called me to say that the board meeting was actually that day and not the following day, and so I should hear by the end of business hours. Woohoo! I gain an extra day.. or so I thought. Felix's mood meter: 7/10.
They heard nothing back that Thursday, and I threatened to sign with Impax unless they gave me their decision by 2 pm the following day. Felix's mood meter: 5/10.
Friday, the 2nd around noon.. HR can't get a hold of anyone who was at that meeting from the day before. I am starting to panic. Felix's mood meter: 3/10.
The 2nd around 1 pm.. HR called to tell me: “Sorry for leaving this on your voicemail, but I finally spoke to the person in charge and from what I gathered, it sounds like they are going to be making cuts on some of the new positions. In fact, your position will not be available anymore, but I just wanted to let you know that now so at least you have some time to accept the other offer.” Argh. WTF! How did I go from, 'your offer is in the bag' to 'hey look, your offer doesn't exist anymore!' I was so frustrated and I felt so played. I picked up the phone to call Impax to let them in on the good news, but hesitated. Felix's mood meter: 0/10.
Five minutes later with the phone still in my hand.. ALZA's hiring manager called me: “Hey, Felix. Glad I caught you just now. Just wanted to let you in on some good news. I just spoke with our VP and they're working the last minute details of your offer. Now I know you told us 2 today, but that's the time they're getting together for some final signatures and I can let you know by 3 what the situation is. How does that sound?” I'm like.. I'm so confused! But HR just told me the exact opposite of what you said. What the hell is going on? Felix's mood meter: 3/10.
I called HR back and told them this. They are just as confused as I am. They made some phone calls for me and were like, nope. Looks like you're still out of a job, bub. Felix's mood meter: 0/10.
Around 2:30ish.. HR called me back “Oh. Looks like something is in the works after all. I must be smoking crack! Want some? Oh wait, you're gonna have to take a drug test, so I probably shouldn't share this with you. Oh by the way, they're still signing papers and stuff. Just keep waiting, k? Wait, what? Your deadline's at 5 today? When did that happen?” Felix's mood meter: 3/10.
At 3 pm.. I called them and asked what their dealio was. They responded: “Yeah, so the president was a little late to the meeting.. give us another 15 to 20 minutes?” Late to the meeting!?! Oh my God. I'm going to kill something here! Felix's mood meter: 2/10.
What seemed like an eternity after.. Ring ring.. Hello? “Hi Felix, so I have an HR representative here on the phone with me, and we'd like to formally and officially present to you an offer of...” Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. So there is a happy ending after all. Felix's mood meter: 10/10!
Thus, ALZA of Mountain View it is, despite this epic adventure of jumping through hoops and undergoing this emotional rollercoaster. I think all in all, this company would provide for me a better environment for both my personal and professional development and I think I knew this all along, or why else would I have waited and gone through such turmoil? It's a better type of work -- more design and troubleshooting -- and the commute won't kill me as badly. Plus, I'm going to be working on making new drugs, which is something that I've developed a strong passion for during my time at Stanford!
So there you have it. I don't know what it is.. whether it be God's will, sheer luck, good timing, patience, or a combination of them all, but I got exactly what I had asked for. And now the story's out. Perhaps I can finally get a good night's sleep and enjoy the rest of this so-called vacation.
September 6, 2005
Had a good, productive weekend. It's nice when one doesn't have to worry about 'things'.
On Friday, after the stress-filled morning and afternoon, I tried to unwind by dancing and playing games with the usual peeps. The zydeco lesson was not worth the however many bucks that I had to pay to endure that two hours of torture, and that got me to think.. back when I was in Castano and when I first learned how to dance, I had my friends teach me and there was just a lot more value to it. I think a lot of the times, a bad first experience is what turns people away from trying new things.
Anyway, at game night, some of us cool kids played Cranium, while the others opted for the more traditional poker, and I just couldn't help but feel a little bit violated by David (Yves' brother) when he used me as a dummy to demonstrate a thief's lockpicking ability. But I'm one to forgive and forget, so all was cool and we further bonded over Mario Kart -- four player style!
As if the previous night didn't wear us out, Will, Tiff, and Diana came back the next day to settle their scores in a game of Settlers! Okay, that was kinda lame, I'll take out the quotes on 'settle' now. I didn't get to finish, because I had to meet some people in Palo Alto for Justin's belated birthday dinner, so I ducked out early, but I heard from an anonymous source that Will had won. This was only because David and I had screwed each other over early in the game.. no.. before the game even started by fighting over a useless piece of land. It wasn't even fertile land either. It was a port, near the beach. And I don't like the beach.
At the Cheesecake Factory, the eight of us (Eric, Brian, Justin, Kari, Chi-En, Tina, Melisa, and I) mingled and tried to catch up on what's going on in everyone's lives. One interesting topic that came up during casual conversation was how much is too much to pay for an engagement ring. While most of the guys at the table, including myself, came up with conservative estimates of what we would spend (10%, 5 to 10K, 1 to 2 months salary, etc.), the girls surprised us by saying they wouldn't want that expensive of a ring. The concensus was that as long as it's classy, then that's what matters, with the implication that the money would probably be better spent elsewhere, like buying a house for them. This is very good to know. The rest of the night was spent again at Brian's and Walter's place, this time, playing mah-jong and card tricks.
I went bed-browsing with Tiff Sunday at Mancini's, Sleep Train, and Costco before retiring for the day. I don't really remember what happened the rest of that evening, except maybe some long overdue WoW action with Hkakashi (Justin), Sanctorum (Brian), and Ayasilkrose (Eric), but other than that.. hmm. Oh! Tiff came over again that night -- midnight to be exact -- to have a good time. By having a good time, I meant playing Loaded Questions and keeping David awake so he wouldn't fall asleep before his 5 am departure. What were you thinking!?! When Yves went to bed, though, she left too, partly because she was tired and shouldn't have changed out of her cloud pajamas to come over to begin with, and partly, I assume, because she didn't want to scandalize the parents. David and I stayed strong, however, and armed with the can of Mountain Dew that I had at midnight and our entertainment that is Dreamcast, we made it! I crashed shortly after.. maybe not 5:01, but probably something closer to 5:02.
But then, Tiff came back, shortly after noon! You know. In some cultures, we'd be married already because that's just seeing someone a lot for that short amount of time. Come to think of it, we are married! In The Sims, that is. In fact, we have two kids together.. Andrew and Channing. Hahahaha. They are brats who like to splash in toilet water, so uh yeah, don't ever leave your kids unattended, for those of you who have kids. Anyway, where was I going with this? Right, so she came over because we wanted to finalize our bed buying, and we did, at Mancini's! In fact, I was able to negotiate a pretty good deal for us, despite the fact that our really nice sales manager kept telling us that's the price is as low as he can go. Yeah whatever, dude. You can go lower. I guess it helps too that I've had some negotiating experience under my belt. “What?? You want to sell me that essence of water for 9 gold? Screw you dude, I'm buying in bulk, so I'll give you 8 each. Final offer.”
September 8, 2005
I did something super crazy today. So crazy, in fact, that I think it might be considered banned in some red states. Come to think of it, the only reason I'm putting this down here is because I trust my readership to be non-judgmental people. Okay, here goes nothing.
Today, at In N Out, I mixed my drink: half iced tea and half lemonade. That's right! You heard it here first. It didn't taste that badly either. Maybe next time, I'll go one step further and sweeten my experiment by going three-quarters lemonade and one-quarter tea. Gasp! The horror, the horror.
My bed also arrived today. The mattress is a full-sized Serta (yes, the one with the sheep) Mystic Seaport Plush. Shortly after it was delivered to my place, I tested it out by doing something super crazy. So crazy, in fact..
September 9, 2005
You know, sticking needles in people is just something that everyone needs to get right the first time. Otherwise, you'd just end up with two cotton ball bandages, one on each arm, and looking very stupid as you're strolling around the aisles of Target. Ouch! At least the respirator test was more amusing and less painful.
September 14, 2005
So onwards to imitating Peter King from Sports Illustrated.. Here are my ten things I think I think (sports or non-sports related).
1. That's weird. My heart rate's running around 80-85 bpm right now, and I'm just sitting here! It must be that Coke that I had earlier this afternoon with lunch. I've read about stimulants doing strange things to one's body, but to actually feel my heart trying to jump out from my chest, now that's kinda creepy.
2. The Chiefs are for real this year. Still not sure if they're Super Bowl material yet, but they'll make the playoffs for sure. You heard it here first.
3. Kinda on that note, I am really excited about *the game* this Sunday. I still haven't told Tiffany yet that I've made the decision to wear my Chiefs shirt (probably underneath two other shirts, a sweater, and perhaps a jacket), but you gotta show your team some love. Boo Raiders!
4. My fantasy football team, Arcane Mages, is 0-1. My team last year was 11-2 when the regular season ended. This sucks.
5. That Veronica Mars? She's one hot uhm.. show.
6. My copy of The West Wing arrived, in all its non-defective glory! I guess third time's a charm.
7. Okay, true or false? Your ideal girlfriend should have the combination of all the best traits from your good female friends.
8. Years ago for Halloween, one of my best friends in middle school dressed up as Andre Agassi and I was his doubles partner, Michael Chang. Nobody knew who I was.
9. Hehe. I love Andre Agassi -- my hometown hero. Too bad he can't win big anymore.
10. I'm pretty sure my start date's Monday, the 19th.
September 16, 2005
Yup. Monday it is. 8 am, too. Three more days of freedom. Wheeee!
September 19, 2005
Hey, I'm getting pretty good at this! In a conversation with Tiff regarding her picks this week..
Rosesxoxo: i need the kansas city oakland score too
Fefoofix: oh
Fefoofix: really?
Rosesxoxo: yeah
Fefoofix: okay
Fefoofix: kc 24, oakland 17
Rosesxoxo: k
Rosesxoxo: i will send you will's picks when I get them =)
Final score: Chiefs 23, Raiders 17
And I saw it live too! Woot! A recap about this weekend and the awesome game to come, I'm sure.
September 20, 2005
They're right! This working thing takes a toll on ya, even though I didn't do much today except walked around the office/labs and read psuedo ChemE books. Unexpected highlight of the day: I got my own office, with a key and everything! You can't be a cube monkey if you don't have a cube, right? Hehe..
Hmm, I still want to write about the Chiefs game among other stuff. Maybe later.
Oh! Arcane Mages squeaked by Shadow Wolves, just barely. Thank you, Joe Horn, for fumbling out of bounds at the one yard line for a touchback. That particular play at the very end of the game meant the difference between my winning and losing this game. Who said fantasy football isn't exciting?
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Quick snippets, cuz that's all I got these days.
- That Chiefs entry isn't going to happen. Yes, that means I lied. Yes, that means I'm a buttmunch, but seriously, did you really care that I didn't write about football? Sigh.. alright, fine! Here goes: Two fourth and one conversions on the first series. “Booyah,” says Dick Vermeil! Pictures are here.
- Got my work laptop today! Yay!
- I really should do laundry soon.
- Got through *two* episodes of The West Wing! Good times.
- David's coming back up this Saturday. That means school starts next week!
September 22, 2005
Oh my gosh, I am never eating a gallon of rice ever again. Yeah, that whole tub of cooked rice that I had in my fridge? It's all gone now. I had cooked it all in the hopes that I could eat some of it for lunch tomorrow, cuz seriously, it was a lot, but I was watching tv and it tasted so good (darn me for being a good fried rice cooker!) and one bite led to another, and before you knew it, it was gone!
In other unrelated news, I found out that I am famous at work today. So I was down in the coater room chatting it up with my new intern/coop friend (a Berkeley ChemE.. hiss, boo!) and this girl from another group came in, and so naturally we exchanged introductory pleasantries and then she was like.. oh, you're the guy they brought in despite the hiring freeze, huh? Haha! My own office, a newish laptop hooked up to a flat screen, free reign to be creative and design my own experiments, a gigantor 10' x 5' white board, and known across multiple departments.. I'd say that this is a pretty nice gig. Can't wait till my lab coat and steel-toed shoes come in!
September 23, 2005
Hehe.. Deadly Plague Hits Warcraft World
September 25, 2005
I finally won my first Settlers game! And all it took was three consecutive rolls of a six by the others and my not rolling a seven when I had 20 cards in my hand. Woohoo.. two-for-one brick port for the win! Here are some commentaries left from tonight:
Auto response from Fefoofix: chillaxin' with hkakashi, ayasilkrose, and sanctorum
...
jenono8: haha you guys are such dorks
...
TPiglette: I just realized that over there you guys have 4 of my favorite guys! hahahaha
...
Brian's email later in the night: No more 6s!
...
JuKa828: that was a good game
JuKa828: except for me
JuKa828: poor brian
JuKa828: he got screwed
September 27, 2005
Hehehe. I was giddy at work today.. I love it! Before lunch, I saw a CSTR *and* a heat exchanger doing what they do best, stirring and exchanging heat. Uhm, yeah. Yay ChemE!
September 29, 2005
I was just gonna grab a sandwich today at the crapfeteria when I bumped into my director and so he was like.. hey, let's take a walk to M10 (the corporate building down the street) and have lunch there. Needless to say, he didn't have to ask me twice, and so we headed over to the main campus. I had forgotten how beautiful it was there.
Anyway.. there at M10, I saw Michael Jackson! Yes.. the Michael.. as in the president of my company! He was sitting just a couple of tables away from us and having his lunch. Yeah, shut up. I bet you wish the president of your company was a rock star too.
So, I've decided that I really like being an engineer. There's something inherently cool about screwing something up, only to fix it again. Best of all, even as a rookie, I get to order people around to do things for me. And so far, everyone's been really nice and accommodating. Oh, plus when something really screws up or when they can't get a hold of me by phone, I get paged on the PA system. You get a high, I think.. kinda like reading about yourself in someone else's blog. Yeah, you know that feeling. ;-)
