The end of an Era, Part I

Moving to California meant that I had to sell my car. This was the first and only car I have ever purchased, so you could say I have some special attachment to it. The really good news is, the car stays in the family. I sold it to my Big Brother Mike, for his son Matthew. So I at least get to visit it on my return trips to Florida. Its a '98 and had 109k miles on it, so it wasn't exactly new, but it still looks great inside and out and refuses to stop running. My friend the sunfire safely delivered me home from many many many trips down to Sarasota, was occasionally crammed with intoxicated Graduate students coming home from ybor or channelside. It survived a nasty crash on the way to Tammy and Justins Wedding, Had can of coke explode in the front seat, had one particular classmate throw up both in it, and while leaning out of an open door while still moving. It once made the trip from Sarasota to Tampa and back twice in one day but more often than not just went from my apartment to the business building at USF and back. I'll miss the old girl, shes been an important part of my life for the last 5 years, and I hope she serves Matt for at least that many more.  

Sleepwalking through the days

If I thought I was tired for my last post-red eye post, today is even much worse. This weekend was my church's Cedarkirk family camp which would be fun if the game of brain fry had never been invented, but is cranked up tons by having it available to play. This year saw the biggest crowd for the game we'd ever had, and was by far the most fun. I walked around zombie-like for most of the weekend because of jet lag, but it helped that I had rock star popularity because I had come from so far away just to play the game. Someone asked me to estimate the number of times I'd been to cedarkirk, and the best conservative estimate I can come up with is right around 30. So the decision to come back given the opportunity was not the slightest bit difficult. And its not like I don't have other stuff to do while I'm here. I actually managed to get some work done at the house this evening. All my home theater speakers are now bubble wrapped and ready for travel, and the waterbed frame has been completely dismantled. I found a great way to drain the mattress that I wish I'd known the last time I moved, it is actually completely empty and carriable. I have an interview the day after I get back to California with a store at which I'd applied, knowing they'd have good advancement opportunities. So hopefully I won't go to much longer without a paycheck. Time for sleep, I've got way too much to do tomorrow.

372 reasons why not to take the red eye

I'm tired no doubt about it, my flight from oakland to washington dulles was not the slightest bit fun. I sat in the very last row that did not recline. I sat in the aisle, so for the most part I knew the moment someone went in or out of the lavatory. I won't have much time for a nap. Since the post office decided not to put my mail forwarding request in, I didn't know my cable was up for getting shut off, I figured I'd get 60 days before it got cut and I could pay it when I got back. Ooops, no tv no high speed internet. Please stab me now! Especially since my playstation even lives in san leandro. This could be a very long week, I don't even have radio. yes the sound you hear is me screaming. But its not all bad, I made it here, at minimal expense and with minimal hassle. I can survive a few days in this apartment alone with my thoughts. The question is will the world survive after I've been alone with my thoughts for that long?

Jason had a little lamb...

This is Calvin, doing exactly what he's done for the last 3 days. He followed my every move, hoping that my next action would be to feed him, pet him, take him for a walk or play with him. He gets awfully jealous when I lavish W with attention, since he believes that's less time I spend paying attention to him. We stayed pretty busy all weekend, which made him sad every time we left. His strategy for keeping me here: Sitting on my feet when I try to put shoes on. On Friday we went to see Aunt Peggy who is looking quite healthy these days. She cooked so much food for us. Saturday we went to Rosita's for dinner to celebrate Nina's birthday we then cooked up the most delicious enchiladas for W to take to work. Sunday it was just us boys at the house riding out a nasty rainy day. Today I wandered off to Oakland to a new temp agency.This one happens to be one floor above the other one I've been to, so we'll see if they do a better job. I'm fired up about my triumphant return to Tampa this week, but I have sooooooo much to get accomplished. It would sure be nice if I had a job to come back to next week. Just when I was starting to feel a little down I got a great encouraging comment from my little cousin Lyndsey. I'm inspired by such mature faith in such a young lady.

I need one of these for Christmas

Today I spent some more quality time with Aunt Rosita's new kitty Prasha. He is actually cuter in person, its scary. We ate Rouladen, drank wine and laughed for hours. And for the record, our pie was delicious.

Too bad you can't be here for dessert!

This is the chocolate meringue pie W and I made for Nina's Birthday, It has a home made pastry crust and is the most chocolate-y thing you have ever seen. It represents quality comfort food since I found out yesterday that the Jerks at the company W works for do not intend to hire me. Why you ask? For the same reason no one else has hired me. I refuse to write the reason here again, feel free to read the archives. I had a run in with the wicked witch of the north yesterday, she dropped off Calvin because she's in town for the weekend, and was of course less than pleased about finding me at the house. TS I say.

(Fondly?) Remembering my athletic glory days

Today I went for the first run I've been on since approximately may of 1998. Worrying about not having a job and not doing much during the day have been causing me to not sleep very well lately, so I thought I'd throw my sleep system a curveball and get some aerobic exercise. A run gave me a good solid 20 minutes to think about the last time I actually went running. I was 20 years old, 3 years into a college education and assumed that knew just about everything there was to know in life. I made repeated attempts to prove that I was smarter than my track coach, and he proved me wrong by asking me not to return to the team the next fall.
At the time I could run a 15:02 5k, a 4:08 1500m, a 1:58 800m and a :56 400m. Nothing Olympic caliber or even scholarship worthy but it kept me off the streets while I was in school. I have finally reached that point in my life where fitness actually takes work, and getting out for a run is simple and efficient. So I had to get over my grudge against Coach A and just get out and do something. I know he has long since moved on from Auburn, so I should have long since moved on from my anti-running anger.

Settling back in for a little bit of normal

We spent a solid chunk of the weekend cooking or entertaining, so it almost feels good to be back in a chair glued to the laptop. Saturday we rolled out of bed pretty late and had much work to do around the house before company arrived. We squoze in our grocery shopping for the week including another trip to the Chinese store. We're still shocked by how cheap some of the stuff is, and bought up veggies like we expected a famine soon. We settled on serving seasoned ground beef, spinach & feta, and brie inside phyllo dough for appetizers. We thought we'd make 2 things for dinner and serve them over rice, so the winners were spare ribs in black bean sauce, and chili prawns. On impulse we also picked up some lumpia which are like a deep fried taste of heaven. After chowing down on all our appetizers and the Mojitos we had to cut down to one entree for dinner. Going with the chili prawns over rice. I am definitely proud of my effort on this one and have learned the wonder of those little skinny dried chinese red peppers. Sunday W's friends Michael and Cyrus dropped by for some more appetizers and mojitos (we invested heavily in fresh mint and limes) and then we went to Favorite India for dinner. They owed W a birthday meal, and we were glad to get exposed to a few other dishes since we always order the same thing when we go. We had about half an hour to ourselves before Nina and Neto arrived. We entertained them for a while and even let Nina take part in our Sunday evening cooking spectacular. W started up a big old pot of veggie tofu curry (with some chicken on the side) and I finally got to the spare ribs. After throwing out all of our company and finishing all our coking I finally got over my grudge against the DVR, since it had 2 new simpsons episodes and a brand new Family Guy waiting for me. Life is good.
Painful realization of the week. I graduated one year ago yesterday. This has been an interesting year.

Picture make up day

My Camera Cable finally reappeared today, so here are the pictures I've been promising.


Devi brought us Mauritian rum, and my new motto is: when life gives you rum; make Mojitos. On the plate is the delicious phyllo dough filled with brie that the ladies made while I was cooking

Great view from the 3rd deck on the right field line. In the background, the disaster wating to happen Oakland Bay Bridge 

The view from our seats before the game 

This is the herb garden picture I promised you a couple of weeks ago 

Walking is for suckers

I finally figured out how to use the bus system today, the stops that go directly to and from Bart are compellingly close, and spending $1.50 to take the bus is much better than showing up some place wet from rain or breaking a sweat. I wandered around the city looking for a short term retail job today, my choices are Target, Ross, Marshalls, or Office depot. And coming soon to the nearby (next Bart station south) bayfair mall.... a Bed Bath and Beyond. Of course W thinks if I get a job there, I might get a bill every 2 weeks instead of a paycheck. I had an MBA classmate who got into the management program at Target, and loved it, so it might be worth a try. My contact at the temp agency assures me I'll hear from him on Monday about a job that someone's interested in me for. I'm sure at this point he's just ready to have me stop calling him. If I continue to not have a job for one more week, I'll just standby my way back to FL a few days before Family camp and standby to Cali after the golf tournament. That is unless the big Monday interview pans out by next week. A friend of W who is from Mauritius is coming to visit us on Saturday, so I'm going to attempt authentic Mauritian food. It borrows heavily from Indian food, so it should be something I can handle.

Because it's what people do here

Yesterday we went to check out a Dim sum place in San Leandro called D.T. Dim sum and Tea. I had never eaten dim sum before, but I had heard that since I live near and hang out in San Francisco it was a requirement that I try it soon and then eat it regularly thereafter. I knew to expect lots of little dishes mostly of a dumpling nature, kind of like Chinese Tapas. The food was really good, and we got way more than we could eat in one sitting for $15. Then I had my first experience with a Pearl drink. Its like a Tapioca pudding smoothie with the biggest tapioca pearls you've ever seen. You get it with this giant straw so that you can drink it and watch as the pearls alternate with the smoothie. Ours was yummy mango, and was rich and very filling. Next door to the restaurant was a Chinese grocery store that I had been eyeballing for a few weeks now. Well, it was like paradise. The veggies were fresh, and cheaper than we'd been paying the jerks at Safeway. We couldn't resist picking up a big bag... Of.... Say it with me now..... REALLY Loud.... And with no teeth.... BOK CHOOOOOIIIII!!!!! (ahhh, only 2 weeks until Brain Fry time) that I later stir fried in my wok. We picked up a few Chinese sauces too, and a giant Chinese chef knife that I snapped up for $10!!! I'm telling you this thing cuts through anything with a ridiculous amount of precision. They have live black sea bass still swimming in the tank, and live crabs, and an impressive selection of lobsters that are priced extremely reasonably by local standards. (Its a damn shame when I can find a lobster bargain, but can't afford to put gas in a car to go buy it.) I found a show on the science channel yesterday about the construction of the new Oakland bay bridge. And suddenly I am very very afraid of traveling on the old one. It was built in the 30's and the show made it pretty clear that if the '89 quake had lasted 10 more seconds some really bad stuff might have happened. They seemed to imply that they're racing to finish the new bridge before the next big one, since its only a matter of time. Its fair to say that the next time I go across it I'll have difficulty not holding my breath. Not that I'm entirely comfortable inside Bart's transbay tube, but at least I know its a far more recent addition to the landscape.

So now I wait

My interview yesterday was by far the most quality lead I've had in a while, So its fair to say It's going to be a long 2 weeks of waiting for a decision. I'm still feeling the urge to do something in the meantime, and I keep hoping the temp agency will bail me out on that. I'm due to call the recruiter again tomorrow, to see if I can hustle him along a little. Thursday I'll break down and go to plan C, the outlet mall in San Leandro. Its starting to get close enough to the time I go back to Florida its going to be difficult to arrange the whole thing. Today Calvin Left, so there's nobody here to keep me company all afternoon. Nobody to stare at me when I eat or watch every move I make all day. It makes me seem a lot less important. The wicked witch and rosita came in the door together today, and poor rosita was just embarrassed that the wicked witch would not even say hello. Rosita gave me a big hug and we small talked about Prasha. The wicked witch managed to acknowledge my presence when she needed to know where something was, and a half hearted goodbye, but that was it for our interaction today. 1 day down, 13 to go.

Stupid DVR!

I'm finally getting some time to blog today because W is recording 2 shows I can't stand. When you record 2 things at once, you're forced to watch one of them. Today's TV abomination I'm forced in to watching. "I married a princess". Its on Lifetime, I think that's all I need to say about it.
Well, lets get to the important stuff first. I knew today was going to be a long day when the application packet never arrived in the mail on Saturday as planned. That meant I had no Idea with whom I was meeting today, I had only been given a person's name and number to call if something went wrong. Not knowing where to go seemed like a good enough excuse to call, so I dialed it for the first time at 8:30 this morning. I got a busy signal. I dialed it at least 10 times before considering other options. A faint voice in my head told me maybe the last digit of the number was 6 and not 0, and the faint voice was right. That bought me the correct persons voicemail. She returned my call after 20 anxious minutes and instructed me how to get from where I was to the meeting place. I had to fill out a huge application that should have taken up a good portion of my weekend, but instead had to be done in the hours before my interview. Next I briefly met with my liaison who reviewed the information for clarity and accuracy, and who briefly prepped me for the interview. Thanks to my coaching session on Friday I was far more prepared for my interview today than I would have been otherwise. Some of the behavioral questions were actually quite difficult and included many details that had to be written down and addressed. It was not fun, but I think I performed admirably, considering how flustered I'd been all morning. While waiting in the lobby Fed ex called me to ask me what my address was, they'd attempted delivery on Saturday, but the only note said wrong address. There was nothing wrong with the address they had, and I'm not sure why they chose not to call on Saturday if there was a question. I am told I was the first candidate brought in, and it could take up to 2 weeks to make a decision. *Sigh*
We finally broke down and snuck out for dinner on Saturday, at our favorite sushi place, Sushi Avenue. Our sushi was delicious, and they even gave us some deep fried albacore on the house. It would have been delicious for $20, so you can imagine how sweet it tasted at that price. It was definitely time to celebrate since I'd scored an interview and a part time job in a 3 day span.
Sunday we visited Aunt Rosita to play with her new Bengal kitty Prasha, I found out I miss the rumblenator a whole lot more than I've been letting on. If you didn't know any better you'd swear this thing was a mini-leopard. It is the cutest thing you ever saw. At the store the night before we decided it would be nice if we brought him a present, so I picked out a furry octopus on an elastic string that you could hang over a door. Prasha tugged on this thing until he was plum tuckered out, took a nap while we were there, and we are told as soon as he woke up he went right back at it.
We had to run around a little bit after that, because I wanted some quick reading material to refresh my memory about some accounting things. (I learned my lesson from being dumbfounded by simple accounting questions at my Virgin interview and decided I should refresh my memory a little bit.) Of course I didn't field a single accounting question all day today. While we were out we spent a disproportionate amount of time an a Bed Bath and Beyond looking at stuff we might someday buy if I ever start earning a paycheck. We wanted to get one more meal out while we had a chance, so we went to an On the border. Neither of us had ever been to one before, but we will be back.
2 more thoughts for today in this rather long winded post. 1. Tomorrow is calvin's last day here, the wicked witch of the north is returning to pick him up. I sure will miss his company during the day. 2. My stuff arrived for the part time job today, its going to be a ton of reading and studying, here's rooting for multiple choice on the test.

I'd lose my head if it wasn't glued on tightly

Lately I've been losing track of things, a lot. It started with a wallet my first week here that managed to wander its way into the pocket of a duffel bag. Next was a set of keys that turned up 5 days later in the crack of a chair. Last night it was a file folder full of stuff I need for an interview (more on that in a minute) and this morning I suddenly can't find my camera cable. Which really ticks me off because I have some great pictures I took at last nights Giants/Brewers game. W's friend Scott had an extra ticket to the game and invited me to tag along. This killed a couple of birds with one stone, since I got to catch a game there and I learned how to transfer from Bart to Muni. The game wasn't very good, the Giants lost 6 to 1 to a brewer team coming in on a 7 game losing streak. I had a hot dog and a beer and despite being cold from the wind whipping in off the bay, I enjoyed myself a lot. After the game we met up with W's boss Audrey to sit down and discuss the interview I have on Monday with their company. The finances at "the company" are not exactly fabulous so both W and I working there would mean having all of our eggs in a less than stable basket. But its exactly the kind of job I'm looking for and I got some good hints about what to expect from Audrey. Keep your fingers crossed for me around 1:00 pacific time Monday, something great could be happening for me.
Exciting news regarding the blog today: I finally reached the top of a search engine! If you do a Yahoo! Search for "Chinese pinball machine" Link number one is my riveting post about me pretending to be iron chef Chinese Chen Kenichi.

Congratulate me, I have half a job!

Yesterday while quietly sending out more resumes the phone rang. I haven't taught W the rule about not taking phone calls from numbers we don't recognize, it could lead to a phone interview. Unfortunately this was one of those calls. This was a job I had applied for right before leaving Florida and they had emailed me while I was on the flight here. After researching the company a little I saw that it was part time and it looked like it would require me to sell the tests to fitness centers. So I decided not to pursue it further. So needless to say I was grossly unprepared for a phone interview yesterday when they called. It started with the usual interview fare, why are you interested, why should we hire you and then started to move to some stuff about why is america so fat. Things were going well until it was test time. Questions included What does ATP stand for?, what are 3 symptoms of a muscle strain?, what are the muscles of the rotator cuff? Name 5 glands of the endocrine system. Where is insulin produced? Some of the questions were pretty easy, and some of them reflect the fact that I haven't studied exercise phys in a solid 5 years. Not to mention I've poured a whole bunch of other knowledge and several beers into my brain since then. I didn't feel great about it when I got done, and I tried not to sweat it too much, but I did find it distracting that so much information had seeped through the cracks of my brain. So the phone rings early this morning while I'm getting ready to drop W off. (she carpooled in to work with a friend and left me the car) And the guy says we're ready to hire you, I'll email you a contract! There is of course a catch. I have to first pass the very exam that I intend to proctor. They're nice enough not to charge me to take the test, but I have to put up the cash for the study materials. Its written into my employment contracth that I immediately get reimbursed. Its a great plan, but I can't stop the little voice in the back of my head that says what if they make the test unpassable and just collect your money that you paid for materials? I am trying to stay positive about it.
So I'm at least kind of celebrating the fact that someone thinks I'm worthy of writing a paycheck to.

I'm still on the hunt though, Today I drove the car to the Bart station and caught a train out to Fremont. The city had a great job that I was almost qualified for, I figured it was worth the effort to drop off a resume on the odd chance they're short on applicants. I wandered around the Bayfair Mall to see who was hiring there, just in case and because I wanted to scope out the 24 hour fitness there. Calvin was glad to see me come back, and he and I went over to the dog park. Yup, just us boys out on the town.

At least the view was nice

Because of my rather unstructured existence these days climbing out of bed when I have something important to do can often be very difficult. Monday Night I didn't have to get in bed until 2:00 a.m., so 7:30 the next morning came around a little earlier than I was ready for. I managed to get up, and get myself presentable for another adventure in the city. The career fair was up on the club level out in left field of SBC park with this gorgeous view down the 3rd base line. You could even see out over the bay to McCovey cove. All I could think was: I could learn to love baseball if I could watch it from here. Maybe someday when I have that glamorous job in the city I can cut out after lunch to watch the game. The career fair itself was even more lame than I expected, I suddenly wished I hadn't built up all that bad karma talking bad about the USF career fairs. Even our little networking receptions had better offerings. So then it was off to the new restaurant in the embarcadero center. I left a resume, but my lack of fine dining experience is likely to cost me there. I'm not quite ready to settle for that anyway. I happened to walk home a slightly different way and noticed that there was a little store that sells equipment for home brewing and winemaking with a help wanted sign out front. I figured it might be a nice opportunity to get some entrepreneurial experience. I called back the temp agency today, just to stay on the front of the recruiters brain. He led me to say the words, but the message was I should lower my salary expectations a little just to get started. W has the day off, and we have many things to do around the house, while I continue to lurk the job boards and wait for the phone to ring.

Is it really a 3 day weekend if I'm not going to work tomorrow?

W has been off the last 3 days, so we've been running all over town having fun. Yesterday we spent a couple of hours at Lowe's daydreaming about the kinds of things we'd do to the the condo if someone would start writing me a paycheck. I rushed out the door before spending money I didn't have. W's friend Paula started us a little herb garden while we were in Florida, and we were so inspired we procured ourselves some little plastic pots and a few other starter herbs. So now the entire staircase is lined up with our little herb garden. I'll see if I can get a picture tomorrow.
Tomorrow looks to be a busy day, there's a career fair at SBC park (where the Giants play) It is of course a whole mile away from the nearest Bart station, but at this point a walk that short doesn't seem too bad. There's a big new restaurant opening in the Embarcadero Center that I was thinking about dropping a resume by too. If I got a job there, I could at least tell people that I have an MBA and work in SF's financial district.
2 days this weekend we took Calvin to the local dog park, to get him and us some exercise. It always makes me nervous that the dog park is obviously a converted Landfill, but it is bay front property and very green, so you just kind of have to forget where you are. We even got out and played a little tennis yesterday. I won't tell you which of us I think is the better tennis player, but we had fun and the weather is gorgeous during the day here. I had forgotten that a world exists where you don't start sweating the second you walk out your door. Sometime last week it came to my attention that W doesn't have AC, a lifestyle I planned on never having to endure again in life. She assures me I will survive the very few summer-like nights that will come along.
Todd Y. started blogging this week, he's even more of a technophile than I am, so I expect to see really good things over there once he gets the hang of it.

Allez Cuisine!

Today I spent way too much time wandering around Ikea. They were having a we pay the taxes sale, so not spending lots of money there would have been like throwing money away. We actually did pretty well, only managing to squander $40 and getting some cool kitchen gadgets in exchange. My favorite new toys: a wok we scored for $10.00 and a heat resistant plastic wok ladle. This means I'll be spending even more time playing iron chef now pretending to be iron chef Chinese Chen Kenichi. I got to make some waffles for breakfast today, and now that my hand/stand mixer lives here with me it may officially be time to retire the Man's Mixer. The world just wasn't ready for such a great concept.

My timing stinks

Yesterday I decided to take another Bart adventure, which unfortunately meant I had to walk out the door with W at 6:00 a.m. Commuter traffic at that hour is pretty light, and we got to use the carpool lane so we had time to stop at McDonald's for a little breakfast. I grabbed a train from the airport to the civic center station in San Francisco. I was finally dropping off the application for the job with the city, so I had to find my way to either city hall or human resources, I wasn't sure which. I tried human resources first, which required about a half mile stroll down market street, only to find out that wasn't right. A nice lady pointed me towards city hall, which of course was a stonesthrow away from the station I arrived at. After determining which of the massive downtown buildings was city hall I walked inside its palatial halls. I found my destination fairly easily and the person to whom I handed my application seemed genuinely impressed that I managed to properly assemble all of the application parts. I rushed back down to the train and it was off to Oakland. I'd set myself a 10:00 appointment with Appleone, a staffing firm that I'd accidentally bumped into in pleasanton 2 days before. The Oakland office was almost right on top of the Bart station, so I chose to go to it instead of wandering around pleasanton again. I arrived there about a half hour early which was good, since I had forgotten to write down the address and started walking the wrong direction. Unfortunately they suddenly had more applicants than jobs at the moment, but the recruiter I talked to says they cycle back and forth regularly. We went through the standard interview process, and they gave me 4 tests: advanced excel, basic access, word and powerpoint. If I only learned 4 things in grad school it was how to use those 4 pieces of software. So I at least came off looking pretty smart, if not a little bit hireable for something. American Express financial just called offering me a sales job, I'm one more week away from taking one, just to earn some cash.
Laugh for the day: Blogger spellcheck doesn't like the word "hireable" its recommended replacement: horrible

Taking a long painful walk

I was fed up with the faceless sending of resumes and filling out of online job applications, So I decided I would go look the city of San Francisco right in its mug. I wanted to drop off an application for a job with the city, visit Kelly financial downtown, and then head out to Pleasanton to hit the regular kelly. Things went awry around 7:00 a.m. when I couldn't pull myself out of bed early enough to finish the city application, but fortunately that one is faxable. I rode to work with W so she saved the $3 bridge toll and got to use the carpool lane. We arrived a little bit before her shift started, so we grabbed a cup of coffee and some breakfast for me. When she went to work, I caught the Bart to the city where I jumped out and tried my best not to stare open mouthed up at the sky scrapers. Once I actually got my bearings and figured out how to get to the kelly financial, I discovered it was actually a kelly legal services. So I had to march back to the BART and head for Pleasanton. On the way there it occured to me that I wouldn't make it before 1:00. So I called Kelly and all they really wanted me to do was send a resume anyway, they could care less if I dropped by. I at least found a couple of businesses I should research and an interesting job magazine that told me about some other temp agencies. Then I had the monster walk from the Bart station in San Leandro to the house. Lets just say I won't try that again in dress shoes. So, miles walked: 7 things accomplished: 0 definitely a day to be proud of.

Lets find out how good this blog really is

W's dad referred me to a job with the city of Oakland that paid well, but required no experience. Sounded like my kind of gig. But they decided to make my life difficult and not allow email or fax submissions. So, while W was at work her "aunt" Rosita was nice enough to drive me to downtown Oakland to drop it off. I was up until very late the night before filling out the second page of the application I somehow hadn't seen before. It had 4 essay questions and wanted a 3 page writing sample. So I decided to pick out 5 of my favorite blog posts arrange them in chronological order and attach them to my application. When W got home, we actually walked to dinner and then walked for a while afterwards. So the fitness campaign is going well, and so (I hope) is the job search.

Just when you thought things were fabulous

The great job phone call I thought I got yesterday was actually from a week ago. Whomever made the call has apparently decided that I kept her waiting too long and has not yet returned my call. Tomorrow I guess I'll call and say I'm sorry I was out of town, but would love to be considered for anything else you have. I have 2 other jobs that I"ve applied for with them and would prefer they not forget about me. I tried to unpack myself some too. The contents of 4 giant suitcases are now slowly and osmotically spreading themselves throughout the condo. W and I sat around last week deciding that we are getting far too fat, so we started exercising today. We took a nice 2 mile walk around the bay that seemed like we were walking against the blustery bay wind in both directions. The next time we walk I'll be sure to bring the camera the views of planes landing in oakland, and the city are fabulous.

An encouraging day

Today was encouraging, but also very very long. A 7:15 a.m alarm led to rushing out the door to catch a cab at 8:30. A $30 cab fare and much traffic dodging later we arrived at the airport with 4 huge bags and 4 carry on bags. We managed to get 3 of the 4 bags to weigh less than 50 pounds. the 4th weighed in at 70 pounds. That of course costs and extra $25 but I'm pretty sure I don't want to know what same day delivery of a 70 pound package costs from fedex. The plane we were supposed to get on in Tampa arrived 15 minutes after we were supposed to take off, and then they announced because there were storms in the midwest we would have to take a longer northern approach to denver. So we thought for sure we would miss our connection in denver. After a little hustling through the terminal and an impatient ride on the train we arrived just as they were calling our names at the gate, and jumped right on the plane in the last two middle seats available. Because we rushed so much we never managed lunch and arrived in San Francisco starving. That seemed like a good enough excuse to go to Favorite India restaurant in Hayward, where we could get a whole bunch of Indian comfort food for cheap. After a marathon trip to Costco for some groceries, we finally arrived "home". Yeah, that still feels a little weird. But I was welcomed by a message about a job interview at Blue Cross of California, and an email about another job. So, i'm encouraged at least that my efforts on the job boards has not gone to waste. I'll update about the job ASAP.

Yeah, I'm forgetting something

A cab is coming in exactly 6 hours to pick me up, but do you think I can sleep? There are lots of people who deserved a phone call to say I'm getting out of here, but they didn't get called. I told lots of people I'd grab a drink with them before I left, didn't do that either. So now the moment has finally arrived where I can't possibly accomplish anything else before I leave, and I'm sweating the small stuff a little bit. I know I'm coming back in a month, so its not that scary, but I sure wish there was a way to get it right the first time. Sure I could have planned better and prepared more ahead of time, but what fun is that. So here's to everyone for their love and support, I'll be back before you know it.

Tick Tick Tick

The final moments of my stay in Florida started counting down more quickly this weekend, but I crammed a ton of stuff into it. Friday we went down to Sarasota to have dinner with W's parents. Tom fired up some delicious bacon wrapped filets on the grill, and Felicity served up excellent sides and salad. We watched the movie 2 weeks notice and then snuck in a chilly late night swim. We got up fairly early saturday to wander around the farmers market. It was a beautiful, sunny and breezy spring morning and we enjoyed picking up some fresh veggies. Next I got to visit the new Whole Foods market. The foods were a little pricey, but the seafood looked excellent, and they had an impressive variety of beers. Next it was off to Cest la vie on Main St. for breakfast. My crepe was delicious and so was wendy's omlette. We went back, rounded up W's sisters and took off to Cypress Gardens. The drive from Sarasota was perhaps a little longer than we would have liked, but the rides were reasonably fun, despite being undersized. W and I were too wide at the hips to fit in the same car, so we had to split up, and I had to sit at an angle so the safetey bar would go all the way down on the wooden roller coaster. We werent there for rides anyway, we went specifically to see Switchfoot, one of W's favorite bands. We decided to get dinner right before the concert and waited in an insane line, but that meant we missed a few of the opening bands songs, which turned out to be a good thing. He was a Creed sound-a-like whose songs couldn't be differentiated from one another. After waiting 45 minutes, Switchfoot finally came on and played a great show. I'm not sure which was louder the music from the band or the screams of the throng of teenage girls behind us. After getting kind of lost on the way home and then missing the detour at the I4/I75 junction we eventually made it back to Sarasota. Sunday Felicity made us a delicious breakfast of waffles eggs and bacon, and then it was off to hang out with my mom and grandmother. After a while we took off on a dinner adventure visiting 4 closed sushi restaurants before settling in at Jo To's. Our sushi was amazing. After a follow up visit to the goodells, we made it home extremely late, since a stop at The Ale house was necessary for a zinger melt.

Where is the love?

It has been a busy couple of days, let me catch you up. Wednesday I really put my head down and packed like crazy, and then picked up W at the Orlando airport. We had dinner and a couple of drinks with her friend Mark and tried like crazy to catch up with Luerne but she had an audition that ran late and couldn't make it. Traffic on I4 still stinks both ways, but I managed to make the trip in under 2 hours each way. Thursday we were somewhat lazy, but managed to get out for sushi at my former number 2 sushi restaurant, but we received such lousy service that it is unlikely we'll be going back soon. Which is too bad, because the sushi was delicious once it actually arrived. As anticipated the party thrown by Muldoon and Cowboy Karl was bad, but it was bad in a more spectacular fashion than I could possibly imagine. No one showed up but W and I. She of course is beginning to believe that everyone at FPC is a flake, or a jerk who tells you that they're going to do something and then doesn't deliver. Unfortunately I've had trouble providing significant evidence to the contrary. So we snuck of to see Guess Who which for the most part we really enjoyed. It moved a little slowly in the beginning, but finished strong. So, its time to begin the whirlwind final weekend where I expect to have somewhat limited internet access, but I'll try my best to tell you about it.

One more treasure from my collection

The great urban philosopher Rakim once said "It aint where you're from its you're at." But today, I'm happy to know where I come from. I happened across the program from the Jeffers Ford Sills Reed family reunion held in Gary, Indiana August 1980. I of course did not attend, since I was 4. The program is dedicated to my Great Great Great Great Great Grandmother:

In memory of Sarah Jeffers, who was sold and bought on the slave block in St. Louis Missouri. Sarah weighing 300 pounds and carrying twin boys under her arms, was taken to Holly Springs, Mississippi, where she died in 1893.

I remember reading this as a child and trying to picture this woman. I've seen roots enough times that I can fill in some more of the details if I close my eyes and imagine her now. Since this week I'm thinking a lot about things I'll miss, and people I need to make proud, I'll add Sarah Jeffers to my list.

Crying is for wusses!

Sure I think that, but it didn't really stop me from doing it today. I walked into my porch storage closet and noticed what looked like some water damage on the floor and on the corner of some boxes. It seems that all those hurricanes this summer taking out my porch awning allowed some water to go wherever it felt like. There was some mild mildew damage to a few of my nostalgic things, but overall my stuff didn't fare too badly. I looked through some things to determine if they were worth keeping. I came across this letter from my sister. Grab a tissue!

8/30/1991
Dearest Jason,
Como estas? Creo Que bien! I do miss you a great deal--especially working out with my favorite brotherly-type figure. How did it feel to not have 20 different females running around the house, from a "male's" point of view. I still owe you a fishing trip that will hold up my end of the deal for later, if you will still go with me. Did you know that you are so special that these awful things called tears fell when I had to say good bye. How is school? Mom was saying that you came home with a great deal of homework every night. I hope that you're not miserable + that you still have an extra-curricular life outside of SHS! I hope that the sorta girlfriend is going well and mom didn't/doesn't give you too hard of a time. You're a good kid, but I want you to do well in your classes; just do your best A's or not! Lastly Always remember I love you.
Love ya
Cathryn
P.S. LOOK A LETTER!

For the record, many of the things I have done in the last 5 years have been made possible by the life and legacy of Cathryn Yvonne Herron. I'm reminded as I am about to take a giant life step, I have an obligation to make her proud.

Take care of him, he's my special boy

Today I spent some quality time with my barbeque grill(and also my family). Its too big and too heavy to try to bring out west, so I have to leave it in Sarasota. I am told it will be well taken care of, but it and I have been through a lot, and I'll have to adust to not having it around. Here I'm cooking a nice big leg of lamb according to this recipe. It was the most tender and flavorful lamb I have ever eaten. I added grilled asparagus to the list of things I can cook well, so you should consider inviting me to your next barbeque. I also spent a good couple of hours hanging out at church today breaking the news that I'm busting out of this town. Most folks are sad but supportive, especially since I've promised to return in May for family camp and the requisite games of brain fry. Muldoon and Cowboy Karl intend to throw me a going away party on Thursday night, we shall see if they can deliver a quality turnout.

Turning back the clock

Today rather than pack for my impending cross country move, I spent the day making sure there would be lots more things I'd miss when I leave. I packed up clothes for 2 days and ran down to Sarasota, where I got to spend a few hours at the Sarasota county fair. I did something that would have mortified me in my younger years, I went and hung out with my mom. She of course was willing to take pity on my incredible shrinking budget and pay for my fair adventure, so how could I refuse. (and just so it doesn't sound like I only went because she paid, I had fun anyway, and I knew that I would) It turns out a random stranger had season passes to the fair and just decided if we were willing to play along, she would let us in on her passes. Instant savings=$14.00. Today the weather seemed to jump directly from spring to summer, meaning that it was blazing hot. I had a delicious Gyro (mmmmm fair food. auggghhh) and an elephant ear, and one of those fresh squeezed lemonades. Since I know the exact value of every penny I spend these days I managed to avoid most of the carnies who would goad me into trying to win a prize to prove my manhood. But one guy let me practice throwing a ball into a bucket enough times I could no longer not hand him over $3 of moms money. As you can imagine, I should have just wadded up the $3 and thrown it in the bucket, at least it wouldn't have bounced out with an embarrassing thud. Seeking relief from the heat we even wandered in to see stinky farm animals and the show stopping craft exhibits. Mom, Grandma and I snuck in a last visit (for a while) to the oyster bar, the official restaurant of our family. Don't ask me how many Friday nights we went there for dinner in my uncool days, but I just couldn't resist one more plate of grouper fingers. Of all the nostalgic memories I had to day, funniest one: My best friend in high school made up some little awards at the end of our senior year. Mine you ask? Most likely to end up as the smart ass in the dunk tank who intentionally ticks people off. (back then he was known as bobo the clown) The worst part about that is , I'd actually have a job right now and it would even include lots of travel. Perhaps I've missed my calling.

Beauty and the Beast?

Here's a pic of myself and my honorary niece GK. I'm wearing my unemployed MBA costume, and she's wearing a princess costume. I'll let you decide which is more convincing.

Reason I'm going to miss Florida number...

I've reached the phase of going away where I'm starting to divide up my remaining hours in town with people I'm going to miss the most when I leave. Today I got in a 3 for the price of 1 with Todd, Kelly and Georgia Kate. Todd and Kelly both happened to have the day off, so we had lots of time to catch up, reminisce and think happy thoughts about the future. They have bay area residence experience since Todd is a Cal grad. Funniest line of the day? " If your relationship can survive a paint project, it can survive anything". We have shared a few million laughs in the last 6 years, and I know that there are a few billion left out there for us to enjoy. I will definitely miss getting to watch GK grow up if I don't make it back soon. As you can see from the pic, the kid gets cuter every day like some sort of cuteness asymptote.(Woo Hoo! I've always wanted to use that word in a sentence.)
I got to see one of my favorite former youth today, Robert. He dropped by just because my car was in the driveway, which made me feel pretty darn good about myself. I made him promise me he wouldn't get a tattoo until he was 18, which he actually delivered on, but has gone out and gotten 4 since his 18th birthday. Some mentor I am.
I even got to catch up on a couple of movies today, I'm probably the last person to have seen Spiderman 2, and The Incredibles, both of which I absolutely loved. Now its off to pack some more, I've got so much more crap to sort through and the clock is ticking.

Experiencing some withdrawl symptoms

I'm a chronic Cokeaholic. That's right, I'm addicted to Cokeahol. No, that's not right, but you could say, (and Wendy often does) that I drink way to much sweet refreshing coca cola. I haven't had a coke since lunchtime sunday, and am really starting to feel sluggish. When I was growing up we never had sodas in the house. I lived on Kool aide as a kid, We made it in a bright yellow plastic jug with water straight from the tap. It was carefully stirred with a wooden spoon and generally served over ice in plastic cups that once held margarine. A roach was once spotted in one of the cups, and no one ever wanted to get stuck with that one. Fortunately those cups got retired when McDonalds gave out those giant dream team cups. (I still hated to drink out of the alien-headed Reggie Miller cup) Well, to bring myself back around to the point of how much I want a sweet cool refreshing Coca Cola. I had no intention of going cold turkey this week, but I was out and just decided that since my waist is expanding at approximately the same rate as my budget is contracting, perhaps I could live without it. If I'm out I'll certainly have one, but no more at home for me, at least not until I'm earning a paycheck. I will also accept coke donations, especially if I start to look a little strung out. To make matters worse Claudia has a post this week about touring the coke museum in atlanta. I hope she posts a lot this week so that I stop reading about all the free samples she got.

Interesting stuff? Where is it?

I haven't posted much this week, because quite frankly my life has been less than fascinating the last couple of days. I am still slowly looking through all of my things trying to determine what I'll need in California, what's worth saving and has to go. Its kind of funny how things that seemed so important at some point in time come down to a simple go/no go decision. If it can't be fit into a box, or doesn't weigh less than 50 lbs, then it has to make alternate arrangements for itself. Time has been tough enough on some items so making the decision is easy. Other things, particularly those that remind me of my sister are far more difficult to part with.
I finally reached my saturation point for Gran Turismo 4, Which means that a significant number of resumes got out today, and important business actually got done. I was going to make myself a little money doing my grandmother's taxes, until I got the result, which said she owed the government a whole lot of money. At least I know when I'm in over my head, so we're getting her a second opinion.
I've officially given up on the Jerkasses at Virgin mobile. I guess returning my email was too much to ask. I've got 2 weeks to find a real job or I settle on something as soon as I arrive out west, and keep working on something better. I have definitely gone way too long without a paycheck.

I've managed to pull away from the Playstation long enough to actually accomplish a post. There's plenty to tell you about since real early Thursday morning when I last had something to say. W and her mom finally reached a compromise and have already signed the papers. Which means that the road is finally clear for me to wander off that direction. Saturday I managed to drag myself out of bed and drive to Orlando to hang out with my favorite MBA'er Luerne. She pushed her roommate Debbie and I all over town enjoying her own little local version of celebreality that would make VH1 proud. We started with some lunch at Chipotle. I arrived starving after spending 2 hours and 15 min on I4 stuck in traffic for no particular reason. We "took the scenic route" around Winter Park for a while before eventually arriving at the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival. Some of L's Friends were singing in the attached Jazz music show. Mosaic is 6 guys who do the most interesting arrangements of songs, all a capella. The next stop was the White Wolf Cafe, a really cool restaurant that we took over a back room of and were noisy and boisterous. We figured out Sinan was in town, so he and his little cousin the genius joined us. He knew almost as much finance as sinan and I, and could recite the entire Gettysburg address. Next it was off to L's show, She was extremely good, everything else was... well just there. It was really funny, but the lead actress was really really sick. Then it was back to the house for margaritas and Scrabble (which I won handily) and Trivial Pursuit which I lost on"mitigating circumstances" the opposing team got way too many yes or no questions. Games lasted until 3:00 am then it was off to brunch with several more friends. I finally got to eat at a Houlihans, I've wondered about it since they bought the naming rights to the New sombrero. It was decent, I won't say I loved it but I'd go back if necessary. I know I'm going to miss L even more when I'm gone, I definitely wouldn't have survived year one of Grad school without her. Despite not hanging out for months it was just like old times. We ate, We laughed like crazy and we talked smack about games and anyone else we could think of.
So its back to the grind this week. More waiting and applying.

You'll have to excuse me if I'm absent

I had been saving $55 in Best Buy Gift certificates for the magical day that Gran turismo 4 was released, and it finally happened. So today I went to pick it up and have already immersed myself in it. If I don't post too much, don't take it personally, I just am unable to put down the controller. It turns out W's family is not the only force weighing in on our relationship. I just found out that my Uncle, the new convert to Christianity has decided that he's unhappy because I'm sinning by staying at W's house while not married. I have officially challenged him to a debate of such matters, not because I think I'm not guilty, but becuase I'm certain it's none of his business and he has absolutely no biblical place to stand in judgement of me. I have asked him to call me so that we may discuss the matter, we shall see if he accepts my invitation.

News brief from the front line of my local race war

Coming down to the finish line of Wendy refinincing and buying her mother out of the condo, the old lady has decided to dig in her heels and make a stand on the issue of race one final time.
Her latest nuggets of xenophobic wit: "What have I done wrong as a mother to deserve you cavorting around with a black man? Who you date reflects poorly on me." and my personal fave. "Your decisions are splitting up the family". The third one being the most interesting, since its SG's decision not to accept me that is splitting the family. Now on the scale of threatening black people ranging from well lets say Wayne Brady to hmm... Ray Lewis. I'm definitely way down there with Wayne and the Gumble of your choice. Not to mention the fact that SG really liked me when I was just wendy's random boyfriend #231(not actual number) The fact that I had an MBA and was looking for a big job in finance made me awfully attractive. But alas, she has chosen the one thing not to like about me that as far as I'm concerned makes me the most interesting. I could give you lots of reasons not to like me: I'm a little messy, I procrastinate, I spend too much time on the internet. But, we're not here to bash me we're here to say hey! get to know me and then find something you don't like.
So the bottom line is this, SG feels that she should be compensated in cash because she does not approve of me, completely re-writing the deal she and Wendy originally made on the condo.
Seems pretty fair doesn't it?

Alert the chamber of commerce, we were not the sunshine state today

Sitting on the couch waiting for the perfect job seems gray and cloudy, but at least mother nature was feeling sympathetic today.

I'm a convert

I have had some ridiculously hard times with Microsoft's Internet Explorer lately. It stopped allowing me to print web pages, it wouldn't allow me to view the sources of web pages, and froze up whenever it felt like. So I finally cut the cord and changed to Mozilla's Firefox. I'll absolutely never go back. Tabbed browsing is the only way to use the internet. I'm most sorry that I spent 3 hours with tech support last week when the solution to my browsing was right under my nose. Ok, enough of the infomercial, I obviously have a little too much time on my hands. We're now a nice round 7 days from my interview and still no word one way or the other. Yes, I'm starting to sweat.

In case I ever think of letting Snoop Dogg make a guest post

gizoogle
If you're offended by harsh language or gratuitous dropping of the N-bomb you will want to stay away from this.

You gotta love someone who throws great parties

My friend Tammy throws the best parties ever. I thought she wouldn't be able to surpass New years eve '03, but her murder mystery party topped it with class rather than intoxicated craziness. Tammy and Justin went crazy buying Chinese food, including some delicious General Tso's chicken, egg rolls, those little sugar coated dumplings, and at least 3 other dishes that I can't remember. Not to mention I've seen Chinese restaurants with less plum wine, kirin ichiban and sake in stock. (even more special since they don't drink) Each Table setting had a fan, and they had a few of those paper lamps hanging around. Food was even served on square paper plates. I was very impressed.
The Game itself wasn't quite as cool as I expected, the pseudo Chinese names that were English pun homophones made keeping track of who was who and what actually happened very difficult. Some important information was conveyed on a tape done in an exaggerated Asian accent and was tough to decipher. I liked the concept, It had potential, but its obviously not designed for the MTV generation. In the third hour trying to get 12 people to focus on task proved to be real difficult. (it was a lot like every MBA class group project) Not speaking English as a first language was also difficult for one cast member as some words and nuances were actually pretty difficult to understand. This made for lots of repitition and explanation.
You gotta give us credit, we tried, and we had fun anyway. I won't call out names of people who didn't dress up in costume, but lets just say they outnumbered those of us who did. But those in costume were definitely much cooler.

Stepping out of a horribly innacurate time machine near you

Here is the official costume, complete with authentic eighth century chinese bling. It turns out I was a terribly corrupt magistrate who was embezzeling money from the empire to fund my personal accounts. I was a thief, not a killer.

Stop me if you've heard this one before...

This post is going to sound awfully familiar, but i spent the day sitting in a lump on my couch. I did do some stuff packing around my house, but I just wasn't really feeling it yet. I found out that If I'm going to bust my lease i have to give 60 days notice plus one months rent to get out of my lease, or if I'm rushing 30 days and 2 months rent. Ouch!!!
I forgot yesterday to give a shout out to Vicky N. who bailed me out of a $30 cab fare by picking me up at the airport. We grabbed a little food at Tijuana Flats which in my opinion is still pretty good, but I was already missing the authentic Mexican from El Amigo in San Leandro. My old Friends Annie and Subadra are rolling in to town tomorrow. The occasion: a murder mystery dinner hosted by fellow MBA classmate Tammy. Tammy just posted my part on the evite:

HAO DEE-DOO (aka-Jason)The magistrate of Chi-Ka-Go, Hao is a cousin of Hoo
Li-gan and , as the head of the district governmental system and the tribunal of
Chi-Ka-Go, he is the emperor's representative in Chi-Ka. So young to have
attained such an exalted position, Hao is reputed to be a man of impeccable
moral character and scrupulously fair in his administration of local government.
He is apparently favored by the emperor and therefore expected to go far in his
political career. Hao has a passionate interest in collecting precious
antiques.Costume Suggestion: Lont-sleeved robe (preferably blue) worn over pants
or gown, waist-high apron, black stocking cap worn high upon the head, black
boots, jade pendant.

Not sure exactly how I'm going to pull off the costume in the next 48 hours but I'll be working on doing it as economically as possible. If you've got a jade pendant you want to loan me for Saturday please feel free to "speak on it". You can of course look forward to hilarious pictures on monday.
Sunday another former classmate Stefanie is having a barbeque, which will provide some quality volleyball opportunities. So I guess I'll have to work hard tomorrow to give myself the rest of the weekend off.
Its been four days since the big interview. I'm starting to get just a little nervous. The job location is so perfect that having to find something else would make things much more difficult. Keep those fingers crossed for me!
Final thought today. Since I'm so busy dropping names today, I'll tell you about what I read in airports last month. John Grisham's Bleachers and Dan Brown's Digital Fortress. I liked the Grisham book, but having only read one other of his titles I was suprised by how different it was from The Last Juror. As for the Brown book, I liked it a lot, had a hard time putting it down and consequently didn't sleep on the plane. As far as I'm concerned if uncle sam wants to read my boring emails he can all he wants. If he knew what my intentions in life were maybe the TSA wouldn't hassle me so much.

The TSA's beef with me

I arrived at "home" safely today after only some minor difficulty. Let me begin by saying this is not a rant against the people working for the TSA (Transportation Safety Administration) or the organization itself, its more a rant about my bad luck, particularly when flying out of Oakland. 3 times I have flown out of Oakland, 3 times I've been selected for extra special pat down. To their credit I'm a single male under 30 of ambiguous ethnicicity flying one way coast to coast. So perhaps I deserve a little extra scrutiny, but today I made some people really really really nervous. Since I'm transporting a lot of stuff west, I didn't bring much home with me. I packed the few items I had in my small suitcase and nested it inside its larger sibling. I brought back shorts and flipflops and tshirts only and enough clothes to dress up one time if necessary. The mistake I made was bringing back several tools (cordless drill, pliers, wire cutters, channel locks, vise grips) well, I found out tools make tsa agents nervous. To make things worse buried deep inside the inner suitcase, wrapped in a sweater, inside my green MBA bag was my playstaion 2. Of course the airline wendy works for (which I will not mention out loud, lest she end up like this) offers no protection at all for any electronic devices you put in your checked bag. So if I'm going to check my precious sweet baby PS2, you better believe its going to be well protected.
Both of my flights (oak-den, den-tpa) were uneventful, I didn't even have to sweat getting a seat for a change. They did give me middle seats on both flights. No one is less popular that the last person on the plane who takes away that middle seat you were planning on making your own personal space. So now i'm home and I'm faced with the daunting task of deciding what I want and what I don't and what's worth carrying all the way across the country. Its not going to be a fun couple of weeks.

Well, Now she does have a reason not to like me

Ok, lets get the important stuff out of the way first. My job interview today went... O.K. The first guy I met started to ask me some accounting questions that I kinda fumbled my way through. I'm certain he was not impressed. He did send me on to someone else, who after settling down and having a coke I managed to regain my composure and give a good interview. She was a little more involved in the every day finance anyway, so maybe I picked the right person to impress. I hope...
Sunday we hung out with Wendy's cousin Nina. We went to a little tiny fair, managed to come home with less cash than we started with and a couple of stuffed animals. Then we had some coffee and nachos at a starbucks (the nachos were from a nearby freshmex). Later I took my first ride on Bart so I would know what my transfer would look like to get to my interview today. We were still out avoiding SG so we went to see Hitch. Its your standard issue romantic comedy, but at least it was funny. We finally arrived at home to be "greeted" by one grumpy individual who did not know I was still in town. She played the stay locked in the room game until morning. When she couldn't find a hair dryer in the morning she called Wendy's home phone from her cell rather than knock on the door. I decided I would stay at the house tonight and cook some of my famous manicotti. While my water was just getting ready to boil, our other favorite simmerer walked back in the door. We exchanged Hi's and she began to rush around the house cleaning up her things. As she struggled to get through the door with the first load I offered a hand, she declined. As she cleaned up some things in the kitchen I wandered in to say I know you emailed wendy about some rent from me, if you'll write me up an invoice. (I of course intendended to counter with an invoice for my repair services which would have more than accounted for 3 weeks rent.) she declined that too saying wendy would have to handle it, as if my tainted money were no good to her. At that point I no longer felt like playing nice and said If you have any more questions about my parents marriage I would really prefer that you address them directly to me. Her reply: I'm not interested in that. I said well that's fabulous and walked away. She said bye as she scurried out the door. I lied and said it was nice to see her. So we'll see what her next move is. Let the record show the appraiser was here today, and he LOVED the kitchen, saying it added "personality" and value. I asked if he'd send that in a letter to MS. cranky pants.

Old School...Breakfast?

Sunday morning I spent time perfecting use of wendy's stove top belgian waffle maker. Belgian waffle recipes generally ask you to separate the eggs and beat the whites, which is why the man's mixer got invented to begin with. The first time I made these I kinda forgot to introduce the waffle iron to my friend pam, and the first waffle stuck so much that the iron took me hours to clean. Result: Really fluffy pancakes.

The Man's Mixer

Wendy's kitchen isn't perfect, she still doesn't have a hand mixer. So occasionally I have to improvise a little. There could just be a market for this product. I'm accepting bids for manufacture as you read this.

I don't know if I should post about this or not

Posting about job prospects ahead of time hasn't worked out for me in the past(IPA), but not posting about a job prospect hasn't worked out for me either(Moffitt, Brandymarine, PFM, Steak&Shake... and countless others). So I'm going to go ahead and talk about the prospect like I'm not worried about it. I got a call mid-afternoon today to say I have an interview in Walnut Creek on Monday at 1:00p.m. So, rather than fly back to Tampa for the weekend and sneaking to Sarasota to play Walleyball, I am staying here and sweating all weekend about my interview. I have to figure out what to wear to the interview, I got some cross eyed/impressed looks at Modis the other day when I showed up in a suit and tie. I'm told under no circumstances am I to dress in that manner on monday. The company has a far too "young and hip" image for me to dress up. So, we'll see how I do.
Today I found another nice little reminder of home, Wendy's favorite authentic Mexican place EL Amigo Taqueria makes tortas. I had a chorizo torta that was absolutely delicioous. Also notable is their fresh salsa that is loaded with cilantro.
I'm eating well, so maybe my weekend of sweating about the job won't be quite so painful.

giving the people what they want

By popular demand, here is a link to the pictures from all our home improvements. I've always got something to fall back on if this finance deal doesn't work out.

Title edited for adult content

I desperately wanted to title today's post with three words from the chorus of a Madonna song, the last of which is the same as the First word of the company I interviewed for today. Ok, so I didn't actually Interview for "Sir Branson's" company today, but I did interview with some nice, but very busy people at Modis in San Ramon. If you clicked on the link you might be wondering what I was doing at an IT staffing firm, but they do so much work for the company, they figured they could staff it just as well. The drive to san ramon is beautiful, except for the fact that I was nervous about my interview and was driving wendy's Jeep Cherokee for the first time. No biggie except for the fact that its a stick, and I have very few opportunities to drive uphill. The Interview went extremely well, and they say I may have a follow up with the CTO at the "inexperienced" company as early as Friday. Unfortunatley this news comes one day after finding out my favorite senior high youth group is playing walleyball on Sunday. So at this point it looks very unlikely that I will make it. A sidebar here, it also means I won't be able to help Ann E. move her couch on Saturday. Although, that does serve her right, she called me at 8:50 a.m. eastern time on monday which would be early if I were still sitting on my couch in Tampa without a job. But considering I was jobless laying in bed at 5:50 a.m. pacific it was reaaaaaaally early. Needless to say neither Wendy or I were pleased. So here I stay for a few more days, my tampa apartment may have exploded by now, and I'd never know. All I have to do is figure out how to get myself some wheels and everything will be fine.

Life imitates art?

Its been a wacky couple of days around here. Sunday we went to visit wendy's aunt peggy in San Rafael. It was the nastiest rainy day you could imagine for a trip over a bridge across the bay. The San Rafael bridge is a double decker like the Bay Bridge, and due to the large amounts of construction looks even more rickety. As we traveled east on the lower deck back to the Oakland side of the bay, the rain was blowing in so hard you'd have no idea there were three lanes of westbound traffic suspended 20 feet above our heads. I finally got in a trip to a trader joes, a very cool concept for grocery shopping. But, as you might guess a novel shopping idea brings out huge crowds. It was not a fun trip.
Sunday evening we had some drinks with wendy's other aunt rosita, who typically acts as a go between for wendy and her mom. A cousin, her boyfriend and her parents fresh from Germany were in town visiting, and quickly picked up how uncomfortable I looked in the presence of someone who admits not liking me just because of what color my skin is. Fortunately for me I presented myself well otherwise, so no one else understood what her beef with me was. She looked like a complete ass.
While getting ready to go to rosita's house I happened to be watching the Oscars when Chris Rock passed off an Extremely funny line about guess who's coming to dinner. The timing was Ironic, but BIG PROPS to my mom for exposing me to this movie and the kinds of things I'd be up against later in life.
We thought for a while we would send me home Tuesday or Wednesday, so I spent the whole day monday sufing the job boards. I found an open house at a ajilon finance branch nearby, and decided I'd drop by. I also applied for an analyst job with an unidentified company through a staffing firm. The job was for a Junior Financial Analyst so I thought I'd give it a shot.
This morning I jumped out of bed got all suited up and ran to Pleasonton to meet with an Ajilon rep, I think it went pretty well. They had me take an Excel Test that I totally rocked on and they were impressed. We'll hope for good things from them. I had just walked in the door when the phone rang, and it was the agency I'd applied to yesterday for the junior FA job. Turns out I'm a good fit for it, I have an interview tomorrow at one, I'm sensing a multi-round interview process 1st with the staffing firm and then with the company itself, so not sure how many more delays I'll experience on my journey home.

Well, at least the Sushi is good

I was originally a little turned off on San Leandro because I had encountered really lousy sushi. But on Thursday night I had sushi good enough to cheer me up about yesterdays news. The place is called Sushi Avenue, and is fully decked out to look authentically japanese. The rolls were both creative and huge, so I was suddenly feeling much better about life. To cheer me up even more today Wendy took me to my original favorite San Leandro restaurant Perry's food for the soul (this review is less complimentary than mine, but perhaps improvements have been made in the last year) This is the restaurant that Jennifer Bowden took us to on my first trip here. The greens are delicious and may help me miss mom's cooking just a tiny bit less. (they don't add ham hocks, a big no-no as far as I was concerned.) The final coat of paint went on today, so you can expect to see pictures soon of the completed project. It's safe to say we won't be painting anything for a long time.

Got a plan C?

"So long Stinktown!"


My fate on leaving Tampa was officially sealed today with this email

Jason
The math test did go well. However, we have hired someone who has experience in banking and finance to fill my immediate need. Barbara should be contacting you at some point. The thought is that our Orlando office may be looking for someone in the summer or fall. What are your current prospects and is there anything that I can do to help?
Bob

What are my current prospects? Ha! Thats a good one.

So that officially signifies the begining of contingency plan A.

1. Store anything that won't fit in car
2. Load car with everything else
3. Drive west until Pacific ocean.

I had contingency plan A sealed in a big manilla envelope always thinking that I wouldn't have to open it. I'm not sure whether having such a plan jinxed me or constitutes being prepared.

I wanted to have something interesting to write about here, once again I should be careful what I wish for.

Maybe everything in life should be like my computer

The seafoam incident

He says there are no easy answers. I say he's not trying hard enough!

I thought I'd get back to my roots today and break out a simpsons quote, If I behave well and work hard all day the boss lets me take a break to watch the simpsons. Today we spent absolutely the whole day painting. The first blue coat went on the bathroom and the first green coat went on the kitchen. The first coat of paint looks absolutely nothing like the color we selected, its very very very sea foam green, and not sage green at all. Wendy is paniced, but I have optimistically assured her that it will start to look more like the color she wanted after a few additional coats *fingers crossed!* I'd hate to think we'll have to put another primer coat on the kitchen and start over.

Warning! Gratuitous reminiscing ahead!

Wendy doesn't ever let me stop working, but at least we're safety conscious.

While painting today, I was reminded of how much like my grandfather I really am. I'm a ridiculous perfectionist about home improvement projects and insist on working until finished. I thought about the first time I ever opened a can of paint today. As I fumbled with a screwdriver my grandfather looked on while I struggled, refusing to help. I remember my grandmother saying George help him open it. My grandfather's response: "If it was candy, he'd already have it open." Well, there certainly is something to be said for experiential learning. If not for learning by trying I wouldn't know how to fix anything. Later in life I took pride in letting my grandfather "supervise" repairs around his house, I didn't need the help, but he always appreciated my efforts to be inclusive. I hope someday when I'm very old someone treats me so well.

Passive-Agressive behavior at it finest

Lets start this post by saying Wendy's mom doesn't like me. Deep inside she doesn't like me because I'm a serious threat to take away her control over Wendy. She hides that under the clever old-fashioned guise of racism. She doesn't like that my dad is black. She doesn't like that our children could possibly be darker than their parents. She worries about how difficult their life might be. She worries about how people might look at Wendy. I don't know if she knows I know about this. When she came in last night she managed a half smile and exactly four words to me.
SG: How are you?
JH: Good, How are you doing?
SG: Good (puts head down scurries into spare bedroom not to return except to use the bathroom)

Before that exchange she had a lively conversation with Wendy about how much she hated the new bathroom color including how 60'sish the blue paint looks, and why it wasn't painted white instead.

This morning 10:00 a.m. a text message arrives saying "change the color I don't want to say any more about it its still mine too."

If you'd like, I'll repost the same batroom pic as yesterday, so you can see how hard we're working to grant that request.

By popular demand.

Here is the long awaited picture of wendy's guest bathroom remodel. This started out as a very dark wood stain and after much sanding and priming is much lighter and gives the small bathroom a much warmer and more open feel. Yes I have been reading a lot of design information, No I do not usually describe rooms as feeling warmer.

I Jason, being of sound mind and body:

Just in case something bad happens to me in San Francisco. Get your own Tombstone

Wendy's New Closet

Here is one of the long awaited new pics of wendy's new closet. I really could use some of this stuff at home since my closet is terribly inneficient. I know what you're thinking, and no she is not tall enough to reach many of the top shelves, but that's why she dates someone tall handsome and intellegent. Today officially starts her vacation so expect some before and after pics of the master bathroom and kitchen.

I could learn to love this city.

Yesterday was a flurry of closet remodeling, and I would have gotten wendy's closet finished had they not shorted us on the screws used to install the hanging bars. Expect pictures on the next post. Then we made a rare trip out of the house that did not result in a visit to Lowe's. We ventured in to San Francisco to eat dinner with Wend's friend/co-worker Scott. He's a VIP at this wonderful italian restaurant in North Beach called Tommaso's. Their Cesar salad has an amazing dressing with just the right amount of anchovie. Then we had a veal dish that had veal piccatta rolled up and stuffed with proscuitto and mozzerella cheeze. It was amazing. We split a calzone with similar stuffing ingredients that was just as good, and finished with wonderful tiramisu. Your reward for clearing your plate is assorted cookies and biscotti that you can dip in an italian liqour. It would be the perfect restaurant if it wasn't across the street from Larry Flint's Hustler Club.

10 reasons why I hate closet maid.

I spent my first few hours this morning sending out resumes again, something I'd kind of given up on for a while during the IPA fiasco. There is still one job left out there for me in Sarasota, but I haven't heard anything since math test day. The rest of the day was spent renovating Wendy's closets a task that has left me tired and covered in dust. Its a good thing I like her a lot or I'd take my tired butt home. I found out something cool about California today, you have to be 18 to buy spray paint. Cool, that makes it totally leagal for me to go around tagging up the city since I'm of age. Yet another way I can live out all my San andreas fantasies.

Is the west coast the best coast?

I finally arrived in San Leandro today. Flying standby actually worked out for me for a change. I have decided that I don't like window seats on the airbus A380 though, since it assumes that my shoulders aren't very wide and neither are the person's next to me. This of course was not the case all the way from Tampa to Denver, where perhaps the three broadest-shouldered men on the plane were crammed into three adjacent seats. The only saving grace was that we were in an exit row, so at least our legs were comfortable. It was a rainy gloomy day in the bay area today so getting me and and all my junk in and out of the rain was not exactly a picnic. Wendy and I had dinner at a restaurant called the sushi boat. I loved the concept: a large oval sushi bar in the middle of the room that has a littler river with boats full of sushi on it. when something you want floats by you reach under the sneeze guard to grab it. The sushi was sub par given the large local asian population and proximity to water but some places in Tampa and Sarasota have spoiled me. I had to catch a cab at 5:15 a.m. eastern, and it is now 11:28 pacific so its fair to say that I'm not exactly running on all cylinders anymore. I'm watching wendy enjoy her closetmaid toys from lowes. Maybe she just likes me for my cordless drill.

I smell like a cypress jungle

I had a day today that would seem really busy for a saturday if I actually did anything during the week. I rushed down to make it in time for Youth Sunday rehearsal, and I have no fear that my high school kids will put on a great show tomorrow and make me very proud. It was the usual kind of rehearsal, you should be here when... look up at audience... slow down, the old people won't understand you... that kind of thing. Then it was off to mom and grandma's house to finish up the giant landscaping project. Kind of a shame I got an MBA last year I've determined this week that I could make a good living in moving or in landscaping. So now that their house looks great I can leave for the west coast for a while with slightly less guilt. I finally got to see Ray today, and for the first time in my life I actually said out loud "Now that's an Oscar worthy performance". Based on what authority do I say that you ask? None whatsoever, but I've been a long time Jaime Fox fan, loved his show (even if I did watch mostly to see Garcelle Buvais) But that brings me way off topic. Oh yeah what was the topic? I guess cypress mulch which has me smelling awfully fresh today.

Math Test? Part 2

Me fail english? That's unpossible

I get a random email from the recruiter at the company I took the math test for yesterday. It says "We are anxious to move you through to our next round, but we cannot do so without the results of this test." So I call in and say well, I did take the test didn't you get it. The answer was yes, so I decided to be brave and ask how I did. The answer I got was a less than enthusiastic "O.K. not the best but certainly not the worst we've ever seen." She then asked if I'd experienced any trouble. I said yes, it kicked me off one time. She said oh, well then I'll delete your score and you can take it again. I of course assumed that it was reactive like the GRE or GMAT, so I would simply see a different set of questions based on how I was doing (guessing) on the test. Not so however, It was Exactly the same test!!! Well lets just say I was confident about every answer this time and it took me a mere 32 minutes as opposed to the 51 from yesterday. So now I either look like a real genious or someone who doesn't learn at all from his mistakes, I'm not sure which.
...
Wendy and I have shifted our sights towards London instead of Frankfurt. Both of these will make the Where's Jason? page useless since I was only counting on domestic travel when I created it. Yeah, I know... Quitcher whinin.

Math test?

A condition of employment with the big last chance gig is a very exciting math test. I'm not sure how my ability to look at a company's financial statements and determine what debt instruments it should use to fund future capital expenses is affected by my ability to find the perimeter of a 5 sided polygon given side lengths and angles, but somehow it tells the company how smart I am.
...
I actually had a chance to IM long lost MBA classmate Laure. She ended up working in HR in Amsterdam. Wendy and I are trying to fit Amsterdam into the big vacation plans. Not having a job and European vacations generally do not mix, but you can get a pretty good deal on a 2 country rail pass which would allow us to see Germany and Belgium/Netherlands/Luxemburg for only $280 a piece. Add that to a reasonable discount on a flight from SFO to Frankfurt, and its not oppressively priced.
...
Explaining to people that I might not come back from San Francisco for a while is kinda fun, I'm basically buying a one way ticket and hoping for the best job-wise. If you look closely you'll see that I removed the link to the company that allegedly was going to make my dreams come true. It keeps me from spamming everyone who provides an email if I can't visit their site.

So, Got a plan B?

So, I waited for a whole month for the famous BP to call me back and hand me a job, and the moment he got hold of my resume he immediately decided I did not have enough experience despite the glowing reccomendation I got from 2 key company insiders. So I'm down to one big hope before I take off for the west coast. My contact TC called me yesterday, to ask if I'd reached BP yet, and my answer was oh yeah, I talked to him alright, and all these stories you've been telling me about how i'm definitely in, its a done deal, we'll set you up for training were B.S. since our boy BP wielded the big hammer on me in the end. So now I'm down to one final hope of staying here if it doesn't work, I leave for SF on Monday to return someday with some experience and a real job.

Neglecting my blogging duties

"Run for Congress? But I hate the government, they've been on me like hump on granny"

Yes it has been terribly long since I have posted, fortunately for you, the reader, not much has happened in the last two weeks. I still don't have a job. Allegedly that may be a thing of the past tomorrow. I finally got to the guy who doesn't return calls and we're supposed to chat tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. Chicago time. I have heard this story from him before, so i won't be holding my breath just yet. I spent a weekend in Gainesville, a place that is terribly uncomfortable for the Auburn Tiger in me. Other than that, its just been the same old couch jockeying. I'm definitely ready to head off to San Fierro--sorry, San Francisco. I spent way too much time last week playing Grand Theft Auto San Andreas. It made me lose large blocks of time which eased the pain of not going to work. My only concern is that if I actually end up in the bay area I will forget that I'm not allowed to drive like I'm playing the game. (Don't ask me about my last trip to miami after Vice City)

What's wrong with this picture?

This is me in very very foreign territory. Pointing to the exact location where Frank Sanders made "THE CATCH" in 1994. I actually am not sure if this is the correct endzone corner or not, but it seemed like a good idea since I had to be there