So, I got the "You haven't blogged in a while" email, marking 10 days since I last blogged on here. Which is surprising, because (except for a brief hiatus this past December/January, when my Grab attendance was spotty at best) I've been pretty faithful at keeping my blog up to date. I even noticed that last week was abuzz with new BIDs, some of which I might even get to, this week.

But first, a funny little anecdote that I actually blogged about on Myspace, regarding lunch thieves running rampant here at work. Here's the brief synopsis:

I keep a Banquet frozen dinner or two in the freezer of my office's kitchen, just for emergencies. It had been sitting there for a few months when, one day, I found myself pressed for time and with no quick options for lunch. Perfect day to break out the TV dinner. Except, when I opened up the freezer, it wasn't there. I thought maybe it was just a false memory, but several weeks later, it happened AGAIN.

Apparently I wasn't the only one who had their food stolen, because several weeks later I spotted a sign on the freezer door that read "Please replace the Smart Ones lunch you borrowed". (Smart Ones is just another brand of frozen dinner, in case you were wondering). Hehehe-- "borrowed", now there's the euphemism of the year! The same woman who put up that sign now encloses her TV dinners inside a plastic bag marked VERY clearly with her name.

Anyway, I blogged about these experiences on Myspace and received a handful of, let us say-- creative revenge ideas.

But luckily I haven't had to implement any of them (and some were downright evil!), as I haven't had trouble with food being stolen, ever since then.

Last week, Scot sent me a link to this article:

rel="nofollow"http://news.yahoo.com/s/ucda/20070508/lf_ucda/snackthievesarebustedbycreativecoworkers

Hehe, glad to know our office isn't the only one plagued with people who have the nerve to take advantage like that. At least with the writers to that "Dear Abby" column, the victims KNEW the identity of the food pilferer. Me? The only way for me to catch our thieves in action is to implement some of the creative ideas my friends have suggested.

And if you're wondering what those creative ideas were... well, you'll just have to search through my Myspace blog archives from December and January ;-)

This cartoon from Working Daze cracked me up because it reminded me of the Grab staff. They use MySQL, so it makes me wonder what the debate is like down at Grab HQ.

In case you're wondering about the significance of what the cartoon guy is saying:

It's very much like the debate on how to pronounce "data". Some people say "day-ta" others say "da-ta". To-may-to vs. To-mah-to. Me? I say "day-ta" and "to-may-to".

And with MySQL? It's either "My Sequel" or "My S-Q-L". Me? I waffle between the two.

I wonder if any Grab staffers will even read this, and comment with how THEY pronounce it, considering they deal with it everyday at work ;-)

Funny isn't it, the petty little things people can get so caught up in and attach such significance to...

Computers are complicated beasts. There's no denying that. All anyone has to do is visit the Site Feedback board of this site on any given day, to find evidence of that fact.

It's rare that the end user doesn't encounter some difficulty, no matter how trivial or how large, on his/her end. Sometimes the problem lies on the end of the service provider (i.e. Grab in this case). Sometimes the problem lies with the end user him/herself. More often than not, these folks are more than happy to shift the blame elsewhere, though.

So when I came across this joke in this month's issue of Reader's Digest, I couldn't help but chuckle at it's aptness:

The latest term being bandied about our IT office is PICNIC: Problem In Chair, Not In Computer

Hehehehehe.... ;-)

... assaults my nose as I sit here at my computer. Unlike most smells that you grow accustomed to, this one is still annoying the hell out of me.

This morning, I arrived at work a few minutes early, so I decided to pull into the gas station next to my office building and fill up so I wouldn't have to bother with it when I go home tonight (and when it's guaranteed to be colder outside).

I topped off my tank as I normally do, but this time, instead of causing the handle of the pump to switch off automatically once the gasoline reached a certain level with respect to the nozzle in the tank, it didn't. Next thing I knew, gas was spraying out like a geyser. Most ended up running down the side of my car, and a little bit ended up splashing on my pants.

It dried quickly enough, but the stench remains. Obviously, since I'm at work, changing my clothes and chucking my jeans into the wash is NOT an option.

So... anyone have any ideas for how to quickly and effectively get the gasoline off my jeans? Any household hints? Or at least-- something to mask the smell?

I meant to post this earlier, as these events took place last Friday, but got tied up with other stuff. Every year my company holds its annual "Halloween Fright Night"-- parts of the campus are really decked out with cool decorations, there is free food and drink, karaoke, a live band (impersonating famous acts like Cher and John Lennon) and a costume contest. This year I managed to snap a few photos, too bad I captured the majority of them after it got dark, otherwise the quality would've been better. Ah well, I'll strive to do better next year :-)

I met up with Ingrid when I got there, got my wristband (for the drinks) and made a beeline for the food. She had to leave shortly after we had gotten our grub, as she had plans to meet with some old childhood friends (who rarely get a chance to get out) that evening, but I managed to run into colleagues here and there while I ambled about the campus by myself.

Here's a view from the Paseo, of part of the decked out campus:

And featuring one of several guys on stilts. These guys never cease to amaze me. Such dexterity so high above the ground! The one in the picture juggled bowling pins, another of his colleagues actually kicked up his legs (well, his stilts) and started dancing in the karaoke lounge when an upbeat dance song came on!

Here are my colleagues Cindy, Brandon and Jacquelyn:

Notice that Brandon and Jacq are dressed up as pirates, which seemed to be a popular costume theme that night. They managed to round up a handful of other one-eyed colleagues and entered the "group" category for the costume contest (which was broken down into "scariest", "most original" and "group" themes).

Here are they are onstage, along with the rest of the contestants:

Here's the karaoke stage, which was decked out as a lounge (complete with sofas).

So, a funny little anecdote to accompany this picture: I had a cup of beer in one hand while I raised the camera to my face to snap this picture. I didn't realize that the nearly-full cup had tipped over while I was doing it, until I suddenly felt something cold rushing down the front of my shirt. I had spilled nearly all the beer onto the front of me. How embarrassing! I managed to blot it up pretty well with paper towels, but I absolutely REEKED of Miller Lite the rest of the night-- I'm sure people near me were wondering just how much exactly I'd imbibed :-P

I met up with some of my colleagues there and we enjoyed some of the really terrific singers. I finally mustered up the courage to go and submit my name, but when I returned my friends were GONE! I waited a while for my turn, and just as I was ready to give up, the DJ called my name, so I went up there. As I was waiting on the stage for the DJ to load my song, I noticed my colleague Mike and some of his friends appear on the dance floor, so I was grateful to have my own little cheering section. I did ABBA's "Waterloo" all by myself and didn't bomb out too much-- it helped to have the moral support directly from the dance floor :-)

Here I am, crooning away. You can see the DJ on the left of the pic-- is it me or does he look like Richard Gere?

All in all, I had a pretty fun night. The evening was unseasonably warm, so the outdoor venue was perfect for the event. There was no shortage of entertainment, the food and drink was good, and there was plenty of fun to be had by all :-)

Stole this from Scot's blog, and promised that I would post my own results in my own blog:
 

our Career Personality: Independent, Down-to-Earth, and Hard Working

Your Ideal Careers: Business executive Computer programmer Financial analyst Geologist Hedge fund manager Lawyer Pharmacist Real estate agent Stockbroker Technical writer

In January I blogged about my one-year anniversary on Grab.

A year ago today, on July 25, 2005, I started my first day at work. Hard to believe I've been here for an entire year already. How time flies! Sometimes it feels like I just started last week.

This also means I'll be coming up on a number of other Web-related anniversaries pretty soon, I'll be blogging about them as they come :-)

Meantime... better get some work done, eh?

I stumbled across this website from someone else's blog (forgive me, but I cannot for the life of me remember whose blog it was!)

http://www.metronaps.com/

It's no surprise that a nap in the middle of your hectic, stressful workday can do wonders for you in terms of recharging you for the rest of the day.

I mean, just check out their graph depicting the deterioriation of cognitive performance without naps:

 
Obviously, the primary purpose of the company is to sell/lease their pods, which, admittedly, look pretty nifty-- dimmed lights, blocked sound, soft music, semi-privacy, comfortable adjusting reclining seats. The perfect setting for sleep in a public area! Just check out the following Flash promotion from their website:

But yeah-- right now the pod is only available in a couple places in New York City, as well as the Vancouver airport. I would LOVE to see our company invest in a handful of these sleep pods. We already have a world-class gym, I'm sure someone could find space and resources for a "nap room".

As it stands right now, I've come to embrace the concept of a quick catnap in the middle of the day. I figure I can break my lunch hour into 2 parts: 20 minutes to eat, and then 30-40 minutes to go down to my car (which is parked strategically at the farthest corner of the lot, for maximum privacy), take off my shoes, put on earplugs and eyeshades, and hunker down in the back seat on a comfy pillow.

A nice 20-minute snooze later, and I wake up refreshed. Take deep breaths as I walk down the long stretch of parking lot back to my office, do some stretches in the elevator on my way upstairs, and then fix a cup of hot black tea for the final perk up. And lo and behold, I'm ready to tackle the rest of the afternoon's work without feeling tired and listless halfway through. Definitely feel more alert and productive after a quick nap. Not bad, eh? :-)

Mother's Day is coming up this Sunday, and I heard this blurb on the radio a few days ago. I meant to blog about it but totally forgot, until I read the exact same thing in a Salary.com article that breaks down Mom's top 10 job descriptions and corresponding pay, giving us a grand total of an annual salary of $134,121 (up from last year's figure of $131,471):

The Stay-at-Home Mom's Salary
Mom Job Title	Mom's Work Week (hours)	Mom's Salary (dollars)
Housekeeper	22.1	$10,980
Day Care Center Teacher	15.7	$10,817
Cook	13.6	$10,862
Computer Operator	9.1	$7,151
Laundry Machine Operator	6.7	$3,133
Janitor	6.3	$3,713
Facilities manager	5.8	$11,508
Van Driver	4.2	$3,334
CEO	4.2	$35,971
Psychologist	3.9	$7,176
Total Hours	91.6	$104,646
Mom Base Pay	40	$45,697
Mom Overtime Hours	51.6	$88,424
Total Mom Salary	91.6	$134,121
Average Hours of Sleep	6.7

Not bad, eh?

So what are YOU getting Mom for Mother's Day?

Another weekend with Todd in Santa Barbara.

Friday we attended a Chili Cook-off at my work-- good food and lots of things to see, though Todd was mainly enamored by the pretty water fountains. Plenty of kiddie activities, like a big inflatable slide, face-painting, and those inflatable houses you can jump around in. But Todd was still too little for all that stuff, and anyway, he had lots of fun looking at the water and the jugglers.

Saturday we all drove into campus together and ate lunch there. Then we hit the school bookstore and Todd was giddy with joy at the sight of all the stuffed animals in the toy section of the store. Before we left to go home, leaving Allan there to work and take the bus home later, we went to the bathroom so I could wash Todd's hands. I let him out of the bathroom while I was still drying my hands, since Allan was supposed to be outside waiting for us. I heard Todd call out "Daddy!" followed by a short silence and "No Daddy! Where's Daddy? Where's Daddy!?". By the time I got out the door, he was slowly backing up towards the bathroom. I looked up and realized it wasn't Daddy, but Kevin (Allan's professor) standing where Allan was supposed to be, laughing because Todd mistakenly thought he was Daddy at first, and backed away in surprised once he realized his error.

In the evening we visited Albertson's to get fixings for dinner and exchange literally thousands of coins for dollar cash-- ended up being over $300 worth of pennies, dimes and nickels. The coin machine took off nearly 9% as part of the cost, but even so-- $300 was a sizeable amount of cash!

Sunday we had a late breakfast at Cajun Kitchen with one of Allan's colleagues and her husband. I enjoyed a giant omelet, hash browns, English muffins and grits. Man, it's been a long time since I had grits :-9 (and yes, I eat them with sugar, for those of you who are wondering)

Afterward we hit a clothing store and looked for stuff for Todd. When we happened upon some adorable outfits, I picked one up and exclaimed "Oh, it's so cute!" before putting it back on the rack. Todd immediately followed suit and picked up a random outfit from the rack (which was low enough for him to reach) and exclaimed "Oh! It's so cute!" before putting it back. Allan and I were nearly rolling on the floor laughing.

Back at home we all took a much-needed nap before Allan headed off to campus to finish some work. I took Todd to the playground and let him run around for an hour, then we came back home and relaxed a bit before dinner and his bath. We played peek-a-boo with his pillow, where he'd put his pillow on my face and say "Where's Mommy?" before I pulled it aside and said "Boo!".
Well, this time he asked "Where's Mommy glasses?" instead.
Puzzled, I replied "On my face?"

His response? "Not on the face. On the... on the... on the eyes!"

And actually... it does make sense when you think about it-- glasses on the eyes :-) 

Found this hilarious article in the career section of military.com last week. Are these people for real?? (My comments in italics)

---

It's Monday, and I'm back into the daily routine of things. 

We flew back home from Arizona on Friday afternoon, where I was greeted by icy COLD weather. Drastic change from the mild, sunny Arizona desert weather, and a complete surprise, as well. This past weekend we had a cold stormfront passing through that yielded SNOW in some parts of LA! Our place only got hail (and even then it was only the size of gravel), but still!! Last time it snowed in LA was around 15 years ago, when I was in junior high. I remember that day very clearly-- most mornings, those of us who arrived at school by bus (i.e. nearly an hour before school started) would huddle in the library for warmth until the first bell rang, signifying the start of another school day. Not that day. The normally chock-full library was deserted as kids ran around outside, playing in the snow.  

Anyway, the week of class was pretty uneventful. Learned a LOT of useful stuff, a lot of which I hope to apply to my current project.

Had about 100 work emails to sift through when I arrived at my desk this morning. Luckily, nearly half were memos, meeting updates and corporate announcements, so it looks like I didn't really miss a whole lot while I was gone :-) 

Now I'm back in the swing of things, though I STILL have plenty of catch up to play. For those of you who sent me a Grabmail that I haven't responded to yet-- please forgive me, I promise to get to them as soon as I can, I just haven't had a chance to spend much time online yet.  

In fact, it feels a little strange, treading upon the waters of Grab after such a long absence... almost feel like a foreigner around these parts now!  

Well, hump day is nearly over, and I realized I haven't blogged since last Friday! Where has the time gone!? Brief recap: My colleague (Ryan) and I flew from Burbank airport Sunday evening and arrived in Phoenix, AZ a couple hours later. After getting our luggage and the rental car, it was past 10:00pm by the time we arrived at our hotel with just enough time to find our rooms and hit the nearby supermarket for a few groceries (drinks, snacks).

Class started at 9:00am the next day, with continental breakfast included. Our class was at the downtown center of Mesa Community College, about a 10-minute drive from our hotel. Didn't sleep very well the first night-- the usual getting used to a strange new place had me tossing and turning. Ended up watching both "Sister Act" and "Sister Act 2" on TV, went to sleep around 3:30-- only to be awakened at 6:30 by the sound of my neighbor noisily getting ready.

Oh, the car we got was a Chevrolet HHR, which looks a little like the PT Cruiser. Wish I'd brought my camera! Leather seats, all sorts of cool features. Much more luxurious than what I was expecting, for a standard-class car! :-) I'd never even HEARD of an HHR until we got the rental car. What's up with all these funny-looking cars nowadays?

So on Monday a funny thing happened-- I was tired and stayed in my room to eat, so Ryan took the car to drive out and get dinner for himself, with plans to swing by the hotel afterward to pick me up and do some shopping at Wal-Mart. Well, he got onto the street that our hotel is on, and promptly drove in the opposite direction. And got lost. He called me a couple times and I consulted Google maps (yay for wireless internet access in my room!) to try to find where he was, but I could not for the life of me find the streets he was on! So he kept me on the line while he went into a gas station to ask for directions. The following conversation ensued:

Ryan: Can you tell me how to get to 455 West Baseline Road?
Gas station attendant (quizzically): 455 West Baseline?
Ryan: It's in Mesa
Attendant: Oh! In Mesa!?
Me: What city are you in?
Ryan (to attendant): What city is this?
Attendant: We're in Tempe

So he basically ended up in a completely different city. Granted, it was only about 10-12 miles away, but when you're traveling entirely by surface streets, that's a long way. And it wasn't his fault-- the street? Baseline Road? Well, it kept alternating-- East, West, then East again, then West... for those miles between Tempe and Mesa! It's enough to drive anyone crazy!

Well, just a couple more days and then Friday evening we fly back home. Monday morning, back to work and back into the normal routine. Looking forward to it!

When people find out that I spent time on active duty with the U.S. Army, they invariably ask the same questions that Marti recently posed, so I thought I'd copy and paste her questions and answer them, in more detail, in my blog.

Why did you join the military?

Well, it started out as curiosity more than anything. My senior year in high school, I made friends with some of the JROTC cadets, and they kept persuading me to try it out. Since I was about to graduate, I figured I'd give it a spin when I started college. The following year, I enrolled in the UCLA Army ROTC progam, and things just sort of blossomed from there.

I don't know how many of you have read Colin Powell's autobiography, but in it, he says that he felt rather aimless in college, when the cadets in uniform on campus caught his eye. He decided to try it out, and found that it was not only something he enjoyed, but excelled at. 

Well, it's pretty much the same thing with me. I found it was something I really enjoyed and became good at. But more than that, all that military and leadership training really helped bring me out of my shell. 

After finishing my 4 years of ROTC, I received my commission into the U.S. Army Signal Corps, and after a few months of Officer's Basic Course at Ft. Gordon, GA, I spent the remainder of my 4 years of active duty stationed in Mannheim, Germany. (My subsequent 4 years were spent in the IRR-- Individual Ready Reserve).

Would you ever do it again?

Hmmm, that's a tough question. I alluded to it in this blog entry-- I'm not entirely sure I'd do it again. I mean, I always knew I was going to grad school after I got my bachelor's degree, and 4 years is a long time between undergrad and grad school. I think I would've done equally well with fewer years on active duty, or better yet, spending my entire service obligation (8 years total for all officers, no matter what) in the Reserves/National Guard.  

On the other hand, being on active duty provided me the opportunity to go back to my birth country and see old family friends, as well as tour the rest of nearby Europe.

Was it worth it?

Yes, definitely so. As I mentioned before, my experiences have really helped bring me out of my shell. I've always been very much an introvert, and still am-- but am more outgoing and sociable because of my military experience. Few jobs require as many in-depth people skills as being a military officer, so it was a very useful learning experience.

But more than just the social aspect, I also gained invaluable leadership/management skills that I hope will come in handy as my civilian career progresses. An officer's career is more focused on general leadership-type skills as opposed to in-depth technical skills that is the domain of enlisted personnel/warrant officers. I mean, we do have to possess some degree of technical knowledge in order to be able to plan out our operations, but is is that ability to plan and organize and execute that is paramount. I've also learned to be able to adapt quickly at a moment's notice. Things like presenting to our company's CIO last week, enough of a feat to make most people sweat, barely fazed me because I'm used to doing things like briefing generals at the drop of a hat. Having had lots of practice in the training aspect of my military career helped hone my skills and, I believe, made me more effective when it came time to serve as a teaching assistant in grad school.

The military also possesses a unique culture-- something unparalleled in the civilian world.  The importance of teamwork and effective team-building was brought home to me every single day, since that's a large part of what makes our armed forces so great. The camaraderie and close bonds formed between you and the people in your unit, the immense pride in the work you do, the limitless opportunities for self-development and self-improvement-- all are things you rarely find anywhere else, and things I cherish.

So in short, yes, I would say it was well worth it. I learned so many things and gained so many skills that you just don't get anywhere else, especially in the civilian working world-- at least not until you've worked for many years and moved up the corporate ladder. I enjoyed my time there, even if I didn't like the early-morning hours Plus, I stayed in great shape then!

I came across an article in the Business section of the newspaper this weekend, and not only did I get a kick out of the story, but it reminded me of my Aussie friends, so I thought I'd share it here.

Australia is basically facing a skilled labor shortage, and is attempting to recruit talent from abroad to fill the need. After headhunting in Europe and Asia, immigration officials set up a job fair of sorts at a hotel in Beverly Hills in order to try to convince Southern California residents to consider moving to Australia. Among the biggest demand? Chefs, hairdressers, mining engineers and registered midwives.

Where is the shortage coming from? Despite being nearly the size of the United States, Australia's population is only slightly larger than New York's. Demographics also plays a role: The number of retirees is expected to boom while the number of teenagers (who presumably will be actively engaged in tomorrow's work force) is shrinking. You do the math. Moreover, migration to larger cities like Sydney and Melbourne have left the more isolated parts of Australia even more desperate for workers.

The article concluded with testimonials from former U.S. residents who have made new homes in their new country, and, of course, couldn't be happier: "If you're going to die somewhere, you might as well die somewhere you're familiar with... as long as you don't listen to the accents."-- says a former Long Beach resident who lives near Glenelg, which reminds him of Newport Beach.

Hehe... hmm, there's food for thought!

http://www.careersdownunder.com

http://www.immi.gov.au/