Travel

I know I've mentioned before how much I love my job, but let me tell you one of the reasons why I think it's perfect.  I work on contract so technically I'm self-employed but I have a good relationship with the firm I work with and I think as long as I don't massively screw up I'm here for the long haul.  I don't get vacation or health benefits or any of that good stuff.  Basically, if I'm not at work I'm not getting paid.  Essentially, I am on contract with one hospital/job and then once I'm there I go to another.  It hasn't happened yet but maybe sometime in the future there won't be another job to go to right away, so I'll have time off and with that time off I'll travel.  Or I'll take a break in between contracts.  At least that's my goal, to work like hell for most of the year and then try to get a chunk of time off so I can travel for a bit.  This year the goal is to try to go to Cuba and hopefully next year Indonesia.  I've also put together an insanely strict budget for this year so having money to do these things should not be too difficult.  We shall see though.

Blurg

I don't want to do this today but I told myself I would.  

Brief recap of yesterday.  Work, work, work.  Did my first pool dive for SCUBA, it was great.  Unfortunately due to time constraints I am going to have to put that on hold for now.  Also did not practice guitar yesterday.

1/23/2013

I've decided that I will use this blog more like a diary then anything else, tracking my life for myself, but please feel free to read and comment.

Yesterday was the anniversary of my sister's birth.  Happy Birthday Jessica, you are the best and worst sister.  Hah you are the only one so you are all things sister to me.  Anyway, I hope it was a good one and maybe I'll see you this weekend to celebrate.

Work was alright yesterday.  I'm responsible for finishing up all the paperwork to closeout a seven story hospital tower.  As you can imagine there is a paperwork overload.  But I've pretty much got my stuff squared away.  I have a meeting in a few minutes to go over my progress and figure out what the next move is.

After work on Wednesdays I have a guitar lesson!!! Which is something I usually look forward too. And it was a welcome respite from the hustle and bustle of life. I pick up it up very quick yet I don't practice often which will be my undoing.  I know what I should do, but my fingers don't want to go there.  It's amazing how little dexterity I have with my fingers, but it's getting better.  I told my instructor that I wanted to read actual music and not just tab.  He was a bit taken aback, he said that most adults don't want to learn the music reading portion  I am not most people.  My goal this week is to practice a little bit, even if it's just five minutes, every day.

Then it was off to Fullerton College to see a counselor and make sure the Trig class I registered for at Mt Sac would transfer back to FCC. I finally feel a bit less stressed out after registering for Trig.  That's one of three classes I want to take this semester.  I've got to petition to add College Algebra the first week of Feb, and then register for a metallurgy class in mid Feb.  But now that, it's all figured out and taken care off I feel so much better.

Originally, I had an appointment at 5pm to meet with my SCUBA instructor but she had to cancel, so I headed to the gym early and read my book for a bit.  I really love Game of Thrones so far, it is a great story.  I worked out twice yesterday, that was intense.  I did the normal WOD which was crazy, and then another from a week or so ago which was OK.  Then home for laundry and sleep :).  That's it.

Some asides.  As I'm trying to get certified for SCUBA, it's very important to be able to equalize your ears which consists of blowing air up into those ear air spaces.  My mother has bad ears and had always told us never to do this.  So my whole life I've been afraid of this action and now I'm trying to do it frequently throughout my day to get used to the feeling. It's strange, haha.  Also ran across The National Smokejumper Association today, I'm intrigued...

One of my goals in life is to be healthy and with that in mind I've been working out a lot and also want to improve my eating.  For a while I was eating pretty strict paleo and losing a lot of weight but then I got sloppy.  Now I want to start putting that discipline back in.  With that in mind, I think I am also going to include what I'm eating, my workouts and how I'm feeling on a daily basis. EEK

Wander on my friends, wander on.

Frustration

Yesterday was a nightmare, well most of it anyway.  I work full time and have decided it's a brilliant time to go back to school and finish up my engineering degree.  Apparently if you work full time, you are screwed.  I had to take a math placement exam and the assessment center is not after work hours friendly by any means.  In fact if you can't get there by 3PM you are toast.  I called before I drove up there and was told they took walk-ins until 7PM, I left work and drove immediately there only to find out you need to check in by 3PM for the 5PM test.   After missing the first time, I left work early and arrived at 12PM only to find out the test wasn't until 5PM.  I don't understand why the girls on the phone could not explain this information to me, as I asked several questions regarding how the test works. So essentially they have set times for exams only, therefore don't take any walk-ins and fill that puppy up!!!!!!  After finally taking the test, I had to go see a counselor with the test results and my transcript to get cleared for my class.  Of course that wasn't easy too, I had to go back and forth between departments because apparently nobody wants to do their job and tries to shuffle the work elsewhere.  Absolutely ridiculous.  All of that ate of my afternoon and now things that were supposed to happen yesterday are going to happen today and I've had to cancel fun plans for tonight :(.  Wow, that was a whole paragraph of complaining, I swear I'm over it now.

But alas, all was not lost yesterday.  My friend Lamont goes to Mt. Sac as well so I met up with him.  We caught up while I waited for the counselor and then we went on a mini adventure!!!!!  We drove to Rowland Heights and got hot pot or shabu shabu.  I've never had it before and holy shatner was it good.  Fantastic food, but the night was made by the most excellent company.  Definitely going to go back to that restaurant.  Of course if I ever go back to that specific place, I'll have to invite Lamont because we discovered it together and that's common discoverer decency. 

Anyway today I am busting out the final portion of this project for work, I think I can get it all cleaned up on my end by the end of business.  I also submitted a resume to Conoco Phillips for pipe and pressure vessel inspection, I don't want to change jobs but I'm interested in that field and think potentially it could open up new revenue for my current company.  I'm just testing out the water and doing my research.  After work, I've got to meet with my SCUBA instructor to go over some information and then it's off to the gym.

My gym has a Commitment Club you can make if you go 14 times in a month.  One of my goals this year was to make that club every month, I am on track to do it if I work out twice tonight.  So tonight is the night of the double WOD, and I think I shall be very tired indeed.

That's all for now...oooh, the only bonus of wasting time yesterday waiting was I got to read a lot of my book, which is The Game of Thrones.  I'm excited about that.

Wander on my friends, wander on.

Twenty Minutes

Oh, man...I've got a lot going on these days. Therefore, I've instituted my twenty minutes of cleaning rule.  Everyday, no matter what I'll clean up for twenty minutes.  I set the timer on my phone and just go for it.  It may not seem like a lot but I actually accomplish quite a bit of cleaning in that short period.  Plus, by only cleaning so much things don't ever feel overwhelming.  Sometimes I organize a bookshelf or a sock drawer, today I went through a filing cabinet.  Then after my twenty minutes, I like to vacuum.  That's it for now, I'm off the prep for a class tomorrow night...:)

Wander on my friends, wander on.

The Bridge

OK, I realize it's not Media Monday, but I watched The Bridge last night and need to vent.  I remember hearing about the movie a year or so ago while watching another documentary on people trying to be the 500th jumper from The Golden Gate Bridge. At the end of that it mentioned a new documentary coming out also dealing with suicides off the bridge.  I thought I was prepared to watch it, but I found parts of it extremely disturbing.

For example, in the first few minutes it shows a man jump off the bridge - from deck to water.  It made my stomach churn.  Throughout the movie it showed multiple people leaping and landing.  To be honest the jump and the fall did not undo me so much, but the landing - that just stuck to me.  It bothered me that the filmmakers showed all of these people's last moments, the moment where that life ended.  Granted you can't see much other than a splash, but I felt disturbed.

The film also interviews friends and family of the people who jumped.  That was interesting.  There were some people who had accepted and knew it was an eventuality that their loved one would end their life.  Some people were still upset but a few seemed relieved for that person. One brother was in complete denial, while his mother was accepting and at peace.

So would I recommend it? Honestly, I'm not sure if I would or wouldn't.

Wander on my friends, wander on.

Holy Shatner This Still Exists...

Wow, I thought I had shut this puppy down...guess not.  Well then, since she's still here perhaps I shall pick this up again with a bit more consistency that before.  So what has transpired in my life since I've last updated

• Started a new job, well career.  I love it, I am literally in love with what I do, it is my soul job.  Basically, I am a building inspector but only for hospitals.  Coming up in April, I have to sit for a ginormous licensing exam so I can keep my awesome job.  Working in this field has turned me on to all sorts of strange technical inspections that happen here or there, and occasionally I get sidetracked researching some awesomely weird stuff.
• I quit school!!!!!!!!!!! But by now I've decided that I want to get my Civil Engineering degree and am headed back.  I've signed up for one class hoping to get a second, but Holy Shatner everyone and their mother is trying to go to school.  After work today, I shall be attempting to get some admissions stuff handled.
• I lost 60 pounds, thanks mostly to eating clean and Crossfit.  I love Crossfit, oh man how do I love it.  I've still got a ways to go but the community and support are super great.  Also, I recently inspired my mom to come.  So incredible.
• Still living with my parents and still single!!!!!

Anyway, I'm going to bring back Media Monday woot woot.  So stoked and also going to bring other stuff in.  So one reader, I challenge you to leave a comment and let me know if there is any direction I should take this blog in.

Wander on my friends, wander on.