Thursday, October 9, 2008
Grindstone
Staying late at work to get a project done is sometimes the greatest reward. Granted, me and the two guys I have working with me have been staying late every night this week (wouldn't have been able to get close to what we've achieved without them...!). But I don't mind, it's through the coming together of the project that makes it all worthwhile... My boss is happy with the outcome thus far as well. The whole project seems to have taken on an energy of its own, stimulating all involved. I love that kind of effect.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Starting off the Week
Yippie! I got the apartment with Andrea! I'm getting excited to move. I've packed some of the bathroom stuff and the drawers of misc papers and stuff already. Now I plan to eat as much food as I can so I don't have to carry as much over and pack my large suitcases full of clothes. I know it's still a couple weeks away, but this kind of change is good.
There are a slew of graduates who are taking a tour of the bank, and two of them started in the department I'm in and will be there for a short while. I get to delegate tasks to them in Brian's absence and this is exciting. They seem eager to learn and help and come up with ideas, which is really nice to work with people of that mentality. So, it should be a good time over the next few weeks.
Now, I'm off to watch Friends and then to Table Tennis!
There are a slew of graduates who are taking a tour of the bank, and two of them started in the department I'm in and will be there for a short while. I get to delegate tasks to them in Brian's absence and this is exciting. They seem eager to learn and help and come up with ideas, which is really nice to work with people of that mentality. So, it should be a good time over the next few weeks.
Now, I'm off to watch Friends and then to Table Tennis!
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Keinohrhasen
This weekend has been a great one...!On Friday, I went to look at another apartment, and it was quite nice. It's located in the same general area, just 5 minutes from where I'm at now. The guy who's renting the other room, Andrea, seems really nice. He and I chatted for a half an hour before I left, which was nice (another place I viewed on Thursday, the girl was a chatterbox, and I couldn't get a word in edge wise! So a two-way conversation was quite a pleasant change! ;-)
Later that night, I met with my friends for Anthony's birthday party -- he invited just a handful of people, which was nice, nothing crazy and wild, actually quite a good time and relaxing. Anthony and his girlfriend Sophie just moved into a new apartment, so I got to see their new place, and we all just sat around eating pizza and chatting. It was really great. I lost track of the time, and before I knew it, it was 3 am, so I figured I should head home and get to sleep...! Funny thing was, I wasn't even tired!
The next day, Andrea, send me a message asking if I wanted to come with him and his friends for a coffee. It sounded nice, so I agreed to go. We all had a really nice time (had a coffee in Cafe en Seine, which is a really cool bar, and we talked for around 4 hours). Then we decided to buy some food in the supermarket and cook a meal together (it's so much easier to cook with 4 people helping out!!). We'll see if he picks me to move in, I think we'd have a good relationship, as in not awkward and I'd feel comfortable living there (unlike now where I feel confined to my bedroom all the time). And it's just 5 minutes up the road from where I am now, so it'd be a perfect location still. Time will tell -- if nothing else, Saturday was a really fun day with him and his friends.
Today, I woke up really early (4:30 am) for some reason (my internal clock must be all messed up at this stage...!), and watched a great movie. It's a German movie called Keinohrhasen (Rabbit without Ears) -- 2007. I really enjoyed it, I laughed and cried and smiled. It was about a guy who instead of going to jail for crashing a wedding (by mistake - the glass roof broke and he fell on the cake while he was trying to take pictures from above...), he was given 300 hours of community service -- helping at a daycare. The kids absolutely adored him, and he looked like a great guy. However, he used to make fun of the girl running the daycare when they were kids, so she was determined to make his life miserable...! But when she starts to kind of like Ludo, things change. It's just a really good, feel-good movie. Go rent it if you can! :-)
Sunday, September 28, 2008
The Heart of Humanity
Today I spent the afternoon with the disabled children through the CASA organization. It was really nice. The girl that I was paired up with is the same girl I've been with for the last two events; she really loves me. Emily is 13 years old and in a wheelchair. She's just the sweetest girl ever. I'm not sure what her condition is, but she doesn't let it get her down. We drew pictures and played catch and talked and ate chicken and got the same tattoos from the really cool magician who also seemed to be a great artist with paint on arms. The Kodak moment for today was when Emily asked me for a hug. It felt so nice to have her arms wrapped around me in love, and then she put her arm around me and rested her head on my shoulder. I put my head on hers, and we just stayed there for a while relaxing and relishing in our friendship.
Which brings me to another story... When I went for a drink with my new boss (he promised me he'd take me out for belated birthday drinks), he was telling me about his little girl; she's two years old, and she has down-syndrome. My boss gave me a very interesting perspective -- he said that having a child with down-syndrome, you do sacrifice some of the plans that you might have had for him/her, but a child with down-syndrome is incredibly lovable. So what you gain is being able to have a child who loves you so incredibly much, and in turn, you end up spending more quality time with your child. I liked that fresh perspective, and it puts a whole new positive image in my mind...
Which brings me to another story... When I went for a drink with my new boss (he promised me he'd take me out for belated birthday drinks), he was telling me about his little girl; she's two years old, and she has down-syndrome. My boss gave me a very interesting perspective -- he said that having a child with down-syndrome, you do sacrifice some of the plans that you might have had for him/her, but a child with down-syndrome is incredibly lovable. So what you gain is being able to have a child who loves you so incredibly much, and in turn, you end up spending more quality time with your child. I liked that fresh perspective, and it puts a whole new positive image in my mind...
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Snakes & Liers >:-(
I despise people who make agreements and then retract them.
I received a text at lunchtime yesterday, and it was my supposed to be new flat mate telling me that he found someone else to move in next week and that it suits him and his flat mate better. I have already given my flat mate my notice a week ago, and Ryan knew this. The nerve that he had to send me a text to say this and that he's "sorry for the inconvenience" made me extremely irate. I had done a number of other things in the week's time, such as changing my address with some companies, etc.
Today is Saturday, and instead of enjoying the day, I'm now spending it looking at apartment ads, wondering if I should just pay more and have a small apartment to myself, or if I should try to find someone to rent with. It's just that I've not had any good experiences here in Ireland with flat mates, and I'm tired of that situation, it's left me cynical with regards to renting a room.
I'm sure things will work out (not sure if my current flat mate would now raise my rent or not if I stayed on), but the truth of the matter is that I've never enjoyed living with her, and only tolerated things because it was a decent room that I was renting and close to the places I frequent.
My boss took me out last night for a couple drinks, and we had a nice talk about various topics. He gave me suggestions for the situation that I seem to have gotten into with my living quarters, so I don't know, I'm sure things will work out for the best, but at the moment, I'm just a bit peeved at what happened.
I received a text at lunchtime yesterday, and it was my supposed to be new flat mate telling me that he found someone else to move in next week and that it suits him and his flat mate better. I have already given my flat mate my notice a week ago, and Ryan knew this. The nerve that he had to send me a text to say this and that he's "sorry for the inconvenience" made me extremely irate. I had done a number of other things in the week's time, such as changing my address with some companies, etc.
Today is Saturday, and instead of enjoying the day, I'm now spending it looking at apartment ads, wondering if I should just pay more and have a small apartment to myself, or if I should try to find someone to rent with. It's just that I've not had any good experiences here in Ireland with flat mates, and I'm tired of that situation, it's left me cynical with regards to renting a room.
I'm sure things will work out (not sure if my current flat mate would now raise my rent or not if I stayed on), but the truth of the matter is that I've never enjoyed living with her, and only tolerated things because it was a decent room that I was renting and close to the places I frequent.
My boss took me out last night for a couple drinks, and we had a nice talk about various topics. He gave me suggestions for the situation that I seem to have gotten into with my living quarters, so I don't know, I'm sure things will work out for the best, but at the moment, I'm just a bit peeved at what happened.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Hmm, Satisfied :-)
This week has been a good week :-)
And I'm happy.
And that's good.
Because when I'm happy it's easy to make others around me happy.
And I like seeing the world happy.
Even if the financial world is topsy-turvy right now...
It started out being a rotten week when my flat mate told me that she required 1 month of notice to move out, especially since I'm meant to move into my new flat on Oct. 1st. Then come to find out, she's not even going to look for someone during that time at all. That made me angry because it meant I'd be paying double rent as no one would be filling my spot early during the 30 day notice time. After a day of fretting (and releasing my anger at the gym), my new flat mate texted me to say that his current flat mate can stay on for the first 2 weeks in October! I was ecstatic and relieved. One week of double rent will be okay (much better than 3!!) I can't wait to move!
Tuesday was my birthday -- I've climbed all the way up to 29 now, which is kind of hard to believe, but I'm happy in my life, so I actually don't mind all that much. I celebrated the evening after work with two of my co-workers (Tuesday's just a bad night to gather people for drinks...), and it was a really nice time. We all shared a plate of The Gasworks' really yummy Macho Nachos, and they tasted so delicious -- it's my favorite thing to eat there! And I had 3 strawberry daiquiri's -- also very delicious! The guy at the bar gave me a free apple pie and ice cream, which was really nice of him (it might have had something to do with the fact that I asked if they give a free birthday cocktail if it's your birthday... ;-)
Wednesday was another fun night of table tennis with my friends.
Thursday was a good day at work. My old boss was impressed with the program I found and used to "analyze" the team's network drive because it showed him which file types were most prevalent, as well as which folders contained the most data. It made me happy that such a simple little find was found to be so useful. Also, I noticed during a meeting with Steven (one of my new co-workers) and another guy, that Steven was getting very stressed and frustrated. I told him that tomorrow, he and I will sit down together, and he can hand over the project where he has become the middleman, and I will work on moving things forward from hereon out. He was so relieved by this news. I like Steven. He's really funny at times. He must have done well for himself to be working in Finance at such a high level, be married, and all at the same age as me... Anyway, I'm glad I'll be working with him on some projects, I feel that he's a meticulous and hard worker. I admire that in people.
My boss came in briefly to talk to our high-up boss, and he mentioned that tomorrow (Friday) he wants everyone to come out for one drink, his treat, to celebrate my birthday. I thought that was an awfully nice gesture. And I haven't socialized with any of my new team outside of work, so we'll see what pans out -- sometimes Fridays can be a hard day to catch people, but maybe it will work out, just for a half hour after work.
I bought a ticket to Cirque du Soleil today! For the first time ever, they're coming to Ireland's new performance venue, which is due to be re-constructed in December 2008. Cirque du Soleil will perform in April 2009, but I wanted to make sure I got my ticket before they sold out. It's called Quidam (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUM5EWwxar8) and like their other performances, it's sure to dazzle and delight :-)
For now, I'm off to snuggle in my bed and dream about the cards, texts, phone calls, e-mails, Facebook/MySpace messages, and presents that I've been showered with over this last week. I feel so honored to have had so many people think of me! :-)
And I'm happy.
And that's good.
Because when I'm happy it's easy to make others around me happy.
And I like seeing the world happy.
Even if the financial world is topsy-turvy right now...
It started out being a rotten week when my flat mate told me that she required 1 month of notice to move out, especially since I'm meant to move into my new flat on Oct. 1st. Then come to find out, she's not even going to look for someone during that time at all. That made me angry because it meant I'd be paying double rent as no one would be filling my spot early during the 30 day notice time. After a day of fretting (and releasing my anger at the gym), my new flat mate texted me to say that his current flat mate can stay on for the first 2 weeks in October! I was ecstatic and relieved. One week of double rent will be okay (much better than 3!!) I can't wait to move!
Tuesday was my birthday -- I've climbed all the way up to 29 now, which is kind of hard to believe, but I'm happy in my life, so I actually don't mind all that much. I celebrated the evening after work with two of my co-workers (Tuesday's just a bad night to gather people for drinks...), and it was a really nice time. We all shared a plate of The Gasworks' really yummy Macho Nachos, and they tasted so delicious -- it's my favorite thing to eat there! And I had 3 strawberry daiquiri's -- also very delicious! The guy at the bar gave me a free apple pie and ice cream, which was really nice of him (it might have had something to do with the fact that I asked if they give a free birthday cocktail if it's your birthday... ;-)
Wednesday was another fun night of table tennis with my friends.
Thursday was a good day at work. My old boss was impressed with the program I found and used to "analyze" the team's network drive because it showed him which file types were most prevalent, as well as which folders contained the most data. It made me happy that such a simple little find was found to be so useful. Also, I noticed during a meeting with Steven (one of my new co-workers) and another guy, that Steven was getting very stressed and frustrated. I told him that tomorrow, he and I will sit down together, and he can hand over the project where he has become the middleman, and I will work on moving things forward from hereon out. He was so relieved by this news. I like Steven. He's really funny at times. He must have done well for himself to be working in Finance at such a high level, be married, and all at the same age as me... Anyway, I'm glad I'll be working with him on some projects, I feel that he's a meticulous and hard worker. I admire that in people.
My boss came in briefly to talk to our high-up boss, and he mentioned that tomorrow (Friday) he wants everyone to come out for one drink, his treat, to celebrate my birthday. I thought that was an awfully nice gesture. And I haven't socialized with any of my new team outside of work, so we'll see what pans out -- sometimes Fridays can be a hard day to catch people, but maybe it will work out, just for a half hour after work.
I bought a ticket to Cirque du Soleil today! For the first time ever, they're coming to Ireland's new performance venue, which is due to be re-constructed in December 2008. Cirque du Soleil will perform in April 2009, but I wanted to make sure I got my ticket before they sold out. It's called Quidam (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUM5EWwxar8) and like their other performances, it's sure to dazzle and delight :-)
For now, I'm off to snuggle in my bed and dream about the cards, texts, phone calls, e-mails, Facebook/MySpace messages, and presents that I've been showered with over this last week. I feel so honored to have had so many people think of me! :-)
Friday, September 19, 2008
Movin' on up...!
I've decided I'm going to move into a new apartment!
And...... it's going to be the easiest move I've ever had to make! It's literally right downstairs from the apartment I'm living in right now!
I'm really excited for this move:
1) The guy I'll be moving in with (Ryan) seems really cool (how can he not be? -- he loves table tennis! and he works at the coolest place ever -- Google!)
2) Ryan's going to let me have the en suite bedroom (which is probably 1.5 times bigger than the one I'm in now!) which also means that I can have friends stay with me now and not feel like I'm imposing on my flatmate.
3) The rent is a bit more, but balancing that out with the fact that Ryan gets free (really fast!) Internet on behalf of Google, I'll actually be saving 40 euros per month. So, I'm not going to be paying all that much more overall, and I get the bigger bedroom, and a flat mate who seems to be interested in some of the same things as me!
I'm stoked! :-)
And...... it's going to be the easiest move I've ever had to make! It's literally right downstairs from the apartment I'm living in right now!
I'm really excited for this move:
1) The guy I'll be moving in with (Ryan) seems really cool (how can he not be? -- he loves table tennis! and he works at the coolest place ever -- Google!)
2) Ryan's going to let me have the en suite bedroom (which is probably 1.5 times bigger than the one I'm in now!) which also means that I can have friends stay with me now and not feel like I'm imposing on my flatmate.
3) The rent is a bit more, but balancing that out with the fact that Ryan gets free (really fast!) Internet on behalf of Google, I'll actually be saving 40 euros per month. So, I'm not going to be paying all that much more overall, and I get the bigger bedroom, and a flat mate who seems to be interested in some of the same things as me!
I'm stoked! :-)
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