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...
Sunday, September 28, 2008
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! :-)
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Is Age Just A Number??
Well, I have to admit, my new boss is quite comical and has a very mischievous streak to him, even if he might not actually follow through with his ideas.
Friday afternoon, Joanne, one of my co-workers and P.A. to the big boss (Joe) handed Brian (my new boss) his stack of business cards. He looked them over and said, "hmm, they're all here, if I were you, I would have taken a handful for yourself - you can have a lot of fun with business cards..." When both Joanne and I looked at him with looks to say, "go on...", he elaborated with being able to post business cards in a bathroom with the heading, "for a good time call.." and all the person's information is contained on the card; or if you're of the same sex as your boss, you can hand out the business cards to other people and pretend you're interested in them, especially effective if you start pretending you're gay while in a gay bar...
There were many other stories he had for the subject of business cards, but I'll move onto a new story, which made me laugh and glare at him at the same time... He was typing up the agenda for the meeting of the powerpoint presentation I just finished, and he typed in that there's something happening (a meeting of some sort) on the 23rd of September. I said, "oh, that's my birthday." He asked how old I will be, and I told him (with an unbelieving sigh at my own age) that I'll be turning 29. A short while later, he was discussing what he wanted me to do for the next project, talking about how he'd like to have a report which contained for one, demographics, such as sex, region, age, etc. He went on to explain a little detail of age, saying that I could create a pie chart and categorize it in such a way that anything from 14-28 could be considered young and anything 29 or older would be considered OLD...!
Anyway, my job is going well, Brian was happy with my effort so far during my first week, and that's good. :-)
Friday afternoon, Joanne, one of my co-workers and P.A. to the big boss (Joe) handed Brian (my new boss) his stack of business cards. He looked them over and said, "hmm, they're all here, if I were you, I would have taken a handful for yourself - you can have a lot of fun with business cards..." When both Joanne and I looked at him with looks to say, "go on...", he elaborated with being able to post business cards in a bathroom with the heading, "for a good time call.." and all the person's information is contained on the card; or if you're of the same sex as your boss, you can hand out the business cards to other people and pretend you're interested in them, especially effective if you start pretending you're gay while in a gay bar...
There were many other stories he had for the subject of business cards, but I'll move onto a new story, which made me laugh and glare at him at the same time... He was typing up the agenda for the meeting of the powerpoint presentation I just finished, and he typed in that there's something happening (a meeting of some sort) on the 23rd of September. I said, "oh, that's my birthday." He asked how old I will be, and I told him (with an unbelieving sigh at my own age) that I'll be turning 29. A short while later, he was discussing what he wanted me to do for the next project, talking about how he'd like to have a report which contained for one, demographics, such as sex, region, age, etc. He went on to explain a little detail of age, saying that I could create a pie chart and categorize it in such a way that anything from 14-28 could be considered young and anything 29 or older would be considered OLD...!
Anyway, my job is going well, Brian was happy with my effort so far during my first week, and that's good. :-)
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Pressure
So my old boss came to see how I was doing in my new job this morning (my first "official" day was today), and I told him things are fine (I haven't really had any training on how I need to do what my new boss wants me to, but I'm putting as much as I can together and then on Friday I presume we will get together to discuss things). Since my new boss hasn't been around more than 10 minutes, it's difficult to understand how things were done in the previous month, but I suppose sometimes stumbling your way through you get to learn what it entails in more detail for later discussion.
Anyway, my old boss told me that my new boss is very approachable and very fair, however he didn't get to the top by being nice. My new boss expects things to be done right, and he expects people to work hard. I can do these things, I just hope that I don't make any mistakes... I worry that sometimes even if I triple check things that sometimes I might not see something that I should have changed. Still, I'm hopeful that I will discover any mistakes before I "turn things in".
I'm also told that I will have the head of the whole department (in charge of 2,000 people) giving me things to do too. He's very nice as well and quite approachable. So with all this pressure to do things correctly, I really hope I live up to being able to. I have to. My old boss told me that not only have I been given a great opportunity to network, to learn new things, and to prove myself to executives, but I am also representing Scorecard Management, the department that I was previously working at (and will likely go back to in 10 months so far as I know). It's a lot of pressure, so I have to gather all my confidence and play and do my part in this new role.
Send all your hopes and best wishes this way for me over the next 10 weeks... ;-)
Anyway, my old boss told me that my new boss is very approachable and very fair, however he didn't get to the top by being nice. My new boss expects things to be done right, and he expects people to work hard. I can do these things, I just hope that I don't make any mistakes... I worry that sometimes even if I triple check things that sometimes I might not see something that I should have changed. Still, I'm hopeful that I will discover any mistakes before I "turn things in".
I'm also told that I will have the head of the whole department (in charge of 2,000 people) giving me things to do too. He's very nice as well and quite approachable. So with all this pressure to do things correctly, I really hope I live up to being able to. I have to. My old boss told me that not only have I been given a great opportunity to network, to learn new things, and to prove myself to executives, but I am also representing Scorecard Management, the department that I was previously working at (and will likely go back to in 10 months so far as I know). It's a lot of pressure, so I have to gather all my confidence and play and do my part in this new role.
Send all your hopes and best wishes this way for me over the next 10 weeks... ;-)
Monday, September 8, 2008
Small Steps to Big Change
Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yeeeeessss!! Yes!
Brian and Conor called me into a room to discuss something with me this afternoon, and I'm so excited for the opportunity! There is an executive who is taking on a 10-week project and during this time, since his focus will be on the project, he will need assistance in keeping his current role going. Apparently, Brian and Conor recommended me to do this! I can't wait, and I hope I can be everything and more in fulfilling this role for the next 10 weeks. Who knows what it might lead to... The nice thing is that all the executives are located on the same floor that I currently am on, so I'll merely need to move my PC and telephone. The drawers are on wheels, so that should be easy to just swap by rolling an empty set of drawers over to my old desk and taking mine with me. It all happened so fast this afternoon, but I'm absolutely thrilled. I hope I'm inundated with lots of work and I hope I can do an excellent job in my new role, or as Brian called it: a sabbatical!
I will, however, still make my way over to Dave's desk at lunch time so we can do our daily crossword puzzle together...!
Brian and Conor called me into a room to discuss something with me this afternoon, and I'm so excited for the opportunity! There is an executive who is taking on a 10-week project and during this time, since his focus will be on the project, he will need assistance in keeping his current role going. Apparently, Brian and Conor recommended me to do this! I can't wait, and I hope I can be everything and more in fulfilling this role for the next 10 weeks. Who knows what it might lead to... The nice thing is that all the executives are located on the same floor that I currently am on, so I'll merely need to move my PC and telephone. The drawers are on wheels, so that should be easy to just swap by rolling an empty set of drawers over to my old desk and taking mine with me. It all happened so fast this afternoon, but I'm absolutely thrilled. I hope I'm inundated with lots of work and I hope I can do an excellent job in my new role, or as Brian called it: a sabbatical!
I will, however, still make my way over to Dave's desk at lunch time so we can do our daily crossword puzzle together...!
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