Transitions are sometimes scary, usually disruptive, and always exciting for me. First and foremost, my final day at Meijer went as smoothly as I expected it to. Saying goodbye to a lot of friendly faces was rather tough, but I will certainly be back to visit them from time to time, so not all is lost.
With Meijer behind me, I set out to enjoy this weekend. I spent most of yesterday at the Roche de Boeuf Festival in downtown Waterville. I have not attended this festival in ten years, and with all the fond memories of it that I have as a kid, it was quite a shock to see the festival today. It's much smaller and more pared down from what I remember. Still, with very decent weather and a rather well-behaved pooch (!?), I had a decent way to spend a Saturday morning.
Today is all about the relaxation: I cleaned and organized my room for the week, gathered my work supplies for tomorrow, and I'm spending the remainder of the day playing video games, walking Elli, and perhaps getting some ice cream in BG later on.
And tomorrow, of course, I start at CRI. Simply awesome.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
What A Month!
I haven't had much to look forward to this past summer - Meijer, WoW, and job hunting was about it for me. But now come October, I have a ton of things to look forward to. Let me start from the beginning.
First week: Obviously, I'll be going into October with my new job, which is both scary and fantastic at the same time. I start September 29th, and my first week at CRI ends with my birthday. Simply awesome. I can't wait to get started. Also, my favorite movie of the year, "Iron Man," comes out on DVD this week, but I will have to wait to see it until...
October 4th: My birthday weekend should be something fun, if not relieving. Any stress that I accumulate at CRI in my first week will be set aside this day for a small gathering of family and hopefully friends, although nothing particularly fancy. I intend to take the day off to relax and enjoy our chilly fall weather.
October 17th: I'm a huge fan of the Max Payne games on PC, and the movie adaptation looks to be incredibly faithful to the games in both story, style, and atmosphere. No other game franchise could make the leap to film as easily as Max Payne could. I'll be first in line on this Friday night.
October 26th: October ends with a bang. Literally. Guitar Hero: World Tour (aka, Guitar Hero 4) comes out, and despite being a $200 package, I'm diving right in, namely for one reason: drums. I have, more than any other rhythm-based game, wanted to bang away on drums like nothing else, and I am pouring a good chunk of my time and money into getting set up with Guitar Hero: WT by the end of the month. I've always been a big fan of the Guitar Hero games, and I was terribly jealous of the Rock Band series when it launched last year - all because of that drumming part. Now it looks as if though Guitar Hero will have a superior percussion setup, and not to mention the deal breaker for me: "Hotel California" by the Eagles will be featured in the game. Bloody good bliss!
B3 out.
I am
First week: Obviously, I'll be going into October with my new job, which is both scary and fantastic at the same time. I start September 29th, and my first week at CRI ends with my birthday. Simply awesome. I can't wait to get started. Also, my favorite movie of the year, "Iron Man," comes out on DVD this week, but I will have to wait to see it until...
October 4th: My birthday weekend should be something fun, if not relieving. Any stress that I accumulate at CRI in my first week will be set aside this day for a small gathering of family and hopefully friends, although nothing particularly fancy. I intend to take the day off to relax and enjoy our chilly fall weather.
October 17th: I'm a huge fan of the Max Payne games on PC, and the movie adaptation looks to be incredibly faithful to the games in both story, style, and atmosphere. No other game franchise could make the leap to film as easily as Max Payne could. I'll be first in line on this Friday night.
October 26th: October ends with a bang. Literally. Guitar Hero: World Tour (aka, Guitar Hero 4) comes out, and despite being a $200 package, I'm diving right in, namely for one reason: drums. I have, more than any other rhythm-based game, wanted to bang away on drums like nothing else, and I am pouring a good chunk of my time and money into getting set up with Guitar Hero: WT by the end of the month. I've always been a big fan of the Guitar Hero games, and I was terribly jealous of the Rock Band series when it launched last year - all because of that drumming part. Now it looks as if though Guitar Hero will have a superior percussion setup, and not to mention the deal breaker for me: "Hotel California" by the Eagles will be featured in the game. Bloody good bliss!
B3 out.
I am
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Random Thoughts and Other Tidbits
I haven't had the time nor the interest to sit down and ramble, but I have a few minutes between running about to do just that.
This is my last week at Meijer, which I'm approaching with mixed feelings. Let me get the obvious out of the way: the good times at Meijer have outweighed the really crappy times, so despite some rough weeks and months, I've had a very good six-year ride at Meijer. Thus, I'm sad to leave behind some really cool people, plenty of quirky daily customers, and one hell of a workout (walking around that place for eight hours adds up!).
But overall, I'm more thrilled for my potential future than I am sad about leaving Meijer.
I was usually scared in high school and college about "the real world." For all the learning that I did in school, I've never, ever felt prepared to get a "real" job outside of Meijer. Now that it is happening, I'm finding myself thrilled on a daily basis. I've been told up front that the work at my new job will be fairly tedious (a programmer's kind of tedious), but I'm still thrilled. For one, I'm working during the day shift like any other businessman; I'm commuting up and down I-75 every day; I'm organizing myself to stay tasked every week, blending my work responsibilities with my home responsibilities -- I just feel all "professional-like" and it's quite a feeling.
I've spent so long "growing up" and being told of life in the professional business world that when I graduated, I stopped myself in disbelief for a while, hoping that I wouldn't get a "real" job, to help me stay young.
Of course, the desire to move on from Meijer for financial reasons, to put my degree to work, and to do what I genuinely do love - working with computers and programming - have pushed me into the world of IT. Now that I'm just a week away from starting, I'm beginning to suddenly feel very, very grown-up. And it's about time.
Out.
This is my last week at Meijer, which I'm approaching with mixed feelings. Let me get the obvious out of the way: the good times at Meijer have outweighed the really crappy times, so despite some rough weeks and months, I've had a very good six-year ride at Meijer. Thus, I'm sad to leave behind some really cool people, plenty of quirky daily customers, and one hell of a workout (walking around that place for eight hours adds up!).
But overall, I'm more thrilled for my potential future than I am sad about leaving Meijer.
I was usually scared in high school and college about "the real world." For all the learning that I did in school, I've never, ever felt prepared to get a "real" job outside of Meijer. Now that it is happening, I'm finding myself thrilled on a daily basis. I've been told up front that the work at my new job will be fairly tedious (a programmer's kind of tedious), but I'm still thrilled. For one, I'm working during the day shift like any other businessman; I'm commuting up and down I-75 every day; I'm organizing myself to stay tasked every week, blending my work responsibilities with my home responsibilities -- I just feel all "professional-like" and it's quite a feeling.
I've spent so long "growing up" and being told of life in the professional business world that when I graduated, I stopped myself in disbelief for a while, hoping that I wouldn't get a "real" job, to help me stay young.
Of course, the desire to move on from Meijer for financial reasons, to put my degree to work, and to do what I genuinely do love - working with computers and programming - have pushed me into the world of IT. Now that I'm just a week away from starting, I'm beginning to suddenly feel very, very grown-up. And it's about time.
Out.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Chandlering My Way to the Future
Every couple of hours I noticed a huge change in my feelings towards my new job... sometimes I'm nervous ("am I good enough of a programmer?") and other times I'm thrilled ("I get my own desk, my own workspace, and my own computer!"). One common bridge that both feelings share is the goal of organization. Going into a new, high-demand job means that staying organized is more important than even before.
With Microsoft Outlook quickly becoming an afterthought for me, especially in terms of structural organization, I've looked to a new product that I discovered in a rather odd manner: I read Dreaming In Code recently, which is a non-fiction novel chronicling the creation of Chandler, a new type of personal information manager.
Chandler 1.0 recently hit, and despite being software that feels somewhat incomplete still, I will say this: Chandler does a lot right. A lot.
First and foremost, Chandler attempts to bridge the gap between the rigid structures of computers and the free-flowing thought of the human mind. To do this, Chandler treats all the information that you enter into it as a "thought" - in this case, the form of a note. Have a quick, spontaneous thought that you need to jot down for later? Type up a few words to describe it and press Enter. Later, when the time is convenient for you, Chandler allows you to add details to these notes, and allows for organization by triage status (how important this note is), as well as conversion to to-do tasks, calendar events, and emails. In other words, information that you enter into Chandler all starts as the same generic, one-line note, but expand and evolve based on your specific needs of that thought or note. Brilliant.
Chandler has thus far replaced Outlook in about 3/4 of my organization tasks. The final piece of the puzzle, e-mail, is a bit trickier: Chandler thus far allows you to recieve and send basic emails, and extend the previously-mentioned mutations to them, but does not allow for advanced editing or organization. Still, in a couple of more version numbers, I think Chandler will blow Outlook out of the water.
Give it a shot, if you get the time.
With Microsoft Outlook quickly becoming an afterthought for me, especially in terms of structural organization, I've looked to a new product that I discovered in a rather odd manner: I read Dreaming In Code recently, which is a non-fiction novel chronicling the creation of Chandler, a new type of personal information manager.
Chandler 1.0 recently hit, and despite being software that feels somewhat incomplete still, I will say this: Chandler does a lot right. A lot.
First and foremost, Chandler attempts to bridge the gap between the rigid structures of computers and the free-flowing thought of the human mind. To do this, Chandler treats all the information that you enter into it as a "thought" - in this case, the form of a note. Have a quick, spontaneous thought that you need to jot down for later? Type up a few words to describe it and press Enter. Later, when the time is convenient for you, Chandler allows you to add details to these notes, and allows for organization by triage status (how important this note is), as well as conversion to to-do tasks, calendar events, and emails. In other words, information that you enter into Chandler all starts as the same generic, one-line note, but expand and evolve based on your specific needs of that thought or note. Brilliant.
Chandler has thus far replaced Outlook in about 3/4 of my organization tasks. The final piece of the puzzle, e-mail, is a bit trickier: Chandler thus far allows you to recieve and send basic emails, and extend the previously-mentioned mutations to them, but does not allow for advanced editing or organization. Still, in a couple of more version numbers, I think Chandler will blow Outlook out of the water.
Give it a shot, if you get the time.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Deep Breath, Everyone...
Remember how I said that Critically Correct would fall by the wayside as my rather boring summer slogged onward? Remember how I said if there is nothing worth blogging about, then why blog? Remember how I said if my life isn't worth blogging, then why bother?
Well guess what... Things are starting to happen.
First off, the big news: I have a proper job outside of Meijer. I will be turning in my two-weeks' notice to Meijer ASAP tomorrow, which will be both nerve racking and exciting at the same time. I will genuinely miss Meijer, mainly for the people, as I have met hundreds of fantastic people over the years there. Six and a half years ago I set out to repay a friend for a loan he gave me to buy a Nintendo Gamecube - and stuck around quite a bit longer than expected. Now I depend on Meijer no more.
So Corporate Research International (CRI) in Findlay, OH is it. I won't go into many details abouto the company, because quite frankly, I don't know what I can and cannot say about them. They look like a fantastic company to work for, however, and I'm excited about the prospect of being able to keep learning and developing my CS skills well past college.
So with that, the change that I have been waiting for has happened: I've been educated, I've been through college, and I have my first "real" job. I think things will be rather interesting in the coming weeks! Defintely stay tuned...
B3 out.
Well guess what... Things are starting to happen.
First off, the big news: I have a proper job outside of Meijer. I will be turning in my two-weeks' notice to Meijer ASAP tomorrow, which will be both nerve racking and exciting at the same time. I will genuinely miss Meijer, mainly for the people, as I have met hundreds of fantastic people over the years there. Six and a half years ago I set out to repay a friend for a loan he gave me to buy a Nintendo Gamecube - and stuck around quite a bit longer than expected. Now I depend on Meijer no more.
So Corporate Research International (CRI) in Findlay, OH is it. I won't go into many details abouto the company, because quite frankly, I don't know what I can and cannot say about them. They look like a fantastic company to work for, however, and I'm excited about the prospect of being able to keep learning and developing my CS skills well past college.
So with that, the change that I have been waiting for has happened: I've been educated, I've been through college, and I have my first "real" job. I think things will be rather interesting in the coming weeks! Defintely stay tuned...
B3 out.
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