i'll write something new about my asiatic journey in a bit. but for now, a picture has been added. what do you think? the inner artisan thinks that perhaps a scenic shot would be more suitable, perhaps of my recent travels. but then again, i like this photo because there's absolutely nothing special about it. and as you can see, i am travelling in this photo, to pingyao. wanna step back in time? go to pingyao, a 2000+ year old city with zero atm's. they even have an international photography festival every year, and what do you know? i was there at that exact time.
but as i said earlier, more to come.. until then, thoughts on blog photo?
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
a means to an end - overwhelmed in the land of mao pt.1
a little over a year and a half ago, i got a job doing something not befitting a person of my educational background - a quality assurance analyst position with metlife. i'm not dumb, but i was in no position to get this job. with very little computer experience, having not taken a single real computer class in college - i did take a microsoft office class freshman year, booya - and no real idea what quality assurance was in the first place (i looked it up in the dictionary before the interview), i owe it to a good friend of mine, der grossman chucky d, for getting my foot in the door. but i'm not dumb; i still had to nail two interviews, and of course did so convincingly. this job was the best that came my way after moving away from boulder. it was the highest paying job as well, and what do you know, i got to work with my best friend at the same time. i accepted the job with open arms.
i began the job unqualified, but i found out quickly the job was not difficult. i was a pawn, had absolutely zero input on projects and little on strategy, but i was also 24, so whatever. after a while, i realized i dislike staring at a computer screen for 8 hours a day, but as it turns out, i got to work with a bunch of really cool people, so this job was totally doable. you also have to remember that a job is exactly that - a job. it was something to do during the day. it provided money. it provided records. records like radiohead's ok computer, beta band ep's, deloused in the comatorium, neutral milk hotel's in the aeroplane over the sea, and led zeppelin's physical graffiti. but it became more than that; it became a means to an end.
and what does a job end with? a beer on the last day? think bigger. getting the afternoon off on the last day? way better. vacation! and when you're taking care of your parent's house while they're living abroad, you're able to save up for a most excellent vacation. on that note, since you've mooched off your parents this long, why not mooch a little further by visiting them and letting them pay for almost everything?
side not: i wasn't the only one doing the mooching. they didn't want to sell the house, so in exchange for me living at the house rent free, i had to maintain it so that my parents would have a place to come back to when they're done living it up in beijing. doesn't sound like a bad trade off for me, but do you think i like living in littleton? that town is flat out boring. i'm serious. it's an hour away from boulder, 30 minutes from denver, 45 from golden, 30 minutes farther from the ski slopes, has zero hiking paths, zero breweries, zero coffeeshops (starbucks doesn't count), and i only have one good friend that lives near me. but i do have a neighborhood pool...
when metlife decided to stop hiring contractors on site (aka in the usa), and started hiring them offshore (aka india), i knew my days would be limited. so i discussed some ideas with my bro and his now fiance, and together we agreed on a time to come out to china to visit the 'rents, and when ev went back to his comfy newsanchor position in lubbock texas, i would stay in the land of yao ming a while longer. then i thought to myself, patches is teaching english in ho chi minh city; i outta make one trip into two and go visit him as well. after a lengthy discussion with both eric and the parents, a two month trip was booked.
my assumption was correct; shortly after metlife "extended" our contract from the end of june through the end of the year, they promptly let go about half the contractors in about a two week span. i was not one of them, because the projects i was working on were huge and required my assistance. luckily i was not let go before i quit. when i left, our group was down from 10 (i think) to only 5.
a week after quiting, my bro and his fiance flew in from texas, and the next morning, we were gone. unfortunately you aren't beamed there; it was a shitty plethora of planes and airplane food. the flight alone from minneapolis to tokyo was a ludicrous 12 hours. why the hell we went from denver to minneapolis and not a west coast city is beyond me. after leaving friday morning early, we finally arrived in beijing saturday night.
beijing has 16 million people. and i couldn't understand a single one of them...
i began the job unqualified, but i found out quickly the job was not difficult. i was a pawn, had absolutely zero input on projects and little on strategy, but i was also 24, so whatever. after a while, i realized i dislike staring at a computer screen for 8 hours a day, but as it turns out, i got to work with a bunch of really cool people, so this job was totally doable. you also have to remember that a job is exactly that - a job. it was something to do during the day. it provided money. it provided records. records like radiohead's ok computer, beta band ep's, deloused in the comatorium, neutral milk hotel's in the aeroplane over the sea, and led zeppelin's physical graffiti. but it became more than that; it became a means to an end.
and what does a job end with? a beer on the last day? think bigger. getting the afternoon off on the last day? way better. vacation! and when you're taking care of your parent's house while they're living abroad, you're able to save up for a most excellent vacation. on that note, since you've mooched off your parents this long, why not mooch a little further by visiting them and letting them pay for almost everything?
side not: i wasn't the only one doing the mooching. they didn't want to sell the house, so in exchange for me living at the house rent free, i had to maintain it so that my parents would have a place to come back to when they're done living it up in beijing. doesn't sound like a bad trade off for me, but do you think i like living in littleton? that town is flat out boring. i'm serious. it's an hour away from boulder, 30 minutes from denver, 45 from golden, 30 minutes farther from the ski slopes, has zero hiking paths, zero breweries, zero coffeeshops (starbucks doesn't count), and i only have one good friend that lives near me. but i do have a neighborhood pool...
when metlife decided to stop hiring contractors on site (aka in the usa), and started hiring them offshore (aka india), i knew my days would be limited. so i discussed some ideas with my bro and his now fiance, and together we agreed on a time to come out to china to visit the 'rents, and when ev went back to his comfy newsanchor position in lubbock texas, i would stay in the land of yao ming a while longer. then i thought to myself, patches is teaching english in ho chi minh city; i outta make one trip into two and go visit him as well. after a lengthy discussion with both eric and the parents, a two month trip was booked.
my assumption was correct; shortly after metlife "extended" our contract from the end of june through the end of the year, they promptly let go about half the contractors in about a two week span. i was not one of them, because the projects i was working on were huge and required my assistance. luckily i was not let go before i quit. when i left, our group was down from 10 (i think) to only 5.
a week after quiting, my bro and his fiance flew in from texas, and the next morning, we were gone. unfortunately you aren't beamed there; it was a shitty plethora of planes and airplane food. the flight alone from minneapolis to tokyo was a ludicrous 12 hours. why the hell we went from denver to minneapolis and not a west coast city is beyond me. after leaving friday morning early, we finally arrived in beijing saturday night.
beijing has 16 million people. and i couldn't understand a single one of them...
Sunday, September 21, 2008
starting over, blog-wise
well i've decided to create a new blog. not that my livejournal didn't pan out well, but a new set of entries might help stir up, oh i don't know, activity in one form or another. so here it is, brand spankin' new, and this is the first post.
the last book i read was the day of the locust by nathanael west; that was three years ago ***gasp***. it was good, though sadly i don't remember much about it. i tried reading matt's copy of the brothers karamazov but only got through about 300 pages before being sidetracked by god knows what.. probably a season of seinfeld, or a mars volta album. by the way, matt, i owe you a copy of that book, seeing as i still have yours. my favorite books are books i read in high school and early on in college. i'm a slow reader; sometimes i mouth the words. so while i like reading, i rarely do it, and that probably has a hand in it. the fact is reading proficiency (big word considering my vocabulary, um, sucks) improves by reading more often, and i've decided to do just that.
i always bring a book or two or three whenever i travel, and usually open them but rarely read more than a page or two. it's pathetic, i know. right now i'm in china, which i'll write about another time, and the books i've brought with me are dienstags bei morrie (tuesdays with morrie in german) by mitch albom -- as well as a couple german grammar/vocab/phrase books in an attempt to keep up my german speaking capabilities -- 101 countries: discovering the world through fast travel by p.j. parmar, dubliners by james joyce, and the simpsons and philosophy: the d'oh! of homer by about twenty different philosophers each writing a chapter.
i've decided to read both dubliners and the simpsons and philosophy while out here in china and vietnam. so far dubliners is good, though i haven't really gotten into the meat of it. what meat? it's a collection of short stories... but anyway, i like it so far. i read parts of the simpsons book a few years ago. i took an ethics class when i was a sophomore, and this was the required book to purchase. it was actually a super cool class, and i wish i had been awake during it more often. 8am classes are never the right fit for someone who doesn't go to sleep before midnight, and doesn't drink coffee. but the book is solid, so i've decided to read it from cover to cover this time, instead of skipping a chapter here and a chapter there. the first chapter deals with homer's character in regards to aristotle's moral evaluations. i'm only a few pages into it so far, so for now, i'll leave you with a quote from a very wise person. by the way, i'll be gone until the beginning of november, and by then i hope to have finished both these books. if you have a suggestion for my next attempt at mindful self-nourishment, please don't hesitate to give your two cents.
i can't live the button-down life like you. i want it all! the terrifying lows, the dizzying highs, the creamy middles! sure, i might offend a few of the blue-noses with my cocky stride and musky odors---oh, i'll never be the darling of the so-called "city fathers" who cluck their tongues, stroke their beards, and talk about "what's to be done with this homer simpson?"
~ homer simpson
the last book i read was the day of the locust by nathanael west; that was three years ago ***gasp***. it was good, though sadly i don't remember much about it. i tried reading matt's copy of the brothers karamazov but only got through about 300 pages before being sidetracked by god knows what.. probably a season of seinfeld, or a mars volta album. by the way, matt, i owe you a copy of that book, seeing as i still have yours. my favorite books are books i read in high school and early on in college. i'm a slow reader; sometimes i mouth the words. so while i like reading, i rarely do it, and that probably has a hand in it. the fact is reading proficiency (big word considering my vocabulary, um, sucks) improves by reading more often, and i've decided to do just that.
i always bring a book or two or three whenever i travel, and usually open them but rarely read more than a page or two. it's pathetic, i know. right now i'm in china, which i'll write about another time, and the books i've brought with me are dienstags bei morrie (tuesdays with morrie in german) by mitch albom -- as well as a couple german grammar/vocab/phrase books in an attempt to keep up my german speaking capabilities -- 101 countries: discovering the world through fast travel by p.j. parmar, dubliners by james joyce, and the simpsons and philosophy: the d'oh! of homer by about twenty different philosophers each writing a chapter.
i've decided to read both dubliners and the simpsons and philosophy while out here in china and vietnam. so far dubliners is good, though i haven't really gotten into the meat of it. what meat? it's a collection of short stories... but anyway, i like it so far. i read parts of the simpsons book a few years ago. i took an ethics class when i was a sophomore, and this was the required book to purchase. it was actually a super cool class, and i wish i had been awake during it more often. 8am classes are never the right fit for someone who doesn't go to sleep before midnight, and doesn't drink coffee. but the book is solid, so i've decided to read it from cover to cover this time, instead of skipping a chapter here and a chapter there. the first chapter deals with homer's character in regards to aristotle's moral evaluations. i'm only a few pages into it so far, so for now, i'll leave you with a quote from a very wise person. by the way, i'll be gone until the beginning of november, and by then i hope to have finished both these books. if you have a suggestion for my next attempt at mindful self-nourishment, please don't hesitate to give your two cents.
i can't live the button-down life like you. i want it all! the terrifying lows, the dizzying highs, the creamy middles! sure, i might offend a few of the blue-noses with my cocky stride and musky odors---oh, i'll never be the darling of the so-called "city fathers" who cluck their tongues, stroke their beards, and talk about "what's to be done with this homer simpson?"
~ homer simpson
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