Surface Mount
Today I had to attend this 2 hour training seminar on "Surface Mount Testability Guidelines". Reminded me a lot of the times spent on ECE Senior Design, when we were trying to work with those tiny chips with a huge soldering iron ("huge" in relative terms). It was an eye-opening experience to see that in the rich corporate world, there are actually nice tools available to make surface mount soldering easy ("easy" in relative terms). Meanwhile, the U of I ECE department skimped on supplying us lowly undergrads with quality equipment. Now I'm a little bitter, thinking about all those chips we burned and the time we wasted because of that.
Another thought I was pondering is, how does my 4 years of taking ECE courses apply to the larger picture of the "real world". Besides what I do at my job, it doesn't seem like my knowledge or understanding of the Electrical Engineering curriculum really helps out much in the broader sense.
I mean, if you spent 4 years learning about plumbing, that at least gives you one big practical skill under your belt. Not only is it your job, but your expertise in plumbing is gonna help you out a lot when your own toilet clogs. Plus you got the tools and everything already there at your disposal.
Same could be said for almost any profession. If you were a mechanic, you never have to worry about where to take your car when it breaks down. If you were a doctor, you could diagnose your own ailments and write your own prescriptions. If you were a personal trainer, you can bet on having a healthy and good looking body for yourself. If you were an interior decorator, you'd never have to pay someone else to make your house look nice. If you were a stripper, you'd save lots of money because you wouldn't have to buy as many clothes. If you were an accountant, you should have no problem filing your own taxes and handling your finances. For some professions, your skill/job is more useful than for others, but you get the point.
What side benefit do I gain from my knowledge of Electrical Engineering? Hmmm, I can explain why my cell phone makes noise come out of my computer speakers (maybe). I can tell you the significance of the third plug for electrical sockets. Not very useful at all. When am I ever gonna use a Fast Fourier Transform? And is my proficiency in using Digital Oscilloscopes really gonna come in handy one of these days?
The field of EE is so specialized that outside of a desk or lab environment, your knowledge is effectively meaningless. I think I wrote about this before, but a lot of people mistakenly think that Electrical Engineers should all know how to fix TVs and that kind of stuff. To some extent, maybe we know a little more than the average person, but you're better off with an electrician graduating from DeVry. Other people think an EE degree automatically makes you an expert computer programmer or web designer. Wrong again, you're thinking CS.
But the interesting thing is, I also know a lot of EE graduates in society go on to become some of the world's most influential, respected, well-rounded people, and many of them accomplish great things, that are often times well beyond the world of electrical engineering. How is this possible, and why does this happen, when the field of expertise we're talking about is so abstract and distant from the practical world?
The only theory I have is that to graduate from EE, you probably have to be one of the best and brightest people to begin with. There are a few exceptions, but, at the risk of sounding elitist, nobody who is stupid ever becomes an Electrical Engineer. So you end up with this pool of the "best and the brightest", and from this pool, a lot are bound to stand out and lead exceptional lives.
Of course, it's just a theory, and even if there was actually truth to it, it doesn't mean that all EE graduates will become hugely successful. The fact is, they don't. At most, it says that achieving the degree shows you can hang with the upper percentile ranks of the population, and only up to that given point in life. You might be "statistically" more likely to prosper, but that's hardly a guarantee.
I would compare it to college vs. professional sports. You could be dominating in college basketball or football, be named to All-American teams or win the Heisman Trophy, but easily end up as a huge flop in the NBA or NFL. But still, the likelihood of a college star being good in the pros is much higher than that of a random schmoe off the street.
I went off on a huge tangent from what I was originally writing about, but I guess here is my patchwork conclusion about the subject. The important things have little to do with what school you went to, what you studied, and what your GPA was. You could be valedictorian in high school, but if you slack off in college, you will fail. You could get a Ph.D from Harvard, but if you stop learning and improving yourself after graduating, it will largely be a waste in the end. The most important thing is to have a driving force inside you, to constantly strive for the best, for perfection in whatever you do, for making the most of what you have. I think if you have that drive, no matter where you are in life, it would be hard for you not to succeed.
Thursday, May 29, 2003
Wednesday, May 28, 2003
Radio
One of my top highlights in life these days is when I drive home for lunch, and I get to listen to Nicki's Nineties Nooner on Q101 (during the "noon" hour). It's weird, I used to think it was so lame that people listened to stuff like "80's at 8" on the Mix or whatever. Actually, I still do. But now that I stop and think about it, we're well into the next decade, here in the year 2003, and an hour dedicated to 90's music probably sounds lame to the next generation.
Still, I think Nirvana, Pearl Jam, STP, Pumpkins, etc., is always gonna be cooler than the stuff like Erasure and Depeche Mode. Songs about killing yourself or doing hard drugs beats being gay any day right? Anyways, like I was saying, listening to the 'Nooner is really good stuff. It's not so much the actual music; I mean, I have most of the songs they play either on CD or mp3 already. But it's just a different feeling to hear the stuff on the radio. Takes me back to the good old days for a bit. Plus, I'll always still hear at least one or two songs that I used to love but totally forgot about.
One thing I noticed that hasn't changed since the 90's is Loveline at night. I remember listening to that show almost every night in high school. Not because I had any dysfunctional problems, but it was just very entertaining for some reason. Now, it's 6 or 7 years later, and I just started tuning in to the show again, once in a while before going to sleep. And surprisingly, it's pretty much the exact same show. Dr. Drew has not changed at all. Adam Carolla got a little more popular on MTV and Comedy Central over these years, but he's basically the same guy too. He's still a hilarious host, and does the same routines, even down to saying "Mahalo" at the end of every show.
Maybe the only difference is the callers - I don't know if it's my imagination, but it seems like the kids have more extreme problems today. Sometimes it blows my mind, the things I hear them talk about. Even listening back in high school, I thought the calls were so crazy, like "What the-- 16 year olds are having SEX??! What is this world coming to?" But the stuff they discuss on the show today goes beyond that. Makes me kind of fear the day I have kids and have to let them loose in this society. I guess for me, growing up in a church setting and conservative family really sheltered me from a whole lot of stuff. In some ways that might have been good, in some ways not so good. But that's a whole other story, whole different blog.
While I'm on the topic of radio, one of the negatives about being off overtime hours is that I miss out on my new favorite segment on WGCI. It used to be "Tony's Trippin" in the morning, but they repeat some of those too much. The news is still good, when he "alliterates". But this thing I'm talking about, they do every night at about 5:45-6 or so, and it's quality stuff. I forgot it was called, something hokey like "Rhyme on Time", I think. Anyways, it's basically people calling up after work, the Bad Boys putting on a beat, and asking them a bunch of questions that they're supposed to answer using lines that rhyme and go with the beat. Kind of like the Birthday Line, except people can be more creative. In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, it goes something like this:
Bad Boys: Are you workin?
Caller: Yeah, I'm workin yo' mama
BB: What you drivin?
C: A '97 Maxima
BB: Are your pockets fat?
C: Naw, you know they ain't
BB: What kind of gear is that?
C: Abercrombie pants with yellow latex paint
Some of the people who call up are pretty terrible (like my example), but some are pretty good. Either way, it's entertaining to me. Except I bet it will get old soon, cause there's only so many things you can do with those same 4 questions, so it's bound to start repeating eventually.
*****
My sister started a Xanga page. Please don't stalk her, but if you want to see some stupid webcam pics we took a while ago, you can see them here on the May 27 entry: http://www.xanga.com/junkfoodaddict
But seriously, don't stalk her.
*****
In other news, my computer died while I was eating lunch today. I'm afraid this time it might be for good. After rebooting a bunch of times, no luck, and I had to go back to work. I keep getting a scrambled screen, it's really weird. Don't know if it's something wrong with Windows, my video card, hard drive, RAM, CPU, or what. If anyone has any ideas on how to fix my comp, let me know before I have to order a new one.
Also, if I was talking to you on AIM during lunch and suddenly stopped, now you know why. And if you talk to me at night and I type really slow, it's because I'm on my PPC. Just a heads up FYI.
One of my top highlights in life these days is when I drive home for lunch, and I get to listen to Nicki's Nineties Nooner on Q101 (during the "noon" hour). It's weird, I used to think it was so lame that people listened to stuff like "80's at 8" on the Mix or whatever. Actually, I still do. But now that I stop and think about it, we're well into the next decade, here in the year 2003, and an hour dedicated to 90's music probably sounds lame to the next generation.
Still, I think Nirvana, Pearl Jam, STP, Pumpkins, etc., is always gonna be cooler than the stuff like Erasure and Depeche Mode. Songs about killing yourself or doing hard drugs beats being gay any day right? Anyways, like I was saying, listening to the 'Nooner is really good stuff. It's not so much the actual music; I mean, I have most of the songs they play either on CD or mp3 already. But it's just a different feeling to hear the stuff on the radio. Takes me back to the good old days for a bit. Plus, I'll always still hear at least one or two songs that I used to love but totally forgot about.
One thing I noticed that hasn't changed since the 90's is Loveline at night. I remember listening to that show almost every night in high school. Not because I had any dysfunctional problems, but it was just very entertaining for some reason. Now, it's 6 or 7 years later, and I just started tuning in to the show again, once in a while before going to sleep. And surprisingly, it's pretty much the exact same show. Dr. Drew has not changed at all. Adam Carolla got a little more popular on MTV and Comedy Central over these years, but he's basically the same guy too. He's still a hilarious host, and does the same routines, even down to saying "Mahalo" at the end of every show.
Maybe the only difference is the callers - I don't know if it's my imagination, but it seems like the kids have more extreme problems today. Sometimes it blows my mind, the things I hear them talk about. Even listening back in high school, I thought the calls were so crazy, like "What the-- 16 year olds are having SEX??! What is this world coming to?" But the stuff they discuss on the show today goes beyond that. Makes me kind of fear the day I have kids and have to let them loose in this society. I guess for me, growing up in a church setting and conservative family really sheltered me from a whole lot of stuff. In some ways that might have been good, in some ways not so good. But that's a whole other story, whole different blog.
While I'm on the topic of radio, one of the negatives about being off overtime hours is that I miss out on my new favorite segment on WGCI. It used to be "Tony's Trippin" in the morning, but they repeat some of those too much. The news is still good, when he "alliterates". But this thing I'm talking about, they do every night at about 5:45-6 or so, and it's quality stuff. I forgot it was called, something hokey like "Rhyme on Time", I think. Anyways, it's basically people calling up after work, the Bad Boys putting on a beat, and asking them a bunch of questions that they're supposed to answer using lines that rhyme and go with the beat. Kind of like the Birthday Line, except people can be more creative. In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, it goes something like this:
Bad Boys: Are you workin?
Caller: Yeah, I'm workin yo' mama
BB: What you drivin?
C: A '97 Maxima
BB: Are your pockets fat?
C: Naw, you know they ain't
BB: What kind of gear is that?
C: Abercrombie pants with yellow latex paint
Some of the people who call up are pretty terrible (like my example), but some are pretty good. Either way, it's entertaining to me. Except I bet it will get old soon, cause there's only so many things you can do with those same 4 questions, so it's bound to start repeating eventually.
*****
My sister started a Xanga page. Please don't stalk her, but if you want to see some stupid webcam pics we took a while ago, you can see them here on the May 27 entry: http://www.xanga.com/junkfoodaddict
But seriously, don't stalk her.
*****
In other news, my computer died while I was eating lunch today. I'm afraid this time it might be for good. After rebooting a bunch of times, no luck, and I had to go back to work. I keep getting a scrambled screen, it's really weird. Don't know if it's something wrong with Windows, my video card, hard drive, RAM, CPU, or what. If anyone has any ideas on how to fix my comp, let me know before I have to order a new one.
Also, if I was talking to you on AIM during lunch and suddenly stopped, now you know why. And if you talk to me at night and I type really slow, it's because I'm on my PPC. Just a heads up FYI.
Monday, May 26, 2003
Memorial Day Blog
First of all a big CONGRATS goes to Dennis for landing a job he wanted. Now he can experience the feeling I'm feeling now - when you realize after a long enjoyable weekend, "Shoot, I gotta go back to work tomorrow". But the positive is, he'll be 10 mins from where I work, about 20 from where I live. Good stuff.
Happy birthday goes to Nina... join the wonderful world of 23.
I never noticed this before, but I think the banner ad on the top of my blog page is tailored to some of what I write about. Today I noticed it was an ad for model F-14 Tomcats, which I'm guessing is from when I wrote about Northrop planes. And I think before there was a banner for White Sox memorabilia, but I just figured it was a coincidence.
I watched some of the Cal/UCLA girl's softball championship game. With Jennie Finch getting so much attention on ESPN.com Page 2 a while back, I figured maybe I'd check out some hotties. And oh boy, did I get what I was looking for, Veronica Nelson, yum yum:
*****
Currently playing on my Winamp: Frankie J - Don't Want To Try
First of all a big CONGRATS goes to Dennis for landing a job he wanted. Now he can experience the feeling I'm feeling now - when you realize after a long enjoyable weekend, "Shoot, I gotta go back to work tomorrow". But the positive is, he'll be 10 mins from where I work, about 20 from where I live. Good stuff.
Happy birthday goes to Nina... join the wonderful world of 23.
I never noticed this before, but I think the banner ad on the top of my blog page is tailored to some of what I write about. Today I noticed it was an ad for model F-14 Tomcats, which I'm guessing is from when I wrote about Northrop planes. And I think before there was a banner for White Sox memorabilia, but I just figured it was a coincidence.
I watched some of the Cal/UCLA girl's softball championship game. With Jennie Finch getting so much attention on ESPN.com Page 2 a while back, I figured maybe I'd check out some hotties. And oh boy, did I get what I was looking for, Veronica Nelson, yum yum:
*****
Currently playing on my Winamp: Frankie J - Don't Want To Try
Saturday, May 24, 2003
Older People
In my sister's b-day card, I wrote to her something like "enjoy your 21st, because after that, you won't really feel happy turning older anymore". Which was basically along the lines of what I was feeling after my 22nd and 23rd birthdays, and I think I wrote a couple blog entries saying as much too.
But I think my view of getting older has been changing for the better. Well, I still dread the day I turn 30 and become a "thirty-something", in my "thirties" (it just sounds old). In terms of actually getting old, though, I guess I don't fear being 30 or 40, as much as I fear reaching that age without having made anything out of my life. It's one thing to be old, but to be old, unhappy, and unsatisfied with where you are, and what you've accomplished, is infinitely worse.
A side benefit of my sister's birthday, if you can call it that, was getting to spend some time with my mom, dad, and grandparents as we all went to dinner. I'm at the age when I wouldn't really be able to stand being around them all the time. But it's definitely worthwhile and rewarding to see them and talk to them now and then.
Anyways, as I sat at the table with the two older generations of the Chen family that came before me, I was really struck by how young and insignificant my life is in comparison to all of theirs. To me, 23 years seems like a long time. But my mom and dad are more than twice as old, and my grandparents are more than three times as old. Not only have they walked this earth that much longer than me, but they have made their time count and have much to show for it.
My grandparents basically moved from China to Taiwan at around my age or even younger. No college education, no money or parents' roof to live under, just completely on their own and having to work for every single thing they had, from the ground up. My mom and dad moved from Taiwan to Chicago around my age. Dad went to grad school, lived across from the ghettos on S. King Drive, got his first job for about $20,000 at the Chicago Board of Trade with an MBA degree.
So none of them had half the opportunities I had, yet look at them now. Years later, my grandparents are successfully retired, with plenty in savings, and 6 children who are all pretty successful and are happy to take care of them. My mom and dad started out in those rough years, but they have a lot to be proud of too. If nothing else, they can take heart in knowing they raised a fantastic son like me, and to a lesser extent, having a decent daughter like my sister (haha just kidding meh).
Then there's the older people at work. You'd think that it would suck to be around 40-50 year olds all the time, but it's not really the case. Sure, it's weird to hear them talk about taking their kids to soccer, remodeling their house, or seeing the Mothers Day gifts their sons made in kindergarten in their offices. I'm still way too young for any of that. But to be honest, a part of me really envies them. I think that's what I'd want my life to be like (except probably in 10-15 years or so).
It's really interesting and enlightening to talk to the "veterans" of the company too. I love hearing all of them talk about the days when they were working on the B-2 Bomber, back when it was a "Black" program and they weren't allowed to discuss it with anyone or even tell people they were on it. I mean, here I am, having worked 7 months at the company, and already been on 3 different projects. There's people who have been here for over 30 years, and it blows my mind to think about how much they must have been through and accomplished in that time. My boss has been here ever since the building was built, and he's had the same parking spot this whole time.
But instead of seeing them as aging and past their prime, more and more I look up to these people and want to follow their footsteps. It still sounds better to stay young and never get old, but, as my dad tells me, "Youth is wasted on the young" (he is full of those kinds of quotes). So being young is fun, but in the end, what do you have to show for it? It's not until you get older that you start to understand the bigger picture of life, and how the world works and everything. We aren't born with the understanding of the true magnitude of value in our youth, and the opportunities this time presents us. I know I didn't make the most of it.
And I guess those of us (including me) who keep thinking about how much it sucks to be getting older, maybe we shouldn't? Or at least maybe ask ourselves why it is that we want to stay young. Is it because we never want to give up the days of being out late and eating unhealthy without consequence? Because the working life, family life, seems so unglamourous in comparison to college and high school? Well, I think what I should really be worried about, when it comes to getting older, is wasting my chance to do something meaningful with my life.
See, I'm not really that bothered when I see a 30-40 year old, even when they might be losing some hair, getting a potbelly, etc. Actually, both my parents are almost 50, and they are in pretty good shape, so I don't worry too much. What I'm saying is, I see most older people simply as people who are older. I don't expect to be friends with them, but I still respect them and stuff.
It's when I see the "thirty-somethings" out partying in the clubs on the weekend when it starts to be more of an issue with me. Like, I wonder what are they doing here, trying to pick up younger chicks who don't know any better? Shouldn't they be doing something else with their life? I think some of us see that older guy and think, man, it's gonna suck to be thirty-something cause then I'll be that old guy in the club who doesn't belong. But look at it another way: I hope that when I'm that age, I won't have any desire to be that guy. In fact, I expect that by then, I'll want to be settled down, married, taking care of kids and moving ahead in my career, so it's not relevant at all. Who cares if I'm at the age when I would look retarded being at the club, I'm not gonna want to be there anyways.
And the reality, at least I hope, is that at some point along the way, we change, we get older not just physically but mentally and emotionally as well. Right now, I guess it's not clear where we should be. The only words that can sum up my thoughts come from one of the true visionary artists of our generation. I offer you her words:
I'm not a girl
not yet a woman
All I need is time
a moment that is mine
while I'm in between
I'm not a girl
In my sister's b-day card, I wrote to her something like "enjoy your 21st, because after that, you won't really feel happy turning older anymore". Which was basically along the lines of what I was feeling after my 22nd and 23rd birthdays, and I think I wrote a couple blog entries saying as much too.
But I think my view of getting older has been changing for the better. Well, I still dread the day I turn 30 and become a "thirty-something", in my "thirties" (it just sounds old). In terms of actually getting old, though, I guess I don't fear being 30 or 40, as much as I fear reaching that age without having made anything out of my life. It's one thing to be old, but to be old, unhappy, and unsatisfied with where you are, and what you've accomplished, is infinitely worse.
A side benefit of my sister's birthday, if you can call it that, was getting to spend some time with my mom, dad, and grandparents as we all went to dinner. I'm at the age when I wouldn't really be able to stand being around them all the time. But it's definitely worthwhile and rewarding to see them and talk to them now and then.
Anyways, as I sat at the table with the two older generations of the Chen family that came before me, I was really struck by how young and insignificant my life is in comparison to all of theirs. To me, 23 years seems like a long time. But my mom and dad are more than twice as old, and my grandparents are more than three times as old. Not only have they walked this earth that much longer than me, but they have made their time count and have much to show for it.
My grandparents basically moved from China to Taiwan at around my age or even younger. No college education, no money or parents' roof to live under, just completely on their own and having to work for every single thing they had, from the ground up. My mom and dad moved from Taiwan to Chicago around my age. Dad went to grad school, lived across from the ghettos on S. King Drive, got his first job for about $20,000 at the Chicago Board of Trade with an MBA degree.
So none of them had half the opportunities I had, yet look at them now. Years later, my grandparents are successfully retired, with plenty in savings, and 6 children who are all pretty successful and are happy to take care of them. My mom and dad started out in those rough years, but they have a lot to be proud of too. If nothing else, they can take heart in knowing they raised a fantastic son like me, and to a lesser extent, having a decent daughter like my sister (haha just kidding meh).
Then there's the older people at work. You'd think that it would suck to be around 40-50 year olds all the time, but it's not really the case. Sure, it's weird to hear them talk about taking their kids to soccer, remodeling their house, or seeing the Mothers Day gifts their sons made in kindergarten in their offices. I'm still way too young for any of that. But to be honest, a part of me really envies them. I think that's what I'd want my life to be like (except probably in 10-15 years or so).
It's really interesting and enlightening to talk to the "veterans" of the company too. I love hearing all of them talk about the days when they were working on the B-2 Bomber, back when it was a "Black" program and they weren't allowed to discuss it with anyone or even tell people they were on it. I mean, here I am, having worked 7 months at the company, and already been on 3 different projects. There's people who have been here for over 30 years, and it blows my mind to think about how much they must have been through and accomplished in that time. My boss has been here ever since the building was built, and he's had the same parking spot this whole time.
But instead of seeing them as aging and past their prime, more and more I look up to these people and want to follow their footsteps. It still sounds better to stay young and never get old, but, as my dad tells me, "Youth is wasted on the young" (he is full of those kinds of quotes). So being young is fun, but in the end, what do you have to show for it? It's not until you get older that you start to understand the bigger picture of life, and how the world works and everything. We aren't born with the understanding of the true magnitude of value in our youth, and the opportunities this time presents us. I know I didn't make the most of it.
And I guess those of us (including me) who keep thinking about how much it sucks to be getting older, maybe we shouldn't? Or at least maybe ask ourselves why it is that we want to stay young. Is it because we never want to give up the days of being out late and eating unhealthy without consequence? Because the working life, family life, seems so unglamourous in comparison to college and high school? Well, I think what I should really be worried about, when it comes to getting older, is wasting my chance to do something meaningful with my life.
See, I'm not really that bothered when I see a 30-40 year old, even when they might be losing some hair, getting a potbelly, etc. Actually, both my parents are almost 50, and they are in pretty good shape, so I don't worry too much. What I'm saying is, I see most older people simply as people who are older. I don't expect to be friends with them, but I still respect them and stuff.
It's when I see the "thirty-somethings" out partying in the clubs on the weekend when it starts to be more of an issue with me. Like, I wonder what are they doing here, trying to pick up younger chicks who don't know any better? Shouldn't they be doing something else with their life? I think some of us see that older guy and think, man, it's gonna suck to be thirty-something cause then I'll be that old guy in the club who doesn't belong. But look at it another way: I hope that when I'm that age, I won't have any desire to be that guy. In fact, I expect that by then, I'll want to be settled down, married, taking care of kids and moving ahead in my career, so it's not relevant at all. Who cares if I'm at the age when I would look retarded being at the club, I'm not gonna want to be there anyways.
And the reality, at least I hope, is that at some point along the way, we change, we get older not just physically but mentally and emotionally as well. Right now, I guess it's not clear where we should be. The only words that can sum up my thoughts come from one of the true visionary artists of our generation. I offer you her words:
I'm not a girl
not yet a woman
All I need is time
a moment that is mine
while I'm in between
I'm not a girl
Wednesday, May 21, 2003
Work Status
Today was a landmark day in my career. For the first time ever, I had a conflict between two meetings. So I'm gonna mark down "5/21/03" on the calendar, as the first time I was important enough to have a scheduling conflict. It made me feel special, popular and powerful at the same time, to reject one of the meetings. I was like "Yeah... I'm too cool for you guys".
Yesterday I cleaned off the huge stacks of paper that were cluttering up my desk. It amazed me how much stuff can pile up in just over 7 months of working. At the bottom of some piles I found buried treasures that I couldn't find for the longest time. Scissors, Post-it notes, Listerine Pocket Packs, phone numbers of some random hoes I picked up along the way, and a couple highlighters.
(Now that I have a digital organizer, I'm glad I won't lose any more phone numbers to such sloppiness. By the way, if you would like to be added to my list of contacts, please email me with your info: name, birthday, phone number (cell/home/work), email address, URL, name/phone number of your assistant, and if whether you would like to be classified under "Personal" or "Business")
One thing I found was a memo dated 10/17/02, my second week at the company, from the manager on the first program I worked on. It described the general format and what I should include in weekly status reports. Now that I think of it, since then I've written about 30 of these "weeklys" between the different projects I've been on during these 7 months. But that was the very first one. I thought about keeping it for memories sake, but didn't. But still... ahh, memories.
If you ever visit the place I work, you will see that every cube has name tags of the people on the outside wall. Generally, these name tags are ordered in respect to the seniority of each person. Already, I find myself as the top name tag at my cube. Kind of weird to think that since moving in here in October, the original guy moved away, I had the cube to myself for a month, a new guy moved in, another new guy moved in, one of the new guys moved out, and just this Monday another new guy arrived. I am a model of consistency, the rock of this cube, I must say.
Finally, I would like to wish a special Happy Birthday to my favorite sister! Remember, you are definitely ranked among the top 3 Chens in my book.
Today was a landmark day in my career. For the first time ever, I had a conflict between two meetings. So I'm gonna mark down "5/21/03" on the calendar, as the first time I was important enough to have a scheduling conflict. It made me feel special, popular and powerful at the same time, to reject one of the meetings. I was like "Yeah... I'm too cool for you guys".
Yesterday I cleaned off the huge stacks of paper that were cluttering up my desk. It amazed me how much stuff can pile up in just over 7 months of working. At the bottom of some piles I found buried treasures that I couldn't find for the longest time. Scissors, Post-it notes, Listerine Pocket Packs, phone numbers of some random hoes I picked up along the way, and a couple highlighters.
(Now that I have a digital organizer, I'm glad I won't lose any more phone numbers to such sloppiness. By the way, if you would like to be added to my list of contacts, please email me with your info: name, birthday, phone number (cell/home/work), email address, URL, name/phone number of your assistant, and if whether you would like to be classified under "Personal" or "Business")
One thing I found was a memo dated 10/17/02, my second week at the company, from the manager on the first program I worked on. It described the general format and what I should include in weekly status reports. Now that I think of it, since then I've written about 30 of these "weeklys" between the different projects I've been on during these 7 months. But that was the very first one. I thought about keeping it for memories sake, but didn't. But still... ahh, memories.
If you ever visit the place I work, you will see that every cube has name tags of the people on the outside wall. Generally, these name tags are ordered in respect to the seniority of each person. Already, I find myself as the top name tag at my cube. Kind of weird to think that since moving in here in October, the original guy moved away, I had the cube to myself for a month, a new guy moved in, another new guy moved in, one of the new guys moved out, and just this Monday another new guy arrived. I am a model of consistency, the rock of this cube, I must say.
Finally, I would like to wish a special Happy Birthday to my favorite sister! Remember, you are definitely ranked among the top 3 Chens in my book.
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