After the crazy end to June at work, everything went into a huge lull. It really seemed like everyone turned into a bit of a zombie at work. Even my supervisor turned to me and said, "Yeah, you can probably relax for a few days." As much as I enjoy taking a breather every once in a while, it felt weird. My first three months at work had been a constant build-up of responsibilities and tasks, so to take a break from everything for a bit was just plain old weird. I did get a new list of companies for which I'm responsible, though, so that atleast gave me something to start working on when that lull got a little old.
Friday was a "floating holiday" at work since the Fourth was on Saturday. I didn't really have any plans, though, so I decided to go into work. What a bad idea. When I got to my train, I realized they were running on a Sunday schedule...and the trains were still horribly empty. (Yeah, that was the first time I regretted my decision to come to work. At that point, I thought about leaving work at lunch.) When I got to work, my supervisor greeted me and said, "Yeah, it looks like it's just Japanese people here today," and she was actually including me with the "Japanese people." (That was the second time I regretted my decision. At that point, I decided to leave work at lunch for sure.) Then I checked my e-mail and saw we were having a group meeting with the new general manager for our office at 2:30pm...no leaving early for Doug! (That was the third time I regretted my decision.)
All day, I kept hearing people comment "Yeah, it's only the Japanese people here today" (and it was true--all the non-Japanese people were out barbecuing or something). That was pretty much the final straw. After my meeting with the GM, I turned to my supervisor and just said, "I'm getting out of here." And of course, on my way out, a coworker said in mock shock, "You're leaving?" Like I told him, "I'm American. I don't have a sense of responsibility." But I just stayed in that night, because I needed to relax.
On Saturday morning, I got up for a seven-mile run (I went along a part of the lake I had never seen before), and then just relaxed in my apartment all day eating donuts. I could have gone out for fireworks, but I wasn't going to fight traffic and crowds for 15 minutes of fireworks. That's not how I roll. I'm used to real firework displays that last two hours and are set to music (I still miss Japan). Everything else is just a waste of my time.
***Lunch!***
Here's something random from work. My bosses took me out to lunch on Thursday to thank me for my "hard work during the last quarter." It kind of came out of the blue, so I figured they wanted to talk about work in a casual atmosphere. When we got to the Thai restaurant, they jumped right into it: "So, Doug, be honest. You don't find this job too difficult, do you?" He had asked me before, so I figured I should finally be honest: "Nope, not really." My bosses both responded with, "Yeah, it doesn't seem that way. You're doing a really good job." And then we stopped talking about work. For the rest of lunch, we talked about traveling around Thailand and Europe (which we've all done a little bit) and then other random stories, including my story about being bitten by a bat! (My boss is running the Chicago Marathon, like me. A famous Japanese marathon runner is from Gifu and has a running trail there named after her. I got bit by the bat while running along that trail.) So yeah, things at work are going well.
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Chicago is Japan
In Japan, I taught kids how to play cornhole. In Chicago, cornhole is very popular. In Japan, I taught kids how to play Bozo Buckets. In Chicago, I met Bozo. In Japan, I worked with Japanese people almost exclusively. In Chicago, I work with Japanese people almost exclusively. Seriously, sometimes it feels like I've never left Japan.
Anyway, this past weekend was Pride weekend in Chicago. Basically, it was a nonstop party from Friday to Sunday, but I was always asleep by midnight and awake by 7:30am (if no earlier). This doesn't sound like me, but it's true. On Friday night (after a stressful end to the work week), I went out to see Martha Wash perform at one of the street festivals. For those of you that don't remember, she's one of the original Weather Girls who sang It's Raining Men way back in the '70s. I also did a little bit of bar hopping after that, but I couldn't stay out too late, because...
On Saturday morning, I had a 10K race at 8:04am. Luckily, it started less than a mile from my apartment, but I was still awake by 6:30am. It was a really nice race along the lakefront and I covered the first 4 miles in 31 minutes, which is a really fast pace for me (it would've have been a personal best had I kept that pace). Sadly, though, my mental stamina can't keep up with my physical stamina and I had to do some walking, so I ended up finishing the race in 50 minutes and 10 seconds (which is my second fastest time ever, but I'm still upset that I had to walk). Two good things did come out of the race, though: 1) I think I've figured out how to improve my mental stamina, and 2) I think I've found a running partner, which will help for my marathon in October. The rest of the Saturday was pretty relaxing, between a decent brunch (with flavorless bacon), playing volleyball on the beach, a pretty good lunch (with great bacon), and a nap. I finished of Saturday night with a flask in my pocket while going to see 16 Candles, a '80s cover band that I first saw a couple of weeks ago (and they're still just as great). But again, I couldn't stay out too late, because...
On Sunday morning, church started two hours early at 9:00am because of the weekend's events, and I actually got there at 8:30am for some bagels and coffee. After an abbreviated church session, some of the younger kids (i.e., folks my age) enjoyed the festivities for a bit before meeting up with the church again to walk in the parade. The parade route was ridiculously long (in a good way), but I guess it has to be when 250,000 people show up to see it. The weather was perfect for it, too, with hardly a cloud in the sky and a nice breeze blowing. After finishing the parade and lying down in the nearest patch of grass, I took a couple of friends over to Terrance's apartment, where they were having a enormous barbecue. Picture this: I had a beer in one hand, a plate of meat in the other, and my feet were perched on the coffee table. I call that heaven. But again, I was exhausted, so I was in bed early on Sunday night, too.
***Work***
So, remember last week how I talked about expanding my responsibilites from 7 companies to 11? Yeah, they magically expanded to 13. On Friday, I was supposed to help a coworker with a company, but it was 2:00pm before I could even talk with him and all of a sudden it became "Yeah, Doug, can you do this report and finish it today?" I had less than four hours to write a 25-page report, something that normally takes a couple of days (but I did it and the report was well received). Then, when I got into work on Monday (the day all reports are due for the current cycle), I got a "Oh, Doug, we have one more company for you. Please and thanks." Even though I had a full day to work on this one, it was a bit more complex (and I was juggling a couple minor tasks with some previous reports I had written), so I was just as stressed as on Friday.
On Tuesday morning, though, I got more than a couple of praises for my ability to step up when needed.
Anyway, this past weekend was Pride weekend in Chicago. Basically, it was a nonstop party from Friday to Sunday, but I was always asleep by midnight and awake by 7:30am (if no earlier). This doesn't sound like me, but it's true. On Friday night (after a stressful end to the work week), I went out to see Martha Wash perform at one of the street festivals. For those of you that don't remember, she's one of the original Weather Girls who sang It's Raining Men way back in the '70s. I also did a little bit of bar hopping after that, but I couldn't stay out too late, because...
On Saturday morning, I had a 10K race at 8:04am. Luckily, it started less than a mile from my apartment, but I was still awake by 6:30am. It was a really nice race along the lakefront and I covered the first 4 miles in 31 minutes, which is a really fast pace for me (it would've have been a personal best had I kept that pace). Sadly, though, my mental stamina can't keep up with my physical stamina and I had to do some walking, so I ended up finishing the race in 50 minutes and 10 seconds (which is my second fastest time ever, but I'm still upset that I had to walk). Two good things did come out of the race, though: 1) I think I've figured out how to improve my mental stamina, and 2) I think I've found a running partner, which will help for my marathon in October. The rest of the Saturday was pretty relaxing, between a decent brunch (with flavorless bacon), playing volleyball on the beach, a pretty good lunch (with great bacon), and a nap. I finished of Saturday night with a flask in my pocket while going to see 16 Candles, a '80s cover band that I first saw a couple of weeks ago (and they're still just as great). But again, I couldn't stay out too late, because...
On Sunday morning, church started two hours early at 9:00am because of the weekend's events, and I actually got there at 8:30am for some bagels and coffee. After an abbreviated church session, some of the younger kids (i.e., folks my age) enjoyed the festivities for a bit before meeting up with the church again to walk in the parade. The parade route was ridiculously long (in a good way), but I guess it has to be when 250,000 people show up to see it. The weather was perfect for it, too, with hardly a cloud in the sky and a nice breeze blowing. After finishing the parade and lying down in the nearest patch of grass, I took a couple of friends over to Terrance's apartment, where they were having a enormous barbecue. Picture this: I had a beer in one hand, a plate of meat in the other, and my feet were perched on the coffee table. I call that heaven. But again, I was exhausted, so I was in bed early on Sunday night, too.
***Work***
So, remember last week how I talked about expanding my responsibilites from 7 companies to 11? Yeah, they magically expanded to 13. On Friday, I was supposed to help a coworker with a company, but it was 2:00pm before I could even talk with him and all of a sudden it became "Yeah, Doug, can you do this report and finish it today?" I had less than four hours to write a 25-page report, something that normally takes a couple of days (but I did it and the report was well received). Then, when I got into work on Monday (the day all reports are due for the current cycle), I got a "Oh, Doug, we have one more company for you. Please and thanks." Even though I had a full day to work on this one, it was a bit more complex (and I was juggling a couple minor tasks with some previous reports I had written), so I was just as stressed as on Friday.
On Tuesday morning, though, I got more than a couple of praises for my ability to step up when needed.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Goodbye and Hello
Last week involved some goodbyes and hellos. For the past few years, I've been the one who's been leaving or arriving, so it's nice to have other people hopping in and out for a change.
Friday evening started with a small house party where I knew exactly one person. It's always tough to break the ice in the those situations, but after I beat seven people in poker and took all their money, they quickly accepted me as one of their own. (I don't know if they'll ever let me play poker again, though.) After that, we went out to a bar for a few drinks, before I had to leave and hop over to another bar to say goodbye to Daniel, one of my first Chicago friends. He moved to Las Vegas (for Teach for America, which is pretty noble) and I'm pretty sure I'll be visiting him in Vegas (for gambling, which is a little less noble). So I was out with those people having a few drinks until the wee hours of the night and that was the last time I relaxed the entire weekend.
The next morning, I was up at 8:00am so I could go for a 7-mile run (I'm running a 10K on the 27th, so I needed the practice). After I got home from that, I quickly showered up so I could meet up with Maura and Matt, who were in town visiting Matt's sister. We spent some time at the beach lying in the sun (too much bacteria in the water, so we couldn't swim) and then walked around the zoo for a bit, where we met up with Terrance. From there, we walked around for a bit before we all went our separate ways to shower up. After a shower and a quick nap (I was exhausted), I met up with Maura, Matt and his sister for some Mexican food and margaritas. I think our dinner took two hours for whatever reason, but we enjoyed it. Afterwards, I took them out to one of my regular bars for a nightcap before saying bye to them.
Sunday was a bit quieter, as it was just church and ice cream with those folks, before going shopping and grabbing a fried chicken lunch with Richard (and I did laundry that evening...boring). The fun picked up again on Monday, though, as I went out for drinks with a few friends after the last session of the month-long Bible study session at church. Drinking with these guys is a lot different than the normal bar scene for whatever reason. Mostly, I think it's because we're drinking on a Monday night, but it really helps that we all get along with each other really well.
***Busy Month!***
June is our busy month at work. I wouldn't be surprised if more than half of all our reports are due at the end of the month. (September is also pretty busy, but it doesn't compare to June, I'm told.) How am I holding up? Pretty well. It seems my bosses were afraid of giving me too much work because they didn't want anyone picking up after me since that could be difficult to do during the busy month. Well, it turns out that I have been able to increase my workload, surpass all expectations, and I'm actually able to help out my coworkers when they're getting bogged down with work. (They all do their jobs well; they just get bogged down because we count on information from our customers to do our jobs and it doesn't always come in a smooth flow.) So even though I'm really looking forward to the end of the busy month, I'm still enjoying myself.
Friday evening started with a small house party where I knew exactly one person. It's always tough to break the ice in the those situations, but after I beat seven people in poker and took all their money, they quickly accepted me as one of their own. (I don't know if they'll ever let me play poker again, though.) After that, we went out to a bar for a few drinks, before I had to leave and hop over to another bar to say goodbye to Daniel, one of my first Chicago friends. He moved to Las Vegas (for Teach for America, which is pretty noble) and I'm pretty sure I'll be visiting him in Vegas (for gambling, which is a little less noble). So I was out with those people having a few drinks until the wee hours of the night and that was the last time I relaxed the entire weekend.
The next morning, I was up at 8:00am so I could go for a 7-mile run (I'm running a 10K on the 27th, so I needed the practice). After I got home from that, I quickly showered up so I could meet up with Maura and Matt, who were in town visiting Matt's sister. We spent some time at the beach lying in the sun (too much bacteria in the water, so we couldn't swim) and then walked around the zoo for a bit, where we met up with Terrance. From there, we walked around for a bit before we all went our separate ways to shower up. After a shower and a quick nap (I was exhausted), I met up with Maura, Matt and his sister for some Mexican food and margaritas. I think our dinner took two hours for whatever reason, but we enjoyed it. Afterwards, I took them out to one of my regular bars for a nightcap before saying bye to them.
Sunday was a bit quieter, as it was just church and ice cream with those folks, before going shopping and grabbing a fried chicken lunch with Richard (and I did laundry that evening...boring). The fun picked up again on Monday, though, as I went out for drinks with a few friends after the last session of the month-long Bible study session at church. Drinking with these guys is a lot different than the normal bar scene for whatever reason. Mostly, I think it's because we're drinking on a Monday night, but it really helps that we all get along with each other really well.
***Busy Month!***
June is our busy month at work. I wouldn't be surprised if more than half of all our reports are due at the end of the month. (September is also pretty busy, but it doesn't compare to June, I'm told.) How am I holding up? Pretty well. It seems my bosses were afraid of giving me too much work because they didn't want anyone picking up after me since that could be difficult to do during the busy month. Well, it turns out that I have been able to increase my workload, surpass all expectations, and I'm actually able to help out my coworkers when they're getting bogged down with work. (They all do their jobs well; they just get bogged down because we count on information from our customers to do our jobs and it doesn't always come in a smooth flow.) So even though I'm really looking forward to the end of the busy month, I'm still enjoying myself.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
No. More. Festivals.
Oh, man. I am partied out. Take a guess at how many parties I fit into my weekend. Seriously, guess. Anyone guess "five"? Because that's the answer.
At work on Friday, we had a going away party for our old general manager who's moving back to Japan and our new general manager who's taking over. Our office parties are literally at the office, so at 4:30pm, we toasted the two men and celebrated with beer, liquor, sushi, and pizza (it totally felt like I was studying abroad in Japan again). I ended up having an interesting conversation with my boss at this time, too. He started by complimenting my work so far and then asked if I found the job easy. Oh, boy. I said, "No, but it's not hard to understand." Basically, I tried to give a Japanese answer, but that really didn't work. I explained it by saying stuff like, "Oh, you guys are giving me easy companies," but he responded with "Aren't you looking at company that could go bankrupt?" Well, there goes that argument! We also just shot the breeze for a bit, too, though, and that was nice. Usually when we talk at work, he's just critiquing all of my reports (his insights are actually pretty amazing). Oh, I also found out he's signed up for the Chicago Marathon. Totally gotta kick his butt. (Party #1)
That night, I ended up joining the guerrilla bar scene. This is more like the Vietcong than the apes, though, as a huge group of people get together and take over a bar that's usually has a different target audience. I know this sounds stupid, but when you're in such a large group, you scare the regular customers away and it becomes a normal bar. It was also tons of fun and I met a ton of new people. Then I got dragged out to the normal bar scene by Daniel and a few other clubs after that. (Party #2)
Luckily, it was raining Saturday morning, so I didn't have to feel bad about not going running. The skies cleared up by the afternoon, though, so I was able to attend a street festival about a mile north of my apartment to party with Daniel and a few of the people I had met the night before. There was some good sangria, grilled corn, sangria, funnel cake, sangria, Italian sausages, &c. We were there all day and stayed until the end when an '80s cover band played a 2-hour set on one of the main stages. As soon as I get pictures from the festival, I'm going to upload them, since it's a been a couple of months since I've posted any new pictures. I wanted to watch a movie when I got home at 11:15pm, but I was asleep before I could turn on the TV. (Party #3)
Sunday started normal. I had a budget meeting at church and we're working through our major projects at a decent pace. Church was good, too. Afterwards, I got together with a couple guys from church and went out to Ribfest, which was going on about a mile west of my apartment. This festival was all about ribs. Twenty of Chicago's finest rib joints come together every year for one weekend to celebrate pork. I was in heaven. I sampled ribs from five different restaurants and had some beer to wash it down. The weather was absolutely amazing, too...not a cloud in the sky. Sure, I felt like a fat kid when it was all over and only had a very small salad for dinner that night, but it was so worth it. (Party #4)
Monday was a normal work day and I managed to get on time (even though it's technically our busy season), so I could get to the gym for a 30-minute run before meeting up with some people for church to continue our month-long Bible study. I learned alot and it was really interesting. When it finished up at 9, though, I got together with Jason and Luis to go drinking (like last week), but I was also able to convince Thomas, Jing and Nadine to join us, so the six of us sat outside at a nearby restaurant laughing, being inappropriate and having a few drinks. They always say church kids have the dirtiest stories, and it turns out to be true. (Party #5)
I was actually invited out for a few more drinks on Tuesday evening, but I needed a break.
***Busy Season***
June is supposedly the busy month for work, as most of our reports are due at month end (because everything is generally due six months after financial reports are due, blah blah blah). Well, even though I've impressed my bosses enough to allow them to increase my work load from 7 companies to 11 (pretty sweet, huh?), I still do not have a full workload, so I haven't had to do much overtime recently. As a matter of fact, I'd pretty much be done with all of my work a week early...except that a few companies aren't replying to my e-mails as quickly as I would like and I really need that extra information to finish writing my reports on them. Maybe all the information will come at 4:00pm on Friday, so I'll have to do ten hours of overtime then?
At work on Friday, we had a going away party for our old general manager who's moving back to Japan and our new general manager who's taking over. Our office parties are literally at the office, so at 4:30pm, we toasted the two men and celebrated with beer, liquor, sushi, and pizza (it totally felt like I was studying abroad in Japan again). I ended up having an interesting conversation with my boss at this time, too. He started by complimenting my work so far and then asked if I found the job easy. Oh, boy. I said, "No, but it's not hard to understand." Basically, I tried to give a Japanese answer, but that really didn't work. I explained it by saying stuff like, "Oh, you guys are giving me easy companies," but he responded with "Aren't you looking at company that could go bankrupt?" Well, there goes that argument! We also just shot the breeze for a bit, too, though, and that was nice. Usually when we talk at work, he's just critiquing all of my reports (his insights are actually pretty amazing). Oh, I also found out he's signed up for the Chicago Marathon. Totally gotta kick his butt. (Party #1)
That night, I ended up joining the guerrilla bar scene. This is more like the Vietcong than the apes, though, as a huge group of people get together and take over a bar that's usually has a different target audience. I know this sounds stupid, but when you're in such a large group, you scare the regular customers away and it becomes a normal bar. It was also tons of fun and I met a ton of new people. Then I got dragged out to the normal bar scene by Daniel and a few other clubs after that. (Party #2)
Luckily, it was raining Saturday morning, so I didn't have to feel bad about not going running. The skies cleared up by the afternoon, though, so I was able to attend a street festival about a mile north of my apartment to party with Daniel and a few of the people I had met the night before. There was some good sangria, grilled corn, sangria, funnel cake, sangria, Italian sausages, &c. We were there all day and stayed until the end when an '80s cover band played a 2-hour set on one of the main stages. As soon as I get pictures from the festival, I'm going to upload them, since it's a been a couple of months since I've posted any new pictures. I wanted to watch a movie when I got home at 11:15pm, but I was asleep before I could turn on the TV. (Party #3)
Sunday started normal. I had a budget meeting at church and we're working through our major projects at a decent pace. Church was good, too. Afterwards, I got together with a couple guys from church and went out to Ribfest, which was going on about a mile west of my apartment. This festival was all about ribs. Twenty of Chicago's finest rib joints come together every year for one weekend to celebrate pork. I was in heaven. I sampled ribs from five different restaurants and had some beer to wash it down. The weather was absolutely amazing, too...not a cloud in the sky. Sure, I felt like a fat kid when it was all over and only had a very small salad for dinner that night, but it was so worth it. (Party #4)
Monday was a normal work day and I managed to get on time (even though it's technically our busy season), so I could get to the gym for a 30-minute run before meeting up with some people for church to continue our month-long Bible study. I learned alot and it was really interesting. When it finished up at 9, though, I got together with Jason and Luis to go drinking (like last week), but I was also able to convince Thomas, Jing and Nadine to join us, so the six of us sat outside at a nearby restaurant laughing, being inappropriate and having a few drinks. They always say church kids have the dirtiest stories, and it turns out to be true. (Party #5)
I was actually invited out for a few more drinks on Tuesday evening, but I needed a break.
***Busy Season***
June is supposedly the busy month for work, as most of our reports are due at month end (because everything is generally due six months after financial reports are due, blah blah blah). Well, even though I've impressed my bosses enough to allow them to increase my work load from 7 companies to 11 (pretty sweet, huh?), I still do not have a full workload, so I haven't had to do much overtime recently. As a matter of fact, I'd pretty much be done with all of my work a week early...except that a few companies aren't replying to my e-mails as quickly as I would like and I really need that extra information to finish writing my reports on them. Maybe all the information will come at 4:00pm on Friday, so I'll have to do ten hours of overtime then?
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
I don't know what happens to my free time.
It turns out that having a social life in Chicago really interferes with having a blog. I apologize for that.
So last weekend I was supposed to go way out into the Illinois countryside to celebrate at my friend's graduation/going away party. I was really looking forward to getting out of the city and relaxing for a weekend (with a drink or two thrown in, of course). But then those plans got canceled at the last minute because the ride situation wasn't working out! (Most people were heading out to the party early Friday when I was still at work!) I was pretty worried that my weekend would be ruined, but I somehow found things to keep me entertained.
My first idea was to go bowling with Richard on Saturday morning. I don't know how they do bowling around you guys, but they charge by the hour in Chicago, not by the game, so Richard and I were planning on bowling for just an hour. When you throw in shoes and some beer, the total was gonna be close to $50 bucks. When we got there, though, we found they had a $50 special where we could both bowl for three hours, get shoes, a large pizza and a free pitcher of beer. Um, that's a deal! It was crazy. We ended up bowling 8 or 9 games. I usually use a 13-pound ball and I was bowling around 140, so I had to get a heavier, 16-pound ball for the sixth game as a type of handicap to even out our scores. I ended up bowling a 176 that game. So much for the handicap.
After that, another friend was throwing a wine party, so I ended up there for a few hours before we all went out to the clubs. The clubs were a huge fiasco because I wanted to leave, but then I realized I had left my apartment keys at my friend's place, so I had to wait for him to go home. I finally ended up taking a train home around 2:30am and I could barely walk. (And trust me when I say this, exhaustion was affecting me much more than alcohol at that point.) So instead of going to church on Sunday morning (for obvious reasons), I slept in for the first time in a few weeks. It felt great. I also ended up taking a couple of two-hour naps that day, too.
On Monday night, I ended up attending one part of a four-part special Bible study with some people from church. I learned a few new things, but I already had a basic understanding of the topics being covered. It was still interesting, though, since it'll be building until the end of the month. And afterward, I went out for a few drinks with Jason and Luis. Because church is all about building friendships (churches use wine, we used beer, whatever).
So that was a quick recap of my ruined weekend.
***One more great thing that happened last weekend***
I just found out that Matt and Maura are coming to Chicago in a couple of weeks to visit Matt's sister, which means I get to hang out with them a bit and maybe even take them to the beach!
So last weekend I was supposed to go way out into the Illinois countryside to celebrate at my friend's graduation/going away party. I was really looking forward to getting out of the city and relaxing for a weekend (with a drink or two thrown in, of course). But then those plans got canceled at the last minute because the ride situation wasn't working out! (Most people were heading out to the party early Friday when I was still at work!) I was pretty worried that my weekend would be ruined, but I somehow found things to keep me entertained.
My first idea was to go bowling with Richard on Saturday morning. I don't know how they do bowling around you guys, but they charge by the hour in Chicago, not by the game, so Richard and I were planning on bowling for just an hour. When you throw in shoes and some beer, the total was gonna be close to $50 bucks. When we got there, though, we found they had a $50 special where we could both bowl for three hours, get shoes, a large pizza and a free pitcher of beer. Um, that's a deal! It was crazy. We ended up bowling 8 or 9 games. I usually use a 13-pound ball and I was bowling around 140, so I had to get a heavier, 16-pound ball for the sixth game as a type of handicap to even out our scores. I ended up bowling a 176 that game. So much for the handicap.
After that, another friend was throwing a wine party, so I ended up there for a few hours before we all went out to the clubs. The clubs were a huge fiasco because I wanted to leave, but then I realized I had left my apartment keys at my friend's place, so I had to wait for him to go home. I finally ended up taking a train home around 2:30am and I could barely walk. (And trust me when I say this, exhaustion was affecting me much more than alcohol at that point.) So instead of going to church on Sunday morning (for obvious reasons), I slept in for the first time in a few weeks. It felt great. I also ended up taking a couple of two-hour naps that day, too.
On Monday night, I ended up attending one part of a four-part special Bible study with some people from church. I learned a few new things, but I already had a basic understanding of the topics being covered. It was still interesting, though, since it'll be building until the end of the month. And afterward, I went out for a few drinks with Jason and Luis. Because church is all about building friendships (churches use wine, we used beer, whatever).
So that was a quick recap of my ruined weekend.
***One more great thing that happened last weekend***
I just found out that Matt and Maura are coming to Chicago in a couple of weeks to visit Matt's sister, which means I get to hang out with them a bit and maybe even take them to the beach!
Monday, June 01, 2009
A Catch Up Post
So, I missed last week and I've been late for the few weeks leading up to that. What can I say? I've just been a busy guy. Let's start with Memorial Day, then play catch up to now.
My friend Richard is a bit of a oenophile and, naturally, has a good-sized wine collection. However, he's moving to a new place in February and he doesn't want to have to transport all of his wine to his new apartment. Being good friends, Ross and I went over on the Friday before Memorial Day to empty four bottles for him. France, Spain, Australia...we tried a few different wines. And then I got the great idea of going out to the bars for a few more drinks! Yeah, that was my Memorial Day weekend. Bars on Friday, Sunday and Monday night. (I stayed in on Saturday because I wanted to be fully functioning when I officially joined my church on Sunday morning.) I really enjoyed Memorial Day weekend because I was actually able to catch up with a bunch of friends and relax. The weather was pretty sweet, too.
It was wonderful having a short work week after Memorial Day. I had previously mentioned my workload increasing and I found out the companies I would be in reviewing last week. It's pretty exciting because both companies are in industries I had yet to look at and their corporate structures are new for me, so I'm really excited about doing my thing and writing reports about them. Definitely learning alot. On Friday, I was heading down the elevators during lunch with one of my coworkers when she invited me to a Turkish festival that was going on nearby. Another coworker joined us, too, but I think Yukiko and I are gonna get along pretty well because we're the only two analysts our age (also, she's the only female and I'm the only non-Japanese one, so we both sorta stick out). That was a nice way to end the week.
On Saturday morning, I went running with a running group that I'm thinking of joining. I had only planned on running 3.5 miles with them, but I was late leaving the apartment, so I ran to the meeting place. Then, when we started running the course, I was feeling good, so I took the longer course. Before I knew it, I had run 7.5 miles. And I was feeling great! (I still took a nap as soon as I got home, though.) On Sunday, after church, I met up with Richard and we went to the beach. Yes, I live in Chicago, but the beaches are really nice and are only a few miles from my apartment. It was great! Of course, now I'm a bit sunburned, but it was totally worth it. And I have a whole week to turn the burn into a base tan for a pool party this upcoming weekend. I hope it can be done!
Wow, it turns out that I can make brief blog posts!
***202 pounds!***
My previous personal weight record was 201 pounds, and I only achieved that after eating five meals a day on a 16-day trip to Thailand back in 2005/06. And since it wasn't real weight, I was able to drop it pretty quickly. Well, it's been more than three years, but I've finally beaten that record! Of course, this time it's from going to the gym four times a week and eating a (mostly) healthy diet. I don't do the bench press or any other "power" lifts at the gym, but between bicep curls, crunchs, dips, running and a random mix of other workouts, I've gotten some good results. (I only weighed 185 lbs in January, but I swear I'm gaining weight in a healthy manner.)
My friend Richard is a bit of a oenophile and, naturally, has a good-sized wine collection. However, he's moving to a new place in February and he doesn't want to have to transport all of his wine to his new apartment. Being good friends, Ross and I went over on the Friday before Memorial Day to empty four bottles for him. France, Spain, Australia...we tried a few different wines. And then I got the great idea of going out to the bars for a few more drinks! Yeah, that was my Memorial Day weekend. Bars on Friday, Sunday and Monday night. (I stayed in on Saturday because I wanted to be fully functioning when I officially joined my church on Sunday morning.) I really enjoyed Memorial Day weekend because I was actually able to catch up with a bunch of friends and relax. The weather was pretty sweet, too.
It was wonderful having a short work week after Memorial Day. I had previously mentioned my workload increasing and I found out the companies I would be in reviewing last week. It's pretty exciting because both companies are in industries I had yet to look at and their corporate structures are new for me, so I'm really excited about doing my thing and writing reports about them. Definitely learning alot. On Friday, I was heading down the elevators during lunch with one of my coworkers when she invited me to a Turkish festival that was going on nearby. Another coworker joined us, too, but I think Yukiko and I are gonna get along pretty well because we're the only two analysts our age (also, she's the only female and I'm the only non-Japanese one, so we both sorta stick out). That was a nice way to end the week.
On Saturday morning, I went running with a running group that I'm thinking of joining. I had only planned on running 3.5 miles with them, but I was late leaving the apartment, so I ran to the meeting place. Then, when we started running the course, I was feeling good, so I took the longer course. Before I knew it, I had run 7.5 miles. And I was feeling great! (I still took a nap as soon as I got home, though.) On Sunday, after church, I met up with Richard and we went to the beach. Yes, I live in Chicago, but the beaches are really nice and are only a few miles from my apartment. It was great! Of course, now I'm a bit sunburned, but it was totally worth it. And I have a whole week to turn the burn into a base tan for a pool party this upcoming weekend. I hope it can be done!
Wow, it turns out that I can make brief blog posts!
***202 pounds!***
My previous personal weight record was 201 pounds, and I only achieved that after eating five meals a day on a 16-day trip to Thailand back in 2005/06. And since it wasn't real weight, I was able to drop it pretty quickly. Well, it's been more than three years, but I've finally beaten that record! Of course, this time it's from going to the gym four times a week and eating a (mostly) healthy diet. I don't do the bench press or any other "power" lifts at the gym, but between bicep curls, crunchs, dips, running and a random mix of other workouts, I've gotten some good results. (I only weighed 185 lbs in January, but I swear I'm gaining weight in a healthy manner.)
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Yay! A work update!
I can just imagine all of the excited faces out there reading this post now! And if you're one of the few that finds this boring, I'll sum it all up for you: working is going very very very very well. The end.
So, at our staff meeting last week, my supervisor was giving the whole "I know we've all got heavy workloads, but we just gotta push through until the end of June [our busy month]." Since I'm new, I'm only responsible for reviewing seven of our customers, which is much less than a third of my coworker's individual loads, so I found it odd that I wasn't being given more customers. I mean, they keep telling me that I'm doing a good job, so why won't they give me more work? After the meeting, I had a quick chat with my supervisor just telling her, "Hey, there's no way my current workload is going to keep my busy until the end of June (or May, for that matter), so I can probably take on one or two more customers to help everyone out a little bit." She was pretty thrilled, but she said she had to talk it over with the boss just to make sure it would be okay. It's taken a week, but I finally found out that I'll be getting two or three more customers! ("Are you sure you can handle it, Doug?" Umm, I asked for the extra load, remember?) It'll still take them a few days to adjust workloads and actually make me responsible for these customers, but that's okay. I don't mind the extra work since I'm still enjoying the job!
Also last week, I visited my first customer ever. My coworker and I had to drive an hour into the suburbs to meet with them, but it's nice to get out of the office occasionally. Also, my coworker is from the Nagoya-area, so we had some stuff (besides work) to talk about on the car ride out. The customer was a little startled to see a white guy meeting with him, but he relaxed once he found out that we could still conduct the meeting in Japanese. Other than that, it was just your normal business meeting. "So, how are you guys dealing with the swine flu? Great, wonderful. Now explain your financial statements from the past year." Very fun. (Seriously, dorky stuff gets me excited.) Afterwards, on the drive back to work, we stopped at the one Japanese supermarket around Chicago for some lunch and I had a wonderful fried pork lunch. Oh, man. It was delicious and made the rest of my day.
In other news, marathon training has officially started. I hadn't been running too much recently, but I decided to go for a 40-minute run at the gym last Tuesday and actually felt really good. I'm also thinking of joining a Saturday morning running group, which should help with some motivation on the weekends.
***Apparently, I'm job hunting again***
For my client visit last week, my supervisor told me I should wear a suit and tie (even though I work for a Japanese bank, we all normally wear business casual). So, doing the smart thing, I wear a suit and tie to work. Towards the end of the day, when I'm cleaning my coffee cup before leaving, one of the HR people casually asks, "So, what? Do you have a job interview or something?" I was confused, so she continued, "Well, we never see you in a suit and tie, so we thought you had a job interview or something." Really? I just explained that I was told to wear a suit and tie for a client visit. I start chuckling a bit because it's kind of funny, but then she busts out into huge bursts of laughter. "Oh, okay! Don't worry about it then! Hahaha! I'll explain it to everyone, because we were talking..."
So, at our staff meeting last week, my supervisor was giving the whole "I know we've all got heavy workloads, but we just gotta push through until the end of June [our busy month]." Since I'm new, I'm only responsible for reviewing seven of our customers, which is much less than a third of my coworker's individual loads, so I found it odd that I wasn't being given more customers. I mean, they keep telling me that I'm doing a good job, so why won't they give me more work? After the meeting, I had a quick chat with my supervisor just telling her, "Hey, there's no way my current workload is going to keep my busy until the end of June (or May, for that matter), so I can probably take on one or two more customers to help everyone out a little bit." She was pretty thrilled, but she said she had to talk it over with the boss just to make sure it would be okay. It's taken a week, but I finally found out that I'll be getting two or three more customers! ("Are you sure you can handle it, Doug?" Umm, I asked for the extra load, remember?) It'll still take them a few days to adjust workloads and actually make me responsible for these customers, but that's okay. I don't mind the extra work since I'm still enjoying the job!
Also last week, I visited my first customer ever. My coworker and I had to drive an hour into the suburbs to meet with them, but it's nice to get out of the office occasionally. Also, my coworker is from the Nagoya-area, so we had some stuff (besides work) to talk about on the car ride out. The customer was a little startled to see a white guy meeting with him, but he relaxed once he found out that we could still conduct the meeting in Japanese. Other than that, it was just your normal business meeting. "So, how are you guys dealing with the swine flu? Great, wonderful. Now explain your financial statements from the past year." Very fun. (Seriously, dorky stuff gets me excited.) Afterwards, on the drive back to work, we stopped at the one Japanese supermarket around Chicago for some lunch and I had a wonderful fried pork lunch. Oh, man. It was delicious and made the rest of my day.
In other news, marathon training has officially started. I hadn't been running too much recently, but I decided to go for a 40-minute run at the gym last Tuesday and actually felt really good. I'm also thinking of joining a Saturday morning running group, which should help with some motivation on the weekends.
***Apparently, I'm job hunting again***
For my client visit last week, my supervisor told me I should wear a suit and tie (even though I work for a Japanese bank, we all normally wear business casual). So, doing the smart thing, I wear a suit and tie to work. Towards the end of the day, when I'm cleaning my coffee cup before leaving, one of the HR people casually asks, "So, what? Do you have a job interview or something?" I was confused, so she continued, "Well, we never see you in a suit and tie, so we thought you had a job interview or something." Really? I just explained that I was told to wear a suit and tie for a client visit. I start chuckling a bit because it's kind of funny, but then she busts out into huge bursts of laughter. "Oh, okay! Don't worry about it then! Hahaha! I'll explain it to everyone, because we were talking..."
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