Wow. I’ve never experienced being so frickin’ cold in my life. Today when walking from my office building to the train station (two and a half blocks away), I happened to catch a bank sign that announced the current temperature outside. Five. Below. Zero. And that doesn’t include the d*mn wind chill factor … in which I believe was forecasted as being up to Minus 30 Degrees. Hmmm … so that’s why it’s called the Windy City. Heh.
Lucky me was smart enough to wear knee high socks and leggings over the thick pants I wore with a long sleeved shirt under a thick red fleece pullover. Add the awesome North Face hooded coat, awesome winter boots and one of my hand knit scarves … I was go. Or so I thought.
By the time I traveled the one and a half blocks from the train station to our place, my cheeks were redder than my fleece top. And my fingers? Damn those cheap mittens … my fingers felt frozen to the core! So frozen, in fact, that they felt as if all my fingertips quickly grazed across the bottom of a hot iron. Seriously, it felt as if they were on fire!
What do you think? Should I get THIS ski mask ...
Well at least I know my coat and boots work great … guess if I continue to work were I do, I should invest in a nice pair of gloves. Hubby says I should get one of those knitted ski masks like we used to wear as children … but I draw the line at that.
Speaking of work … now that I’m two weeks into my new job, I have to say that I’m quite impressed by this company. Coming from an area where jobs are being cut left and right and the overall morale is depressing, both emotionally and economically … (after all, Detroit is America’s Automotive Headquarters) it’s refreshing to enter a workplace that isn’t so downtrodden and beaten to the brow with talks of layoffs and cutbacks. In fact, in our department (Medical Management) we are actually in need of more RN Case Managers.
Or this one?!
Oh, I know it’s not realistic to think that our department is impervious to the economic downswing of our nation … I know it will hit us sooner or later. However, to know that this particular place (and more specifically, our department) is indeed reporting actual savings in health care costs? Well, that just is simply refreshing. Because, quite frankly … where I came from, that was just not done. Not that they didn’t try to show cost savings, but for one reason or another they could never get the hard data to prove that they were saving costs.
Okay, I know I’m getting all technical here. To put it simply, this company is achieving their goals by doing the things that I’ve tried for years to do at my previous place of employment. And it’s just nice. Nice knowing that what I had been pushing for (and meeting lots of resistance along the way) in my previous job was actually being done successfully at the place I’m at now.
Needless to say, I’m liking it there. And it’s just one of the many facts to validate that my decision to move careers and locations was a d*mn good one.
(Update 03.19.2009: Now that the cat’s out of the bag, I can finally un-PWP this post!)
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… 525,600 journeys to plan
525,600 minutes
How can you measure The life of a woman or man?”
– “Seasons of Love”
Well, it’s official. I am back to apartment living … and rent. (Ah-hah! Now you get the reference to the song lyrics from the Broadway musical, “Rent.”)
Along with our trip to Cedar Rapids, IA this weekend, we made another trip to Chicago. Well, for the day anyway. Because we would have had to drive by it on our way back home on Sunday anwyay.
Prior to us leaving, I set up an appointment with a free apartment finder service in the city. And that was because the previous weekend, Hubby & I tried to look for apartments in areas we thought we might like. Well, between the fact that we didn’t have any set plans … nor did we have anything else other than a street maps of the city and me as the navigator … I guess you can say I freaked out on Hubby there for a bit.
Yes, I finally had my first major freak-out. Pretty darn good, considering it had been more than a month since realizing that I might actually moving out of state. Seriously. I think the whole reality of it finally sank in. So … one freak-out thus far ain’t so bad.
Anyway … I must say, Hubby & I were a little anxious to look at places. Didn’t know what to expect, but hoped for the best. We met our agent, M shortly after arriving in the city in time for our appointment. Right away, Hubby & I felt comfortable with her.
M looked up apartments in the areas we were interested in with all the anemities we were interested in having (newish or refurbished kitchen/bath, two bedrooms, at least one bath, takes cats and a dog, and close to the El) within the price range we were willing to pay monthly. Hubby & I knew it would be hard to find everything we wanted within that range, so we were cautiously optimistic.
After finding a handful of apartments that fit our search, we were off to look at the places. One was really nice, but small. Another was a nice size, but not in a location we liked. A third had a great layout and was situated above an Italian (!!) restaurant, but the bedrooms were too small. And a fourth also had a great layout and was a tad larger, but was too old for our liking.
By this time, Hubby and I were starting to feel like we were being way too picky. Realistically, we knew not to settle for just anything, but the pressure of wanting to find something so we could move in prior to me starting the new job had us worried. That, and we didn’t want to waste any more of M’s time, as by this time it was about 6 pm and westill had to drive back to Michigan that night. (Not all the way home, but to Lansing. So that hubby could just go into work the next day without having to make another 1.5 hr drive back west from our home the next morning. Lucky me was off that day …)
Amongst all the different areas we drove through, we were pleasantly suprised that we genuinely liked M. She was very professional. And knowledgeable about the various areas we were interested in. In addition, we found out we were similar in age and enjoyed much of the same types of music from back in the 80’s. And let’s not even get into the same types of cuisine we all liked as well!
At one time, I asked about the diversity of a certain neighborhood we really wanted to live in, strictly because one of Hubby’s (very conservative) co-workers asked about it. Not that it mattered to us, I told M. In fact, for us diversity (whether it be cultural or lifestyle) was important to us because of who WE were as people. And what we liked to be surrounded by on a daily basis. And how moving here was going to be the beginning of embracing the open attitude we’ve always had in our lives. Which, given where we currently live and the environment we’re surrounded by, has been readily shoved aside. (More on this later.)
As we were heading to the next apartment on the list, M slowed her car down and said that she was going to go against all the rules for her job and not to say anything to her employer about what she was going to do.
It was at that moment that M told us about another apartment, currently not listed with their agency, that she thought we would like. And the reason she knew about this place was because she used to live in this apartment, but because of financial issues had to move to a smaller place. She said the landlord was awesome and would be willing to negotiate with us as far as rent. She also added that she would honestly be losing out on a commission if we decided to rent this place, but she truly liked us and thought that the two of us would fit in nicely with the rest of the tenants and landlord as well as the rest of the neighborhood. And, oh by the way … would we be interested in seeing it?
Well, h*ll … after that buildup, how could we say no?!
So off to the apartment we went. And all I can say is Oh. My. G*d. The place was just about perfect for what we were looking for. Yeah, there were a couple of odd things, but after what he had seen earlier … we couldn’t have asked for anything better! And the landlord? Incredibly nice and clearly down-to-earth. He and his wife (and 3 kids) live directly across the street and, I’ve got to say … Hubby and I both felt just good vibes surrounding him.
Seeing that Hubby & I haven’t rented in, oh … let’s just say more than a decade … we were both trying not to show too much excitement over the place. But after exchanging contact info, meeting another one of the neighbors in the next building, and finally climbing back into M’s car … neither of us could hold back our enthusiasm for the place. In fact, right away Hubby & I turned to M to ask her what our next steps should be. So … after some really sound advice (about deposit and lease length, etc), M encouraged us to call Mr. LL (aka “landlord”) and tell us that we were very interested in the place.
After finishing the phone call with Mr. LL, Hubby & I turned to M and told her that seeing that she wouldn’t get any comission for what she just did … she would be either our first guest in our new place or we’d be taking her on a night out. And … Oh. My. G*d. She was now officially our first “new” friend here in Chicago!
Afterwards as Hubby and I were driving back to Mr. LL’s place to drop of the security deposit … Hubby turned to me and asked if I had any inclination that M was gay. Because he was as sure as H*ll that she would have found the diversity question I asked earlier offensive … if I didn’t have any idea about her personal life. I had an inkling that she was, which is what I told Hubby. (Which we were later able to confirm by conversations with both Mr. LL and M, herself.)
But … WOW! What if I never asked that diversity question? What if I didn’t have any inkling about M’s lifestyle? What if we never got the opportunity to discuss how we consciously acknowledged that growing up Asian-American in a very sheltered white-collar/blue-collar environment affected how WE openly approach those who people may have grown up just as “different” as we did?
Well, I suppose that would mean that we wouldn’t have had the opportunity to see such an awesome apartment. Nor would we have been introduced to Mr. LL, who appears just as excited as we are to move in to this little community. And let me tell you, Hubby is just as excited that I’ll be surrounded by a good landlord … not to mention a couple downstairs with two gentle pitbulls and another male couple upstairs … who would look out after me during the first two months I’d be there without him.
Wow. I still can’t believe that yet another door has opened for me. I am so incredibly grateful for how things seem to be working in our favor with this change!
And as it appears I’ll be slowly be moving within the next two weeks … I suppose I should go. Because now I have, oh … about 525,600 things to do.
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Holy Crap. Wanna talk about MAJOR stars shining down on Hubby & me right now? I just found out that a good friend of mine from high school … one who we just recently started to reconnect with through Face.book … currently lives about a block and a half away from where we’ll be living!
Last night Hubby & I were “hangin'” at the local coffee house, both of us on our laptops. Well … actually, Hubby was working while I just putzed around. And really, I should have been finishing up on the “quickie” knit project I’ve been working on for the past two weeks (so much for quick!). Or I could have been catching up on some much needed blog reading. But instead I surfed the web. And listened to some tunes off of Hubby’s laptop.
I guess I should preface this by saying that I usually rely on Hubby to update my iPod. He’s the one who uploaded most our songs from our CD collection into our digital library. He’s usually the one to find new artists and songs on the web for us. If there’s a certain tune I’m itching to hear, he’s the one that finds it and uploads it on my iPod. Many times when I stick my earbuds on at work (to drown out those loud co-workers while trying to concentrate), I end up finding little gems on my iPod.
For example, one week I had this incredible urge to hear that one Jo.an Je.tt song from that one movie she was in with Mi.chael J. Fox, but for the life of me I couldn’t remember the name of the song, let alone the name of the movie. (Oh yeah, I can hear y’all trying to remember it now, too … ) The next day at work, what do I find on my iPod? Uh-huh … He’s such a great guy, isn’t he?! I think so.
Anyway, lately Hubby’s been on an “Under $5” deal at the iTunes store, where you can purchase either movies or albums online for $4.99. Last week he got some great 80’s movies to watch on our iTouch. And this week? Well … that’s what we were listening to last night; the “Escape” album from Journey. “Just a city boy, born and raised in south Detroit” … Listening to it is totally flashing me back to growing up in the ‘burbs of Detroit back in the early 80’s.
I was telling Hubby that I remember that this particular album was one of those “tapes” that Dr. Bro bought during his one “stint” at the whole Co.lumb.ia H.ouse “Eight Tapes for a Penny” deals; the expensive shipping cost paid for by mowing neighbors’ lawns and saving his weekly allowances. So listening to the whole album in it’s entirety is like stepping back to the summers where Dr. Bro and I would ride around our neighborhood with our “bike gang.” And summers with swimming lessons at the local middle school.
When celebrating my mid-summer birthday meant either camping out of town or heading down to the county “wave pool.” Where summers were spent earning money by babysitting the neighborhood kids. Of which were eventually spent at the local B. Dalton’s buying books … and then reading them late at night under the covers with the flashlight.
The "Bike Gang"
Those days seem like such a lifetime away; even though it was only 25 years ago during this lifetime. It was a time of naivety; a time of feeling care-free. Especially during summers which, in it’s own, was a time of freedom. No timetable to conform to, no expectations to finish homework.
Referring back to yesterday’s post … it was simply a time of feeling as if anything was possible. As if the whole future was yet to be discovered. As if believing in any dream made could actually come true.
I miss those days. I miss not having to conform to a daily routine. And I miss not having expectations of others; and others not having expectations of me. I miss that feeling of the future being so far ahead of us … slightly out of reach, but still within the realm of reality. Still believing that anything is possible.
There are some days that I truly wish I could go back to that moment and relive it with the knowledge I have now. But then I remember that the choices and decisions I’ve made are what has made me into the person I am today. Bruised and a bit broken … but otherwise ready to face yet another challenge. Especially now that I’ve got that “second chance” I’ve been waiting for so long.
(Update 03.19.2009: Now that the cat’s out of the bag, I can finally un-PWP this post!)
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Focus on your long-term term goal.
Good things will soon happen.
– Fortune Cookie from Chinese Take-out
(Last night’s dinner, by the way … )
Wow. I mean seriously. Wow. I’m still in a bit of shock over the news I received yesterday, and I’m still completely giddy with excitement.
Wednesday afternoon I received a call. From the HR person I’ve been dealing with. Unfortunately, I missed the call and by the time I realized it, it was way past the time for me to call back. So I had to wait until the morning to call.
In the mean time, I was trying to send out my follow-up letters to both the HR person I finally met face to face this past Monday and the manager of the department I was interviewing in. So Wednesday night, I finished writing the letters and thought briefly about snail-mailing them out. But seeing as if I already received one call, I figured that I could send the letter by email instead … at least for the time being.
So about 11:30 pm that night, I shipped out both emails and thought nothing about it; hoping that the HR person would read it in the morning before I called him back.
Five minutes later … I receive a reply. From the manager that I interviewed with. At 11:30 pm EST. Which means it was still late evening where she was. Yikes … I was totally not expecting that! But basically she said that it was nice meeting me too, and that I should contact the HR rep for “the next steps.”
So I’m thinking that perhaps the call is to set up an interview with the Director of the department for the supervisor position I also interviewed for. Or maybe I was going to be offered the Case Manager position instead; which would have been fine, but then I’d have been concerned about the salary and still having to make the move out of our state. Either way, I was prepared for the call.
So yesterday morning, I call shortly after what I assume is the HR person’s starting time and leave a message. And wait for about an hour. When HR guy finally calls, I’m taken completely by surprise. Because rather than calling to set up another interview, he’s calling to offer me a position. The supervisor position.
That’s right … the supervisor position!
HOLY CRAP!! I GOT OFFERED THE JOB!!!
Okay, so before I get too excited … I still have to officially accept the position and the salary that’s currently being negotiated (which are going good, by the way …). And well, I still have to take the requisite drug screen (no poppy seeds for me). But … HOLYCRAP!! IGOTOFFEREDTHEJOB!!!
Okay, so now that I got that out of the way … I can’t believe how, thus far, things have been falling neatly into place. How finding out about my (now ex-) Director’s move to a new company out of state coincided with a very emotionally difficult time in my life (read: niece’s birth). How the opportunity to review my resume and forward it on spurred me to even contemplating such a move. How we got such an awesome deal on lodging that I didn’t realize was right next to the building I’d be interviewing in. How, even though Hubby was sick over the weekend, that gave me the chance to rest up and relax before the big interview. How the manager I interviewed with happened to be Filipino. How her supervisor happened to be someone that shared my views about teamwork and leadership. And how my ex-Director picked the most opportune moment to peak in the meeting room just to say hi to me.
Now, y’all know my stance with my Catholicism. I’m spiritual to a point, but then my scientific and logical reasoning takes over. But let me tell you … right now, I believe that The Big Man Upstairs has been seriously watching over me. That He’s felt my pain and frustration with everything I’ve been dealing with, that He’s noticed all the anxiety and tears I’ve let loose. And that at this moment, when I just needed something to go my way for once, He’s opened a few doors. And I am sograteful for this.
By no means am I completely clear of any obstacles, though. There’s still all the other logistics that need to be addressed. Selling our house in a depressed economy (this is metro-Detroit, after all … the Motor City ain’t doing so good right now). Finding a place to live in the mean time. Paying for both places until our house sells. All those logistics.
Yes, I know I’m putting the cart in front of the horse right now. But haven’t you noticed? It’s in my nature to worry about these things. But I pray that these things go as smoothly as (knock on wood) things have been going thus far.
So again, if anybody has The Big Man Upstairs on their speed dial, would you mind continuing to put a good word in for me?
And now, if you’ll excuse me … I’m going to do the “Dance of Joy.”
_
(Update 03.19.2009: Now that the cat’s out of the bag, I can finally un-PWP this post!)
First things first. Go over to Kara‘s blog and give her a virtual hug. She needs it right now.
Alrighty then … now that we got that bit out of the way …
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So the title of my latest rambling is “Emily Goes Green.” (Duh, sayeth the reader. The title is right there!)
And no, I don’t mean that I’m going “green with envy” … although the fact that my SIL is due to deliver by c-section in a mere 4 weeks might have me feeling more blue-ish/green (turquoise, if you will) for a spell. I just hope it’s not one of those spells that have me riding up and down and upside-down, much like a roller coaster.
Check out the "green" toilet in the Portland, OR airport!
Nah, I’m talking about the “social awareness” type of green. You know, save the environment, Mother Earth needs to be nurtured, etc. You see, I’ve always been “green” in some sort of way since my later years in high school. Did a lot of recycling of paper, plastic and aluminum for most of my life. Collected newspapers for school recycling projects. (Heck, I’ve also been known to use the Sunday Comics as wrapping paper!)
In fact, at work I’ve been called the paper recycle queen. I’ve collected the stupidd*mn banner sheets off of our printer / copy machines and have forced people to reuse the back of the banner sheets in our fax machines. I’ve encouraged people not to print up things that they can readily access off of their computer. I’ve helped to establish desktop faxing so there is less waste of paper. I’ve stopped buying bottled water and instead have been filling up my reusable water bottle from the filtered tap water in our cafeteria.
Here's a closer look at the "Green" toilet instructions!
And I do all this because I know (even before watching “An Incon.venient Tr.uth” ) that mass consumption is going to be the death of our earth. (Go see “W.all-E“, by the way …)
So imagine my surprise when we went to pick up our rental car during our recent trip to San Diego (which, by the way … pictures are forthcoming!) and found out that the rental company assigned a hybrid vehicle to us. Yeah, I was ecstatic … because for the past couple years, Hubby & I have been thinking of getting a hybrid vehicle.
Let me preface this by saying a couple of things:
We live in the Motor City, so everyone (and I do mean everyone) owns a vehicle because … G*d forbid, we have any reliable source of mass transportation (and no, the Pe.ople Mo.ver does NOT count) …
Hubby works approximately an hour and a half away from where we live and has single-handedly put on over 200,000 miles on both of our cars over the past five years or less … AND
Gas prices just SUCK
So yeah … having rented this vehicle just happened to provide us with a great opportunity for us to test-drive a hybrid. If only the first half hour wasn’t so damn funny … and I do mean funny as in “strange” and funny as in “ha ha!”
Now, Kara … I have to warn you, you’ve already heard this story … so, turn away if you must!
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Okay, picture this. It’s 11:45 pm California time (PST). Our friend J and I are waiting for Hubby outside in the rental car lot while he signs the paperwork. Hubby come out and excitedly tells me that they rented out a hybrid vehicle to us. And because we have about 5 bags (including our carry-ons) among us, Hubby said that he’d walk to the rental and then drive back to pick us up.
The Magic Key
About ten minutes later, no car. Suddenly my mobile phone goes off and I immediately know that it’s Hubby. “I need your help,” he says. “Can you walk over to the car and take a look at something for me?” So I walk a couple hundred feet to the white To.yota Pr.ius, where Hubby has the car door open and is handing me a keychain containing two keyless entry remotes. “I can’t figure out how to get to the key out to start the car.”
I look at the little black rectangular keyless entry remotes and think that perhaps there’s some sort of button on it to “release” the key; much like some other cars do. After about 5 minutes of pushing and pulling and sliding different thingies on the remote, Hubby decides to walk back to our friend J so that the two of them can bring all our baggage over.
In the mean time, I slide into the driver’s seat to get to the compartment where the owner’s manual should be. And then I see this green, glow-in-the-dark rectangle by the steering wheel. No way … I remember thinking. It can’t be that easy.
"By the Power of Greyskull ..."
But sure enough, I take the keyless remote and slide it right into the green rectangle. And suddenly there’s lights and a beeping noise as if I left the car door open (which I did) with the keys still in the ignition (which apparently the remote was the the key).
And yet … no sound of the car running. “Oh,” I say out loud, as I notice this big round button that says “Power” on it. Perhaps if I push the button …. but still nothing. By this time, Hubby & J are by my side, amazed that I even figured out how to get the keys in the car. And yet, every time any of us go to press the “Power” button, we would get no indication that the car was actually running.
So now it’s about 12:15 am PST, which … for those who just flew in from Michigan … is about 3:15 am EST, the three of us had poured over the d*mn owner’s manual with absolutely no idea on how to start the car. And all we wanna do is get to our hotel room so we can crash for the night. “This is ridiculous,” says Hubby. “I’m gonna ask the girl inside.” And so off he stalks.
Within 3 minutes he’s back at the car. “She says to press the brake while pushing the power button.” (Because that little bit of info is nowhere in the owner’s manual!) And so he complies. Bingo … the digital odometer finally appears as well as a slew of other important car features (climate control being my priority, of course!). “There we go,” says Hubby, as he starts to shift the car into drive.
The Funky Gear Shift (and the Park button, too!)
“Wait,” I say to Hubby. “Are you sure it’s even running? I don’t hear a thing!”
“It is,” Hubby assures me. “The girl said the engine is extremely quiet, so it always tends to fool first-time hybrid users.” After that, he presses the brakes and places the car into “Drive.” And once he lets go of the gear shift, it promptly returns back into neutral. “Weird,” Hubby says and tries it again. And once again, the gear shift returns to the neutral position.
J and I look at each other and I know we’re both thinking the same thing: “How the h*ll do we get this car to move forward. Or backward. Or at all?!”
“Oh, I get it,” says the driver. “I think the gear shift is a simple lever.” Sounds strange, but I knew that Hubby meant that really … the car could move either forward or reverse at the touch of a button. But because we’ve all gotten so used to the concept of a gear shift, the carmaker developed a contraption that works very similar to what we were familiar with. And once we all understood that, Hubby “pseudo-shifted” the car into Drive,” and finally got the car to move forward.
Wicked (and I mean WICKED) Interior
In the midst of our short drive to the hotel, we discovered other crazy things about the car. For instance, the digital display monitor is multi-functional and controls not only the interior climate but the radio tuner as well. And when the car is placed in reverse, the digital display monitor functions as the screen for the “backup camera” feature, which allows for a view of the car’s rear area. “How frickin’ cool,” we all think when we see it for the first time.
By the time we pull up to our hotel, it’s about 1:00 am PST (4:00 am EST, if you’re keeping track of how long our day has been). “Uh …,” says Hubby. “Now how do I put this sucker in park?” I glance over at the display and confirm that there is no “Park” option in the gear shift. I shrug my shoulders as Hubby and I both happen to catch this little sticker label right by the gear shift. “Push the ‘P’ button to place in Park,” Hubby reads out loud.
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So yeah … that was our first ever experience with a hybrid vehicle. I have no idea if this is what other hybrid vehicles are like, but this one certainly had the three of us simultaneously banging our heads up against the car window and laughing our a$$es off.
Making the world a little greener ...
Now ask me if I’d ever drive another To.yota Pr.ius again, and the answer is a resounding yes. After figuring out how to work everything in the car, the little bugger was so d*mn cool. But the best part was … after about six days of driving the car essentially all over San Diego and as far up as Del Mar, we only used a half a tank of gas. That’s almost 250 miles of driving at a mere 4-5 gallons of gas.
For example, one week I had this incredible urge to hear that one Jo.an Je.tt song from that one movie she was in with Mi.chael J. Fox, but for the life of me I couldn’t remember the name of the song, let alone the name of the movie. (Oh yeah, I can hear y’all trying to remember it now, too … ) The next day at work, what do I find on my iPod? Uh-huh … He’s such a great guy, isn’t he?! I think so.
