It's official, I managed to convince someone to actually pay me to come work in their office as a barely-paid intern. Due to funding issues, I will technically be working for two organizations; The Alliance to Save Energy will be sharing me with The International Emissions Trading Association so that I can get a full-time schedule. As I understand it, I will spend half of my time working on the Alliance's International Team helping to establish an "energy efficiency center of excellence" in Beijing (whatever that is), and then for the IETA I will mostly just be doing random administrative stuff, but I'm sure I will learn a lot just by osmosis there too. At a mere $9/hour, it is among the lowest-paying jobs I have ever had (I made more babysitting when I was in high-school), and I will probably have to get a supplementary job and/or live on rice and beans for the next few months, nonetheless I am excited about the position. In the past few months of undoubtedly tireless job-searching, this was one of the most interesting positions I found. I am also pretty pleased that it only took me about a month here in DC to get hired somewhere. I was kind of expecting it to take quite a bit longer. Also, this was the only interview I had, which is good because I hate interviews.
So I guess the next step is to find somewhere else to live so my kind hosts can have their house back. I have been waiting to look for housing until after I knew more about my job/income situation, but last night I went to look at a room for the first time. The house was on a beautiful street in a beautiful neighborhood, but the guy who lives there is probably at least 60 and was all depressed about his dog dying a few days before; not exactly the kind of housemate I am looking for. I've emailed a few more people about rooms though too, so hopefully it won't take me too long to find a place.
Actually, I will be spening the next two nights in a hostel because Lisa and William are having the floors finished today and tomorrow and we have to be out of the house. I don't really feel like having to get dressed up for work when I'm staying in a hostel (I don't know why), so I told the temp agency that I don't want to work tomorrow and I have decided to go for a short road trip instead.
About a week ago I signed up for a car-sharing network they have here in DC, called Zipcar. It is like a car rental, except that they have cooler cars which are located all over the city and you can reserve them by the hour online. It is pretty cool. In order to mitigate some of the guilt that I will feel for this unnecessary driving excursion, I decided to spend a few more dollars and spring for a Prius. I haven't decided where to go yet, but I'm thinking of maybe Annapolis, MD and Frederick, MD. I have 180 miles to blow; beyond that costs extra. Hopefully it will be fun...
11.26.2007
11.18.2007
I Darez You
I dare you to look through a few pages of this website without laughing. I DARE YOU!
http://icanhascheezburger.com/
http://icanhascheezburger.com/
11.16.2007
Job at the WWF
...(but not the World Wrestling Federation)
Today was a good day, though not quite as good as I had been hoping for. I had been hoping to hear back about an internship that I interviewed for and am really excited about, but alas, I didn't not hear from them. I did, however, start my first day as a 4-day temp at the World Wildlife Fund. I am just subbing for an assistant because she is taking next week off for Thanksgiving. Normally she would be able to just take time off and not need anyone to replace her, but several of her superiors are about to go to the Democratic Republic of Congo for a few weeks for a conference or something, so they need someone in the office.
I didn't really do very much today. My two big tasks were to design some certificates that will be given out at a ceremony in the D.R.C., and to make sure that some expense reports were turned in to the accounting department by 3:00 today. Oh, and I also had to coordinate with a visa service and return some passports to people who are going on this trip. I must say, these four passports were by far the most impressive passports I have ever seen. They all had lots of stamps from lots of exotic places and most of them had lots of extra pages to accommodate all of the stamps. Overall it was a fairly easy job, but it seems like a great place to work, full of interesting people. One of the guys who I am helping to coordinate with on this trip is Bruce Babbitt, former governor of Arizona. I will be meeting him on Monday I think. Hopefully I will hear back about that other internship on Monday too. But then I will have to think about how much I really want that internship, which pays a lot less than even this temp gig, or if I would maybe rather try to get a job here at the WWF... gosh, who knows...
On an unrelated note, here is proof that some people have way too much time on their hands. I saw this story online about an old photo which allegedly MIGHT contain an image of Abraham Lincoln. You can then click on a link which takes you to increasingly zoomed-in images of the photo in question, eventually trying to convince you that a specific tiny blob in the photo must be good ol' Honest Abe himself. It's pretty ridiculous...
And finally, here is a YouTube video of the latest cheesy yet catchy Puerto Rican reggaeton song that I have become addicted to, "Sexy Movimiento" by Wisin & Yandel. I'm not going to lie; there are a lot of annoying things about this video (mostly the mild objectification of women and annoying displays of "bling" and machismo), but you might like it anyway.
Today was a good day, though not quite as good as I had been hoping for. I had been hoping to hear back about an internship that I interviewed for and am really excited about, but alas, I didn't not hear from them. I did, however, start my first day as a 4-day temp at the World Wildlife Fund. I am just subbing for an assistant because she is taking next week off for Thanksgiving. Normally she would be able to just take time off and not need anyone to replace her, but several of her superiors are about to go to the Democratic Republic of Congo for a few weeks for a conference or something, so they need someone in the office.
I didn't really do very much today. My two big tasks were to design some certificates that will be given out at a ceremony in the D.R.C., and to make sure that some expense reports were turned in to the accounting department by 3:00 today. Oh, and I also had to coordinate with a visa service and return some passports to people who are going on this trip. I must say, these four passports were by far the most impressive passports I have ever seen. They all had lots of stamps from lots of exotic places and most of them had lots of extra pages to accommodate all of the stamps. Overall it was a fairly easy job, but it seems like a great place to work, full of interesting people. One of the guys who I am helping to coordinate with on this trip is Bruce Babbitt, former governor of Arizona. I will be meeting him on Monday I think. Hopefully I will hear back about that other internship on Monday too. But then I will have to think about how much I really want that internship, which pays a lot less than even this temp gig, or if I would maybe rather try to get a job here at the WWF... gosh, who knows...
On an unrelated note, here is proof that some people have way too much time on their hands. I saw this story online about an old photo which allegedly MIGHT contain an image of Abraham Lincoln. You can then click on a link which takes you to increasingly zoomed-in images of the photo in question, eventually trying to convince you that a specific tiny blob in the photo must be good ol' Honest Abe himself. It's pretty ridiculous...
And finally, here is a YouTube video of the latest cheesy yet catchy Puerto Rican reggaeton song that I have become addicted to, "Sexy Movimiento" by Wisin & Yandel. I'm not going to lie; there are a lot of annoying things about this video (mostly the mild objectification of women and annoying displays of "bling" and machismo), but you might like it anyway.
11.06.2007
DC Bus Drivers
Since I have mostly been using the metro and not riding on buses, I have had to make most of my observations of DC bus drivers from the pedestrian perspective. This past weekend, however, I finally rode on a few buses. Last Thursday I rode the bus to Georgetown and back. I was impressed by the skill with which the drivers deftly maneuvered the buses in and out of traffic and around all the parked cars and everything.
Then on Saturday I took Greyhound from DC to Baltimore to have dinner with Dwight and Jennifer for their anniversary. Before leaving DC, the bus driver got up and gave a speech about the rules on the bus, keeping cellphone conversations quiet, picking up the trash, no lewd behavior or inappropriate conversations. He then proceeded to offer sort of a short sermon, or a long blessing/prayer for the bus, the passengers, and the voyage before us. He ended by saying something about how he loves each and every one of us like his own family and that we will all have failures in our lives, but that failure makes us stronger human beings. Here I thought I was just taking a simple 45-minute bus ride up the highway, but this guy made me start to wonder if perhaps I was getting myself into something much more than that.
The bus ride ended up being pretty uneventful. The driver did run over one curb as we were heading out of town, however. He also was listening to his iPod the whole time and talking on his cellphone a fair bit as well, which seemed pretty inappropriate to me.
In other news, I had my first interview yesterday. I think it went well, but it's always hard to know for sure how it really went. They said that they won't be making any decisions for about 2 weeks. Yesterday I also saw a fairly important international figure. I was about to cross a street downtown when some motorcycle cops came and blocked off the intersection for a motorcade. I looked down the block to see if the motorcade was coming and I saw that they were just parked on the other side of the street and there was a crowd of people there. So I moseyed over there to take a look just in case it happened to be someone REALLY famous. When people started getting in their cars I couldn't recognize anyone, and then a cameraman standing nearby said it was the Turkish Prime Minister, so no wonder I didn't recognize him. This morning he was in the news though, here's a BBC article about his meeting with Bush. Anyway, it was still kind of cool.
Then on Saturday I took Greyhound from DC to Baltimore to have dinner with Dwight and Jennifer for their anniversary. Before leaving DC, the bus driver got up and gave a speech about the rules on the bus, keeping cellphone conversations quiet, picking up the trash, no lewd behavior or inappropriate conversations. He then proceeded to offer sort of a short sermon, or a long blessing/prayer for the bus, the passengers, and the voyage before us. He ended by saying something about how he loves each and every one of us like his own family and that we will all have failures in our lives, but that failure makes us stronger human beings. Here I thought I was just taking a simple 45-minute bus ride up the highway, but this guy made me start to wonder if perhaps I was getting myself into something much more than that.
The bus ride ended up being pretty uneventful. The driver did run over one curb as we were heading out of town, however. He also was listening to his iPod the whole time and talking on his cellphone a fair bit as well, which seemed pretty inappropriate to me.
In other news, I had my first interview yesterday. I think it went well, but it's always hard to know for sure how it really went. They said that they won't be making any decisions for about 2 weeks. Yesterday I also saw a fairly important international figure. I was about to cross a street downtown when some motorcycle cops came and blocked off the intersection for a motorcade. I looked down the block to see if the motorcade was coming and I saw that they were just parked on the other side of the street and there was a crowd of people there. So I moseyed over there to take a look just in case it happened to be someone REALLY famous. When people started getting in their cars I couldn't recognize anyone, and then a cameraman standing nearby said it was the Turkish Prime Minister, so no wonder I didn't recognize him. This morning he was in the news though, here's a BBC article about his meeting with Bush. Anyway, it was still kind of cool.
11.02.2007
Murphy's Law
Suit shopping didn't go as perfectly as I had been imagining as almost all of the stores I went to had little or nothing in my size (I need to bulk up), but I did end up purchasing something late in the afternoon. It's nothing fancy; just a black three-button suit from Men's Wearhouse (the only place that had any suits small enough for me). It won't be ready to pick up until Monday evening, and naturally the place that I am really excited to have an interview with called me today wanting to schedule an interview on Monday. At first I told them I would prefer to come in later in the week so I could wear my suit, but then I changed my mind and asked if they don't really mind that I don't wear a suit if I could go ahead and come in on Monday. So I won't get to wear my new suit to the big interview that I am really excited about... Oh well, I still think it will be good to have a suit, and maybe I won't get this job anyway and I'll still need a suit for more interviews later.
10.31.2007
Making Progress
So I've been in DC for a full week now and I have made a little bit of progress. In the next two days I should be scheduling two interviews for next week. I'm not going to go into much detail about the interviews in case they don't work out, but I will say that I am pretty excited about one, and not quite as excited about the other. I feel like I have a good shot at both of them, but probably better chances at the one that I am less excited about. Anyway, I am excited to finally have some interviews on the horizon and I am pretty sure that neither of them would be happening if I were still in Colorado instead of here.
My goal for tomorrow is to buy a suit to wear to these and future interviews. In preparation for this I have spent most of the day today online trying to learn about suits since I have never shopped for a suit before. I learned that three-button is sort of the current suit fashion, but almost to the point where it is almost passé. I learned that non-vented tends to look better and sleeker, but might not be as comfortable (but doesn't really have anything to do with ventilation). I learned that flat-front pants are probably better for skinny guys like me, and pleated pants are better for bigger guys but most skinny guys should avoid pleats. I learned that worsted wool generally seems to be the preferred fabric.
Although a few of my more frugal relatives would probably suggest that I go first to the local thrift store for my new suit, I will not be going that route. I think I will start by going to Express on M street in Georgetown even though they don't really have suits and it will probably be a waste of time. I will probably end up buying SOMETHING there anyway though because I seem to have no self-control in that particular store (is it the trendy music that they play in the dressing rooms? who knows...). After Express in Georgetown, I will probably go to Macy's downtown. If Macy's doesn't do it for me, then I will probably go to the Men's Warehouse, which appears to be more expensive, but also probably has a better selection than Macy's.
I am a little bit worried about going solo without a non-biased second pair of discerning eyes, but I also shop better alone because I don't feel like I am wasting someone else's time, so maybe going solo will be good. I'm not really looking forward to spending the money on a suit, but if it helps me land a job more quickly then I guess it is probably worth it.
So things seem to be happening and I am excited about it even if nothing is really set yet. Hopefully I will totally dazzle these people with my awesomeness and they will want me to start right away. Once I get a job squared away, then my next order of business will be to find an apartment to live in. After that, I suppose an awesome girlfriend would be the next order of business.
My goal for tomorrow is to buy a suit to wear to these and future interviews. In preparation for this I have spent most of the day today online trying to learn about suits since I have never shopped for a suit before. I learned that three-button is sort of the current suit fashion, but almost to the point where it is almost passé. I learned that non-vented tends to look better and sleeker, but might not be as comfortable (but doesn't really have anything to do with ventilation). I learned that flat-front pants are probably better for skinny guys like me, and pleated pants are better for bigger guys but most skinny guys should avoid pleats. I learned that worsted wool generally seems to be the preferred fabric.
Although a few of my more frugal relatives would probably suggest that I go first to the local thrift store for my new suit, I will not be going that route. I think I will start by going to Express on M street in Georgetown even though they don't really have suits and it will probably be a waste of time. I will probably end up buying SOMETHING there anyway though because I seem to have no self-control in that particular store (is it the trendy music that they play in the dressing rooms? who knows...). After Express in Georgetown, I will probably go to Macy's downtown. If Macy's doesn't do it for me, then I will probably go to the Men's Warehouse, which appears to be more expensive, but also probably has a better selection than Macy's.
I am a little bit worried about going solo without a non-biased second pair of discerning eyes, but I also shop better alone because I don't feel like I am wasting someone else's time, so maybe going solo will be good. I'm not really looking forward to spending the money on a suit, but if it helps me land a job more quickly then I guess it is probably worth it.
So things seem to be happening and I am excited about it even if nothing is really set yet. Hopefully I will totally dazzle these people with my awesomeness and they will want me to start right away. Once I get a job squared away, then my next order of business will be to find an apartment to live in. After that, I suppose an awesome girlfriend would be the next order of business.
10.25.2007
Ethiopian, who knew?
Last night I went out for Ethiopian dinner with Lisa and William. The last time I had Ethiopian food was when I was 8 and came to DC with my family to visit Lisa and she took us to an Ethiopian restaurant. I remember hating it profoundly and being very crabby. Lisa says that shortly afterwards, I told her in all seriousness that, "it was the worst experience of my life." It has been kind of a joke in our family ever since.
Well, I've grown up a lot in the past 15 years and so when William proposed that we go out for Ethiopian food last night, I was all for it. It ended up being delicious and it might be one of my new favorite kinds of food. I have also looked up how to say "Ethiopian" in Spanish, just in case I find myself needing to ask any Spanish-speaking girls out on a date to Ethiopian food. You never know, can't be too prepared... Incidentally, it is etíope.
Well, I've grown up a lot in the past 15 years and so when William proposed that we go out for Ethiopian food last night, I was all for it. It ended up being delicious and it might be one of my new favorite kinds of food. I have also looked up how to say "Ethiopian" in Spanish, just in case I find myself needing to ask any Spanish-speaking girls out on a date to Ethiopian food. You never know, can't be too prepared... Incidentally, it is etíope.
10.24.2007
Congratulations!
I went to Safeway this morning to buy some groceries. Since I never shopped at Safeway in Colorado, I didn't have a Safeway discount card, so when I checked out at the register, I asked the cashier if I could have one. After filling out the form, she handed me my new Safeway card and congratulated me, "Congratulations sir! Here is your new Safeway Club Card!" I didn't think it was a big deal to get a grocery store discount card, but since she used the word "congratulations" I decided that I should just chock it up as one of my first accomplishments in DC.
10.23.2007
First Night + Beer = Fantastic
It might be the several beers that I had tonight at the Sierra Club free beer night at a local bar, but so far, almost 12 hours in, I am LOVING DC. I met more interesting/smart/motivated/attractive people tonight than I have meet in almost a year of being a bus driver in Vail and living in Edwards, CO. I almost can't think of a more perfect way for me to start out what will hopefully be a wonderful new chapter in my life, I am just that pleased. It might be a bit early to pass any judgment, but I think this might be one of the best decisions I have ever made. I think I made a good first impression with at least 9 people, maybe 10. One of them was a pretty attractive dark-haired girl who I suspect speaks Spanish, and another is a lobbyist who deals with transit system issues.
That's all I really have to say about it right now. I have precisely no plans for tomorrow, but I hope it will be awesome! Alright, I'm going to take all of my things off of my bed and put them back into my duffle-bag and go to bed dreaming about how awesome tomorrow might be. Night all!
That's all I really have to say about it right now. I have precisely no plans for tomorrow, but I hope it will be awesome! Alright, I'm going to take all of my things off of my bed and put them back into my duffle-bag and go to bed dreaming about how awesome tomorrow might be. Night all!
10.22.2007
Packing and Moving
I don't REALLY have time to be blogging right now since I should be furiously sorting/packing/cleaning/tidying, etc...
Last night was my last shift as a Vail bus driver and I'm not feeling any nostalgia yet, but I guess I did only clock out a few hours ago. I have enjoyed being a bus driver and I think I will miss it sometimes. Nonetheless, I am feeling mostly excited about my impending move to DC. Actually, the past few weeks have been a bit of an emotional roller-coaster; most of the time I feel really good about this whole DC move, but sometimes I can't help feeling a little more pessimistic and worrisome about all the unknowns (and sometimes wonder what the hell I am getting myself into).
Anyhow, I am planning to head down to the Denver/Boulder/Berthoud area today before flying out tomorrow morning, but looking around my room I wonder how I am possibly going to finish packing today. My room is a disaster even though I've been "packing" for the past few days now. It would be easier if I were driving out there and could simply throw everything in my car, but since I am flying there I have to decide what to take in my luggage, what will be living at my dad's house, and what needs to just be thrown out or given away.
On that note, I guess I should stop writing this blog and get to packing!
Last night was my last shift as a Vail bus driver and I'm not feeling any nostalgia yet, but I guess I did only clock out a few hours ago. I have enjoyed being a bus driver and I think I will miss it sometimes. Nonetheless, I am feeling mostly excited about my impending move to DC. Actually, the past few weeks have been a bit of an emotional roller-coaster; most of the time I feel really good about this whole DC move, but sometimes I can't help feeling a little more pessimistic and worrisome about all the unknowns (and sometimes wonder what the hell I am getting myself into).
Anyhow, I am planning to head down to the Denver/Boulder/Berthoud area today before flying out tomorrow morning, but looking around my room I wonder how I am possibly going to finish packing today. My room is a disaster even though I've been "packing" for the past few days now. It would be easier if I were driving out there and could simply throw everything in my car, but since I am flying there I have to decide what to take in my luggage, what will be living at my dad's house, and what needs to just be thrown out or given away.
On that note, I guess I should stop writing this blog and get to packing!
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