http://www.kvue.com/news/Website-says-Austin-best-place-to-weather-recession-for-people-in-20s-30s-87726742.html
The method to my madness.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Job
So this new job is working out well. I started on Monday, and right now I'm working my 2nd shift. It's graveyard time so I'm working midnight to 8:00am but I'm pretty much already adjusted. I've had to be so flexible during my adventures so it's not that big of a deal and I'm just accepting it for what it is.
I work in the NOC (network operations center, pronounced knock) monitoring hundreds of servers both on site and remote sites for some cool companies such as the video game developer BioWare who makes all the cool star wars games, and a ton of radio stations as well as a lot of other smaller companies that are lesser known. There is a ton of proprietary software to learn and master which has been fun. I'm set up with a sweet quad-screen display so that you can have a ton of windows open at once which is necessary. We are set up well here in the NOC, and let's be honest: saying you work in the NOC sounds cool.
The people here are great, Allan has been training me in graveyard style. He's been here about 9 months and has his stuff together. He's a former Army Ranger from Bangor Maine and has a great attitude and work ethic. Apparently the other guy they hired here has some issues and might not work out. Two guys recently got fired because they sucked, which is why they were hiring. I guess one of the guys would just leave for hours in the night and stuff like that. Other than that guy everyone here is very cool - a lot of nerds that talk about video games, techie stuff, and are well versed in 1337 speak. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's super nerdy internet jargon so don't worry about it. The midnight shift is actually pretty uneventful but someone needs to be manning the NOC 24x7 in case something happens. We've had a couple servers on the east coast go down due to flooding and rain/power outages so I'm learning how to handle it all. The night shift guys are kind of on an island because nobody else is around and everyone else is home sleeping or whatever so there is a level of responsibility and decision making involved that I enjoy. By the end of the week, I'm going to be tasked with running the show solo.
I'm having to recall my old cisco networking skills from high school which are greatly valued here, and OuterNet even pays for the employees to get cisco certifications (pays for your books and test fees). I'll be taking advantage of that. I'll go for my CCNA (cisco certified network assistant) first off and try to move up from there. I know I can master these tests as they are far easier than EE curriculum, but it's still going to take a little work. I'll get a pay bump and be better marketable if I can land some of these certifications, so I might as well!
The campus up here is super awesome. Yes I said "super awesome" because it is super awesome. there is a free gym on site, a open air basketball court on the roof, and companies like cray supercomputers in our building which is building #4 out of 5.
The new apt is working out great, and I'll be scouring craigslist to see if I can't pick up some free furniture so I'll actually have a place to sit down. I'll post some more videos as soon as I get my internet at the apartment hooked up.
Peace out from Austin!
I work in the NOC (network operations center, pronounced knock) monitoring hundreds of servers both on site and remote sites for some cool companies such as the video game developer BioWare who makes all the cool star wars games, and a ton of radio stations as well as a lot of other smaller companies that are lesser known. There is a ton of proprietary software to learn and master which has been fun. I'm set up with a sweet quad-screen display so that you can have a ton of windows open at once which is necessary. We are set up well here in the NOC, and let's be honest: saying you work in the NOC sounds cool.
The people here are great, Allan has been training me in graveyard style. He's been here about 9 months and has his stuff together. He's a former Army Ranger from Bangor Maine and has a great attitude and work ethic. Apparently the other guy they hired here has some issues and might not work out. Two guys recently got fired because they sucked, which is why they were hiring. I guess one of the guys would just leave for hours in the night and stuff like that. Other than that guy everyone here is very cool - a lot of nerds that talk about video games, techie stuff, and are well versed in 1337 speak. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's super nerdy internet jargon so don't worry about it. The midnight shift is actually pretty uneventful but someone needs to be manning the NOC 24x7 in case something happens. We've had a couple servers on the east coast go down due to flooding and rain/power outages so I'm learning how to handle it all. The night shift guys are kind of on an island because nobody else is around and everyone else is home sleeping or whatever so there is a level of responsibility and decision making involved that I enjoy. By the end of the week, I'm going to be tasked with running the show solo.
I'm having to recall my old cisco networking skills from high school which are greatly valued here, and OuterNet even pays for the employees to get cisco certifications (pays for your books and test fees). I'll be taking advantage of that. I'll go for my CCNA (cisco certified network assistant) first off and try to move up from there. I know I can master these tests as they are far easier than EE curriculum, but it's still going to take a little work. I'll get a pay bump and be better marketable if I can land some of these certifications, so I might as well!
The campus up here is super awesome. Yes I said "super awesome" because it is super awesome. there is a free gym on site, a open air basketball court on the roof, and companies like cray supercomputers in our building which is building #4 out of 5.
The new apt is working out great, and I'll be scouring craigslist to see if I can't pick up some free furniture so I'll actually have a place to sit down. I'll post some more videos as soon as I get my internet at the apartment hooked up.
Peace out from Austin!
Saturday, March 13, 2010
A Place to Call My Own
Well, things have a funny way of working out because this morning I was homeless but tonight I have my own apartment. I'm sitting poolside right now and it's about 60 out since the sun went down.
The new place is great, 1 bed 1 bath, a living room, small connected dining room and full kitchen with all new appliances including full sized microwave, and a new dishwasher. It has brand new carpeting, paint, 2 new ceiling fans, new light fixtures and new tile in the bathroom and kitchen, a porch and plenty of free parking. It's a gated community so you need a keycard to get in the place, and there are many 3 story buildings with a cool courtyard between them and plenty of FREE parking which is baller. Mine is up on the 3rd floor so nobody above will make any noise. It's in a pretty neat area, there are definitely things to do within walking distance and it's only 4 miles away from downtown right on the busline that runs late. Best of all it's very reasonably priced, and Lisa the manager pushed the paperwork through fast so I could move in today! I'll throw up a video when I get the time so you can all see the pad. Woot my own place, feels like home already
I need to go pick up some essentials such as a shower curtain, soap and maybe a little table. I have no furniture here, only a rocker game chair and a blowup mattress that will suit well for the foreseeable future. I have a lot of work to do yet to get things organized like get some bills put in my name and get internet hooked up and all that garbage, so I'm going to sign off.
SXSW runs for the next 7 days so I will have to find time to get down there. Maybe I can test drive a ferrari at the dealership that's just down the road and pick up some babes. And oh yeah the gophers beat Michigan State in OT yesterday then pummeled Purdue badly today, they are on a roll and play for the big10 championship tomorrow, something they have never won before!
The new place is great, 1 bed 1 bath, a living room, small connected dining room and full kitchen with all new appliances including full sized microwave, and a new dishwasher. It has brand new carpeting, paint, 2 new ceiling fans, new light fixtures and new tile in the bathroom and kitchen, a porch and plenty of free parking. It's a gated community so you need a keycard to get in the place, and there are many 3 story buildings with a cool courtyard between them and plenty of FREE parking which is baller. Mine is up on the 3rd floor so nobody above will make any noise. It's in a pretty neat area, there are definitely things to do within walking distance and it's only 4 miles away from downtown right on the busline that runs late. Best of all it's very reasonably priced, and Lisa the manager pushed the paperwork through fast so I could move in today! I'll throw up a video when I get the time so you can all see the pad. Woot my own place, feels like home already
I need to go pick up some essentials such as a shower curtain, soap and maybe a little table. I have no furniture here, only a rocker game chair and a blowup mattress that will suit well for the foreseeable future. I have a lot of work to do yet to get things organized like get some bills put in my name and get internet hooked up and all that garbage, so I'm going to sign off.
SXSW runs for the next 7 days so I will have to find time to get down there. Maybe I can test drive a ferrari at the dealership that's just down the road and pick up some babes. And oh yeah the gophers beat Michigan State in OT yesterday then pummeled Purdue badly today, they are on a roll and play for the big10 championship tomorrow, something they have never won before!
Friday, March 12, 2010
addendum
Let's go Gophers! Gotta beat Michigan State tonight if we wanna dance baby!
And apparently Robert DeNiro is going to portray Vince Lombardi in a new movie! bet that's news to you huh uncle Paul?
And apparently Robert DeNiro is going to portray Vince Lombardi in a new movie! bet that's news to you huh uncle Paul?
Nailed it!
Holy smokes people, life is a whirlwind. A true told whirling dervish. I am now employed! I had both of my interviews today after blazing a trail in my minivan down to Austin from Dallas. This morning I interviewed with Jason and Nick at OuterNet, a server hosting and management IT company right on the beautiful banks of the Colorado river (yes, the same river that carved out the grand canyon).
Apparently I did something right for once and a few hours later I got called back with a job offer, and I accepted!
The nitty gritty of the job is that I will be providing technical and phone support for OuterNet's clients in regards to server operations and maintenance. This ranges from escalating calls to the appropriate party to getting hands on with the equipment. It is a small company (35 employees or so) with a great atmosphere and incredible growth potential. It is a position where I have experience, and I think I will learn a ton about the industry. Nick said that there is great opportunity to move up the ranks. I will go into more detail after I start, of course. Check out the link for more info:
OuterNet's website
I have a feeling this might be a long post, but you all love my creative and colorful style of writing so consider it a gift.
Sooo, a little bit about my first day in Austin. I arrived at about 9:00 in the night and took a quick gander through downtown which I honestly can say is the most inviting and modern downtown I have ever seen. I then went down to find the hostel
link to the Hostel in Austin
and luckily they had 1 single bed left for the night, phew. The hostel was amazing with 40 something beds, a massive clean common area, huge patio, and a huge lot on the river just a couple miles from the skyline of downtown. It was late and I was tired but I managed to meet a guy from Wisconsin that used to play shows in downtown La Crosse at Popcorn and Nighthawks. A crazy old scottish guy, a Swede, and even ran into my aussie buddy Alex who I met in Dallas. There were people running around all over the place but I had some research and work to attend to.
They really packed em in like sardines and the beds are noisy, every time you move it sounds like you're crushing a bag of potato chips. I was on the top bunk in a room of 14 dudes and everyone was snoring and coming in late so it was a terrible night of sleep to say the least.
I've been running around the city since early morning, and the layout is fantastic. There is a skyscraper boom in downtown, apparently the housing market is also booming in the city. It is known as "Silicon Hills" a play on Silicon Valley where all the IT companies are located. Major companies running out of Austin include Cisco, Google, Apple, HP, AMD, ebay, intel, Samsung, Sun microsystems and countless others. Recession? What recession, this city is booming!
Let's give some numbers: According to wikipedia in 1990 there were 472,000 people in the city limits. As of 2009, there were 758,000. I'm no good with numbers, oh wait yeah I am, and that comes out to 80% growth in 20 years. Almost doubled in size!
There are rolling hills everywhere with gorgeous homes and businesses. Nothing looks rundown, but of course there has to be a bad part of town - there's a bad part of every town. Wherever it is I'll just never go there and pretend it doesn't exist. I did read though that this metro is basically (one of) the best large city(s) to live in based on crime statistics, income, and cost of living. The capital building is nestled in between downtown and the HUGE university of Texas longhorns. It is a very liberal city which is very rare in Texas, and in the south as a whole. There are young people everywhere, the city is very clean, there are no expansive ugly huge highways running all over, the city planners seemed to have their heads screwed on straight.
There are about 1.6 million people that live in the area, so comparable to Milwaukee without the crappiness.
The young tech savvy liberal minded population and great urban planning makes for some of the best nightlife (I've heard) in the entire country. And starting today happens to be the largest music festival on the planet, south by southwest aka (SXSW) where there are tons of shows, movie premieres, and apparently free beer!! I'm thinking it might just be a really big Madison without the winter.
website for South By SouthWest
So due to SXSW getting a hotel was tough but I had to fork over some cash at a Best Western which is pretty nice actually for a 2 person room, but oh well.
Tonight I plan on checking out 6th street downtown, listening to some great music, drinking a celebration beer and meeting more incredible people as I try to grasp the fact that I'm going to be living here. Then next up is finding an apartment. I have the business card of the boyfriend of a girl I just met, and he happens to be a real estate guy that knows all about the apts. in Austin so I'll hit him up right now, and of course check craigslist!
OK I know I don't know squat about Texas, and that maybe I'm talking the area up a bit, but I am excited and super happy to finally have found a job. Other places are fantastic, but it was no sense trying to force the square peg in a round hole.
The roller coaster of life brings you up, then down, then up....and on and on. The peaks are great, but are only really enjoyable if you experience the valleys.
I saw on a billboard the other day in Dallas "It's not what you achieve, it's what you overcome", and it's true.
And as a final note, THANKS MOM!! love ya, you're the best!
Apparently I did something right for once and a few hours later I got called back with a job offer, and I accepted!
The nitty gritty of the job is that I will be providing technical and phone support for OuterNet's clients in regards to server operations and maintenance. This ranges from escalating calls to the appropriate party to getting hands on with the equipment. It is a small company (35 employees or so) with a great atmosphere and incredible growth potential. It is a position where I have experience, and I think I will learn a ton about the industry. Nick said that there is great opportunity to move up the ranks. I will go into more detail after I start, of course. Check out the link for more info:
OuterNet's website
I have a feeling this might be a long post, but you all love my creative and colorful style of writing so consider it a gift.
Sooo, a little bit about my first day in Austin. I arrived at about 9:00 in the night and took a quick gander through downtown which I honestly can say is the most inviting and modern downtown I have ever seen. I then went down to find the hostel
link to the Hostel in Austin
and luckily they had 1 single bed left for the night, phew. The hostel was amazing with 40 something beds, a massive clean common area, huge patio, and a huge lot on the river just a couple miles from the skyline of downtown. It was late and I was tired but I managed to meet a guy from Wisconsin that used to play shows in downtown La Crosse at Popcorn and Nighthawks. A crazy old scottish guy, a Swede, and even ran into my aussie buddy Alex who I met in Dallas. There were people running around all over the place but I had some research and work to attend to.
They really packed em in like sardines and the beds are noisy, every time you move it sounds like you're crushing a bag of potato chips. I was on the top bunk in a room of 14 dudes and everyone was snoring and coming in late so it was a terrible night of sleep to say the least.
I've been running around the city since early morning, and the layout is fantastic. There is a skyscraper boom in downtown, apparently the housing market is also booming in the city. It is known as "Silicon Hills" a play on Silicon Valley where all the IT companies are located. Major companies running out of Austin include Cisco, Google, Apple, HP, AMD, ebay, intel, Samsung, Sun microsystems and countless others. Recession? What recession, this city is booming!
Let's give some numbers: According to wikipedia in 1990 there were 472,000 people in the city limits. As of 2009, there were 758,000. I'm no good with numbers, oh wait yeah I am, and that comes out to 80% growth in 20 years. Almost doubled in size!
There are rolling hills everywhere with gorgeous homes and businesses. Nothing looks rundown, but of course there has to be a bad part of town - there's a bad part of every town. Wherever it is I'll just never go there and pretend it doesn't exist. I did read though that this metro is basically (one of) the best large city(s) to live in based on crime statistics, income, and cost of living. The capital building is nestled in between downtown and the HUGE university of Texas longhorns. It is a very liberal city which is very rare in Texas, and in the south as a whole. There are young people everywhere, the city is very clean, there are no expansive ugly huge highways running all over, the city planners seemed to have their heads screwed on straight.
There are about 1.6 million people that live in the area, so comparable to Milwaukee without the crappiness.
The young tech savvy liberal minded population and great urban planning makes for some of the best nightlife (I've heard) in the entire country. And starting today happens to be the largest music festival on the planet, south by southwest aka (SXSW) where there are tons of shows, movie premieres, and apparently free beer!! I'm thinking it might just be a really big Madison without the winter.
website for South By SouthWest
So due to SXSW getting a hotel was tough but I had to fork over some cash at a Best Western which is pretty nice actually for a 2 person room, but oh well.
Tonight I plan on checking out 6th street downtown, listening to some great music, drinking a celebration beer and meeting more incredible people as I try to grasp the fact that I'm going to be living here. Then next up is finding an apartment. I have the business card of the boyfriend of a girl I just met, and he happens to be a real estate guy that knows all about the apts. in Austin so I'll hit him up right now, and of course check craigslist!
OK I know I don't know squat about Texas, and that maybe I'm talking the area up a bit, but I am excited and super happy to finally have found a job. Other places are fantastic, but it was no sense trying to force the square peg in a round hole.
The roller coaster of life brings you up, then down, then up....and on and on. The peaks are great, but are only really enjoyable if you experience the valleys.
I saw on a billboard the other day in Dallas "It's not what you achieve, it's what you overcome", and it's true.
And as a final note, THANKS MOM!! love ya, you're the best!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Greeting from the world of youtube
I finally was able to upload my videos to youtube! I've only been in Austin a few hours and have way too much awesome stuff to say about it, so I'll go into detail tomorrow. I need to rest up and nail these interviews tomorrow.
This is a little inside view of the hostel in Irving I stayed at for a week and a half.
And some friends that I made from Germany and Australia. Maria, Sophia, and Alex (who was nice enough to shave my head down to 1/4" before my interviews)
And not too amazing or anything, but a view from the west side of downtown Dallas with another Aussie. I figure I might as well post everything I got. After all, just like property is all about location, the internet is all about content.
This is a little inside view of the hostel in Irving I stayed at for a week and a half.
And some friends that I made from Germany and Australia. Maria, Sophia, and Alex (who was nice enough to shave my head down to 1/4" before my interviews)
And not too amazing or anything, but a view from the west side of downtown Dallas with another Aussie. I figure I might as well post everything I got. After all, just like property is all about location, the internet is all about content.
Going to Austin
Woot! I just got two interviews in Austin tomorrow! I'm packing up my bags and hitting the road in the next hour or two, so wish me luck!
What time is it? Game time!
Alright! So it turns out I might be rocking down to Houston very soon. It seems I will have a place to stay with (stay with me here) the gracious sister, Debbie, of an old friend's mom, Kim, that lives in Spring TX just north of Houston. They have a trailer would be able to stay in for a bit until I get a job, which is inevitable because I am reduced to having to find a server job or job at a place like Target or similar place for now. I need cash and I need it bad so these next few days are the last draw, time to pull out all the stops. I'm fine with this, not upset nor disappointed because I'm fully aware of the reality of this crazy idea moving to where I don't have any connections.
I am staying very busy with job applications, phone calls, emails and exploring Dallas. I go to bed exhausted at the end of the day which means I know I'm putting in the best effort I can to turn over all the stones in my endeavor.
I seriously can't believe the people I've been meeting, it's incredible, there is so much going on here in Dallas.
Romain, a froggy French Parisian police officer showed up yesterday and he's obsessed with food, cars, shoes, guns, and knives. His English is pretty bad, and he's one of the few Frenchman who loves the American lifestyle.
August is a 45 year old Polynesian Dutch guy who is ripped like a mack truck. He's a personal trainer and boxer and came to Dallas to go to the huge boxing title fight between his hero, Pacquiao, and Clottey from Africa. They are going to bout in the new amazing Cowboy's stadium on Saturday. He is obsessed with this guy and went to the press conference yesterday at the stadium and got to meet all the legendary trainers, boxers, and promoters including Jerry Jones. He is in heaven because he got Pacquiao's autograph and even talked to one of the promoters and got a press pass for the fight! He can't believe how awesome this country is. I didn't even know who Pacquiao was two days ago, but I'm now a fan. His energy and enthusiasm is infectious.
http://www.pacquiaovsclottey.com/
I also met Jane, a university student who works at a TV station in Cologne, Germany. She is a sweetheart, it's funny how close you can get to someone in just a day or two. I dropped her off at the greyhound station as she continues to travel around Texas and the states.
Went to the Maverick's vs. Nets game last night with Romain who doesn't know jack about basketball. We got some cheap seats and took the train from Irving - which is about 4 times faster and 4 times as cheap as driving, and dropped us off directly in front of American Airlines center - the best NBA venue in the country. This country needs to implement rail travel more. Time to get ready for some college basketball March madness, get ready for spring, get ready for baseball, get ready for progress, get ready for success!
I'm well rested. Morgan's aggressive side is coming out today, failure is not an option. Success takes hard work, and the harder you work the luckier you get.
I am staying very busy with job applications, phone calls, emails and exploring Dallas. I go to bed exhausted at the end of the day which means I know I'm putting in the best effort I can to turn over all the stones in my endeavor.
I seriously can't believe the people I've been meeting, it's incredible, there is so much going on here in Dallas.
Romain, a froggy French Parisian police officer showed up yesterday and he's obsessed with food, cars, shoes, guns, and knives. His English is pretty bad, and he's one of the few Frenchman who loves the American lifestyle.
August is a 45 year old Polynesian Dutch guy who is ripped like a mack truck. He's a personal trainer and boxer and came to Dallas to go to the huge boxing title fight between his hero, Pacquiao, and Clottey from Africa. They are going to bout in the new amazing Cowboy's stadium on Saturday. He is obsessed with this guy and went to the press conference yesterday at the stadium and got to meet all the legendary trainers, boxers, and promoters including Jerry Jones. He is in heaven because he got Pacquiao's autograph and even talked to one of the promoters and got a press pass for the fight! He can't believe how awesome this country is. I didn't even know who Pacquiao was two days ago, but I'm now a fan. His energy and enthusiasm is infectious.
http://www.pacquiaovsclottey.com/
I also met Jane, a university student who works at a TV station in Cologne, Germany. She is a sweetheart, it's funny how close you can get to someone in just a day or two. I dropped her off at the greyhound station as she continues to travel around Texas and the states.
Went to the Maverick's vs. Nets game last night with Romain who doesn't know jack about basketball. We got some cheap seats and took the train from Irving - which is about 4 times faster and 4 times as cheap as driving, and dropped us off directly in front of American Airlines center - the best NBA venue in the country. This country needs to implement rail travel more. Time to get ready for some college basketball March madness, get ready for spring, get ready for baseball, get ready for progress, get ready for success!
I'm well rested. Morgan's aggressive side is coming out today, failure is not an option. Success takes hard work, and the harder you work the luckier you get.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Weekend Update
Friday March 5 Temp: 65
Hmm where do I begin? The weekend all sort of blended into one long day. Phone interview went very well, and sounds like I fit the bill for what they are looking for. Trying to get an interview set up for Tuesday but some of these blokes are pretty tough to get ahold of with their schedule so I will continue to badger them about it.
Went downtown today to check it out with my aussie buddy Broderick. We just sort of walked around and enjoyed the weather and eventually found a free trolly that runs along the uptown district just north of downtown. It's not the same as Minneapolis' hipster infested uptown area, instead it is a rather upscale area with high end shopping, street side cafes, and the ritz-carlton hotel. All in all though it is the best neighborhood around the city I've encountered due to its easy walkability and pedestrian minded design.
Hooked up the wii and played some mario brothers with the dutch contingent and showed them the ropes.
Saturday March 6 Temp: 68
Today was pretty solid, gave me a chance to settle down during the day and a break from applying to jobs. Carlos and I went out to a neat joint in Fort Worth and enjoyed an amazing creole cuisine at Papadeaux (pronounced papa doe), threw down a few beers with some of the people staying at the hostel, and nothing else super noteworthy to mention.
Sunday March 7 Temp: 72, rain
So since the start of the weekend I've met some interesting cats:
- 2 really cute German medical students, Maria and Sophia, staying in Dallas before they head to San Antonio for a big 3 day wedding.
- A 25 year old aussie, Alex that just got back from Canada snowboarding who is on his way to Mexico -> Cuba -> Belize -> Honduras. He's studying pharmacy but is not super serious about school from the sound of it
- A group of 4 more aussies, 3 dudes and a chick that are on their way to Guatemala to teach english even though they don't have a job lined up down there
- A super quiet Japanese girl who dresses like something out of a comic book
- A guy studying architecture at Oklahoma State from Washington state. He spent a night here to fly out of Dallas because he's going to Romania to design an orphanage for his senior design. He was delayed on the train because his train hit an 18 wheeler and split it in half and it dumped a whole bunch of expandable foam all over the tracks and they had to replace the train engine and didn't let anyone off. Then the truck driver ran away from the scene because he was an illegal alien without a license. Link to that news story if you don't believe it:
http://www.wfaa.com/news/18-wheeler-stuck-on-tracks-hit-by-train-in-Fort-Worth-86766782.html
- Another German girl Anne who is a nanny for a doctor family in Virginia.
- And I also met Tim, a black rasta looking dread-sporting dude from Miami who plays guitar very well, and studied archaeology at UW-Madison who is coming through Texas to go on a dig in an area where they are building a dam. They need to get in there before they build it and the whole area floods and artifacts are lost.
Soooo overall the people I have been meeting are all spectacular, have great stories and are quite inspiring.
On Sunday I went downtown with one of the aussies and the two german gals (who unfortunately both have boyfriends) and we spent the day walking around and enjoying some food and beers as well as having some very great conversation about anything and everything.
Came back to the hostel and watched the academy awards and had to explain all the jokes to the Germans which was quite amusing. Super stoked to see the hurt locker mop up with best picture and director woot!!
Monday March 8 Temp: 56, thunderstorms
Carlos treated me to lunch today at an upscale mexican joint. Spent part of the day badgering the company I had the phone interview with. I just got done beating 3 aussies at nintendo themed monopoly. Decided to pour a fine guinness draught and hit the blog since I've been MIA for a couple days. I have some cool videos to post but am having trouble due to some router config problems here at the hostel so I'm going to work on fixing that so I can upload.
I told the hostel owner he needed a new computer and recommended some stuff to him which he's going to buy, which is why I think Carlos treated me to lunch today.
Going to try to find a studio apartment to stay at for cheap and I think I'm super close to finally finding work. I'll take mom's advice and run down to the TXU (texas utilities) headquarters with suit and resume in hand and see if I can't walk in and get a face to face or something. I've applied for entry level engineering positions but doing it cold call seems difficult, so maybe this will give me an edge.
Peace out from Texas and thanks for reading the long post but it should at least put a smile on your face!
Hmm where do I begin? The weekend all sort of blended into one long day. Phone interview went very well, and sounds like I fit the bill for what they are looking for. Trying to get an interview set up for Tuesday but some of these blokes are pretty tough to get ahold of with their schedule so I will continue to badger them about it.
Went downtown today to check it out with my aussie buddy Broderick. We just sort of walked around and enjoyed the weather and eventually found a free trolly that runs along the uptown district just north of downtown. It's not the same as Minneapolis' hipster infested uptown area, instead it is a rather upscale area with high end shopping, street side cafes, and the ritz-carlton hotel. All in all though it is the best neighborhood around the city I've encountered due to its easy walkability and pedestrian minded design.
Hooked up the wii and played some mario brothers with the dutch contingent and showed them the ropes.
Saturday March 6 Temp: 68
Today was pretty solid, gave me a chance to settle down during the day and a break from applying to jobs. Carlos and I went out to a neat joint in Fort Worth and enjoyed an amazing creole cuisine at Papadeaux (pronounced papa doe), threw down a few beers with some of the people staying at the hostel, and nothing else super noteworthy to mention.
Sunday March 7 Temp: 72, rain
So since the start of the weekend I've met some interesting cats:
- 2 really cute German medical students, Maria and Sophia, staying in Dallas before they head to San Antonio for a big 3 day wedding.
- A 25 year old aussie, Alex that just got back from Canada snowboarding who is on his way to Mexico -> Cuba -> Belize -> Honduras. He's studying pharmacy but is not super serious about school from the sound of it
- A group of 4 more aussies, 3 dudes and a chick that are on their way to Guatemala to teach english even though they don't have a job lined up down there
- A super quiet Japanese girl who dresses like something out of a comic book
- A guy studying architecture at Oklahoma State from Washington state. He spent a night here to fly out of Dallas because he's going to Romania to design an orphanage for his senior design. He was delayed on the train because his train hit an 18 wheeler and split it in half and it dumped a whole bunch of expandable foam all over the tracks and they had to replace the train engine and didn't let anyone off. Then the truck driver ran away from the scene because he was an illegal alien without a license. Link to that news story if you don't believe it:
http://www.wfaa.com/news/18-wheeler-stuck-on-tracks-hit-by-train-in-Fort-Worth-86766782.html
- Another German girl Anne who is a nanny for a doctor family in Virginia.
- And I also met Tim, a black rasta looking dread-sporting dude from Miami who plays guitar very well, and studied archaeology at UW-Madison who is coming through Texas to go on a dig in an area where they are building a dam. They need to get in there before they build it and the whole area floods and artifacts are lost.
Soooo overall the people I have been meeting are all spectacular, have great stories and are quite inspiring.
On Sunday I went downtown with one of the aussies and the two german gals (who unfortunately both have boyfriends) and we spent the day walking around and enjoying some food and beers as well as having some very great conversation about anything and everything.
Came back to the hostel and watched the academy awards and had to explain all the jokes to the Germans which was quite amusing. Super stoked to see the hurt locker mop up with best picture and director woot!!
Monday March 8 Temp: 56, thunderstorms
Carlos treated me to lunch today at an upscale mexican joint. Spent part of the day badgering the company I had the phone interview with. I just got done beating 3 aussies at nintendo themed monopoly. Decided to pour a fine guinness draught and hit the blog since I've been MIA for a couple days. I have some cool videos to post but am having trouble due to some router config problems here at the hostel so I'm going to work on fixing that so I can upload.
I told the hostel owner he needed a new computer and recommended some stuff to him which he's going to buy, which is why I think Carlos treated me to lunch today.
Going to try to find a studio apartment to stay at for cheap and I think I'm super close to finally finding work. I'll take mom's advice and run down to the TXU (texas utilities) headquarters with suit and resume in hand and see if I can't walk in and get a face to face or something. I've applied for entry level engineering positions but doing it cold call seems difficult, so maybe this will give me an edge.
Peace out from Texas and thanks for reading the long post but it should at least put a smile on your face!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Phone Interview
Got me some loving from a company with a technical support engineer position opening. Phone interview this afternoon or tomorrow depending on how busy they are.
It's a health care company in Plano (a nice part of the north metro) and they offer good wage and $100/month cell phone reimbursement, health insurance and some other benefits. I would be great at this job - so wish me the best in landing it!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Irving TX
Tuesday March 2
Today I found a great hostel in Irving right between Dallas and Fort Worth for $20/night. A guy named Carlos runs the joint and he is incredibly helpful and friendly.
The hostel has 4 rooms with a total of 20 beds and a nice common area. It's a remodeled house, full kitchen, backyard, parking, foosball table, free wireless, free washer/dryer + free detergent, and it's pretty close to just about everything in the area.
So far I've met a very good looking Belgian photographer, Bieke
you can check her award winning work @
www.biekedepoorter.be
a dude from Jersey moving to Vegas, a guy from far north New York who just graduated and is moving to Atlanta, an Aussie carpenter named Broderick on holiday for 4 months, a Chinese PHD economics student who studies at Columbia in Manhattan, a pair of Dutch dudes, and a guy from who the hell knows where.
Spent the day at a coffee shop in the super rich part of town just a couple miles north of downtown Dallas applying for positions.
Wednesday March 3
Today I got up at 8:00 and hit the internet hard and made some phone calls looking for work. There are actually quite a few positions here including some of the local utilities that are hiring for a couple entry level engineers as well as some IT and PC Support jobs. I also hit up a career placement center here in Irving and will be returning there tomorrow to meet with someone.
I'm feeling confident that something is just on the horizon and am not discouraged at all, mostly because it was in the mid 60's and beautifully sunny today!
When I finally land a job, I am in talks to sublet an efficiency apt. in the metroplex here for under $400/month and will finally be able to unload my van. For now, however I am doing what I have to to live cheap.
Texas is quite a different place but pretty close to what I expected. The people are (generally) very kind and there is a lot of diversity everywhere I've been down here which is a plus. The weather is warm, the entire area seems more spread out that what I imagined and it sort of seems like everything has been bleached by the sun over the years. There is a ton of construction and development everywhere due to the population influx, and seemingly plenty of opportunities to be had.
This weekend I plan on checking out some of the sites of the area like the baseball park, cowboy's stadium, some neat sculptures, a place they call the "stockyards" in Fort Worth and downtown Dallas so I'll keep you all up to date on what's going on here in Texas!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
Texas woot!
March 1:
Headed out finally today from Kansas to Texas with a pit stop at the OU campus in Norman, OK to visit my old roommate and college friend Tory who works for the athletics department. He gave me a pretty righteous tour of the stadium, and I'll see if I can't put together a nice video to post on here.
Shacked up for the night in Arlington with the job hunt on full force for tomorrow. KCP&L gave me a callback today for a job which is ironic considering I was just in Kansas this morning. We'll see if something pans out there, I'll keep at it and if I get an interview I might have to rock back up there for a bit.
Lots of cattle, geese, and open farm/ranch land the whole drive down. I gotta say it was pretty boring save for the pit stop in Oklahoma.
Forecast for Tues: 60 and clear
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