So Fritz, our friend and neighbor, has this very funny habit of giving everyone and everything a nickname. Nothing malicious or anything, just for fun. In this case, the nickname is for Scandanavians, and it is Scandahoovian. Quite funny if you ask me, but I haven't asked any Scandahoovians yet, so I have no idea how they feel about it. Scandahoovians out there, here's your chance to sound off, what do you really think?
So anyway, E and I are at IKEA checking out the kitchen stuff to get ideas for our kitchen. By the way, they have some SUPER-cool things in their kitchen department, if you want to re-do your kitchen on the not-so-expensive, you have to check them out. Go IKEA!! But uhh, back to the lecture at hand Perfection is perfected, so I'ma let em understand from a young G's perspective -- whoa, no more Dr Dre! Anyway, there we are, at IKEA checking out the kitchen stuff, talking to other shoppers, when we noticed something rather peculiar. THE INDIANS HAVE GONE SCANDAHOOOOVIAN!!! I didn't realize it at first, but there we were, in a sea of Indian people, shopping at IKEA.
I guess there isn't anything peculiar about this, but it just seemed odd at the time. Not to mention that it is always fun to say Scandahoovian, in any circumstance.
Ok, that's it, its Friday afternoon, my brain is mush, so I'm out.
So this morning I noticed that it seemed exceptionally cold. It turns out that it WAS exceptionally cold, to the tune of -4 degrees!
Other than that we haven't been doing a whole lot. I have been reading like a demon, and E has been learning how to develop websites in her spare time. We are still making more decisions on the loft although they are sometimes VERY frustrating. We met with the Kitchen guy last night and we essentially changed everything. We changed from the cooktop in the island with a double wall oven to a slide-in unit and an Advantium oven in the wall instead of a microwave. We also replaced all the lower cabinets with drawers so that there are not going to be any corners that are useless without climbing into the cabinet.
We are essentially having to start all over in the tile department, with the exception of the laundry room. We were told that we couldn't put slate on the walls in the shower because some bozo with 859 shower heads in his shower and a garbage disposal drain (Kramer) spent 957 consecutive hours in the shower, and ruined the drywall behind the tile. Now I ask you, is that fair? Not really, but then as my mom always says, 'life isn't fair', or another personal favorite, (but not from my mom) 'fair is where you get cotton candy and ride the ferris wheel'. So anyway, we are going to look for more tile, but porcelain is SUPER expensive and it turns out that slate is the least expensive natural stone you can buy, by a LOOOOOOOONG shot.
For plumbing, we are looking at things a little different and may be making a whole host of changes, but that is for Tuesday night of next week. We are hoping to bring the upgrade costs down significantly in the next few weeks just to get closer to where we want to be price-wise. We don't want to price ourselves out of our loft by putting too many upgrades on.
One thing I can say, this has been a HUGE learning experience, and it would be MUCH more difficult without talking to our families, and Fritz (the realtor). Mad props to you all!! (sorry had to throw that in there, no real reason for it...)
Other than that we haven't been doing a whole lot. I have been reading like a demon, and E has been learning how to develop websites in her spare time. We are still making more decisions on the loft although they are sometimes VERY frustrating. We met with the Kitchen guy last night and we essentially changed everything. We changed from the cooktop in the island with a double wall oven to a slide-in unit and an Advantium oven in the wall instead of a microwave. We also replaced all the lower cabinets with drawers so that there are not going to be any corners that are useless without climbing into the cabinet.
We are essentially having to start all over in the tile department, with the exception of the laundry room. We were told that we couldn't put slate on the walls in the shower because some bozo with 859 shower heads in his shower and a garbage disposal drain (Kramer) spent 957 consecutive hours in the shower, and ruined the drywall behind the tile. Now I ask you, is that fair? Not really, but then as my mom always says, 'life isn't fair', or another personal favorite, (but not from my mom) 'fair is where you get cotton candy and ride the ferris wheel'. So anyway, we are going to look for more tile, but porcelain is SUPER expensive and it turns out that slate is the least expensive natural stone you can buy, by a LOOOOOOOONG shot.
For plumbing, we are looking at things a little different and may be making a whole host of changes, but that is for Tuesday night of next week. We are hoping to bring the upgrade costs down significantly in the next few weeks just to get closer to where we want to be price-wise. We don't want to price ourselves out of our loft by putting too many upgrades on.
One thing I can say, this has been a HUGE learning experience, and it would be MUCH more difficult without talking to our families, and Fritz (the realtor). Mad props to you all!! (sorry had to throw that in there, no real reason for it...)
Well, maybe not famous, but we are in the paper!
To read the article about our loft-buying and such, go to this link.
Our realtor, Fritz, hooked me up with a reporter wanting to do a story about people who had recently bought in the Twin Cities, and here we are.
To read the article about our loft-buying and such, go to this link.
Our realtor, Fritz, hooked me up with a reporter wanting to do a story about people who had recently bought in the Twin Cities, and here we are.
Let me tell you about shopping for groceries online and getting them delivered. It's heaven. Josh and I sat on our couch last night and found everything we needed without leaving the comfort of our apartment. We liked the fact that there is less impulse shopping (like when you're hungry and you just start grabbing everything in sight). There are less selections to choose from but we got what we wanted. Plus, you can look up recipes online and get everything you need at the same time.
It's great. We ordered them last night, put our card # in and selected the time we wanted them delivered (which was between 12 & 2 the next day). Sure enough, the nice delivery man called me this afternoon at 1pm and brought them all the way up to my apartment! All for a nominal charge of $10. Not bad if you think of how much time it saves plus gas.
And, they gave us this beautiful apple pie to boot! Lemme tell you, it's taking all of my willpower (which is very little) to not eat it. Little Rani is eyeing it up as I type this.
Try it yourself, it will change your life!
It's great. We ordered them last night, put our card # in and selected the time we wanted them delivered (which was between 12 & 2 the next day). Sure enough, the nice delivery man called me this afternoon at 1pm and brought them all the way up to my apartment! All for a nominal charge of $10. Not bad if you think of how much time it saves plus gas.
And, they gave us this beautiful apple pie to boot! Lemme tell you, it's taking all of my willpower (which is very little) to not eat it. Little Rani is eyeing it up as I type this.
Try it yourself, it will change your life!
I found out that we can add links to our favorite sites on here!! I know, its not really that big of a deal, but its nice to be able to put them up there so that I can share them with everyone.
On the homebuilding front, we met with the cabinet people, and picked out the color we wanted, but the friggin kitchen layout SUCKS!!! Now I know why they never wanted to show us an elevation of the kitchen. The original design has 2 drawers. 2 drawers!!! WTF is that? A new kitchen, with 2 drawers? Who designs something like that? What kind of an ass says, 'I'm going to design this kitchen, and instead of making it big enough to be actually useful, I am going to make it with 2 drawers, and lots of dead space.' What an asshat.
Oh yeah, and holy crap plumbing is expensive! It doesnt help that the building gets a HUGE discount on all the fixtures since they are buying them in bulk.
So, this turned into more of a rant than I had wanted...
On the homebuilding front, we met with the cabinet people, and picked out the color we wanted, but the friggin kitchen layout SUCKS!!! Now I know why they never wanted to show us an elevation of the kitchen. The original design has 2 drawers. 2 drawers!!! WTF is that? A new kitchen, with 2 drawers? Who designs something like that? What kind of an ass says, 'I'm going to design this kitchen, and instead of making it big enough to be actually useful, I am going to make it with 2 drawers, and lots of dead space.' What an asshat.
Oh yeah, and holy crap plumbing is expensive! It doesnt help that the building gets a HUGE discount on all the fixtures since they are buying them in bulk.
So, this turned into more of a rant than I had wanted...
CPAP. Seriously, I have heard stories people tell about how this or that changed their life or what-not. This thing has seriously done it for me. I am actually sleeping at night now, and I am waking up refreshed, not tired. I didnt realize how badly I needed sleep until I finally got some.
As for other things that are happening, I dropped 1.5 seconds off my lap time at the kart racing league this week, but unfortunately the leaders dropped .5, so I only really gained 1 second on them. I didnt make the main even though I finished second in the LCQ because there were two new drivers that showed up this week.
E and I started picking out more stuff for our loft, and it is fun, but it is so damn expensive!!
The budget sounds nice when you hear it, but it goes fast. We went to pick out our tile, carpet and A/V equipment, and made a few first selections, we are looking at a slate tile in the bathroom, and some cool accent pieces as well. The carpet is going to be the standard beige-ish/champaign color that you see everywhere because you can do anything with a room that has that color carpet. Its a bummer to go with something so plain, but I guess we have to think about re-sale. I picked out a really cool chocolate brown carpet with a diamond pattern on it, but I dont think E is going to go for it.
Good news though, we finally close on the house in STL this week, and man are we stoked about that. paying two mortgages really sucks. If we could just unload E's car and my 900, we would be doing pretty well. Unfortunately, we are not getting any bites on either of them. Not surprising for the bike, but it is for the car.
As for other things that are happening, I dropped 1.5 seconds off my lap time at the kart racing league this week, but unfortunately the leaders dropped .5, so I only really gained 1 second on them. I didnt make the main even though I finished second in the LCQ because there were two new drivers that showed up this week.
E and I started picking out more stuff for our loft, and it is fun, but it is so damn expensive!!
The budget sounds nice when you hear it, but it goes fast. We went to pick out our tile, carpet and A/V equipment, and made a few first selections, we are looking at a slate tile in the bathroom, and some cool accent pieces as well. The carpet is going to be the standard beige-ish/champaign color that you see everywhere because you can do anything with a room that has that color carpet. Its a bummer to go with something so plain, but I guess we have to think about re-sale. I picked out a really cool chocolate brown carpet with a diamond pattern on it, but I dont think E is going to go for it.Good news though, we finally close on the house in STL this week, and man are we stoked about that. paying two mortgages really sucks. If we could just unload E's car and my 900, we would be doing pretty well. Unfortunately, we are not getting any bites on either of them. Not surprising for the bike, but it is for the car.
Did we mention we got our way with how the 2nd bathroom & laundry room co-exist? Well, we did! We are so very excited and it will make for a much more pleasant experience doing the laundry as well as where we put the cat box ... Cuz that's a big deal! They need their privacy ...
Here is a pic:
Here is a pic:
I just got this e-mail stating I won a logo contest! Check it out:
http://www.alteredesthetics.com/ae/archive/logo/logo.htm
(Go all the way to the bottom, that is where the logo is shown along with my statement)
It's for this awesome art gallery run by artists here in MPLS. It's for a great not-for-profit (which I love to do stuff for anyway). People really appreciate the work you do when it's for a cause.
I cannot believe it!!! I saw the contest on craigslist.com and had only a half a day to work on it. I started sketching in my head and what came out won!
I need to go celebrate ...
http://www.alteredesthetics.com/ae/archive/logo/logo.htm
(Go all the way to the bottom, that is where the logo is shown along with my statement)
It's for this awesome art gallery run by artists here in MPLS. It's for a great not-for-profit (which I love to do stuff for anyway). People really appreciate the work you do when it's for a cause.
I cannot believe it!!! I saw the contest on craigslist.com and had only a half a day to work on it. I started sketching in my head and what came out won!
I need to go celebrate ...
Holy cow, I got my ass handed to me tonight. I was doing ok to begin, I finished 6th in the first heat race, and had to go to the last chance qualifier (LCQ) to get into the main. This is where everything went awry. I was running in 3rd and right on the tail of the first two drivers when I spun at the end of the fast straight and was hit by just about every other driver out there. When I say hit, I mean hit hard, I was at a dead stop when the rest of the field came through at full tilt. I'm going to be feeling that in the morning for sure.
So after the crash I was in 10th, and I was a lot faster than that end of the grid so I was catching and passing people pretty quickly. I was on the side for quite a while before they got me going again, so the leaders were behind me when I started up, and I had to let them through, but I stayed with them for the rest of the race, and my fastest lap was faster than the guy who won the LCQ. Too bad I spun, 'I coulda been a contenda!!'. Whatever, I'll get them next week. My goal for now is to make the main and not finish last. I know I can go a lot faster once I learn how to get around the track.
If you want to check out the track, this is the place we are racing: http://www.prokartindoor.com/ , unfortunately, the pictures are out of date and the track is not configured like that at all. I guess you will all have to come up here to check it out.
So after the crash I was in 10th, and I was a lot faster than that end of the grid so I was catching and passing people pretty quickly. I was on the side for quite a while before they got me going again, so the leaders were behind me when I started up, and I had to let them through, but I stayed with them for the rest of the race, and my fastest lap was faster than the guy who won the LCQ. Too bad I spun, 'I coulda been a contenda!!'. Whatever, I'll get them next week. My goal for now is to make the main and not finish last. I know I can go a lot faster once I learn how to get around the track.
If you want to check out the track, this is the place we are racing: http://www.prokartindoor.com/ , unfortunately, the pictures are out of date and the track is not configured like that at all. I guess you will all have to come up here to check it out.
We met with the project manager from the builder the other day, and man, is this going to be expensive. We got an allowance from the purchase for a certain amount of upgrades, and we almost blew through that in the first 15 minutes we were there. We have to meet with the cabinet guy, the electrician, the carpet people, the tile people, the stereo people, the plumbers, and the list goes on...
I am kind of upset that they didnt talk to us prior to roughing things in, because now if we want to change where things are, we have to spend a small fortune to get pipes moved. If they had just contacted us a couple of months ago, it would not be a problem. And the REAL bummer, the wall we wanted moved and were told 'no problem' about, yeah that isnt going to happen. So now, we can sit on the toilet and fold laundry as it comes out of the dryer. That is the stupidest design I have ever heard of!!! Can you tell I'm a little frustrated?
Oh well, tonight is the big Halloween night, and tomorrow is the big MotoGP season finale. We have our costumes and are ready to go, but Kurt is not going to make it with us, he drove down the the 'Lou last night to pick up his RC-51, which the owner crashed between purchase and last night. So, Kurt's out, and it is going to be me and the girls once again. I still cant believe he did it, he just picked up and left at midnight, but he is a little nuts... He called me this morning to get directions, and I was like, 'you're in STL? What the hell?'
Tomorrow I am meeting up with a bunch of local riders to watch the MotoGP race and talk some smack. Afterwards, we are going across the street to an indoor karting place that is hosting the league I joined. It will be nice to get some practice on the track prior to the start of the racing seasion on Wednesday night.
I'll have to let you all know how I do in the first race of the season. When we went racing at the place in STL, I was fourth fastest on my fastest lap, so hopefully I can continue that theme and finish on the box.
I am kind of upset that they didnt talk to us prior to roughing things in, because now if we want to change where things are, we have to spend a small fortune to get pipes moved. If they had just contacted us a couple of months ago, it would not be a problem. And the REAL bummer, the wall we wanted moved and were told 'no problem' about, yeah that isnt going to happen. So now, we can sit on the toilet and fold laundry as it comes out of the dryer. That is the stupidest design I have ever heard of!!! Can you tell I'm a little frustrated?
Oh well, tonight is the big Halloween night, and tomorrow is the big MotoGP season finale. We have our costumes and are ready to go, but Kurt is not going to make it with us, he drove down the the 'Lou last night to pick up his RC-51, which the owner crashed between purchase and last night. So, Kurt's out, and it is going to be me and the girls once again. I still cant believe he did it, he just picked up and left at midnight, but he is a little nuts... He called me this morning to get directions, and I was like, 'you're in STL? What the hell?'
Tomorrow I am meeting up with a bunch of local riders to watch the MotoGP race and talk some smack. Afterwards, we are going across the street to an indoor karting place that is hosting the league I joined. It will be nice to get some practice on the track prior to the start of the racing seasion on Wednesday night.
I'll have to let you all know how I do in the first race of the season. When we went racing at the place in STL, I was fourth fastest on my fastest lap, so hopefully I can continue that theme and finish on the box.
Ok, I have to admit it, I am hooked on 'The Dog Wisperer'. I dont even have a dog, but I like watching the show. It's too bad none of that stuff works on cats though, I could use a cat whisperer. Its funny but I sense that a lot of the stuff he talks about would work great on kids as well. I dont have any but I bet it is true. Some of it works on Erin, but she hates it when I come in and ignore her. She doesnt respond to well to the 'chit' thing either...
Erin had an interview the other day, and we think it went well, so we are crossing our fingers. She is also dropping off her portfolio at a really cool design firm in town that I am working with for some web design.
I am totally swamped at work, I get new projects almost daily, and they are all almost in some new area that I have never worked in before, so it is a HUGE learning curve. I had a really rough day last week, a couple of different things came together at the same time creating the 'perfect storm' of a horrible day. I made a small mistake that was totally blown out of proportion, and a mountain was made out of a molehill, and I finally got frustrated with the way things work at the office. I love working there, dont get me wrong, but it is really frustrating going from an environment where I know everyone and can get things done, to a place where I dont know anyone and dont know how to get anything done. I didnt truly understand how much of a difference that made in my daily life.
anyway, i'm out.
Erin had an interview the other day, and we think it went well, so we are crossing our fingers. She is also dropping off her portfolio at a really cool design firm in town that I am working with for some web design.
I am totally swamped at work, I get new projects almost daily, and they are all almost in some new area that I have never worked in before, so it is a HUGE learning curve. I had a really rough day last week, a couple of different things came together at the same time creating the 'perfect storm' of a horrible day. I made a small mistake that was totally blown out of proportion, and a mountain was made out of a molehill, and I finally got frustrated with the way things work at the office. I love working there, dont get me wrong, but it is really frustrating going from an environment where I know everyone and can get things done, to a place where I dont know anyone and dont know how to get anything done. I didnt truly understand how much of a difference that made in my daily life.
anyway, i'm out.
The cats were nuts yesterday. Rani knocked over a plant and Raja broke my mirrored perfume stand. I was thinking they needed a toy, possibly something they could tunnel through. Well, seems like the universe answered my prayers in due time because a package was waiting for me when I got home. Megan is so sweet, she sent Josh & me (as well as the cats) presents for our new home. She even wrapped the presents for the kitties. As you can see below the cats are quite happy with Megan's selection.
If you want to get some of these, they come in different colors and each “box” is attached with velcro so you can make a tower or a little town out of them. Megan has hers so the cats have to go through them to get out on her porch. Very creative! Oh, and you can get them at TARGET!!!!
Below is something Megan made for me, it's a pouch you can use for jewelry or little keepsakes. She designed it herself! It's made of japanese silk and it's so beautiful! I told her she must start making them and selling them with our jewelry. I plan on getting a bunch. I think they would be cute bigger as a purse! Endless possibilities.
The photo on the left is the bag untied and then tied on the right. I love it!!!!
If you want to get some of these, they come in different colors and each “box” is attached with velcro so you can make a tower or a little town out of them. Megan has hers so the cats have to go through them to get out on her porch. Very creative! Oh, and you can get them at TARGET!!!! Below is something Megan made for me, it's a pouch you can use for jewelry or little keepsakes. She designed it herself! It's made of japanese silk and it's so beautiful! I told her she must start making them and selling them with our jewelry. I plan on getting a bunch. I think they would be cute bigger as a purse! Endless possibilities.
The photo on the left is the bag untied and then tied on the right. I love it!!!!
Josh thinks I'm funny because I'm taking pictures of this instead of getting upset over it. I'm not looking forward to cleaning this up because of the fact dirt and carpet don't like to part. I think we need a Dyson for this job.
This is the site of the crime. The plant was on top of the hutch so Raja wouldn't eat it. I guess that plan didn't really work out.
I think Rani (little girl) looks pretty guilty.
I'm down to 2 aloe plants that Raja likes to nibble on so we'll see how long those last. I guess it's a trade off. Cats or plants? I think I'd rather have the cats. I plan on starting some planters next spring (that's July here, right?). Hopefully the cats can leave those alone.
I'm sure there will be more cat drama to come. Until next time!
This is the site of the crime. The plant was on top of the hutch so Raja wouldn't eat it. I guess that plan didn't really work out.
I think Rani (little girl) looks pretty guilty.I'm down to 2 aloe plants that Raja likes to nibble on so we'll see how long those last. I guess it's a trade off. Cats or plants? I think I'd rather have the cats. I plan on starting some planters next spring (that's July here, right?). Hopefully the cats can leave those alone.
I'm sure there will be more cat drama to come. Until next time!
Here is a link to a cool video that Lyle sent out, we thought it was so cool that we would post it out here for the world to see.
http://www.youtube.com/v/ry6w3mRm-FM
Oh yeah, and about work, I have never been so busy in my whole life... I have had to get summation emails from people just to keep up with what is going on during the day. This is unbelieveable...
http://www.youtube.com/v/ry6w3mRm-FM
Oh yeah, and about work, I have never been so busy in my whole life... I have had to get summation emails from people just to keep up with what is going on during the day. This is unbelieveable...
Hey! Look at me! I'm posting for the 2nd day in a row ...
It was beautiful today! I think almost 70 degrees and clear as crystal. Loved it!
Josh and I went to our loft today for a hard hat tour. I can't tell you how excited we are now! It's really neat to see everything before the walls are put up and the markers are there. I shot a few photos for your viewing pleasure:
This is taken from the Washington side. This building will be 7 stories high with a roof top pool! Maybe they should turn it into a ice rink in the cooler months ... it will probably get more usage.
Josh looking mighty handsome in his hard hat!
This is a last-time view of the stone arch bridge/Mississippi from our apartment. There will be a 10-story building there soon so we'll be looking at windows and patios. The really neat thing you can see in this photo is the park they are creating. A huge green space to go and hang out in! The mound to the left of the frame will be covered with grass so you can spiral up to the top and get a nice view of the stone arch bridge and Mississippi.
The proud owners! This is taken in our living room area ... I bet you can tell.
This is the underground visitor parking lot so you'll park your vehicle here when you visit! It's a major perk here to have a heated area for visitors. The lot will also be for people who are visiting the shops on the first floor. There will be a wine shop, cleaners and maybe a Walgreens or CVS. Now we can be self sustained and never leave the building again!
JEALOUS????????? Our second weekend at IKEA! We just can't get enough Swedish stuff up here. I was even eyeing up the Swedish meatballs! What came over me?
Well, that was a mellow Minneapolis Sunday afternoon so hope you've enjoyed the show! More to come later!
It was beautiful today! I think almost 70 degrees and clear as crystal. Loved it!
Josh and I went to our loft today for a hard hat tour. I can't tell you how excited we are now! It's really neat to see everything before the walls are put up and the markers are there. I shot a few photos for your viewing pleasure:
This is taken from the Washington side. This building will be 7 stories high with a roof top pool! Maybe they should turn it into a ice rink in the cooler months ... it will probably get more usage.
Josh looking mighty handsome in his hard hat!
This is a last-time view of the stone arch bridge/Mississippi from our apartment. There will be a 10-story building there soon so we'll be looking at windows and patios. The really neat thing you can see in this photo is the park they are creating. A huge green space to go and hang out in! The mound to the left of the frame will be covered with grass so you can spiral up to the top and get a nice view of the stone arch bridge and Mississippi.
The proud owners! This is taken in our living room area ... I bet you can tell. 
This is the underground visitor parking lot so you'll park your vehicle here when you visit! It's a major perk here to have a heated area for visitors. The lot will also be for people who are visiting the shops on the first floor. There will be a wine shop, cleaners and maybe a Walgreens or CVS. Now we can be self sustained and never leave the building again!
JEALOUS????????? Our second weekend at IKEA! We just can't get enough Swedish stuff up here. I was even eyeing up the Swedish meatballs! What came over me?Well, that was a mellow Minneapolis Sunday afternoon so hope you've enjoyed the show! More to come later!
I've heard a couple of complaints about no photos so here are just a few to get you warmed up.
This was a photo I took of the snow on our porch on Thursday. Accumulation in October! What's up with that???
Our new king-size bed from Ikea! And yes, that is my stuffed duck I sleep with ... whatever works!
Seems like Raja found a new girlfriend. We had to take her away before he “de-flowered” her.
I promise to take some more of our new pad, it's a little messy at the moment. I'm sure Josh had nothing to do with that!
This was a photo I took of the snow on our porch on Thursday. Accumulation in October! What's up with that???
Our new king-size bed from Ikea! And yes, that is my stuffed duck I sleep with ... whatever works!
Seems like Raja found a new girlfriend. We had to take her away before he “de-flowered” her.I promise to take some more of our new pad, it's a little messy at the moment. I'm sure Josh had nothing to do with that!
We could be in Buffalo, where they got 2 FEET of snow. It is so windy here that I don't think the snow has any chance of attaching itself to the ground.
Enough about the weather already!! Let's talk about the new job.
Being an employee somewhere is definitely a totally different experience, especially here. Contractors at Pfizer have it super sweet compared to here, they share cubes, sometimes 2 or 3 people per, and cant go to ANY functions. It is weird being able to say, 'ok, this is what we are going to do' and actually get it done though. I dont really have to check in and get approval, but I have to keep people informed, and its all good. That is sooo strange... The other things is not actually being required to DO the work, but to make certain that it gets done, that is just strange as well.
I am manging web projects, but I am not in any way expected to know how to actually do the work. It is a completely different mindset to not be able to just get it done and move on, you have to wait for someone to get it done for you. Oh, and status meetings?? Having people come to me and telling me whats going on in their world, and asking for input? Wow, that's strange...
So, all in all, it is a HUGE learning experience, but it is fun, and I enjoy the people I work with, and the work I am doing, so that is a HUGE plus.
Anyway, I'll talk later...
Enough about the weather already!! Let's talk about the new job.
Being an employee somewhere is definitely a totally different experience, especially here. Contractors at Pfizer have it super sweet compared to here, they share cubes, sometimes 2 or 3 people per, and cant go to ANY functions. It is weird being able to say, 'ok, this is what we are going to do' and actually get it done though. I dont really have to check in and get approval, but I have to keep people informed, and its all good. That is sooo strange... The other things is not actually being required to DO the work, but to make certain that it gets done, that is just strange as well.
I am manging web projects, but I am not in any way expected to know how to actually do the work. It is a completely different mindset to not be able to just get it done and move on, you have to wait for someone to get it done for you. Oh, and status meetings?? Having people come to me and telling me whats going on in their world, and asking for input? Wow, that's strange...
So, all in all, it is a HUGE learning experience, but it is fun, and I enjoy the people I work with, and the work I am doing, so that is a HUGE plus.
Anyway, I'll talk later...
Um, yeah, so, we set a record yesterday with the earliest snowfall on record in Minneasota, ever. This would happen when I move up here. I just about froze my patoot off this morning while waiting for the bus. I have to get warmer clothes, and a hat, and probably a scarf.
Oh yeah, its snowing today too. I can tell this is going to be a great winter...
Oh yeah, its snowing today too. I can tell this is going to be a great winter...
Well, we are here, but not so much on the queer part...
Our stuff showed up this past Thursday, and we spent the weekend getting everything out of boxes and put away. It was a gorgeous weekend, and I was forced to take the 900 out for the entire day, I had no choice!! The roads around here kinda suck, this whole city was planned, so everything is at right angles, and the only curvy roads are going around lakes, where the speed limit is 20. I am told that the really fun roads are in Wisconsin, but I will have to wait until Spring to check that out. More on that later...
Erin and Jen (the girl from Pfizer) went apple picking and did some general girlie-type stuff (walked around Lake Calhoun, like I said, girlie stuff...). They got lost on their way to a town that is about 20 minutes away and spent over an hour getting there. Oh well, such is the way of learning your way in a new city.
We went to Ikea on Sunday and spent a small fortune on new furniture for the pad, and spent the next two days putting everything together. Let me just tell you, that sucks. Putting together one or two things is easy enough, but a bedroom set and living room stuff as well, that is a whole other animal. I am not a fan, next time I am going to buck up for the assembly service.
We are still waiting on our internet to be hooked up, and the DirecTV service as well, so we are watching movies only for now. I am amazed at how loud we can play the movies without the neighbors complaining, but I think there is pretty good sound deadening between the units here, we haven't heard them yet. If they hadn't been on the patio grilling the other day, I would think the place was vacant.
So, now to why I have to wait until Spring to ride again. It has been getting colder by the day since Saturday, and it snowed a few times today. No accumulation, but you wouldn't have known that by how hard it was coming down, it was coming down sideways at one point.
Anyway, that's what's going on for now. I think that's enough for the first post, don't you?
Our stuff showed up this past Thursday, and we spent the weekend getting everything out of boxes and put away. It was a gorgeous weekend, and I was forced to take the 900 out for the entire day, I had no choice!! The roads around here kinda suck, this whole city was planned, so everything is at right angles, and the only curvy roads are going around lakes, where the speed limit is 20. I am told that the really fun roads are in Wisconsin, but I will have to wait until Spring to check that out. More on that later...
Erin and Jen (the girl from Pfizer) went apple picking and did some general girlie-type stuff (walked around Lake Calhoun, like I said, girlie stuff...). They got lost on their way to a town that is about 20 minutes away and spent over an hour getting there. Oh well, such is the way of learning your way in a new city.
We went to Ikea on Sunday and spent a small fortune on new furniture for the pad, and spent the next two days putting everything together. Let me just tell you, that sucks. Putting together one or two things is easy enough, but a bedroom set and living room stuff as well, that is a whole other animal. I am not a fan, next time I am going to buck up for the assembly service.
We are still waiting on our internet to be hooked up, and the DirecTV service as well, so we are watching movies only for now. I am amazed at how loud we can play the movies without the neighbors complaining, but I think there is pretty good sound deadening between the units here, we haven't heard them yet. If they hadn't been on the patio grilling the other day, I would think the place was vacant.
So, now to why I have to wait until Spring to ride again. It has been getting colder by the day since Saturday, and it snowed a few times today. No accumulation, but you wouldn't have known that by how hard it was coming down, it was coming down sideways at one point.
Anyway, that's what's going on for now. I think that's enough for the first post, don't you?