*** Work, Week 1 ***
So... I interviewed with, got an offer from, and have begun employment this week with Lockheed Martin. And didn't make a point of telling anyone. My position is "Software Engineering, Associate" and is full-time programming. Now you know. Check the archives to see what that's worth.
What a week. A sudden, major change of pace and lifestyle. Let's take a look...

NEO: New Employee Orientation, Monday from 7:30am to 2:00pm. Filled out forms and got a fat binder full of info about the company. Had speakers and videos covering the history of the company, benefits, security, etc. Had lunch with my future managers, found out I'll be working up in Palo Alto instead of Sunnyvale.

NEROP: New Engineer Rotation Orientation Program, lasts two weeks. Got another fat binder. They rotate new engineers through positions, to help them find their place in the company. Apparently we're still in the orientation phase though, no real work yet. We have a class of about 36--only about 6 girls. Ages vary, but most seem to be recent college grads. We have little icebreakers every morning. To my delight, it's not just a bunch of tech geeks. But then again, maybe I only think that because I'm one...? And unexpectedly, my former roommate Heiman/Raymond is working there too, so he's in my NEROP group. So is John Holloway, who I found out was in Brendan's Japanese video and other stuff. They are two of the few programmers I've met. Seems like a lot of mechanical engineers. I'd say they've been treating us well. We get breakfast, lunch, an afternoon snack, and all the drinks we want every day. And the food is actually good. The day (7:30am - 5:00pm) consists mainly of presentations by various employees, a lot like college lectures. They've covered all kinds of work-related information, from listening and presentation skills to a 15-hour seminar called Understanding Space. We've also gone on tours of the facilities, checking out satellites and missiles.

9/80: My schedule is 9 days, 80 hours every two weeks. So it'll be 9 hours Monday through Thursday every week, with 8 hours Friday every other week. Three day weekend half the time--pretty sweet. And strangely, I haven't had trouble getting up at 5:00 every morning. Staying awake at work is a whole other struggle... heheh I joke. Kinda. The tough thing is realizing I leave home at 6, get home at 6, and have about 3 hours of free time before I have to go to sleep again.

Security Clearance: If you didn't know, Lockheed Martin is a major defense contractor, which means they design and build products for the government (i.e. military, NASA) such as satellites, rockets, and missiles. So a lot of the work is classified, secret or even top secret. The job I was hired for requires a government security clearance, so I had to fill out a tremendous form with information on my history and people who know me, and later I'll have to take a polygraph exam. They have to make sure I'm not a foreign spy or a drug addict or any such bother. So once I start doing that stuff, I won't be able to tell any of you what I do at work. Your loss.

Bloopers: On the very first day they already had two different misspellings of my first name. I was not impressed by that. Also, we had to get photo ID badges, and for some reason just on mine the lady printing them out put my Social Security number where my Employee ID number should've been. So I had to go back the next day at 7:00am to get it redone. Shitty.

Summary: I'm feeling good about this job. It'll be a deserved and interesting challenge, and I'll see some really cool things and maybe even meet some cool people. The pay and benefits are good (my mom can finally rest since I have medical insurance again)... I plan to save almost all the money I make, although the other day I went shopping and felt the old gadget craving when I saw the home theater and computer stuff. But I know I can control myself.

*** Berkeley ***
I went to pick up my diploma and junk from the apartment, sell my books, and visit some old pals.

Thursday: I was supposed to stay with Wendy, but she got mad at me (for the first time I can recall); it had to do with her picking me up from the BART station (I decided the story's too long and unfunny to make you guys read the whole thing, so ask me later if you care about the details). So I ended up playing some DrumMania/GuitarFreaks on PS2 with Elvin, which I enjoyed thoroughly. He had some APhiO thing, so I got dinner with Hung, and ended up going out with him and his friends and crashed at his place the first night. Believe it or not, we played "spin the bottle" and "if you love me you'll give me a smile." Fun times.. and yes, there were girls there, you homophobic bastards.

Friday: I had one of my old favorites, nachos grande, at the Golden Bear Cafe on campus, and since I was eating it at Sproul Plaza, ended up talking to a couple Christian Crusaders or whatever for a long time. We exchanged philosophies (funny how seemingly sensible people don't always end up agreeing with me) and I got a flyer fo free fo sho SCORE. Anyways I headed over to the bookstores to finally unload my damn texts, but found out that I can get a lot more for them if I wait until finals time. Great. Well, you never know when you might need a little extra chedda (knahmsayn?), so I said I'd come back later. I figure it'll give me an extra reason to head back up some time for sure. So the second night I meet up with a less-pissed Wendy, we get dinner at a good Italian place (she treated for my bday), and hang out at her apartment the rest of the night.

Saturday: I was gonna shoot some pool with Elvin, but before we left he asked if I wanted to "jam" first... Not being one to resist a good jam session, he and Kaho (his roommate) and I played some more DrumMania and GuitarFreaks. Kaho broke one of his drumsticks... shame. Afterwards Elvin and I played pool, and he dropped me off at BART. I headed down to the Oakland house for their Halloween party, where much fun and revelry ensued. I had planned on heading home that night, but was not quite in driving condition, so I enjoyed some instant ramen with Dave and Ryan while they played some online poker, and crashed on the couch. I left the next day upon waking.

*** Tennis class ***
No more lessons... all we're doing from now til the end of class is play matches. But I guess that's okay, I can learn from experience and try to apply what I read about in Visual Tennis (and what little I got from the class itself). Also, at the last class the coach asked if I wanted to be on the tennis team. I told him I might be interested. I guess that's accurate but misleading, since it's incredibly unlikely I'd be able to fit that into my now-very-full schedule. Oh well...

*** TV ***
I haven't seen Girls Club, so I guess I won't miss it when it's gone. I still watch Friends, although it doesn't seem to be as funny as the last few seasons. And now I watch Scrubs (right after Friends), it's good times. After about four episodes I'm convinced it's the only new sitcom worth my time. I don't have much time for Seinfeld reruns anymore, and can't stay up for Cosby classics. Pity the fool.

*** Video Games ***
Borrowed the BLuckyDay N64...

Pokemon Puzzle League: This is just Tetris Attack reinvented with less charming characters but more levels and challenge--I like it. I found out there's an S-HARD difficulty level, and it is ridiculous. I have yet to complete it (it doesn't help that you have to beat the Puzzle Master on your first try--lose and you get kicked back to the punk kid before him.)

Dr. Mario 64: Let me say this is an excellent puzzle game. It's innovative, challenging, has cool storyline graphics, and of course great Nintendo characters. But it is bitchy as hell. The simplest, smallest damn error screws you over for so long. And if your opponent does combos then you get screwed even worse, and with an annoying little jingle. Every time I hear it, I throw the controller on the floor, and stomp on it, thrice (heh just jokin Bre). Anyways, you can tell I'm not that good at it yet. I am still trying to finish Normal mode without continuing.

*** Girls ***
At some point, we all wonder if we'll end up alone. The thought is forced to the front of our minds when we are rejected, when we break up, when we graduate from college. Being the only one who's been through all of these, believe me when I say I feel it as much as any of you. I have no idea where I'll find a girl that will interest me... even harder, one who feels the same for me. But that's life. Remember how important it is to not know what's next. You never know what might happen, where you'll go, who you'll meet. I figured my chances of finding a girl in high school were bad--and I was right (sob). After a while in college I figured the same thing was gonna happen. But by a chance situation I got to know Lan and ended up with her for over a year. Who's to say when something like that might happen again? It helps to be out in the world and making some effort to meet new people, but sometimes you can only wait and see. Just think of it like a movie... do you want to be told the ending half an hour into it? Of course not, that will ruin the suspense and the experience. The same goes for life. Don't be too eager to get to the end of the story. Wonder. Hope. Anticipate. Let life be an exciting adventure.

Haha Derek double blogged. That means that your latest blog is not recognized by anyone but yourself. Your ticket will be mailed to you shortly by the admin.

Jesus shit. The award for being at one extremety then going shit right down the opposite way goes to...Steven Tamekuni. Frosted flakes huh? Don't even trip about that shit. You go and have a good time and don't dwell on how it happened. I'm sure once you get your shitload of work done it is back to good times. Hang in there good ol' buddy ol' pal. You would think that we would get used to people flaking on us in our lifetime...but nope. It is almost as if we expect it but when it happens we want to kill terrorists on Socom. So it is kinda like death I guess. Bottom line: Death to all who flake and Steve's partner will be dealt with accordingly by Brendan's .58 caliber bullet. Don't worry Steve it is no longer your problem.

By the way my mom just told me that Girls Club has been cancelled. WTF? They get two shows to try to turn in the type of numbers Friends are getting? Fuck Friends. Overrated anyways. Double meaning. Haha. Ugh...I'm just bitter. Seriously I'm starting a petition to get my girls back on the air. Let's see now...I have one signature already...but I can't read who it is from so I'll just assume it is mine. Unbelievable...Jon wants to talk about fucking revolting...I'll show you revolting. By the way Dirk...Jeanie is a character on Girls Club. Not sure if you knew that but there you go. So now you guys will be spared from my weekly synopsis of the show...sniff sniff. A moment of silence please...

Don Cheadle was on ER this week and will return next week. I wonder if he opts for supporting roles rather than the lead. I see how people can see him just as a supporting actor but seriously give the man a chance (if he wants it that is). Once again the man is keeping the black man down. Anyways check out ER next week. If you didn't catch it he has Parkinsan's disease...spelling? Well this was a blog full of clog. I guess I'll just go light some candles for my fallen show. There will be an open ceremony for all those who like to attend at The First Fucking Dogshit Church of Jesus Shit. Let me send out my apology to Hapachan right now. Haha.

Derek I got 4 votes against you that for 98% of me I have not changed since high school. I've always been who I am. Just cause you went through drama and had your time of anxiety, don't bring me down with you! Haha I win. On another note so we can end this conversation...GTA is waiting for me right now. I'd like to thank Ricki for going out and getting it for me even though she had a stomach ache. Maybe it is that time of the month? Wheee. I'll make it up to you by showing you how many different ways I can kill people! Oh for the record I am the first person to get into a helicopter and freefall down with the intent of smashing pedistrians with my body! Fun fun fun! Oh by the way...can you believe that Jeanie's boyfriend is cheating on her? No he didn't! =)

Hm, have I changed over the past few years? Yeah probably. I keep harping on the fact that I haven't changed emotionally, but since this topic came up I did a little thinking... A few months ago I was at the indifferent to everything stage. Bad stuff happened at work, school and home and I got sick of trying to please people. This time around, I'm starting to realize the punk I've become and am slowly starting to change, maybe for the better?

Thinking back to the first impressions... Let's see... Brendan seemed a little intimidating in YBA :) I still maintain that you didn't come off as an asshole to me though! Derek... I think the first time I really started to know you was during the Magic Mountain trip so long ago... And what's this happy-go-lucky voice I have? You were the one that seemed to have it more than me that trip! Bryant. Again, I think I really started talking to you during the Magic Mountain trip.... hah, "Oh hell, I'm stuck with these two in a room???" You seemed to have everything under control and you knew where you were going everytime you took a step. Steve... Believe it or not, I was looking for a "cool" friend my first day at church and you seemed to fit right in. Jon, right from the start, it seemed that you had such freedom! Not just in the sense that you were free to do as you pleased, but you seemed were capable of accomplishing anything just a thought.

This trip down memory lane serves a purpose... When we interact with each other, we discover something different and we adjust our views. I've come to admire Brendan for his sense of leadership, Derek for his devotion, Bryant for his decision making, Steve for his self-confidence/outgoing personality, and Jon for his quick wit and thoughtfulness. As Bryant said, I think that I've changed because of the friends around me and the views/qualities all of you have. I've learned to see the world differently by looking through your eyes...

Alright, enough of this thinking... Now I'm just going to write, since I do have a lot to say today....

I got up early this morning and had my whole day planned out, I'd finish up some homework, get a haircut buy some groceries and then head off to school. Boy was I in for a surprise. I walk out to my car and notice that my triangular window had been broken. Yup, my car was broken into again. I swear, you'd think I'd have learned after the first couple times. ARM THAT DAMN ALARM NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE. Interestingly enough, I did learn to take all my CD's out of the car every night so the punks couldn't take that. I did however leave my stereo in. Yeah, I'm an idiot. I guess I should appreciate the l33tness that is my stereo as it's survived 2 attacks. That's right, they couldn't get it out. They did however take the time to open my trunk and take a peek at the nasty towel I have in there. End story? I'm short $250 (to replace the window) and the thieves got zero. Why am I not mad at this? Probably because it was my fault, nothing was stolen, and this happened at a pretty convenient time in my life (I actually have the money, and I'm not missing anything if I don't go to class...). It does however serve as a wake up call for me... My car now gets alarmed EVERY time. Live and learn... I now bump my music as loud as possible everywhere I go just in case the would be thieves are around. My way of making fun of them :)

Don't you think Final Fantasy X-2 is a fantastic name? X-2... Final Fantasy 10 part 2, or Final Fantasy 12. I thought it was clever... Unfortunately, I don't like where Square is headed... Are they starting to get scared of making different worlds? Have you noticed that trend in gaming? Let's see what's on my desk... Icewind Dale II, WarCraft III, Heroes of Might and Magic IV, Dance Dance Revolution 5th Mix, Beatmania 6th Style, Unreal Tournament 2k3... You get the picture... Innovation! I've always admired some of the Japanese TV shows for knowing when to end a series (Well, most of the time.) Take the dramas that come on every Saturday night. They END. Have you ever seen "All my children" end? Take most anime series now a days... You get 2 or 3 seasons and they conclude... *sigh*

Change is the topic of the day huh? Well, I think we've all changed whether minor or major. Like for me I don't think I've changed a lot but I'm sure some of you will say I that I have. I think for myself I am a little more confident, but I also do a lot more thinking then when I was in high school. I think I'm way more sarcastic than I used to be and maybe that takes away from the nice person that I once was. People in high school always thought of me as the nice guy, but if they really knew me I don't know if they would say the same. I can be a downright asshole sometimes. Most of the time I'm just joking around, but still.

As for Brendan changing....I think he's still an asshole, maybe a little more so than a few years ago. But I didn't know Brendan was such an asshole back then. Behind the asshole though is a great friend and listener. You just have to get his attention sometime. Derek has made a change where he doesn't even care what people think anymore. Back then he used to care at least a little bit, now he doesn't care at all. He speaks his mind a lot more and doesn't sugar coat anything. Steve has grown in confidence every year that I've known him and has become a little less bitter. I'm glad that he can see the good things that he has in life. Jonathan has more of a SASS mouth then when I first met him. I thought he was a quiet, shy guy, but OH no! He's a talker. hehe. Brian, I didn't know you back then, so I'm not sure what you were like, but you're a good guy now, so I'm sure you were the same back then.

I think we all learn from our experiences pretty well, most of us at least, maybe not me. But we take everything that we've seen and heard from each other and try and apply them in our lives. But in general I think we're the same person deep down, but we have subtle changes in our personality or the way we talk.

On the contrary Hapachan...to you it seems like I've changed...but really when we first started to hang out you didn't know me. I come off as an asshole if you aren't persistant enough to crack me. Perspective on Christians...God doesn't exist. I've always been open to other's opinions. (Friend's opinions...everyone else is still wrong.) It is just that I never had a friend that was all into his religion like you so of course my perspective on your religion has changed somewhat but deep inside you are who you are. Take a camera for instance. You can change perspectives by changing lenses, position, shutter speed and so on but the camera is still just a camera. I'm not saying that a person doesn't change. I'm just saying that in these four years I haven't really. I haven't had any real drama in these past couple years...the core of all my problems is Socom. That's about it. Oh and they keep giving me reruns of ER. That ticks me off the most. Anyways enough with us going back in forth...let's see what these other three gentlemen think about this. Of course they have all changed because things have changed dramatically in their lives. I'm just saying for me nothing has really changed in these years. Therefore I haven't really changed...'cept for Girls Club. I must somehow find a way to watch that in my busy schedule of sleeping and socom and soon GTA: Vice City.

Hmm interesting points Hapachan. Except for the fact about us changing. I haven't changed. If you think I have changed ask anyone who knew me through high school. You don't count cause we didn't start to hang out till later. Even Bryant! Haha..just can't get those classes together! I was selfish then and I'm selfish now. Long live the no responsiblity of checking in with a girl! Besides...who needs girls when I got "Girls Club"? Exactly. On a further note how exactly do you blow a 5 run lead? I will agree with Bryant in saying I'm not a "true" fan. I'm not. Baseball is stupid. But since they are the home team it would have been nice if they won it since they lost in '89. Oh well...I don't know how I'm going to recover...I think I'll go for the Expos next year.