Back from Chi

We're back from Chicago. I have lots of pictures and fun things to tell you. I'll write more later, but here's a picture to hold you over.

Kick off the Sunday Shoes

Footloose is on TV. If you haven't seen it, I recommend it.

Becky is coming tomorrow, but a little late. Her flight was apparantly cancelled so instead of coming at 7:55 am she will be here at 10:50 am. Then we're off to Chicago to see Matt and Lindsay for the weekend.

I'll be back Sunday!

Excuse Me, I'm from Canada and I'm in a Hurry

After work today I went to the bank to deposit my "anime accomidation" money from the hotel we stayed in. I was at the counter where you fill out your deposit slips, gather your things...you know, that little table with triangular shaped pins on metal-ball strings and the date placard, and the deposit slips? Yeah, that one. Anyway I was signing the checks, filling out the deposit slip, and filling out a funds transfer from checking to savings. This guy came in, and started doing the same next to me. He was taking his time like I was at first. As soon as I started to put up my account cards, and organize my slips he all of a sudden scribbles down something, and rushes ahead of me to be first in line. Well, there were only 2 of us in the bank so I just thought that was foolish. He goes up to the counter, while I wait because there is only 1 teller. Well, he doesn't have a deposit or funds transfer like me, he doesn't have a withdrawl. He's trying to cash a CANADIAN TAX REFUND check in AMERICA...in American dollars instead of Canadian dollars (by the way, the Canadian dollar is worth slightly more than the US dollar right now). Well, the teller was confused. "Sharon...if this is from Canada, and he wants US dollars, can I cash this" he asks the customer service person. She has to come over and take a look.

So my point is why would someone who has a stupid request (yes, it's stupid. You don't just walk up to a teller and try to cash foreign currency, you go to the customer service person at the bank to get it transfered) rush to get ahead of me? Finally the teller just helped me while the Canadian guy had to wait.

At work I've been working over the past few days putting together a spreadsheet with testing results I can show to Chrysler to prove we can pass their testing requirements. I decided to go down to the archive room to look through old program binders and try to match test results with what I needed. It was fun, because it's downstairs and it's an inside room with no windows. I was imagining me opening the door and finding someone sleeping in there, or eatind junk food in the dark. I spent a while down there sitting on the floor looking through old engineer's notebooks trying to find the missing test data I needed. I was able to fill in most of my blanks.

I had so much energy when I got home today, I still do, which is why this is so long. I spent 30 minutes on the eliptical trainer at the gym and burned a lot more calories that normal.

Becky is coming Friday, and we're off to Chicago to see Matt and Lindsay. Only 2 more days!

Weekend End

Sunday nights are always so nice, just looking back on the weekend. I had a really good, relaxing, fun weekend. Friday Alex and I went to see the movie "Across the Universe". The one that's a Beatles musical type thing. We went to see it at a theater in Birmingham, which is a really trendy part of Detroit (Starbucks and Volvos everywhere). It was really neat to see Birmingham though, it's a nice area so I would like to go back there again sometime.

Saturday I got a phone call at 8:30 am from Erica, but then I went back to sleep until 11:30. I went to a game store with Alex, and then we went to one of his friend's houses and played games until midnight.

Today I went to church, then ate lunch, and did laundry. I took a bike ride today because it was very very nice outside. A perfect day. It was in the mid 70's, a slight wisper of a beeze, and a clear sky. It felt like a spring day actually. So the bikeride was nice. I came back and got some groceries at Target. I went there to just get cereal, but then I found a nice hat and scarf and since I don't have those, and will need them, I bought them.

Today I also got to talk to Becky, Paul, and Kiki so that was nice. Becky is coming this weekend and I can't wait to see her (you!). It's going to be a lot of fun. We'll be going to Chicago to visit with Matt Senior and Lindsay. We'll go to Canada one day too. I'm looking forward to having her visit. Kiki will be coming the weekend after Becky, and we'll see University of Michigan and Canada (as well). It will be fun having friends visit me.

Paul had really good news to tell me too, but I'll let him tell you himself because he should tell you. It's that big.

I'm well rested to take on the week. I think I'll make more movies this week from the Anime weekend so watch out.

Sh Sh Sh Sh Shhheeahh Moment Diagram

I hated Strengths and Materials in college. It was the worst subject for me. I think I got off on the wrong foot with it, with Yong, my Chinese professor. There was something about him that rubbed me the wrong way, like how he didn't speak coherent English. That actually didn't just rub me the wrong way, it infuriated me. As a side note, if you want to rip your ears off listen to a Chinese person stutter. It WILL drive you insane, I guarantee. So there was that, on top of the fact that he assigned massive amounts of homework due in unreasonable intervals. For example, I think we once had 3 assigments due on one day? I think I made like a 64 on the first test, studied extremely hard for the second test, and made a 62...or some grade like that which you know the teacher gives you just to mock you. Well, maybe not, but I think he did, he was that spiteful. I remember he didn't have time to help me one day after class because "Mr. Smithes I come back from trip and I be much too tired", followed by that tiny little smirk. Ugggh.

So when I made a D in his class I re-took it with "Doctor" Judy Wood. You should watch HERE. I strongly recommend it. It is worth the 35 minutes of your life, I promise. I can't really explain this one, just watch her and you'll know what I mean.

So Strengths and Materials and I just got off on the wrong foot. I even had Thermodynamics with John Saylor, who many Clemson student's think it Satan's brother, and I somehow loved, and still love that subject, so it took a lot for me to be sour about Strenghts and Materials.

To the moral of the story. Things are looking bright for me and Strengths of Materials. I calculated the bucking load of a stabilizer link at work the other day and found out I got a result very similar to what the computer would give. I'm re-introducing myself to it through work, small amounts at a time. I'm getting more comfortable with it.

There is just that little Chinese man that keeps stuttering his words in my head whenever I think of that subject that I'm trying to ebolish. "Helllloooo Boooooyes" and "Behhh Beehhh Beehhhh Behhhhh Beeending, Bending, Bending".

Technical Jargon

Tomorrow I will give my first technical presentation, on a stabilizer link I designed to Chrysler. I was nervous, but today I spent my entire day getting the presentation ready and I feel ok now. There's another engineer going, the salesperson, and a guy from the plant making if for some reason it goes south they'll be there to take over.

Media

I made 2 movies from this past weekend.

AWA 13

Requiem for an Anime

I went back to work today. It was ok though because I got a very important task I have been working on for 2 months completed. It felt nice.

I have a cold now though, or a sinus infection. My throat is all itchy and my nose runs sometimes. I have medicine though I'm taking to make it better.

Tell me what you think about the videos...

AWA XIII

AWA was a really great time. I'm tired now and I'm trying to finish laundry, but when I have the pictures together and the movies ready, I will be posting them. Stay tuned.

No Shame

I'm not sure what happens to people when they fly, but it's like the second they step foot in an airport they go into stupid mode. Let me explain.

People talk loud...extremely loud to make sure YOU hear what they're saying...just so you know I guess, because it must be important that they feel the need to shout it over 5 other people. "I'm going to Chicago this weekend...do you realize I haven't spent a weeekend at home in 2 months!?". No, I didn't know that, and I've never met you before...SHHHH.

Also being in an airport must allow you to talk very loud on your cell phone...about innapropriate subjects (i.e. sex) while sitting right next to someone. This wasn't a young person, but an obese lady in her 50's. Not what I want to hear, neither does anyone else. She got up to go up to the gate agent, and nice flight attendant sat down and I said "thank you so much for taking that seat, I can't listen to her on her phone anymore". She looked at the lady in line, and said "Ohhh...THAT one?" and I said "yeah...she's being a little loud and I don't want to hear her conversation". The flight attendant said "she does look annoying. Did you know they were talking about allowing cell phones to be used on the plane in flight". I said "Nooo...I hope they're not". She said "Yeah. I don't think they are but that would be horrible". And it would be horrible, this "airport" attitude would spill over into the airplane.

There is also something about clothing in an airport too. I think it's with guys more than girls. Guys try to dress like they're coming back from a fashion show, with white European shoes, jeans with holes, and some soccer jersey (for example). Just dress normal would you please, because I know you're not European you're probably from Iowa.

I guess I had too much time to people watch, but it's true. Just spend some time in an airport and you'll pick up on it. Hopefully you won't have to sit next to some lady talking about her sex life, complaining about her landlord, and crying because security was mean to her, among other things.

I'm back in Michigan now, but I leave tomorrow to go back to Atlanta to meet Kiki and Paul and others for the AWA Convention. This weekend will be a lot of fun. I'm not bringing my computer so I will post back on Monday...with pictures.

Georgee

I'm in Gainesville, Georgia for Six Sigma training until Thursday. I started it today, and it was good but intensive and I had homework to do for tomorrow. Overall it's not too bad though.

The flight here was really annoying. Every time I fly with Delta it's one thing or the other. I normally don't complain about airlines, because it's so cliche to complain about them, and you hear it all the time, but Delta is getting (or is) bad. Their planes are always breaking down, they're late, and the Atlanta hub is too busy to move planes in and out efficiently.

We took off from Detroit late, and landed in Atlanta 10 minutes early. The pilot came over the PA system saying "Well, we got you here 10 minutes early" like it was a big accomplishment. It would have been a big accomplishment if we didn't sit on the tarmac for 40 minutes "waiting for a gate to open up...". During those 40 minutes this little 2 year old heathen was screaming his lungs out non-stop so hard he was choking and caughing (signs of faking it). There was nothing wrong, he was being a brat is all and I was close to asking his parents if I could take him in the bathroom and shut him up. What really irritated me is that the parents were just sitting there, letting him whine and cry like "well, this is just how 2 year olds are...". No, that's how children who are not disciplined with corporal punishment are. If there were ever a child that deserved to be spanked, this kid was the one.

40 minutes of non-stop toddler screaming. It was so shrill that my ears cringed and my eyes narrowed. I asked the guy next to me if he could see if that kid was dying, because that's what it sounded like, someone was torturing him. Paul, I know exactly what you mean now about your time at a day-care. Bless you.

The nice thing about being in Georgia though is that I have gotten to eat at Chick-Fil-A and Sonic already, which we don't have in Michigan and I haven't had for, oh, 4 months now. They're tasty.

Friday is the day...the AWA convention. I can't wait!

Sunday Report

I haven't posted in a while, mainly because I've been really busy with work and Alex has had people over for games a lot so I've been going over there. We played games Friday and Saturday night until about 2 am, so by the time I get home it's already the next day.

I realized Saturday that I needed winter clothes, bad. The temperature here is already like South Carolina would be in late November. Some are saying it will snow in October. So I looked in my closet and saw one jacket, 2 sweaters, and that's it. So I bought 2 sweaters and I need to get gloves, a hat, a scarf, and earmuffs if I'm feeling adventurous.

Today I was going to go to church, but I kept sleeping until 11:00 so I didn't go. I went last night though so I made it to one. After I woke up I went to exercise and then got a shower and got ready. Bill and Mary Kay were going to take me around Lake St. Clair and then to Canada today.

We started in Troy, went by Saturn's old headquarters, and the GM EV1 old headquarters. Then we went to the GM Tech Center in Warren. This is where GM develops all it's cars. It's about 1 square mile, which feel enormous. The one thing I really did like about the campus though was that it was designed and built in the 1950's, so all the architecture looks really cool, almost what would be considered "modern" by today's terms. Lots of glass walls. Also they would paint the sides of the buildings would be a high gloss brick, painted a very vivid color like orange, blue, red, or yellow. It made it look colorful, which I bet is nice in the winter.

There are random cars all over in lots there. I actually spotted a few Saturns with colors that were never production colors. I guess they were test cars. I actually saw a 1991 white SC, the very first model Saturn, in a lot and it was all abandoned with no tag. It was in a lot with other wrecked and damaged GM cars. Bill told me that is where they hold cars that they were sued over. So maybe that Saturn was involved in a lawsuit?

After that we drove down the "Grosse Pointes" which is a series of 4 towns that have million dollar houses over looking Lake St. Clair. It's really pretty to drive through. Then we went to Belle Isle, which is an island between Canada and the US. It's basically a big park. They have picnic tables, playgrounds, piers...that kind of stuff.

We then went to Windsor, Canada. We took the tunnel over, and the bridge on the way back. From what I can tell, there's not much to do there. They have a really nice riverfront (better than Michigan's) that has lots of gardens and sidewalks, so it might be nice to walk around there. It's easy to get in and out of Canada, even though border patrol checks your documents.

So tomorrow night I fly to Atlanta for work, and come back Thursday night. I come back to work Friday, and then go back to Atlanta for the AWA Convention. It's going to be a busy week!

I have pictures for you:
An electric car charger sign at the old GM EV1 Development Center

GM Tech Center Pond

GM Tech Center - New Building

Downtown Detroit (right) and Windsor (left) from Belle Isle

Downtown Detroit viewed from Windsor

Hey Money Money, Make Money Money!

I opened up my paycheck today and found a $2500 mistake in my favor! Too bad I don't get to keep it.

Bye Bye Summer, Nice to Have Met You

Summer is over here now I suppose. Today's high was 60 degrees and it was windy (very windy) and overcast. I asked some other people "So are we in fall now, for good". The general response was "yes, it only gets colder from here on out".

The summer here was perfect though. If I ever were to live somewhere else, I'd like to be here for the summer because I never once got hot or sweaty (except while riding my bike outside). It was always comfortable.

I've been going over to Alex's apartment each night to play different games. I think we've played probably 12 or so by now, but he has "lost count" of how many he has. A conservative guess would be around 70 games.

AWA is coming up soon, I can't wait to see Paul and Kiki (Ed). This is going to be fun.

Hecho en Mexico

On the freeway today a Ford Focus passed me with a bumper sticker that said:

"Want to save your job? Buy American"

Obviously whoever drove that car thought they were in an American car, but they weren't. The Ford Focus is produced in Hermosillo, Mexico. Their bumper sticker was pretty much slapping themselves in the face. Just because you own a Ford, or a GM, does not mean you own an American car.

So what's "American"? A Ford made in Mexico or a Honda made in Ohio. I vote for the Honda.

PS: Happy Birthday Nana!

Big Events

I have so much to write about over the past few days. So Lindar, you're going to have an EXCELLENT Monday morning. Get ready, because I here I go:

The work week ended Friday, which was a good thing. I have really been enjoying my work because I feel like I know what I'm doing more, and didn't have to ask too many questions this week. I worked pretty much until 7:00 pm everyday trying to meet a date someone decided on for me, but that's ok because it's almost done.

Friday someone also went postal which was a lot of fun to listen to. It was like being on Jerry Springer, in the audience. I was doing some drafting on my computer and listening to music on my iPod when I heard someone scream vulgar words...really vulgar words that start with F and end with K. So, being conspicuous I turned my iPod off, but kept my earphones in so it looked like I was not listening but I really was. Basically a guy was screaming at a manager about how he's sick of them not listening to problems. A computer program we have to use (it's a database) has a flaw in it and he had lost 2 weeks of work. He had been complaining about it for a long time but nobody would listen. My favorite part was when he yelled "I'M JUST GOING HOME, BECAUSE IF I DON'T I'M EITHER GOING TO SMASH THIS COMPUTER OR PUNCH SOMEONE IN THE FACE". I heard a lot of people start snickering to themselves in their cubicles and I almost spit out the water I had in my mouth. It was good entertainment for a Friday. They took him in a conference room and calmed him down.

Friday I was also asked if I would volunteer to be a key user of a database that they use in Germany now and I trying to start here. I guess basically I would be one of the people in charge of it and be responsible for helping others get information from it. I thought maybe I would get to go to Germany for training but I think they're going to bring someone here to train me and others instead.

I was really ready to relax this weekend after so much work, so I consumated the weekend by going over to Alex's to play some games. I left there pretty late and came back and went to bed. I slept until 12:00 today...that was nice and refreshing. I went to Jimmy Johns with Erica for dinner then we went to chruch. Church was REALLY great tonight. They had good songs and the message was a good one. I also found out they take a trip to Isreal each year so I want to get information on that. I have always wanted to go to Isreal.

I also got to talk to Kiki about the anime convention. I realized getting from the airport to the convention center was going to be harder than I expected. I was thinking about MARTA, but there's something not appealing riding subways and buses around Atlanta at 10:00 pm at night. So I found a shuttle service that can take me to the convention center from the airport for $25, so that's worth the peace of mind of not being robbed to me.

...start your Monday morning, Ms. Fleming.

Mango

I'm glad tomorrow if Friday, and I'm even more glad the weekend is only 1 day away. Work has been extremely busy this week, but not bad. I don't mind being very busy. I have been staying until around 7:00 pm everyday though to get the work finished.

Today I was in Six Sigma training when my mind started to wander. I started thinking about how I would love to buy a 500 piece puzzle, and do it. I haven't done a puzzle in a long time. I guess when it gets cold and I have to stay indoors I will get one to do.

I'm eating this Mango ice cream I bought and it's disgusting. It tastes all creamy and the mango pieces are the dried mango. Mango is a special fruit and it's only good one way. Now I'm stuck with this ice cream. I'm sure I'll eat it anyway though.

Due Date

I can't believe tomorrow is already Wednesday. I think I might not get to go to Alex's apartment for game night. I stayed at work until a little before 7 tonight and tomorrow will probably be the same. I have massive amounts of work due Friday.

Almost, But Not Quite

Today when I was flying home I had to change planes in Charlotte. I got excited because I got to my connecting flight about 1.5 hrs early. As I sat down, I heard an announcement I was hoping I would hear. The gate agent said they had oversold the flight and were looking for 5 volunteers to give up their seats for a later flight in exchange for a free roundtrip ticket. I was the first one who volunteered and some others did too.

Then I see this lady, her old parents, and her two kids go up there. I see them look back at me, sit down, go back up to the counter, sit back down, go back up again. I can't confirm this, but I think she hogged all the free tickets for her family. So I had to take the flight I was originally supposed to. I was really looking forward to getting a free ticket, I would have waited!

So I didn't get a free ticket. I'm extremely tired right now so I think I'm going to bed so I will be fresh for work.

Back To Michigan

Tomorrow I go back to Michigan. I had a good time at home but it went by really fast. I got to eat dinner with Becky at Thai Taste on Friday night. Saturday I slept really late and then went shopping with my mom for birthday presents. Then we celebrated my dad and sister's birthday on Saturday night.

Today I went to Clemson to visit Kiki, Paul, Matt Sr., Matt Jr., Trey, and Betsy. That was a lot of fun seeing them all.

I'm looking forward to September 18th!

You Must Have Been Wondering...

How was my dentist appointment? Great! Three years ago I was told by some fruitloop that I had 9 cavities and my teeth were in really bad shape. I had a consultation with this new dentist before going to the hygenist, and told him all about my dental history (my trials and heartaches). He said it was no problem and they would take care of my mouth for me.

Well I sat down and told the dental hygenist to prepare for the worst. She opened up my mouth, poked around for a little bit, and said "You're insane...because your teeth are in excellent shape. I only see one tiny cavity, and it's very small. You must be a hypochondriac". So, it wasn't so bad. I had X-rays taken to detect cavities, ultrasonic water cleaning, and she cleaned my gums. While she cleaned my gums they started to bleed. She said that was absolutely normal and healthy, that it meant the blood was flushing bacteria out from under the gumline near the tooth. At the end the hygenist took some pictures of my teeth for me, and put them on the TV monitor up on the wall for me to see, so I would have a visual when the dentist came to look. It was a nice visit, and for once in my life going to the dentist wasn't such a nightmare.

I'm going back to South Cacalac tomorrow. I'm going to Clemson Sunday afternoon to visit Paul and Kiki and little Matt. Becky and I are having dinner Friday too.