Tide of change

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , ,
01 October 2011
0

So much has changed at work in the past couple of weeks – the call center people moved to a new office, a couple of people left, and we had some major changes with an important client I work with. It feels like a season of change or maybe even growing pains that we are experiencing and the office is a lot quieter now! I’m reminded of when I first started, when there were just about a dozen of us.

I am also the only full-time girl left in the office again. It can definitely get lonely at times and the constant ESPN playing on our TVs is a reminder of the disparity in gender. I don’t usually mind though, since I’m used to environments dominated by men… JROTC & ROTC, film crews, and the financial industry, to name a few. In fact, not too far into the future I will be at yet another one: business school!

Overall it’s the sudden drop lack of talking in the office and the extra empty space that has changed the vibe, so I’m looking forward to a good bonding session at the upcoming company social this week. The tide seems to have changed around here, ushering a new era for us! I think that may also mean a shift in my focus at work, so hopefully that turns into plenty of learning and growth.

Online again!

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , ,
26 September 2011
0

Wow, I’m sitting here in the room, with internet on my laptop!  Yeah, I know, that sounds so mundane and even expected, doesn’t it?  Well, it’s not after a month of only having access to the world wide web via my phone.  The open signal at my apartment went away and after a couple of weeks trying to get around it, spending time at Whole Foods, staying late at work, and even waiting in line at the business center for their computers, I’ve decided that this is a luxury that I can and should get.  After all, I’ve saved 8 months worth of internet service fees already!

Awhile back, some of my coworkers introduced me to Clear, so I began to research that in depth, since I really liked the idea of having portable internet (I thought about tethering my phone, but it cost too much for too little bandwidth).  After thinking about it and teetering between yes and no, I finally decided to see if I could get a modem for cheap on eBay.  Much to my surprise, as I was following a modem & router combo to see what kind of price I could get it at, I came across a banner ad for a FREE one!  This definitely peaked my interest, so I clicked on through and found an amazing deal: free modem-router ($120 value), free activation fee ($35 value), and free first month’s service ($45 value)!

Granted, I did have to sign a 2-year contract, but that’s pretty fair and I don’t mind it since I can bring the internet with me when I move.  The only thing I wasn’t crazy about was that I was not given an option for the $35 plan, which is slower, but cheaper.  However, I called up their sales guys and was told that I can downgrade from the $45/month to the $35/month plan without a fee.  I sure hope he didn’t give me misinformation, but if that’s the case I’ll just change my plan later on!  I really doubt I’d need the super fast internet speed, so why pay $10 more a month?  That adds up fast to $240 throughout the course of my contract!

Oh wait, but I’m getting ahead of myself… right now I’m enjoying some free internet at Panda’s hotel room and it feels so strange after so many nights of not being to get online with my laptop!  I did receive my Clear device today and I’m really excited, but since I have internet for now, I don’t want to turn it on and activate it until I need it this weekend.  I can’t wait to try it out though!  I’ve heard great things, especially from our IT guy at work and he should know, right?  I just hope I can get a decent signal at my place.

Anniv3rsary

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , ,
23 September 2011
1

Today is my “official” three-year anniversary with Panda! We kind of set an arbitrary date since it’s hard to say when exactly we got together. So, we go off our first real date, which was the Friday of Zero Week at UCLA. The great thing about that is our anniversary is always on a Friday!

Tonight we celebrated by going to Itacho Izakaya for dinner, then getting free dessert at Milk, right across the street! Milk is offering free ice cream sandwiches via ScoutMob. I got a Red Velvet and Panda got a Grasshopper (mint chocolate). Yum!

a delicious red velvet ice cream sandwich from milk
There was some sort of filming going on nearby. They blocked off the street and put up all kinds of holiday lighting to make it very festive and they had quite a crowd. Definitely not a low-budget film! Maybe we’ll recognize this scene in a movie we watch someday.

movie scene being filmed on beverly blvd

Impatient

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , ,
21 September 2011
0

Ever get impatient with life? Sometimes I just want to get on to the next stage and get that MBA, finally live with Panda, and be married. I look forward to the future a lot and I’ve been anticipating it for years! At the same time, I know that life as it is now has its own perks and I shouldn’t lose sight of all that I have now. While I kind of want a fast-forward button to press, I still value all that I get to live out today.

Still, sometimes it’s nice to think about all these great future plans, isn’t it? This seems especially true as I start to see more and more of my peers moving on to the next stages of their lives, getting more education, settling down, and starting a family. Every now and then I can’t wait to go to business school and then move in with Panda and start our little family, kids, cats, and all. But I guess life comes as we’re easy and I’m definitely not ready to get marked or have kids yet, much as I look forward to when that part of my life comes.

For now I’ll try to take better advantage of the things I can do more easily now – explore my passions, travel some more, and maybe even move somewhere new!

Technological pains

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: ,
16 September 2011
0

My greatest pet peeve about technology is that it often doesn’t take change well.  I wish it was easy to put multiple accounts together, and to weed out any duplicates that occur in the process.  Take contact lists, for example.  Why is it that when I try to sync my Google contacts with my phone, I end up getting a whole lot of the same entries, instead of a clean list?  I understand if they need to ask me about the merge if different versions of the contacts contain different information (such as one only has email and the other only has phone number, or the listed contact information doesn’t match).  However, it’s just not that easy and I’ve had to manually go through and sort through the listings to correct them, which is quite tedious.

Another thing that totally baffled me recently is Apple IDs.  They don’t always make it clear when you are making a new one, so I somehow ended up with two even though I meant to change my primary email address for my account.  I did some research and they make it very clear that they do not merge accounts, so I had to figure out which account to keep as my main one.  Why it is that they can’t combine your accounts with a data migration is beyond me.  Perhaps I don’t understand enough of the coding, but nevertheless, this is a common issue that people have and I feel that it’s worth any trouble to create a good system to do so.

I also don’t see why user IDs can’t be easily updated as we wish, so we can change our minds as often as we want.  After all, we go through life changes all the time, sometimes wanting a fun screen name, sometimes wanting a professional one, and sometimes just wanting one other than what we have.  Why create an entire account just because of that?  It would make so much more sense to keep all the information that has been associated with an account and just change the username you log in with or share with others.

It’s amazing that it has been so long and still these improvements that would allow us so much more control over our accounts are not something we can expect from any form of technology we choose to use.  The pains of trying to get around it or fix it almost don’t even make it worth it either.  Whatever happened to technology being able to make your life easier?  It seems to be causing me a whole lot of (time-consuming) problems instead!

Remembrance

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , ,
11 September 2011
0

My, how 10 years have gone by. It’s hard to believe that it has been so long, yet it went so quickly. Before we know it, we’ll be another decade along. And while we will never forget 9/11 and the effects of terrorism have forever changed the course of history here in the US, the world must go on and so too, will we.

It’s so strange to look back. I feel like the 15-year-old sitting in math class that morning has nearly become someone else entirely. I even moved clear across the country in the year following 9/11. For the first three years of coming to California, the horror and memories of the footage we saw that day were fresh. Each anniversary, I’d show up to class dressed so patriotically it was silly. Those years I yearned for my old life in New York state and still identified as a New Yorker. I wanted to represent all who I knew were affected by the tragedy and show that I hadn’t forgotten, either.

As time went on, my identity as a Californian, an Angeleno, solidified and the thoughts of what happened in New York got filed away into my memory banks. Anniversaries were easier to handle and I didn’t always cry on the day anymore. This year I spent a quiet day with loved ones and since I don’t have a TV, have no idea what kind of coverage there was. I hope there was a lot though.

I’ll never forget the confusion our class felt as we heard the news, nor will I forget the look on my teacher’s face when she was told. It took us awhile of sitting around talking amongst ourselves to fully grasp the situation. When the school decided to let us go home for the day (which was only half through), I went home to sit in front of the TV with goosebumps as I watched again and again the terrible images.

I hope that we’ve learned enough as a country to prevent this kind of thing from happening again. I’m glad that we were able to get to Osama before today, for that can at least close one chapter of this saga. However, there is still so much to do and I hope we pull out of our struggles victorious and humbled.

A stubborn victory

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , , ,
09 September 2011
0

wooden large-tooth comb made with fragrant woodIt’s been months and I’ve been looking for this hairbrush every time I go home. I knew that I had taken it out to use when I was here and though I searched high and low without success, I refused to give up. I like how it has wide teeth and is made of a fragrant wood. It’s also glossed and I think is even anti-static. Perfect for a quick brush-up in the middle of the day. I used to keep it in my purse, but then one weekend when I was hanging out at home, I lost track of it. Ever since then, I’ve been on the hunt.

Tonight I asked my mom about it again and she said she actually found a wooden comb while cleaning up. Unfortunately, she couldn’t remember where she had put it, so this sent us on a house-wide search for the elusive thing. As it turns out, she was referring to a smaller comb (the kind they give at hotels), which was sitting on the desk. Since I had already searched almost all of the house, I decided to keep going and flipped just about everything around. Then, I thought that I should check the pile of blankets and pillows on the bed upstairs, which I had used for awhile a couple of months ago.

Lo and behold, after lifting up a couple of blankets, I found it lying there, neatly hidden away! I’m really glad to have it back and will make sure to store it safely in my purse again. Yup, being stubborn does get me results.

Restaurants with bread

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , ,
06 September 2011
0

I believe that all proper restaurant establishments should serve bread (or some sort of snack/finger food). During my road trip with Philosopher this past week, I found that I would get antsy and slip into impatience as we waited for our food, if there wasn’t something to occupy my hands and mouth. It doesn’t cost much to offer, but the feel of a place improves so much when they provide me with bread!

It’s a similar thing for hotels with free wifi. I’m amazed at how many still charge for the service when it really has become more of a necessity, much like having towels and toiletries. Just because you can get away with charging for it doesn’t mean you should. In fact, by offering a connection for free, the value of your brand is elevated and consumers are much more likely to want to book with you rather than the place down the street where they charge per day or even hour.

When it comes down to it, wouldn’t you rather get that extra booking than lose it and charge a current customer for their internet? What costs more? Obviously you earn more with each room that is booked! Ah, but I digress. Back to bread.

Now while the bread won’t necessarily be a deal-breaker, it does make an impact on the perceived value of your restaurant. The higher the perceived value, the more you can charge and still have happy customers who feel their money was well-spent. So why not spend pennies to provide bread so you can earn dollars more per meal in the long run? Companies often seem so short-sighted, only caring about turning a profit, NOW. But that’s not how to build a sustainable brand!

Road trippin’

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , , , , , ,
02 September 2011
0

Wow, it has been two tiring days on the road!  Philosopher and I set out on Thursday, ready for a coastal trip up to Northern California.  We made pit stops at the Getty Villa, Ojai, Santa Barbara, and Solvang before finding a campground in Santa Maria to settle in for the night.  The sleep was sporadic and interrupted by cars driving by, brisk air (it was in the low-mid 50s all night), and of course the uncomfortably firm ground.  Every time I tried to stretch out straight, I would find my blanket was covering my feet and it was way too to have them out.  So, reluctantly, I would pull them back in and curl up in a ball under my body pillow.

When getting things out of the car, I had accidentally locked my keys in the trunk (first time that happened to me!), so in the morning I called up AAA to break into my car for me.  It was really interesting to see their method, using an inflatable balloon pouch and a thick metal rod.  I didn’t quite imagine it being that way based on descriptions I’ve heard using clothes hangers, but hey, whatever works!  With access to all our stuff again, Philosopher and I were able to prepare for the long day ahead.

Day two consisted of a lot of winding roads, driving up and down mountains, and in and out of cloud/marine layer coverage.  I feel at once windblown and sunshone (yeah, yeah, not a term but what would you say?).  This time went from Santa Maria to Pismo Beach to San Luis Obispo, then out to the coast again to drive along the 1.  We took some time at Carmel-by-the-Sea to enjoy the town and beach, then continued on to Santa Cruz and finally San Jose.  While waiting for dinner at BJ’s and looking for another campground, we decided to go for more traditional lodging.  After all, we weren’t having much luck finding a place and it’s been a long two days without proper rest, so I don’t mind rewarding myself with a nice bed and shower.

Luckily, I was able to find the Larkspur Landing Hotel in Campbell, which was offering a really reasonable rate.  There’s free wifi, breakfast, cookies, and a business center, fitness center, and laundry room.  What’s most valuable is a warm and cozy bed, as well as a hot shower!  There’s no need to suffer and doing the whole camping thing another night was turning out to be too much trouble.  I can finally charge up my phone again and start tomorrow afresh.  By dinnertime, we will be meeting up with Panda and I’m really excited for that.  🙂

Friend from abroad

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , ,
29 August 2011
0

My friend Philosopher is back in town after almost two years! I can’t believe it was so long ago that he first came to visit, or that it went by so quickly. I really look forward to the day when I can visit him in his home country again, hopefully for London 2012.

I’ve taken the rest of the week off for a grand California adventure, spending time from Los Angeles to Sacramento, and many places in between. It was pretty exciting to only have a one day work week, but it’ll be even more exciting once start our trip exploring the towns of the West coast.

I can’t wait and I’m sure we will take plenty of pictures! This is going to be magnificent. 🙂

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
First Prev 4142434445 Next Last