Posts Tagged ‘patterns’

Summer work life

laelene Posted in mba，Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
12 June 2017
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I’m starting to settle in to my role at Cisco and create a few habits. I generally get to work around 8 (ugh) and wrap up around 5, with lunch at 12 with some of my fellow HRLPers (Human Resources Leadership Program interns and full-timers). After work I go to the gym to work out and then relax in the steam room and sauna before showering and heading to dinner. Some evenings I have happy hours or other events to attend.

Later in the week, the interns in other Cisco departments tend to get together for dinner. They also try to coordinate lunch together, but I work in a building about a mile from them so it’s too much of a hassle and I like having some time to my own intern cohort and potential workmates.

I usually get home (to my AirBnB) around 8:30-9:30 and sometimes I chat with one of the other tenants. There’s a South American working for a wine company, a Chicagoan who works at the ER at Kaiser, a traveling consultant, a Chinese girl and her friend, plus one mystery guy who I have yet to meet. I then spend the rest of the night in my room grooving to music and doing a variety of things online before calling it a night.

It’s a rather peaceful yet somehow still busy life. I feel a certain amount of stress making sure I do a good job this summer at work and I also want to ensure I’m taking advantage of the opportunity to explore the area with a variety of friends. This past weekend we went to the redwoods and Santa Cruz, which was an amazing time. I held my very first banana slug!! I’m sure there will be more to come. I should also try to reconnect with old friends who are working up in the SF area, but it feels oh so far…

I prefer to air dry

laelene Posted in lifestyle glimpses，Tags: , , , , , ,
06 October 2015
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I’ve used a blow dryer once on my hair. I couldn’t figure out this whole brushing hair and blow drying routine. It just didn’t make sense to me and I ended up blowing a lot of hot air at nothing. Afterwards, my hair felt like straw, it looked like a mess, my ears were burning, and I decided this wasn’t for me. That and I just don’t find it very useful to spend time in the bathroom getting ready. So all my life, I’ve air dried my hair.

Sometimes I comb it a certain way, braid it or tie it up. Sometimes I shake it all around and sort of let it fall. At night, I sleep on it any which way. When I get up for the day and it looks dreadful, I comb some water through or tie my hair back. I like showering in the evenings but my hair tends to fall better if I shower in the morning. I try to drag myself up when I can (not often successfully). Alas, I’d rather air dry my hair than spend time brushing and blowing it out.

For rather different reasons, I’ve also started to air dry my hands after washing them. At work, I go to the restroom many times a day since I tend to go through many mugs of drinks. Each time, a twinge of guilt hit me when I wiped my hands on paper towels. I tried bringing in one of my People Towel hand towels, but I kept forgetting to bring it with me. So eventually, I started to walk back to my desk without wiping my hands. By the time I got there, they were pretty much dry and I’d apply some lotion and be done.

You know, despite my reason for air drying hair to be due to laziness and my reason for air drying my hands to be due to environmental consciousness, they sort of have the same result. I save a bit of time and effort while conserving resources. I’m perfectly fine with that! Now you may notice that I did not mention air drying coming out of the shower, but since I’m reusing towels I feel like it’s far less wasteful. Plus it’d take a much longer time to air dry than just soaking up the water with a towel.

What do you think? Am I odd for being like that or do you air dry as well? If you don’t, would you consider it?

Similar songs

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , , ,
14 April 2014
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Have you ever been humming a song only to find that you get it mixed up with another one? I found myself doing this quite a bit with the song “Red” by Taylor Swift – it’d start off just fine and then during one of the “lovin’ you”s I’d veer off into “Let Her Go” by Passenger. Listen to the first three notes of “Let Her Go” and then compare with this part of “Red.” Maybe I’m just a horrible singer, but those notes start off so similarly that I lose track of which tune I’m singing.

Just when I thought it was an anomaly, one of my coworkers shared this video of “The Man” by Aloe Blacc… I thought it was a joke when I first heard the opening lyric. Why? Well, have you ever watched Moulin Rouge? If not, check out this part of “Your Song” from that movie. The resemblance is uncanny, not only in the sound, by in the lyrics. This time I can’t be just imagining it, right?

Now far less clear is why this section of that new JT song “Not A Bad Thing” reminds me of TLC’s “Waterfalls.” Nothing specific here tying the songs in how they sound, but it’s more of a feeling. The first time I ever heard the JT song on the radio, I was brought back to middle school, when I was still trying to grasp the lyrics of “Waterfalls.” I hadn’t thought of TLC in ages, but the groove that “Not A Bad Thing” gets into has elements that I find similar to “Waterfalls.” Would you agree?

Deep food coma

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
10 September 2013
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The first few days we got back from the UK, I was doing pretty well with the getting up in the morning thing. I’d wake up around 5 or 6 and decide that it was too early, so I’d let myself slowly drift off again until about 7. By then my body couldn’t take it anymore and wanted to get up. Because of these earlier starts, I also got tired earlier in the day. In fact, as soon as we’d get back from dinner, I’d jokingly wrap up in my new sherpa throw and say, “Good night!”

curled up on couch with new super soft and comfy sherpa throw blanketNext thing I knew, Panda would be getting ready for bed and turning off the lights. For some reason that always woke me up, though I very easily slipped back into sleep. Then another hour or so later I’d wake up and force myself to get up to blog for the night. I am dedicated to my craft, after all! If the only thing I get right is that I post every time I tell myself I will, at least I will have that. Most recently I have a goal of one post a day in addition to my 365great post at the end of the day. I’ve been doing quite well and throwing in posts about random things, mixing in reviews and pictures and whatnot. I was not about to let some strange sleep schedule jeopardize that! 😛

But what I’ve learned is that jetlag + sherpa + dinner = major food coma/crash. I mean, 8 PM I’m sound asleep as if I’m 5 again. Actually, I’m not even sure I slept that early as a child. It’s just not my thing! So I’ve got to say, this sherpa and plush blanket is one magical thing to get me to fall asleep so well. I can’t get enough of it and I’m already thinking about getting more (much to Panda’s chagrin, lol). I’ve had to resist using it tonight for fear of falling asleep before either of my blog posts are up. Alas, work now keeps me busy in the day and I need to write posts at night! This will take some getting used to.

Cleaning regimen

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , , , , , , ,
23 June 2013
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How often do you clean?

I grew up not having chores; my parents were far more concerned about my academic and personal development. So, I got to enjoy a lot of time in my room doing my own thing. I didn’t make my bed (never saw the need) or dust or whatever other chores you might need to do to keep your room spotless. I did help out with general household chores ranging from mowing the lawn to washing dishes, but my room kind of remained my sanctuary. I rarely had to do chores within the room itself.

I now have the habit of cleaning only when I see a need – such as water marks speckling the mirror or visible dust on my shelves. I wash the dishes when they’ve filled up the sink and I do laundry when I’m running out of clothes. I don’t do preventative care or have any sort of set schedule or pattern. Meanwhile, Panda is almost the complete opposite. He regularly cleans when things are still “clean” (by my standards at least) and immediately washes dishes after eating. He does laundry at least once a week regardless of how much has accumulated and vacuums frequently too.

cleaning with hands in blue metal bucket/pail filled with soapy water

Last time I cleaned it was so notable I took a video. 😛


It’s really interesting how different our habits are. I enjoy a slightly messy room because it feels lived in. When things are too neat, it feels unnatural. I’d rather focus my time and efforts on living in my space; he’s willing focus his time and efforts on keeping the space neat and clean. When I do get around to cleaning, it’s usually a bit of an overhaul – a spring cleaning, if you will. I like to save up for one big effort every few weeks/months so I can spend a few hours (or the whole day) working up a sweat and really changing the way things look.

Is either way better? I don’t think so; to me, it’s a matter of preference. If cleaning all the time keeps your home in a state that makes you happy and peaceful, that’s probably what you should do. But if cleaning all the time brings on the stress of constantly thinking about it and worrying about all the chores left to do, then what’s the harm in cleaning less frequently? People have developed such an aversion to germs and things that are “dirty” but if society gets too hygienic, there are plenty of health issues to contend with. So why waste all that effort trying to avoid dust and germs only to get sick anyway? I think we could be a bit less uptight about the whole cleaning thing.

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