Last (full) Day At Work

It's finally arrived. My final full day working here. I can't believe it's been almost six years since I started here! Seems like so much has happened since then. Many people have come and gone from this company. We started out doing great, even opening a brand new store, things looked good. But you can never be too sure about the future of things, especially when it comes to businesses. Overall, it's been a nice run for me here. Might not have been the most glamorous job, but I made the best of it. I did my best and met/exceeded expectations on the job. I was able to learn about new music and movies that I might not have discovered otherwise. I was able to work with some cool people (despite my often keeping more to myself lol). And of course, can't forget the free lunches and musical guests we'd often have here in the office! How many companies will give you that! I was so fortunate to have been able to see many artists perform for us, up close and personal, in such a small intimate setting.

So yeah, I'll miss this place. And not just me, but many of the people that loved shopping at our stores, or even just browsing around and hanging out, which in itself could be fun. The future of the brick and mortar music store is uncertain. I hope that down the road it still remains, in one way or another, because there's just something about going to a store on a new release day and seeing what's out that can't be replaced by some clicks and scrolls on a web site.

Tomorrow is my official last day. I'm guessing I probably just come in for part of the day until I get my official paperwork, then I should be free to go. I don't deal with goodbyes so well. Always feels really awkward to me for some reason. I never know what to say. But at least I won't be the only one leaving tomorrow, so it's not like I'll stand out too much.

We have a little pizza lunch gathering today in one of the rooms here, I believe just for our dept, about a dozen or so people. Should be nice. A little awkward maybe since it's a celebration on the last full day for some of us. So it's a nice sentiment, but I just never really know what to say to people. Also, since I already have a job lined up, I feel a bit bad bringing it up to others that may not be so fortunate yet.

So we'll see how this day goes. Doing some small final cleaning up of my desk (and computer desktop), though I already did most of it little by little since I found out I had two months left back in February. There's really nothing much left for me to do, even in terms of actual work. It's all a matter of waiting now.

One door is closing while I head on to the next . . .

(Oh and about the image that accompanies this post...it's sort of an inside joke between Juan & I. hehe)

Dark Angel Summer

I got home this past Monday to a hot and stuffy room. I opened up the window and blinds to let some fresh air in. Being in that room, lights off and feeling hot, reminded me so much of the summer days. More specifically it reminded me of last summer, when I'd come home after work and relax in my room, a few clothes shed, cold drink at my side, fan running and watching my DVDs. That was the "Dark Angel summer." hehe I watched all my DVDs for that show during those hot summer nights when I didn't feel like doing much. (This was before I joined the gym.) Those were some nice relaxing times! :)

[ I originally wrote this post through my cell phone. Turns out that because my phone sends long texts as seperate parts, it was posted as seperate entries as well. lol So now I know, from now on, to keep my text message posts short & sweet. lol]

Texting Test

I think I'm finally able to text in my blog posts on my cheap little cell phone. This is a test. If you can see this post then it worked! Yay!

Two More Weeks

Where did this week go!? Despite having some slow days, the week overall seemed to go by fast. It's already Thursday afternoon...my "Friday" for this work week! I decided to use one final "personal day" off from work tomorrow. I don't have any solid plans set up yet, but I just really wanted to take a day. Plus, the workload has been pretty light lately, which is understandable considering our company is closing soon. Just two more weeks from today until my last day here! Scary! I've been able to relax a bit more lately now that I don't have to worry about the job hunting, which is good. But I know that as soon as that weekend comes, right before I start my new job, I'll probably be feeling a bit of stress. But it's the "good stress"! I'm the type of person that tends to overthink things, overplan and maybe worry a bit too much, especially if it's a significant change in my life like this new job! I get so used to my daily, weekly, monthly and yearly routines
...that whenever something new gets thrown into the mix, I need time to fully adjust. I'm sure that as long as I put my all into this new job, I should be fine. I know I'm a capable person, a quick learner and good problem solver. Those qualities weren't on my resumes just for filler, ya know! :)


I know that some of my coworkers still don't have a new job lined up, so I feel bad for them. I was having a tough time getting "noticed" by employers, too. Seems like now, more than ever, it really is about who you know...connections...when it comes to looking for a job. I just hope that eventually everyone is able to find something new. These are all good people. Eventhough I might not have always been the social type when it comes to work, I'll still miss seeing all these familiar friendly faces. Lately I find myself thinking back to the last almost six years I've been here. The people that have come and gone, the many fun in-office performances, the cool music I got to discover, the company picnics, the promo giveaways. Good times! It's been such a fun, casual work environment, and I loved that. I think I was spoiled in some ways, because chances are I probably will never find another workplace like this. :)

I'm glad my weekend is almost here. As I mentioned, I don't have any real plans yet, but I'm sure we'll figure something out. Last weekend was fun! It was Juan's 29th birthday weekend. So on Friday we went out to Circus and had a great time with some friends. The following afternoon we headed out to the Hollywood area, for a change. We rarely go out there. We hit the gym, visited the Walk of Fame area, had a nice dinner at CPK and then did some shopping at the Target. It was fun hanging out in that Walk of Fame area. We dressed up a bit more than we normally would and were taking pictures, just like the tourists. And just like the tourists, we even got harrassed by one of the "costumed people" there on the sidewalk. Some Charlie Chaplin guy pretty much threw himself into one of our photos and then took of his hat and asked for "a buck or two." Just to get rid of him, I threw in a buck. Then he looks at me with those beedy little eyes and holds up two fingers, to tell me he wants $2. Bastard! You said "a buck or two"...not "has to be two"! Ugggh. I just threw it in so he'd leave. lol So yeah...watch out for 'em. :)

That night, as we were paying at the Target store, I noticed two guys that were in a checkout line next to ours. They were holding a big bag of dog food and a big pack of toilet paper, among other things. As they got closer to us (one aisle beside us) I made brief eye contact with one of them. As soon as I saw those very distinguishable eyes and facial features, I knew I recognized him. Or rather, I knew he looked like someone. I took out my cell phone and typed into it, "kyle xy behind you", then showed it to Juan. Had I said it was Matt Dallas, he wouldn't know who I was talking about, that's why I went with his character's name instead. lol He turned around and then confirmed that it was him. At that moment I got excited. Up til then I just figured it looked like him but couldn't be him, because I never recognize people! A couple minutes later Juan overheard him say a few words and then gave me final confirmation that it really was him, because he recognized the voice from the TV show. I would've loved to be able to go up to him, say how much I liked his show (which I genuinely did, having watched it from day one til the final episode), and maybe even taken a picture. We'd left the brand new camera I'd picked out for Juan's birthday in the car, but even just a cell cam pic would've been nice. But Matt was paying for his stuff, doing his shopping, we thought it'd be too rude to bug him at that point. Had he just been walking down a aisle in the store and we bumped into each other...then maybe. It was fun seeing a celebrity I like though. I wonder what I'd do if I ever saw Sarah Michelle Gellar, my Buffy!

Oh and I finally got to see Slumdog Millionaire on Sunday. We watched it together in the morning, after having an early lunch, before hitting the gym. It really lived up to it's hype, such a good movie! And I loved the music. Might have to look into the soundtrack. :)

F My Life

We all have days where things just don't go our way. Something crappy, embarrassing, awkward or just plain strange happens to us. Often we try to just forget about those moments and move on. But why forget, when you can save them forever over at fmylife.com!? :)

I don't know what percentage of the entries on that site are real, but it doesn't matter. Some of them are quite funny! I spent a good few minutes reading through a bunch of them. If anything, next time you have a bad moment, you can just look at some of those entries and say, "could've been worse!"

Employed (Again)

Heard the good news?! I got a new job! I finally feel like a huge burden has been lifted off my shoulders!

Ever since that day in January, the Friday when half of the offices department's were laid off, shortly after we returned from our fun Vancouver trip, I've been a bit stressed and worried about what would happen next. Eventually, toward the end of February it became official that our company was going to be closing. They gave me a 2 month notice, with my last day to be at the end of April. That gave me at least two months to look for a new job. So all of March I was feeling especially nervous and stressed. The job market is tough right now. Seems like for every job opening there are hundreds of people applying! When I went on a job interview a few days ago, they literally had several interviews all going on at the same time. The hiring lady would go from person to person, checking up on each of us as we were doing different parts of the initial testing/screening processes.

Not knowing what my job future held also forced me to go on a tight budget. All my "wants" would have to be put on hold and I only allowed myself to purchase any "needs". Do you know how tough it was for me to see a new release DVD I really wanted (for example, Wonder Woman) and have to just walk away from it. Now I know what an addiction feels like. "Just say NO to DVDs." lol I also had to limit my outings a bit due to the money thing, but also because I was often feeling a bit bummed about the job thing and not really in much of a party mood. The whole car incident with Juan allowed me to spend more time at his place, which was actually a nice thing for me. Being with him, I was more relaxed, comfortable, happy and just able to forget my worries for those moments. And all this also made me a bit more distant from people. Because I wasn't going online as much as I used to (so I could use that time to focus on job hunts) and I wasn't really going out as much.

But now that I have a new job lined up, I feel so much more relieved! It's like a huge dark nagging cloud over my head has been whisked away! Sure, I know I'll be nervous once I start my new job in May. I always get a bit nervous during these types of big changes in my life. But I also know that eventually I'll settle in, get the hang of it, and then do great at the new place! For now, I can breathe again. I can feel more relaxed. I can allow myself a few treats (but not TOO much...shouldn't count all my chickens before they fully hatched hehe). I can finally feel some sense of calmness and normalcy again. There are a few other things I need to get to in my life, personal matters, but my main worry has been cleared for now.

And major thanks to you, Juan, for helping me get through this. Your support and encouragement meant a lot to me! You helped keep me together so I wouldn't lose my focus, and I really appreciate it!

Ride Share Bonding

It's kind of funny how bad things can often work out better than you imagined. All it takes is a little positive thinking and looking at life through the bright side of it all. It's going on almost three weeks now since the weekend of our "(mini)series of unfortunate events." If you don't know what I'm talking about, in a nutshell: my car was broken into, some of our stuff was stolen, and Juan's car was crashed into (while parked) by a drunk driver the very next day. Since then we've replaced the things that were taken and his car has been in the shop, it will hopefully be ready at some point in the coming couple of weeks.

Not having a car, for someone who works full time and often has personal errands to run, can be quite a burden. But being the supportive couple that we are, we worked it out so that on the weekends we use my car to run our errands and during the week on certain days I'll give him a ride to/from work and on others he carpools with his sister. He's also borrowed my car one day, when he to drive during the work day, so I was dropped off and picked up from work...which was qutie nice! hehe In retun for my helping him out, he's been treating me to a few lunches when we go out or helping me out by preparing my lunches for work when I spend the night.

We've even been going to the gym together a few days after work during the week, which we normally wouldn't do since he'd usually go earlier in the evening and I would go later in the evening. The cool thing is that I've still managed to do the things I would normally do, without really having to drive any more than usual. I even still watch my TV shows. I just record them on his DVR and watch them the following morning as he's getting ready. But my favorite part is that I've gotten to spend a lot more time with him lately, and it's been so nice. :) Especially going through job hunts and interviews, it's nice to be able to meet with him on some days to help calm my nerves and talk about what's been going on in the "hunt."

So yeah, while it does suck about his car having to be in the shop for so long, we're just looking at the bright side of it all. Nobody was hurt and as a result we've been having fun spending more time together during the week. Once the dust settles and we're back to some sort of old routine again, I'm really going to miss those ridesharing mornings & evenings! :) And hey, I'm even going to miss the Oprah episodes I've joined him in watching at the end of the day! hehe