Thoughts from the Corner

Oo.. I found that one corner in the bedroom of the apartment actually has pretty decent wifi signal.

But seeing as all my things (bed, tv etc.) are in the living room, going online is gonna be something I have to make a deliberate trip for. Maybe I’ll shift everything in here and setup a new base.

Things on my mind

1. Man. Utd. lost to Barcelona. Aiii was so caught up in work and stuff that I forgot all about it. Don’t really feel too bad because separately, I support both teams. I wouldn’t have chosen any side for this game. Ok maybe Man. U. Barcelona. Ronaldo. Messi. I dunno man. Both great teams.

2. I don’t need much things. Walmart’s airbed is amazing; don’t need a real mattress. I need a bed, computer, tv, PS3, and food. Preferably speakers, but I guess I’ll get them when I live in a place where I can actually use them (to their full potential hohoho).

3. Time. This line of work I’m in is pretty scary; some of the other engineers on-site mentioned 90-hour weeks. 90 hours??? That would be 6 x 18hrs/day, and Sunday off. Better start taking care of health; work doesn’t get done when you’re at home/in the hospital.

4. Money. This line of work I’m in is pretty scary; after some very rough calculations, I think it would be possible to earn about USD 275k in 5 years, working full-time. That’s about RM964k. In. 5. years.

5. Future. The field is good – renewable energy. The current trend is a steep increase in investments across the field, which makes me kinda secure about it. I’d rather be in this field than anywhere else at this point. Also, doing this job, I get paid to travel to various parts of the US. I can live with that.

6. Potential. There is plenty of room in this field for improvement, which is pretty much what we industrial engineers are trained to do. It just so happens that the company’s upper level management are just discovering what a beauty Kaizen is, and are vigorously rolling out measures to incorporate Kaizen into daily operations. Again, good time to be here.

7. This work satisfies me. In a way studies never did. I never liked solving the same problems as everybody else. I understand that the problems in school are supposed to allow you to demonstrate you understanding of the subject, but I feel it does not give a fair indication of what the person is truly capable of in the real world. A world without boundaries.

8. Optional Practical Training (OPT). I was happy when I heard last year that the US Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) decided to allow a certain group of people to extend their OPT a further 17 months, making it a total of 29 months of OPT. The people would have to come under Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math related fields (STEM – click here for full list of majors), and the company they worked with needed to be part of a new employment verification system called E-Verify. The second part dulled my hopes a little, as I thought it unlikely that my company would adopt a whole new employment verification system that is relatively new. Today, I found out that that they had indeed adopted it, and I was the first employee to be processed. Lol.

9. Nervous. E-Verify didn’t approve me, which was why I was given a call about it. The HR dept. was extremely nice and understanding about the whole matter; I felt bad for taking up so much of their time as they kept apologizing to me for taking up so much of mine. I saw that they they did not have my I-94 number, which could have been the reason E-Verify didn’t approve my application. I now have 8 days to call up DHS and “contest my case”, as it’s written on the form. All I have is my passport, I-20, and I-94. Here’s hoping tomorrow will not be my last day of work.

10. God. I’ve said this before, I’ll say it again. There is no way things just fall into place like this. No way. There has to be a greater force at work in our lives. My life, for sure.

11. Food. I’ve had very nice lunches and dinners recently; thanks to Ms. YG who likes to cook for me : D I want more! Food, and more. He. he. he.

12. Possessions. This is the first time after a long time where I don’t feel like buying anything. Stuff can come and go, but as mentioned earlier, I only need a few things to survive.

13. Parents. I miss home. I also wonder how parents (in general) are able to save as much money as they do. Enough to send not one, but several children overseas, while improving their own (and others’)quality of life. That is a serious achievement. I hope I become one of those who manage to do that.

14. Loose ends. Contrary to the plural, I only have one in my life. I can’t seem to take care of it. I suppose it will handle itself eventually, but I guess I’ll have to resign myself to the fact that there are some things that I just can’t get right, no matter how much I try.

15. Friends. Time is flying and pretty soon, my friends will be here and there. Even now they already are. I wonder how things will be in 5 years’ time. LZ has a good quote about friendship on her blog, and it mentions, among other things, that it’s ok to not know where you’re headed because you’re not headed there alone; life can still surprise us; we can still surprise ourselves. I really really want a 5 year reunion to happen.

16. Fall. My last semester in ISU begins in August. Even though I mentioned not liking studying, I still have a heavy heart when I think about leaving university. That’s because studying only made up about 20% of my uni life. The other 80% consisted of the most fun I’ve ever had with the most diverse group of people imaginable. White, yellow, black, brown, even multi-colored (during Halloween). I have a countdown of what ISU means to me. 5 best friends. 4 different seasons. 3 crazy years. 2 Great P’s: People and Parties (some would add poker I guess). 1 hell of a time.

17. Reading. Wish those I linked would update more often. Their posts literally brighten my life, after a long day at work.

18. Writing. Feels good to put all this into writing.

Till next time.