April 14, 2011
New Travel Blog
Please check out my new travel/life blog called Me, My Pack & I. It will document my experiences as I travel through Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere.
January 13, 2011
Life Update
Yes, I realize I haven't posted anything in almost two months but a lot's been going on. Quick updates on life:
1. Been driving to work for two months and as predicted it is not fun anymore. Yesterday it took two hours to get from Kapolei to downtown because of the horrid rain. This morning I decided to leave a half hour early since I ended up being a half hour late to work yesterday. Today it only took an hour to get to work so now I'm an hour early. *sigh*
2. Found out that bonuses are not being distributed till the end of February. This throws a wrench in my plans as I had hoped to quit work at that time. Now I must debate whether to give two weeks and quit mid-month or stick it out the entire month of March. This will mean trying to wrap things up in April and leaving in May.
3. Started planning my trip using low-cost carriers with an estimated timeline of an April departure. Interestingly enough, I can get to Europe cheaper this way with more cities to visit on the way. However, with the bonus situation thrown in, I'll have to revise my itinerary. Instead of doing three months in Europe before heading to New Zealand, I may go straight to NZ and hit Europe after my year there.
4. I've been contemplating whether or not to do a separate blog for my travels while maintaining this personal blog. In reality, I don't think I'll have time to update both (case in point the length between this post and the last). And once I hit the road, traveling will literally take over my life and it will become personal. Thus, I could theoretically just continue on with this one. However, after all the stuff I've written here, I think I'd prefer to keep this away from any co-workers that may want to follow my travels. Decisions, decisions. On top of that, I've been researching how to do a proper blog with a custom domain name and host. It all seems so complicated to set up though. And what about when updates are needed?
5. I have been refraining from making any clothing and shoe purchases, which was a bit difficult during all the holiday sales. I did, however, buy some clothes to be used on the trip for super cheap. I've also received some things for the trip through my Secret Santa gift exchange. No one knows I'm going but apparently it was meant to be since I got a sporty water-resistent watch and an entire first aid kit. My uncle also sent me a small faux-Swiss Army knife and an NZ guidebook. Scored a free water bottle from my sister-in-law.
6. One of the biggest hurdles for traveling is deciding what kinds of electronics to bring. My sister gave me a Sony Bloggie point-and-shoot/video camera that I've been trying out. But I may have her return it and put that money toward an iPod Touch. I think they have the same basic functions except the iPod Touch can get a wifi connection so I can check email or book hostels with it. That should be convenient.
7. This weekend I'm headed to the Big Island for a girls-only weekend with my best friend. We haven't been there for several years so it should be fun just to kick back and relax. Unfortunately, the weather has been very crappy these past few days so I hope it gets better. We wanted to hike down to see the lava, see the waterfalls on the east side, drive up to Mauna Kea and see the stars (and snow, which I hear is falling) and hike down Pololu lookout to check out the little beach there. I'm not sure if the Mauna Kea trip is allowed with rental cars though.
8. There have been some major changes at work. And no, I don't mean that the light bulb finally went on and the new girl is actually a functioning person. What I do mean is that we had a big blow out and now our boss isn't our boss any more. We report directly to the VP (as does he) and he isn't involved as much in our daily activity. The VP and president were supposed to talk to him a couple weeks ago but several people go sick and it's been postponed a number of times. Overall, I think this is a good change but, as mentioned above, the new girl still isn't pulling her weight. It's going to take work to have this department functioning as a "team," which is the main goal. Either way though, I'm so over it. I'm over her. I'm over the departmental issues with our (ex)boss. I'm over the politics. I'm over the favortism. I'm over it all.
1. Been driving to work for two months and as predicted it is not fun anymore. Yesterday it took two hours to get from Kapolei to downtown because of the horrid rain. This morning I decided to leave a half hour early since I ended up being a half hour late to work yesterday. Today it only took an hour to get to work so now I'm an hour early. *sigh*
2. Found out that bonuses are not being distributed till the end of February. This throws a wrench in my plans as I had hoped to quit work at that time. Now I must debate whether to give two weeks and quit mid-month or stick it out the entire month of March. This will mean trying to wrap things up in April and leaving in May.
3. Started planning my trip using low-cost carriers with an estimated timeline of an April departure. Interestingly enough, I can get to Europe cheaper this way with more cities to visit on the way. However, with the bonus situation thrown in, I'll have to revise my itinerary. Instead of doing three months in Europe before heading to New Zealand, I may go straight to NZ and hit Europe after my year there.
4. I've been contemplating whether or not to do a separate blog for my travels while maintaining this personal blog. In reality, I don't think I'll have time to update both (case in point the length between this post and the last). And once I hit the road, traveling will literally take over my life and it will become personal. Thus, I could theoretically just continue on with this one. However, after all the stuff I've written here, I think I'd prefer to keep this away from any co-workers that may want to follow my travels. Decisions, decisions. On top of that, I've been researching how to do a proper blog with a custom domain name and host. It all seems so complicated to set up though. And what about when updates are needed?
5. I have been refraining from making any clothing and shoe purchases, which was a bit difficult during all the holiday sales. I did, however, buy some clothes to be used on the trip for super cheap. I've also received some things for the trip through my Secret Santa gift exchange. No one knows I'm going but apparently it was meant to be since I got a sporty water-resistent watch and an entire first aid kit. My uncle also sent me a small faux-Swiss Army knife and an NZ guidebook. Scored a free water bottle from my sister-in-law.
6. One of the biggest hurdles for traveling is deciding what kinds of electronics to bring. My sister gave me a Sony Bloggie point-and-shoot/video camera that I've been trying out. But I may have her return it and put that money toward an iPod Touch. I think they have the same basic functions except the iPod Touch can get a wifi connection so I can check email or book hostels with it. That should be convenient.
7. This weekend I'm headed to the Big Island for a girls-only weekend with my best friend. We haven't been there for several years so it should be fun just to kick back and relax. Unfortunately, the weather has been very crappy these past few days so I hope it gets better. We wanted to hike down to see the lava, see the waterfalls on the east side, drive up to Mauna Kea and see the stars (and snow, which I hear is falling) and hike down Pololu lookout to check out the little beach there. I'm not sure if the Mauna Kea trip is allowed with rental cars though.
8. There have been some major changes at work. And no, I don't mean that the light bulb finally went on and the new girl is actually a functioning person. What I do mean is that we had a big blow out and now our boss isn't our boss any more. We report directly to the VP (as does he) and he isn't involved as much in our daily activity. The VP and president were supposed to talk to him a couple weeks ago but several people go sick and it's been postponed a number of times. Overall, I think this is a good change but, as mentioned above, the new girl still isn't pulling her weight. It's going to take work to have this department functioning as a "team," which is the main goal. Either way though, I'm so over it. I'm over her. I'm over the departmental issues with our (ex)boss. I'm over the politics. I'm over the favortism. I'm over it all.
October 25, 2010
Suburbia, U.S.A.
I am now fully transitioned from by urban one-bedroom apartment to a three-bedroom, two bath suburban home with my brother and his family. The only thing missing is the dog or cat (although, we apparently have some fish that seem to be multiplying).
Living with other people again is a bit weird. I'm used to just stripping, hopping in the shower and then meandering back to my bedroom to figure out what I'm going to wear. Now I have to figure all that stuff out before heading to the bathroom. It's like living with my parents or dorming at college again. But, at least I don't need to bring a shower caddy and wear slippers to the bathroom anymore.
Over the weekend, I moved the rest of my stuff to Kapolei with the help of my dad and brother. Even after downsizing by a considerable amount (in my opinion), I still have a ton of stuff. Some of it is still out in the living room, but I've managed to squeeze everything into my new bedroom. As I slowly begin to unpack, I find myself questioning my own sanity. I mean, does one person really need ten pairs of sweats/workout pants? That seems entirely ridiculous, especially when the person in question doesn't even work out! Also, despite donating and tossing about 15 pairs of shoes, I seem to still have another 15 pairs to boot. This is really the epitome of American excess, don't you think?
On Sunday, my dad and I scoured my old place and I can tell you I haven't worked that hard in ages. We only got about three quarters of the way through, but my body was waving the white flag by the end of the day. Not surprisingly, cleaning dirt and grime off of jalousies is no easy task. I highly recommend against that type of window treatment if you have the choice. We're planning to go back this weekend to finish up the job and turn in the keys. Hopefully after all the cleaning I'll get my full deposit back. That'll really help add to the round-the-world trip slush fund.
This morning I made my first early-morning commute after not having driven in the long distance traffic for over six years. It was interesting. I left at 6:30 a.m. and made it in an hour by taking a special route that a friend of mine suggested. I'll try it again tomorrow but will take the regular route and see how much faster/slower it'll be. So far, it's not as bad as I thought it'd be. Of course, this is still a novelty and will surely wear off with time. Check back in a month and I'll be a raging maniac.
Living with other people again is a bit weird. I'm used to just stripping, hopping in the shower and then meandering back to my bedroom to figure out what I'm going to wear. Now I have to figure all that stuff out before heading to the bathroom. It's like living with my parents or dorming at college again. But, at least I don't need to bring a shower caddy and wear slippers to the bathroom anymore.
Over the weekend, I moved the rest of my stuff to Kapolei with the help of my dad and brother. Even after downsizing by a considerable amount (in my opinion), I still have a ton of stuff. Some of it is still out in the living room, but I've managed to squeeze everything into my new bedroom. As I slowly begin to unpack, I find myself questioning my own sanity. I mean, does one person really need ten pairs of sweats/workout pants? That seems entirely ridiculous, especially when the person in question doesn't even work out! Also, despite donating and tossing about 15 pairs of shoes, I seem to still have another 15 pairs to boot. This is really the epitome of American excess, don't you think?
On Sunday, my dad and I scoured my old place and I can tell you I haven't worked that hard in ages. We only got about three quarters of the way through, but my body was waving the white flag by the end of the day. Not surprisingly, cleaning dirt and grime off of jalousies is no easy task. I highly recommend against that type of window treatment if you have the choice. We're planning to go back this weekend to finish up the job and turn in the keys. Hopefully after all the cleaning I'll get my full deposit back. That'll really help add to the round-the-world trip slush fund.
This morning I made my first early-morning commute after not having driven in the long distance traffic for over six years. It was interesting. I left at 6:30 a.m. and made it in an hour by taking a special route that a friend of mine suggested. I'll try it again tomorrow but will take the regular route and see how much faster/slower it'll be. So far, it's not as bad as I thought it'd be. Of course, this is still a novelty and will surely wear off with time. Check back in a month and I'll be a raging maniac.
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