Pictures from Friday's

Yankee Swap at Friday's on December 18, 2008:

Deciding what to eat...
Matt and Randy

... the menu can be challenging when there's a lot of options.
Steve M.

Anthony (in the white) why do you look so down?

Clearly I wasn't sneaky.
David

John, Rick, and Karen

Joe Q.

View down the table, part 1.

View down the table, part 2.
Oh look, Dan's in a picture!!! (Green stripes)

Clearly the best gift of the night. Her boobs jiggle.
My supervisor, Ken

Checking out the gift.
Ricardo, Steve D., and Ken

Some funny faces with Matt and Randy.

New Blog

Hi everyone! I have a new blog that I started a few days ago. It's dedicated to talking about my co-ops, engineering, and work. My Books & Hooks blog used to be about everything, but now it's mostly about my favorite topics of interest. So take a peek and see what's been on my mind.

http://mysocalledengineeringlife.blogspot.com/

Thanks for viewing!

Not So Funny...

So today went by pretty quick. Of course it usually is when you have a lot of things to get done. Hopefully the snow stays away until later in the day tomorrow. I need to finish a test report, a very long one. I have a doctor's appointment in the morning so I won't be in until noon if the weather holds.

So after work we gathered at Friday's. Everything was going great and everyone was having a good time and lots of different conversations were happening at the same time. About an hour in we started the Yankee Swap. There were some cool gifts and some not so cool ones. My favorite was the one my boss picked out. It was a top half of a women with bouncy jelly like boobs. OMG. It was hilarious. It was suggested that we put it on the shake table. Haha. That will make Art and Cristian's day.

At the end of it all I got a $20 Au Bon Pain gift card. Hey, college kids never turn away free food. Lisa, one of my co-workers gave me her scratch cards that were part of her gift. The first one had nothing, the second one had $1, and the third one had $2. The last one looked the same as the other ones and the prize was $10,000. I proceeded to scratch the pyramids one by one and then in front of my eyes... $10,000. I was like... serious? No way... I was so happy that I shed some tears. Then someone suggested that I sign the back to claim it. So I turned it over and I started reading...

It was a fake. It had stuff on the back like "Write to [...] the NorthPole" and "Winners only get laughed at by their friends." Something along that line. Great. There are two things I hate doing and I did them tonight. 1. I cried in public and 2. I was made a fool. At one point during my happiness I yelled out that I was going to go to Europe with that money. Guess not. Oh well. My tears of happiness became tears of sadness and disappointment.

Money's always been an issue in my family. We always just had enought to make do. Since I was 9, my mom has raised us, Joy and me, single handedly and gave us everything, though she had nothing. When I was 16 I understood the debt my mom was living in and wanted to help. I've been working every summer and every school year since then. The only time I wasn't working was when I was in San Fran for two months this summer. Every other paycheck up until my second co-op went to my mom to help pay for the phone bill, the electricity, and other expenses. Even now I'll go home and give my mom $500. It's something to help her out for all that she's done for us. I love her and I can't say no if she's feeling pinched.

So when I saw that $10,000 I thought of what I can be doing with it. I would put half towards my trips and the other half will help pay off some of my schooling. To find out that it was fake was very disappointing. I'm not sure who put it in or why they bought it. Maybe they didn't know it was fake, maybe they thought it would be funny. The wrong person got to scratch that card and definitely didn't take it as a funny joke. I think the people around me felt awkward because here I was so happy and finding out it was fake totally killed my happy mood. Well next time I'll read the back before jumping up and down and making a cake out of myself.

Mr. Cactus and His Hat

Okay, so I'm a bit ridiculous. I finished Mr. Cactus today. Then I sat back and realized that transplanting a cactus to the Northeast was not a good idea... he'll get cold. So I crocheted him a little ear flap hat. OMG! It's sooo cute! Hope you guys like it!!! He's going to be sitting at Azure Dynamics. Us co-ops can't keep plants alive. =)

Mr. Cactus (Amigurumi World)

I just made the little hat pretty much out of nowhere (actually off the top of my head).

Okay, so I also made a little scarf...

... clearly having too much fun.

Almost Done!

My last day of co-op is December 19th -- this FRIDAY!!! Omg. I can't believe it's almost over. It's been super quick. I have an end of the year/co-op review tomorrow and my boss is taking me to lunch. Yay! On Thursday we have a Yankee Swap after work at TGI Friday's. I'm excited! I'm making an apple pie for Thursday. Friday I have a doctor's appointment in the morning, but I will be in around noon. Not missing the CRD seminar hosted by Beth for the world! Should be an interesting topic... She's putting together a slide show about what our customers have been doing with our DMOCs and motors. Fun! Okay, gotta run to my sister's now. =)

Video about Sims 3, Cross Stitching, and Aptera

Hey, I made another video or two actually. My sister is in the second one with me. I got interrupted while filming the first one. So check them out.

Take 1

Take 2 with Joy

Wow, September is almost over...

Okay, so I've been busy since the beginning of September. When I come home at the end of the day, I really don't feel like sitting in front of the computer. Eh. But I would like to try and put up more entries than I have in the past month. Sorry for not writing, but I'm back. =)

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

It's done. I made a decision. I decided to go with Azure Dynamics and sent my response out just now. GE would have been a great opportunity and I hope I have another chance at it after college. It was probably the hardest decision I've ever made concerning a job. I'm happy and I think this is best. I've work for a small company before, but I think this will be even better than the last time. So wish me luck!

Analyzing Choices

Okay, so I have to decide where I want to co-op. Here are the choices and I will comment upon their importance to me.

Azure Dynamics

Industry: Renewable Energy
Size: Small
Location: Woburn, MA
Miles from Boston: 27
Transportation: Train, Bus
Position: ME, Test Engineer
Salary: $19.50/hour

GE Aviation

Industry: Jet Engines
Size: Large
Location: Lynn, MA
Miles from Boston: 29
Transportation: Train, Bus
Position: ???
Salary: $19.25/hour

So these two companies are almost the same except for their size, industry, and job position. The more I think about it, I should probably go with Azure Dynamics. I would love to work for GE later in my future. And you know what? It is definitely possible. They'll be one of the companies I will strive for, but for now, I think Azure Dynamics is a great way to build up my resume. Okay, I should probably go accept that offer now. Thank you GE, but I think I'll be a better candidate in the future.

Co-op...

So a little about me. I'm currently attending Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. If you don't know about NU's co-op program, then I'll give you a run down about how it is in the Engineering Program. The engineering class is divided into two divisions, A or B (currently using A and N for the class of 2010 and younger). I'm in division A and this is our co-op pattern:

Freshman Year: In class Sept - April
Sophomore Year: In class Sept - April
Middler Year: On co-op July - Dec, In class Jan - June
Junior Year: On co-op July - Dec, In class Jan - June
Senior Year: On co-op July - Dec, In class Jan - April

What is co-op? Co-op is similar to an internship. The typical co-op lasts for 6 months and you're paid for your work. NU is known for their co-op program and the College of Engineering has a 100% placement rate. Since I decided not to do the 5-year BS/MS Mechanical Engineering Program during the summer of my junior year, it was too late for me to change plans. I had decided to come out to California with my boyfriend for two month. He has a co-op in San Francisco doing industrial design.

I'm looking for a co-op during the fall semester now. Good thing I have the support of the amazing Co-op Coordinators back at NU. Thank you Clint, Karen, and Lorraine. They're amazing. I currently have two job offers. I'm considering both and it's a very hard decision. Yes, it's only for 4 months, but it makes a difference. Hopefully I can get back to them by Thursday. Then I can breathe easy.

Okay, I'm going to start dinner and then watch the Olympics. We're heading out tonight to one of my boyfriend's co-worker's new apartment. She's having an apartment warming party. She also has HD cable, so fun!