Rich People, Lager, and Zombies, OH MY!
Mmm nothing beats procrastinating twenty minutes away before lunch after a good meeting with your supervisor, a considerably easier-looking week than you planned for, and a cold Boylan Root Beer in hand.
So if you haven't figured it out by the last couple of posts, the job front seems to be good! Not like "all quiet on western front" good (not referring to the movie, which I hear ends badly for the protagonists, but referring to the "no one here to kill us!" kind of good). It's more like "Enemy made a major push but we repelled them with few losses and now we're being honored like fuck!" good. Hmm... that analogy might make sense only in my head. Maybe I should clarify and elaborate.
I guess what I'm saying is that I'm constantly surprised with the fact that I can actually handle the work coming my way. I mean, I know there's probably a way for me to do better. I know that I could probably network a little more in the office, or that maybe I could bring a couple of projects that vaunted and beautifully obscure "next step." However, all things considered, I feel like I'm at the very least meeting the department's expectations, and more often than not exceeding them. I feel that I have brought a few projects "that next step" and the ones that I haven't, due to either time constraints or simply the nature of the projects (not much of a "next step" in entering information into a database usually), I've managed to complete with a speed and accuracy that's surprised people. I know I'm not Super Intern, perfecting projects at the speed of light while fighting crime with my radioactive hamster during my lunch break, but I went into this with a profound fear of failing at this internship (I never had an office job prior to this) and I'm just relieved that I seem to be excelling.
To note another cause of relief, I'm also becoming more aware of housing possibilities that I might not have thought of before. For example, my mom and I were cruising around on the bus last week and she pointed out a neighborhood that looked relatively decent, with a lot of trees and greenery and decent-looking buildings and said that it might be possible for Anne Marie and I to grab an apartment there. I think rent there for a two-bedroom apartment's about $1,200 + gas and electric and DSL, which means that a one-bedroom should be about $900-1000? If Anne Marie and I can each grab jobs that at least pay $35000/year, which shouldn't be that hard, that's actually doable. And, as my mother pointed out, she's determined to help us out. Now, I don't know how much she'll be able to help out with my dad retiring. However, since I apparently don't have that many loans and Anne Marie doesn't have any at all, I should be able to do this. Worst case scenario is that I take a weekend job the two months prior to Anne Marie's arrival until she gets a job here to supplement the income and purchase furniture. That's doable. So YAY SOLUTIONS!
Also, YAY FINDING ALCOHOL I LIKE kinda sorta. Adam and I celebrated my friend Tim's 21st birthday this past Saturday (for those of you who don't know, Adam's been my friend since 2nd grade and we've been friends with Tim since 3rd) and I tasted my first lager and Hennessy. While I wasn't too crazy about the Hennessy shot, I actually didn't mind the lager too much. It tasted like beer except not as sharp and smoother. I can't really say that I liked it, but I didn't mind it and, for some reason, I wanted one all of yesterday. Hmm... I think why I like it more for the association I've attached to it than anything. Saturday was just... really nice. We decided to say fuck it to the Mets game and just sat in Tim's room with a six pack of Yeungling's (sp?), a bottle of Hennessy, a few bags of chips w/ sugar cookies and creamy ranch dip, and a cat and just played my Xbox 360 and watched Shaun of the Dead while eating Burger King's. No one got drunk. I don't think anyone even got buzzed. We just sat on the couch Tim found (a REALLY nice leather one) after walking around looking for dinner, sat back with a couple of cold ones, and watched British people fight zombies while playing with the cat and talking about our girlfriends. It was just nice. We even toasted to something (I forgot what). It was just a really good time.
I don't think I'm going to get into drinking regularly (mostly because I don't have that kind of money to waste on alcohol and I don't wanna gross AM out with a beer belly), but I kinda like the idea of having a six pack in the mini-fridge for the occasional "me-night" or for when friends come by. I also wanna try this Hard Iced Tea I saw in the supermarket. Hey, Lipton's tastes good. Why not?
Anyway, I've taken WAY too long of a LJ procrastination break. I think I'll shorten my lunch break to make up for the lost time. Hmm... that doesn't leave much time for crime fighting. Come, Ham-ham! SUPER INTERN AWAAAAAY!
So if you haven't figured it out by the last couple of posts, the job front seems to be good! Not like "all quiet on western front" good (not referring to the movie, which I hear ends badly for the protagonists, but referring to the "no one here to kill us!" kind of good). It's more like "Enemy made a major push but we repelled them with few losses and now we're being honored like fuck!" good. Hmm... that analogy might make sense only in my head. Maybe I should clarify and elaborate.
I guess what I'm saying is that I'm constantly surprised with the fact that I can actually handle the work coming my way. I mean, I know there's probably a way for me to do better. I know that I could probably network a little more in the office, or that maybe I could bring a couple of projects that vaunted and beautifully obscure "next step." However, all things considered, I feel like I'm at the very least meeting the department's expectations, and more often than not exceeding them. I feel that I have brought a few projects "that next step" and the ones that I haven't, due to either time constraints or simply the nature of the projects (not much of a "next step" in entering information into a database usually), I've managed to complete with a speed and accuracy that's surprised people. I know I'm not Super Intern, perfecting projects at the speed of light while fighting crime with my radioactive hamster during my lunch break, but I went into this with a profound fear of failing at this internship (I never had an office job prior to this) and I'm just relieved that I seem to be excelling.
To note another cause of relief, I'm also becoming more aware of housing possibilities that I might not have thought of before. For example, my mom and I were cruising around on the bus last week and she pointed out a neighborhood that looked relatively decent, with a lot of trees and greenery and decent-looking buildings and said that it might be possible for Anne Marie and I to grab an apartment there. I think rent there for a two-bedroom apartment's about $1,200 + gas and electric and DSL, which means that a one-bedroom should be about $900-1000? If Anne Marie and I can each grab jobs that at least pay $35000/year, which shouldn't be that hard, that's actually doable. And, as my mother pointed out, she's determined to help us out. Now, I don't know how much she'll be able to help out with my dad retiring. However, since I apparently don't have that many loans and Anne Marie doesn't have any at all, I should be able to do this. Worst case scenario is that I take a weekend job the two months prior to Anne Marie's arrival until she gets a job here to supplement the income and purchase furniture. That's doable. So YAY SOLUTIONS!
Also, YAY FINDING ALCOHOL I LIKE kinda sorta. Adam and I celebrated my friend Tim's 21st birthday this past Saturday (for those of you who don't know, Adam's been my friend since 2nd grade and we've been friends with Tim since 3rd) and I tasted my first lager and Hennessy. While I wasn't too crazy about the Hennessy shot, I actually didn't mind the lager too much. It tasted like beer except not as sharp and smoother. I can't really say that I liked it, but I didn't mind it and, for some reason, I wanted one all of yesterday. Hmm... I think why I like it more for the association I've attached to it than anything. Saturday was just... really nice. We decided to say fuck it to the Mets game and just sat in Tim's room with a six pack of Yeungling's (sp?), a bottle of Hennessy, a few bags of chips w/ sugar cookies and creamy ranch dip, and a cat and just played my Xbox 360 and watched Shaun of the Dead while eating Burger King's. No one got drunk. I don't think anyone even got buzzed. We just sat on the couch Tim found (a REALLY nice leather one) after walking around looking for dinner, sat back with a couple of cold ones, and watched British people fight zombies while playing with the cat and talking about our girlfriends. It was just nice. We even toasted to something (I forgot what). It was just a really good time.
I don't think I'm going to get into drinking regularly (mostly because I don't have that kind of money to waste on alcohol and I don't wanna gross AM out with a beer belly), but I kinda like the idea of having a six pack in the mini-fridge for the occasional "me-night" or for when friends come by. I also wanna try this Hard Iced Tea I saw in the supermarket. Hey, Lipton's tastes good. Why not?
Anyway, I've taken WAY too long of a LJ procrastination break. I think I'll shorten my lunch break to make up for the lost time. Hmm... that doesn't leave much time for crime fighting. Come, Ham-ham! SUPER INTERN AWAAAAAY!