vegetable plots, U2 and grape harvesting
Spent the weekend helping to build a vegetable plot for my nieces which was rather enjoyable in a thank-god-i-only-do-this-once way. it also marked my maiden jaunt to Home Depot after being here for 3.5 years. But i guess that's not as shocking as me not having tried laksa till oct last year or never cooking indomie myself till 3 weeks ago.
through an ambiguously fortuitous turn of events, i also found myself rushing to the U2 concert and having just enough time to grab myself a concert tee before the band itself came out. yes, it was both awesoe and electrifying but somehow im not as excited as i would like to be. afterall its U2 for god's sake, how often would i get to see them live. i don't know.
its spring too. and i'm really watching the passing of days with some kind of controlled hysteria. it doesn't help being around a 4 yr old and 8 mth old around; they really make you realize time is all relative. the 4er describes her birthday party 2 weeks ago as Long Ago and talks about next's year's round of skiing and CNY trip to Singapore with a wistfulness that implies a year is too long a time to fathom in her small mind. the other kid has learnt to crawl and climb stairs in the 3 mths ive been here.
and all the time i'm watching them, i'm thinking of what i'm losing with each day. soon there will be no more impromptu trips to mad raves in europe, drinking myself to la la land at 3 in the afternoon, lying on a hill watching a band play while pple smoke up around you, and all these other frivolous escapades we get away with in the name of youth. well i guess they can still be done, but then it'd just be called irresponsible or a Problem.
i damn near went psycho the other night thinking about all this and was just about to send an email out to an old belgian contact regarding an offer he once made me about grape harvesting in france. but running off to europe is logistically challenging at the moment and im also slightly intimidated by the prospect of what comes after.
on a lighter note, i had this other job interview today and was asked how long i plan to stay in the US to work with the firm, cos they;re looking for Long-term folks. and i was like. what's your definition of longterm? which he promptly replied, "anything after 2 years. so you might consider applying for a PR after your H1B runs out." well i guess the correct response here would be to lie and tell him of course i'm planning to stay up to 5 years, but i just couldnt bring myself to delude the poor sod. Instead i paused for a moment, measured my words and told him we have a Conflict of Interest but it was nice talking to him. bye bye. guess not many pple speak with such candor cos he sounded like he wanted to laugh at either my stupidity or bravery. watever it was, he was suddenly a lot more friendly and said i shoudnt hesitate to call him again should i change my mind. doubt it though.
through an ambiguously fortuitous turn of events, i also found myself rushing to the U2 concert and having just enough time to grab myself a concert tee before the band itself came out. yes, it was both awesoe and electrifying but somehow im not as excited as i would like to be. afterall its U2 for god's sake, how often would i get to see them live. i don't know.
its spring too. and i'm really watching the passing of days with some kind of controlled hysteria. it doesn't help being around a 4 yr old and 8 mth old around; they really make you realize time is all relative. the 4er describes her birthday party 2 weeks ago as Long Ago and talks about next's year's round of skiing and CNY trip to Singapore with a wistfulness that implies a year is too long a time to fathom in her small mind. the other kid has learnt to crawl and climb stairs in the 3 mths ive been here.
and all the time i'm watching them, i'm thinking of what i'm losing with each day. soon there will be no more impromptu trips to mad raves in europe, drinking myself to la la land at 3 in the afternoon, lying on a hill watching a band play while pple smoke up around you, and all these other frivolous escapades we get away with in the name of youth. well i guess they can still be done, but then it'd just be called irresponsible or a Problem.
i damn near went psycho the other night thinking about all this and was just about to send an email out to an old belgian contact regarding an offer he once made me about grape harvesting in france. but running off to europe is logistically challenging at the moment and im also slightly intimidated by the prospect of what comes after.
on a lighter note, i had this other job interview today and was asked how long i plan to stay in the US to work with the firm, cos they;re looking for Long-term folks. and i was like. what's your definition of longterm? which he promptly replied, "anything after 2 years. so you might consider applying for a PR after your H1B runs out." well i guess the correct response here would be to lie and tell him of course i'm planning to stay up to 5 years, but i just couldnt bring myself to delude the poor sod. Instead i paused for a moment, measured my words and told him we have a Conflict of Interest but it was nice talking to him. bye bye. guess not many pple speak with such candor cos he sounded like he wanted to laugh at either my stupidity or bravery. watever it was, he was suddenly a lot more friendly and said i shoudnt hesitate to call him again should i change my mind. doubt it though.