Darth Blog

ok, so i never made it to boston this weekend.  sooo
disappointed.  to recap one of the most disappointing travel/airport
experiences i’ve had:

my original connection was from LAX to BOS on thurs night at 10:45pm and i
should have arrived in BOS at 7am on friday, therefore giving me the whole
weekend to chill with the fam.  but i missed my connection in LAX (i was
flying from my project in OAK) because of fog in LAX, which to my knowledge
doesn’t happen that frequently.

so i get to LAX at 11pm thurs nite and i get rescheduled for friday morning at
8am to arrive in BOS at 5pm.  and it was guaranteed first class because
the agent in OAK hooked me up by holding that seat for me as a back up.
go jacqueline!!

i now have 7 hours to kill so i decide to hop in a cab to chill in the comfort
of my own home (see original ding! post below).  i get home, then realize,
my cell is dead, but my charger is still in my check-in at LAX.  so i’m
screwed cuz that’s what i use for my alarm.  so i decide to stay up all
night (and play GOW, only one of the best video games ever) until i gotta leave
for LAX. 

but then i have to call for a friggin cab back to LAX!  so after a real
quick google search, i find that yahoo has a really cool voice call function
through their yahoo messenger.  you’re actually able to call from your PC
to an outside telephone number, not just from PC to PC.  so i subscribe
and put $10.00 towards the account and am able to call for a cab.
sweet.  score one for team chu.

so i stay up for the next 7 hours playing video games online.  at one
point (from about 4am to 6am), it was just me and 7 japanese dudes playing
together because there wasn’t anyone loserish enough to be playing in my own
time zone.  then i shower up and hop in my cab to catch my 8am nonstop to
BOS.  i couldn’t wait to recline in first class and wipe my face down with
the warm towel they always give you. 

i get to LAX and find out, ALL flights to BOS have been cancelled because of a
snowstorm hitting new england.  ouch, big hit to team chu.  it was
like the other team draining a buzzer beatin 3 for the win (to keep with the
spirit of march madness).  they hand me a pink sheet that says flights are
cancelled throughout the northeast and to call the united 800 number or go to
united.com to try to rebook.  problem, my phone is dead.  so i go
over to the pay phones in which you can use your credit card.  nice cuz i
had no change.  problem is they don’t have ANY clear directions on how to
dial an 800 number (or i may have just been so cracked out i couldn’t figure it
out at this point). 

so now i just pray that my luggage wasn’t sent on an earlier flight that was
connecting thru CHI.  i go down to baggage claim and they tell me they’re
droppin all luggage that was supposed to go to BOS on carousel 4.  i’m
actually lucky here because other people’s luggage was noted as being sent with
the connecting flight thru CHI.

quick digression on that, the night before, walking to customer service to
rebook my flight, i saw this TALL korean dude.  i’m talkin like 7′3"
at least, huge.  then i see him when i get back to LAX this morning.
poor guy was stranded in LAX and tryin to get to BOS as well.  dunno why,
but i just felt worse for him cuz he was so freakishly tall.  is that
bad?  hahaha!  i actually googled ‘tall korean man’ and found
this:  http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/asiapcf/9809/25/nkorea.player/ but i don’t
think that was him, hahaha!

anyway, so my luggage on the other hand didn’t have any status since being
pulled off in LAX.  so i sit on the floor by carousel 4, and remember that
i just put $10 on the yahoo voice thing.  i turn on my laptop and i actually
get a wireless signal.  then i use my credit card to get the $10 one day
internet pass.  but for some damn reason, it wouldn’t connect to the
internet even though they just said they charged $10 to my card.
nice.  so now i’m pretty much delirious due to lack of sleep and actually
pass out on the floor against the wall for about 30 mins.  i get up and
check with the baggage rep and then she tells me it may actually be at carousel
1.  nice.  can anything go right today?

so i walk over to 1, and it’s there!  nice.  a small consolation for
the disappointing trip.  so now i charge my phone at an outlet by the
restrooms and call united to ask about any potential flights.  none
tonite, i could take one sat morning, but then i’m not flying 6 hrs, getting
into BOS sat night, then have to fly back to OAK sunday afternoon.  so i
call the fam to break the news i can’t make it for my little brother to legally
buy me a beer then i head to hertz to get a rental car to go home.

so i guess it could’ve been worse, i could’ve been stuck in CHI, or my luggage
only could’ve been stuck there.  but it still sux i couldn’t get out there
to see the fam.  so now i’m back at the pad, tired, hungry and watching
malcom in the middle…

damn you boston weather!!

i
should be on a flight right now to boston.  instead, my flight was
delayed from OAK to LAX so i missed my connector to BOS.  but at least
it was in LAX, so i’m able to chill in the comfort of my own home for 6
hours until i gotta head back.  do i sleep in my comfy bed?  or just
stay up and play gears of war hmmm…

so i’m goin back to boston for my "baby" brother’s 21st bday (on
3/18).  so we’ll be doin the family dinner thing and so for his
birthday he can buy me a beer

aite, i’m out…scary faces…

so i’ve come to another one of life’s ‘crossroads’.  this one dealing with work/career. 

so my buddy got a job up in the bay area for a boutique consulting firm and is askin me to at least interview since they’re hiring like it’s goin outta style.  but if i got the job that would mean movin up north and being based out of santa clara…not so enticing.  but there could be a chance to travel to their other offices in london and tokyo…enticing.  and a potential 35% salary increase?  enticing again…

then the next day after i had that conversation, i get an email from my buddy from high school.  he and his gf moved to singapore back in january, and her HR consulting firm is lookin for an experienced consultant to help with their asia operations.  no idea about pay, but definite travel all over asia…also enticing

THEN, the next day after that email, i get an email from an accenture colleague.  the tokyo accenture office is looking to expand their group and recruit people from other accenture offices.  i’d stay based out of LA, but be working all my projects in japan.  they would provide an apt in the center of tokyo, language training, 1 fly back to the states/year…sickly enticing, but it’s a long term deal, the assignment duration is a minimum of 1 year going up to 3 years.  not sure about pay, i think i’d keep my current salary (which wouldn’t be enough to buy myself B-A-N-A-N-A-S in tokyo), then after my 3rd year, i’d transition to local pay (no idea if that’s good or bad).

so 3 viable options within a week’s time.  THEN chippendales called me last night to try out for the thunder down under show in vegas…juuuuust kidding.  but when it rains it pours though right.  so then then that brings up the whole interview process.  i haven’t had an interview in about 4 years.  i have NO clue what to say anymore.  i can picture it going something like this:

recruiter: so tell me about some of your strengths?
me: uuuhh, well i was vice president of my class for all 4 years… (shit, that was in high school).  uhhh, i was in the breakdance club… (shit, that was in college).  uhhh, i love star wars…
recruiter: yeeeahhh, we’ll get back to you.  you can show yourself out, thanks.

honestly though, i would be fine with the interview crap (i hope), but i just gotta get motivated and update my resume and all that.  my latest resume that i had was last modified on 6/19/2002.  so yeah, it’s been a while, but it wouldn’t hurt to go out just to see what you’re worth right?  i’m leaning towards i absolutely should.  maybe accenture will counter offer to keep me if i threaten to leave (riiiiight).  it also comes down to location too.  i’ve only had my apt in west la for not even 2 months, but i absolutely love socal.  but singapore, tokyo??  c’mon.

would love to hear anyone’s thoughts on this.  that is, if anyone actually reads this junk…

peace,
chu

ok,
so here’s the first ever blog entry of my life.  never thought i’d be
doing this xanga-esque type deal, but what the hell.  i’ve been
derelict with my trademark chu update emails (which i’ll try to get one
out soon), but i figure this should do for now.

so an exhausting day at work and infomercials can be bad.  i came this close to buying an aerogarden (see video below and http://www.aerogrow.com/):

this close…anyway, that’s it for now.  nothing exciting for the first time, but i guess that’s most often the case right?