Oh god, neglect neglect. I think the more I actually get out there, the more likely I am to neglect this. Which I think is a good thing.
Finally spending some time with the other interns. Although we have vastly different sensibilities, I find that I do get along with them. Scrabble, Taboo, dinner. I hope my competitive nature didn't scare some of them away.
Oh, my roommate Evan came in on Friday. Ask me about him some time and I'll be more than glad to talk. Did I mention that he's 6'6" and that I'm only 5'5"?
Pride this past weekend. Lots of fun. Lots of penises. Lots of drag queens. Lots of love. Saw the Backstreet Boys! But you all know this already because of my facebook/twitter updates. Took some photos; hope they turn out good. I need a card reader to upload them... and then I can make some sort of sound judgment.
Aw well, here's to another week of work. This Wednesday is supposedly the last day of Palm. Thursday, it's officially HP since the stockholder vote passed last week. That's going to be strange. We'll see what happens.
Yesterday, I went to see Toy Story 3 at the Cinemark Cinema theater in Mountain View. Saw the Google campuses on the way. Those buildings are pretty huge. I also saw giant cupcakes and the giant Android mascot on one of the lawns. I would like a photo there. One day...
Toy Story 3 is a wonderful movie. If I had feelings, I would've cried. Man, so good. The only thing is that I'm more of a character study kind of guy, so I could've done without all the rising conflict, plot turns, resolution, deus ex machina elements.
TODAY at work: My boss David asked if I wanted to go up to the city to attend a meeting at the agency we're using for a new marketing campaign we're launching. Of course, I SAID YES. I couldn't pass that up. I planned to go to Union Square while I was up there and then take the train back down, but my co-worker Terry also drove up for the meeting. She lives down in South Bay so she had to drive down and offered to give me a ride back.
We got dinner first and I mentioned that I hadn't gone to see the Golden Gate Bridge yet, so she took me! We went to the Vista Point scenic lookout. Such a tourist spot. But it's gorgeous. Like, it's one of those things where photos/pictures do no justice to the actual location. It was also freezing there. AH, so so cold.
Then we drove through the little town of Sausalito. God, it would be wonderful to live in a place like that.
Anyways, afterward, we drove back South, but on the way, we stopped by this other scenic lookout called... Vista Point. It's off 280 and overlooks the Crystal Springs Reservoir. But man, I did not like it at all. There were about 7 cars parked there. And in all 7 cars were men by themselves sitting at the drivers seat of their own respective cars. Seven men, seven cars. It was the creepiest thing. Like I have no idea what these guys were doing there. I was so uncomfortable.
Now my stomach is retaliating from the dinner I had eaten. We ate a Chinese restaurant and I got kung pao shrimp - "the spiciest you can make it." Burning from the inside out!
25 - Offers were sent out.
26 - More work. Nothing exciting.
27 - Went into the city, visited Chinatown & North Beach (aka Little Italy).
The Caltrain to SF was hella crowded. So ridiculous! It was a good thing I got on early when there were seats available because the aisles were full of standing people by the end. I got off at the SF Caltrain Station and got on the 30 towards Washington Square for the North Beach Festival. This small bus was even more crowded! Jeez Louis. I decided to get off midway and just walk the rest of the way because I could not stop laughing inside the bus. It was that crowded/ridiculous. People wanted to come in, but were turned down because there was no room. And there was one point in which the bus couldn't move for about 5 minutes because the driver couldn't close the back door. We were sardines. We really were. It was really quite comical.
So, I went up to SF today because of the North Beach Festival. Lots of people. Lots of booths, musicians, beer, good-looking people. It felt a lot like the Pecan Street Festival that takes place on 6th street in Austin, but a lot less weird.
Lots of pizza shops here. Oh ho ho. And lots of Italia supporters for the World Cup.
North Beach was decent. I didn't find anything too exciting except for City Lights Bookstore, where I spent a good hour reading Milan Kundera. Apparently, this place is pretty historic. It kind of reminded me of that bookstore in Denton, but less large and with new books.
Not too far from Little Italy is this scenic lookout called Coit Tower. Man, if anyone wants to see all of San Francisco from one spot, this is the place to do that. On one side, you can see the crazy zig-zaggy Lombard Street and the Golden Gate Bridge (photo at the very top).
On the other side, you can see the bay, the Oakland Bay Bridge, and the Financial District.
And you can even see Alcatraz. I mean, I wasn't expecting this type of view. I always thought that when I first see the Bay or the bridge or whatever that it would be no big deal because I'd seen it all in films and in photos. But in real life - man, it was really pretty. I actually let out a gasp when I climbed up to the tower. So grand, so cold.
But I didn't actually go up the tower. The line was too darn long. Maybe next time!
Now, let's talk Chinatown. This place has a lot of character and a lot of tourists! I wanted to buy some bubble tea and various baked goods at this one shop, but they didn't take credit. Luckily, there was a Chase bank nearby where I could get change.
"Do you always carry large bills with you?"This guy -- my banker -- made me laugh.
"Um... no. Just today. A lot of these shops don't take credit."
"Oh. You're not from around here are you?" (I think my DSLR was a big giveaway)
"No."
"Where are you from?"
"Austin."
"Australia!???"
"No, Austin. Austin, Texas."
"I've never been there, but I want to go one day. Do you like it?"
"I love it. You should go."
"I want to. One day. Texas. Dallas, Austin, Houston."
"Ooh, I don't like Houston."
"I wanna go see the new Cowboy Stadium!"
"I haven't even been there yet."
"Are there a lot of Asians in Texas?"
"Uh... not as much as here."
"But still a lot, right? Lots of Asian girls in Houston?"
"Um... ya, I think so."
"How about Austin?"
"Well, it's a college town, so ya, lots of Asian girls at the university."
"That's it! Next time, I'll be over there!"
"Well, it's a local place that all the locals go to, you know?"Ok dude, I know I'm a tourist... but you're a DOUCHE.
Can you tell how exciting my days have become? I can't think of anything to take photos of besides what I eat at work. Which is a whole lot of fruit and salad. Occasionally, I eat omelets or pancakes for breakfast, or veggie sandwiches or pizza at lunch.
HP, HP, HP, HP, HP. Lots of HP going on.
This week is Reach Out to Key Senior Marketing Employees Week.
Director of Advertising; Senior Product Marketing Manager; Director of Carrier Marketing; Director of Program Managment, Marketing; Director of Online Communications. No VPs or SVPs though. They ain't got time for no intern. These directors barely have time for me! Haha. I've had to reschedule about 63 times. But that don't get me down. No it don't.
Speaking of, I'm trying to reach out to my fellow interns! Remember when I thought they hated me before? I don't think that's the case. I think there's just a lot of shy going on.
Around the office, people are buzzing about the World Cup. No surprises there. No, but I mean literally too. There's a Vuvuzela app you can download on the Pre/Pixi. And you just touch it and it makes that buzzing sound. Very authentic. Very annoying.
Every now and then, I'm having bits of Texas Monthly flashbacks. But I won't get into that.
Finally got my first pay check today! Feels great. Now I just need to go deposit it before I overdraft. 26% of it went to taxes though. Welcome to life, Edmarc.
I think that's all for now. Seems like updating this blog every 3 days is a good idea, especially when things on my end have been largely uneventful.
I really appreciate you guys for your devout readership! The .17 average comments per entry means a lot to me! And it makes this experience infinitely more pleasant.
Work at Palm is kind of up and down. There are times when I've got things going on, but there are also times in which I've got nothing. The HP/Palm merger makes things a little more interesting as well. Lots of things going on regarding that. And everyone's got it on their minds. I'm finding things out in bits and pieces, none of which I am able to write about. I definitely, definitely don't want HP's legal coming after me.
But I think I'll be here when the deal is finalized. Looking forward to that. What luck I have that I am getting to see from an inside perspective what is happening with this big merger/acquisition.
I met Jon Rubinstein, the CEO of Palm, yesterday (Friday). After a speaker series, I was walking up the stairs and saw him climbing up as well. His office is on the fourth floor. I guess he prefers stairs over elevators, too. Anyways, I slowed down and introduced myself. I think I'm finally starting to feel more comfortable in the office. I hope so. I mean, it's about time. I've only got 10 more weeks.
Regarding activities outside of work, I've been running a lot lately (as I mentioned previously... I want those good looking legs back). I pretty much run the same course, but I'll change it up once I'm more in shape and I can handle longer distances. I bring this up because I just found out that I've been running by a hidden cache (redundant). Saw the description on geocaching.com and I think I know where the microcache is hidden! Next time, I'm going to look for it even though I don't have a GPS system.
The weather yesterday and today has been in the mid-80s. So it's kind of hot... for this area. Definitely the hottest it has been since I got here. I still refuse to turn the AC on though.
Hoping for more adventures in the near future. Things have become a little dull for me. Want/need for things to pick up!
Are not good mornings unless I have a glass of water, a glass of orange juice, and a cup of black coffee at work.
Total is $1.37 - unfortunately orange juice costs me. Regular drip coffee is free though.
Lots of bathroom breaks after. Lots.
I haven't been sleeping early enough lately, so I've reverted back to drinking that black poison. It's hulu. I'm hooked on this TV series. Not saying which because it's kind of embarrassing.
In other words, I got a phone call today on my LANDLINE (Whaaaa? That's what I thought, too).
"Hello?"
"Hi. Puedo hablar con Mario?" (I think she said more, but I only understood this part)
"Oh... um... Mario no vive aqui."
"Oh, I have the wrong number?"
"Um... yes. I'm sorry. Bye."
Not sure why I answered in Spanish, but I did. My brain was trying to process and comprehend so rapidly that I think it was easiest for me to answer back in Spanish? Since I was already thinking it?
No sé. That's it.
Adios amigos.
Hi guys. I know you have all probably forgotten what I look like, which is why I decided to take a photo of myself... in Palm gear.
They've been giving me a lot of stuff. Three palm t-shirts, a hat, lip balm (all of which are premiums for our Summer Tour campaign), a little water canister thing, a cocktail shaker set, and an unbranded "Palm orange" drawstring bag. One of my t-shirts is a Large, so if you want, you can have. Alls you need to do is ask.
Everything's still going swell. Still trying to meet as many people as possible. My marketing professor told me to never have lunch by myself. Trying my best to do this. And I didn't fail today. It's so nerve-wracking though. "Hey! Be my friend, I don't want to eat alone, please have lunch with me!" That's pretty much my strategy. It works about 42% of the time... 72% if I ask a female though.
Anyways, here are some observations I've made about the Bay Area...
One day, my coworkers will know how to spell my name correctly. But for now, I'm still trying to involve myself with more projects at Palm so that I can meet as many people as possible.
Speaking of getting your name out there... do you ever google yourself?
Honestly -- and I'm not ashamed to admit this -- I google myself every now and then. Check this out: my twitter, tumblr, and linkedin accounts are all on the first page of the google search results for 'edmarc.' My twitter's got the #2 spot. It sucks that I'm competing with a children's hospice for that top spot.
I hope I never get it.
Continuing to try and get involved with projects with different people at Palm. Sign me up! Sign me down! (Pedro Almodovar reference)
I couldn't partake in the wine tasting today. I'M STILL A BABY. AHHHHHHH.
I've been eating so badly since I got here. If I look 15 lbs heavier when I get back, feel free to make fun of me.
One thing I miss about Texas: BREAKFAST TACOS.
I heard Texas had a scary storm last night? The weather here you ask? Perfect as usual. Maybe it's too perfect?
Gonna try to clean up the apartment. It's only been 11 days and it's starting to look like a hot mess. Tchau amigos.
Got my work phone today, a new Palm Pre Plus. It like it. It can do some things I wish my BlackBerry could do. For example, I can play Gowalla! That's definitely a plus. Haha. I also have a Touchstone charger, which is definitely a nice accessory.
Things are still a little slow at work, but I'm hoping it starts speeding up really soon. I know it's only my second day, but you know me - eager beaver. I'm glad that they're involving me in meetings. Today, we had a conference call with a San Francisco agency. It feels really different sitting on the client side instead of the agency side. Every time I heard the female voice on the other end, I kept imagining that it is was my old boss, Ali.
In other words, I ate some bad Asian food tonight. And the bus driver on the way home drove like a mad man. The two combined made me want to throw up really badly. Blech. I'm beat. It's 10:40 and I am going to bed!
Completed my first day at Palm. I woke up at 6:30 this morning to give myself ample time to prepare and also so I could get there early. Dressed up as conservatively as I could because I got nervous that if I dressed in jeans and nice button up, I might be too casual. Ya, I was in a suit.
I arrived at the Palm campus at 8:15 via my bicycle. When I went to lock it up, I realized I forgot the keys to my lock so I scrambled around trying to figure out where I could keep it for the day. The situation frazzled me. I ended up leaving it at security with a nice man named Jesse.
Waited in the lobby for orientation. Looked around at everyone. I overdressed like crazy because I'm an idiot. Katie from HR said dress was casual - jeans and a nice button up - and she meant it.
There were some contractors and two interns. One intern was a super enthusiastic MBA Cornell student. The other was a quieter recent Michigan State graduate. Got my badge, got paperwork to fill out. Got a little tour of the place. It's huge. When Dustin from HR dropped me off on the third floor, he said, "You know this is where marketing is because they've got a bar." Oh ho ho. How Madison Avenue.
Met everyone in my department, got situated in my cubicle, got my macbook. It's a pretty sweet set up. Talked with my boss David about projects I'll be working on for the summer. Everything looks promising. I can't wait until things get going. I hate when I feel like I'm not doing anything, but that's how thing go the first week or so until I get a hang of everything.
When I was getting ready to leave, I noticed all of my HR paperwork was missing. I thought someone was playing a practical joke on me. I got so worried because I just could not find it. I retraced my steps all throughout the place. Called Dustin and it turned out that he grabbed it from my desk when I had gone down to the shipping room. Scared me so bad. I wish he had left me a post-it, a note on my whiteboard, an email... something!
Now I'm home, it's 7:15 pm and I am exhausted. WHY?? I'm probably going to turn in soon. Here's looking to day two.
