Jason's Daily Notes

It's a holiday in Germany today, so I have the day off :)

Nico and Oli are in town. But Oli went to Köln with his friend Manu to party. Nico stayed over. And Matze is also in town! He also stayed over (sleeping on the floor).

Last night (Wednesday) was "Feierabend" (celebration evening?) because today is a holiday. I was drinking in the Altstadt for a bit with Oli, Nico, Manu, his girlfriend, and her friend. We went into the art school and smoked a bit on the roof (including climbing on the scaffolding). Oli and Manu left for Cologne. Matze arrived around 11pm (his mitfahrgelegenheit was really delayed), and there in front of McDonalds was Jose and some other spanish-speakers to greet him. And Mike also arrived. We drank on the Rheintreppen, and then Mike went home.

Tired, we chilled at my new apartment. Rolled a few with Nico. And Matze and I just crashed at the new apartment, Matze taking the floor.

The day today was chill. Our main task: Moving my stuff out of my apartment. So we went there, together, and I frantically packed my stuff. Nico and Matze helped me carry a couple luggages full of stuff to my new flat. After that, we went to trivago, just to show the office to Nico. Pavlina was there, and a couple other people. We had a beer while walking around.

Went into the Altstadt and had some quick food (fries). Nico left back for Munich, we said our "see-you-laters". Matze and I retreated to my (new) flat.

In the evening, we had a dinner for Matze at Ab der Fisch, which is only a couple blocks from me in Pempelfort. There was Danny, Francesco, Carl, Toby, Pavli, and (later) Mike. Had a few beers and some chili con carne; enjoyed it.

Oli returned in the evening; he had a great time in Cologne. Matze and I missed the last train back (by seconds; and then another tram came as we were walking back, but we couldn't get to it in time!), so I decided to give him my bike so he could bike to my other flat (where his stuff was) and sleep there, while I stayed with Oli. Complicated, but it worked out.

I'm back (to blogging... I would like to fill in all the missed days in the past, but let's be realistic)

I'm back! From my nearly non-stop traveling. I just returned late last night (1am) from Stockholm via Amsterdam. The train from Schiphol didn't stop at Oberhausen or Duisburg, but it was nevertheless 15 minutes behind schedule as it arrived in Düsseldorf. And then, my tram home was not running anymore. So I just took the U-Bahn and walked. Luckily it was not raining. Once back home, I was simply exhausted.

Slept until 9am. I was still not fully rested.

Quote of the day: "I think of a hero as someone who understands the degree of responsibility that comes with his freedom"

I had no energy to unpack, let alone repack (I have to move all my stuff to my new flat this week).

Matze is coming this week! Wednesday night.

Ironically, Thomas told me that we could/should go to Hamburg this Friday (and possibly stay longer).

Now I am more aware of my mental health and want to actively keep it strong. I have once again been inspired to go through a process of self-improvement. However, I'm not going to start cold turkey all at once, but have a checklist of things that I want to try for 1 week at a time (eating no gluten, no caffeine, running 5km/day, contacting one past friend per day, etc.). It's a test of my willpower and focus. Let's see how this goes.

Work was - boring. Apparently a bunch of people went to the Netherlands (Stamproy) this weekend. Even though I was enjoying my time in Stockholm, I felt left out.

Lunch: Mensa. With Antonis, Miikka, Toby, Ricardo, Marina, Vale

Back at the apartment, Anton was there. He was excited to see me back again, and he was happy to tell me about his fun times getting smashed in Stuttgart and smashing our new neighbor upstairs.

I could not sit on the couch anymore, because he told me that Badi brought back a tramp from the street who actually pissed on the couch! Disgusting. I'm not taking the couch to my new flat.

I went to bed around 10pm, and I soon fell asleep. Woke up at 7:30am, still didn't organize or clean anything, nor did I unpack. I'm simply unmotivated. I think I just have nothing exciting to look forward to, and without Mike around to give me energy, I just want to stay alone and be pitiful. :/ Anyway, that's the downside of living away from home. Blah, it's not me, but it is at this moment.

Anyway, enough venting. I actually feel quite good. 

So update: I'm in Düsseldorf for a few days; just returned from my bday weekend trip to Sicily, and I'm going to Amsterdam on Saturday to pick up my mom and uncle. We'll then be traveling together for te next two weeks!

Lies was sedated last night and passed away this morning. On Laura's birthday :( it's making Mike sad, obviously, as it makes me sad. 

Work is the same, though I don't have the initiative that I did before. 

My "birthday surprise" was yesterday: bacon cupcakes in the office :)

Sicily was a good trip, though our group was not as cohesive as I had hoped. Also dampened by the fact that Mike lost his passport and I still felt sad every time I saw him (for at least the first few days). We had a good talk on the last day of the trip and became gezelig all over again :)

General stuff: I'm sort of looking for a new flat. I viewed a shared flat this past Friday and studio flat on Saturday (with Sonia). The main reason for my flat search is to be around all my friends, especially to be closer to Mike. I hate that I live to far away and don't get to interact with everyone on a regular basis. And I don't have the energy to bike "all the way" into the city every weekend. I want to have a social life and to be at the center of my friends'.
I'm still recovering from my cold last week. My nose is continually stuffed, and it's a bit hard for me to concentrate.
I cut my hair (with the new clippers I bought online). Yay grooming.
On Saturday, I joined Jojo, Katie, Nick, and Toby for a sunset chill session by the river. I passed out early.

Monday, 10 March 2014
Work. There is a lot of work to do. As always. I stayed at the office until 8-9pm. Mike was there until 10pm. I'm trying to be more open with him.

Tuesday, 11 March 2014
Stayed at the office and joined the Capoeira lesson. It was surprisingly fun and not too difficult (compared to how it looks). However, for the next few days my legs got pretty sore.
I wanted to hang out with Mike but he left the office early - he had a date with Caro. He posted on Facebook (around 11:30pm) "feeling on Cloud 9" - I think I know what this means.
At home, Anton and I ordered Chinese food delivery. (He is now working at the hospital, from 7am to 4pm.)

Wednesday, 12 March 2014
Work is busy as usual. I find it hard to concentrate.
We visited our new office space in the SkyOffice building. It is still under construction and being decorated. I found my hometown (LA represent!) on the 6th floor.
I slept early (like 9:30pm) and woke up at 6am.

Thursday, 13 March 2014
Team event/BBQ in the park! I helped prepare, walking with Yildiz, Franco, and Toby to Kaisers. It was nice. Lasted until 8pm, then we stayed in the office and streamed some football (Rob really needed to see Tottenham v Benfika; unfortunately Tottenham went down 3-1).

09:20.
I week until I'm in LA! 4 days until NYC!
Nice weather all week :)
Organizing my emails (adding rules/folders)
Moving day this weekend - we're moving to the other building - need to pack everything on Friday.
Slow internet = coffee break.
Lunch: Bought bread from Kaisers; joined Yildiz and Claude on the 11th floor terrace. Met Lucas and Konstantinos (new hires)
Call - display CPM agency/network
Call - email network

09:20
Torsten will do my taxes! :)
Made an internship offer to Greg; no relocation, but raised the base salary to compensate.
Optimizing campaigns.
Adding Keywords.
Regional manager meeting.
Call.
Call.

Capoeira academy. I got pulled in to it - was actually fun and a good workout. Not that hard to learn!

Ordered Chinese food with Anton. Mike was out on a "date" with Caro (still has not admitted to me that he's seeing her, still bothers me).

08:55 at the office. Woke up at 05:45. Still recovering.
GDN - optimized it from home.
Sunshine. Feels good.
Figuring out the correct banner sizes for mobile.
Lunch: Italian to welcome our new American, Jeremy; and semi-new Canadian, Claude.
Calls.
Break - lay in the sun with Mike :) and Toby. Was gezelig.

Wednesday night, 26 February - Toby Arrives
Drank and smoked and stayed in the flat.

Thursday, 27 February - The Party at the Office
Had about 1 hour of productivity before the beers and party started at 11am.
I was really impressed by the quality and diversity of my coworkers' karnaval costumes!
Walked to Altstadt along the Rhine

Friday, 28 February - The "Down Day"
There was an error fare to Los Angeles - round-trip flights from €112! I'M SUCH AN IDIOT FOR NOT BOOKING 5 TICKETS RIGHT NOW.
Work work.
Waldemar's last day.
Jojo's last day.
Party at Victor's place. Biked there with Mike but didn't have any big talk.
It was also Kate's last day (!?!!)

Saturday, 1 March - Köln Alaaf
Bought some food in the morning from REWE. Sorted out Toby and Anton.
"When do you go?" "When everyone wakes up"
Randomly met a lot of people at the Hbf, and we all traveled together.
Became the tour group leader (as usual) and tried to keep the group together.
The group fell apart - Petr and his group split off; Katie and Nick went to Brogie's.
Did not get to meet Sam.

Sunday, 2 March - Recovery
Fixing our hangover with my freshly-prepared beef with broccoli.

Monday, 3 March - Productivity
I chose not to joint the group of people going to Köln today.
Emailed out the details (flight to book) for my bday weekend.
Jogged.
The post office was closed.
Bought food at REWE.
Went to the office