Jason's Daily Notes

Phone is dead. Left it at home.
Last night: Brazil 0 - 0 Mexico. GR searching.
Woke up ~7:30 (no longer have an alarm because phone is dead!). Trimmed my beard. Still running the apartment with no warm water.
Uploaded Amsterdam Kings Day photos and responded to my birthday wishes on FB. Finally!
My watch is also broken. Ugh! Dropped off my khakis at the donation bin.

Work ~10:00. B2K run yesterday - many coworkers participated. It was apparently crowded.
(I need to get running shoes).
Work - pushing for new opportunities, and just keeping up with existing campaign. Had three calls today.
DECIDING WHO TO HIRE. !!!
Lunch with Talal. Went to Lecker Eck. To discuss LSE. He's an ambitious guy, looking to become a powerful politician. Impressive. Maybe a little full of himself, but he does have the family behind him so who knows.

Went home, cooked some chicken cordon bleu (from frozen) with potatoes, watched some House of Cards, and slept. Couldn't find any company.

I don't like living without a smartphone.

USA 2 - 1 Ghana! WIN! Great (and lucky) last minute header to give us the victory. I'll take it.
(I woke up at 01:00 just to watch the game).
Woke up early (06:45) to Hangout with Jenn and Cassy (Leslie's connection was bad). Talked about mindfulness and self-improvement. Was a good motivator. Shared TED talks.
I'm feeling good :) A bit of exercise in the morning helps! Or maybe I'm happy to talk with friends? Or happy that Team USA won? Or just happy!
This week's detox: Read 50 pages a day> let's see.
09:40 @ office. Cool, cloudy weather. The early heat wave is long gone.
I may need tob uy a new Phone. My phone is not charging above 30% anymore now :(
Working on Tumblr.
Tweeting a little bit at work :)
Usual dealing with existing campaigns.
Scheduling as many student loan payments as I can fit in.

Lunch: Welcome lunch for the new member of Team USA - Perry, from Florida. I gave her a pear. Had Italian food (lasagne). Jeremy and Sara are quite friendly.

Cupcakes. (aka using up Jeremy's leftover frosting from Friday's bbq)
Franco trying to hang up the IT flag
Dealing with TZ (Kelsie leaving the company; they are neglecting our account).

Sunday, 8 June 2014
Kiesgrube Sonntag!
Went to Neuss with Mike and Jeroen. We walked 20 minutes to find the Kiesgrube (an outdoor music/alternative festival). At the entrance, we met Kila, Franco, Didem, Olus and her brother! It was a warm sunny day; perfect to be outside. Actually a bit too warm perhaps. We planted ourselves in the shade and threw money in a pot to buy rounds of beers. Later, Nick, Katie, and Jojo joined us. Francesco and Toby could not get in! WTF.

Monday, 9 June 2014
It's Pfingsten, which is a public holiday. It was also extremely hot, so we spent the day at the lake. Instead of going to Unterbacher See, Mike, Lisa, Toby, and I biked to Elbsee, which was nearby (and free). However, it was not easy to get to. We met Iris there and we tried to find a place, pushing our bikes through mud and dense vegetation. Katie, Nick, and Jojo came in Jojo's car and met us there. We were roasting in the hot sun! But the lake water was thankfully very cool and refreshing.
The evening saw one of the worst storms in Germany's history tear through Düsseldorf. And I was in the middle of it. Biking home, and out of nowhere - BOOM! - howling winds, torrential rains (as if I was standing under a waterfall. My bike was blown out of my hands and tree branches were falling all around me. I had to take shelter, so I ran (completely soaked) to Mike's apartment just three blocks away. There, I rode out the storm with Mike and Toby. I took off all my soaked clothes, and there we sat, in awe at the unbelievable storm that was pummeling the city.

I left around 10pm, after the storm had passed. I picked up my bike. The streets were littered with the remnants of trees. Jacobistraße was blocked. It was unbelievable.

Tuesday, 14 June 2014
Back to work. Or sort of. The streets were (of course) covered with downed trees. The trams and U-Bahn were not running. I could not bike easily. The little park was a jungle/warzone. I had to go on the street in several points.

This week my "detox" is to give up worrying about the past or about the future. It's a bit of a BS choice, since I couldn't go vegetarian just yet (BBQ this week)

During Lunch, I bought a sandwich from the bakery with Jojo. As we were walking back, a TV crew asked to film us. We were thus on TV that evening! (ZDF)

Thursday, 12 June 2014
Work.
WORLD CUP OPENER! Went to Ratinger with Francesco. Toby and Mike joined us to watch Brazil defeat Croatia. The bars were not so crowded, but it won't be that way on the weekend (or when Germany plays).

Friday, 13 June 2014
World Cup Brunch
Team Event BBQ / Band (The Roomers) / Katie's Goodbye / Netherlands defeats Spain 5-1!!!!!

Music: Two Door Cinema Club - Changing of the Seasons

Germans (Europeans) like to follow the rules; Americans are taught to challenge/break the rules.

New Blog Template! Let's see if I can stick to this.

Summary of today: Work, lunch with the Ricardo's goodbye. Rested at home, then joined Toby, "Anton", and Ricardo at Stahlwerk.

Weather: Warm and sunny. As perfect as it could be :)
Something that did go my way: Two new campaigns now have pixels live / have just launched!
Something that didn't go my way: My bike is riding slower.
Something I did that scared me: I almost "broke down" again towards Mike (over WhatsApp). But I didn't - I restrained myself.
Something new: Met a girl from China (think she's only here temporarily)
Fun thing that happened: Stahlwerk party was fun
What will be better tomorrow: No work! Can do shopping and tidy up my flat.
Music: Echosmith - Cool Kids

Woke up around 7am but chilled in my apartment for some time. It's still a mess.

I had dinner at Mike's last night. It was chill, but also a bit un-passionate about each other. I'm learning not to be as open with him. It still hurts, but I'm becoming numb to the pain.

Took only 6 minutes to bike back to my place from Mike's.

Biked to work (for the first time, since I went to the Auslanderamt yesterday). Discovered a big traffic jam around Rochusstraße and Sternstraße. Hmm.

Spent the morning making the interview/reject decision on all my applicants. Then the usual, optimizing campaigns, setting up stuff, waiting for our docs/databases to load.

Lunch: Mensa. Had a big bowl of eintopf. Ricardo was talking about his "dilemma" of a job offer while he already signed up for his new job in Dublin.

Afternoon was busy. I had 3 phone calls with potential new partners.

I am, however, less stressy now that I have stopped drinking coffee. It's good. I do plan to start drinking decaf.

This week, my "detox" is no alcohol. Let's see how this goes, especially come beer time.

After work, most of my team went to Ratinger Straße to drink. The rain had cleared. Also, Victoria is in town for a few days!

I went to Woolworth (again) at 7:30pm. Today, I bought a clothes drying rack, so I can finally wash/dry my clothes! Woot.

I left my bike at Woolworth (to carry my clothes rack with me). Walked home. Cooked the rest of the chicken and ate the leftovers from my dinner with Mike yesterday. I felt a bit of the soul-crushing loneliness of living alone. This is the first time that I have lived by myself, I realized. I have always (even when traveling) come home at the end of the day and had someone there who was happy to see me. I now need to learn to cheer myself up on my own. Sigh.

Cut my hair. New month, new look. 

I have so much to get /buy for my flat. I plan to just get one thing per day, so I'm not overwhelmed. I can adjust to living simply in the meantime. 

Caffeine (coffee) free for 1 week now. Results are good. I'm less stressy. 

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.