Jason's Daily Notes

Rainy day. It was raining when I woke up. This is the second in a series of storms to hit SoCal this week (although the first one only brought some light rain).

My mom and uncle were arguing this morning, and it woke me up (again). After my mom returned from church, she wanted to go out to get a new clock from Bed Bath and Beyond so I drove her there. (We went to Target last night but didn't find a clock that she liked; my uncle somehow accidentally dropped and shattered the clock yesterday). The drive to Pasadena was in heavy rain. Transitioning onto the 134 east, traffic came to a complete standstill. We were stuck for maybe 25 minutes before we passed the accident: A truck had slid into the center wall and was crushed; the trailer blocking three lanes of traffic. Yipes!

Anyway, shopping in BBB, we found a clock but it was not available so we didn't get anything. Someone stole our umbrella. My mom had left the shopping cart standing somewhere with our umbrella in it.

Still counting down until my mom can get her knee surgery. Feb 1st.

We went to Denny's as I was craving a breakfast burrito. But Denny's doesn't serve breakfast burritos. I'm still vegetarian. But I had some of my mom's omelette which had bacon in it (I didn't knowingly eat a piece of bacon).

Back home, lots of work to do. I have to finish Rashid's case study write up, summarizing 5 chapters of the book, and reading about 10 different case studies! Also shortening the powerpoint slides I made for him.

My "day" job is busy too. I have to explain to Nadine what I'm doing with the travel search campaigns; we scheduled a call for tomorrow. Also have a call scheduled with Phil to catch him up with what I've been doing in GDN.

Samara is pushing me to go to Coachella. I don't have the mental capacity to even get excited. Tickets go on sale tomorrow.

It's almost 11pm and I've still got plenty more to do for Rashid!

I stole this from Jason W. and put it on Reddit (naughty me):

Yes, I'm headed to Australia tomorrow! I can't believe how quickly it's snuck up on me.

For the past week and a half I've been busy with two jobs. In addition to my new "full-time" (more like one hour per day) position working remotely from home, I have continued tutoring. And have I ever! The student whom I have been tutoring since the beginning of the month is a wealthy Arab businessman who is getting an MBA. He hired me to do all the reading for him and teach/discuss the readings with him directly. The best part is that I am getting paid twice my previous rate.

It's now cold at night. It went from too hot to too chilly almost exactly with the start of November. (Of course by LA standards)

Last week Angela, Adrian, and I went to Taking Back Tuesday at the Echo. I was disappointed. Mainly because of the bullshit of having to wait in such a long line. Also, emo music does not go well with "pumping up the crowd" and having energy channeled through an attention-whore DJ. I will never go again.

Went to a Cal Alumni happy hour at the Golden Gopher on Thursday. Met some nice people. I have been trying to find my social niche here lately, but I just haven't yet. I met a recent grad named Samara who is struggling to find her career footing. "I need to keep in touch with you," she told me. And she drove me home (I had taken the bus there).

Samara and I went to a *very* hipster underground comedy show in Echo Park at a vintage feminist clothing store. Very Portlandia. I enjoyed it.

So, after some chaos and (costly) eagerness on my point, I rented a car for the weekend. The plan was to get out of Germany, likely driving to the Netherlands. But no one was capable of actually going on Saturday. So I let the reservation pass. I woke up on Sunday and realized I could still have the car for the day, without having to pay for a hotel (maximizing my sunk costs, while minimizing my marginal costs - for all you economists out there - consumer surplus).

I went to the airport (walking first to pick up my bike from the office) and rented the car. It took a moment to adjust to driving again, but it felt good. I exited the parking garage in "my" BMW and hit the streets. I took some secondary highways leaving Düsseldorf, to enjoy the sunny weather. There was some traffic toward Oberhausen so I wound around. I chose as my first destination Emmerich.

I then tried to find the Dutch border along the Rhine but no sign there. Anyway, I drove toward Amsterdam. Found myself in Muiden, where I pulled over to glimpse at Muiderslot, a nice castle situated just over the highway.

Then I made my way to Zaandam, where there are some cool buildings, including the "famous" stacked green hotel in the center. Not too far away is Zaanse Schans, a traditional Dutch town. I rushed around as the sun was setting, then drove to the closest beach I could find, which was just behind Castricum. Unfortunately clouds had rolled in, so the warm sunny day I was blessed with did not extend to the beach. Oh well, that doesn't mean I can stop by Amsterdam at least!

I found a Park and Ride, but it was not connected; so I drove to another P&R that I was familiar with, and I visited Amsterdam for 30 minutes! :)

Drove back, hitting 210km/h on the Autobahn once I crossed back into Germany.

What an amazing day!

Still sick. But I went to work anyway.

Started the morning on the wrong foot; my bike ride was full of red lights and cars cutting me off, plus a traffic jam. I arrived around 9am, before Carolyn (who was viewing another flat at 10am) or Will (who was riding a train back from Amsterdam). I did the performance master sheet myself.

I'm not stressing out over work, but (likely as a result) I'm not excited or energized to push forward new projects. The idea of giving my notice is still weighing on me. I should be ok, but it's hard to keep a secret inside and not talk about it.

I'm also avoiding Mike. He's back from his snow trip, and I'm not even mentioning it to anyone. What happened between us is still the biggest heartbreak of my life, and it just doesn't make sense.

I went for a walk in the afternoon, all the way to Uerdinger str. and back. The air was chilly but also refreshing.

Had a phone call at 5, then called my mom and uncle at home, and went home shortly thereafter. Got a missed call from Oli as I was biking back.

I finished listening to Serial (the podcast), which I have been binge-listening the last few days. I then had nothing to do; I waned to be engrossed in the story further, so I had no motivation to watch any of the normal shows that I watch. I ended up watching some Workaholics, smoking up, relaxing myself, and then going to sleep to some comedy (Aziz Anzari).

I didn't do much this weekend. I'm still pretty depressed, as I have been since coming back to Germany from the States. I think I know it's inevitable that I'll leave here, so I have no motivation to do anything until then. Also, the weather sucks. It's below freezing, cold, and I have had enough of it.
I'm also sick. I was slightly sick at the beginning of the week, and thought I had gotten over it.

Today I woke up early-ish (8am, when the sun rises now, woot) and lay in bed for an hour. I had no energy other than to pee, and I still felt sick and shitty. I had a persistent cough. I took some painkillers and rested some more. I felt nasty. My body was sore from laying down too much, but had no energy to actually do anything. I could actually feel myself getting fatter. I finally showered and decided to walk outside. It took me maybe an hour to get ready.

Before leaving, I figured, "why not give this Serial thing a shot?" So I downloaded a podcast app and a few episodes of Serial. INSTANTLY HOOKED. Weird because it's just one story. How can they drag it on for hours? Anyway, I walked around the city, Stadtmitte and Königsallee and back through the Hofgarten.

I haven't updated in a while. I have been traveling a lot in the last month (Madrid, working from Palma, offsite workshop, and a gezelig weekend in Cochem), and I am not recording my experiences! Bad.

Let's start with this past weekend.
Friday (28 November).
It was the day after Thanksgiving; but there was no Thanksgiving celebration for me in Germany. It was Nick's last day, which didn't feel so sad, but there was a slight unspoken tension in the air. At 4pm we decorated the Christmas tree by the team's table. But I didn't really participate - just had a delicious cookie. A huge after-work party was planned, which was great. We had drinking games (rolling dice, King's cup, beer pong) and a tequila table. Oh my. When the group headed to the Altstadt, I peeled off to get some noodles and then walked home.

(29-30 November).
Bernadet and Thijs invited me to join them, as she had won a weekend at a holiday resort in Cochem, which is located along the Mosel valley in the beautiful wine-growing region of Germany. I took the train there on Saturday morning (fighting my hangover) and arrived at 2pm. Of course the train was delayed (which was ok because I was already running late to the Hbf), and this led to me missing my connection in Koblenz. But no problem.

Bernie and Thijs picked me up with their friend Jacco and we drove up into the surrounding mountains to the resort. The weather was chilly (about 4°C) and dreary. But we didn't plan outdoor activities. The others (Alai, Laura, and Elise) were there. We started by exchanging Sinterklaas gifts, which was a fun game that involved rolling dice, switching/stealing/unwrapping gifts, and 3 rounds.

We also went swimming in the indoor pool; had an amazing dinner made on their raclette; played Twister; played several rounds of Singstar (ABBA and 90s) and ended up watching De Marathon, a good Dutch movie set in Rotterdam. Passed out.

Sunday; woke up and everyone else was already downstairs (9am) having breakfast. We drove into the cty and checked out the Christmas Markets.

Returned home around 6pm. I cut my hair (I was doing no-shave November) but tried not to make it too short; I just wanted it not to get messed up whenever I wore a cap or beanie.

Monday, 1 December.
It's cold. 0-3°C this whole week.
I shaved; end of no-shave November for my face. I'm glad that the stubborn cold sore is away from my chin/lip.
Slept early (around 10pm) until nearly 8am. So I'm very well-rested.
Had to walk to the office.
My laptop programs wouldn't start correctly. There was an update to Office 360 that didn't complete somehow.
Lunch with Francesco - Douro. Was good to catch up; it has literally been months.
Stopped by Woolworth's on the way home; bought gloves and clear tape.
Cooked beef with broccoli, and rice.
Watched House of Cards s2 e5. Getting more into it.

Tuesday, 2 December
Work.
Had lunch (leftover beef with broccoli) at my desk. Did not go out shopping for winter clothes, as I had originally planned.
Had my GDN call. Met with Jon to discuss current efforts. Sent an assertive email to Matt at Y.
Forgot that I signed up for the academy; so I rushed over stressed at 18:15.
Biked home. My new gloves were too thin so my hands were freezing.
Boiled pasta and watched some Amazing Race. Also gave feedback on Luiza's application/CV.
2 weeks until I'm back in LA! Exciting.

Wednesday, 3 December
Team event (Brazilian food + Christmas market) tonight.

I just returned (late last night) from a semi-spontaneous weekend in Madrid. It was nice.

I traveled by myself for the first time in a long time, and it did feel a bit lonely at times, so I was desperate to meet people. I did meet some people from the free tour and corresponding pub crawl (with free shots in every bar).

Weird thing, I brought my laptop but it didn't work at all there. But now, back in Germany my laptop works! Woot. I was convinced that I would need to order a new laptop asap. Oh well, good for me :)

Yesterday, the last day in Madrid, I met up with Viola from CS. We alked around, grabbed lunch, then went on a quest to find a beer mat (coaster), which required some creativity. We then went to the airport together. It was a great day!

My mom is off to Mexico now for a 4-day cruise. She's really into taking cruises now whenever she travels; fancy!

I missed halloween, but that was sort of the plan. I knew I couldn't deal with the stress of finding a creative costume.

My plan for this week is to have my own douchebag jar; I'll put money into it whenever I say/do something rude or insensitive, make fun of other people, or whenever I have a stress attack, or whenever I needlessly complain. Let me see how it goes :)

Ok back to work. It's cold and rainy here :(