Thurs and Fri

Thursday was probably the worst day ever so far. My water bottle somehow opened in my awesome-new-intern bag and got over all my papers, purse, mp3 player, etc… So that was bad. Then I couldn’t log in for seriously 10 minutes before Andrew came to help me, and that just made things worse. Then I didn’t have a paycheck (which I really needed since we’re going shopping this weekend), and they messed up my status so I couldn’t go on alternate work schedule (where I get every other Friday off, but I have to work 9 hour days M-R with 8 hr on F). So it was just awful. I was so tired and out of it too, even though I had 8 hrs of sleep, because of the schedule with the launch. Gah!

Friday, however, was fantastic. I was in a freaking movie! About 9am a whole camera crew bursted into the computer lab where I work and started setting all this stuff up. So then we had to run around and make the room look like we were about to have a launch. I got to pretend I was an analyst complete with headset, so that was sweet. It was just for a promo for Aerospace orientation, but still! It was a real movie making company with real lighting and everything. Sooo cool.
Then! One of the new interns offered to give me a ride home since he apparently lives like a block from me. (He’s from El Segundo.) And very cute (his current name is CG:Cute Guy…haha!). And he was going to come to the beach with us but then decided to hang out with his best friend instead Boo.
Last night we all went to Manhattan Beach Pier again and played volleyball and frisbee and had sand thrown down my pants *cough*Jason*cough* albeit on accident. There was this super cute guy there and he and I kept making eye contact. And the boys kept trying to get me to go over and talk to him, but he was with like 10 other people and that really made me not able to. But it was funny watching their tactics to try to get me over there. Anyway, this guy (CG2) and I kept making eye contact, but then he and his group of friends left, and  then we left a little bit after that. We went up the Kettle again (we were going to have a BBQ but it was too late to start). And then after dinner guess who we saw! CG2! And so the chicas and I tried to go find him (we definitely ran up the Blvd) but no success. I feel really dumb because I just stood there as I watched him walk by me (why am I so shy?!). Then, and wow, you’ll think this is crazy, I posted a missed connections ad on craigslist for him. And I got a response, though not from him, but from somebody else whose situation was really similar. Except he’s looking for a different girl. But at least I got a response. We’ll see, haha!

Anyway now I’ve got to walk to the bank and then we’re all going shopping and beaching today! Woohoo!

The Week So Far

My apologies for not updating as frequently as I’d like. Also, as a warning, I may be a little out of it in this post, since I’ve been awake since 2.30am, and it is currently about 6pm. Heh.

So the launch today was pretty cool. I had to be there at 3.30 (see previous post) which was not so cool, but it worked out all right. It meant I got to leave early, right after lunch, plus I get to leave an hour early on Friday. (We can’t work more than 40 hrs a week, and we only get paid for 8 hours a day, and no overtime pay. This means we can sort of allocate our schedules a little…not too much, but it’s good enough for me.) The launch itself was sweet. After sitting around doing nothing for 5 hours (seriously), the rocket went up. In the room where I work (think huge computer lab with like 50 nice computers and crazy stuff and lots of screens) we had live feeds to Cape Canaveral (where the launch happened), NASA people, and Cape Canaveral people working the launch. It was so cool! And the launch itself was sweet too. I love fire and rockets and stuff like that.

Yesterday was fun. After work we all (minus Julie) went to Manhattan Beach again. It was cloudy and actually kind of chilly so we didn’t stay on the beach too long. We went out on the pier and went to the free aquarium, though. Then we walked around looking for a place to eat. Eventually we found this nice pretty cheap Italian place. But they weren’t serving any tomato-related things so I had to get lasagna instead of the bruschetta I wanted. But the lasagna was pretty good. Then Andy and Bob came over and we watched the end of the Lakers game, and then I promptly went to bed…haha.

Monday we again stopped by the beach, but for literally only 10 minutes because it was cold Then Jason tried to teach me some swing dancing, and I attempted at teaching him some salsa, and we both sort of failed, but that’s all right… We’re all going to go dancing and clubbing at some point. Maybe this weekend, we’ll see. (The only thing on the menu for this weekend is shopping! We get our first paychecks … tomorrow? hopefully.)

Sunday we went over to Andrew’s place in Redondo Beach to watch the Lakers game. He was having a party, so I partook in party-like activities (and continued my amazing B— P— statistic at 12-1 … only lost one game ever in my entire history!). We played Rock Band too while waiting for the game to start, and that was pretty fun. I sang a few songs, played guitar, and played drums. I was decent, but need some practice. After a couple hours and many refreshments, we decided it’d be awesome to go to the beach, so we did. It was fun, but chilly, since it was like 9pm, and we just sort of stood around. But it was still fun…

So, I think that’s it for the week so far. Tonight we’re going up to Playa Del Rey beach and hopefully getting pizza somehow. I made cookies for everyone (I hope they like chocolate chip). Actually this is pretty much the first unhealthy thing I’ve eaten while out here. My friends actually “yell” at me for being so healthy…it’s really funny and pretty awesome! One of my goals was to eat healthily and get into shape, so that’s what I’m doing. I eat loads of fruit and nuts every day, along with good sandwiches and other main meals, so I think I’m doing well

Early Morning

I woke up at 2.30am today to be at work by 3.30am. I get to feed engineers and clean up after them while there’s a launch happening.

I am tired. Haha. But hopefully it’ll be cool.

Weekend

So Friday night we had this awesome bonfire on the state beach (Dockweiler) where there are loads of fire pits right by the ocean. We roasted s’mores. It was really fun. Saturday (yesterday) we all spent the whole day together. We went up to this dumpling restaurant in Arcadia, Din Tai Fung, and it was SO GOOD. Totally recommend it. Then we drove around trying to locate Beverly Hills and we wound up going through the Beverly Hills mall (not that great, but pretty). Then we went to the beach for several hours playing frisbee, volleyball, swimming around in the ocean, and making a monstrous sand-thing. Finally we went to a little park and had a BBQ. It was fantastic! Such a fun day!

And then I got home and saw everyone’s FB statuses reading something about flooding all over Columbus. Apparently my hometown is a big lake now. So people are keeping me updated, because I can’t find the news relating to Indiana around here which is unfortunate. I guess the whole state is having problems due to 10 inches of rain in like a day or two. The creeks overflowed. I feel weird that I’m not at home helping out and seeing what’s going on. It’s crazy.

Last Night

Yesterday was a good day. At work I have almost gotten the program to work how it’s supposed to. I also got to escort some 2nd graders around the campus at this science fair. That was nice because I got to be outside for a while (there are no windows or anything in the room where I work). However it also reminds me just how not-good I am with little kids. They weren’t too bad though which was nice.

After work we all met again at the pier and played frisbee and ate dinner. This time we went to a Japanese place and had a ton of sushi. (See picture) I even ate fish! Which is remarkable since I don’t particularly like fish (though I love sushi…). I had some salmon, and it wasn’t too salty or anything. Sweet. Hanging out with these new friends is a lot of fun. Our group seems to be growing a lot too, so that’s good. We’re going to do some fun stuff this weekend we hope! I can’t wait!

I’m Actually Doing Something

It’s crazy. I am writing a program, and it’s almost even working, and it’s awesome. And I still don’t know what I’m doing but it’s great anyway. Work is quite stressful at times though, in those moments of panic where it’s like, Oh, God, I don’t have an effing clue as to what I’m supposed to do or how. So I have to do a lot of research. BUT the point is that I am coding something for real (and not homework) and it’s going to be used in lauches and that’s just so freaking awesome. Anyway.

I ate dinner again on the beach (it’s so lovely!) but it was chilly and I forgot my memory card (again) so I didn’t stay too long. The point is that I make it there every day. Lunch I had with Andy and Jason, and that was a lot of fun. I think lunch may be the best part of the work day, and what we do after work the best part of course. Tomorrow we’ll hopefully do something fun (probably go to the beach again) and Friday we may do some kind of fire and food on the beach. That would be sweet (I love fire so much…). I am lucky that I found a group of friends already. We all seem to get along really well too! And I feel like an engineer which is hilarious but great at the same time. This is what could have been… hmm.

Work and Manhattan Beach!

So work was crazy; I am not sure what I’ll be able to do versus what they want me to actually do. So that will be interesting. But it was a good day nonetheless. After work I went to Manhattan Beach Pier with my new friends! All of the people I hung out with yesterday plus a guy I work with were there. It was so much fun! We threw around a frisbee and played a little bit of soccer, then ate dinner at the Kettle. It was good! It was really fun to hang out with everyone as well. We are going to make it a habit, and probably do weekend things as well. How I love Facebook for keeping us all in touch!

First Day of Work!

It was pretty intense! We had New Hire Orientation, but it was the permanent people and the summer interns in the same orientation…so they talked about a lot of stuff not relevant to the summer people, like insurance and retirement benefits and stuff. But it was a lot of useful information nonetheless. I got to meet a couple of other interns, and we’ve already made plans to hang out tomorrow after work, so that is going to be a lot of fun! Work is going to be fun but very challenging. I am afraid that I won’t know what to do, and I think that they think I know more than I actually do. But I actually will be getting to program some software!!!! And helping on launches maybe! So it’s going to be AWESOME.

After work I went to the beach, of course. I took my dinner and sat right by the incoming tide and took a lot of pictures. How I adore the ocean. I have kept very well to my going to the beach every day schedule, and tomorrow will be no different. Now, though, I had better go fill out some forms and figure out the bus route to Manhattan Beach to meet my friend(s) tomorrow for dinner!

Bike Ride Video

Here is the video of some of the bike ride. It was a lot fun! Sorry it’s so shaky, but, well, I’m on a bike…

Fire at Universal Studios

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080602/ap_en_mo/studio_fire

Crazy to think that this is just a few miles away from me! I have been on the equivalent King Kong ride mentioned in Universal Studios Orlando, actually, so that is kind of weird to think about.