Client: How is this guy [my boss] to work for?
Me: Good! He's a great mentor.
Boss: Mentor is code for "he doesn't pay crap, but he lets me sit in on stuff."
Friday, February 6, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Uhh ...
I think I may have gotten into law school. Yea, it's kind of open ended and ambiguous like that.
I received an email from the law school's activity committee that said "Welcome!" Which confused me because I had received neither a large acceptance envelope nor a (always depressing) small rejection envelope. So I made a few clicks to the admissions status website which said the decision had been mailed on Monday.
I'm taking this as a sign that I got in. If I didn't get in then that activity committee is SADISTIC and mean.
It's not my number one school, it's not even my number 5 school, but it does mean that if I don't get into schools 1-5 that I at least don't have to move to Mexico and become a waitress from the shame of not managing to get into law school two years in a row.
It's a very appreciable weight lifted off my shoulders.
Maybe.
Damn envelope.
I received an email from the law school's activity committee that said "Welcome!" Which confused me because I had received neither a large acceptance envelope nor a (always depressing) small rejection envelope. So I made a few clicks to the admissions status website which said the decision had been mailed on Monday.
I'm taking this as a sign that I got in. If I didn't get in then that activity committee is SADISTIC and mean.
It's not my number one school, it's not even my number 5 school, but it does mean that if I don't get into schools 1-5 that I at least don't have to move to Mexico and become a waitress from the shame of not managing to get into law school two years in a row.
It's a very appreciable weight lifted off my shoulders.
Maybe.
Damn envelope.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Survey Says ...
I'm subscribed to survey website which sends me surveys to fill out maybe once a week or once every two weeks. It does actually pay, but I qualify so infrequently for the demographics they look for, that I've completed only 3 or 4 full surveys over the last two years for a grand total of $20 in my pocket and some free facial cleansing cloths from what I assume was Dove (unlabeled, but the cloths looks exactly like the Dove ones I buy - score!).
I just finished filling out a survey for Bread X (anonymized because, while I don't remember the terms of service, I'm sure there's something in there about not divulging the survey contents). It was one of the strangest surveys I've taken.
The gist was the bread brand is trying to market directly to women and is feeling out the reaction to putting together a women centric website centered around healthy living. They want you to connect their bread with healthy living.
The survey went on to ask if buying Bread X correlated with some goals women have, like:
- Hiking the Pacific Something Trail
- Getting more fiber in their diet
- Learning how to swing dance
- Learning a new language
- Biking to work three days a week
Maybe I'm just dense, but honestly the only connection to bread I made was getting more fiber. A specific brand of bread doesn't so much correlate to the others (other than very cursorily as a possible part of a healthy diet). Not "I eat Bread X therefore I can learn how to swing dance!"
But here was the best part: one of the last questions was "Are big companies bad for society?", which you were to answer either strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, or strongly agree. What?! I can't answer that question with one of those five choices. There are insane amounts of nuance to answering that question. What they really needed was an "it depends" option.
I just finished filling out a survey for Bread X (anonymized because, while I don't remember the terms of service, I'm sure there's something in there about not divulging the survey contents). It was one of the strangest surveys I've taken.
The gist was the bread brand is trying to market directly to women and is feeling out the reaction to putting together a women centric website centered around healthy living. They want you to connect their bread with healthy living.
The survey went on to ask if buying Bread X correlated with some goals women have, like:
- Hiking the Pacific Something Trail
- Getting more fiber in their diet
- Learning how to swing dance
- Learning a new language
- Biking to work three days a week
Maybe I'm just dense, but honestly the only connection to bread I made was getting more fiber. A specific brand of bread doesn't so much correlate to the others (other than very cursorily as a possible part of a healthy diet). Not "I eat Bread X therefore I can learn how to swing dance!"
But here was the best part: one of the last questions was "Are big companies bad for society?", which you were to answer either strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, or strongly agree. What?! I can't answer that question with one of those five choices. There are insane amounts of nuance to answering that question. What they really needed was an "it depends" option.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Ridiculousness
I'm a huge fan of Craigslist. Huge with a capital H.
The free section, the furniture for sale that I could browse all day, the cool apartments I'll never be able to afford and the unintentional (though sometimes intentional) hilarity encapsulated in Missed Connections. But of all of these my favorite is the furniture. Awesome stuff for cheap always wins my heart.
Today I passed a consignment store and decided to stop in, thinking that it was just a physical manifestation of my beloved Furniture For Sale section, though probably much classier considering they had to pay rent and all. But oh no, my friends, the only similarities were the prevalence of scratches and stains on the furniture, sans deep discounts warranted by said scratches and stains.
Today, in the "classy" consignment store were two pieces of Ikea furniture. The first (in bright pink):
Brand New Retail Price: $49.99
Craigslist Used Price: $15-$20
Consignment Price: $49.00
That's right, ladies and gentlemen, a whole $.99 cheaper! But it's a deal because it's all worn in for you. None of that effort usually required to make it seem used and broken in.
Next up:
Brand New Retail Price: $39.99
Craigslist Price: $15
Consignment Price: $49.00
No, your eyes don't deceive you. That lovely, but obviously cheap, chair up there is being sold used for $9.01 more than it sells for brand spanking new.
So, if you're looking for a way to get some cash for random furniture laying around, even if that furniture is stuff you bought on the cheap at Ikea during college, take it on down to a consignment store and you'll get back even more than you originally paid for it.
The free section, the furniture for sale that I could browse all day, the cool apartments I'll never be able to afford and the unintentional (though sometimes intentional) hilarity encapsulated in Missed Connections. But of all of these my favorite is the furniture. Awesome stuff for cheap always wins my heart.
Today I passed a consignment store and decided to stop in, thinking that it was just a physical manifestation of my beloved Furniture For Sale section, though probably much classier considering they had to pay rent and all. But oh no, my friends, the only similarities were the prevalence of scratches and stains on the furniture, sans deep discounts warranted by said scratches and stains.
Today, in the "classy" consignment store were two pieces of Ikea furniture. The first (in bright pink):
Brand New Retail Price: $49.99
Craigslist Used Price: $15-$20
Consignment Price: $49.00
That's right, ladies and gentlemen, a whole $.99 cheaper! But it's a deal because it's all worn in for you. None of that effort usually required to make it seem used and broken in.
Next up:
Brand New Retail Price: $39.99
Craigslist Price: $15
Consignment Price: $49.00
No, your eyes don't deceive you. That lovely, but obviously cheap, chair up there is being sold used for $9.01 more than it sells for brand spanking new.
So, if you're looking for a way to get some cash for random furniture laying around, even if that furniture is stuff you bought on the cheap at Ikea during college, take it on down to a consignment store and you'll get back even more than you originally paid for it.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Trains, Planes, and Automobiles
I flew across the country last weekend to visit my ailing grandmother in South Carolina. It was a bittersweet few days full of decent air travel, awful sleep (partially in bathtubs), much missed family, and my only grandparent left feeling the onset of mortality and divvying up her life possessions.
I was gifted some things I really wanted, was barred from claiming other things I really wanted and spent an entire day sifting through old family photographs (including a couple sweet tintypes of relatives with long forgotten names).
The album I'll be putting together of all these photographs will also be bittersweet. They're my last name's family history, but not really mine. My dad was adopted so though I'm technically related to the people in the photos, they're not my ancestors. Someday, probably after my grandmother passes, I'll hunt down the blood relatives.
On the plane ride home I sat next to a guy who's initial words to me were "I don't let anyone I sit next to wear headphones" as I was pulling my iPod out. He turned out to be right. I didn't put those head phones on once the entire time we were in the air. It turned out that we knew a lot of the same people and his wife was best friends with my ex-step-sister and I had been to his father-in-law's church several times. I don't think I've ever talked the entirety of a plane ride before, but it was great - I barely noticed how long we were in the air.
We were supposed to look each other up on Facebook, but I've since forgotten his last name and his first is way too common to be of any use. I'll chalk him up to being a short-term friend, the kind you don't look up even though you say you will because attempting to extend the relationship beyond the short time you were brought together will just be awkward.
"You'd be surprised at the things I can do."
I was gifted some things I really wanted, was barred from claiming other things I really wanted and spent an entire day sifting through old family photographs (including a couple sweet tintypes of relatives with long forgotten names).
The album I'll be putting together of all these photographs will also be bittersweet. They're my last name's family history, but not really mine. My dad was adopted so though I'm technically related to the people in the photos, they're not my ancestors. Someday, probably after my grandmother passes, I'll hunt down the blood relatives.
On the plane ride home I sat next to a guy who's initial words to me were "I don't let anyone I sit next to wear headphones" as I was pulling my iPod out. He turned out to be right. I didn't put those head phones on once the entire time we were in the air. It turned out that we knew a lot of the same people and his wife was best friends with my ex-step-sister and I had been to his father-in-law's church several times. I don't think I've ever talked the entirety of a plane ride before, but it was great - I barely noticed how long we were in the air.
We were supposed to look each other up on Facebook, but I've since forgotten his last name and his first is way too common to be of any use. I'll chalk him up to being a short-term friend, the kind you don't look up even though you say you will because attempting to extend the relationship beyond the short time you were brought together will just be awkward.
"You'd be surprised at the things I can do."
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