it’s win win!!

So I got the job at the University of British Columbia (UBC)!! I will be working the the Office of Learning Technology (OLT) and my title is something along the lines of ‘WebCT Training & Support Liaison’… It looks like this job will be good for me, by expanding on my experience, by challenging me, by rewarding me and of course by further developing my name in the world of academia. I am quite excited, and a little nervous, but I will be fine, once I get my familiar with everything, get my grove back and when everyone (including myself) realizes that I do know what I am doing/talking about. I will have a lot of learning to do, which will be awesome.. I get to expand my brain again and help others in the process… It’s win win!!

Now I just have to call FSlounge and tell them I am never coming back as well as call Tina (who wanted to have an interview with me this Thursday at some small internet marketing firm), that I may be in touch sometime in the future. But for now that’s all folks – I guess skill, knowledge, experience, dedication, networking and of course the support of others seems to eventually pay off. Next event: Moving Day!

thanks mister coffee shop man

so this morning, i was kinda hung over from my fun filled night at the casino. i did win a bit… i walked out with 50 bucks more than i had going in.. and so i must of won about a hundred bucks.. kuz i had purchased a few fine imported beverages from mexico during my visit at the casino… anyways, this morning, i made it down to my coffee shop… the one i have been going to every morning… its a great place… two guys own it and run it… i don’t know their names.. but they are really kind and good people… so this morning i was their first customer (at 8:30 – they open at 9:00)… and i talked to the one guy for a good 20 minutes… he was able to read right through me and he was able to judge my character and personality… this was a kool experience.. the guy doesn’t even know me, and he was so helpful in opening my eyes… he made sense of all my problems and he gave some good advice… he said.. you have to like your work.. he said i don’t belong at futureshop.. he said.. the training and the companies goals don’t fit me… he said i should be teaching… helping… sharing…
this was all very kool… i just wanted a coffee.. and this guy was so friendly and stuff… it made me feel bad for getting a place so far away from this one… these guys are exactly what i want in a coffee shop… and now… more change… ohh well… let’s just hope i have a kool coffee shop by my new place… other than that big ugly McDonalds and Starbucks…

making something look beautiful?

so today, it really bothered me… it bothered me that i am in a uniform, wasting my 8.5 hours selling pointless, wasteful consumer electronics to people… it bothered me, that while i am in my uniform i cannot change the world, i have no positive effect on my life, and i am simply a robot paid minimum wage to help increase company profits. and guess what.. this is bullshit.. there is nothing kool about working at futureshop… there is no good music on, there are no real people (ones that think) that work there, and guess what… no matter how much training they give me, i will not be their profit fetcher… sure i am great with customers, they actually really enjoy talking to me and i am quite helpful… i make their futureshop experience quite pleasant.. and this is the only joy i get out of the job… i miss laugher and jokes with co-workers, that don’t involve PSP or monster cable… and the worse part PSP and monster is no joke.. i was told to get my monster numbers up today… i need to tell every customer that they need the 129 power bar and the 60 dollar cables to hook their dvd player up… and it bugs me.. kuz my managers tell me in a way that the customer needs these… but guess what… i know the real story.. i know that you are bitching at me, kuz i am not selling your most profitable products… and if i am not doing that… my ‘customer service’ quickly becomes a liability.. well fuck it.. i will do what i want, and if they don’t like it.. i guess i will be let go… and this is a risk i am will to take… if my managers are not going to be honest to me (well maybe they don’t know better).. then i am not going to spread their monster cable propaganda… i just want them to tell me straight up!!

working at futureshop is nothing to be proud of… i would have more self-respect if i worked at a city park picking up trash… at least i would be making something look beautiful… futureshop is simply ugly and totally unfulfilling.

ok ok, we need to focus on some of the benefits.. such as the networking aspects.. which in all reality, there are only like 6 kool people that work there… out of 100… i should get to know these people better… fuck.. i should be going to a party tonight with one of them… but i gots to work tomorrow… and there is no way in hell i will wake up if i go out tonight… especially since deep inside i don’t care if i get fired or not… so i better not… keeping in mind.. i will have rent to pay soon…

buy nothing day

so… buy nothing day is coming up again.. november 26th… and i was just wondering if any one out there has any thoughts on it… personally i think its a good idea… just to prove to ourselves that we can go one day without consuming… but i dunno.. the whole adbusters thing is ‘still’ a little to radical for me… mainly kuz adbusters seems very contradictory to me… but yeah.. let’s not get started… i do support kalle lasn’s legal action against four of Canada’s biggest television broadcasters – CTV, CanWest Global, CBC and CHUM… to allow adbusters to buy airtime… [see ‘our airways, our messages‘]

so, do i participate in BND this year? every year i ask myself this question, and in the past i have brushed it off… and this year.. hmm.. i think it will be hard man… to go a whole day without buying anything… especially when i have to work… does this mean.. i can’t buy my bus fare? or my lunch? or does it just mean… i don’t buy that song from the new canadian iTunes music store… or the new issue of adbusters magizine, or calendar.. hmmm….

if anything.. i think adbusters ideals… are successful… not necessarily in what they want you to do, but in that they make you think and question society around you… look at me… writing this… questioning if i should partake…

i doubt that i will, but i know for sure i will limit my consumption, as you should everyday… “the more you consume, the less you live”

interviews, networking, umbrellas, hunting, writers block & music

so today i choose to ditch my two other interviews to goto ubc. michelle invited me to a seminar and i figured it would be more wise of me to go to the seminar and rub some elbows, do some name drops and simultaneously demonstrate my serious interest in the position to michelle. i did meet a few people, made a few good points when called upon and yeah…

i bought an umbrella today, finally. this is a tool you cannot live without in vancouver… dre stole his back today.. so i was stuck out in the rain… it kinda sucked.. but it wasn’t that bad… my new umbrella is blue and is very compact… i went for the small size over the durability of the larger ones…

i am now sitting here wishing i was at my nerds-on-site seminar… and i would be just arriving (15 minutes late) if i jumped on the bus 2.5 hours ago… langley is far… anyway…. it would of been kool just for the information… even though i know i wouldn’t pursue any opportunities that were presented at the meeting… i think now.. i am going to hit up all the job sites again… send out another torrent of resumes… 1 step higher from last time… and see if i can get a few calls… last time.. i got… 7 call backs… from about 10 applications… so i was defiantely aiming a bit low… but now that i have a job.. (at least until then end of the year) and a good chance of scoring the job at ubc… i can raise my standards again… what else am i going to do??

i do feel like doing some writing, but i am having some serious writers block… i want to write about something meaning full, and not like the post-it notes hanging on the wall… (even tho… i think i may write about those post it notes… it will be good practise… describing them, realating them to something etc… kinda like my spiders webs, and dust entries… )

i am listening to ‘snow patrol – final straw’ right now.. and i am really enjoying it… it is kinda catchy, yet pretty lofi… just thought i’d share…

ok.. enough with this post… time to do some readings and or start writing something more ummm.. better….

up and up [anew]

it’s all good, up and up.. interview tomorrow for a job i really want and deserve… i just need to organize my thoughts, my experience and my skills, into one complete package that i can present during the interview… i am qualified for this position; i have the experience as well as the connections, so i hope it all works out for me. it would definitely be a step in the right direction to work in this position. i would enhance my connections, further my experience and alas i would become fully self-sufficient… and it would be in record time too… considering i have now been in vancouver only for two full weeks… i also have two interview on wednesday for other positions that are in my field… i am not really concerned about those, since i would love to get the job at UBC… anyway.. just wanted to keep you all posted… but for now.. i need to get organized.. and figure out how i can prove myself… something that i have been unable to do in the past… but it’s weird.. it just feels so different this time…… just so different… it’s like this time, i just know, that i am perfect for this job, it just hinges on my behaviour and actions tomorrow… anyway….

it does feel good to work again… even at 9 bucks an hour… but i know.. that once i get a pay cheque… i will be like wtf… all that work for this?!?!? and plus.. i am way over qualified for futureshop… and i don’t even utilize the skills that i have… and the interests that amuse me… so yeah…

let’s just hope tomorrow goes as it should… everything will occur as it must…. and my life will continue to flow in the path that it is… which is more or less.. up and up… actually it is up and up!!! no matter what way you look at it… i have already achieved so much more, that i would of ever in my room in delaware… and there is still so much more room to grow… up and up… it’s easy to be motivated, when you start anew…

george and sia

so, andrei and i got a place today, signed a short lease, 7 months… the place will be good.. it’s not as new as i would like, but it will be good, just needs to be decorated, etc… we also need some furniture… but yeah… it’s all signed for already… so it’s done.. no need to worry, just need to accept reality and the fact that i will have to goto work and pay rent… this is kinda kool… i am excited… but not in love… it’s kinda like going to a bar, when you are not in the mood, but when you get there, you run into some people you know and end up having a great time… i hope this place will be like that… kuz if it’s like when you goto the bar, kuz you have nothing better to do, and then the bar sucks, and you just end up wasting your money buying expensive drinks and have no fun.. that would suck…

so yeah… let’s think positive now.. hehe… on monday it will be two weeks in vancouver.. and i have been working fulltime for one week… and now have a fixed address!!! yey!! this week coming up.. i have 3 job interviews… one that I really really really really want… one that may be alright.. and the other.. which will involve some risk… and of course…
i have my futureshop until the end of december at least… its all up and up baby…

damn i wish there was a tv in here… i could really use some passive entertainment right now… the damn www is just to engaging…

everything: accomplishments

well… this week has been busy busy, it fucken weird working everyday… it sucks too, kuz the things i enjoy doing, i can’t do… i can’t blog, i can’t be an information junky, i can’t stay up all night, i can’t lounge all day and think about things… i guess when you work everyday… you need to become a ‘company man’… and i guess this is the only way to get satisfaction from work (excluding work that actually helps people of course)… now i think my problem is that i am starting at ground zero in my company.. i am the lowest of the low, and it feels like my accomplishments have been ignored, my position requires no knowledge… you could learn everything during training, and be successful in this position… i could add a lot to this company, and i could be quite successful… there is plenty of room to go up!! but it sucks that i am at zero of a billion… i guess i need to prove myself, to get noticed and to do this, i need to be willing to work for free, ship a few more units, and sell myself out to the man…

i guess in reality, i haven’t really proved much to the world yet. sure i finished school, but big deal.. this does give me more clout… (it just has made me smarter, determined, and more goal oriented than most) but it has also made my head a lot bigger.. not that i think that i am better than ppl who have not finished school, but i tend to notice when people do not have a liberal education. they tend not to see the value in life, yourself, the things you enjoy, etc… it all boils down to money for them… and this was how i was before i completed my degree….

so the question is, do i still have what it takes to be successful in the business, for-profit world? can i work 9-5? i think i can… i just think i need the right opportunity, as well, the dedication to continue to improve myself in all aspects… i need to maintain the balance…

it just bothers me.. because during all this training they are trying to make everyone company orientated, and they do this by providing incentives… which is all good.. and it all makes sense in the business world… but really, do i care if best buy/future shop makes 5 billion in sales over the next 5 years (5 in 5)… and the answer is…. “i don’t know”….

i don’t know if i should sell people 50 dollar cables to hook up their dvd players to their tv… especially when i know these people are on budgets.. and they just want to make their family members happy at christmas…. now.. if i was all money and company orientated.. i would… i would sell the $150 dollar dvd player, with the $50 cables, and the $50 product performance plan… why? kuz i make more money if i rip ppl off… sales sucks… i don’t want to lie to people… fuck what i am saying.. i haven’t even been on the floor yet… but i just know, it’s the people that can’t afford to be ripped off, that always get ripped off….

i know i am just kinda all over the place right now, but i am just venting all my thoughts, kuz i haven’t had time to do this… fuck.. i should be looking for an apartment though, so i can have some comfort and satisfaction in my living conditions…

i miss my writing, i miss my music, i need to put these back into my life… there is so many thing i have to do… but guess what? its fucken awesome.. kuz i made the first step.. by changing up my old routine… i did it… just need to become a bit more settled in.. and it’s done… then i can focus on some new goals… and continuing happiness….

everyday.. i see the “bums”, i see the “successful”, i see the students, i see the “working class”, i see people from a billion different cultures, and then i see me (in the reflection on the window of one of the many buses/skytrains that i am on, or in the puddles on the ground)

how do people do it? do people just not question it? do people just accept things and their life as it is? if so that sucks… but maybe everyone on is just in their process… i guess they say life is a journey; not a destination.. so i guess this is my life.. it’s kinda kool… when i was in training today.. i looked around.. and i was like… wow.. i don’t know any of these 100 people… yet… i have still developed ‘friendships’ with a few…

it’s kinda neat how future shop put so much effort/money into training… i do give them credit for that… (mind you, they need to, kuz most of the people they hire do not know shit, when they walk through the door)… me.. i don’t know shit either… i am in a department that i know nothing about, nor do i have much interest in… but that’s the kool part, i am going to learn something… and i will improve my sales skills, that will benefit me in many aspects of my life…

i belong in support though, i enjoy problem-solving… etc… support is actually helping people… sales is just ‘evil’… i know i can sell though… i know i can do it… i am challenging myself…. i’ve got at least a month to dabble in this… unless i get fired before that.. hehe… but even if i got fired.. that would be kool… kuz that would be a first too!!

(ps. if future shop/best buy IT security people are reading this? can i have a job in headoffice now? get your ppl to call my ppl… thanks)

if i could

well things seem to be falling into place, everything is working out, just as i anticipated…. i’ve got a job; one to start off with, at least one interview coming up this week, and i am comfortable in this city. the only problem is that i miss my buddy; she’s my buddy. i am just in the mood to chill with her right now, and i can’t… i can’t laugh and enjoy her company or even be annoyed with her… it’s just can’t happen right now… this is tuff… it sucks… i liked having her there…. she was awesome that way… and in many ways… fuck.. i can’t blog this.. i am getting to get too emotional.. especially with the music i have on right now… (mineral – if i could)…

progress

so far vancouver has been really awesome, the weather has been good (i must of brought the sunshine with me). it is always damp and wet, but oddly enough i think my lungs have learned to like it (opposed to when i was young and ended up in the hospital every spring). this week has been really easy, mainly because of the friends i have from back home. but even when they are gone home, i think it will still be pretty easy… i’ll get a job, goto work, go out the odd nite and yeah do what everyone does. when i think about going home, i think of the good times, and the comfort i have there… i know how to talk to people there, i know it inside and out… but then i think ‘wait, it will be the same old thing if i go back’… (i know i have only been here for four days, but i am thinking long term so i am considering all my options)… vancouver will teach me a lot and i will grow as a person and this is what it is all about: progress.

i applied for a bunch of jobs today, ranging from shitie mall jobs to good full-time positions… i will be doing a lot of that, until i score something. there is no way i can survive without income. and fucken employment insurance is ass, its been over 11 weeks since i have applied and nothing… they owe me some damn money… but it’s not just the money that i need from work, its the exposure gained… now the mall is not the answer, something with a latter to climb would be nice, something to work towards… but i guess that is still all ahead… fuck it’s been 4 days, since i took the plunge, no need to be concerned yet, this is still a holiday…