My manager comes to me to ask how my progress is going on this project we need to deliver this summer, sometime in July.
manager: how's the progress on Project X?
me: oh, I think we're on track for July. Thanks for prioritizing out some of that stuff with me last month.
manager: no problem
A day later, I get an email from him:
"Seine,
Wow, it turns out that we need to submit our client report by May 1!!!!!!
-Manager"
Yikes. So that's where I've been the last few weeks.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
it's all in the numbers
I happened upon this post today, which I presume was written to "raise awareness" and to promote discussion, but read more like "here are some numbers to raise your temperature, and we welcome all rants about the the current, military-centric, fiscally-irresponsible US administration."
Whatever the argument, I believe in convincing others with the merit of my point, and the gross misrepresentation of the numbers here utterly frustrated me. I'm not denying that the US spends an incredible amount on defense, but a key point was left out of this post: these numbers are ABSOLUTE numbers. The US is a much bigger country than France, which stands #2 in absolute standing. Normalizing to population, the US spending is ~$1900 per capita, whereas France stands at ~$1150 per capita. Yes, the US spending is still almost twice is high, but not so egregiously off-balanced as the original numbers would have you believe.
Because I have nothing better to do on a Sunday, I normalized the list for spendings by country and re-arranged the list by per-capita defense spendings:
Whatever the argument, I believe in convincing others with the merit of my point, and the gross misrepresentation of the numbers here utterly frustrated me. I'm not denying that the US spends an incredible amount on defense, but a key point was left out of this post: these numbers are ABSOLUTE numbers. The US is a much bigger country than France, which stands #2 in absolute standing. Normalizing to population, the US spending is ~$1900 per capita, whereas France stands at ~$1150 per capita. Yes, the US spending is still almost twice is high, but not so egregiously off-balanced as the original numbers would have you believe.
Because I have nothing better to do on a Sunday, I normalized the list for spendings by country and re-arranged the list by per-capita defense spendings:
- United States - $1919
- Israel - $1300
- Saudi Arabia - $1255
- France - $1158
- UK - $1137
- Australia - $974
- Netherands - $730
- South Korea - $568
- Italy - $549
- Germany - $543
- Canada - $516
- Republic of China (Taiwan) - $457
- Spain - $349
- Japan - $326
- Poland - $284
- Russia - $281
- Turkey - $214
- Brazil - $136
- China - $44
- India - $23
Now what's immediately interesting is that Israel and Saudi Arabia are right up there with the US in per-capita defense spending. China and India, with their huge populations, are all of a sudden at the bottom of the list (though China's is probably still lower than actual). More over, developed countries overall spend a lot more on defense than developing countries.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Patagonia love
Once upon a time, I got a Patagonia waterproof jacket for my birthday (it looked like this, but in blue). It was an expensive jacket that I tried on again and again and admired to no end every time I went into the Patagonia store. I always ultimately put the jacket back on the racks, though, dissuaded by the hefty price tag.
Engineer bought the jacket for me for my birthday three years ago. I loved it and cherished it for more than its magical abilities to be absolutely impermeable to water--the jacket was a nostalgic reminder of Engineer, something that I could hold close to me whenever I missed him. Given that we also broke up on that same birthday (a different story for a different day), the jacket became my most valued possession. I took extra care of it and wore it very rarely.
A couple of months ago, it dawned on me that layered over a thick fleece, the jacket would actually work perfectly for winter. It completely blocks wind, rain/snow, and is extremely light and compact. Enough time had also passed that I no longer cared to keep the jacket hanging in its pristine condition, so I dug it out of my cloeset and started to wear it every day. With the start of outdoor ultimate practices, it also became my rain gear.
So imagine my surprise when I discovered that the jacket leaked in a few places. I was completely devastated, from all fronts: 1) expensive jackets like this should not break after minimal use, 2) I no longer had reliable rain gear and was freezing and wet at practice, and 3) the jacket had now just lost its functionality, which in turn nostalgically reinstated its sentimentality and made me want to cry.
On a whim, I went to the Newbury Street Patagonia store today to browse their current line of waterproof hardshells. I was the only person in the store, and after feeling obligated to ask some questions to the the eager sales rep, I told him about my disappointment with my current Patagonia jacket. It didn't seem right to me that a jacket that expensive would break in so short of a time.
He took me downstairs to a girl more knowledgable about jacket construction, originally because he thought perhaps my jacket could be fixed for a small price. I showed her the places where the waterproof liner membrane had started to peel, and the places where water had seeped through the membrane. She told me that the jacket was becoming delaminated, which is something covered under warranty. After some research, she determined that the jacket cost $249 when it was bought three years ago. Since the style is now discontinued, she said I could then have a $249 credit toward a new jacket.
Wait, did I hear right? $249 off any new jacket? Yup, you heard right. Trade in your old jacket for $249 off a new jacket.
30 minutes later, after trying and retrying multiple jackets, I bought the Grade VI Jacket for ~$75. Wow. I asked the girl what they will now do with my old jacket, and she said they usually donate it to Goodwill or recycle it to make new jackets.
As I walked out of the store, I thought about the priceless aspects of the jacket I had just traded away, with seemingly not much thought. It dawned on me that it wasn't so priceless anymore. Sometimes, I still think about Engineer, but not to miss him and to wish him back into my life like I used to. I now think about him as another character in my past, an important character sure, but nontheless just another character.
As for these jackets that I now know I can trade in and re-trade in, these Patagonia jackets for life will always be there for me when I'm feeling mellow and want to take that minute to reminesce about the good days with the Engineer once upon a time. At all the other times, the jackets are really pretty superior when it comes to keeping me warm and dry.
Engineer bought the jacket for me for my birthday three years ago. I loved it and cherished it for more than its magical abilities to be absolutely impermeable to water--the jacket was a nostalgic reminder of Engineer, something that I could hold close to me whenever I missed him. Given that we also broke up on that same birthday (a different story for a different day), the jacket became my most valued possession. I took extra care of it and wore it very rarely.
A couple of months ago, it dawned on me that layered over a thick fleece, the jacket would actually work perfectly for winter. It completely blocks wind, rain/snow, and is extremely light and compact. Enough time had also passed that I no longer cared to keep the jacket hanging in its pristine condition, so I dug it out of my cloeset and started to wear it every day. With the start of outdoor ultimate practices, it also became my rain gear.
So imagine my surprise when I discovered that the jacket leaked in a few places. I was completely devastated, from all fronts: 1) expensive jackets like this should not break after minimal use, 2) I no longer had reliable rain gear and was freezing and wet at practice, and 3) the jacket had now just lost its functionality, which in turn nostalgically reinstated its sentimentality and made me want to cry.
On a whim, I went to the Newbury Street Patagonia store today to browse their current line of waterproof hardshells. I was the only person in the store, and after feeling obligated to ask some questions to the the eager sales rep, I told him about my disappointment with my current Patagonia jacket. It didn't seem right to me that a jacket that expensive would break in so short of a time.
He took me downstairs to a girl more knowledgable about jacket construction, originally because he thought perhaps my jacket could be fixed for a small price. I showed her the places where the waterproof liner membrane had started to peel, and the places where water had seeped through the membrane. She told me that the jacket was becoming delaminated, which is something covered under warranty. After some research, she determined that the jacket cost $249 when it was bought three years ago. Since the style is now discontinued, she said I could then have a $249 credit toward a new jacket.
Wait, did I hear right? $249 off any new jacket? Yup, you heard right. Trade in your old jacket for $249 off a new jacket.
30 minutes later, after trying and retrying multiple jackets, I bought the Grade VI Jacket for ~$75. Wow. I asked the girl what they will now do with my old jacket, and she said they usually donate it to Goodwill or recycle it to make new jackets.
As I walked out of the store, I thought about the priceless aspects of the jacket I had just traded away, with seemingly not much thought. It dawned on me that it wasn't so priceless anymore. Sometimes, I still think about Engineer, but not to miss him and to wish him back into my life like I used to. I now think about him as another character in my past, an important character sure, but nontheless just another character.
As for these jackets that I now know I can trade in and re-trade in, these Patagonia jackets for life will always be there for me when I'm feeling mellow and want to take that minute to reminesce about the good days with the Engineer once upon a time. At all the other times, the jackets are really pretty superior when it comes to keeping me warm and dry.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
the past few weeks
The problem with not posting regularly is that it quickly becomes a viscious cycle to never post ... There is so much to write about and nothing to write about all at once that sitting down to post becomes a mental block as I feel obligated to recount all the previous posts brewing in my head first before actually getting to the topic of the day. It's debillitating.
So today's going to be overcome paralysis day as I summarize the past three weeks in a list format (my college communications class taught me well):
1) Lessons learned from the other side of the interview table - We're in the middle of a hiring frenzy, with three positions open at last count. From over-qualified candidates to candidates who bomb it on interviews to inevitably making candidates wait longer than expected to hear our hiring decisions, it makes me wonder how I will ever get back into this job search thing in a year or so. Maybe I should just stay where I am after all ... they're probably not going to kick me out, so why put myself out there for people with unreasonable standards elsewhere?
2) I'm not invincible to sports injuries. I got myself some ITBS, aka a form of runner's knee. I'd never heard of it before my exhaustive google search after not being able to even walk without pain. I know knee injuries suck, and I've always said a silent prayer when I see others with knee injuries and thanked god that it wasn't me ... I just never thought I'd get a knee injury. This means staying off the ultimate fields for a while ... hmm ... good excuse to skip practice for a while.
3) Resentment builds sometimes, but I've accepted that this is just who I am, with Broadway or with anyone else. At a sushi restaurant out in the 'burbs Monday night, we both looked at each other across the table and said we weren't sure the highly rated restaurant was worth our 30 minute drive. Then Broadway said, laughingly, "Well, I think we just have high standards." This made me think, silently, resentfully, "You mean YOU have high standards." Then I thought, no wait, I do have high standards. Which then led to the thought, "But my standards have gotten higher since dating YOU." 10 seconds later of yo-yo thoughts, and I was over the whole thing. We all have things we harbor secret resentment for, but we're still golden if at the end of the day, they don't approach anything remotely fundamental. It's the big picture that counts, and the big picture is good.
So there really wasn't all that much to write about the past few weeks. Perhaps it was justified that this post was so long in coming. The life is just ... unnoteworthy.
So today's going to be overcome paralysis day as I summarize the past three weeks in a list format (my college communications class taught me well):
1) Lessons learned from the other side of the interview table - We're in the middle of a hiring frenzy, with three positions open at last count. From over-qualified candidates to candidates who bomb it on interviews to inevitably making candidates wait longer than expected to hear our hiring decisions, it makes me wonder how I will ever get back into this job search thing in a year or so. Maybe I should just stay where I am after all ... they're probably not going to kick me out, so why put myself out there for people with unreasonable standards elsewhere?
2) I'm not invincible to sports injuries. I got myself some ITBS, aka a form of runner's knee. I'd never heard of it before my exhaustive google search after not being able to even walk without pain. I know knee injuries suck, and I've always said a silent prayer when I see others with knee injuries and thanked god that it wasn't me ... I just never thought I'd get a knee injury. This means staying off the ultimate fields for a while ... hmm ... good excuse to skip practice for a while.
3) Resentment builds sometimes, but I've accepted that this is just who I am, with Broadway or with anyone else. At a sushi restaurant out in the 'burbs Monday night, we both looked at each other across the table and said we weren't sure the highly rated restaurant was worth our 30 minute drive. Then Broadway said, laughingly, "Well, I think we just have high standards." This made me think, silently, resentfully, "You mean YOU have high standards." Then I thought, no wait, I do have high standards. Which then led to the thought, "But my standards have gotten higher since dating YOU." 10 seconds later of yo-yo thoughts, and I was over the whole thing. We all have things we harbor secret resentment for, but we're still golden if at the end of the day, they don't approach anything remotely fundamental. It's the big picture that counts, and the big picture is good.
So there really wasn't all that much to write about the past few weeks. Perhaps it was justified that this post was so long in coming. The life is just ... unnoteworthy.
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