Always Listen to Grandma

I've now got some other things brewing in addition to the search for a new job. If nothing else, it's a mildly entertaining diversion from the otherwise daily doldrums.

My parents called the other day and mentioned that my soon-to-be 90 year old grandmother in Ohio said she's already made up her mind for whom she'll vote come November. "McCain...?" I uttered with little excitement. "Nope, she's for Obama. Says this country needs a change." Sure surprised me a bit. Go Grandma!

I left our office the other day during lunch (interview) and when I came back, the place was dark. We had lost power! Two people even got stuck in the elevator. Keep in mind we only have two floors. Good lord. The fire department had to come and get them out. Power was restored in the building after an hour or so, but it served as a pretty good excuse for everyone to stand around and waste time, even though many could still work using their laptops. You'll be happy to know that I wasn't standing around conversing. I was much too busy surfing the web at my desk.

Wait a minute - Did someone just mention something about being rescued by firemen...? Sigh.

"Try Flatmate Meetup. It's kind of like speed-dating, but if things go well, you sleep in separate beds." Haha. Love it.

Sleep? Where are you?

Well, I survived the Olympic games. Got all of the gymnastics recorded and am in the process of editing and burning the HD files. The two weeks of late nights left me quite a sleep-deprived little boy, but it was exciting, too. I'm still dragging and feeling like I have yet to catch up on sleep, but that's OK for now. I just keep thinking "maybe tonight I'll go to bed extra early." Never happens.

The job search is on. Well, kinda. I've already been doing some interviewing. As it stands, either I find a job in the city and relocate there for at least the next two years, or I stay with my current company for another year and then consider leaving the area. It appears that my boss is also looking for a new position. As I was chatting with him in his office yesterday, I picked up some buried papers on his desk and it contained handwritten notes regarding positions at other companies. At first I didn't know what it was, but after I read aloud "J.P. Morgan Chase...?" he quickly grabbed it from me and got all embarrassed. Oops. I guess I love to cause trouble. Part of me now wants to beat him in finding a new position. Of course, he doesn't know that I'm also looking, although I'm sure he wouldn't be surprised to find out.

Occasionally I browse through rooms in the city online just to get an idea of what's available. The following ad caught my attention today because it listed the cross streets of the place I moved into 4 years ago when I came to Chicago to look for a job. That's when I moved in with Jeremy. Well... when I opened the link to the ad, my first thought after seeing the pictures was "Ick, not very nice." Then I was like "This place seems kinda familiar." Then I saw the Jesus picture on the wall and my jaw dropped to the floor. That's my old room!! It's pretty funny to see it advertised online, once again in need of a new inhabitant. I only lived there for three short months, but I definitely had a good time and have some good memories. And to think that after all these years and how many different people, Jesus is still keeping a watch over the room. As you can see from the following pic, I had a very close bond with him back then...

Hell, maybe this is my chance to recreate the magic of 4 years ago... ;-)

Hello Again

Aww, "Hello Again" is a fantastic Neil Diamond song. Gotta love those piano ballads! OK now I have to find it and listen to it.

So yea, I'm back... at least for today. We never know what tomorrow may bring. Well, a rude awakening via the alarm clock is pretty much always a sure bet. Actually, not tomorrow. Tomorrow is Sunday, people.

I came across an entry which I had completed back in November after relocating but never posted online. It was never really finished, but it got to be too long as it was. Anyway, it wraps up the trip home and is sure to bring closure to all, so I figured I'll just fool everyone by backdating it. Now if I could only explain the large gap between December and July... err, typhoid fever?

It's amazing to me that I've been home exactly nine months now. My new position here in the States is OK, but seems to be void of substance. I just find it silly that I have to ask my boss several times a week if there is anything for me to do. What's worse is being given "busy work" for when he takes an afternoon off. What is this - 5th grade? Ultimately I'm lacking responsibilities and instead receive minor tasks as if I'm some kind of intern. Additionally, I still haven't bonded too well with the new coworkers. Of course, it didn't help when the only conversation topics they chose to discuss with me for the first 5 months centered on their misguided perceptions that I neither talk nor eat. It doesn't take long for those "jokes" to get old. So I pretty much do my own thing and leave it at that.

In keeping with the prevailing ongoing tradition, this past winter was less tolerable (or more intolerable) than the last and this is yet another factor leading me to believe some big changes are in store for 2009. Some initial plans have been drawn up, so we'll see what I can come up with. As always, stay tuned, keep a camera handy, and vote Democrat.

To sum up the year and bring everyone to the here and now:
January: Too much work - late nights and weekends. And brrrr.
February: Still brrrr.
March: My parents and two brothers visited for Easter weekend. I even tackled a big Easter dinner. That's a first! And we drove over and saw the Home Alone house (pic follows)

April: Is it warmer yet?
May: Fun Vegas getaway with Dean, Nick & Chris. And Cher! Highlight of the year so far.

June: My birthday - great night out. Chicago Pride. Friends visiting on weekends.

July: Fireworks on the 4th at Navy Pier. George Michael's farewell tour.


After more friends visiting in July, I was definitely ready for a break. And just when I was given one, I got sick. Fun. I'm nearing the tail end of that, thankfully. I've got a couple more weeks free and then my parents are in town again.

I plan to pop in here more regularly now. I mean, someone needs to report on all the little oddball moments of everyday life in the Chicago burbs. It may as well be me!

Relo-Wrap-Up

It's been an eventful past month and things are finally settling down. I have no idea how I'll catch up in writing about it, but I'll keep it short where possible and do my best.

I managed to get the apartment in Germany cleared out. In fact, I did too good of a job because it turns out a couple of the items belonged to the owner. Oops. I really thought they were left by the previous tenant and that it was now my responsibility to get rid of them, as they weren't on the original inventory list for the apartment either. Oh well. I'm still waiting to see how forgiving he'll be when he returns my deposit (or rather a portion thereof).

The morning of the flight home was hectic to say the least. I slowly realized I didn't leave nearly enough time to get to the airport. And we were in rush-hour traffic, so I just didn't plan ahead very well at all. I got to the airport in Stuttgart about 45 minutes before the flight was to depart and then freaked at the long line for check-in. After waiting it out, they looked at me oddly and told me I needed to go to the Lufthansa counter. By the time I got to the Lufthansa area - and the end of another long line, I only had 20 minutes until the flight was to leave, so I had no chance. Then, a minor miracle. An early Christmas present. A sign of love from my higher power. I looked up at the departing flight board again and my flight had suddenly been delayed by 30 minutes! I grabbed an attendant and was taken to the front of the line amid snickers from some of the others in line. Ha. After getting there, they checked me in to the extent possible, but said I had to go to another counter first (back in the other terminal, of course) to sign for something and get the boarding pass. My company had arranged for some special ticket, blah blah, and I wasn't happy about it. It was a wild morning running around the airport stressed out, but amazingly I caught my flight to Frankfurt.

My flight on Air India from Frankfurt to Chicago was glorious. And I was only one red dot and a head scarf away from fitting in with everyone else. It was the biggest plane I've been on, as well as the emptiest. Basically everyone had a whole row to themselves and was able to lie down. I gobbled up two bags of snacks they gave me. But since we were so empty, they went through snack service so quickly that they started right up with the meal. So I kept eating and eating - and all the food was tasty and new to me - and I was stuffed. Got a tummy ache so it was good I was able to lie down. The next best part was when the stewardess was passing out customs forms before landing. She was going through the aisles asking people whether they were US citizens or not, and handing them the appropriate form. Then she gets to me, doesn't say a word, hands me a US citizen form and continues asking everyone else. Ha. I could have been Canadian. Or German.

Update 7/19/2008: So I made it to Chicago, bought a car, moved into a house, started the job, blah blah :-)

Bye Bye Deutschland

So things are winding down. My last day of work on Friday was really weird. A little sad.

The weekend was focused on getting rid of my final furniture and clearing out the apartment. The sofa was picked up on Saturday, leaving me to sleep on the floor Saturday and Sunday nights. Not entirely keen on doing that again in the near future. Or ever again. I'm sleeping in a hotel from Monday until Thursday's departure.

Today was busy busy. After sleeping at the hotel, I had to be back at my apartment by 7am because the moving company was to arrive between 7 and 8am. UGH. So they came and packed everything up. As they were doing that, I was in the kitchen opening and pouring out a bunch of beer bottles. Twelve in all. I wouldn't be drinking them and wanted to get the deposit back. These guys probably saw me and almost had a heart attack. Beer down the drain... Sacrilegious. Anyway, the big weigh-in moment: 160 kilo, so I'm in line with my allowance of 200. I, on the other hand, weighed in at a hefty 58 kilo. Err... Diet starts Monday!

Continued cleaning the apartment and hauling out lots of trash. I also de-registered at city hall, where a favorite German past-time presented itself once again in the presence of an American. That just means that I was asked about U.S. politics and Bush's departure and Hillary's chances and hopefully the end of war and less killing and all that. I agree. But let's not talk politics. Then I went to the bank to arrange how my account would be closed. After leaving and heading back to the bus stop, a cute little gray cat with big yellow eyes peeks his head around the corner. He brought a smile to my face. I continued to the bus stop, and as I was looking back, I saw the cat heading toward the street. I froze and could only repeat to myself "No, no no." He made a run for it and a car got him. It was so sad. Boom - life gone. Some lady picked him up and removed him from the road.

I hand over the keys to the apartment tomorrow at 2pm. Not sure what I'll be doing the rest of that afternoon and evening... the final one in Germany.

Leaving and saying good-bye to people has been a very humbling and emotional experience. I'm continuously caught off guard by all the compliments that people have given me. I just never expect it. If nothing else, maybe it's minor validation that I'm doing something right in life, as I seem to have made a positive impact on many people - more so than I ever imagined. It makes me sad to leave. I grabbed a small pizza in the Aldi store around my house to throw in the oven this evening for dinner, and my favorite cashier was working. As I've always paid with my debit card - but today had cash because the bank forced me to turn my card in earlier - she said surprisingly "You're paying with cash today?!?" I'm shocked that others remember me or little things like that. We had a nice little chat and I told her I'm leaving for good. She didn't even know I was American but said I was always so friendly and she'll miss my smiling face. The funny thing is, she was that same person to me, and I'd always choose her checkout line when she was working. I don't know, I guess I always thought I did a lot of things anonymously in life, not really mattering or being noticed by others, but the fact is that people do take notice and we all have effects on others, even in something so trivial as grocery shopping. That's the lesson to which I was reintroduced over the past week.

I leave with a bit of a heavy heart, but I take a lot of memories, friendships, and life lessons with me. I plan to hold on to all of these.

How Rude!

The realtor office responsible for renting out my apartment sent over a lady yesterday evening to take pictures. She seemed nice and all. I even offered her something to drink but she declined. So she snapped some pics of the living room, the little balcony, the bathroom, the toilet, and the bedroom. Then she went to take one of the kitchen and realized her camera memory card was full. Then she shrugs and mutters, "Oh well, the kitchen isn't that pretty anyway." Umm...hello. It may not be the most beautiful kitchen in the world, and I may not have been involved in its conception or design, but it IS my kitchen at the moment, and it functions just dandy, so DON'T DISS the KITCH, BITCH. Naa, I'm not that mean. But I did find her statement to be a bit of a cheap shot, and I was happy to show her the door shortly thereafter. The fact that she went tumbling down the stairwell certainly had nothing to do with me giving her that gentle tap on the back for a job well done.

Final memories of Germany... What fun!

One more office day :-)

The Final Countdown

I'm in the midst of a little phase I like to refer to as "Honey, where's the Prozac?"

Office life has been crazy as ever. Lots of reporting deadlines these days. For some ungodly reason I have to be a part of every and any telecon with the US. As if I'm from there or something. The most interesting recent event was the realization that one of our contacts in another department suddenly had a new last name. So she got married, you're thinking to yourself... Well let me inform you that it was a man. His email address was still the same, but his last name on the account had completely changed. If nothing else, it provided a fun little diversion from the daily grind. And it was all the more interesting because I had gotten a fairly strong "friend of Dorothy" vibe from dealings with him in the past. My fellow trainee then had a chat with him on the phone and it was confirmed that he had gotten married...to a woman. Maybe she's got a penis. I don't really know.

The clock is ticking at this end… No, not the biological one. Although that one is making some funny noises as well. I have one more week in the office and then vacation (ie. relocation) through the rest of the month. I'll be flying to Chicago from here on October 18th.

I spent much of the past week spazzing out, realizing that I have to find a way to get rid of all my furniture before moving out. So I've been busy placing ads on eBay as well as some local sites, and I've had a lot of success within the past week. Not to mention, it's been a very international sale. My Hungarian coworkers bought my large candleholders, an Argentinien couple stopped by to look at my bed, a Polish couple purchased, dismantled and hauled away my large armoire in the bedroom, a German coworker purchased and took my table and bar stools to the Netherlands, and an Iraqi man purchased my entertainment center and shelves, large painting, another table, and the armoire in the front entrance. So I feel a LOT better about things and the place is emptying out. The only items left to sell are my bed and the sofa. The sofa is set to sell on eBay tomorrow. I've received two bids already, but as of right now, an additional 46 people are watching the auction! Will be interesting to see if they make some noise around auction closing time. All I really care about is if someone picks it up within the next week and a half. And if they're hot, then all the better.

(Update: The bed just sold and will be picked up in 2 hours. Looks like I'll be sleeping on the couch tonight... Just call me Bill Clinton.)

We had Wednesday off of work for Reunification Day here in Germany. YAY for reunifications. Ya'll sing with me now - "Reunited and it feels so good..."

On Tuesday evening, the landlords (old couple) and the guy they hired to find new renters were here looking at the place. I hadn't seen the landlords in two years, which was back before I moved in. The lady was very chipper and chatty with me. She said she had hoped I would have gained some weight within the past couple of years. Ha. Guess I disappointed in that regard. I should have told her that I wasn't able to afford food due to the high rent.

Basically my mind's been going a mile a minute trying to get anything and everything planned, not to mention beginning the search for living arrangements, a car, etc. in the Chicago area. I'll be in a hotel upon arrival at any rate.

To say there's a lot going on at the moment would be the understatement of the year - at least on this side of the Mississippi. But it's really an exciting time and I couldn't be more ready (well, almost) to wrap life up at this end and resume it in Chicago...

...BIGGER and BETTER.