New Verona Campus

Andromeda in construction 

Again since I have nothing planned for today, I decide to venture to our new campus once again. Last time I went there, I tried going in through the wrong door (which leads to the not-yet-complete Building 6, Ganymede) and wasn't very sucessful. This time, I made sure I followed through the arrows posted along the garage door (they were there the last time too). Aha - I finally set foot on the new campus, Building 2 to be exact.

The construction wasn't fully done yet - obvious by the look of the block-off main staircase. Howeever, I was impressed. Neat building design and offices. Building 2's theme i think is Scandinavian, and the offices uses birch wood for doors and decor. Birch - my favorite!!! Part of the corridor is hard-wood instead of carpeted as well. Totally love it. Unfortunately, this won't be my team building.

While wondering around, I noticed some funny name for our conference rooms. One of the bigger ones was named LegoLand. We also have conference rooms named Ikea and Nokia - how did they know my favorite brands...heeheeheehee... I also got into Building 4 as well. However, I still like Buiding 2 better.

The picture in the post is taken outside of Building 2. It is a shot of Building 1 - Andromeda. If things go as planned, it should be home to the Web team by Nov/Dec. Can't wait to move to my new office. =)

Customer Call

I did my first customer demo today. Technically speaking it's not a demo, but more like a FAQ section. But still, I got to show some of the stuff using MS's Live Meeting so to me, it's very much like a demo.

Besides talking to the customer part, it was quite fun. I've participated in couple Live Meeting demo before, but mainly as an attendee. This time, I got to be the presenter. Kind of nervous beforehand because I've never did anything like this before and I really didn't have much time preparing. Luckily, I think it turned out okay. From what I heard, the customer felt a bit better about what they can do with the product and how to proceed. I guess it's a mission accomplished!

Weird Call

This afternoon I got a call from this company. Normally it was the other way around where I called up those companies that I've sent resumes to and asks for my application status. This is my first call from an employment agency. Wow!

Of course, I don't have any plans to switch job - yet, but it's still a bit weird getting such a call. I mean, I haven't update any of my online resumes ever since I started working here so I am sure whatever information they used must be dated a while back. In addition, in the phone call, the caller mentioned that they matched my skills (C# .NET) with a company at Madison, WI. Yup - you heard me right - the very same town I am working at right now. I wonder if they even konw that (I'd assume that they still think I lived in Chicago because that's the address i listed on my resume). It would be funny if their clients is actually Epic but I doubt that's the case - I know what my company's looking for in terms of new hires, plus with the number of applications we are getting, it really doesn't need an outside employment agency.

Regardless, the call made me feel good in certain sense knowing that resume can still land me potential interviews. Heeheehee.

P.S. Probably need to update my resume some time - Again, I am quite satisfy with my current job, but you never know. Better be prepared! =)

No Title

Hey I can't come up with a good title for my post so I am just going to use the most obvious title - No Title - How creative...XC===

Anyway, deadline is over (until December that is) so things "should" ease up a bit. Finally got some time to think about the bigger picture instead of focusing on getting things done.

Went down to Chicago today to visit my grandma. She was hospitalized the week before for nose bleed. They couldn't figure out why but suspected that the medications she was taking was making her blood vessel thinner (or thicker - can't remember which) which can contribute to the non-stop bleeding. They have the oxygen machine in her home right now and has set up nurse home visit. Somehow she looks much thinner than the last time I saw her. Hope everything will be okay with her la.

The trip itself was brief and routine. Met with my brother, his gf and my cousin. Dim Sum at Chinatown, visit grandma and then IKEA. Pretty much a routine Chicago trip for me. Unfortunately Vicky was busy today so I can't meet up with her. I figure I need to go out to Chicago again next month anyway for a haircut so we can probably meet then. No luck with Peter as well. Oh well, I guess Nov as well for Peter then.

Eric dropped me an offline icq message this morning as well. By morning I meant 5:30 IN THE MORNING! He must be working morning shift today. Heeheehee... Replied to his message before I took off but haven't heard back yet. Usual Eric style. Hahaha~

That pretty much rounded up everything~

Busy week ahead

I has been a while since I stayed at working past midnight. By the time I got into my car this evening, it was almost 2:00a.m. I think I will take an extra hour to recoup tomorrow.

Unfortunately, I expected tomorrow and Wednesday's night to be pretty much the same - if not worse that is - since the deadline is Thursday morning at 8. Normally the whole day Thurday would be for me to do nothing but sit in the office and relax. However, I have a FULL day meeting from 8:30 - 5 on Thurday. Really, people should be banned from scheduling meetings on the day of deadlines. Sigh~

On a totally unrelated note, the jackpot for PowerBall has increased to $340M. I've heard that it the largest amount of money if won by a single ticket. I figure even if I take a lump sum and after IRS, I'd still have around $100M or so... *Obviously time for bed*

Pilgrimage

pil·grim·age Pronunciation Key (plgr-mj) n.

1. A journey to a sacred place or shrine.
2. A long journey or search, especially one of exalted purpose or moral significance

Haven't been back to Purdue for a long time - I can't even remember when was the last time I was back. I'll see if I can at least go back once by the end of this year. With the raising gas price, it will be a rather expensive trip for me. However, I think it will be worth it. I so need to submerge myself in "Purdue's atmosphere". I mean, even though Madison is another Big 10 college town, but it just doesn't give me the same feeling as West Lafayette.

Time to give Eric a call to start planning ---

No mood

Recently I don't have much mood to do anything. There were a few occassions where I would want to blog something like but just don't have the heart to log in and start writing. Maybe Google needs to develop something that can automatically translate your thoughts in text and post it to your blog. I could definitely use it one of these days.

The Release Cycle for next year was released (release cycle...released...heeheehee) earlier this month (wait, or was it the end of last month? Whatsoever...) This means I can start planning my vacation (or more like dreaming about it) next year. Right now, I am looking at either a March/April or November/December departure date. The Nov/Dec slot is edging out a bit - simply because I am planning to take a vacation starting Thanksgiving till New Year. By the end of next year, I will have 7 days that I carry this year, plus the 15 days I get normally, plus Jan 1 and Dec 25. A grand total of 24 days - just shy of 5 weeks. However if I indeed go back home starting November, I'll probably have to take a couple unpaid days as well since it'll be a 5 or 6 weeks vacation.

Vacation - damn...I could so much use a vacation now. Sigh!

I Blog Search

It's so much funny digging up various blogs from the blogosphere. Though it's also a bit interesting/scary finding out blogs from your co-workers (I haven't met them in person but I know they work in the same company as I do).

I found out that people from HK tend to use MSN Space more while those from the States uses LiveJournal/Blogger. Of course Blogger is still my preferred Blog Provider (OK... I totally made this term up - but what do you call companies such as Blogger and LJ??) and I think it beat down the others. However, I do have to complain that there seems to be a lot of maintainance going on with the site recently. I think I've encounter this problem twice already since Sunday. I was hoping to blog something only to find that the site is down.

Now I can blame Blogger for the lack of updates on my blog. Wakakakaka...

(Another pointless post - but what the heck!)

Upcoming in the next couple months

I will most likely be moving into a new apartment by the end of this year or early next year (since my lease runs out on 12/31). To be honest, I really don't have many complaints with my apartment nor the management company (except for the fact that I got 3 warning letters last year. Though I think who ever complaint moved out already. Ha!) The rent is reasonable for a loft and it's only a 10-15 minutes commute to work.

That being said, I am kinda getting bored of this place. I've never stayed at the same apartment for more than a year. Cary Quad (theoretically speaking it's a dorm) - 1 year; Waldron - 1 year; Marsteller - 1 year; GreenBush - 1 year; Jefferson Commons - 1 year; Hawkins - 1 year. See what I mean? It's amazing that I've been living here for close to 2 years already.

In addition, the more pressing reason is that I will be moving to our brand new campus in Verona in Nov/Dec (Yippee!). Hence the commute will be a bit longer than I like. I am thinking of getting an apartment either in Verona or Fitchburg area. On the totally opposite spectrum, I also thought about moving to the downtown/campus area. Living close to the UW campus has always been an intriguing idea to me. I think Vicky had it right when she said that you can only live in/close to the downtown area for certain interval of time in your life. Once you past that stage, it will become too exhausting and out-of-place. But of course, the biggest drawback is the higher rent and the way longer commute. Um... at least I'll have another 2 months or so to hunt for my next dream apartment.

Also 2 more deadlines before Christmas - I sooooooooo need a vacation.

September in Retrospective

It was definitely a busy month. All gears are rolling in terms of project developments - I have approx. 5 projects or so planned for this phase. On top of that was our annual User Group Meeting, where my company invites all its customers to come to Madison to share their thoughts and experiences. Each team has its own "meeting" with the customers using it - just to demo new features and showcase new developments that are forthcoming. Preparing for the demo definitely took quite some number of hours. My application is definitely not a complex one to demo - but tweaking the system to highlight the new features within certain time frame is surely a tricky task. Luckily, I am not the one doing the demo as I always tell others - "One of the main reasons I am a developer is that I can't deal with other people." =)

UGM itself is pretty fun - yet exhausting. The theme this year is Mystery in the Midwest. We do a short play during the General Session based on the theme that hightlight how our products get used within a healthcare organization. (Previously themes include Lord of the Rings and Superheros). However, I have to say that I was a bit disappointed by this year's script. Come on, bring back the Charge Router Man at least. (giggles) The UGM's General Session (first day) is also the only time in the whole year where we are required to dress up (business formal). Goodie - I got to try out my new suit that I had custom made earlier in HK. The sessions throughout the 3-day conference started from 8 and lasted till 5:30 - meaning I have to get up by 6:30 latest if I want to be on time. Sigh - don't they know I don't normally get up until 8? However, they do have Hagan Dazz ice-cream bars for snack on the first day - which almost made me forget about the 8 o'clock thing...almost.

Back to the Blog World

It's been a while - let see how this wave goes~