The day has finally come

No more studying! I'm officially done with it, as I took my comprehensive exam today and I am pretty sure I passed it (although I don't want to jinx it, especially since there are 2-3 weeks before I will get the results). Now I will have more time to do stuff that is actually fun, and I won't have to feel guilty spending my nights after work relaxing and watching TV (or whatever).

I didn't really sleep last night, since I made the decision to forfeit my health for my master's degree. I mean, I went to bed at 3:30 and woke up at 5:00, but I don't count that—it was more like an extended nap. It didn't help that it's hot as hell in this apartment (although I actually didn't mind that since I wanted to make sure I didn't pass out and not wake up in time for my exam). So, as you might have already figured out, I'm tired beyond belief. It's amazing that I'm actually able to move my fingers to type this out right now. I know that when I get into bed I'll be passed out within 30 seconds, no matter how hot it is in my room.

I went to Tim's rehearsal dinner tonight near Rockford. It was fun and I had a great time, I just wish I didn't have to drive through the back roads to get to I-90. On the way back I thought I took a wrong turn (which would have been understandable seeing as there are no stops, no lights, small signs, and 70 mph speeds) but thankfully I found my way back here to DeKalb. (I'm staying here to make the commute to the wedding on Saturday shorter.)

Gosh, it's 11:06? Time for bed. This is actually one night where I know I won't have any trouble going to bed "early." I can hear those ZZZZZZs now... so I'm off!

-Mark

Earliest post ever?

As I sit down to type this it's a quarter to seven in the morning. I am most definitely not a morning person, and today is no different, but since I'm up I figured I'd update you on my latest happenings. I've only got two more days of work left this week, since I will be off on Friday to take my big comprehensive exam and I have my friend Tim's wedding on Saturday. His bachelor party last weekend was a lot of fun, although I'm tired of telling everybody that no, there weren't any strippers there. :-P

Wow, I've just sat here for like 5 minutes trying to think of something interesting to type and I can't come up with anything. I'm either really boring at the moment or it's too early to be typing messages. Either way, I won't waste your time. This post really blew, apologies, but things should start getting interesting again, soon. If not, then all of you can have your money back ;-)

-Mark

Just one more day

It may be Friday evening but my work week isn't over quite yet. I have some more training tomorrow, bright and early. Hopefully it won't go too late, as I also have a bachelor party to attend for my buddy Tim, who is getting married next Saturday. That should be a fun time, for sure—Tim's quite a crazy guy, but more goofy than wild. He's a great pal and I'm happy for him and his future bride.

It's getting redundant talking about what I did at work each night, since it's pretty much the same from day to day. Today was training in Java, which you may or may not have heard of. (No, it isn't coffee...) After tomorrow I have one more week of training and then the following week begins the real work. I don't know when I'll be assigned to a project, but it probably won't be too long after that.

Now it's time for the daily "Mark sleep update." Last night I slept like a baby. I passed out not long after typing my last blog post and my eyes didn't open up until after 4 A.M. (Usually I'll wake up every 3 or 4 hours and fall right back asleep.) I had a long and really involved dream, but I don't remember any of it. Too bad...

That's it. Sorry, it was a pretty uneventful day, so there isn't much to add. It gets tougher to write these posts when I actually update regularly, I've noticed. Well anyway, it's off to bed. Take care and have a good weekend!

-Mark

I need my sleep

I probably shouldn't even be taking time to write this because I'm so exhausted, but I just love my readers so much I had to. Okay, so that excuse doesn't hold much water when I went weeks at a time without posting not too long ago, but let's just pretend for the duration of this message, okay?

As you might have guessed, I am getting more and more fatigued from my crappy sleep schedule. It was bad this morning, and it took a long time for it to wear off. Thankfully the rest of the day went well, for the most part. More SQL Server training at work today—nothing to really comment about, so I won't.

Following the conclusion of work, I joined 15 or 20 coworkers at a bar & grill in Oak Brook for drinks and some food. I had a good time and got to know some of my colleagues better. I'm surprised I didn't pass out after I had my one beer, though. I know if I drank it now I would, although at this point it wouldn't take much to knock me out.

After a wonderful traffic-free commute home (I left at 7:30 P.M.), I have done little. I wanted to study, and I needed to, but I just couldn't concentrate. Hopefully if I get more rest tonight I'll be able to get some studying done tomorrow evening. Since I am off Sunday it needs to be a big study day as well, but it's going to be tough to get anything done since I'll probably want to sleep in and I have a graduation party to attend. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

There's not too much else to report at this point, so I'll cut it short and jump in bed. Take care, everybody. Give me a hollar when you get the chance.

-Mark

In my honor

Greetings and salutations, everybody. Today marked day 3 of my new job, and it went pretty well. (Are you noticing a trend, here?) Today we did some work in groups and learned about SQL Server. Now if that doesn't blow you away then nothing will!

Yesterday I wrote, "These nights of 5-6 hours of sleep are going to kick my ass sooner or later." Well, that day came, and it was today. Actually it was just the morning—getting out of bed was really tough, and the first hour I was awake I probably resembled an extra from Night of the Living Dead. My alertness came eventually, so I think this morning was just a warning that worse times lie ahead if I don't start getting more sleep.

The drive to work today was... interesting. Instead of exiting I-290 at Route 83, I chose to take it all the way to York Road. I intended to take that down to Cermak and take Cermak to Wolf, but my plans were obliterated when I reached a stretch of York Rd. that is one way—and in the opposite direction I was going. Luckily I wasn't in a rush and I eventually found my way to St. Charles Rd. (and, from there, Wolf Rd.). It seems like every time I try out a new route something like this happens.

Tomorrow my work is having a "happy hour" at a bar and grill in Oak Brook. I will be attending for an hour, probably. I might have one drink but that's it, since the thought of making my commute home on a buzz (or worse) doesn't sound too appealing. Luckily I'm not a big drinker as it is, although there are exceptions to that rule.

Well I wasn't exactly right about the Cubs (see my last post). They managed to score 5 runs today, which is about 4 or 5 more than I expected them to. Of course, they still lost by 10 runs. It's a good thing I didn't watch the game, or else I would have probably pulled out what little hair I have left.

Just a head's up: an upcoming CBS show, The Unit, is going to be a quality television program. How do I know this? It's simple—Dennis "President Palmer" Haysbert and Scott "Noel Crane" Foley are starring in it. Oh yes, and the premise sounds intriguing too—check out that link for more info. (Speaking of Noel Crane, I sadly haven't had a chance to watch any more Felicity in the last few weeks... I miss the drama!)

(And speaking of President Palmer, I miss the Jack Bauer Power Hour. Still 7 months until the new season begins...)

So I got the new Foo Fighters album, In Your Honor, today via Amazon. It came with a sticker warning of its anti-copying technology. Being naive, I was kind of pissed and thought I got stuck with a bum CD. Of course once I tried ripping it into MP3 format I had no problems, so I guess the sticker's existence was pretty pointless. Now I had a copy on computer and my MP3 player, while the 2 discs are now resting comfortably in my CD binder (since I rarely listen to the actual CD itself). Take that, RIAA!

Well it's off to Dreamsville. See you there—but only if you're a hot chick who has a thing for guys with short hair who don't like cheese. ;-)

-Mark

Real world, day 2: traffic sucks, but my job is great!

What do we have here—3 straight days of updates to this blog? I don't think that's happened since the Macarena was en vogue. Okay, maybe it wasn't that long ago, but I think the point is made. Hopefully I will make this a habit.

So day 2 at my job was excellent, as day 1 was before it. It didn't start off the best—the Elgin O'Hare Expressway and I-290 were both congested as hell this morning and I ended up driving about 30 mph for a good stretch of them. There wasn't even an accident causing people to slow down and stare, so that's why I was so mad. Nevertheless, I actually did get to work on time—8:00 sharp. Surprisingly, however, the office was empty when I got there—none of the other newcomers had yet arrived. Even the secretary wasn't there. I waited 10 minutes and then people finally started showing up. I guess things were supposed to start up at 8:30, so I ended up being pretty early. That's definitely better than the opposite, though, so I'm not complaining.

I had more training today, first on a computer program I'll be using and then on a software development methodology. Not very exciting, I'll admit, but then again what is exciting about the field I'm in? The important thing is that I like the place I work, I'm confident I'll enjoy the actual work, and all of the employees I've met so far have been terrific. It would be hard to ask for a better situation to be in right out of college.

In other news, the Cubs won 14-0 tonight. Why do I have a feeling that they'll lose 1-0 tomorrow afternoon? No matter what happens, I won't catch the game since I'll be at work. Oh well, I suppose that's better than being able to watch the game because I'm unemployed, right?

Well it's 11:24 and I'm once again up past my bedtime. These nights of 5-6 hours of sleep are going to kick my ass sooner or later. Well whatever, my ass is tough—it'll survive!

Okay, after re-reading that last sentence, I REALLY need to go to bed, so I'm gone. Catch you again soon.

-Mark

Real world, day 1: so far, so good

I had a very good first day of work today. It was really hard falling asleep last night, probably because my body just isn't used to going to bed that early. I went and ate something because that usually makes me drowsy. I also popped in one of my Friends DVDs and set it to play all episodes on the disc, because usually I fall asleep whenever I try watching TV late at night. That combination worked, although it didn't kick in until about 1 A.M. so I only got about 5 hours of sleep.

Anyway, the training today was all about what it's like being a consultant. It was quite interesting and I think I'm really going to like my job and the company I'm working for. It looks like there is a lot of opportunity to advance my career and I think I'm going to like the work for the most part. Also, the people are all very nice. Today there were 4 new hires (including myself) from Chicago, in addition to some from Columbus (Ohio), some from Cincinnati, and some from Tallahassee (Florida). I made sure to inform the Floridian visitors of my intense dislike for their alma mater's football team (they went to FSU, while I am a Florida U. fan).

I got off of work at 2:30 today, which was great, but I have a feeling that might be the only time that happens the next two weeks (although I doubt we'll get out at 7 every evening... might be 6 or so occasionally). Tomorrow begins the technical training for my job, so we'll see how that goes. Anyway, I doubt I'll have much trouble falling asleep tonight, since I'm pretty beat and I already passed out in the living room for a little while after getting home this afternoon.

-Mark

So it begins...

So yeah, I was totally bullshitting you last time when I said there would be plentiful updates this month, wasn't I? Haha, well it was unintentional, I assure you. The explanation as to why I haven't posted much lately is because I probably spend an hour and a half each day typing messages to people I've met on MySpace, so by the time I'm through with that I just lose the will to do anymore typing. It doesn't help that things have been pretty uneventful these last few weeks. Luckily (?) that's about to change, as I enter the real world on Monday, June 13th. That begins two straight weeks of long hours (7 A.M. to 8 P.M.) and not much else, but whenever I have a few minutes and have something interesting to share, I'll stick it on this here blog. Hopefully that'll be at least a few times per week (or at least more often than you readers have gotten accustomed to as of late).

That's all for now, I just wanted to give you a quick update before I hit the hay. (Speaking of which, it's 11:30 P.M. and I'm already late for bed—how sad is that?) Anyway, have a good day and check back here for the coming adventures of Mark, super consultant.

-Mark

On to June

Yes, I know it's already been June for over a day; what I'm referring to is this blog. I did a quick count and noticed that I only made 8 posts all last month. That's pretty pathetic, I have to admit. And it's not like I just forgot about updating, I just would put it off until late at night and then be too tired to actually make an update. The fact that I'm home doesn't help, as I always updated more frequently at school. In any event, here's the first of what I hope to be many June updates.

Memorial Day weekend was fun, if somewhat uneventful. On Friday I saw Amy. We hung out at the bookstore like old times. I miss the opportunity to hang out with her more often now that school's over, though. Later that day, my older sister Laura and her fiance Mike came by and took my sister Mary, her fiance Brad, and me to dinner at Applebees. It was nice, and after we left we saw a gorgeous rainbow outside. I wish I had my camera with me at the time, for it was quite spectacular. Then we went to the Loew's Cineplex at Streets of Woodfield to go see The Longest Yard. The movie was good, exactly what I expected. It won't be winning any Oscars, but it did its job. I was supposed to go straight from there to join a couple friends in seeing Revenge of the Sith, but unfortunately the other movie was a lot longer than I expected so I missed out.

Saturday saw me going to the driving range with Mike and Chris and stinking pretty badly. I mean, I've had worse days, but I kept hitting line drives only a few feet off the ground. Oh well, it was the first time I've swung a golf club in months, so I can't get too upset. I can't wait to get back on the links, though. I have a work-sponsored outing on July 30th, but I'd like to go at least once before then—hopefully sooner rather than later. Before I do that, though, I need a new set of golf clubs, so sometime in the near future I get to pick those out. That should be fun, I've never actually bought a set of clubs before.

Sunday was... blah. Just don't even ask. Mom and Dad went to take Mary back to U of I, so I was home alone and I was bored out of my mind. I won't bore you with the details here, since there weren't any.

Monday was MUCH better than Sunday, thankfully. The weather was finally nice—in fact, it was perfect! Beautiful sunny and warm day, which made it quite the fantastic Memorial Day. I went out for coffee and miniature golfing with a friend I just met and I had a blast. Later on I played catch with my dad in the field behind our house. That was the first time we've done that since I was in elementary school, probably. Even though he didn't have much on his throws I had a good time.

On to Tuesday... I went to my company's office in Westchester and picked up some books I need to look at before I begin training on June 13th. Speaking of the training, it's from 8 AM to 7 PM each day from Monday through Saturday for two weeks. Talk about intense! I'll actually miss the last two days in order to take my big comprehensive exam for my degree and to attend Tim's wedding. I will probably be a lot of fun to be around at the reception because I'll be done with the training AND my test by that time. Tim better hope he doesn't have an open bar! :-D

Yesterday wasn't too eventful so I'll leave it out. I think you got a pretty good update out of all this anyway! Hopefully that will become the trend. (Actually, I just hope I still have readers left!)

-Mark