Matt and I went back to Michigan together this past weekend for the Thanksgiving holiday. We went to Owosso Wednesday - Friday and Grosse Pointe Friday - Sunday. Wednesday night, mom and dad met us at the airport to give us a car (Ted style) so that we could get to all the places we needed to get to. We went out with a lot of Matt's friends on Wednesday night in Owosso which I thought was really fun, man do I miss Michigan bars being in DC where the drink "specials" are $10 pitchers of bud light during football games. In fact, that is the only time you can even get pitchers in DC that I've really found, so that was a welcome treat :).
Thursday, we celebrated Thanksgiving at Matt's house with 34, that's right, 34 members of Matt's family. I can not even come up with 34 member's of our family. Mom and Dad's side combined (including the canadian second cousins) gives only 32 and that is including EVERYONE I can think of (okay, not everyone because I'm not including the wilma contingent because we've really never celebrated any holiday with them). These 34 relatives of Matt's were all first cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents so not even second cousins or great aunts and uncles and it didn't include everyone. It was both sides of the family all in one place, which I don't think our family has ever done but I thought was cool! Matt's mom went all out with planning stuff, there was tons and tons of food and some games such as "name the beanie baby." I made the apple dip that Sara made at Tgiving last year and it was a big hit so I was happy. Most of the family members I met were all saying they were excited to finally meet me and that had heard a lot of good things about me, which is good so I was happy about that. All in all it was really fun.
Friday we made it over to Grosse Pointe and had a good time hanging out with the fam. Mom made another thanksgiving dinner so after that we were stuffed!! So much food in 24 hours!! We did a lot of relaxing and tv/movie watching. Saturday we went bowling and I have to say, our family is good at bowling. Dad had a 207 in the first game and Matt smoked the competition in the second game with a 190 and the average for our family was over 100 for everyone. Saturday night I went out with a few friends to a bar in St. Clair Shores and it was really nice to see everyone again and catch up. The visit went by really fast though and before I knew it, we were back at the airport leaving Michigan...again. We both had delays, Matt's were worse than mine though. All in all though, I think it was a great weekend and visit. Can't wait to see the family we missed for Christmas!!
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Where the heck have I been this month??
I have no idea how it is December already and I'm not going to keep making promises that I obviously can not keep, therefore I make no more guarantees about blog post frequency, but I promise to TRY to post approximately once every one to two weeks (hopefully more).
I'll start with an update about work. Work is still going well, I have not been fired yet! I have now been working at the patent office for 4 months so I am officially half way through the patent training academy. We had a slight lull in lecture frequency for a few biweeks, however we are now starting to have more frequent lectures because we are starting to review for our proficiency exam in February. Now, I thought that this test was something that sort of decided if we got to keep our job, but I've more recently found out that it is more just a gauge of where we are and they would like us to get around an 80%, but I don't think anything too terrible will happen if someone doesn't get an 80%. I guess this is the test that they have you take when you become a grade 12 examiner. (I am a 7, 12 is three grades above me. Don't ask me about how they came up with the numbering, you go from 7 to 9 to 11 to 12, after 12 they stop skipping numbers up to 15. After 15, you are in a different category of federal employment and you are a big wig when you get there.) When you take the test to become a 12, I think you can only get one question out of fifty wrong, so they expect alot more than they do of a 7, but I guess it is there to give you a starting point.
In January, I will move out of my training room and into my official office, which will be exciting and a little sad. My training room is a large room with several windows (see picture below) and 14 other people, we have all become pretty good friends so it will be sad to not be in the same room as them every day (although in all honestly I'll probably get more work done) but we will all be within a few floors of eachother in the same building. My new office will be on the inside of the building, so there will not be a window, and I will have one office mate, who may or may not be a new examiner like me, or they could be a few years in to the job, it just depends on where they have space. I will actually be working in close proximity to others in my art unit (which to remind people is radiation and magnetic therapy and cardiovascular testing) which means when I have specific questions about my cases, I won't have to trek over to another building to talk to my supervisor or the experts in my area. It will be an interesting change, having to meet new people all over again. The nice thing is that after I move, I will still have two months of training, meaning I will still have two more months to get up to 100% of my production goals and I will still report to my trainer rather than my supervisor in the art unit, so not everything will change at once.
View of the whole room, we have two "corridors" this one on the left is next to the windows, my cubical is off of the other "corridor" on the right toward the back
Me working hard at my desk :)
My desk, it's not too messy, but not too neat, just how I like it. And yes, that is a drawing of the little mermaid on my wall, I drew it before Matt and I went to the show and actually really liked it so I kept it :)
That is enough about work, I managed to make it up to Jersey 3 times in November, which is more than normal, but was very welcome! I drove for the first time and had pretty good experiences so I think I'll stick with driving as my go to mode of transportation for the time being. The night of halloween (which was a Friday) I decided I wanted to see Matt so I called him and said I was driving up there the next day, even though I could only stay for a one night trip. That went really well with driving and was a nice trip even though it was quick. I drove up there again the next week for a regularly scheduled visit. Then two weeks later I went up there again for Matt's and my two year anniversary, which happens to coincide with the Michigan - Ohio State football game. We went to the bar to watch with one of Matt's friends from work and I think we all know how that went so we don't really need to talk about it more.
About driving: from my place in Alexandria, to Matt's place in River Edge, it is 244 miles taking the most direct path. However, that path includes like 50 toll roads and I HATE toll roads!! So, I google mapped a route avoidind all toll roads that adds about 4o miles to the trip and makes it about 45 minutes to an hour longer (according to google). The trip takes you mostly through Pennsylvania, rather than New Jersey. I was worried that avoiding toll roads would put me on little podunk (sp?) dirt roads in the middle of nowhere, however, only about 20 miles of the trip is on a road that does not feel like an interstate. That part actually has stop lights and is only a two lane highway, but I think over all the route is pretty good. I also usually drive up on Friday mornings so I avoid all traffic and I can make the trip in exactly 5 hours, which I honestly think is the best time I could make taking the toll route anyway because I think it has more traffic.
This past weekend, I was back in Michigan for Thanksgiving and had a great time, but that will be discussed more in my next post.
Again, I'm sorry for being so lazy this month!
I'll start with an update about work. Work is still going well, I have not been fired yet! I have now been working at the patent office for 4 months so I am officially half way through the patent training academy. We had a slight lull in lecture frequency for a few biweeks, however we are now starting to have more frequent lectures because we are starting to review for our proficiency exam in February. Now, I thought that this test was something that sort of decided if we got to keep our job, but I've more recently found out that it is more just a gauge of where we are and they would like us to get around an 80%, but I don't think anything too terrible will happen if someone doesn't get an 80%. I guess this is the test that they have you take when you become a grade 12 examiner. (I am a 7, 12 is three grades above me. Don't ask me about how they came up with the numbering, you go from 7 to 9 to 11 to 12, after 12 they stop skipping numbers up to 15. After 15, you are in a different category of federal employment and you are a big wig when you get there.) When you take the test to become a 12, I think you can only get one question out of fifty wrong, so they expect alot more than they do of a 7, but I guess it is there to give you a starting point.
In January, I will move out of my training room and into my official office, which will be exciting and a little sad. My training room is a large room with several windows (see picture below) and 14 other people, we have all become pretty good friends so it will be sad to not be in the same room as them every day (although in all honestly I'll probably get more work done) but we will all be within a few floors of eachother in the same building. My new office will be on the inside of the building, so there will not be a window, and I will have one office mate, who may or may not be a new examiner like me, or they could be a few years in to the job, it just depends on where they have space. I will actually be working in close proximity to others in my art unit (which to remind people is radiation and magnetic therapy and cardiovascular testing) which means when I have specific questions about my cases, I won't have to trek over to another building to talk to my supervisor or the experts in my area. It will be an interesting change, having to meet new people all over again. The nice thing is that after I move, I will still have two months of training, meaning I will still have two more months to get up to 100% of my production goals and I will still report to my trainer rather than my supervisor in the art unit, so not everything will change at once.
View of the whole room, we have two "corridors" this one on the left is next to the windows, my cubical is off of the other "corridor" on the right toward the back
Me working hard at my desk :)
My desk, it's not too messy, but not too neat, just how I like it. And yes, that is a drawing of the little mermaid on my wall, I drew it before Matt and I went to the show and actually really liked it so I kept it :)That is enough about work, I managed to make it up to Jersey 3 times in November, which is more than normal, but was very welcome! I drove for the first time and had pretty good experiences so I think I'll stick with driving as my go to mode of transportation for the time being. The night of halloween (which was a Friday) I decided I wanted to see Matt so I called him and said I was driving up there the next day, even though I could only stay for a one night trip. That went really well with driving and was a nice trip even though it was quick. I drove up there again the next week for a regularly scheduled visit. Then two weeks later I went up there again for Matt's and my two year anniversary, which happens to coincide with the Michigan - Ohio State football game. We went to the bar to watch with one of Matt's friends from work and I think we all know how that went so we don't really need to talk about it more.
About driving: from my place in Alexandria, to Matt's place in River Edge, it is 244 miles taking the most direct path. However, that path includes like 50 toll roads and I HATE toll roads!! So, I google mapped a route avoidind all toll roads that adds about 4o miles to the trip and makes it about 45 minutes to an hour longer (according to google). The trip takes you mostly through Pennsylvania, rather than New Jersey. I was worried that avoiding toll roads would put me on little podunk (sp?) dirt roads in the middle of nowhere, however, only about 20 miles of the trip is on a road that does not feel like an interstate. That part actually has stop lights and is only a two lane highway, but I think over all the route is pretty good. I also usually drive up on Friday mornings so I avoid all traffic and I can make the trip in exactly 5 hours, which I honestly think is the best time I could make taking the toll route anyway because I think it has more traffic.
This past weekend, I was back in Michigan for Thanksgiving and had a great time, but that will be discussed more in my next post.
Again, I'm sorry for being so lazy this month!
Friday, November 14, 2008
Update
Just an fyi, I haven't forgotten about the blog, it's just that nothing interesting has happened in my life recently :) Sorry
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
We know how to have a good time at the USPTO
(I added two posts today so make sure to check out both!)
Today at work we had an ice cream social/pumpkin carving contest (which is sort of weird because Ted and Sara just posted pictures from a pumpkin carving party they had this weekend as well). I am on the "social committee" for my training class at the pto. We decided to have a pumpkin carving contest at work and then have everyone in the class (about 70 people) judge the pumpkins. Each lab (14 people) was given a pumpkin and had to plan what they were gonna do with it and then were given 30 minutes to do the carving.
They turned out pretty good for the most part, here's how they look:
I have no idea what the theme of this one was, it has a sun on this side, and the other side had the travelocity gnome (which i think was actually a witch but they were trying to be funny when they described it) and a unicorn...
Black Cat
Tiki pumpkin, this was my favorite one
Joker from Dark knight, this was my lab's pumpkin. It actually looked exactly like Heath Ledger in our pattern, but not so much on the pumpkin. We brought in a dremel tool to create our design (we didn't actually carve out holes) and people kept saying it was really obvious we were from Technology Center 3700, which is mechanical engineering...I guess they were right about that.
We don't find out the winner until tomorrow, but I think it will be hands down lab 4.
Maybe this is why we have a backlog of a million patents...
Today at work we had an ice cream social/pumpkin carving contest (which is sort of weird because Ted and Sara just posted pictures from a pumpkin carving party they had this weekend as well). I am on the "social committee" for my training class at the pto. We decided to have a pumpkin carving contest at work and then have everyone in the class (about 70 people) judge the pumpkins. Each lab (14 people) was given a pumpkin and had to plan what they were gonna do with it and then were given 30 minutes to do the carving.
They turned out pretty good for the most part, here's how they look:
This one is Bowser (which actually is a lot easier to tell in the picture than it was in person)
I have no idea what the theme of this one was, it has a sun on this side, and the other side had the travelocity gnome (which i think was actually a witch but they were trying to be funny when they described it) and a unicorn...
Black Cat
Tiki pumpkin, this was my favorite one
Joker from Dark knight, this was my lab's pumpkin. It actually looked exactly like Heath Ledger in our pattern, but not so much on the pumpkin. We brought in a dremel tool to create our design (we didn't actually carve out holes) and people kept saying it was really obvious we were from Technology Center 3700, which is mechanical engineering...I guess they were right about that.
Maybe this is why we have a backlog of a million patents...
There's no place like home...part deux
Well, at least I made it to one of the wins we had this season. I went back to Ann Arbor again this past weekend for the Michigan State game. It didn't go quite as well as last time as far as the game was concerned, however it was a much bigger turnout of college friends this time so that made up for it. I didn't even take pictures at the game, but I took a bunch before so here are some for people to enjoy:
So, there was this tent set up by an ann arbor leasing agency that was giving out free hot chocolate and hot dogs and stuff. Matt and Tommy left to get some hot chocolate and this is what they looked like when they came back. Apparently they had some football target throwing game and these were the prizes they won.
A little bit closer up view of Matt and his sweet sunglasses that ended up dying his skin orange
Me and Emily, my former peer advising buddy who doesn't go to Michigan or live in Michigan anymore but still has season tickets...I am jealous
Me with Katelyn, Steve, and Emily, all former peer advisors and pretty awesome people. For those of you who do not know, Steve is the person that introduced me to Matt, they were housemates the summer we were peer advisors (and for the rest of college for that matter). Thanks, Steve :)
This picture is for the lurkers that I recently found out about who read my blog, and by lurkers, I mean Tommy, I'm pretty sure no one else in this picture reads my blog, and yes, I realize Matt is in this picture :). For those not in the know, this is Matt's whole house and then some from Michigan. (They were all in the same hall their freshman year in East Quad and have lived together ever since, except for that random guy in the back between Andrew and Alex, I don't know who that is).
Michigan Football team arriving at the game
So, there was this tent set up by an ann arbor leasing agency that was giving out free hot chocolate and hot dogs and stuff. Matt and Tommy left to get some hot chocolate and this is what they looked like when they came back. Apparently they had some football target throwing game and these were the prizes they won.
A little bit closer up view of Matt and his sweet sunglasses that ended up dying his skin orange
Me and Emily, my former peer advising buddy who doesn't go to Michigan or live in Michigan anymore but still has season tickets...I am jealous
Me with Katelyn, Steve, and Emily, all former peer advisors and pretty awesome people. For those of you who do not know, Steve is the person that introduced me to Matt, they were housemates the summer we were peer advisors (and for the rest of college for that matter). Thanks, Steve :)
This picture is for the lurkers that I recently found out about who read my blog, and by lurkers, I mean Tommy, I'm pretty sure no one else in this picture reads my blog, and yes, I realize Matt is in this picture :). For those not in the know, this is Matt's whole house and then some from Michigan. (They were all in the same hall their freshman year in East Quad and have lived together ever since, except for that random guy in the back between Andrew and Alex, I don't know who that is).
Sunday, October 19, 2008
My Phone's Great Adventure
I get really happy when people do nice things/the right thing so I wanna tell this story:
Yesterday, I went in to DC to watch the Michigan game and then go out with a group of friends for the night. After a long day and night and watching Michigan lose (again) and hopping from bar to bar and in and out of a few cabs, I finally decide it is time to call it a night around 2am. So my friend and I hail a cab to head back to Alexandria (the metro stops running at 2am on weekends and we were too far from a stop to be able to make it). In the cab I was texting and calling people so I knew that I had my phone with me at that point. I get back to my apartment, pay the guy (thankfully with a good tip) and walk through my apartment door and realize I do not have my phone. CRAPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (other things were said/yelled but I like to keep the blog clean).
So, its too late to run back down because the cab has already left and I have no idea what cab company I took. Also, while I have a land line phone, I couldn't use it to call my cell phone because I don't have long distance service, and my number is still my Michigan phone number (I don't even think I could have just done it and paid a fee, I don't think it even works long distance). So the next morning I realize how hard life is without a phone. I had no way of contacting people other than IM and if they weren't at the computer, I was out of luck.
So a little while later, mom calls my land line phone because she had received all of my IMs about losing my phone and she gave me a calling card number to use so that I could make long distance calls. I called my phone a few times hoping anyone would answer it and I got nothing. Finally, a couple hours later, I decided to try again and the cab driver answered!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have never felt so relieved, it was great. I talk to him and he gave me his home address so I could drive there and pick it up, which I did about half an hour later.
It makes me so happy when stuff like this happens, he could have made no effort to get my phone back to me, I can't believe he gave me his home address but I am so relieved I got my phone back, I had no idea how attached I am to my phone until I was without it for about 12 hours.
I definately need to start being a lot more careful about grabbing my things when I get out of cabs!
Yesterday, I went in to DC to watch the Michigan game and then go out with a group of friends for the night. After a long day and night and watching Michigan lose (again) and hopping from bar to bar and in and out of a few cabs, I finally decide it is time to call it a night around 2am. So my friend and I hail a cab to head back to Alexandria (the metro stops running at 2am on weekends and we were too far from a stop to be able to make it). In the cab I was texting and calling people so I knew that I had my phone with me at that point. I get back to my apartment, pay the guy (thankfully with a good tip) and walk through my apartment door and realize I do not have my phone. CRAPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (other things were said/yelled but I like to keep the blog clean).
So, its too late to run back down because the cab has already left and I have no idea what cab company I took. Also, while I have a land line phone, I couldn't use it to call my cell phone because I don't have long distance service, and my number is still my Michigan phone number (I don't even think I could have just done it and paid a fee, I don't think it even works long distance). So the next morning I realize how hard life is without a phone. I had no way of contacting people other than IM and if they weren't at the computer, I was out of luck.
So a little while later, mom calls my land line phone because she had received all of my IMs about losing my phone and she gave me a calling card number to use so that I could make long distance calls. I called my phone a few times hoping anyone would answer it and I got nothing. Finally, a couple hours later, I decided to try again and the cab driver answered!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have never felt so relieved, it was great. I talk to him and he gave me his home address so I could drive there and pick it up, which I did about half an hour later.
It makes me so happy when stuff like this happens, he could have made no effort to get my phone back to me, I can't believe he gave me his home address but I am so relieved I got my phone back, I had no idea how attached I am to my phone until I was without it for about 12 hours.
I definately need to start being a lot more careful about grabbing my things when I get out of cabs!
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