by Samantha on March 11, 2010
A few days ago the Executive Director for the company I work at, has released the freeze on the hiring process. Which basically means transfers to different offices, promotions, and new hires will be accepted again! For those of you that don’t know, I have been struggling with my current position, because it travels so much and I feel like I am not really going anywhere. Being able to challenge myself and take on new things is almost necessary in a company I am working for. To me it proves what sort of job I can do and leads me to bigger and better things constantly. I do have to admit one thing though… this job has great benefits and I always have the same amount of hours every week. I am salary and have been working in my department for three and a half years so it only seemed right to stay with the amount of time I have invested and the seniority I had achieved.
Now that the freeze has been released and I can start transferring, I feel like I am a little less stressed about finding different work in the Bay Area. The job I am transferring to is actually in another department which has room for growth and will provide me with multiple challenges on a daily basis. One thing I really miss doing is helping clients and having the satisfaction of knowing you helped that person with what they needed.
Right now what is important is a steady income, school, and getting everything done so I can accomplish more in my future. Either way, I’m so happy about this positive change and looking forward to concentrating on Stanford for the next quarter!
by Samantha on March 10, 2010
Excuse me for a minute while I step back into my girly self and take a few moments to reflect on my personal life.
I’m not really one to write about my relationship, because I’m always afraid I’ll jinx it or something and I don’t want to sound like I’m trying to be a relationship guru. Or it must be the fact that I like keeping at least some things private. Especially the most important, but there is something I want to mention when it comes to spending time with your significant other while you both have a lot on your plate. Sometimes it becomes SO difficult to spend time with one another, so I love when when we always find ways to make it work out.
In between all of the things I have going on which are traveling, homework, work, studying, social events, and just basic “me time”, one of the most important people I worry about is my boyfriend, My Robert. Spending time with each other is not always an easy task, because we both do so much of our own stuff, so most of our time is spent finding ways we can communicate during the day. I can tell you that small things like a text to say good morning and a phone call during the day are always much appreciated. Going over how each other’s day went and talking about what we did that day keep the sparks for me. So when people ask me how my boyfriend and I make it work, I tell them. It’s those little things and just enjoying each other’s company when you have time to do things together that make it work. I’m seriously not even big with spending that much money. An evening at home or going out to watch a movie is probably one of my favorite things to do with my boyfriend. Also, the calls of support for each other on a bad day and having someone to discuss it with is always a plus. With that said, if the Boyfriend reads this, he’ll know much extra he is appreciated if he didn’t know already. 
by Samantha on March 9, 2010
My life has been going through spirals lately, because of all of the stress I’ve had to deal with in my career, school, and personal life. After so much time has been spent feeling like a weight is on my shoulders and just taking too much out of me, I basically feel like it is time to sit back and evaluate what is going on.
This time I turned to my friend L, because it never seems to stick on me when I do it myself. It is also always good to have another person looking from the outside, because they aren’t clouded in the situation and it isn’t you judging yourself. L began to tell me how I needed to get rid of all the negativity in my life. To sit down and look at the good and bad of all things going on around me. Was it really necessary to keep doing what had been bothering me for so long? To let go of all the negativity would make my life turn into more positive being generated. I was able to start a new life in a new city, new school, and a new job. This was an opportunity that most people aren’t given and I should take advantage of it. Everything L said made complete sense, so I decided to take on the challenge.
I began to look at this like throwing out the clutter that was overwhelming my life. So I began to write down what needed to change. Starting with work, school, and finally things in my personal life. Things I needed to learn how to say “no” to and things I needed to actually start saying “yes” to so that I can make my life easier. Trust me, evaluating your life is never an easy task. Especially when you’re not accepting of sudden changes. Luckily for me, I love change, so starting fresh is always something I look forward to. It is mainly why I love the start of a new quarter or project. I’m hoping the start of this new project will help me accomplish turning everything negative into a positive by going with this theory of getting rid of the things that are actually negative in my life or figuring out a way to fix them upon impact. Wish me luck!
by Samantha on February 28, 2010
February is on its final day and I am already overwhelmed with March. Besides rain and very little sun, this month was filled with Valentine’s Day fun, interview prep, meeting up with old friends, checking an item off my 2010 list, and much more. Today I spent the day all to myself taking a trip to Starbucks, getting a much needed haircut (only cut off an inch, growing it out 
), trip to the Apple Store, walked around downtown, treated myself to a great burger, and came home to do things around the house. I had dubbed Sunday as my “to-do” day and thought it was about time I got much needed things out of the way before a fresh start and a new month.
This past month I have done a lot of resume building, cover letter editing, and talking to people who are familiar with the industry I work in. I found all of the peer help to be pretty interesting and very much needed in my quest for another job. I know myself that I needed to build a few things before I started interviewing so that I would be prepared when questions were asked. Quick and knowledgeable answers are always a plus in the interview process and being prepared is something I have never done before. I felt it completely necessary this time around, because there are plenty of people out there who are unemployed that are looking for a job like me. The competition has been raised a bar and as you find yourself moving further up the ladder, you find the job market a little more cut throat (factoring in the crappy economy also). With me, it is a little more complicated than also just interviewing, because I also have to include what benefits are out there (dental, vision, and medical). After a few interviews this past week, I wait to hear back and see how I have done and whether or not I am moving on to the next round of the process.
School preparation for the start of a new quarter at Stanford is also under way and I’m not so stressed about that, so that is a great thing for me. Being able to focus on other things before school starts is beyond needed for adequate stress relief, because I know when that hits I’ll be drowning in papers. Already looking forward to spring break!
I’m so pleased that even though I came home a few days with migraines this month and things seemed to be moving too quickly for me at times, I was able to catch my breath and relax a few days. Hopefully March is as nice to me.
by Samantha on February 21, 2010
I don’t consider myself an idiot when it comes to technology, but there is still one thing that I haven’t quite figured out and that is mastering my email inbox. No matter how hard I try to filter my inbox with dozens of labels and specific places it for it to go, I still can never get it to zero. Knowing that I probably have an OCD, because I can’t stand the number that is still climbing, staring back at my face. Red numbers that are visible as missed calls on my iPhone or sitting in my voicemail always need to be cleared out too, so I get to those also. So you can obviously see my ongoing need to keep things clear and done. On a daily basis I have usually more than a hundred emails coming in and about as much time to get maybe half completed if I am lucky. I started having to “star” things in Gmail to save the important things for later if necessary. One thing that has helped relieve some of the inbox is the recently found Dropbox, where I can receive documents in shared folders instead of through email. I find it very fast and reliable, so that is a big plus!
If you have any suggestions on how you get through your email without finding yourself sinking in it let me know. Hopefully after mastering it I can then buy myself the Nerd Merit Badge that means “Inbox Zero“!
by Samantha on February 20, 2010
I keep coming back to this:
I always notice after a conversation on the phone with an old high school friend who I haven’t talked to in years, things always come up that I never realized about all the changes that have been going on in my life. Mainly with the different person that I have become. It is always a little surprising to hear about how things were in the past and what people are going through in their current life to make you stop and evaluate yours. I have been out of high school going on a couple years now, which may not be long to some, but very long to me. People are getting married, talking about starting families, and finishing up grad school or getting started on it. It always makes me wonder if this was the right path and if I should be choosing a different career. My move to the Bay Area has not been as easy as I thought it would be and I seem to be trying to piece back my life together after hitting a little bump in the road along the way. With girls I think it is a little different when you’re thinking about how much older you’re getting and how you still would like to eventually plan out the rest of your future career and including a personal life. Frustration seems to get the best of me these days with all of the constant falling behind when you’re trying to stay on top of things. I suppose this is where the “life is never easy and will always throw you curve balls”, comes into play. Continuing to work full time is something I never really planned on doing when I was setting out to medical school. I also had planned to go to medical school since I was fourteen. With all the technology around me and related work I can’t help but still wonder if the tech industry which I feel so comfortable in, is the route for me. I know I’m still young and I have a lot of my life ahead of me, but to me I don’t have all the time in the world. I’m hoping a little break to sit down and figure things out will help me think about what it is that I really want my outcome to be. So I’m crossing my fingers and hoping that whatever I choose it is the right one for me.
by Samantha on February 18, 2010
One of my favorite places in San Francisco is Q Restaurant for a number of reasons, but the main reason is because the food is awesome.
My friend E (from Sacramento), decided it would be a great place to try, because she had seen it on the Food Network of all places and it had been given rave reviews. It was my first time being in San Francisco in this area actually, so it was a completely new experience for me. My friend L and I drove to meet her, P, and B around 12:30 for lunch. L and I took in some of the scenery prior to her arrival and thought it was an interesting area with all the shops, food places, and people walking around with their dogs. We had no clue how packed Q would be, but I guess we should have thought of that when it had obviously been mentioned on the Food Network. Luckily after putting our name down we only had to wait about 20 mins while catching up (E, P, and I had not seen each other in about 3 years).
Inside, Q had a bar area with different drink ingredients adorning its walls which was along the center of the wall, so your eyes immediately were focused there. We were seated at a window seat where some of our backs actually had the window as a chair rest which made it feel even more open. I glanced around the restaurant and noticed the amazing paintings on the brightly colored yellow wall and a huge mirror that made the restaurant look like it went even further back. The menu was very simple and not at all highly priced. I chose of all tasty looking things on the menu, a cheeseburger. Which when it arrived, was completely amazing tasting. Made with fresh bread, stacked with cheddar cheese, veggies on the side, where I chose a side salad instead of their awesome fries, and of course don’t forget the bacon I added onto my burger. I looked at everyone’s meals which also included various burgers topped with blue cheese or swiss, a salmon burger, and a great looking sandwich. Our table was completely satisfied with service, the amazing food, and great conversation among us friends.
I definitely recommend checking out Q if you’re in the area and I am positive I am going back to sample from more of their awesome food.
by Samantha on February 16, 2010
I used to feel like blogging about a product was sometimes a piece of fluff in a blogger’s posts.Then I realized that when you really like something and you want other people to know how much they would also like it, you have to share. This is where my post comes into play:
After a long day at work, one of my co-workers pointed out to me that my trusty laptop bag of the past 5 years (which is the amount of time I’ve ever owned a laptop) was officially dying on me. The strap on the bag was ripping at the seams and it was only time until my bag decided it would drop my lovely MacbookPro. Obviously it was time to replace my bag, but after weeks of searching I had no luck, because there was nothing I wanted. Then a friend reminded me of the Timbuk2 gift certificate I had, so I decided to check out the store and see what the bags were all about online. To my amazement I was completely excited about how stylish the bags were, as well as provided enough protection for a laptop, had a lot of pockets, and claimed to be very sturdy. I asked a few of my friends what they thought of their bags and all were very pleased, so I talked to an employee at the Timbuk2 store on Hayes in San Francisco where he gave me a walk through of all the bags that were available and we even talked about how easy it was to customize one. I ended up settling on a Commute 2.0 which has a pocket where the laptop goes that is TSA friendly. This is crucial, because it is really annoying having to take out your laptop in the middle of the airport along with your sweater and shoes, only to find out how hard it is going to be to put it all back in and on. There is also plenty of pockets which allow me to put my Air Card, earbuds, paperwork, external hard drive, etc. neatly in my bag. I am also impressed with the comfort of the shoulder strap which I have going across my chest that makes me feel like I am barely carrying anything. (My previous bag only allowed putting it on your shoulder which added weight on whichever side I wore it which made me hate taking my laptop anywhere.) The price was totally worth it for a bag with great quality that was going to provide everything I needed. I am pretty positive my next laptop bag purchase if I ever need one will be a Timbuk2 and I recommend checking one out if you are ever in need.
by Samantha on February 11, 2010
I’ve been finding myself working late at night with absolutely nothing to do, but heads down typing away and finishing a load of projects. To keep myself semi-entertained while my shows are still recording on the DVR (I hate watching shows live and not being able to fast forward commercials) and making sure I’m still in the mood to work, I’ve been using my Xbox like crazy. So I thought I might actually inform you of my two favorite things to do on my Xbox that have been keeping me completely happy lately.
If you already have an Xbox you would know that Netflix is now available to be streamed through your console and onto your TV. Recently, I just discovered Heroes for the first time, so I’ve been catching up on the all of the old episodes until the current season. It doesn’t have much to pick from as far as new movies go, but it does great with favorites or television shows, including the fact that anything playing on Starz will now be available, so that’s always a plus. It is also fun to start up a movie with any friend who has Xbox Live and also has Netflix. You can suggest a number of movies and then agree on one to watch together. My second favorite thing is Connect360 which is basically a program I have installed on my Mac after paying 20 bucks for an activation code. Basically it installs onto your Mac and allows you to play movies, music in iTunes, or pictures you have on your computer, right onto your TV through the Xbox. Which is pretty amazing, because it makes you feel like there is really no need to have cable. Especially if you download.
Anyway, this is basically what has been keeping me busy and happy lately in the at home entertainment department. I hope you find this of use to you if you want something else to do on your Xbox. Getting the most out of your console is always awesome and I just had to share.
by Samantha on February 2, 2010
I have actually checked off one item in my list of 23 things to do in 2010!
I’ve debated getting a camera for the longest time and basically got through about three months without one, but it was so depressing. I seriously felt like part of me was missing. Before you think I am completely crazy, I’ll explain. I like to spend my weekends going to new places to take pictures of the new places I visit. It’s very relaxing for me and I believe sometimes a picture is way better than explaining it in words. After plenty of research and asking a few people (specifically Helena, blog writer of Queen of the Pavement who takes amazing photos) which camera they thought was best. I settled on the Canon PowerShot SX20 IS. (Excuse the photo quality of it, I had to take it with an iPhone.) After going back and forth about purchasing a DSLR, I decided that since it wasn’t a very serious job and just a hobby, this camera would do just fine, but in pretty awesome quality. I really can’t wait to enjoy this camera on my next outing which will probably be this weekend, so I’ll keep you posted!
