First Week of Work / The Sacramento Kings

Well first I finished my first week of work. It was a bit weird getting into the morning routine and being there for a full time job, but I think I have gotten used to it. I had just a few things I needed to get finished in my first week: create a graphic for the main page of a website that they have been working on, estimate how long it will take for another website for billing purposes, and get some filler information. I also managed to get my new computer at work and put that together. Now that I have my own desk and computer and have been told about what I will be doing much of March, I will have much more direction. All in all it will definately be challenging but at the same time I am glad that I won't be bored and will have a direction to move in.

Now on the the Sacramento Kings. I know that many people have had their problems with Chris Webber over the years (especially since his injury) but at the same time he is still one of the more talented kings on the team and in Vlade's absense has become the team leader. Webber was a good player and for who we got in this trade compared to what we got in return I don't agree and hope that it doesn't kill us, not to mention that fact we also gave up Matt Barnes who had also been a pretty good contributer to the team. Yes, Webber had his problems but he has also been great in the community and has helped this franchise tremedously in the long run. It all started with Vlade, C-Webb, and Jason Williams, all three of which are now no longer on the kings. I do want to thank Chris Webber for the great sports memories and wish his well in Philidelphia. And I also think it was great that Webber as a last tribute to the fans of Sacramento he paid for this full-page ad in the Sacramento Bee:



It was interesting that the first game that the players in this trade could play was a game against each other, and wow kings win and they win because Webber missed a last second shot that would have tied it...weird:

First Day of Work

Well today was my first day at Lighthouse Systems Inc. I didn't have too much to do today because my computer didn't come yet and I had to basically share a workstation with one other person. I got to see a couple of the websites that we are working on and I did a bit of research for one of the pages. Also, talked to one of their clients on the phone where he basically told me about their business and what they do. Hopefully tomorrow my computer will come and I get get my own workstation and begin my contribution. Right now I'm still a bit overwhelmed and I know it will take a bit to get used to it. Here are a few pics I took with my camera phone:

Interesting Weather in Sacramento

Hmm, funnel clouds and possible tornados in Sacramento!?! Tons of flooding in So. Cal. What is going on? Here are a couple pics I took with my new phone from tape on the news of the funnel cloud:




I guess tomorrow I will put up some pics from my phone of work, etc. tomorrow.

My Last Saturday Before Work.

Well I start work on Tuesday (since Monday is President's Day). So today I needed to get some clothes and talk to Van about a cell phone. I went with my dad to Walmart and I chose 3 pairs of pants, 2 shirts, some dress shoes, and a belt...enough to start my work attire. When I asked my dad how much I owe him he told me he was dontating it to my new job fund...so I guess after this I won't be expecting him to buy much anymore, but hey it's fine because I actually have a job. After shopping we then went by to meet with my dad's friend who he talked to about the car. I looked at it and it looks exactly like a Toyota Corolla (as I understand it Geo Prism's were actually built in the same factory and just branded with a different name), it is silver with very little wear. The interior need a bit of vaccuuming but nothing that can't be cleaned, but get this its a 1991 and it has only about 46,000 miles on it. Apparently the person who drove it didn't get out much as she was elderly. I test drove it around the neighborhood and it works fine, probably better than my parent's cars (not saying that much since the newest car they have is a 1989 Oldsmoblie). The great thing also is he doesn't need the car and wants to sell it, he said he is willing to let it go for $1000 which for a car in that shape with such low milage is unheard of. I gladly accepted and we will finalize everything hopefully early this coming week after the holiday. After all that we went to to Fry's where I got myself a 1GB Flashdrive to use with work, transporting what I am currently working on back and forth which is pretty cool (especially since the last flashdrive I had was 32MB, granted I got it for free). And last but not least I got a call from Van later in the evening and we went to the cell store where his sister works, signed a few papers and got my new cell phone (Motorola v551). Van's sister also for no extra gave me a car charger, belt clip, hands free ear piece/mic, and also a data cable to transfer ring tones etc to the phone. Finished off the night eating ice cream with A.J. and Rachael and Coldstone, then going back to A.J.'s to watch a bit to the BBC's Coupling (no comparison to the US version that bombed) and SNL. All in all a very productive day I would say.

So much happening so fast, but I like it so far :).

So Things Keep Coming Together

I will be going on today at about 3pm to finalize things at work and probably learn about what I will be working on. I was also told that I would need a cell phone and last night I was talking to Van, apparently his sister works in a cell phone shop. I will be getting at Motorola v551.



This has all been pretty overwhelming but nice at the same time. It will be quite interesting getting out into the real world having a full time job. Here goes nothing...

The Car Hunt

Well I do now need a car. My dad just called me and I may at least get a pretty cheap, low milage car that can get me from point A to point B. It may not be exactly what I want but I will at least serve as a temporary mode of transportation until I really find something I want later down the road. It is a 1991 Geo Prism which I had no idea about, found an example picture though I really hope it isn't brown like this one is.

WHAT!?!? I AM NO LONGER UNEMPLOYED!!!!

Well what do you know after the two interviews, last Friday and this Tuesday, I was offered a job at Lighthouse Systems Inc. I will go in Friday to finalize everything and I start Monday (or Tuesday if they take it as a holiday, which I think they do as I overheard them talking on Friday). I am so overwhelmed but extremely happy. I know this will be a very challenging job but I will do eveything in my power to be successful.

Yippy!

Now it is truely time to go out and find a car as I will need it for my transportation needs working full time. So for anyone reading this, any suggestions on a good model car that is reliable but not too expensive (no not a Lamborghini A.J.)?

Keeping My Fingers Crossed...Interview #2 A Success!

I'm by no way saying I will 100% get a job offer but hey I was blown away when I found out that my chances when up to 50%. Yeah, it is between myself and another guy. I talked to him for about an hour today. Answered some direct questions about my knowledge and what I would be willing to do. Some of the interview was more like a conversation than an interview...for example when the guy mentioned his new 57" HDTV he got for the superbowl (and basically what I would like to buy soon). I think it went really well and my chances are very good. He even talked about a starting salary of $37,500 which when you consider a first job out of college and I haven't made more that $9,500 in a year it's a great step forward. He also talked about the possibilities of expansion down the road. I think if I got this job it would be a great experience for myself and I would get valuble work experience and it would be challenging at the same time. Here is to keeping my fingers crossed....Wish me good luck.

Wow...A Response!

Hey I just got a call back from Lighthouse Systems Inc. Well what do you know a second interview. I guess things are going good then and I made some sort of impression. As I said in my last post I had been working on some examples of what I can do in terms of web design in case I got a call back. I got these ideas from a member of my senior project group who has done this type of thing for a while. I hope they help. Here are my two examples:

My Redesign (redesign of golighthouse.net)
My Website (personal site)

Well I am keeping my fingers crossed that maybe I will have a job soon.

Job? No Response Yet.

Well I thought I might get a call back from my interview on Friday to come in for a follow-up interivew but nothing yet. I spent much of the weekend trying to put together examples of what I can do in terms of web development so I could have more examples to show for my follow-up. I emailed the president of the company thanking him for his time and that I look forward to meeting with him more indepth (I now wonder if that will happen)...I truly hope so, I could seriously see myself as a web developer and enjoy making webpages quite a bit. I shall keep my fingers crossed and see what happens. For now this is the main example I made (I'm working on a personal webpage example but it isn't done yet):

I re-did the company's website,

Original Site: http://golighthouse.net

My Re-design: http://gaia.ecs.csus.edu/~pevnya/lighthouse.html

Interview #2

Well last night I had another interview, this time with Lighthouse Systems Inc. When I arrived I was about 10 min early for my interview. There were two seats in the waiting room (much the same setup as AWS. There were already two people sitting there and waiting for interviews as well...they were running behind. After about 20 min or so the current interview that was going on ended and one of the 2 people sitting got up and when next. I then sat there and ended up taking to the other guy while waiting. The interview that had just gone in only took like 10-15 min which really surprised me (maybe he didn't like what he heard and left). Then the next guy went in and I was left in the lobby alone. By this time I had been waiting at least a half hour. I ended up briefly talking to two of the network guys there while waiting (one looked at some of the pics in my portfolio), they were nice probably a bit older than me but not by that much. One of the guys actully is sort of the semi-web developer, meaning he knows html, how to make sites but doesn't know the in's and out's of asp, php, etc. which is what they want. Finally after another some 40 min the last interview before me came out. It was finally my turn, an hour later than I had expected, which was fine. This was a very initial interview and he just wanted to know some about my background and what I've worked on. He then went on to tell me about the job, what they do, and other tidbits of information. The last thing he wanted to know was my salary range (I just gave him a general 40-50k). He said he has no problem with good salary. He feels if a person is producing quality work he will reward that. He explained how another guy on staff he hired continued to do good work and got 5 raises in a year (NICE). As we ended he said that he would be contacting people early next week for a longer sit-down interview and then he would make his decision by the end of next week. I shall keep my fingers crossed.

Lazyness...But Wait....Another Interview

Well this has been the longest I have gone without posting something on my blog since starting it. Not much has really happened. I've been trying to contact Scott to swim but he has barely ever gotten back to me, I guess I should just go on my own.

But tonight I was sitting here watching TV when the phone rang. It was a company called Lighthouse Systems Inc. (www.golighthouse.net) and they wondered if I was available for an interview tomorrow. After double-checking on transportation I called them back and I have an interview at 4:30PM. It is also a Web Programming job. If you look at their webpage it is pretty plan so I'm assuming someone in the spare time just put together as quick page that is static but now they want a full-time person to update their page. The job is pretty much a straight drive right down Watt Ave. all the way to I-80 and after taking a right it's about half a mile down Auburn Blvd, so it is pretty close.

I guess tonight I will try and brush up on a few things that I have worked on with web stuff and also maybe look at a few questions they might ask. I will try my best and maybe sometime soon I could have a job somewhere instead of spending my time laying around at home.

Note: I have a few other job applications elsewhere as well, one at CSUS for an IT job in the College of Continuing Education, one in at the Southgate Rec and Park District, and also at Accenture.

Build Your Own LCD Projector

Myself and A.J. have been looking at some pretty cool designs on making a somewhat cheap (Less than $300) but decent LCD Projector. I would be tempted to try (lots of plan white walls to project on in the house). I am going to research it a bit more before pursuing it but it would be quite interesting to watch a movie on an entire wall as opposed to a 27" TV.

Here is the link to a very straightforward description on how to put it all together, including a 20MB video: Tom's Hardware.

Are You Ready for Some Football?

Well yesterday I went over to my friend, Adam's house. Adam and his wife Lauren were hosting a Super Bowl party (though I really didn't care about either team in the game...It's all about the commercials). It was fun. They had friends and family over and had snacks to eat. The most fun part was playing flag football at the park near his house (well that and obviously being on the winning team). Hey I had 2 touchdowns, not that I will be able to even walk tomorrow.

Well I guess it is really late (or early really), not that I have to wake up for work or school or anything right now. Man I really would like a job, experience is key in the workplace.

Oh well, time to get in bed even if I can't fall asleep.

Hmm....I'm Bored...I Need to Get Out.

Well as always I have left a message on my friend Scott's voice-mail (since it is almost impossible to actually get ahold of) seeing if he wants to go swim some laps. Let's just say we did a good, oh, 10-12 weeks of swimming at least twice a week. I was actually getting in shape and then the pool closed for the winter break. Well the pool finally opened up again last week and the only time he came over, he forgot to bring his suit. I was hopefull that we could actually do it today as the pool opens at 3pm (about now). If I don't hear from him I guess I will at least get out of the house. Right now though I have a splitting headache and need to fill out a job application. Also on the job front I sent in my resume to a company advertising in the Sacramento Bee about a Web Developer position. One of these days I will have job...I hope. I guess the key is to keep trying (blah). Well off to get my job app. filled out and maybe give A.J. a call.

Complete Series On DVD

Well I mentioned earlier that I collect dvds a lot. I guess some people collect comic books, some collect stamps, some collect coins....well I collect dvds. I was bored today so I decided to take a picture of some of my complete tv shows on dvd.

These are the two longest running shows that I have collected. They took quite some time:

Star Trek: Voyager (7 Seasons)

(Click for Larger Picture)

X-Files (9 Seasons)

(Click for Larger Picture)

Sketch of the Day: Homer Simpson

Well today went out and about with A.J. again to waste some time. Yeah us unemployed types. Well he decided to buy The Simpsons: Hit and Run at Best Buy for $20. I wasn't feeling really inspired so I decided to look at a picture of the case and see how well I could draw Homer. I'd have to say it came out quite well, much better than most of my Simpsons drawings from the past.


(Click for Bigger Picture)

Enjoy.

24 inside

Along with each season of 24, they also have webcasts that coincide with select episodes. The webcast is called 24 inside. What they do is have an audience that submits questions before hand, they watch the new episode of 24, and then they have special guests such as actors and writers from 24. Select questions are asked of the guests and can give you more of an "inside" into storylines, characters, etc.

Check it out (broadband connection is best, 56k verstion available).

Free NFL Caps?

Over a year ago I found two matching caps for a Moutain Dew/Pepsi promotion like this:



With that I sent them in and was supposed to get a free NFL cap of my choice, I chose a 49ers hat (which I am a fan but man this season was so terrible).

I figured after some time that they ran out and I would never receive anything. Well today in the mail I got something. Problem is it wasn't what I ordered and this is what they said:


(Click for larger picture)

And I received these:


(Click for larger picture)

Hmmm....not what I wanted. I guess they are free. I wonder if I could somehow put another logo on them, like the Sacramento Kings or something.

Just thought that was something interesting you would like to know....one year later.

Well I Am Still Unemployed

Like I had mentioned about 2 and a half weeks ago I interviewed for a position at Athlete Web Servies (AWS). Well they had told me I would be contacted in about 2 weeks. I decided that no matter what I need to call. Well I did. He told me that he was impressed by my interview but that I was lacking some skills that they wanted and another person was more qualified. He then said that he would like to keep my information on file and that there might be a position opening up in a month or so and he would give me a call if that happened. Needless to say I was a bit dissapointed. So right after that I called up another place and had them send me an application in the mail. It is a Network Administrator job that includes a lot of things I have done on my own and at UCCS (installing software, adding hardware, etc., networking). Also, the other day I submitted an application for a ITC job at CSUS. Today I sent an email to a person I got to know that works on the same floor where I worked. He said he knows the Dean of the department where the job is available and he would put in a good word for me tomorrow.

I will keep trying my best to get employed and be as positive as I can. Only time will tell.

New Sketch a Day (Well Technically it is Photoshop)

EDIT: Well I guess this picture is incorrect, new episodes according to Kevin's site will start coming out in March sometime.

I was a bit bored and created a pic advertising thebroken's new episodes coming the month. If I have time later I may even do a sketch of something, we shall see.



Let me know what you think, be kind I am new to Photoshop and its just me messing around.