Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Cancer prevention
So, apparently nearly everything can cause cancer (check the link). So, as an informal question, do you ban lip gloss? Or more directly, how much do you regulate things in life? Where do you draw the line? Let me know.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Real Estate
Just to list a bit of what we've been looking at, I just did a search in our areas of preference for homes under $200K. Here's what you can get:
Stoneham (Boston) MA - You can get a "Contractor's Special" sold in "As is" condition. They list 2 bedrooms, who knows, maybe they have a bathroom too.
Vail (Tucson) AZ - You can get a 2045 sq. ft 3 bed 2 bath house, built in the last few years.
Ridgecrest CA - You can get a 1497 sq. ft 3 bed 2 bath house, built in the last 15 years.
And just to compare to where Sabrina and I grew up.
Salt Lake City (In Sabrina's zip code growing up)- You can get a 1275 2 bed 1 bath bungalow built in 1921.
Rigby ID - You can get a 3060 sq. ft 6 bed 3 bath house built in 1992 on one acre of land.
Spring TX - (my sister lives in Spring, cheap housing) - You can purchase 2616 sq. ft, 4 bed 2 1/2 bath home built in 2007.
Hopefully all the links work. I'll check them after I post this. The homes listed indicated the most I felt you could get for your dollar, and not necessarily reflective of the homes available in the area (the one in Rigby was a bit big for the average).
Stoneham (Boston) MA - You can get a "Contractor's Special" sold in "As is" condition. They list 2 bedrooms, who knows, maybe they have a bathroom too.
Vail (Tucson) AZ - You can get a 2045 sq. ft 3 bed 2 bath house, built in the last few years.
Ridgecrest CA - You can get a 1497 sq. ft 3 bed 2 bath house, built in the last 15 years.
And just to compare to where Sabrina and I grew up.
Salt Lake City (In Sabrina's zip code growing up)- You can get a 1275 2 bed 1 bath bungalow built in 1921.
Rigby ID - You can get a 3060 sq. ft 6 bed 3 bath house built in 1992 on one acre of land.
Spring TX - (my sister lives in Spring, cheap housing) - You can purchase 2616 sq. ft, 4 bed 2 1/2 bath home built in 2007.
Hopefully all the links work. I'll check them after I post this. The homes listed indicated the most I felt you could get for your dollar, and not necessarily reflective of the homes available in the area (the one in Rigby was a bit big for the average).
Tucson
Wednesday was a hectic day for me. I made it to campus around 8, and studied straight through till two for my nonlinear control systems class. (Yes, that class is as hard as it sounds, it's EE 774, the second highest number offered by the electrical engineering department) I then took my nonlinear control systems final for 3 hours. With 10 minutes left, I had it mostly finished with only half of one question left. I almost called it quits, because I didn't think I could figure it out (I had already spent 30 minutes or so on it). But, inspiration struck at the last moment, I finished the problem off and then sped home to pack up and leave for the airport.
I didn't have a seat assignment, so I got to the airport early. I walked up the lady printed me off a seat, so I ended up having a lot of time on my hands. I wandered the airport for a while, then decided to get some dinner. I got in line at Dick Clark's Grill, after a few minute wait I was seated, though it was in the lounge area. I ordered a chicken finger dinner and a large milk. The lady seemed slightly miffed, but still seemed to be ok with it. Anyway, 5 minutes a lady comes and sits at the table next to me, orders nearly the exact same thing as me. 10 minutes after that, a guy comes in and sits down behind me, orders something. The food of lady next to me came out quickly. She started enjoying her meal. The food of the guy behind me came out. At this point (30 minutes after I ordered my food) I asked what was up. They were like, "uhh... let me check." They assured me my food would be out shortly. 15 minutes after that, my food finally came out. (It's a dang good thing that I was at the airport so early, because I was supposed to start boarding about 5 minutes after I finally got my food.) They definitely knew I was upset. If I had more time, I would have probably asked for a free desert or something. An old couple next to me, who were also having problems with their meal, commented to me "I bet those are free range chickens, and it took them so long because they had to go capture them before they cooked them."
My flight was uneventful (aside from the fact that they had over booked the flight and so didn't give out seat assignments to all those who had seats, again get to the airport early if you don't have an assigned seat.)
Upon arrival, I picked up my rental car. Turns out they were all out of mid-sized cars, so I got a Ford Mustang convertible. It was a fun car to drive. After driving my little Chevy Prizm, I forget what driving a car with some muscle is like.
The hotel resort they put us up at was pretty swank. My room was about 3/4ths the size of my apartment. The bed was actually nice. The bathroom had a separate shower and bathtub. They also had a sweet pool, too bad I never had time to really take advantage. A funny thing I've noticed about hotels, the nicer the place is, the less likely it is to offer things like free internet.
Anyway, they showed us around, wined and dined us, and then interviewed us the last day. I only interviewed with one group, albeit it was a group I was actually interested in. We had to be checked out of the hotel by noon, and my flight didn't leave till 5. So, after lunch ended (around 1), I just drove around Tucson for a couple hours.
The flights home were uneventful, but I did get exit row seating on both (yea, that is actually something I get really excited about).
So, now comes the time to decide on what we'll actually do. I have an offer in hand from Raytheon. NAVAIR is sending me one (good old government bureaucracy, takes them 3-5 weeks). SSCI is being a bit of a pain, but continue to reassure me that as soon as I can prove to them when I'll be done, they'll send me an offer. Raytheon has a bonus system to encourage you to accept the offer quickly, so we'll probably either accept an offer from them, or eliminate them off the list in the next couple weeks. For as clear cut as I thought our path was going to be a couple months ago, it's not so much now. One offers good benefits, and probably the highest salary to cost of living ratio. The work would probably be less of what I really would enjoy. One would have a great work opportunities, giving me the opportunity to explore different areas of engineering and choose a path that I like. However, the money, at least initially, is considerably less than the others though. It has the prospect of moving of up to at least the same level as the others, and possibly more. The last offers the most money initially, the prospect of working on new, and possibly radically different, projects every 6-12 months. However, it's the furthest from family, and the highest cost of living.
The factors we're seriously considering:
I didn't have a seat assignment, so I got to the airport early. I walked up the lady printed me off a seat, so I ended up having a lot of time on my hands. I wandered the airport for a while, then decided to get some dinner. I got in line at Dick Clark's Grill, after a few minute wait I was seated, though it was in the lounge area. I ordered a chicken finger dinner and a large milk. The lady seemed slightly miffed, but still seemed to be ok with it. Anyway, 5 minutes a lady comes and sits at the table next to me, orders nearly the exact same thing as me. 10 minutes after that, a guy comes in and sits down behind me, orders something. The food of lady next to me came out quickly. She started enjoying her meal. The food of the guy behind me came out. At this point (30 minutes after I ordered my food) I asked what was up. They were like, "uhh... let me check." They assured me my food would be out shortly. 15 minutes after that, my food finally came out. (It's a dang good thing that I was at the airport so early, because I was supposed to start boarding about 5 minutes after I finally got my food.) They definitely knew I was upset. If I had more time, I would have probably asked for a free desert or something. An old couple next to me, who were also having problems with their meal, commented to me "I bet those are free range chickens, and it took them so long because they had to go capture them before they cooked them."
My flight was uneventful (aside from the fact that they had over booked the flight and so didn't give out seat assignments to all those who had seats, again get to the airport early if you don't have an assigned seat.)
Upon arrival, I picked up my rental car. Turns out they were all out of mid-sized cars, so I got a Ford Mustang convertible. It was a fun car to drive. After driving my little Chevy Prizm, I forget what driving a car with some muscle is like.
The hotel resort they put us up at was pretty swank. My room was about 3/4ths the size of my apartment. The bed was actually nice. The bathroom had a separate shower and bathtub. They also had a sweet pool, too bad I never had time to really take advantage. A funny thing I've noticed about hotels, the nicer the place is, the less likely it is to offer things like free internet.
Anyway, they showed us around, wined and dined us, and then interviewed us the last day. I only interviewed with one group, albeit it was a group I was actually interested in. We had to be checked out of the hotel by noon, and my flight didn't leave till 5. So, after lunch ended (around 1), I just drove around Tucson for a couple hours.
The flights home were uneventful, but I did get exit row seating on both (yea, that is actually something I get really excited about).
So, now comes the time to decide on what we'll actually do. I have an offer in hand from Raytheon. NAVAIR is sending me one (good old government bureaucracy, takes them 3-5 weeks). SSCI is being a bit of a pain, but continue to reassure me that as soon as I can prove to them when I'll be done, they'll send me an offer. Raytheon has a bonus system to encourage you to accept the offer quickly, so we'll probably either accept an offer from them, or eliminate them off the list in the next couple weeks. For as clear cut as I thought our path was going to be a couple months ago, it's not so much now. One offers good benefits, and probably the highest salary to cost of living ratio. The work would probably be less of what I really would enjoy. One would have a great work opportunities, giving me the opportunity to explore different areas of engineering and choose a path that I like. However, the money, at least initially, is considerably less than the others though. It has the prospect of moving of up to at least the same level as the others, and possibly more. The last offers the most money initially, the prospect of working on new, and possibly radically different, projects every 6-12 months. However, it's the furthest from family, and the highest cost of living.
The factors we're seriously considering:
- Initial Salary
- Job Satisfaction
- Salary increases over time
- Cost of living (day to day expenses)
- Housing costs (both rental and mortgage)
- Education (both for our children, and possible future education for ourselves)
- How long we might actually stay with the company
- Commute time
- Nearby infrastructure (stores, etc...)
- Distance from family
- Weather
Monday, April 21, 2008
Our Daughter, the Cell Phone Addict
One picture says it all. 15 months and it's already hard to keep the phone out of her hands.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Endings
There have been a few "endings" in my life the last few days which are significant enough for me to post about.
First, about 5 days ago I completely finished a journal for the first time ever in my over 27 years of life. It is indeed ridiculous that such a feat would take that long to accomplish. Aren't you supposed to fill up like 5 journals on your mission alone? Well, journal-writing is a weakness of mine. I have been known over the years to write things somewhat like this: "A lot has happened in my life the last few years. My parents got divorced a few years ago and now my mom is remarried" or "I haven't written anything for a while because I've been so busy. You see I met this guy named Brett and we're engaged. Maybe I should tell you a little about him and how we met." So, you see, I really stink at writing in my journal. It was seriously amazing to fill that last page of my journal and it only took me 4.5 years to do it. Really, that's not bad considering I have probably gone 4.5 years without writing a thing in a journal.
My next ending was being released from my calling on Sunday. I get so sentimental about things like this. It was really sad to let it go. I love being the Relief Society President. Our presidency was given the opportunity to give a brief testimony after we were released. I expected to cry and was really surprised I didn't. I think it's because it's been an event I've anticipated for some time. However, I love the sisters I served and as the RS Pres you have a really awesome opportunity to get to know them all; although I always wished I had more time to get to know them better. It's also amazing to be able to see how people serve one another and how the organization of the ward works to serve each member. I feel really grateful to have been able to do it twice now. I think both times I received the calling it was in answer to prayers.
Finally, my ending this morning occurred when I finished the Old Testament for the first time ever. (There's another ball I dropped on the mission, I guess. I never read that book in all my scripture study) I think it was about time I had actually read a book all the way through that I profess to believe in (I have read the New Testament a couple of times, so I have that part covered). And guess what, I still believe in it. However, there are sure some interesting passages which I don't even pretend to understand or see how they relate to me spiritually. I guess that's just more for me to learn the next time around. Anyway, now I have officially read all the LDS standard works at least once. I haven't quite yet decided if I am going to read the New Testament or Doctrine and Covenants next.
In any case, it has been a week of endings for me. My life hasn't changed significantly since these are mostly just smaller endings. I'll start another journal, we're still in the same ward so I'll still see all those same sisters and I'll start reading more scriptures. However, these endings do make me think about the bigger endings that are on the horizon. As excited as I am to leave Provo, it will be very bittersweet as well. We've made some great friends and it's the only place we've lived as a married couple so there are lots of memories associated with it. However, when one chapter is over it just means another exciting chapter is just beginning so endings aren't all that bad.
First, about 5 days ago I completely finished a journal for the first time ever in my over 27 years of life. It is indeed ridiculous that such a feat would take that long to accomplish. Aren't you supposed to fill up like 5 journals on your mission alone? Well, journal-writing is a weakness of mine. I have been known over the years to write things somewhat like this: "A lot has happened in my life the last few years. My parents got divorced a few years ago and now my mom is remarried" or "I haven't written anything for a while because I've been so busy. You see I met this guy named Brett and we're engaged. Maybe I should tell you a little about him and how we met." So, you see, I really stink at writing in my journal. It was seriously amazing to fill that last page of my journal and it only took me 4.5 years to do it. Really, that's not bad considering I have probably gone 4.5 years without writing a thing in a journal.
My next ending was being released from my calling on Sunday. I get so sentimental about things like this. It was really sad to let it go. I love being the Relief Society President. Our presidency was given the opportunity to give a brief testimony after we were released. I expected to cry and was really surprised I didn't. I think it's because it's been an event I've anticipated for some time. However, I love the sisters I served and as the RS Pres you have a really awesome opportunity to get to know them all; although I always wished I had more time to get to know them better. It's also amazing to be able to see how people serve one another and how the organization of the ward works to serve each member. I feel really grateful to have been able to do it twice now. I think both times I received the calling it was in answer to prayers.
Finally, my ending this morning occurred when I finished the Old Testament for the first time ever. (There's another ball I dropped on the mission, I guess. I never read that book in all my scripture study) I think it was about time I had actually read a book all the way through that I profess to believe in (I have read the New Testament a couple of times, so I have that part covered). And guess what, I still believe in it. However, there are sure some interesting passages which I don't even pretend to understand or see how they relate to me spiritually. I guess that's just more for me to learn the next time around. Anyway, now I have officially read all the LDS standard works at least once. I haven't quite yet decided if I am going to read the New Testament or Doctrine and Covenants next.
In any case, it has been a week of endings for me. My life hasn't changed significantly since these are mostly just smaller endings. I'll start another journal, we're still in the same ward so I'll still see all those same sisters and I'll start reading more scriptures. However, these endings do make me think about the bigger endings that are on the horizon. As excited as I am to leave Provo, it will be very bittersweet as well. We've made some great friends and it's the only place we've lived as a married couple so there are lots of memories associated with it. However, when one chapter is over it just means another exciting chapter is just beginning so endings aren't all that bad.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Job Prospect Updates
So, I haven't posted in a while. I was going to post last week, but got side tracked working on school.
So, last Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday I was in California (though Tuesday hardly counts because I boarded a plane at 5:10 am). I went to interview with a company called NAVAIR. They do weapons testing and development for the Navy. Anyway, they are located by a town called Ridgecrest. Geographically, it lies between Bakersfield and Death Valley. Whoopee.
I got a site tour most of Monday. It actually was pretty cool. They do lots of top notch stuff (the military has a large budget). I was fairly impressed with the work. They pay a lot less (as much as 25%) to start than some of the other places I've been looking at. However, it's a pretty chill area. It's a small town with mountains surrounding it. I could probably even bike to work every day (when it wasn't too hot). So, it was a good visit, but not enough to declare it the winner yet. They did tell me they would offer me a position if I wanted it.
Yesterday I got a voice mail from Raytheon in Tuscon (yea, I know, it seems like too many places have their business in hot climates). The message I got went something like this "This is so and so from Raytheon in Tuscon. We wanted to know if you'd be interested in coming down for a hiring event on such and such a day. If you'd like to, please contact so and so. We hope to see you there. Thanks." End of message. Nothing else. No contact information, no clue who this lady was I was supposed to get a hold of was. Nadda. Fortunately I kept the business card of the guy who interviewed me and emailed him about it. He forwarded my email onto the lady I was supposed to track down. Quite nice of him, but I really don't know how they would have expected me to get in touch with her otherwise. Still not sure if I'll make the trip next weekend. We'll have to see how things turn out.
Anyway, nothing more to report on the job hunt.
So, last Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday I was in California (though Tuesday hardly counts because I boarded a plane at 5:10 am). I went to interview with a company called NAVAIR. They do weapons testing and development for the Navy. Anyway, they are located by a town called Ridgecrest. Geographically, it lies between Bakersfield and Death Valley. Whoopee.
I got a site tour most of Monday. It actually was pretty cool. They do lots of top notch stuff (the military has a large budget). I was fairly impressed with the work. They pay a lot less (as much as 25%) to start than some of the other places I've been looking at. However, it's a pretty chill area. It's a small town with mountains surrounding it. I could probably even bike to work every day (when it wasn't too hot). So, it was a good visit, but not enough to declare it the winner yet. They did tell me they would offer me a position if I wanted it.
Yesterday I got a voice mail from Raytheon in Tuscon (yea, I know, it seems like too many places have their business in hot climates). The message I got went something like this "This is so and so from Raytheon in Tuscon. We wanted to know if you'd be interested in coming down for a hiring event on such and such a day. If you'd like to, please contact so and so. We hope to see you there. Thanks." End of message. Nothing else. No contact information, no clue who this lady was I was supposed to get a hold of was. Nadda. Fortunately I kept the business card of the guy who interviewed me and emailed him about it. He forwarded my email onto the lady I was supposed to track down. Quite nice of him, but I really don't know how they would have expected me to get in touch with her otherwise. Still not sure if I'll make the trip next weekend. We'll have to see how things turn out.
Anyway, nothing more to report on the job hunt.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Results Show
Does anyone else feel like you are watching a show choir when the American Idol contestants have to do their group number? I guess that's cool if you like that sort of thing, but honestly, it seems there are better ways to fill up their time slot.
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