No song, woke up swearing.

So, for some odd reason my alarm didn't go off this morning. I checked it, it was set correctly, but didn't go off. Hmm. Therefore, I missed my interview call, but he called back, I answered, spoke for a minute. Then my phone suddenly shut off. Now it won't turn on, and when you call it you hear it's not in service. I just got this replacement phone yesterday, because my other phone's buttons wouldn't work. So, not only did I lose all my phone numbers, it cost me an interview. I called Cingular, they said my account looks fine and to call the Warranty department. I called the Warranty department, where I got a message apologizing that they couldn't take my call. I'm so mad at them.

I worked at Cruiser last night til 3 am, and if you didn't know already, Thursday is college party night. So you end up picking up a lot of drunk people. Especially drunk freshmen sorority girls. I loathe drunk freshmen sorority girls. In addition, they were all dressed in SKANKY costumes for halloween. I saw at least 4 nurses, 2 maids, and countless referees. I don't understand how they can degrade themselves so much and then wonder why they get sexually harrassed or their frat boy boyfriends treat them like dirt. Stupid.

There was a lot of police activity last night. On one occasion, I was driving down a street to pick up some kids, and a cop pulled up behind me, then another pulled up in front of me, then 3 more cop cars pulled up, I was boxed. They all got out of their cars, and walked towards me. I thought I had killed someone with my car without knowing it. I rolled down my window and said, "Officer, sir, uh, are you here for me?" He just looked at me and said, "No." Except it sounded like, "You're a moron." Thanks, Officer. Anyway, they milled around for a moment, then got in their cars and left. I continued to drive.

Ok, time for birthday cake for my boss!

no song, too tired.

Today started out not so great. I woke up way too early (5 hours of sleep this time!) to study for the midterm I had at 9:30, and a project that was not finished due at 11. However, the midterm was easy-peasy, so I was done by 10. Then, I went to the lab and hurriedly finished the project. Whoohoo! Go me. After that was done, I ate lunch, came home, and checked email (as usual).

In my email were 3 things of note:

1) I got interviews with Deloitte Consulting, Chevron and KPMG.

2) A notificication of a second phone interview with SanDisk (tomorrow morning).

3) An email from Microsoft asking me to interview for a Presenter position! YAY! YIPPEE! I'm pretty sure that means they'll fly me up there. Out of all my interviews and job considerations, Microsoft is the one I'm most excited about. Because they take care of their employees, they've got a great culture.

So, even though I have class til 11 and have to work til 3am, it's a great day.

I hope you're not all sick of hearing about my job search, but it's a big thing in my life right now, and c'mon, it's better than hearing about how routers work.

Moving on, Chris and Lahra left this morning. It was great having them here. We totally approve of Lahra, she's funny and fun. She's really organized and clean, too, which is a bonus when you're entering our family. My aunt Pam said that Lahra was more relaxed with her - which is understandable because I'd be quiet and weirded out by her, too, if I was marrying her son and meeting her for the first or second or third time. Our family is weird and crazy - therefore intimidating to normal people! Sally, Lahra, Chris and I had a great conversation the other night about the virtues of being raised by Ragans. Though we were raised by chain smokers, pot users, single & broke moms, without many rules, we all grew up fine. Because we were raised to be honest, decent, educated, experience-seeking, world-minded people. And there's nothing more important to the Ragans than family - we're all around the world, but we're still close, and any of us would do anything for another. I can't imagine growing up in any other way.

That's what I have to say.

Googliffic

Google called! Gotta fill out a worksheet, then phone interview. Cool!

"Cruisin'" Huey Lewis & Gwyneth Paltrow version

Wow, why haven't I had any good music stuck in my head recently (besides CS&N - see earlier post)? These won't make my loyal (incredibly small) fanbase think, "Lindsay's got really good taste in music." In fact, now you're all thinking, "Not only is she boring, she knows crap songs." Admit it, that's what you're thinking. I take no offense.

Well, Chris and Lahra are here, I spent some time with them this weekend. On Friday night we (including Sally) went to Universal Citywalk - Howl at the Moon and Saddle Ranch. Slutty girls galore, no joke. However, in the hundreds of people there: not one attractive guy (no offense, cousin Chris, but relations don't count). I kid you not - unless you're into that greasy hair, open shirt with gold chain, sleazy type. Which I'm not. Ugh, just recalling it grosses me out.

On Saturday we drove around Hollywood (Mann's Chinese Theater, "Ooooh...", Hollywood sign, "Ahhhh..."). Never got out of the car, though. We're lazy tourists.

Monday was my last day of interviews, well not LAST, but I get a break. But I thought I'd give you an update:

Microsoft - had phone interview, expecting to hear back this week.
Ernst & Young - second round interview in New York in early November.
Disney Consumer Products - turned it down, because it started in January, and the position wasn't all I thought it would be...though maybe I'll readdress the idea sometime next year.
Avanade - had initial phone interview, have second on-campus interview scheduled for 11/10 (provided I'm not in NY for Ernst & Young).
Hitachi Consulting - Interviewed yesterday, really went well, should hear by end of week if I made it to Round #2 held here in LA. Update: Made it to Round #2 on December 2nd.
Cisco Systems - Made it to round #2, so they'll fly me to either San Jose, North Carolina, Massachusetts or Texas sometime in November.
SanDisk - A company not previously mentioned, kinda happened quickly. Interviewed yesterday, went really well - see story below.

So that's my progress.

Interesting SanDisk story: My interviewer (an older Indian gentleman named Arun) called me LindsAy instead of LindsEy, so I told him the story behind my name's pronunciation (See my old Xanga for story). He in turn, told me a tale of his own. In India as a child, he slept in this roll up kind of mattress bed which had lots of pockets and such for storage. When he was done, you would just roll it up like a sleeping bag. Anyway, his really old grandmother would call it the Holdo, so he grew up calling it a Holdo. Last month he was speaking to some Indian friends and mentioned the Holdo, but the didn't know what he was talking about - so he described it. Turns out it's called a Hold All, and due to his old grandmother's accent, he'd been mispronouncing it for most of his life. Funny story, at least I thought. Got the interview off to a good start, at least.

Well, thanks for reading this - I expect you to comment!

"Trouble" by Shampoo

Yes, random song from the early 90s, not popular in the US, but I heard it in the the Philippines.

Note about comments: where are they? I need feedback, people! Xinh (from ABC) told me I was boring, but that's what you signed up for when you became my friend. Family, sorry, you're stuck. He said I should make stuff up. Right. I'll work on it.

Campus Cruisering

If you didn't know, I started working at Campus Cruiser again, 2 years after I left. I'm now cruiser 82, but if I'd stayed I'd be Cruiser 3. Anyway, I'm answering phones, so I thought I'd post. Tomorrow's a busy day: class from 9-12:30, then the career fair until 3, the interview with Cisco at 3:15. Then class from 4 to 6, dinner, midterm from 7 to 11, then campus cruisering from 11 to 3am. Whooohoo. Busy day. Cousin Chris and his wife Lahra are coming in tomorrow, but I won't get to see them until Friday after ABC. Bummer. Oh well, I'm excited to see Chris after so long, and to meet Lahra. Chris just got out of the Army, he's a Captain, so now he's on the job hunt.

Anyway, work is over, I won't have time to post tomorrow. See you on the flipside.

"Slumber" by Gabriel Mann

Gabriel Mann

or as covered by the SoCal Vocals

Junk Comments?!

I've been comment spammed!!! I didn't know it was possible! I had 3, count that...THREE junk comments. So, I made a change: you can still comment anonymously, but you have to do a word verification. Sorry to make it difficult, but man. Wow. Junk comments, I can't get over it.

"Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" by Crosby, Stills and Nash

Last night I went to Monica's Rock & Roll class because they were going to talk about CS&N (and CSN&Y). It was neat, they listen to music and hear cool facts about albums/bands. Anyway, because of the class, I woke up with "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" in my head.

I got called back to Round #2 of Ernst & Young interviews! Yay! They'll be held in New York on the 8th & 9th or 9th & 10th of November. Monica and Shawn are going, too. How fun! So far, all of my interviews have gone well, I think. :) I just got off the phone with the initial interviewer from Microsoft. We'll see if I make it any farther, that one was difficult to gauge. Not bad or anything, just...hmm.

Dude, our car overheated...AGAIN. Sally took it in to the shop, and I was mad because we JUST had the radiator replaced. Apparently there was something wrong with some hose or something, and the bill was around $500. HOWEVER, the guy never called Sally to tell her the cost, they just went ahead and did the work without her approval...so it was FREE! FREE! Yay for free car work, what a godsend.

Anyway, gotta go stress out about Microsoft...

Witty Titles

Ok, so it's post #4, and I've already run out of attention-grabbing titles, so from now on, the titles are going to be whatever song is stuck in my head. For those who don't know, every morning I wake up with a song in my head. They are very random songs, covering all parts of the spectrum from nursery rhymes to classic rock songs to television jingles. So, stay tuned from now on. I didn't title this post with a song because it's 2pm, and I already forgot what song was playing in my head when I woke up. I'll make a point to remember next time.

Thanks for your comments, Dad, Anne, Jon and Monica! I feel special! Don't worry, Dad, I'll try to stress less about finding a job. If you know of any good job-finding websites in England, let me know!

Right now I'm sitting in one of USC's computer labs, about to start writing a lab report on "the overfishing of the world's waters." Oh well, better get to it.

USC vs Notre Dame

Dude, wow, that game was INSANE. I nearly had a heart attack a number of times. Especially at the end when the announcers called the game and the ND fans rushed the field prematurely. Hah, but we showed them. And Leinart was so overcome, it was great. Now THAT'S a game that'll be on ESPN Classic. Best game ever.

To add to my last post, the DCP interview went well, but I don't think I'll take it if it were offered. It just isn't enough, I mean the bare bones of it is that it is a customer service/data entry position. And it doesn't pay too well. So, I think I'll pass. I'm worth more than that (I hope). Also, I have 2 more interviews to add to the list: Hitachi Consulting and Cisco Systems. Wow, don't I feel popular. I really didn't think ANYBODY would be interested enough to actually interview me. Let's see if their interest holds up enough to actually hire me.

The Job Search

So, it's my last semester in college (finally, I know). My plan so far is to go to England on the 18th of December. I bought a one-way ticket because I'm planning to be there for about 6 months. I say planning because it's all dependent on my job (or lack thereof). Therefore, I'm currently on the job hunt, interviewing with anyone who will give me the time. So far I've interviewed with Ernst & Young. And I have a phone interviews with Disney Consumer Products and Avanade. I'm supposed to have a phone interview with Microsoft lined up, so the recruiter has told me...but it hasn't been scheduled yet. So far so good. I do basically have a job at Wells Fargo if I want one, but I don't know...it wasn't a bad internship. The people are nice, the pay is really good, but the work will probably not be challenging or anything. And it's a bank, so business is the name of the game, even though we generally get to wear jeans. Oh, I'm so confused. I just want to find a job and company that I LOVE and am passionate about. Maybe I'll find one in England, I don't know. But, until I find *the* job, the search goes on...

New Beginnings...

So, Seth and Amanda have inspired me to start a blog. I figured that since I signed up for an account to publish comments, I might as well start a blog. I thought I'd never be that person, oh well.

Not like this will ever get read anyways.