See ya, bye!

Well, I leave England this weekend. What a complete and utter bummer. Lachlan has really started to depend on me, and now I have to leave. Do you think customs officials would notice a blond-haired child in my luggage? With any luck, and some savings, I can come visit frequently. I've been prepping him for my departure, counting down the nights and he's determined to come visit, as long as he can watch "kids programs" at "Sister Lindsay's house." I'll get right on that, LB.

On the other hand, I'm quite excited to start moving/working. I think I'll just crash at Allison & Lilah's for a bit, rent a car or something and start driving around that part of the country until I find somewhere I really like...or I get tired of driving. I'll be in LA for a bit over a week, though. Anybody who cares, drop me an email. One good thing about going back so early is that I get to help out with abc.com for the Academy Award Nominations. Basically, the night before they announce the nominations (which are announced at 5:30 am on Tuesday the 31st) they lock us in the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences building, take away our cell phones, provide us with food, we find out all the nominees before the public and create the info for oscar.com. I'll be jetlagged anyway, so I might as well be put to some use.

Oh, and about the lack of blogs...sorry. I feel like there's too much to tell, that I can't cover it all or that there's not enough to tell. I'm not exactly sure. I'll be better once I get back, promise. Well, once I get my computer fixed. I'm pretty sure that the AC connector on the motherboard is loose. Basically, it doesn't recognize when it's plugged in...for a split second it does. If I hold the plug in place, push with all my might on the back of my computer, it works. Seth and google pretty much confirmed my opinion. Anyone have a soldering iron to stick it back on?

Holy cow, I'm addicted to myspace. It's ridiculous. Tracking down people I haven't seen for years or have lost contact with. Friends hailing from all parts of the vast spectrum...from pre-facebook college kids to best friends from 4th/5th grade. But, you know what I hate? People who get carried away with html. My page is bare bones, but man, what's with those leopard print backgrounds, scrolling images, videos, songs and cursive text? Dude. Ugh. All you myspacers know what I mean...when you open up someone's page and IE/Firefox freezes. I'm not talking about anybody specific. Someone asked my sister if I was on myspace (before I actually was), and she said no...and he said, "Yeah, she seems like more of a facebook person." I think he meant I'm too much of an L7 weenie (please, somebody get the reference), and he'd be right. Myspace may be too much of a good thing, it's one thing to give the user options, but quite another to let them run wild - with videos and dancing gifs and a Top 16!!!! Ahhh!!! What's this world coming to?!?! Screw you, Thomas - creator of Myspace Editor V3.6!

Phew, sorry about that, went crazy for a moment there. Goodnight!

Out of the mouth of babes...

Lachlan is a very vocal kid, and though he says "Scuze mes" at least 5 times in every sentence, he's come up with some whoppers. Enjoy.

(Directly after a kiss goodnight)
Lachiebeag: Why are your boobies so big?
Lindsay: I have no idea how to answer that question.

--

(to the waiter at the Indian restaurant on New Year's Eve)
LB: I'll have a lemonade with a piece of lemon and ice. And I'm a policeman cowboy superhero. (Waiter leaves) That should keep him busy for a while.

--

(to guy outside under yellow streetlamp)
LB: Why are you grey?
Guy: Sorry?

--

(upon meeting Allison's girlfriend, Lilah)
LB: Why are you a liar?

--

I'll post more as they happen. Seth and Amanda are safely back in LA, so the house is empty again. As for my job update...I'll be starting on February 15th. As soon as they send me my relocation funds, I'll be out of here...such a bummer. I'll probably stay a week in LA, and then head to Virginia and stay with Allison/Lilah while I familiarize myself with the area and decide what state to live in. I wish I could stay longer and travel around. Oh well. I'll do what I can from here in the short time I have left. Luckily there are a lot of things within driving distance. For instance, today I drove about 10 minutes to the Waverley Abbey ruins. It was a monastery built in the 12th century by the Cistercine monks. It's right between 2 arms of a river, I was there ALL by myself for over an hour, just parked the car and walked a few hundred meters along the river, not a soul in sight. And right across one of the rivers there is one of those huge English country manors. It reminded me of one of those Victorian movies with those lawn parties with ladies and umbrellas. I'll go back and take pictures. My next day trip will be to Windsor castle and Eton. Also, Camberley is about 2o minutes away, so maybe I'll scope that out since the 2 princes attend the Sandhurst military academy there. Who knows, maybe I'll snag myself a royal. One can only hope.

Friends come and go...

So, Shelly leaves tomorrow. Bummer. We've had a good time, and Paris was fun. We got there at about noon on Thursday and left at 8pm on Friday. We packed a lot into that time, though. We walked about 500 miles (and I would walk 500 more). We took one of those red double decker bus tours 2 days in a row: in London, then in Paris. If you've ever been on one, you know you HAVE to sit on the top deck, in the open air. So we did. And we were SO cold. But through the teeth chattering and the Paris snow, we took some good pictures and learned a few things. Pictures to follow later.

Seth and Amanda are going to come visit for a couple of days before they return to the states. That'll be fun! Too bad they're cutting their trip short, but they've seen and experienced SO much and they have enough to do once they get home (anyone hear church bells?).

Lastly, I heard from my boss at Microsoft, and she wants me to start February 1st. Holy cow! That means that I'd have to leave here in a couple of days in order to get ready to move to....wherever, find an apartment AND report to Dallas on Feb. 1. Not going to happen! I'm trying to get an extension, but I haven't heard back. Cross your fingers!

London is expensive.

So, though I'm having a great time, money is disappearing quickly. Even without the horrible conversion rate (it's about 2 US dollars to a pound), things are just way more expensive here. I don't understand it...salaries here are pretty bad, so how do people survive? I'll let you know when I figure out the mystery. I bring all this up because while Shelly's here, we've been spending our time doing "touristy" stuff, and paying to do it. On Thursday we're going to Paris for a couple of days...and it's costing us each about $150 USD (80 pounds) to take a train there and back. It's a 2 1/2 hour ride. And that's the cheap student rate at the cheapest time. Vultures.

Well, on to better topics...

Shelly, Anne and I went to Stonehenge the other day, it was very cold. It was really cool, though! Those rocks have been there for 5000 years. And they were rolled there from a couple hundred miles away. And nobody knows why. Crazy.

We've also been going into the city to visit, and see the various tourist sites. Tomorrow we're going to take one of those double deck tour buses and sit on the the top. Yay. The weather hasn't been that great (it was raining last time we went, as you can see below), so we've been hanging out around locally. Hopefully it doesn't rain tomorrow.

Sally went to Scotland for the new year, she's with Jessie, Robert and Lynsey in Tiree. If I haven't told you about Tiree, it's the little island that my dad grew up on off the west coast. It has about 700 residents, very flat, really quaint. I went there a couple of years ago, and all the old people knew who I was. Tripped me out. Well, Sally's there right now and enjoying herself. They had a big dance, or ceilidhs (pronounced "kayli"), on New Year's Eve for Hogmanay. Hogmanay is the Scottish tradition...well, you can read about it here.

Lastly, I won't be able to watch the Trojans beat the Longhorns in the Rose Bowl. We don't have the channel it's on...and I can't go anywhere to watch it because it's at midnight. I am very bummed. If any of you want to record it for me, it'd be much appreciated.

I hope you all had a great New Years!!! Some images for your enjoyment and scrutiny:

With a Royal Guard and his horse at the Royal Guard Parade.

How English can you get? Phone booth, post box, lamp post, quaint street in Farnham...

In the park of Farnham castle, walking the path which goes from behind our house to town, about a 20 min. walk...

Lastly...Shelly in a phone booth with a real thatched roof cottage. (Or, as the Trogdor song goes...THATCHED ROOF COTTAGEEEESSSS...THATCHED ROOF COTTAGEEEESSSS.)

I am a horrible blogger

Thanks, Aunt Susan, for the reminder! Here's a real one for you, complete with pictures!

The Rutters had a whirlwind Christmas. We picked Robert, Lynsey, Jessie and Isobel (ibby) up early evening on the 24th, had Christmas, dropped Ibby off on the 26th, picked Shelly up early morning on the 27th, and as she walked in the door, Allison and Lilah walked out - back to the States. Lastly, Robert, Lynsey and Jessie left in the afternoon. Phew! And with all that running to and from various airports, it was a great couple of days. The Rutter side has never been under the same roof like that since us triplets were 6. I'd seen Isobel & Jessie when I went to Scotland in 2002, but Sally and Allison last saw Isobel in 1988, and last saw Jessie when she came to Australia when we were 13.

We laughed, we cried, we reminisced. On Christmas Eve, Robert got pissed drunk and talked my ear off til 4:30am, which I didn't mind at all, but a certain little boy was up soon after to open Christmas presents.
(L-R: Anne, Robert, Jessie, Dad w/ LB, Lynsey, Isobel, Allison, and kneeling Sally)

Also, a certain little boy got a present from the after-Christmas sales...Go, go Power Rangers!

And tell me this isn't the cutest villager you ever did see, complete with tea towel on head...

Ok, that's all for now. Shelly and I are about to go into London. We're going on the London Eye...and even if it's a dreary day, hopefully we'll see Buckingham Palace. I'll post about today's trip and yesterday's trip to Stonehenge later.

Lachie's Words of Wisdom

So I think that I'll start posting the cute, funny and profound statements that come out of my 4 year old brother's mouth. This morning we were drawing and this conversation followed:

Sister Lindsay: Do you write with your left hand or right hand?
Lachlan: Sometimes this one, and then this one.
Sister Lindsay: Oh, so you're ambidextrous?
Lachlan: No, I'm kind of a hero. An ambidextrous hero.

How cute is that?

Merry Christmas!

Get it?

Explanation: 2.71828 is the symbol e, a fraction to the -1 power flips the numerator and denominator, and force/acceleration equals mass.

Lazy day.

I had a lazy day today, woke up early again b/c of jetlag, and then sat around and played with Lachie. Then took a nap, and now it's dinnertime. Good times.

Yesterday's trip to London was fun. We took a tour of the Tower of London, really neat. Then we went to The Globe theater, which is a replica (at least an attempted replica) of Shakespeare's theater. Really really neat stuff. We walked around a lot, but those are the only tourist attractions we saw. The others have already done some, but I'm going to wait until after Christmas when Shelly gets here.

It is pretty cold, but not too bad. I'm surviving. Ok, time for dinner!

I made it!

Yay! Well, we're all here, it's a packed house. Very BIG house, 4 bedrooms/4 baths and it even has a dining room. Nice. England is so...well...English. Haha, I haven't seen anything yet, but today we're going to London because it's Jim's last day here. It's just past 7am (jet lag). My brother is too cute. When he wants you to listen to him he says, "Excuse mes..." So you hear that every 3 seconds. I'm sleeping in his bedroom right now, and the FIRST thing he says to me when I get here is: "Are you going to break my bed?" Way to call it like you see it Lachie. The first thing he said to Allison was, "Are you my brother?" That's funny! She said, "No, I just have short hair." What a crack up. The rest of the Rutters (aunts Isobel and Jessie, cousins Robert and Lynsey) get here the day before Christmas and leave right after, not too long of stay, but at least they're coming!

The feeling of having NO responsibilities is great, no weight on my shoulders. Oooh, I think I hear little feet on the stairs...time to play!

Why does this assume all engineers are male?

Understanding Engineers - Take One
Two engineering students crossing the campus when one said, "Where did you get such a great bike?" The second engineer replied, "Well, I was walking along yesterday minding my own business when a beautiful woman rode up on this bike. She threw the bike to the ground, took off all her clothes and said, "Take what you want." The first engineer nodded approvingly, "Good choice; the clothes probably wouldn't have fit."

Understanding Engineers - Take Two
To the optimist, the glass is half full. To the pessimist, the glass is half empty. To the
engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

Understanding Engineers - Take Three
A pastor, a doctor and an engineer were waiting one morning for a particularly slow group of golfers. The engineer fumed, "What's with these guys? We must have been waiting for 15 minutes!" The doctor chimed in, "I don't know, but I've never seen such ineptitude!" The
pastor said, "Hey, here comes the greens keeper. Let's have a word with him." "Hi George! Say, what's with that group ahead of us? They're rather slow, aren't they?" The greens keeper replied, "Oh, yes, that's a group of blind firefighters. They lost their sight saving our clubhouse from a fire last year, so we always let them play for free anytime." The group was silent for a moment. The pastor said, "That's so sad. I think I will say a special prayer for them tonight." The doctor said, "Good idea. And I'm going to contact my ophthalmologist buddy and see if there's anything he can do for them." The engineer said, "Why can't these guys play at night?"

Understanding Engineers - Take Four
What is the difference between Mechanical Engineers and Civil Engineers?
Mechanical Engineers build weapons and Civil Engineers build targets.

Understanding Engineers - Take Five
The graduate with a Science degree asks, "Why does it work?" The graduate with an Engineering degree asks, "How does it work?" The graduate with an Accounting degree asks, "How much will it cost?" The graduate with an Arts degree asks, "Do you want fries with that?"

Understanding Engineers - Take Six
Three engineering students were gathered together discussing the possible designers of the human body. One said, "It was a mechanical engineer." Just look at all the joints." Another said, "No, it was an electrical engineer. The nervous system has many thousands of
electrical connections." The last one said, "Actually it was a civil engineer. Who else would run a toxic waste pipeline through a recreational area?"

Understanding Engineers - Take Seven
"Normal people believe that if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Computer Engineers believe that "if it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet"

Understanding Engineers - Take Eight
An architect, an artist and an engineer were discussing whether it was better to spend time with the wife or a mistress. The architect said he enjoyed time with his wife, building a solid foundation for an enduring relationship. The artist said he enjoyed time with his
mistress, because the passion and mystery he found there. The engineer said, "I like both." "Both?" "Yeah. If you have a wife and a mistress, they will each assume you are spending time with the other woman, and you can go to the lab and get some work done."

Understanding Engineers - Take Nine
An engineer was crossing a road one-day when a frog called out to him and said, "If you kiss me, I'll turn into a beautiful princess." He bent over, picked up the frog and put it in his pocket. The frog spoke up again and said, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful princess, I will stay with you for one week." The engineer took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at it and returned it to the pocket. The frog then cried out, "If you kiss me and turn me back
into a princess, I'll stay with you and do ANYTHING you want." Again the engineer took the frog out, smiled at it and put it back into his pocket. Finally, the frog asked, "What is the matter? I've told you I'm a beautiful princess, and that I'll stay with you for a week and
do anything you want. Why won't you kiss me?" The engineer said, "Look, I'm an engineer. I don't have time for a girlfriend, but a talking frog, now that's cool."

Thanks, Jess!

Congratulations to Mr. & Mrs. Hudson!

Well, the wedding went off without a hitch...or, without a major hitch. The minister DID almost skip over the vows and ring exchange. Otherwise, perfecto! Bethany was a beautiful bride, her dress was lovely...and Brian looked very handsome in his suit. I'm so happy for them! I totally didn't realize, though, that I have NO idea when I'll see them next. Bummer. However, I messed up, Bethany forgive me, but when I introduced myself to Bethany's mom, we got to talking...Microsoft and the east coast came up...and now I think she thinks it's possible for them to move to the east coast. Sorry!

It was a good wedding, everyone had fun. Jeff was bummed there was no alcohol, though. Typical Jeff.

Now I have to finish getting my stuff together for tomorrow's departure. I'm not even CLOSE to finished. AHH!

3 days left...

So all my dillydallying and non-packing made me hungry. I drove to Subway, because I am addicted to 6-inch ham & provolone, toasted, on Italian Herb & Cheese bread, with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, avocado, honey-mustard & mayonaise, and I don't know if they have Subway in England. On the way back I saw Joshua Jackson of Dawson's Creek fame on the row, which is empty because all the Greeks have gone home for break. That's one thing I'll miss about LA, random celebrity sitings. Not that Pacy is a celebrity, but it is random. I never even watched Dawson's Creek, but I recognize the influence it had on members of my generation.

Anyway, I really have to start packing.

"Come Together" by the Beatles

So today was both terrific and terrible. I finished my last final, and I think I did pretty well! I'm quite proud of myself for actually studying for it and getting it done. Walking out of there was one of the best feelings I've ever had in my life. I'm proud of myself for sticking it through, no matter how many times I wanted to quit (and almost did), no matter how lonely I've gotten since EVERYONE else has graduated, no matter how much it cost. It's been a long journey, and God has made me a better person through it.

The terrible part is, though, that as I was going to work today, I found that my car window had been smashed and my stereo stolen. My stepdad had just bought Sally and I that stereo in May! I'm so bummed. And now I have to figure out what to do about it. Just ANOTHER thing I have to do before I leave. I was going to go to Phoenix for a couple of days to visit Jessica, and get out of the bride & groom's hair before their big day, but oh well. It's funny how after SO long here at USC, in the ghetto, my last day at this institution of higher learning is when my long-awaited fear of vandalism came true. Funny joke, God, funny.

One final to go!

So, I've spent that last couple of days studying for my last final, EE450. I really need to kick butt on this one, and I think that may happen. However, I'm not the best test taker, I tend to get to the exam, open the test and draw a complete blank. Wish me luck!

I'm taking Sally and Jim to the airport tomorrow, they're excited about their trip! Apparently, my little brother is waiting for his big sisters to put up the Christmas tree. My poor dad and stepmom: they'll be going to the airport every 3 days to pick up relatives, and it's an hour away. Though that's a small price to pay for a Christmas filled with family!

So my main hurdles before I leave are my final and packing up my stuff. I gotta figure out where I'm going to put it all. I'm selling/giving away what I can, but I still have a couple of boxes. It isn't enough to warrant hiring a storage place, but that may be my only option. We'll see. If anyone has any ideas, let me know.

It's Official.

So, Microsoft it is! I'm so excited. I know some details, but not all. They want to base me in PA, VA, or Washington DC. Cold!!! But, they're paying really really well. This really sounds like a great fit for me! If you want to see what I'll be doing, visit www.msdnevents.com.

On the other hand, I've got to make it through finals. I've got 2 tomorrow and 1 next week. The one next week for EE450 - Computer Networks is going to kick my butt. Really.

Ok, sleep! Gotta rest my brain.

"Sunshine" by Evan Farmer

Holy cow, Microsoft is awesome.

I'm in Dallas, TX. Today was my last interview, phew! And it was the best ever. I had a lot of fun. I was nervous, of course: Microsoft is intimidating! But the people were extremely friendly, passionate about their jobs and INCREDIBLY smart. A lot of times I felt like they were reading my mind; they answered my questions before I could ask them. Especially my interview with the "big boss," our views really aligned. He told me in his 15 years at Microsoft, ours was the most bizarre interview he's ever had (in a good way). Bizarre because he felt like I was making him tell me things he wouldn't normally. Basically, he was trying to be difficult and intimidating, and just couldn't with me. I don't think I'm adequately explaining it, but it went well, and I feel good.

Yay.

"Sailing" by Christopher Cross

Sorry for the lack of updates. It's the last week of school, WHOOHOOO! It's also the worst week. I have too much to do and little time to do it. So, this is just a little note to let you know I haven't forgotten you, and a little link to brighten your day.

It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time! - Family Guy style

Good Idea from Jessica

Thanks, Jess!

1. Seven things I plan to do before I die (not necessarily in order):
<1> learn how to deal like a Vegas dealer
<2> learn carpentry
<3> learn how to work on my car
<4> get married
<5> live abroad
<6> become fluent in another language
<7> invent something

2. Seven things I can do:
<1> dislocate my jaw
<2> bake and cook
<3> sing kinda well
<4> tap dance
<5> read a lot
<6> multitask
<7> make friends easily

3. Seven things I can't do:
<1> roll my Rs
<2> shop for extended periods of time
<3> listen to music and not sing along
<4> live without my computer
<5> understand fashion
<6> talk on my cell phone while parallel parking (I agree, Jess!)
<7> cross the monkey bars (never learned and haven't tried)

4. Seven things that attract me to the opposite sex
<1> collarbones
<2> honesty/integrity
<3> nice hands
<4> genuine concern for others
<5> good sounding laugh
<6> warm personality
<7> a brain

5. Seven things I say most:
<1> "Dude."
<2> "Holy Cow!"
<3> "My bad."
<4> "Riiigghhhttt."
<5> "No way."
<6> "Bummer."
<7> "That's AWESOME!"

6. Seven celebrity crushes:
<1> Prince William
<2> Ethan Embry
<3> Jude Law
<4> Hugh Dancy
<5> Ioan Gruffudd
<6> Rob Lowe (I know, I know...)
<7> Jake Gyllenhaal

7. Seven songs I know the words to:
<1> Shoop by Salt N' Pepa
<2> Gangster's Paradise by Coolio
<3> Wonderwall by Oasis
<4> theme song of Fresh Prince of Bel Air
<5> The Luckiest by Ben Folds Five
<6> Don't Take the Girl by Tim McGraw
<7> Black by Pearl Jam

"Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns N' Roses

Well, Northrop Grumman was a bust. The project they're hiring for sounds cool, but they totally don't have it together about the hiring process. They said it'd probably take a couple of months to interview enough candidates. No thanks. Saves me from filling out all that security clearance paperwork anyways.

On the other hand, I received my first rejection. Cisco turned me down. Bummer. Well, not really, I had already decided I didn't really want it, anyways. But rejection still sucks.

Now for a story. A couple of months ago my dog bit the neighbor. He's old, and he gets protective of our property and my parents. Our neighbors walk up and down our hill past our house every day, and usually he just barks. It's been that way for years. Something changed, though, and he decided to bite. Not good. Anyways, they were going to put him down, because he can't be chained up, and there's no place to fence him in. Luckily for Rex, Mom is a chatterbox and struck up a conversation with some random guy who said he'd take Rex in. So, Rex moved to a yard in Santa Rita. Apparantly, he was NOT happy, because he decided to walk home. Now, I went to high school in Santa Rita, it's about a 15-20 minute drive from our house. Not only that, we live on top of a hill. Rex either followed the road back, or hiked through the jungle. What a good dog! I'm so proud. But he can't stay. My aunt Sam said she'll take him, but she has to move out of her apartment to a place where she can keep a dog. Mom's given her a week to find something, or she'll put him down. I know that sounds rather heartless of Mom, but she has to do something. She can't keep him. The neighbors would have a cow. We'll see what happens. Here's a map, showing where he went: Red is where he started, in Santa Rita, and the blue is where our house is.

Ok, until next time.

"Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves

I'm walking on sunshine...WHOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO!

Ernst & Young made me an offer yesterday, yay! It's for Chicago, but they're letting me start in June. I don't think I'm allowed to publish the dollar figure, but it ain't bad, especially for Chicago. And, I know a grad student here who was only offered $2K more and being placed near LA. Great, so now I know I have a job!

Second piece of awesome news, Google wants me to fly up! That's awesome, I told the recruiter that it'd have to be ASAP since I am considering the other offers. But YAY.

Downer note: I'm sick. Probably due to late nights at Cruiser, lack of sleep and stress. Should make for an interesting Northrop Grumman interview this afternoon!

Ok, gotta go get ready, :)