reflection

Monday Mondays… Oliver the Engineer, the

Leave a comment

Mondays are just one of those days that you either get right on or just never seem to get back on track until you are about to leave work. The later was true for me. This morning the day was moving quite slowly and not a lot was happening. I had some deadlines to meet. But as always the people that I needed to chat and discuss with about the pending issues was not there. So in order for me to get things done I had to assume some stuff but as always the current case it seems, when I assume it usually is wrong or the point doesn’t get address accordingly.

Today was the day that I had to get to finish the report that I have been working for a couple of weeks now. And this report at first seem like a breeze however about a week into it, I realized that there were a lot of unknowns that I need to I found out. Te most unfortunate thing though, as much as I like to be proactive to making sure things are going smoothly, it seems that the people I’m relying on are not keeping up their end of the bargain, which one makes the work life more difficult and aggravating. And to my my luck proves time and time to not work in my favor. If it doesn’t kill me, it only makes me stronger is what I say always.

But I wonder how many more times I can say that before that wears out?! I’m going to be optimiztic and say that it’s going to take awhile before a hint of that statement comes true. But something is going to have to happen I fear before anything will change. And to that I say KARMA! What comes around goes around.

So back to the report. This report is vital to the project but some people just don’t understand the scoop of which it will take. People just assume that it will happen and get done but no one checks up on the work. I try my best to make sure it is done correctly however I know that lately my work quality has been slipping. I say that because I as much as I lovey job lately it surely has gotten to be more of a chore than interesting. I’m pretty such you have fired that out by now if I have talked to you or you have been reading my post lately. It is just one of those things were the thing that you love can start to wear on you. The sad fact is that it is not the actual work that is killing me it is my coworker lack of communication with one another. Our team or from what I can make it out to be, is not a te at all. We are all like independent states working against and with each other. One person takes care of what they do and other does the same. And as long as they don’t conflict all is good. But once there is a conflict issues arise and tempers fly and it just makes it had.  So given that it doesn’t make for a productive work environment.

Luckily such was not the case for the report that I was working but the problem was that the people that I needed to submit it too for review was not in the office.  🙁  Oh well there is only more days left in the weekend.

Just Another Day…Oliver the Engineer, Oliver the Foodie

Leave a comment

Today was seriously an uneventful day.  Once again, the rush and push of getting stuff done ASAP was gone.  One of my coworkers came back to the office today which makes our group almost complete again.  There really wasn’t much to report on the work side of things today which if you have been following my recent post you know that there’s been a lot going on lately.  So I guess in one regard this is a good post / update about work.  And the top it off, tomorrow is Friday so the work week is over.  Bravo for that!  🙂

On the bright side of the day today.  I did get to be my foodie self today.  After about nearly a week and a half I got to have a burger from my favorite food truck; MIHO GASTROTRUCK.  I’ve been enjoy MIHO’s food for awhile.  And everytime I get a chance I seek them out.  MIHO makes awesome food but on top of that, they are the coolest gang of people around.  Juan, Kevin, Matt, Christina, and the rest of the crew, MIHO are as passionate and genuine as they come.  I’ve had a great time getting to meet them by showing up where they serve their food.

Today’s lunch was great because they brought back their classic burger which has been off of the menu for awhile.  Oh because the one thing I didn’t tell you about MIHO is that they get most if not all of their ingredients from local sources in and around San Diego.  With that their menu changes weekly and seasonally which I enjoy because you get to taste the season.

Which I think these days people don’t comprehend that as much, especially the younger crowds.  The reason I say that is because growing up I would hear stories told from my parents about how they would only have apples around Christmas time because that was the only time they were available in the Philippines.  And when I think about it today, it hits you that apples and other items are available all year round.  Having it available all year round, I think doesn’t allow you to appreciate the food as much.  So that’s why I appreciate the seasonally available food so much more.

But getting back to MIHO, there food is seriously always delicious and fresh.  Give them a follow on twitter at @mihogastrotruck or see what their weekly menu is and what are up to by visiting their website; http://www.mihogastrotruck.com.  Give them a try and you’ll understand why I always go to them when I’m looking for delicious lunches.

Today also was just a relatively quiet day because I didn’t have to cook dinner this evening.  The reason for this was that I prepared and cooked a lot of food yesterday which meant that we had leftover for dinner tonight.  And since I don’t eat as much as I use too it was enough for my parents and I.  And since I didn’t cook today, I finished dinner relatively early.   And with that I was able to hang out and catch up with my good buddy David.

David is one of my good friends that I hang out with on a normal basis.  We both just get along very well.  He’s one of the friends that I have that I can just bounce ideas off and get some honest feedback.  But also he is a friend that I learn things from as well.  We actually have a conversation, well that depends on what you mean by conversation.  Conversation in terms of talking, yes we do that but if you mean conversation as in talking and see each other’s faces, that would be a negative.  All I mean by that is that we equally both enjoy our iPhones, especially when it comes to pictures.  We chat but we chat with another looking at our phones.  LOL.  But still it’s one of those things that we don’t do often but here and there we catch ourselves doing it but our conversations do continue despite the fact.  I forgot to mention David is also a photographer.  He absolutely takes great photos and I dig he’s style.  Check out some of he’s work here: David J Crewe Photography.

Another cool thing about David / Dave is that we enjoy discovering new places around town and enjoy a good meal like myself.  So this evening I took him to one of my favorite places in the Uptown Area of San Diego, called Barrio Star.

I discovered Barrio Star, serendipitously one evening after a photowalk with some friend at Balboa Park.  My buddies Greg, Ellen, and Hollie, where originally planning to eat at a pizza place following the photowalk but we found out that it was close for the evening so we had to look for a place and Barrio Star was that place.

Barrio Star is a great place with a great environment that serves what I like to call refined clean Mexican fusion food.  What I mean by that is that the food they serve here is refreshing and just right portions.  But there dishes are too die for.  I highly recommend and love their Brazil Bowl with Carnitias.  It is absolutely delicious and refreshing.  And it would be safe to say that Dave would agree with me that this place is a must try and experience.

And lastly to close off the evening we grab some gelato from another of my favorite places, named Gelato Vero Cafe.  Gelato Vero Cafe is located in the Mission Hill portion of San Diego off Washington Street and Interstate 5.  It’s a small cafe that has ample sitting for small gatherings or a good place to hang out with a friend or two.  If you need more room or can’t find room within the cafe or outside sitting area, head upstairs for more room.  Gelato Vero is a great place to have some good old gelato and chat with a friend and even do some people watching.  With that that closes another day for the books.  I hope you enjoyed.  🙂

A Good Day – Oliver The Engineer, The Friend, the Cook

Leave a comment

So today was one of those days where seriously I expected to fall into the same pit as I always do when I have day like I had yesterday.  And surprisingly it wasn’t as bad as I thought.

I do have to note I did break from routine and bypass getting my morning Starbucks Mocha because I figure I need all the time I can get.  I guess looking back at it now that it was the nervousness that was talking to me.  But I am happy I did bypass the coffee.  So to calm my nerves a bit, I decided to once again listen to another audio book.  Instead of Danielle’s book, I listened to Seth Godin’s Poke the Box.  Today’s commuting lesson was to just DO IT!  Don’t wait for anything and take action.  And also to pursue the curious mind.  However the most important lesson that I took from today’s lesson was to SHIP.  This was something also that was told to me from a very good friend during my trip to the World Domination Summit.  That will be for sure that I will write about soon.

So once again as my morning commute came to a close, I slowly drove into the parking lot.  Yet another surprise awaited.  Just like yesterday, there was a spot available to park in the nearest lot to the office.  What made today especially more awesome was that there was even more spots.  So I guess passing the coffee up today did help.  I got to work earlier and I had some amble parking to choose from.

Now heading up the stairs I just kept thinking to myself; “Oliver, you can do this.  Just stay calm.  You have this under control.”  I kept repeating that to myself as I went up the 6 flights of stairs to my office.

Maybe a subtle sign that today was going to look better was that I did have a little extra step in my walk, as well as it was Tuesday which meant that it was Tie Tuesdays.

Tie Tuesday is the one day a week that I wear a tie to work.  It was create with my friends on the 4th floor as a way to start wearing the ties we had a home and a way to make professional look good.  🙂  So for the last 7 months, I’ve been wearing a tie every Tuesday.  Which I happen to document with pictures.  Link Here.  So it has been a tradition that has made me feel a little special.

Coming to my floor and still repeating the phrase to myself, I hover my card above the sensor to unlock the door and I open the door, ready to take on what was awaiting me on the other side.  One deep breath and I went in.

Walking straight to my cubicle, I tried to not add to the morning banter at work but at least for now, I failed.  I engaged a bit.  Still trying to figure what they said about me.  I know most likely they didn’t say much about me but that’s just my lizard brain telling me that so that I can spend more of my valuable time trying to figure what they said and what I can do about it.  That’s something I will overcome.  But in the meantime, I talked a bit but soon after went straight to work.

About an hour into the work, I realized that I actually was going to get this done in time.  It was about then that my supervisor walked into my cubicle asking how things are going.  Told him that they are okay and that I was fixing some issues that I discovered I made while working late and that will have them done soon.

I will also now spare, you of the boring details of the rest of the day.  But as it turned out, I had a few more hours to spare and I actually did get it done.  To my greatest surprise I actually got most of it done.  Now is it actually good or not that is another story that I will write soon and I will let you know as soon as I find out.  Today just goes to show myself that when I’m on a mission to get something done, more often than not I will be pleasantly surprised with the outcome.

During the work day, I also was reminded that I had a hangout afternoon / evening with one of my really good friends Hollie.  Hollie, I met during one of my first photowalks that I did for the SmugMug group.  It was from that one on one hang out that we became good friends.  So today we chatted earlier about hanging out and catching up.  It has been about  close to 3 weeks since we even hung out.  So this was a good treat at the end of the day.

Today, Hollie ask me if I wanted to go walking with her and her boyfriend Steve at Mission Bay park for a nice afternoon walk.  And at first, I had to think about it, but then thought to myself; why not.  Since I worked throughout the morning, I didn’t get my normal morning walk in so I figure this would be a perfect opportunity to get some exercise and do some catch up.  And that we did.

We walked about 3.5+ miles today.  And in those miles, the three of us caught up and updated each other on what’s new.  During the walk, I told them about the World Domination Summit.  I described it as a life changing and fun weekend.  And I think I just explain the World Domination Summit as; it is a conference which help you answer the question;

How do you live a remarkable life in a conventional world?

That’s the explanation that I have been giving people because its one of the most straightforward why to put things.  At least for the moment, that may all change once I get through processing my notes from WDS.

And after walking, I was invited and welcome back to their place for dinner.  As always, I’m happy to help out, especially when food is involved.  I helped Hollie with preparing a very awesome meal of Bowtie Pasta and Hollie’s special sauce and a nice refreshing salad.   During this I kept thinking this is what I want to do when I have a place to call my own.  I seriously would just call friends up and see what they are up to and just invite them over for dinner.  I love having friends around and sharing meals with them.  It’s one of the few times during they day, that I actually slow down and just enjoy.

After indulging that excellent meal, we settled in and started to watch tv.  That’s something that I  don’t do often these days.  It was just nice to hang out around two awesome friends and a cat to close evening.

I hope tomorrow will good.  We shall see.  🙂

What A Day – Oliver the Engineer…

Leave a comment

What a day!  Today was what I thought was a just a normal Monday.  I was upbeat, ready to take over the world, and ready to accomplish anything that came along my way.  So I did my normal routine.  Head over to Starbucks, get my vente Ice Mocha with no whip.  Then headed off to work on my normal route.

This morning I decided to listen to an audiobook verses my normal pop morning routine.  The audiobook for this morning’s commute was Danielle Laporte’s Fire-Starter Sessions.  I purchase the audiobook last night.  I also purchased the book as well.  But lately I’ve notice that I’ve become more distracted with reading again.  I don’t know if I just have the gears in my head turning constantly or that I’m just easily distracted with all things social media.  I can’t really pinpointed right now but I need to figure it out before it gets out of hand.  But lately I’ve decided to listen to books verses reading them and not because I’m lazy but because I want to do more with my time.  This has come true a lot lately especially while I’m at work.

So after my normal 20 minute commute to work.  I arrived at worked earlier than usual and thinking that I wouldn’t get a good parking spot.  But to my amazement I found one and it was for sure the last one.  Now this day was looking good.  So I turned off the car and turned off my GPS app on the Phone and headed into the office.

Now with a card swiped and racing up the stairs I got excited for what I was able to accomplish today.  Then slowly it started.

So one of the first signs that day was slowly unfolding was that I have forgotten to bring one of my notebooks with me today to work.  My Moleskine notebooks have become a big feature on my desk as of this last year.  I decided to keep a notebook handy with me at all times because I never know when an idea will strike or I head / read a great quote that is relevant to what I’m working on or thinking about these days.  So I made sure that I always have one with me.

When I discovered that I didn’t have it with me, I brushed it off like it was nothing.  But I knew in the back of my head it was.  Then I decided to grab another one of my Moleskine notebooks, this one was my calendar.  In that calendar notebook, I decided to keep a log of the places I went to during that particular day.  So for today’s entry, it was Starbucks and Caltrans.  However when I wrote Caltrans, little did I know that was where I would spend nearly 12 hours of my day working on a small but important project.  More on that a little later.

Now with my iPhone plugged into my computer, headphones plugged in my iPhone, and just about logged in my computer, I settled into work, with what I assumed at the time would be a busy but productive day.  The morning started normal, checked my e-mail, looked at twitter, did my Good Morning World message of the day which read;

“Good Morning World! Everyone has a story. YOU ARE YOUR AUTHOR. Don’t let others write your story. Instead create the story you want to live.”

From the tweet, I was upbeat and I was.

So now I slowly settled into work.  The first order of business for me was to do some sketches of what I had to get done today.  Along with the sketches I had to do some calculations.

Oh before I forget, here’s some background info on what I’m working on.  So I was tasked to analysis and design some drainage systems for the project that I’m working on.  It’s taken me awhile to get to this point because I was put on other parts of the project that at the time I thought was great but now only to discover that it seriously made my current task so much more difficult because I basically had to start from scratch, where as my co-workers had months to work on their systems.  But oh well, it hasn’t killed me yet.  At least I hope it doesn’t.  So now I’m tasked with completing the whole analysis and design of two drainage systems.  And of course these two drainage systems at the surface look easy but once you get into the details of the work, I soon find out that it is more involved that it should have and the time given to me to complete is a bit crazy.

Now I continue, with the sketches and calculations done for the first system done.  I begin my adventure with doing additional research to make sure that I’m doing my task correctly.  To be honest, this is the first time, that I have ever done such a task.

Oh the task, I forgot to tell you the task, the task I had to do was to draw up profile sheets for the drainage systems that I was assigned.

Conducting my research I find out that there wasn’t a manual to help with setting this thing up.  So I guess I had to do the old fashion way, which was for me, to look at a sample and mimic the sample and then apply my design to look like the sample.

Now I won’t bore you with the really minute details that lead to my 12 hour day.  Let’s just say that after working on it for hours, it turns out that there seriously was a lot of things that I didn’t expect during the design and I had to trouble shoot the problems as I went.  The biggest trouble shoot issue that I had to do today was that the scale of my drawing was off.  My drainage inlets and pipes that I designed didn’t line up to the right elevation and some of the things where just off.  So I spent a better half of my afternoon trying to figure those issues out.   Which unfortunately lead me to stay at work until 7pm.  So I worked today from 7am to 7pm.  And on top of that I had to bring home some of the work to double check my calcs and prepare for tomorrow’s mad dash to finish the design. So wish me luck.

Now i’m off to double check the calculations and work out some of the details so I can get this thing out quickly tomorrow.

Till next time.

-Oliver the Engineer.