My Time at Stanford
The reason why I haven't been blogging is because I haven't had a break on anything.
As I continue on my involuntary vacation fro MEC Dynamics, I've had to find ways of supporting myself and my mountain of monthly bills. Although I'm sure there are plenty of people worse off than me, needless to say if I didn't work during my leave from the company would mean I would be in the hole (I try not to touch my accounts that have moneys in them).
Other than my recent employment at Stanford's School of Medicine, I am now currently working at Stanford's School of Law...go figure.
Other than the B**ch of a parking lot, I decided to drive my car instead this time around. For $10.00 per day I was a lucky owner of a parking permit that allowed me ticketless parking in their "A" lots. I'm here all week so that's $50.00, at the employee discount rate.
The school of law is quite an amazing place, as now I know what real money gets you at one of these private universities. My job is content management and I was hired to assist in the school of law's new rebranding of their website (Redesign) at www.law.stanford.edu.
With the rollout on July 17, they had a lot of porting to do (getting info from the old website into the new). So I've been spending a lot of time doing data entry, editing, and whatnot that involves the computer. I'm staring at the computer for 8 hours a day, straight. I take no lunches and occasionally I take a quick brake which includes a 10-15 nap in the library lobby.
I work in the basement, which means I get no reception at all down here. The world turns without me when I'm down here, I've had many voicemails from many people during the last couple of days. At least I know I'm a wanted man.
As mentioned above, I work 8 hours straight with no lunch. I do this on purpose because I'm allowed to, you don't know how bad the commute can be when you're stuck in traffic. There were only 2 days out of this week where I got to work in less than 30 minutes. The worst was 75 minutes. So I like to leave as early as possible however it's not without it's problems.
Because I have no lunch, and I'm staring at the computer all day; my eyes get tired and my body gets tired...a poor combination as it leads to bouts of dosing off in front of the computer while i'm in the office with 3 other people.
I occasionally sneak out to walk somewhere, to exercise the legs, or nap but it's still a LONG day.
I'm taking some time out of my busy work day just so that I can keep up with my readers on here (I'm fortunate to say that I'm ahead of schedule on my work load. Ahh yes, A Bui always finishes their work earlier so that they can slack off more later).
Working here leaves me with little energy left in the day after the job is over. The result has been a lack of attention to J Smooth Salsa, a little bit of weight gain, poor endurance from not dancing, and just poor eating habits.
As I sit here, thinking of salsa dancing, I can't help but wonder if the salsa community has made leaps and bounds in techniques and patterns. Hmmm, I can't be away that long.
With the Independence day week here, I am working on July 3rd (although I had a choice not to come, I could use the extra cash to pay for my room and flight to my sister's wedding) and back on July 5th for the remaining of the week. I'm hoping by that time MEC Dynamics will have the new strip design so I can go back to working there. I miss 15 minute commutes and tons of unsupervised time now. :(
What I *Did* Learn from Stanford
The School of Law at Stanford is quite an amazing place. Because I'm doing content management I get a first hand look at the information that they have available for private and the public. What I have learned:
1. There's a picture for every employee, and student, at the School of Law (with quick bio about each person and their contact information. I had bouts of stalker-syndrome.)
2. There's a difference between the words professor, lecturer, and instructor (so I shouldn't have been calling some people back at school professor, but rather Lecturer so-and-so!)
3. The air smells a lot more expensive here.
4. Everyone on the main floor, including the Crowne Library where the students can go, have one of the most expensive chairs on the market.
5. If you write a blog, and it's public and relevant to what you're teaching, counts as a publication.
6. In addition to the regular school of law, the campus runs various programs in specific areas of law such as criminal justice, pro bono, internet law, biotech, etc.
7. Stanford runs a Legal Clinic that handles cases from low-income families needing representation or legal advice. These are typically handled by students.
8. The campus is so big, it has it's own city address: Stanford, CA.
9. The campus is so big that once you pass certain security check points, it's assumed that you're part of the staff (so don't act like you're lost!). There's no ID system either!
As I continue on my involuntary vacation fro MEC Dynamics, I've had to find ways of supporting myself and my mountain of monthly bills. Although I'm sure there are plenty of people worse off than me, needless to say if I didn't work during my leave from the company would mean I would be in the hole (I try not to touch my accounts that have moneys in them).
Other than my recent employment at Stanford's School of Medicine, I am now currently working at Stanford's School of Law...go figure.
Other than the B**ch of a parking lot, I decided to drive my car instead this time around. For $10.00 per day I was a lucky owner of a parking permit that allowed me ticketless parking in their "A" lots. I'm here all week so that's $50.00, at the employee discount rate.
The school of law is quite an amazing place, as now I know what real money gets you at one of these private universities. My job is content management and I was hired to assist in the school of law's new rebranding of their website (Redesign) at www.law.stanford.edu.
With the rollout on July 17, they had a lot of porting to do (getting info from the old website into the new). So I've been spending a lot of time doing data entry, editing, and whatnot that involves the computer. I'm staring at the computer for 8 hours a day, straight. I take no lunches and occasionally I take a quick brake which includes a 10-15 nap in the library lobby.
I work in the basement, which means I get no reception at all down here. The world turns without me when I'm down here, I've had many voicemails from many people during the last couple of days. At least I know I'm a wanted man.
As mentioned above, I work 8 hours straight with no lunch. I do this on purpose because I'm allowed to, you don't know how bad the commute can be when you're stuck in traffic. There were only 2 days out of this week where I got to work in less than 30 minutes. The worst was 75 minutes. So I like to leave as early as possible however it's not without it's problems.
Because I have no lunch, and I'm staring at the computer all day; my eyes get tired and my body gets tired...a poor combination as it leads to bouts of dosing off in front of the computer while i'm in the office with 3 other people.
I occasionally sneak out to walk somewhere, to exercise the legs, or nap but it's still a LONG day.
I'm taking some time out of my busy work day just so that I can keep up with my readers on here (I'm fortunate to say that I'm ahead of schedule on my work load. Ahh yes, A Bui always finishes their work earlier so that they can slack off more later).
Working here leaves me with little energy left in the day after the job is over. The result has been a lack of attention to J Smooth Salsa, a little bit of weight gain, poor endurance from not dancing, and just poor eating habits.
As I sit here, thinking of salsa dancing, I can't help but wonder if the salsa community has made leaps and bounds in techniques and patterns. Hmmm, I can't be away that long.
With the Independence day week here, I am working on July 3rd (although I had a choice not to come, I could use the extra cash to pay for my room and flight to my sister's wedding) and back on July 5th for the remaining of the week. I'm hoping by that time MEC Dynamics will have the new strip design so I can go back to working there. I miss 15 minute commutes and tons of unsupervised time now. :(
What I *Did* Learn from Stanford
The School of Law at Stanford is quite an amazing place. Because I'm doing content management I get a first hand look at the information that they have available for private and the public. What I have learned:
1. There's a picture for every employee, and student, at the School of Law (with quick bio about each person and their contact information. I had bouts of stalker-syndrome.)
2. There's a difference between the words professor, lecturer, and instructor (so I shouldn't have been calling some people back at school professor, but rather Lecturer so-and-so!)
3. The air smells a lot more expensive here.
4. Everyone on the main floor, including the Crowne Library where the students can go, have one of the most expensive chairs on the market.
5. If you write a blog, and it's public and relevant to what you're teaching, counts as a publication.
6. In addition to the regular school of law, the campus runs various programs in specific areas of law such as criminal justice, pro bono, internet law, biotech, etc.
7. Stanford runs a Legal Clinic that handles cases from low-income families needing representation or legal advice. These are typically handled by students.
8. The campus is so big, it has it's own city address: Stanford, CA.
9. The campus is so big that once you pass certain security check points, it's assumed that you're part of the staff (so don't act like you're lost!). There's no ID system either!
posted by Jimmy Smooth | Friday, June 30, 2006
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