The new layout was sort of focused on getting the text closer to the center of the page, but then I realized I barely ever have new entries, so I decided to write one today. Today marks one month since my first day of work. Surprisingly, they didn’t throw me a party. Shocked, I know. Anyway, I think I’ve been in the cage long enough to write five things I think about work.
1. No homework
Basically all my friends that have started working full time say the same thing: “After work, you don’t have to think about work.” The jist of it is that you don’t have homework so you can basically do everything guilt free after 5pm. And now I can add myself to the list of people who say that after work, you don’t have to think about work. It’s nice.
2. School’s not bad at all
You know what, I’ve never said it before, but I did figure it’d be like this: I miss school. Sometimes. Maybe it’s the whole set schedule thing. Every day is a little different in school. With work, it seems easy to just go through the motions and all of a sudden it’s the weekend. I’m trying not to get stuck in a rut doing the same thing every day and waking up one day in Seattle wondering what I didn’t do in San Jose.
Then again, maybe I miss school because of the fact that it’s Spring quarter and the UW campus is really, really nice (something I’ve taken for granted). Also, all the girls aren’t mummy-wrapped in hoodies and TNF fleeces. Adding to that, it’s also easy to see all the positives that I’m missing out on and overlook the chance that it’d be like last year’s spring quarter, which was spent looking out at the sunny days from the fishbowl AKA the EE lab.
3. Working at a computer all day
In middle school, I probably wouldn’t mind hearing that I’d have a job where worked on a computer all day.
8th Grade Ces, let me tell you, it’s not Starcraft all day. And it’s probably not good for your eyes. P.S. how’s the dial-up internet? Oh, Dan keeps disconnecting you to talk on the phone? I forgot about that, sorry man. And I bet future-Dan is probably sorry to hear that also.
4. Ice cream
We have this ice cream machine on our floor. Apparently it’s one of the only places to get ice cream in the facility. They don’t have any at the cafeteria and every time someone sees it for the first time they say something like, “Whoa you have ice cream!” And I do have ice cream. (8th-grade Ces, if you’re still reading, The best part about being an adult is you can have ice cream at 10:30 in the morning!) I went off the first week and tried nearly everything in there, except the Haagen Das at $1.75. I ain’t Haagen Dat ice cream. There’s also the opposite case, where there’s a bar at $1.00. Fat-free and also joy-free. Blue Ribbon holds it down, but trust me—It’s It and Klondike are killing the ice cream machine game right now.
5. Lunch
Going out for lunch is cool because it’s easy and it tastes good. But then you look at the bank statement and $40 a week isn’t that cool. In my mind, I’d say it’s worth it just because of the social aspect. You really don’t want to brown bag it and tag along. I’m trying to think of some way to offset this. The best solution I’ve come up with is to go out to eat on Monday and Friday, then brown bag it in the middle of the week. As for places to eat, we’ve stuck to 4 places: Fu Kee, Baja Fresh, Togo’s, and Something Sushi Boat.
Fu Kee seems like the go-to spot for my lunch squad. I don’t know what Fu Kee means, but I bet the proprietor was thinking something like, “Hey, I need a name that sounds Asian.” And it works. The food does the trick (I won’t go as far as to say it hits the spot), but it makes me miss Seattle the same way Dan did when he was in San Diego. The difference in Starbucks concentration between here and Seattle is surprising. But the difference in teryiaki joint concentration between here and Seattle is staggering.
Baja Fresh is Baja Fresh. You probably have one of these so I won’t say much. Chipotle’s burritos are superior, but I’m enjoying the tacos.
Togo’s reminds me of Jimmie John’s as far as sandwich selection and price go. Unlike other sandwich shops, the line is run like a commissary or Fry’s—one line and you go to the next employee as it opens. One person makes your sandwich from beginning to end. Compared to other spots I’d say it’s slower than Subway, faster than Quizno’s, tastes in between both of those, but it’s got nothing on Tubs.
Sushi Boat Town is basically awesome as far as I’m concerned. The reviews on Yelp are unfavorable (to say the least), but I suspect either a) service has improved, b) lunch service is different than dinner service, or c) I have lower standards than the people on Yelp (it might be an over-generalization, but some seem like food/service-snobs). Anyway, they have awesome bento boxes for lunch. $6.95 for chicken teriyaki, rice, salad, a potato cake, and your choice of salmon teriyaki, tuna sashimi, tempura, various rolls, etc. $1.00 upgrades it to beef teriyaki, and they use a cut of meat better than your average teriyaki spot because it tastes better and it’s obvious that it wasn’t pre-sliced. And $1.50 gets you a pretty hefty serving of salmon sashimi.
And that’s five things I think about work.