182/365
07012014
July already! I start work in less than 2 weeks D: Today I stayed home most of the day, packing stuff to move down to VA tomorrow and sorting through all the things in my room. Feels kind of weird that I'm packing to move out of here... and not just to move to school for a year. So I spent the morning doing that, and Evelyn helped me out too. She folded my clothes haha and helped carry some stuff downstairs for me. Got lunch with Christine at Cutting Board and while I was in Flushing ran some errands. And it was so hot today omg I was melting walking outside. When I went for a jog I couldn't jog very far because of the heat. Meep. Watched the USA-Belgium game this afternoon, quite disappointing but oh wells. After I packed the car with all my stuff, I went to Home Depot with my dad to get a screwdriver set and some pliers to keep in my apartment down in VA. Shall come in handy when I need to fix stuff and when I assemble my furniture.
183/365
07022014
Super tiring day. Went to Jersey at 9 to switch to my dad's friend's minivan, and surprisingly I was able to fit everything in it, including a full-sized mattress and a swirly chair. Then began the 4 hour drive down to Virginia, which wasn't too bad because it's just one highway all the way down. It's like driving to Ithaca, except the weather doesn't get grayer and grayer. Got here and unloaded everything and saw my apartment! It looks pretty nice actually, better than I imagined. My room's a little bigger than Ithaca's room but that's fine, I don't have too much stuff. Then went to IKEA to buy furniture! I spent under $500 for everything in my room plus a futon and coffee table for the living room. I don't think it's that bad, considering the amount of stuff I got. And plus, I get a relocation fee that I can use towards getting these furniture. Then made pit stops at Walmart and Bed Bath & Beyond, and then got dinner at some Pho place along the way. Came back to the apartment and Susan and Shah helped me unload everything, and then I started assembling IKEA furniture. Gotta return/exchange some stuff because I changed my mind, but other than that it looks pretty good. So tired from all the driving and manual labor. :(
184/365
07032014
Woke up early to hammer all the stuff in and to finish making my furniture! It was all done and I unpacked the 2 boxes of clothes that was there. It's beginning to look more like a room! But there's still a lot more unpacking and organizing to do before it's all done. Left Arlington around 10 and stopped by DC to get something at Starbucks, and since I was there I got a Washington, D.C. city mug for Tiffany. It looks pretty, maybe I'll get one for myself some time later haha. Passed by the White House too! 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue :D Then onwards home! Stopped by the Elizabeth IKEA to exchange some of the stuff I got, and then I went back to the city. Stayed around midtown to wait for Tiffany to get back from Ithaca, and I chilled in the Starbucks across the street from Barclay's Capital and met up with Bryan. Even went in to Barclay's to see the trading floor. Then it started pouring, but thank god I found an umbrella under the chair at Starbucks haha. Had dinner with Tiffany at BCD Tofu in KTown and then I had major struggles swiping the Metrocard in. :(
185/365
07042014
Happy 4th of July! So right when I woke up, both my brother and my dad left the house for lunch plans with people. So I met up with Vinny in Jackson Heights, got Sammy's Halal, and then drove to LIC to see Hannah and her new apartment! The view from her balcony is pretty sweet, and the apartment itself is really nice, and she's paying less than I am! D: We chilled in the rooftop lounge for a bit, catching up and gossiping heh. Then went to Odd Fellows ice cream in Williamsburg, even though it was raining and pretty chilly outside. I got the strawberry cheesecake it was delicious! And they got Thai ice cream it was so good too! Tasted just like Thai iced tea! Ah I shall go back soon. Then we went to Vinny's apartment to play with his dog Pepper. He's sooo hyper and has so much energy. Then came back to my house for dinner with the babies! Lol Vinny and I went biking with Evelyn around the block while Hannah went with my sister-in-law to get Boston Market. Hope it wasn't too awkward on the car haha. After dinner we watched Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol and Evelyn watched with us too. She didn't really understand it so kept talking to me and Hannah lol.
186/365
07052014
Long day today. Got dim sum in the morning and then went to Woodbury Outlet to get clothes for work. Got there around 3 in the afternoon because my brother and I were running errands before finally leaving Flushing. So many Asians at Woodbury as usual. We walked around to a lot of places, almost around the entire outlet, and I got most of the stuff I need for work. Such a hard time finding a dress shirt with sleeves that fit my arms :/ Then we ate at Chili's near the outlet at like 9, first time eating there! It's just like a TGIF kind of restaurant, nothing too special. Pretty much my whole day.
187/365
07062014
Sunday funday! Woke up to get ready to head up to Ithaca with Tiffany and the other peeps! Lucy came to my house to meet up with me and we drove to Sisi's to meet with her, Tiffany, and Kevin. At Sisi's, we had problem. Sisi was locked out of her house with no keys, so we broke into her own house by taking out the AC and climbing through the window. Quite an ordeal but we managed, and treated ourselves with ice cream in her freezer. Then we made a pit stop (that lasted quite long) at IKEA and I got a bamboo and aloe plant! Shall bring it down to Virginia with me :D. After that we finally got on the road back to Ithaca! I was able to drive the entire way without stopping, and it was good since it was getting late. There was this Mercedes SUV that drove the same speed as me and along the same route for like 2 hours! Either I was following him or he was following me, and he even got off at Exit 8 for Ithaca! But we lost him somewhere after we got off and he didn't follow us to Ithaca :( Anyway, got dinner at Applebee's, and Kevin had a 20% off coupon for Applebee's!... but when he asked the waiter if the coupons works, she was like this is a TGIF coupon, so nope it doesn't work. LOL. So embarrassing. Then we went to Walmart to get supplies for smoothies, and then back to the apartment.
188/365
07072014
Back in Ithaca! Slept in today cause I was so tired, and then went to the gym for only an hour. Decided to run to Walmart but it was sooo much further than I imagined, and pretty hilly. I ran to Route 13 and saw the Walmart sign, and then decided to head back. Didn't want to run on the highway and I was too tired anyway. On the way back got caught in the rain and got soaked. Then got Panera for lunch with Vinny since he didn't have plans either, and then stopped by Walmart, Winli's, and Wegmans to pick up groceries and random stuff. Went driving with Tiffany after work and today she was able to parallel park! Sorta... still needs work but it's a start! Haha.
189/365
07082014
Went to NYSEG this morning at 8 with Sisi to get their apartment bill done. Then went to the gym with Vinny at 9:30! First time working out with Vinny! haha. Also went for a jog but today was not a good jogging day so I was so exhausted and took many breaks. Bummed at home for a bit, and then made dumplings to bring to Cafe Jennie to eat with Kevin, Sisi, Lucy, and Vinny! It's nice in there and the AC felt nice. Came home to chill for a bit, watched a lot of cooking videos in preparation for steak tonight with Tiffany. Lots of Gordon Ramsay videos and it made me soo hungry. Then went to Saigon Kitchen with Vinny to get pint glasses, except they're only 12 ounces because Saigon doesn't have the 16 ounces in stock, but they're only $2! Then went to Walmart to get steak, mushrooms and onions! Dinner was pretty good! Got thicker sirloin this time so had to grill it for a longer time, and I followed the instructions online so it came out decent. Nom nom delicious. Also made mushrooms, onions and broccoli as veges! Tiffany took polaroids of me cooking and had me take one of her and her room. Mmmmm. :)
190/365
07092014
Woke up and it was sooo chilly outside, but it felt so nice sleeping in the covers. Anyway, eventually got out of bed after snoozing for like an hour and then went to the gym and ran! For lunch, met up with Kevin at Trillium, and omg Trillium was filled with summer college kids. They all looked so young and clueless there. And the girl at the quesadilla gave me so much filling it was perfect. After lunch I went to Walmart for a bit to get all the spices and apartment stuff I need for my VA apartment. Might as well get it now and it gave me something to do. So far, I've been to Walmart every day I've been here lol. Bummed around in the afternoon until dinner time with Tiffany. We were gonna try Sahara, or Mahogany Grill, or Mercado, but they all looked alright. We got calamari as starter and she got salmon while I got flat bread. The salmon was pretty good I'd get it again. While we ate, we watched Argentina beat Netherlands with penalty kicks. After dinner we went to Purity Ice Cream and got strawberry flavored ice cream! So delicious as usual. Then went to Cass Park to fly a kite, or attempt to. It wasn't windy. At all. So our kite didn't really fly. Ended up playing at the playground, and then she drove for a little bit there. Starting to get parallel parking pretttty well! I'm such a good teacher :D.
191/365
07102014
Soo tired right now. So today was mainly a travel day. Got up pretty early with Tiffany and I felt so awake for some reason, so decided to go to the gym and walk with Tiffany to her bus stop. When I was done and showered, it was only 10.... Way too early. I took a nap from 11 to noon and then got up to make dumplings! Took a stroll to CTB to get hot sauce haha. I watched a movie in the afternoon, The Expendables, and it was pretty good I'm gonna watch the second one soon. Hung out with Tiffany for a bit when she got back as I packed my stuff to go home. Linnea and Sisi were ready and we left Ithaca around 6:30! The drive back to NYC only took 3 and half hours, but then dropping Linnea and Sisi off took another 2 hours T.T Well, won't be going back to Ithaca for a while. The picture's of Tiffany's desk through her mirror.
192/365
07112014
Bum day at home! Woke up pretty early since I'm used to waking up early every day at Ithaca. Went back to Scion dealership to get my free tank of gas :D. Then met up with Steph Jou for lunch to catch up on life. We see each other like twice a year and every time there's just so much to catch up on. It's great how things doesn't really change even though we rarely see each other now. Ran a few errands in Flushing and then came home to pack. Packed my room and everything, this time I'm leaving my room indefinitely. :/ After dinner Evelyn, my dad, and I washed all 3 cars because we were bored. Not that hard actually. Oh, and this was partially because I had no internet, so needed to find something to do haha. At night I just bummed more with the babies and then bedtime! Oh and today was free 711 slurpee day!
193/365
07122014
Last day in NYC! Woke up and finished loading the car. Had a hard time fitting everything in since the FR-S is so tiny and not very easy to put stuff in, but I managed! Full car! Got lunch with Ranice and Deborah in Flushing before I headed down to VA. Glad I got to see them one last time before I leave. Gonna miss hanging out with all the QCC crew, and definitely gonna see them every time I go back to New York. I drove 5 hours straight without breaks from Flushing to Arlington. Was gonna take a break halfway, but I felt pretty fine so decided to do it in one shot. Then unloaded everything from the car, chatted with Susan for a bit, and then strolled out at 9pm to find dinner T.T We were gonna go to Cosi, but the one we were going to was actually not opened yet, so got Subway's instead. Ballston is pretty quiet actually, and pretty deserted at night. Not what I expected. When we passed by bars and restaurants though, it's crowded inside, so I guess that's where all the people go. Came home and unpacked almost everything. I don't have that much desk space, but it's okay. I don't need that much space anyway and it's cozy! One last day tomorrow to settle in before I start on Monday! :O
194/365
07132014
Last day before work! Woke up fairly early this morning and bummed in bed for a while. Got up around 10 and finished unpacking everything in the kitchen and the rest of the stuff in my room. Now I'm all settled in! :D So much empty space around my room. Susan went out to study for her exams at work, so I went to the gym for a bit and it's pretty nice! There's not that many machines but the facility is nice, good enough! Susan and I went to get groceries at Harris Teeters and get some stuff at Bed Bath & Beyond. I'm so used to Wegman's that I was so confused walking in Harris Teeters and didn't know where to go. Made it back for the second half of the Germany-Argentina final match and we streamed it from my laptop. In the evening I went out for a jog and Virginia is such a nice place to jog! There are so many jogging/biking trails you don't even have to cross the streets! And there are so many trees and parks it's such a nice neighborhood to jog in. My jog was 3.4 miles and it was soo hot and humid here, but it was nice exploring and getting lost and using Google Maps haha. Gonna drink this beer and watch The Expendables 2! Mainly drinking the beer so I can have a bottle for my bamboo...
195/365
07142014
I will make an effort to have pictures NOT from my room.. First day of work at Capital One today! Got up early and drove to the office in McLean. Hit a bit of traffic but got here in 20 minutes, parked, and went through all the logistics. Got my ID picture taken and I have an awkward smile :( Didn't know when he was taking it! After breakfast we split up into 4 rooms to do onboarding stuff. Learned about the company's history, culture, values, etc... all that stuff. Time passed sooooooooo slowly and I was so bored. Thought it was noon but it was only 10:17 when we took a break! D: The best part was lunch. Free lunch on Capital One and it was buffet-style, and me and Alex Chang got like $20 worth of food each. Met this girl from Princeton during lunch, and before we knew it lunchtime was over :( Went back for more onboarding stuff, and then did a scavenger hunt on the Capital One intranet and around the building. Such a looooong day and pretty boring, hopefully it gets better. After work it was poooooouring. It was like someone tipped over a ginormous bucket of water from the sky, never seen rain this hard before. It was like we were in a hurricane. Picked up Susan because of the rain, but by the time I got there it stopped. Drove to Best Buy and got stuck in traffic for half an hour! But... they didn't even have the VGA to TV cable we were looking for, so such a waste of time. Came home, gymmed, showered, dinner, and was so exhausted after, just chilling in bed and bumming. Then later Skyped with the Princess! Happy 10! <3 :)
196/365
07152014
Today was a good day :) Well, started off grumpy because I woke up 1 minute before my alarm. First thing at work today we got our laptops! HP Elitebook 840. Pretty nice and it's not too bulky so that's good. Spent an hour or so setting everything up and then went back to onboarding room to do some activities. Forgot what we did but lunch was early today! Yessss. We had like 3 hours for lunch because nothing was planned for us until 2:15. So had lunch, chilled in the conference room and sorted through the emails and other logistics stuff. I have to take so many online training courses and several courses at Capital One University. One of them is Intro to Excel. Lol, this should be easy peasy after taking Spreadsheets. At 2:15 we had a video conference with all the analysts to talk about our Experience Week next week when we go to Richmond. Zzzzz. And then at 3:30 we were done and free to go home woohoo!! I drove home without hitting much traffic because it wasn't really rush hour yet hehe. Wandered around Ballston to check out the neighborhood, but there wasn't much... Less than I expected. I went to Ballston Common mall, and it was so small. Other than that it's just highrises that are offices or apartments. Meep. First adventure in Virginia I guess. At night I got bored and took one of the online courses about money laundering. I'm liking the new laptop because it has such long battery life compared to my Lenovo haha.
197/365
07162014
Ah work at 9:30 so nice today. Slept later, but then when I went to work hit traffic :( The normally 15 minute drive was half an hour, and the garage was so packed! Met up with one of the senior analysts from my team. He's only 2 years older and he's a Cornell alum too! Pretty cool guy, really chill and down to earth. He took me and another new hire to our team room. We don't have cubicles, but everyone on our team works together in this big room with tables, kinda like a conference room. But only us 3 were in the office today haha so the room was very empty. He caught us up on company organization, what we'll be doing, examples of projects and a bunch of information that I was having trouble remembering. Lots of acronyms omg. Met with my ADP buddy for lunch and he's tall. Had to look up to him when talking to him, but he's a pretty cool guy, a bit awkward but I think it's probably just now. After lunch I pretty much did my online trainings myself and the senior analyst left at like 3:30. So I just stayed another hour and left haha. Grabbed dinner with Albert at Rice Paper at Eden Center a town over. Haven't seen him since TTT 2 years ago! Good catching up. Eden Center is like a strip mall with only viet restaurants. Literally. So many 'Pho' and 'Saigons' everywhere, pretty insane. Photos is of Eden Garden. Afterwards I got some stuff from Target and printed photos from CVS finally! Then went to 7-11 with Susan to get free Snickers ice cream :D
198/365
07172014
Very productive day! Got in work and for the morning did all my online trainings.. Same old same old. Met more people in the room today! And they're all pretty cool and shedding information on me and the other new hire. Lunch with 2 new people I met and they're pretty chill I like them. We talked about a bunch of stuff from stock options to how much we're allowed for food/travel while traveling to different offices. Oh and there was BBQ today which was pretty delish. After lunch I finally met my manager! She's enthusiastic and very friendly. I had a quick conversation with her about personal stuff and getting to know each other, and then later in the afternoon we went more into job-related stuff and she gave me a quick lesson on what my team is gonna be working on. Soooo much stuff to absorb and I was so overwhelmed at all she told me. Had to take notes and jot down things just in case I forget. Tomorrow gonna continue doing trainings and learning about my team's roles and how we do things. So interesting though! After work I met up with Nancypants! Drove to her house and ate pizza with her, her sister, and Papa Wang lol. Nancy has Papa Wang's laugh, and her and her sister talk pretty similar. I noticed if Nancy didn't have hair, she'd look JUST like her dad. We went to Tyson's Corner mall to walk around and she did Just Dance in the middle of the mall with some girl! LOL. She was in business casual clothes and flippies ahaha. Then went to downtown Vienna which is like a quaint cozy little town I like it. Walked around that area and got ice cream custards it was delicious! It feels very homey there, I shall return to get dinner there some time. Then Skyped people at Ithaca at the Wang House before coming back home. Fun day but now so exhausted. And the photo is of Vienna! Oh, and Virginia has really pretty sunsets, not in the photo though, but it's like orange and purple so pretty!
199/365
TGIF. Work was okay today. I completed all 26 of my online trainings! Finally! Learned more about my team from my supervisor and read through Powerpoint slides from previous months reporting our progress. My supervisor told me what project I'll be taking over as another Business Analyst is rotating to another team at the end of August, sounds pretty interesting. Pretty excited to leave the office, because next week I'll be in Richmond for Experience Week, which is like a week I get paid for doing nonwork related stuff. Went on a run with Susan at around 7 and we both did not feel so good on the run haha. Took several breaks and towards the end it was quite tiring. And we were both so tired afterwards we didn't even want to go to Katy's birthday celebration at some bar one neighborhood over. But it was fun! Met Katy and her high school friends and they're all pretty cool people. Talked about a bunch of stuff, and omg two of them are engaged and they're my year! Whaaaat. So scary. But anyway, chit chat some more and then came home at like 1. Now it's bed time.
200/365
07192014
Bummy Saturday, well not really. I went to my Capital One buddy's house for Chinese lunch! Haha. A bunch of his friends were there too, mostly from his church, and we made dumplings from scratch for lunch. It was cool meeting everyone, and they're from all over the place so I wasn't the only new person there. Anyway, after lunch was done we all left, and I went to an outlet nearby to exchange one of my shirts because it was defective. There's a Tanger Outlet here too! Then I came back home, and got lost on the way, but it was pretty cool cause I drove right by the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial. Wouldn't have drove by it if I didn't get lost haha. Came home, gym, jogged and then bummed. Made dinner with everything left over in the fridge because I'll be gone for the next week. And then walked to 7-11 to get the free slurpee today haha. Then rewatched P.S. I Love You, such a sad movie but so good. Now packing for Richmond!
201/365
07202014
A day of traveling today. Woke up fairly early but went in and out of sleep till 10. Was gonna play volleyball with Nancy but that didn't go through, so I went to the gym and watched a movie at home before heading off to Richmond! Called a cab to Union Station and I got there pretty early, so explored around the area. It's pretty close to the Capitol and I was just being a tourist taking out my camera taking random photos. Met up with another guy going down to Richmond and we took the 2-hour Amtrak ride down. We checked in at the Hilton and it's pretttttttty fancy! I got a king-sized bed room all to myself. We walked to Short Pump Town Center that's like 10 minutes away to look for food. Got dinner and drinks at Rock Bottom, and when we were done Alex and John from the NYC office met up with us and we hung out there. Then went to they Hyatt Hotel that's right next to the restaurant to get some drinks before heading back to Rock Bottom to meet up with the other new hires. Got the dragon berry strawberry mojito it was delicious. Then the free Hilton shuttle back to the Hilton. So perfect. Hehe. Gonna be a long week of good food and drinks. :)
202/365
07212014
First day of ADP Experience Week! Gotta wake up way too early. The bus left the Hilton at 7:45, and lol the bus driver mowed down one of the stop signs by accident, and just said oh well and left. Had breakfast and then sat in a lecture-hall-like room and listened to people welcome us. It was a struggle to get through the morning. I dozed off a bit, and so did like everyone else. We also had a team building exercise with a bunch of people in one giant room doing different activities. I enjoyed it actually, it was a good way to meet a lot of different people. Probably can't remember their names but I'll recognize their faces. Then lunch, yum delicious. After lunch we had a peer panel where we talked with ADPs from 2013 and it was a really casual conversation. Then back to the lecture hall to listen to more executive speakers talk, which means zzz. Then we had a dinner networking reception thing at around 6 with free cocktail and wine. Sat at a table with a guy who's been at Capital One for 15 years, probably in his late 30's or early 40's. He was really chill too, and told us to go out and party and have a great time this week, and told us where all the bar and party scenes are ahaha. Super cool guy. We got back to the hotel and the photo is the view from my room window. It overlooks a mall area. At night, we went to Bar Louie like 10 minutes away and met a bunch of other people as well. Best part was the calamari yum. Talked with the Princess on the phone for a bit at night, and I won a bet I will be redeeming my prize :)
203/365
07222014
Pretty long and gruesome day at training today. I guess one good thing was today's casual attire, but still grumpy sleepy me at 7 in the morning... Two 4-hour classes about Capital One Economics and Analysis, which was a struggle to get through. Lunch was the best part as usual, and we didn't do much besides the classes. After work, we went to Hardywood Brewery in Richmond for a networking event. Pretty much all the ADPs went and there was unlimited food from the food trucks and 2 beer tickets. The tacos were delicious, and just met a bunch of people over the 2 hours we were there. Then the shuttle took us to the Fan, which is the bar scene in Richmond, and literally everyone from Capital One went to Baja Beans bar. We got drinks and stuff and there was this drink called the Shark Attack, pretty much like Level B's fishbowl for one person. It's a blue drink in a small bucket and in a shark they put grenadine which is red, and when you get it you pour it into the blue drink so it's like blood in a sea of blue. Pretty cool idea. I got it just to keep the shark ahah. And then we cabbed it back home to the Hotel. Oh, and before we went to the bar, they were like take your name tags off so people won't know you're from Capital One at the bars. Lolol.
204/365
07232014
The best ADP day so far. We went to Challenge Discovery for team building today. It's pretty much like a ropes course and a lot of team exercises that encourages us to work together. The main activity was going through this obstacle course 20 feet up in the air. Our instructor really wanted us to work as a team and didn't let us grab on to the harness to cross all these obstacles, which was good because we worked together really well! I think we got a slight advantage cause everyone was somewhat athletic, so we were able to go through it pretty smoothly. Some of the things we had to lean in a lot and if anyone on the team gives up then everyone falls, pretty cool how we got through it. It was also soooo hot in the afternoon it became slightly unbearable. Bummed in the hotel for a bit afterwards cause we ended early, and then a bunch of us went to Peter Chang's Szechuan restaurant nearby. It was good! We each ordered an entree to share family style and it was so much but so yums! Afterwards we headed to Dave & Busters and it was the best decision this week so far! Got $25 for 170 chips, and it's half off Wednesdays! So every game was half the price! We played some arcade games at first, but then everyone just ended up playing the coindozer game for tickets. There was also this game where you drop the ball into a small hole to get tickets and we racked up so many tickets! I got the fluffy unicorn from Despicable Me and saved my other points for next time. The next ADP week we're coming back ahaha. So much more fun than going to bars :P
205/365
07242014
Woke up so tired today cause I slept pretty late last night. Had some boring talk in the morning and talked about customer experience and how call center agents respond to different types of customers. After lunch we went to Capital One's call center in Knoll's and sat next to two call center agents taking actual customer calls. It was amazing, definitely one of the coolest things about this week. They talk so smoothly and while talking and listening to the customer, they're looking up their account information and typing things into online forms. It's like ultimate multitasking! All at the same time they're able to reply to the customer and hold a casual conversation. First person I shadowed received calls from high value upmarket customers and it's mainly older people having questions about their account, and the customers all seem pretty happy after the call. I think the call center agent was one of the top agents because she's so good at it! The second agent dealt with fraud and investigates customer fraud cases. There were much less calls and she did a lot of searching on the computer database to determine if a transaction is fraud or not. Not as exciting but they make the big decision of if the transaction is fraud or not and if Capital One should credit back the customer. super cools. At night a bunch of us got Texas de Brazil steak, it was all you can eat and it was yummilicious. Then afterwards, half the people went back to the Hilton and the other half we walked to another strip mall for froyo. I'm really liking this group. Talked about a bunch of stuff and silly things along the way. After that, we went to Bar Louie's because we didn't want to go home yet and just bonded and got to know each other more. Lol these married 30+ year old women were hitting on this 28 year old scruffy guy. It was hilarious watching and observing. Called it an early night and gotta pack up to go back to Arlington tomorrow!
206/365
07252014
The morning was just the same old stuff at training, but today we talked about digital and digital banking and all that stuff. Ended early at 3! And we left Richmond around 4:30. The others decided to get dinner at Eden Center, but I took a cab into DC to meet up with Patty, Stephen and Matt! We met by the National Mall (it's not an actual mall...) and got Pi Pizzeria. Deep dish meatball pizza and sausage pizza pretty yums! Then we walked back to the parking garage and passed by the Capitol and the Washington Monument! The walk seemed forever with all my stuff, and when we got there... the garage was closed! We found a security and got into the parking levels, and luckily found one of the attendants. He wasn't very cooperative, but in the end opened it up for us. Whew, almost had to take the cab home and pick up the car tomorrow. Got Bing Soo at Shilla's Bakery in Annadale, and then now all bumming in the living room. So tired zzz soon.
207/365
07262014
Super fun but also super tiring day. Woke up pretty early and Matt, Stephen, Patty and I went to the National Zoo. First time taking the Metro! The zoo was so much more fun that I expected. We saw pandas they were so chubz, elephants, apes lol they were so grumpy looking, and a bunch of other animals. The zoo wasn't too big so it was manageable, but towards the end we were so tired from walking and the sun came out so it was so hot. Got a light quick lunch at McDonald's, where I got a salad and a Mario Kart toy!! Met up with Susan and Shah at the Air and Space Museum. It was really cool at first, but after so many exhibits they all look similar. Oh, and bumped into Alex Cheng there too! What a coincidence! Then we went to get dinner at Founding Father's which was sooo delicious! I got the pork chop and I liked it better than Stephen's steak. The starters, flatbread with brie and cornbread, were so good too! Definitely worth going back again. Then we went to the monuments. Saw Abe and from there looked across the reflection pool to the Washington Monument. Also saw the Korean War Veteran's Memorial and the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial. By then we were so tired so we called an Uber cab (first time riding one!) home.
208/365
07272014
Today was a chill day. We originally planned on going to Arlington Cemetery, but instead went to Tyson's Corner Mall right before lunch. Went in the Tesla store and it was so cool! Sat in the car and learned about all the features, they're coming out with one in 3 years that's only $35k! Lunch at pho with everyone, aka Katy and Nancy! It was so nice hanging out with Cornellians again and it felt so normal around them. It's a good change of pace from the past few weeks where I've just been meeting new people everyday. After lunch the Jersey car went back and Nancy went home. Susan, Shah and I went to Katy's house in Vienna to do work, well they did work and I watched a movie. Her house is so nice!! It's like a summer vacation house, and she has two dogs Biscuit and Dexter! Hehe they're so adorable they would come next to me and nudge me to pet them, and then curl up next to me to be petted. And Katy's mom made such delicious chocolate/cream cheese cupcakes! We stopped by Super H Mart, apparently it's one tier better than the original H Mart, to get some groceries and then come. I watched The Spectacular Now at night, it's a pretty good movie I think. It was interesting.. can't really describe it but it left me with lots of thoughts going through my head.. But good!
If everyday, everyone makes one other person smile, the world would be a much happier place.
209/365
07282014
Riding that struggle bus all day today. Woke up really tired, and went in the office and met 3 new people who weren't there before. Also, what a small world. One of my coworkers is Steve's brother's best friend from Cornell. Her name sounded familiar and I asked Steve, and yup it was her. Heard about her from Steve, and we just happened to work at the same place! Had a video meeting about SiteCatalyst today and oh my god I was soooo tired. Used all my energy to stay awake. Lunch was good, I got salad for $1.98. Subsidized yo. I had another meeting with the analyst whose responsibilities I'll be taking over, and I struggled a little to stay awake. It was a one-on-one meeting too. But I learned a lot and took notes! It's like I'm getting tutored. Walk around everywhere with my laptop and a notebook. Oh, and I got my company phone! iPhone 5s! Spent a good portion of the day setting things up and getting used to Apple interface. The finger scan unlock feature is soooooo cool. After work I was originally gonna rent a Hertz car and drive down to Richmond, but they didn't have cars at all, so I drove my own car down instead. I might actually make money from the reimbursement, even after gas and the price I'll have to pay if I go over the mileage limit on my lease. Also a struggle driving down I was so tired and traffic didn't help. Got some chips and skittles and it was alllll good. :) Got dinner at Tara Thai nearby, it was alright, and now I'm ready to bed it's only 11.
210/365
07292014
Got almost 8 hours of sleep last night it was so wonderful. Woke up and drove 10 minutes to the Richmond office. No traffic at all, the perks of being in the south in the middle of nowhere. Quite an adventure finding the parking lot, then finding the building, then finding a seat. I settled for this couch/chair thing in a corner. Met with a bunch of people in the Richmond office and got to know what they do and how I will be interacting with them. Also had a meeting with the Cornell recruiting team asking about our experience with recruitment, and how we can improve for next year. Pretty excited about this. And then read through slide decks about past projects. My day was actually pretty busy but at the same time it was relaxed cause I made my own schedule. Left the office at 4:15 to head back up to D.C.! Feeling pretty good about leaving so early and the drive wasn't too bad, hit a bit of traffic but it's nothing compared to the drive down. Bummed at home and played with my new work iPhone for a while hehe.
211/365
07302014
The struggle to stay awake continues. Learned a lot today though and got some hands on experience working with some of the data. I was pretty lost and tried my best to do it, but we'll go over it tomorrow and I'll learn from my mistakes! Got lunch with 2 ADPs and just caught up on how our first weeks were. Lunchtime is the best, because I get to socialize and just be free for an hour. The rest of the day was pretty quiet because only 3 people were in the team room today. Oh, and I took the Silver Line to work today! Don't like it.. Gotta walk 10 minutes to the station, and then another 5 from the station to Capital One. And it's not even faster than driving! I'm gonna drive tomorrow and leave at the same time and compare. Came home, gymmed, and went on a really quick jog with Susan. We were both feeling lazy and not feeling like jogging, but at the same time wanted to exercise a little bit. Ate a popsicle at night! I need to find something to do every night.. this is getting so boring.
212/365
07312014
Pretty good day today. Got to work without much traffic so I was off to a good start! Had more meetings with Kara to get up to speed with the projects I'll be working on, and she gave me a small project to do to update our monthly logic code thingy. Spent a while doing it, it was if statements and using logic, and checked back with her later on. I had some mistakes, but for the most part it was right! Woohoo! And tomorrow she's forwarding that to the Operations team for them to work on it. For lunch I sat in on this intern case competition and it was actually really interesting the ideas they had. Best part was the free lunch after! Nom pretty delicious. This afternoon I also sat in on 2 phone meetings and I was so lost. Did not understand anything lol, but good to know. Came home and found a route that doesn't have traffic! But still takes the same amount of time, but driving in no traffic is less frustrating. Gymmed and jogged with Susan and then ate watermelon. A lot of it. I wasn't even hungry for dinner.
