Mood:  sharp
Topic: Work/School
Here it is, the end of my 3rd week of work. Got my paycheck today for my first 2 weeks of work. I'll be getting paper checks for the first couple pay periods, then the direct deposit will kick in.

Work is going pretty well so far. I've moved more out of the "learning" phase and into the "doing" phase, so it's still interesting. As my boss put it, "interesting enough to keep you coming back every day" :-D

Right now I'm working on automating the creation of test scripts to make sure that the proprietary SQL code that I compiled into Oracle actually works the way it's supposed to. That's turning into quite a chore, as there are about 50 packages and 500 functions/procedures total! Each of which needs to be tested and its output compared to what is *supposed* to result. This is one of those chores where using Perl would come in handy, but I loathe the Perl syntax enough that I'd rather do it in Java. So far it's working out pretty well-- toggling back and forth between Java programs and SQL scripts, one program creating output that serves as input to the subsequent program... and so and and so on... down the long pipeline of a series of files....

At any rate, enough of blogging and back to the actual task at hand....

First week of work
Mood:  happy
Topic: Work/School
Where does the time go? Hard to believe it's almost the end of my first week of work! My first day consisted of an orientation for all new hires, lots of good info about the company's history, details about our pay and benefits, and of course filling out paperwork and getting our security badges (to let us into the parking lots and buildings).

Now I'm in the midst of learning brand new stuff: Oracle and PL/SQL. I've never used Oracle in my life, and only know a tiny bit of SQL, so I've got quite a learning curve ahead of me.

I got the chance to drive around the area a little bit, to familiarize myself with what's nearby. After going past what seemed like miles of nothing but corporate buildings and business parks, with nary a shopping center in sight, I finally stumbled upon the shopping center that had Target and a handful of eateries. Thank goodness... I was almost about ready to call Ingrid, who's from the area, for help and directions! :-D

I've got a pretty good routine so far-- in by 9:00am, out by 6:00pm. That way I avoid the worst of the rush hour traffic, and it takes me less than an hour each way. Then home by around 7:00pm to play with Todd! :-) It's fun to come home to, and a nice way to end the day :-)

Well, not much news aside from that. Work is, well... it's work :) Programming is programming, after all ;-)

Done and Graduated.....
Mood:  celebratory
Topic: Work/School
... more or less ;-)

Wow, almost a whole month with no updates? Gosh, I can hardly remember what I've done this past month... oh yeah, get ready for my Master's project defense, which successfully took place on Tuesday, July 5. It didn't look like very many people were bored to tears, and I didn't have anyone fall asleep, so I consider that a success :-D

So let's backtrack through the month since the last update:

Friday, June 17: dinner with Allan's classmates (yet again!) at the Dutch Gardens restaurant, a German restaurant. Ah, how I missed the schnitzel and potato pancakes!

Saturday, June 18: BBQ at the Geekhouse. Was really nice and laid-back, and the boys managed to grill up some nice eats with their dinky little grills (good thing Golnaz brought hers along). I didn't know what to bring, so I just got some carne asada, beer and strawberries at the grocery store. All in all, delicious food and a good chance to kick back and relax and catch up with friends.

Tuesday, June 21: Summer solstice and girl's night out with pizza-- for the 3rd time in a row since we've started this, one girl was missing. Will we ever get a girls' night out with ALL the girls present?

Friday, June 24: dinner out with the gang (me, Allan, Sara, Jesse, Ingrid, Jason, Ryan, Mike) at Dargan's. Got a chance to try out some Irish food, and ordered a Shepherd's pie-- delicious! They're not big on vegetables, though! The seating ended up being kind of funny-- there were 8 of us, and so we pushed 2 tables together to make a long table, but somehow the guys ended up on end, and the girls on the other-- talk about gender division!

Friday, July 1: met Mom in Oxnard so I could do my urinalysis for Amgen. Got a chance to see Todd for a little while as I ate lunch afterward.

Tuesday, July 5: the big day! As of this date, I officially have an MS degree :-D

Afterward, Allan and I joined the gang for pizza at Gina's, then we drove to LA, crashed for the night, and brought Todd back with us to Santa Barbara for the rest of the week. More details in Todd's weblog... once I get a chance to update THAT as well :)

Sara's MAE
Topic: Work/School
Today I went to Sara's Major Area Exam. First time I'd ever been to one of those. When Allan did his last summer, I was 100 miles away, tending to a 3-week-old baby! :) So I had a pretty good excuse not to attend ;-) The only other time I've ever been to one of these degree-related presentations was Mike's MS thesis defense 2 years ago.

The snacks were terrific-- Sara was a sweetheart and served homemade treats-- lemon bars, chocolate mousse cake and tiramisu! Mmmmmm... :-9