Getting used to 12 hour days

Every week seems to be a new feat, because I am constantly tested on my endurance at work- and I haven't even started being on call yet! For example, yesterday was a great training opportunity, because "all the wheels started falling off of the bus." Any issues all lead back towards the manufacturing machine we use, which is why I have to try even harder to learn to be mechanically inclined. The tool experts are very good at explaining and letting me observe, but sometimes I do ask too many questions!

Yesterday I was at work from 7AM-11:30AM, came back from lunch at 1:00PM and stayed till 7:30PM. During those durations, I never left the floor and was in my bunny suit the entire time! I was amazed that I could go so long. However, there was another engineer who was here all that time for her workday, and on call for the mess that happened. I asked and she said she was woken up in the middle of the night for a problem and was also there very late yesterday.

MEETINGS! I was notified at the last minute and I have meeting responsibilities already! Short ones, boring ones, long ones, incomprehensible ones- I think my group is taking this chance to dump all the meetings they are tired of so I can be responsible for it.... I guess every work place you start at the lowest of the totem pole.

This is what I have to look forward to...

Despite what seems to be an ever shrinking weekend and free time after work, I still love to cook and eat healthy. I am still terrified of the cafeteria food at work because of the time I found alive bugs in my salad and when my fish was undercooked. If I bring my own lunch or decide to cook at home, I know I will get it right every single time.

This is a typical dinner: salad, baked chicken, zucchini, squash, and a baked yam.

Looking for a new home

When it comes around to June, I am looking forward to finding a new place to live. After living with roommates for so many years, it is about time that I find an apartment for my own.

My landlord finds me too noisy, because the walls in the house are very thin. Every morning at 6AM I have to wake up, open the fridge door, and open the garage door - and everything makes a lot of noise and I don't think I can be even quieter. There may be more grievances when I am up at 3AM solving problems on my phone because I will be on call soon.

On my odd weekends, I have to start doing my errands early and making phone calls - which I have to do. It would be half a day wasted if I waited until my housemate was up because we are on such different schedules.

Thus, it is time for me to move on and I am starting to research the possible apartments to live into. I am hoping for at least a 6-month lease so I won't be moving any time soon. I'm glad all my furniture can still fit in the car, so it sould only be a full day ordeal.

Yesterday Laura and I explored Boca Negra Canyon, which featured many petroglyphs. We noticed many desert flowers starting to spring up, but I didn't bring my camera that time to take some snapshots.

We trecked to the top of the mesa, and just started wandering along the dirt path and noticed some real estate for sale near the petroglyphs. Tomorrow.. I think we are going to Santa Fe to eat sopaipillas.

Today, I made an impulse purchase and decided to get a $15 bookshelf. When I lugged it home and up the stairs I noticed it came in many pieces. After borrowing tools from Amber, my landlady, I got to work on my project.

Before

After

My next objectives are to obtain a mattress and have a method for organizing my financial information- such as a filing cabinet.

New Mexico Rain

New Mexico rain is not actually rain. Instead of it being light and airy, it stirs of brown clouds of sand because the winds blow, up to 60-70 mph. When it blows that fast, there are warnings in place and the advice to keep all windows shut tightly (even taped), so the dust does not come indoors.

Even the desert has evidence of spring time. Daffodils are showing their colors, and the cherry blossoms are slowly creeping and covering trees. However, it is not unusual for there to be another cold spell in early April.

Today some coworkers and I went to the Stone Age Rock Climbing Gym. Since we took the introductory class on tying 8 knots and belaying, we had a quiz first thing to make sure we knew all the proper safety procedures before they would let us be off on our way. I was so nervous that my knot did not seem right. The teacher from last week taught us a mnemonic to help us with our knot tying. Since it seemed appropriate that we lived near Roswell, New Mexico, our teacher said, "First make an Alien head with the rope. Since it is an enemy Alien, we want to strange the alien and punch it in the head." Remember this, I was able to tie my knot. We all passed the test and now able to tie decent knots and belay each other.

We climbed and climbed for almost 3 hours, but now my arms are very tired. I am debating whether to pick up this sport, but it is hard for me to do it because I have to bring a partner each time. However, it is undeniable that this is a good way to work out the arms and build strength.

3 Day Weekends

Over the weekend, I met up with a nursing student from the University of New Mexico, whose name is Camille. We met from the Sagebrush Life Groups, or Bible study and I stopped by for a quick jog around the campus. Like all college campuses, there was a lack of parking, and plenty of metered spots around a run down neighborhood. The campus is incredible nice and spacious, with many buildings done with the pueblo style.

We ran past the hospital, and started the loop around the golf course located at the north end of campus. However, I became quickly out of breath and found it difficult to keep up.

On Tuesday, I met up with Natalie, the wife of one of the newly hired engineers who had the same start date as me, and we went hiking on the foothills of the Sandia mountain range. The trails meandered wildly, and it was very difficult for us to find a way up the mountain. For the two routes that we tried, one started following a trickling stream, which was incredibly slippery and muddy. The other route led us to a bunch of boulders.



Since we felt we couldn't go any further, we enjoyed our packed lunches and the view of Albuquerque. I was startled when I heard a rustle in the bushes, and looked to see that it was a happy dog jumping down the boulders, with his owner quickly following. He said that in order to climb the mountain, you needed to be creative and just start climbing the rocks.

I am enjoying my 3 or 4 day weekends, but I know that it won't be lasting for long. Everyday I am excited as to what I will be learning next, making the 12 hour days go by quickly.

First Week of Work!

After my break on Wednesday, I came in first thing on Thursday to receive my laptop, and take care of setting up direct deposit, and complete some other of my online forms. In the same class with my was another person in my hire group, who I found had to drive from Indiana all the way to start a new life here. He just recently completed his PhD dissertation, and remarked how blessed and lucky he was to be considered for a job here and the only two companies that hired from his school were ExxonMobil and my company. It is a stark contrast between the projects most of them have worked on, which was renewable energy such as solar cells, bio-fuels, and fuel cells.

After receiving my laptop, a member from my group was assigned to show me how to put on a gown. Since I have already done it once, I knew what to expect, but it was still a time consuming process. At first, the bunny suits made me overheat and sweat, and I felt my face being irritated from the fabric.. but now I am used to it and can wear it for a whole work day without it really bothering me. Since with the suits you can only see people's eyes and nose, I only recognize people by they eyes and nose! When I see my co-workers in street clothes, what is funny is that I have difficulty recognizing who they are.

I have been learning so much, this week seem to last more like two weeks. Currently, my weekend will be from Sunday to Wednesday, and I am looking forward to having a slower paced, relaxing weekend so I can be ready for the next work week of 12 hour days.

First Days of Work

My first two days of work, consisted of not much work. We were required to attend an orientation, which was attended mostly by new employees who professors' signatures were still drying on their thesis work. The general consensus of every new and rehire was that they were thankful to be considered in this economy.

After doing the required training and work papers, I met up with one of the senior engineers in my group, who I will probably rely on mostly for guidance on how to be not only a technically strong, resourceful engineer, but a good one that will respect other people's time and not bother them when they are on their day off.

I've been very excited and restless after doing web based training the first days, and will be looking forward to start my hands on training tomorrow. Today was given off for me, and I will be working an interesting shift schedule from Thursday to Saturday. I specifically asked for Sunday off so I could go to church.. which was great they accommodated that. It may be difficult for me to recruit people to do things with, especially from Monday to Wednesday. My schedule won't be like this too long hopefully, but I'm thinking I should try and take advantage of it and possibly do some traveling!

Today with my day off I went for a run along the arroyos for about 30 minutes, and was trying to find a backroute, away from the main road so I can find a good route to do bike commuting. However, after about 15 minutes I wasn't used to the cold air or altitude, and it was really exhausting. My other plan for today is to do some cooking and shopping, but I was surprised to get started on this schedule already. I can't wait to do some hands on work later this week!

La Luz Trail

In the morning, dad and I went to Borders and had a productive time at the coffee shop. It does seem though that coffee shops are not as plentiful or crowded as it is back in California. It would be hard to go to one when there are plenty of trails to be explored and mountains to climb.


We went to the base of Sandia Mountain, not far from the Tram, and hiked along the La Luz trail. It was an easy trail, slightly muddy and wet from the snow. A combination of cacti, low shrubs, and grasses decorated the landscape. As we climbed higher, the trees gradually became taller and it was more wooded. Although it was in the winter, this seemed to be a popular trail with many visitors. I wasn't quite used to the cold air, but look forward in finishing the route in a month or two, when the weather is warmer.

After, we had a delicious dinner at Sweet Tomatoes. I noticed how the Sweet Tomatoes here is different because there is more soups that have the New Mexican style, and there wasn't a rice dish. Saturday night seemed very popular and crowded, so the Cottonwood Mall area had a lot of activity going on.

I've been a little bored, and not sure what to do with my time. I'm sure when I start working I will be scrambling to find time to sleep. Just thinking about work and what lies ahead makes me nervous, but I suppose that's because I haven't started my first day of work yet. Tomorrow.. my first church to visit!

Settling in the Southwest

Today was the first day I moved into the home. Today, a lot of time was spent purchasing organizing bins, bath, and food items. My new furniture is a table which folds in half, a folding chair, and another clothing drawer for my seemingly endless amount of clothing. I was really happy with the price and the functionality... although I would love to have a matching furniture set the next thought scares me. If I had to move, I would not know what to do with things where I need more than one person to carry it, or it wouldn't fit in the car. However, I am exhausted from traveling and moving, and hope that I can stay here a long time before thinking about moving again.

In the past, it was so easy to pack and move, because I fit most of the necessary things in 2 bags. Since I don't know how long I would be here, I really wanted to bring the things I used often at home.

I've only been here a few days and I am already missing my home, my church, and my friends! I definitely feel spoiled because my dad has been helping me such as tagging along for shopping, showing me new outdoorsy places to explore, and setting up the wireless. We named the wireless network name as "Fremont" and the password is a big secret.

For this month, I am praying to quickly find a church community, some friends, and to work hard and improve quickly at my work. Although I do miss home, I quickly remember all the blessings that God has shown me and look forward to what the next month has in store for me.

Settling in New Mexico

The last two days have been an adventure. We left on Monday morning, 8AM, after loading everything in the trunk and back seat. Dad and I took turns driving through the California Valley, the Mojave Desert, Arizona, and finally New Mexico. As we climbed elevation there was snow on the ground. The only food I trusted was Subway, which I had two days in a row.

Today, we met up with Amber (my future landlady) and her daughter, Dustin. They were very friendly and in the process of remodeling and moving furniture out. I unloaded my luggage and we will stay a night near the Balloon Fiesta Park and closer to Sandia Peaks.

My room(s) are really lovely, and painted, and it is really everything I could ask for. I can't believe how quickly I found the place and really thank God for having everything work out. I feel comfortable with the ladies and the neighborhood.. and look forward to exploring more.

We did some exploring today, and literally 1 mile away from the home I am living there are the following: Costco, Albertson's, Smiths, Walmart, Target, Lowes, Kohls, 2 Fabric stores, innumerable eateries, and a mall! However, the neighborhood is very quiet and what is neat is that the bike trail starts just one street over!

Life here seems a bit different, and I know it will take some adjusting to from living in California. I can't wait to meet more people, find a church community, and learn as much as I can about work. I also look forward to exploring the scenic areas near here. On my future wish list, I would love to have a camera because I can't borrow my dad's camera as easily anymore. Of course, I have much saving to do since I may have some more expenses in the future.