Oh The Places You’ll Go…

So, for all people who are truly CS majors and IT lovers at heart, here are 2 funny things that have come across my way… I hope they will make you laugh too!

1) I went home last weekend, and on the way back from the airport, I was talking to my parents about my flights (they were canceled and delayed and everything else you don’t want to happen to you) and I meant to say:

“… catch a connection…”

and I totally said (completely by accident): “… catch an exception…”

That one cracked up my dad for a while. :)

2) My aunt (from India) sent me this:

Someone in the IT industry gave birth to a set of twins. Guess what they named them? See the photo below!

Laughter truly is the best medicine!

Today I started working on the UserAdmin application at work. Basically, this is an application that all of the app-teams can use to check on the status of servers, JDBC connections, and other statistics. This is really going to help our team (the JAS team), because it will reduce the amount of tickets that come through for our main support person. Being able to view the statistics will pinpoint any issues to either WebLogic compatability issues, deployments, JDBC, or some application-specific issues. Moreover, this is a Spring application (specifically, Spring MVC).

So, the goals for this week are:

• revise the current version of the application so that it will build and deploy
• renew all SSL certificates
• review the UI and propose the changes

More to come on this soon, but I am really excited about this application- I think it will turn out to be a great tool for us, along with the LogAdmin tool that my mentor is working on (basically, a way for app-developers to view the server logs- to see what we see). Also, this is going to be the application that will be showcased at SysCon- the conference in April. So, watch out for it soon!

Just wishing everybody a very Happy Valentine’s Day! Although it is a day when 2 people usually celebrate the love between them (and Wal-Mart makes lots of money), I have always just thought of it almost as another Christmas- a day of giving unconditional love.

This Valentine’s Day, I am the luckiest girl in the world because:

• I get to share this special holiday with my family (mom, dad, and sister)
• In just the short period of 1 month and 2 days, I have been able to adjust into my new job and found some amazing new friends- and in Omaha, women get treated like Princesses (at least, that is what it seems like)
• My friends (from all over the world- Atlanta, NH, Europe) have been nothing but supportive through tough times

I hope everybody had an amazing Valentine’s Day, whether it was with their SO or with friends or just enjoying it by themselves- it truly is a unique holiday. :)

It’s quite fitting that the title of this post is just that- fitting. After all of these days in Omaha, today was the first day that I really felt like I fit in here. Don’t get me wrong- I have met wonderful people and have some of the most amazing friends in the world here. I totally love the fact that 2 of my closest friends here are married and they have done so much for me. However, they are married, and there are different interests sometimes. Today, though, I felt like I finally found my groove.

First and foremost, I really got a feel for how my workday will be, once I get settled in and learn more about the 330+ applications that we (yes- our 4-person team) handle. In the midst of working on my project, I definitely got a lot of breaks to work on some other items that came up. And guess what? I totally loved it. I love to code, but staring at code 8 hours/day is really not a job that suits me. I need variety- a dynamic work day, and that is exactly what I have in this job. Around 11:20, we had a team lunch (Fridays are apparently team lunch days) at a Mexican place. During this 1-hour break, I not only finally got to know one of my team members better (he was pretty quiet with me up until then, and after that, the entire afternoon we were practically communicating freely, so that felt super-awesome), but I found out a ton of things about Omaha that I hadn’t heard up until now. I can’t wait to check out the zoo- it’s supposed to be traditional (and the best in the world), so I am really excited for more warm weather!

I spent the afternoon working on my project, so it was good to have a few hours of non-interrupted time to get all of that set. And then, around 5PM, I planned to go to a UPTies “Happy Hour” networking event. UPTies is an organization for people who are new to the company (within the last 5 years)- and the average age is pretty young, so it’s easier to chat with some of the people here. Anyway, right before I left, I ended up re-connecting with one of my friends from training, and him, another mutual friend, and myself headed to the event together. We had a blast- each spending some together, but also totally connecting with different people, as well. I also got invited to chill out with some co-workers the next time they all decide to just “chillax” on a Friday- this is usually headed up by the group of young guys that work in the next row over from me.

Anyway, in the midst of everything, I found out about tennis clubs here in Omaha, in addition to meeting some wonderful ladies and amazing guys. I also found the perfect committee for me to take part of (as part of UPTies). After all of these days in Omaha, today was the first day that I truly felt that I belonged here and that I was finally settling in. It is a really good feeling, and I am going to try to ride this wave of happiness for as long as possible. :)

Oh, and the other awesome thing: the weather was about 60 degrees today. This is also the temperature for the weekend, so some friends and I are all thinking of heading to a lake here- I am super-excited and can’t wait to go. So, yay for more fun… what a fitting end to the week!

Wow- it has been quite a while since I’ve released a post here. I have a lot of posts as drafts, so I will publish them as soon as I have a chance- they are all waiting on some pictures.

In the meantime, work has kept me really busy. I am starting my 4th week at UP, and I still have tons of TLAs (three-letter acronyms) to learn. That’s just a minor details- let’s not talk about the 330+ applications that our 4-person team manages. Oh, and one of the coolest things: my supervisor’s boss is an AVP (who is a woman!!)- I am 2 promotions away from that. WOW! ^_^ Since I am still not sure how much I am allowed to disclose about the actual work I do, I can’t say too much more about that, except that I totally love every second of it, and I cannot wait to see what else UP has in store for me!

So I have my first apartment! Talk about super-exciting. The place is called Hillsborough Pointe, and I TOTALLY LOVE IT! Also, I have the best family in the world… we all took a 3-4 day vacation to Omaha over the break, and they helped me settle in. I love my parents for helping me set up the house, and I love my sister for tagging along, even though I know she was probably bored to death. But anyway, here’s a little slideshow, and check out the awesome walk-in closet and kitchen! The whole apartment is 906 square feet (yes, I know, it’s huge), but the cost is really cheap. So, since I have tons of space, I encourage people to come and visit (just let me know in advance first).

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May 2009 bring you lots of peace, joy, happiness, and love!! :) Happy Holidays!

Let me tell you… finding a job in this economy is not easy! However, it’s important to remember to not lose hope or give up… and also that it’s very difficult to land your dream job right away. But, because of that optimism that I have so often written about, I have successfully landed an offer (and accepted it) at Union Pacific. Yes, I know it’s a railroad company. But, I will be working in their very-large IT department, and I am looking forward to applying my knowledge of Computer Science from a completely different aspect. I will be working as a Project Engineer, which means that I won’t be coding most of my day. I like having a dynamic day, and I’m looking forward to working with all sorts of new technology, specifically dealing with Java Application Servers. Anyway, I am not sure how much more I can disclose, except that my start date is January 12th. Once I know more, I will post. Stay tuned!

I saw this on my friend’s blog and I really liked it, so I took a page out of her book and did this too! I now have twitter updates showing up on the right-hand side of my blog. It’s easier to micro-blog than to write posts sometimes (especially with all of the travel that is going on), so I posted some HTML code that will pull my (top 5) Twitter updates and display them on this blog. This way, readers won’t be disappointed.

Pictures and other things still to come… I just have a few essentials to finish up first!

Remember how I really wanted this Blackberry Curve? Well, my parents gave it to me as a graduation/Christmas gift. Of course, I’ll be paying the phone bills, but let me tell you, I am one happy girl! ^_^ I have a job, *and* I pulled an A in networking!!!!!!!! :D

More details to come soon about graduation, job, and many other things, including pictures!

One last note: The comments are back! There was some issue with them, but I think I fixed them, and now, they are allll back!