Einstein
Oct 2007

Well, It's Saturday In The Big City

Well, it's Saturday at 4:39 pm local time and I'm watching The 13th Warrior on FX in my room via the Sling Box that I have in the U.S. I slept in today but then went to the bank to withdraw about fourty pounds so that I had money for food at Tesco to shop. I bought about eleven pounds worth of food and replenished my bread, coke, etc. supply. I don't have any plans for tonight really. I was invited to go to someone's party at a flat somewhere in London which is nice and sweet. I'm tempted to go but I'm not in the mood to go out and it will save me almost six pounds or about twelve dollars. There will be other times to do things.

Yesterday I went to a job interview with Creation Marketing and then I went to the Apple Store to inquire about a position again. I would still love to go and work there. I'm keeping my hopes up. I stayed for the Leopard release at 6 pm (they closed from 4-6) and waited in line. I was about number twenty in line out of at least 1,000 people standing around the block. The line went to hell no thanks to security as by the time they opened there must have been 100 more people that forced their way in front of us. I think they needed to practice a bit more. I got a free t-shirt out of it and met some cool people that knew what I was talking about when it came to technology. With as little clothes that I have, a t-shirt can go a long way.

I'm still shopping for a good price on a desk and chair for my computer. I think my first major purchase here (eventually) will be a projector for movies, etc. so that we can all sit around and enjoy a nice evening in.

Well, I think that's enough for now. I just wanted to update my blog a bit. Sadly I've not taken any pictures really. Sorry about that. I'll try to take some soon.

Chris

Fake Steve Jobs Interview



Fake Steve Jobs Blog

Code Monkey - Jonathan Coulton

Great video from a talented artist: Jonathan Coulton

I miss my Weighted Companion Cube...

betterB
Well, it's not better than all of my friends but man was it in a great game. If you've not seen it or don't know what it is check out Portal which is part of Valve's The Orange Box. The best set of games I've ever seen.

A Job

Well, I just received an e-mail from Harrods for a job interview tomorrow. I am actually really excited as Harrods is an amazing place. Take a look at their website.

London

Well, I'm in London right now. I slept on a bed last night but it seriously needs a pad. I'm a bit nervous and worried about this whole culture shock that's taking me over now but I'm working on handling it.

home-photo-regent

I'm looking for a job currently in London. I applied at about 7 places online with my CV / Resume'. So far I've not heard anything but it takes time. I am currently at the Apple Store which is no shock to anyone who knows me. After asking for a manager 2 times to inquire about a job I am stuck having to re-apply online and still no manager.

I hope it works out. I would love to work for Apple and be less worried about where my money is going to come from.

Well, that's it for now.

Chris

London Eve

Well, I'm writing this on the eve of my flight to London. Oddly I will probably post this once I have arrived but I'm typing it at 8:20 pm local time in Hamburg, Germany. I'm a bit nervous as I actually don't have a set place to live yet. My goal is to get to the Apple Store (hey, they have free internet) to check e-mail, make calls, etc. I finished a final copy of the DVD for my Aunt, Uncle, and my father. It's good and funny. It took about an hour to encode the final version but well worth it. I'm learning about iDVD and IMovie 08 more and more. OSX 10.5 Leopard coms out on the 26th so I'm looking forward to playing around with that.

IMG_0211

I plan on going over to London in my suite to help me find a job while I look for a place to live. Out of all of the stuff that I brought I can only bring one carry on bag and one checked bag at a max of about 40 pounds. Keep in mind that I came with 4 bags total (2 checked at about 50 pounds each, a backpack, and a roll-on). Well, I'm off to go to bed now because I need to be up at 4 am tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Chris

Encoding

Right now I'm encoding video and a DVD for my Aunt Linda and her husband. I've been tinkering with it for a few hours now getting the menu and settings right while keeping it (I hope) from looking bad. I'm on my 3rd test burn to see if it will work. The first time I encoded everything at 16:9 but that all got cut off on the TV / DVD Player even with the TV set to 16:9. I've changed it all to 4:3 (standard ratio for TV's) and I'm hoping that it will work. Right now my father is helping me modify my resume to look a little better and sound more formal for when I arrive in London.
Picture 1
I have yet to establish a place to live in London. I leave on the 17th at 6:50 am local time and arrive at 7:25 am (local time). I'm flying into London Gatwick Airport where I am going to try to catch a train into town to establish myself somewhere with an internet connetion. From there I'll be able to make phone calls, do some research, and hopefully find a place to live. Who knows, perhaps I'll even find myself a job in the process.
Pasted Graphic
I've not really heard from anyone at home with the exception of a few people. I've not heard a peep from anyone I used to work with, etc. I'm sure that they're all busy with the re-model but still. It's a little sad but I'm over it. Mostly I'm honestly a little scared about this move. I can't take everything I brought to Germany so I get to consolidate all of the stuff that I brought into a backpack and a suitcase. I've finished a new copy of my CV/Resume' to bring along as well. I'm hoping to get to Saturn in downtown Hamburg tomorrow to get online and upload this, check my e-mail, and make a few phone calls.

I'm off for now. Have a good day.

Chris

[What I've been playing]
Half-Life 2 Episode 2 (Beaten) - I can't wait to see what happens in Episode 3.
Portal (Beaten) - It was pretty good. I only wish it was longer.
Unreal Tournament 3 Beta Demo (Not online sadly) - I've been waiting so long for this one...
Call of Duty 4 Demo (PC-Beaten as it's short) - Great game
hl2logo

Well, It's been a few days again...

Well, I'm still in Germany at the moment. I leave on the 17th at 6:50 in the morning to London Gatwick. It should be an interesting flight knowing that I'm going there to stay. I have yet to find a place to live although I have a few prospects. Some of them worry me though as they're insisting on a deposit via Western Union, etc. If I were to do something like that and it was a fraud, my money is gone. About 800 USD if that were the case. So needless to say, I'm trying to play it safe. Wish me luck!

Chris

Time Zones

Well, I think I've pretty much decided that I will switch over the time zone on my computer (therefore affecting the blog time stamps as well) to London's when I get there. Keep in mind right now I'm in Hamburg which is Central Time + 7 hours and London is Central Time + 6 hours. I have to change the settings all over my laptop including paper type (U.S. Letter vs. A4).

100_0523

Right now for me it is 4:30 pm (16:30) but in the U.S. (the time stamp on this blog right now) it is 9:30 am. So it's fun to keep up with. I have yet to switch my watch. Perhaps it's because I'm being lazy. I'm not to sure though. That's it for now.

Chris

I'm still in Germany

Hello Everyone! (Or at least the 3 of you that read this)

I'm still in Hamburg Germany right now staying with my Dad. I've made some progress getting the ball rolling for paperwork that I will need later on in order to work in the E.U. All of the fee's have been paid, etc. and now I just have to wait. It may be a while so I'll probably have my dad pick it up at the government office when it's in and ship it to me. I'm not sure how all of this is going to work but I'm confident that it will.

IMG_0165

Today is a holiday in Germany for the wall between East and West Germany coming down in 1990. If you recall East Germany was Communist as was Russia at the time. Yesterday I was able to go to Saturn (Best Buy meets Fry's) and get online for 2 hours with my laptop for about 5 bucks an hour. I know it's not cheap but it is nice to be able to get online. I will try to write more and more when I have a decent thought to type out. For today, this is going to be it. I'm already rambling so what's the point of continuing.

IMG_0186

To my friends and family, I miss you all!

Chris

[What I've been playing]
Battlefield 2 (Single Player because of no Internet.)
BF2