NicholasYax.com

So, I left off at us getting home on Monday the 12th.  We stayed home Tuesday, then Wednesday left for Bay City to drop Jenn’s dress off at Clayton’s to be cleaned and preserved and leave her bouquet with my Mom to preserve it.  From there we drove to Novi to shop Twelve Oaks.  We arrived at the mall but decided to go look for a hotel first.  We found a nice hotel in Waterford, checked in, then went to dinner at Mitchell’s Fish Market in Birmingham.  After dinner, we decided to skip the mall and went back to the hotel for the night.

Thursday, we headed to the Detroit Zoo for the morning, which was rather dead due to being off season, a weekday morning, and rather cold out.  Still, we had fun, and saw some cool reptiles and amphibians.  Next we headed further down Woodward right downtown to Greektown.  You can tell you are heading deep into Detroit when you  stop seeing McDonalds and see only White Castle, Popeye’s, and Church’s.  So, we had lunch at the Greektown Casino buffet, played in the casino for a little while, then went out to the street and stopped at a bakery for some baklava.  From there, we left Detroit via 94 and headed down 23 to Dundee to walk around Cabella’s.  We went through the St. Julian Winery outlet, and walked around Cabella’s, then headed north to Milan for the night.

Friday we woke up and headed up to Howell to shop the outlet.  Picked up some cool stuff, then headed over to Okemos to shop the mall there.  I got two dress shirts and ties at a really good deal, and we stopped at Big John’s for lunch.  From there, we headed home for the weekend.

Tuesday, the 20th, I had an interview at Grand Rapids Spring and Stamping, which Jenn drove down to with me.  Interview was short, and I still haven’t heard back from it, so not seeming very promising.  We then dropped Jenn’s computer off at the Apple Store to have the palm rest repaired (free, even out of warranty, awesome).

Wednesday, we returned to GR to pick up her computer and drool over the new 20 and 27” iMacs. Also stopped at Robinette’s Orchard.  Tasted some wines, got some apples, had some doughnuts and cider, had a good time.

Thursday night, Jenn went back to work, and the honeymoon officially ended.  The week and a half since have been rather uneventful.  Applied to a couple more jobs, asked for info from Western Michigan on grad programs, not too much else.

In all, over 2 weeks, we visited Alpena, Arenac, Bay, Clare, Clinton, Crawford, Eaton, Genesee, Ingham, Ionia, Iosco, Isabella, Kent, Livingston, Macomb, Mecosta, Midland, Monroe, Montcalm, Montmorency, Oakland, Osceola, Oscoda, Roscommon, Saginaw, Washtenaw, and Wayne counties.  Quite a list.

We got a new neighbor upstairs yesterday, apartment had been empty since August.  Kind of strange someone moving in in late October in a college town, but whatever.

So, that would be about it.

nick

So, last weekend was Sno*Drift, the rally race in Atlanta, MI.  Was decent, but very cold.

Jon, Jenn, and I went up Friday night and met Jon’s friend Amber there.  The Holiday Inn Express in Gaylord was awesome.  We had dinner at La Seniorita and then did some shopping around town, including Jay’s of course.  We got a late start Saturday morning, so went straight for the 12:00 repair stop at Atlanta High School.  The next scheduled event was a race at the gravel pit, or a race in the woods.  We went to the gravel pit, which ended up a poor choice, as we were rather far from the cars.  Was still cool, but after that one race we were pretty much done, so didn’t stay for any of the three more that night.  Jon and Amber went there separate way, and Jenn and I went to Big Buck Brewery for dinner, then headed home.

This past week was mostly just school home, repeat.  Thursday was the winter job fair.  That was a complete joke.  There were barely any employers there, and nobody really looking for MfgEng.  Still, I keep applying online, at least 5 a week average.

Yesterday was the Grand Rapids Auto Show.  Unlike Detroit of Chicago where the automakers bring cars, this was more the dealers showing off what’s new.  You get a lot more freedom to inspect the vehicles here though, can get right in, pop the hood, whatever you want.  Was pretty good.

This week we are supposed to be working on a snow sculpture for SME, but the weather doesn’t seem to want that to happen.  Supposed to be 40s most of the week, and get some rain, not ideal conditions.  SHould drop back under freezing Thursday, so if there is any snow left then, we will try sculpting it.

So, thats about it for now.  Hopefully I find a job, will keep you updated.

So, first week of class is over.  All went well, though I will have quite a bit of work this semester.  Automation, plant layout, and continuous improvement have some big projects, though homework should be limited.  Lean doesn’t seem like it will be too bad.

Jenn and I went to GR on Saturday, which was fun but nasty travel.  We passed quite a few accidents on the way there, and even more on the way back.  We had lunch at TGI Fridays, which I haven’t had in quite a while, and it was really good.  Need to go there more often.  Looked for shoes at Nordstrom Rack, but didn’t find anything I loved.

Cleaned on Friday, as Jenn’s parents came down.  We got most of it Friday, but got laundry and some more yesterday.  Still have a little mess on bedroom floor and the hell that is the office, but may actually get everything cleaned up.

I finally ordered my RAM.  MacBook now has 4GB, and Jenn has my 1GB.  If someone uses PC-5300 so-dimms, and needs 2 sticks of 256MB each, let me know.

That would be about it for now.  Going to enjoy the rest of my day off (no class MLK Day).

Well, I guess I should update.  I haven’t since November 16th, as the Christmas post was actually Jenn.

This past weekend we went to Bay City for Christmas.  We were going to leave Saturday, but was really foggy so we left Sunday afternoon and stayed through the evening.

Weekend before we went up to Alpena for christmas with Jenn’s family.  Drive home was really crappy as it was snowing faster than the plows were cleaning up.

Other than that, have done nothing for the last week and a half, and enjoyed the hell out of it.  It’s my last christmas break after all, I intend to enjoy it.

Exams were not bad, grades came out a 2 A’s, 2 A-’s, and a B-.  GPA is at 3.72, would like to get it up to a 3.75 for Magna Cum Laude.  Just need 3 out of 4 A’s over winter, with no less than A- in the fourth.

During late November, I made a site for my SME group.  I  also helped organize our Christmas Parade float, which their are pictures of on the SME site.  We were competing for $100 prizes for most festive, most participants, and most lights.  We had a good chance at most lights, but haven’t heard yet (which presumably means we lost).

Also have not heard from UniSolar.  I interviewed with them mid November and was told I would hear by the holiday.  I emailed them 2 weeks ago and was told they would get back to me.  I’m not giving up on them though, with this economy (especially in MI) I’m sure they are looking long and hard before making any decisions.

You would think I would have more after 6 weeks, huh?

I have been watching DiggNation rather regularly now.  I downloaded it to watch on my iPod and got into it.  I had watched a few about a year ago but stopped after 2 or 3 episodes.  I used to watch all of Kevin Rose’s “the Broken” episodes, but with the death of TechTV I lost trach of his whereabouts for a while, and didn’t even realize he was the guy that started Digg.com until about 2 years ago.

Next week is MacWorld Expo, and Steve Jobs is not doing the keynote.  Further, it is to be the last expo attended by Apple.  In the past, Apple’s priority was to keep their user base from migrating away, so attended user expos.  Now, Apple has a large enough base that they can just use their TV spots and stores to build a bigger base.  So, its sad news for lovers of the keynotes, but understandable.  Many of Apple’s major announcements over the last few years have been at special events outside the expo anyway, and there is still Apple’s own WWDC in May-ish.

Only 16 hours left in 2008 right now.  That is a little scary.  Amazing how the year can seem so short and so long at the same time.

My beer came out decent.  Guys liked it, Jenn and I rather enjoyed it, Jenn’s Dad and his friend didn’t, lol.  Its not for people who are set on drinking one beer, and especially if that is a lighter beer.  My “Creative Juices #1″ is rather heavy, and a bit bitter.

Fish are doing well.  We had a second Jack Dempsey (Buster), but he passed a few weeks ago.  Our unknown cichlid (Tiger) is doing well though.  Will need to get some pics.  I still really wat a bigger aquarium, and saw an awesome 65 gallon at PetSmart in Saginaw, but need to wait at least until after the move.

Finding a job is looking like it will be a royal pain.  most companies are laying off far more than hiring.  Still, I know they are out there.  Most of the layoffs are production workers while Manufacturing Engineers are exactly what they need to help trim inefficiency and reduce costs.

Went to Birch Run shopping with Jenn and her Mom and Sister a few weeks ago.  Was the first time I had been there in probably 5 years.  A lot of stores that have been there for as long as I can remember, and a few new ones.  I was excited to see a Merrill store, but Nordstrom’s Rack is still a better deal.

Other site work, other than SME listed above, is our wedding site.  Jenn made one up a few weeks ago, and I did a redo a few days ago.  I should have a final composite up within a couple weeks, as well as possibly its own domain.

I think, that is it.  I know there is more, especially after 6 weeks, but can’t think of it right now.  Will try and make my next most a little sooner.

nick

Two weeks, that sucks.  Unfortunately, I still don’t have all that much.

School has been uneventful, just school.  Still no internship yet sadly.

Easter was decent.  Jenn and I went to Bob Evans for dinner and did a bit of shopping at Meijer.  Nothing real great.

Last weekend, we tried shopping for disc-golf stuff, because it thought it was nice out for a while.  We kind of got put off by the prices of real stuff though.  Maybe later, maybe try it with just a frisbee.  We also bought Guitar Hero III for the Wii, which has been fun.

And this weekend, we went to GR for some shopping, though we didn’t but much, two books.  We went for a new SIM card for my cellphone, which is supposedly the cause of my sudden sub-par reception, though it hasn’t helped all that much.

That, sadly, is two weeks.

Will try for sometime Thursdayish, after Jenn’s knee surgery.

nick