It's now 13 minutes 'til 2am.  And I'm moving.  Or getting ready to move.  Sigh. 

Don't get me wrong.  I'm really excited about moving.  My new place in Playa Del Rey is great, the condo complex is  like a little city -- 2 swimming pools, gym, tennis courts, dry cleaners (withIN the complex), clubhouse, little creeks that run between the buildings, and a King Taco.  Haha, just kidding about King Taco.  Mmm....

I just had KT this week with a new ladyfriend.  Yay.  But I think she liked the carne asada burrito more than me.  Haha.  Can't blame her at all. 

But back to moving.  Gotta be at the U-Haul place by 8am -- SIX HOURS FROM NOW -- sharp to pick up a truck.  Then I might pick up an amigo from Home Depot to help me out.  You know those amigos that stand around in front of hardware stores, looking for work.  I've never actually hired one of them... kinda looking forward to it.  Buy them lunch, too.  

But then I realized I don't really have too much to bring in the U-Haul truck.  Basically I only need the moving truck for my queen-sized bed -- which I am totally in love with, if you know how much I love sleep. Other than that, it's all cheap, somewhat durable Ikea furniture...

You: Tommy, hypothetical question: Would you like to go on a hot date or take a nap in your bed? 
You: Uh, Tommy?  Tommy?... When did this guy fall asleep....

In other news, my house got partially flooded.  One of the toilets backed up pretty badly and now my roommate -- it's his private bathroom -- is working hard to mop out the backed-up water... and it's not clear water, either.  At 2am.  0_o.  I'm so glad that none of my personal friend is renting a room here, I'd feel so bad if one did. 

I'm tired of this house I'm renting in MP.  I'm soooo outa here.  Thanks, Casa.  You've been good.  And cheap.  A little dirty.   But the bestestestest party house I ever had.  Take care.  Actually, I should tell your owner to do that. 

Geez.  I gotta, gotta, gotta give Jabba away.  Just no way I can take care of him.  He needs a new owner, a good one, someone who can walk him everyday or even twice a day.  Someone with kids at home who can grow up with Jabba.  A home with a little backyard where he can run in circles and dig in the ground, hide his treasures.  Just someone there for him.  I'm away from home for 13 hours a day, and that's just for work + commuting.  When I do get home, I'm just too tired to do much for him.  Bad Tommy, Bad Tommy.  Wimper. 

Anyone want Jabba?  I'll throw in some dog food.  And I have his paperwork from the vet.  Somewhere in one of the boxes...

Housewarming party, coming soon~~~

I hate to admit it, but Xanga is dying.  It's dying already within me.  I'm too busy to blog these days, having too much work and too much fun.  Gee.  Never thought the day would come. 

Wish I could make a nice come-back and write my silly entries about life, work, school, dating, and all.  I'll stick around and see what happens.  Things happen in spurts. 

4:34am.  Blink.  Blink.  Whoa.  I'm awake.  What time is it?  I reach for my crutches and hopped over -- ow ow ow -- to my desktop.  My laptop yawns the time for me. 

I only slept 5 hours.  And I woke up a half hour before my alarm.  Someone said that this is a sign of getting old.  Or perhaps it's because my 3-day old sprained ankle still gives me trouble at night.  Or maybe, just maybe, it's the first day of work at my new job.  Wooooo.  Excited.

This is my fourth "first day at new job" experience in the last year.  But this time, it's different.  Today I feel like I'm back in junior high, my fam just moved again, and I'm starting yet another school year at a new school.  Deep breath.  Let's get ready. 

5:30am.  Good slacks.  Check.  Dry cleaned shirt.  Check.  College tie.  Check.  Shove my swollen ankle into a brace and then shove it again into my dress shoe.  Ch---- ow ow ow ow ow -- eck.  Let's see how I look.


Gah-Dayum!  Three words: Danger Nearby. Beware. 

6:25am.  After picking up the go-to McSkillet Burrito combo at McD's -- mmm -- I arrive at my new office in West LA in good time: In just over 30 minutes.  Not bad at all.  Hope the commute back home can just as nice...

Once I found a suitable parking spot in the garage, I take a last sip of my coffee.  I hobble out of my car and open the back door to take my gear -- my messenger bag, my lunch bag, and my crutches.  Dude.  Forget the crutches.  I'm-a walk.  So, for the first time in 84 hours, I walked on my own.  Very.  Slo.  Wly. 

If.  I. Can. Just. Get. To. The. Damn. I'm. Tired. Aready.  Must. Get. To. The. Elevator. 

And that was the pace of my strut for the entire day.  For the entire first day. 

7:21am.  I wasn't the only new employee today.  A smiley Chinese brother was newbie-ing it up with me at the lobby.  And wouldn't you know.  Even the HR dude who came to get us at the lobby was also new.  "I've been here only a week," he apologized as we unnecessarily walked a thousand miles through office space while my right ankle cursed the HR dude's children and grand-children.

8:25am.  When I had my interview a couple weeks ago, there was a cute Asian chick in HR.  But she wasn't there today... Aw.  No eye candy today...

9:45am.  The Senior Accountant -- whom I'll affectionately call El Senor -- gives me and the Chinese brother a low-down on the company and our roles.  My main job description: Whatever happens, act like you know what the hell you're doing.   Seriously.  

10:03am.   Miracle.  I get eye candy today.  No, not a cute Asian chick in HR.  Even better.  Behind a solid, wooden door -- which just so happens to be identical to every frikkin' other door in the building but this solid, wooden door is special, believe me -- is a Snack Room.  In the corner of the Snack Room is this...


Gah-Dayum!  A Frikkin' Stacked Soda Fridge!  (Not this actual one, but quite like it.) 

And then I saw the most beautiful thing.  A heavyset man goes up to the fridge, opens it, snags a Coke, pops it open, takes a gulp, and says, "Hey man, you want one?"  By this time, I'm at tears.  "Naw," I mumbled as I rubbed my eyes, "I'll get one after lunch."   

Then right behind me, someone whispers "excuse me" while she feeds her oversided mug a cappuccino from cappuccino machine. 

Oh.  Mai.  Gah.  Both soda and coffee... free???  I am so dreaming. 

10:04am.  I sign my soul over to the company from the dried up blood on my right ankle.  It's bad blood anyways.  Plus I get lifetime soda & coffee.  Yippee. 

10:45am.  El Senor gives me my first project.  Why does a multi-billion dollor company still use Quickbooks?  Beats me.  But I'll take it. 

12:07pm.  Almost finished my first project.  Time for lunch.  Woo-hoo!

12:35pm.  Hobbled across the street to get Subway with the Chinese brother.  I'm liking the work, the company, the people, and EVEN the neighborhood.  Subway never tasted better. 

12:53pm.  Back at my luxurious yet empty cube.  Checked my email for a sec.  Nothing else to do.  Back to work.  Yay. 

1:45pm.  Done with the project.  More talking with El Senor.  Another project.  I left my pom-poms at home, but BRING IT ON. 

1:47pm.  Yawn.  Time to home yet?  Gah.  Another 3 hours...

4:15pm.  Yawn.  An assistant controller -- for a different department -- asks El Senor, "Do you know how to merge vendors on Quickbooks?"  El Senor shrugs.  I jump in, "Hey, I think I know..." 

4:45pm.  I hop over to the assistant controller's office, "Hey, I hear you need to merge vendors?  I  think I know..."  She jumps up and tells me to follow her.  El Senor sees what I'm doing, and he tags along, too.  We go over to a cube belonging to a cute white girl named Emily -- and everyone is eager for the solution.  I walk Emily through it.  It worked.  We all became giddy and jumped around.  "This one's a keeper!" the assistant controller cheered as El Senor slapped my back.  "This will be your job from now on." 

My small eyes got big -- or, a little less small.  I was still smiling, though.  "What?  Really?" 

El Senor: "Yeah.  You have access to it.  AP can't do it.  Your job.  Good job!" 

Danger:  "Oh.  Haha.  Ok!"   That was funny.  That made my day.  My very first day.  I went back to my cube, but I couldn't stop smiling. 

5:15pm.  Leave office. 

6:17pm.  Arrive home.  Nappy wappy time. 

The Beginning.

I GO FOR MINE~
I GOT TO SHINE~
NOW THRO' YO' HANDS IN THE SKY~  

• Position is Staff Accountant.
• Company does property management.  They've got apartments, commercial buildings, and hotels.  Do I get a discount on the hotels they own?  No, prolly not.  Sorry.
• Office is in West LA, in between UCLA & Santa Monica.
• I should move to the West side eventually, maybe in a couple months.  Can't do that commute. 
• I start in 10 days from now.  Time to play!!!
• They offered me a Certain Salary, but I asked them for 10% more.  They wouldn't budge. 
• Later I find out through my awesome recruiter that the Company gives out Bonuses to everyone.  Yay.  I'm sold~ 
• But still, when I think of it, I'm getting paid pretty well for a Staff Accountant.  It's on the verge of Senior Accountant position salary for some smaller companies. 
• And a heckuva lot more than my current pay.  Woohoo!
• I get all the benefits.  3 weeks vac.  1 week sick.  Sweet.  That's a month paid time off.
• The Company should go public soon.  I'm loading up on stocks.
• The recruiter was frikkin' awesome.  I didn't even meet the guy.  He said he'll buy me lunch.  Woohoo!  I'm figuring he got a cool commission from only two days of work with me.
• Work hours are 7:30am to 5pm.  Geez.  Whatever.  I'll do it.  I'll be there 30 minutes early and leave 30 minutes later.  Lazy Tommy, be gone~
• I'm a little over qualified for my position.  Hopefully they'll promote me within a year or so.  I'm sure they can. 
• Deep breath.  This is where I'll work for at least 5 years.  I gotta commit.  I gotta serve.  I gotta see it.  Oh, Jesus.  Can't be a career vagabond forever.   Deep breath.
• Looks like New York City is out of the picture for a long, long time.  But for now, I can visit... perhaps in December?
  

I'm ecstatic! 
I'm elated! 
Put 'em together,
I'm elastic!