I have been really busy in the last two weeks! It is a long process to explain, but I don't want to forget anything later in life, so bare with me!

So, where to begin... I was about to accept a job for a start up in Boston when, that night, I get a call from two huge companies. One of the two being the notorious Facebook (which had previously turned me down). Well, this all happened on a Thursday night. I was flying to Boston the following Wednesday through Friday to check out the company, but both the other companies want to interview me. I told one I could on Tuesday, and the other I could on Monday.

Sunday night I fly out to San Francisco from Miami. I arrived at 9:30 at night, woke up the next morning for an 11:00 interview. The interview ended at 2:08, so I sprint to catch the 2:11 train. I get back to the airport, get my luggage, and head out to catch my 5:15 flight. I was flying from San Francisco to Omaha for the Tuesday interview, unfortunately I had a layover in Denver. Well, United decided to cancel my flight, so I had to spend the night there, and fly out first thing the next morning. Only problem with this was that it was 12:30 PM before I finally got to sleep. I had to wait in a 1.5 hour line to book a flight the next morning, and then an hour line to get my luggage since I would be flying on a different airline. Luckily I was one of very few passengers that got their hotel paid for. Many were told it was weather-related, while I was told it was mechanical... pretty sketchy!

I barely made it to Omaha in time for my 11:00 interview. It finished, and I drove back to the airport for my 3:55 flight from Omaha to Atlanta (to catch a connection to Miami). Well, right before take off, they were told to return to the gate due to weather in ATL. Well, I wouldn't usually worry but I was suppose to fly out of Fort Lauderdale to Boston at 6:00AM the next morning, so I had them switch my ATL connection so that, instead of flying to Miami, I would fly straight to Boston. Around 6:30 we were able to leave, arriving in ATL around 10:30. I spent the night in the extravagant Crown Plaza hotel (thanks dad for using your points), then once again, woke up bright and early for my flight.

I arrived in Boston on Wednesday morning, and spent the entire day with the Daily Jolt (the company I now work for). They walked me through exactly what I'd be doing, they even worked out a time schedule. I was really impressed, and really excited because I knew exactly what I'd be doing. After spending the day with the Daily Jolt, Facebook called me and told me I should expect a verbal offer the next day by mid-day.

Thursday was spent with a Realtor, touring all of Boston, checking out the different areas to live. I fell in love with Beacon Hill, but it cost a fortune to live there. Fortunately I also liked the Brighton area. Facebook finally called me at around 7:00 PM and discussed their offer with me. Very intriguing offer, slightly more than the Boston job. Of course, the Daily Jolt wanted an answers by that night. So, I spent 2 stressful hours weighing my options, then I went to dinner with Aaron (my new boss) and told him the situation. I explained what Facebook had offered me, and we were able to work out a very similar offer, and I decided the Daily Jolt was the right job for me. I am an east-coast kind of guy, I'll be a Mid-level programmer rather than a Junior-level programmer (meaning I'll be essential to the company, rather than just another programmer), I'll be able to do a lot of work from home, I'll be in Boston (where I've wanted to live for 7 years now), the cost of living in Boston is quite a bit cheaper than San Francisco, and on top of everything, my best friend lives here. I have yet to regret my decision, once Facebook goes public maybe, but we'll see.

I was very excited to get home after a week of traveling the nation. I left Boston early Friday morning, and had a layover in Philly. Well, as you could probably have guessed due to my extreme luck, there were issues. They boarded the plane right on time, I passed out 2 minutes after boarding. Well, after I passed out, they announced that "there was a small mechanical problem, but it should be fixed in about 10 minutes and we'll be off". I fell back to sleep, into a deep sleep, and after 30 minutes they decided to make everyone get off the plane. Of course, I was in such a deep sleep the flight attendant had to wake me up. I noticed I was the only one on the plane, and she told me I had to get off. I asked "We already are there?" and she explained the situation to me. Oh boy! Another never-ending layover!

Once I get off the plane, they announce that "The good news is that it is a small mechanical problem... The bad news is that we have to fly the part in from Atlanta." Of course, this meant they weren't canceling the flight, so we had to sit there and wait. They did offer us a $25 voucher for a future flight (after reading the fine print I found out it expired 7 days later), as well as a $10 food voucher to use while we were waiting.

1 hour passes...

2 hours pass...

"Attention passengers, we regret to inform you that the part didn't make it from Atlanta. We are going to have to cancel the flight. Oh, and every flight to Florida is over booked until tomorrow at 2:30! Thank you for flying Air Tran"

Luckily for me, I had nowhere I had to be... most the other passengers were leaving the next morning on a cruise, so obviously 2:30 PM flight wasn't going to work. Some of them drove to Baltimore, others just broke down and cried. "It is our anniversary, and now we are stuck in Philly". I felt bad for them. I waited in line to rebook a flight (another 1.5 hours) and to get my free round-trip voucher. I nicely asked to be upgraded to business class as well. They also were kind enough to give every passenger a $30 discount at a hotel (even though it was mechanical failure).

Finally I was re-booked for the next day, had my hotel coupon and I made my way to the luggage area to get my bags. It was now after 4:00 PM (the flight was suppose to leave at 11:11 AM). I get to the luggage area, and it is all chaos. There were passengers at the end of their rope with the airlines, yelling at anyone with an AirTran t-shirt. They had no clue on when our luggage was going to be brought to us, so, realizing I had a while, I nicely mentioned that I had expected to get my hotel paid for considering it was mechanical failure that was the cause of my misfortune. Well, the baggage lady was eager to help since I was the only one being polite. She called about 5 different "supervisors", and none of them answered. Finally one showed up (not for me, he had an issue he was trying to resolve). She explained to him my situation, and he reluctantly brought me to the front desk. Well, 30 minutes later I had a voucher for a free hotel night. My luggage arrived right when I got back, and so I headed to the hotel (nearly 6:00).

At least in Philly I was able to sleep in the next morning since my flight wasn't until 2:30. It was my first full night sleep that entire week.

I flew back here (to Boston) this last Thursday, once again having flight issues. My flight leaving Fort Lauderdale left 2 hours late. I arrived to my connect in Philly 30 minutes before it was suppose to leave. Thinking I had to hurry I rush to the next gate, only to find out that my connection was also running late. I got to sit in Philly for 2.5 hours! Woohoo. Of course, by this time, I was very accustom to waiting, especially in airports.

During the week I was in Fort Lauderdale, I had been looking for apartments using craigslist. I found this one that I just had a feeling for. I couldn't tell you why I was so fond of it, just that I kept saying how much I wanted to see it in person. I spent Friday morning looking at places in Beacon Hill... $1500+/month for 350 sq. ft. apartments. None of them excited me too much. At around 2:00 Megan and I headed over to the apartment I found on craigslist. Immediately I knew it was the place for me. $1425/month for a 650 sq. ft. apartment with 10 foot ceilings. Everything was brand new, including the kitchen appliances. They redid all the electrical as well, so it can support my electrical needs. Across the street there is a park with a lake where I can walk my dog. It is directly on the Green line (Trolley to downtown), and there is a bus that goes straight to work. I also have a shared deck and a backyard so I can let my dog out there as well. I'll post pictures as soon as possible.

Labels: atlanta, best friend, denver, dogs, nebraska, patrick folts, philly, san francisco, work

Well, Thanksgiving was very much appreciated... If it weren't for such a great holiday then I wouldn't have been able to get a break from school and work... The week prior I slept very little in order to finish all my huge school projects early, so that I could use the entire Thanksgiving week for relaxation. I headed down south to my parent's house last Friday, and didn't come home until this past Sunday. On the way down my sister Megan and I stopped in G-ville and had dinner at Friday's for Patti's 24th birthday. Unfortunately we got there right during rush hour so we had to wait nearly an hour before Patti made it there. I was glad to see her despite how little time we had!

On Saturday I decided I was going to camp out for a Wii since my previous attempts of pre-ordering it failed. I headed out at around 7:00 PM thinking 5 hours before it was sold would be plenty... I had heard every Walmart would have around 50 Wii's... Well, that was before they sold them to their employees first... I went to both the closest Walmarts and I was told that the line was already longer then the magical number of Wii's being sold... Depressed, I headed home and decided that I would try good old Amazon.com instead... Not knowing when they were going to start selling them, (I knew it was going to be between 3:00 AM and 3:00 PM EST) I decided I would wake up every hour on the hour and start pushing the refresh button... By 10:00 AM I was pretty drained and loosing hope... Still not for sale... Finally, at 11:00 AM, I thought I would try one last time before heading out to the Hard Rock Seminole Casino and the Sawgrass Mall with mom and Grandma. Sitting there pressing F5 while casually talking to my mom, I glance over at the monitor and I see "Buy with One-Click Ordering" appear on the page! YAY! I got one, they sold out in less than a minute and I was one of the people to get one! Go me!

The Wii arrived on Tuesday via UPS overnight... I unpack it, set it up, put Wii Sports in... "Unable to read disc..." I get an error... after browsing Nintendo's website I find their customer service number... They are sending me a new one, but it sucked because I had no game to play on my brand new system... I ended up renting one from Blockbusters, but I wanted to bowl, or play tennis... After getting bored of the game I rented, I headed over to Gamestop, and mentioned that I got the Wii and was waiting for Zelda to be shipped to me... They then told me that some guy sold them his used copy of it (4 days after getting it!)... Of course I went ahead and bought it for $10 less then it cost brand new... I was the first person (at least at their store, but probably anywhere) to get a used Wii game... Pretty cool...

On Thanksgiving we were suppose to goto Epcot and eat at the German-all-you-can-eat buffet... Well, when we called to make reservations, we found out that they were completely booked... So, last minute, we had to change plans and cook a Thanksgiving feast... My dad and I headed up to Melbourne to pick up my Grandma (who was there the day before our plans changed, but headed home thinking she was going to meet us in Orlando)... At first I was disappointed because I was really excited about the German food, but in the end (after sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, peas, turkey, cranberries, 2 apple pies, and 2 pecan pies) it all turned out well...

Now it is back to school where, despite being ahead of the game before I left, I am right back in the "ahhhhhhh! Grad School" mode, trying hard to stay ahead... I just have to keep telling myself "3 weeks left!"... but then of course I think about the 14 page paper, the programs, and the bookwork I have yet to finish... Oh well, we'll see what happens...

Labels: family, gaming, grad school, grandma, lori folts, megan folts, patrick folts, patti botero, vacation, wii

For the past two years I got my dad REALLY good on April fools day... well, this year I surpassed it all... It actually wasn't my idea, but I asked others for ideas and this kid Cory in the lab came up with it... so here it goes...

I called my dad up and told him that my advisor contacted me and told me that I cannot graduate because I was suppose to take some class that I didn't know about... and I told him now I wouldn't be able to go do this internship thing in Texas (read below) because I will have to stay in Tally to take the class... This is also after he bought all the hotel rooms, bought invitations, food, etc... well, I don't know how I did it but it without laughing but I did... anyways... he called back twice saying I should see if I can do the internship for credit, etc. etc... anyways... I let him worry about it for 2 hours and then finally I started to feel bad... so I was getting on the phone to call him and tell him, but then my friend was like "wait wait, give me the phone, what is his name... Hi, this is Demetirus Brown the chair of the Computer Science Department here at Florida State University, your son wanted me to talk to you about why he can't graduate..." anyways, 15 minutes later my dad started getting really worried so Demetirus responded... "here, let me transfer you to the Dean of the College of Arts and Science..." then proceeds to hand me the phone and I scram "APRIL FOOLS!"... he he... it was hilarious... anyways, go me...

Labels: demetrius brown, patrick folts, prank, tallahassee

Well, I went Orlando this weekend, it was uberly fun... I stayed at Joes on Friday and Saturday night... Friday night we went to ESPN Club on Disney Boardwalk... it was pretty expensive, but I still had fun... we had to spread out onto 4 tables since there were so many of us... Joe, his girlfriend, his roommate, and I went early to put our name on the list only to find out that there was no list so we waited for an hour until the other people finally showed up (after major drama because Shanon got lost on her way and was mad)... Overall though, it went well... Joe had one of every speciality drink they made and then he got a pretty lame birthday cake (it was free for birthday people)... it was really nasty so his other roommate ordered a HUGE ice cream Sunday that came in a football trophy bowl... and so we all chipped in a dollar (all 18 of us) so that she didn't have to pay for it... and we had 18 spoons and were all eating it (it had strawberries, oreoes, chocolate and vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, whipped cream, cherries... etc... you name it, it was probably on it... oh and peanut butter... I got there early Friday because Joe wanted me to meet his girlfriend... then we went to Blockbuster and bought ourselves xbox games...

Saturday I went to Epcot first thing in the morning, but for the first time ever my parents didn't leave South Florida before 5 AM... they actually left at 7 so I was there an hour before them... so I had to find my way away from Epcot and went to a place closer to where they were so I could meet up with them... We parked one of our cars at Publix and drove together once they finally arrived... So once we finally got there we ate... first thing once we got into the park... some pastry place, pretty good... then we went through the educational rides for a while... Megan and I got a fastpass to the ones with long lines... when we finally were suppose to go on those rides we split up from my parents... of course, knowing my luck (it has happened on every ride I have been on since I was 12 it seems like, all three of them stopped in the middle of the ride... and say they are experiencing difficulties... when I went to Islands of Adventure a while back every ride stopped for some reason or another... the Dragon ride, twice... once they made Francisca and I get off because she had no sandals on, the other time who knows what happened... also the Spider man ride broke for like 20 minutes when I was inches from getting on it... This all started at Oktoberfest the year that the ride crashed killing 6 people... it broke down when I was in line to ride it... it didn't open until the next day (the day it crashed)... lucky I wasn't there the next day... that same year I went on a ride there called the "Frisbee" it spun like one of those gravity machines that throws you against the wall, and it rocked at the same time (like one of those big ships that go upside down and sit there)... that was probably the worst (as in the best) I have ever been on... buutttttttttttt... the girl two seats from me vomited... ALL over everyone next to her... luckily we were spinning the opposite direction, otherwise I would have had it in my mouth... like almost everyone else... luckily it didn't cause a chain reaction because then I would have gotten it too... poor girl... more importantly poor people... Oh well... back to the story... ok, so... once we finally got through with those rides we met my parents in Germany for dinner/lunch... it was about 3:30 at the time... it was a buffet they had all the German goodness... Schnitzel, Kartofflen (Potatoes), Wurst, Semmel mit Kase und Fleisch (bread roll with cheese and meat), Sharf Senf, Curry Ketchup... und am bestem die Apfel Strudel mit Vanilla Sosse... it was really really really really good... ALSO they had freshly made Spetzi (for those of you who don't know, which is probably most if not all, Spetzi is a drink in Germany that is made from mixing Coke and citrus drinks... yummy goodness) I loved it... so did my family... I only spoke German for the whole 3.5 hours we spent there... I told the waitress that it was my Dad's birthday so when the band came on they announced it and sang happy birthday to him in German... everyone was swaying their Steins around singing along... or mumbling that is... so finally when we were done we went on to the other countries in a rush because it was raining and cold... we completely skipped France because it isn't worth our time... he he... we watched some video about Canada though, but that is because we happened to walk by when it was starting...

So when I got back to Joe's, the party was about to start... the cops broke up the party... that was another exciting yet scary thing that happened... that happened at 1:00 I think because I remember Joe complaining after he was excited about being the first party out of his friends to be broken up...

The next morning I was woken up by my sister at 11 something because she wanted me to go to Melbourne (my Grandma's house) and watch the Vikings loose... I got up and left Joes and picked up Patti went... We had fun in the car ride catching up... There was a ton of food at my Grandma's house too which made it worth while... Once the game was over we drove back and then I watched her play video games for about an hour and then Eric, she and I went bowling because it was Sunday night and they had a special 1.50 per game and 1.50 for shoes... we played 3 games we all won one... the last game the score was pretty low because all of our arms were tired but it was REALLY close 84 (Me), 85 (Patti) and 86 (Eric)... I won the second game with a 120... my first game sucked because I was using a 12 lb ball rather than the 15... after bowling we went to walmart and then we went back to her house and I passed out... The next morning I woke up and drove home in 3 hours and 10 minutes... I love cop radars and loud music... When I got home I played video games like usual but then at 8:00, since it was cold, I ran around the block... I was going to do the same today but it is below 30 tonight and that is too cold for any clothing I have... I don't want to get sick again...

Today was my first meeting for my TA job... It seems like it is going to be easy so I am excited... I checked out my office... not bad... not particularly good either though... but now I have access to a fridge and microwave so I can eat on campus... I also got everything worked out pay wise and filled out my time cards for the first two weeks even though I didn't work... I found out that I actually don't start until next Thursday, and then I only work 2 hours... so for the first 4 weeks I will only have worked, including meetings and getting use to the software, about 5 hours and I will have been paid $800 for it.. B) that is $160 an hour... B) I have a lot of responsibility on my hands though once everything gets rolling... I am the administrator or whatever and that brings with it making sure everybody is happy...

so within the next month I will be getting about $1500+ from all my different jobs... what they owe me and what they will owe me... life is good...

This weekend I am going to dive head first into the whole grad school/job applying thing... I just don't know what to do for the statement of purpose... we'll see... ok, well I think I have even started to bore myself with this blabbing so that's enough...

Labels: bowling, eric rubinstein, francisca amunategui, grad school, joe castelbuono, ketchup, lori folts, megan folts, patrick folts, patti botero, publix, sick, vacation, work

(I wrote this last night, but for some reason it didn't post... so here it is)

I beat halo 2 about 30 minutes ago... go me! After that I came over to the computer to see if my last teacher posted a grade, and it turned out that he did, and for the first time ever I made straight A's (meaning no A minuses either) just pure, sexy A's... oh well..

My family and I celebrated my birthday today (well, technically yesterday, the 13th) because they are all going to be busy tomorrow and can't... I opened all my presents except one of the one my parents got me... I got 2 dress shirts with matching ties from my parents, Ultimate Bustamove for Xbox live from my sister, and a brick from my grandparents... luckily they used fifty $1 bills for the padding... B) think they are all tricky and stuff... I am hoping the other present my parent's are giving me is the digital camera I want... even though I have nothing really to take pictures of, I want one... because then if I wanted to take a picture I could without paying a lot for film/processing...

I don't know what I am going to to do when I get up this morning... if that makes sense... I already beat Halo 2, maybe I can try and beat it on Legendary (the hardest difficulty)... or just play it online for the whole day... who knows... I just hope I don't get any more mature since I am 22, because that would suck and I would be boring and have no reason to live...

Oh well, the best birthday present I got was getting out of the hell semester I just had... I am glad I did so well, if I didn't then I would have been angered considering the amount of effort I put into it... next semester better be easy... or fun... well, my elective better be fun because "Complexity and Analysis of Data Structures and Algorithms" sure as hell won't be... I think I am taking "Introduction to Intelligent Systems" as my elective... learn about making computers think like a human... sounds cool, sounds fun... sounds hard though...

Labels: birthday, gaming, honey folts, lori folts, megan folts, papa folts, patrick folts, undergrad

I got really excited today when talking to my parents close friend Bob Myers... He is the Human Resource manager for ALL of Reebok... former Vice President of The Bank of Boston, and most impressing, former Vice President of the Limited/Victory Seceret and all those stores owned by that company... Needless to say, he has connections... Well, turns out he is pretty close to an important person at EA (Electronic Arts.... they own many different computer gaming companies, including Maxis... The one that makes the Sims and SimCity)... He suggested that I try to get an internship there this summer with his help... he told me, "give me your resume and I can help you edit it and I'll fax it to him, and maybe he can slip it to the top of the pile..." B) just talking about it freaked me out because it was so exciting... The sole cause of my passion for computers came from a little revolutionary program... SimCity Classic... and now I have a chance to get an internship there, or if it is too late to get one for this summer, possibly a job there... My heart was pitter pattering like crazy... I knew he had connections, but he just happened to mention the one company I would want to work for more than any other... even if I didn't get hired forever, if I got an internship there I would be satisfied for life... I don't know... but to me that is exciting...

Anyways, later on in the conversation Microsoft is brought up... turns out he knows the HR Manager there along with a few other VIPs in the company... Microsoft scares me though because it is what made computing what it is today, and I don't know if I have what it takes to contribute to that... REALLY nerve racking to think about working on something that has to do with so many peoples life's... yeah...

All this is really scary to me... I feel like I am so little compared to these HUGE companies that are practically the cause that I am who I am... I have never been so excited... even if I don't get the job, knowing that I have at least a better chance than most people is exciting...

My parents have been friends with Bob's wife since 8th grade... and with him since 11th grade... All I know is that I will owe him so much even if I don't get the job... he doesn't have to do anything for me, but he is... I talked to him for only 20 minutes about this particular subject, but it has thrilled me... It is completely different discussing something that you could always talk about, but when you did you were thinking "yeah right like that will ever happen", when you can stop thinking that, even if it is just for a minute...

Oh well, Isketch time... I hope I can fall asleep...

Labels: electronic arts, lori folts, microsoft, patrick folts, work

I am going to Orlando tomorrow to see my uncle, Joe, and my friend Patti... I haven't seen all of them in way to long... I haven't seen my uncle since my Grandpa's funeral 3 years and a week ago... I miss my grandpa... I never let myself think about him for more than like 3 seconds because I don't want to start crying... I hate saying goodbye... I never have been good at it... I hate change in general... anyways... today it is my dad's birthday... I didn't get him anything... I am broke... I worked on my Aunt's website that she is paying me to do... I love making websites... I wish I could get paid to do other people's... If somebody pays for the site (yeah right) then I would make a Posse page... I found a service that I can make a post thing like this (this being livejournal posts)... just for the "Posse"... if you can still call it that... I am really not in a good mood... I am half way through the third Harry Potter book... I can't put it down at night, I force myself to put it down and go to sleep... I don't know why I am in such a bad mood right now... my heart feels heavy and I just feel like whining and pouting and yelling and screaming, etc... oh well... I'll shut up now...

Labels: grandpa, harry potter, joe castelbuono, kristen foster, patrick folts, the posse, vacation

I missed it here, Francisca's mom has made me lunch and dinner already and it was SO good, although it contained squash... nasty, but I avoided it... I am a little annoyed because my parents gave my old room away to a visitor... so now I am stuck upstairs with no TV, having to be really quite because they go to sleep at 8:00, can't go browse the kitchen without going ALL the way down stairs (and worsely, if that is a word, back up the stairs...) I don't do stairs... they were made by the devil... anyways, so I don't have my own room anymore... I was fine with it because it was going to be a week (I am only here for spring break) and I thought he would be gone by summer, but in fact he will be there for a month of my summer so I have to put up with this for WAY to long... I don't know if I sound spoiled or stupid or whatever, but it sucks not to have your own place that you are use too... I think I am going to live at the Rush house or Tito's house for that month of the summer... that will teach my parents... he he... We are supposively going on the Rush's new boat tomorrow, I am excited... YAY! (see the excitement)...

Joe really sucks at Mario Cart... it is great winning EVERY game... I feel bad for him... oh well... I was offered a job at Ken's newest business... the networking one... I am going to work there all summer... it will be great... hopefully Joe Joe will be working there too so I can beat him up...

IT IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO hot down here... I hate the heat and hope to never suffer living in a hot place again... I want to live in Boston because there are lots of computer related jobs there and it is MUCH colder there... I hate beaches too... sandy, salty, greasy, hot, sunny (my eyes are abnormally sensitive to light... THEY ARE!) etc... also because my Grandpa would always take me to the beach by his house... and now he has passed, and it is sad... so... I like mountains... they are cold, cloudy (unless you get higher than the clouds...), they have fresh water rather than shitty salt water... they have trees, shade, animals, SNOW TO SKI ON! And the aura of the people there are just much different... even the tourist aura is different depending on where you go... I want to own a ski resort... I could ski for free, but also because for some unknown reason, as a kid I always wanted to run a hotel and resturant... sounds weird to me anyways, but I just thought (and still think) that I can run it much better than the ones they have... Not only that, it would be fun to design and build considering I want to be an architect as well as a computer nerd/geek..

Labels: adriana infante, boston, francisca amunategui, grandpa, joe castelbuono, lori folts, patrick folts, rush family