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| TheGiz Canada. July 12 2012 11:34. Posts 708 | Profile Blog # |
Hello TL,
It has been four some-odd months since my last blog entry, and I've been absent for this long time for very good reasons. My life has completely changed in the four months since we last talked, and - as I've been promising for nearly 2 years - all for the better. I did it; I made it. I have defeated failure.
So allow me to reintroduce the same blog, in the same format, with a slight schedule change. I'm calling it Blog-day Wednesday, and I'll make sure to write a post every single Wednesday when I'm doing my laundry. I think it's good to reflect once in a while and not play video games all night, and the routine is paramount to being a well-rounded success. So, without further ado, allow me to reacquaint you with what TheGiz is all about: being the most good, highest quality person that a man can be, and how I've gotten along in the past 4 months.
1. Defeating Waterloo
I first decided that I would become a Mechanical Engineer when I was 12 years old, in Grade 6. I decided that I liked cars and all manner of machines, and one of my favorite books was The Way Things Work. Well, 12 years later - 6 of which were spent at the University of Waterloo - and I've finally graduated. I am now TheGiz, BASc., Honours Mechanical Engineering.
In the past I've talked about how much work it was, and my fourth year - right up until the end - was no exception. My absence on TL was due to my school work schedule. Every day I'd wake up, go to school, and spend every waking moment in class or in the 4th year study room. I'd return home again between 10pm and 2am, having eaten all my meals at school. I could do nothing less: failure right at the end would have been heartbreaking.
After successful completion of my exams I went with my family for a lovely vacation on Hiltonhead Island. What a phenomenal place. The temperature was perfect, if a little humid at times, and the scenery is beautiful. The island is covered in these aesthetic "palmetto" palm trees, and all the trees have creeping moss on them. We golfed four rounds, shopped, hung out on the beach, and on our way back to Niagara Falls stopped over in Washington DC for a great tour.
Graduation was this past month, and let me tell you that it's the most satisfying thing. I could not be more proud.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/7dfAl.jpg) Hiltonhead is two things: beautiful and rich.
2. Getting a Real Job
In my time at Waterloo I've worked 8 co-op jobs, but every time I worked a 4 month period that income would disappear into my university's coffers. In 4th year I had to actually search for a full-time job, and I heard that it was no easy task even for a graduating engineer. A friend of mine had 40 interviews last year before he was able to find employment. I simply neglected to apply to a lot of jobs except those that I really wanted, which seemed few and far between.
Then, I got a call from a company that I'd haphazardly handed a resume to back in the fall. They wanted to interview me, so I jumped on it. I knew that the company was a direct competitor to another company that I worked at in 2010, and they had a lavish downtown Toronto office. Toronto was exactly where I wanted to be. It's where the money, the girls, the people, and all my successful friends were. The job was also directly related to my chosen field of expertise.
The phone interview went great, and the in-person interview went better. I think it helped that the HR manager was a pretty attractive woman who was easy to talk to. The boss was also really personable. The only thing I screwed up was remembering one fundamental formula, which bugged me for weeks afterwards. But it doesn't matter now; I got the job!
Now I'm working for a prestigious company on a great team of good guys, in a beautiful office, designing a 1.6 million sq. ft. hospital. It's exactly what I studied for and I like doing what I do. Oh, and there's also a high-end health club located in the building next door. I can go from my desk to a hot tub in 10 minutes.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/qUiZl.jpg) Even if it isn't a nice day I just have to look inside in my office.
3. Moving to the Big City
I started work in mid-May, so I needed a place to live. I found a roommate right away. My best friend since Grade 2 had just been relocated to Toronto himself, so we resolved to live together and find an apartment. Finding one was not an easy task and was quite stressful: my roommate is very budget-conscious, while my philosophy is 'if you spend money, you solve problems.'
After a stressful few weeks of looking I found a great-looking place on Padmapper, and that same day it was ours. We moved in on July 1st, and now I'm struggling to furnish the place. I have a complete vision of what I want - I'm just trying not to blow massive amounts of money on furniture. I'm now happily situated between Yonge-Eglinton and Leaside.
Since the move I've added about an hour of sleep to my night, and my commute has gone from 2 hours per trip from my temporary residence in Milton to a mere 45 minutes. I don't even mind it - I'm plowing through A Song of Ice and Fire by reading on the train. I'm also working out nearly every weekday, except those few where I have to go shopping for the house. I haven't dropped any weight yet but I sure as hell look and feel leaner and stronger. When I was at school I just felt scrawny - but how could I work out when there was so much studying to do?
The other advantage to living in the city beside the good commute is the fact that EVERYTHING is here. All my successful friends, all the stores, all the jobs all the money: it's all here. I also love buildings, and architecture, and trains, and girls, and everywhere I look I see one thing or another that is pleasing to the eye. Once I've settled down a bit more I'm going to dive headlong into it all. Dating, going out, dancing, meeting people. It just excites me and makes me thankful that I actually earned the ability to do any of it; back in Waterloo I always felt guilty because there was work to do.
I'm by no means done; this is just a start. But I think I've come very far, and so can anyone else if they've worked for something worthwhile. The world is my oyster.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/92bWL.jpg) This is what I see now when I go out for breakfast ( at Fran's). Life is great.
May happiness reign supreme.
See you next week!
Tonight's music is from Britain: three songs to make up for my absence. First two are Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs. The dude is young and has a lot ahead of him. Second is You Love Her Coz She's Dead. I LOVE these guys (also check out Superheroes). Call them a more intense second coming of Crystal Castles, who produced Empathy, one of my favorite songs of all time.
Edit: Image links were bad. Fixing...
Last edit: 2012-07-12 11:48:15
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| | Life is not about making due with what you have; it's about finding out just how much you can achieve. Never settle for anything less than the best. - - - Read my blog! |
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| Forgottenfrog United States. July 12 2012 11:38. Posts 1015 | Profile Blog # |
I hope there were happy post like this on TL. It brighten up my day  Congratulation! |
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| TheGiz Canada. July 12 2012 11:49. Posts 708 | Profile Blog # |
On July 12 2012 11:38 Forgottenfrog wrote:I hope there were happy post like this on TL. It brighten up my day Congratulation!
Thanks! I'm all about good things. |
| | Life is not about making due with what you have; it's about finding out just how much you can achieve. Never settle for anything less than the best. - - - Read my blog! |
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| instantdry Canada. July 12 2012 12:10. Posts 290 | Profile # |
| Good job and congratulations! |
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| 9-BiT United States. July 12 2012 13:12. Posts 409 | Profile Blog # |
| Holy dick popping gloriousness, congrats man. I decided a while ago I want to either go to med school or become an engineer, and man did it turn out great for you. That pic of your office looks amazing, and the fact that you have a hot tub is cool as fuck. Congrats, you did it |
| | [QUOTE][B]On September 24 2012 01:14 AcesAnoka wrote:[/B] based fucking smuGG[/QUOTE] |
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| WaveofShadow Canada. July 12 2012 16:57. Posts 5269 | Profile Blog # |
Dude I love Fran's.
Are you a Toronto native or did you come to Waterloo from elsewhere? |
| | twitch.tv/waveofshadow ||| Winner of AHGL's So You Think You Can Cast!! GG Soniv! |
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| Aerisky United States. July 12 2012 19:57. Posts 9247 | Profile Blog # |
Wowowowow! Congratulations!
Your office looks absolutely fantastic. Hope I'm able to land a job at a company with an office like yours. ^^ |
| | "It has always been in my observation of human nature, that a man who has any good reason to believe in himself never flourishes himself before the faces of other people in order that they may believe in him." |
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| TheGiz Canada. July 12 2012 22:25. Posts 708 | Profile Blog # |
On July 12 2012 16:57 WaveofShadow wrote:
Dude I love Fran's.
Are you a Toronto native or did you come to Waterloo from elsewhere?
Fran's is great. I also like Caplansky's from time to time but it's pretty far.
I grew up in Niagara Falls, which is a nice upbringing but it's become a total dead end. Through school I had this notion of working in my hometown but that slowly eroded and I realized I'd rather be in Toronto. I'm super-confortable in the city and feel right at home here now. |
| | Life is not about making due with what you have; it's about finding out just how much you can achieve. Never settle for anything less than the best. - - - Read my blog! |
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| Rimstalker Germany. July 12 2012 22:29. Posts 428 | Profile # |
| I can't follow the part about love for the big city (100k seems to be ideal for me), but man, does that office look posh! |
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