searching for a luxury seat post

in the pics: the package I had sent from Samoa finally arrived (thanks max and Teuila). you'll notice there is a mat on top of the box. it is very wet where i live now; The contents of the package: many souvenirs; one of the chores in this neck of the woods: chopping wood. although I don't use a machete.

1/18
So my life right now…spend time looking for a job, ride my bike, meet with my friends (I wouldn’t say mentors, but they’re older than me and have an interest in what I’m doing—it’s cool to have those kind of people around…oh, so I can pick their brains about jobs and spiritual suff. And they can hear funny/crazy stories about peace corps).

About the bike. Hmmmmm…it was A LOT harder than I thought it would be to replace a 30mm seat post. My bike spent 5 days at the bike shop while said post was being ordered. It came. It was the wrong size. It went back. Another one comes. It is the correct size. Yes yes yes. I went on a nice ride this morning—the trails out by Fort Clatsop—rode out there, and then ran on the trails a bit. Only thing missing is the swimming, but in this weather? No no no is all I can say.

About the job searching. Here’s what I got (or am going to do):
-make my resume nice and spiffy
-update facebook and linkedin web sites
-look through Portland, seattle, and boston jobs section (post a resume)
-put my resume on the BIG name job sites (monster.com, careerbuilder.com)
-go through the Peace Corps Hotline (job resources) as they come, talk to people in the know
-sign up at the employment office in Oregon…I’d really like to work in Oregon, but I will go wherever there is an interesting job…I have no strings right now.
-create a statement about my work and what I want from it. You can find it here.
-email all my friends and ask if they have any ideas/leads

I have already applied to a tech support position, the ymca, Gates Foundation, and will probably apply for a teaching fellowship(?) in NYC. That would be quite challenging—teaching wise and financially. But isn’t that what I want? Oh well, maybe not the so challenging financially part.



1/14
fun example work duty of the day:
"Receive and direct people or telephone calls that may be irate and verbally abusive"
customer service...hmm...can I just tell them to do some yoga?

“We who live in the luxury of the United States”…says the pastor at church. Yes, after being in Samoa, I see luxury in a different way…as do all people who have lived overseas in a “developing” country.

Does luxury bring sea shells to us in a bag? I saw shells in a plastic bag for sale at Fred Meyers recently. I almost started tearing all of them open, yelling “they must be freed!” luckily I didn’t.

“I don’t want leftovers.” Says my mom. Ding. Goes flag in my mind. Samoans don’t make food for leftovers either. The only leftovers at my family’s house was the LARGE plastic tub with some taro and coconut cream in it, which was still good the next day. In America, my fridge is filled with random containers and bottles of every shape and size. In samoa, our ice chest (most families did not have this) was filled with fish, cow quarters, maybe pieces of a pig. Oh, and some bottles of water. I always asked for ice water when I ate at the house.

Animal control…youth corrections…so much correcting and control…is it really going to make things better?

Happy new "Mexican eating experience" year

in the pics: mmmmmm..cutting the chicken, this ain't no moa samoa either; I've been doing some presentations about samoa; it's nice to have some steamy cocoa samoa to drink while listening to those presentations.

1/5/2010
Is this the first writings post peace corps? Welcome back and happy new year.
It will be happier when I find a job, and the sun peeks around the clouds.

I sit and watch the last of the fire in the sky disappear behind the tree line. I now sit behind double thick thermopane windows because it’s cold outside. Gone are the days of sitting on rock wall listening to the water lap against the shore.


“if you think you have a cold/flu/sickness…stay inside…”
I heard this on the radio recently and it sent chills down my spine. This reminds me of a song about disobedient behavior and rebellion … “anyone caught outside will be shot” oh I hope it doesn’t come to this.

More trees, have come down (storm and cutting)—probably to build more coast guard housing. Which also mean my running/biking trails now have logs across them. And I’ve seen 5 or 6 deer wandering around.

Well, my first Mexican eating experience was a frozen burrito (beef and bean, I might add). With hot sauce—because it wasn’t really spicy. All of which was gone in three minutes along with a quart of chocolate mils. It was OK.

What’s on my to-do list today: meet friend to “catch up”; get my mountain bike (I didn’t know it would be this hard to find a seat post for my giant cfm3); get OR drivers license (well, I have to read the book and take the test first); find a place to have a sun magazine discussion group; walk with a friend (maybe tomorrow); renew my passport; motorcycle training (oh boy…I’ve been waiting for that..wait..I don’t own a motorcycle); write note to blog (see below); take out rap cds with bad words on them (the rest go to the library); “she has that empathy gene” (from an article about talk show hosts).

My mom, a friend and I were eating dinner at a chinese restaurant. Eating noodles is supposed to make you look nicer?: I don’t know how that conversation came about.

eat noodles, look nicer

in the pics: ahhh a palagi (white person) dinner--pork chops and salad; what to wear wwhen it's cold, grey, and raining most of the time; what came back with me from Samoa (sandles, lavalavas, shorts, tshirts, pillow case); and a compass which i hope reminds me what is important to me when i think about me and work and other things.

Is this the first writings post peace corps? Welcome back and happy new year.
It will be happier when I find a job, and the sun peeks around the clouds.

Animal control…youth corrections…so much correcting and control…is it really going to make things better?

12/5
I sit and watch the last of the fire in the sky disappear behind the tree line. I now sit behind double thick thermopane windows because it’s cold outside. Gone are the days of sitting on rock wall listening to the water lap against the shore.


“if you think you have a cold/flu/sickness…stay inside…”
I heard this on the radio recently and it sent chills down my spine. This reminds me of a song about disobedient behavior and rebellion … “anyone caught outside will be shot” oh I hope it doesn’t come to this.

More trees, have come down (storm and cutting)—probably to build more coast guard housing. Which also mean my running/biking trails now have logs across them. And I’ve seen 5 or 6 deer wandering around.

Well, my first Mexican eating experience was a frozen burrito (beef and bean, I might add). With hot sauce—because it wasn’t really spicy. All of which was gone in three minutes along with a quart of chocolate mils. It was OK.

What’s on my to-do list today: meet friend to “catch up”; get my mountain bike (I didn’t know it would be this hard to find a seat post for my giant cfm3); get OR drivers license (well, I have to read the book and take the test first); find a place to have a sun magazine discussion group; walk with a friend (maybe tomorrow); renew my passport; motorcycle training (oh boy…I’ve been waiting for that..wait..I don’t own a motorcycle); write note to blog (see below); take out rap cds with bad words on them (the rest go to the library); “she has that empathy gene” (from an article about talk show hosts).

My mom, a friend and I were eating dinner at a chinese restaurant. Eating noodles is supposed to make you look nicer?: I don’t know how that conversation came about.