wall-e is the shit

i went to see wall-e two days ago. honestly, it was the best animated movie i have ever seen. there's almost no dialogue in the movie, but you barely notice it. you will be entertained till the very end. and, oh, yeah, wall-e is soooo cute!

A few months back, Jen Frickell's company was given some bad news. When their lease ended, they'd have to move out of their second-floor suite. The good news, however, was that a suite would be available on the first floor. All they'd need to do was pack up and move downstairs.

It was a fairly reasonable request, so the company's executives signed a new lease and prepared to move. There was, however, just one, small hitch. The nice little server room they built in the back of their office - equipped with air conditioning units, ventilation, dedicated power, backup power, and so on - could not be relocated. Not only would it cost too much, but there was simply no room for it. The server room would just have to remain upstairs.

Obviously, the new second-floor tenant wouldn't want their neighbors walking through their office to access a server room, so building management and the company's executives came up with an alternative: wall off the server room door and build a new one. It seemed simple enough, but there was, however, just one small hitch. The only available wall to install a door was adjacent to the women's restroom. Inside the handicapped stall.

And since you're reading about it here, you know that didn't stop them. Here is the email from building management:

From: ---- --------
Sent: Monday, May 5, 2008 4:37 PM
To: Everyone
Subject: Server Room Access

Hi all.

As you all are aware, we have new tenants that have moved into
the 2nd floor suites. The access to the server room is now via
the women’s bathroom.

There will be a sign on the woman’s door that can be changed
from OPEN to CLOSED and vice versa.

Should you need to enter the server room, please change the sign
to CLOSED. Once you are done, please change it back to OPEN.

Once you enter the bathroom, you will be able to access the
server room via the handicapped stall. Please close the stall
door prior to entry, just in case someone doesn’t see that the
bathroom is closed.

I know this isn’t ideal, but if we adhere to this protocol, I
don’t think anyone will be disrupted.

Thanks! Let me know if you have any questions.

---- --------
Building Management

Another one goes

best work-game ever

http://majman.net/fly_loader.html

try it out, seriously.

for my romanians

Din ciclul "Am fost un dobitoc, mai sunt oare si acum ?"

"Exista aici, in aceasta sala, tineri care au murit in revolutia din decembrie 1989"
-- Viorel Catarama

"Lumea are voie sa aiba doua conturi; unul in lei, unul in valuta si inca unul pentru economii. Mai mult nu"
-- Florin Georgescu (fost ministru al finantelor)

"S-au verificat toate actele pe fostii trei ani pe care am fost primar"
-- Marian Vanghelie

"A garanta proprietatea inseamna a limita dreptul omului asupra proprietatii lui"
-- Ion Iliescu

"Bancile sunt conduse de bancheri in toata lumea in afara de Cismigiu si Herastrau"
-- Bogdan Balthazar (director de banca)

"Becali e un brand. Eu la Avicola Iasi pot sa fac pui Gigi Becali, daca vreau"
-- Gigi Becali

"Doar prin hazardul inconstient social nu se putea ajunge in sfere atat de aureolate si in plan financiar"
-- Cornel Dinu (antrenor de fotbal)

"Dumnezeu e cel mai tare serviciu de informatii din lume - stie tot, chiar si-un fir de par"
-- Gigi Becali

"Familia e sfanta, pe cand patria....cum sa va spun patria e sacra'
-- Dumitru Dragomir

"Destinul meu a fost marcat de soarta"
-- Dan Iosif (copil al strazii apoi revolutionar, apoi consilierul lui Iliescu, in prezent parlamentar si om bogat -decedat)

"Omul este o persoana umana"
-- Gheorghe Hagi

"Este vointa lui Dumnezeu ca eu sa pasc acest popor"
-- Gigi Becali

"Domnul Ion Cristoiu a spus despre mine ca sunt corupt pe vremea cand nu eram, in 1993"
-- Viorel Hrebenciuc (parlamentar P.S.D .)

"Eu in tinerete eram amfitrion pe oriunde ma duceam"
-- Gigi Becali

"Eu sunt pe toate listele de corupti si arestati, dar nu am nicio greata"
-- Viorel Hrebenciuc

"Pe la voi prin Chisinau trece Volga, nu? Cum? Nu mai trece?"
-- Loredana Groza

"Sigur ca am auzit de El Nino. E numele unui cantaret de muzica latina, nu?"
-- Loredana Groza

"La noi, sefii de partide sunt ca vacile in India"
-- Antonie Iorgovan

"Domnul Iorgovan e un fel de electron sarit de pe orbita"
-- Adrian Nastase

"Omar Hayssam apartine tarii, este un bun al intregului popor"
-- Adrian Nastase

"Am invatat putin limba braziliana!"
-- Loredana Groza

"M-am certat cu Mitica Dragomir, dar fara jigniri. El m-a facut oligofren, eu l-am facut zdreanta, dar nu ne-am insultat. In schimb Marian Iancu e obraznic si umbla cu tot felul de jargoane care nu e bine sa le dai la presa"
-- Gigi Becali

"Fiecare are gusturile lui in muzica.. N-are cum sa asculte toata lumea numai Schopenhauer"
-- Costi Ionita

P.S.
Be afraid…. Be very afraid! Mama tampitilor e MEREU gravida !!!

new funny stuff at work

some more funny things about my floor:

1) there is a guy who looks like dwight from "the office". he has the glasses (ok, a more modern take on them), the serious face, and the gray wardrobe. his office is completely not decorated (I think he might be new). i am trying to take a picture of him, because, when i tell people about him, they don't believe me.

2) my manager got me this nice beach towel that says "microsoft Live Search". sure, geeky enough, but hey, i like it. and none of the interns has that towel. so i feel special. and my manager scored a lot of "coolness points" with me for that towel.

ok, this is not work-related:
3) today i was at the pro-club, playing some tennis with john - he is my newest practice partner (he is really good). when i came off the court, this lady stopped me and said "oh, my god, you are so good. i couldn't keep my eyes off you! you are really good". yeah, i am not exaggerating. extra bit of information: there are not too many good tennis people at the pro-club (not too many college or ex-college players). so that justifies the lady's reaction.

diversity at the work place

- there's a guy on my floor who is always wearing skirts. honestly, he actually looks really good in them. so, here's a suggestions to my male friends: guys, you should try wearing skirts; they can make you look really good (and no, they don't make you girly).

- there's another guy who is obviously a huge metal fan. i was turning the corner trying to get to my workspace one day, and i somehow bumped into him. he was wearing a skull t-shirt, dressed all in black, loose long hair (the guy is really tall too). needless to say, i had a pretty weird reaction ("Oh, WOOW!" -yeah, i said that). the guy smiled at me (sorta ironically as in "you woos") and kept on walking. i later found out the guy is really nice, and i felt bad for having that reaction when i saw him.

- there's another guy that looks like dwight from "the office". i don't know who he is, but i am really entertained whenever i see him. who knows, maybe one day he will say something like "Hey, question:..." :D:D:D:D

...ok, my workplace is interesting :P

good weather

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!! some good weather in seattle. i went outside for lunch today, and i finally saw the sun! i hope the weather stays like this from now on. too much rain for me in the past two weeks, and i wasn't even ready for it. i only brought my summer clothes from maryland, so i was definitely unprepared for the 50-degree weather out here.

in other news...parts of my project are starting to materialize. as i probably said in a previous post, i am dealing with data quality for the Commerce Search team at microsoft. well, today i finally feel less retarded, and i think i have a better grasp of where i am going. (geez, i hope i dont jinx it, i hope this feeling stays that way).

also in other news...i am really looking forward to this weekend. on friday evening i am taking an underground tour of seattle (basically seattle was burnt to the ground a long time ago; instead of cleaning the ashes, people decided to just build on top of the former city; so, basically, u have entire streets of the old city right under the new city). on saturday i might be going to Mt. Saint Helen; it is supposed to be a pretty nice place. o sunday, i am probably taking a ferry ride to one of the nearby islands (i dont know it's name), and then hanging out downtown.

i've been working a lot this week, so i think i deserve a fun, relaxing weekend. i will make sure to post some pictures.

microsoft people

as i said in a previous post, the people at microsoft are pretty interesting.
this is another intern's website; software developer in test by day, artist by night :-). here's the link: forbiddenrain.net . check it out.

too funny

back to blogging

i have not posted anything in a looong time. it's not that i was too busy (well, i was sorta busy). it's just that i've been enjoying all the new experiences by myself, and i was not in the share mood. well, now i am back in the share mood, so i can tell you people what's been going on with me.

first of all, i started my internship with Microsoft in seattle.i am currently working with the Commerce Search team on some data quality stuff (i wont go into details). i REALLY REALLY like this place so far. i know there are all sorts of rumors about microsoft going on; well, they are all false.
- "microsoft is full of geeks": FALSE. there are a lot of smart folks around here. and they are really not the geeky, unadapted type you see in the PC-Mac commercials.
- "microsoft is too competitive": FALSE. there is just a lot of good energy around here. people work hard on their stuff. it is nice coming to work and seeing that people are so involved with what they are doing. i'd much rather have this kind of high energy, than get bored all day long and wait for my 8 hours to finish.
- "at microsoft work takes over your life". HAHA, FALSE, unless you really want to make it that way. as an intern, i can say i am doing a lot of fun stuff. there are a lot of activities planned for us and no, they do not involve "code-offs".

coming to microsoft also meant moving to seattle for the summer...and here comes the only thing i don't like so far: it rains a lot in seattle. i think summer is supposed to be really nice in seattle but, so far, it has been chilly and rainy. however, i like that the city has a LOT of coffee shops (no, i don't mean starbucks, i mean the independent, small ones). the city is also really clean (compared to DC, Baltimore, NY) and there are a LOT of flowers everywhere. the place i like the best is called "Pike Place Market". it has a lot of small shops where you can find anything. this past weekend, there was a festival at Pike Place, and it was full of hippies and raggae-loving folks; it was a very "flower-power" atmosphere.

i hope i can purchase a digital camera soon, so i can post pictures of seattle and of the microsoft campus. by the way, the campus is pretty amazing. the buildings look really nice, on the inside and out. i have not seen any cubicles in any of the microsoft buildings (i hate cubicles). actually, here is my favorite thing about my building: it has a lot of games: mini-golf, mini-basketball, pool, ping-pong, darts. it means a lot to be able to de-stress during your work-day (and no one minds you taking 10 minutes off to clear your mind, while shooting some hoops). the people in my building also have this ping-pong tournament going on. my manager said that, whoever wins the tournament gets to play bill gates (pretty cool, huh?)

speaking of managers, mine is pretty cool. he is really open, and does not mind all my questions. he has given me a lot of useful information so far. i was really confused the first couple of days (i felt like a retard, not knowing what was going on), but he handled my obvious inexperience really well.
actually, everyone on my team is really cool. you don't have to set up special appointments to talk to any of them; you can drop by their office, ask a question, and they are happy to answer. it is a pretty relaxed work environment, but everyone still does their job really well.

ok...so...in the end, i am enjoying my summer so far. i hope it only keeps getting better. i will keep posting cool stuff; i will make it a lot more often from now on, because there are a lot of things going on (and yeah, as i said, my share mood is back).

- btw, that's me in the picture (looking really geeky, i know) and the msft logo. i had to take it and send it to my parents -