The Lame Duck Session Begins

Countdown to Baseball Season

Sorry this post is a bit late - it's been a busy weekend! I would have done it yesterday evening, but it was my third favorite day of the year, right after Christmas and my BIRTHDAY (still waiting for you to mark your calendars): Super Bowl Sunday.

This was the first time in four years I haven't celebrated this glorious day at the party hosted by Hannah's brother and sister-in-law, which was a very sobering fact. Thankfully, a friend of mine I made at the orientation during the first week of work - we'll call him Reggiano - invited me to his apartment for the game, a long with a couple of his friends from Tampa.

Unfortunately, we were all cheering for Denver. Reggiano has been a fan of them since before Manning and Tebow, so he's a legitimate fan; I just wanted Manning to win another Super Bowl to cap his outstanding season; and the other two were too scared to root for the Seahawks because of Reggiano's dangerous enthusiasm for the Broncos. At the very least, I was hoping for a close game... It was barely even a game. The picture below, I believe, captures the theme of the game quite well. But hey, the commercials were entertaining. Football teams' success is fickle, but you can always count on Bud Light, Doritos, and Go Daddy to make the game worthwhile. I mean, Super Bowl commercials these days have plots that carry over into other commercials! It's insane!

But just like December 26th and January 21st, the Monday after the first Sunday in February is a very hard day to get through. The lethargic disappointment of another ended football season hangs over you all day, reminding you that Sundays are now, for the next seven months, just Sundays.

Baseball is my other favorite sport, but that won't start for almost two months!! So for the next forty-some days, I have no sports to pay ardent attention to. No, not even college basketball and March Madness; I've never much been one for basketball, except when someone in my family has the KU game on (Rock Chalk!) or when UA loses... Which, this season, has been only once! Anyway, I kind of think of this part of the year as a "lame duck session," when no entertaining sport resides in office to govern my attention to athletics. Inauguration Day is March 22nd, when the Dbacks take on the Dodgers in Sydney, Australia. Let the countdown commence!

Third Shift

Once every two to three weeks, Rawlings and I work third shift in the parks; that way we can work on the rides when there's no guests around. So on Wednesday I came home from work at 4 pm, ate an early dinner, took a nap, and went back to work at 7 pm to work until 3:30 am on Thursday! Woo!!

That last sentence probably sounded sarcastic, but it was actually a pretty neat experience. We worked on Big Thunder for a few hours, and then we spent the rest of the night touring the rest of the park's attractions that I hadn't seen yet. I got to see Space Mountain, more of Haunted Mansion, and a couple others! I was afraid I'd be dead tired the whole time, but I made it till around 2 am before I finally started to get sleepy.

But the best part of third shift is that we get the next day off! So when I dragged myself back through the door at 4 am, I plopped into bed and slept till 12:30 in the afternoon. Then I had the rest of the day to relax and be productive.

The only rough part was that that particular night was very cold, and very wet. At least by Arizona standards. The temperature was in the low 40s, and there was a constant drizzle all evening. And Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is not waterproof in the slightest. But it gave me an excuse to wear the ASU beanie I bought for the Pac-12 championship game back in December! Didn't think I'd ever get to wear that thing in Orlando, but I was glad I brought it.

Volunteering

Ever since high school, I haven't really done much volunteer work. It's not that I dislike it, I just chose to prioritize my time differently, given that college puts so much focus on academics and career preparation (and just having fun). Plus there's simply less incentive for those who aren't internally motivated to volunteer; they don't offer shiny seals on your diploma for 150 hours of community service in college! And companies are more focused on industry experience than volunteer experience. Engineering companies, anyway.

That's why I decided to take the opportunity this past Saturday to help out at the FIRST Lego League Regional Tournament just a little outside of Orlando! It's basically an engineering/ Lego robotics competition for 9-14 year olds; it starts at the regional level, then comes state, nationals, and there's even a world competition! Rawlings said big engineering companies like Siemens will actually attend the world competition and pay out teams for their ideas! Serious stuff.

One of the guys at the office helps out with it because his wife hosts the competition each year, and Rawlings works as a judge each year as well, so they invited me to come with them! So I helped with miscellaneous things at the competition from 7 am to 4:30 pm. It was pretty fun, and very refreshing to see such happy kids so excited about nerdy stuff like robotics and engineering!

Afterward I met Francisco and Rug and a few other friends in the Magic Kingdom, though it took me a bit longer than normal to get there. I parked in the Magic Kingdom parking lot, then walked to the monorail station, where I got on the monorail, sat down, and waited to arrive at the park. Right as I was thinking I should be getting close, I look out the window and watch the park drift across my window. Picture an innocent person indicted for a heinous crime being taken away in a police car, throwing himself at the window screaming "Noooooo!!" After my frustration and self-loathing subsided, I decided it was a good thing that I'd get to see the full monorail loop. Familiarizing myself with company property, ya know?

But really, it sucked. Twenty wasted minutes I could have used to go on another ride in the park.

Prolonging the Magic

So about a week and a half ago, Rawlings's boss came to me and asked me if I'd like to extend my internship through the summer. Normally my internship would end on May 10th, but this opportunity would take it till August 9th - an extra three months with the company.

Now, I knew this was coming; Rawlings told me when he originally interviewed me that they typically ask their spring interns to extend through the summer. However, I was mistaken as to how quickly I'd be asked to stay. I was thinking I wouldn't have to decide until maybe late February or early March, but this was just a week and a half into my internship! I was caught off guard, so I asked for a week to decide.

Some of you may be thinking, "Uh, why did you need seven days to decide? That's an extra three months of engineering experience at a company you're already familiar with - being offered to you on a silver platter!" But what I heard was, "Would you like to spend another three months away from friends and family and work here this summer?" What it came down to was whether I was willing to sacrifice three months of time with friends and family to gain invaluable industry experience.

I asked Rawlings what I'd be doing those extra three months, and he told me I'd actually be finishing the projects I start in the spring. In other words, if I didn't stay, I wouldn't get to see my projects through to their completion. That means a lot to me, not just in terms of experience, but for the simple principle of finishing what I start.

So, with that in mind, I made the decision to extend my internship through the summer. It will be extremely difficult to spend another three months away from those I love, but let's be honest - I'm spending it in Disney World, "the happiest place on earth." I'm having a great time here!

And no, none of these pictures are my own. I had a severe lack of relevant pictures this week, so I had to rely on the internet for the visual augmentation of this blog post.