Rambling: I have a good excuse!

Hello readers! In case you’re wondering why I haven’t written, I do have a good excuse. I moved. Yep, I sure did. I moved into my own apartment and only got internet yesterday. It’s DSL and I am very enamoured with it. It’s fast and I can talk on the phone at the same time and download stuff quicker than you can say “holy mackarel, that was fast!” - simply put, I’m pleased with it!

So just in case you were eagerly waiting for a blog entry (just pretend, okay?), I’ll be back to Video Saturday and Music Monday now! Yay! *cheering*

Rambling: Job Interviews

One week ago I was in Galway, Ireland, for a job interview at a very successful European company. I decided after the interview that I didn’t want to work for them, and they called yesterday to tell me they didn’t want me to work for them anyway.

I dressed up for the interview, which made me uncomfortable, but they told me they were glad that I did, otherwise they’d have thought I wasn’t serious about the job. Then they asked me a lot of silly questions like:

* Why Galway?
* How will you deal with all the rain?
* Why translating?
* Why do you want to work here?
* Why should we hire you?
* Where do you see yourself in three years?
* Have you ever had to work in a team? What did you have to accomplish, what was your contribution, and what was the outcome?
* What has been the greatest achievement in your life so far?

That team work question really bothered me, since you know what they want to hear but it’s just so trite. They want to hear that you had a difficult project to work on and what your amazing contribution was that saved the day and the project. But I think that working in a team means that you don’t have one person who saves the day. Anyway, I found it hard to pick an example because the question is so silly, and later on the phone they told me that while I did very well on their written test, I had a hard time finding examples and they were more interested in someone with stronger communication skills. (I was relieved, though, because I figure it’s easier to be turned down than to have to tell them ‘It’s great that you want me, but I figured I’d rather stay put.’)

Be that as it may, I dare you to think about this question:
What has been the greatest achievement in your life so far?

Here’s what I read yesterday:
“These questions seem to be about honesty. Really, they’re about diplomacy. What you’re most proud of might be your comic-book collection. That’s not necessarily what the interviewer wants to hear, and you probably know that. There are safer answers, such as “the feeling of accomplishment I get from doing something - it could be anything - really well.” The trouble with the traditional interview is that both sides are wise to the game. The interviewers nod, not believing a word of it.”
(”How would you move Mount Fuji?” by William Poundstone, page 17)

Books I’ve Read

I would like to point out to you that I now have this ingenious site with all the books I’ve read. Actually, that’s not quite true. I’ve read a lot more books in my life, but the pictures on this site are of all the books that I had a) already read and b) with me at home when I made this site. So it doesn’t include any library books or any books that I borrowed (well, except for two that I used a screenshot for) or any of the books that I gave away afterwards.

From now on I want to add a picture of every book I’m reading (and preferrably mark when I read finished reading them), and if I give them away afterwards or only borrowed them to begin with, I will mark them with a yellow border. Let’s see how long I will stay enthusiastic about this project. ;)

So the link of the site is above, right below the red banner, or if you’re too lazy to scroll up, just click on this link to the list of books I’ve read. Comments?

Drink more water

Today I found an interesting post called 9 Great Reasons to Drink Water, and How to Form the Water Habit. I think this counts as one of the very little things we can change in order to do something good for ourselves. It can improve our quality of life and all it takes is for you to go to the tap about once an hour. I strongly recommend you do NOT buy bottled water, as plastic bottles cause a huge amount of waste. There are options such as BIOTA water sold in bottles made from corn which, if recycled, degrades within about 80 days, with the exception of the cap of the bottle. However, it is much better to simply get a water filter because that way you get your water from the tap and you do not produce any waste. I can’t stress this enough. The aforementioned MSNBC article states that in 1997, 3.3 billion water bottles had been sold, while in 2002 that number had already reached 15 billion. If you feel you must buy water in plastic bottles: RECYCLE!

The ‘9 Great Reasons To DrinK Water’ article, in case you’re too lazy to read it yourself, states that drinking a lot of water will help you lose weight, lowers your risk of a heart attack, gives you energy, can cure headaches (if they are caused by dehydration), is good for your skin, etc.

A word of warning is in order, however: don’t overdo it. If you drink about two gallons (7.5 liters) of liquid in two short a time, you could die from water poisoning. (See also: Hold your Wee for a Wii or the sad story about Cynthia Lucero’s Death.)

I believe however, that under normal circumstances you’re not tempted to drink 2 gallons of liquid in a whole day, so get on with it and start your water drinking habit!

No Such Thing as the Real World

Do you know this song by John Mayor, “No Such Thing”, which goes like this:

I wanna run through the
halls of my high school
I wanna scream at the
Top of my lungs
I just found out there’s no such
thing as the real world
Just a lie you’ve got to rise above

Well, turns out he was wrong. Because I know how to get to the real world. You get out at Eschenheimer Tor and take a left. Proof? Here you go:

(Click for a larger picture.)

Happy 2008

I’d like to express my feelings with a little stop motion video. Enjoy (and comment)! :)

Have you read a book yet?

As I already mentioned in my German blog (http://devanna.wordpress.com), a study by TMS Emnid revealed that 22 percent of us Germans haven’t read a book yet in 2007. While I feel the study is somewhat limited because they only asked 502 people (14 years and up), it still surprises me. I was proud when I realized that I have already read at least seven books this year. And of course, I have this list of books I still want to read, so I’m not going to stop reading anytime soon.

Someone commented on the German entry (I really like comments *hint, hint*) and said that he’s not surprised since books are expensive and besides, the Internet takes a lot of people’s time and only requires little concentration. While I disagree with the books are expensive-reasoning - you can get many good books for only a few bucks, you can get books free from the library, and you can always ask a friend to let you borrow something, after all - I do agree with the explanation that the Internet takes away your time. I shamefully have to admit that once I got home from work today, I switched on my computer and spent all evening online. I watched a videoblog during dinner, then I answered emails, then I wrote a blog entry, then I answered another email, looked for friends on Skype, read through a friend’s DVD list, googled “‘fan makes weird noise’ Dell” (which didn’t help me find a remedy)… Well, you get the picture. I figured I do a lot of my reading on public transportation.

Therefore I suggest someone do a study to show the connection between how many books you read and how much time you spent on public transportation. I’m guesstimating that I read 20 pages a day on my way to and from work. Maybe even 30. If the book manages to captivate me, I’ll read more when I’m home, but mostly I’m just hungry and tired and leave it for the next day. 20 pages a day makes 100 pages a week makes about two books a month (at least if we take into account that I tend to read some on the weekends, too). There I am, proud of the seven books I’ve read, when really I should be at book 21 meanwhile. But considering that the public transportation situation only started this October, I think I’m still doing pretty well. :)

If I had a company…

The following is a list of things I would do if I were the head of a company:

1. Introduce myself to every new employee and try to memorize their name.
2. Give all my employees directions what to do and tell them who they can turn to when they need help.
3. Let my employees know that I care about their opinion and that my door is open if they need something.
4. Give my employees a nice sweater or T-shirt or SOMETHING so they will identify with the company (more).
5. Have a party for everyone once in a while. (Like a Christmas party.)
6. Make sure they always have free tea and coffee.
7. Talk to my employees to find out what I can do to make work more pleasant for them.
8. Offer everyone a 4-day work week.
9. Have core hours from 11am to 3pm, if possible.
10. If an employee does a great job, I’d tell them so.
11. If an employee doesn’t do their job, I’d tell them that I disapprove.
12. Yes, you may write emails or look at YouTube videos, but only if you get your work done.
13. I’ll pay very well, if I can afford it. I’m happy with a decent salary, I don’t need millions.
14. If the company is big enough, I’ll have a cafeteria.
15. If the company is really big, you can choose a vegan dish for lunch.
16. There’d be enough stationery for everyone. You’d even get sharpies and highlighters.
17. You’d have to push bathroom doors from the inside to open them (so you can push them open with your foot when you leave)

What did I forget?

Pick a name

I recently had a Caramel Frappuccino at Starbucks. I’m told I shouldn’t go there, but I should rather support smaller companies. I reckon that makes sense, although they can’t make a Frappuccino. On the other hand, smaller companies probably don’t charge you 6,- EUR for a beverage and a cookie either. But do they play Sarah McLachlan’s Adia on their speakers? I don’t think so!

Anyway, the reason for this entry is that the guy at the counter asked me what name to put on my plastic cup, so I told him my name. I’m not sure why. Did he actually imply that he wanted to write my name on the cup? No.

On the one hand, I value my privacy and I don’t like giving out my personal information. Yet, if I meet someone in person and they show the least interest in who I am and what I’m about, I’m quick to tell them my life story and all the crazy ideas I’ve been thinking about. I’m chatty as long as I have an audience.

Nevertheless, the barista (as they’re called these days, although he wasn’t actually the one making the coffee) didn’t care about my life story. He just wanted to write something on my cup, not unlike a nurse would do for a urine sample. (This might be my worst simile yet.)

Next time when the guy in the green apron asks me “what name should I put down?”, I’ll just pick one. Ani, maybe, or Kaki, or one he’ll be able to spell correctly.