my life as a nomad

thank goodness for afternoon naps.

posted by Patrick @ 10:54 PM 1 comments

i feel confused

new job = good

new schedule = not so good


i'm still trying to figure out when to sleep and eat and all that jazz. it's nice to be a full-time (and then some) working stiff again, but juggling two shifts at both ends of the day is a little weird. i took a nap this afternoon, and when i woke up i seriously had no idea what time, day, or even month it was. it was pretty surreal


and now it's bedtime. bye

posted by Patrick @ 9:49 PM 0 comments

love it or hate it

i love my car. i love that it has a roofrack, is a really pretty shade of blue, and has all-wheel drive. i love the dashboard layout. i love the way it handles/drives. i love the fact that it has options that i would never think about looking for but are fun to have (like leather seats, power moonroof, heated seats, and a nice sound system). i love the fact that it so blatantly fell into my lap that it left no doubt that it was meant to be (really low price, pieces fell into place, and the rest is history). i love the fact that i won't have to walk to work on monday


i hate it that adam vinatieri left the patriots. i don't hold it against him, or even against the patriots, but he was my favorite player on my favorite team who made three of the biggest clutch kicks in the history of the NFL. plus he's a really awesome guy who was respected by his teammates and the community. i hate it that because of salary caps and free agancy and all that jazz he couldn't play out his career as a patriot, in true storybook fashion. i hate it that he's playing for the colts. the colts! that's like leaving UPS to go work for fed-ex or something like that. although consider the following scenario:

• you make $50,000 a year at work
• you are offered $100,000 a year at a new job in a new state

i guarantee you that nine out of ten people would take the new job. so we can't begrudge atheletes for taking more money to play elsewhere, because it makes sense for them. but it doesn't mean that i can't wish that adam vinatieri was still a patriot. as for johnny damon... i'm glad he's gone. good riddance. he didn't have to play the part of an idiot while he was with boston; we're realizing now that he truly is an idiot.


i love it when missionaries come to church. we have one that we support visiting for the weekend, and it's so awesome to hear about he and his family's ministry in thailand. they're running a fish hatchery, which allows them to help the community become more self-sustaining and financially solvent, while also creating tons of opportunities for ministry and evangelism. cool stuff. i love tasting foreign food; we had a meal of pad thai that randy cooked for us, which was wicked good. i love hearing how God is working around the world, in different countries, in different people


i hate the fact that gonzaga lost. not only that, but losing the way they did... well, it wounded my soul. they dominated that game, and lead for approximately 39 minutes and 45 seconds. maybe more. and they lost... and it still hurts to think about. *sigh*


-noonan-

posted by Patrick @ 8:37 PM 3 comments

finally...

posted by Patrick @ 10:25 PM 2 comments

hand me my lightsaber

i've gotten to do some loading at UPS the past couple nights (as opposed to unloading, which is pure brainless brute work. needless to say, i love it). loaders get to use this really sweet scanner so the packages can be tracked as they're loaded into the trailers. it fits onto two fingers, and it shoots this laser beam out to read the bar codes. it looks like some sort of star-wars genre of weapon. in other words, it's pretty sweet


and that's pretty much the only news i have. still looking for a car. still lovin' all the college hoops action. the end



(i may buy a surfboard... soon? we'll see)



-noonan-

posted by Patrick @ 10:07 PM 2 comments

this is the lamest title for a post. ever.

had a wicked awesome st. patrick's day dinner with some friends and family today. good times all around. we still have a huge hunk of corned beef leftover too, so that's some prime eating left for the days ahead. i think i just realized that i get way too excited about anything that has to do with food. how sad

i read a couple of scripture passages during the service at church, and afterwards a good friend of mine (who's probably 6 or 7 years old) came up to me in the parking lot and said, in a grown-up and serious voice, "that was a really good speech you gave during church. i liked it alot." i of course said thanks, and then explained to him that i didn't write it, but God did. this only served to deepen his respect for me, however, as i think he took away the impression that God was my personal speech-writer. which i guess he is, sort of. but it was pretty hilarious, and really sweet, too. i mean, he's this little kid, and he's paying me a personal and heartfelt compliment. ahhh... too great. it's people like him that make church so special


i'm not in the market for a new car, by any means... but if i was, i think i'd probably buy a new saab. not only because i like their cars, but also because they have an amazing european delivery program. so not only do you get a discount on a quality automobile, but they pay you to take a vacation in europe to go pick it up. now that's awesome. now i just need to figure out a way to make enough money to be able to afford a new car so i can also vacation and drive around in europe....

i watched tons of college hoops this weekend. it was crazy... so many great games, so many upsets. i'm currently leading two separate brackets with two different entries, so that's pretty huge. usually at this point my picks are hopelessly shot to death, so i'm pretty excited to still be in the running (so far). this weekend is probably the best time to be a sports fan in the entire year. gotta love it


i'm like a minor celebrity in my family and community since i landed the job with DeLorme. it's great. they're right up there with l.l. bean in the "awesome and prestigious Maine companies to work for" category, plus they do maps. i love maps. pretty much the entire extended noonan family loves maps. mainers love maps. only one week till i start, and i already can't wait. (and i probably won't be giving any official guided tours right away, sherry. but i can pretend i know what i'm talking about and give an "unofficial" tour to anyone, anytime, anywhere. especially for the right price)


bedtime.


-noonan-

posted by Patrick @ 10:15 PM 5 comments

some post-mortem pictures:

still looking for some new wheels

still watching lots of college hoops


(it's been a good weekend)


-noonan-

posted by Patrick @ 8:38 PM 0 comments

weekends are wicked

one nice byproduct of being a working man is that the weekend is actually an anticipated, celebrated event once again. i like that. i plan on cleaning my room, watching tons of college basketball, and doing some shopping tomorrow. should be a good and productive day

oh, happy st. patrick's day. i'm mostly (or partly, or who knows how much) irish, so my folks always have a big st. patty's day dinner of corned beef and cabbage and irish soda bread and all that jazz. no beer, though, so i guess we're not all that irish after all. we're actually having our get-together on sunday this year because of schedule conflicts and stuff, so if you're in the area and want to celebrate, c'mon over. mom has pretty much an entire cow's worth of corned beef waiting to go, so i'm pretty pumped about that

i got paid off by the insurance company today for the car, so that was good news. it was a bit of a hassle getting everything squared away with the title, but everything fell into place in the end. i also got the check for my "personal injury settlement" from the accident... yes, they offered both andrew and i money because we reported "slight stiffness and soreness" the day after the accident. crazy. i actually got them to bump up their initial offer, too, so it feels like free money. i plan on blowing it on some crazy purchase like a ______. i'm still trying to figure out what to fill in the blank

in the midst of all my errand-running today, i also got over to the credit union and got pre-approved for an auto loan. fortunately i have pretty superb credit, so they were able to offer a really great interest rate which made me quite happy to hear. now all i need to do is find a car in my price range, and buy it. hopefully soon. it sounds simple but it's not. the rental car is due back on monday, and while i'll be able to bum rides to work from my mom for most of next week, i need a car by the end of the week for sure because...


i have ANOTHER job


and it's a sweet one. i'll be working as a 'map technician' (such a cool job title) for DeLorme. i am exceptionally pumped about it. i LOVE maps, and i'll get to work with/look at/buy them at a discount on a regular basis. so starting on the 27th, my schedule will take a quantum leap from "fairly relaxed" to "crazy-busy." DeLorme is about 30 hrs. a week, mornings, and UPS is 16-20 hrs. a week, evenings. so we'll see how that all works out. it's even more amazing that i got the job because i gave this guy as a reference. great story. and the best part of it all is that i get to work in the same building as Eartha, the world's largest rotating globe. now that's cool


so in short, today was great. God is good. and i'm probably the only person in the world celebrating st. patrick's day by drinking moxie, but hey... you'd be hard pressed to find something with more of a kick to it


-noonan-

posted by Patrick @ 9:42 PM 6 comments

i miss the saab

well, i should be getting the money for my car tomorrow. unfortunately the appraisal didn't come in nearly as high as i had hoped, so it's going to be a little tough finding a car for the amount they're paying me. so i'm trying to figure out my options... because i need something soon, preferably by monday (that's when i have to turn in the rental car). so the next few days should be a bit of an adventure. good thing i like adventures

opinion poll: if finances weren't an issue, what sort of vehicle should i get? granted, money is a bit of an issue (as in, i don't have much of it), but that's beside the point. recommendations? suggestions? i'm open for advice

work is going well. today marks two weeks with UPS, and the job is starting to become second nature. i'm really liking it so far. i had an interview with another company yesterday for another part-time job (mornings), so hopefully that will work out. still waiting to hear back from them, but i'm fairly optimistic. i have a pretty good track record of landing jobs that i interviewed for (i'm something like six for eight in my career so far), but as they say, you never know. plus i made the mistake(?) of using a questionable source for a reference. we'll see whether that helps or hurts my chances

still trying to get pics of the car up here... i can't seem to find the bluetooth adaptor to get them off my phone and onto the computer. i plan on cleaning my room tomorrow, so it'll probably turn up then, and so should the pictures. it's helped me to say goodbye to the saab, to be able to see it occasionally in it's final state. it's brought some closure to our short but sweet relationship


march madness is in full swing. and i'm lovin' it.


(go 'zags!)



-noonan-

posted by Patrick @ 9:58 PM 2 comments

newsflash:

the mighty saab is dead


i got into an accident on wednesday, and the car got smashed up pretty bad. fortunately nobody was hurt, but now my trusty companion is with me no longer. so i'm tooling around in a rental car (for free!) until the insurance company reimburses me for the value of the car


pictures coming soon.



between hanging out with andrew, holding down a job, and dealing with the car situation, this past week has been pretty crazy busy (hence the lack of posts). but it's also been some good times, too... believe it or not i'm actually pretty pumped about the car situation. not that i'm glad it happened, but if it had to it couldn't have come at a better time. God's good like that


now i just need to find a new vehicle... suggestions?


-noonan-

posted by Patrick @ 8:06 PM 4 comments

i like to wurk

it feels good to be a semi-productive member of society once again. i'm sure i'll be jonesing for a vacation within the month, but right now i'm just super glad to be working again, even if it's just part time. plus it's nice to have the cash influx equal the cash outflow so i'm not hemorrhaging money anymore. that's always a plus

my friend and former roomie andrew c. is coming up later tonight. he'll probably chill here for most of spring break, which should be pretty sweet. we'll play tons of scrabble and epic duels and make taco bell runs like there's no tomorrow. maybe we'll even go play "hey, cow!" again, since that game is pretty much the best ever. anyhow, it should be some good times

i signed up for a trial of netflix, and i have to say... i'm pretty darn impressed. if you rent more than two movies a month, it'd be worth your while to switch over to their services instead of making the trek to your local blockbuster. i've been feasting on 24, and am almost done with the series (two discs left to go). i've also found some movies that i've been wanting to see for a while that none of the local video stores carry, so i'm pretty stoked to have those waiting on the horizon. i just need to make sure that i don't turn into some video-crazed fiend, watching 2 or 3 hours worth a day. that'd be bad


(brief sidenote for luke: after rating a bunch of movies on netflix, guess what showed up at the top of my recommendations list? season one of the shield. i thought that was pretty cool)



i'm sensing a taco bell run in the near future...



-noonan-

posted by Patrick @ 9:41 PM 1 comments

i'm not a bum anymore

i start work with UPS tomorrow. i'm pretty pumped about that. it's only part-time, but at least it's a job. plus, one supervisor remembered me as "that guy who was riding the bike in that huge snowstorm." that pretty much made my year. it's always nice when your efforts are remembered and appreciated (and help you get a job!)


today was the first day of lent. slate had an interesting article on the season yesterday, which is well worth reading if you're not too familiar with the season and what it means. and even if you are, it's still a good read


i think i've set a record for me this past month by logging over 900 minutes of phone time. i'm not sure if that's a good sort of record or a bad one... maybe just indifferent. who knows


i figured out a way to create my own ringtones for my phone now by using songs i already have and editing and tweaking them a bit. i'm pretty pumped about that, because the alternative is to pay 3 or 4 dollars for them from cingular. that's just unacceptable. so since i like to stick it to the man, it makes this new discovery doubly delicious. currently rocking out to "the final countdown" by europe when people call (in a not-so-subliminal tribute to the magic show tunes of GOB from arrested development). i have to try not to laugh every time the phone rings


i just got a couple more discs from season one of 24 in the mail today (thanks to netflix and their free trial periods). so i plan on devouring those in short order. speaking of which...

i'm out


-noonan-

posted by Patrick @ 9:17 PM 2 comments

i have a job.




(finally!)

posted by Patrick @ 2:08 PM 0 comments