In need of sleep!!

So I have been working for almost 2 months now. The work life is not too bad. I have been spending quite a bit of time in the offices doing stage 1 investigations. In order for the company to make money, I need to get the research and report all done in 16 hours and right now I am way over time...so need to cut back on the time i spend on the researching. I have 2 new projects and I hope I can stay some what on time with them.

Up till this week, I realized I was still on a bum/student schedule in terms of the amt of hrs I sleep. I have developed a twitch in my right eyelid from the lack of it....time to sleep early. I found it easier said then done because there are always things that I can do.

Another reason I am not getting enough sleep is because my weekend has been spent hanging out with ppl visiting Van. 2 weeks ago was Steve, last week was Anna and PT and this week will be Andrew and Bonny. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed my weekends very much but everything has a price. The highlight of last week was all the laughter and the pretty much nonstoped eatting with PT, the "wife", and the rest of the Vancouver gang.

There are more people visiting before the end of summer and I am looking forward to that!!!

until next time

The "Complete" Randomness

Today, it is the last day of being a bum. I can't wake up anytime I want anymore, I can't do what every I want during my days any more, I can't go watch movies in the middle of the day in the middle of the week anymore. All changed with my signature on a piece of paper. I just accepted an offer and will be starting tomorrow. So, a lot more predictability is added to my complete randomness...well, at least from 8:30 to 5:00 Monday- Friday. I am actually looking forward to some structure in my life. It is going to take a bit to adjust but it will be alright. We'll see how it goes.

Until next time...

The not so random randomness

It has been a while since my last post...so what's new? Nothing much really...I get up, and I look for a job...well not really:

1. After much consideration, I've decided to teach English Sunday school till June at my church. I've been told that group, the high school kids, are difficult to work with. I am not too sure what to expect nor will I be able to get through to them but I am sure there is a divine reason behind it and that maybe I can't get through but God can.

2. I am a year older...nothing new there, people get older year by year

3. Still looking for a job. The job search is a bit slow. Sometimes, I am wondering if the employers are really that picky or am I doing things wrong. A lot of the companies I've talked to are looking for intermediate ppl, they are people with 10-15 yrs experience and they are hard to find cause there are just not that much around. Until they find the intermediate ppl, they won't hire new grad or juniors since there are no one to mentor them. That's the situation in BC anyway, going to expend my search to Calgary now.

4. The new church search is on hold currently given that I am helping out with the Sunday school but I am still looking for a new fellowship with other recent grads and young professionals.

5. I am still searching for a direction, there are just so many possibilities and not too sure which way the Lord wants me to go. There is also the question of what do I do with the time I have right now.

In the mid of all this, I learn that I need to be more patient. Most companies I talked to is requiring me to wait either because they are busy or looking for Int. ppl or the boss is away. How does one learn patient anyway?

I also learn that I worry too much. I have to constantly remind myself that the Lord will provide every day. I know that I should not have to remind myself if I have completely surrender the control of my life over but it is easier said then done and the danger is you might think you have but really, you have not. So when do you know you have truly hand over control?

In terms of the direction, I don't think I can make any conclusion yet. I mean, you can't just sit there and wait for the direction to come to you, you gota get up and do some work and try and see if it is what the Lord wants for you. In my case, I still think it is too early to say what I am pursuing is not what the Lord wants for me.

I have been told that I should take advantage of the time I have right now. I need to search for a direction and use the time productively, search for a reason why I am given this free time. I am open to suggestions as to what I can do with this time.

I guess those updates are really my prayer requests. I appreciate if you can keep me in your prayers.

Until next time - Johnny

Life Without Structure

So, what do I do these days??

Well, I look for jobs to apply to, type cover letters and broadcast letters and complaining about the online resume submitting system to fellow job seekers. I found that when I have really no plans for the day, it is hard to get up till 11 am and it did not help that I was having trouble sleeping the pass week as well. But then, why wake up when all you have to look forward to is typing letters? To pass time, I watch DVD that I borrow from the library. I think I need to find a job quick before I go nuts from having nothing to do!!

This week has been better, I have schedule a few things in during the day so waking up is no problem. Met up with a former classmate and just chill and hangout which was a nice change of pace but the biggest surprise of all is asked to be interview for a job that I did not apply to!! What happened was I submitted my resume to the Waterloo office for a position they have at that office but they forward my resume to the Vancouver office who did not advertise they are looking for ppl. It is true that 80% of the jobs are hidden and not advertised...so, network network network! I do hope I wow the interviewer on Monday...alright back to interview prep...going through all the service CRA offers. I am up to B :P

Zambia - Day 10 , 11, 12

Bye Zambia!

Circling over London as we wait to land

Going back to Calgary

Day 10
Our ride back to Lusaka was alright, nothing exciting happened and I ended up sleeping for half of the way. After a quick walk through the flee market, it was off to the guest house. While waiting for the room, we saw survivor with all African ppl. It is the same as the one we see in US and Canada but only with African host and all African ppl. I joke around with one of the team members as to which wild and remote location they would be send to because Africa is pretty wild and remote already. We joked that they should send them to New York and one of the challenge is to fill out an IRS income tax form correctly.

Day 11
Today, two of the team members left already and it was warp up meetings and packing. The biggest excitement was me trying to figure out how I am going to carry two drums back to Canada since they can’t be carry-on.

Day 12
Today, we got up extra early to go to the airport because we heard the flight was over booked. At the airport, we ran into some delays since British Airways’ computer was having trouble hooking up with the satellite and the data base back in England. We were delay for a total of 3 hrs and because of this we got a free hotel room for it. I try to stay up for most of the flight to adjust my time zone since I arrived in Calgary at 7 in the evening. The flight was uneventful which was a nice way to end off the trip.

Zambia - Day 7,8,9

I realized that I miss an update, I was too consumed with finishing my resume so to make it up, I’ll do a longer update

Zambia Day 7
In all honesty, I can’t quite recall what I did today, I know it is more meetings to talk about the working of RPC and some of the results we came up with for all aspect of the project, so it is a day full of meeting. Everyone is pretty burnt out by the night so we all went to bed pretty early.

Zambia Day 8
It was Saturday. It was a special day causes first of all, no meeting!!! Second? We went to a safari game farm. The game farm does not have any cats which were unfortunate but it did have all the deers and buffalos, zebras and giraffes. We all rode in one of the safari trucks that you find in the movies which were pretty fun. I’ll let picture do the speaking. On the way back to the school where were staying, the bus had a broken bearing and we had to wait on the side of the road for about 20min for a new bus to come. We all praised God that we were safe and that there were no car on the other side of the road cause the bus swerve to the opposite lane. That night, we had a BBQ/meeting to present our findings to some of the RPC share holders. The food we ate in Zambia was pretty similar to the food in North America but instead of potato or rice, they eat a white paste made of grounded maize. It is very bland and you eat with your fingers. The BBQ was great.

Zambia Day 9
Sunday is always church day and in Zambia is no exception. The team was divided up into 2 or 3 and we all went to different churches. The church I went to this Sunday not only had the big speaker at the front of the room, there were big speakers at the back of the room too. Good thing we were sitting in the middle so our ear did not bleed. This service was very similar to the service we had in Lusaka, very engaging and very high energy. After the service, we jumped on the bus and were on our way back to Lusaka. Throughout the time in Lusaka, we notice lots of stickers on the bus and cars have reference to God. Initially we were joking around with the stickers. One of the buses has “Only God Knows” stickers and we were saying Only God knows how we survive that ride but there is some truth to that statement.

Until next time...

Zambia Day 5 & 6 - Meetings and Meetings

Pics of the School

Zambia Day 5
Today was mostly more meetings to talk about the processing plant as well as the business plan. A couple of us went to meet with the Ministry of Environment to ask about the environmental standards and the impact assessment that we have to write before the start of construction. The meeting went very well.

The place where we stayed in Ndola is a school set up by a group of aussie missionary to teach locals different trades skills. The school has very nice landscaping and the rooms are quite comfortable. The window has a screen so the bugs will be able to fly in. For the pass few mornings, I discovered that I have been bitten every night. I soon realized that the screen gave me a false sense of security because it has a big hole in it.

That night, a few of us went out into town with our guild to an internet café. It was nice to get connected with the rest of the world and let everybody know that I am still alive. It was quite freaky to be in town at night as there are not much light on the streets and since we are foreigners, lots of beggars were asking for money but we all made it back safely.

Zambia Day 6
Today is special as we have a little field trip to an orphanage. The meeting today was used to compare the processing machine quotations and discussion on the business plan. There are quite a number of kids at the orphanage ranging from babies to elementary school age. All the kids have HIV but you can’t really tell because they are all so energetic. The orphanage consist of three cute little house. We spend the time there playing with the kids. For the rest of the day, we had our meetings. I notice that throughout the day, I get very sleepy when after every meal especially lunch time. I think they should have something like Siesta but then, the whole day would be Siesta.