Gestler's Xanga

Sunday, April 06, 2008

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 10:33:27 GMT

I'm bringing Xanga back - drop a comment if you're with me!

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 22:32:26 GMT

I'm bringing Xanga back - drop a comment if you're with me!

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Tue, 27 Mar 2007 19:45:15 GMT

Ack, some favorite song lyrics of the moment as they pop into my head:

You're a god and I am not and I thought I'd let you know - Vertical Horizon

Do you want to run away together? I would say it was your best line ever. Too bad I fell for it. - The Wreckers

'Cause you're all I want. You're all I need. You're everything. Everything. - Eve 6

To those who ground me take a message back from me: tell them how I am defying gravity. I'm flying high defying gravity. - Wicked Soundtrack

It felt like springtime on this February morning. In a courtyard, birds were singing your name. I'm still recalling things you said to make me feel alright; I carry them with me today now as I lay me down to sleep, yes I pray that you will hold me dear. Though I'm far away I'll whisper your name into the sky and I will wake up happy. - Sophie B. Hawkins.

Friday, September 29, 2006

Fri, 29 Sep 2006 18:12:12 GMT

43-82

I woke up on Wednesday morning thinking it was a very weird day. The first thing that happened was that I was being bitten by a mosquito all night while I was sleeping so I went to go sleep in my brother's room instead because he's away in college. I remember putting Calydryl on my bites and thanking goodness that I was not bitten on the lip. Those suck! When I woke up, there was a mosquito bite on my lip. How strange and extremely irritating. I felt like an ugly version of Angelina Jolie.

When I went to go get the car out of the garage, I was expecting it to be on the right side so I didn't need to move other cars around. The car that I drive is rarely on the left side but sure enough, when I opened the garage door, it was on the left side. I lost 15 minutes backing out the car in the backyard to get to the car on the left.

The day went on and I was trading emails with my friend from work who was telling me what a bad day it's been so far. We shared stories but everything seemed fine. We talked about what a strange day it has been so far. I was in a training class at work and different instructors were coming in to teach different aspects of project management. After lunch, a new instructor came in to talk about schedules and a specific company program. We all knew him in some capacity since he'd been working in the company for 38 years.

When he started speaking, he seemed very nervous and his voice shook a little. He seemed to calm down and he got through about 6 slides when his voice really shook. I looked up to see him take a step back and put his hand behind him to support himself on the table and say excuse me. At that exact moment, he fell forward and a student and another instructor nearest to him caught him and laid him down on the floor. There were 30 people in the class and each sprung into action. Some people called 911, some called the facility medical team, some ran out to get defibrilators and CPR kits, some went out to the first floor to guide the EMT and fire fighters to the room. Me, I moved the chair back as the two men laid him down. I was about 5 feet away from the instructor's head. The person next to me was calling 911 and asked me what the address of the building was. No one in the room knew. The other person calling 911 from the room phone was calling out for the address. I don't know how but I had the mindset to log into the computer behind me and go directly to the building's website and get the address. It was one of those autopilot modes where your fingers just move and your mouth tells everyone 43-82 Vernon Boulevard but your mind doesn't really know what it's doing. I watched as the instructor's face went from red to dark red to purple. I couldn't do anything but watch as the building's medics were working on him. This all took place in about 2 minutes. The class was kicked out of the room and we watched the fire fighters and EMT go into the room another few minutes later. They were still working on chest compressions as they wheeled him away. All told, it must have only been 5 minutes but it seemed like hours. The class was disbanded and I went back to my office because I had class later on that night in Manhattan. When I got home, all I wanted to do was go to bed and let this day end.

We did not know it then but he was pronounced dead at the hospital soon after he arrived. I found out the next morning. The company got a counselor to come in to talk to the class but what could we say? I'm not sure what was the cause of death but most believe that it was his heart. There is no solace in watching someone die even if there was nothing that we could do and that we did everything that we could do. It seemed like there nothing a difibrillator could do. The family sent the instructor's manager an email thanking everyone in the class for their efforts in trying to save their father. People at the office asked me how I was doing. I'm not really sure.

The thing that I walked away with was knowing the address of the place your at at all times. In this case, it may not have mattered but in the future it may. I started looking around for CPR kits in my office area and have located them. I realized that autopilot mode can be utilized for good things when you have your mind trained to respond such as calling 911 and going straight to the CPR kit/difibrillator because you already know where they are. They say, time is of the essence. What a strange day Wednesday was. RIP.

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Sun, 24 Sep 2006 14:42:36 GMT

One of the things that pisses me off is when the waiters in Chinese restaurants automatically give me a fork instead of pair of chopsticks. It signals to me that they think I don't know how to use chopsticks. In fact, I grew up using chopsticks so I just find it really annoying. It happened to me today at dim sum and I gave the fork to my dad and got a pair of chopsticks. My dad laughed and thought it was funny. I got a beef and running egg rice dish and on it was a fork. It made sense because it's easier to eat rice on a plate with a fork. My dad and I decided to split the dish so the fork that I gave him earlier came in handy. I guess everything happens for a reason - even if at first it seems to be an annoyance, it might become useful in the future.

Friday, September 08, 2006

Fri, 08 Sep 2006 19:49:30 GMT

Shoot the Moon by Norah Jones just came on my winamp as I turned it on. The first line is "Summer Days are Gone". How appropriate. Feeling very mellow right now.

So it's been almost 8 months since I've posted something. An update: I went on every trip except I will not be making the last one, a cruise in September. Just not enough vacation time from my company. Also, this thing called school keeps getting in the way.

Is it possible to just be friends with a person of the opposite sex and never, even for a moment, think about them in a romantic way? I don't think it's possible. It's just a matter of whether you do something about it or not. More often than not, we don't do anything about it because it just won't work out.

A friend once asked me if I ever wondered what life would be like if there was a soundtrack to life. Like before you're about to enter into a dark room you hear creepy music and you know something bad is about to happen. Alternatively, the creepy music turns into loud happy music as your friends flick on the lights to reveal your very own surprise party. I think that'd be pretty neat. The catchphrase to an upcoming Broadway show is Every Life Has A Soundtrack. It alone motivated me to buy two tickets before the show even opened at discounted prices of course.

What if you fall in love and were denied reciprocity? Do you ever stop loving that person? Do people really fall out of love? How does that work with divorces? Were they ever really in love in the first place?

Favorite song of the moment: Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol. A close second: Hey There Delilah by Plain White T's. Why not throw in a third: Lay Me Down by The Wreckers.

Book I'm trying to read for pleasure: Harry Potter Book 6. Yeah, I'm probably one of the few people that want to read it but haven't yet.

Book I'm actually reading: Getting to YES. For Negotiations class.

Feelings of emptiness and fulfillment at the same time. What a strange combination.

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Thu, 19 Jan 2006 18:22:34 GMT

So I think that it's time to right something new on this thing. From my September 5th entry, here's an update, The Eight was a good read if you have time to read random books. Not a must read but a good read. The book kinda died towards the end.

I did in fact visit the Boston Beanie in October and I had a lot of fun.

I started school. At first I was a bit apprehensive about meeting new people. I chalk that up to guy problems but that was quickly resolved. I feel pretty comfortable in class now and it's like one of those things where if you get the hang of it, it isn't so bad. It was a major upset to my schedule but I've managed to work it in. I finished my first intensive course. Imagine a class with only five sessions totaling 18 hours over a span of 9 days. There's no midterm but there is a final and lots of pre-class work which was not fun. But I'm glad it's over and I'm facing another one on Chinese New Year which will take me right into Spring semester. I hope I'm not grumpy from not having a break in between.

This year, here's the tentative vacation schedule:

Cooper Alumni Ski Trip February 16-20

Vegas March 9-13

Boston sometime in Spring

Barcelona June 27-July 4

Cruise sometime in mid September

Life is good.

Friday, September 16, 2005

Fri, 16 Sep 2005 18:38:31 GMT

Pure Nerd
60 % Nerd, 17% Geek, 26% Dork

For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.
A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.
A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.
You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd.

The times, they are a-changing. It used to be that being exceptionally smart led to being unpopular, which would ultimately lead to picking up all of the traits and tendences associated with the "dork." No-longer. Being smart isn't as socially crippling as it once was, and even more so as you get older: eventually being a Pure Nerd will likely be replaced with the following label: Purely Successful.

Congratulations!

Also, you might want to check out some of my other tests if you're interested in any of the following:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Professional Wrestling

Love & Sexuality

America/Politics

Thanks Again! -- THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 63% on nerdiness

You scored higher than 14% on geekosity

You scored higher than 33% on dork points

Link: The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test written by donathos on OkCupid Free Online Dating

Monday, September 05, 2005

Mon, 05 Sep 2005 14:01:48 GMT

Oh my goodness. It's been a while. I just ruined a beautiful dress. It's black and white and somehow the black ran into the white. Now it's got this Goth look to it. I don't know what to do. Wear it like it was meant to be that way or never wear it again. It's such a nice dress.

The summer went by really quickly. Besides the J-O-B I ended up hanging out with my friends a whole lot. From Sex and the City on DVD marathons with the girls, to movies every Friday, to dinner out with the gang on Saturdays, to clubbing on Saturday nights. It's been really fun. I spent way too much money shopping. I went on a no-spending-spree in July and August which was kind of painful since I missed 4th of July sales but oh well. I made up for it yesterday at Woodbury Commons. Oy. I think this calls for another no-spending spree in September and October.

I read many a book over the summer:

Rule of Four - don't bother.

Birth of Venus - must read.

Can You Keep a Secret - do read for a light hearted book.

I know I read more books...I just don't remember them all.

Right now, I'm up to page 44 of The Eight. Seems very promising so far. I'll let you know how it goes.

Due to high gas prices, the 'rents aren't letting me drive long distances even though I'll pay for the gas. They think America will run out of gas. Interesting. This too will pass.

Life is pretty good right now. I'm going to visit the icky brother in Buffalo in October. I may go to Boston to visit the Boston Beanie. Let's hope I get there before it gets cold. I'm planning vacation for next year already. Thinking of heading to Vegas with the Boston Beanie for a week. Maybe go on a cruise with Mom. See what happens. Let's not count out the three day weekend trips. NICE!

That's all for now.

Sunday, January 23, 2005

Sun, 23 Jan 2005 19:30:53 GMT

So many strange things are happening now. My back hurts from a day of snow shoveling and now my wrist hurts too. I need to crack the back.

So, I feel stranded with all of this snow. I have no desire to go anywhere. It's kinda refreshing. There are so many things I want to do at home: watch movies, read magazines that have been piling up, study for the GMAT which I WAS doing, catch up on sleep, listen to music, and admire my room's messiness and ponder cleaning it up.

I have a lot of thoughts going through my head but they are always so hard to conjure up. Talking to people online or on the phone doesn't make them come out either. I really need more time alone to see what's really going on. I feel like I'm on the brink of something great, concerning work that is. Currently, that is the number one priority though there is that nagging second priority which will always be there and I just have to deal with it better. The problem with the second priority is that I can't do anything about it. When it happens, it will happen. I just need to regain my patience with it.

It's not that I'm not happy at work, I have a lot of projects going. I'm working with various power plants to change out their equipment or entire systems. I just hope I get through this feeling lost feeling soon. They say that once I finish my first project, the rest are just copying the process of the first. After that, I get to learn about the equipment and power plants which is what I really wanted this job for. Hopefully, that will happen soon. That's all up to me so I can control it. Good.

I realize that I really like being in control. I don't drink to oblivion because I don't want to lose control of myself by being drunk. Who knows what I would do or what could happen to me? I think that's one of the main reasons why I'm going back to school - I want to be in control, ie, manager. I don't intend to micromanage or tell people what to do. It's just that I always have that desire to know what is going on at all times with everything and why not channel that desire to my advantage. That's what managers do, they look at the big picture and make decisions. It's a power trip but there is a lot of responsibility too. I need to have that type of position where every day is different and at any moment, I have to be alert to react. Besides reacting, I can take action to prevent, steer, shape, and design. Now that is cool.

I think I just formulated the beginning of my personal statement for applications!