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yinNout
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Name: Jeff
Country: United States
State: California
Metro: Berkeley
Birthday: 9/16/1985
Gender: Male
Interests: 4.25% from HSBC
Expertise: Computer Networking, Network Security, Operating Systems, Football, Cars, Live Sound
Occupation: Software Engineer, Cisco
Industry: Computer Networking/Security
Message: message meEmail: email me
Website: visit my website
AIM:  yinNout85
Member Since:
1/18/2003
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| GoBears!Cal def. Michigan State
38 -- 31
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| One Year Later...Today (or yesterday, rather) marked a year since I became a full-time software engineer at Cisco! I celebrated it by...
... working until 1:30am*. Whoohoo!
Being in a cube farm all by yourself at midnight is about twice as sad as being in a CS lab in college all by yourself at midnight.
* Ok, so I actually got off work at 6pm, went to go hang out with Vicky, then came back in at 11pm and worked 'til 1:30am. I needed to get some work done in time for an upcoming vacation. It'll be worth it! :D
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| Freebies, or Why You Should Take Me With You to PlacesSo this past week has been a string of freebies for me:
Sunday: I go to Bakesale Betty's in Oakland (read the Yelp link; the place is as awesome as they say). I order a Fried Chicken Sandwich and a Strawberry Shortcake. When I get to the front of the line, they tell me that they're out of shortcake, so they refund my money for the shortcake and give me a slice of blueberry pie instead. Then, they serve up a fried chicken salad instead of the sandwich. I tell them, and they give me the sandwich and just tell me to keep the salad, even though I never even touched it and it was in a box, ready to be sold to the next guy who wanted one. So... I got a sandwich, a salad, and a quarter of a blueberry pie all for the price of a sandwich!
Monday: My friends at work take me out to Dave & Buster's happy hour to celebrate my engagement. I order a small beer -- Newcastle -- but they bring me a large one instead (I couldn't finish it. Sad, I know). They just charge me the price of the small one. I didn't really pay for any of it, since my friends were taking me out... but still, it was a nice deal, although small.
Tuesday: Ok, this one's actually not a freebie, more of a reverse-freebie. After work, I printed out 3 Jamba Juice B1G1 coupons to share with some of the people with whom I play ultimate frisbee. 5 guys go with me, two of them pair up, leaving me to buy my drink on my own. I end up buying two small drinks, making a really big one. Sad. HOWEVER, I went to Blockbuster afterward to rent the Batman Begins Blu-Ray disc, and before I rented it I asked the clerk how much it would be, and she told me it'd be about $5.50 AND a 2-day rental only. I reluctantly agreed to rent it, since I would be watching Dark Knight the next day. However, the disc rang up at $4.00 AND the computer indicated a week-long rental! Sweet!
Thursday: I'm at Jamba Juice again with just one friend this time from ultimate frisbee. I order one flavor and he orders another, but they end up making both of ours in the same flavor. They remake him a new one and give us the mistaken one for free. I let him have the extra one for his roommate.
Friday (today): I get a call from the Mazda dealership, asking for feedback about the oil change / Technical Service Bulletin (I had to get the passenger seatbelt buckle replaced because it was squeaky). I told them that the service was fine and that I'm very happy with the car, but the service did take a long time. Actually, last Thursday, I took the car in and waited 3 hours, and winded up having to take the car back and go to work before they were even able to get to my car. I had to come in the next day to get the work done and waited another 3-4 hours at the dealership. Anyway, the lady who called me threw in a free oil change gift certificate for me. 
I could get used to this...
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| WhoaEver have one of those moments where you feel like your "heart strings," as they say, are being tugged?
So I'm planning on taking a road trip with some friends, starting from Vegas and going out to visit some national parks and stuff. I was assigned to do some research on Monument Valley, Utah -- find some sights to see and lodging for the night. As I was playing around on Google Maps, browsing around the Four Corners area, I saw a bunch of familiar names that made my heart skip a few beats:
...Many Farms... McNary... Whiteriver... Klagetoh...
I visited these places on mission trips back when I was in junior high and high school. I still remember those places, especially McNary, as if I had been there recently. All we really did was run a VBS program for the kids, maybe feed them in the evenings, and do door-to-door evangelism with the Apache residents in the neighborhood. However, in the background, while we were doing all that, loomed the effects and all the social issues brought on by the U.S. Reservation system*, and those same smiling children in VBS would have to continue growing up in hardship after we left. I guess that sounds dark, and I suppose it is, but the whole point of going there was to share the Good News, to bring light to darkness as John 3 puts it. I hope the kids grew up with a Savior to light their way in the darkness.
I wish I could write a longer post reminiscent of my experiences there, but life here in San Jose beckons. I hope I can dream about those places tonight.
*You should read up on the Reservation system. It's a classic example of how simply throwing money at a problem doesn't just make things all right. Maybe I'm just especially enthused by this, and maybe it's going to become a Big Deal in my life. Who knows where God leads!
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| Engage!I don't have a camera, so this is the only picture I could come up with for the time being:
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