In Germany, on September 11th, 2002, our entire group from Oregon was down at Lake Constance touring around the city of Konstanz and some of the old castles across the lake. Some of the more religiously inclined among us stepped into a local church to pray, but that was the extent of it. In Japan, the anniversary usually garnered a quick 10-second mention on the national news, but then people just continued on and went about their day (except in 2005, when September 11th was election day).

The way the cable news networks here decided to just show hours of old footage was… creepy. Has it always been this weird at home?

The really great thing about it is that we have the whole north side of the building without sharing a wall with another unit. This means that our only potentially annoying neighbors are upstairs. That’s a big potential for sucking, but I’m hoping that it will work in our favor. ALSO, because the intercom system is housed in our unit, we only pay for the electricity in the first living room and our kitchen. This is awesome. The bedrooms aren’t huge, but they’re pretty big and have a lot of closet space. The kitchen could use some work, but it’s probably more the last people not using it to it’s full potential rather than it just being bad.

I didn’t take any pictures because the last people there obviously didn’t clean up at all for the visitors and I thought it would be a bit rude. Same with measuring rooms. But here’s my gimp image editor version of the layout. (Click the thumbnail)

Accounts payable is fairly simple. When we receive a bill, I enter it into the books and file it. After that, it’s out of my hands. It is not my job to make sure that these bills are paid and that’s an issue. The people who are supposed to be making sure that our bills are paid are very busy people. I literally have to corner them and say that our electricity is going to be turned off for them to make a second in their very busy schedule - I’m serious, they’re really busy - to check the bank accounts and write a check.

Accounts receiveable is a little bit more difficult. I have to look at our projects and then check the agreement we have with the client to figure out how to bill. Sometimes there are small mistakes (certain clients want things a certain way that I didn’t know), but overall it’s not a problem. However, sometimes I have to hound clients to pay us or enter a downpayment into an invoice. I do not have access to the received payments to get check numbers. I don’t know if or when clients pay unless I am lucky enough to be the one to pick up the mail and see the check.

Basically, my job relies on my ability to ask my boss what is going on. He is, as I said before, really busy and often doesn’t get back to me within what I believe is an acceptable timeframe (note: my timeframe is really short because I literally cannot continue to work without answers to my questions and often the bill paying is URGENT). I don’t have the access - I don’t know why - to take care of this stuff myself. Here comes the kicker: all three people who have access to this stuff are leaving for 10 days starting on Monday. So… I guess I’ll be taking some naps at work?

I suppose in happier news, we’re moving! We have a super badass apartment on SE 20th. I’m so excited!

I find this strangely appropriate, and I suspect others who know the area will as well.

-Greg

Anyway, my actual duties are still a bit nebulous (so far I’ve just been helping to organize a public forum for this Friday), so for now I’m describing my job title as “忍者” (ninja).

I’ll tell you rapt readers more as soon as I’m able.

-Greg

I offered to stay until our guardsman returns from duty, my new employer understands and accepts this. The restaurant accepted wholeheartedly. I’m apparently one of the more reliable people at the place, and they profess sadness at letting me go. Not a bad feeling at all, even if they were only paying $10 an hour.

-Greg

Luckily, it was for a position that paid about the same and didn’t sound as interesting. But still, from begging and pleading for employment to having to tell people, “Sorry, I’ve accepted another offer” is a nice transition.

It’s like the inverse of the when-it-rains-it-pours concept.

-Greg

Anyway, mission accomplished on both fronts. I start Monday, and will be working at my new job during the day and at the restaurant (which I haven’t told any of you about) in the evenings for at least the few weeks.

I’ll write a little more about what I’ll be doing after I talk to my new employer about just what sort of things I’m allowed to write about publicly.

-Greg

It’s Cooper’s birthday! I bought a brownie and candle for him and he was so overjoyed that he took a picture to email to me. Yay birthdays!

One problem that often comes up is food. Last year we tried a co-op situation, which ended up with me cleaning and Robin cooking. That sucked. We’re going to try again this year by ourselves and see how it goes.

Menu:
Thursday dinner - dutch oven chicken pot pie, premixed salad
Friday breakfast - premade pancakes, eggs and sausage + coffee
lunch - leftover pot pie + chips
dinner - (light dinner)
Saturday breakfast - cereal (cinnabunnies?) + coffee
lunch - the rest of the bread, cheese, fruit, chips
dinner - dutch oven french onion soup
Sunday breakfast - oatmeal + coffee

Things we need:
Paper plates, forks etc
tub for things that we have to wash
2 gallon water x 6 (washing + drinking)
12 pack soda
24 pack beer
Booze with Robin and Este
Soap + sponges + paper towels
dutch oven
frying pan
knife + cutting board
water bottles x4
cups for booze
ice (dry)
box for dry goods
cooler for fresh goods
two loaves of bread