Meetings

Friday meetings.

There are many ways to get through meetings (besides actually paying attention and taking notes). You can play buzzword bingo, sleep, web-browse, think of what you are going to do on the weekend.

What do I do?

There is a worker with a name that sounds like "Interpol". So our business meetings become high-risk adventures of corporate espionage and international politics....

"Did you get the information to Interpol?"
"Interpol is requesting the latest numbers on the last migration."
"Interpol has been compromised! Contact all field agents and rendezvous at auxiliary depot A7B29."

All in a day's work.

One of the Longest Days of my Life

8 hour meetings are teh brutal.

21 men.

1 woman.

5 different Microsoft products.

3 sandwiches.

4 cookies.

2 cans of pop.

1 coffee.

6 washroom breaks.

0 minutes of falling asleep.

0 audible groans of boredom.

Work

I am really tired.

It is a 2.5 km walk to work each day. (one way - which wouldn't feel so difficult if I made better use of that gym pass. :P)

My next three days, I will be in back to back to back meetings (breaking for lunch only)....probably not understanding anything.

The number of times I have been left completely dumbfounded: 7 times (since starting work).

And this is technology, something I thought I knew.

I am like the big fish that moved into a bigger pond, only to find that it is actually a sea and I am dying cuz of salt-water.

People are nice though. I will stand to learn a lot if I try hard.

Project

It has just come to my attention that I will be starting a project at work on Thursday as the team lead.

The project is...

3 months delayed.
with an application I have NEVER used before.
involving monies (more than I make for sure!).
with a group of people I have NEVER met before.
very loosely defined.

So hit me up with some prayers!

Technical Difficulties

To add to my list of technological inabilities (besides getting wireless internet to work on vista), I am unable to use the fax machine at work. Every month, I am required to send a timesheet to some worker in some office somewhere for some purpose (payroll) that escapes me. Every month, that worker receives two faxes from me. The first, being a blank sheet which probably causes workers to question whether the fax machine is working properly. The second, being a time sheet with my name on it, removing all blame casted upon the fax machine and duely affixing it to its rightful owner.

Birthdays

"Some of you pray for other people, you have a hard time praying for yourself. Because if you pray for yourself it shows you have need and you're weak and you're totally not self-sufficient." - Mark Driscoll

Kind of unrelated quote, I wanted to put that up for a while. I just keep forgetting.

I was reading the parable of the shrewd manager during prayer meeting today. I never really understood the parable. If you read it, you would know you have this manager who is wasteful. The rich man who is his boss is telling him "he's fired" unless he can give a report of his management. And of course, the manager thinks too himself, "Oh man, what do I do? I can't work physical labour and I'm too ashamed to beg"...which probably indicates that he WAS wasteful.

So the manager thinks to himself, I know... I'll further screw over my boss by cutting the debts of the borrowers. Okay, it does not say that exactly... but, seriously... it is a possible scenario. Highly improbable..as the rich man commends the manager for his shrewdness. So we have to look for another scenario...

I think the key is...when Jesus explains it here...
Luke 16:9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

So why all this when I am supposed to talk about birthdays? One of my work buddies had a birthday today. I bought him cupcakes and a birthday hat. We put the hat on his head and gave him a cupcake. They were pretty yummy. I gave my cupcake to the co-worker who told me about his birthday. She was happy. Also had more of an opportunity to talk to them all. So it was a cool day. Praise God.

Money.

19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matt 5:19-21.

I decided to re-read parts of Matthew. When I say re-read, I tend to only read the first half of a book, get distracted by something else and read another book. So let's pray that I finish the whole book! Anyways, I find for myself at least, I always remember the "not storing up treasures on earth instead store up treasures in heaven" part. But, I never remember the rationale. So, reading the "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" really rang true today.

I am truly blessed financially. I have never had to budget. I have not worried about where my next meal will come from or how I will pay off my bills. If there was something I wanted at the spur of a moment, I could have it. I sincerely thank God for blessing me so. I think I spend the majority of my money on food (I am talking about non-essentials - otherwise it would be insurance and gas :/). I know my money is God's money, so I try to spend it on others.

Money perplexes me, sometimes. I try to view it as a tool to further God's kingdom. And if it is a tool, it can be prayed for and God will answer. Maybe I am the guy that is supposed to make money and give it to people who need funds to do their ministries. I could do that... but the world of business seems so un-fulfilling... on the flip side, I don't know if I could be the other guy. The guy who has to pray expectantly for his very survival, knowing that God will provide.

I know God is working in me. Despite knowing that at least right now, I don't think I could be that guy... I want to be that guy. I trust that He'll prune me for the work that He has set for me. Whether it is in a business suit or something else...

And now...

...the care bears share a lesson in caring:

Wouldn't it be hilarious if they did a satire of that? It would probably go something like this...

Kid: Oh man, my bike is broken.
Wish Bear: Wow, sucky. *Points and laughs*

....In other news, here are the events that transpired today.

Went Downtown for a course on critical and analytical thinking.
Went to the wrong building.
Went to the right building.
Scoured the building for the right room.
Entered late.
Enjoyed the class.
Went for lunch with Paul Wan.
Had good talk.
Came back late.
Left early.
Went to Holco Sales.
Found nothing.
Went to Ryerson.
Did nothing of importance there.
Went home.
Drove to Bible Study.
Enjoyed Bible Study.
Talked for once.
Came home.

Epic day.

Predestined?

These past few days have been pretty insane. It seems like God is taking me places for specfic purposes, it is really awesome to be used by God. I'll start from the beginning, as Monday's post probably doesn't reveal much.

Monday:

I go downtown for three days (Mon - Wed) for Showcase Ontario 2008 (BABY!) - a tech conference dedicated to the hard-working members of the Ontario Public Service. This first day was okay, went to some of the booths...got some free stuff. I suddenly felt the urge to go visit Ryerson (I was planning to at least on Wednesday), so off I went.

I Got there, made some calls...couldn't reach anyone. So I went shopping for a while. Then I got hungry, so decided to go have lunch (at Chicken place...because it's like drugs). At which point, I ran into my friend, Janny. We had a pretty good spiritual talk. Catching up and things. I like her. She's one of those people who you can see Christ in all aspects of her life.

I went back to the conference to catch my final class. I was an hour late, and the guy finished an hour early. Decided to grab a coffee and spend some time with Jesus. Took the GO train home with Kelly Chan. She took some of my free stuff.

Also exercised for the first time in weeks. It was not so pleasant.

Tuesday:

Conference again, this time with the co-ops. It was a lot more fun this time, because the main expo opened today. We developed a strategy while waiting for it to open to maximize our opportunities to get free stuff. Highlights include pen-highlighters, a pen that is also a usb-stick, a kinetic flashlight, steel water bottles, and more. I skipped all my classes on Tuesday, because the expo was so much more interesting. We also went to eat kbbq for lunch.

After lunch, called it quits early. Went to Starbucks and spent some time with God. After, took the train home with Kelly. She decides that it would be a great time to announce she wants more free stuff...and that she wants to help out with Zoe. I was pretty excited, because I pray and knew and called it (ask Felix) that she was supposed to help. So that really pumped me up. :D

Evening, had a Zoe meeting. I shouldn't have taken a nap beforehand. I felt out of the zone. It was still good. Everyone is pretty passionate about bringing change to our fellowship. I feel kinda "green" in the leadership thing, but so far so good. Imma trust that the HS guides me true.

Wednesday:

Not as much free stuff. No one was really there. I toured around some more, and attended my classes. Stephen Lewis was there, I'll dedicate another post to my thoughts on his speech on another day. It was disturbing for me. I had lunch with a co-worker one on one. It was pretty good, learning about his life and what he was up to. I revealed that I was Christian, and he was like "Really? Cool!". So I'll talk to him more in the future.

Had dinner with Kevin Leung, and we ran into Sabina. The three of us ate together. McDonalds barely counts as dinner. Anyways, we talked and she told me what was going on with her. I pray that she comes to Zoe on Saturday, I think she will...but haven't prayed enough to be 100% sure. Well, I told Vicki to pray for her...so maybe Vicki will cover. :D

Went to CCF after dinner. I am pretty sure that God has closed the door on this ministry. Maybe I'll drop by now and then, but I don't think my presence there will affect anything. It's nice to see them, and I miss them all tremendously. But, for now.. I don't feel called to do anything there.

Had some pleasant talks with some of the newcomers... I am excited for them, too. Cuz there are some strong Christians coming in...and it is true that every Chinese Christian is connected somehow.

Thursday:

Had to do real work today. I also talked to my co-worker about her son who has an absess on his ear. He is in the hospital right now. Imma pray for him.

After work, I went to a bible study my friend, Ayrine invited me to. I got there before she did. "I'm here for the Bible Study"...is a line I never thought I would use. Their pastor made fun of my clothes. We did a study on Calvinism versus Arminianism. To be fair, I thought it was a balanced view on both sides, but it turned out to be Pro-Calvinism. It was interesting, I may attend next week if so called to it. :P

Getting home was pretty quick. Once I entered the house, it seemed like every room I entered had a purpose for me being there.

I entered Family Room - Mom, Dad, and I talked about our day. Which is pretty rare.
Went to Basement - to check e-mail, then head to bed. Remembered had to bring stuff to work for co-worker via e-mail.
Went to Bedroom - to find stuff, realized I had to send an e-mail to Marc about visiting Pastor.
Went to Basement - wrote e-mail.
Went to Bedroom - Bible Reading Time! Decided to read more on Calvinism and Arminianism from my Theology book. Remembered Essay On Computer in basement.
Went to Basement - read essay, checked e-mail, realized Vince and KY had sent stuff..sent stuff back.
went to Bed...tired.

It was kind of like a re-cap of the week. Everywhere I went had purpose. It was pretty insane. I pray that every week can be like this.. but I may get tired. :/ I'll pray for His strength. :D

Speak

So...here's another random update of my first week (June 16-20) at work and stuff.

Monday:

First day at work. I have to pay $7.50/day for parking. It is pretty brutal. 40 minute drive, so that is nice...I get to listen to sermons on 99.5 FM. I work at the Ministry of Youth and Child Services. I take away children from negligent parents....Okay, I don't. I work on the projects that are related with the healthy upbringing of babies (cue "awww's") and preschool toddlers.

My first task on the job was to read a manual on how one of the applications work. It kind of sucks...because my workload was increased to reading TWO manuals...for the ENTIRE week.

That night, went out for coffee with two guy friends. Started up a small guy's group to build up. I am excited.

Tuesday:

I am part of a leadership program developing young professionals like myself (haha...snicker) into leaders of tomorrow. This is a two year contract that allows me to experience two positions in different ministries within the government. Tuesday, we went to our orientation session. There were approximately 120 interns out of 3,000 applicants. That's what they keep on saying, anyways. So the government considers us "special".

The orientation was okay. Met some new people. Ate food. Listened occasionally.

After the orientation, I met up with a friend of mine downtown. The idea was for the two of us to grab dinner. However, disaster struck! We were walking down Yonge street and this lady runs up to us with a look of panic on her face. She asks us if we have a cell phone. I respond in the positive (Who doesn't?). She points us toward the other side of the street, there is a man convulsing on the pavement! So we rushed over, calling 911 in the meanwhile.

To the credit of emergency workers, they came really fast. They were there within two minutes. It was unreal.

Furthermore, to the credit of my friend, Angela. I am really proud of you. You acted very calm and executed your first aid training beautifully.

Angela also made me a graduation hat out of a shower cap and some string. Apparently, Ryerson doesn't give hats to throw in the air during convocation.... I will post up pictures sometime. We took turns wearing it in Eaton's Centre.

Wednesday:

Had to go downtown to sort out payment stuff. I wants to get paidz. My first paycheque is in July....weak sauce. Anyways, the interesting thing about that was that as a government employee you have to swear or affirm an Oath of Office and Oath of Allegiance. Now, what is the difference between swearing and affirming? Swearing is made before God, affirming is made before...nothing. I was sad to see more interns affirming than swearing.

Thursday:

At work, some of the co-ops (young folks) invited me to Indian buffet for lunch. Good food.

I called Telus at work to fix my cell phone. I never received text messages. Now I do. The end.

Thursday, I also got my SECOND manual. Yay for more work.

After work, had softball practice with my team from last year. They are so awesome. I love those guys and gals. They arranged it themselves, and we had a fairly good turn out.

Friday:

This was a momentous day in the history of Richard's workingness. I got a computer account. For the past four days, I had NO computer access. THAT MADE WORK SO LONG. No e-mails, no weather checks, no music, no nothing.

I also learned that I would be getting a new office. It is bigger...and has a window. I am really climbing the corporate ladder.

After work, played Mario Strikers: Charged with Kevin Leung and Chewie. Vicki was playing my DS. We also tried to play Vegas 2...that didn't work out so well. We still can't beat the Strikers cup...it is annoying. :/

I have decided next post will be about Saturday and Sunday...as this is pretty long as it is. Stay tuned.

Employment!

So apparently, I'll be working in North York...which makes no sense...as I asked to be placed in Etobicoke or Downtown Toronto. Life got more complicated. Options are to live with my cousin or take the deadly commute, possibly work hours that are off the normal time frame...we'll see. I'll put it up to prayer... I was pretty sure I was supposed to spend time with family, and resolve our multi-faith home.

We'll see.

Job

So I was offered a job today. It is a nice job, government, lots of benefits and decent salary. It will give me plenty of experience in the varying aspects of IT. I should be more excited, but I am not. Why?

I have been in the interview process for this position for months. First, credentials are examined. Following that, there was a written test (similar to an exam, without anything to study). After the written test, there was the interview. And finally, my references were called. This has been ongoing since January.

I remember praying at the very beginning of this process. God, I would like this job. He answered, "If you really want this, you can have it.". I have told very few about this prayer and its answer. I don't like saying, God told me this..and then it doesn't happen..and you feel extremely dry. But, it happened! And I cannot help but feel excited...for His blessings, His providence. Thank God!

So the reason, I'm smiling today....the reason I am happy and excited today is not, because God has blessed me with a job. It is, because... my God answers prayers. My God is the living God. :)

EDIT:

I just realized today is my 40th post. 40 was a pretty significant number in the Bible...mostly associated with trials followed by prosperity. So hopefully, the job is the prosperity part..and the trials have already been passed. o_O Regardless, praise God!

End days

THE APOCALYPSE... kidding...more like end days at Ryerson. Today was the last presentation I would EVER make as an undergraduate student. It went pretty smoothly considering that there was only one person in the audience (the prof). One thought I had was that we have all grown a lot. My friends, my cousin, Brian, and I all presented as a group. The prof offered to give us references, if we needed it. So I may just take her up on the offer.

Before the presentation, I had lunch with a friend. I prayed that the Spirit would guide the conversation, as he is non-Christian. We chatted for a while, I got a little into the spiritual stuff. He's a non-practicing Buddhist. I didn't make any amazing call out or anything, but it is a start. We're going to go on a grad trip so I joke to myself that I'll convert him over that one week period, and bring him back Christian. >:D

For dinner, I went to City Grill with my good friend, Brian Yee. We talked about a lot of different stuff. Spiritual walk, career plans, stock market, girls, etc. and so forth. I will miss him when I graduate. I have decided that I will continually spur him on to read scripture. He desires to know more, so why not push him further?

Random Thoughts

Okay, I haven't posted in a while. So here are some random thoughts throughout the week.

I have been at the library more times the past two weeks than the entire year.
My sleepover count at Ryerson has reached a record-high of four times.
Watching a movie during school hours is funny.
Conforming to the image of Christ is a lot harder than previously anticipated. I think it gets harder as you learn more.
I am still resolving the concept of justice and my part in it.
Stock market stuff is difficult.
I cannot wait to graduate.
Girls are complicated. Yes, they are.
Prayer is life.
Personalizing Quiet Time is pretty key.
It is hard to not tease people.