Civil War Football

"Who said war was civil?" This is one of my favorite slogans from the many civil war battles that I have witnessed in my life. I am excited that this weekend the Beavers are playing the Ucks in Eugene for this years Civil War. It is always a tense time of year when this game rolls around. I am feeling pretty confident that OS (Oregon State) will prevail this year. Here are a few photos that I love that shows the hatred that we Beavers have towards the Ucks.

Charlie Tuna!

I was looking through some pictures and found a cute picture of my wife and my mother with Charlie Tuna and I wanted to share it with everyone. The picture is after my little sisters wedding and we were heading back into town when I suddenly veered off the road when I saw the Tuna statue.

Symantec

The fourth interview looks to be my final interview with Symantec. It was an extension of the behavioral interview and it was a solo meeting between me and a lady in a room the size of our bathroom. I knew that my "ice breaker" of talking Beaver/Duck football wouldn't cut it, so I relied on the "How was your Turkey day?" instead. This interview wasn't as good as the main behavioral interview and it only lasted about half as long as the other. So I was beginning to worry.

So I lied and told Joo Lin that it went well. I didn't want to tell her the truth for some reason because I didn't want to stress her out more. Around 4:30 yesterday, I was studying and I got a call from Sue at Symantec. I was surprised to hear from her and I was getting a nasty feeling inside because I was expecting some bad news from her.

She asked me how it went and I told her that I thought the other behavioral interview went better. I told her that it was strange because the questions were similar and I felt strange about giving the same answers. She then proceeded to tell me that they're still really interested in me and that I was their top candidate for the position and then she proceeded to tell me that the manager wanted to do whatever it takes to get me on-board with them. I told her that I was excited about the offer and I am now waiting to hear from them to start the salary negotiation process.

I really don't know how to negotiate but I want to get a fair amount of money as my education and eight years of experience should allow. So today I talked to my strategic management professor and my brother in law to gather some helpful tips and ideas for negotiating with them. So hopefully we can get something put together soon. We will keep you posted.

Another Interview

Today will be the fourth interview (one phone and three on site interviews) with Symantec. I am starting to get really anxious about todays interview. It's at 2 pm today so I will not have to wait too much longer but I think that Joo Lin and I would love to find out if they are going to offer me a position with their company.

I played another mean trick on Joo Lin. Yesterday she was waiting to hear from me to tell her that if I had another interview set up with them. I didn't hear anything until about 4:30 and I didn't tell the wife about it until we were driving to dinner that night. I was avoiding the topic and then she eventually asked me if they had called to set up an interview, I said no. She got disappointed and that is when the Kelley grin came out. I am not sure if she saw it, I was driving and she was in the passenger seat but I knew that I couldn't hold it in any longer. After the grin, I told..."but they did email me!" She was relieved and was then mad at me for telling her that way. Silly monkey am I!

I did something funny today

So today I gave my wife a call and told her that I stopped by the College of Business (COB) to check on my graduation status. I proceeded to tell her that I had a dream last night and that they told me that I had some loose ends to tie up before I graduated. So I then told her not to get upset or mad but I that I stopped by the COB to check on my status and...(I paused for awhile)...and told her that nothing was wrong and that I am still on track to graduate this term.

She said that I was really mean for messing with her as she thought that I was going to tell her that I needed to take another class. I know that this was mean but sometimes I like to fool around with her to keep her on her toes. I got a great chuckle out of this.

Kelley's "baby fix"

Kelley is fun! Yesterday he wanted to see our friends Becky & Deryk. I was good with it... he usually plans our social events anyway. Come to find out he really just wanted to hold their little babies. [Look at those cuties over there - Violet and Elise (L-R)]. We had a great visit with Becky and Deryk, of course. They are doing well these days. He joined the Navy and they're anticipating traveling to their new "homes" once he graduates next year. It's such an exciting time for everyone...

We can't wait to have little babies of our own. We will definitely let you all know when the big news comes... no worries! Until then Kelley will get his "baby fix" with all our wonderful friends and their adorable children. Thanks :)

Pimping the New Suit!

Here are some pictures of me in my new pimping suit! I am not wearing my Beaver tie, so it isn't the Beaver suit in these pictures.

Second Interview with Symantec

I had my second interview (officially it has been my third, I had a phone interview also) with Symantec yesterday. I am trying to be modest but I did extremely well.

It was the behavioral interview, and they asked me to tell them information about my past work experiences that tied back into the questions that they had asked. I was well prepared and I was able to answer their questions quite confidently and easily using great examples of my past work experience. They believe that future successful work experiences can tie into how well someone is going to be in the future. I even answered their follow up questions to their main question as I described them. I think that they liked this too.

I think I even WOW'ed them when they asked a question, that they hadn't planned on asking but asked anyway, and I gave an answer that no one has ever given them. The question entailed an advanced scenario and they asked me what I would do after basic troubleshooting didn't find any cure for a clients problems with a computer on their network. I told them that the first thing I would do is to unplug the computer from the network. Before I could elaborate more they interrupted me and said that was correct and that no one has ever given that answer and that it was one of the interviewers pet peeves that he always drilled into the interviewees about the importance of this. He said that he was prepared to do the same thing this time around but I had answered correctly so I didn't have to listen to him go off about it. I also was able to recognize what they were referring to in the scenario and referred to it by name, a root kit, and they were impressed with that too. After we all regrouped I went off to tell them the importance of why unplugging the computer was important. The main reason why it is important is that you don't want what is affecting that computer to spread to other computers on their network.

I have already got a call back and they want to set up one more interview. With Thanksgiving this week, I am not sure if they will be able to fit me into their schedule but I am hoping so that I don't have to stress about the whole situation over the long weekend.

Thanks for everyones thoughts and prayers and I will make sure to keep everyone posted on the outcome.

My wife is silly!

On Saturday my wife read two books in one day. SHE'S A FREAKIN' SPEED READER!!!

The books were the first two books in the Harry Potter series. She says that they are easy reading but when I read the first one, it took me over a month to read it. I love that she is blessed with this talent and hopefully one day she will share more of her secrets to reading so fast. She has told me one and I have tried it but it didn't really help me much. She told me that she skips words that are not important but it takes me longer to realize which ones are not important.

I can't wait till she can teach our children to read. I have always struggled with reading, I read at a third grade level, so this will be a great blessing for them to spend time with her. I am blessed with the ability to play video games and I can't wait to share that talent with our children.

PT CRUISER!!

Here is a cute picture of the wife in front of a PT Cruiser that she rented this past summer.

Joo Lin and I love to play this game that we call "The PT Cruiser and Slug bug game." We are pretty competitive when it comes to this game and it has led to the majority of our domestic disputes.

We even have a score card for the game. I made it for the wife for a Mother's Day (Future Mother's Day) gift.

2nd Interview!

So remember I had an interview this past Monday? Well, I thought that it went horrible. It was a technical interview and I was expecting something more like a normal interview when I arrived there. I believe that if I would have know this that I would have been better prepared for this type of technical questions. They were drilling me with technical questions about networking and security questions and I knew about half of them, another quarter of the questions I knew but couldn't remember due to the added pressure and then the rest I wasn't able to answer

I was down in the dumps the next day because I really liked the company, Symantec, and I thought that I blew my opportunity to impress them. The following day, I got a call back and was and was terrified to hear what I thought was going to be some bad news. The lady that I have been in contact with during this whole process is located in San Francisco while the actual interview took place in Springfield. She called me on Tuesday and asked me how I thought it went and I told her straight up that I thought that I struggled big time! Then to my amazement she then said that they were impressed with me and wanted to continue the process. This was an amazing feeling.

So I filled out some more paper work and then got a call today and the lady said that they were still very interested in me and wanted to set up another interview with me for Monday. I accepted and now I have what they call a behavioral interview.

I wasn't sure what this was and had to google it so that I could be more prepared for it. To my surprise, it is a personal interview where they want me to tell them about my past experiences. To me, this is just another word for a personal interview but I guess like soda and pop, they have different meanings in different regions.

Wish me luck and keep your fingers crossed.

4 more weeks...

...until I am done with school!!! I am really excited to be done. It has taken me awhile but I can't wait to start referring myself as a college grad. It might take sometime to get use to it but I think it should have a nice ring to it.

I have two midterms this week and after that I am basically done until Finals week. This means that I should be able to start playing more video games! I have been addicted to a game called Warhawk lately. So I can't wait to fine tune my skills in that game. It's an online shootem up game.

Job Interview

We picked up my new suit on Wednesday and dang I look good! The wife also thinks that I look good in it so I am not being to self conceited. I wore the suit to church yesterday and a few of the girls in my Sunday school class said that I was sporting a Beavers Suit, since it was black and I had an orange tie on. I laughed and agreed with them that it was my new Beaver Suit.

So the suit is going to get its first run at an interview today. I have an interview with Symantec, you might have heard of them they are the leader in antivirus programs, today at 3:30. I am super excited and nervous at the same time. The wife keeps telling me to just act my normal self and I will do great. Hopefully she is correct! She is always correct so I better listen to her!

Wish me luck and keep your toes and fingers crossed for me!

New Suit

Joo Lin and I were able to go suit shopping this weekend for myself this past weekend. We went to the Men's Wearhouse and picked out a pimp suit for me. The reason behind spending the money on a suit is that I will be having some job interviews within the couple of weeks. I have been applying like crazy for jobs since I know that I will be done with school this December.

Some of the companies that I have applied for are Hitachi Consulting, Legrand/Vantage Controls, Symantec, and Lithia Motors. Things are slowing down this week in school so I am planning on applying for a bunch of jobs this week.

It is crazy to think that Joo Lin and I could be living somewhere else in the near future. We were talking about it the other night and we both seem excited to start something new. I mentioned it to my kids that I teach Sunday School, and they really want us to stay so I better start applying for some local jobs so that they do not get mad at me. I can at least tell them that I tried.

I will try to keep you posted on any new job prospects in the future. And I will try to get a photo of me and my new pimp suit on soon.

T-Dog and Coach Stephens!

Congratulations to Trevin (aka T-Dog) for leading his football team to an undefeated season for his 5th and 6th grade football team. T-Dog was even the stud the quarterback! We were able to see him play a couple of times this year and they always kicked butt. They won their last game 35 to 12. Can you say Mercy???

Congrats also goes to Coach Stephen's (aka Evan) for coaching his son's team to an undefeated mark.

Almost another fire...

...tonight Joo Lin and I were making a gourmet meal, Mac and Cheese, and I was having her help me pour the noodles in to the colander, and she grabbed the pot with a dish towel and the next thing I see is a flame coming from the towel. Luckily she didn't ruin the meal by panicking and throwing the pot to the ground. After she gently put the pot down she threw the towel on the counter and she extinguished the flame. Whew...close call! Luckily we are safe!

I am getting ready for bed right now and I am going to proceed to make fun of her for the whole incident. It should make for a fun night time experience. Hopefully I can get a laughing fit out of her.

Night!

Kelley and Momma Rice...

On Tuesday, October 2nd, my mother and I were able to visit the Portland Temple to do some much needed temple work for my father's side of the family. It was an awesome experience to be there with my mother and do their temple work. We have been meaning to do it for a long time but we finally were able to get together and accomplish some of it. The spirit was present for the whole time and I know that they are ecstatic that we started their work. I know that it will take awhile to get everything done but it will be a great excuse to go to the temple more often now. I think having names of family members makes it even more special and more desirable to attend a temple session.

I am glad that my mother has been haunted by family members to get the work rolling. Thanks mom for being a great example for me!

Kelley wins Fantasy Baseball League!

For the past six months I have been participating in the Beaver Roto Baseball League. Well...I should say that for the past eight months, since I started doing research back in February for my team. To my surprise, and the wife's, this past Monday I was crowned the champion. I was able to beat out 9 other teams to claim the 2007 Beaver Roto League Championship! The trophy that I adopted was a WWE Wrestling Championship belt, and I have been going around town like it was the Stanley Cup, I even brought it to bed one night, it made for a good laugh that night.


I would like to thank my wife for her patience and for her cunning comments about fantasy baseball. My favorite comment from her was in regards to doing research for my teams draft. She said that if I spent as much time as I did on baseball that I would get straight A's in my classes. I can't wait to spend some of my winnings on her!

the BIG THREE-ZERO (30)

I'd like to give a shout out to Kelley on his birthday.... this is one of his most favorite days of the whole year. The BIG THREE-ZERO (30) as he referred to it on his last post. Therefore, he's older and wiser so ask him anything you want! (I asked him about spiders – one of my many random questions)

His mom came up Tuesday to spend the day with him. They went to the Temple to do some family work, which was very exciting. Kelley actually baptized his mom for the names. Nice quality time with the Mom... doesn't happen often with busy schedules. Then we hooked up with our friends Tanner, Michelle and their niños Wyatt & Mia for dinner at The Olive Garden. Neverending Pasta Bowl… can’t go wrong with that and breadsticks! Bad service, but it’s the company that counts, right?? It was pouring rain on the drive home… Kelley & Sherril were together and I drove our car. A quick peek at the gas gauge showed a nearly empty tank so I drove home pretty slow to be most fuel efficient. (don't worry, everyone else was going slow because of the weather AND the stretch between Salem & Albany is desperately gas station-less). I was behind Kelley in the hot yellow mustang but he didn’t realize that so he didn't see me pull off for gas in Albany. Too bad my phone decided to be funky on this night. They got home, I wasn’t there, and apparently they saw a bajillion police cars speed past with lights flashing and sirens blaring so Kelley thought the worst…. Especially when he couldn’t get a hold of me on the phone. Poor guy, it was almost a REAL “heart attack”. But then I got home, explained the gas & phone situation and he sighed with relief :)

Kelley had to be out late Tuesday night studying and helping some friends so while he was gone I “heart attacked” the bathroom door with reasons why I love him and made a sign for our front door. Cheesy, but fun.

For the big day, our good friend Amy took us out for lunch to celebrate – Baja Fresh – yum! She’s just great! Kelley did attend both his classes today… good job him. Then after work per his request we had weiner wraps and tater tots for dinner.

[Have to give a shout out to the hilarious movie "Napoleon Dynamite":
Randy: Napoleon, give me some of your tots.
Napoleon: No, go find your own.]

Per request, we also watched a scary movie…. “1408”. Ya, pretty creepy psychologically… check it out sometime. Then we went out for Frosty Floats at Wendy’s to top it off.

Happy Birthday, Husband!

1/3 Life Crisis

My birthday is two days away!!! I am really excited for that but I want to pass along a funny story that happen to me the other day. On October 3rd, I will be turning the BIG THREE-ZERO (30). So I have been telling the wife that I am getting old and she keeps telling me that I am being silly. Then this happened...

We went to the Oregon State - UCLA Football game this past Saturday (OSU lost big time 14-40) but before we got into the game, a man that was taking the tickets acted surprised and confused that I was a student. He said "You're a student?". Once we got to our seats, I told Joo Lin that I was going to have a one-third life crisis (kinda like a midlife crisis) since I have already had a quarter life crisis. She laughed and said I was silly but she was excited to find out that I would be living to be 90. Hopefully I don't disappoint her!!!