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Posts Tagged ‘nike’

New Job

Thursday, July 21st, 2022 No comments

I’ve been bad about documenting events on this this page. One month ago today I started a new job at Nike. I was a contractor, but I interviewed for a full-time position on a different team. Although I hated leaving my old team, I’m really enjoying my new team as well as the benefits of being a full-time employee.

My title is Senior Full-Stack Innovation Engineer and I work in the Technology Innovation Office. The group I’m in is new and still figuring out a lot of things about what we’re working on and how we’re operating, which is exciting. It’s my 5th week and my badge finally started working today. I’ve already had 1 manager change.

I’m really looking forward to what’s to come. My shoe collection is growing tremendously. I have to slow down on buying them.

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Portland Pride 2022

Monday, June 20th, 2022 No comments

What a great weekend this past weekend was! It was great to do Pride in person again for the first time in 3 years. Portland was ready. I don’t know if this one was bigger than 2019, but my Uber driver yesterday said she had never seen so many people in one place.

On Friday night I skipped the event I was supposed to go to because the line was too long. I found out later the line was basically nonexistent about 15-30 minutes later. Oh well. I went to a new bar (opened last November) called The Queen’s Head, which is owned by the guy that used to coach the rugby team I played for a few years ago. They were having a party there. I had a great time.

On Saturday, I went to a local underwear store’s block party. I spent a lot on sexy underwear that I’ll probably never wear. Next I went to Crush and met up with some friends who were bar crawling. I knew a few friends were going to be there, but I didn’t know how large the group would be. They all screamed my name when I walked through the door. Soon after that we went 3 doors down to a new bar called Sissy Bar that had just opened about 3 days before. So many new gay and lesbian bars have opened in Portland recently and more are coming soon. Anyway, this place smelled new. We had so much fun. Around this time the sun came out. It was pouring when I first went out. I was tired so I left the group and went home to rest. That night I went to the Stag for a while. I was thinking about going to either Gaylabration or Blow Pony, but I was so tired from being on my feet all day that I went home. Besides, I needed to be up somewhat early the next day.

On Sunday I got up to march in the pride parade for the 1st time with Nike (there’s an announcement I forgot to make here). A while back I mentioned my issues with how much I can move around. I was nervous about the parade because I wasn’t sure I’d be able to make it to end. I almost decided not to march, even that morning. I’m glad I didn’t change my mind. As usual I saw so many people I know along the route watching the parade, some of whom I met in the past year. Nike required us to wear masks, which made it even more difficult for me. By the end, I was huffing and puffing pretty bad. There were 2 or 3 times were I did take my mask off for a second just to get more air. I’m glad the parade does stop every so often for a few seconds. Once a train stopped us for a while. If it wasn’t for those breaks, I might not have made it. I don’t know how I feel about the new route this year. I went to the festival after I finished marching, which was basically a mud pit after all the rain we have received recently. Afterwards, I was supposed to meet up with some friends, but I was sweaty and exhausted. I wanted to get in a little rest before it was time for the PDX Gaymers Pride Game Night I was hosting later. I say game night, but it was 5-9pm and the sun was still out as we were leaving. Usually our Pride Game Night is on a Saturday, but I was having trouble finding a venue for Saturday night and I decided I wanted to enjoy myself on Saturday this year. I didn’t get much rest before I had to leave, but Game Night was a blast though. We had a great turnout. More proof that people are eager to be social.

An interesting thing is that although the parade and Fathers Day are usually on the same day, this year Juneteeth was the same day. Since it’s a new federal holiday, I don’t know if that’s common. Before the parade, one guy stopped to wish me a Happy Juneteeth. Very nice of him.

This was a very good weekend. I love how happy and proud and excited everyone gets. I love spending time with friends. I love the random run-ins with friends, some of whom I only see at Pride every year. I’m glad to live in a city that’s so accepting of everyone. I made a great decision moving here.

Pride 2022

April Showers

Friday, April 30th, 2021 No comments

April was actually a pretty dry month relatively speaking. I think I remember hearing that we set a record for most consecutive days in April without rain. Anyway, that’s not why I’m here.

I started working as a contractor at Nike at the beginning of the month. I’ve wanted to work for Nike for a long time. They’ve been my dream local company for a while now. I really like the team that I’m on and the work that I’m doing. I’ve already taken 1 trip to the employee store and bought a whole bunch of stuff at discount. The only thing that took away a little enthusiasm is that around the time I interviewed with them, another company showed interest. I couldn’t get an answer from the other company a month ago, but they reached out again a couple of weeks ago and I formally interviewed with them this week. I would feel terrible about leaving Nike so soon, but it would be hard to pass up this opportunity.

I got my 2nd dose of the covid vaccine on April 20. Yeah, the next day was awful like I expected. I had chills, a fever, nausea. Thankfully, I felt much better the next day. I already have plans for some social activities this summer. Some friends and I are planning a cabin getaway Memorial Day Weekend. I’m so excited.

I have so many plants now. I’m sure they were happy for what rain we did get. I’m still a newbie when it comes to raising plants. A lot of what I’m doin now is experimentation.

I got talked into trading in my last week Toyota Corolla for a new car. I decided to get a 2021 Toyota Corolla hybrid. I really loved that Corolla, but I like this one better so far. I remember joking after moving to Portland and seeing so many hybrids that my next car would be one. I didn’t happen that way and all electric seems to be the way to go now, but I’m usually behind on this kind of thing.

Things are looking up. Life is good.