Jules recently discovered that you could purchase old school Nintendo games on the Wii and play them for under a fiver. She was quite excited when we downloaded Mario Bros. 3 and told me that she used to play it religiously. I really didn't believe her until we started to play and man, she knew EVERYTHING. She knew when to jump, where to jump, where the secret coins are, etc. etc. etc. I kept dying and was watching her play in complete amazment. I just got out geeked by my GF! Makes me feel proud somehow.
I later downloaded Double Dragon. For a game that has a character named "Abobo", it's held up against the test of time pretty well.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Monday, June 16, 2008
Goody Goody Gumdrops!
A month ago, I blogged about the dodgy experiences I've had with job opportunities that I found on Gumtree. Ironicly, I'm now blogging about the best interview experience EVER thanks to the site. This past monday, after a gruelling week of coffee making (I'll blog that later), I travelled to North London for an interview I had set up via Gumtree. I went in with no expectations, partly because I was so jaded from previous experiences and partly because I didn't have time to look up the company.
When I walked into the office (which was a residential unit tranformed into office space), I was first greeted by a friendly lady followed by a DOG. Before the lady could say "I hope you don't mind dogs", the large canine (for those who remember Jesse, they're about the same size) jumped all over me and I was goofing around with the playful pet. The owner of the company came out, shook my hand, and we were off to do the interview. The woman turned out to be the creative director, and she joined in as well.
There was just something about these people that I instantly clicked with. When they talked about the company and the position, they weren't just talking business. They were talking career paths, passion, work/life balance, team atmosphere, and being honest and transparent with one another in the company. I felt safe to completely open up and talk about my career and life goals, which resulted in the best time I've ever had applying for a job. For an hour an a half, there was more laughter going on then there were canned interview questions like "what are your greatest weakness?" or "what do you see yourself doing in 5 years?". Well, those questions were asked as well, but when they asked them, it felt like they actually cared for the answers that I was giving them. To sweeten the deal, the company does marketing for restaurants and hospitality businesses, and I was to be their studio project manager.
The company felt like it was on the same page with me and I will be in a position to contribute enormously and learn a hell of a lot at the same time. I ended the interview by saying "I came in here to see I was a good fit with the company and vice versa. If so, great. If not, no hard feelings." They responded to that with "Don't worry, you're going to be a great fit." I felt extremely confident that I got this job, but then you can never be certain until they offer you the job, yeah?
For four days, I anticipated their call. I didn't care if they called with a positive or a negative response, I just wanted them to call me with SOMEthing. OK, I lied, I wanted them to tell me that my gut instinct was right and I will start work soon, but either way I needed closure. It's very rare that I feel so certain about a job and felt so excited to be part of a company. Even with my last gig, I felt a bit of reservation. Well, we all knew how that turned out.
On friday afternoon, I got the call to join the team. Not only am I relieved that I will be working again, but I'm also very certain that it's with the right company this time around. It'll certainly last longer then three weeks. ;)
When I walked into the office (which was a residential unit tranformed into office space), I was first greeted by a friendly lady followed by a DOG. Before the lady could say "I hope you don't mind dogs", the large canine (for those who remember Jesse, they're about the same size) jumped all over me and I was goofing around with the playful pet. The owner of the company came out, shook my hand, and we were off to do the interview. The woman turned out to be the creative director, and she joined in as well.
There was just something about these people that I instantly clicked with. When they talked about the company and the position, they weren't just talking business. They were talking career paths, passion, work/life balance, team atmosphere, and being honest and transparent with one another in the company. I felt safe to completely open up and talk about my career and life goals, which resulted in the best time I've ever had applying for a job. For an hour an a half, there was more laughter going on then there were canned interview questions like "what are your greatest weakness?" or "what do you see yourself doing in 5 years?". Well, those questions were asked as well, but when they asked them, it felt like they actually cared for the answers that I was giving them. To sweeten the deal, the company does marketing for restaurants and hospitality businesses, and I was to be their studio project manager.
The company felt like it was on the same page with me and I will be in a position to contribute enormously and learn a hell of a lot at the same time. I ended the interview by saying "I came in here to see I was a good fit with the company and vice versa. If so, great. If not, no hard feelings." They responded to that with "Don't worry, you're going to be a great fit." I felt extremely confident that I got this job, but then you can never be certain until they offer you the job, yeah?
For four days, I anticipated their call. I didn't care if they called with a positive or a negative response, I just wanted them to call me with SOMEthing. OK, I lied, I wanted them to tell me that my gut instinct was right and I will start work soon, but either way I needed closure. It's very rare that I feel so certain about a job and felt so excited to be part of a company. Even with my last gig, I felt a bit of reservation. Well, we all knew how that turned out.
On friday afternoon, I got the call to join the team. Not only am I relieved that I will be working again, but I'm also very certain that it's with the right company this time around. It'll certainly last longer then three weeks. ;)
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