GTBKOC: Palo Verde Graduate Housing

So it is nine o'clock and let's face it. I am not going anywhere else tonight. It is has been a long day. Full of eight hours of work and two hours of class.  Anyways, now seems like a good time to give you a tour of my current living situation.

So here it is! That is the door to my apartment. Inside are mysteries I'll save for a later date. In the meantime, there it is. That plant looks sad and dead and well, it is. Still, I like the austerity and it is something unique to stop me from entering the wrong apartment.

That is my building on the right. Our apartment is on the top floor and if you look carefully, between the branches you can the window to my room. You can't tell from this shot but I can actually see all the way to Costa Mesa from up there.

Palo Verde houses exclusively graduate students and their families but it is massive and, at the right angles, would have made Piranesi gasp.

Still, at other angles it is quite nice.

 

It even has its own garden area where willing residents can sign up for plots.

 

Also, I now live in the land of baby trees.

And here it is in all its splendor, adorning the very edge of UCI's campus.

This was fun, was it not?

ItsTtoBloggin: New Job!

The Richman Group Company Headquarters in Connecticut

Quite a bit has happened recently but I'll start with the most exciting news. I am employed again!

The Hamilton, a Richman Group development in New York

About two weeks ago I received an email from the Cornell AAP (Architecture Art and Planning) career services about a full time summer position working for a development company. I probably get an email from them about once a month with job opportunities but they are normally located in New York or Chicago. However, this job would be in Yorba Linda, California, or about halfway in between Irvine and Loma Linda. Convenient.

I whipped up a great cover letter and sent that off with my resume. A few hours later I had an interview lined up for the following Monday. The catch came on Sunday when I got a second email requesting that I bring a pro forma along with me. I had to look up what a pro forma was and even then, had to call my good friend Tanner to have him explain it to me.

I emailed back and explained that if they were looking for an analyst I don't have any experience as such. Luckily, they emailed back and said they were still interested in meeting.

The interview took place at a Starbucks in Yorba Linda. Even though the Richman Group has some ten billion dollars worth of real estate holdings, they do not yet have an office in California. Pam, the woman who was interviewing me, came out to California to start TRG Pacific Development (TRG stands for The Richman Group) three years ago and has been so busy with proposals and construction that finding an office hasn't been a priority until now. Anyways, the interview went great and a few days later I was hired!

 Not a Richman Group holding, "the Michelson"

I have been telling everyone this but, it turns out a Cornell connection is worth more than any actual experience or knowledge.

Oh and I work mostly from home, more on that later, but every once in a while I get to go out. Yesterday I attended a reception for the Urban Land Initiative on the roof garden of the newest and tallest building in Orange County.

Sky Garden on top of the Michelson, my apartment is right where the railing meets the far wall

Kari and I are engaged!

and I couldn't be happier.

I also am now living in Irvine, CA. I know, I know. This is a lot for one blog post. I just want to say that I am entering a new phase of my life (Engagement and Grad School Part II) and for those of you who still occasionally glance this way, I am planning on keeping up this blog as a way of sharing my new experiences. So, in the first stages, keep an eye out for two new types of posts: ItsTtoBloggin (It is Time to Blog Again) and GTBKOC (Get to Better Know Orange County).