Frozen

January 2010 has been the coldest month since 1987 in Denmark. So far everyday with the exception of 1 or 2 days has been below freezing. It has snowed here a handful of times during the month with the majority of it coming in the last few days. Today was a blustery -7 degrees centigrade which really didnt seem that cold until the wind started blowing. The reason for this little history lesson is that if you arent familiar with Copenhagen, there are these man made lakes that separate the burrow or Norrebro from what can be considered central Copenhagen. These lakes have of course frozen over because of the cold weather. The ice is thick enough to hold a substantial amount of weight and today I saw it with my own eyes. There were a few hundred people out ice skating and playing on the lakes. Each lake is quite large. I would estimate that if you took a football field and placed it on top...the width of the lake would equal the length of the football field. Then if you covered the lakes with football fields, I would say you could probably fit maybe 15 or 20 fields on just one lake. Thats a pretty rough estimate though...the point is that the lakes are pretty large. Its pretty cool though that since they have frozen over it has created a massive area for people to play on congregate that normally isnt there. Even when the lakes are not frozen, they arent really used for anything. This is where a lot of trash ends up and a large majority of the run off from the rain ends up. All in all they are just big duck ponds.

So today was a fun kind of experience. It remains to be seen if I will ever get to do that again considering it has been 23 years since the last time they froze over like that.

The next thing I am curious to see is the harbor area. Apparently the ice breaking ships have been on call for a couple weeks now due to the freezing temperatures so I wonder if there is some ice floating around in the sea.

Well the month is coming to and end, I m finishing my contract with IBM and I havent been able to secure a new job. My lack of a new job is not, by any means, due to a sub par effort. I have indeed put in a number of different applications, however many of the deadlines are just now expiring. Hopefully in the next month I will have the opportunity to wow a hiring manager and obtain a position. I am pretty excited about the professional life that is on the horizon. Being a student has definitely had its advantages but its not all glorious. I ve spent 22 years of my life in academic institutions so the transition into a new realm is welcomed.

Life after graduation

So I finished my masters degree a couple of months ago and I have determined that life after graduation has a lot of potential. It has the potential to be great beyond my wildest dreams. However the current in between phase that I am stuck in pretty much sucks. I have been searching for job...and applying...but still with little luck. I was essentially turned down for 2 jobs that I could do hog tied. I had already been working in a position for 2 years that was quite similar in a variety of aspects to the position I applied for, however, it seems that I am still running into the same catch 22. I dont have enough specific experience in my field of choice, but I am unable to get the experience without a job.

Maybe when I meet people for the first time or interview, people look at me and think I m stupid or something. This thought was actually brought about when a few days ago one of my work colleagues said that she thought I would suck at the job I have been at for 2 years when I was first hired. I of course did not suck at my job and actually moved into a pseudo management roll and team lead position. I tend to excel in the business environment. I attribute that to my massive amounts of common sense. It more than makes up for what I lack in book smarts. I have just always had a strong work ethic when I work. My dad seems to have played a large roll in this. Whether he likes his job or not, he has always put forth a strong effort and left the excuses for everyone else. He is also a fairly humble individual. Anyone with any sense of pride would work hard and do the job right.

Its just a shame that so far a masters degree is not paying any dividends and its just a 40k piece of paper...that I have still yet to receive in the mail.