I called my sweet Eriko this morning, at about 3:30 AM (8:30 in Nagoya). It was wonderful to hear her voice, but it was a difficult phone call. She told me she sees everything in life negatively right now. I tried to comfort her, to cheer her up, but I don’t feel as if I was successful. I know a hug would have worked wonders, but how can I embrace her with words?

Alex and I went out for food at India Bistro in Ballard tonight. It was delicious and I am tired. Something about Indian food… I feel stoned. ;P I switch cubes with Joe on Friday and will start as a developer on Monday. I’m ready. With the way I’m feeling right now (zzz) I doubt I will call Eriko tomorrow morning. Looks like Friday morning. X)

Today I found out that I will be a developer at Isilon. I am very happy. Eriko is proud of me. X)

Today I have been given a great opportunity – to interview for a software development position with Isilon. I had one interview so far and I think it went pretty good. Not perfect, but good. I have another at 4 and yet another at 5. I was scheduled for another at noon or 3 – but I’m not sure whether that will happen. Eriko has been very busy – she has no time to email me – but I can always feel her love. Oh, and I had food poisoning last night. L A M E. ;P

Through the rain, with my black cap on and an old briefcase in my hand, I trudged to the post office; I placed a manilla envelope, the culmination of several months of work, into the hands of the US postal service; now I wait to hear whether I am accepted into the UW Professional Master’s Program. Eriko is now an aunt, twice-over, with the birth of Sakura – her brother’s daughter. At Isilon, I am now responsible for assigning, prioritizing, and following up on tasks/bugs for the “system” team.

As the end of January approaches, so does the deadline for my grad school application. I have spent most of today revising, reading, revising, sending to my friend Kris for help, revising, reading… ;P I officially applied on Friday, so I want to mail the materials out on Monday. Also, two more months until I see Eriko. X)