Gosh, why is it that i never have time to type up my blogs?!?  things have been soo busy with work and whatnot that i dont have time to sit down and type up for an hour...but dont worry...i will try my best to review my labor day weekend....

 

it first started great on saturday!! my uncle from puerto rico visited us as he arrived at around 6am!  we were able to attend the yankees game that saturday from which my dad won tickets in a raffle from stryker...yankees played tampa bay and the yanks won that game 9-6!  arod hit a two run homerun and had 4 rbi!  mo rivera got the save and it was a fun game!  i met some great fans there....two in 31 yr old annie and 41 year old kelly!  they were both sweet, from long island, and loved the yanks but they liked me cuz i was very knowledgable about the game and the fact that i didnt brag about being a met fan!  LOL  annie and kelly kept defending me cuz some yanks fans couple rows back were busting my chops...i had my mets hat and my CLEMENTE pirates jersey!  i wasn't going to wear a mets bright orange jersey there....NO WAY!!  so yeah, my uncle, my sister, and my brother also went and we all had a great time!!  we had great seats as it was the first row in the tier section right by the adidias sign at yankees stadium...by the 3rd base side...

 

After that, TGIF!!!  finally i was able to see all my friends in one location!!!  Ms. AG, Marvin, and Jon!!!  it was great!!  unfortunately, i am still a bit shy around my friends and wasn't able to talk as much but its okay...its one of those things for me that i have to get used to and hopefully i can overcome...but it was great nonetheless to catch up with them!!  ms AG with her helmet and motorcycle jacket, her highlights!  Mr. Jon with his usual kindness paying for our meals (btw, thanks jon)..and mr marvin who came after spending the day earlier doing white water rafting with my other friends in PA drove a lot to get to TGIF...i appreciate all of my great friends...im lucky to have 3 enjoying their company!  i really am lucky! 

 

sunday i dont remember doing anything but video games and sleep...ooh yeah, mr marvin passed by and hung out for like 12 hours!!  LOL  we played some bomberman (in which i was victorious), some xbox360 and such, and some nintendo wii (in which marv beat me in golf twice and we had some pokemon tournaments...yeah we are still kids at heart) and we finished the day with me cooking some burgers to the whole family!  marvin couldnt believe his eyes!!  LOL i can cook dude!!  LOL...

 

monday was a fun day!  i hung out with my uncle!  he wanted to eat pizza in nyc so when i woke up at 11am, i started to plan out my day with him!  first off, we needed to visit the toys r us store in times square because he was looking for a shoulder bag for his daughter with the anime InuYasha...after finding that item, take a subway to brooklyn to eat at the famous DiFara Pizzeria in Avenue J...best place in NYC to get some slices (based on internet research)!!!!  that was the initial plan!! quickly my plans changed as we added my sister into the mix!  i decided to take the train to secaucus juction and jump on a train to NYC...i never took the transit train from the rutherford station so that was cool but my sister was always second guessing my decisions!  sucked but whatever...i planned it so i shall stick to it!  anyway, my uncle, sis and i were unable to find the InuYasha shoulder bag in toys r us so we went to a near by famous comic store and nothing...canal street after pizza and nothing...pretty much all of china town and nothing!!    so we have to rely on internet to find what my uncle is looking for...

 

after the comic store, we all decided to go to brooklyn for a trip just to get pizza!  we jumped on the yellow line (R, Q, etc) all the way to Avenue J stop...once we stepped out there was the smell of pizza everywhere!!  it was great!  we found the pizzeria that we wanted to eat at but there was one problem...IT WAS CLOSED!!!  it closes on mondays!!  sucks!  so we (uncle, sis, and i) walked to a near by pizza place and that was packed...than another and another...it seems that every pizza place was packed with customers!!  it was only 3pmish....amazing if you asked me!  eventually we settled for a place owned by jewish people!  it was weird to watch jewish ladies with the patented brooklyn accent but whatever!  it was an entertaining site!  mothers juggling like 5 kids getting the pizza and all that jazz...there were about 20 little kids in that pizza place! we ordered a simple plain pie and it came out to be pretty yummy!!  we sat next to an old lady who was a little high on the dough...i sat across from her and she began talking to us...asking us where we were from, and whatnot....you know, small talk...well everytime she spoke to me, a chunk of her pizza would leave her mouth and into my area of consumption of pizza!  NOT COOL!!  so after smiling it off a few times over, i was able to grab a much needed slice, or two, or 3...lol  then the lady left and we had the table to ourselves..i noticed a jewish lady with like 4 kids sitting next to us and her butt ran into my eatting elbow (since i am lefty and sitting on the left side of the table)...i almost spilled my pizza onto my lap...that would not have been great...anyway she said a small sorry and sat down...none of the "im sooo sorry, are you okay?" talk...none of it...after her little kids devoured that poor pizza, they just got up, washed their hands at a washing station next to the bathrooms (public for anybody to use...the washing sink and soap that is) and they left!  they left their garbage, plates, cups, and snapples on the table!!  that sucks!!  they literally eat and leave!!  well, we cleaned up our end and left quickly..we were starting to feel a little weird...you know, being in brooklyn and all that!  LOL  we ran back the subway and rode our way back to canal street to continue finding the InuYasha bag...

 

we were in canal street looking at a store when we saw a street fight!  4 chinamen vs. 1 indian man!!  the china men had a milk crate and tried to hit the indian man!!  the indian man had a torn shirt and a blooded forehead but from what i heard on the streets, one of the china men had a deep cut right above his eye...dont ask me why they were fighting cuz i dont know anything!  i was minding my own business and then i heard some arguments!!  you know, before that, i saw 2-3 black dudes running away from someone with a luggage (in china town, the vendors sell their goods from their luggages) and was bumping his way into the crowd trying to escape...one of them bumped into this lady and she almost had a heart attack!  she thought her purse was gonna be stolen but the clumy crook was just trying to get away!  i dont know if he did but i didnt care...in canal street, you mind your own buiness!!  lol   after seeing all that chaos, my uncle sis and i decided to head home to end our journey!! 

 

when we got home we had my uncles skirt steaks waiting for us!  totall goodness in every bite!! my uncle is the man!!  Uncle Nestor is the man!!

 

then tuesday came and went...back to work!  i couldn't wait to head back to work!  i dont know what it is but i think i might be falling in love again!!  i know, big words!!  i am falling hard for someone there...just seeing the person or just thinking of seeing the person is always worth coming in to work!!  i mean, i love my work and i always loved driving there but now i feel that i have a purpose (watch the matrix movies about having purposes...LOL)...stay tuned as i try not to mess this up and hopefully make something work out with her...to be honest with you, i can see myself with her for the next 5 years!!  thats how much i feel for her!! 

 

the person is my mentor...jenn...i felt that we bonded when we spoke on thursday about everything topic known to mankind!  seeing her being honest and pouring her heart out is something i truly admire!!  it is a great quality being soo honest and caring that it kills me to hear that her former lover blew it!!  i just wish i dont blow my chance at a great human being...

 

gosh, i still type a ton!!  lol  even on my "Short" messages...well work is going well...i completed 10 online training orientations, met up with my supervisor (things are going very well)...i have lots of expectations since one of the coworkers is leaving for another team (Ferko) so i have to be up to speed soon to help out this team!!  i cant wait to see what challenges lies ahead of me!! 

 

after work, i ran around mahwah for 30 minutes..i am seriously outta shape!! i am 24 yrs old!!  GET BACK INTO SHAPE ALREADY!!!!  after the run, went home and played racquetball in hoboken stevens gym with my friend Allan...i won all 3 matches but again too outa shape!!  this is it! time to kick ass and get it into gear!!  (hopefully)

 

goodnight to all and enjoy this "short" blog as well as the pics i added...one is the view from the yankee game taken by my phone and the second is my sister's baby, JeanCarlos updated!  he is getting big!!!!  oh crap..i forgot to talk about my cousin visiting labor day yesterday!! well yeah, she brought over her daughter, julianna, who will be completing her very first bday in a week!!  she was ADORABLE!!! she started to walk and i was playing with her...gosh it feels great to play with the litle ones!!  also my cousin lizza is engaged (same person who i was talking about at the beginning of this paragraph) so congrats to her!!  damn i should blog more often so that i dont have to type soo much!! tendonitis here i come!!

 

nite nite!!,

manny

Greetings to all,

 

I need some serious sleep!  the last 3 nights, i have been averaging 3 hours of sleep thanks in large part to playing Xbox Live and downloading BomberMan Live and destroying people on it!  lol

 

work went very well as always...one of my co-workers, Dan, celebrated his 20th year of service to the company!  we celebrated by going to a bar and had a toast...i ordered a blue moon and it was great!  i stayed at the bar for about 4 hours because i was talking to jen, my mentor, and jen's good friend whose name escapes me...we chatted non-stop about everything....from life to relationships to work to pretty much any topic you can think of on a thursday night in a pretty busy bar!  lol  lets just say that i really really got to know those two individuals!  but nothing negative, of course...both are great human beings!! 

 

well before that, i chatted with jonathan talman, former presentation skills trainer to co-ops and now in charge of actually making a co-op "program"....he wanted my input on the program and how it can be better...he wants to try new things to kinda challenge the new co-ops in terms of showing them how to manage meetings, taking part in some basic trainings, and meeting other total strangers...one project he wants to try is the phone call meeting project....he created a list of full time employees who all agreed to be on this list and what each co-op has to do is to contact 5 or 7 of those names on the list, schedule a 30 minute meeting just to get to know the person....how cool is that?!  i wish i had that to work on my shyness timid nature! but the suprise of the day was that jonathan asked if he can put my name down on the list!  i was like SURE!!  i think starting work this week and just graduated college, i can relate to those students and i can tell them what it takes to get a full time job and whatnot!  and you know what, i cant wait til next week, when the new batch of co-ops start at stryker!  i think it will be a cool thing...jonathan has other projects but we ran out of time since both him and i speak a lot (and of course, no suprise, i spoke a lot in this meeting with jonathan and at the gathering at the bar tonight!)

 

also there is a fall bowling league at stryker so i sent out an email asking to join this league...they will bowl at the montvale lanes and the prices per week is 15 bucks with a 20 dollar one time entry fee...not bad i guess...with that weekly price, i bettter get like 10 games in or something!!  lol  well anyway, the people in charge of putting this together asked if i was alone or was i going to create a team and i thought to myself...thats a great idea!  why dont i start a custom implants bowling team!! that could be the best way to bond and work (kinda) together!!  so i went with it...i pitched the idea to my team by telling them that its okay to suck in bowling because we are going to have fun...one guy said no right off the bat, one chick will show up to cheer us on, another chick has grad classes on wednesdays (which is when the bowling will take place, every wednesdays), and the remaining 3 dudes on my team are tentative!  so far, we have one at the moment...me!  lol  so we shall see what we can do but its cool that i am taking some initivatives and im trying to start something here with the team...lets see how far this can go...

 

also i got my very first design job as a full time employee...i found out how rusty i was with pro/e so i had to play around with it rather quickly...i was able to take care of the first part of the problem and i have another that im going to try to figure out tomorrow...problem is i have a oracle (program they use) purchasing training class (in which i can cut purchase orders for my team if nobody else can (i.e. planners on vacations))...the training starts at 830am and ends at 4pm!  i think only a hand full of us are working tomorrow...i believe tracy and jen will be holding the fort down while i train and everybody else takes a day off because....Monday is Labor Day!!  Great!!  my first (Finally) holiday in which i will get PAID FOR!!!  also my first holiday as a full time...okay okay, i ran with it too much but it was fun while it lasted...

 

so yeah, the transition couldnt be going any smoothier!!  i love what i am doing and its great!  as for dad, first blood works results came back negative so thats a huge sigh of relief!!  i hope he feels better soon  (thanks for the wishes...you know who you are)

 

thats it..i need sleep or else i will pass out during my (from what i hear is very boring) training class!!  take care and have a great day! 

 

thanks,

manny colon

associate project engineer

custom implants team

 

PS: also i got my office supplies that i order yesterday!! now i feel kinda like a full time!!!  sexy pens and pencils and a boat load of post-it notes!!  what would i do without those!! lol  goodnight world!

 

I CANT WAIT FOR TGIF!!!!   =D

I am feeling tired. i can't sleep and im going to try now...wish me luck trying to get up for work

Well things didn't start too good at first during my first full day working full time...when i woke up, i noticed that my dad's exy car was still in the garage so i went upstairs to check up on him and he was semi-awake but he was telling me that he couldn't feel his face and arms, i became concerned...needless to say i was a tad freaked out....after talking to my dad, i lost tract of time and i was almost late to work!  i was able to call my supervisor, Aaron, and told him of my situation...i got to work at 8:30am and i told Aaron more of my dad's situation...a lot of stuff have been going on at home with my older brother and his wife staying with us, my mom's disapproval of having the brother and wife stay with us...im going to try to keep this short and simple since it is already midnight and i have to start sleeping a little bit earlier...

 

so my dad is going thru a lot...i understand where he is coming from, trying to take care of his first child...but i also understand my mom's reason because she feels that we need the attention with the immediate family and not with my older brother and his wife...my mom feels that they are taking advantage of dad but dad doesn't want to voice out his opinion because that's his oldest son...

 

i personally don't care if they stay or go but i never had that older sibling so it is kinda cool to hang out with the older brother and play nintendo Wii and shoot some hoops and grab some late night dinner and stuff like that but i know its not going to work out because of the conflicting reasons of my mom and dad and since we dont all talk about it with my older brother and wife, the problem will continue and remain unchanged...

 

another reason is that my mom's brother is coming by to visit us from Puerto Rico on Sept. 1st and right now, we dont have enough beds...so we shall see how this will pan out...

 

soo with all this that has been going on and the fact that my dad was the only income for all of us prior to this week, you can imagine what kind of stress he was going thru...so last week he went to the doctor to get some prescribed drugs to calm his nerves but he was advised to only take them when he needs it...mom and i think that he has been taking them more than he needs to and i think because of that, the drug is reaction negatively in his body!  he told me that he was feeling light-headed and that he was dizzy so i told mom and him that they better go to the doctor, TODAY!!

 

so i got to work, told my team what was going on with my dad, and they were all concerned...they wanted to know more if there were any other info available...the first half hour was hard to concentrate and read the material that i had to read but luckily one of my co-workers, Jen, wanted to chat with me at the cafeteria...i thought that we were going to talk about business and whatnot like ordering my business cards and stuff like that but instead we had an informal chat for about an hour straight!  just to get to know each other and that was pretty cool...i was able to calm down and enjoy her company...she is from texas and went to school in NC State...played tennis in the varsity level and was pretty good...she has beautiful eyes and it was easy to make contact with her eyes!  lol  but in all seriousness, that chat was just what i needed to get back into focus mode...after the one hour of chill chatting, we jumped into business and she gave me tons of paper work to read which pertains to the custom implants process and all the papers that's needed to get a case study approved by RA (regulartory assurance, i believe)...so that was cool

 

then after that, i went back to my desk and organized my calendar in my outlook mailbox and i have some pending travel trips with some of the co-workers which include some cadaver labs in Phoenix, some sales training in mahwah (in the new building, and yes there is a new building up there in Mahwah  hehe), and a conference called "advancement in surgical techniques" in new york, new york...so my remaining 2007 year will be pretty busy traveling around as i try to get a hold of everything from product development, body parts, surgical procedure, and just plain bonding with my teammates

 

i was shocked that stryker was serving sushi for lunch today!  i didnt know until i ordered my hot panini sandwich so i couldnt resist some yummy sushi (this is the same person who ate 36 pieces of sushi in one sitting at Aroma hehe) so i got the fresh 8-piece crabmeat and everything was amazing!!  i sat outside in the courtyard with one of my coworkers, tracy (from stevens, graduated in 2005, former co-op at Stryker) and Brian G. (former co-op and now full time at stryker as well)...we caught up on a lot of things but its great to hang out with some of your peers!!!

 

after lunch, i met up with my supervisor to discuss those pending trips and how i should go about registering for those events and we had a great discussion...we spoke about baseball, my dad's health, my learning curve, what is expected of me, ultimate fighting championship, and stuff like that!!  totally random stuff but topics that just flowed...nothing was forced and that is the cool thing about the team i am working in...everybody is soo down to earth and laid back...Aaron, the supervisor, told me that the team needed a kick, a spice, a positive influence and he said that with my joining of the team, it is going to be and is a refreshing experience for everyone on the team...now when i heard that, i didnt think i can make such a different to a great team but maybe thats what they need...an upbeat personality so i hope to exceed his and the team's expectations...

 

after our meeting, we met up with the VP of Customs, her name is Meg and she is amazingly cool!!  i sat down in her office with Aaron and we had a fantastic conversation!!  i told her a little bit about myself and i think i spoke too much!!  lol  but it was good to have the support of Aaron with how i am doing thru 2 days with the team and from what i heard from Aaron, Meg is very supportive of the Custom implants team!  its just soo great to have met her and see how cool and down to earth she was!  like i told her, i can't wait to start helping out the team with the cases!!  a lot is expected of me but a lot of good things can come out of it and thats what i am aiming for!  its such a great feeling...i just wish i can bottle it up and take it home with me with the situation thats going on at home...

 

after that, i pretty much organized my day for tomorrow, scheduled some meetings, and read up on more stuff to try to get up to speed...

 

so i left at 620pm and got home before 7pm...i saw my dad and mom with the baby JeanCarlos...i asked how my dad was doing and he didnt say, just that he was feeling okay...then my mom calls me over to the kitchen and she told me that she quit her job!  i was shocked!!!  she just started working yesterday, well monday...but she said that there was a lot of work and not too good with the pay and just a lot of problems at home with dad and somebody has to take care of my sister's baby cuz she was working today at the bowling alley until 10pm so my mom sacrificed her job for us!  she is totally unselfish...i felt bad but she assured me that things will be okay and that she is will work again

 

as for the update with my dad...the doctor gave him different meds but also suggested that he take a leave of absense due to his serious condition...not good!!  the company will know about this tomorrow and my dad has to head back tomorrow again to the doctor's office because the took some blood from him to be tested, just in case...i hope it is negative...please pray for him...

 

thats all i did....i tried to play some video games to relax my mind from everything and i spoke to marvin...he wanted to know how was my first week at work and i told him its too much for me to talk about over the phone (and since i talk a ton, it was a smart idea not to) and instead i directed him to my blog so hopefully he reads it!!  lol 

 

well take care and goodnight...and also please treasure your time with your loved ones because nothing is guarenteed, even your health

 

thanks for reading...take care

 

manny

so yes, were was i....yes, i used up my free lunch ticket and had a yummy lunch!  i love pasta so i jumped into that and at stryker, any type of food you can get is always delicious!!  after that we finished up what was left of the orientation by going over the voicemail, outlook email, and so forth...after that, they pretty much dropped us off to our respective teams and all the new hires wished each other the best of luck in our first day at the job!  i was dropped off to the custom implants team and everything was set up!  i have my own laptop, desk area, and a few other goodies...a couple of things i did was set up my voicemail, outlook signature, and pretty much get used to the settings and the environment...i met up with my supervisor, Aaron, and we spoke in the cafeteria and it was a nice chat...we spoke about pretty much everything and anything for about 30 minutes...afterwards, i met up with the rest of the team including Jen, Tracy, and Dan...John, another teammate of ours, wasn't in today but will be in tomorow...i will let you know what i will be doing exactly as i try to catch up to speed with the rest of the team...i tried catching up to everything up until 620pm when i checked out of the company and finished my first day at the job!! 

 

i am very excited to be a part of something big at stryker and i can't wait to start participating in all the team functions...there is some travel opportunity in the next few months going into the field visiting doctors and chatting with them and gaining some feedback and letting them know what we can do for them...i will add more as i learn more about it

 

and thats about it....as for last weekend, it was great....my friends Marvin, Jose, Jose's sister, and Jose's cousin passed by on Sunday, August 26th, and chilled with my family and i....they brought tons of food and with my dad's grill, we were able to have a yummy BBQ!!  also we were playing the Nintendo Wii and actually had an event amongst us titled the Nintendo Wii Olympics!!  the first event was Tennis and we had 6 people (including myself and my little brother) and we created teams and had a great time!  we tried to make it competitive but everybody had plans later in the evening so we weren't able to crown the champs...after that, we did bowling in which Marvin and I teamed up to face Jose, Miggy (Jose's sis) and Marc (Jose's cuz) and Marv and I got destroyed!!  the first game i bowled well but crapped out afterwards!  lol  we played i think like 4 matches and we lost all four...it was a rough day for marv and i ...after that we tried golf but marvin had to go...we were able to finish the event without marvin and afterwards, i drove Jose, Miggy, and Marc to Newport Mall for them to meet up with their friends to catch a movie

 

It was a great night just relaxing and just chillling with your good friends...nothing beats that!  i just hope we can have more of that in the near future...

 

as for right now, i am going to sleep...i will try to get in at 7am tomorrow for my first full work day so wish me luck...talk to you soon and i will blog again!  take care and goodnight!

 

Thanks,

Manny Colon

Custom Implants Team

Associate Engineer