Job and Other Fun Stuff

Well, I suppose you can say that I'm finally back to blogging. Sort of. Sorry for the long delay - getting situation in my new job has been pretty hectic.

I guess the last time I posted was almost 2 months ago now. How time flies!

So what am I doing exactly (I still ask myself that sometimes)? I am a market analyst for a Chinese company that tracks and evaluates metal commodities. I track metals and spend all day speaking with people in the Americas (my part of the world to cover) and speaking in English and Spanish about prices and trends for different metals. Then, the analysts at my company write articles about the market and they get published on our web site, to which companies subscribe for the market intelligence. That's it in a nutshell.

My schedule is fairly erratic, and I am almost never home before 6:30. 6 if I'm lucky. I have been in the office until 8:00 p.m. however. Those days suck. And, of course, I am still in Pittsburgh. There are definitely worse places to be, but after all of those applications for graduate school and jobs in DC, New York and California, I find it to be a little more than ironic.

Anyhow, I'm thinking about subsequent posts and wondering what readers might enjoy next. I don't want to talk about my job - frankly, I spend all day here in the office thinking about metals and my blog was designed for the sole purpose of having fun. So, no shop talk here.

Any suggestions from cyberspace? Any and all are welcome!

And finally, we have had such amazing weather lately! It's about 75 today, cool breeze, low humidity, and the bright blue sky is populated with adorable popcorn clouds and a fantastic sun. I love days like these, except I hate that I have to spend them mostly indoors. I did go for an extended walk today on my lunch break, but that's hardly enough when the summer is almost at an end and I have had very few typical summer pleasures so far. Oh well, I suppose that's life and that's all there is to it. It is depressing, however, to constantly want more, more experiences, more fun more excitement, and you are bottled up in the office or in the confines of your own home where cleaning is the top priority. I suppose I have entered that parallel university they call.. Reality.

God, save me.

Job Prospectives #2

So, I'm going to officially say THANK YOU to all of you who gave me good ju-ju!

IT WORKED!

I start tomorrow in my new position, as an International Markets Research Analyst with Asian Metal (http://www.asianmetal.com/).

Defintiely excited, but sad to be leaving the University of Pittsburgh. These people have made my first two years in the work force wonderful, flexible, happy, and with lots of time off. I cannot thank them enough for helping me to really enjoy my first two years (with minor exceptions).

But, alas, it's time to try and put my degree to use. I'll be calling companies in South America and doing research on the metals industry in South America, which means utilizing my Spanish. Which is awesome.
Plus, it's Chinese company, which does lots of conferences in China, so there should be ample opportunity to travel back to China! I am particularly excited about that. And, while most people wouldn't think the metals industry is very interesting, think about where the metal comes from that it in your car. Computer. Cell phone. Jewelry. Cook-ware. The list goes on and on.

And the metals industry is incredibly important to the development of both China and Latin America, insofar as the mining and refinery industries create jobs, and trade brings in money. So it's a great industry for my areas of research.

I suppose we'll see how interesting the iron ore/steel/scrap metal industry is.. That's my field of research..