Tests

It's been a while since I've written, but we just recently moved into our new house and don't the internet yet. Right now I am using what I like to call and "internet stick", which connects through a mobile WAP to the internet. It's great to have when you are bored.

Guess what? I got a job call back. I applied for a job about 2 weeks ago. The next day I received a call asking me to come in for the recruitment test a week later (last week). The recruitment test was a small personality questionnaire followed by the Wonderlic test. The personality questionnaire was interesting. The front side had a bunch of traits (energetic, polite, determined, loyal, etc.) and you were to pick which traits you think people expect you to have. On the back were those same traits and you were to pick which traits you believe you do possess. It seemed dumb, considering who in their right mind would call themselves disloyal or rude? But it must serve some useful purpose I'm sure. Afterwards we had the Wonderlic test. If you haven't heard of it, look it up. I prepared as internet research led me to some sites saying this particular company gives these type of tests. It is comprised of 50 IQ type logic/ reasoning questions, and you have 12 minutes to answer as many as you can correctly. It is a mixture of both multiple choice and ones you have to enter the answer yourself, both easy and difficult. You are not expected to finish it, and you are only marked on correct answers.

From what I read online, a decent (average) mark is over 20, excellent is over 30. The company actually only requires over 16 for a call back. I completed 39 questions upon the timer going off at the test. The next day I called back and found out I got a 33! Woo! So now I am going for my second test on the 24th. It is apparently the same test to check for consistency (a waste of time IMHO).

Interesting fact: People put pictures on their resumes here.

For those intrigued-- here are some Wonderlic type questions:

1. If three inches of rope cost 7 cents, how much would 2 feet of rope cost?

2. What is the next number in the sequence: 5, 10, 20, 40,...?

3. An instrument store gives a 10% discount to all students off the original cost of an instrument. During a back to school sale an additional 15% is taken off the discounted price. Julie, a student at the local high school, purchases a flute for $306. How much did it originally cost?

4. If the perimeter of a rectangular house is 25 1/3 yards, and the length is 22 feet. What is the width?

5. The scientist was able to evoke powerful emotions from her audience. Evoke means
A. Sell B. Calm C. Call forth D. Exaggerate

6. VINTAGE NOVELTY these words:
A: Have similar meanings.
B: Have opposite meanings.
C: Have neither similar nor opposite meanings.

7. Assume the first 2 statements are true. Is the final one:
1. True 2. False 3. Not certain
The boy plays baseball.
All baseball players wear hats.
The boy wears a hat.

8. Which of the following numbers represents the smallest amount: 0.400, 0.04, 4.0, 40?

9. In printing an article of 48,000 words, a printer decides to use two sizes of type. Using the larger type, a printed page contains 1,800 words. Using smaller type, a page contains 2,400 words. The article is allotted 21 full pages in a magazine. How many pages must be in smaller type? (although not necesarily difficult, I actually skipped this question on the test as I knew too much time would be spent on it)

10. A boy is 17 years old and his sister is twice as old. When the boy is 23 years old, what will be the age of his sister?

Have fun!

Still running... and the MOVE

I'm on week 2... woo hoo. It's crazy but I already feel better about myself. I'm sure there are no physical changes whatsoever, but mentally I feel a hell of a lot more confident. It also helps that I eat whatever I want guilt free. Love it!

Friiiidayyy we get to move into the new house! I am so excited. It was an extremely long process, apparently banks take 2-3 weeks just to release a promissary note, and another 2ish weeks to transfer the funds to the seller. Luckily our seller was willing to let us move in on the promissary note alone. Thank god. Corporate temp housing is great in that it's free... but doesn't let us feel at home. It's temporary, just like it's namesake, not allowing you to feel like this is a move,but rather an extended vacation.

So about the house... it's a three bedroom, office, family room, living room, dining room, kitchen, maids quarters, 3.5 bathrooms, balcony, patio, and 2600 squ feet. I love it. Let's walk you through it... when you come in the front door, the stairs are to the left hand side, with a lighted walk way all the way up. Straight ahead is the small hall, with an office on the right and a 1/2 bath on the left. The hall opens to the living/dining area with a walk out to the backyard. On the right is the entrance to the eat-in kitchen. From the kitchen there is a second door to the patio, as well as a door to the laundry area. The laundry area opens up into the backyard. The back portion of the laundry area houses a door to the front driveway, as well as the door to the maid's quarters and maid's bathroom. Upstairs when you exit the stairway you walk into the family room with a walk out balcony. On the right is the entrance to the master bedroom with a walk in his/hers closet and full bathroom. Behind the family room straight ahead is a guest bathroom, and on either side of it are guest bedrooms equipped with a built in california closet unit.

The curb appeal of the house is awesome too. Drive up to luscious (and I mean luscious!) green grass with a decorated palm on the front lawn. The pathway to the front door is lined with white stones and decorative flowers. There is a long window framing the stairway of the house and a covered driveway with concrete pillars. The backyard has some decorative work along the back wall (backyards are fenced by concrete here, not metal fences), and we will be putting in a small garden ourselves. I have to find another word for decorative :.

It's an awesome house, perfect for entertaining and boy do we plan to do a lot of that. It's a fully gated community with only one entrance/exit and 24 hour security, including guards who ride through the neighborhood on bikes. There is a pool, tennis courts, parks, barbecue area, gym, and social area. It's like living in a resort. So excited.

Checking in...

Did my run again yesterday. I honestly already feel better about myself. It's incredible, the mental benefits that physical exercize can achieve. I will do my last run tomorrow because I didn't take into account that I should let my body rest. No big deal.

Accountability

I've always been some who positive reinforcement works great, and negative reinforcement will funnel me into a neverending hole. Sounds drastics but it's true. Minor, fictional example-- if someone says "Niki's a b*tch", I will probably go out of my way to be exactly that to that individual, because if they already think so poorly of me what do I care to change that perception. On the other hand if someone thinks I can succeed even if I don't think I can, I will go out of my way to try my hardest because I don't want to disapoint the person. Classic example in the life of Niki: In my junior year of high school, I was taking an academic math course. Now our school split courses into 3 levels, lowest to highest being applied, academic, and advanced. After my first test in the academic class, which I achieved something around the low 90s on, my teacher approached me and asked why I am taking the academic course. I said, I don't think I'd be able to do very well in it. She responded that she thinks I'd be able to far surpass most of the kids in it.I received a 98% in her class, and the next year I switched to advanced math courses, and eventually got into university for Honors Mathematics. I just couldn't let her already high perception drop.

One of our guests is a major marathon runner. Does it often, and travels countries to participate. The second day he was here, he was talking about his trainings and what he does, and I offhand said "Wow, that's awesome... I could never do it". He looked at me and said "yes you could. I guarantee it. and you'd love it." Interestingly enough this guy is a teacher... hmm. Anyways, once he planted that seed I spent the last week thinking about it. Keep in mind, I get winded after running a few minutes.

So off I went google searching on how to train my body. Most of the marathon sites said before you start training for an actual half/full marathon you need to be able to run comfortably for 30 minutes. So I have yet to get to that level. I then found a site which outlines how to get up to that 30 minutes. I have decided to follow it religiously.

Now M thinks the first couples week are ridiculous, and I considered skipping ahead. But I ultimately opted against it. I want to start from the beginning and do this the long way. No skipping corners. My running days initially will be TWT, and once I hit 4 days, will probably add in a weekend day. I started today.

Readers (all one? of you), are my accountability. Knowing that someone is going to be watching me succeed (or possibly fail) will push me to ensure I do it. Right now my goal and what I would be ecstatic about is being able to run for 30 minutes straight. My ultimate goal is to achieve runners high.

Here goes nothing...

Ex-pat Parties

On Saturday, M, myself, and our guests (who are now 3, one guy arrived Saturday) headed out to our real estate agent's engagement pool party/ bbq type of deal. It was quite an interesting experience.

We headed in around 8 PM (which is already very dark here in Panama, where the sun sets at 6:30). There are groups of people everywhere, kind of mingling around and doing their thing. Our agent is engaged to a Panamanian girl, so there was a mix of Americans and Panamanians alike. What was intrigueing was the fact that the American native English speakers cliqued together, as did the Panamanian native Spanish speakers. This was odd, as the majority of people were fully bilingual. I guess speaking to those who speak your native language is a breath of fresh air for the brain (or something).

The group was a interesting bunch. There were your ex-pats, like our agent, who lived in Panama because they love the country, love the life, and just enjoy the culture. Lives quite humbly and mingles with everyone. Then there are those ex-pats who are there totally exploiting the benefits the country gives foreigners. Living lavishing lifestyles, not interacting with local people whatsoever, and just doing their thing to push them selves ahead. I don't know which is better in the end, but I definitely think the former is more respectable.

Granted, we did buy a car which would be way above our status level in Canada, and why? Because we could afford it here. But at the same time, we shop at the area which is normally just for locals, we are meeting people from all over, not sticking to the ex-pat community.

It's an interesting concept, being an ex-pat, and people tend to define themselves differently because of it. I think I want to still live like it's my country, even though we can afford to be extravagent in some areas, I don't think we'll exploit that at every given opportunity.

I am totally babbling... it was a weird experience and it's hard to put into words. I'll stop while I stil somewhat have some dignity.

Another Perspective

Yesterday, one of M's cousin's old roommate's older brother and his friend (did you get that?) came down to Panama and crashed with us. It's really interestig hearing different perspectives of things. One thing that really shocked them and had them talking for a good 20 minutes, was the way construction workers whistle at girls on the street. Mind you, they are good-sized guys and I was walking between them. Workers were whistling from the 20th-25th floors of building, constantly. Even if you looked out the window, any women/ girl that walked by got catcalled. They found this aggresiveness astonishing and highly amusing.

Crybaby

Ok, so I've decided to stop numbering my posts by day. It makes my lazy days glaringly obvious, and I'd prefer not to have that.

So yesterday as I was dropping M back to work after lunch. OH! Did I mention? He comes home for lunch EVERY day. That's just the norm. Awesome! Love it. It makes the days soo much more bearable. I think this country's rubbing of on me. I digress. So, he tells me to wait downstairs, as he forgot to bring home a paper I need to sign to finalize some mortgage details (no we haven't moved in or anything yet-- I will write ASAP when things are firmed up). So I am sitting downstairs, when all of the sudden, a security guard is at each window. One guy, the street guard or whatever starts speaking in Spanish, and I look at him blankly (although I knew he wanted me to move, but ignorance works well). Finally I said "Habla Ingles?"... he laughed, and just sort of waived me off as in "it's fine, not worth the effort of trying to translate, she's doing no harm" that sort of thing. Nice guy. But the company security guard was power tripping BEYOND belief. He kept tapping his watch and pointing me to move. Bring out the violins, patheticness starts here... do you know what I did? I started crying! WTF? That was completely unexpected. It's just everyone had been so nice to me and people are understanding of my very little and very broken Spanish, and I just felt so freakin helpless not being able to explain that I am just waiting for 2 minutes till my husband comes to have me sign something, and that my husband works at the company, I'm not just some random loitering around the company grounds. Ugh, I cringe at myself sometimes.