Yeah Baby
Monday, January 31st, 2005Saturday Hoops Report: Down 25-43 after the first half, UCLA completed a massive comeback to defeat ‘S¢, scoring 47 points in the second half, for a final score of 72-69. Woo hoo! Obviously, I hate U$¢.
Archive for January, 2005
You Gotta Know When to Fold ‘Em
Sunday, January 30th, 2005After spending over three hours in the library this afternoon and feeling totally overwhelmed, I decided to switch out of the Strategic Management section on Monday night and take a Saturday morning section instead.
I feel bad for quitting because I know the class will be a great experience for the ones that are braving the management simulation game (being a CEO of a struggling company) to stay. But I cannot see myself devoting 10+ hours per week for one class. Last semester I spent only about 3 hours per week on school and almost made straight A’s.
I’ve had two other experiences at UCLA where I failed an organic chemistry class and took genetics three times. I was too proud back then to admit that a particular instructor and/or class format was not going to work for me. [By the way, I got an A in O-chem the second time around. I never did warm up to genetics (got a C-). Third time's a charm.] But I know that I will be more comfortable and happier in the “easier” class. After all, it’s just a piece of paper that I’ll get in May. Everyone will get the same one.
This class was just too much. I made contact with the other professor. He’s permitting me to enter the class. I already have the new syllabus and it is more work, but definitely much easier than what I was doing.
I don’t think I will ever be a CEO; I would not want to. And I’m not really sure I would ever want to be a manager, maybe, maybe not. Why did I choose to get the MBA? For the advanced degree and a ticket into possible advancement in the private sector.
Update (1/31/05):
Made it in the nick of time. Tomorrow is the last day to do any schedule changes. And I needed instructor approval. But this prof only comes on Saturdays. But then I learned email was okay, so I had to spend $2 to print out the email I have. What a ripoff ($1 for the card, then you have to put money on the card). At least, it’s done. I’m officially enrolled in the “easier” class.
Tags: CSUSM, education_and_training, MBA
Heesa comin’ home!
Sunday, January 30th, 2005
How To Dismantle An Atomic toilet
Saturday, January 29th, 2005Awakened by nature’s call at 5:15 AM. “Hmmm, must have been the pizza. Ate too much again.” Good ole tomato sauce. It definitely is a good laxative, kinda like beans in a burito or the spicy red salsa that comes in your carne asada at Mr. Taco. In any case, having only three hours of sleep is not exactly what I had planned for my Saturday morning and neither was the call of chunky diarrhea.
“I think I’ll go dark.” No need in turning on the light when it’s still pitch black outside. “I’ll give my eyes a rest while I do my business.”
… Thinking back to how this toilet seems to have been having a problem of getting clogged lately … “I’ll have time to get up and plunge this thing, no worries.”
A few seconds later, “Shit!” No kidding. Except now it’s on the carpet (why the previous owners put carpet in all the bathrooms, I will never know), along with the toilet water. “Nooooo!!!!. ” Man, this is so disgusting and gross. It smells like crap! No duh. Great. Toilet water and feces are on the carpet and on my socks.
“Josephine?” Stirs from her sleep, after all it’s only 5:30 in the morning. “The toilet overflowed. And there’s crap on the carpet. Can you help me?”
So began our morning. I originally wanted to sleep in until at least 8 or 9, have breakfast, and then tackle my spreadsheet problems for school. But no. I had to use towels to soak as much crap and water as possible. Then I did laundry. The I cleaned the toilet. Then I took a shower. Then I spot cleaned the carpet.
Josephine called some emergency plumbing and cleaning numbers. $500!!!! You’ve got to be kidding. It’s just a bathroom. Fortunately, the carpet cleaners who did a really good job last fall had an emergency service. The guy did the job for us on the side for $185. But it was still a rip off. We are doing the drying ourselves.
Then I took a nap.
NE2
Saturday, January 29th, 2005It’s that time again with Verizon, New Every Two. Which one should I get? I’d love any feedback!
Update (2/1/05):
Check that. No upgrade available until 6/22/05. There will be newer phones out by then.
Tags: cell_phones, geek_stuff, Verizon
Name Analysis
Friday, January 28th, 2005This is very interesting: This site analyzes your personality based on your first name and gender. Here’s mine. I was amazed; it seems very very accurate.
Description of Your First Name of: *****
The following brief summary describes only a few qualities of your first name. There are many additional factors (legal name, nicknames, family surname, combined names, previous names, business signature, and, very importantly, your inner potential or birthpath as determined from your date of birth) that create and mold your entire personality - and your entire life.
Although the name ***** creates an active mind and a restless urge to explore new ideas, we emphasize that it causes a blunt expression that alienates others. This name, when combined with the last name, can frustrate happiness, contentment, and success, as well as cause health weaknesses in the solar plexus, and tension or accidents to the head.
The name of ***** makes you dynamic, restless, independent, ready to accept challenges, and outspoken. You enjoy change, travel, and new experiences. Reacting against injustice, you go out of your way to assist in creating fairness. You are very creative and promotional, and work intensely to carry out your plans. Though you have limitless enthusiasm for new ventures, you lose interest quickly once things become routine, as you dislike being forced to attend to detail and do monotonous work.
H/T: Claire
Tags: Reflection
FQ: Tip
Friday, January 28th, 2005FQ1: Share a health or beauty tip!
Take the best nutritional supplements money can buy. They are listed in the Physicians Desk Reference. Josephine is now symptom free from fibromyalgia, after suffering for many years.
FQ2: Share a computer or electronic gadget tip!
I use Zone Alarm Security Suite (by Zone Labs) for my firewall, antivirus, web content filtering, privacy manger, and even spam control. It’s awesome. I first latched onto it because its antivirus capabilities are great, I would say better than any of the leading software like Norton Antivirus. It’s less obtrusive, not clunky, and does NOT slow down your computer like Norton does. I was a Norton user for many years, but now, I’ll never go back to Norton again.
FQ3: Share a travel or transportation tip!
Southwest Airlines is great for flying the business corridor from southern California to northern California. Usually the flights cost $39 one way. For online travel, I found Orbitz to be cheapest, but their customer service is horrible over the phone. Another alternative is Air Gorilla.
FQ TIPSTER: Got a tip for a classic or vintage CD, movie, TV show, or book we might have overlooked?
It looks corny by today’s standards, but one of my favorite TV shows in the 70s was “Wonder Woman”. You can get the first two seasons on DVD.
–Meme from FridayQ
Tags: Participation
Stayed Up Late for Nothing
Friday, January 28th, 2005i wish both had lost
Thursday, January 27th, 2005Marat Safin beat Roger Federer in the semis of the Australian Open. Wow. I admire the beauty of Federer’s great game. He might even turn out to be the greatest of all time later on, but I don’t like him winning, so I’m glad he lost. But I don’t like Safin either. The match sounds awesome. I’ll have to check if my digital video recorder recorded the right match. Some awesome stats from the match: Safin d. Federer 5-7 6-4 5-7 7-6 (8-6) 9-7.
Safin took 7 match points to defeat the world No.1
The fifth set went for 80 minutes
Federer won 201 points, Safin 194
The Swiss had one match point in the 4th set tie-break
Unforced errors: Federer 59, Safin 60
The match went for 4 hours and 28 minutes
Go Roddick! Beat Hewitt!
Final Semester
Thursday, January 27th, 2005There is a lot of work for my last semester in the MBA program. I think I’ve read over 200 pages in the last two days, with a couple of hundred more to go. There’s homework, case studies, spreadsheets, and on top of it all, there is a Master’s Project. I’m looking forward to May14th Graduation Day.
Tags: CSUSM, education_and_training, MBA
At long last
Wednesday, January 26th, 2005Tonight there will be “fresh” episodes of Smallville and Jack and Bobby on The WB.
Tags: Announcements, Jack_and_Bobby, Smallville, Television
Genetics are against me
Wednesday, January 26th, 2005Just What I Needed
Tuesday, January 25th, 2005This past Sunday in church we started a new series called, “Theology for Dummies”. The first message was entitled, “The Sufficiency of Christ“.
Just yesterday and this morning I was praying for God to give me some spiritual encouragement (see Points #1 and #3) on the outline. I need some encouragement to get back on track spiritually.
So I came into work early this morning and an IM screen pops up from an old friend of mine that I went to Campus Crusade for Christ Staff Training with, Gregg H. He is serving as a Bible school teacher in the Middle East. It was the first conversation that I’ve had in a long time that was about anything spiritual. And I really needed it. It is true. God gives me what I need when I need it, not before. And he gives me what I need, not what I want.
Tags: Spiritual
FQ: New
Friday, January 21st, 2005FQ1: What’s a new food or drink you’ve tried? How’d it go?
Last week I tried spaghetti made out of brown rice. It was very soggy when cooked and tasted really gross. I like the spaghetti made with whole grain wheat better. It’s not as soggy and tastes like regular spaghetti, and it’s healthier.
FQ2: What’s a new television show or movie you’ve seen or book you’ve read? How’d it go?
It’s not a new movie, but I saw “Pearl Harbor” the other night. I liked it a lot. I am glad I didn’t see it when it first came out on the silver screen. I would have been really bored because I expected there to be more action back then. But I liked the drama of it.
Another movie that I recently saw was “My Life as a Dog - Criterion Collection“, a Swedish-made film. Also, very enjoyable. It’s about a boy growing up without a dad and his mother dies, so he has to live with his uncle.
I guess I’ve been in a “drama” sort of mood recently.
FQ3: What’s a new place you’ve been to or web site you’ve visited? How’d it go?
I stumbled across www.dooce.com, a blog written by a woman who was fired from her job because of her blog. She writes funny things and takes cool pictures with her digital camera. Plus, she an ex-Mormon and sometimes disses on that cult. I think it’s funny.
FQ NEW: Do the new! What’s something new you’ve been wanting to try but haven’t? What’s stopping you?
I’d like to travel to a foreign country, like England, France, Greece, or Australia. What’s stopping me is having the disposable income and the time and freedom from work to do that. I wish I could win the lottery and retire so I can travel to all these places whenever I want.
–Meme from FridayQ
Tags: Participation
My First PHP Script
Thursday, January 20th, 2005So I’ve decided to finally read one of the books I received for Father’s Day last summer. It’s a book on PHP.
I wrote my first script. It’s probably the same first script that everyone else who knows PHP wrote their first time:
<?php
print("Hello, world!");
?>
Here’s the output.
Tags: Computers, geek_stuff, PHP
