No go on the Math... But, actually I ended up with a bunch of math

I finally found my groove and I signed up for "Introduction to Quantum Mechanics / Atomic Physics" this semester at GMU. It is line with the stuff that fascinates me and keeps my interest. I am taking it with the intention to have it help me decide to go the particle physics or cosmology route. Either one I find fully fascinating, really enjoy learning about and would love the chance to work on directly.

So, I would expect even less blog updates than before. (Although I doubt their could be less than I already post.) This class is kicking my butt and I am doing a ton of catch-up math re-learning.

Times change

I have stopped updating this blog on a regular basis. I have decided to not pursue a MSTM or MBA. So, I do not have the need to practice my writing on a regular basis. I am instead pursuing a MS in Mathematics. I will still have to write a bit, but, at least I can break it up with equations. :)

We just hang it off the back of the truck... yeah... that is how we roll.

Yesterday was a very long day. I got up and headed out the door early to go take a test at the hospital. They were checking for bacteria buildup in my intestinal tract. (Yeah, really yummy subject matter) The test involved breathing into a bag once and they take a reading of my methane and CO2 content in my breath. Then they feed me a substance and they continue to take breath readings every 20 minutes for about 4 hours.

So, I get to the hospital and they check me in with five other people and we go into the test room. In the test room is a big table, a computer for the testing, the bags we are going to breathe in, some magazines on the table and a TV that is turned up really loud on the wall. The test would’ve been bearable if it wasn’t for the TV. The lineup of shows I was subjected to were:

• Good Morning America
• Regis and Kathy Lee
• Martha Stewart

The only positive purpose any of these shows provided was that it reminded me of how important it is to have a job and be employed. There is no way I could become one of the slobs that sits at home watching TV during the day. It is truly unbearable. Good Morning America had such awful guest as the lady who has some personal vendetta against the planet and popped out eight kids all at once. They also had a midget body builder on. Those of you, who know me well, know how much I was looking forward to that. :-/ Regis and Kathie Lee were just as bad if not worse. I really do not know who or what was on that show because at that point I had found that could tune out the blaring TV by preparing my final exam for my class on my laptop. The last show was hard to ignore though. Martha Stewart is an awful speaker. She said, “uh” and “you know” so many times I was surprised that nobody got up and turned off the TV out of sheer annoyance. She also stutters. How anybody can bear to watch this show on a regular basis is beyond me.

Oh… and I forgot to mention… The two nurses who conducted the test… They spent most of the time talking to the TV and the people on it. With such great phrases as, “OH NO YOU DIDN’T!” and “WHAT? TELL ME DAT GURL DIDN JUZ SAY THAT??” It was by far the most unprofessional hospital visit I have ever had in my life.

Then I get to meet with my Gastroenterologist. The lady who checked me in mostly bitched to me about her computer. Then I get back to my doctor and he spends over half of the visit bitching about the computer system to me. One, I find it very unprofessional to be taking my expensive time for a doctor visit to listen to your unsolicited office problems. Two, how does he think that sitting there bitching to an IT guy about his computer system when I am trying to get help is going to help my stomach?!? I think one thing is fairly certain about this visit… I will be finding a new Gastroenterologist. One who has a decent computer system or at least doesn’t bitch me to me about the one he currently has.

Then I show up at my government job where I get told by my boss in not so many words that I need to slow down because I am going to finish my project way too far ahead of schedule. Ahhh…. The old bring it down to the lowest common denominator. Well, I now know my plan for the next couple weeks. I will have to bury myself in outside learning. I guess I will get a lot of reading done and I will work on my Chinese.

Speaking of reading… I am reading two very good books right now. Both are on recommend from Kane. “Against the Gods” is my reading book and “The World is Flat” is my audio book. The latter is insightful and has the added bonus of making laugh hard out loud several times. I also had a funny observation about the first one. While sitting in the test room, a few of the other people had books and were reading them. I noticed that all of the books were about their respective gods they apparently worship. The book I was reading was entitled, “Against the Gods.” I wonder if they understood that it was a book about the concept and history of risk? Or did they just think I was reading a book that was “against” their book? It was the one humorous experience from the whole test hell.

Back to work…. The last thing we did yesterday was shut down and move the EMC Symmetrix DMX1000 Storage System. It is loaded with live data and fully populated. It was sitting in our old data center which we shut down at 5PM yesterday. At that moment we had the EMC tech bring the system down and we unplugged it. We then rolled it out the door of the data center and up the sidewalk to the box truck. Being that the box is about 2000pounds, 8 feet tall and about 4 feet deep, we could not fit it into the door on our box truck. So, about 10 of us got it rolled up the steep lip of the lift gate and balanced on the lift gate. We then slowly raised the lift gate to the back of the truck. Then we had a guy in the back of the box truck with come-along straps. He hooked them to the support beams in the box truck and we wrapped them around the DMX and ratcheted it as tight as we could to the back of the truck. We then took this quarter million dollar piece of equipment about a half mile down a steep mountain road with a couple sharp switch backs. We walked behind and along the truck blocking the road off from traffic while we made the 30 minute move. When we got to the new data center we went to lower the lift gate and at this moment found that the unit was way over the limit for the lift gate. So, when we tried to lower the gate if wouldn’t lower gradually and softly. It would drop hard with each push of the button. So, we had to push the button real fast many times to “bang, bang, bang” the unit down to sidewalk level. We then had the 10 of us roll the unit off the lift gates and onto the sidewalk. The rest was pretty easy and we got it into place on the data center floor. Today will be the real test… we will try to fire it back up. I have to say that I am about 20% nervous about the outcome.

Ok. I think that is enough bitching and complaining for today. I need to go back to work and continue loading this new data center. I really wish I could post a picture for this blog entry, but, alas our government is a pretty paranoid bunch… so, this blog will have no pictures of the DMX hanging off the back of the truck. *sigh*

Why nobody should ever aspire to be in politics in 1000 words or less

I just finished reading “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” (Yeah, I know… I am a little behind the times) It is an insightful look at the way human relationships work. I also have found that over the last half a year or so I have used some of the habits he discusses without realizing it. This gives me hope that he is on the right track with his philosophy. In that it is inherit to natural human tendencies. I also found it interesting that some of the topics he covers have roots in other books and writings I have read. He would be discussing a topic and it would tie in neatly with a teaching out of Confucius’ “The Doctrine of the Mean” or something from “Tao Te Ching” or another thing would relate well with the content in “Bhagavad Gita.” In short, I found the book to be inspiring and insightful. I would recommend it to anybody who is trying to work on honing their plan for their life and working on being an all around better human being.

This brings me to my observation of the day. I was watching Tim Geithner get grilled by the TARP Oversight Committee today. I was also thinking about what I learned in the book. One thing really stood out in the hearing today. These people in the government have no concept of how to civilly work with each other to reach a positive outcome. Habit 5 in the book is “Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood.” The concept is that you need to first understand what a person is trying to deal with before you can give them advice or direction. This isn’t just parroting what they are telling you. It is taking the time to objectively hear what they have to say and to truly understand their meaning and goals.

This was the exact opposite of what I saw in the hearing today. These committee members asked Tim to come to the hill to explain what is going on at the treasury with regards to TARP. It would seem that they would want to hear what he has to say and to try to learn some things so that they can provide better oversight. Instead the 5 committee members spend the first TWENTY-SEVEN MINUTES giving their opening statements. Then it is Tim’s turn to speak. About FIVE MINUTES into his presentation, Elizabeth Warren starts really pressuring him to wrap up. Huh? Excuse me? Why is he here? I found it just stunning. It also makes me really question what the role of this committee really is. If this is the method they are going to pursue to provide oversight to one of the biggest spending plans in the history of earth, I think we are all in for a really bad ride. They have no interest in first trying to understand the treasury’s position. They just want to grandstand and hold a court of public opinion. You would think that somebody who went to Harvard would have a little more insight into the inner workings of human relationships and how to achieve things.

It really did not get any better. Damon Silvers from the AFL-CIO (why in the hell is the AFL-CIO on a TARP oversight board? I could see UAW since they are the second most funded group in the TARP, but, not AFL-CIO. I guess the new administration has to pay back the people that put them there somehow.) started to question Geithner and he proceeds to call him a banker. There was a long back and forth as Damon tried to figure out just what Geithner does or has done all his life. What is really sad, the answer is: He has been in public service all his life. Why somebody on a congressional oversight committee cannot figure out what the person they brought to speak to them does is beyond me. Although it does take me back to that same hearing on the hill I spoke of in my last posting. That committee was overseeing US activity in the newly independent states that broke away from Russia. At one point a member had them turn around the map of the area so he could figure out which country was which. Ugh. If you were going to be serving on a committee for your country’s government to deal exclusively with a small area of the world, wouldn’t you take FIVE MINTUES to look at a map in your down time and try to learn where the countries are? God forbid you actually go further and learn a little bit about the people in those lands and where they came from. But, I am asking this of the same people who cannot figure out what the Treasury Secretary of the United States did or does for a living.

Oh well. I need to go do more productive things than to rant about something that is waaaaayyyy out of my sphere of influence. All I ask is that we as human beings try to take a few minutes each day to understand one another. I know I sure need to take a long sit-down and try to figure out these members of congress and these committee people. *sigh*

I just cannot find a good side to this at all

I usually like to root for the underdog that stands up against the government. I usually support anybody who is willing to take a stand for what they believe in and put themselves on the line to execute on their beliefs. But, in this following story, I cannot find any good from this at all.

Pakistani Peace Deal Gives New Clout to Taliban Rebels

All of it is just sick. How any of these people can justify their actions as being just and good for the human race, I have no idea. The only thing I could even remotely come up with to feel any compassion for them is that they are human beings and that religion can make people do some pretty messed up things. If you want to see what the flogging looked like here is a video of it that was released by the AP:

Woman flogged in Pakistan - DISTURBING FOOTAGE

While it isn't debilitating or lethal, it is so cruel and barbaric. I remember being on the hill back in 1998 for a meeting in the Senate and the issue of the Taliban came up. It was a 10 minute rebuttal from one of the committee members informing the representative from Unocal why they were not going to support building a pipeline through Afghanistan. It took him about 10 minutes of non stop talking to get through the list of atrocities that the Taliban had committed on its people and its nation in general. Nothing has changed since then. It is still a barbaric group of people and they have no business being given any kind of leniency or legitimacy.

I am 100% against going in and bombing them like so many Americans seem to be quick to want. But, I do NOT think giving them the leadership of a region of ANY country is a good idea at all. I try to tell myself that it isn’t as bad as I see it right now, that I just don’t have the big picture, nor an understanding of where these people are coming from. My problem in the end is that I cannot drum up any compassion for these people. I really hate to get to that point about anybody, but, I fear I am at that point with this group. I know that it isn’t everybody in the Swat district that is this way. It is only a select group. Unfortunately, this select group is the one that just had the power over the people granted to them. What a complete and utter disaster.

On the other hand... this story did help put in perspective the other story in the WSJ today:

Harassment Is Said to Persist at a Mint Branch

While this is a bad thing also, it does show how much better we have it here in America than in some other countries. That is not an excuse to just sit back and rest. We should still be outraged by the activities at the Denver Mint. But, it does help keep it in perspective. And possibly remind us of where we could end up if we do not stand up for what is right.

Personality Test

My wife and I both took personality test today. It was very interesting to see how we (ahem... um...) "matched" up. Wow, all I can say is... I guess opposites attract. :)

Here is mine:


Here is my wife's:


All I can say is wow... It makes for an interesting relationship. :) That's for sure. And the positive way to look at it is, we both bring a unique perspective to any situation.

Too much thinkin'

I had the day off yesterday and today was pretty slow at work. This fortunately or unfortunately (I am unsure at this point) this gave me a lot of time to think. I have really been trying to get my life back in order lately. I sometimes feel like I have let about a half decade slip away. I have experienced a lot of good things over the last five years, but, I feel that in many aspects of my life I am spinning my wheels. Part of this problem I think stems from a lack of direction and purpose. Here I am at 35 and I really still have no realistic idea of what I want to do with my life. I have the big dreams and goals, but, I fear that I may have let way too much time slip to really actualize any of them. This means that I need to hunker down and focus on the more obtainable and realistic goals. The big problem I face is sitting down and really assessing my values and my situation. I have some short term goals in place and I am working on them, but, they do not address the big questions. Some of the short term goals are things like get to 200 pounds and attain a graduate degree. I am 70% of the way from 300 to 200 on the weight front and I am knee deep in the graduate school process, but, these are just short term, temporary stops along the way. I still need to really figure out what I realistically want to do. *sigh* I was hoping that writing about it tonight would get the mental juice flowing and I would have some epiphany. It doesn’t appear to be the case. I guess this process will be as it should be… a long arduous journey that I will never really complete. Until then, I will just keep on chugging along, reading, studying and trying to learn from anybody and everybody I can.

Paddles! Clear! *Pop*

A friend of mine is out in Utah this week and I was wondering if there were any In-N-Out burgers out near him. Turns out they are building several in Utah right now. But, that isn't the important part of this. What I found during my research is the holy grail of In-N-Out Burgers. Check out this group of 2 girls and 6 guys who polished off a 100x100 on a crazy Halloween trip to Vegas. I am so jealous. (except for the raw patties at the end)

SuperSizedMeals

This is a public service announcement

Sometimes we don't always think things through. That was the case on Saturday afternoon for me. I decided that the wind didn't seem that bad so, I could take the Ninja out for a ride. I came up through my valley and things seemed ok. I then went east out the road for a good ways through the flat land and never felt any ill effects from any wind. Then things changed... I turned around and began to make my trip back west. At this point I came to realize that the steady 30-50MPH winds were in my face instead of at my back. This meant that the apparent wind speed of 15-35MPH when I was heading east was now an apparent wind speed of 95-115MPH. This makes riding on a small Ninja sport bike a bit hair raising to say the least. It took a good bit longer to get home than it did to leave. All I could think was that at least it wasn't a nasty crosswind. That would be much worse.

The rest of the weekend went very well. Our hockey team won 4-0 and I spent a decent amount of time relaxing around the house. We even went out for a couple nice meals over the weekend. The icing on the cake was a down S&P500 today. I have been hoping for a reversal for a few days. This is a good sign that things are going in the right direction for me. I'm just crossing my fingers for some really bad earnings reports tomorrow. Come on Alcoa! You never fail to disappoint! Do your magic!

Well, I better go rest up. I have a long day of not having to go to work ahead of me tomorrow.

All this positive stuff has me feeling queazy

I guess I just have to keep myself distracted. Every time I look at my portfolio I want to sell something. This has been such a rip to the upside over the last few weeks. I keep telling myself that it has to run out of steam at some point. There is no real substantial economic data put there that point to a real good bull run. If I spend too much time looking at the screen I just want to start selling and selling. But, for everything I have sold, it has been too early. Or at least it seems that way. I guess I just need to keep at it and keep lightening these positions. I think this is the hardest time of trading. It is easier to get out of a bad position on the way down because you stop the bleeding and feel like you have avoided sure death. On the way up, it is a whole different ballgame. Whenever you lighten a position and it continues to rip higher, you just feel like you were too antsy and to scared of success. Deep down inside I know this tear to the upside has to come to an end. If it goes on for a while longer, I think I will be sold out over everything except for a little bit in the core positions to just keep a dividend income stream flowing. Right now this sounds like a scary proposition. But, I have faith that it will get back to work on the downside. Don’t get me wrong, I like seeing a recovering economy and investor enthusiasm. I also find it a lot less painful to sell stocks that have made money instead of down position that is starting to bleed me. I just would like this latest movement to be over so I can get back to the day to day. I miss range trading CCL day after day. It was so much easier and a lot less stressful. For the time being, I am saying good-bye to some CAT, INTC and NAT. I am also continuing to walk slowly into some more SDS. Come on plummet of the S&P!!!

In other news, I got to go in the ARMORED van today. It is pretty sweet inside. It has solid metal plating all down the sides, roof and floors on the inside. The windows are all very thick bullet proof glass. The only real drawback I have found so far is the weight of the doors. They are a bitch to open and close. They have to weigh about 500lbs a piece. Luckily it is already black. So, I do not need to paint it. I do think it would look good with a stripe down the side like the A-Team van. But, that may be a little too flash and I am unsure if Zombies are attracted to flashy things. I will have to do some research….

Some things you just gotta have...

My job has some interesting side perks occasionally. One of them came about today. We have GSA auctions occasionally at work and today’s posting caught my eye. Usually they are selling old trucks, trailers and such, but, sometimes there is a real gem that pops up. Today was just that kind of day! Listed on the GSA schedule for auction at our site was an ARMORED Ford Econoline Van. How freaking cool is that?!?!?! I know it isn’t exactly my dream vehicle of all time. (That is a BMW 750iL with the armor package that has been shot a few times while being operated in a foreign country) I am thinking I would probably gut the insides of the van and put in shag carpeting and velour drapes. It would be the ultimate mobile love machine. An added benefit would be that no girl would have to ask if I was using protection. I would just have to tap the 1-3/4” thick bullet/bomb proof walls to drive home that point.

My only obstacle at this point is getting approval from the wife. I am guessing that this blog posting should get the conversation started. I am pretty sure she reads this blog sometimes. Ok. I am off to figure out what color I should paint it. Black seems too easy….

I guess this is what old people do....

I went to the Gastroenterologist yesterday. He checked out my stats and is now trying to narrow down what causes my stomach to be so prone to irritability. Since it has been going on for the last 20+ years he says he can rule out cancer and most ulcers and such. He thinks he can narrow it down to either a buildup of bacteria in the digestive system or the more common irritable bowel syndrome. To further narrow it down I need to come back next month and they will take a series of breath samples to determine the bacterial content of my digestive system. While sitting around in a doctor’s office for 4 hours, breathing in a bag occasionally sounds boring and tedious. I have to believe it is a much better option than a colonoscopy. I was relieved to hear that he sees no reason to do one and that I don’t need one till I am 50.

He also gave me a prescription for Hyoscyamine. It is apparently an anticholinergic sedative. Which means it relaxes the muscles in the bladder and intestines while reducing stomach acids. It is a mixture of belladonna alkaloids and barbiturates. So, I am guessing it will come with one of those warnings to not operate heavy machinery while taking. So, I guess I better lose some more weight. It would be really nice if this works to reduce or mitigate my symptoms. I guess the only way to find out is to take it and see what happens.

On a funnier note, I have some friends out visiting in the valley this weekend. The husband is on this survivalist kick and I think his wife is just along for the ride. It is pretty funny to see the suburbanites come out to the woods. I am not saying that my wife and I are die hard outdoors people. But, I will say that we have learned a lot living out in the middle of nowhere. They are technically roughing it out in the woods in the rain right now. But, once they got everything setup last night it kind of looked like a Pottery Barn catalog picture morphed with a LL Bean catalog picture. It is truly amazing how much stuff some people think they need to survive in the woods. I am thinking that if they continue down this path much longer that they will reduce their foot print considerably. Mainly because they will tire of carrying so much stuff with them to their campsite and getting it all setup. Oh well, at least it is entertaining to watch. As soon as I am done with this blog I need to go deliver them water since they accidentally let their seven gallon jug drain out last night when they left the spigot open.

Well, off to make breakfast and deliver water. Then we will see what the day has in store. I think the wife wants to blow some of our tax return windfall on a new washer and dryer. Woo hoo…. :-/

Up is confusing

I am still chugging away on the data center move at work. There is so much to do to get this all ready, but, it is nice to have a change of priorities for a bit. I am knee deep with Linux from teaching the class, so it is nice to not have to do a lot of Linux administration at work for a bit. I’m currently setting up a bunch of servers in the new data center to do a load test of the system. It is a lot of manual labor, but, it gets me out and about and it has the added bonus of getting me in shape. I have been working like a dog carrying tons of equipment. I actually think it is starting to pay off in toning up my physique.

I am still completely torn about what to do with grad school. I think my next step is to go take the GMAT and see how I do. That should answer the rest of the big questions and then I can focus on the last few issues. It would be awesome to blow away the GMAT, but, I am sure I will do average, just like most things I try to do. I still have to give it my best shot and see what happens. Or I will always have the what-if in the back of my mind. The last thing I need is yet another what-if in my head.

Class is coming along ok. I handed back the latest quiz in class and there were a few 100s but, several Ds and Fs. I am trying to help along the slower kids without sacrificing the education of the faster students. I think I am going to give the slower students one last chance at working back into the class and then I am going to have to cut the line for them and get the pace back up to where it should be. It is frustrating to see some of them struggling along, but, at the same time it is nice to be the teacher and know that I can progress at the pace I think we should be at.

The good news this week was we got our taxes back from the accountant and for the first time in many years, we do not owe anything. We are actually getting a refund. It is just crazy to think about it. We usually owe thousands every year. This time we are getting back enough to cover the cruise. The sad side is that it is a sign of the times. I think part of the change is a realignment of deductions. But, partially it comes from our capital gains form showing capital losses this year.

On that note, it has been a perplexing last couple weeks. I have become so comfortable sitting on the positions that were upside down and just trading in and out of the SDS that I am now all befuddled with this latest strong upturn in the market. Luckily I didn’t buy too much SDS last week. But, now I am still holding it and the S&P has just gone up, up, up. I see no reason to really sell out of any of my long positions; since they are all more dividend based and core positions. I will revisit that if we break across where we were before the Fed said they had a plan coming but, no details. Which I think was still up in the mid 8000s on the Dow. Until then, I will just keep a sharp eye on the morning markets and maybe buy some more SDS in the next few days to enjoy the next leg down on the market. Who knows, I may get my wish in the morning. I have to think that politicians talking about the economy on primetime television should be good for a double short of the S&P.

What a nice weekend

Yesterday was frustrating. I went to the Center for Innovative Technology to sit in a on a couple EMBA classes. I was hoping that this would finalize my decision to go with the Technology Management program. Unfortunately, my experience was the exact opposite. I really enjoy the classes I attended and the program looks exactly like something I would enjoy taking. The subject matter was riveting and the class structure is the kind of environment I learn best in. It was interactive and participatory.

Although it created confusion in what I wanted to do, it did help me gain confidence in one thing. I had absolutely no trouble following along with the material they were covering. This was a second year class and I had no trouble understanding where the instructor was going with his questions and what the answers were. This was a relief, because I have had some apprehension about how I would do up till now. Most of this stems from the fact that I do not have an undergrad business degree. It looks like my passion and interest for economics and finance has paid off in me learning enough over the years to do just fine in a business program.

I spent the rest of the afternoon visiting an old friend in Herdon since I was in the area. She just got FIOS and it looks really cool, but, I cannot imagine I will be using it very soon. The two main reasons I see standing in the way are: It won’t be in my area for another 10 years and we got rid of ALL of our TV service about 7 months ago and have not missed it. So, she can enjoy her 1000 channels. I will continue to enjoy the beautiful area I live in.

I picked up a new Daytimer and gave the wife back her old one. My new one has a larger 2” ring and is more along the lines of what I need. It may look like a man purse, but, it is getting the job done for me and that is what matters. We met some good friends for dinner last night and I was about 10 minutes early, so I sat at the table working on my to-do list for the next day. Needless-to-say, they teased me a good bit when they saw it. Oh well, I will just have to be comfortable with who I am and accept it.

Speaking of the Daytimer, it has really increased my productivity. Today is a great example. On sunny, warm days like today in the past, I would have just lazed around all day and not got anything productive done. Now with the planner, I can sit down in the morning and get my list of things I need to do down on paper. Then I can start knocking them out. Today I have knocked out the following this morning: Situps and Pushups, Fed the goats, Cleaned the Ninja, Cleaned the garage, tilled the garden, cut down the birdhouse, mowed down the tall grass from the old brush pile and chocked the grill on the back porch. Not a bad morning. All I have left on my list is to complete the quiz and projects for Chapter 9 in my class and to update my blog. So, I pretty much have the rest of the afternoon to truly enjoy.

Ha! The neighbor just pulled up on his four wheeler. I am assuming he is wanting to go buy hay. It is a great day for a drive. So, I am outta here.

Life is one big continual lie

It has been a week since I blogged. Alot has happened in that week, but, alot of it I cannot blog about. That is why I haven't really had any updates. As far as what I can say.... this is what went down over the last week:

My wife and I are going on the cruise. We have booked it and are in the room next to our friends. I am still a little curious how it will be, but, I think it will be fun. It has to be better than my last vacation, but, that is not setting the bar very high.

I have been back at work for a full week now. It is good to be back in the grind and things are going really well at work. My boss seems to be very pleased with me and I am getting positive feedback from people outside my group even. While this won't translate into any real financial gain, it is nice to know that you are appreciated and are doing a good job.

The boss has added to my list of responsibilities at work the title of HP Blade Expert. Thus he is sending me to Columbia, MD for 3 days of training next week. It will be nice to be back in the learning world for a few days instead of the teaching world. I have been messing around with a couple blade chassis we have at work, so I should be fairly up to speed for next week's class.

I have ridden the Ninja three times in the last two weeks. Maybe the weather is starting to make a turn and we will see some warmer weather soon.

Speaking of warmer weather... I signed up for hockey again this summer. I thought long and hard about not doing it. But, I really do enjoy it and the team I play on is a group of good guys. So, I am signed up for another season.

I am off today to attend a couple EMBA classes at GMU. I am still leaning towards the Masters in Technology Management. But, who could turn down a chance for a couple free classes in a graduate program? I think it is only fair to give each program as much consideration as possible anyway. Today should also do a good job of shoring up my decision.

OK. I better go get ready. When I have some free time I will try to get a rant in on how f-ed up the concept of a democracy is. Have a good day and enjoy the weather.

Mooooooooo

I am sitting here contemplating something I didn’t think I would be considering any time in my near future. I am considering going on a cruise with another couple at the end of May. They are really nice people and I know we would enjoy hanging out with them for the week. I just have never thought I would enjoy hanging out on a boat with a bunch of other people. I don’t like Disney World or Branson Missouri. I don’t even really like amusement parks. These experiences are just too many people being herded around doing mindless things.

In light of all that, I find it surprising that I think I would actually enjoy the concept of having nothing to do for 7 straight days. Not in that I would sit around bored, but, that I would have no set schedule or list of things I had to get done during that time. I think there would be enough things on the ship that I could do, that I wouldn’t feel totally under stimulated. I could also easily avoid the big cattle lines and heavily organized pieces if I wanted to. It may actually be really good for me to just take it easy for a bit. I could go work out in the gym and then sit in the hot tub for a bit. I could just lie in bed or sit on my balcony for the day if I wanted to. The more I think about it, the more I like the idea actually.

The destinations sound interesting also. We would be going to Grand Turk, Little San Salvador Island and Nassau. Nassau I am sure will be a zoo. But, the rest look like they would be fairly quiet and interesting. I don’t think I would enjoy the shore side planned activities, but, I would enjoy just getting off the boat and wandering off onto the island. My only regret is that we wouldn’t be going to the Dominican Republic. I have always wanted to go there, but, I am sure I can get another opportunity since one of my good friend’s mother built a house there and lives full time.

Well, we will see. For the meantime, my quizzes from Wednesday and graded and put up on the blackboard for the students. I am going to bed. It was a long day out shooting on the range and visiting the pig.

And the beat goes on

It is official; I am now back on contract at my job. I will find out tomorrow how long this extension is for. Regardless of length, it is nice to have a steady income stream again. The hardest part will be getting back into a routine. I have been slowly getting up later and later as I went through the week. Tomorrow I will have to actually get up and go to work on time. It will be very nice to not have to commute into the city tomorrow. That part I will not miss.

In general, everything seems to be going pretty well right now. It is such a change from the beginning of the week. On Monday I was trying to find out why I still did not have a contract, picking through the wasteland of an office space where everybody was laid-off and the market was absolutely in the dumper. Now I have a new lease on my career life, I am almost wrapped up with the vulture fest down in the city and the market is screaming to the upside.

On another happy note, I had lunch today with a friend who is back in school, working on her undergrad. She declared her major this week and is going down the finance route. It was really good to have a chance to bounce my thoughts off her today and to listen to what she has experienced along her journey over the last few months. I was relieved to find out she had toyed with Economics as her major. This gives me comfort to know that I am not alone in this desire and that maybe I am not completely out of my gourd to want to get a doctorate in Economics at some point. Who knows....

I know she occasionally peeks at this blog, so I want to congratulate her on her endeavor. I think it will set her on an exciting and interesting chapter in her life.

Well, I better go grade quizzes. I'm sure my students are interested to see how they did on the exam. I am just as interested to see how they did. I was concerned that this quiz may have been a bit hard. But, from what I have glanced at they seem to be doing alright on it. We will see when I am done grading.

A different kind of capitulation

Lately the only real capitulation I have felt is in the stock market. Unfortunately, this has happened a few times over the last year. This morning one year ago today for example... The cost to insure $10Million of Bear Stearns Debt in Credit Default Swaps shot past $1Million. Two days later they were sold off to JP Morgan for pennies on the dollar. Those types of moments were real capitulation moments for me and the market.

Today I am feeling a different kind of capitulation. I took a job contracting with the government last October. At the time, the market was about to have its biggest down move in... um... ever… and my employer at the time had no sign of turning their ship around in the next... um... never. These two things told me it was time to move to a job where I could hedge the down side as much as possible. Nothing said stability to me like working for the government. I could take a job that is actually half way interesting, a decent commute and would be stable and secure. Unfortunately, I was really really wrong about the last part of that. This job has been about as far from stable as it could ever be. I have yet to go a couple months without some kind of funding issue with my position. This leaves me on the brink of being on the street at any moment. I also have no way to do any long term planning. My current experience is what I would like to think is the nadir of this whole thing, but, what if it isn't? The longer this drags out, the less optimistic I feel about a new contract being signed. And even if one is... how long will it last? Will it go to just June 30th like many of the others? Or will it go out to all the way to the end of September? Either length isn't really much to hang your hat on. Both put me back in this situation again in a short time.

I think the saddest part of this is that it comes at the same time I would have probably been released from my previous employer. Yesterday they had a big round of layoffs and I would have picked up a severance out of that. So, now I am without severance and looking at the same boat. Just another great example of how I make some of the worst choices possible in my life.

Oh well, I guess I will go back today and continue to pack up the laid-off people’s stuff and wait to see if some anonymous faces downtown will sign a contract to give me another lease on life for a few more months. I think the other plan today is to find another job. I have no idea where or doing what, but, I better figure it out. And figure it out quick.

I know that out of great adversity comes great opportunity. I really need to start searching for that opportunity.

Oh joy. I am on vulture patrol.

Boy do I have alot to catch up on. It has been a crazy few days. I will try to go in topic order since chronological will be all messy.

I am still sorta not employed kinda sorta. I am still employed by my employer but I still have no project code to bill to. I am currently billing to overhead each day. The contract is still not signed. It is starting to get me a little concerned. Even more depressing is the work they have me doing while I wait for my contract to be renewed so I can access my job site again. I have the joy of cleaning up an office of my employer where everybody was laid off. I am going through and shutting down all of the equipment and packing it up for shipping back to our main worksite. So, you are thinking it can't get more depressing than that? Wrong. I do not have access to the building, so as a stop gap. They gave me the badge of one of the laid off people to use for access. It is just sad. I have to look at his mug every time I go to badge through a door. I do not know the guy at all, but, I sure feel bad for him. Nothing says vulturing an empty office like using the laid-off guys badge for access.

I did have a good time over the weekend; when I kept my mind off the job situation. The wife and I week ended in the city. We had a series of events evenly spaced out over Saturday and Sunday down in Northern Virginia, so we got a hotel room at the Courtyard. This became our base of operations for the weekend.

We went to an information session for GMU's MS in Technology Management on Saturday morning. It was a very good experience. We got to peek in on a couple classes in session and they introduced us to the two class co-leads of the junior class. One of the students had followed a very similar decision tree to the one I am dealing with and he ended up in the tech-man program. I think this is a good sign that it is the way I should go. I have a pro and con list in my Daytimer now and it is leaning heavily to the tech-man over the EMBA. I still plan to go sit in on a couple EMBA classes in two weeks, but, in the meantime I am going to keep myself busy by working on my application for the tech-man program.

We went to a fun party on Saturday night for my hockey wife. She turned 30, so she is not part of us old people. I had a chance to grab lunch with her today and it looks like she is fully recovered from the debauchery on Saturday night.

On Sunday we had a really nice lunch at Charcoal Kabob with good friends. Unfortunately, I found out that the husband got laid off at his job of 15 years last week. The good news is that he will get enough severance to make it through the end of the year. That should give him enough time to find a new job. He had a good idea it was going to happen, but, I am sure he is disappointed to see the good run come to an end. He is a smart guy with alot of experience, so he should do well out looking on the market.
Sunday ended on a bit of downer as we lost our hockey playoff game 8-3. I was thinking about not playing next season so I could concentrate on all of the other things I need to get done. But, I have decided that the hockey is very therapeutic and is a good break from the rigors of everything else. So, I am going to sign up for another season. I am even looking forward to it.

Well, I have rambled enough for tonight. I am going to go get crap done so I can get up late and wander into a job I really don't want to do. Have a good night and keep shorting that market!

Can haz job? Mebbe?

I am now sort of employed again. The contract still hasn't been signed, but, I do not have to burn vacation days. They are letting me charge to overhead while I wait for the new contract. I will be going into my company's main office on Monday so I have something to do. At least this ensures that I will still be getting paid through all of this.

Last night I attended an informational seminar on the different graduate programs for the George Mason School of Management. It was informative, but, I am still up in the air on what I want to do. Both their EMBA and MSTM programs are very interesting.

The EMBA is more expensive, takes longer and has a staggered schedule, but, it has some very interesting qualities. One of those is the fact that it has 3 residencies; one in Asia, one in London and one in New York City. I think all of those would be very educational and informative. The NYC residency would be fascinating in that you would get some exposure to the workings of the (still) financial capitol of the world.

The Masters in Technology Management would still give me exposure to economics, finance and accounting, while costing much less and taking less time to get. It also has the bonus of being only on Saturdays. So, it would work with about any job I would have in the future. Its drawbacks are that it would not get as deep into the business topics as an EMBA. It also has only one residency. Although this year it was in Dubai! That would make up for the lack of the other 2 residencies.

Tomorrow, I am attending an informational session specifically for the MSTM degree. It will be on campus at GMU and will have current students in attendance. So, this will be a good chance to drill down into that program deeper. I am also setting up a visit to the EMBA program. I am going to sit in on a class and then go out to lunch with the group at the end. Hopefully, these two events will help me push forward to making a decision.

One thing I think I have decided on is, unless I blew the cover off the GMAT (770+) I think I will be going to GMU. I would still love to go to Wharton, Kellogg or Booth, but, I am sure it would be a long shot to even imagine getting to go to one of those institutions. But, I can still dream... and besides, it gives me some motivation to study for the GMAT.

Oh, and on an unrealted note... I just have to say. Dropping down from 300 pounds to 230 pounds has made clothes shopping alot more enjoyable. Except when you just happen to walk into Brooks Brothers and try on a Sport Coat that makes even ME look good. Then it is just painful. $585 *sigh*