It's over!

Ahhh! My exams are all over now.

Actually- they were over last Monday, but this is my first post since.

Now I can again concentrate on Assignments, but at least they require less time and energy than exam preparation.

I've learned so much over the semester! I still can't believe just how much I'm learning, how interesting it is, and what a blast it is! I really am so convinced that taking a year out to do an MBA was the right decision.

Also- my elective choices for next semester has changed once again.
I am now taking Strategic Marketing, and Negotiations (which is nothing new), but also now am taking Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management, and was thinking of taking ethics as a for credit, then as an audit; but decided instead to take as an audit Business Planning and Project Management- which will probably be extremely useful to me in my career. More so than ethics.

Not to say that ethics is not important in business. One must always take ethics into account when facing issues both in and out of the boardroom, but I don't know if I really need an ethics course to have sound judgement when evaluating the ethics of a particular decision. However, in order to elicit sound judgement in project management, I think I would certainly like to have the course in my background.

So- I bought my books at the bookstore the other day. Got into an interesting conversation with the retail clerk in the bookstore. He said that he could never get interested in business- I told him I understood where he was coming from, and that a few years ago- I had no real interest in business either. He asked what changed. I told him I realized that business isn't just about the competition. It's not about trying to fuck other people over. It's about building relationships with others, and it's about solving puzzles using various information.

It did get me thinking about the reason Business did just suddenly interest me 4 years ago...

Who's up for an obscure Simpson's reference?

Quick blog...

Two more exams after today.
Ouch! My computer has a stupid virus! Luckily- Dell's screw up will save me! My old hard drive on my new computer melted two months ago so they sent me a new hard drive- but with 40G capacity instead of 80. They finally sent me the 80 two weeks ago. Yes- I know- a one month isn't that great service- but my contact there went on vacation, and sent it to the guy covering for him, who let it slip through his fingers.

I can't really blame anyone. A man needs his vacation- and someone else's cases are just dropped on you- you tend to not see the forest through the trees as far as importance goes and prioritizing different files- plus now the poor guy probably had double the work load... So I wasn't mad- just eager to get an 80 Gigger again!

The wonderfully patient, competent and charming lads and lasses at ILTG (That's the techie department) sorted me grandly. (that's Leprechaun speak for fixed it up good).

so- I'm moseying around with my new hard drive and I keep getting pop ups. "Come play Poker!" says one! "Are you hard enough?" inquires another. "Get your credit authorized instantly!" says another...

So- and installation of MS Spyware, Spybot S&D, and Ad-Aware later- they're not budging.
Luckily- ITGL made and saved their Ghost image from weeks ago to put the new hard drive in seamlessly, so getting rid of my new friends is going to quick and easy job... One that would not be possible if Dell hadn't sent the wrong hard drive initially.

Ahhhh. I think the word serendipity doesn't cover it- that's good fortune unexpected- but for good luck coming unexpectedly from bad events... there's only one term I know.

Dell pulled a Homer Simpson.

Who's the loser now??

Can I make my Canadian friends jealous for a moment?

I just wanted to tell you about the weather here...
8C, 46 F; Cloudy; sunrise: well- it's past 8 am here and dawn is just breaking.
It has been below 0 once or twice here- and it's only been around -1 or -2...

Maybe it was the weather that was the reason I enjoyed my run so much this morning. Maybe it's fact that I had my Management Accounting exam yesterday and now I only have 3 exams left- 2 of which I am very very confident about (Marketing and MIS...)

Anyways- 4 more days I'll be a free man for a month. I have some assignments for over the break- Including one for a new subject starting next semester- Corporate Finance.

Cost of textbook for course: € 59.
Cost of course in total: € 1112.50
Cost of giving up your Christmas Holidays to analyze finance cases: priceless.


OK- I know I opened this blog promising to make you all jealous... and now that you say my true state of affairs in the larger picture, you're probably feeling like you don't have it so bad after all- not that it's a competition, but I'm going to tell you a little more:

Cost of Visiting Shanghai in March for the week long class field trip: Included in Tuition.

Bing bing bing. I think we have a winner!
Except for Corina who wins the pot because she's getting married next week! Wicked happy for you, toots! Wait- maybe that means she loses if she's getting married.

and to Ben who doesn't have to write any more OB papers... wait- that means that he had a bad OB teacher- so maybe that means he loses too.

And to Blake who found that the best things in life are salty broths with chewy noodles and plump chicken and beef inside... wait- maybe he's getting sick of them, so maybe that means he loses.

And to Beady who wins double because she's kicking ass and taking names in her new awesome job, and also wins because she's in my thoughts very frequently- and no woman has been able to maintain my attention for this long- especially considering the distance between us... wait- maybe that's not such a great thing after all...

and to Sandra who is healing quickly from the van hitting her.
If you think she's damaged- you should see the fucking VAN! You totally are a BEAST, Sandra! A BEEEEEAST!!! wait- maybe being a beast isn't such a great thing- I mean- you have to spend a lot on all that body waxing stuff, and the price of children for nourishment isn't exactly dropping...

'Xam 'Xiety!

Sunday Night my tummy was feeling funny.

No- not Chris Rock or Family Guy Funny, more nauseous, so yeah- Jack Black funny...

Anyways- I'll save you the gory details of my bodily functions, but suffice to say that come Monday morning- I was wrecked... and preparation for the Financial Reporting Exam was an uphill struggle, until I remembered the Struggle wasn't on the Exam- just Cash flows- I remembered stupid acronyms to help me remember the proper structure of Cash Flows.

Other Reasons That Cows Eat Fried Ice Cream
Rally Cars Race in Georgia.

Never mind- all that matters is that I remember them now! And today I stuffed 10 ratios in there- so I'm all set. It's all over but the crying... I mean the writing... of them exam- and hopefully there will be only limited sobbing in the exam hall. It's ever so distracting.

So- anyways- After my funky tummy business on Monday- I have sworn off sweets. I know that sweets are NOT the cause of my episode, but my subconscious cannot help but associate that feeling of emesis with those 3 chocolate bars, that half bag of chips and that caramel popcorn. (What? Oh Give me a fucking break! It's Exam time!!!!)

Anyways- the moral of the story is... Um... there must be a way to blame Stephen Harper for this. Where's a scapegoat when you need one? shit...

I had to share this email I got from my old boss. He's a funny funny man:

Glad to hear you haven't been accosted by any leprechauns yet ... if you see one, run. Apparently if they bite you, you'll turn into one too. No, wait, that's MBAs.