MBA Experience

Fall '06

2006-09-17T22:33:00.000-04:00

Woah, it's been a while. Anyone still out there? It's meeeeeeee, I'm still here :)

What should I talk about? School started again. I'm very happy with my courses. These are subjects I actually WANT to take. I'm excited to learn the material - I even started reading one of the assigned readings a month early. That never happens.

I'm excited to meet like-minded people who wanted to take the same classes as I did. I went a "non-finance" route, so there are some folks from my cluster who I have zero classes with. There are also other people from my cluster who are in almost all my classes, which is really exciting too.

The job was good! It wasn't one of those internships that leads to an offer, like many internships do, but I knew that going into the position so I'm fine with that. I am on the hunt for the full time offer now.

Ok, that's good for now. I will come back soon and write more.

Internships

2006-04-21T14:42:00.000-04:00

You know you have the right internship when you:

Can't wait for it to start
Really like your boss
Want to negotiate working more weeks this summer instead of fewer weeks
Are actually excited to work
Make other people jealous over said excitement

I'm really jazzed about my summer. Unfortunately, finals are getting in the way of enjoying this beautiful weather right now.

I'm a bit nervous for a few of my finals. My study group took a 'divide and conquer' strategy with group assignments this semester and I basically blew off my operations class. It was a painful class for me. So, now I'm not so ready for the final but I am lucky in the fact that it's the last final of the semester as well so I may have more time to study for it. And, by some stroke of magic, I also did really well on the midterm, so that provides a bit of a buffer anyhow.

I'm really bummed that the first year is basically over. However, lots of my classmates will be in the city this summer, including Dirty Martini (Yesssss), which is good. I will, hopefully, get to keep in touch if these kids are not working 100 hours per week.

Interventions

2006-04-20T14:06:00.000-04:00

Sometimes life is really hard. I have it so easy. I am truly blessed with opportunities that most people have only dreamed of. I’m at a great school. I have a dream internship this summer. I have a great family and great friends. I am healthy and happy.

Yet, today, I had to do one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do - I had to tell my sister if she didn’t get her son (my nephew) under control that her son was going to die. Does anyone want to hear their child is going to die? Probably not. Do they need to hear it? Most definitely.

My nephew is a good kid, but now he just turned 15 and he’s seriously, and quickly, headed down the wrong path. He just went to court for trying to steal from a department store. He drinks. He smokes pot. Now he’s taking hallucinogens. He skips school. He has D’s and F’s on his report card. And did I mention he’s 15?

I’m not a parent and I never meddle in other people’s business, but this is my family here and my sister is thick-headed. She’d rather pretend that nothing is wrong or that problems fix themselves than to deal with these issues. Unfortunately, if you have a stupid 15 year kid old who’s getting no direction from his family, he’s going to do something stupid because at 15, teen-people make really bad decisions.

So, I had to tell her, in a not so nice way, that my nephew was going to overdose on drugs and die if she didn’t step in and perform an intervention in this kids’ life. And then I said I hope she was prepared to deal with his death if she doesn’t do anything about it.

Goddamn that was hard. I’m never that dramatic, but this is serious shit here. In 6 months this kid’s life has completely gone down the tubes and it’s only been getting worse and worse. I tried to speak with him about it because he thinks I’m the ‘cool aunt’ but for fuckssake this kid will not listen. So, if anyone has experience with troubled teens and would like to offer up any suggestions let me know because I’m taking this kid down to Chinatown in about 3 weeks when I go back to LA.

2006-03-17T18:06:00.000-05:00

I was just reading an article about an execitive coach (for one of my classes), and there is a great quote I just wanted to share:

"It’s easier to get un-fucked up than to understand why you are fucked up, so why don’t you just get un-fucked up?"

I can definitely relate to that sentiment.

Back from Spring Break

2006-03-13T07:15:00.000-05:00

I am in total denial that I am returning to classes today. Spring break was wayyyyy too short. Oi.

Web Sites I Would Die Without

2006-02-24T22:58:00.000-05:00

Wikipedia - This site is just amazing. I use it almost every day.
Google - I mean, really, do I even need to list Google? It's automatic.
Bloglines - How else would I keep track of my 38 feeds? I'd add more but I just don't have enough time in the day
Pitchfork - the authority for indie rock
HopStop - a flawless guidance through the NYC transit system... essential for newbies
Woot - such a crafty little company with the funniest contests ever

What web sites would you die without? Let me know.

Must Post

2006-02-18T11:27:00.000-05:00

I know, I know, long time no post. Whatever.

Here's the update: this semester is way easier than last. It's like night and day. I can actually have a social life. I don't need to do homework every single day... and I can go look for a job.

Speaking of the job front, lots of people have jobs now. Lots of people, such as myself, do not but I'm not too stressed over it yet. I will go into panic mode if I don't have anything by April but right now it's not a big deal. I didn't go through on-campus recruiting like many of my classmates because I'm just not interested in working for one of the big companies right now. They don't excite me whatsoever, so I'm holding out for something that better suits me. Wish me luck.

Day 1 of Spring Semester

2006-01-19T09:53:00.000-05:00

School started up yesterday and it was insanely boring. However, it was nice catching up with people I haven't seen in a month and hear the stories of what everyone has been up to.

There is an air of relief over the entire class called, "banking recruiting is over." With (hopefully) offer(s) in hand, my classmates are were an ultra chilled-out mood. I literally heard multiple people say they didn't give a fuck about school anymore and I have a feeling others agree with that sentiment but might not have the jewels to vocalize it. After hearing what banking recruiting is like, I can see how anyone would feel that way.

In other news, I'm up to a little mischief with another Columbia-ite. More specifically, I'm on a mission to set her up with a good guy. I hope it goes well.

Not Missing School Yet

2006-01-08T21:37:00.000-05:00

My break is more than half over... actually, I have about 10 days left and I do not miss school whatsoever. It's really nice to have this free time right now and see what life is like outside of Morningside Heights.

I've made some progress on my reading list too. So far I've read 'Never Eat Alone' and 'Freakonomics.' I loved Freakonomics. Any book that provides detailed insight into the economic workings of a crack gang is all right by me. That, and it sheds some light on my neighbors' lives. I couldn't put the book down, I found it so interesting and I really like the way it tries to plough through the B.S. we here from politicians and the news on a daily basis. So refreshing.

Never Eat Alone was helpful but it also contained a lot of common sense. It was motivating, however, because the main message it to push yourself to meet, and help, as many people as you can - all the time. I'm too cynical to jump into so many new relationships relationships with people but the author's point is well taken.

And I have 5 more books to read in 10 days... hmmm, now that seems slightly ambitious. Wish me luck.

Winter Break

2005-12-29T16:02:00.000-05:00

Now I know why the ladies worship Oprah... it's either watch Oprah or watch Judge Judy, Family Feud, The People's Court, or Montel. Yeah, it all makes sense now.

It's quite a shock to the system when you go from studying for finals for 18 hours a day to not having anything to do. It took about 3 hours for me to get bored. No joke. Catching up on some sleep has been quite nice and I've been watching just a little TV. But now I know why Columbia gives students a month off for winter: We might not come back otherwise. A little time to rejuvenate is key.

So, my plans for the rest of the winter are to 1) read some books that I had picked out over the last few months and 2) get back into exercising and 3) go to Central Park (can you believe I live two blocks away and have not been to the park??!?) I also get to visit my family for a few days in mid-January. Should be fun!

Strike!!!

2005-12-20T10:13:00.000-05:00

There is big news in New York today. The MTA strike. That means no buses and no subways. I'm very curious to see how this all turns out and how long it lasts (by the way, it's damn cold outside).

Even better than the strike itself: the local TV news coverage. Jerry Springer would be so proud. I thought the news was bad in L.A., well it's totally pathetic in New York. Is there really a need to interview people in their cars who are waiting to get into the city? I think not. Is there a need to interview the guy striking with the strikers because he's just a relative of an MTA worker and not an MTA worker himself? Nope. Is there a need to interview the 5 year-olds who are walking to school today instead of taking the train? No, no and no.

However, this must be important stuff because TV has been cancelled except for this news coverage. I'm glad to be leaving this city in 2 days.

Big Slob

2005-12-19T08:49:00.000-05:00

So, I'm leaving for my last final in, oh, 10 minutes, which means I have about 5 minutes to blog since I haven't yet prepared to leave for school yet. Gotta brush my teeth and change into some warm, comfy clothes.

Finals has been the best excuse to go to school like a total slob. I love it. Being sick also gives me a pretty good excuse too. So, I look like hell and sounds like hell, but no one cares because everyone's going to be in an Excel haze for the next 5 hours.

Ahhh man, do I have to go now?!?!?

T Minus 12 hours

2005-12-18T20:51:00.000-05:00

12 hours 'til my Corporate Finance final, you know, the class where people are tearing each other's throats out for the A++++. Ya, thaaaaaat's the one.

The way it works is that we do a valuation on a company from an HBS case. In Excel. On our laptops. Then, we upload our file to some business school server... which is all swell and fine until my Excel broke. Of course, right? All's well now but for about 3 hours there, I was sweating bullets. Yikes.

But, really, I am soooooo over the 1st semester. Thank God this is my last final. And there's definitely no coincidence that the bankers' school leaves the Corporate Finance final until last. I don't know how it works at other schools, but at CBS, all the first years take the same final at the same time for the same class.... So all 500 of us had an Accounting final at the same time, a Marketing final at the same time, etc. etc.

Corporate Finance was actually my favorite class, so I'm just a little sad that it's over.

Ya, I really shouldn't be up..

2005-12-16T01:49:00.000-05:00

... but I am!

So, I guess this is part 2 from my previous post.

It's almost 2 AM and I 'm awake. This almost never happens. But, after my 5-hour Econ final this afternoon, I took a nap and now I'm wide awake. And downloading music again at dangerous rates. If I told you how much I've spent on iTunes in just one year, ummmmm, you'd think I was a crazy woman. (hey now, I know what you're thinking and I'm not that crazy!) Honestly, there are days where I forego food so that I can spend my food money on music. Is that sad? That IS sad. yes, yes, I know!!! Hey, at least I don't steal music, that's all I'm saying. If Sallie Mae only knew where her loan money was goin' ... sheesh.

Where is Sallie Mae's money going.... well, I bought some presents for my parents at the bookstore today. Got my mom a Columbia Christmas Tree ornament (am I still allowed to say Christmas? It will always be Christmas to me). She eats that crap up so she should love it. I got my dad a Columbia coffee mug, since he drinks coffee and all and I have no idea what else to buy him. What do you give the guy who's never used an ATM in his entire life? Ya, well that's my dad. If I knew jack about tools I could get him something clever, but I can't even use scissors properly. Can you tell I've been drinking tonight? ok, got to go to bed.

Ya, I really shouldn't even be blogging but...

2005-12-14T23:52:00.000-05:00

it's either blog OR continue studying Econ for the 14th hour in-a-r-o-w. Oh man. So I choose blog.

Anyway, I'm here to discuss finals at Columbia. Dude, talk about competitive. People flat out say I want an A+++++++++++ in Corporate Finance or I will die. Ya, how sad is that. My entire cluster has disappeared. I'm only getting 60 emails a day instead of 150. Now, that's progress.

And I thought a 4 hour test would be really horrifying, BUT it's not so bad if you can tune out the relentless coughs, sniffles, sneezes, typing noises, and foot tapping while you are trying to bust out some crazy bond calculations. Actually, if I didn't have the iPod to tune out these distractions I would probably go nuts and murder a beautiful clustermate. I am that out of it. So instead, I set my iPod to repeat the same song over and over. One song has gotten me through 8 hours of testing so far (2 finals), and 5 more hours tomorrow. OH YA!!!!! Why one song? Hearning the same song allows me to kind of tune it out. iTunes has told me that I've listend to this song 86 times. 86!!! That's got to be some record for me.

So, friends, I am here to spread the joy of my "Finals Anthem" with you today... The song is "Everyone Choose Sides" by the Wrens, a fantastic indie band that could, and should, blow your socks off.

So, if you would like to hear the entire song legally and for free, go here:
http://www.absolutelykosher.com/musicfiles/Everyonechoose.mp3

AND, even BETTER than listening to a song 86 times, I can hear them LIVE next month in New York!!!! Yay!

Finals are Coming

2005-12-11T10:46:00.000-05:00

Soooo, life is going to truly suck the next few days (9 days to be exact). I have 4 finals and a 20 page paper to write.

Finals are no joke at CBS. They are each 4 to 5 hours long! I seriously dont think I have the attention span to work on something like accounting for that long. Even during the GMAT, which was also 4 hours, I had to get up, go outside, and take a walk because I couldn't sit still for that long.

The good part is that we only have 1 final per day and then we get a month off to do whatever we want. I don't have major plans this winter, but some of my classmates are going on some really cool trips: New Zealand/Australia, Asia, South America. It's all New York for me, baby! Actually, I have some plans in works for a trip back to California, where it's 75 degrees and not 35 degrees like it is here. Should make for a nice January.

Walk the Line

2005-11-20T11:13:00.000-05:00

This was an amazing movie... one of the best movies I have seen in years probably; everyone, ya gotta go see it.

Ambiguous

2005-11-13T21:39:00.000-05:00

I believe that a lot of MBAs are heavy on the book smarts... and kinda light on the street smarts. Hey, I'm there too and I recognize that I need to work on my "street smarts."

That being said, when it comes to graded homework assignments, some of my classmates have zero tolerance for ambiguity. It's to the point where I feel like the professor is sometimes hand-holding us through assignments because students want to know, "what exactly does professor XYZ mean when he says, 'blah-blah-blah." And I also think some of my classmates are so competitive that they won't even risk interpreting the ambiguous portions of an assignment in order to avoid being wrong and being penalized on their grades.

...Just an observation... but it does stimulate some curiosity. What happens to an MBA who has no tolerance for ambiguity in the classroom when he hits the real world and sees that life doesn't really work that way?

1st Semester Class Scorecard

2005-11-10T12:11:00.000-05:00

Here's an analysis of the 1st semester core classes at Columbia... This rating is based on a weighted average for professor quality (.3), materials taught (.5), and value of assignments (.2) collected from a sample of students in my cluster. Just kidding, actually what you are getting here is purely my two cents based on a subjective view of the 3 criteria above. So, take it for what it's worth:

Corporate Finance A+
Marketing Strategy A
Financial Accounting B+
Managerial Statistics B+
Strategy Formulation B
Creating Effective Organizations C
Managerial Economics D+

This is just my opinion of our first semester's core classes. Many of my classmates would not score these classes the same. The finance kids think more highly of econ and less highly of Marketing. The consulting kids think more highly of the strategy class and not so much of stats.

I Bombed a Midterm

2005-11-07T18:20:00.000-05:00

I don't mean "I bombed" as in ,"I'm just paranoid that I didn't do well beause I'm obsessed about grades and getting the highest grade in the class." Noooooooo, this is one of those tests where you're reading the question and asking yourself, "was I taught this at any point during the semester?"

Needless to say, I'm pretty sure this is one of the worst (if not the worst) tests I have ever taken. I think I finished about half the test and I'm pretty sure that I was wrong on the 1st half. It was pathetic and I was really bummed out about it. Anyway, I'm over it now and I can't believe I have to go through 5 more weeks of this particular class. It's utter torture to go twice a week.

Post-Finals Ponderings

2005-10-25T15:58:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I think I have a bit of an addictive personality... take the rate at which I download music from iTunes, for example. It's quite obsessive and I'm rivaling the amount I owe for my CBS tuition at this point. I spent more time downloading music yesterday than I did studying for my Strategy final (I still think I did pretty damn good on the final though).

Anyway, another thing I love: Google. I mean, I mentioned this before, but I really DO love Google. However, my love stops just short of naming my freakin' BABY after the company.

Meet Google Kai: http://www.google-kai.com/
... and he also has a blog: http://googlekai.blogspot.com/

He's cute. He's already saving money via AdSense banners on his home page. He's also going to get beat up every other day once he starts school.

I think I will name my first born, Tiramisu (if I have a girl) or Tom Brady (if I have a boy)... just some other things I obsess about.

It Could Always Be Worse...

2005-10-21T13:20:00.000-04:00

Once a week, I tutor a girl from Harlem with other Business School students and students from the Law school. I love this 1 1/2 hours because I get to hang out with students from outside the MBA program. Don't get me wrong, I love my classmates but sometimes I get serious bouts of MBA suffocation from being around business-focused people 12 hours a day.

Anyway, I'm never complaining about this MBA thing again. Ever.*

I met a really cool girl from the law school. She reminds me of someone I know from back home, so I instantly bonded with her. Unfortunately, she was having a bad week. When I saw her this week, I asked her how the workload in law school was and she bursted into tears, right in front of me. That was a slightly awkward moment, but I felt so badly for her. Then I though to myself, "thank God I'm not a law student. Sheesh!"

Then she started describing law school, while still crying to me, and it didn't sound like anything I would willingly put myself through. I'd rather give up my left eye.

* That's a lie, but I'll hold off for a few weeks at least.

Midterms/Finals& Cluster Bonding

2005-10-18T21:06:00.000-04:00

Since Columbia has full-semester courses and half-semester courses, I have midterms and finals during the same week. This is going to sounds sick... but... I like it! I mean, there is this huge energy and an exciting buzz around campus right now. The students are hard core and totally focused on academics. It's especially a nice breather from the banking /consulting recruiting machine that has been churning out interview offers for the last month. That's not for me so much even though about 75% of the class will go into one of these areas. Here' s my question: after 1 month in the MBA program, why are we interviewing for jobs??? That's just f-ing ridiculous if you ask me, but anyways onto the cluster stuff...

When you enter the class of MBA's, you're automatically assigned to a cluster. Well, my cluster is pretty damn cool. Nicknames are emerging for certain people. Others are getting their 'reputations.' It's all good fun.

My cluster has organized at least one social/service event per week. Next week, we have a school-wide Halloween contest. There are weekly intra-cluster sports events. Weekly happy hours. Pre-happy hours. Weekend trips. If I never wanted to study, there are more than enough social activities to keep me busy. Not to mention a few bars around campus that can easily detract from my studies. Hey, at least I don't know bartenders by name like some of my other clustermates. Anyway, as far as anyone knows, I am the studious type and would never stray to the local watering holes. Really . ; )

Sundays Suck

2005-10-09T23:58:00.000-04:00

I don't know whether to love or hate Sundays, but right now, I'm not so happy.

I just spent the entire day "working" on some stupid stats homework. I don't understand statistics at all. It's totally mesmirizing to me that I cannot understand statistics when it should be intuitive. Go figure.

Anyway, I always spend Sun-day watching football. I can't take my eyes off it for some reason. As a result of my addiction, I'm only mildly paying attention to my homework during this time, so I end up sitting here at midnight doing stuff that I should have done this afternoon. This has been my story for the last 4 Sundays.

The Calm Before the Storm

2005-09-30T13:50:00.000-04:00

It's very un-MBA-like to brag about oversleeping, yet the last two nights I've had 10 hours of sleep EACH night. I have no problems bragging about this. Though it's fantastic, I know oversleeping is just a temporary delight. That's ok, I'm relishing in it for now.

It's much nicer to think I can make a few phone calls that I've been slacking on (sorry, iwhoelse), and just all around chill out and not be stressed, than to think about the midterms that are just around the corner. Actually, I have a stats and strategy final and an accounting and econ midterm all within one week - in just 3 weeks to be more exact. This fact scares the bejeezus out of me, but sleep was way more important this week.

Ya, now I'm stressing myself out.

It's Not About Grades

2005-09-21T01:44:00.000-04:00

That's what the orientation gods told us our first day at CBS. It's about the network, who you meet... who you know, the activities you get involved in. Blah, blah, blah. That may be true, but grades is much different than work load, my friends... I guess that's why am I sitting here at 1:30 a.m. just about to start my strategy homework? Though I have mastered the art of procrastination in my past life, I have done 5 hours of homework tonight and I have 50 pages of reading and case preparation to start now. I spent several hours working on campus between my classes today, and after my classes, in addition to my 5 hours tonight - and I foresee about 2 more.

If this is not Academic Torture, I don't know what is.

Thank God for my iPod right now. Good night :)

MBA Hiring Prospects Brighten

2005-09-18T10:50:00.000-04:00

That's the sentiment according to the latest Forbes magazine, which has also been echoed by the Columbia Business School's Career Office. As 1st years, we have mandatory career sessions on various topics before recruiting starts... self assessmets, on campus career resource info, outside resources available, what recruiting look like this year, how to 'network,' resume workshops, presentation workshops, etc. Yes, they are fine tuning us for the recruiting machine that begins next week.

Here's some more info from the article, which stated that last year's recruitment was up and this year is headed the same way: "The data was also positive for the upcoming school year. Seventy two percent of the schools predicted that the MBA job market would improve and 70 percent anticipated that average base salaries for entry-level MBAs would increase. None of the schools anticipated a decrease in recruiting."

Our career counselor mentioned that recruitment was 'way up' this year and many more companies are lined up to visit campus and interview students.

I suppose this will hit home to me after next week when the flood gates open for companies and recruiters to contact us 1st-years.

Tomorrow is a New Day

2005-09-17T22:52:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow is Sunday, the last day I have before school starts again, and I am determined to get out and see something new in New York. I have spent the last 10 hours studying, and that is so unlike me, but I've had about all I can take.

My brain is fried. I've fried it good this time :)

Email and B-School

2005-09-14T17:47:00.000-04:00

I make a concerted effort to email only if I absolutely HAVE TO. Why? Because email is not the answer to everything. It's not the method by which every message should be communicated. That's just me, and I could be wrong.

That being said, everytime I turn my laptop on, I have a messages galore. If I wanted to, I could go through the MBA program just checking email all day. For example... I checked my email 2 hours and 20 minutes ago. I now have received 26 emails since then. I probably receive at least 100 email messages each day, if not more. 75% of these go straight into oblivion (AKA "recycle bin").

ok, that's my rant for today. Back to accounting and finance for the evening.

Graduate vs. Undergraduate

2005-09-12T20:46:00.000-04:00

My impressions of being a graduate student:

More drinking involved (I didn't think it would be this way, actually)
Higher tuition costs (for me anyway... about 12X the cost)
Real world application of business theory, which I finally 'get'
More time commitments involved (something around 26 hours per day, I do believe)
I've finally found my peeps. They go to Columbia and seriously are superb
Exponentially higher caliber professors (well, I once had a finance professor who habitually came to class drunk.... which is also probably why he cancelled 50% of our classes)
Droo, where are you? We need to meet up and swap CBS stories

I'm Such a Nerd

2005-09-11T10:22:00.000-04:00

Ya, I like school. No one really admits that, but I really do like school. I love my classes and even my professors and, in my cluster, the students have brought some great experiences and thoughtful comments into the classroom already.

This week we also signed up for clubs. For some reason, I thought that 13 was a good number to join. 13. There are 3 clubs I would like to focus attention to and the others are an added bonus... like the wine society.

And, for some reason, statistics is kicking my butt. Really, this should all be intuitive but then the professor introduces a few greek symbols into the equation and my eyes glaze over. And, as statistics is a half semester course, we have a midterm in less than 2 weeks. So, I have to pay stats some extra attention in the next few days.

As for my other classes, it seems I knew more coming into B-school than I thought I did. I didn't think I knew anything about corporate finance until we were introduced to ratios that I already knew about from my previous employer. Since I know about balance sheest and income statements, Accounting hasn't been too challenging (yet). My Econ professor hasn't introduced anything new. I give this little bubble of comfort about 2 weeks to burst and I will probably be asking myself, "what the heck is going on here."

The Life Encompassing MBA

2005-09-02T07:54:00.000-04:00

The lesson for this week is that you better be ready to devote your life to the MBA program as if it were your reason for being. I have spent 18 of the last 24 hours on MBA-related activities... and this is still the 'review' week, real classes don't start until Wednesday. Well, at least I'm getting my money's worth :)

... I foresee some time management skills developing at full speed...

Classes

2005-08-30T17:33:00.000-04:00

This week has such a weird dynamic to it... we have math/excel review classes + accounting and statistics (both regular term classes), and everyone is starting off from a different place. The range of business acumen is huge.

I think there are people in my stats class who could TEACH stats, and then there are others who know how to calculate and average and that's about it (obviously, they want to transition to business and came from another function). Luckily for me, I come from some middle ground. This stuff isn't new to me, I just haven't seen it in a while. I'm sure that's the case for a lot of people though.

I do feel so totally fortunate, however, that I am not one of the people who entered the MBA program and has never seen a financial statement. WOW, accounting is going to suck for those people. We already were introduced to all the statments on day 1.

Tenants Meeting

2005-08-28T21:25:00.000-04:00

Today was a big day. The tenants of the building I live in are forming an association to get rid of the shady drug dealers on the block. How awesome is that? And they want to get rid of the homeless guy's 'street sale.' He basically pulls stuff out of the trash and neatly arranges junk on the sidewalk every day. He's also very drunk.

Anyway, I think it's fantastic that the people in my building are organizing and that I also get to be a part of it. I get to meet my neighbors and hear about what the management company has not been doing for the last several years, and I get to help make a difference. I can't wait. I really want this friggin' street to straighten out. Plus, it makes me feel like a New Yorker... member of a Tenant's Association. Doesn't that have a great ring to it? Yaaaaaaa.

Aside from that, I also picked my fantasy football team. I don't have a TV, so I suppose I will just have to go out to a sports bar and check out the games. That's going to be tough ;)

CBS Orientation - Day 5

2005-08-26T17:10:00.000-04:00

Today was the final (*sniff, sniff*) day of orientation. Again, the faculty never cease to amaze me. We had a case study on ethics, but more importantly, the moral of the story was that when you are faced with an ethical dilemma, the most important part of the dilemma is how you handle it. Just because you could be right morally doesn't mean you will handle the issue in the best way and be successful in resolving it. Excellent point made.

We also had an intro to the business library and experienced more cluster love during lunch. The class is organized into 8 clusters, where mine is (obviously) the best. Really though, our peer advisors told us so. Each cluster is assigned a group of Peer Advisors, 2nd years who are there for support, to keep us on track, and to help sort out our 1st year confusions.

The Peer Advisors also tuned us in to "that guy." That Guy is the guy/girl who waves his hand around class, even when the Professor is not looking for his/her advice, she boasts about "when I was at company XYZ (insert industry leader here), or tries to correct the professor, etc. The know-it-all, basically. So, I think I've identified That Guy in my cluster. Supposedly, the forces of the cluster will put him into place once our classes start rolling. Should be some good people watching in this.

CBS Orientation - Day 4

2005-08-26T00:00:00.000-04:00

We had a fun 'trading' game. I think it was part ice breaker, part team building, and just a lot of competition. MBA-ers at Columbia are very comptetitive. They thrive on it even.

We also had an overview session on the case method, which was, again, delivered by an awesome faculty member. I really look forward to cases to learn about industries I am not familiar with, and issues I have never encountered. Oh ya, and then I also get to apply some of my New-MBA-Ninja-Like knowhow. How exciting is that?

I received my financial calculator. OK, I am in big trouble because this thing has some 300 pages of material on how to use it and how to work the functions. wah? Really now, is 'torture by calculator' necessary? ... and it looked so cute and unassuming in the package... now I want to give it back. My laptop didn't even come with as many instructions.

Tonight was free billiards with an open bar for the entire class (over 500 of us). Funnily enough, I saw some people's game improve. My game, however, not so much. I still left with a winning record, 4 free drinks, and a few more Cluster adoptees. I love honorary clustermates.

CBS Orientation - Day 3

2005-08-25T14:32:00.000-04:00

So Day 3 (yesterday) was pretty fun! We had a scavenger hunt with our study groups, which led us to various places of interest around the city to obtain answers to clues each team was given. My study group ROCKS. I love them already and I feel so lucky to have been assigned to such an awesome bunch of folks. I hope that doesn't change after we actually have to start to 'work,' but my impression is that they are all hard-workers who are willing to help each of the teammates. Yay.

There was also a session on Team Dynamics to highlight elements of effective or ineffective teams. Since we are assigned to the same study group for a year, this was definitely helpful. The professor was awesome: he had enthusiasm, expertise, and was creative with the subject matter.

I received my student loan check, and I am leaving right now so I can go deposit my mula into the bank. It feels very strange to be walking around the city with a check for tens of thousands of dollars. I feel 'rich' anyway. At least I can eat and pay my rent. I also need to go buy some clothes... for school, of course.

The other big news of Orientation for the Class of 2007 was that Chuck Prince, CEO of Citigroup, was featured in the Wall Street Journal the day after he spoke to our class where the discussion he participated in was quoted in that article. It appeared on the front page. Pretty cool!

CBS Orientation - Day 2

2005-08-24T00:27:00.000-04:00

Lame... well the team building games that CBS paid Chelsey Piers to facilitate was horrrible. I mean, I felt bad for them because it was so bad. I had better team building games when I was 5 and didn't know what a team was.

Free beer, however: good. The 3 hours of bowling (with endless pitchers of beer mysteriously appearing on each lane) was friggin cool.... so was the drunk talk with my classmates on the subway, as well as the two underage nurses who still had the biggest bottle of gin I've ever seen...

Anyway, today I only spent 16 hours with my new classmates. I'm working on a record.

CBS Orientation - Day 1

2005-08-22T22:10:00.000-04:00

I've only been doing Columbia stuff since 8 a.m. today ... or, 14 hours. So I'm done, but there are masses of others headed toward another bar right now. I've already consumed alcohol 3 times today for 3 dfifferent occasions and the 4th time was just not in my cards tonight.

Overall, Orientation is a lot easier than I thought it would be. I thought Orientation was meant to orient us suckas (who haven't been to school in years and years) to what studying and school work is. I thought we would do some work, but no, it's really about meeting people and saying, "thank you for your $120,000. We will spend it wisely." It's been about introducing us to the group of folks who I will be spending days and nights with. I'm cool with that. I can easily push off real work for a few more weeks. I will take the free food and alcohol graciously.

I have met tons of awesome people though. The toughest part is remembering names. I can't remember really stupid things, such as what I ate for breakfast, so how am I going to remember the names of the 125 people I met today. There's 395 more to meet during the remainder of the week. I'm so screwed.

Anyway, I give today 2 thumbs up. Off to bed.

This is Very Bad

2005-08-21T15:55:00.000-04:00

So... I just came home and put in the new, borrowed, more powerful A/C, which is just perfect because it's about 9,000 degrees in New York right now. Ya, until the circuit breaker tripped and we still have no electricity after we reset it. None. No A/C, no fan, just a steamy apartment. And I'm sure the building super, who can't even fix a door lock, is no electrician either.

This suuuuuuucks. I feel like I just landed on the surface of the sun.

Orientation starts tomorrow and I'm going to show up disgusting, I just know it.

Students Galore

2005-08-19T10:30:00.000-04:00

As I walk down the streets of my neighborhood, I notice that the students are arriving! Tons of them.

I saw a cabbie drop off a girl and her parents on the corner of my block. This was definitely her first move here... they were touting maps, confused glances, and this girl had one HUGE backpack with her belongings.

I saw two other people toting luggage on rollers down another side street.

I saw one girl hanging around outside a building with the largest suitcase I have ever seen. She looked stranded, as if she was supposed to be moving in but had no keys nor a way to get inside the building. Luckily, it was a nice day.

Anyway, one suitcase seems the way to go for the new arrivals. It's kind of a cool time around here, I love the buzz of the student influx.

Days of our lives...

2005-08-18T10:00:00.000-04:00

Anyone out there into soap operas? Unfortunately, I grew up with a Soap Opera Gene and I have to somehow stay connected to Days of Our Lives (luckily, one needs to only watch an episode per year to keep on top of the happenings).

The point of this whole blog thing is that I really think there should be a blog/soap opera storyline about my new building in Manhattan. Let me introduce some of the main characters:

Nikky - doorman superb. I think he's an older/fatter rock star at night, but he's definitely a kick ass doorman by day. Good for a laugh anyhow. I think he may know the drug dealers outside, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. He's been here 12 years... maybe I can get some dish from him.

Malat - well, dunno how to spell his name correctly, but he's the Super's son (?), I think. He ripped out the lock from my door when it wouldn't turn over and I was stranded in the hall for an afternoon last week. He's a jack of all trades: Locksmith, Doorman, Super, Casanova (my boyfriend saw him getting some lovin' a few nights ago). I can't leave my building without seeing him for some reason. He's cool enough though.

Boomer - the FATTEST bull dog on earth. I mean, really, this dog is huge and obviously uncomfortable with his own weight. Too bad his owner weighs about 70 pounds. They're probably the same weight, just diffrerent shapes. If he didn't slobber so much, I'd like him more. Boomer and I do not like August in the city, so we're buds...

Vixen Twins - This is weird. I saw two small, pretty blondes with outrageous eye makeup leaving the building tonight. They're twins - hot twins... really, really hot twins. I should have followed them, but I was starving, so food was way more important than seeing where this freak show was headed.

Seth - Recent grad from Columbia. Got his undergrad in May and now works at a bookstore. Poor guy, I really feel for him. $250k on his education and now he makes $8/hour and can't pay his own rent. He's totally nice though and lives across from me... which means he's exactly 3 feet from us at any point during the day because my apartment is about 12 square feet.

I wish I was exaggerating, but such is New York. More to come soon...

In a Moment of Desperation...

2005-08-17T22:35:00.000-04:00

I used the Super's bathroom. REALLY. Well, actually, I think his daughter was home and was the unfortunate one to open up the door in my drunken state when all I could think about was pee. And I've only been here two weeks, but it was either the Super's bathroom (because we live on the same floor) OR, he was going to have a mess in the morning. That's what he gets for not fixing our locks in a week so that I could not get into the apartment in less than 10 minutes. Damn me.

Walking & Apartment Furnishings

2005-08-16T23:45:00.000-04:00

I've walked more this week in New York than I have during my whole life in California. Preview of things to come? Sure.

I walked to Columbia today and it took about 15 minutes from my door to the main gate on Broadway. Not bad at all. However, on miserable days, I can see myself walking one block and taking a subway to the same gate, he he.

Other news: orientation is on Monday, less than a week away!!! NOOOOO. I think I need about 4 more weeks of unemployment :) and then everything should be ok, especially since I still have some pre-work that I need to take care of. Sheesh, I've been a lazy one. To my credit, my apartment is still UNFURNISHED and I've been furiosly perusing craigslist for some furniture that is not 1) grossly overpriced 2) beat up like a mother #*!%-er 3) not from IKEA (because 50% of the people in this city are outfitted by IKEA) and 4) not a coffin*.

On the same topic of apartment furnishings, the single thing I am looking forward to this weekend is picking up my bed. I spent several hours picking it out and I've not been in a real bed for about 3 months (if not longer). No bed. Air mattress. Damn, I am so psyched. Way too psyched for a normal person to be THIS excited for a bed.

* Eventually, the psychotic craigslist ad's hyperlink will expire, so I would like to paste the text for the piece of "furniture" for sale here where I may reference it later: "This is an authentic wooden child's coffin. It could accomodate a small adult. If you are a vampire, then this is the Coffin Table for you! Came from rock sensation Motorcyle Boy's old house in Hollywood. Come 'n' Get It !!! It's almost dusk!" Asking price is $50. And, may I also add that this sums up many of the crazies whose paths I have already crossed in my first two weeks of being a New Yorker. I guess I'm just supposed to look straight ahead as I walk by them every 50 feet, but I dunno.

Impressions

2005-08-11T10:50:00.000-04:00

Driving in Manhattan
This is more like drag racing, really. I never thought of driving as a sport, but my limited driving experience in Manhattan has taught me otherwise.

And, lanes. Why? No one obeys the lane markings AT ALL. This is the closest to a real crash-up derby as I will probably get to in my lifetime. From now on, I think I'll walk.

The Coffee Guy
So, there's a coffee cart on my way to school. I will try to sidestep his temptations of pastries and donuts (though I love the glazed ones) but I will take him up on the 50 cent coffee. Oh yeah... my coffee addiction will be alive and well during my 2 years here. That is just a great find. And his coffee is really good. I dunno about you all, but Starbucks coffee makes me gag. You have to get the foo foo drinks there to have a drinkable beverage.

The Subway
People heading to/from the subway seem to have the ability to RUN down stairs as though that's just how you're supposed do it. I'm not there yet. If I tried going down the stairs in this way, I would surely fall and break my neck. That skill will take some practice to develop.

The Neighborhood
Aside from the initial drug deals I witnessed on moving day, I really like the neighborhood. I don't think there's anything I need that's more than a block away. Today, I had to make a copy of a document, it was around the corner. Yesterday, I needed to buy a lock - around the corner. Mexican food? Downstairs. Dive bar with CHEAP beer? Need I even mention how close this establishment is? $2.50 beers - that's all I really have to say. This place also has a jukebox with some awesome CDs in it - I can just see my first selections: Johnny Cash followed by some Justin Timblerlake followed by vintage Madonna. Ahhhhhhh, This is the life.

No Sleep

2005-08-09T04:36:00.000-04:00

Oh my God, it's so friggin hot, I can't sleep. I want to sleep. No, I need to sleep, seeing as I went to bed exhausted only a few precious hours ago, but I can't because I'm sweating and uncomfortably hot. Gross.

This blows - The free A/C we brought back from the Cape does not, however. This little thing takes all day to cool down a studio apartment, it's amazing. I'm so tempted to open the fridge and just hang out there for a while. We thought turning on just the fan for the evening would be fine, but we were wrong.

What a baby, I know, but it's 82% humidity right now and that's new territory for me, folks. In my former LA life, I didn't have an AC for 5 years and didn't ever need one. The ocean was my AC.

I see a nap in my future tomorrow.

Today is a New Day

2005-08-04T11:10:00.000-04:00

Cape Cod life - - I walked the dog. Went for a swim. Now I'm lounging by the pool. It's quiet. There are no cars or people within sight. Man, this could be my haven away from the city.... and it's free.

If I only had a margarita, life would be perfect right now.

Update: I just woke up from my nap and am watching the Red Sox game. I'm about to head out to a 'Mexican' resuarant. This just really is not fair.

My moving Nightmare

2005-08-03T10:09:00.000-04:00

Warning: This post contains a lot of foul language. It's not for the faint of heart. If you are not afraid of the f word, however, then go ahead because this is worth a read:

These have been THE most stressful days in, probably, my entire life – looking for an apartment in NYC. Talk about jumping through hoops. Luckily, I was completely moved in after 2 ½ days.

Day 1 – Walk through the SEEDIEST neighborhoods I have ever been in. I would take a walk through Watts any day over this. Although the first apartment we looked at was beautifully renovated, the boot-leg -DVD-selling-guy just beneath my window was not desireable. Nor were the other 5 bootleggers on the same block.

We saw 3 apartments. There was supposed to be a 4^th but the building looked like an abandoned building that bums had decorated, so we didn’t even want to see the actual apartment. This place was trashed. I think bums actually did live there because a pile of trash bags and dirty stuff was sitting in one of the hallways.

We walked for hour after hour and were drenched in sweat, which must have been unpleasant for any subway patrons who landed in our car. Overall, Day 1 was a tour through all the neighborhoods we would NOT be living in.

Day 2 – 4 more apartments to view – ran all over the city , sweaty. The 3^rd apartment we saw was the one we ended up applying for. The 4^th one had a funk so bad, an animal probably died in there. I’m not even exaggerating. It was huge but disgusting. We heard late Day 2 that we were approved for the apartment we liked and would have to be in first thing on Day 3 to pick up the keys, sign the lease, and pay out my asshole.

Day 3 - Shit, I have never spent so much money in one day in my entire life. And If my student loans had been as hard to obtain as this apartment, I probably wouldn’t be going for my MBA. Truly. They wanted my first born, but since I don’t have a first born yet, I had to sign a clause on the lease for one arm and one leg. And I don’t know why they just didn’t bind the lease because it needed a cover. It was 30 pages long. I kid you not.

So let me tell you about my apartment. First off, before I tell you about my moving fucking nightmare and you think I hate this place, I actually LOVE IT. I loved it as soon as I saw it and I knew this was the place I wanted to live in. Lovely building. Lovely tenants. Lots to do. 10 minute walk from Columbia (talk about ideal). 1 minute walk to the subway. Gut renovated with new, immaculate everything.

And the neighborhood was perfect… or so I thought.

My job was to sit in the driver’s seat of the truck and just watch it and our stuff so nothing fishy happened while my boyfriend unloaded the truck and took our boxes up to our new, unnaturally small living space. Here is what I saw in just 1.5 hours:

Drug deals and drug dealers.

Three drug deals occurring a whopping 20 feet from me. I was trying not to see this, but it was unabashedly obvious and other things were probably going on that I did not see during this time:

1^st transaction involved 2 cabbies (still in their cabs), Shady-Sketchy Dealer (#1), and Sweaty Bike Guy Dealer (#2)
2^nd transaction involved Milk Carton Dealer (#3) and a dude off the street who checked out that he got what he paid for IN THE LOBBY OF MY BUILDING. RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. THIS is where I started to freak the fuck out. Drug deals. In my building. What the fuck is that all about?????
3^rd transaction was between Bike Guy Dealer (#2) and Milk Carton Dealer (#3) and another guy off the street.

And don’t think they didn’t see me. #3 had his eye on me the WHOLE TIME. I think #1 wanted dibs on our stuff. I also saw him try to open up a parked car about 3 cars behind me, but it was locked. What a shame.

Anyway, when you see people dealing drugs in front of you, pacing up and down the block for 2 hours like stray dogs, who also have their eye on YOU, a suburbian white chick in a truck by herself, this was about the most horrible thing that could have been happening as I was moving into my new apartment.

So I went to Cape Cod with my boyfriend. Here I am, til Sunday when I have to go back and hope my belongings are still there.

Margaritaluvr, welcome to New York.

Fresh off the press...

2005-07-27T15:21:00.000-04:00

I've been robbed... on the subway... in Chicago.
Oh well, such is life. I'm only cashless and credit card-less with no forwarding address and no means for money. It could be worse, right?

Actually, I'm just kidding because it's not that bad. Still have a few credit cards, my ID and I only had $40 in the wallet (thank god for being broke).... and the thieves only used my card at 5 or 6 places in, oh, an hour.

OK, I'm resuming my trip now. I think I will stay off the red line for today though. BYE!!!

Another MBA Dream

2005-07-26T09:49:00.000-04:00

So, last night, I had another dream about this MBA thing... I dreamt that I recently bought a condo in a crappy neighborhood - Compton. I was happy to have purchased an overpriced, sketchy condo in a more sketchy neighborhood until I realized that I wouldn't ever be living there because I was moving to New York. (I'm so glad my real-life logic surpasses my dream-life logic)

So I frantically went down to the loan office and begged to cancel this purchase when the loan officer lady told me that it already went through and this place was mine and I could move in whenever I wanted. NOOOOOOO!!!!!! Although I enjoy a few songs by Snoop and Dre, I surely do not want to hang out with them or their buddies.

Then I woke up and realized that I'm actually going to Chicago for three days and I'm really psyched now. Yay!

Missing Paychecks

2005-07-25T23:58:00.000-04:00

My last paycheck was received on July 7th.... that makes it 18 days since I've been paid and, finally, today I felt the pinch. I had $25 in cash on me and the light went on that I won't be getting any more paychecks for a loooooong time. No more bi-weekly direct deposits into my checking account. No more steady income. No more wasting money on $5 lattes either. Damn.

Hello Again

2005-07-25T00:31:00.000-04:00

I'm in Milwaukee tonight... we've been on the road for 8 wonderfully HOT days now. There is some epic heat wave following us around the country. I'm serious. There's nothing like camping when it's 95 degrees at 3 AM. Good thing we're going for some free cold beer at the Miller Brewery tomorrow.

This is awesome though, not working. I could get used to it.

Going Away Gift

2005-07-15T11:50:00.000-04:00

Have to get off this Debbie Gibson thing, right now. Ok, here it goes...

<--- So I got this gift the other day.

I know, I know. I'm not going to win any friends in New York by owning this Red Sox lunch box, but isn't it so cool?!??!?! It's also insulated and, again, just so cool. It was a gift from a genuine Bostonian at a genuine Boston bar.... the only bar I really go to. This guy also owes me $180 for me beating his ass in backgammon, but I'll just take the lunch box as payment. I guess I have to make room for this as part of the move. dang.

And I have to move out of my apartment today. Today. Today as in 1) I'm not done packing, 2) I've got shitloads to do 3) I need to find us places to stay before we get to NYC for half the trip and 4) our stuff is still not going to fit in the truck... hmmmm maybe I'll post a picture later of the failed, but noble attempt.

And I really should not be on the computer right now. ok, bye.

Another Moving Story

2005-07-15T00:26:00.000-04:00

I am seriously trying to throw as much crap away as I can... like, furiously. However, I came upon a GEM as I was going through some old papers. Folks, I am about to transcribe a letter I wrote to Debbie Gibson 17 years ago. I almost threw this sucker away, but it is truly priceless:

"Dear Debbie,

I want to know if you would send me an autographed picture of you. I think you are the greatest person in the world and I like ALL of your songs. I am 10 years old and have your tape; and if another one comes out, I will be the first one to get it. My friend Jon says he loves you and he's 11 1/2.

I want to know if you are friends with Tiffany and if you are not too busy would you come to my house so Jon and I could take some pictures of us with you? Or, if you could come to my school? If you are gonna come to my house or school, write and tell me when you're coming so I can send some pictures of you to my cousin. She would like that."

I'm so glad I'm not 10 anymore. I don't have her tapes anymore, as I've upgraded to CDs and MP3's, but I did buy her greatest hits album within the last year... by the way, that's 1/2 the songs from her first album and 1/2 the songs from the 2nd.

Riddle Me This

2005-07-13T12:26:00.000-04:00

How am I going to fit alllllll this stuff into the back of a truck on Friday? This is what I am trying to figure out today.

Now, if I could show you a picure of the bedroom, it would be even more pathetic, but I already feel overwhelmed.... don't need to bring you guys into this.

Waitlisted

2005-07-12T12:26:00.000-04:00

So, I'm on the waitlist for housing; more info will be available on... August 15th? Ya? Too bad I'm leaving this Saturday, July 16th. Hmm, that puts me a month in the hole. I've never been homeless before, so this should be an interesting experience.

Thanks for your votes. If I ever make it to 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,' I will definitely ask you guys.

Housing or No Housing

2005-07-08T02:57:00.000-04:00

Well, Friday COB is that when I learn my housing fate with Columbia. Personally, I don't think it's meant to happen for me... what do you think? Take my poll?

<---------

Another Great 'Deal'

2005-07-06T11:28:00.000-04:00

Columbia's meal plan... who dreamt this baby up?

Had I not been a stellar soon-to-be-MBA-math-wiz type, I might not have noticed that 'new math' that Columbia put into their meal plans:

Best Plan ('A'): 150 meals for 1 semester: $1,545. OK, that works out to be $10.30 per meal. Do I look like I was born yesterday? Are they serving caviar over there or what?!?!?? Dude, I don't eat this well now. There's no way I'm going to pay $10 at a cafeteria. Really, come on.
Worst Plan ('D'): 30 meals for 1 semester: $375, which works out to $12.50 per meal. Seriously now, I must be missing something really fabulous about the Columbia meal plan that they forgot to mention in their handy brochure. This plan gets an 'F' in my book. Booooooooooo!!!!!!

How sad am I though? I literally 'studied' the dining guide they sent me in the mail. I think I was really just psyched to be getting anything from them since it's been quiet in Columbia Land lately. I did learn that they sell Starbucks in Uris Hall (the business building), which perked my spirits.

Updates: Work and Housing

2005-07-05T13:23:00.000-04:00

I recycled my body weight in paper this morning. 2 more days of work left after today. Actually, today is almost a non-work day because there is only one other person from my team here. And I thought some sadness would set in now that my end date is so near, but no, I am purely excited to be leaving my job. I am excited to take a vacation. I am excited to move to New York. I am excited to be a full time student. I am excited to not be working for The Man anymore.

I also received an email this morning from CBS Housing that they have almost no spots left, even for people from California. I am in some lottery pool now but I don't expect too much from that. Either way, I should know my fate by Friday. Finally! I was starting to seriously dislike their automated message guy telling me every day that my application was still being processed. If I ever meet him, we are instant enemies.

Linda, First Round's on ME!

2005-06-30T14:41:00.000-04:00

Dear MargaritaLuvr,

Kroll Background Screening Group has successfully completed your Columbia Business School application verification. The entire Columbia Business School community looks forward to welcoming you during Orientation in August.

Thank you for your cooperation.
Linda B. Meehan
Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid
Columbia Business School

Another Thing I Love

2005-06-29T00:55:00.000-04:00

Google.

I love Google. Google is not The Man. For example, Google offers excellent products, which are also F-R-E-E. The Man does not believe in free, trust me. Google's products are not just free, they also rock! And if they Google isn't so sure a product rocks, they call it a 'beta' version. Personally, I think every version of Windows should be called a beta version, but that's another story.

These are my favorite Google products:

Google Search - doesn't everyone use this, really?
GMAIL - if you don't have GMAIL, get it. 2G+ of email space on the web? damn ...and if you need an account, just let me know...
Google Maps - I could never use another map program now. The only improvement I would make if I was Google would be to add a map scale to show what the distances are
Google Desktop - this is my latest finding. It totally rocks. Basically, a program goes and indexes all your files and email, and then you can do quick google searches of your PC. I dunno about you guys, but I don't keep my files as organized as I should and have crap all over. Plus, it searches email! I tested this on my work laptop, and I had 15K files and almost 6K emails (even after I deleted TONS earlier this week).

I'm drooling, I think.

I Had To Do It

2005-06-27T20:21:00.000-04:00

I saw THIS and was immediately IN LOVE:

I'm turning in to some sort of gadget junkie. Somone please stop me! It's really getting out of control at this point.

Today at work, I tried to copy some files from my work laptop so that I could move them to my laptop at home tonight, and all I had was a 64MB flash drive (which was thrown in --for free-- with my new computer); however, I have 1640 MB of data to move. A 64MB flash drive is not going cut it.... hence the impulse buy of the new 512 MB drive. I think the other might be a more useful bottle opener.

Anyway, isn't it beautiful?

Only 21 More Days of Car Ownership

2005-06-24T22:11:00.000-04:00

When my friend called me to help her jump start her car because the battery died, I knew she was desperate. I can basically pump gas, and that's it; however, I am the proud owner of new, shiny jumper cables (which I think I've used just once before) and she didn't have any at all. I was even looking forward to learning something new about cars since I'd never jump started one before...

My friend took one end of the cables, I took the other end. We opened the hoods of our cars and I hooked up my end of the connection to my car's battery... she had the other end of the cables, and, not knowing any better, let the metal ends touch each other. This was a very... bad... idea.

It only took a moment for me to gather that sparks are not supposed to spew from the metal prongs like an Independence Day fireworks show. I could also tell she didn't really comprehend what was going on and, for some reason, wasn't pulling the metal ends apart either... I thought to myself, "Yes, THIS is bad, Margaritaluvr. This isn't how it works." We had our very own light show going on in the parking garage! Ever seen two chicks screaming and hopping around a parking structure in the middle of the day? It's not pretty. She finally realized what was going on and separated the ends. Who knew a dead battery could be so exciting?

Anyway, just one more example of why I am eagerly anticipating selling my car.

** I was educated that I shouldn't have put both clips on my battery. One of the clips should be attached to some metal on my car to ground the cables, or something like that. Yup, I am pretty worthless when it comes to cars**

Getting Ready to Ditch Work

2005-06-22T22:50:00.000-04:00

I figure there are a few things I should keep from work, and much that I should throw away. Out of my 2 gigs worth of email (over the past 5 years) from my work address, I found some funny items.

I was surprised to find a picture that my mom scanned and sent of my brother and I from the early, early 1980's. I can only say that we started drinking at a tender age because, even at 3 & 4 years old, dressing up in the same outfits was not cool. Yes, we were smart enough to know this. We may look happy, but only because these are our first sips of alcohol, NOT because we are hip or stylish.

2005-06-22T22:43:00.000-04:00

Young Lushes

MBA Gouging - Running Tally: $172

2005-06-21T13:29:00.000-04:00

I thought the random fees and expenses would stop after I was accepted into a school. I was so wrong.

I fessed up $83 for my background check. Now, I see that I have this "Essentials of Accounting" homework to do before school starts which requires that I buy a book for $54 (plus tax and shipping, I'm sure). I also get to pay $35 for business cards (again, plus shipping, I'm sure). So, what am I giving this school $38,000 for? I thought these things would be rolled up in that enormous price tag.

I'm debating on whether I should go get my face book photo professionally done, or just send in a picture from my digital camera. I think I will opt for some professional photos straight from Sears, which I will include in my tally. I'm going all out on this MBA, woo hoo!

...and still no word about housing. hmmmmm, I see some couch surfing in my future. Anyway, I'm starting to think that only one person works in Admissions for the Business School. It seems like everything is excruciatingly drug out as much as it can be. Don't worry. I said as much in my student survey that I submitted earlier. Hopefully, future admits won't have to suffer the ineffiencies that the class of '07 has.

No Time for Blogging

2005-06-20T11:27:00.000-04:00

Who has time for blogging (outside of *work* anyway) when you have a new laptop to play with?!?!?! I am in love. I love, love, love this new laptop. Let me tell you about her (yes, her):

I named her "Gwen" after Gwen Stefani. She is part of a wireless rockstar network at home. We have a server called Folsom Prison, and another computer hooked up with two hard drive partitions named Johnny Cash and June Carter (I think I got that right, but I'm not the computer wiz at home). Gwen is now the third inmate. She kinda goes against the naming convention we have set up already, but Gwen is not afraid to break the rules.

She's sleek and sexy. I can't be carrying a brick of a laptop around NYC, so, naturally, I had to go thin and light. Gwen also comes with all the bells and whistles for a little laptop: CD/DVD burner, 1G of RAM, 1.8 Ghz processor, 80G Hard Drive, Windows XP Pro, all the software a girl could ever want, and a 5-hour battery. I've never owned my own laptop before, so I might have gone a little overboard. I don't care.

...I think my iPod is a little jealous these days...

Interviewing My Replacement

2005-06-17T14:16:00.000-04:00

Today, I interviewed two people who applied for my job. This is such a weird feeling. I've interviewed lots of people, but never for my own job. I can't help but to compare them to me. I think, "how would this person deal with the issues I face on a daily basis," "how would Jane Doe deal with punk-ass John Doe?" "could they perform the technical piece of my job at the same level? Would they be forward-thinking?" blah blah blah.

One person I interviewed today is about 25 years older than me. THAT'S weird. It was like interviewing my mom for my job. She was a great lady though and I am pushing for her to get the job.

Another thing that is unsettling is how I am only just interviewing someone to take over my job. I gave notice almost 3 months ago and I am JUST interviewing for my job. I love red tape. I will not be able to cross-train, or work side-by-side with the new person, who is SOL when he/she gets here because no one else can train my job. I'm not a rocket scientist, but I also have no back-up; so, I'm in documentation mode to try and help ease that.

13 more work days...

Dude, Where's My Hair

2005-06-14T19:42:00.000-04:00

Today I went for my Locks of Love hair cut...I think 3 years ago was my last hair cut, so I was a little nervous, a little excited, a little impatient to get rid of all this hair that drives me nuts on a daily/hourly basis.

It actually looks really good, but I'm fearful that when I wash it tomorrow, it's going to suck. I hope not. It's about 2 inches shorter than I anticipated, but my hair hasn't achieved the Annie look, which is what I was realllllly afraid of.

Where Are My Fellow Bloggers...

2005-06-14T01:06:00.000-04:00

So... what the heck happened to Megami and hammermba???
Did I miss something here?
Maybe someone could fill me in?

Preparing for Travels

2005-06-13T09:26:00.000-04:00

The cross-country trip begins in one month. For some reason I never understood before, my mom pays for a AAA membership for me. NOW I get it. If you forget about the roadside service for just one second, I have discovered that the travel services rock over in the AAA office!

We put in for this service called Trip Tik, and in 3 days AAA sent over 4 fold-out maps of various parts of the US, Trip Tiks (detailed foldout maps of our exact journey), and 10 tour books which are stacked about 18 inches high on my floor right now. This was all FREE.

What's almost just as good as free? Damn cheap. My friend has a hotel hookup and we are slated for a 3 night stay in a 5 star Intercontinental Hotel in Chicago... for $59/night. These are the type of places that have baskets of fresh fruit waiting for you when you get there, and chocolates on the pillows. It's going to be better than home, especially my bed-less, table-less, chair-less, dresser-less home.

Should I Even Care

2005-06-10T12:44:00.000-04:00

Two people I *work* with just destroyed 3 months of my work in about 3 hours last night. Should I care? I have 18 actual days of work left... technically about 1 month on the calendar. Should I even care?

For the last two hours, I have wanted to punch someone out for destroying my work. I mean, I was fuming. Upset. At work. And I never get upset at work because it's just work. I can separate work issues from the rest of my life. But this is different.

I think these people are actually trying to sabotage the project my team is working on. And I'm not kidding. They knowingly went in and destroyed 3 months of work that 3 people were working on (myself included). How wrong is that? We all work for the same company and they are trying to sabotage this project. I work with some real psychos, I am totally convinced of this. You may want to stop reading this here, because I'm about to go on a rant.

The real problem is that they won't be held accountable for what they did. They'll lie about it, say it was a mistake, and just continue on their merry ways. My company won't hold them accountable for their actions. Like I tell everyone, 'we round to the nearest million.' Why does anyone care that they destroyed 520 hours of effort (3 people's time for 3 months), at a burdened rate of $75/ hour... that's $117,000. Shit, that pays for my entire MBA. And it only took 3 hours to earn!

OK, I'm done venting. I feel better and I think I'm over it. I'm just not sure if I should start over with what they trashed or what.

New Blog Features

2005-06-09T22:11:00.000-04:00

I've been tinkering with my blog this past week. Added a few things to the sidebar on the left:

Another Counter. It's the NeoCounter that tracks country stats. I just think it's kind of cool how people from 17 countries have checked out my blog in the past 4 days. If only I were more interesting who knows what random countries would have visitors to my blog, damn.
More music stuff in a new feature called "miTunes." I know what you're thinking, "that MargaritaLuvr is so clever." Well, not really. Anyway, I have links to either a song's music video or an MP3 clip and the band's website. Just click the song title for the clip and the band name for their official site. If you like alternative or indie rock, definitely check out some of those videos. In most cases, the entire song is there.

Why am I spending hours and hours messing with the blog? Because I should be packing, but this is way more fun for me.

Embarassing Work Moment

2005-06-09T16:32:00.000-04:00

I was running late to work this morning...
so I got ready in a hurry...
I arrived at work, talked to a few people...
Checked a few emails...
started chatting with my cube mate...
she starts looking me up and down...
with a weird smirk on her face, and says...
"honey, you need to go to the bathroom and fix your shirt...
it's on inside out."

LOVELY

big 'ol white tag sticking out the back of my black shirt was the highlight.

The New Coldplay Album...

2005-06-07T20:00:00.000-04:00

... blows

OK, to be fair, it's not that bad. It's just not that good either. But I'm so disappointed.

I woke up early to download this album to my iPod so that I could listen to it on my way to work, and I don't even like it. It's too sappy for me, I think.

Maybe the White Stripes new album has something redeeming to offer. I liked their last two.

The Two Yoots

2005-06-07T10:05:00.000-04:00

...if anyone remembers, that's from "My Cousin Vinny." Apparently, some native New Yorkers can't say the word 'youths' very well, so it sounds like 'yoots.' What does this have to do with me? I bought some Columbia gear online - Two Youth size tee shirts (and I PRAY that they will fit). I noramlly buy Youth Large because those are the only tee shirts that usually fit correctly, but the very small child on the website wearing the same shirt I just bought kind of scares me. I think by getting the Large size I should be ok though. I also bought a decal for my parents' car and my car (which is also going to be their car soon, he-he). If they can sport 82nd Airborne stuff for my brother, they can sport Columbia stuff for me.

Yay! This is kind of starting to feel real now. I figure if I start soaking up New York culture and getting some gear with the university name or logo, I will get super pumped for school to start. I am also going to scour iTunes for songs about New York. These will come handy during my 4,000 mile trek next month (I know it's not that far to get to New York from California, but we have quite a few pit stops planned which will add just a few extra miles to the journey).

On a side note, when I visited Columbia back in January, I didn't notice the same level of school spirit as the students at Duke had (read: fanatics). So I'm going to change that. My wardrobe will be blue, blue, blue. I'm not really the cheerleader type but, damnit, if this is going to be my life for two years then I'm going to embrace it. And I will definitely be participating in the 'many' happy hours Columbia will be hosting in Uris Hall.

For Sale: Everything

2005-06-06T13:10:00.000-04:00

We've been on a selling spree over at my apartment. We're selling a lot of our stuff and many of our belongings are already gone. If I could work Photoshop better, I'd post some 'before and after' pictures, but I'm just not that interested in learning a new software... so I'll tell you about life without *stuff*:

The Bed. My bed is officially sold. Thank goodness for the Aerobed or I'd be sleeping on the floor for 5 weeks. If you don't have an Aerobed, I highly recommend getting one. They're awesome.
The Dresser. The new dresser is a Rubbermaid container.
The Bookcase. The new bookcase is also a Rubbermaid container.
The TV's. We've sold 4 TVs (crappy TV's at that). WHY do 2 people have 4 TV's? I have no idea. Now we have none. The plan is to buy a plasma in New York though, so I'll probably be watching TV for a month straight before school starts.
The Dining Table. We never ate there anyway.
The Computer Desk. The new computer desk is a cooler.
The Computer Desk Chair. The new chair is called 'le floor.' ... the floor is going to be my best friend soon. My living room furniture is now for sale and soon I will have nothing to sit or eat on except for the floor.

I've always thought of myself as a minimalist, but this could get very interesting.

I've been Tagged Too

2005-06-04T14:11:00.000-04:00

MargaritaLuvr, your mission: post 5 books.

1) How to get into the Top MBA Programs by Richard Montauk - no doubt, my MBA applications bible. Then, I sold it to some lucky chap on Amazon.com for about $10. I hope he applies to Columbia.

2) Hiroshima by John Hersey - eye opening read about 'the bomb'

3) Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Crochet by Donna Kooler - admit it, you want to learn! By the way, if I ever write a book, I'm not going to put my name in the title.

4) Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger - reminds me of my own troubled youth in New York. Just kidding.

5) Not For Tourists Guide to NYC - it's almost like moving to a foreign country, so I figure I need some sort of guide.

Matriculation Updates

2005-06-03T20:00:00.000-04:00

I received some official communication from the school today, and I like the way they think in Admissions: "Please join current students and young alumni in Uris Hall for the first of many Happy Hours on Thursday, July 21." Many Happy Hours?!?! Many?!?! Cool, because I LOVE happy hours. Along with encouraging new students to drink-up from the get go, they did provide some useful information about what I need to get done before I show up in August.... housing, facebook photos, laptop, male strippers, blah blah blah.

They missed one thing though: Columbia forgot to mention I need to get my $60K in loans figured out. And they forgot to mention I need to set up a meeting with the Devil because I have to sell my soul to Him at some point in order to finance this edgumacation. I guess all the happy hours I will be attending starting in July are to help dull the pain of my new debt. I'm fine with that. It's just money, right?

Kroll also called my recommender to verify he really exists. For all my applicant friends who will be dealing with Kroll soon, here is what they asked him:

How do you know MargaritaLuvr?
What is your relationship with her?
Did you write a recommendation for her?
What are her teaming skills like?
What are some of her strongest attributes?
How long has she been with the company?

That was it. He said the phone call was less than a minute long. Painless. So far so good with the 'ol investigation on me. I can't believe I'm paying for this, by the way.

I HATE TICKETMASTER!!!!

2005-06-01T20:05:00.000-04:00

...even though I have a buddy who works there, I still hate this company. I am buying tickets to an Eisley concert (you probably don't know who they are but you also should probably check them out). Let me break out the *great deal* I got on tickets:

$24.......Two general admission tickets at the Troubadour in Hollywood
$4.........Building facility charge (WTF?)
$10.50..Convenience charge (again, WTF? This is definitely an IN-convenient charge)
$4.10....Order Processing Charge (Need I reiterate what I think of this?)
$42.60..Grand Total: cost for two $12 concert tickets. Oh, hell.

This pricing scheme makes no sense to me at all. Ticketmaster is The Man. I bet if I check out the stats of the CEO, he's probably and HBS Grad. Wait, let me just go and do that. Oh, I'm back, and guess what I found out? John Pleasant, President and CEO of Ticketmaster, holds an MBA from... Harvard. I am biting my tongue right now, you have no idea.

On a lighter note, I'm getting my fill on concerts this month (courtesy of The Man). I've got a Hot Hot Heat concert this month at the House of Blues thanks to my boyfriend's generosity, and potentially a Doves concert as well. The Doves tickets might be a belated birthday present from my Bro that I'm not supposed to know about? I'm not sure, but when I went to buy tickets I was told not to. Hmmmmm, fishy.

Not My Week?

2005-06-01T12:27:00.000-04:00

I don't think this is my week. I started my application verification processes with Kroll, which is fine so far. However, thanks to Murphy's Law, I'm expecting some random thing to come up which will require me to dig up documents from 8 years ago.... except I don't have any documents from 8 years ago. In fact, I'm very bad about keeping records of any kind (unless it's purely in an email). We'll see how that goes.

Yesterday, I received a Jury Duty summons, which also wouldn't be so bad because my work pays for jury duty, but when I looked at the date, I'm supposed to go right after my vacation starts. I hope I can get out of that without having to go at all. I was bummed to see that California wants to squeeze everything it can from me before I leave this state. I will probably need to dig up records for that too since they may ask for proof that I am, indeed, leaving town for good.

Today, I received my financial aid package from Columbia, which is the most depressing of all. I've been approved for tons of loans to finance my MBA and received a very meager scholarship. I should be thankful for getting anything, but after being offered almost $40k from Duke, this does not come anywhere near that.

And I still have no home yet. I'm waiting for the school to (hopefully) approve my housing application. My hopes are dwindling though as I'm receiving mixed messages about who gets approved for housing. Some say Californians are safe because we are comingfrom so far away. Others say that the international admits have priority over everyone, which is fair, but that doesn't leave room for many others. I guess I will just have to wait and see for myself.

Still Hasn't Sunk In

2005-05-24T13:22:00.000-04:00

I think I've come to terms with moving, but I still can't see myself going to class or studying in 3 months' time. I still can't picture myself as a student, especially on my way to an MBA, nor can I see myself toodling around a campus on a weekday when I'm so used to a cubicle life 5 days a week. When is the reality of this all going to set in? When I'm in New York? When I leave my job? It all feels very unreal to me.

... but this is also weird: as I was writing this, Linda Meehan called to say, "We'll see ya in August!!!" Did I mention that I don't believe in coincidences? She must be a mind reader or Columbia has their Kroll spies watching me 'at work,' working harder than ever (wink wink).

GoldiLocks of Love

2005-05-23T12:25:00.000-04:00

I know I have too much hair for just one person. So, I'm donating at least 10 inches of it to Locks of Love next month, but I have mixed feelings about this. I'm actually thrilled to donate hair to a sick child, but(!) my hair is unruly sometimes and I don't know if I wish my daily hair drama onto others. I'm also scared to cut that much hair from my head. I have the type of hair that expands as it shortens, so I'm nervous about cutting off too much - it has to go past my shoulders or I will look like Annie. Scar-y.

MBA Perceptions

2005-05-20T21:22:00.000-04:00

It's funny how work life changes once people know you are leaving to go get your MBA at a kick-ass school:

I've also been told by a couple of people that I'm the smartest person they know. HA! I've never been told this prior to, say, three months ago and I can think of LOTS of people I personally know who are smarter than I am. I'm not being modest, I just know that I have tons to learn.
I have way more credibility amongst my coworkers. There's no push back on my ideas from the seniors anymore and some of my more experienced colleagues are now picking my brain for ideas and suggestions. There was a time, not so long ago, when my suggestions were discredited because I hadn't put in enough 'time' to be worthy of listening to.
My replacement is officially going to be a position offered at a higher level in order to get someone at 'my caliber.' Funny, but I wasn't being paid at that higher scale.... dude, I should be making $10-15K more than I am, if that is the case.
I'm suddenly everyone's top candidate for 'The Apprentice.' Really, I have no desire to work for Donald Trump. Thanks, but no thanks. However, Martha look out! I'm taking you down to Chinatown.
Some people think that I will be hanging out with CEO's from now on. Actually, I have a nice bench picked out in Central Park just in case I don't get student housing. I'm more likely to be chillin' with the homeless than rubbing elbows with the rich and powerful at this point.
Apparently, I'm coming back as everyone's boss. Well, I'm not coming back. Ever. Never, ever, ever.

There you have it. My, how things change when people see you are going on to do better things with your life.

The "Going Out Guy" Uniform

2005-05-18T20:00:00.000-04:00

OK, this is way off topic from any of my rants so far, but I have to get something out there. Inspired by Days' post on the button-down blue shirt, I need to vent that the Going Out Guy Uniform (the patterned, long-sleeve collared shirt) is just as bad.

Here are examples of what I'm talking about

These are nothing more than flamboyant work shirts that 50% of the guys wear when they go out at night to the bars, pubs, clubs, etc. It didn't bother me until I went to Vegas and saw groups of guys wearing the same clothes and looking like little clones of each other. Mmmmm, actually they looked more like flocks of sheep. I bet they'd like Wales.

I notice The Uniform everywhere now and the trendiness of it all drives me nuts. The worst part is that I think I'm going to see more of this in my next 2 years. grrrrrrrrrr. ok, I feel better now.

More than Movies

2005-05-17T20:10:00.000-04:00

I admit, I've watched tons of movies lately, but I'm also doing something to feed my brain in the meantime: reading! I just read Anthem by Ayn Rand and it gave me some food for thought, so I'm going to tackle Fountainhead next. I also bought Never Eat Alone, which I will read after that.

Some other books on my "To Read" list for the next two months are: Girl with a Pearl Earring, Tara Road , The Time Traveler's Wife , and The Virgin Blue . I haven't bought any of these books yet so if any of these are not worth reading, please someone tell me before I go out and waste my money.

More on Chitty Chitty

2005-05-16T11:30:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to add that Chitty Chitty Bang Bang holds a special place in my heart. I distinctly remember watching this movie when I accidently spilled a cup of Kool Aid into the VCR when I was 6 years old. This was back in the 80's when VCRs were new and they cost a lot. I believe we only had the VCR a few weeks when I was almost disowned by my entire family at that very moment. Man, that's a tough weight to bear as a 6 year-old, but, thankfully, I've mostly recovered from that dark moment in my life.

p.s. - I really have nothing MBA related to blog about these days, so please excuse the random postings that may come along in the next few weeks.

2005-05-16T00:30:00.000-04:00

Ah, my first crochet project. Notice the fine lines and texture! This actually took me about 4 days to create, but I have to keep it to remind me how bad I was when I first started!

2005-05-16T00:29:00.000-04:00

projects 2 & 3... coin purses and a coaster. I think I will throw the coaster away cuz it's ug-ly!

2005-05-16T00:28:00.000-04:00

Here are projects 4 and 5, a drawstring bag and then the blue purse set.

2005-05-16T00:27:00.000-04:00

My current masterpieces. The left project is a baby blanket for the Golden Child and the right is my scarf, which is still in the works.

I Had To Do It

2005-05-15T17:09:00.000-04:00

Today, I downloaded the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang soundtrack from iTunes. You should too.

Ethan & The Spoon

2005-05-13T18:24:00.000-04:00

There are some things about my workplace that I will miss. Granted, there's not too much I'm going to miss, but I had a sentimental moment (already) at work today about the oddities that exist here and make my company 'unique.'

I went to a retirement party for a guy known as "The Spoon." He introduces himself that way to people because he's a true 'stir the pot' kind of guy and he fully embraces that trait. Anyway, The Spoon has to be in his mid sixties, yet he has a young soul. We've had conversations about the Foo Fighters, the White Stripes, and local radio station DJs, Kevin and Bean. He's the only older man I know that listens to alternative music and has grandkids at the same time.

I found out something odd yet fantastically funny about The Spoon today: he's raising a cockroach that he caught at work in a Tupperware container. NICE. He named the roach Ethan and feeds it donuts. I'm not sure what else Ethan is fed but he's been growing since his new owner's been feeding him. Apparently, The Spoon caught the roach at work and taped him to a white board. After two days, he transferred Ethan to a plastic container and has been taking care of him ever since. The rumor is that Ethan's leaving the company and moving to the River with The Spoon. I think they will live happily ever after.

Anyone else have weird things like this going on at work?

More MBA Prep

2005-05-12T22:02:00.000-04:00

Here's a list of the movies I've seen in the last, oh, month or so and my ratings of them:
Y = Yes, recommend
R = If your bored, might be a decent Rental
N = oh, god, no

Y Amityville Horror (the remake)
Y Ray
Y Finding Neverland
R Stepford Wives
R Along Came Polly
N Saw
Y St. Elmo's Fire
Y Dawn of the Dead
R Secret Window
Y Incredibles
R The Matrix

I think that's it. Hollywood Video has DVD's at 3 for $25, so we've stocked up on a bunch. On the "To Watch" list of movies we've bought but not seen yet:
The Grudge
The Notebook
Sideways
Mystic River

I have this sinking feeeling that no one at Columbia will have watched as many movies this summer as you-know-who.

Lots of Random Stuff Today

2005-05-11T11:32:00.000-04:00

How old am I again?
I have gone into some sort of crochet frenzy. I feel like I just aged about 40 years because I'm not supposed to be doing this at my tender age. But, I love it and can't get enough!!! I actually can do it and my stuff is pretty good. Here are a list of my creations so far: a drawstring pouch, some coasters, a purse, 4 (ya, 4) coin pouches, and my grand creation: a baby blanket for the Golden Child (The Golden Child is my good friend's new baby coming in June. He cost over $20K to produce from two invetro sessions. They won't tell us his name, so I had to give him one myself). My current project is a scarf, which is turning out very nicely. I want to put up some pictures soon, if I can get that to work.

Strawberry Festival
Hell Ya. Luckily, I live in strawberry country and I am going to a Strawberry Festival this weekend. They are my favorite fruit and I am so psyched because this event has the best strawberries in the world. No joke, they are fabulous. Plus, you can get very interesting items, such as strawberry nachos and strawberry pizza. I think I will fork over a few extra bucks this time and go for the strawberry wine. Anyway, should be a good time this weekend.

Saturday Night
I promised to blog this... I went out with three lesbians this weekend. That's one thing I really do like about SoCal: you can be whoever you want to be, even yourself. Imagine that! I had an awesome time with these ladies, however, I need to get one thing off my chest: I do not recommend being a lesbian (unless you're a guy).

I'm not anti-anyone, I promise, but girls are trouble. They really are, and I'm a girl so I can say that. Can relationships really handle two women? See, at least guys are not attention whores, aren't as sensitive, mean what they say (usually), and don't get moody once a month. Girls come with baggage and drama, and hang-ups. They're complicated and judgmental about other girls. Nothing is ever,ever easy with girls. Everything has hidden meanings and intentions (that's where the drama comes from).

Anyway, I will probably come back as a lesbian in my next life thanks to this. Crap. To redeem myself, however, I truly do admire two women who actually can be in a relationship that works. You should probably write a book or a manual for all the guys in this world who haven't figured us out over the last few thousand years.

Fate of the Blog

2005-05-09T17:26:00.000-04:00

Alright. I know I'm a slacker blogger now but this is my dilemma: I am not quite sure what to do with my blog. Since I am part of a small contingent of female SoCal bloggers who are going to Columbia, I have no decent cover. I basically blew my anonymity and I'm not really ready to give it up. I don't want to filter my words when something really shitty comes up at school or if I'm unhappy with The Man. No one gets offended by the good stuff, but I'm sure I will have moments where I'm piping mad and just want to vent and not have to regret it later. Ya, I don't see that happening anymore with the blog. And then I refuse to turn my blog into an MBA brown nosing session like certain ones out there. I'm just not that nice or that fake.

On the other hand, I thought it would fun to post a picture like hamtastic or iceman... but the only Columbia gear I have is the university name written across the chest of a tee shirt, and that would just be too disappointing for my readers. Unfortunately, I have nothing to brag about, so maybe I can think of something else a little more clever.

Money & MBA Dreams

2005-05-04T21:40:00.000-04:00

Well, I just submitted an application for a private loan to finance one year of my education. Sticker shock set in very quickly. Unfortunately, Columbia has not announced fellowships/scholarships, so I had to just suck it up for the full amount until I find out more from them. I'm crossing my fingers that they give me something and I can change that loan amount.

Who knew it was so easy to borrow $60K+. The application took me about 30 minutes to complete, which included crossing all the t's and dotting all the i's. I even read the Privacy Statement, which I NEVER do because I always figure people are just going to sell my information anyway. If that wasn't the case, I wouldn't receive a million spam messages and crap mail at home every day.

Oh ya, on a side note, I've started having dreams about school. Actually, they're more like nightmares. In my dream (I've had it more than once), I suddenly decide that I want to go to Duke. Then I realize that I can't go to Duke because I turned them down and I start to flip out. This bugs because I'm actually excited to go to New York. Now I just need to have dreams that NYC kicks ass and I decide I really love it there. Anyhow, I think the move to New York has my nerves wound up a bit, which is why I'm moving there in July. I need some time to adjust and get settled in, find my way around, and meet some Columbia-ites asap.

On Notice

2005-04-27T20:00:00.000-04:00

Last day at work: July 7th. Yup it's real. I turned in my notice this week and I am taking off 6 weeks before school starts. It sounds like a lot right now, but it's probably not. The last time I had 6 weeks off with 'nothing' to do was when I was 15. I started working when I was 16 and haven't taken off much time since then.

On July 8th I'm going camping to Yosemite. I'm not wasting ANY time!!! The party starts right away. The following week, we're packing our stuff into a trailer and moving to New York. Yup, we decided on a self move because it's going to cost much less (I think), leaving me money (hopefully) for a trip to Europe.

We have some tentative stops for a road trip once we head out: parent's house, Grand Canyon, Denver (probably see a Rockies game), Chicago (probably see a Cubs game), and then TBD after that. Since we have to haul this trailer around with all our belongings, the road trip has shrunk from one month to two weeks. Bummer.

CBS Application Verification Process

2005-04-21T11:45:00.000-04:00

Taken from their website, Columbia's take on the Background Checks by Kroll is below:

Application Verification Update
As you know, as an admitted student, the information provided in your application is subject to verification. Columbia Business School has chosen Kroll Background America to be the third party provider of these services for our program.

The background verification that we have implemented with Kroll is merely to confirm the information that is in your application: your employment, education and recommendations. This verification process is simple and requires a few minutes of your time. Kroll requires a fee of $83 to complete the verification process, which you may pay via credit card on their secure website. We will be sending out detailed instructions about how to proceed within the next few weeks. Please feel free to contact our office with any questions you may have about this process.

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On a side note, they finally cashed my check.

Lost Wages

2005-04-18T10:06:00.000-04:00

Went to Las Vegas this weekend. The trip was not in my savings plan, but there was this wedding to go to...

I think I'm over Las Vegas. When I was in my early 20's it was really fun to go and gamble, but not so much anymore. It's expensive. I drank too much. I handed over the blackjack dealer all my money. I never win. I always leave feeling like crap. Ya, I don't think there are too many more Vegas trips in my future.

MBA Experience

Fall '06

Internships

Interventions

Back from Spring Break

Web Sites I Would Die Without

Must Post

Day 1 of Spring Semester

Not Missing School Yet

Winter Break

Strike!!!

Big Slob

T Minus 12 hours

Ya, I really shouldn't be up..

Ya, I really shouldn't even be blogging but...

Finals are Coming

Walk the Line

Ambiguous

1st Semester Class Scorecard

I Bombed a Midterm

Post-Finals Ponderings

It Could Always Be Worse...

Midterms/Finals& Cluster Bonding

Sundays Suck

The Calm Before the Storm

It's Not About Grades

MBA Hiring Prospects Brighten

Tomorrow is a New Day

Email and B-School

Graduate vs. Undergraduate

I'm Such a Nerd

The Life Encompassing MBA

Classes

Tenants Meeting

CBS Orientation - Day 5

CBS Orientation - Day 4

CBS Orientation - Day 3

CBS Orientation - Day 2

CBS Orientation - Day 1

This is Very Bad

Students Galore

Days of our lives...

In a Moment of Desperation...

Walking & Apartment Furnishings

Impressions

No Sleep

Today is a New Day

My moving Nightmare

Fresh off the press...

Another MBA Dream

Missing Paychecks

Hello Again

Going Away Gift

Another Moving Story

Riddle Me This

Waitlisted

Housing or No Housing

Another Great 'Deal'

Updates: Work and Housing

Linda, First Round's on ME!

Another Thing I Love

I Had To Do It

Only 21 More Days of Car Ownership

Getting Ready to Ditch Work

MBA Gouging - Running Tally: $172

No Time for Blogging

Interviewing My Replacement

Dude, Where's My Hair

Where Are My Fellow Bloggers...

Preparing for Travels

Should I Even Care

New Blog Features

Embarassing Work Moment

The New Coldplay Album...

The Two Yoots

For Sale: Everything

I've been Tagged Too

Matriculation Updates

I **HATE** TICKETMASTER!!!!

Not My Week?

I HATE TICKETMASTER!!!!