Shot in the arm

Literally & figuratively.

Saturday I went to our long time family doctor's office to pick up my immunization history for school. I had called earlier in the week and asked them to make a note on there if I needed I tetanus shot. I was pretty sure that I did. However, I had no idea how badly I needed it. Assuming you need them every 10 years as suggested (and as required by the University of Chicago) I was 13 years overdue. Yes folks, the last time yours truly got a tetanus shot was 1982. Don't ask me how I fell through the cracks, I have no clue. I guess I assumed that the family doc had kept me up to date since I saw him throughout undergrad, and I figured I'd err on the side of caution as an adult and get a booster shot if I ever cut myself. Wrong. $20 and a shot in the arm later, I'm now immunized and ready to learn, according to the sheet I'm sending off to the health folks at U of C.

A couple of weeks ago, I reminded my folks that it was almost July and therefore almost time for me to be wrapping up my work for them and start heading east. I think it snuck up on all of us. So I've been working like crazy, trying to make sure all of the manuals related to my tasks are updated and easy to follow. I've got a couple of projects that may have to wait, but I could possibly do them remotely from Chicago before school starts (or they might end up as good class projects, who knows). I'm also sorting through all of the applications we received in response to our classified ad and online listing. We had three interviews Friday, two today, and this afternoon I'll schedule more for later this week. My ideal scenario is to get my replacement and a new receptionist hired by the end of the week, hopefully have them start a week from today, so I can get a full two weeks of training with them before the end of the month. My preferred last day here is July 29, and I hope to be arriving in Chicago by the first weekend of August. Will that actually happen? Depends on how things go with interviews this week and when our chosen ones can start. I've got my fingers crossed! (But I set that July 29th milestone knowing full well that it could be pushed back two weeks... and I'd rather July 29th get pushed back to August 12th, than August 12th get pushed back to August 26th...that would suck.)

BTW, to anyone else who's gone through the b-school app process then been involved in hiring...are you now way more critical of resumes & interviews? At times I'm asking myself "are these truly bad applications, or are my standards out of control?!?" Anyone?

Got my fix, finally

Went wakeboarding for the first time since I moved back to Washington. After three months, it felt awesome to get back on the water, in spite of the fact that conditions sucked. Thanks to the holiday weekend and better than expected weather, everyone who owns a boat or PWC was on the water this weekend. We were on the water from about 8 pm until there was no light left (probably well beyond what is legal) and it was still pretty rough. But no matter, I went wakeboarding!!

I met up with some guys I met on a wakeboarding website, Wakeworld. If you don't own a boat (or have a close friend with a boat) and you want to ride, you have to hop online to find people with boats who have extra room or need a third. When I lived in Virginia, I had a close friend with a boat so I had a permanent hook-up for pulls. But when I moved to San Diego, I had to network my way to pulls and ended up finding some pretty reliable ones. It's always a little weird going to meet people for the first time, but so far I've only had positive experiences. The wakeboarding community is a pretty chill group of people and most folks are happy to have another boarder on the boat (especially a chick who boards). It's a very social activity. These guys I met up with on Sunday had a house on Lake Stevens and a dock with 3 tournament wakeboard boats tied up (we're talking $150K+ worth of boats). They also had a keg tapped and the BBQ fired up all day. In other words...heaven on earth!

Refuse to Lose 10th Anniversary

Also known as the 10th Anniversary of the summer that I (and the rest of the Pacific Northwest) fell in love with the Seattle Mariners and Major League Baseball.

Fox Sports Northwest just replayed Game 5 of the 1995 American League Division Series between the Mariners and the Yankees. Brought back a lot of memories. That was such an awesome summer. No one thought the M's had a chance at making the playoffs. Instead they had a pretty magical run through September, and won their first ever AL West championship in a fantastic one game playoff with the Angels. They lost the first two games in New York (Game 2 in 15 innings), and had to win 3 straight in Seattle to advance to the ALCS. Thus began the "Refuse to Lose" campaign.

The series had a great cast of characters, in both dugouts. For the Mariners...Edgar Martinez, Ken Griffey Jr, Jay Buehner, Randy Johnson (who came in as a reliever in Game 5), Tino Martinez, Joey Cora, and a 20-year-old pre-sellout rookie named Alex Rodriguez. For the Yanks, the old guard of Wade Boggs & Don Mattingly, with Bernie Williams, Paul O'Neill, David Cone, and a couple of rookies...Mariano Rivera & Derek Jeter. There were also some first class mullets on display thanks to Randy Johnson & Norm Charlton!

Game 5 was wall-to-wall excitement through 11 innings. Every time the Yanks scored, the M's found a way to match it. 5-4 Yanks going into the bottom of the 11th, with the heart of the Seattle batting order coming to the plate. Cora gets on by the skin of his teeth with a lead off bunt, then Griffey gets a walk. Up comes Edgar, coming off a grand slam in game 4, and he just rips a shot to the left field corner to bring home Cora & Griffey. Pan-de-fricken-monium, the place goes bonkers.

A baseball town is born. The road is paved for Safeco Field, record-setting attendance, Ichiro, and 116 wins in 2001. But we're all still waiting and hoping for a World Series championship. Someday.

Not a happy camper

Of course the weather decided to go straight into the crapper as soon as I had plans to go wakeboarding. Mother Nature has a sick sense of humor.

I guess I should go to the gym and work out after work. But when you were hoping to spend the evening on the lake, the prospect of sweating it out on a cardio machine surrounded by meat heads is not all that enticing.

So it goes.

Summer

Love summer in the Pacific Northwest. Today was ridiculously beautiful. Clear blue skies, no smog, 80 degrees. It's almost 9 pm and the sun won't set for another half hour. Just awesome.

And I had to work.

And I haven't been wakeboarding in more than two months.

I am *jonesin* for some time on the water, y'all. And I may be in luck tomorrow if the weather stays nice. My dad introduced me this evening to a friend of his that lives on Lake Samish. He keeps his boat wet all summer and his son wakeboards. I'm putting my gear in my car tomorrow and I will be praying for an evening session on a glassy lake.

Tough Chick

It's amazing what you can accomplish when you set a big goal, aren't afraid of hard work, and face challenges with a "bring it on" attitude. Exhibit A: Danielle Fisher, a local girl who recently became the youngest person to complete the Seven Summits (the tallest peaks on each of the seven continents). Very, very cool. You can learn more about her journey at her website, in our local paper, or tomorrow morning (Friday 6/17) on the Today show.

One year

Hard to believe I’ve been at this blogging thing for a year now. It was about 15 months ago that I began working in earnest towards my goal of enrolling in an MBA program, a goal that I set 6 years ago. And in just 3 short months, I’ll be back in school starting the next phase of my goal…completing my program and pursuing my dream career. Pretty damn cool when you stop and think about it. I’m really glad I have my blog, so that I can read back and reflect on what has transpired. It’s also been very rewarding to be part of the online community.

What I haven’t done yet, and what I promised to do awhile ago, is a review of my application process and the outcome. I think this is the perfect time do it since it was around this time last year that my preparations began, and maybe those preparing for Fall 2006 applications will find a post-mortem of my application process useful. What I am not going to do is tell people what to do or give advice. Every applicant is unique and so should be his or her application strategy. What worked for me may not work for others, and vice versa. I’m just going to use this post to do a sort of self-assessment, and I think in another year-in-review post I’ll link to the highlights & lowlights. I didn’t participate in any feedback sessions so these thoughts are all just my opinions.

What I did well:

1. Rocked the GMAT. I took it during my senior year of undergrad and I think that definitely worked in my favor. I was in the studying/school frame of mind, I had time and energy to take full practice tests (the most critical piece of my GMAT prep), and material was fresh in my mind. I’m not sure that I could post the same score today, in fact I’m pretty sure that I couldn’t. Five years of corporate life may have added to my practical experience, but it’s been a bit of a brain drain on the other facets of knowledge. I’m also glad I didn’t have to worry about studying for and taking the test while researching programs, drafting essays, and working 50 hours a week. There are just not enough hours in the day.

2. Got involved with things that interest me and stayed involved. This applies both professionally and personally. I sought out new and different projects at work, but I stuck with the same employer, one that’s know for a rigorous hiring process and good development programs. I stayed involved with my sorority, volunteering for leadership positions that would help fill in the management gap in my profile since I have no formal people management experience.

3. Supported my goals with a backbone. What I mean by that is I’m dreaming big, but I have realistic expectations for an MBA’s role in the process of getting there and I demonstrated a clear understanding of the challenges I’ll be facing. My big goal is broken into smaller goals, which are further broken down into specific activities and experiences I’ll need to get where I’m going, particularly those that can be obtained by completing an MBA program.

4. Visited the programs I was interested in, or at least attended every information session possible. When people said it was an important way to differentiate the programs, I didn’t realize how important until I was deciding between admission offers and could reflect back on my *personal* experiences, not just the experiences of others or the pretty brochures the programs sent me.

5. Didn’t allow too many cooks in the kitchen. Sure, I was seeking advice from anyone who had knowledge about MBA programs and I was addicted to reading the blogs and the MBA forums. I also got an application strategy consultation from Clear Admit fairly early in the process, which helped me to figure out what to focus on and how I should position myself. Filling out their questionnaire alone went a long way toward helping me get a coherent train of thought for my applications. But when it came time to actually write each application, it was pretty much me and only me. I sought my mom’s proofreading help, but specifically asked her to focus on just the spelling and grammar because I wanted my applications to be my voice, my story, without outside influence.

6. Didn’t over-prepare for interviews. I hate canned answers and I hate sounding like a robot. All I did for each interview was read over my resume and my application essays the night before and the day of my interview. That’s it. It kept me sounding natural and it also kept me from stressing out too much or over-analyzing.

What I could have done better:

1. Eliminated procrastination. I should have set a better application schedule from the get-go and stuck to it. I definitely rushed some elements. When I start up at the GSB in the fall, I need to get a handle on my predilection for frittering away time in the face of a big project.

2. Completed my back-up application first (McCombs), rather than one of my top choices (Kellogg). Reading back over my applications and remembering back on my interviews, which Kellogg was my first completed for both, my first ones were my weakest ones.

3. Sucked it up and completed 6 applications in the first round, instead of stubbornly holding onto the limit of 5 I placed on myself. I would have been better off if my Wharton app had been in with all my others, and it was my procrastination and laziness that got the better of me.

4. Not have gone into my Wharton visit & interview somewhat cocky and apathetic. It took place after my scholarship news from Chicago & UCLA Anderson, and I really liked both of those programs and felt pretty certain I would end up at one or the other no matter what happened with Wharton. Even so, I should have gone into my Wharton trip with a better attitude and a more open mind, instead of undermining my application the way I did. That was stupid.

5. Not let my shing in 2000 mess with my confidence and cause me to play it too safe. Looking back, I probably should have skipped the apps to McCombs & Haas and instead gambled on HBS and/or Stanford.

6. Saved more money over the past 5 years. Sure, I’ve been putting plenty away in my 401k, but this process requires cash money…a lot of it. My cash savings is pretty much spoken for at this point, between application fees, school visits, moving expenses, etc etc. There’s not much left over for fun things like pre-MBA travel. I feel a bit like I’m missing out and that sucks. At least I’ve been pretty good about paying off my debt and I’ll be headed to school with no car payment and a very low revolving credit card balance.

Anyway, that’s the good, the bad, and the ugly as far as I’m concerned. All-in-all, I think everything turned out A-O-K and I’m really looking forward to the next two years at Chicago GSB.

Travel

Jeez, everywhere I turn I'm reading about somebody else's worldly travels. There are so many bloggers traveling this summer before school (Iceman, PowerYogi, DirtyMartini, and Le Voyageur, to name a few), and I'm getting travelogue emails from an Indian friend who is headed to NYU Stern in the fall but is currently kicking it with some German chicks in Cuba. I am green with envy. I wish I had saved more time & money for travel this summer. Not just for fun and the experience, but so that I have a more interesting answer to the question everyone will be asking in the fall "What did you do over the summer?" than "Well, I lived with mom & dad, worked with mom & dad, and got fat from all of the home cooking."

But in the nick of time, I get an email from the Chicago GSB '07 Yahoo Group. Evidently, the Ski Club is planning a ski/snowboarding trip for the winter holiday break. Cool, that's right up my alley. To Vail. For a week. For under a grand. Woo-freaking-hoo. This is exactly why I asked for a little more money than my personal budget required on my loan applications, because I may have missed out on summer traveling but I sure as hell will be traveling during winter & spring break.

I have great timing

Just found out this afternoon that my former employer is closing the San Diego office, sometime between Q3 2005 and Q1 2006. Although I may have missed out on some severence $$$ that may have helped during school, I'm not sure exactly what my eligibility would have been (since my impending departure was already widely known), so rather than being bummed, I'm happy as hell not to be there as the shit is hitting the fan. Many of us saw the need for the shit to hit the fan and figured it was eventually going to happen, we just didn't know exactly when the execs were going to nut up and pull the plug. I've talked to my friends who are impacted, and most feel confident that things will work out OK for them. It sounds like they are consolidating non-redundant functions to another office (in a cheaper location than San Diego) and eliminating redundant functions. So there are opportunities to transfer offices, assuming you're willing to leave San Diego. Anyway, IMO, it's the right business decision and it's about time they did it.

A little severence to subsidize school would have been nice though...

Update: the official press release, the AP's blurb, and the local take. Talked to more people last night, sounds like there were good things about the way the company handled it and not so good things. It also sounds like they cut severence to a third of what it used to be. I might have been eligible for two months. Yeah, I'm glad I left when I did, my sanity is worth more than two months. My heart goes out to those who lost their jobs, I hope everyone is able to land on their feet.

Another check off the to-do list

Finished my financial aid application. I feel like I should have signed it in blood. Those are big numbers, even with the scholarship, this is some massive debt about to hit my credit report. Keep repeating the mantra...I'm making an investment in myself that will pay off in the long run. And I'm going to have a whole lot of fun in the process!

Saw two movies this weekend. Went to The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants with a friend on Friday night. Somewhat disappointing, but an OK chick flick. I enjoyed three of the four plot lines. The fourth sucked out much of my enjoyment of the movie. Went with my folks to see the latest installment of Star Wars this evening. I enjoyed it, despite the typical Lucus hokey dialogue and subpar acting. The story was good and I liked seeing the overall Star Wars tale come full circle.

I hate chain letters and their brethern

Thanks a lot, Dave :) I've been tagged. At least it's a subject I like.

-Total number of books owned: No way to say for sure, since my cache of hardbacks & paperbacks is in storage in Chicago, with the exception of the few titles I planned to read this summer and a couple of textbooks I planned to revisit in preparation for b-school (as if that's really going to happen). I would guesstimate my library is around 250.

-Last book I purchased: For someone else, The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss, a board book for my friend's son for his first birthday party this afternoon. For myself, God's Politics by Jim Wallis, a book I picked up at Costco based on a recommendation from my hairdresser. I really like his ideas, but it's not a book I can read in one sitting, so I'm reading it a chapter or two at a time in between other books.

-Last book I read: Since I traveled this past week (and I always read more when traveling) I've read two. Like Dave, I read State of Fear by Michael Crichton on the way to Chicago, based on a recommendation from my dad (plus he had a hardcover copy so I didn't have to buy it). I liked it, it was a fast read and I liked his critique of the media/propaganda circus. Coming back to Seattle, I read The Enemy by Lee Child. It was just OK. The plot was pretty good and I liked the twists (although I saw a couple coming, which takes some of the fun out of it). What I didn't like was the actual writing/language. It was done in the first person, and I've found that with first person books, I either love it or hate it depending on the primary character's voice and the way the author writes that voice. I could see some of the reasons behind why the author wrote him the way he did, but I didn't find myself enjoying it or really rooting for him. I just wanted to know what happens next and that kept me turning the pages.

Five books that mean a lot to me (in no particular order):
-The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay: Race relations, poverty, coming of age, perseverance & triumph...this book covers it all and it's a great story. Plus, I love books set in foreign places.
-Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel: A fairy-tale-esque romantic novel slash cookbook. Kind of a fable. Better than the movie, I've read it at least 5 times.
-The Autobiography of Henry VIII by Margaret George: The first historic fiction book I ever read that got me hooked on the genre. I'm blown away by the amount of research she did to stay accurate to the history while giving us a fictional insider's perspective on the man who had 6 wives (and beheaded two of them!)
-What Color is Your Parachute? by Richard Bolles: The ultimate career planning & job hunting book, updated annually.
-The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein: I love all of his books, and they remind me of being a kid and visiting my grandparents (who gave me & my brother The Giving Tree, A Light in the Attic, and Where the Sidewalk Ends). This one is my favorite because of it's message about giving and loving unconditionally.

On that note, I'm going to *give* everyone a break and not tag anybody. But it's not a purely altruistic move, because as I stated from the outset...I hate chain letters and the like. So really I'm being a spoil-sport and breaking the chain. Neaner, neaner.

Living arrangements for the fall? Check!

Back from Chicago. Another great visit, can't wait to move there in August (actual date still TBD). Toured the potential apartment, met the potential roommate...it's going to work out fabulously! The place is huge, and while it's very near the "L" (read: you can hear the trains, it's the one drawback of the place, but it didn't keep me awake), the amenities, location, and price cannot be beat. And my roomie and I are a good match. So I'm really relieved to have that figured out, definitely worth the trip.

Now I just have to finalize my budget and get that darn financial aid paperwork out the door ASAP!

The Contender

I've been religiously watching The Contender for the past few months. It's a great show. The boxers are all likeable, entertaining people who you want to root for, and the storytelling & editing is fantastic, signature Mark Burnett (see also: Survivor & The Apprentice). The Contender season finale Tuesday night featured two great fights. My summary wouldn't do it justice, so I'll just link to my favorite sports columnist for a summary of the finale, and a column he wrote earlier in the season (subscription required). I really hope this show returns for another season. And if you haven't caught an episode yet, try to catch the re-runs on MSNBC.

Frustration is...

trying to teach your mother how to format an Excel spreadsheet. Especially when she would rather you just wrote down a detailed list of instructions. She'd rather just blindly follow a recipe than actually learn the how & why behind each step for future use. That way when the shit inevitably hits the fan, and she can't get it bolded & aligned exactly the same way, she can blame your crappy incomplete instructions and absolve herself.

My latest pet peeve: People who click the mouse once, and when it doesn't produce their desired result, click-click-click twenty times rapid fire style and act surprised when the result is something undesirable.

I love my mom :)

You got served

In my family's debt collection business, we make every effort to work with consumers (aka debtors) to help them pay their bills. But when all of our efforts have failed and the consumer isn't acting in good faith to handle their debt, we use legal means to resolve the issue. If we have a judgment against them, we're always on the lookout for an asset, such as a bank account or wages to garnish. Today, I served writs of garnishment to a few banks. That's the part of the business I really enjoy...finding people that don't want to be found, and finding assets they don't want us to find. Then I get to swoop in with a bank garnishment, yee haw. People don't realize how much dishonored checks and past due accounts can damage the bottom line of a small business, and I think it's cool that we're able to help these businesses recover their bad debt. Some people see bill collectors as the bad guys; I see the more heroic aspects of the role.

On that note, I'd like to clear up a few preconceived notions about bill collectors. I don't own a set of brass knuckles, I don't know how to break kneecaps, and my dad's name is not Guido.

I'm so disappointed

Since I'll be in Chicago this weekend, I'm going to miss the Sasquatch Research Conference. Damn. Those fury fellas are out there somewhere, I'm tellin ya. One in particular shows up regularly at Key Arena, and he puts down a mean 360 dunk.

I was up in bigfoot country on Saturday, hanging out with my friend's family in upper Skagit County in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. We had a BBQ and rode their quads all over the property around Baker Dam. It's pretty creepy to hang out at the base of a dam, thinking about what would happen if it failed. It was fun to get up there again, it's so pretty and I hadn't been up to Baker Lake since a kegger during my senior year of high school. Plus, it just feels good to get dirty and get some fresh air.


Picture of Baker Lake, courtesy of the USFS.

I realize that one thing I'm really going to miss living in Chicago is mountains. As someone who grew up in the shadows of the Cascades, it was a bit unsettling to look out from the top of the John Hancock tower and see how flat as a pancake that part of the country is. Everywhere I've lived to date has been mountainous, or at least hilly...Western Washington, SE Washington, Central Virginia, Southern California (you could see mountains when the smog wasn't too bad). It'll be weird. Thank goodness there's a big body of water nearby, otherwise I'd be completely out of my element.


Mt. Baker from Bayview-Edison Road in the Skagit Valley. Photo by: Wade B Clark Jr, November 11, 2003.

MBA Applicant Bloggies

Much like high school "superlatives", Clear Admit recently conducted a survey to recognize the best of blogging among this year's MBA applicant bloggers. Yours truly was nominated, and I let them know what blogs and posts I enjoyed the most and found the most useful. Clear Admit released the results today and I would like to say kudos to the cream of the crop. I was not surprised to see Dave, PowerYogi, & Brit-Chick leading the charge. For the full results, click here.

I think every MBA blog adds an invaluable new voice and perspective to this process. Each blog has little gems of information and support to make a process, that is normally stressful, competitive, and lonely, quite the opposite. I found priceless advice, insider info, support, and a laugh when needed, through the MBA applicant blogs. I have no doubt they helped me put together a more competitve application, not to mention maintain my sanity while awaiting decisions. Thanks bloggers!

Let me say that I was very pleased to be nominated, then very surprised and very flattered to finish in the Top 5 overall. I really enjoy writing this thing and hope to continue doing so for a long time. The fact that people actually enjoy reading this stuff is just icing on the cake. Thanks :)

Proof that I'm living in a small town

I played bingo tonight. No joke. For the second time since I moved home no less. My friend J and her family go once a month for birthday bingo (if it's your birthday month, you get a lucky number and each time it's called you get $5). I didn't win jack. J didn't win at bingo either, but she coaxed $30 out of the penny slots. Fun times...really, it is kinda fun because we get goofy and get shushed by the old ladies.

Memorial Weekend Plans

Booked my ticket to Chicago for Memorial Weekend to figure out my living
situation, hang out with friends, catch a game at Wrigley, etc. Should be fun, although it means missing out on the annual family & friends camping trip that I haven't been on 5 years (and I was kinda looking forward to going again). My parents have a big group of friends from high school & college that we've been camping with at least twice a year since forever (we're talking 10-15 families). Everybody used to be in tents, then as their incomes improved, most upgraded to motorhomes. We kids stayed in tents, of course, to get away from our lame parents during our teen years. Our parents would play cards and get drunk, and we'd get
drunk on whatever we could smuggle into our tents. We were bad kids :)

My mom and I went out to Thai food and a movie last night. We saw Kingdom of Heaven. We both thought it was pretty good. Ridley Scott was definitely making a not-so-subtle commentary on the current quagmire in the Middle East. Worth seeing in the theaters for the war scenes on the big screen with surround sound, so long as you're prepared for the barbarity of Medieval warfare.

I'm off to shop for my dad's birthday. He wears golf/polo shirts *all*the*time and the few favorites he keeps in rotation are just gross. Grease stains, faded shoulders, etc. He's looking pretty schlepy these days so my mom and I are only buying him clothes for his birthday.

Finally, we have a series

After watching my Sonics get destroyed by San Antonio (both on the scoreboard and with injuries) in the first two games of the NBA Western Conference Semifinals, I was just hoping for a close game last night. They delivered that, and a win. It was close down to the wire and I was completely stressed out. Literally, my heart was trying to pound its way out of my chest. I was so wired that it took me a good 2 hrs after the end of the game to mellow out enough to go to sleep.

My grandma had back surgery this morning, and so far it sounds like this one was a success. She has been suffering from chronic back/nerve pain for almost 2 years now and her last surgery did almost nothing to improve the situation. She'll be 77 next month and surgery at her age is no joke. My grandpa called the office this morning to report that she came through with flying colors and the surgeon felt he found (& fixed) the real underlying problem this time. I hope he's right because it must be miserable to be in that kind of pain all the time. My mom and I are headed to the hospital after work for a visit.

Chicago apartment hunt

Based on my two trips to Chicago, I've determined that I would most enjoy living on the north side of the city, even though that means commuting down to Hyde Park for class. I need nightlife and neighborhoods that have lots of personality, and I was really drawn to Lakeview & Lincoln Park. Plus, all the GSBers say everyone that doesn't live on the north side in 1Y moves up there in 2Y, so why not eliminate the additional move. I'm not into high rise living (feels too much like a dorm or hotel, in my opinion) so I've been looking at mid-rises, flats, rehabbed brownstones, and the like. All online mind you. Couple of sites I've found useful (not just for Chicago):

MBA Properties A free apartment locator service specifically for MBA students. Available for Columbia/NYU, Harvard/MIT, Kellogg/Chicago GSB, & Miami. You fill out a questionaire, they narrow down a list of properties that meet your needs, and they either take you on a tour if you're in town, or you can do a virtual tour online/over email. They also have a database you can search on your own. They seem like really cool people, and a current GSB student used them last year and gave them a strong endorsement.

Google Maps + Craigslist = Awesome What a genius idea. This is a great way to see exactly where the listings are so it's easier to eliminate apartments that are totally wrong and really zero in on apartments that are near your favorite places/landmarks.

However, I've done this research and now I've had a golden opportunity fall in my lap. My friends who live in Lakeview just moved into a new place that they love. It's a three flat of two bedroom apartments. The landlord lives on the bottom floor, they live in the middle, and two women live on the top floor. Turns out one of the gals upstairs is engaged and just bought a condo with her fiancee. They need to fill her spot around August 1st. It's a big two bedroom about 3 blocks from Wrigley Field, it has a sun deck, and my share would be $750-800/mo including partial utilities AND PARKING. This is a fantastic deal, too good to pass up. I had assumed I'd be living alone, I've been doing that the past 3 years and I figured it'd be easier and maybe worth the expense. This little opportunity has me rethinking that. My potential roommate is also a sports nut, has her MBA from Mizzou, and is a corp auditor who is traveling 60% of the time. In other words, PERFECT. Maybe too good to be true. So I'm trying to find a cheap ticekt to get to Chicago for Memorial Weekend, hang out with my friends, meet their upstairs neighbors & landlord, check the place out, and see what happens. If it's a match, then I'm done. If it's not, I can spend the weekend checking out other places too.

Haven't blogged much about financing my MBA, probably because I don't find it that fun/interesting. It's just one more hoop to jump through, and U of Chicago has made it pretty easy. U of C has their own loan program that has competitive rates, low to no fees, and it's very very simple. And the GSB Financial Aid officer rocks. So I'm not worried about it. I just wish they'd release the final figures for 2005-2006 tuition so I can finish my budget and send off my loan paperwork. Word is tuition will increase from the 36K neighborhood to the 38K neighborhood. Lovely.

I suppose I'm overdue in writing a "lessons learned from the application process" blog to sort of summarize my experience, where and why I think I succeeded/failed, etc, especially since applicants for Fall 2006 are sure to be gearing up soon. Maybe I'll put something together for my blogiversary in June, a retrospective of the year's highlights and lowlights. I'll also probably try to figure out the direction of this blog now that I'm no longer an MBA applicant. Is this an MBA blog, about my specific program and/or course of study and/or career track? Is it a personal diary with no limits? Is it a way to keep my friends and family up to date? Is it for entertainment purposes, or just a brain dump and a way for me to keep a written history of my life? I'm not sure yet, but it's something I'm thinking about, as are many of this year's MBA applicant bloggers. It'll be interesting to see where our paths lead, beyond just the programs we'll be attending in the fall.

Flashback

Saturday afternoon, I judged tryouts for my high school’s dance team, a team I was on all four years of HS. I’ve only been back to my high school a handful of times since I graduated 9 years ago. (Crap…that means it’s reunion time next summer…note to self: start the diet now.) It was a trip. I first tried out for the team as an eighth grader THIRTEEN YEARS AGO! Doesn’t seem like that long ago. It made me miss being part of a team, dancing all the time, learning & perfecting new routines, performing at games, going to camp & competitions, etc. We had such a good time.

My friend J also judged, and during a break told me she had someone she wanted to set me up with. This is the friend who is hoping I meet someone local this summer, fall in love, and never leave….0.0001% chance of that happening. Anyway, I’m open to being set up, going on dates with new boys is fun, so I ask her what he’s like. “Well, he’s single, he’s a cop, he’s single, he’s not hot but he’s not bad looking, he’s single, he has a 14 year old kid, he’s single, I think he’s taller than you, he’s single, he’s friends with my neighbor (whom J can’t stand?), he’s nice, and oh, he’s single.” So other than the fact that he’s single, are there any compelling reasons why you think we’d be a good match? Thanks, but no thanks. I know it’s weird to be almost 28 and never married here in our pretty little valley, but getting out of the valley means your taste in men becomes a lot more discriminating. Being single and having steady employment are only two of the many minimum requirements to get on this ride. And the older I get, the more discriminating I get. Ladies, repeat after me…there is nothing wrong with being single. It’s fun to date and enjoy your 20’s with friends. Why hurry up the rest of your life, it’ll come soon enough.

As for my concern with the valley rumor mill, turns out it’s not unfounded. My friend J told me that one of my good friends from high school K (whom I ran into at the gym a couple weeks ago) even asked her if there was more to the story of me being home than what I told her. Ah, life in a small town…is it August yet?

Family biz

Last night, my dad & I left the office around 5 pm while my mom worked late. (Our commute is about 25 miles and they both have company cars. I ride with one or the other, so I'm at the mercy of their schedules.) Anyway, I came in this morning to find that the things I left on my desk had been moved. My mom felt compelled, for whatever reason, to "tidy up" my desk. Not that it was untidy, mind you. I had a couple of small piles of work in progress, nothing with information on it that couldn't be left out...by no stretch of the imagination did it need to be "tidy'd up" by my mother.

Meanwhile, both of my dad's offices here have been declared disaster areas. We're working on applying for federal aid so we can begin the clean-up and reconstruction process. (Yes, he needs TWO offices for all of his clutter.)

This is what you get when two people who are complete opposites (a middle child who is anal about organization & process, the other an only child who lives & dies by the hang loose/organization be damned philosophy) have been married for 33 years and have run a business together for the last 15. Frankly, I don't know how they've managed not to kill each other by now. They certainly drive each other crazy, and are on track to driving me crazy before I leave for Chicago.

Such is my life for the next few months.

Runaway Bride

Here's the latest article about her on CNN.com for those who haven't heard.

My theory: She met someone (online or somewhere) and rather than break off her engagement like a normal person, she decided to runaway with the new person. So she changes her hair and hops a bus to rendezvous in Las Vegas. Only something went foul with the rendezvous (either the person she was meeting didn't meet her expectations, or she didn't his/hers, either way someone wanted out) so she had to go back to Plan B, AKA the dude she was supposed to marry. But she can't go back without an explanation that doesn't lay the guilt on her, so she concocts the kidnapper story...only she's in way over her head at this point since her actions indicate premeditation. Whoops.

Why do people insist on taking the hard way out, creating layer after layer of deceit? Wouldn't it have been simpler and kinder to all involved to be honest and say, look, I have doubts/cold feet, let's postpone? Her poor family. All the quotes from the family & church friends have been pretty kind to her; I think it was a town member who said he was glad she was safe but that this was an act of the most extreme selfishness. I agree. I hope the district attorney sends her the bill, and I hope her family makes HER pay for it (and the wedding bills).

Radio stations

Another interesting aspect of my move from So-Cal to Western WA...

In San Diego, I had a selection of radio stations that included San Diego/Tijuana crossovers that featured a mix of English, Spanish, and Spanglish. They were also required to play the Mexican National Anthem a couple of times a day (usually in the wee hours) and announce their call letters in Spanish. Now, I live closer to Vancouver than Seattle so I have a selection of Canadian stations to choose from. I get to hear the temperature forecast in degrees centigrade, hear "about" pronounced "aboot" and I have options in Chinese and French.

Sweet

My not-so-little little brother

Just got home from Bellevue. My parents and I spent the weekend down there watching my younger brother & his girlfriend compete at the Emerald Cup. It is the premier bodybuilding competition in the Pacific NW. It was his first show ever, and his girlfriend's second, and while neither of them won, they both did really well and had a lot of fun.

My brother has been wanting to do this for several years and has been working really hard towards this show over the past 12 months (kinda like me & b-school). He's about 6'3" and by Christmas he had bulked up to about 285 lbs, then in January he started dieting to lean down for this show. He weighed in this weekend around 240 and looked absolutely shredded. He's still got work ahead of him, and at 25 years old, he's just a baby in the sport...he's only just begun.

I'm so proud of him. He has come a long ways since his high school days. We used to be very different people (I'm the typical oldest child overachiever, he's the rebelious youngest child), but as time goes on we've become more alike. We may have different goals, but we have the same drive now. He has bad knees like me. When he was in school, attending classes & doing homework were simply a means to the end of participating in sports. When he blew out his knee, his days of football, basketball & soccer were pretty much done, so there was no point to school as far as he was concerned. He bummed around doing odd jobs & manual labor, but in the past couple of years he's found his home in the gym, and is now the general manager of a beautiful fitness club and is on track to be a district manager. Plus it's given him a great outlet & the contacts to pursue his bodybuilding dream. He's very ambitious and works hard toward his goals. It's an inspiration.

I'm off to the gym!

PS--My brother can kick your brother's ass ;)
PPS--Another funny/random run-in (small world part 2)--the guy who won last year's Emerald Cup Light Heavy & Overall Men's championship was there last night--it's a guy who was in my freshman biology class at WSU, I was in a study group with him. I remember him having to eat plain tuna & brown rice, nice to see he stuck with it and had some success.

My "Little" Brother, Emerald Cup Body Building Competition, Super Heavy Weight Division, ready for quarter turns 

Back double bicep 

Front bicept & chest 

Front lat spread 

Front tricep 

Front chest & arms 

My brother's girlfriend in the Figure competition 

Still here

Nope, I didn’t drop off the face of the earth. Just busy and still trying to get in the groove of a new routine. Creature of habit, you know? I used to have a little bit of time to post in the morning, and some quiet alone time at night, those were my usual blog times. Still trying to figure out where it fits in best now.

Not much new to report on the MBA front. Received my financial aid packet last week. I meant to fill it out this weekend, but that task fell through the cracks. The magnitude of the debt I’m about to incur is really starting to hit home, but I still feel confident that this is a worthwhile investment I’m making in myself.

The weather has been awesome here. Mother Nature is doing her best to avoid giving me reasons to miss San Diego. It’s been sunshine and near 70 degrees for the past week. Spent most of the past weekend outdoors. The Tulip Festival has been going on all month so there has been a lot to do around town. Saturday, I hit the Fly In at the regional airport with some friends, saw some really cool airplanes & acrobatics. Sunday, my friend and I took her baby out for a nice 2.5 mile walk at Washington Park in Anacortes. It was a perfect spring day and the Puget Sound views were awesome.

It’s still weird to be home. I come from a small town and I was one of the handful of people who left to go to college and didn’t immediately come back after graduation. Many people just stick around here, get married, and start pumping out the kids. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, it’s just soooo not me. The weekend before last, my friend and I went to the street fair and ran into a classmate of ours and her 7 year old daughter. I looked at my friend and said “We’re not old enough to have kids that age, are we?” Yeah, actually, we are. Egad. It’s funny though, I kinda want to see some old faces, but at the same time I don’t. While I don’t totally care what they think, I still sorta do, and I care about what gets passed on down the grapevine. Running into somebody and giving them the 30 second spiel of why I’m home and what I’m planning to do, when most people here don’t know what an MBA is let alone what I’m going to do with it, lord knows what stories will be produced. I’m living at home (having moved back from San Diego), working for mom & dad, unmarried & no kids…I’m sure the grapevine will have me knocked up, strung out, and broke. And maybe a lesbian for icing on the cake!

My new gig working for the folks is going well. Hit the ground running, and although it’s not particularly challenging work and I spend a good portion of my day putting out various fires, I have started some interesting projects. Debt collection is anything but glamorous, but there are some interesting aspects to the business. I’ve been working on updating the website and creating a better keyword list for search engine optimization. I also did some client analysis that I was pretty proud of and my dad was really happy with it, so we’re putting our heads together to figure out how to incorporate it into our marketing efforts. And we’ve got another piece of analysis in the hopper since the first piece of analysis got us thinking about modifying our commission structure.

Handling client services is also flexing a professional muscle I haven’t used in a long time…sales. Sure, you learn and use some negotiation /influence type skills in the corporate world, but that’s completely different than working the phones or pounding the pavement, teaching people about your product/service and helping them see how it fills their needs. So far I’ve mainly been working with b2b warm leads, but I’ll be ready to start drumming up fresh leads once I’ve got some process improvements implemented and freed up some time.

I have renewed respect for my parents, and anybody else who runs a small business, particularly after working for a large corporation. There’s no HR department or IT department; my dad handles all of that. There’s no Accounting department or Legal department, with CPAs and attorneys on staff; my mom handles the majority of that in house and has professionals on retainer sign off on the end product. It’s pretty amazing what they do…and neither of them graduated from college.

My dad and I had a bizaro/Twilight Zone moment today. He called the company's collection software provider for a question and got misdirected to a guy he hasn't talked to in a long time. They start chatting and the guy mentions that his son is moving to Chicago in the fall. My dad gets curious and asks why. Turns out his son is also headed to the GSB this fall. What are the odds? How random is that?

It's a small, small world.

Homecoming

It's good, but weird, to be home. I'm sure this is a topic that will be explored in great detail over the next few months. For now, I'll leave it at that.

Day 2 of my journey home (aka Friday) will forever be remembered as Wakechick's Adventures in Installing Tire Chains. I wanted to hit the road by 6 am in order to time my drive so that I'd dodge rush hour traffic in Portland, Tacoma, and Seattle. Unfortunately, Mother Nature didn't cooperate and the weather forecasters completely blew it. I walked out of my hotel to find it pouring rain. This was in Redding, which meant I had two mountain passes to get over in the first couple hundred miles, and of course rain in Redding meant snow in the mountains. Sure enough, 20 minutes into my drive, rain turned to snow, and 20 minutes after that it started sticking to the road. It was a white-knuckle first hour of driving since the snow plows/sanders hadn't been out yet. Made it safely over the first pass, but learned they had closed all of I-5 earlier in the morning at the next pass and had just opened it back up with the requirement of chains. UGGGGHHHHH. In all the drives I made over the Cascades to get back and forth between home and WSU, I always had a 4WD vehicle equipped with studded tires and never needed chains. Here I was in a 2WD vehicle, by myself, with no experience installing chains. I figured it was better to be safe than sorry, and ponied up the $90 for chains. It was snowing pretty hard and I didn't want to get stuck in Yreka, and nobody seemed to know what was going to happen weather wise. So I set about installing the chains outside the store in case I had problems. {profanity warning} I have never been so frustrated, and cold, and dirty, and naturally by the time I got those fuckers on I had to take them off because the snow had let up and the DOT had cleared the road. I would have been better off sitting down at Denny's for some coffee and pancakes, I would have saved $85 and my sanity. Oh well, so it goes. Now I have chains and know how to install them. That may come in handy in Chicago. I got back on the road, turned on some very angry hard rock music and worked out my frustration, and continued on home. Ended up rolling into the old driveway around 8 pm, though not before stopping at the store for some cold beer.

Saturday I had to clean out my old room. I had some old clothes and random stuff to be saved, given away, or thrown away. I realized that I went to high school during a very unfortunate time, fashion-wise. Especially during the PNW grunge thing. Just say no to baggy, shapeless flannel. My purge inspired my mom to do the same with her closet (just say no to suit jackets with matching shorts in her case). We were loading up the car to go to Goodwill and my dad got inspired to clean out the garage. This was a miracle of epic proportions. My folks have a two car garage that only has one car parked in it at any time, the rest filled with junk. The garage gets my dad's attention once in a blue moon. My mom and I treated my dad like he was a pitcher in the midst of a no-hitter...any wrong movement or word might distract him from his current mission, so we just let him do his thing and tried to stay out of the way. We ended up taking two loads to the dump and one big load to Goodwill.

Today was pretty lazy, watched the Masters. What a finish. My mom and I were rooting for DiMarco to pull it off, and he did make quite a turnaround, from posting a 41 on the last 9 holes of his 3rd round this morning to taking Tiger to a playoff hole. Pretty amazing to mentally put that first ugly nine behind you, and play the next 18 so well. Tiger's birdie on 16 was the shot of the tournament.

Back to work tomorrow, should be interesting....

On the road

Well, technically I'm in a hotel room, but I'm halfway home after spending 10 hours on the road. Damn, California is a long state! So far so good though. The movers rocked yesterday. The driver for my shipment is a guy named Elvis who lives in Nashville...how classic is that? Unfortunately, he didn't look the part (that would have been just too good), but every time I went outside to check on progress or offer them water he would say "uh oh, here comes Trouble." I guess my reputation preceeded me! Anyway, they showed up at 7:15 am and my apartment was empty by noon. Considering I hadn't packed a thing (other than the suitcases coming with me), that's pretty fantastic. Love love LOVE the full service move! Hate hate HATE cleaning :( By 5:30 my apartment was clean, but I was a sweaty, filthy mess in need of a shower and a cold beer. Hit Old Town one last time with my friends for some beers, margaritas, and tacos, then crashed at their place. Didn't say "goodbye" to San Diego...said "see you soon" (likely 4th of July and again in October for a friend's wedding) and hit the road just before 10 am. Hit the LA County line an hour later, and naturally, I encountered my first bit of traffic. It cleared up after a while and a half hour later I hit the LA City line...and again, I was met with stop and go traffic. Not really a surprise since that's where the junction of the 5, the 10, and the 101 is. What's a drive through LA without traffic? (Answer: Nonexistent). Smooth sailing after that. I had my sunflower seeds, a cooler with cold sodas, XM radio, a few audiobooks on contraband CDs (burned from library copies, per Zachary Emig's suggestion) and mostly sunshine the whole way. I arrived in the Shasta area as the sun was setting...the Siskiyous at dusk were very pretty. The tall, rugged snow covered mountains make me feel closer to home already.

Another 10 hours tomorrow....

(PS--I wanted to post maps of this little journey, but BloggerBot/Picassa is MIA. No dice. But it's a real simple trip. Get on I-5 in San Diego. Drive 1322 miles. Get off I-5. No sightseeing and/or coastal driving this trip, I'm all about speed. I'm by myself, and having grown up on the west coast in a family that likes to take RV trips, I've seen most of the coast a few times over.)

Surreal

Today is my last day working for “the man”, and April 11th I start working for “my old man”. Feels weird, hasn’t really hit me yet. I’ve never quit a job before. That’s not to say I’ve been fired or laid off from previous jobs; I’ve never had that happen either. Every job I’ve had before was a summer gig/internship that had a predetermined start & end date based on my school schedule. I’ve worked for the same company (Capital One) since I graduated from WSU. It was my first real-grown-up-I’m-an-adult-now job. I have very mixed emotions about my last day. There are times when I have loved working for CapOne, and there have been mornings when I have stayed in bed longer than I should, wishing I worked somewhere (anywhere) else (or that I was independently wealthy and on my way to St Tropez). I think everyone goes through that with a job. It’s called “work” for a reason, and they pay you for a reason. Very few people are fortunate enough to have true passion for their jobs. The rest of us just have to try our best to find something we like enough (and that pays enough) to spend the majority of our time doing, and when our energy and drive for it starts to falter, we seek change. That’s why I took a transfer from Virginia to San Diego, and that’s why I’m going to business school this fall.

However, major life changes in general are bittersweet. Whether it’s moving, starting a new job, going back to school, getting married, having a baby…there’s excitement about the new adventure, the next chapter, but there’s also a sense of loss for the lifestyle, people, or place you are leaving behind. I’m excited to have the chance to spend some time at home and help my folks out, but I’m sad to leave San Diego and say goodbye to some great friends.

What I’ll miss about San Diego

• My friends, of course
• Palm trees
• Sunset over the Pacific
• Year round average temps near 70
• Wakeboarding year round
• Fish tacos from South Beach
• Fresh tortillas and awesome margaritas from Old Town Mexican Café
• The lunch specials at Rocky’s and Bronx Pizza
• Cheap baja lobster down in Rosarito, Mexico (can you tell I’m a foodie?)
• Living within walking distance of Mission Bay
• Having my own personal fireworks show every night of the summer, courtesy of Sea World (a great way to end a date)
• Street Scene
• 4th of July on the beach with a half million of my closest friends
• Playing in the waves, drinking beer on the beach
• That it’s socially acceptable to ride a granny bike (AKA beach cruiser)

The movers come tomorrow to pack up my stuff and send it on to Chicago. Thursday morning I start my 1300 mile journey home. I will probably post one more time before I leave, then I’ll be MIA for a few days until I get home and get settled in. I’m definitely going to keep blogging during summer and throughout my 2 year adventure at Chicago GSB. Stay tuned, y’all.

Another good one

From ChiBus, GSB to relocate to South Beach (via Linda at Accepted)

Wish it were true! (eh, not really, I like Chicago, but I still have aprehensions about winter)

Foolish

I was planning to come up with some clever trickster post this morning in honor of April Fools Day, but I don't think I can top the guys at Clear Admit. Nice work, Graham & Eliot!

Deposit, sent and received

In all my posting about this past weekend, I forgot to mention that last Thursday, I made it official with a $1000 check Fed Ex'd to Hyde Park...Chicago, I hope you're ready because here I come.

The beginning of the end

Saturday was an awesome, long day that started shortly after dawn. My alarm went off at 6:30 am and I was totally out of it..."what f'n day is it and why is my alarm going off?" Ah yes, wakeboarding! I picked up A. and we met B. and his daughter at Lake Elsinore at 8:30. It was such a beautiful today and several other wakeboarding friends were also hitting the lake, so it was a very social day. The wind was down and conditions were pretty good, so we all had some nice sets. Even though the sun was out and the air temp was near 70, we still sported the dry suit, which is kinda like wearing a big baggy garbage bag with seals around your wrists, ankles, and neck. It's funny because the air that gets trapped inside is warmed by your body, so when you jump in the cold water it expands and the damn drysuit blows up and makes you look like the Michelin man, until you burp it. Hopefully I'll get a chance to get one last ride in So-Cal this weekend before I head north.

Saturday evening was my official farewell party. A few of my friends are out of town next weekend, so we had the official party this weekend even though this whole next week and a half will be my farewell party tour of San Diego. We met up at PB Bar & Grill around 4 pm to get things started with some beers and the Arizona-Illinois game. We had a pretty good turnout and it was happy hour so our tabs weren't too out of control. They only forced two shots on me, so it was pretty easy to control the pace of alcohol consumption and not get sick (and not have a hangover for Easter Sunday). As I said in a previous post, we ended the night at Sandbar and I was passed out in my own bed by 1 am. Not too shabby.

For Easter Sunday, we got a group together for Beers & Brats at the Bay. Played some Washers, played some Bocce, had some friendly wagers (one guy fit 15 Peeps in his mouth) and enjoyed good company.

Please help me root for Illinois this weekend. By some stroke of luck, I've managed to end up in contention in my NCAA pool. If they win, I finish in the money.

And if you haven't noticed, I've gotten more liberal about posting pics. My cover has been blown and I'm past the point of caring. All I ask is that you refrain from stalking me. I know it'll be a challenge, but I think y'all can handle it :)

Me, getting my wake on Saturday morning. 

A, my fellow San Diego Wakechick, driving the boat. Sticking your tongue out is key to a good pull. 

A. getting some air. Note the ponytail, that thing is like a whip. 

California, land of blonde women. My farewell party, I'm a just a little sunburnt from wakeboarding Saturday morning. 

Sunset over the Pacific, one of the things I'll miss most about San Diego 

Boys are shady

At least they are here in San Diego. Here are three recent examples to support this observation.
Last weekend, while watching basketball at our favorite sports bar, a friend's boyfriend's friend was very obviously running game on me. He went so far as to compliment the combination of my ass and my favorite Lucky jeans. Normally, this would be flattering and no big deal, however this cat has previously made attempts on two other chicks in our little circle of friends. Thanks, but I'll pass.

Friday evening I dropped my car off at Best Buy to have my new XM Radio installed (got the Delphi SkyFi2...love it). I had two hours to kill and the last two Sweet Sixteen games were on, so I set off to find a nearby bar. Hooters was the closest, but I wasn't too keen on going in there as female, party of one. I walked a little farther to Seau's, found a seat at the bar, had some dinner and a couple of beers, and chatted with the folks on either side of me. A while later a group of jokers ended up next to me and insisted on displaying how embarassingly little they knew about NCAA basketball...instant turnoff, and they weren't cute to start with. Best Buy called to let me know the install was done, so I closed out my tab amidst much protesting from the boys..."it's early, you can't leave" "pick up your car and come back" "you have to hang out with us." Um...no. Just because a girl is sitting at a bar by herself, enjoying a Guinness and mind her own business, does not mean she wants to be picked up.

Saturday night we ended up at Sandbar around midnight. I was talking to a friend of a friend of a friend and he kept trying to make out with me. You'd think after I dodged two or three passes, he'd figure out that I was not going to kiss him. Nope. I was pretty drunk (my farewell party was that night, recap coming soon if crappy ass Blogger cooperates), but not drunk enough to make out with someone at a bar. Here comes the shady part. Fast forward to this evening....as I'm leaving the grocery store, I spy Make Out Boy heading into the store with a girl, looking very domestic. What a joker. He's lucky I was in my car and not walking out of the store as he walked in, I may have "slipped" and said something.

Boys are fun, but they sure are trouble.

Chicago it is

Ding from Wharton. Oh well, so it goes. Glad I didn't wake up early to get the news. In a way, I'm relieved, makes things a lot simpler. If you haven't noticed, I'm really quite enamored with Chicago and my pro/con list favored the GSB (but I won't post it).

Deposit will be sent today and moving plans finalized. Feels great to finally say that.

Congrats to all the R2 Admits (shout out to Iceman...way to go), and best wishes to my fellow dingsters. Good luck to PowerYogi for LBS results!

Calm

Just under ten and a half hours to go until Wharton releases R2 decisions, and I'm feeling eerily calm and at peace. Probably because I'm fortunate enough to already have a very pretty bird in hand that I like an awful lot. I recognize that that has much to do with my current mental state. I have no expectations for tomorrow. I feel like I submitted a strong application, that I had a good interview, and that my profile is competitive, but this is the MBA admissions process so it could go either way. Not sure what my reaction will be. If I'm dinged, I'll be bummed, but I think I'll also be relieved that I can finally make a formal decision about where I'll be spending the next two years kinda by default. Bruised ego, but an easy decision. If I'm admitted, the next question will be...is there any money involved, and if so, how does the offer measure up to Chicago's? However, I don't want to make this sound like a purely financial decision. It is but one factor. I feel very strongly about Chicago and it will take something special to turn my head. After my two recent trips (to Philly for my interview, then to Chicago for the admit weekend), I have to say I felt a much stronger connection to the community of the GSB and there are specific things I like about Chicago that you can't find at Wharton. I've been working on a pro/con list, and if I'm admitted I'll share it tomorrow.

Pleasant dreams and best wishes to all my fellow Wharton R2 applicants.

So, did I mention that the only other Financial Analyst in our office is also resigning, a week after me? Yeah, all project/ad-hoc work has screeched to a halt and we are now in full on process documentation mode. [sarcasm] Whoopee, my favorite activity! [/sarcasm] We may get the first replacement in as soon as next week, which would be awesome for knowledge transfer purposes. My boss had been warning the higher ups that this was coming (one way or another with my planned departure in August) and they needed to be prepared with backfill, but heel dragging has resulted in a fairly critical situation. We shall see how it plays out. I feel bad that my new departure date is so close to my co-worker’s d-day, but I know I’m doing the right thing for my family and myself and that is what is important. The world is not going to stop spinning, business will continue after I leave.

I’m really starting to sweat the release of Wharton R2 decisions. Mainly because I’m trying to book my interstate move & storage and I need to tell them whether it’s going to Chicago or Philly. I’m going the full service mover route and since they jack up prices in the summer, I’m going to take advantage of current prices and do the interstate move on the front end, and then keep my stuff in storage until I’ve secured an apartment in city TBD. The nice thing is, when you do the interstate move, the window for delivery is pretty big (7-17 days during the summer) but if my stuff is stored locally in Chi or Phil, the delivery window shrinks to 2-3 days. Way more convenient. When I was pricing just an interstate move a couple of months ago, I budgeted $2500-3500. Now, with 4-5 months of storage tacked on it’ll be more like $3500-4000. Yikes…there goes a big chunk of my year end bonus, the rest I’ll save for first months rent & school expenses. I know some people are of the “sell it all, travel light” mentality, but I really like my furniture and have some nice pieces, a couple of antiques from my grandparents that are important to me. I’m sad to part with the money, but it’s better than parting from precious items.

I’m still setting aside a little of my bonus for fun stuff. Normally, I’d buy new wakeboarding or snowboarding gear, but this year I’m getting satellite radio. With a 1000 mile drive to the Pacific Northwest on the near horizon (I'm pretty much driving from Mexico to Canada), and a 2000-3000 mile drive to either Chicago or Philly later this summer, I’m thinking satellite radio would be an excellent investment. Now I just have to decide between XM or Sirius. I’m leaning towards XM because they carry all MLB games and they have a deal to carry Pac-10 football & basketball games. This is an important factor for me, so I can follow the Mariners and the Cougars when I’m not in Washington. Any readers who subscribe to either service, feel free to leave a comment with your experience/recommendations.

Busted Bracket

Between yesterday's upsets of Syracuse and Kansas, and today's upset of Gonzaga, my bracket is officially toast. Pretty typical for me, I rock day 1 of the tournament, and by day 2 I'm done. So I guess now I'm rooting for Pacific to upset Washington and hoping that the slipper stays on for Cinderellas like Vermont & Bucknell. And I have a bunch of friends who are Arizona grads, so I guess I'm rooting for them too.

I still love tournament time. Wall-to-wall basketball, buzzer-beaters, overtime, upsets, win or go home. It's the most exciting playoff in sports.

And I'm glad I have TiVo so that I can watch the World Figure Skating Championships later tonight.

The wrath of St. Patrick

Hangover. Ugh.

First Irish Car Bomb around 5 pm during halftime of the Arizona-Utah State game. Zero to drunk in 5.3 minutes. Really didn't need to do two more later in the evening, but buckled under peer pressure as my friends were saying, "You're leaving us in three weeks....DRINK, BITCH!"

Ugh. There is a reason why I normally don't drink on weeknights.

I have to go interview a candidate for my replacement. Gotta get my game face on.

Curveball, explained

Short version: I put in 3 weeks notice to my boss on Tuesday and I'll be moving back to Washington state to start working at my parents' small business on April 11th.

Long version: I was chatting on the phone with my mom while driving home from wakeboarding Sunday afternoon. She sounded really stressed out and told me that the shit had hit the fan at work. They have had 3 people either quit or get fired in the last two weeks. When your ship is run by only 15 or so people, losing 3 can be crippling, especially when the loss is heaviest on the client services side of things. This is their livelihood, retirement, what have you, and things are not looking good. It didn’t take long before I offered to quit my job, put my crap in storage, and head north to help out. This is the one time in my life, with school on the horizon, that I can drop everything and help out without making much of a sacrifice career-wise. It was a no-brainer.

Mom was reluctant at first, fearing I was giving up too much, that it might put my MBA plans in jeopardy, that I won't have enough money saved before school considering they’ll only be able to pay me about half of what I’m making now. But as we talked through my current situation and the trade-offs, what I actually would and would not be giving up, she got pretty excited about my offer and said she’d talk to my father about it.

Fast forward to Monday morning. Long conversation with dad. Dad is very excited about the offer, asks me to sleep on it and really evaluate the financial implications before making a decision. At that point I was pretty much decided. I may be making more money right now, but I also spend a helluva lot more in San Diego than I will in small town Western Washington living at home. Plus, I’ve only worked for one company since undergrad, I don’t have any major projects in the pipeline for the next 5 months and I’m not getting promoted, certainly nothing to add to my resume. Either way, I’m treading water for the next 5 months until school starts. I can do it for a big corporation that really doesn’t care about me, or I can really make a difference for my parents’ business, drum up some new clients and implement some process improvements, have a bunch of new and different stuff to add to my resume and a completely different set of experiences to draw from when I’m in school. My efforts would have a purpose close to my heart, something I haven’t had from work in a long time.

While I’m sad to be leaving San Diego sooner than expected (who wouldn’t be?), I’m really excited by the opportunity to go home and contribute to the family business for a few months before school starts.

Curveballs

Life throws them at you. Sometimes they are good, and sometimes they are bad, but what's important is how you react. I had a curveball thrown at me Sunday afternoon. Changes are afoot. I will likely be spending the next 5-6 months before b-school differently than I originally planned. Can't get into the specifics yet, but I assure you its good stuff, it's just keeping me occupied right now and I need to figure some things out before I broadcast it to the internet.

I guess it's a good thing I'm occupied so I have something to fixate on other than the release of Wharton R2 decisions...T minus 1 week 1 day 10 hours and change as of this posting. The nerves haven't started yet, but I expect they'll be in full force next week.

Finally got to go wakeboarding on Sunday. After a nearly 3 month hiatus, it was awesome to get back on the water, even though it made me feel completely out of shape. Even if you work out, there are little muscles you use to wakeboard that you can't train and absolutely let you know their displeasure about their use the next morning.

This weekend is sure to be crazy, starting on Thursday with the St Patty's Day/First Day of the NCAA Tournament doubleheader. May have to play hooky from work on Friday, and I think I need to block off an hour on my schedule tomorrow to finalize my brackets for the office pool. Can't believe the University of Washington Huskies got a #1 seed, but as a Washington State University alum that means all the more pleasure for me when they get upset.

It's Thursday already?

(Well, almost Friday now)

Good lord, where has my week gone? Lots of excuses for being a lazy blogger. Busy at work, traveling in back-to-back weeks, got a friend in town this week, getting some stuff together for a yard sale on Saturday, etc etc etc. Haven't had time to do laundry, much less sit down and write up my trip to Chicago (and do it justice). So I'm forcing myself to put some thoughts together, not labor too much over it, while I watch Wazzu try to beat Stanford for the third time this year and advance to the Pac-10 conference semi-finals. Go Cougs! Thomas Kelati is on *FIRE* right now, draining 3s like nobody's business. Wish I was up at the Staples Center cheering them on in person.

So, Chicago. First off, let me clarify something from my previous post. 99% is less than 100%. The remaining 1% will be decided, either by Wharton or by me, on or about March 24th. How much weight that 1% carries remains to be seen.

Until then, I'm officially undecided.

Unofficially...I really like Chicago. A lot. I would be extremely proud and happy to be headed there this fall.

[Mid-post game update...1 minute to go, Schlatter just hit a 3 to put the Cougs ahead by one. Down the court, rejection by Verum...AWESOME, Go Cougs!]

I think Chicago (both the city and the GSB) fits me well. Things just felt right there, whether I was talking to current students or fellow admits, listening to faculty, or spending a night on the town with my friends. After reading blogger reports of the Kellogg & Wharton admit weekends, I was curious to see what Chicago would do. I wasn't too surprised to find it pretty light on style, heavy on substance. No rah-rah for the sake of rah-rah here.

[Speaking of rah-rah, 17 seconds to go, WSU is down by 2....ARRGGHHHH! C'mon Wazzu!!]

The majority of activities during the day Friday and Saturday were in the format of either a panel discussion or small group discussion. IMO, we spent a little too much time seated in a conference room with too few breaks, but there's only so many ways you can disseminate that much information in two days. And at times I wondered how much of this stuff will be repeated during pre-term activities. But those were my only complaints.

[Damn, Schlatter's 3 didn't fall. Stanford wins, 60-58. Stupid Cardinal, what kinda mascot is that anyway?]

I was very impressed by the faculty who participated in the weekend. They came off as approachable, extremely intelligent, open to new ideas, excited about teaching, and ready to crack a joke at any time. Some very witty folks (I must take a class from Ann McGill). I really got a taste for the classes available and I'm stoked that the program's flexibility will allow me to explore whatever my little heart desires. From the get-go. Very cool. Plus, I'm an econ nerd at heart, so the opportunity to take a class from Nobel prize winners like Fogel & Becker...well, that just rocks. I was also very impressed by the experiential learning programs that are available (management lab, private equity lab, new venture lab/challenge).

A couple of phrases used by the faculty stood out in my mind as an apt description of the GSB. It's the "intellectual equivalent of Manhattan" where "ideas compete and people collaborate." Sounds a little grandiose, but seriously, you could feel this vibe in everything we did, and I don't think it was affected or put on. The description seemed as genuine as the people who spoke it. I got the sense that this is a program with momentum. They've got incredible intellectual capital, a great brand, a beautiful new building, and recruiting just keeps getting better.

The faculty and staff are serious about making sure their students leave the GSB with a timeless education and a toolbox ready for whatever business issue comes their way. I feel like everyone at the GSB is serious about learning, and not just focused on getting a job and having fun. Chicago definitely appeals to my intellectual side. That's not to say that these folks don't know how to cut lose and have fun. At Friday's Liquidity Preference Function, there was a variety of liquids for consumption to satisfy whatever preference you may have. And it was pretty cool to see beer pong being played in the Winter Garden. That definitely earned bonus points in my book. Everyone I met was so cool. Based on the quant jock reputation, I figured there would be some geeks/social misfits, but after this visit and my October visit, I have to say that reputation is bogus. GSBers (current & future) are smart, witty, down to earth, cool ass folks.

Byron & PowerYogi--great to meet you guys! Sorry I was a bit MIA in the evenings.

I didn't participate in any of the evening events. I didn't get a hotel; I was staying with friends from undergrad, so I wanted to save my evenings to spend time with them since it was a quick visit and my days were packed. Friday night we went to a tapas place downtown and enjoyed more than our fair share of sangria (yum). Saturday we went to a couple of bars on Southport in Lakeview, just a couple blocks from their apartment. I have to say, after the housing tour of Hyde Park, and hanging out with my friends and exploring Lakeview/Wrigleyville, I'm thinking the North Side is more my scene than Hyde Park.

All in all, a great weekend.

But I'm still officially undecided.

HBS "Hackers" Blacklisted

An overreaction, in my opinion. The Boston Globe has an interview with HBS Dean Clark, who says that anyone who used the hack (aka loophole) will get dinged. All 119 of them.

I feel bad for these folks. The application fee, all the hours spent on essays and coordinating recommendations, perhaps even traveling to campus, it's all been flushed right down the drain due to very human impulses...curiosity and anxiety.

Maybe I feel bad because deep down I know that if I had been in their position and found a loophole to potentially end the agony, remembering where I was mentally just a couple of months ago, I probably would have taken the red pill too. So I'm not going to jump on my moral high horse and shun these people for "unethical" behavior. I think some of the people who are looking down their noses at the doomed 119 should take a long hard look at themselves before they pass judgment. As for me, I wish the doomed 119 the best of luck with their other b-school applications. If any of you end up at Chicago, I'll buy you a beer.

(Yes, I'm back from Chicago's admit weekend and I'm 99% sure that's where I'll be in the fall. Recap coming soon.)

I *heart* Zicam

That stuff is the shit! I'm not sick, no sore throat this morning or yesterday morning for that matter. Consider me a believer.

Wrapping up things at work, waiting for a conference call. I'm headed to the airport in a couple of hours, on my way to Chicago. I brought in my luggage with me this morning since I'm leaving my car in our building garage and getting a taxi. Ran into some co-workers on the elevator and they immediately asked if I was preparing for a rogue snowstorm. Typically, work attire for me is casual pants, flip flops and no jacket, but today I'm wearing a sweater, jeans and boots, and I've got my winter coat with me. It's 65 and sunny here in San Diego, and I'm looking forward to temps in the 30's with 30% chance of snow/rain tomorrow. :)

Looking forward to meeting Byron and PowerYogi (assuming he hasn't "mysteriously disappeared" due to his involvement in HBS "Status-gate").

BTW, seeing HBS's reaction to this thing makes me giggle. Gotta love the "holier than thou/shame on you/threat of reprisal/CYA/everyone else is to blame but us" attitude.

I refuse to get sick

I woke up yesterday morning with a sore throat. For me, nine times out of ten a sore throat is merely the prelude to a cold, which usually turns into a sinus infection. I am fighting this thing off by any means necessary so I'm not sick for Chicago's admit weekend. I cannot afford to be sick right now, too much to do at work and elsewhere. I'm popping cold-eeze zinc lozenges like they have crack in them, I'm giving Zicam a try, I'm drinking a bottomless cup of hot tea, and I got some hot and sour soup from the local Chinese take-out joint. Suck it, Mr. Virus.

Finally got my UCLA Anderson Admit binder. Of course it didn't arrive until after the exploding deadline on my scholarship had already exploded. The binder is actually really nice, very slick and filled with a ton of information, however it kinda irks me a little that they expected me to turn around a decision faster than they provided me with the basic information needed to make that decision. Oh well, so it goes. Although my non-response puts my scholarship back up for grabs (good luck guys!), I still have until April 15th to decline admission. Assuming all goes well in Chicago, I'll formally turn down UCLA next week.

Finished up my application for a sorority related scholarship that is due March 15th. Any additional funds would just be icing on the cake at this point, but with my level involvement in my sorority, I'm hopeful to get a little something.

So what is wakeboarding anyway?

Not me...just a trick I wish I could do.

A version of the wakeboarding-related essay I included in most of my b-school applications:

Wakeboarding is similar to water skiing, only using a snowboard-like apparatus instead of skis. The shape and buoyancy of a wakeboard allow you to use the boat’s wake as a launch ramp for jumps, flips and spins. There is nothing better than spending a beautiful day on the lake, in a boat filled with friends cheering you on as you skim across the surface at 22 miles per hour, launch into the air, and stomp a new trick. From the moment I learned how to get up, I was hooked and wanted to learn as much as possible. I made two trips to wakeboarding camp in Florida to learn from the best and I’ve traveled all over California in search of the best riding spot.

As much as I enjoy wakeboarding, teaching people to wakeboard is even better. I will never forget the feeling of pure joy the first time I popped out of the water and I love sharing that feeling with others. I share their stoke as they experience that joy, laugh with them as they take those first crashes, and scheme with them as they make plans to master their new sport.

Wakeboarding also allows me to meet new people. I don’t own a boat, so I use wakeboarding message boards to network with boat owners who need a “third,” an observer to accompany the driver and the rider. To make myself more marketable as a third, I learned to drive and trailer a boat, and I always help with clean up.

By the way, if you're reading this, and you have a boat, live in So-Cal (or Chicago or Philly) and need a third, send me an email!

Anyway, there are two wakeboarding websites I spend time on...

wakeboarder.com
wakeworld.com

News, gear guides/reviews, contests, message boards, etc. All the info you need.

And in case you're interested, here's a wakeboarding glossary from wakeboarder.com

Where's Waldo...er...Wakechick?

Anderson R1 Admits So-Cal Happy Hour

If you've met me, you can't play :)

Met up with a great group of fellow Anderson admits in Newport Beach for beverages and conversation. It was really nice to meet everyone and if these guys are any indication, the incoming class will be kicking ass and taking names come fall. They gave me a hard time about turning down Anderson...until they found out my decline would free up some fellowship money, then they were all about me going Chicago. I've got my fingers crossed that some of that money ends up in your pockets, guys.

Wakeboarding was a bust this morning...again. That's 3 strikes now. I have got to hit the lake soon. My regular pull just bought a house in Dallas and will likely be moving before I do, so I need to ride as much as possible in the next couple of months. I just wish the weather would cooperate. It was actually nice today, but there has been so much rain that the boat launch ramps were completely covered (and therefore closed, hence no riding for us). The manager told us that the channel that leads from the launch area out to the main lake, that had a depth of 4-5 feet this summer, is now 27 feet deep. That's how much rain we've had. Crazy.

A couple of blog readers have asked me what wakeboarding is and I realized that I never really explained it. Oops, sorry folks, I guess it's about time I do that. It's why I'm "wakechick" after all (and not because of any association with Wake Forest, right CalGrad?). I'm going to be lazy though. Pretty much every one of my b-school applications had an essay (or part of one) that talked about wakeboarding and/or my knee injury, so I'm going to post one of those next.