One thing that business school has done for me is it has rekindled my love for books. I used to read a lot but I guess as I got older I got busy with life, family and work so reading got pushed back to something that I rarely did. But now that I am as busy as I've ever been I am reading a lot more.
I also discovered some non-traditional ways to read as well. First, since I spend about two hours every day in my car driving to school and back, I use that time to listen to books from Audible. If you spend a lot of time in your car I highly recommend you check them out. For about $15 I get one book per month.
The second thing I recently discovered is Amazon's Kindle. In case you haven't heard of it, it is a new ebook reader and in my opinion is the best thing since sliced bread. I love being able to read the Wall Street Journal while laying on the couch and being able to read a book whenever and wherever I want. Feel free to ask me any questions about it but I'll tell you I think it is going to be a hit. It sold out within 5 hours of being released (luckily I placed my order within that time frame) and is currently on back order. But really, I can't recommend the Kindle enough. It is worth every penny!
So here is a list of books that I have read since July 2007, the books I'm reading now, and books I plan to read within the next couple of months (although that list is subject to change as books interest me). Two of the books were for class (The World is Flat and The Goal) but they were both excellent books so I'm including them here. The rest were just for fun.
Books I've read:
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman
Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson
How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie
The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt and Jeff Cox
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins
The Age of Turbulence by Alan Greenspan (this is a great book!)
Books I'm reading right now:
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton Malkiel
Books I plan on reading in the very near future: (with the exception of the first one which I have in hard copy, I have samples of these books on my Kindle)
Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefevre
The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin
A Term at the Fed: An Insider's View by Laurence H. Meyer
When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management by Roger Lowenstein
In an Uncertain World: Tough Choices from Wall Street to Washington by Robert Rubin
The Secrets of Economic Indicators by Bernard Baumohl
The Accidental Investment Banker: Inside the Decade That Transformed Wall Street by Jonathan Knee
The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Thursday, December 6, 2007
A new look
Well in less than a month I'll leave for Morocco with Nolen and David. David and I decided that we didn't want to tell anyone that we are military officers (for operational security reasons). David is going to grow his hair out but I've tried that once and I look terrible with long hair. So I've taken the other route and shaved my head and grew a goatee. It's certainly a different look for me but I like it. And one unexpected side effect is that my kid's friends think I look even more intimidating than before. Since I have two teenage girls at home that's not a bad thing :)
Thursday, November 29, 2007
So true....
Nothing I can say to add to this :) Click on the comic to view the full size (and readable) version.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
A bad decision
Tonight I did probably one of the stupidest, and certainly one of the more dangerous things I've done in a long time. I drove home. Lately I've been extremely busy with school and I have probably gotten maybe 8 hours of sleep in the past 48 hours. Last night I was up until about 1am working on a paper that was due today. Then I got up at 5am so I could get to school early enough to practice the presentation. Needless to say I was exhausted today. And we had a reception from 5-7pm so I knew it was going to be a long day.
The reception ended around 7:15 and I wasn't feeling too bad. But I should have known better. I live about an hour and 15 minutes away from school and that drive can get very monotonous, especially after dark. About 30 minutes into the drive I knew I was in trouble. I couldn't find anything on the radio worth listening too and none of my CD's sounded interesting either. At that point I should have called someone so I could carry on a conversation, pulled over to take a nap, I don't know, but I should have done something. But I'm a guy, and I don't like to ask for help; I like to think I can do it all on my own. But tonight that was just a dumb idea. I probably fell asleep at least 5 times while doing 80mph down the Interstate then 3 or 4 more times driving 60mph on the road that takes me into Aiken. Luckily it was only for a second or two and I woke up each time before I got too far off the side of the road.
I guess the moral of the story is that pride can be a dangerous thing. I should have never attempted that ride home, at least not without a plan in case I got tired. But instead of admitting that I needed help and couldn't do it on my own I put my life at risk and anyone else that might have been around me had I gone off the road. I have three months of school left before I go to Morocco and 2 1/2 hours in my car every day. The saddest part is that I can't promise I won't do this again but hopefully the next time I am this tired I will remember this night and make a better decision.
The reception ended around 7:15 and I wasn't feeling too bad. But I should have known better. I live about an hour and 15 minutes away from school and that drive can get very monotonous, especially after dark. About 30 minutes into the drive I knew I was in trouble. I couldn't find anything on the radio worth listening too and none of my CD's sounded interesting either. At that point I should have called someone so I could carry on a conversation, pulled over to take a nap, I don't know, but I should have done something. But I'm a guy, and I don't like to ask for help; I like to think I can do it all on my own. But tonight that was just a dumb idea. I probably fell asleep at least 5 times while doing 80mph down the Interstate then 3 or 4 more times driving 60mph on the road that takes me into Aiken. Luckily it was only for a second or two and I woke up each time before I got too far off the side of the road.
I guess the moral of the story is that pride can be a dangerous thing. I should have never attempted that ride home, at least not without a plan in case I got tired. But instead of admitting that I needed help and couldn't do it on my own I put my life at risk and anyone else that might have been around me had I gone off the road. I have three months of school left before I go to Morocco and 2 1/2 hours in my car every day. The saddest part is that I can't promise I won't do this again but hopefully the next time I am this tired I will remember this night and make a better decision.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Another day in the life....
First of all, as a precursor to this story, understand that grad school is probably the most time consuming thing I have done to date. I am busier now than I was as a company commander in the Army. I don't know if it's just because I've been out of school for awhile or what but I have to work very hard to stay on top of my schoolwork and not get behind. Essentially I have no life right now outside of school, I come home from school and study until it's time for bed. But luckily there are a few people at school that keep me on track and help me to understand things (they know who they are I think....lol).
So anyway, tonight Tina and I got into a little argument because I am not going to Sara's soccer game this Sunday in Atlanta (I have two group project meetings on Sunday and an exam on Tuesday) and because I spend every night studying. School is definitely taking its toll on our family life and can be hard to deal with at times but as always, we will survive :) Apparently Sara and Morgan heard us arguing and naturally didn't like it but for some reason Sara was more upset than we were. I think she wanted to get out of the house so she asked (told) us to take her to the football game. But it was already 9pm and supposed to rain so we told her no.
So what ensued was a "conversation" we had after we told her she couldn't go to the game. She didn't want me filming her while she was mad so she was trying to get my phone from me. Sorry for the blurriness but I was trying to hold my phone at arms length so she couldn't get it. She eventually cheered up....but life is rough when you're 15.
So anyway, tonight Tina and I got into a little argument because I am not going to Sara's soccer game this Sunday in Atlanta (I have two group project meetings on Sunday and an exam on Tuesday) and because I spend every night studying. School is definitely taking its toll on our family life and can be hard to deal with at times but as always, we will survive :) Apparently Sara and Morgan heard us arguing and naturally didn't like it but for some reason Sara was more upset than we were. I think she wanted to get out of the house so she asked (told) us to take her to the football game. But it was already 9pm and supposed to rain so we told her no.
So what ensued was a "conversation" we had after we told her she couldn't go to the game. She didn't want me filming her while she was mad so she was trying to get my phone from me. Sorry for the blurriness but I was trying to hold my phone at arms length so she couldn't get it. She eventually cheered up....but life is rough when you're 15.
Monday, August 20, 2007
It's good to be the king
Today we started a new class called International Management which focuses on the management of the multinational corporation. Since this was the first day we didn't cover a whole lot in class but instead spent some time covering course objectives and introducing ourselves and our backgrounds to show the wide diversity of people and experiences we have in the class.
Then we had an afternoon session which was rather interesting. We met at 1:30 to undertake a cultural simulation. We divided the class into two groups, the Alpha's and the Beta's. The object of this simulation was for each group to have a completely different "culture" and then observe how we interact and see if we could figure out the other culture (however, we didn't know this until the end). I'll try not to give away too many details of the game because I don't want to ruin it for future classes.
I was in the Alpha group and our culture was a very social or relational culture. We liked to touch each other (which wasn't always necessarily as fun as it sounds) and valued the relationships we forged more than the results of the "game" we played. One rather interesting twist was that the Alpha's have a patriarch. This person was chosen at the beginning and was usually the oldest male in the group. So that just happened to be me. My job was to protect and oversee the group, and especially the women of our group. As you can see, this part of the job wasn't so bad :)
Then we played a game. We each had three cards (although one of them was a bad card) and we would shuffle them then reveal them. To be honest, I don't really know how the rule worked about who "won" the chips because as the patriarch, I automatically won every time. Again, not such a bad deal. So all we did was hang out with each other and play this game.
We sent small delegations to the Beta group so we could try and understand what they were all about. When our people came back we would all gather around and listen to them tell what they learned (or didn't learn).
And I must admit we really made the most of this game. Amit even came up with an Alpha song and Nolen performed the Alpha dance for the group.
In the end it was a lot of fun and I think we pretty much figured out the Beta group. We saved our best analytical minds for last as evidenced by this picture of Ryan (AKA Blur) briefing the group while John (who was our Alpha bouncer) stood guard.
Until next time....
Then we had an afternoon session which was rather interesting. We met at 1:30 to undertake a cultural simulation. We divided the class into two groups, the Alpha's and the Beta's. The object of this simulation was for each group to have a completely different "culture" and then observe how we interact and see if we could figure out the other culture (however, we didn't know this until the end). I'll try not to give away too many details of the game because I don't want to ruin it for future classes.
I was in the Alpha group and our culture was a very social or relational culture. We liked to touch each other (which wasn't always necessarily as fun as it sounds) and valued the relationships we forged more than the results of the "game" we played. One rather interesting twist was that the Alpha's have a patriarch. This person was chosen at the beginning and was usually the oldest male in the group. So that just happened to be me. My job was to protect and oversee the group, and especially the women of our group. As you can see, this part of the job wasn't so bad :)
Then we played a game. We each had three cards (although one of them was a bad card) and we would shuffle them then reveal them. To be honest, I don't really know how the rule worked about who "won" the chips because as the patriarch, I automatically won every time. Again, not such a bad deal. So all we did was hang out with each other and play this game.
We sent small delegations to the Beta group so we could try and understand what they were all about. When our people came back we would all gather around and listen to them tell what they learned (or didn't learn).
And I must admit we really made the most of this game. Amit even came up with an Alpha song and Nolen performed the Alpha dance for the group.
In the end it was a lot of fun and I think we pretty much figured out the Beta group. We saved our best analytical minds for last as evidenced by this picture of Ryan (AKA Blur) briefing the group while John (who was our Alpha bouncer) stood guard.
Until next time....
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Financial Accounting final tomorrow!
Thank goodness the accounting final is tomorrow! That has been one of the harder classes for me this summer because I have absolutely no accounting background at all. I know how to balance my checkbook (although knowledge is different from actually doing it sometimes) but that's about it.
But conceptually it was a very interesting class. I liked learning how to read financial statements and understanding the plethora of information a company reveals in those statements. For instance, one thing that I still find intriguing is Coca Cola. Two months ago if you had asked me what their primary business was, I would say that obviously it is producing coke products. But in actuality they essentially a syrup producer. They produce the syrup but the bottling companies are the ones that mix and distribute the final product. For some reason I found that kind of information fascinating.
Another thing I got out of this class is the relativity of money. We would read statements and see companies throwing around millions or billions of dollars. Companies would make multi-million dollar decisions and refer to them matter-of-factly. Then on the other hand, some weeks I struggle to come up with the $35 it takes to fill up my gas tank every 3 days (it is 55 miles, one-way, to school so I spend a lot on gas). It's all a matter of perspective I guess.
So I like the ideas and concepts we learned in this class. But the t-accounts still mess me up, still not sure I am doing the journal entries correctly, and I can live without doing things like determining the amount at which investments are reported on the balance sheet and the amount of investment income recognized by the investor on the income statement.
Alright, break time is over....back to studying because I have the final, which is 50% of our grade, in 23.5 hours :)
Oh, and by the way, in case anyone was wondering it is still hot as heck out here. Today at 3:00 the temperature in Aiken was 105 degrees with a heat index of 117. But luckily it's supposed to cool off tomorrow and only get up to 102 :)
But conceptually it was a very interesting class. I liked learning how to read financial statements and understanding the plethora of information a company reveals in those statements. For instance, one thing that I still find intriguing is Coca Cola. Two months ago if you had asked me what their primary business was, I would say that obviously it is producing coke products. But in actuality they essentially a syrup producer. They produce the syrup but the bottling companies are the ones that mix and distribute the final product. For some reason I found that kind of information fascinating.
Another thing I got out of this class is the relativity of money. We would read statements and see companies throwing around millions or billions of dollars. Companies would make multi-million dollar decisions and refer to them matter-of-factly. Then on the other hand, some weeks I struggle to come up with the $35 it takes to fill up my gas tank every 3 days (it is 55 miles, one-way, to school so I spend a lot on gas). It's all a matter of perspective I guess.
So I like the ideas and concepts we learned in this class. But the t-accounts still mess me up, still not sure I am doing the journal entries correctly, and I can live without doing things like determining the amount at which investments are reported on the balance sheet and the amount of investment income recognized by the investor on the income statement.
Alright, break time is over....back to studying because I have the final, which is 50% of our grade, in 23.5 hours :)
Oh, and by the way, in case anyone was wondering it is still hot as heck out here. Today at 3:00 the temperature in Aiken was 105 degrees with a heat index of 117. But luckily it's supposed to cool off tomorrow and only get up to 102 :)
Friday, August 10, 2007
Heat!
Ok, maybe my sarcasm didn't come across very well in my last post because obviously someone didn't get that I was actually tired of this heat and was hoping it would cool off! According to the news tonight we tied the all time high at 108 degrees and at 3:30 the heat index was 122 degrees! It was up to 108.9 here at the house; that is just too dang hot.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Why I love South Carolina so much
You really gotta love this place. It has been over 100 degrees every day this week. Here it is 9:30 at night, the temperature is 93 degrees with a dewpoint of 78 degrees (putting the heat index somewhere around 100).
Here is a picture of the thermometer in my car at about 3:00 this afternoon driving home from Columbia.
Then another of the thermometer at my house (which is in the shade) at 4:30. The temp is in the upper left corner and the dewpoint is in the upper right corner.
If only it could be just a little bit hotter!
Here is a picture of the thermometer in my car at about 3:00 this afternoon driving home from Columbia.
Then another of the thermometer at my house (which is in the shade) at 4:30. The temp is in the upper left corner and the dewpoint is in the upper right corner.
If only it could be just a little bit hotter!
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Global Entrepreneurship
Well first of all, I haven't written lately not because things have been slow but rather because it has been non-stop for the past couple of weeks. Seems like every week we either have a test, a paper or some project that is due. For example we have a 3-5 page paper that is due this Friday, two projects that are due next Wednesday then our final exam in Financial Accounting next Friday (which nobody is looking forward to). Then on top of that for me, the foreign exchange student that we are hosting is flying in Friday morning so I'm sure that will keep me busy this weekend.
So yesterday we starting an interesting class called Global Entrepreneurship. It is a little bit different so far but quite fun. We don't have an exam in the class but rather we have to come up with a business plan and the winning plan will get $500. And of course we are encouraged to actually implement our plan which makes it all that much more interesting. And on the first day of class our instructor divided us into groups of four and gave each group a lottery ticket. The drawing is tonight and if we win we'll have to split it a few different ways so we'd "only" end up with around $10 million before taxes. I think I could live with that :)
Today in class we started out by playing a game. Our instructor took out some money and placed one denomination on each tier of tables. It went from $5 at the lowest tier, then $10, $20, $50 and $100 at the top. He then placed a coffee can on a table at the front of the room. Three teams were chosen (from the teams we we placed in yesterday) and each team member was given a quarter. The object of the game was then that each team member would stand at the tier which held the amount of money he/she wanted to win. If they could throw the quarter in the coffee can from that level they could keep the money (or maybe had to split it with their team, I'm not sure on that one). So all you had to do was determine how much money you wanted and weigh that against how good you thought you were at beer pong (to put it in terms everyone can understand....lol).
It was actually pretty fun. I didn't get pictures of everyone but here are a few. Jason and Somil tried for $50 and $20 respectively but both missed.
Stephanie tried from the $10 level but even with standing on the table she still missed :)
But the best one was probably John. Standing at somewhere around 6'10 tall he simply stood at the lowest tier, reached over and dropped his quarter in the can.
In the end I think somewhere around $30-40 was won; looking forward to seeing what happens next time. But for now, back to Financial Accounting and Decision Analysis :(
So yesterday we starting an interesting class called Global Entrepreneurship. It is a little bit different so far but quite fun. We don't have an exam in the class but rather we have to come up with a business plan and the winning plan will get $500. And of course we are encouraged to actually implement our plan which makes it all that much more interesting. And on the first day of class our instructor divided us into groups of four and gave each group a lottery ticket. The drawing is tonight and if we win we'll have to split it a few different ways so we'd "only" end up with around $10 million before taxes. I think I could live with that :)
Today in class we started out by playing a game. Our instructor took out some money and placed one denomination on each tier of tables. It went from $5 at the lowest tier, then $10, $20, $50 and $100 at the top. He then placed a coffee can on a table at the front of the room. Three teams were chosen (from the teams we we placed in yesterday) and each team member was given a quarter. The object of the game was then that each team member would stand at the tier which held the amount of money he/she wanted to win. If they could throw the quarter in the coffee can from that level they could keep the money (or maybe had to split it with their team, I'm not sure on that one). So all you had to do was determine how much money you wanted and weigh that against how good you thought you were at beer pong (to put it in terms everyone can understand....lol).
It was actually pretty fun. I didn't get pictures of everyone but here are a few. Jason and Somil tried for $50 and $20 respectively but both missed.
Stephanie tried from the $10 level but even with standing on the table she still missed :)
But the best one was probably John. Standing at somewhere around 6'10 tall he simply stood at the lowest tier, reached over and dropped his quarter in the can.
In the end I think somewhere around $30-40 was won; looking forward to seeing what happens next time. But for now, back to Financial Accounting and Decision Analysis :(
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Power napping
I am a huge advocate of the 20-30 minute power nap. However I think the timing of it is important too. I was studying accounting last and decided I needed a nap. So I took a 30 minute nap at about 7pm. Good idea? Not so much. I was very refreshed but the problem was I was still wide awake at 1am last night when I finally forced myself to go to bed. So I'm pretty tired this morning and not doing a very good job of concentrating (as evidenced by the fact I'm typing this instead of paying attention in DA....). Oh well :) Here is a great page about naps:
http://www.mensjournal.com/healthFitness/0601/napping_power.html
How Long Is A Good Nap?
THE NANO-NAP: 10 to 20 seconds Sleep studies haven't yet concluded whether there are benefits to these brief intervals, like when you nod off on someone's shoulder on the train.
THE MICRO-NAP: two to five minutes Shown to be surprisingly effective at shedding sleepiness.
THE MINI-NAP: five to 20 minutes Increases alertness, stamina, motor learning, and motor performance.
THE ORIGINAL POWER NAP: 20 minutesIncludes the benefits of the micro and the mini, but additionally improves muscle memory and clears the brain of useless built-up information, which helps with long-term memory (remembering facts, events, and names).
THE LAZY MAN'S NAP: 50 to 90 minutesIncludes slow-wave plus REM sleep; good for improving perceptual processing; also when the system is flooded with human growth hormone, great for repairing bones and muscles.
http://www.mensjournal.com/healthFitness/0601/napping_power.html
How Long Is A Good Nap?
THE NANO-NAP: 10 to 20 seconds Sleep studies haven't yet concluded whether there are benefits to these brief intervals, like when you nod off on someone's shoulder on the train.
THE MICRO-NAP: two to five minutes Shown to be surprisingly effective at shedding sleepiness.
THE MINI-NAP: five to 20 minutes Increases alertness, stamina, motor learning, and motor performance.
THE ORIGINAL POWER NAP: 20 minutesIncludes the benefits of the micro and the mini, but additionally improves muscle memory and clears the brain of useless built-up information, which helps with long-term memory (remembering facts, events, and names).
THE LAZY MAN'S NAP: 50 to 90 minutesIncludes slow-wave plus REM sleep; good for improving perceptual processing; also when the system is flooded with human growth hormone, great for repairing bones and muscles.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Time Management (or lack thereof)
Ok, I think I've determined that my time management skills are severely lacking. Or maybe it's just my prioritization (according to my spell checker I made that word up....cool) skills.
Sometimes this program gets a little overwhelming and frustrating and I don't know where to even start studying. The Financial Accounting class is probably the worst one for me because it is so fast paced that you just can't afford to slow down. I need one of those golden watch things that stop time so I can stop and catch my breath! We had our first quiz today in accounting and I think I did okay (my definition of okay being that I know I got at least a 30% on the quiz....lol) but there came a point in my studying that I just had to stop studying for the quiz and read the next chapter (which I didn't complete) so I wouldn't be too far behind.
And now I'm studying for the Globalization quiz on Friday and trying to figure out how to study for the Decision Analysis class. And that reminds me, I think one of the things that drives me crazy in this program is that I would really like to have clear cut learning objectives, assignments and deadlines. I like everything to be laid out in front of me so I can just check them off as I go. But I don't feel like that is happening so I get frustrated and sometimes end up doing nothing because of it (not a recommended technique by the way).
My game plan is to somehow incorporate some extra reading. I would like to read and implement the ideas in David Allen's "Getting Things Done, The Art of Stress-Free Productivity". I have started that book a couple of times but never gotten past the first chapter because something else always comes up. But I have read very good reviews about this book and at this point I'm willing to try just about anything. On a similar note, if anyone has any recommendations for books on effective study habits please let me know. I've got to find a better method because the one I'm using right now isn't cutting it.
Sometimes this program gets a little overwhelming and frustrating and I don't know where to even start studying. The Financial Accounting class is probably the worst one for me because it is so fast paced that you just can't afford to slow down. I need one of those golden watch things that stop time so I can stop and catch my breath! We had our first quiz today in accounting and I think I did okay (my definition of okay being that I know I got at least a 30% on the quiz....lol) but there came a point in my studying that I just had to stop studying for the quiz and read the next chapter (which I didn't complete) so I wouldn't be too far behind.
And now I'm studying for the Globalization quiz on Friday and trying to figure out how to study for the Decision Analysis class. And that reminds me, I think one of the things that drives me crazy in this program is that I would really like to have clear cut learning objectives, assignments and deadlines. I like everything to be laid out in front of me so I can just check them off as I go. But I don't feel like that is happening so I get frustrated and sometimes end up doing nothing because of it (not a recommended technique by the way).
My game plan is to somehow incorporate some extra reading. I would like to read and implement the ideas in David Allen's "Getting Things Done, The Art of Stress-Free Productivity". I have started that book a couple of times but never gotten past the first chapter because something else always comes up. But I have read very good reviews about this book and at this point I'm willing to try just about anything. On a similar note, if anyone has any recommendations for books on effective study habits please let me know. I've got to find a better method because the one I'm using right now isn't cutting it.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
MBA commercial
In case you haven't seen it, this is the Fed-Ex commercial Jane was talking about in the GCMO class today.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
No more going in the backyard!
Just a quick update to let everyone know that the GAPP (Generally Accepted Peeing Principles) are now back in effect since we got our toilet and sink installed tonight (see my first post if you don't know what I'm talking about). Of course now it's almost 11pm and I still haven't started my Decision Analysis homework but sometimes ya just gotta set priorities....
Isn't this just a debate?
Well today was interesting for a variety of reasons. First of all, as usual I was operating on about 5 hours of sleep which this time I attribute to the evilness of Yahoo. If you've ever read The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People you'll remember that Stephen Covey talks about how things are important, urgent, or some combination of the two. Well for me, email and IM's are both urgent and important and must be answered immediately. So even though I had every intention of reading as soon as I got home I ended up chatting with friends on Yahoo until about 9:30 when I finally just had to let Tina take over so I could get my reading done. I started reading the Shell Global Scenarios and when I woke up about 20 minutes later I was disappointed to find that I was still at the same place I was when I fell asleep.
Anyway, the most interesting class today was the Globalization class. That one is usually fun anyway because we just debate each other and I really like to debate alternate point of views. So I decided to take a stand and state that I felt morals were a universal concept and should apply everywhere and in every situation. And wow, did that get some people fired up! Now in my defense what I was trying to say was that I felt my morals applied universally in every situation that I am involved in, but it was much more fun to let people get riled up over the whole universal piece so I didn't bring that up. I'll admit that I tend to be an instigator sometimes but it's all in fun :)
The class debate was fun too as some people really get into it. Of course, as expected, Philippe opened with a speech that sounded as if he had prepared it days ago with the help of his researchers. Always hard to follow him because he does it quite well. But it wasn't long before people started to really fight for their point of view. Caroline was in the farmer group and at one point I thought she was about to come over the desk (ok, not really but she was pretty fired up!) I'm not sure if we settled anything but it was fun to see everyone argue their point of view.
Ok, enough for now...I need to go read tonight's homework because I'm going to attempt to install the toilet in the downstairs bathroom tonight so people don't have to go outside :)
Anyway, the most interesting class today was the Globalization class. That one is usually fun anyway because we just debate each other and I really like to debate alternate point of views. So I decided to take a stand and state that I felt morals were a universal concept and should apply everywhere and in every situation. And wow, did that get some people fired up! Now in my defense what I was trying to say was that I felt my morals applied universally in every situation that I am involved in, but it was much more fun to let people get riled up over the whole universal piece so I didn't bring that up. I'll admit that I tend to be an instigator sometimes but it's all in fun :)
The class debate was fun too as some people really get into it. Of course, as expected, Philippe opened with a speech that sounded as if he had prepared it days ago with the help of his researchers. Always hard to follow him because he does it quite well. But it wasn't long before people started to really fight for their point of view. Caroline was in the farmer group and at one point I thought she was about to come over the desk (ok, not really but she was pretty fired up!) I'm not sure if we settled anything but it was fun to see everyone argue their point of view.
Ok, enough for now...I need to go read tonight's homework because I'm going to attempt to install the toilet in the downstairs bathroom tonight so people don't have to go outside :)
Monday, July 16, 2007
Here we go!
For my first real post I just wanted to write a little about my intent of this blog. I enjoy writing about my experiences and do write another blog but it is not really geared towards this audience and probably not appropriate for all ages so I'm starting this one to share my experiences as I work towards my IMBA. I doubt I will be able to match the comedic genius of Philippe and his postings on Facebook but I'll try.
So I hope everyone enjoys this and I'll do my best to keep it interesting and entertaining, but most of all, true to life.
So I hope everyone enjoys this and I'll do my best to keep it interesting and entertaining, but most of all, true to life.
A day in the life....
I'm kind of cheating on this one because I wrote it yesterday and posted it to the Yahoo group we have for our class. But I'm going to copy and paste it here for my first post :)
For those of you that think there is too much going on and can't study let me just tell you about a day in the life of the Allen household...
I was peacefully going about studying accounting and printing off exercises when the doorbell rang. I open the door to see a woman I've never seen before and one of my 14 year old daughter's friends. The woman proceeds to tell me about how this girl apparently belongs here (at this point I have no idea what she is talking about) and how she had stayed out until 3am with her son. But the girl (Tricia is her name) won't tell the woman where she lives so she is bringing her back to our house since Tricia was supposed to be spending the night (a story Tricia had completely made up to avoid getting in trouble I assume). Too much drama for me so I pass this one off to my wife and daughter.
So now back to studying. Then maybe 30 minutes later I hear Tina (my wife) yelling at one of my son's friends because he had decided that since we are remodeling the downstairs bathroom and there is no toilet in there that he would just go outside and pee in the backyard. Now I know some of you are thinking, "and....?" but it's a generally accepted rule that once you are past the age of 2 and not drunk that it is not okay to pee in the yard. But whatever, Tina seems to have this one handled too. So this time I decide to go outside on the porch and sit in the rocking chair and read my accounting book since it is quieter out there.
I manage to finish chapter 3 (okay, so I'm a little behind....) when I hear arguing coming from the living room. I go inside to find out what is going on and find my 16 year old son (also named Karl) is arguing with Tina about why he can or can't pee outside. After all, he shouldn't have to go all the way upstairs, and if the dog can pee outside why can't he? Not one to get into arguments about things like this I simply told everyone in the room (which consisted of 6 teenagers) that peeing outside was unacceptable. They would use one of the upstairs bathrooms...end of conversation.
But when you are 16 everyone is against you and somehow the conversation conveyed that message to Karl. He got mad and said he was leaving. He starts looking for the keys to the van so he could leave while I stand there and tell him that he is not going anywhere. He is not listening and finds the keys so by this time I have to get
in his face. Not something I like to do (as a red usual and blue needs) but he left me with no choice. So we are standing there in the hallway face to face as I stare him down and essentially dare him to try and get past me. He finally throws the keys down, hits the refrigerator door, kicks some boxes and storms outside managing to
shatter the glass in the storm door in the process. So now I have a house in chaos, broken glass all over the foyer and porch, and my son walking off down the street.
Then maybe an hour later, still trying to deal with the previous situation, Tina and my youngest daughter are moving a china hutch but Morgan doesn't realize the top and bottom of the hutch are not attached. So she is pushing on the hutch and manages to push it off the base so all the vases and various pieces of china that I picked up
in Korea slide off and land on the floor in a whole bunch of tiny little pieces. Oh, and somehow a little while later Morgan managed to break off one of our kitchen cabinet doors.
And all that happened before 2:00pm. Now back to accounting....
For those of you that think there is too much going on and can't study let me just tell you about a day in the life of the Allen household...
I was peacefully going about studying accounting and printing off exercises when the doorbell rang. I open the door to see a woman I've never seen before and one of my 14 year old daughter's friends. The woman proceeds to tell me about how this girl apparently belongs here (at this point I have no idea what she is talking about) and how she had stayed out until 3am with her son. But the girl (Tricia is her name) won't tell the woman where she lives so she is bringing her back to our house since Tricia was supposed to be spending the night (a story Tricia had completely made up to avoid getting in trouble I assume). Too much drama for me so I pass this one off to my wife and daughter.
So now back to studying. Then maybe 30 minutes later I hear Tina (my wife) yelling at one of my son's friends because he had decided that since we are remodeling the downstairs bathroom and there is no toilet in there that he would just go outside and pee in the backyard. Now I know some of you are thinking, "and....?" but it's a generally accepted rule that once you are past the age of 2 and not drunk that it is not okay to pee in the yard. But whatever, Tina seems to have this one handled too. So this time I decide to go outside on the porch and sit in the rocking chair and read my accounting book since it is quieter out there.
I manage to finish chapter 3 (okay, so I'm a little behind....) when I hear arguing coming from the living room. I go inside to find out what is going on and find my 16 year old son (also named Karl) is arguing with Tina about why he can or can't pee outside. After all, he shouldn't have to go all the way upstairs, and if the dog can pee outside why can't he? Not one to get into arguments about things like this I simply told everyone in the room (which consisted of 6 teenagers) that peeing outside was unacceptable. They would use one of the upstairs bathrooms...end of conversation.
But when you are 16 everyone is against you and somehow the conversation conveyed that message to Karl. He got mad and said he was leaving. He starts looking for the keys to the van so he could leave while I stand there and tell him that he is not going anywhere. He is not listening and finds the keys so by this time I have to get
in his face. Not something I like to do (as a red usual and blue needs) but he left me with no choice. So we are standing there in the hallway face to face as I stare him down and essentially dare him to try and get past me. He finally throws the keys down, hits the refrigerator door, kicks some boxes and storms outside managing to
shatter the glass in the storm door in the process. So now I have a house in chaos, broken glass all over the foyer and porch, and my son walking off down the street.
Then maybe an hour later, still trying to deal with the previous situation, Tina and my youngest daughter are moving a china hutch but Morgan doesn't realize the top and bottom of the hutch are not attached. So she is pushing on the hutch and manages to push it off the base so all the vases and various pieces of china that I picked up
in Korea slide off and land on the floor in a whole bunch of tiny little pieces. Oh, and somehow a little while later Morgan managed to break off one of our kitchen cabinet doors.
And all that happened before 2:00pm. Now back to accounting....
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