So San Francisco

I just wrapped up a short trip back to San Francisco to visit with family and friends for the holidays. In addition to family and friends, I also got to experience some of the things that I miss the most and that make San Francisco unique.

1. Sushi
2. Burritos
3. Great wine and Wine Country
4. Christmas Shopping in Union Square
5. Earthquakes (Yes, there were three separate earthquakes while I was there)

Call me crazy, but I'll trade terra firma and tornado alley for earthquake country anyday.

Much needed break

My first set of finals went off without a hitch. The early returns are positive and I'm hoping for more of the same. But the other tests that remain are the true question marks. I guess there is nothing left to do but hurry up and wait.

I've had time to reflect on my past semester and I was pretty happy with how things progressed. I learned a ton of material during the past few months and made friends with people that I typically would not have had a chance to interact with in the past. I felt as though a large majority of my growth didn't come from in class work. Instead, it came from interactions with my fellow classmates.

One thing that I wished that I had done more of was interacting with students outside of class. I'm a pretty social person, but this semester kind of shut me down. I tried to go out as much as possible in the beginning in order to make the most of my two years at business school, but later in the semester, as classwork started piling up and priorities shifted, I found myself either at home, relaxing or in the library studying. Hopefully I can find a better balance next semester.

Personally, I've also grown up quite a bit in the past few months. The big thing is that I now am responsible for taking care of someone else. (No, not my fiancee! My puppy, Sadie...) Oh yeah, I got engaged too...

;-)

Overall, the past few months have been amazing. I'm learning a ton of new things, meeting new people, living in a new city and having great experiences. I'm looking forward to more of the same next semester.

Now it's time for a little rest and relaxation.

Bootstrapping, Pensions and Biocide?

What do all of these have in common? Well, to tell the truth, not much except for the fact that they were subjects featured on my finals this week that I had very little clue how to handle. Overall, I don't think the tests were that bad. But there definitely were some rough spots; rough like the armpits of an eastern bloc woman who has never met a razor.

Next week, I have finals in Operations and Statistics.

On a brighter note, I just booked my ticket to head up to Breckenridge for a week. It should be a fun time. A couple of people from the program are headed up to Colorado to get some well deserved rest and relaxation. Most likely, there won't be much resting or relaxation, but at least we will have tried. I'm pretty excited as this will be my first encounter with snow since last season, save my trip to the Great White North. (Dallas. See prior post.)

That's it for now. My fiancee and I are heading out with Southpaw and his wifey to grab some sushi. No, not Kenichi...We're going to Uchi. If you're lucky, you might get a restaurant review too!

Just another day in the snow?

With record cold hitting Texas over the past week, I was "fortunate" enough to witness Dallas in the snow a few days ago.

I was on a trip organized by the Career Center to visit several consulting companies in Dallas. One of the companies cancelled their event on Thursday evening due to weather. I also got a call from the trip leader, making sure that I was ok since the roads were supposed to be really bad and getting worse.

When I got to Dallas, the scene was almost comical. Sure, there was about 1/4" - 1/2" of snow "accumulated" on the side of the road and there were some slick spots, but the roads were nowhere near as bad as the news made it out to be. The best part was the traffic jams caused by drivers going 5mph on the overpasses. In addition, the roads were salted and sanded pretty thick.

I guess if you're not used to driving in inclement weather, it's better to be safe than sorry. But it was interesting to see a large city succumb to the forces of mother nature.

The Fall of Troy

I'm pretty happy right now. Not only did UCLA beat USC, but we also denied them a trip to the National Championship. Next stop, San Francisco for the Emerald Bowl.