Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Yesterday, I headed to the mechanic to get my state inspections done. I thought I'd be there 1 hour tops. Well, a whole work day and $650 later, I have begun to question the wisdom in allowing mechanics to inspect vehicles. Shouldn't the people who inspect your car be prevented from making the required repairs? Otherwise isn't there an incentive to tell the customer that she has $650 worth of repairs that must be done to the car for it to pass? Even when my car was brand new, the inspector has required at least $200 worth of repairs. Oh well.
I made the required trek to Ikea this weekend. My ex took some things with him when he moved out that needed replacing (like chairs, kitchen table), and it's always fun to get new stuff for a new place. I was pleasantly surprised how inexpensive some of the accessories and accoutrement that I got there were. At least something this week cost less than I expected it to!
Tonight, I'm headed to Monk's Cafe to meet some of my classmates. Monk's has FABULOUS mussels and a HUGE beer selection. Their pomme frites (or should that be pomme de liberté?) are also quite tasty. So if you are in the area (about 16th and Spruce) around 6P, you should head over to Monk's to join us.
I've had a couple of "anxiety" dreams the last couple of weeks, all of them school related. I've dreamed I couldn't go to class because I didn't have the right key to get into the classrooms. I've dreamed that I failed because I forgot to go to class for an entire semester. I also dreamed that I was in some musical revue that required hot pink, yellow, and orange tutus... I'm not sure what THAT one meant. So I'm feeling nervously excited. Preterm starts one week from tomorrow, I cannot believe it got here so quickly! 8 days and counting....
I made the required trek to Ikea this weekend. My ex took some things with him when he moved out that needed replacing (like chairs, kitchen table), and it's always fun to get new stuff for a new place. I was pleasantly surprised how inexpensive some of the accessories and accoutrement that I got there were. At least something this week cost less than I expected it to!
Tonight, I'm headed to Monk's Cafe to meet some of my classmates. Monk's has FABULOUS mussels and a HUGE beer selection. Their pomme frites (or should that be pomme de liberté?) are also quite tasty. So if you are in the area (about 16th and Spruce) around 6P, you should head over to Monk's to join us.
I've had a couple of "anxiety" dreams the last couple of weeks, all of them school related. I've dreamed I couldn't go to class because I didn't have the right key to get into the classrooms. I've dreamed that I failed because I forgot to go to class for an entire semester. I also dreamed that I was in some musical revue that required hot pink, yellow, and orange tutus... I'm not sure what THAT one meant. So I'm feeling nervously excited. Preterm starts one week from tomorrow, I cannot believe it got here so quickly! 8 days and counting....
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
I am so mad at myself. For some stupid reason, I decided to work right up until the first day of Preterm. Seriously, preterm starts two weeks from today, and I'm working until the Tuesday before preterm. I'm really starting to wish I took a week or two off. Originally, I decided to work to make more money. But now I'm willing to have less money and eat more ramen noodles for some time off before school. Oh well. As my grandmother used to say, "Some folks have to go up fool's mountain." Well, it appears I'm riding first class to the peak of this mountain. Hind sight really is 20/20.
On a more uplifting note, have you seen the "This Land" clip produced by the jibjab site? This little vignette is HILARIOUS.
Oh, and for those Apprentice wannabes that missed the casting calls this Spring to have a shot at having the Donald tell them, "You're fired," NBC is conducting another set of open calls for the series. The recruiting team will be in Philly this Friday at the Loews Hotel at 12th and Market for those who are interested. If you really want to find your fame on reality TV, answer casting calls for Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Queer Eye for the Straight Girl (that's not a typo, I said straight GIRL - YA BABY!), or Average Joe IV (I was just about to rant about the lack of an Average Jane show and about how it proves men are totally shallow. And then I see that NBC has decided to fill the need with a new show, Average Jane. Shows what I know).
On a more uplifting note, have you seen the "This Land" clip produced by the jibjab site? This little vignette is HILARIOUS.
Oh, and for those Apprentice wannabes that missed the casting calls this Spring to have a shot at having the Donald tell them, "You're fired," NBC is conducting another set of open calls for the series. The recruiting team will be in Philly this Friday at the Loews Hotel at 12th and Market for those who are interested. If you really want to find your fame on reality TV, answer casting calls for Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Queer Eye for the Straight Girl (that's not a typo, I said straight GIRL - YA BABY!), or Average Joe IV (I was just about to rant about the lack of an Average Jane show and about how it proves men are totally shallow. And then I see that NBC has decided to fill the need with a new show, Average Jane. Shows what I know).
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
Sometimes it's the simple pleasures that make your day. Like finding the perfect pair of pink flats that you've been searching for the 5 months. Or thinking you are going to miss your train, and it's 2 minutes late so that you are able to catch it. Or the clean feeling that comes after a nice, hard, spring rain clears away the dingy, dirty snow left over from winter. Or finding a rumbled $20 bill in jeans pocket.
I've recently discovered Inko's White Tea, and I must say I'm adding it to my list of simple pleasures. I love this stuff, it's absolutely nummy.
Ahhh, refreshing!
I've recently discovered Inko's White Tea, and I must say I'm adding it to my list of simple pleasures. I love this stuff, it's absolutely nummy.
Ahhh, refreshing!
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
I just had an extremely surreal moment. I was looking up information about financial aid on Wharton's site. I look up in the corner of the page, and I see this quote. From ME. Very weird feeling...
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
This weekend, I went down to North Carolina to attend an event that introduces MBA admits to the world of Management Consulting and Investment Banking. There were quite a few other future Whartonites there; it was very cool to meet my future classmates, as well as people from other schools. I'm always humbled when I meet these incredibly intelligent and accomplished people headed to business school. It makes me wonder how I ended up in their ranks.
It was also funny to observe the culture of certain schools by watching groups of students at the event. Like Chicago students are INSANE and on some sort of stimulant; Stanford students are very laid back - and VERY accomplished, etc. I felt the most connection with the Wharton people though. Maybe I'm not an admissions mistake afterall!
Attending the event this weekend, was extremely eye-opening. Investment Banking recruiting is NO JOKE. These people expect you to have your shit together from day 1. There's seems to be lots of opportunities to screw yourself over when it comes to IB recruiting. You need to know this business intimately in order to be seriously considered for an interview.
There were a couple of positions that sounded interesting to me in IB. I was most interested in working in the Debt Capital Markets or in Corporate Finance. Hopefully sometime during this summer, I'll have the opportunity to do a couple of informational interviews. That's one more thing on my to do list... *sigh*
It was also funny to observe the culture of certain schools by watching groups of students at the event. Like Chicago students are INSANE and on some sort of stimulant; Stanford students are very laid back - and VERY accomplished, etc. I felt the most connection with the Wharton people though. Maybe I'm not an admissions mistake afterall!
Attending the event this weekend, was extremely eye-opening. Investment Banking recruiting is NO JOKE. These people expect you to have your shit together from day 1. There's seems to be lots of opportunities to screw yourself over when it comes to IB recruiting. You need to know this business intimately in order to be seriously considered for an interview.
There were a couple of positions that sounded interesting to me in IB. I was most interested in working in the Debt Capital Markets or in Corporate Finance. Hopefully sometime during this summer, I'll have the opportunity to do a couple of informational interviews. That's one more thing on my to do list... *sigh*
Wednesday, July 07, 2004
I am slammed at work. I have a crap load of things to finish before I stop working full time at the end of the month. Part of the heavy work load is because, despite my warnings and hints during the last 2 years that other people should get trained on my various responsibilities, no one in the organization has the skills to do a lot of what I do. And a small part of heavy work load is because I've been spending lunch hours (and then some) looking for an apartment, filling out loan applications, etc. And I did my fair share of lollygagging. Well maybe more than my fair share. But when else am I going to find that cool new lamp for my apartment?
So it's all catching up to me, and now I have less than 3 weeks to finish more than a month's worth of work. And my weekend's are pretty much done. I'm traveling this week and the next couple weekends need to be dedicated to finish packing. (Isn't it amazing how quickly, "Well I have 3 months to pack" comes up and bites you in the ass. Ahhh procrastinating...)
Preterm starts in exactly 4 weeks. I can't believe everything starts in a month. I still need to deal with my immunizations, and I didn't adequately look into waiving classes. Although I'm too old to waive by credential (it seems you have to take the class within 5 years, and its been *cough*cough* more than 5 years since I've been out of undergrad), I can still try to test out of classes. I may try to test out of one or two classes. And I'm still unverified. Mainly because I haven't gone through my dusty files to find my old tax returns.
I thought I had all this time before school. I was lamenting that I wanted school to "start NOW". Well now I want time to slow down so I can handle my business. Ugh - that's what I get for lunchin' I suppose...
So it's all catching up to me, and now I have less than 3 weeks to finish more than a month's worth of work. And my weekend's are pretty much done. I'm traveling this week and the next couple weekends need to be dedicated to finish packing. (Isn't it amazing how quickly, "Well I have 3 months to pack" comes up and bites you in the ass. Ahhh procrastinating...)
Preterm starts in exactly 4 weeks. I can't believe everything starts in a month. I still need to deal with my immunizations, and I didn't adequately look into waiving classes. Although I'm too old to waive by credential (it seems you have to take the class within 5 years, and its been *cough*cough* more than 5 years since I've been out of undergrad), I can still try to test out of classes. I may try to test out of one or two classes. And I'm still unverified. Mainly because I haven't gone through my dusty files to find my old tax returns.
I thought I had all this time before school. I was lamenting that I wanted school to "start NOW". Well now I want time to slow down so I can handle my business. Ugh - that's what I get for lunchin' I suppose...
Thursday, July 01, 2004
MCI sucks.
I have had MCI local service for the last couple of years because they are about $10 cheaper than Verizon (the baby bell in Philly). It hasn't been smooth sailing - last year my phone started making this static-y noise (which I called about). And then after 2 weeks of noise on the line, my phone line stopped working. Completely. No dial tone, no nothing. After several calls, my service came back on after a week. And I didn't switch then - mainly because I was too lazy to go through the annoyance of changing my service. But I haven't had any problems since - until today.
I called MCI today to find out what I need to do to get a new W. Philly number. (Philly has regional toll calling so calling across town isn't automatically free - thus the need for a new number). So after about 15 minutes working with the representative, I asked if there was any charge to change my number (Verizon charges $12 for switching). The lady on the phone tells me it will be $66.85. That's right. 66 dollars and freaking 85 cents. I was floored. I made her repeat the price twice. Then I informed her that Verizon was willing to start a new line for me for $12 and I could just cancel my service. She then gives me this rehearsed, "I'm sorry that I cannot give you a better price" line. So I asked to speak to a manager. Not because I was pissed, but because I thought that I MUST not be communicating well if it's going to cost $66.85. So I asked the manager why they would charge me $66 to move. The manager explains that $66.85 is just a POSSIBLE charge if there something wrong with the line - if nothing goes wrong (and it usually doesn't) then the switch is free.
So I ask him if I can go ahead and set up the new number. Nope. Gotta wait until one month before the move, but it has to be within 3 weeks of the move. And I have to call on a Monday or Tuesday. That's right. There's a one week window to switch my number. No wait, it's not a week. It's a window of two friggin days. WHAT the hell?? I have NEVER been told by a utility that they only handle stuff like this on just two days of the week.
So I'm making the switch. MCI sucks.
I have had MCI local service for the last couple of years because they are about $10 cheaper than Verizon (the baby bell in Philly). It hasn't been smooth sailing - last year my phone started making this static-y noise (which I called about). And then after 2 weeks of noise on the line, my phone line stopped working. Completely. No dial tone, no nothing. After several calls, my service came back on after a week. And I didn't switch then - mainly because I was too lazy to go through the annoyance of changing my service. But I haven't had any problems since - until today.
I called MCI today to find out what I need to do to get a new W. Philly number. (Philly has regional toll calling so calling across town isn't automatically free - thus the need for a new number). So after about 15 minutes working with the representative, I asked if there was any charge to change my number (Verizon charges $12 for switching). The lady on the phone tells me it will be $66.85. That's right. 66 dollars and freaking 85 cents. I was floored. I made her repeat the price twice. Then I informed her that Verizon was willing to start a new line for me for $12 and I could just cancel my service. She then gives me this rehearsed, "I'm sorry that I cannot give you a better price" line. So I asked to speak to a manager. Not because I was pissed, but because I thought that I MUST not be communicating well if it's going to cost $66.85. So I asked the manager why they would charge me $66 to move. The manager explains that $66.85 is just a POSSIBLE charge if there something wrong with the line - if nothing goes wrong (and it usually doesn't) then the switch is free.
So I ask him if I can go ahead and set up the new number. Nope. Gotta wait until one month before the move, but it has to be within 3 weeks of the move. And I have to call on a Monday or Tuesday. That's right. There's a one week window to switch my number. No wait, it's not a week. It's a window of two friggin days. WHAT the hell?? I have NEVER been told by a utility that they only handle stuff like this on just two days of the week.
So I'm making the switch. MCI sucks.
Yesterday, I received an email from the faculty that run Wharton's leadership program. It contained two assignments that need to be done before the start of school. The assignments are pretty fluffy, write your personal core values and do a 360 degree assessment (you know I never got the term 360 assessment - doesn't a 360 degree turn return you to the starting point? Shouldn't it be a 180 degree assessment? But I digress...) using colleagues, friends, and family. So both assignments should be relatively easy. But I had mixed emotions about the assignment. I was somewhat excited because doing this work will get me started back in the school world. But I was a little perturbed too. Summer assignments remind me of my summers during high school when we had read boring books like Robinson Crusoe or Old Man and the Sea (bleck). But I think these assignments will be pretty cool - it will be a chance for self reflection.
