I'm still here!

Hey All (whoever you all are that read this). I haven't written in a while so I decided to write about what's been going on. I'm up really late (or early tonight) in an attempt to fix my sleep schedule by staying awake until tomorrow night (woke up really late today).

So I've been travelling the past two weeks. Two weekends ago Kenzie and I went to Fairfax, VA to look at apartments. We found 3 that we really liked, but they are SO expensive. $1000/month for a 1 bedroom apartment is pretty high, but at least they are all really nice with pools, workout rooms, all appliances included, etc. There were some cheaper apartments, but you have to qualify as low income. Our favorite apartments were these, which are not low income, but they have good specials. If anyone wants to look at them, let me know what you think. I'll probably be a few miles from where I'll be working, so the commute shouldn't be too bad. While we were in the area, we rode the metro to downtown DC. Everything was pretty much closed, but we saw the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, and the Whitehouse. First time either of us ever went there...I was impressed.

This past weekend Kenzie and I drove to Michigan for her cousin's wedding. It was a good time. There was lots of Polish food (I liked the cabbage rolls) and free drinks (always a good thing). On the way out (as usual), we met Carl and Buddy's Pizza (best pizza in the world as far as I'm concerned) and went bowling. I didn't do to well since I forgot my ball. The house balls really sucked so I used Carl's, which despite being made for lefties worked for me. The worst part of the trip was the drive home. At least 4 inches of snow in MI and they didn't plow or salt ANY of the roads including major highways like I-75. It took us about 2 hours to go 50 miles to the Ohio border. Once we were there the roads were fine, except for a lot of rain on the turnpike. We got home late. All in all, it was a fun trip.

I've been pretty busy with school the last week, there were many tests. I don't know how I did on Electoral Systems (it was really hard), but on Corporate Financial Reporting I got a 94%. That really made me happy since I thought I had fallen behind in the class. Cramming sure helps, and its even better when the final isn't cumulative. Its not the most exciting class, but the professor enjoys telling us how to do Enron-style accounting. It would probably make his day if one of us got busted... I'm not planning on being an accountant, but I now see that its more than just adding and subtracting.

I also negotiated my first car purchase. I wasn't buying, but Kenzie was. I got the finance guy to go down by around $45 a month. Now she has a new car, which is really good because her old one was about to die. The last time that happened, it was pretty bad, and also we don't have to use my car for all the trips.

There's a lot more to write so look for more entries in the next couple of days.

The Best Weather So Far This Year

70 degrees, 25mph wind, partly cloudy sky... Great weather, in January, in Pittsburgh. Amazing.

Happy New Year

It is now 2005, four years after I graduated from high school back at NFHS and the year I graduate from college. 2004 wasn't a particularly good year, and I'm glad it's over. I'll be starting work soon in Fairfax; only about 5 months until that adventure begins. The last couple of weeks were spent on finals, and then visiting my mom and Gary in Iowa. Thankfully I'll never have to go back there, as they are moving to Indiana within a few months. School is starting this Monday and I may be going away this weekend. This winter break was pretty relaxing, though there wasn't very much going on.

Great MNF

The Patriots just lost to the Dolphins in a great Monday Night Football Game. The final score was 29-28. It is very good for the Steelers. Now that they are 13-1, they only need to win 1 of their last 2 games to get homefield advantage for the playoffs. The last game @ Buffalo will be tough and so will Baltimore next week.

Less spending in 2nd Term?

According to this article President Bush is going to freeze domestic spending next year. So the our national debt will still increase by billions (if not trillions) of dollars over the next few months. Why not cut spending instead? We do not need a lot of useless features of the government, like the FDA, ATF, DEA, FCC, etc. A good solution would be to have a sunset clause for all federal administrations. A nice dream, but unlikely at this point. At least one of the most enefficient of the agencies (NASA) is coming under attack left and right by private enterprise such as the Space Ship One.

Another question: why should we have non domestic spending at all? Foreign aid and "foreign intervention" are big parts of that. Iraq was a mistake, everyone but Bush will admit that by now, including several key republicans. The problem is that Iraq is not our worst foreign policy. That distinction is reserved for foreign aid. Is it right for us to take our people's money and give it to other countries, many of which American do not support? For example, we give foreign aid to Israel. Many Arab Americans are rightfully upset about this, since they do not wish to support that country. Likewise, do Jewish Americans enjoy it when their tax dollars go to fundamentalist muslim nations? Probably not. How about we cut all of the bullshit and just make all foreign aid privately funded. That way people can take their own decisions.

Salt or Sand?

The winter season begins with a nice, big snowfall. Consequently, my car is covered with more salt than 100 supersize fries from mcdonald's. Which brings to mind the question: salt or sand? Some locales use only salt, some use only sand, and some use both. Salt, of course, works by combining with the water into an aqueous (saline) solution that has a slightly lower freezing point than garden variety H2O. The problem is that salt is corrosive and leads to lots oxidation (rust) on cars. Sand doesn't really melt the ice that much, but does provide traction. So I was just pondering what is a better idea for cities to use, salt or sand. Looking at my car, I'd give up a little traction for a little less corrosion. I have a feeling if you added up all the costs of using salt (such as corrosion) and compared it to the extra amounts of accidents from using sand, it would be better to use the sand. Oh well, just my ramblings, because I hate washing my car every fucking week!

Finally, the final final is finished

Now my second to last semester is officially over. Hopefully the results will be above my par, though I doubt it. I'm guaranteed an A in only one class, the other 4 are all up in the air, and the final that I took today didn't go so well, at least I don't think so. The rest of today is going to be spent doing mostly nothing, since I'm really tired from staying up so late last night and getting up early this morning. It snowed today too, woo-hoo. People say the snow is beautiful...its really beautiful when your trying to drive through a foot of it in a sports car...

Its almost over

I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel... my last (and only) final during finals week is in about 7 hours. I studied for it a lot today with my crazy CF group members (one of the few cool class groups i've had at CMU)... I don't feel really prepared for the test, but I'm done studying anyway. So for the rest of the week not much is going on, I'll probably just chill with all my friends here before they leave. If any of you guys reads this and wants to go bar hoppin tomorrow night, give me a call.

More & more tests

These past few days, and these upcoming days are full of tests. My aptitude of thinking on my feet was tested on Tuesday when I had to answer just about every question during my strat presentation, which was kinda fun actually. Then Thursday I had a test (that I don't think went to well) in options, and got back a test in financial econ that I did shitty on, but still got an A in the class. Yesterday and today been working on the take-home options test (at least we get to do it with partners) and Monday I have a test in corporate finance. Due at midnight last night, about 2 hours ago, was a 10 page essay for ethics. Not quite a test, since essay comes from "essai" the french word for trial, but that's practically a test. It's true that life is just one big test, or a series of tests (I believe in the latter), but that's a whole 'nother subject.

Sunday Night Football

Now that was a game! The Steelers barely get by with a win, adding to their winning streak currently at 10. Also #10 in a row for Roethlisberger another rookie record. That was honestly one of the closest games I've ever seen in the 4th quarter. Jacksonville missing the 60 yd FG by about a foot ended the game...

how the world is doing, according to me

It was refreshing for that week or so when the word "election" wasn't part of headlines, but it is again. This time is it not our election though, its in Ukraine (where most of my ancestry is from). For those of you that haven't noticed, there is a quiet revolution going on there now over the recent vote. Note to Al Gore supporters: if you would have had the balls and perseverence of the Ukrainians, Bush may not have been on the ballot a month ago.

Not much else seems to be going on in the world, except the UN really fucked up again. Does that organization do anyone good? Why does the United States fund over a quarter of the UN's budget, which apparently goes to corrupt dictators like Saddam, when the UN doesn't do a damn thing for America? That's a good question. If the Bush administration really wanted to do something for this country, they would end our membership in that corrupt, useless organization.

And lastly, John McCain is telling the MLB to watch itself with its drug policies. Why the hell should a politician give a hoot about a professional sports organization? Does the government pay the salaries of the players? No. So they should provide no commentary about anything outside their reach. Let's keep the private sector PRIVATE.

First post

So I finally deciding to get a Blog. I had a web-journal before, but the site disappeared and its not quite that same thing as a "real" blog like this. It's Saturday night in Pittsburgh, cold outside and nothing much to do, except homework which is never fun. I have a load of that this week, homework that is, since this coming week is the last week of classes. Finals are almost here, and this semester went by quick. The sun is definitely setting on college, one last semester to go and then I start working in VA; can't wait to finally start making a living. Let's see if the Steelers win tomorrow, its already been 9 in a row, which is impressive when you've got a rookie... More later.