Ramblings of an Air Force Brat

OPEC Slashes Production Again. Big Surprise There!

2008-10-24T12:10:00.000-04:00

OPEC, today, in their emergency meeting, decided to cut daily production by 1.5 million barrels beginning next month. The price of oil, since hitting a high in July, has dropped 55%, as of yesteday's closing. OPEC, in their statement today, stated the "The financial crisis is having a noticeable impact on the world economy dampening the demand for oil." Essentially, OPEC is more concerned with their being an oversupply of oil on the market. In particular, supply growth going forward. I seriously doubt OPEC nations are concerned about the short-term supply of their product.

I can definitely understand why OPEC would want to keep the price of their product high. Over the course of the last two years, OPEC nations have been benefiting from high oil prices. Earlier this week, the Iranian oil minister, Gholam Hossein Nozari, boasted that "The era of cheap oil is finished!" Both the Iranians and Venezuelans are in favor of gouging their consumers, specifically those of us who live in the good ole USA, to fill their coffers.

Why should we continue to deal with a cartel, especially a cartel that if it operated in the U.S. would be illegal, to procure fossil fuels? Especially from countries that do not really give two shakes about our country? As of right now, OPEC's move has backfired on them with oil dropping to $64.40 per barrel.

Obviously, OPEC's position is that they do not care about economic conditions. They do not seem to care that if they keep their prices high, they suffer like the rest of us. Instead of taking a longer-term view of their market, they decide they need their money now, which could very well backfire on them, if it encourages their customers to accelerate their research and development efforts for alternative sources of fuel. Regardless, nations, and in particular the U.S. needs to be devoting research money to developing alternative sources of fuel. It's a question of national security. We should not have our national security depend on a cartel of countries who, by the grace of providence, have been blessed with high supplies of a certain natural resource.

We need to be working on this situation now before it becomes too late, and before we become even more beholden to black gold than we already are.

Reference links:

First Month's Hockey Thoughts

2007-11-12T14:49:00.000-05:00

We are now a month into the 07-08 campaign, and I must say, I am quite disappointed in the way the Capitals have started out their season. I was totally psyched, like everyone else here in Washington, when the Caps rolled off to three victories in a row. That hope came shattering down to earth with the Caps going into a funk. After our defeat against the Lightning on Saturday, we are now a dismal 6-10-1 and last in the eastern conference.

The Caps also are having great difficulty in putting the puck in the net. The Caps are also performing worse than they were this time last year! With the talent they have on the roster this season, the record should be improved. As a season ticket holder, I am dismayed by the fact that we keep on finding the same ways to lose games as we have the previous three campaigns. To be honest, I am starting to get discouraged.

The Caps are off until Thursday when they play the Panthers. I hope they take the extended time off to work on the power play and the offense, and hopefully more puck control. The Caps need to begin putting in a full 60 minute effort, or else we will be looking outside in yet again once April comes along. I am getting tired of seeing nothing but losing and uninspired hockey. They better start picking it up soon.

Two More Grades....

2007-05-06T13:11:00.000-04:00

After a long second seven weeks, I have received both of my grades for my classes. I received an A in both classes. Obviously, I'm quite pleased with the grades I received in both classes. Fortunately for me, I won't ever have to take two classes again during a seven week session. It kept me so busy that I had very little time for anything else. Now I have a two week break until classes start once again for the summer session. I'm going to enjoy the fact that I received two A's and recharge as much as I possibly can before the 21st.

Caption This! The Queen in Jamestown, VA

2007-05-04T23:14:00.000-04:00

As I'm sure we have all seen in the news, Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, is on an official state visit here in the country. She is mainly here for what is the biggest celebration in recent memory for the Commonwealth of Virginia, the quad-centennial of the founding of the Jamestown Colony. The Queen received a great southern welcome upon her arrival in Richmond with her husband Prince Philip.

Obviously, this is a great honor for our Commonwealth, to be hosting the Queen. Today, she was in Jamestown to tour the original site of the colony, and to see the progress made by archeologists digging up remains of the original fort. Which, if you haven't been down there lately, I highly encourage everyone to do so, it's quite a site!

Vice President Dick Cheney accompanied Her Majesty and Governor Tim Kaine on a tour of the Jamestown settlement. You can find VP Cheney's remarks here.

However, what I found most interesting of all, was the picture I have posted with this entry, of the Queen and Cheney. I'm wondering what she's thinking here. One thing is for sure, it doesn't appear to be a friendly look, it more looks like she's glaring at him. This, of course, is perfectly fine, in my opinion, Cheney deserves glares such as this. It just got me to thinking, is this how other foreign dignitaries view Cheney? That, of course, could be the question of the hour.

End of Academic Year

2007-04-22T23:06:00.000-04:00

Phew! It's been quite some time since I posted anything, I know. I have been keeping myself quite busy the last several months. Most of the time has been split between work and school. I, for one, am looking forward to the end of the academic year in the next week. It's been a hectic beginning of the year. Well, I should say, it's mostly been the last seven weeks that's been hectic.

I have been taking two classes this seven weeks and it has kept me severely busy. I've had very little time for much of anything else outside of work. This is the main reason why I'm glad I'm just about done with the semester. I'll have a brief two to three week break until summer classes begin in on May 14. During the Summer I'll only have one class, Information Technology for Managers, so I hope to not be as busy. Hopefully I'll be able to take in a few baseball games with my girlfriend and enjoy some of the summer before my trip to Disneyworld at the end of July.

First session of Fall 06 Term Completed

2006-10-27T21:26:00.000-04:00

I just finished up the first seven week session of the fall term. I took Quantitative Methods, and I found it to be the most difficult class of the program thusfar. I spent so much time reading and doing homework than in any other class to date.

I was caught off guard with the level of difficulty of the class. I struggled the entire seven weeks, but, in the end, I was able to come away with a passing grade. I got a B+ in the class. Not the A that I was hoping for at the onset of the course, but, as I've mentioned, with the difficulty level of the class, I'll take my B+ and be very happy.

I have now started the second session of class and it is a business research class. There are only two requirements for the class, a research project with a presentation, and an online discussion. The class is designed to equip me to prepare this research project. At this point in the class, I don't foresee any difficulty with being able to perform well in this class.

Trip to Jacksonville

2006-08-27T20:15:00.000-04:00

It's the tail end of summer, and there's no better way to end it than by making a two and a half day trip to Jacksonville, Florida. I leave for Jacksonville tomorrow evening after work. I certainly hope this trip will tie up most of the loose ends that we still have for this exercise. There is another planning meeting for the exercise on the 7th of September. I won't be attending that meeting, as I have to be in class that evening. That is another post altogether. Hopefully the trip will occur without a hitch. It's supposed to rain a little while I am there, but that shouldn't be too bad. I don't mind going out of town for a couple of days, it's always good to leave DC, but, at the same time, wish I was going somewhere just a little nicer.

Caps Season Ticket Holder Gift Quandry

2006-06-18T23:40:00.000-04:00

The other day, as part of my Caps season tickets, I received my order form for this year's season ticket gift. This year's gift is my choice of an autographed stick either by Olie Kolzig or Alex Ovechkin. This is a difficult decision on my part as I like both players a lot. Olie only has a few seasons left and holds all the Caps goaltending records, whereas, Alex is up and coming and is going to be a superstar in the league. I will be happy with either or, but since I have to choose, I am not sure which one I should choose.

Final Accounting Grades

2006-05-14T18:40:00.000-04:00

I have completed my Spring 2006 class, Financial and Managerial Accounting, about a week and a half ago. I have all my final grades in for the course. I managed to get the extra credit points for perfect attendance, a 93 on our group project which was an analysis of Southwest Airlines, and a 161 out of 200 points on the final. These final grades resulted in me getting an A- in accounting, not too shabby for a lot of work.

Weekend Accounting Update

2006-03-12T22:30:00.000-05:00

I have managed to double-check my accounting midterm examination prior to class this week. I did find a couple of mathematical errors, which I have managed to correct. I should be ready for it to be turned in on Tuesday evening. On Thursday, I started reading "The Goal" by Eli Goldratt. Over the course of the weekend I have also managed to read a good portion of it. I have around 50 pages left to read, and I must say, this is one of the most interesting books I have ever had to read in my academic career. I think the class is worth it just for the opportunity to read this book. The information in this book is going to help me immensely, and I'm glad I am reading it. I still have to read chapters three and eleven in the main textbook. I also have to get cracking on yet another internet assignment. Plenty of time to get all those things squared away.

US-Pakistani Alliance??

2006-03-05T00:00:00.000-05:00

The last day or two I have heard on the news about President Bush going to Pakistan to meet with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. So this evening, I read on Foxnews.com an article about the President's trip in which Bush Expresses Solidarity with Pakistan, Musharraf.

This article talks about the alliance with Pakistan, and the efforts of Pakistan in the War on Terror. I have reason to question any such alliance with the Pakistanis, and, especially the sincerity of the Pakistani president, Pervez Musharraf. Why should our country trust a man who was not legitimately elected to office in a contested election? He claimed power, in 1999, in a bloodless coup, and in the aftermath of that coup stated that an election would be contested. More than six years later, no election has taken place. In fact, Musharraf recently changed his country's constitution to allow him to remain president AND to keep his uniform until 2007. This is a country, prior to September 11, that we had withdrawn our ambassador, and all foreign aid because of nuclear activity and indirectly, because of the lack of democratic elections in Pakistan. All of a sudden, after September 11th, the Pakistanis allow us access to their territory to launch an offensive against the Taliban in Afghanistan, and all of a sudden they're a valued ally? Something about this doesn't sound right. I find it awfully convenient. They also have vowed to help us round up Al Queda operatives and to assist us with our search for Osama Bin Laden.

Almost 5 years later, still no Bin Laden, but we keep on hearing the same tune from the Pakistanis.... "We'll eventually, with US help, will find Bin Laden and bring him to justice." Please... If Bin Laden is hiding in the mountainous border of Pakistan and Afghanistan, as he is rumored to, it will be difficult to find him. I truly believe that most of the Pakistani public does know the location of the US' number one wanted terrorist. The Pakistani public has no interest in helping Musharraf, nor us, find Bin Laden, as they agree with what he is fighting for, they don't like us as much as Bin Laden does. With that being said, I believe that as long as we continue to rely on the Pakistani military to help US operatives find Bin Laden, we will never find him, as the Pakistani military is most likely helping him hide.

This alliance is more of a marriage of convenience for the Pakistanis. It allows them to receive foreign aid to enable their government to better provide for its citizens, while doing very little in return. We will not find Bin Laden, and, quite frankly, I believe we are wasting our time enlisting their help.

GW Men Go Undefeated in A-10 Play

2006-03-04T23:30:00.000-05:00

Today, at the Smith Center, the Colonial's went undefeated in Atlantic-10 Conference Play by beating Charlotte by a score of 86-85 in overtime. This marks only the fourth time in conference history that a team has gone undefeated in conference play. At 26-1, GW has the best record in Division I basketball. They also have the longest winning streak at 18, and the only one loss team in the Top 25. They have also claimed a first round bye in the Atlantic-10 tournament that takes place in Cincinnati next week. I am truly happy with the season that GW has had this year, and I hope we're able to win the tournament for the second year in a row. We should get a high seed this year in the NCAA tournament, and it would be phenomenal if we could make it past the first round this year. Hail to the buff and blue!

Accounting Midterm Completed

2006-03-04T21:07:00.000-05:00

Today, around 1pm, I packed up my accounting stuff and I made my way over to the library in Old Town Fredericksburg to work on my accounting midterm. I wanted to work on it today and get it finished so I wouldn't have to worry about it all next week. Since my sister is home until tomorrow, and she had a few things she needed to work on, I brought her with me so she could get some of her work done. I didn't find the problems to be overly difficult, but they did take the longest amount of time to complete. Some of the multiple choice questions took me off guard, and took a little bit of time to find the answers for, but four hours later, I managed to get the exam completed by hand and inputted into Microsoft Word for the completed product.

With the exam completed, I now have the week to do some other reading for class, and to start reading the book "The Goal" for class. This is a book that I would like to get read as quickly as possible. I ordered it from Amazon.com on Friday afternoon, I should have it on Monday, so it will give me tomorrow to possibly relax some before I get too much back into the swing of things for class. No class on Tuesday means a little bit of time to relax as well. I'm certainly glad I got the exam done and over with.

Midterm Thoughts On Accounting

2006-03-02T21:10:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned in my post Midterm Spring 2006, this past Tuesday was the half-way point of my accounting class. For the most part, I am reasonably happy with my performance. I received another grade on Tuesday evening, I got 40 out of 50 points on another paper. To be perfectly honest, I was a little disappointed with that grade. Granted, I shouldn't be too disappointed, as I have 20 bonus points coming to me if I make perfect attendance for the semester. So I'm still sitting on an A, but I wish I didn't have to use so many of those points just at the midterm point of the class. I'm sure I have nothing to worry about, but still, it would be nice to have that cushion going into the final half of the course.

On Tuesday, the midterm was posted on the class' website on Blackboard. It has a total of 33 questions on it, 26 multiple choice questions and 7 problems. I think I'm going to go ahead and get this thing taken care of and out of the way this weekend. I believe I will go to the library in old town on Saturday, where there won't be any wireless internet access, I'll take a seat in the study room and get myself all squared away. Mostly, I just want to get this done and overwith, so I won't have to worry about it for an entire week and a half. The exam isn't due until the 14th, but the sooner I get it out of the way, the better, and I can get cracking on that book "The Goal" that I'm required to read.

Pharoaonic Sun Temple Found

2006-02-27T20:55:00.000-05:00

Today, I came across this article on Foxnews.com, Pharoanic Sun Temple Found. This article interests me because I studied history for my undergraduate work at GW. I find it absolutely fascinating that this temple, theorized to be that of King Ramses II, was discovered in what is the old Heliopolis. This is simply an amazing discovery in Cairo, and I hope archeologists are able to gather a lot of information from this sun temple so we can have a better understanding of ancient Egyptian mythology and history. Discoveries like these make me wonder why I'm not in the business so I can discover stuff like this, it definitely would be a lot of fun I would think.

Accounting Homework Completed

2006-02-27T20:40:00.000-05:00

This evening I have completed the rest of my accounting homework that is due tomorrow evening in class. I have also completed the last of the reading for th first half of the class. As I stated in my prior post, the midterm examination is being distributed tomorrow in class and I will have two weeks to complete it. I'm confident that I will be able to complete it without any difficulty.

The reading wasn't too bad this time around. I was required to read chapters nine and ten in the text. Chapter nine deals with the income statement and the statement of cash flows and chapter ten deals with corporate governance, explanatory notes, and other disclosures. It made for some interesting reading and this time around, I actually understood a good chunk of chapter ten, not as much of chapter nine though as I would've liked. After class tomorrow night, however, I should understand the material without any difficulty.

As for the midterm, I hate taking exams, I have never liked them. This and papers are the two things that I haven't missed since I have been finished with my undergraduate degree, but I suppose it's part of the whole package. I'm sure I have nothing to worry about, I have done pretty well on all the exams I have had in the program to date. Hopefully, this one will be no different.

Midterm Spring 2006

2006-02-25T22:00:00.000-05:00

Tuesday will mark the midway point of the Spring 2006 semester. In accounting, we will conclude the first half of the class by finishing our final topics in financial accounting. On Tuesday evening we will also receive the midterm exam via Blackboard. I must say, I'm rather pleased with my progress this semester. At the beginning of the semester, I was concerned with my ability to master this material as I found it confusing in the very beginning.

The material is still complex, and at times, difficult to understand, but I feel I'm getting a better grasp of the material. Fortunately for me, the midterm exam is open book open notes, and I have two weeks from Tuesday to complete the exam. We will not have class on Tuesday, the 7th, for spring break for the university.

My progress thusfar:
FASB Concept #2 Paper - 50 points out of 50
Homework #1 - 46 points out of 50
Internet Assignment #1 - 50 points out of 50

Outstanding grades:
Internet Assignment #2 - 50 points possible

On Tuesday, I have another set of accounting problems due, and we are also going over chapters eight and nine for discussion. Tomorrow I will need to get my problems completed and start with the reading for this week's class. I'm confident that I will be able to get everything accomplished well in advance of the class date.

The second half of the semester we will be studying managerial accounting. There will be another internet assignment due, as well as a response to a case study, and a response to a book entitled "The Goal." I will also need to complete a group project, a written assignment of 7-9 pages, along with a presentation. There will also be an additional examination.

If my performance in the first half of the class is any indication, I do not foresee too many difficulties the rest of the semester.

Summer 2006 Class Offerings

2006-02-20T21:30:00.000-05:00

I know it's a little early to be discussing Summer classes, but I received an email from UMW indicating that enrollment for Summer classes begins on March 10. There are four classes being offered this summer that I need to take, three of which meet on Monday, the fourth on Thursday.

MBUS 502 - Financial Decision-Making for Managers:This course focuses on financial decision making in business. Emphasis is placed on the application of financial data to a wide range of management decisions designed to develop a conceptual and analytical understanding of financial management. Topics include, financial analysis, financial planning, financial investments and capital markets, security valuation techniques, working capital management fundamentals, and capital budgeting techniques.

MBUS 505 Quantitative Methods:Covers the concepts and processes used in managing, scheduling, planning and controlling. Topics include decision trees and decison modeling, statistical forecasting methodologies, transportation/assignment problems in linear programming, integer linear programming, network and queuing theory, PERT/CPM, SPC< business simulations, and Markov processes. Emphasis throughout the course on service operations.

MBUS 509 Information Technology for Managers:Students explore the various uses of information technology in private and public organizations in order to enhance business efficiency and market advantage. Particular attention is paid to the role of the information technology manager in today's work environment.

MBUS 516 Project Management:This course provides a comprehensive overview of project management. The course addresses the framework, culture, principles, and the basic techniques of project management. The course reviews the general stages of a project and describes how the stages interrelate. Basic tools of project management, such as work breakdown structure, scheduling, earned value analysis, and risk management, are introduced and used in student assignments. The elements of project management critical to the success of a project also are identified and explained.

The principles and tools are integrated and clarified through case studies from a variety of organizational settings and through creation of project management plans developed by students working in teams.

I'm seriously considering financial decision making for managers since accounting has been challenging and I figure I should get it done and over with. I have plenty of time to decide though.

Accounting Project Finished

2006-02-19T22:45:00.000-05:00

Thank goodness! I have completed yet another accounting project. I decided to come over here to the library on the main campus of Mary Washington to work on it so I wouldn't be distracted. It would appear that it worked for this evening. This means I'll have all day tomorrow just to chill since I have completed my reading for this week's class. YIPPEE!!!!!! The paper only needed to be 3-5 pages in length and I was required to write about the type of industry that Home Depot competes within. I managed to write 4 pages. Not too bad. Hopefully I'll be able to get a good grade on it.

Team Slovakia Drops Team USA 2-1

2006-02-18T22:40:00.000-05:00

Today I managed to catch the Team USA - Team Slovakia prelminary round game this afternoon. I must say, it was a very good game, a quick game, with the two teams being pretty evenly matched. After the first period the game was scoreless, with only one penalty assessed to Team USA, a bench minor, for too many men on the ice. In the second both teams exchanged power play tallies, one coming from Marian Hossa of Team Slovakia, and the other from Brian Rolston for Team USA. Early in the third, the Slovaks scored, what proved to be the game winner, off the stick of one of my favorite players, Peter Bondra. Now, I wouldn't have minded that so much if Team USA managed to at least tie the game. With the loss today, it makes things quite difficult for Team USA to advance to the medal round. In order to control their own destiny, they need to beat the Swedes tomorrow evening, and the Russians on Tuesday, if they don't do that, they need to hope for at least a tie, and that the Latvians or Kazaks don't put up good efforts in their last two games.

I would love to see Team USA make it to the medal round, but nothing is a given in this tournament, as the Canadians were upset as well today by a Swiss team that had no business beating them. I'm hoping for a much better effort by Team USA tomorrow against Sweden.

Weekend Accounting Project

2006-02-18T22:30:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I worked on one of my accounting projects, it was a paper on a prediction of the outlook of the economy by looking at several economic indicators. This weekend, I have another paper that I have to write that is due on Tuesday. The assignment, after reviewing a powerpoint presentation, is to write a 3-5 page paper on the type of industry that Home Depot operates in. I also need to write about the key dynamics of the hardware store industry. I have all day tomorrow and Monday to put together this paper. It will involve some research, hopefully not too much, and time to compose the paper. I have been thinking that I should go ahead and perhaps go to Mary Washington's main campus tomorrow or Monday and sit in the library and work on the paper until I get it finished this way I can be free of any distractions here at the house. I did that for my organization theory and design group project and found it a good and productive use of my time. Perhaps I'll go over there before the Team USA olympic hockey game that airs at 5pm eastern time. Perhaps if I can get over there right after lunch and get cracking, I can have the paper done and have all day Monday just to chill. I suppose I shall see tomorrow morning when I wake up.

Accounting Class Update

2006-02-15T22:08:00.000-05:00

Last night I had accounting class. Boy, did it seem to drag more so than usual last night. We took a good deal of classtime discussing the present and future value of money on bonds and annuities. It can definitely be confusing at times. I also turned in Internet Assignment Number 1. I ended up putting together four pages of content for this assignment and I was relatively happy with the product, unlike my last paper, even though I got an A on it. Last night I also got back my grade on homework number one that I turned in last week. I got 46 out of 50 points. Not too bad seeing on how I thought I was going to do much worse than that. Another internet assignment is due on Tuesday, so I'll be spending a good amount of time of my weekend working on that. Hopefully I will be able to make some time for some US Men's Olympic Hockey.

Hybrid Vehicles and HOV Lanes

2006-02-14T22:47:00.000-05:00

In today’s Washington Post, they printed this article: “Hybrid Perks May Become Problems.” This article does a fantastic job of informing us of the perks of purchasing hybrid vehicles. One of those perks is the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) waiving the HOV occupancy restriction for those who drive these vehicles, in addition to State and Federal income tax breaks. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m all for trying to save the environment, and getting more and more vehicles out there that are more environmentally friendly, but there reaches a point where the perks are doing more harm than good.

I know from personal experience driving on the HOV lanes on Interstate 95/395, where the HOV restriction is HOV-3, that there are a lot of hybrid vehicles taking advantage of this perk. I have also noticed, in the three years the perk has been in place, a gradual increase of the number of hybrid vehicles on the road. As a matter of fact, here in the Commonwealth, we have one of the, if not the highest average sales of hybrid vehicles in the nation. Perks are originally offered to encourage people to purchase something or to encourage specific behavior. However, when does a perk become a bad thing? This article does a good job of stating that for us. When there are so many drivers of hybrid vehicles on the HOV with only ONE person in the vehicle, it does end up causing a negative effect because there ends up not being a benefit to the environment. As a matter of fact, one day, while driving on the HOV, I noticed, for a stretch of about ten miles, give or take, every car that passed me was a hybrid. In my mind this is ridiculous especially here in northern VA. These vehicles are selling like hotcakes specifically because of this perk and it’s causing the HOV lanes to be almost nearly as congested as the regular lanes. This in itself is counterproductive to the efforts of those drivers who make a concerted effort to carpool in order to decrease the number of vehicles on the road.

When I saw this article, specifically this one section where the State Legislature is considering a bill to extend the waiver, it irked me. It irked me because I emailed our new governor, Tim Kaine, about this exact issue last weekend, asking him to see about removing the waiver as it was causing more harm than good. The article also states that Governor Kaine is for this particular piece of legislation. Well, it appears to me, that another email is in order for the governor. I will post the text of that email here later on. This is something that can’t, and should not, be allowed to continue. Enforce HOV restrictions on all.

Virginia Senate Passes Smoking Ban

2006-02-14T22:43:00.000-05:00

Yesterday the VA Senate passed a bill and sent to the House of Delegates a bill banning smoking inside all public places including restaurants and bars. You can read the article in the Washington Post here. When I caught news of this I was just a bit surprised. Why would the Commonwealth of Virginia, home of Phillip Morris pass such a ban? Tobacco has been such a big part of Virginia’s history. It was the crop that put the colony of Jamestown, and eventually Virginia on the map as far as England was concerned. Big tobacco has been the name of the game here in Virginia, and there are still a considerable number of tobacco farmers here in the State. Needless to say this is a necessary step, and I can only hope the House Delegates passes a similar bill so this can become law here.

This is a similar bill to others that have been passed in the Washington metropolitan area. Not too long ago, the Washington, DC City Council passed a similar bill in their committee to ban smoking in restaurants and bars. In Montgomery County, MD, a ban already exists. About two years ago, I went to a bar in Bethesda with a couple of friends, and I was amazed at how nice it was to go inside a bar, have a beer and not feel like I was suffocating from second hand smoke from smokers.

As a non-smoker, I loathe going into bars with friends and smelling the smoke. Second-hand smoke for some reason gives me headaches. This is more of an issue for me when I got shooting pool with my buddies. Billiard halls are the worst because it seems to be that everyone smokes there.

Now, I’m not against people smoking by any stretch of the imagination, if people wish to do something bad for their health like smoking, that’s their business, but then again, I shouldn’t have to put up with it in a public place, such as a restaurant or bar. I’m so glad that some of our State’s legislators have finally decided to do something that’s right. Bravo. I’m just hoping it survives the House of Delegates and Governor Kaine, if it makes it that far, signs it into law.

Yes, It's That Day....

2006-02-14T15:30:00.000-05:00

Today is just that day, the dark day known as Valentine's Day. David said it right in his post here. In all fairness, today hasn't been all that bad. I haven't really thought about it very much. It seems to get better each and every year. Perhaps it's because I'm more comfortable and happy with who I am these days than in years past. But I still can't help but make fun of today, what I like to refer to as National Hallmark and Chocolate Day. However, that being said, I would like to post some anti-valentines type of stuff today. I found this anti-valentines day playlist on washingtonpost.com today. Be sure to go and vote for your favorite song. For the record, I did vote for Alanis Morissette's song "You Oughta Know." There's nothing like good ole revenge, I guess. =) I also found this article on foxnews.com "Hating Valentine's Day" which was worth the read. I especially liked the section about kickboxing, it brought a chuckle out of me just thinking of it and how much I would actually enjoy it!!! Enjoy, folks... The day will be over soon enough and life will return to normal. (Like it wasn't any other normal day to begin with.)

Interesting Article

2006-02-13T13:15:00.000-05:00

This morning, while catching up on the news on washingtonpost.com, I cam across this article, Spotsylvania Deputies Receive Sex Services in Prostitution Cases. A couple of things. First, I have only lived in Spotsylvania County for a year and some change, and I am unfamiliar with the fact that there were so many massage parlors in the county. Secondly, why are sheriff's deputies engaging in sexual activity in order to arrest prostitutes? I find it curious indeed that our local sheriff condones his deputies breaking the law in order to arrest people. Oh, and only unmarried detectives are involved in this sort of sting operation? Granted, that makes sense, but COME ON. No other law enforcement agency in the country uses tactics such as these, and for the very reason that it's breaking the law. Also, I find it very difficult to believe that our elected supervisors had no knowledge of these tactics. This article just hit the "Gee that's interesting" scale for the day. WOW, another day, another thing that simply amazes me.

MBA Progress

2006-02-12T22:00:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted anything about my progress on my MBA in awhile. Last semester I took Statistics for Managers, an undergraduate pre-requisite class, and one of my MBA core courses, Organization Theory and Design. My organization theory and design class met for the first seven weeks of the fall semester, from the end of August until the middle of October. To be perfectly honest, I was worried about both classes. As it turned out, there was nothing to worry about at all. I got an A in both classes. I was very happy at the end of the semester. Getting an A in Organization Theory and Design was particularly fulfilling, as it was my first graduate level class. It was nice to get an A in statistics as well.

This semester, I'm taking financial and managerial accounting for managers. It is an undergraduate pre-requisite for Financial Decision Making for Managers. The first part of the semester we are covering financial accounting, and then starting the second weekend of March we'll be covering managerial accounting. This class is going to require a lot of work from me. Here are the course requirements:

Applied Financial and Managerial Accounting Assignments (150 points): A minimum of an additional 24 hours of instruction is Web-based. Accordingly, there are three (3) Internet lectures and assignments of about 8 hours each.

Homework (200 points) Homework is assigned in class. The homework consists primarily of problems from the covered material in the text. The homework is due the following week and will be collected in class. All handed in work, including the homework, should be done using word and/or excel. (If you are unable to attend class, you must email the homework before class.)

Team Project (100 points): Students will be paired up to do an financial analysis on a company of their choice. The teams will make a brief 10-15 minute presentation to the class on the results of their analysis and hand in a 7-10 page write up of the analysis.

Writing Projects (150 points): Each student shall complete three (3) writing assignment, as follows.
A three to five page paper on the FASB Concept statement 2.
A three to five page write up of the Harvard Case: Bausch & Lomb
A four to six page response to "The Goal" Novel.

All written assignments must be in proper APA format, typed, double-spaced, using 12 font. Hardcopies are to be handed in on dates due.

First Exam (200 points): There will be a midterm exam to be completed no later than the scheduled midterm exam day. It will be made available on-line.

Final Exam (200 points): There will be a final exam to be compoleted no later than the scheduled final exam day. It will be made available on-line.

I have already turned in the paper responding to FASB Concept #2. I received the grade this past Tuesday in class. I got 50 out of 50 points on the paper. So far so good.

Jaromir Jagr Nets 40th Goal....

2006-02-12T18:30:00.000-05:00

Last night while I was enjoying the Caps game at MCI Center, Jaromir Jagr netted his 40th goal of the year in the second half of a home-and-home series with the Maple Leafs at Air Canada Center in Toronto. Going into the Olympic break, Jagr has 40 goals and 48 assists for 88 points in 58 games played. Let's compare this with the two and a half seasons that Jagr was with the Caps. In the 2001-2002 campaign, Jagr's first with the Caps, in 69 games, Jagr tallied 31 goals and 48 assists for 79 points. In 2002-2003, the last year the Caps made the playoffs, Jagr tallied 36 goals and 41 assists for 77 points in 75 games. In the 2003-2004 season, prior to being traded to the Rangers, Jagr, in 46 games, tallied 16 goals and 29 assists for 45 points. However, after being traded to the Rangers, in 31 games, he tallied 15 goals and 14 assists for 29 points, for a grand total of 74 points for the campaign. So, in 190 games with the Caps, Jagr tallied 201 points, composing of 83 goals and 118 assists.

In comparison, in only 89 games with the Rangers, Jagr has tallied 56 goals and 62 assists for 118 points. So with 101 less games, Jagr has tallied nearly 60% of the point production he did while with the Capitals. Now, I realize, that earlier in the season, Jagr went on the record to state that he had pretty much given up while playing with the Capitals. I'm sorry, that isn't an excuse as far as I'm concerned. When you're making 11 million dollars (salary pre-CBA rollback), you don't give up, and you play to the best of your abilities. The Caps did everything they could to keep Jagr happy before he was traded to the Rangers. They signed Robert Lang, a fellow Czech to the team, and acquired Michael Nylander, another European, to complement Jagr. None of this seemed to work to keep Jagr happy, nor did it have an effect on increasing his performance.

All of a sudden, in New York, the Rangers sign both Michael Nylander and Marty Straka, and with the emergence of Petr Prucha, another Czech, Jagr has been revitalized. Could this be because of the new rules eliminating much of the clutching and grabbing he was accustomed to receiving while in a Caps sweater, or is it because of his new linemates. Or maybe it's something much simpler, maybe he is actually in a venue where he wants to play. Granted, if you play on any other sports team in Washington not named the Redskins, you are not the focus of attention, in particular, when it comes to hockey. Perhaps in the Big Apple, Jagr is getting the attentnion he desperately craves. To me, however, you should be able to succeed no matter where you're employed, and no matter the circumstances.

Sure this may be sour grapes, and I shouldn't beat a dead horse here, but, Jagr made a mockery of our ownership group here in Washington and of our team by publicly stating he quit, and in sports, to me, that is unacceptable just to abandon your team like that simply because you don't like where you're playing.

Caps Lose but GW Wins

2006-02-12T00:32:00.000-05:00

So my snowy Saturday has come to an end with me watching Sportscenter after the close to three hour drive home this evening from the Caps game due to the roads. I felt the Caps did not put forth a very good effort this evening. I was most disappointed with the effort as I was sitting in the lower levels. The Caps ended up losing 6-3 to the Pens. The game wasn't as close as the score indicated. The Pens seemed to come out and played with a passion. Hopefully the last meeting between these two teams next month will turn out to be a victory for the Caps at MCI Center.

However, the day wasn't a complete loss for me sportswise. At least GW was able to pull out the win against St. Joe's today. I was really concerned with the game, GW was down by 8 after the first half, but then, they came out in the second and went on a 20-0 run. I couldn't believe what my eyes were seeing. However, that 20-0 run wasn't enough to allow GW to put the game away easily. They only ended up winning by 2, 64-62, but a win is a win, and the Colonials protected their national ranking, and now have the best start in university history at 20-1.

#8 GW vs St. Joe's Today

2006-02-11T11:29:00.000-05:00

So today, before I have to take my father to Dulles airport for his trip to Stutgart, I get a little bit of a treat. My eighth ranked Colonials of GW are taking on St. Joe's and the game is going to be on the Deuce. I can't begin to say how impressed I am that GW is ranked in the top 10 in both the AP and Coaches poll. They have been rolling over their competition in the Atlantic 10 conference, they are the only team in the conference with less than three losses at zero. Now granted, they have not beaten a team in the current top 25 this season. They did lose to North Carolina State back in December and that is their only loss of the season. I'm sure GW will have no problems taking care of St. Joe's today. Hail to the buff and blue!

Ex-FEMA Chief Blames DHS For Katrina Response

2006-02-10T21:34:00.000-05:00

One of the big stories here in Washington today, is the testimony of Michael Brown, the former administrator of the Federal Emergency Response Agency (FEMA). It is well known that Brown resigned from his post at DHS in the first few days during the response to Hurricane Katrina. Upon arriving at home this evening, I turned the tv to CSPAN, and what do I find, but the Senate's Homeland Security and Government Reform Committee's hearing on the response to Hurricane Katrina and Michael Brown was testifying before the committee. I watched about 15-20 minutes of the testimony before I turned it off. DHS and the White House have made Brown the scapegoat for their failures during the response effort. Brown blames DHS and the White House for ignoring his warnings about the hurricane. Who should Congress and us as citizens believe?

During Brown's testimony, he specifically mentioned the fact that DHS is more concerned with responding and preventing terrorist attacks and that FEMA is the stepchild of DHS. I think there very well may be some truth to this statement. Being a homeland security contractor, I have noticed a focus responding to terrorist attacks. This is understandable considering the September 11th attacks. However, there is something to be said of putting all your eggs into one basket. Even on DHS' website, their mission statement is: "We will lead the unified national effort to secure America. We will prevent and deter terrorist attacks and protect against and respond to threats and hazards to the nation. We will ensure safe and secure borders, welcome lawful immigrants and visitors, and promote the free-flow of commerce."

Nowhere in this mission statement does it state anything about natural disasters such as hurricanes, although, I suppose you could infer that responding to hazards could be loosely interpreted natural disasters. In my opinion, I don't think I can infer that their mission statement includes natural disasters. But if you look a little deeper on DHS' website, you can see their strategic goals. One of their strategic goals is response. This includes: "Lead, manage and coordinate the national response to acts of terrorism, natural disasters, or other emergencies." This is the only section that refers to natural disasters.

You would think that with FEMA being absorbed into DHS, courtesy of the Homeland Security Act, in 2001, that one of DHS' missions would be to lead the unified national dffort to respond to natural disasters that occur within our borders. To me, DHS should take more of a concerted effort to put as much effort into preventing and responding to terrorism into our response to natural disasters.

I see this as growing pains for a new government agency. So many government organizations were forced to merge into one larger organization, organizations that, in the past, had a very limited history in working together to achieve a similar goal. This integration is obviously going to take time, and it was clearly on display for us during Katrina.

In order to be effective, DHS needs to ensure that they are prepared in the future to respond to natural disasters so the effort that was put forth during Katrina is not repeated. This means, DHS should concentrate just as much on natural disaster response as they do to preparing for responses to acts of terrorism.

Caps vs Penguins Tomorrow Night!

2006-02-10T20:44:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow the Caps take on the Penguins of Pittsburgh at MCI Center in Washington. This will be the Pens first visit to Washington this season. I am looking forward to seeing Sidney Crosby play in person to see all the hype that has been generating around him for the past year. From what I can tell, the game is close to, if not, sold out tomorrow night. Good thing I'm a season ticket holder so I don't have to worry about this sort of thing. Because I'm a season ticket holder, I have taken advantage of a unique perk of being able to upgrade my tickets to the lower level for two games free of charge. Back in December, I decided I wanted to sit in the lower bowl for this game tomorrow night. Tomorrow I will have the opportunity to see the game up close as I will be sitting in Section 101 Row P, that is center ice closer to the side of the ice the Caps shoot twice. I hope it will be a great game tomorrow night, it has been in the past against the Pens. Hopefully the snowstorm we're supposed to get tomorrow won't cancel the game nor keep me from making the trip to Washington to attend. LET'S GO CAPS!

Domestic Spying

2006-02-10T15:39:00.000-05:00

Domestic spying isn't anything new. Of course, it is being made a big deal of in the news since shortly before the President's State of the Union Address last week. The media, of course, had made a big deal about it, that's what they do. However, what NSA and the President has authorized is nothing new. The NSA has been doing this sort of work since their inception. However, what is at stake is if the President can authorize monitoring/spying on citizens international calls without a warrant. Should the President be allowed to act without a warrant? I truly believe the president should secure a warrant before eavesdropping on Americans' international calls. This is a fundamental privacy issue. There are many citizens that have normal dealings in the international arena and this sets a bad precedent.

I heard, flipping through the channels, on Foxnews the other day, that Republicans in the Senate, I believe, are ok with what the president is doing, they just want oversight over this particular issue. To me, this is pretty cut and dry. Should Congress allow the President the authority to eavesdrop without a warrant? My answer to that question is no. If President Bush is able to keep going on his current path, what is there to stop him from beginning this with just regular run of the mill calls between friends, spouses, colleagues? It sets a bad precedent, and plain and simple, it's a violation of presidential power, and of people's privacy.

What a game tonight

2005-11-26T23:40:00.000-05:00

So, I just finished watching the Caps game this evening against the Rangers. What a great game it was. I felt the Caps outplayed the Rangers the entire game this evening. The Caps penalty killing was on, however, the power play was not, giving up a short handed goal and not converting on any of their opportunities.

It was classic the way the Caps got a measurement on Jagr's stick this evening at the beginning of overtime. I can't count how many times, when Jagr was with the Caps, his stick was measured and we went shorthanded because he was using an illegal stick. Well, he got burned again tonight, still, didn't convert, but it was great nonetheless.

The shootout went 15 rounds this evening. I'm still not convinced I like the shootout yet, but this evening, it was exciting, and that move by Marek Malik to put the nail in the coffing was tight. A great move, at least the Caps got a point this evening out of the hard effort.

Another complaint about the game tonight, I don't see how anyone that subscribes to MSG can watch Ranger games. The feed was awful this evening, not sure if it was just a bad camera angle, or there was a different crew working, but I can see better from my 400 level seats at MCI Center. I'm looking forward to the game tomorrow against the Sabres.

Odds N Ends

2005-10-02T01:10:00.000-04:00

I cannot believe that I'm still up right now. It's now 1 am my time, and I'm still up working on my project for my organization theory and design class. Thought I would take a quick break. This is a group project, and we need to have the inputs all in by the 5th, as I am going out of town for an exercise on Thursday, and this will give us time to get it to the grad school's writing center (professor's requirement). Somehow, I got stuck with one of the largest sections of the project. I'm still not entirely sure how I got suckered into that, but it's too late for that now.

I also took a little time for fun for myself this evening, and I made my way up to MCI Center for the final Caps pre-season game. I must say, for the first two periods, the Caps ROCKED! However, the Flyers took over in the third. It turned out to be a Flyers win in an OT shootout. Hopefully our young team took a very valuable lesson from this loss tonight. Time will tell, there is still a lot of time left to development and learning, so this will be a continuous process for not only this season, but the next two as well. At least they didn't mail it in.

Ok, back to work on the project.....

Last Night At MCI Center...

2005-09-22T12:15:00.000-04:00

Last night I was MCI Center for the first time since April 2004, the final Capitals home game of the 2003-2004 season, which was an OT loss to the Rangers. Last night was the first home pre-season game. It felt different being back. For the first time since I started going to Caps games, I could not pick up who was who because of all the new players during this rebuilding effort. Sure, Olie, Witt, and Halpern were on the ice, along with the kids, Ovechkin, Aulin, Schultz, but I did not recognize their numbers. The affair was a penalty haven. Everything was called in accordance with the new rules the NHL has adopted for this season. Hooking, clutching, grabbing, the Caps spent a lot of the first period short-handed. Of course, we got thumped, 4-0, but the Sabres did not play much better, they just had luckier bounces. They also demonstrated the new shootout, which, we lost as well, but at least Alex Ovechkin scored. I hope to see many more goals from him in the future. =)

It was also different because this is the first season where I'm going to be attending games solo. David relocated to Phoenix since the Caps played last, so it's going to be different for awhile. Sometimes, change is good, sometimes not, time will tell.

I do know this is going to be a long year for my favorite NHL team, we probably won't even break the 20 win plateau this year, but, hopefully, the guys will play with a lot of heart and will pull one out every now and then. It's good to have hockey back, let's hope the Caps can successfully rebuild.

What A Day Yesterday Was

2005-09-07T12:30:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was such a great day for our family. Yesterday my father's retirement ceremony was conducted, outside, in Alexandria, VA. What a beautiful day for such a ceremony to take place. I would have to say aroune twenty-five people showed up for it. The only life I can remember my father ever having was that of being an officer in the air force. Now that is all over. My father will now begin his post-military life tomorrow when he starts his new job. He's going to be a beltway bandit like my brother and I are. I for one, could not have been prouder yesterday morning. My father has accomplished a lot in the military, served during Vietnam, Desert Storm, and now during the 'War on Terror.' He's going to do just fine out here. Welcome to the club, dad.

Two Week Road Trip & Odds 'N Ends

2005-05-22T10:50:00.000-04:00

Today is my last day at home for the next two weeks. I'm heading on down to South Carolina for a couple of weeks. We are conducting a functional exercise in Darlington, SC, on Wednesday, and a full scale exercise in Columbia June 1-2. The highlight of this trip is going to be Memorial Day weekend, as I'll be spending that in Myrtle Beach. I hope it will be a good time, I've never been there before. It will be a long road trip, but hopefully, it will be a successful trip. Once these two exercises are over, I will be a happy camper, both have caused some undue stress, that, on days, I could've lived without. One thing is for sure though, it will be good to be out of DC for a couple of weeks. My hope is both exercises go well though.

On a different note, things seem to have gotten a little bit more interesting on the homefront. My brother is intent on marrying his girlfriend, which is all fine and dandy, I'm quite happy for him, as a matter of fact, however, the rents, in particular my mother, is showing their dissatisfaction with this course of action. I can understand why they are concerned, but I really think she should lay off a little, as my brother has already made his mind up on this matter, he truly wants to marry the gal, and I don't think she should be giving him so much grief about it. That's one reason that I'm glad that I'm going to be out of town for the next two weeks, so I won't have to hear too much about this, so that will be nice.

Grad School Has Begun

2005-05-19T22:45:00.000-04:00

This week I started up with my graduate program to get my MBA. I'm taking a business ethics course as one of my undergraduate pre-requisites. It's going to be quite a bit of reading for the next eight weeks. It appears to be an interesting class, just based on what the discussion topics are going to be. The downside is that the class meets twice a week for three hours at a time. We got out early on Monday, so it iddn't seem too long. However, yesterday's class seemed to go by quickly, it didn't seem like we were even in there for three hours. I'm going to miss the next two weeks of class though, as I'm going to be out of town for work for two exercises in South Carolina. The plus side to all this is the professor is being quite accommodating to me in this regard. I'm going to be permitted to take the quiz that is next Wednesday when I get back into town, and she is going to permit me to turn my paper that's due on the 1st electronically and give my presentation the first day of class that I'm back in town.

Both exams are going to be administered online, and we can take those at home, and they are open book open note. Hopefully, with that being said, I won't have too many difficulties in getting an A in this class. We shall see though. I know, David, you're going to say that I don't have anything to worry about. This is my first class in five years though.

Great News!!!!

2005-05-03T13:30:00.000-04:00

I know that I haven't posted anything in quite some time. I've actually been quite busy with work, I can't count how much I've been on the road the past 30 days. However, today is a day for celebration. I found out this morning that I got accepted into grad school! I will start classes up later on this month. I'm very thrilled about this prospect. Right now I'm enjoying the elation without worrying about how much hard work this is going to entail and how much it's going to cost. I'm just letting this soak in for a bit.

Baseball Is Here!

2005-04-03T23:20:00.000-04:00

Finally, after a long winter, it's baseball season again. This winter has seemed longer than most, I think this mostly is a result of not having the NHL this season. It was noticeably missed by myself this season, and all the rest of the NHL fans and especially my fellow fans here in Capitals land. This baseball season is going to be special though. This season is the inaugural season for the Washington Nationals, known as the Nats here in the DC area. As a whole, people are very excited to have baseball back in our nation's capital. I'm one of those thankful people for baseball in Washington. Tickets to the home opener at RFK Stadium sold out an hour after they went on sale on ticketmaster. I didn't get tickets for the home opener because the day before I managed to come across opening day tickets for the Orioles. I'm really excited. The home opener is tomorrow, and I've never been to a season opener for baseball before. The game is at 3:05 in the afternoon. I'm really looking forward to it. Adding to the nostalgia of opening day tomorrow is the fact that the birds are taking on the Oakland A's tomorrow. This is a nice added touch as the first games I went to as a kid were to Oakland A's games when we were stationed in California in the mid 80s. I'll be rooting for the O's of course, but it will be nice to see my second favorite team in the AL playing tomorrow. Here's hoping for a wonderful season this year, Let's go Orioles and Let's go Nationals....

Home On A Saturday Night

2005-03-26T22:30:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting here at home watching Star Wars Episode II Attack of the Clones on a Saturday evening by myself with my dog, Bismarck. I can't help but think though that there is something better that I could be doing on a Saturday night. I'm not sure if it's the combination of being on travel this week or that I've been working so much lately that I'm feeling fatigued and don't really want to go out and stay out late. At any rate, I think what I'm feeling most is that I'm here all alone, for the most part. Everyone seems to be gone, most likely for the Easter holiday. It's a mixed bag, however, it's good to be able just to relax. So I should be somewhat grateful for the down time.

On a brighter note, however, I have managed to acquire a ticket to the Orioles' home opener against the Oakland Athletics on April 4th. I've been wanting to go to the Orioles' home opener for the last several years and I have never been able to get tickets, but this year I have, and I'm so excited this year, especially seeing on how I think the O's are going to make things interesting in the American League this year. Well, back to my movie and paying attention to my pooch.

School Application In

2005-03-26T16:45:00.000-05:00

Earlier this week, before I went to South Carolina for business, I mailed my application for graduate school. I was very happy to have gotten this done well in advance of the application deadline. The application deadline is April 1st. I should hopefully hear something in the next few weeks. It would be nice if I got in without any trouble whatsoever. I'm optimistic that I'm going to get in, but I'm wondering if I'm just going to get in provisionally with the condition of taking the GMAT. I'm prepping for the GMAT, but I really don't want to take it, for obvious reasons. The application is in, and that's all that's important right now.

Marine Corps Marathon Training Blog

2005-03-14T14:35:00.000-05:00

As I have previously mentioned here, I am running the marine corps marathon in October. As such, I have decided to document this journey with its very own blog. You can view it by clicking here or by pointing your browser to http://usafbratmarathonrunner.blogspot.com

Thanks!

GW Is in the NCAA Tournament!!!!!

2005-03-14T14:10:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, the GW Men's Basketball team received an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament by vesting St. Joe's University in the A-10 Conference Tournament final. All that remained was to wait until Sunday evening to discover when, where, who, and what seed the GW men were going to be. We received a 12 seed in the Albuquerque region. The Colonials will be playing Georgia Tech in Nashville on Friday evening. Hopefully GW will be able to beat GA Tech on Friday evening. Hail to the buff and blue!

At Columbia Airport and Being Reflective

2005-03-08T22:30:00.000-05:00

What an interesting trip down here to Columbia, SC this evening. The line to check my bag at National Airport, of course, was quite long, but it didn't bother me too much. The flight here wasn't too bad at all, I can't complain, even though we left a few minutes late, but we still got here early, go figure huh? So I arrive here in Columbia to discover that my colleague's flight from Atlanta was going to be delayed due to mechanical problems. So I get the car and my bag, and then I come back into the terminal waiting area, and here I am now, connected to the net wirelessly on the airport's free internet access. It's something else, it runs quite fast here, I'm pleasantly surprised.

There is something that occurred today in Washington that was quite disconcerting to me. After such a wonderful day yesterday temperature wise, it starts to snow! Well, it started out as rain when I got to the Fredericksburg train station this morning, but by the time I reached Crystal City, it had turned to snow! Perhaps I'm one of those traditional sort of people who feel it really shouldn't be snowing in northern Virginia in March. Perhaps I've gotten spoiled over the course of the last 10 years I've been living here, I don't know. The last time I saw snow in March though, I was living in Oklahoma City, and even then, it only happened once in the four winters I spent in Oklahoma. I'm sitting in my office thinking, it's March, spring training is going on, baseball season is right around the corner, and it's snowing. I don't know, I guess it put something of a damper on the day today. It is my hope that it will be much nicer temperature wise in Washington when I return on Friday. I know the weather isn't exactly going to be nice and balmy here in Columbia throughout the duration of my stay here this week.

Speaking of spring training, I actually have some optimism for my favorite team the Baltimore Orioles. And no, I don't have these optimistic feelings due to the off-season trade we made with the Cubbies for Slamming Sammy Sosa. We already had a potent lineup before the addition of Sammy, for crying out loud, the O's led the league in hits last season. I actually think our pitching staff is going to be much improved this year. With Ray Miller, who I might add is a great pitching coach, not a great manager, for those of us in O's land, you know what I am referring to, but the pitching staff in the second half of last year made some great strides to becoming better, not great, but better. And hopefully Kurt Ainsworth will be over his injury, as will Erik Bedard. I would like to think that the O's will make the AL East race a little more interesting and give those ESPN types another team to talk about in the AL East other than the Sox and Yanks. The pitching staff has got a lot to prove this season, and I hope they have matured to the point where they are somewhat improved upon from last year.

Graduate School Application Process Update

2005-03-07T23:40:00.000-05:00

I must say, after the past couple of days, I'm most pleased with how my application for graduate school is coming along. On Thursday, before I left for Columbia for another business trip, I managed to mail in the necessary form to GW to request copies of my transcripts. While I was in Columbia, I finished my goals statement for my application. I thought it came out pretty well, I had it proofed and it's now looking better than what it was when I originally wrote it. And then, this morning, I got the last recommendation forms filled out by my last recommender. As soon as I receive those transcripts, I can go ahead and get the first all important application in. I'm definitely going to get it in prior to the April 1st deadline. At which time, a few weeks from now, it is my hope, to proudly announce I will be beginning my graduate program in the summer. I hope this all comes to fruition. It seems that with everything going so well in my professional life at the time, that this will enhance that success even more. Just another month tops before I find out. It will soon be the waiting game.

It's Official.....

2005-03-03T12:56:00.000-05:00

That's right, it's official..... I officially HATE DC traffic now. For those that know me, they know that this doesn't come as any surprise to them. This morning, just really irked me for some reason. For the last week and some change, while my brother was taking a vacation from work, I had been riding the train to and from work everyday. I found this to be quite a relaxing commuting option. The Fredericksburg VRE train station is about 10 minutes from the house, I hop on the train, grab a seat, and wait until we get to Crystal City a little more than an hour and fifteen minutes later. That being said, I decided to try this out for a bit longer, say, by purchasing myself a monthly pass for March to see if it just wasn't some sort of honeymoon.

Well, since I have to go out to Dulles International Airport to catch a plane this afternoon to Columbia, SC, for work, I had to drive in this morning. It didn't take me long to get around 35 miles up the road, however, about 10 minutes away from the 234 commuter lot, my father gives me a call to tell me that there have been 4 accidents on I-95. I'm thinking, swell.... I took it as a bad omen of things to come. When I dropped by the 234 commuter lot to pick up some slugs, there were no people and a line of 15 cars... Strike two...... After waiting about 20 minutes to pick someone up. Then, when I do get on the HOV lanes and get up the road about 10 minutes, the thing is slammed, both lanes, all the way up to the Pentagon.

HOV lanes in Northern Virginia are a fantastic idea, especially on I-95, it's HOV-3, and until hybrid vehicles started being mass produced, you could get up and down the freeway with smooth sailing. However, VDOT, in it's infinite wisdom, decided to grant an exemption to the HOV-3 rule to those who drive clean fuel cars, in order to give people an incentive to buy them. Well, guess what?!?!?!?! People are buying these things like hotcakes now. At the middle point of the year last year, VDOT, once again, in it's infinite wisdom, decides to extend the exemption until the end of 2006. Granted, this was a great idea at the time, but, when I see 5 out of 6 cars, like I did this morning, are hybrids with only 1 person in them, that gets me going. It tells me the exemption needs to be terminated.

This is just another great reason why I think I should continue to ride the VRE to and from work, so I don't have to put up with the wonderful traffic on I-95..... What a terrible morning to drive in.......

Marine Corps Marathon

2005-03-01T23:17:00.000-05:00

For those of you who don't know, I decided a couple of months back, to run the 2005 Marine Corps Marathon. I'm in the process of training for it, and I'm happy to say, it's going exactly how I've been wanting it to go. I've been running quite a bit more than I have in the past several years. It took me quite some time to get over a few things, such as shin splints, but now I'm running without any difficulty or pain in my legs. I need to be running more than what I am currently, and I plan on rectifying that situation very soon. I'm going to see about running a few times a week now, so I can get even better. One thing I'm having some difficulty with though, is choosing a training program to sign up for. I was originally going to run on the multiple sclerosis team, however, they aren't putting together a marathon training program this year. So, I'm down to two choices, either the AIDS Marathon Team or the St. Jude's Team. Both are great causes, but I'm having difficulty choosing what I want to raise money for. Perhaps some of you out there might have an idea, or could even point me in the direction of some other teams. This is something that I definitely want to do this year, and I'm going to do it.... I'm also losing some of this excess weight I've picked up over the last couple of years so I can run a little faster. It's going to be grand, but a lot of work, work that I'm definitely looking forward to. I will keep posting updates with my training for the marathon.

Graduate School Application Process

2005-03-01T21:47:00.000-05:00

My new year's resolution this year was the start graduate school. It's now been five years since I graduated from George Washington University, and I've had that itch to get back to school for quite some time now. I'm looking at getting into a local MBA program here in the northern Virginia area. It's definitely going slower than what I thought it was going to. I still have a few essays left to write, and I need to acquire my transcripts. I'm also preparing for the GMAT as part of the process. I'm a little more than half-way through prepping for the GMAT. I'm confident that I'm going to blow this test away, now that I know some good tips to get through the questions on the test. I think I might have some difficulty with the math portion of the test, but I'm taking extra time to prep for it.

I have one application deadline of the 1st of April. I'm confident that I'm going to meet that deadline. This is to start for the summer session. If I get into this particular program without a GMAT score, I'm going to go there, plus it's the closest program to my home here in Fredericksburg. I'm optimistic that I'm going to get everything accomplished on time, it's just slow coming, that's all.

What A Much Better Day, Thusfar

2005-02-15T14:20:00.000-05:00

I must say, today has been a much better day by far, than yesterday was. I'm feeling much more motivated today than I was yesterday. Today, a couple of things have gone well. For starters, I managed to get two 40 page reports finished and off my desk to have them reviewed. Hopefully there will only be minor changes to both documents. I'm also just in a much chipper mood than I was yesterday, perhaps because it isn't as gloomy as it was yesterday, I have no idea.

Today, more good news has been coming out on the NHL labor front. Today, the NHLPA agreed to a salary cap of $52 million, whereas the NHL wants a cap of $40 million. As far as I'm concerned, this is a breakthrough, as the players were staunchly anti-cap. I think this might be the major concession that was needed to get a deal made. The deadline is still at 1 pm tomorrow afternoon, I have a little bit of optimism that something will get done prior to that.

Also, today is the first day of spring training. Pitchers and catchers reported today. Exciting stuff is ahead.... And the best thing of all, today, the workday has gone by quickly. So quickly in fact, that I feel like I've missed it.... Bright days are ahead.

Glimmer of Hope??

2005-02-14T22:40:00.000-05:00

I was just checking out TSN's website, and I see that Gary Bettman's press conference that was originally scheduled for tomorrow afternoon has been pushed back to Wednesday at 1 pm. I wonder if there is a glimmer of hope in the negotiations. I have been reading this blog on hockey rumors and there appears to be a glimmer of hope. I'm just a little more optimistic than I was a few hours ago, but I guess we'll have to see what happens. To be perfectly honest, I would be shocked if anything is worked out by the deadline. It shall be an interesting next 24 hours.

What A Dreary Valentines Day

2005-02-14T20:30:00.000-05:00

I must say, with today being Valentines Day, I thought it was just going to be another ordinary day, another day, and that's all that I wanted to recognize it as since I'm currently very single. No parties, no nothing, just to be able to watch 24 this evening like I do every Monday. However, this Valentines Day will go down in history for me. It will go down in history because it is the eve that Gary Bettman, the commisioner of the national hockey league, will cancel the NHL season tomorrow afternoon at a 1 pm eastern time news conference from New York. When this happens tomorrow, barring any significant changes between now and then, it will be the first time in the US that a professional sports league would've canceled an entire season and playoffs due to labor differences. It will also be the first time the Stanley Cup will not have been awarded since 1919, and that only occurred because of an outbreak of the flu. I must say, this is most depressing to me, it makes me sick that both sides seem to not be able to come to any semblance of an agreement and a new CBA. I'm also disappointed as I am a Washington Capitals full season ticket holder. Granted, I have been very busy with work during the course of the season, and I might not have been able to make it to some of the home games, but at least hockey would've still been played. Instead, we have to go off what ifs. And, when the season is canceled tomorrow, I'll owe my coworker a beer.

I'm most displeased with both the owners and the players. The NHL does not have the fan base, nor the lucrative television deals that the NBA and MLB had, and don't have the financial resources to recover from a canceled season. I'm not even sure if the NHL has the wherewithal to recover even if there is a shortened season, of say, thirty games. The damage to the sport, if there isn't any semblance of a season, would be irrepairable. I guess we'll have to see. In my dream world, I would like to see Bettman announce a new CBA and that the season will be starting in a couple of weeks. But that will only be in my dreams. I suppose I can only hope.

There is one bright side to tomorrow though, especially if the season is canceled. Tomorrow spring training starts, with catchers and pitchers reporting. That means we have little more than a month to go before baseball season starts. Spring is almost here! Baseball is almost here! It will certainly break up the boredom of basketball. Well, I hope we'll have hockey, but at this point, I'm not very optimistic at all.

It's Monday....

2005-02-14T08:35:00.000-05:00

Yes, it's another wonderful Monday. Today hasn't started out the way I would've liked it to. I overslept for the first time in a long time. And then, I woke up to it drizzling outside, and then, almost instantaneously, I heard the traffic report, that there was an incident in the HOV lanes near the 14th Street bridge. I'm thinking how grand this is going to be getting into work this morning. And, of course, without fail, the traffic was terrible on this Monday morning, due to the rain. I must say, the traffic backs up because of the dumbest things around here. It drizzles, or rains, an extra 45 minutes to an hour to get anywhere you need to be, the sun shines bright, same thing. Perhaps it just needs to be dark all the time here for people to drive with some sense of intelligence. It would appear to me, that once people get behind the wheel of the car, and poof, you immediately lose all common sense and intelligence.

I don't know why I'm feeling in such a sour mood today. Perhaps it's because of what today is, I don't know. I know one thing is for sure, I'm not feeling all that motivated this morning to do much of anything here at the office. Is it the rain? Is it because it's Valentine's Day? That I can't be absolutely certain of. Today must just be an off day for me or something. Today is not a day though, that I shouldn't be losing my focus and motivation for work, as I have a lot that I need to get accomplished. I know the stress is getting to me, but I didn't think it would be getting to me THIS much. I'm thinking a vacation is in order, but I'm pretty sure I would never be able to get the time that I would require to recharge my batteries. Definitely, there is no rest for the weary. Plus, it's only a matter of time before the big bombshell happens and I'm asked something of me at work that I'm not going to particularly like very much. We'll see.... One week done, just another to go, I would gather before I'm asked. We'll see what happens. Back to the grind......

Debate with myself....

2005-02-13T23:05:00.000-05:00

Last night, I was watching Star Wars episode ii, Attack of the Clones, with my father. Immediately afterwards, I stuck in one of my Star Trek the Original Series second season dvds. It got me to thinking if whether or not Captain Kirk could take on Darth Vader successfully. I realize that Darth Vader has the use of the force and a light saber, but I can't help but think that Captain Kirk could still successfully take on Vader. Captain Kirk, after all, has his enormous fighting skill, and a phaser. But could Darth Vader deflect a phaser blast? I know in Empire Strikes Back, Vader successfully deflected a blaster shot from Han Solo in Bespin. But Kirk has great fighting moves and has more maneavourbility than Vader does. As much as I would like to say Kirk could take Vader, but I can't be sure. One thing is for certain, even though the outcome can only be speculated, it would be a fight worth paying to see.

This Is So Stupid.....

2005-02-11T14:30:00.000-05:00

Last night, I believe it was, I caught the end of a report on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams about some state that was trying to impose a fine on individuals whose pants showed any part of their boxers/underwear. I thought to myself at the time, without hearing the entire story, which state would be stupid enough to try to get such a bill passed into law. To my dismay, I see that it was the House of Delegates, in my home state of Virginia, that passed the bill. In it, a person would be fined $50 to anyone who publicly and intentionally displays his below-waist undergarments, intended to cover a person's intimate parts, in a lewd or indecent manner. I know this was geared to those teenagers whom I have seen wearing their pants like that.

I have to admit there wasn't very much of this in my high school, but there was some of it. I began to see more and more of it though in the years after I graduated, more specifically from the time period of 1998-2000. I saw this, and was wondering, "Why would people want to do that?" I thought it was a little too revealing, but it was something that I just looked at at being just a fad nothing more. And, it really didn't bother me very much. But to introduce a bill to make it a fineable offense? Come on. This is ludicrous. This is one of those stupid things that shouldn't have even made it into committee. The Commonwealth of Virginia has too many other problems to tackle. Plus, this is a fad that has been going downhill for quite some time now. In my opinion, this is just another instance of the Republican conservative majority in VA of being utterly stupid, and wasting the valuable session time of the legislature. Fix the other problems first, like all the potholes on major roads in northern Virginia!!!! If you would care to read this stupidty yourself go here.

There Is Something Bothering Me This Morning

2005-02-11T08:00:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning with something nagging me in the back of my head, and it's really starting to bother me. I have pretty much pinned down what the source is, and its source is a comment that my manager made to me yesterday. We've been having some issues with this particular client on this project. Some of it due to our own mistakes, and some to their mistakes. However, the comment that's bothering me is this "There have been some things that have been said that have driven the state into a frenzy, yourself included. They said you said something couldn't be done because project 'x' was more important." I'm pretty sure I know why I'm bothered by this statement. I wasn't chewed out for it, which is a good thing, but I'm really bothered by it because I know I didn't say anything like that. My father told me that the only thing you have in the contracting business, or even in your professional life, is your credibility. I've taken this advice, cause I know he wouldn't lead me wrong, and realize there is a lot of truth to that. More than anything else, I am bothered by the fact the client would say something like that, especially when I'm 99% sure I didn't. This shows me that this client will do anything to ensure they are right 100% of the time. I'm willing to give some benefit of the doubt, but not when it comes to something concerning my conduct. I feel this has compromised my credibility to a certain degree. This client has been stressful, and I'm debating whether or not it's really worth all this agony and stress.

Update to previous post...

2005-02-10T19:55:00.000-05:00

So, before I left work today, I had a discussion with the manager I'm going to be reporting to very soon, within the next couple of weeks. I brought him up to date on a few things concerning the exercise project we're working on, and a few of the complexities of the project. I also wanted to discover what he was expecting from me. I just wanted to ensure that I was on the same sheet of music that he's playing from. I was glad he asked me if I had any questions or concerns, this way, I was able to find out if the VP of my division was kidding around with me. I got the information that I was looking for, that they are looking to hire someone that already lives in South Carolina, preferably, the Columbia area. This comes as a relief to me, as I'm pretty sure that I don't wish to relocate to Columbia. I just feel, deep in my heart, that a move to Columbia isn't the right thing for me. I was asked, however, that if no resumes were coming in, if I would entertain the idea of going down there for 3-4 months. I did say I would entertain the idea, but I didn't accept, because I don't want there to be any expectation that I will move down there for any length of time. So I left work for the day feeling much better than I did yesterday when I left work. So it's going good, for now. I'm sure there will be more to come on this issue in the upcoming weeks though. It's nice that I won't be forced into a move, that's the one thing I was dreading.

Interesting Thoughts.....

2005-02-10T13:12:00.000-05:00

I tell you what, it definitely has been an interesting week this week. For work, on Tuesday, I needed to go to Columbia, SC for a meeting. Prior to this meeting however, a group of managers from where I worked, had a meeting with the client to discuss a slew of issues. The one issue, which very well could effect me, is what I would like to concentrate on for right now.

Apparently, our client, wishes to have a local point of contact located there in Columbia. The managers I went down with were discussing what type of person this particular individual should be. I found it quite curious, as I'm sitting there with them, that the person they were describing was none other than, yours truly. I was slient during the course of this conversation. However, after we arrived at the meeting location, the division VP, who was there as well, asks me where I'm living at at this current period of time. At this point, I immediately knew what was going through his head. After our meeting, which seemed to drag on forever, I might add, we're all sitting in the car when the same VP asks me if I like it down in Columbia, as there is a whole bunch of open space and everything. One of the other managers chimes in and tells me about the attractive women and all, and how Atlanta is a short ride down the road. Of course, I'm not finding this very amusing, not in the slightest bit, I might add. I'm also not a dummy, so I realized, at that point, that I'm being considered for this particular slot. Today, I found out, talking with another manager in the chain, that they're looking for someone down there to fill the position, but my name is indeed on the list.

This proves to be an interesting quandry for myself. This project, to say the least, has been quite stressful on me. The client, isn't, as we would say, the best clients you could have. Plus, I'm finding the whole moving to Columbia aspect of this quite troubling for me. Now, I have no great love for Washington, but I have spent the last 10 years of my life here, I feel, that after moving around my entire life, I have finally settled down. My family is here, my friends are here, in general my life is here. Perhaps I have grown too comfortable here, that could be an underlying issue in all this. There are definitely benefits to this, if it were to come to fruition. 1. It would be a promotion at work. This is something that I've been striving for for quite some time now, I would like to see a promotion, and this is, obviously, the quick and easy way to that route. 2. It would definitely be more money, which is never a bad thing. 3. A new city. I would have that opportunity to start anew, from a blank slate. I would know no one there. A fresh start, which can sometimes be a good thing. 4. It would get me away from Washington for awhile. I must admit, this is something that I have been thinking of for quite some time now. The traffic is really starting to annoy me, the pace, the number of people. Of course, I have been saying this for years and have done nothing, this is an opportunity to get away for awhile. A sidenote to this though is, I wasn't thinking of Columbia when I was pondering this particular issue. There are some definite cons to this as well. 1. The client, they are quite stressful, I must say, and I don't know if I would be able to handle all that pressure. 2. I do have no one down there, I would be alone, well not totally, I would bring my dog with me, but you get the point. 3. I would have to move. This is the biggest qualm I have about the whole situation, if it were to present itself. Even though I moved the entire time I was growing up, I was never a big fan of it. It's such a pain in the butt to pick yourself up and move. Plus, moving is a major decision that shouldn't be taken lightly.

I know, some would think that I'm over-reacting about nothing, I haven't even been presented with the possibility, but I know, that you aren't asked these things unless you're being considered, and I think I would be naieve, if I didn't think I wasn't being considered, so, in my opinion, the option needs to be considered. I think I might have a pretty good idea of what it is I would want out of a situation like this. I'm not even sure if I want to move, I'm reasonably sure I don't want to, but then again, I might be made an offer I just can't refuse. I would be closed-minded to not consider anything that was offered to me. We'll see.... It's definitely going to be an interesting next couple of weeks, to say the least.

Welcome & First Post

2005-02-09T19:34:00.000-05:00

This is my first posting on my blog. I really haven't done one of these before, and I thought I would try something new. Hopefully this will turn out to be a good thing. More to come later...