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Archive for April, 2006

All it takes is a liver and a dream

April 30th, 2006 Comments off

Yesterday I went to the Beerfest in Raleigh.. Man O Man was it fun.. There is some haze as to some
events, and the stumble from Moore Square to Sheilas apartment.. Most amazingly is the fact that we kept drinking well sort of until sometime after 6..
Some Duvel in the walk through the park, then a pint with some kids and their dad from New Jersey or Charlotte.. I think the kid was going to UNCC and was
from Jersey, but its a bit fuzzy.. Then hobbling to Rockford for another pint and the always tasty ABC bean salad.. I don’t think much of the last pint
was consumed at the rock.. Man.. I barely recall walking home.. Passed out by 7 or 8, and thats all she wrote.. It was a great time, and I will have to
do one again in my life.. Sheila got a shirt that quotes Benjamin Franklin “Beer is living proof that god wants us all to be happy”.. I think I have to
say that beerfest is one of the greatest things in the world.. Not the first by any means, but it sure as hell is up there..

Before Beerfest I went
with Sheila to Greensboro, and she got a really bad ass apartment down there.. I am a tad jealous since she already is in school and can move pretty
easily.. Its not founded, and if I play my cards right I will be there in the fall.. I really cant’ wait, and I am a bit nervous of if I will get
accepted.. I just took the GMAT practice exam cold without any review and I got a 580 which I think is pretty average, not the score I was looking for..
Its been forever since I took a standardized test, so hopefully I will do a bit better next time with some review with the book.. I am going to get the
GMAT taken by May 15th I have decided..

I still need to do a ton of work on the house.. I sprayed more weeds today, and will try and get more
painting done.. Hopefully once I take the GMAT everything will start to fall into place.. I think I am going to have to start having a bit less fun and
“buckle down” if I am goign to make all this happen..

Well the Sabres and Flyers are on in HD so I suppose I will watch that for a bit of a break,
and then get back to it.. Hopefully the Hurricanes win tonight.. Going to the game.. Sorta wish I didn’t have so much going on cause the playoff games
almsot seem like a hinderence more than something fun..

Anyway so in summary.. Beerfest is awesome, and should be experienced by all.. Bonnaroo
will be here before I know it, Sheila will be moved, and I better get my application stuff in..

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Airline Miles are a fucking Scam

April 16th, 2006 Comments off

I have 117k miles with US Airways, and 26k with Northwest.. I am trying to redeem them to get 2
tickets to my cousins wedding in August.. I want to go from RDU -> SEA, then from SFO->RDU.. I can’t get even one segment with Northwest.. That takes 50k
miles.. Apparently giving them $2000 a few years ago for flights to Rome, London (plus some work trips to Puerto Rico) doesn’t get me shit.. I need to
spend twice that to get one ticket.. Fuckers.. Some “deal” there..

So on to US Airways.. It turns out I can do it and burn up the bulk of my miles
(100k), but it seems crazy.. For 25k I am supposed to be able to do a trip in the US or Canada.. I have had those miles since I was a kid and some of
those transfered from Piedmont Airlines thats how old they are.. I have never been able to use them cause of poor dates, or “no seats”.. I guess this is
my one chance to finally burn those miles up, since I have a feeling they won’t be there for long.. One more bankruptcy and I bet they are
gone..

Sad thing is for $330 a ticket I can purchase the same trip from American on Travelocity.. I mean come on.. I guess they are not a scam
per-se, but it would be nice if I could actually get the advertised rate with my miles..

Lets do some math here.. So for $660 I can purchase the
trip US Airways will offer for 100k miles.. So that makes each “Mile” worth a 1/66th of a cent.. Man what a deal.. Its not even worth the time I spent on
the phone with the english as a 5th language lady trying to find out if I could use my miles..

Arrggghhh..

Anwyay.. Jake if you read this
we are going to party it down when I get to Seattle.. SFO kids i’ll see you then..

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RDU -> GSO? It’s looking good so far..

April 7th, 2006 Comments off

Today (Friday) has been excellent.. I went to Greensboro for a business meeting and to talk with the pre-admissions advisor at UNCG for the Bryan Business school.. Sheila needed to take care of some stuff down there and since she has Fridays off we went together..

We got up and on the road by 815, I dropped her off on Tate street where the Cup A Joe used to be.. Now there is a Subway and a salon.. I then headed on to my office in Greensboro.. My meeting went amazingly well.. The contractors I have been bitching about for years are all but finished.. One guy has taken another job, and the other will be gone in 3-4 months.. His 100k a year undermining gravy train is about to end.. I can’t wait.. The end of the era of waste at work is coming.. I am not hating on him because of how much money he takes home, but the fact that he doesn’t do any work and has just milked my company for at least 10 years because of some members of managements ignorance of computers..

Once my meeting was over I headed back to the UNCG campus to meet up with Sheila.. We met up at Tate Street Coffee house.. She said it was amazing.. Later on I went there and it was as cool as Cup A Joe in Raleigh.. Complete even with the creepy old man chain smoker (although he had to go outside to smoke so he only got a to go cup)..

We then went to one of the most poorly run Burger joints I have ever seen.. Baileys on Tate Street.. One of the servers was high as a kite, and kept re-filling our drinks when we din’t need the refilled.. He was eating peanut M&M’s in front of the only other table at the restaurant.. Well I am being quit liberal with my use of the word eating.. Half of them ended up on the floor.. I wonder if Baileys will survive to the fall.. I got the impression that it was a new place.. I would have let that waiter go.. He told the girls he was serving he was in Graduate school, which means either a) I will get in to UNCG super easy, b) he is a pathetic liar..

After that we walked across campus to the Business School building, and I met with Tom Keller the pre-admissions advisor.. He didn’t seem to think that my 2.4 GPA from NCSU would keep my from getting in, but that I needed to focus on getting a good GMAT score, and getting my application in as early as possible.. So I also need to get three letters of recommendation.. I need to see if I can find my Sr Design Project guys email address if he even remembers my name anymore..

The experience was quite different from advising at NCSU.. I walked into the main office quite nervous and got more nervous as I was walked up to Mr. Kellers office.. Once there the first thing we did was shake hands, andthen he immediately started up a conversation about my Key West T-Shirt.. At this point I was realized as could be.. He used to live in Florida.. We spent half the time shooting the shit about traveling.. He talked about the national parks on the Keys, I told him about Louisville.. He also gave me all the information I need to get in.. Had this been an advising session at NCSU I probably would have been talked down to, and not be given a glimmer of hope, and been thrown out of the office in 5 minutes.. Tom and I were talking for at least 45 minutes..

To get this ball rolling for going in in the fall I need to study for the GMAT and take it as soon as possible in parallel with getting this house fixed and ready for sale.. School starts at UNCG in the middle of August.. I don’t know if I have enough time to get this house sold, and moved.. I got Bonnaroo in June, my cousins crazy multi-day wedding at
the beginning of August.. I may also want to take some vacation before school starts when it will be harder to get time off (I got 4 weeks left to take).. I guess if I can’t get my house sold by July (which could close in August) I probably will have to defer until the Spring.. I can’t afford to pay for school, an apartment and a house that I won’t be living in.. Work will pay for school but not until the grades are in so I still gotta pony up some cash each semester..

I am also going to sell my TV before I move to Greensboro if works out.. I don’t need a 50 inch HDTV (especially in a one bedroom apartment..) Let me know if anyone has any interest in a 50 inch Samsung 720p DLP.. I probably will sell my Truck unless my dad wants to use it.. I won’t need 2 cars and without a house to fix the truck wont be that useful.. Ya know I just got too much stuff.. Some will go on ebay.. Some on Craigs list, others who knows maybe first come first serve..

After that Sheila and I went to the Yum Yum place across from the Business school on Spring Garden, then had 2 beers at the bar next door which is pretty much right on campus.. I need to more research on that place.. We walked around the Tate Street area some more, and saw a ton of cool apartments for either of us to live in.. I would really love to have a much smaller space than I have now.. This house is WAY too big.. Sly might not like having less space, but I sure as hell would..

Until next time kids..

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