Grades...

I finally got my grades back today:

Investment Analysis: A-
Rish Management & Insurance: A

Not too shabby. Now my GPA is up to a 3.5. I'll take that. :)

I finally got through to CompUSA about the laptop. Took me long enough. And it's ready to pick up. No calls or anything from them. Bastards.

Work stuff... some of the office managers want to take me out for drinks right after work. I'm down with that. Especially since they're buying.

Perfect at the plate.

Last night's softball game: we won 18-16. I went 4 for 4 with a double, a run scored and an RBI. I also made the game-ending catch: a line drive to first that was headed for my head and that I caught easily. But I was happy that my hitting has finally come back... every time I came up, the other team did the left shift, and I kept hitting the ball the other way - right over the shortstop's head and in front of the outfielder. Except on one of them, which I hit off the wall for a double. Our next game is on Thursday, and I hope I can keep up this hot streak!

At work - the office managers from our other locations are here today. That's the excitement of the week. They all like me, which is cool (especially since I do a ton of work for them to make their lives easier). Tomorrow I'll go to lunch with them, and a few of them might want to have a drink or two after work. But tonight is our second condo meeting with the neighbors. Maybe I'll get to learn to use the lawnmower. How exciting.

YEAY-YAH!

Ok, first off, how did two weeks pass without even knowing that the new season of "Six Feet Under" had started? Lack of promotion, for sure. Or maybe it's because there are no other good programs on HBO right now where I could have seen a preview.

Fun weekend. Saturday Melissa and I went into the city with M (her friend from work) and her husband M to the MFA, then food at Summer Shack, a walk down Boylston, through the Common. On a hot day, there's nothing better than a slow stroll through the city and getting a swirl cone from the Frosty ice cream truck outside the Boston Public Garden.

Yesterday we went to Melissa's cousin's wedding in Nahant. We had a fun time... it sucked having to put on the suit on this hot day, but it was cool inside, and since we were on the water, we did get a little breeze coming by. We also made it fun... Melissa, her sister, cousin and I were shouting out "WHAT! YEAH! OKAY!" whenever we got a chance... especially when a couple of songs featuring Lil' Jon came on. As Melissa mentioned in her blog, it is becoming our summer theme for sure.

Tonight we FINALLY get to play another softball game. It's been almost a month since our last game (thanks to a slow schedule and a rainout). I hope I won't be too rusty, although I couldn't hit any worse than I was before! Tonight is time for a new beginning!

"I'd like to introduce our opening band... the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra."

Last night's Guster show with the Boston Pops was definitely a unique experience. It was great... from the crowd to Guster being in awe with an orchestra behind them to the extras the orchestra added to some songs.

Melissa and I were confused as to how to dress... it was Guster, but it was also the Pops. We ended up wearing casual stuff, but not too casual... both of us wore jeans, and I wore a t-shirt with a button down short sleeved shirt on over that (but I was a rebel and didn't button it!) We probably dressed somewhere in the middle... there were Guster fans dressed in t-shirts, and there older Pops fans dressed up for a night at the Symphony. It was funny to see people of all ages there... the old people probably have season tickets to the Pops, but I'm sure they weren't sure what to expect at this show, since it wasn't your typical Pops performance.

After Guster introduced the Pops as their "opening band," the orchestra played three pieces first... cool to see but not too exciting. After a 20 minute intermission, Guster came out with the orchestra backing the band up (and Keith Lockhart conducting). They didn't do a ton of songs... they were only on for an hour (They did I Spy, Backyard, Fa Fa, Come Downstairs, Two Points for Honesty, Jesus on the Radio and some new songs). Ryan from Guster was definitely enjoying the moment, saying "holy crap" and "someone take a picture of this and send it to me." The best parts of the show were in "Fa Fa"... the part where it builds up and the orchestra just took over (although the crowd kind of ruined some moments by cheering really loud, drowning out the orchestra), and "Two Points" which they said they don't play too much because it wouldn't do the song justice, but it worked out just fine this night, and "Come Downstairs" which was so amazing that they had to play it twice (the second time they only played the second half of the song, which is the best part of the song anyway, and played this to end the show). The first time they played "Come Downstairs" some lady in the front was dancing all crazy, and the second time the whole crowd clapped along. It was great.

Today is now Thursday, and I'm tired. I was actually tired before we went to the show last night... some lady wasted two hours of my life yesterday going over her three cases to invoice (if I didn't tell her I had to go, I probably would have been there until 6 PM). I'll try to avoid her today, with my boss being out today as well.

Goin' on a Safari.

The Summer 1 semester is officially over. Yesterday I submitted the last group paper to the professor, and now all I have to do is wait for the grades to come in. I think I did really well, so I'm expecting some good grades. And what's even better is that I now have two months off from school!

And how did I celebrate the end of the semester? Well, not counting last week's bar fun, I drove to the Chestnut Hill Mall yesterday, went to the Apple store, and bought an iBook! I've heard tons of good things about it, Melissa was just as excited as I am about it, and due to the fact that my Toshiba laptop is in for repairs again, I thought it was a good time to get it. And after one night, I love it. It's really user friendly, and compatible with PC stuff. The internet application is called Safari, and there's all sorts of little widgets you can put on there. It is an expensive present, but who cares, right? :)

Oh yeah, and I saw "Batman Begins" with Melissa and Jack. Great movie! Christian Bale was awesome as Batman.

Tonight is Guster with the Boston Pops at the Symphony. Should be interesting and fun!

Drunken fools.

I have to admit... my grad school buddies are crazy, but I love em.

The festivities last night included BS, S, L, D, BG, newcomer JH, as well as Melissa and Red. AB made a quick appearance, but left before the real fun happened (she was probably scared off). Before I get into that...

Class last night. Last classes of the semester, and for the summer. Risk Mgt class was ok... I BSed my way through some questions and got some more brownie points with the professor. All we have left for that class is some group case writeup due on Tuesday. I know Bill had fun in class with his rum and Coke he drank from his 20 oz. Coke bottle. And BG, S and I got through that class by passing notes to each other the whole time.

I also survived Investments class, and that was after spending most of my work day editing our group papers that I handed in, and after spending 20 minutes at the bar across the street for one quick drink. But now there is nothing left for that class, and I think I should get a pretty decent grade in that one, despite how hard the class has been to understand.

After class ended, we all headed to Our House, our usual end of the semester joint (L and D were already there and grabbed the best table in the house). It started off kinda slow... the place was dead when we got there, and we had a couple of pitchers and just chatted. AB and some others from class were hanging out in another part of the bar... not where we were. But she did come by to tell us she was heading out. Melissa and Red showed up shortly after that, and joined in the fun. The later it got, the more crowded the bar started to get. I was talking a lot with J (hockey guy) and was really cool.

We ended up driving Red back to her place (she had to get up early for work, so she called it a night) and after some drunken advice from one of my friends, we actually went back to Our House. The reaction when we came back was classic... let's just say that Melissa's and my reappearance was well appreciated. We played quarters for awhile, and got the whole table soaked in beer (just like the first time we went out). You know it's been crazy when the bar stops serving us pitchers and the bottles of Miller Lite come out. Brian was randomly dancing with some girls, and I love how he just shrugs it off like this is what always happens when he goes out and he has no control over it. BG kept rubbing beer into my hair, L kept singing and dancing to the "cool" 80s music that was playing (but we all yelled out BBD's "Poison" and LL's "Mama Said Knock You Out."

Finally we split at about 1:50 AM, and drove S and BG home. We needed to hit the Store 24 badly for some "snack cakes" - Yankee Doodles, Funny Bones, donuts and popcorn. We had a really serious case of the munchies. We didn't even get to bed until a little after 3, so Melissa waking up at 6:30 and me waking up at 7 was a real bitch.

This morning, I got into work with my Dunkin' Donuts coffee and muffin totally dead. My eyes were killing me... they were hard to keep open. L, BG, S, BS and Melissa all made appearances on instant messenger, so we exchanged war stories.

I hope I can get through the rest of this day at work...

TWO more? No... ONE!

Good news: In Risk class, the professor told us that since we only have to finish up our group case writeup for Tuesday, we don't have to come to class! So BOTH classes end tomorrow!! It won't feel like the semester is over yet because we'll still have to do the writeup, but at least we won't have to sit through any more classes this semester!

More good news: In Investments class, our presentation on Starbucks and their stock went pretty well. At least it was more interesting than the other presentations that were given. So given that, and the fact that the professor seems to have taken a liking to me, I think we'll get an awesome grade.

So instead of 2 more to go, the magic number is now ONE!

But there is a lot of work to finish. For Investments class, we have to do a 3 page writeup on the Starbucks stuff. Then a 4 page writeup on our stock portfolio. Then a 2-3 page case writeup. For Risk class, we have a 5 page group case writeup. Hopefully I can get through all of this with minimal stress.

And I have a softball game tonight, at 9:30. Our regular pitcher won't be there tonight, so I think I'll be back on the mound! Hopefully I'll do ok...

Skeet skeet skeet.

An interesting weekend was had by all. Let's recap, shall we?

Friday: After a lovely day at work, the downstairs neighbors had a little bbq in our newly grassed backyard. It was more fun that I thought it would be... only because I didn't know anyone. But I got into some good conversations, and it was nice sitting out there on a perfect evening eating some bbq food.

Saturday: BS's bbq. BS did warn me before that it would be a big event, and he did not lie. Melissa and I picked up L and D from Boston, and drove to BS's in Reading. When we got there, there was not a lot of people there yet. We just hung around, drinking and chatting. And BS's house was really nice... you wouldn't expect this from a CPA/part-time wannabe gangsta! After the food was cooked and burgers and hot dogs were consumed, more and more people showed up, and before you knew it, there were a million girls there. The music then shifted from regular rock (Pearl Jam, GNR, etc.) to some Lil Jon and Snoop, and BS was in rare form dancing by himself or whoever would dance with him, and shouting out the rap lyrics. Now I can keep up with BS when he shouts out "SKEET SKEET SKEET MOTHERFUCKER!"

Then there was the big surprise... S and G showed up late but right in time for the surprise. Apparently, one of BS's friends is friends with an ex-stripper who hasn't stripped in over a year, but she gave Brian a lapdance and gave all of us a little show. She was really flexible... putting her legs behind her head and doing a handstand, and then laying BS down on a bench, practically sticking her behind in his face, and letting him lick some cake frosting from her boobs. It was kinda funny with her making comments like "my boyfriend is gonna kill me when I come home smelling like beer and frosting." And apparently, after the show, BS showered after being covered in beer and frosting, and made out with at least three girls in his room (but not at the same time).

There was this one bitchy girl there who was really nasty... she'd make some rude comments to Melissa and L, and she'd push her way through the crowd without even saying excuse me, and we dubbed her "the madam" because she was basically telling the stripper girl what to do (like, "get inside! wait for your song to come on!")

We finally ended up leaving sometime after midnight... driving L and D back home and then trying to figure out how to get back on the Mass Pike home. On the ride to Boston, we got stuck in bad traffic on Storrow Drive, and there was this weird "garden claw" picking up debris, and some random construction guy hosing it down. All I remember was that I was half asleep at this point thinking, what the HELL was that??

Sunday: After recovering from the night before, I tried doing some schoolwork but didn't get a lot done... but I got some food shopping done and watched Jack Bauer kick some more ass in season 2 of "24."

Today, I really wish I was at home and not at work. And we have a group presentation in Investments class tomorrow... we don't have a lot of time to put some crap together. But I'm sure it'll be ok somehow...

3 to go!

I barely survived another night of class last night... I had a bad headache that only got worse in Investments class.

Risk Mgt class was ok again... we discussed the auto insurance policy. In Investments class two groups presented their stock recommendation (both groups did Apple, coincidentally). I also got back my exam from Tuesday... after all my worrying, I got a 95!! Go me. Then after class, Sue's fiance Geoff drove Bill and me home.

Only THREEEEEEEEEEEE more classes to go.

But as Melissa told me today, it's three too many!!

After work today, the neighbors downstairs invited Melissa and me to a BBQ they are having for some friends and co-workers. And tomorrow, we're going to my friend Brian's 30th birthday BBQ at his house in Reading. We'll pick up L and D from the city and go there together. L's gonna have additional fun tomorrow... she's going to the Gay Pride Parade in the South End tomorrow.

Then Sunday, I'll need to try and focus on school crap... with only three classes to go, there's tons to do. A stock recommendation presentation and paper for Tuesday. A stock portfolio paper due Thursday. A case writeup for Thursday. And all of that is just for the Investments class. For Risk Mgt class, we only have a group paper due on the 21st, which isn't too horrible.

But I'm almost there! And then I can officially start to enjoy the summer!!

Sexy beard.

Another night of classes is done. Last night was an interesting one.

Risk class was ok... nothing special about that. No assignments due, class wasn't too stressful.

But Investment class... we had another exam. I wasn't so prepared for this one, but I had 8 pages (4 sheets, both sides) that I was able to look at. The exam consisted of five questions, each with many parts. I got through four of them rather easily... it was all right there in the notes I had. But the fifth one I had major problems with. I couldn't find the steps on how to solve the problem in my notes, so there was all sorts of trouble. What really pissed me off and what is still bugging me big time is that when I got home, I found it right there in the notes, and I just totally skipped over it when I was freaking out looking for it. I hope that since it was a smaller problem, it won't be weighed as heavily as the other ones. But the good thing is that it is over.

Now only 4 more classes to go!

When I finished the exam and went outside the classroom, there was pizza and sode waiting there for us. The professor (the one who looks like Long Duck Dong) actually got it for us as a little present. That was reallty nice of him! So while I was having a slice and waiting for BG and S to finish, the professor comes outside and we start chatting. He was asking me about the semester, my classes, etc. and I mentioned to him my other class. He tells me that he knows that professor, and that he calls him "sexy beard" because one time a student told that professor that he has a sexy beard. I couldn't believe the professor was telling me this! But he does seem like a nice guy (even though the class is insane), so that's cool. :)

Earlier in the day, I took a walk with L during lunch... we went to Sweet N' Nasty because she needed to get some treats for the gay pride parade this weekend (she has tons of gay friends). She bought a bunch of chocolate penis and boob pops. Lots of fun stuff in that store.

When I got home last night, Melissa and I watched Queer Eye that features some Red Sox players (Damon, Millar, Varitek, Wakefield and Mirabelli). It was funny and kinda over the top... that Carson guy is SO gay (pink hat, pink jersey, pink shoes). Millar was being funny getting a facial, and Melissa loved to see Mirabelli gets tons of camera time, since he's her sentimental favorite.

Today... another beautiful day outside. Yesterday was almost 90, today it's over 80. I love this weather.

It's a beautiful day.

I survived another long night of classes, although it wasn't as bad as past classes. We had no assignments due. And there were a few funny stories from the night.

In Risk Mgt class, there's this girl in there who always seems to look over to the row that BG, S and I sit in. We're not sure if she's staring at one of us, but it's a little weird. BG kinda has the hots for her, and he's said before that the next time she looks over, he was gonna wink, but that will probably never happen.

In Investments class, AB practically stripped in front of the whole class... she had this sweatshirt on, and right after the class started, she took it off to reveal a tiny tanktop. Of course, BS had some comments about that (well, he has comments on everything). The professor also almost took a tumble walking backwards right into a desk.

Oh, the little things that keep us going during those four hours of class.

But thanks to S's finace G, I got another ride home, and I might get rides home with him for the rest of the semester! Red, your mom would be SO happy! :)

5 more classes to go!

Today has been amazing outside... almost 80 degrees. I met up with L for lunch, and we didn't want to go back up to work. The weekend is also supposed to stay nice... unfortunately, I'll have to study most of the day tomorrow. But Sunday, Melissa and I are going to the Sox game (they are playing the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim... still doesn't sound right). Should be fun!

And of course, we'll watch some more episodes from season 2 of "24."

Stocks.

We won our softball game last night, 5-4. It was quite the controversial game. The other team was previously undefeated, and they gave us two runs because they were short one girl (that's the rule... they also have an automatic out every time that girl should have been up). No one on our team was hitting anything (including me) and the other team was really good but our defense shut them down. In the last inning, they had a runner on second, one out, this guy up, and the automatic up was next (so all we had to do was get the guy out, and hold the runner from scoring). The guy hit a liner to center that was caught, the ball was thrown back to the pitcher, and then the guy kept running. Now in these games, when the pitcher has the ball, play is dead, and in this case, the umpire did call a dead ball. The runner still kept running, so we had no choice but to throw home, and he was tagged out anyway to end the game. The other team complained, of course, that it shouldn't have been a dead ball, and that the runner slowed down a bit after the ball, and then kept going. Blah blah... we won, and we're now 5-1. I sucked at the plate though... I hit two weak popups. I don't know if it's because of school, or I'm out of shape, or if my batting stance sucks, or whatever, but I haven't been feeling too confident at the plate. I know that sounds stupid because it's only softball, but I always make a big deal about it. At least I am still solid defensively, as usual.

Class tonight. I just had some fun with my stock game we have for investments class... buying and selling shares. Not that I would do that for real... too risky. We currently have Dell, XM, GE, Coach, Cigna, Federated, Pacificare, Starbucks, Home Depot, American Eagle and Target. We are looking to dump Cigna and Pacificare. Anyone have any ideas on what other stocks I should buy that might have short term growth?

June.

Another night of classes done. In Risk Mgt, we had another presentation that probably wasn't our best one, but it still wasn't bad. And the professor told us that no group got less than an A- on any of the previous presentations, so that's a good sign.

And of course, I was clueless in Investments class, but so was everyone else. And we have another midterm next Tuesday.

Thanks to Bill for the ride home last night. Saved me an extra half hour on public transportation.

6 more classes to go.

Today is Wednesday, and it's June 1st. I have a softball gave tonight. It feels like forever since the last one, so I might be a little rusty tonight. And we are playing one of the better teams in the league, so this will be a big test for us.

I'm also still waiting for this weather to get better! It's June and it's only 56 degrees right now. Shouldn't it be at least 70?