Bump

I'm tired of seeing the woman in the bug sunglasses every time I visit this blog. So I'm sticking this post up to knock her butt down.

And yeah, I know I put her there. Ironic. Or maybe not.

The "Buzz" in Fashion?

Can anyone explain why it's suddenly fashionable for women to wear giant sunglasses? Everywhere I go I see ladies wearing sunglasses that make them look like insects. Jen, Liz, can you provide any insight?



The woman who sets next to me is listening to one of her burned-at-home "mix CDs," each of which only contains five or six songs. So far she's "Heard It Thru The Grapevine" four times this morning.

Momentous Meeting Moments

So, I discovered that one way that I can use to stay awake in meetings is to forget about trying to pay attention (I'm falling asleep anyway) and instead to do a little creative writing exercise.

I write down sentences that come into my head. I start writing the sentence with a subject or situation or emotion, but nothing else. Then, I just continue writing as the words fall out of my brain. Most of the sentences are not very good.

My favorite one from this morning's financial structures training:

"Pretty ponies prance precipitously through plush poppy patches."

What have I been reduced to?

Coming soon to a college town near you

After about two hours on our travel-booking website at work yesterday, my fall schedule has been finalized:

September 10-12: Atlanta (Georgia Tech)
September 13-14: Knoxville (University of Kids Whose Parents Were Related)
September 17-18: Madison (University of Bucky Badger)
September 18-19: Champaign-Urbana (University of Corn)
September 20-22: Blacksburg, Virginia (University of Yes, They Have Technology in Virginia)
September 25-27: Ann Arbor (University of Jen Went There)
October 1-3: Knoxville again
October 3-5: Atlanta again
October 9-10: Madison again
October 11-12: Ann Arbor again
October 12-14: Blacksburg again
October 16-17: Champaign again

I've already ordered two thousand "chochkies" to give out (last year's highlighters weren't exciting, so this year we've opted for waterproof croakie containers.) I also re-ordered our recruitment brochures, this time without the typo ("Brunswich is a dynamic company.") I'll be dusting off the HELLO, MY NAME IS tags and practicing my handshake.

The scent of unemployed college seniors is in the air. It smells like success!

Okay, fine

Yes, we're alive. You know about me and posting to blogs, you all saw what happened to my last one.

So, Liz made it through the Bar just fine, although you'll have to ask her for the details. If she hasn't already blocked them out.

Last I heard from her, she was getting on a plane to Italy. Perhaps if we're lucky, she'll show up here and post a picture of herself holding up the Leaning Tower. Wouldn't that be a creative shot? If you know anyone in Florence, Rome, London, Istanbul, Zagreb, Vienna, Prague, or Munich, have them look her up.

I am currently trying to figure out who's going to watch the dog while I'm in Chicago a week from Saturday. More news as it becomes available.

Life imitates life

There is a financial analyst that sits in front of the office to the main controller at work (my team includes the main controller).

In the analyst's cube, there is one of those demotivational posters. The subject for the poster is "CONSULTANTS". The notable tag line is:

"If you're not a part of the solution,
There's good money to be made in prolonging the problem."

It's funny 'cause it's devastatingly, anguishingly, depressingly, unequivocally true.

Proof!

The intern that I jumped off the Alps with actually had a camera, and he sent me proof of the whole experience.

Me, standing next to the chute with the world champion Austrian parachuter.

This is the Alpan hill off of which I ran .

There is also a rumor that another intern has pictures of us in Munich, but I've yet to see any evidence.

Robots in disguise

Yesterday I went to the doctor. As it happens, when you are a private practice specialist it doesn't matter that you are not open on the weekends. It also doesn't matter that you only see patients for 5 hours a day. It also doesn't matter that you show up 30 minutes late for your first patient of the day.

In the parking lot of the medical building, there was something strange spray painted on the wall in front of each parking space. When I saw it, I knew it reminded me of something, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

Then it hit me! The medical office was really a cover for a Transformers outpost. Surely the Decepticons would never find them there.

Phone pic taken in the rain, standing in front of my parking spot.

More pictures

Baby formula for success

This weekend Jen and I went to Boston to visit our good friends, Keith and Julie, who just (10 weeks ago) had a baby girl. I think that people tend to like the newborn babies of their friends. Let me tell you that this is much easier when the newborn is ridiculously cute.

Phone pic of Jocelyn in her carrier/stroller/car seat.

Before you point it out, I didn't forget my camera. I thought that Jen was going to bring it. She, in turn, thought that I had it. So, it was a miscommunication, which is different.

Jocelyn is so cute it hurts. Before all of you start talking, we are still firmly on the 13 year plan (right, honey?). Wenham was a nice little town, with nice little shops and nice little houses. All in all, a nice little place to raise a nice little family.

The game of the weekend was "what can make Jocely smile?". This is much more entertaining than you would think. I have to admit that I didn't even miss TV for the whole weekend. On Sunday, we went to a "public" park right by the ocean. It was the estate of a old, rich guy who donated it when he died. The grounds are great, and the views were fantastic. It was worth the half mile hike through the woods to get to it. Those old, rich people are such seclusionists.

Phone pic of a very limited segment of the view from the park.

Overall, it was a great weekend. One of the best parts was that my Monday 7 am (United) flight was cancelled and I got to sleep in an extra 3 hours after getting into Penn Station at 2:30 am.

Phone pic of Keith with Jocelyn.