This was a jammed pack weekend for me. I had a weekend short class at Wash U University College all day Friday and Saturday so I was pretty loaded. The class was managing HR through the eyes of ISO 9002 certification. It was quite an informing class. Another good thing about the class was that there was no prework, take home work, or test. You basically just showed up and learned. I actually think the class was more beneficial to me that other classes I have taken so I wondered why this model worked. It is a graduate course so, in most cases, the people wanted to take the class so it is not like someone is showing up to because they have to like in undergrad. But I think the main reason why I learned so much is that you don’t have to deal with the pressure and stress of time management and testing. This method allowed you to fully focus on what the instructor was trying to teach you. I would like to have another class like this to see if my hypothesis holds up.

Since I had no homework to do Friday night, I went to the Booze and Schmooze event at Flamingo Bowl. There was a huge crowd in attendance … many of my usual Wash U friends. From there a big group of us went to Rue 13. I had a great time. Danced a lot with some fine ladies. I probably drank a little too much since I had class at 8 the next morning but it was worth it.

Saturday was of course the massacre otherwise known as Texas vs Missouri. Here is my review of the game. I did get see Mike Hoff’s furnished pad. I was impressed. In winning news, the Blues won again. The Blues powerplay is #1 in the league plus they have the most goals in the league; two things they were horrible at last year. Lets see if it lasts. 

Sunday was a very boring day. I did watch the Rams game though. I really can’t believe they destroyed the Cowboys. The offense and defense was firing on all cylinders. I am not sure if the past two games have been a fluke or if we actually have a chance to win our poor division. When you look at our team, we have a lot of good players. I think the success or failure of the Rams lies on the O-line. Our offense does well if they have time which in turns gives our defense time to rest. If our offense is bad, then the defense is tired so we get blown out. In the end it was a great game but the wrong Missouri team beat the wrong Texas team this weekend. The rest of my afternoon and night I spent writing a 10+ page paper that was due today. I had a month to do it but I waited till the last minute.

Tampa Bay also beat the Red Sox which was very satisfying. I am also inline to sneak a win by Hoff in fantasy football as long as my two players have a decent day and his two players left don’t have a great day. I would have a huge win if my wide receiver core didn’t suck so much. Owens did nothing for me and Ike Hilliard got me minus points; so long to him. 

I did find $20 on the park lot at Schnucks on Sunday night so that was a plus.

I did work on a paper pretty late, but I did get in some of my favorite night of watching TV. The Family Guy run of great episodes continued. They played on a lot of two of my favorite movies; Back to the Future and Indiana Jones. It was utter hilarious. I did hear some inside information on Friday about confirming the Cleavland spin off. I am not sure why they chose Cleavland. A perfect spinoff would be Brian and Stewie. They are perfect together. On another note, Ted met Adam West. What an honor.

Californication was pretty entertaining. Not sure where this show is going though. I am still struggling with the fact that Mia stole Hank’s book and they still continue to hang out like nothing happened.

Entourage was really good for a change. The show is coming to a major turning point. I personally do not think that Ari will take the job. I think he will work out a deal with Dana Gordon to get the job but get Vince the movies he wants. I loved it going out on Fake Plastic Trees by Radiohead. It really fit the ending very well plus it is one of my favorite songs.

I am in the middle of watching Dexter, but the show just doesn’t seem to be entertaining as before. It seems like they have swayed from the point of the show which was Dexter killing people. Instead, it seems like other people dying and Dexter as a family man.

All I can say is utter disaster. The hopes and dreams died for many on Saturday night. Mizzou’s chance of getting to the national championship game and probably even a BCS game was eliminated. They might have a chance at a BCS game if they win out, but I find that as a pretty lofty goal based on their play the last two games. I now feel pretty uncomfortable about playing Kansas based on their play vs Oklahoma. Even if we did beat Kansas, we would still play a Texas or Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship game which would not be good. Chase’s run at a Heisman also died along with his small window of opportunity to play in the NFL. He basically showed that he can not handle any kind of real pressure and instead throws to the other teams almost every time. There is no way an NFL scout could have watched the last two games and thought there was any hope for Chase Daniel.

Overall, the game was pretty pathetic. There were some bad calls and MU turned it on at the end (against the 2nd team defense) but it was to little to late. I know they threw to Coffman a lot, 12 passes, but I really think they should throw to him even more. For one, he always seems to be open because of his size and his speed. Second, he doesn’t drop passes and makes amazing catches like in the OK State game. Third, he will  not let the other player intercept the ball (evident of the play he made where he ripped the ball out of the defenders hand to catch it instead. Last but not least, he has some great highlight hurdling skill which he does at least once or twice a game.

I along with a good majority of my friends are going to the Homecoming Colorado game next week. Hopefully, Mizzou should easily win. I am still looking forward to making my only trip to Columbia for the year. It should be fun despite their dismal effort the past couple weeks.

I always thought that University of Missouri – Columbia campus was the squirrel population of the world. There were squirrels everywhere. You could look around campus and at least see 2 or 3 at any time. I even joked about how the squirrels were forming an army so we better watch out. I noticed after being on campus today at Wash U that they have a huge population of squirrels too. Why is that? Is it the nice lawns and numerous trash cans that they can feed on? Or is it that the squirrel just like to hang out with educated people? If it is the latter, I bet there are no squirrels on the Kansas campus …. ohhhh burn!

• It looks like the media is now discounting Mizzou from making a run at the national championship in football
• Why do people make such a big deal concerning the Presidential debates? Was the second and third debate really that different from the third? Do you really need to see the person debate in person to know their views? Isn’t that was the Internet is for? Is this 1950? Also, everyone is obsessed with “Joe the Plumber?” I have only heard it mentioned like 10 time today.
• I watched the first episode of Life on Mars last night. It is probably a show I am going to add to my lineup.
• Why do the homeless not eat/steal any of the food from the big downtown garden across from Harry’s? I do not even think there is a fence around it.
• I am really impressed with the group that has been doing all the work in Lucas Park. Trimming the trees made a world of difference.
• I don’t know what it is  but I am not too excited about watching the MU vs Texas game Saturday night. It is now possible that we might not even win the Big 12 North which we were heavy favorites. Maybe the basketball team will turn it around.
• Are the Blue going to be good this year or just start out good like they did last year and quickly fade away?
• What new video game am I going to buy next? I can only play so much Rock Band … evident by my dying right hand.
• Is it possible that I might not have to do any work for my weekend class coming up? There was no prework nor does the syllabus discuss any assignments nor tests. It might be the easiest 1.5 credits ever earned. Thank you Wash U University College.

I have been considering a new phone for a while now for a couple reasons.

1. My original Motorola Razr is not cutting it after 3 years of use
2. I need the ability to surf the internet on my phone
3. I want to be able to check both personal and work (my work does pay for my phone) email on my phone
4. I want to be able to have an easy to use Calender that I can synchronize with my calender at work which unfortunately is in Lotus Notes
5. I just don’t like the idea of having an old phone when I see all these “kids” with their fancy technology. I feel really old when I see a 14 year old with a Blackberry.

I currently have AT&T as a provider. AT&T/Cingular has been my provider for 10 years now. I have never really had a complaint. I didn’t have coverage at my parents at first but they ended up building a cell tower pretty close to their house so it is not a problem anymore. I also have a laptop air card that I use to get internet on my laptop. This is also a work expense. The bad part about this is that I have 1 year left on my contract so I can’t totally switch carriers unless I pay a penalty.

So I have been considering these phones:

1. Apple iPhone offered by AT&T
2. Samsung Instinct offered by Sprint
3. Blackberry Bold supposedly offered by AT&T; the only non touch screen that I am considering
4. Blackberry Storm offered supposedly by Verizon

Below is a list of my personal opinions based on the limited use I have with the phones mentioned.

Apple iPhone

Pros (1) The app store for this phone is amazing. I think they will win this category hands down (2) The user ability of this phone is also amazing.

Cons – My fingers did not work well with the touch screen. I repeatedly failed when I was trying to text. I was on a 1st Gen iPhone “jail broken” version (not sure if this is different on 2nd gen) but it did not have a landscape option so the button were very small so I repeatedly kept hitting the wrong button.

Samsung Instinct

Pros – The landscape portion of the software was amazing. I sent a text using both my thumbs without missing one key.

Cons – The user interface was nothing to brag about

Blackberry Bold

Pro – (1) It has a normal query keyboard so my touchscreen issues are not a problem (2) I can officially sync with my work email and calender

Cons – I don’t expect it to have all the goodness that the iPhone or Instinct have

Blackberry Storm

This is a new one on the horizon that I didn’t even know about till last week. The Engadget walkthough looks amazing. I would say that the only issue in comparison with the iPhone is that I can’t imagine them to have an equal app store. I will have to wait and see about their interface. They do have landscape mode for typing which is a big plus.

Conclusion

I am going to wait and see based on my new job (which unfortunaly I might not find out till the end of the year according to what I was told today.)  I would like the iPhone for a personal phone but it also needs to be a work phone so the lack of support by my company is really going to be a killer. The new forerunner will be the Storm. I will have to wait and check it out even though I really did not want to switch carriers. The Bold has to slightly be considered since AT&T is offering it.

I have some kind of serious problem with my right hand which has delayed me writing any entries in a while. It is not good. I have some of the symptoms of carpal tunnel but not all so I am not sure. I need to have it checked out but have not found the time.

What was supposed to be a pretty slow weekend for me, due to finals, was anything but. Friday night was a fun night. We went to Rue 13 for 80′s night …. I know a big surprise. It was awesome like it always is. I drank a little more than I intended.

Saturday was a huge day for watching college football. I woke up early to watch the Texas vs Oklahoma game. It was quite a game. Texas ended up pulling off the upset which helped Mizzou in the end. The Mizzou game later that night did not live up to the bill. Our play looked sloppy. Especially the wide receivers who dropped a couple balls and even had one bounce off their head for an interception. Chase also seriously hurt his Heisman chances and even his chances for going into the pros. He did not look good under pressure; throwing a couple ill advised passes. I eventually gave up late in the third quarter when I heard a concert out my window. It turns out they closed down Wash Ave to host the final night of the St Louis Fashion week. I quickly went down there once I googled the show and found out Murphy Lee was performing U. C. Me which I thought I heard. I ended up running into a bunch of people I knew down there but went over to Dave’s to catch the rest of the game. I seriously though MU was going to pull off the comeback when we only had to go 40 yards with over a minute left … I thought it was in the bag. Well obviously they lost. The game next week vs #1 Texas is huge. I can’t wait. I rounded up the rest of the night meeting some friends at the Dubliner then going to Lure for a while then Lucas Park. I would really go to Lure more if it wasn’t so expensive to get in. There are a ton of hot women there so it is definitely worth the $10 cover and expensive drinks.

My call out of a Rams win in my previous post came true on Sunday ending a total confusion in Missouri football. The win did help me to go 11/14 in my pick’em league.

On one side note, I unfortunately had to fly in and out of Tulsa on Monday for a brief meeting. It was unfortunate because everyone I ate lunch with there either was an Oklahoma St or Texas alum. They all gave me a lot of crap. On another side note, I ate at Lucas Park Grille for the first time on Monday night. I ended up getting the 14 oz ribeye. I was definitely disappointed. It was cooked well done when I asked for medium plus it was a very tough steak. It is something I would not expect for a $30 steak plus a place that refers to themselves as a steakhouse on their website. The service was very good though. My coworker has a fish special that looked very good and he said it was good so the place can’t be totally bad. I also witnessed fried calamari that still was in the shape of baby octopi. I ate around that and ate the traditional ringed calamari.

1. Is this the kind of weather San Diego has year round? If so, sign me up. 80 degrees in mid October is amazing.
2. Did 101.1 already shut down it’s operations? It is playing Christmas and holiday music. Seems way to early plus like I mentioned in point 1, it was very warm to be hearing Jingle Bells.
3. Will Mizzou finally get it’s true respect when it blows out Oklahoma State on Saturday night?
4. What is wrong with my right arm? I feel like I have some of issue with my muscles which makes it hurt when I type. I have papers due Monday so I need to be able to type. I am blaming it on Rock Band.
5. I am calling a Rams win this weekend even though I don’t think they will win.
6. What’s up with fashion week in St Louis? Alot of people seem to be going.
7. I missed out on the 4 Seasons rooftop again for happy hour Friday. At least I know what it is called now.

I again tried to watch another political debate, but I failed. I was actually nervous for both of the incumbents. To me, McCain looks really nervous and he showed his age by constantly writing notes on his pad. What was with him even writing notes when he first got out there? It gave the appearance that he was unprepared and quickly writing down some thoughts. I also thought both of them stumbled alot more than VPs did in the their debate. I tried to find a link to the Family Guy episode “Mr Griffin Goes To Washington” that just happened to be on last night because they have a song entitle “That Guy”. I thought it would be good to commemorate McCain’s “That One” comment. I also really liked that the narrator kept saying that they only had 1 minute to talk. I am not sure why I found this comical. Maybe it is because I have taken so many public speech classes in the past 6 months and no one ever sticks to the time limit. Or maybe it was the mere fact that I felt the moderator was scolding them like little children every time he reminded them.

In another note, I played a lot more Rock Band 2 last night. I finally found out what it meant to “gold star” a song. I really had to dig since it is not in the manual nor mentioned in the one walkthrough online. To gold star a song, you have to play well enough to basically get a sixth (imaginary) star. I have gotten 100% probably 50 times but have never received this gold star achievement. I dug a little deeper and it looks like you might have to play on hard or expert to get this. I found the score you need for Rock Band 1 online, but not Rock Band 2 songs. I also like the new Logitech wireless microphone for Rock Band. This rounds out the wireless peripherals since a wireless drum and guitar is now offered by Harmonix. I also have only 1 more song to unlock on Rock Band 2. The song is Visions by Abnormality. It is supposedly the hardest song in the game and compared to Through the Fire and the Flames in difficulty. It is a bonus song which are superposed to be unlocked in Career mode but I do not see it and I thought I had all the venue unlocked. Any help would be greatly appreciated since I couldn’t find anything online.

1. Will I ever get twitter to work on my blog?
2. Twitter was referenced on Big Bang Theory last night on CBS, but the character said he sent her a twitter. Shouldn’t if be he sent her a tweet? It is like they are trying to be mainstream but just not there.
3. Will I go to the OK State game this weekend? I really want to see more than 1 game in Columbia this year, but I also want to watch the Texas vs Oklahoma game and I also have a ton of homework I need to do since next week is finals. Plus I want to see the game, but there is no way I am paying $100 for a ticket.
4. Why do the Cubs suck so much? They should just quit trying.
5. Will the Blues be any good this year? They scored the most goals out of any teams in preseason. I would normally say that preseason doesn’t mean anything, but our team was a horrible scoring team last year.
6. Will I ever find out if I got the new Product Management job? It has been been over a month and a half since my interview. Wow …. I thought it was only 3 or 4 weeks ago but it was way back in August before my trip to Breckenridge. I am getting really ancy about the job.
7. Why am I so obsessed with Rock Band 2 over Rock Band 1? I think I played the first one maybe twice outside of when I had people over. I seem to be playing the new one all the time. The only thing I can think of is that the new version is developed better for the single player; allowing much more challenges and easier online play.
8. Who will I vote for in the next Presidential election? My decision is really up in the air.
9. All of a sudden, everyone from my high school is joining Facebook after attending our 10 year reunion over the weekend. It just strikes me as odd. Maybe Facebook should capitalize on this kind of advertising if this is common among people my age and older who are not normally part of the social networking age.
10. Will I go on vacation this year to somewhere tropical between Christmas and New Years? It has always been my plan since I have so many days off in between the holidays, but it has never happened. I was going to do it last year, but I ended up going to Indonesia right before Christmas for work so I didn’t feel like I needed to go to two tropical locations back to back. I really need it now since I have not traveled at all for work this year plus I got very little pool time. Plus, these airline miles are burning a hole in my pocket.
11. Will I end up going to SEMA again this year? It is not over Halloween like normal which is sorta a drag but it is a great show to attend both for work and my personal interests.
12. Why did I ever invest money in the stock market? Especially, why am I so addicted to buying Sirius stock. I guess its the possibility of a quick buck, but instead it has been a 3 year downward slide of me saying that “there is no way it can go any lower”. I think I said that about 7 times; each before I ended up buying more. I tried to diversify my portfolio, but everything always went down. I made one great purchase of Jones Soda that went up like 200% before I sold them. I think I made about 25% on Microsoft too. Everything else has been a big loss. I also should have sold Apple after they climbed high a second time after bottoming out since I bought it. I don’t think it is going to come close to 200 for a long time.