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Journal for 30 Jan 2008: A Long Wednesday

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There are few things as disconcerting as getting up and heading off to work while it’s still dark outside… On what will probably turn out to be the coldest morning of the year.

I had a long day today. There was an all-day offsite for work that started by 7:00 this morning, immediately followed by my class at the U this evening. My class got done on time at 9:05, but some unseen problem in the parking ramp delayed my exit until a few minutes before 10:00.

My next meeting starts in just over nine hours. Probably time for me to hit it.

Posted in Education,Journal at 11:58 pm

Hey Rudy!

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Buh bye. Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

Posted in News,politics at 11:08 pm

BabyLog for 27 Jan 2007: Little Man Standing (Kind Of)

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A quick Mathias note:  Our little man is standing!  Okay, so he still completely lacks the entire balance thing, requiring mom or dad to actively steady him, but as of today he seems able to counter gravity for two to three seconds at a time.  He’s still working on effectively grabbing larger objects (i.e., the kind he could steady himself with), too, but seems to be getting closer to success there as well.

I’m amazed at how quickly our little baby is growing.  At this rate he could very well be running around the place by the time he’s one.

Posted in BabyLog at 11:59 pm

Journal for 27 Jan 2008

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I’ve spent about 10 hours reading for my accounting class this weekend, and I haven’t even started the exercises yet.  I need to get those done tomorrow, because after that there’s operations management reading to do.

Other than that, the weekend in review:  Friday night brought a fun evening with coworkers at Dave & Busters up in Maple Grove.  (It’s always kind of disconcerting to drive out to the middle of nowhere and then find a huge development like that.  Seriously…  Why are there so many people up there?)  Saturday and Sunday brought errands around the house and a few attempts at getting out and about with Lisa and the baby.  Beyond that, well, someone apparently kicked the front license plate holder off of my car–again (!)–giving me another thing to address when the Saturn goes in for its next tuneup.

It’s going to be a busy week.  Tomorrow will be packed at work, and Lisa has pilates in the evening, meaning I need to get home early for baby duty.  I’ll be staffing a booth at the StarTribune job fair on Tuesday and then have an offsite for work and my accounting class on Wednesday.

So, see you next week.  Or something.

Posted in Education,Journal at 11:49 pm

Journal for 23 Jan 2008: Financial Accounting

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I have the distinct feeling that if I’m not careful my Financial Accounting course will kick my ass.

Posted in Education,Journal at 11:07 pm

Journal for 22 Jan 2008

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“Did you see that Fred Thompson dropped out?”

“Yeah,” I said, glancing at the TV. “Good riddance.”

“I can stand McCain, but he looks like he needs some medical attention.”

“What? Lisa, he’s just old.”

“But he doesn’t look good. We need someone younger. And with a vagina.”

~ ~ ~

My spring courses start tomorrow. I’m taking two 11-week classes for six credits, so I should have plenty to keep me busy for the next few months. I’m on the wait list for one other class as well, but as it’s slotted for the second half of the semester, it may be a few weeks before I find if I can get in or not.

I encountered a chipper fellow working at the U of M Bookstore tonight. “Oh, someone only needs one book. Lucky.” He rang up the book. $132. “Oh, maybe not.”

The inside of Coffman Union is still ugly.

Posted in Education,Journal at 9:46 pm

Journal for 20 Jan 2008, Part II

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Well, fuck.

Posted in Journal at 9:15 pm

Journal for 20 Jan 2007

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Go Packers!

Posted in Journal at 5:27 pm

BookLog: The World Without Us

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The World Without Us provides an interesting paradox: In an effort to make us think about our impact on our planet, and how substantial that impact may be, Alan Weisman takes the approach of imagining our world should we no longer around to populate the planet. It’s quite a hook. Considering our species’ tendency towards navel-gazing, and our love of tales of disaster and tragedy, what could be more interesting than finding out what happens after we’re all gone?

Of course, Earth would do fine without us should we disappear, although some subtle scars of or evidence of our existence would remain as long as the Earth itself. Much of our built infrastructure would fall apart remarkably quickly, with much of it being reduced to rubble over the next century. (Only a few severely overbuilt structures, such as some railroad bridges, would have a chance of making it a millennium, still a sliver of time in geologic terms.) Weisman finds other items that would last a long time, but they’re almost always the exceptions.

In short, if we’re gone, our stuff will soon be gone as well.

Although occasionally prone to melodrama, almost forgivable considering the subject matter , The World Without Us generally came across as a well-researched and thoughtful work, albeit not one claiming to be scientific by any means. But while fascinating, about midway through I started finding myself thinking, “what’s the point of this?” In retrospect, I’m not sure what Weisman’s point actually was supposed to be. A book doesn’t have to have a point, of course, so I only mention this as it seemed the book appeared to be trying to make some kind of environmental statement. Obviously, I’m not sure it succeeded. Yes, we’re making a mess of our planet, but is it really a good idea to point that out by saying hey, don’t worry, Earth will be able to recover? Probably not.

Still, for anyone who’s curious as to how permanent our works really are, this is an interesting and entertaining read. 7/10.

Posted in BookLog at 10:39 pm

BabyLog for 16 Jan 2007: Mathias Gets His Own Room

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Now that Mathias has been sleeping through the night more often than not, and has been getting very close to outgrowing his co-sleeper, we finally decided to move him to his crib in his own room tonight.  It’ll be the first time since his arrival that he won’t be sleeping in the same room as us.  It’s kind of weird…  We finished off the nursery a few weeks before he was born, but aside from the changing table, it’s pretty much been laying dormant since then.  Our preparations over the past few days to move him in there have been a reminder of all the planning and work we did in the first place.

This photo seems like a very long time ago.

I’ll miss waking up to his morning calisthenics and vocal exercises, but it’ll be nice to get a few extra minutes of sleep, too.

Posted in BabyLog,Journal at 11:17 pm
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