Break Time

In the course of keeping a blog updated, I ran into a slight problem.  See my laptop got a boo-boo.  The screen developed a crack and started oozing its inner contents. The screen now features a myriad of pretty colors, but the usability is bit on the low side.  I can plug it into the TV, but that is a little awkward for daily use.  And while I love my ipad, I haven't quite mastered the art of writing long rambling posts on it as of yet.  Therefore the Other Side has grown dormant.

I considered getting the laptop fixed, but the cost of having someone fix it isn't all that much less than replacing it.  I could do it myself, but unfortunately I am not quite as talented at fixing things as I am at breaking them.  Given that I was starting grad school soon, I went out and got a new one.

Buying a new laptop is always a difficult and stressful experience for me.  You remember that part about being good a breaking thing?  Small metal boxes filled with intricately laid out electronics is a specialty of mine.  Sadly laptops don't come certified as Joel proof.  You would thing that specs would include the processor speed after a laptop gets dropped a couple times, flipped thrice, and spilled upon, but alas they do not.  I'm left with a few options.  One is to get a Toughbook, a laptop built to hold up in a combat zone.  These however are exceedingly expensive, the price of several regular laptops.  Besides, while it may be able to withstand missile strikes, I present a whole 'nother challenge.  Another method is to go for really cheap laptops, assuming they will break anyway and I'll be replacing them soon.   This is rather annoying though and not necessarily cost effective.

I ended it up with U410 Lenovo Ultrabook which represents something of a midgrade.  Lenovo's are pretty sturdy* and this one features two hard drives a 500gb one for general use, a 32GB SSD designed to make your most common computer activities run really fast.  Plus it is a blue, so it has that going for too.  We shall see how it holds up.  In the meantime, I intend to resume our irregularly scheduled one way conversations.

*Though certainly not Joel proof.

The decision

I haven't had a lot of tough decisions in my life.  I chose my college haphazardly based on bad geography, randomness, the desire to start something completely new, and the process of elimination.  I decided to get a MBA because it helpful to do interesting stuff and make lots of money, and I want to do interesting stuff and make money.  I chose to apply to evening programs instead of full time programs because I had a job I was reasonably happy with.  I chose which schools to apply to based on what I could get into and what I could convenient get to without moving.  None of these were really that difficult to decide in the end.  I didn't expect choosing a school to be that difficult either.  I had a rough pecking order of which schools I wanted to attend, so it just mattered what I got in to.

Except Northeastern wanted to make things difficult.  They saw my profile and didn't process my application for the evening program, but rather strongly encouraged me to do their full time program*.  To the sweeten the offer they agreed to cover over 80% of the tuition, enough where quitting my job became a viable option.  All else being equal I would prefer to do a full time program.  All else isn't equal though, which leaves the dilemma.  The below are some of things that have been running through my head lately.

*I went to an evening MBA session at Northeastern where an admission's employee encouraged to ignore everything said about how much better evening programs are than full time programs.

Money:
Well, one school requires that I quit my job (or at least work only part time) and the other lets me keep my salary, but the monetary differential is actually not that clear. With BU I'll get some money a year from my job* but not enough to make a huge dent in the bill.  With Northeastern I'll have little to no income for the first year, but the vast majority of tuition will be covered.  Year two I'll have a 6 month paid internship at NE, which makes the finances more even.  Year three I'll have graduated NE and can make a MBA enhanced salary while at BU I'd still be working on a degree.  On the other hand BU has a significantly higher avg starting salary per graduate.  On the other other hand that number is for the full time program and doesn't necessarily apply to the full time degree.  You can start to see my problem here..

*The money from work actually gives an incentive to take as long as possible to finish.

Length:
One of the big factors in Northeastern's favor as a full time program will be over in two years, while a part time program will probably take three or four. 

Sanity:
One I'll be working full time and going to school on top of it.  The other one I'll mostly be a student.  I believe I can do the former without it disrupting my lifestyle too badly, but I'm almost positive that I'm wrong.  Certainly only being a student will allow for much lower stress level and a much higher ability to do things.

Location:
This is about even.  They are about equidistant from our apartment and from work.  This, however is the category that eliminated BC and I really didn't want to have to trek up there every week.

Facilities:
BU has a really nice gym.  Access to it may be the thing Becky is most excited about in terms of me going to grad school

Course options
Northeastern requires full time students to take one of three tracks, none of which I'm especially interested in, though you do get some freedom among them.  BU has more options and is more easily tailored to my interests.

Career change
This is generally easier in a full time program where you can full access to recruitment and can use the internship to get experience in a different field.  As I don't really want to securities lending forever this is a definite plus for NE.  

Recruitment process
Northeastern has been better in nearly every aspect.  I should probably not decide a school on which schools admission department I like better though.  Still BU being impersonal seems to be a fairly common complaint.

School quality:
I was disappointed with the quality of my undergraduate education.  I could have done better and while I don't regret going to Bradley, I don't want to make that mistake again.  While Northeastern is a fine school, I feel like if I go there I'll again be going to a school that is below my abilities*.   BU is more on the level of where I think I should be.  

*One of the nice things about having a blog is that you don't have to worry about being humble.

Quitting my job:
This tends to depend on the day.  I'll tell Becky now when I get home whether it was a Northeastern or a BU day.

Career
There seems to be a general feeling that full time programs are more respected than part time programs among employers.  However, there are definitely people who appreciate one's ability to balance the workload with working full-time

Network
Northeastern strength is that they have really good connections with employers.  They are mostly focused on the local market though.  BU seems to have the stronger national base.

And so on...  I have a week left to decide.  Feedback welcome.  Or perhaps a lucky coin?

Upcoming Events

The problem with 8 part posts is that one gets behind in posting actual life events.  It is going to be a busy few weeks.  Here is what is coming up.

Tomorrow is the fall application deadline for Boston University.  Thursday is the deadline for Northeastern and Suffolk.  Boston College deadline isn't until May 1.  These days are relevant as I'm applying to the evening MBA program of these schools.  Note that these are all Boston schools, and I will not be leaving the area any time soon.   The school I'm really hoping to go to though is the one that is best at googling my name.

Saturday is Draft Day for year 12 of Dove Hunting.   I'll spend the vast the majority of the day* sitting in front of a computer typing into a chat box.  I'm not sure that it is my favorite day of the year, but it as least in the discussion.  Bonus points for none of the day being spent in a hospital room with Becky this year.

*Last year the draft took about seven hours.  We made really good time.

Sunday we will host our monthly gaming activities.  We will also be celebrating either the color green, pi(e)s or perhaps just green pies. 

Some time next week I'm hoping to resume sessions of Risk Legacy. Legacy will get a full post at some point, but the short explanation is that your moves in the game have permanent affects on the game board.  Through the course of play you write and place stickers on the board and occasionally rip cards up.  It is like risk, but awesome.

The weekend after that I'll be heading off to Orlando to visit my sister and catch a couple Spring training game assuming I ever bother to buy a plane ticket.

Two weeks after that is the start of passover.  I'm going to try to host my first sedar for gentiles since my college days. 

There are also two puzzle events in April.  Boston Area Puzzle Hunters League on the 21th of April and DASH the weekend after.  I think I'll be able to partake in BAPHL and will be helping run DASH. 

A Weddings Adventure Part VI: Manhattan West Coast Style

We reluctantly left Mexico on Wednesday and made our way back to Los Estados Unidos.  This time we stayed at a Radison, which was a significant upgrade upon the Travellodge.  It even had a sleep number bed, which rectified my problem that hotel beds are always too hard.  From now on I'm going to have to try to always stay at a hotel that has one*.  Not feeling too adventurous, we ate dinner in the hotel restaurant, where I got steak which was easily better than any I had in Mexico. The meal reminded us both that we were back to American sized portions, and that we needed to carry wallets around again.

*Unless the hotel comes with a hammock.

Thursday was our one free day to roam the streets of Los Angeles.  Figuring out to spend a day in LA proved to be a bit of a logistical challenge.  Everything is spread out and expensive, and neither of us had any great interest in the trappings of Hollywood.  We ended up finding a $5 all day trolley that connected various hotels including ours to a few tourist destinations.

The first stop on the trolley was Manhattan beach, where at least some of the local rich and famous live.*     There was a pathway with various local shops along it.  Up a street on one side were colorful houses that cost more than we are likely to make in the next few decades.  On the other side was the boardwalk, beach and ocean. We ate lunch at a bakery that offered enormous sandwiches and delicious mini cupcakes for dessert.  There was also a cute independent bookstore whose kind is rarely seen anymore. We went down the boardwalk and watched the surfers for a while. This allowed me to explain the entertaining art of watching people fall to Becky.  There was a pier that led to a free aquarium, but it was closed.

 

*For example there dwells Nomar Garciaparra and Mia Hamm who Becky's grandmother asked us to stalk on her behalf.

Becky and Honey on the pier

Next up was the Manhattan village, which turned out to just be a fairly generic mall.   We wandered around for a while in the various chains that can be found in most similar places, We ate some barbeque for dinner, the good kind where they have paper towels on the tables.  Then we went to see the Muppet movie*, which seemed like a very LA thing to do. 

*The night did have a striking resemblance to what my friend Rich's idea of heaven must be.

A Weddings Adventure Part V: Wedding in Paradise

We weren't just in Mexico to rest and relax in the sun.  We had important business to attend to.  We had to go to a wedding*

*On the beach, where we could rest and relax in the sun.

As we were getting dressed we started hearing music coming from the beach.  This was unnerving as we were concerned we were going to miss the ceremony.  We finished up and rushed down the hundred or so steps to get down to the beach.  It turns out, Jason, a groomsman, was just warming up his guitar, and we were amongst the first to arrive.

Paddy, our flight companion, was standing by the canopy, with an iPad in toe.  You see an iPad is not merely a device for taking funny pictures, but it can also be used to store text, say for a wedding ceremony.  Yes, Paddy wasn't merely in the wedding, he was presiding over it.

There were about 45 people at wedding.  Most were people from Alaska or the pacific northwest who worked in fishing in some capacity.  We were part of the Boston gamers*contingent.

*That is how everyone in their families knew us.  The Boston people who played games.

The groom and his groomsmen lined up and waited for the bridesmaids to descend the steps.  The bridesmaids wore sage dresses along with necklaces and earrings that Becky had designed.  As they made their way across the straw mats and reached Bo, he gave each one a high five.  Then Lia came down, accompandied by her father, and wearing a dress* that both of her mother and grandmother had worn before when they walked down the aisle.  No high five for her though, guess she wasn't special enough.

*Altered by Becky and Ellen, who had to take apart some parts that were ripping earlier in the day.

Paddy's ceremony was closer to a best man's speech then a traditional ceremony.  He talked about how Bo was like a big brother and how Lia was always perfect for Bo. Lia's dad, Eric, handled the more spiritual part of the ceremony.  He, being more of a traditionalist, read off of a laptop. They also included some personal touches.  They took sand from their Alaskan home and combined in with the sand on the beach to symbolize how they are now forever twined.

Bo and Lia wrote their own vows and managed to do it without seeming hokey, an impressive feat.  Bo promised to get a dog and occasional go for a morning run or do yoga, along with the love and cherish parts.  When Lia was done she stuffed her cue cards into Bo's pocket.  They exchanged rings, the groom's ring having been found in Mexico for $10 at a flea market. "By the power vested in me by absolutely no one," Paddy pronounced them husband and wife.  They proceeded with a kiss that I'm not sure has ended yet.

The party took place later on a patio upstairs.   The resort chose the DJ, which resulted in some interesting entertainment selections.  For instance, they set up a screen which featured MTV style music videos.  But don't think it wasn't personal, as Bo's and Lia's names were plastered on the screen, superimposed on whichever video was being played*

*We spent much time trying to figure out which one was Lia and which was Bo.

The best man, Logan, gave a toast, followed by Lia's brother Micha and Lia's dad*, and  .. On 2nd thought it would probably just be quicker to name the people who didn't give toasts, as there were over a dozen toasts.

*Eric talked about the time where Bo didn't realize that he was in the car and accidentally mooned him.

We sat next to some friends of Lia's from Seattle who she thought we might get along with*  The food wasn't particularly memorable other than some delicious cheese filled rolls.  Some of items did reappear in the restaurant in later days as part of their waste not philosophy.


*What you just bought Through the Ages?  Yes I am familiar. 

Micha stole the dance floor.  His technique would best be described as a robot with rhythm.  There were also a group of locals partying with us as well.  While in Mexico, Lily, Lia's sister, had become smitten with a guy she met.  Bo and Lia ended up inviting him and three of his friends to partake in their festivities.  Not to be outdone, Paddy, changed into a speedo and returned to the dance floor.  He then proceeded to lift to his girlfriend*, Anna, up, carry her to the pool, and jump in.  Having done his adult duty for the day, he was free to reign wild.

*Now fiance as he proposed later in their Mexico stay.  After Anna didn't object to being thrown into a pool in a dress there was little chance she would say no. 

A Weddings Adventure Part IV: Punta Serena

We stayed at Punta Serena, a private resort on the Blue Bay off of the Pacific Ocean.  It was actually pretty far south, about as close to Guatemala as it is to any point in the USA

The first thing to note about the resort is that it really did look like the pictures.  There were exquisite views from everywhere, even the bathroom had an excellent view of the beach and ocean.  There was a full sized pool, two hot tubs, and a private beach.  The water was all a deep clear blue and the sky was clear enough to see the sunrises and sunsets, a full moon, stars, and even Venus.  We were told that you later in the year you could see dolphins, turtles, and other wild life from the pools and beach, but we apparently came a little too early in the year for that.  We did have the pleasure of a large iguana's company, who tended to hang out near one of the hot tubs.  On the down side, the place had stairs everywhere, and it was a significant workout just to get to the beach.   

The room itself was large but only moderately furnished.  It was as if they didn't expect you to spend much time in it,  It wasn't especially clean, or say adequately supplied with towels, but that seemed more of a cultural issue than a staff one.  The room had a balcony which featured a hammock, of which I made great use.

At one point we got a little visitor in the bathroom that Becky befriended.

The food wasn't really what one would think of as Mexican, but closer to American dishes, steak, chicken, pasta, and fish, with local touches.  The portions were small, which wasn't bad as it allowed for ordering of appetizers and desserts.  They did have interesting water juices though, which was water mixed with whatever they had on hand (papaya, pineapple, oatmeal...).  The menu was the same everyday, which could get tiring after a while, but weren't quite there long enough for it to be much of a problem.  One interesting quirk was that they would always take orders from females before males. The restaurant was open air with a new roof that was erected after the previous one was defeated by a hurricane.  It allowed for some nice views of sunsets at dinner, but did occasionally result in some insect competition for meals.  All in all the food was solid, but not a reason to go there for.

They had an open bar by the pools, which offered snacks and drinks.  They seemed to specialize in non-alcoholic fruit drinks, but had a pretty good supply of everything.  There best one was a self titled Punta Serena, a mixture of half of a dozen fruit juices that they offered to all new guests.*  They used the precise measuring system of a dollop of this and three splashes of that, which resulted in drinks tasting different each time.  They seemed to use a lot of alcohol, but the drinks never reflected much of it, so perhaps the drinks were a  bit watered down.  We did discover the Jose special, a drink with chocolate, coconut milk and Kahlua, which Jose greatly appreciated serving.  The staff were willing to deliver drinks and food to anywhere around the pool area, which was useful for maximizing laziness.


*We ordered it more once we figured out what it was called.

The staff spoke enough English to handle all common queries and were exceptionally accommodating of all requests.  We later learned from a common visitor that there was very little turnover in the staff and many of the employees had been their for decades.  We never really needed to speak Spanish, but we tried somewhat albeit mostly just with hola and gracious*  It has been over a decade since I've taken any Spanish and even when I knew a word, I'd instinctively say the English anyway.


*We said gracious so much that it was hard to stop once we got back to America.

We journeyed over to the sister resort, Los Angeles Locos, one night to mingle amongst the commoners and get dinner.  The way things are set up, we could visit Los Locos anytime we wanted, but they couldn't visit our resort.   I'm sure it would be a nice family vacation destination*, but after staying at Punta Serena it seemed just loud and crowded.  Dinner was good though other than the ant farm on the side of the table.  Afterwards we were happy to get back to our own private resort.Our American tourist smugness is coming along well.

The pool did have a swim up bar.

One other thing worth mentioning.  The resort was clothing optional.  For the first part of our stay this didn't matter, as the wedding party decreed that grandma didn't need to see too much skin.  After the wedding party cleared out and we started to get some new visitors, we got to see a few more exhibitionists.

A Weddings Adventure Part III: The Journey

We got to the airport the next morning, exchanged currency, and met up with Kevin and Ellen.  We also met our first new Alaskan, Alexis, who had sent all of us a message that she would be on our flight and that she spoke Spanish, a useful skill when going to The United Mexican States.  We boarded what would be Becky's first international flight to Manzanillo.

The Alaskan airlines flight took about three hours, but it was significantly more cramped than our cross country journey.  We ended up sitting around some pretty grouchy people.  A person behind us demanded that an airline employee call her boss about him not receiving first class accommodations, while the lady next to me thought having a broken seat recliner was the worst travesty in the history of mankind and only shut up about it when they agreed to her request of a free drink.  Not exactly great for setting the mood for a relaxing sojourn.  On the other hand, the guy in front of me had recently discovered the Ipad 2's photobooth feature, and thought it was the coolest thing ever, showing off all the funny faces to his partner and passing flight attendants.

We arrived in Manzanillo at 3:15 local time, which happened to correspond with CST.   It was a tiny airport practically on the beach with only a handful of flights a day.  They rolled up a couple of staircases and let people out from the front and back exits.  We did learn our first Mexican lesson then.  Do not sit in the middle of the plane or you will be last on the very slow moving customs line.

Becky Debarking

The entire airport runway

While on the customs line I noticed that Alexis was talking to the couple who was seated in front of us. As it turns the Ipad enthusiast, Paddy, was best friends with Bo growing up.  In retrospect this shouldn't have been a shocking development.

Once customs conferred we weren't carrying more than 12 video cassettes, two musical instruments, or one portable typewriter, we were able to officially enter Mexico.  We shared the hour long taxi with Kevin and Ellen.  The driver drove through a couple of small towns and offered to stop for us to get beer, but we declined since we would get all the free drinks we would want soon enough.  The resort, Punta Serena, was built on a cliff, so the the last part of the treck involved a twisty, dizzying cobblestone road.

Taxi to the Resort