HappyHappyDonut

Regarding MBA graduation presents:

An iPod makes a nice gift. ) (A= B)

An iPod can be engraved with a personalized message. (A=C)

An engraved iPod makes a nice gift. (B=C)

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An entry level iPod is good. (A)

A full decked out iPod is even better (B).

A < B

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Simple isn't it ? :)

The picky ones among you, ok, well me at least, the kind of folks who would read Eats, Shoots & Leaves, like me I guess, will have noticed a recent change to the HappyHappyDonut site.

Until recently, I have been an avid fan of two characters, the 'en' dash (–) and—my personal favorite—the 'em' dash (—). These are used in place of the minus sign so common to other less well–educated blogs. The en dash can be used in the case of a phone number or to join two words together, like in the sentence just above. On the other hand, the em dash—the finest of them all—is often used to set apart a phrase or to add an idea while avoiding the (hated) parenthesis.

Now until recently, I have used these wonderful characters on a regular basis—just as I do in my school work, resume, and oh, yes, my hated job. However, due to limitations in my blog client software, I have to type those characters out by hand—long form if you will—using special HTML character codes. Though I enjoy the final result, the process has been rather time consuming and I fear, in this era of limited time for personal pleasures, has kept me from writing in this forum as often as I would like.

And so for the time being, I have suspended the usage of en and em dashes. I will be using the homely minus sign to get the idea across, with the following convention applying. For our needs, one '-' is equivalent to an en dash; 2 (ie: '--') is equivalent to an em dash.

And so with that taken care of, I shall sign off, and begin ruminating on my next posting. (or at least go back to studying.) 'nuff said.

PS: Those of you who know your way around Microsoft Word, know that by inputting two minus signs back–to–back, you can force Word to substitute a real em dash.

PPS: A nice present would be the Economist Style Guide, referenced in my Amazon wish list on the right...

That management accounting exam I had last june was apparently not the last one in my academic career. Oh no. Rather, I have my first exam of the new degree tomorrow. Open book of all things. How do you study for that ? :-/

Still waiting for some big news before taking some major decisions. Looks like I may tough out November at least. Some big stuff coming down the pipe for next month. Not wanting to leave people high and dry, I may just pound away, but with a clear understanding of what is and is not doable. 'nuff said.

Spent most of the week working on a new backend for the web site at work. Using off-the-shelf open-source software in place of expensive commercial stuff. The only downside is that the documentation is spotty and the support is rarely immediate. Oh well. Persistence pays off in the end.

The two products I am using are MySQL which is a free database application. (Shouldn;t say the equivalent of Oracle, because I just applied for a job there. ;-) But good enough for the kinds of things I need to do.) The other is Typo3, a content management system (CMS) referred to me by my friend Carl, whose business it is to know these things. A CMS is a fancy word for a combination of a web server and an application running over top to manage data and do neat stuff with it. In this case, I needed the ability to run a dynamic, bilingual web site.

Why I am talking about this in this web log ?

Well, because I think I have found new tools to add to an eventual service offering I am working on for when I put my business plan in action. When that day comes is still a big question mark, but what my expertise and value-added are are coming in to focus. Along the lines of offering marketing/strategy/financing/business plan consulting services to venture capital-funded, high tech start ups. In addition to expertise developed over the last decade, I want to be able to provide a portfolio of services and technologies in-house and via partners.

So far, so good.

What's stopping you ?

Not sure really. The easy answer is fatigue, bordering on exhaustion. The inability to think about the future while knee-deep in the muck of the present. Funny thing, the work situation is not so bad. Definitely much less friction than a few months ago. Rather my lack of satisfaction comes from the fact that I currently have no opportunities for advancement, which affects my motivation, which affects my performance, and so on.

The big question is whether opportunities for advancement are really such an important thing right now, or whether it becomes really a question of me convincing myself that I am unhappy and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The lack of management responsibility is not necessarily a bad thing. Well, yes the salary issue is a problem, but on the other hand, I have more free time to myself. Time with which to grow personally, time with which to start a business, time with which to spend time with my family.

Taking a step back, the bigger, more existential, question becomes, "what do I really want in life?" I don;t have the answer to that question right now. Actually never have. And so I go on comparing myself to an undefined, ever-changing, standard, invariably coming out on the bottom.

The most immediate question right now is what is the best way to deal with my exhaustion. Do I wait it out or do I stop work for a bit ? That is something that I hope to decide in the coming days with an answer at the latest by Thursday. I'll have it to take it from there.

Boston won, yet order reigns in the universe. Must have been less of a causal link than we thought. Good stuff.

I had the opportunity to go to another happy hour tonight. More free undeserved(ed) liquor. CHose to go home instead and watch the last game of the Sox-Yanks series. I am a Yankees fan but I have been to Fenway and think there is much to like about Boston. I am pulling for Boston this time around. If they screw up this time, they ill have to wait another 88 years before I pull for them again.

'nuff said.

Heading off to bed after watching The Daily Show and actually not watching porn. No I mean it, I really did not watch porn on my way to bed. For real. Trust me. Yes, the other times were lies (LIES! as Frau Farbissina would say), but this is the real deal.

Ok, where was I. Oh, yes. Checking my e-mail for news on some recent job-related questions. (Not questions related to my actual, current job, but the one--ok, whichever one--I wish I did have.)

All going well until, as I went to close the lid of my laptop, the midnight hour rang and an alarm popped up. Heed the warning, that's all I can say! Five days until the moment of truth. Five day heads up to not shank it. Five days until my 2nd wedding anniversary.

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. Choo Choo!

'nuff said.

PS: tonight was a sad goodbye to my friend the K-Chick and her guy Philippe. Sniff. London calling. Sniff.
PPS: in a repeat from last week, I am off to the Molson brewery Thursday night for another cocktail. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Last night (Wednesday) featured an event for MBAs who are part of the association. (Yes, there is an association!) The theme for the evening, which took place in the reception room of the Molson's Brewery on Notre-Dame Street was, instead of a wine and cheese, to be a beer and cheese tasting event.

Needless to say I had my doubts.

The first ensemble was Rickard's Red and Brie. The second was Cheddar and ... who the hell remembers. Yep, the beer was already kicking in by now. Anyways, by the time we got to the last combination, Black Label (hey Mabel!) and blue cheese, the relationship between the two was tenuous at best. As the chap seated across the table from me reach out to open the bottle of Black Label in a convenient* 1.18L screw-top bottle to pour me a glass, I had had enough.

Consequently, I gave in completely to the dark side and continued to toss back free glasses off beer with reckless abandon. By my count, I had 6 if not 7 beers there and was definitely having a good time. Heeding the call of some former classmates, I headed off to a restaurant named VIP in Chinatown. Between bites of General Tao, drinks of a Tsingtao and references to Saturday Night Live (you don't want that chicken, chicken-ah make-ah rousy house pet!), I continued to spout utter nonsense. Though I did manage to convince Devon of the necessity of taking the golden An to Stan in the tan van who will give it to Fran.

Supper over. Almost made it out of the restaurant in the free clear. However, in a flash back to what was arguably the oddest moment of the MBA, the Chinese waiter, seeing my credit card, commented that I must be Jewish, what with the word "man" appearing in my last name. But that's another story. :)

A few hugs and pecks on the cheek later, to my good friend** Banana among others, and I was on my way.

Long story short. Made it to Longueuil. Hauled out laptop. Listened to Stanton Warriors among other good things. (Yes, my new 80GB hard drive means I can carry another 2-3 weeks worth of music with me at all times. Just need to pirate it first, being that it is perfectly legal in Canada for the time being.) Made it onto the bus. Head bobbing back and forth in the darkness, the beer grinding away, visions of reindeer prancing left and right. Notice a Toyota car dealership float by on the left. Oh shit. Means I missed my stop by a good kilometer. Ugh. Trek home by foot along the side of the highway.

Take a right through unchasrted territory. Walking through older neighborhoods with lawns--a true luxury. Immediate thought is maybe I could crash out on someone's lawn for the night, using my computer bag as a pillow. Might catch hell from HCW™. have to keep on keepin' on if I know what is good for me.

Times are different now. If I was 18 again and this was Quebec City, I would have done it though. Heck, I did it before.

The first time, up there with my Pops scouting out apartments, began drinking schnapps by the poolside in the afternoon. Early evening, I headed off to the bar district (Grande Allée for les intimes). Hung out at the Bulldog Pub during beat the clock. Proceeded to get completely treed. Managed to make it to a park in front of the Brandy bar. Crashed out on lawn. Puked. Fell in and out of sleep. Passersby ask if OK. Mutter yes. Sleep some more. At some point, go to parking lot underneath big building. Sleep in car for rest of night. Leave parking lot before 8AM. Head back to hotel. Feels great to be 18.

2nd time involved passing out on lawn beside provincial legislature, hidden behind some shrubbery on the aforementioned Grande Allée (for les intimes). Feels great to be 18.

In the end made it home safely last night, stopping to not watch porn on the way to bed. Then got some rest so that I could be ready for Thursday. 'nuff said.

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* = You know convenient like in a Billy-Dee-Williams-Colt-45-Quart-A-Malt-Liquor-Bust-A-Cap-in-Yo-Ass-Bitch-my-man-ain't-your-baby's-daddy-Aaiiigghtt-kind-of-way.
** = Banana is good enough to not let me get away with saying things like "Alcohol is my friend!". Even though it is. Nice try kiddo. Hehe.

Naive visions of writing long posts to my blog this past weekend. Instead after a few pages of "The Ideas that Changed the World", conked for a long nap on Sunday. (Will have to wait until later to know what those ideas were.)

This after a nice afternoon spent with HCW™ spent picking apples. A nice weekend in fact.

Happy to announce that she has rejoined the pantheon of coolness. Happened court of automatically after she agreed to sit down and watch Return of the Jedi with me. After I had finished watching the first 2 Star Wars movies collectively known as Episodes IV & V—it's a long story. That is one of the reasons why she is rightly considered to be cool. She has always liked science fiction and action movies, in contrast with the wife of a recently married friend. And let's not even mention a former colleague who thought that Blade Runner sucked. Conversation over. Next.

But seriously, some more weekends like these and I will be on my way to being a happy camper.