Always read the fine print....

I apologize to all of you for not writing in a while (that means you, mom). A lot has happened in the last few weeks. I finished my first LFM semester, got my first Boston parking ticket, went on vacation, participated in my third ropes course as part of my second orientation of the summer.....and got a Wii.

First things first....I was pretty angry at The Man after that ticket. I drove to campus once this summer. Once! And it happened to be the third Wednesday of the month between 8 am and noon in a month between April and October, which also happens to be the four hour window when they do street cleaning. I drove because I was going to take people over to Boston Scientific for a plant tour. When we went to leave, my car was gone. I looked at the sign (a little more closely this time.....) and realized I had been towed. Two hours and $135 later, I got my car back, only to notice a ticket on then windshield. Seriously? The towing fee wasn't enough? As if I needed an extra reminder that I'm a dope.....

Summer term ended and I went up to Minnesota to go camping with my brother. It was a chance to be men.....to grow beards and curse and smell bad. I succeeded in all three. I wasn't so successful with the fishing, only catching one fish (in about eight hours of fishing), but aye, she was a fighter. I had a good time, though. I felt like it was the first time I was outside without hearing a car in a long, long time. I will pass along this piece of camping wisdom, though: if you're going to bring an air mattress to sleep on, make sure it holds air. There's nothing like waking up every two hours to reinflate.

Arrrr....she almost took me arm off.

We just finished orientation again. The highlight of the week is meeting your new team. It's hard to say just yet, but I think we'll work together just fine. There is one other engineer in the group. In fact, he's working on a PhD in chemical engineering, the poor guy. They understand that my schedule might not always be the most accomodating so they're willing to plan meetings around my classes, which is nice. Also, after spending a day with them doing one of those outdoor, teamworking building, ropes-course-like activities, they commented that they appreciate my leadership skills and initiative. Maybe I'm improving. No one told me I was quiet, at least. It's a start.

But most importantly, we got a Wii. I can see my productivity going way up already. In fact, I think it's even carried over to enhance my GameCube skills. I can feel my dexerity......growing. Either that or I'm coming down with something. Jess......I mean, "Virginia-ca" has been feeling a little under the weather and our marriage is all about sharing. You would think they wouldn't want a doctor who's contagious going in to work. It's not like the people she's around have the immune systems of......of.....of people who never get sick. But not so much. She has to go in even if she feels like death. I hope she doesn't have the SARS. 'Cause then I might have the SARS (I mean, aside from the deep concern I have for her first....right sweetie?) Seriously, though, I don't know how I would handle the LFM pace with anything more than a cold. So if those within the sound of my voice (or the view of my typing) are thinking about being a part of LFM, take good care of yourself. There's not a lot of down time.

Though it does give you more Wii time.....

"Captain Butts's Chicken Fingers?"....

The summer is winding down. Next week is our last week before we take a break. No complaints here. This week, we visited Intel for a plant tour. They keep the facility uber-clean, so you have to dress up in these head-to-toe spacesuits in order to enter the actual manufacturing facility. So they're not spacesuits, but you have to wear double gloves, two sets of shoe coverings, a helmet, a jumpsuit (mine was XXXXL.....I'm big-boned), and eyeglasses. Some of the full-time employees have fancy helmets with little hoses running from the helmet to some device on their belt. I couldn't help but think the whole place was a cross between "Short Circuit" and "The Andromeda Strain". I was expecting someone to get infected with an alien virus any second. But the jumpsuit getup was more for the equipment's protection than for ours(at least that's what they told us.......My hip hurts and I can't explain why....)

We've also had a number of free-food events (BBQ's, sponsored happy hours, lunches). I will never turn away free food, but I could use some more variety. MIT has some great "lunch trucks" nearby where you can get just about anything for $4. I went there last week and got the General Gau's chicken; it was excellent. Is it Gau, or Tso.....or Tao? I feel like it has a different name at every restaurant. I think it was named for an actual General, who I envision to be the Chinese Colonel Sanders. It keeps in the tradition of military officers turned chicken friers. Kind of makes you wonder how many other officers out there who, when they have a quiet moment amidst the battle, secretly have chicken franchise aspirations. "Rear Admiral Higgenbottom's hot wings?" "2nd Lieutenant Franken's char-broiled chicken?" You know they're out there....

The LFM 09 class also finished our softball season this week. I think we went 5-5. Not too shabby. I'm sure we'd do better next year, but we'll all be scattered about doing our internships. It's a shame this is the only summer we'll really have together. Look at me, I'm already getting nostalgic.

This last week of summer term has us giving presentations and writing reports. We have a leadership assessment paper to write. Most of the feedback I've been getting tells me I need to speak up more in class. I've never been a very loud person, or one who dominates large group discussions. That's partly why I'm here, though. I can always read a statistics book if I'm interested or need to brush up on something, but there are other skills I really have to learn to hone here. They do really put a focus on the leadership part of the program. They'll ask you how imporant the "L" is in LFM. (And don't say twice as important as the "F".....they hate that answer) I appreciate how much the program has caused me to really think about myself and where I want to be with respect to my leadership skills when I'm done here. My goal is, when I'm part of a new study group next semester, to not have anyone tell me I need to be more vocal. Wish me luck.

One last thing.....if any of you are ever considering buying MIT apparel, I would like to put in a plug for Steve and Barry's. It's a clothing chain that sells collegiate stuff. The Coop in Cambridge sells MIT hooded sweatshirts for $60. I just bought two at Steve and Barry's for $8 each. That's like two General Gau's chickens per sweatshirt. Not too shabby. It's about an hour west of campus (driving) but if you're in the area, it's worth it. Just a thought...

Go Cubs.

"He was pretty stoked about nailing the inverted kiss of death..."

In addition to finishing Harry Potter and handling my schoolwork, I watched a little X games this week. You know, just to stay hip to what the kids are talking about these days (see title). My wife and I were watching the event where the skateboarders go down a huge ramp, fly across a giant gap, land the thing and then immediately go up the vertical side of a halfpipe. I don't know what this is called, and I'd probably have to draw a picture to explain it correctly, but the point is to go as high as you can over the top of the halfpipe. It's sort of a skateboard high jump. Anyway, this one guy flies through the air, lands his trick, goes up the halfpipe, gets major air, and then realizes he's way too far away from the face of the halfpipe and plummets 45 feet to the wood floor below. He hit so hard his shoes flew out of the screen upon impact. Atleast that's how the announcers explained it; I thought his feet exploded. Despite a bruised lung and a broken wrist, he walked off the ramp (he was lucky). And then he finished in second place. The message to kids everywhere?.....stay in school.

Speaking of school, we're down to the last two weeks of the summer term. Everyone is looking forward to the break, but I know I will miss working with the group I've been a part of for the summer. We will all be split up into separate groups once the rest of the MBA students arrive. I know it's important to expand my network and it will be good practice to learn to work in a new team environment, but at the same time I felt like we were just getting started. We have a week off before the "sloanies" arrive, so I'm headed to Minnesota to go fishing with my brother. A good MidWestern vacation.....

Ooh! They just showed a replay of the X games dude that almost killed himself. He went straight from the hospital back to the X games venue. They're calling him a "warrior". No kidding. Every army needs skateboard-wielding soliders that are able to fall from high places. With a little more training, he could be the first parachute-less paratrooper. I'm glad he's okay, but calling him a warrior is a bit much. Again.....stay in school.