March 2006
Monthly Archive
You’re a Loser, Baby
Posted by Administrator on 26 Mar 2006 | Tagged as: Finance and Economics
Since I was unable to get access to the SAS CD’s for installation on my laptop prior to spring break, I have had to go into the office a couple of times this week to finish working on some SAS programs. I was there yesterday afternoon and almost done when I called home and found out that Scott would not be able to feed Brooke dinner due to a server problem. My girl was starving by this time, so I rushed home to feed her, clean up the afternoon’s mess, and put her to bed. Then I went back to school to finish. Surprisingly, the office was not a lonely place on a Saturday night…there were two other people working just in my office.
After about 5 minutes of work, one of the guys, Tommy, said to Hunter and me that we really need to get a life since we are at school working on a Saturday night. Hey, at least I am married and have kids, these other two have no excuse! But it was really funny and got me thinking about how different our lives are from those of the other students at the university. And although I usually am not at school working on Saturday nights, I am always at home working. It’s not that none of us have a life, it just seems to be a loser’s life. Of course, what does it really matter what I am doing on a Saturday night after my kids are in bed since they pretty much are my life?
New Phone!
Posted by Administrator on 24 Mar 2006 | Tagged as: Random Noise
This week I got a new cell phone…the Motorola V3 RAZR. I love it! I didn’t really need a new phone since my previous phone was only about a year old (I got it when mine vanished for a week thanks to one of my students who somehow picked it up and took it home). Yet, several times a month we are out doing something and I comment on how I really wish I had a camera phone to capture some funny thing that Brooke has done or some weird redneck spectacle. So, I finally broke down and got the RAZR. Even Scott (who has the newest Blackberry) thinks that it is a very cool gadget. Of course, I have nerdified mine already with a Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ringtone and background graphic.
Spring Break
Posted by Administrator on 23 Mar 2006 | Tagged as: Finance and Economics
I love spring break. I love being home and not going to class. I do not love the fact that I have had to rest more and work less than I really want to admit. Why am I not working? It’s not like it is going to get any easier to work in a few weeks. As a matter of fact, it gets harder with every day. Scott has already suggested that I consider taking the incompletes and not killing myself for the rest of the semester, but I am not willing to do that yet. Yet, when I am honest with myself, I just don’t see how it is all going to get done. I am also horrified of having to stand up in front of the class and teach all the way up until the beginning of May. It will be a freakshow. Why can’t we just stay on spring break?
Happy St. Patrick’s Day
Posted by Administrator on 17 Mar 2006 | Tagged as: Random Noise
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! No Guinness or green beer for me this year…and that is no blarney.
Meeting
Posted by Administrator on 16 Mar 2006 | Tagged as: Finance and Economics
Today I had an appointment to meet with Dr. Zumpano for the first time. He is the real estate professor in the department, and I had never met with or seen him before today. As my interests lean towards pursuing some real estate investment research now, I knew he was someone I needed to meet. Another finance student working with him had great things to say, and I felt very good about the meeting today. The goal of the meeting was basically to meet Dr. Zumpano and start paving the way for some kind of involvement in my dissertation. He had some good initial advice, and we basically ended the meeting on the note that he would be happy to be on my committee and will help me get access to whatever data or assistance I need.
Oh, and I must mention…one more day until spring break!
Sick Day
Posted by Administrator on 14 Mar 2006 | Tagged as: Random Noise
This weekend Brooke had a touch of a runny nose but otherwise seemed okay. Sunday night, however, Scott and I both developed the beginnings of a cold. Scott started Zicam treatments, but I could not have anything like that since I am pregnant. We both woke up Monday morning feeling horrible. Actually, Brooke usually wakes me up at 5:30 to come in and watch tv in our bed. I woke up at 6 and heard her playing in the living room. I am not sure if she came in and found me comatose or what. I got up with her and then went to get Scott up at 8. Only I fell asleep in the bed for another 30 minutes. Then we rushed to get me to school to teach. In the rush to get to school and the fact that I was barely functioning due to my ill state, I left at home all the exams I needed to hand back to my students. So, Scott and Brooke had to come back to school with the papers. I think my students were going to kill me when I told them I didn’t have the exams, but luckily I could also inform them that the exams were coming.
So, it was a long day of teaching. My throat was sore, and I had not felt that kind of exhaustion since the first trimester. Brooke must be like the movie “Unbreakable” because once again she seems to be fending off illness that has crippled Scott and me. Let’s just hope we are all well soon.
Bump
Posted by Administrator on 11 Mar 2006 | Tagged as: Finance and Economics
I ran into a bit of a bump in the road with my plans to finish econometrics paper number 1 by the end of this week. I got my data, wrote my SAS code, and went to run it on my computer only to find that SAS did not like the program. Only it was not bad code syntax causing the problem…it was the fact that SAS didn’t recognize any of the procedures I asked it to use. I am not sure what is happening, but it appears that there is some idiotic version of SAS installed that can’t do anythign worthwhile. So, I am waiting until Monday to talk to the tech people and try to get an answer. In the meantime, I am laying kind of low this weekend and not doing a ton of work. I should be moving forward on some other projects, but after this tough week I think I also deserve a little down time.
The Non-Procrastinator
Posted by Administrator on 09 Mar 2006 | Tagged as: Random Noise, Finance and Economics
I will openly admit that for my entire college career (which has now spanned almost 9 years) I have been a procrastinator. I will tell myself time and time again “you are not going to wait until the last minute next time” over and over and yet continue to succumb to a variety of distractions. Having the Internet at my fingertips and simple household chores have been two of the worst culprits. You would think that I would have mastered this weakness by the time I became a Ph.D. student, but you would be mistaken to think so. Until now. I finally found my motivation to break the procrastination habit…the impending threat of labor and delivery. I am really worried that I will have pre-term labor or just go into labor early and not have all of my papers and assignments done for the school year. I definitely do not want to be worried about incompletes and unfinished projects this summer while I am dealing with c-section recovery and the newborn haze.
I am a little off my own schedule at this point, but not much. I anticipate completing my first econometrics paper by the end of next week. This paper requires you to try to collect data and replicate the results of another published research paper. This is not as easy as it may sound because the data sets are usually enormous, difficult to compile, and the analytical techniques are usually fairly complicated. I started looking for an appropriate paper early in the semester with the hope of being done by spring break. Most of my classmates are still looking for a paper to replicate at this point in the semester. For once, I am way ahead of the game. Now if I can only manage to put that same force into my dissertation…food for thought.
This is a Joke, Right?
Posted by Administrator on 02 Mar 2006 | Tagged as: Toddler Tales
This morning Brooke came in to get me up at 5:23 am. Is this her idea of funny? It certainly is not my idea. Luckily I managed to sneak in a short nap while Scott took Brooke to the gym after school yesterday, and I can sneak one in today since it is my day off from school. I have resorted to drinking a small cup of coffee each morning and hope I am not screwing the baby up for his sister’s waking habits. It is only going to get worse, isn’t it? I have decided that if Brooke gets up any earlier that I am going to try making her go back in her bed since she is only moderately good about lying still and resting next to me.
Late to Bed, Early to Rise?
Posted by Administrator on 01 Mar 2006 | Tagged as: Random Noise
If early to bed and early to rise makes you healthy, wealthy, and wise then what does late to bed and early to rise make you? Sick, poor, and stupid? I know it is making me so tired that I may end up sick, stupid, and as a result, poor. I have been trying to stay up as late as my body will allow so that I can make a dent in the piles of work. Brooke, on the other hand, has been getting up earlier and earlier in the past two months. It has nothing to do with sunlight either because it is still dark when she is getting up. In early January while still in the crib, she would get up between 6:30 and 7. When she moved into the big girl bed, that slowly moved forward to getting up between 6 and 6:30. In the past week she has started a new trend of getting up between 5:30 and 6. As a result, I am losing sleep due to late pregnancy discomforts and an extra hour a day to Brooke’s erratic waking schedule. I am trying my best to be zen about it and acknowledege that I will have even less sleep in a few weeks when the baby is born. I am tired and just really want some rest.
