Score card

1. Applications to most, if not all, consulting firms - Nada
2. Beijing Trek - Some
3. Microeconomics cheat sheet for studying - Nada
4. Accounting cheat sheet for finals - Nada
5. Rest - Plenty

Well... I'd say I had a really good Thanksgiving.

Outlet shopping!

You know it's gonna be interesting when you wake up at 5 am for shopping. Thanksgiving morning, baby, it's all going crazy.

Fact 1: Be patient. After parking cars in Boston for years, I think I have that.
Fact 2: Be efficient. Business school student. HELLO!?
Fact 3: Avoid lines. I'm a guy, I don't need COACH that badly.
Fact 4: Be early. 5 am was early enough.

Giorgio Armani: guess who is inside? ASIANS! All of them. There were (I counted) 5 white people and one black person. Yup, the sales people! And you know what? Half the Asians were hauling their crying/whining babies and kids around. The other half? Zits! Kids with zits!

Ahhhh...!

I had a game plan with what to buy, and I followed my game plan. Everything done by 10 am. Got my shoes, my socks, my sweater, and my towel. Problem is... my shopping companions were only half done. So I ate and I ate and I ate... in liue of Thanksgiving Dinner, I had Outlet Mall Food Court.

Weird Dream

This morning, I had a really weird dream with a lot of old friends from Hong Kong showing up at a restaurant. We were having a discussion on marriage and relationships. A girl (good friend of mine, who shall not be named) was speaking in desperation. Suddenly, the entire restaurant fell completely silent. In the dream, it was a very odd moment when everything went quiet. We looked at each other across the tables but nobody spoke.

Suddenly, I hear my phone ring in real life. I wake up and go answer it.

Isn't that weird? It was as if the ears heard the ring, told the brain to "shut the dream up," and then the brain let my ears function with the brain! Wait, does that even make sense? So odd. The human mind still works in mysterious ways!

Finally, a break!

Damn, it's been pretty much non-stop since August... here's what I've planned for this break:
1. Applications to most, if not all, consulting firms
2. Beijing Trek
3. Microeconomics cheat sheet for studying
4. Accounting cheat sheet for finals
5. Rest

In that order, sadly. There will be a recap next week.

Snacks

For those of you who know me, you know my snack consumption patterns. For those of you who don't, here it is: I don't buy snacks and I don't buy soda. The reason is that if I buy it, I'll consume it in less than the intended time. Result: very unhealthy.

Okay, so why am I telling you this? Because yesterday, in a panic response to my increasing work load, I bought junk food to keep me company through my late night work:
Ritz Bits Peanut Butter
Lays BBQ Chips
Ridge Ruffles Sour Cream
Chips Ahoy Chuncky

I finished Lays BBQ Chips in one night. You see what business school does to you!?

Operations

Standing in line has a whole new meaning now. I was waiting for pizza at a school event and I couldn't help but think that this line creates valuable loss time for a lot of students. Furthermore, it was such a simple operations problem that could be solved by re-arranging the tables into two rows (two servers), thereby increasing the throughput and decreasing cycle time.

Please shoot me when you have a chance.

Following your heart

Time and again, I tell people to follow where their heart takes them. Everything will work out if you follow your heart. I still think it's true...

Except that time and again, I don't do it. I do something that I really don't want to do but did anyway due to various reasons (give face, peer pressure, premature promise, etc), and then suffer from it. Inevitably, I think back on why I suffered (well, it's not that bad... or pretty bad... anything from paying an extra $20 to failing a midterm to damaging a friendship) and I conclude that I should have followed my heart.

So... the next time I don't follow my heart and I suffer, I will detail the step-by-step process.

Sleep and Work

What is it about sleep and work?

Last night, I came back to home feeling absolutley exhausted. I had a few emails that I need to send out. I had a virtual factory to look after. I had a meeting to prepare for. I had this. I had that. Well... I chose to sleep. At about 11pm, I believe, I fell asleep on my sofa. I had a few chances where I woke up, contemplated about working, and decided otherwise. At 1am, I woke, walked past my desk (two MSN messages flashing), and went to my bed.

Only to wake up in extreme guilt this morning... then I started doing work. Emails. Done. Factory. Done. Meeting. Screw the meeting. This. Done. That. Done.

How ironic is it that I slept to escape work, only to wake in guilt to finish work? I tell you, business school does weird things to the human mind.

I am frustrated...

I am frustrated that each day proceeds without much purpose. I am frustrated that I am working hard but not working efficiently. I am frustrated that I am barely surviving school when I should be breezing through some subjects. I am frustrated that I am not learning as much as I want to at school. I am frustrated that there are only 24 hours in a day. 7 days in a week. I am frustrated that there are so many things I want to do that I cannot dedicate all my time to. I am frustrated that I am distracted easily. I am frustrated that I have time management problems. I am frustrated. I am frustrated.

On the bright side, I am apparently mastering the i-message from LEAD. I am not frustrated.

Butterfly and B-school

This is a picture I took in Belize...

Anyway, midterms are over. Back to presentations and group studies. I feel like the butterfly I saw in Belize. Always on the run, never stopping at one flower. Maybe even a little lost. What does a butterfly do? It smells and chases food? Is that it? Why this flower? Why every flower?

So far, I've had dinners/cocktails with Bain, BCG, Booz Allen, and McKinsey. Why every flower indeed.