Cornell (Johnson) Update

Dinged. Part of me says I should have put more into the app. The other part of me says that it's good to get one ding, otherwise you didn't spread your applications around enough. I'm not really sure.

I did not contact the school alot, nor did I ever go to visit. I was not invited to interview, either, but that is besides the point. Even if admitted, it would have been a tough sell...but now I don't have to make the choice. I'm just not sure how coming back to the Midwest with a Cornell MBA would be...and I don't believe I'm an East Coaster. My GMAT was 13 points below their avg, but my UGrad GPA (3.71) in Engineering didn't hurt, I'm sure. My essay package was, admittedly, the worst of the three, but not terrible. I think that the rankings have made Cornell's apps a little bit stronger this year, so perhaps they are picking from a bit stronger class. Not sure...but if they provide feeback I will find out. That is, assuming they'll be a little bit more helpful and organized as the app process winds down.

I'm not disappointed by this, really. My heart is with UW, but Kelley is still a bit in the running. I'll learn more at Kelley Admit weekend in 8 days.

The most talented people in the world...

My company, a Fortune 5 one, hires "the best and the brightest", "the most talented people in the world"...

The people here are pretty smart. And pretty f****** stupid too (if you are easily disgusted, you may want to leave now). Case in point: Late yesterday afternoon I am taking care of business in the restroom when a contracted co-worker comes in to enter a stall. I'm not paying much attention to him, until I hear "Oh s***, it's all wet!" After I finish, I look to him as he is curiously pushing the stall door open to see what's the matter. Ironic, as "Oh s***" fits pretty well here. Some "smart" person obviously wasn't man enough to fess up to clogging up a toilet and letting it make a friggin' mess. It's 95% likely this person has a college degree. 50% likely that this person has an advanced degree...but is so frickin' stupid that he clogs up a toilet, creates a mess, and is too ashamed to report the problem.

My guess is that the event took place like this. "Ah..." -> feel good, relieved. Flush. Bummer, that didn't work. Ok, try again. Uh oh. I hope nobody's in here, cuz it would be embarrassing!. Good...nobody's here. Run! Whew! Nobody saw.

Common sense isn't so common, no matter where you go...

This morning, when I came in, there was a big yellow sign hanging from the door - "CLOSED FOR CLEANING." It's always nice to start your day off with a good little chuckle :-)

We're really living in a Dilbert life #2

This is really more of an Office Space reference...but you get the idea.

"Hello Milton. I'm going to need you to...go ahead...and move your desk to the basement." This desk has been at work for about two months. Empty. In case you can't see it, the sign says "This desk reserved for ____'s Engineer". In the photo below, you see that some middle manager has claimed this lovely cubicle a new team member he has "coming" (but has not arrived for about two months). To you Mr. Middle Manager, who is exhibiting one of the most predictable human psychological patterns - the power trip - we salute you. We hope you're loving your life and "power" in corporate america's mediocrity pool!


Posted by Hello

A productivity idea

BE MORE PRODUCTIVE! It'll help the bottom line.

Well, who's bottom line? I mean, c'mon, really, is that going to put more $$$ in my pocket? You hear the buzzword productivity alot. There's even an economic indicator for it. But I digress...

Anyways, to help productivity - here's an idea: Get rid of security guard front desks. Why does an organization that is very large with so much to protect do so by hiring these "rent a cop" (my apologies for using a phrase with such a negative connotation if you are one of these people)types to "guard" entry to their buildings? How much do we pay these companies for this service? Seriously - all you need are two people (1 for programming, the other for physical maintenance) and some investment in technology. Put card readers on your doors and whalaa - you're 30 times as secure, 24 hours a day.

These guards don't "guard". They watch people walk in and out, without a care in the world. Sometimes they will actually check that work badge. Someone, who is dressed professionally walks in - well, she must work here - she's dressed for the part. She's ok to go in. And you can't honestly tell me these people remember the employees. The guards are practically different every week! Why, I do not understand. I mean, it's probably not a bad gig, if not a little bit boring. Sit around, chit-chat among your co-workers for 8 hours (with two 15-minute breaks and a half hour lunch) and then head home to do whatever with your "hard earned" cash. You'd think these jobs would have people lined up trying to fill them.

Anyhow, there's probably some method to the madness. I just don't see it.

Uh oh - the boss is coming!

Everyone's had this experience:

You're clicking away surfing the web incredibly well. You've just found that sweet new time-killing web game ending with .swf in its URL (or something like that) and you're intent on just doing a little bit better. Needless to say, at the current moment, you're not earning your salary, you are, in fact decreasing the economic indicators for productivity. In my case, I was doing stock research.

I notice someone coming out of the corner of my eye, and realize, "Oh Shit", it's the boss! Of course, such language took place only in my head, for yelling "Oh Shit, it's the boss" would be an obvious clue that I was doing something not business related. Anyways, my right hand scurries frantically using the mouse to flip the screen to show just my email. You always look busy checking your email (even if there are no boldfaced messages on the screen - if you don't know what I mean by this, it means that there are no unread messages!).

Just another corporate life observation...

Indiana Update

Well, back from San Fran and Orlando yesterday...what a great trip.

This'll be a brief post. Indiana has sweetened the deal, offering an assistantship for both years of MBA school, and the assistantship is a very do-able 5 hrs / week. I still do not think I am headed there, but I am again interested because the school is great, and now it comes at a premium to a private school. I will likely head to the Kelley admit weekend on the 8th to see if this will be the place for me. As it stands:

Cornell - still waiting, now giving a 10% chance of attending
Indiana - percentage upped - 15%
Wisconsin - 75%

Of course, this is just for fun and means nothing. If admitted to Cornell after a visit, that could drastically change these rankings...or it might not at all.

We're really living a dilbert life #1

Maybe the first in a series. Who knows?

We have an "e-purchasing" system at work. It's ridiculous. Everything we do is a web application. We have e-conference room schedulers, e-stores, e-rewards, e-thank you's, e-this, e-that.

I'm using the e-purchasing system and while checking out, I come to the spot in which I am to choose my location. It has 31 different "doors" that can be shipped to in my building alone. What's worse, is that all the names are cryptic - they simply have a door number. Now I'm stuck thinking to myself - what's wrong with my name and address? Do I need to spend the next 4 hours walking around the entire building searching for all the door numbers so I know which ones are where and which I am to choose?

Then I find that you really can choose any of the 31. My "keep-it-simple, stupid" thought that only my name and address matter was right, after all. WHY PUT THIS IN THE STUPID CHECKOUT PROCESS THEN?

My new home

I am far too busy to be making a blog. Aside from my job - where I am actually doing two full time jobs - I also spend countless hours running two funds on marketocracy.com, and trying to find time to work out, not to mention that after all that I still like seeing my girlfriend. My way of dealing with all this crap to do is simple. I ignore it (not my girlfriend though). It's definitely not the healthiest thing in the world to do and there are some days I certainly fulfill my tasks amiably. On other days - well - let's just say I'm not the poster child for corporate productivity.

The thing that's making it difficult is my desire to change careers - into Investment Management. I'm a late bloomer for an MBA applicant blogger - and also much different than most. I only applied to three schools - Wisconsin, Indiana (Kelley), and Cornell (Johnson). To date, I have been admitted by UW, and Kelley. I am patiently awaiting a hopeful interview from Cornell.

So, welcome to me - where I have absolutely no idea where this blog will go. I might be here daily because I hate my current profession, or I might never return - making this a one time deal. Either way, I'm already a bit happier than I was before I started.