MBA and Baseball

I have decided that the MBA program here at ASU is a lot like baseball. We students are pitchers and the professors are umpires. Every umpire has his own strike zone; some are more liberal on the corners, some like high pitches, some like low pitches. If we want to succeed, we just need to figure out each umpire's strike zone and put the ball where it needs to go. Not every good pitch we throw gets called a strike and not every bad pitch we throw gets called a ball. In the end, what we want most is consistency. If we play the game right the odds are greatly in our favor, and the outcome is ultimately in our control.

Hot and Cold

Well, the temperature is dropping here in AZ. Today's high was only 92 degrees, and it's dipping down into the 60's overnight. We got our first full month's electricity bill of $185!! To be honest, I don't think I'd mind paying it if it meant the house was cool, but that's a lot of money to keep the the temperature at a constant 80 degrees. I put in a request to have the maintenance people come take a look and figure out where all the cool air we were paying for was going, but they showed up while we were gone and left a note. All it said was, "Checked the temperature in den and bedroom. Temperature in bedroom 20 degrees higher." Have they done anything about it? No. Are they going to do anything about it? I highly doubt it. That was a month ago. I called them the next day and left a message to have them call me back and explain it. No response. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the married student housing at the U of U may have been small, but they cared about the students. I would move back there tomorrow. The married student housing here, on the other hand, may be big, but they care much more about the money than they do the students. It's just a freaking business. Maybe I was naive to think it would be anything else, but I expected more.

In contrast to the temperature, things have been heating up at school. The classes have been getting more demanding and now the pressure has really turned on to start networking with companies to find internships for the summer. Last Thursday night they had a Company Networking Night where I was able to meet representatives from IBM, Avnet, Amazon, Target, Petsmart, Cox, Dial, and Intel. Some of the companies were very receptive to my background and MBA focus (marketing). Amazon will be recruiting at ASU in December for a marketing internship for which I think I am really qualified. That certainly doesn't mean I'll get it, but I'm looking forward to the opportunity to try. Then this week I attended information sessions put on by Dell and Intel. I won't bore you with the details, but I had some very good conversations with representatives from both companies that were very uplifting. Most companies I talk to seem to be impressed with the technical background and Mandarin skills. My fear, however, is that they act impressed and interested to my face, but when it comes to putting their money where their mouth is, it will be a bit different story. Oh well, it only takes one, right?

Adria is doing well, too. When I got home on Wednesday she was still in her underwear and hadn't showered. She claims she was on the computer looking for jobs all day, but the bon bons and slippers next to the couch are a bit puzzling ;) Seriously, though, she is still working hard to find the right job at the right place that is best for our family. The job that she had planned on starting as of the last post called her up a week after settling on a salary and rescinded her offer. She's received several offers since then that she has turned down because they just don't feel right, but it is very hard to keep doing so. Our fear is that we'll wait forever for that perfect job, but eventually we'll run completely out of options. Anyway, we're very confident that the Lord has great blessings in store for us, and we'll keep praying for His guidance. Part of me wonders what I'll do when she does get a job. She does EVERYTHING around here. Cooking cleaning, laundry, lunches. My only job is to clean up the occasional dead cockroach. I can't imagine having to do all that for myself and still being able to get everything done for school. She is so supportive and I wouldn't/couldn't be here without her.