A seething mass of turgid drama.

The wife and I decided to get tickets to a Giants game so that we actually go to one this year. Neither of the two alumni groups scheduled one (that I am aware of - it is possible, though unlikely, I have fallen off their lists as I do not donate). I picked a Thursday afternoon game as that will be more fun, even though it means taking some time off work. (Or because.) I bought the tickets.

Then, when I was adding it to the calendar, I noticed that a couple weeks ago I bought tickets to a "history of tamale making in San Francisco" talk that day. Well... the game starts at 12:45, and the talk is at 6. Barring many extra innings we should be okay, but it will be a busy day.

Note to self: this is precisely what calendars are designed to avoid.

Yesterday was a good day.
The ceremony started at noon, but the powers that be asked students to get there at 10 for pictures. Really, to make sure we were all there. Fortunately a classmate picked me up, so that the wife, dave_orphal, etaine_pommier, and my dad could show up later and not have to hang around for two hours. Random chattage ensued. Alcohol was consumed. Finally we filed in, eventually walked up and received a hearty handshake and fake diploma. (The real one will be mailed to us - I am still waiting for one grade, so theoretically I could not pass.)

Low-key reception and then we walked over to the local pub for a pint (and so Dave could rest his sore tendon). Watched the Giants lose, then wandered through Laurel Heights for a bit and had a fabulous dinner at Spruce. Came home, chatted with my dad some more, then crashed.

I got up an hour ago. We both needed extra sleep today.

So.

We completed our two-day simulation yesterday. Our team finished third, which would have been better had there been more than three teams. Oh well - it's a pass/no pass item and it's not like we did not put in effort.
I still have a take-home final to finish. I'm about 2/3 done and I'd hoped to finish before this four-day stretch so that there would be nothing left between now and graduation. It didn't happen but I will apply myself to it over the next few days. I'll probably try to work on it on the airplane today.

Bittersweet to a certain extent. It's been a long, intense 18 months and I will miss the interaction. I'm glad I can get my life back, though. If I weren't flying out this evening, I could rebuild my social life by going to the joint birthday party.

And so is the sheriff.
Yesterday was our last Saturday on campus -- next week is a four-day intensive, Wednesday through Saturday. The last two days are offsite in Half Moon Bay, though. The morning class was about "communication across cultures" which was pretty good. The afternoon was devoted to presentations about our 12-week marketing simulation/drink from a fire hose project. We won - sorry, that should be WE WON! so we presented last. There was much trash-talking and it was goofily fun; but it was also quite interesting to see how other teams approached the sim. We were the only ones with a plan from the beginning. We also had the most robust analysis (done by me) but at least two of the teams had impressive models in different areas.

The evening was a wine-and-cheese, during which some of the friendly trash-talking continued. I'm glad the project's over. Now I just have the 33-question Finance final to work on.

I got a mailer invitation to Beta Gamma Sigma - "Recognizing the outstanding academic achievements of students enrolled in business programs." They invite the top 20%, which is not exactly exclusive. (Don't get me wrong: I would rather be in the top 20%. I may give them my $70 for the privilege of putting it on my resume.)

However, their explanation of the Greek letters is, well...
"Sigma: Sigma signifies earnestness. Earnestness is enthusiasm measured by acheivement, disciplined by reason..."

And they spell "achievement" correctly later on in the paragraph.

What I'm reading: Elizabeth Bear, Dust

My graduation is the Saturday of Mists Investiture.

The midterm that I spent hours on, writing the essay for the first question? (Of three, due in about a week.) The one that I freaked out about yesterday because it wasn't on my flash drives or my hard drive?

Found it. Misplaced on my work computer. Transferring to flash drive now.

I am working on a Stragery midterm. We choose three of nine essay questions to answer. The prof gave us some of the same questions in our Micro class essay final; he indicated that we can re-use the core of those here if we so desire.

Naturally, the Micro final questions I originally answered do not overlap.

I flew down to Orange County for a quarterly meeting of investment people; we were giving a presentation. It went well, we got good feedback, it's a good group.

However, the problem was the return flight. We were scheduled to leave John Wayne at 4:30. The plane was there, the crew was present, it was actually sunny.
But apparently all but three flights out of Orange County were cancelled due to weather. Ours got pushed back, pushed back, pushed back... but we eventually took off 90 minutes late. The flight was uneventful, not even bumpy.

When I got home bonacorsi had dinner ready. I had a paper due Thursday night that I was finishing Wednesday and thought about not powering through to submit - after all, I was due to get home around 6 PM, plenty of time to write the last half page! Fortunately I made myself finish it. I could easily have been stranded in the OC with no laptop.

Twelfth Night is always a bit odd as it's a cross between a regular SCA coronation, a series of cocktail parties, and a con. This year's was even odder for me because school started up again that day. Concord's not that far, so I drove directly from school and got there about 6:15 - missing the entire official event. I ate at the potluck, chatted with a few people, heard some fabulous epic poetry (and recited some from loaners), and went to bed. There were lots of people I normally enjoy talking to who I didn't get to see at all.

Sunday involved a bit more schmoozing, but mostly driving home and doing grocery shopping and laundry.

Oh well - while school looks like it is going to kick my butt for the next few months, classes will be done in April. I graduate in May. I am looking forward to re-surfacing.

In the meantime, this week's Resolution Recipe: Butternut Squash White Lasagna.
( But madbaker, don't you normally hate squash? Yes, but butternut is my least non-favorite. Along with spaghetti squash. )

What I'm reading: Jim Butcher, First Lord's Fury