Random Rants

… are greatly exaggerated. Unfortunately, I have been very busy and have neglected my blogging time, or have just not cared to blog that much. I think I go through the same process once a year on average. Oh well.

In good news, both Nicole and I have finally passed our Masters programs. She in Criminal Justice through Boston University and myself in Math through Texas A&M. It’s been a long 2 years (year and a half for the slacker in CJ), and I can say it actually feels kind of anti-climactic. I was expecting to feel some sort of rush and now that it’s over, all I’m *not* looking forward to is the repayment of college loans. Granted, both Nicole and I have continued to repay our undergraduate loans throughout, but there’s still a lot of debt to go on top of everything else. Time to refinance soon enough and consolidate into 1 easy payment.

And then there’s the new house. We had our first (not to be the last) par-tay of the summer at the new house. Between the drinking, loaded watermelon, and the jello shots, let’s just say I was a certain schnockered blonde. I passed out somewhere around 11 at night (early) and didn’t get up until the next day around 1 in the afternoon (after praying to the porcelain gods of course). Those Jello shots just go down really smoothly. Apparently the party was a success, even with one of the hosts passing out, and a good time was had by most, if not all. And of course, Nicole and our friends from bowling did all the clean up (thank you Nicole, Donna, Becky, and anyone else who helped).

Then there’s the local concert scene. After getting almost crushed to death while Less Than Jake was performing, we’re going to do it all over again tomorrow at the Dropkick Murphys concert. But this time, the plan is to *not* drink heavily beforehand and to fully hydrate, thus having energy for the show should it get hectic. I plan on being front and center with all my Red Sox gear readily visible. I hope it’s worth it . By the way, Reel Big Fish and Less Than Jake just rocked as well.

Well, it’s time to end this edition of the update, but maybe I’ll get some post out more frequently (yeah, right!).

Dan General Rants, Red Sox Rants, School Rants

I PASSED!!!!

Dan School Rants

That’s right kiddies, I took my final exam in Stats last night. I wound up with a B in the course, giving me a .. wait for it .. 3.75 GPA for my Masters. That’s .7 point HIGHER than my undergrad. Whoo!! Now I just need to survive the Final Oral Exam next Tuesday and I’ll be all right. Can i do it kiddies?? Who knows, but the journey sure has been fun!

Dan School Rants

And by that, I mean that from the two houses, hopefully down the road there will only be one.

Yes, I’m sorry I haven’t posted, my faithful reader(s), but it’s been incredibly busy. Ready for it .. here it comes.

In school news, I started my final semester of classes over the past week or so. I’ve already had a missed homework in the ultra-paced Stats class (originally a 10 week class, it has been shrunk to about 7 weeks due to the teacher going on sabbatical). And then there’s my education class. The IT folks at TAMU can’t find my class section (of which I’m the only one registered) so I can’t get access to the WebCT classroom. TAMU has two sections for distance ed – one for TX students and one for the rest. Apparently I’m the only one classified as out of state for this class. Doh! Looks to be a decent amount of work, but the teacher sent the book list out the day of class, so I’m waiting on the books to arrive, crunching the 5 week class even more than it needs to be.

And then there’s the new house. We closed on the house last Tuesday, so we now have two houses and two house payments. We’ve contacted the “We Buy Houses” types of folks, but can’t get an actual offer from them until after the 7th due to our current realtor contract. No problem assuming we can actually get an offer. And then there’s the hassle and issues of the new house. After a blow out of proportion walk through, we have a small punch list that still may take a long time for completion (mostly due to the morons running the show). Now don’t get me wrong, the new house is very structurally sound, it’s only the finish work that these folks put in. Good thing we’re painting most of the rooms (and by we, I mean Nicole mostly, with an occasional hand by me as I’ve been doing the other new house things).

And then there’s the pre-closing tattoos. Nicole and I both got new tattoos. Both are yin-yang/sun designs. Mine in in the upper center of my back (so I can build off it later) with a blue/purple color scheme and Nicole’s is on her right lower leg on the inside. Hers is a fire and ice color scheme and both look pretty snazzy (though honestly, I haven’t really seen mine much).

Until next time my friends, keep it real, keep it fun, and keep it real fun.

Dan General Rants, School Rants

I can’t believe it, but I think today actually marks the time school is coming to an end. I submitted my application for degree at Texas A&M. It’s been such a long haul that I’m not sure anymore of what I want to do. I want to teach, but I’ve had an opportunity presented to me in an IT related field that also has merit and tugs at me.

In other news, I tried a spinning class today. Let’s just say that I’m really feeling it right now. I sweat my a$$ off this morning (if not literally, then pretty close to literally). Chuck and Jason (couple of guys I work out with at the Y) were surprised that I survived the class. Not too much of a surprise given that I used to bike all over Grand Lake back when I was younger. I liked it as a class. Definitely brought out the heart attack factor in me, that’s for sure (for those that don’t know, the heart attack factor when working out is the burning in your lungs and the pounding of your chest that makes you wish you’d have a heart attack and get it all over with). Hit the weight room after for a bit, did some pull ups and some bench presses with the Smith machine. Weight was in the 222-224 range again this morning. I’m still trying to get down to 220. Soon, if I keep up the spinning .

And then there’s the new house. Who hates dealing with bankers?? I do! I do! I swear they try to make things extremely difficult for people in hopes that things will fall through or something. Every time I turn around, the “underwriters” are asking for yet another piece of information or asking for a blood sample, or a guarantee that we won’t say the word “Starbucks” on any day other than the fourth Thursday of the fifth month (which is the day after closing, by the way). I mean c’mon. How difficult is it. We have good credit scores and have no late payments in any way on our current mortgage or credit accounts. Heck, I’m even squeezing an extra $400 a month away from my 401k to guarantee there’s money in the bank for the bills. AARRGGHHH!!

Dan General Rants, School Rants, Working Out