MBA 'letter of intent'

this is getting sent to the UNR business school. any serious problems, let me know before I make prove you all right and prove i'm an idiot.
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Personal Statement

Albert Einstein once said, "Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school." To Einstein, education was clearly a stumbling block, the epitome of unoriginality, but to me it is something quite different. Education dictates that the current generation learns from the mistakes of the past while also delivering the skills that bring a long and productive contribution to society. These skills are a learned behavior and to master them we must know and understand what is expected. There are two ways to know: experience and education. I am well on my way in experience, but happily look forward to the fact that an education will take a lifetime to achieve.

My education began in a single room school and I was one of only three students. My twin brother and I excelled in reading and were soon reading well above our expected level. Around 5'th grade I transferred to another Christian school that had around 60 students. For high school I attended the boarding academy of Campion Academy where I graduated in 1997.

I attended Walla Walla College from the fall of 1997. I started in the engineering program and finished with a BSE, a concentration in electrical engineering, and a minor in mathematics. The classes were challenging and as I later learned, the professors did a very good job of preparing me for a professional role in the workplace.

My father was a field engineer for Honeywell and repaired mainframe computers. It was solely his influence that gave me the desire to be an electrical engineer. During my senior year of high school I hired on to the same division that my father worked for. The age of the mainframe had passed and he now serviced small personal computers. I was offered a full time job, and my parents left it up to me to decide if I wanted to work full time or continue my education by going to college. Even as only a senior in high school I could see the positive effect that a college education had had on my parents life so I opted to go to college.

All in all, my parents and I have paid around $80,000 for my Christian education. Up until now, I have only attended private Christian schools. I was once of the impression that a private education was of a higher quality than what is provided through public education but I no longer hold that view. Through the association with my coworkers it has become obvious that the competence and value that an employee provides is not as dependant on what schools they have attended but more to the dedication and perseverance that is put forth. In the work place, an education is usually reduced to the common denominator of being a requirement for a position and once that requirement has been meet, management assume your competency in the field. With that said, I would never waste my time with a non-accredited school. I have seen to many cases where people have to start all over because the classes they have taken do not count towards a degree when they transfer schools. I am very glad to see that the UNR business school is not only accredited but is also held in high regard by the members of the community.

My professional career began in 2001 when I was hired by XXXXXXX as a test engineer. About 6 months later YYYY acquired XXXX and my induction into corporate America was completed. Engineering has provided a very solid foundation and the truths and concepts are universally applicable to problem solving methodologies. I have found that my role as an engineer has been valued because the ability to define, develop, and solve most any problem. I obtained my six sigma green belt certification within YYYY soon after the acquisition. In 2004 I obtained my Professional Engineering certification. When I compare what the two certifications have done for me I am amazed to see the green belt certification has actually done more for my career than the much harder and complicated PE certificate. Solid management, good underlying principals, and high integrity are key ingredients in a successful company. An MBA will help me to further balance my toolset and mindset when I tackle corporate problems.

Starting in March I am transferring from engineering to supervisor. I am now in a position to utilize the skills I learn in school WHILE I am in school. To me this is the best of both worlds; the application of education will help to solidify my immediate success as I take on the new role of supervisor. An MBA from UNR will help me to be successful, whether I choose engineering or management as my long-term role.


Sincerely,
Keith ZZZZ, PE

moon

EOS digital rebel. 300mm zoom lens, with scale factor for digital camera, probably a 450 equivelant zoom. and with ALL OF THAT, this is all the bigger we could get the moon. it was large to the naked eye.

how hot is it?

I neat little write up on how to measure temp 'down hole' HERE

Got the job

I got the job I applied for. no news yet if it is a promotion or not because it looks like I will actually transfer and begin work before the offer letter is sent, so most likely no raise, so I can't call it a promotion. bummer....

GMAT-- Done

I took the GMAT today, got me a 610. I scored 43 on the analytical (math) and a 31 on the english crap. what ever that means. a score of 620 would have put me in the 80's percentile, so I'm just under that. I can now say with confidence than in a group of 5 I have good odds of being the second smartest person. ahhh.... thats a buch of crap.

it cost $250, but I have a nice pair of earplugs to show for it. the provided ear plugs, but I didn't open mine, so I may frame them or something..

google maps example

so I guesse you can make a LINK to the map you make. it seems to work ok.

*update*
check out my trip in ohio. from the airport... HERE

google maps

head on over to yet ANOTHER awesome beta service from non other than GOOGLE, the company that was able to double its stock price from 100 to 200$ in about 2 months. man.. I wish I'd bought in. any way.. check out maps.google.com and see an easier way to see the city you are living in or where you are going. after my 13.2 seconds of exploration on the site I was unable to determine how to SAVE the image, or link to it without doing a screen capture.. so if any of you find a way, post.

promotion update

I interview this thursday for the new position. because people are to stupid to mark things on their company shared outlook calanders I can see who else is interviewing. I think I have a pretty good shot of getting the position, but its not over until the fat lady sings (where did that saying come from anyway?)

I think I'll take the GMAT test next wednesday.

business trip

after 3.5 years of employement by the 'big employer' I'm going on my first business trip! I leave in a few weeks, and will be gone about 2 weeks. to some suburb in ohio.

Round trip Plane tickets: $450
Rental car: $150-400 (not sure why the gap?)
lodging: 103$ a night (around $1100 total?)
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total: approx $2,000

probably way more after meals.

I got me a king size bed, the room us suppose to come with internet and a game system. so, if i'm alive after working 14 hour days I just might be able to kick back and use the ammenities.

What food do you guys think I should get on the company dollar?
What enteratinment/attractions do you think I should see near the cleveland ohio area (and don't cut in to far on my 700 miles total allowed for the rental car)

ohh..... and I"m sure you wonder why the big trip? Its cause i get to reverse engineer something! =)

Jury Duty completed

Jury Duty! I never really did give you guys the skinny on that wonderful experience. So here is the quick recap.

The postcard said I could park in a pay parking garage and they would validate the ticket. I didn't feel like going through all the hassle, so I parked 3 blocks farther away in a free garage and jen dropped me off in the front of the court house at about 7:30. I was to report at 7:45. Well, as luck would have it they don't open the doors to the building until 7:45-8 so I got to stand out side in line, in 15degF weather.

I strike up a conversation with the guy next to me in line, and determine he's a construction worker and has high hopes of getting out of the jury duty. We talk some more and I learn he helped build a gas station near where I work. He built it about 20 years ago. So he proceeds to tell me a story...

So I'm there, working, and this old codger of a dude starts walking across the cross walk. All the cars stop and he makes it most of the way across and then this one girl just plow right over him. He busts up over the hood and into the windshield, and then lies on the ground. I run over to help the dude, but he's all ready kind of getting up. I grab his arm, and can kind of tell this guy is tuff, farmer tuff. The ambulance comes but all he has is a little scratch on the head... man. The guy is tuff as nails. Everyone is standing in awe. Whispering. "Do you know who that is?"... Wow... that’s old man bob (name omitted).

Hear is the neat thing. Old man bob was the owner of our 0.5 BILLION-dollar companies. He was probably about 60 at the time. It was fun to hear another larger than life story about the old guy, that as legend has it owns most of the town, and will continue to work from the grave (he's not dead yet, and he just opened a new company a few weeks ago)

The doors finally open to the courthouse and we make our way up the steps. Everyone is concerned about if they have to take their belt off to get through the metal detector. Screw that, I Just walk through and it’s not a problem. We make our way to the checking room and learn that there are 3 juries starting today so there is like 150 potential jurors that have reported. We fit about 50 people in a room intended for 12.

After a few hours of milling around and waiting for the court to start we get to go to the actual courtroom and begin the actual jury selection. Judge comes in, everyone stands, judge sits down, every one sits. Judge goes into a 20-minute speech on the history of the jury system, starting 2000 years before Christ. Goes through the middle ages, touches on the European system, then draws the differences into the American system and ends the lecture after most of my fellow moron jurors are asleep. There were probably only about 10 of us, of the 50 potentials that had an advanced education. It was pitiful.

So the selection begins. They bring out this lotto drum with all of our names in it and the court secretary starts drawing names. These people then move from the selection area to the next area. About 25 people got selected to leave a little less than half of us still sitting there.

The judge starts quizzing all of those chosen. Name, profession, marriage status, what does your spouse do... etc. no one ever answered the last part (spouse occupation) which proved the limited mental capacity of these jurors. Then the prosecution and defense grilled them.

One kid said he could not be impartial because he had previously been accused of a DUI in Colorado and he didn't believe in the Breathalyzer thinggys. He spent a ton of his own money in his defense and was able to prove his innocence. Because one of the counts against the accused was a DUI he said he could not be impartial (probably in favor or letting him off, but he never did say). He got grilled for 20 minutes, and they finally let him go. He stuck to his story and never fell for the sucker traps that the judge, prosecution and defense asked him. I was proud of him.

Then this other lady says, "The accused is guilt, we’ve seen all the evidence, and heard the accusations. He is guilty". The judge says, "mam, the session has not even started yet, all we have heard is the counts that he is here for. Assault with a deadly weapon, leaving a crime scene, and a DUI" (there were actually 4, I can't remember the last count). The ladies said "well no one makes it this far in the system unless they are guilt so he is guilty"

The judge was visibly disgusted with her, and then some other lady chimed in on her side, agreeing with her. The judge pulled the surveys from both ladies that they had sent in per the jury duty process and turned them over and read the statements on the back. Both women had put really stupid stuff on their survey, trying to get out of jury duty. The judge ripped into them a little explaining it was their civil duty to be impartial and actually SIT AS A JURROR. But in the end about 5 people were let go including anti DUI student.

Each time a potential was dismissed they pulled out the ANCIENT keno machine and drew more names, I was really hoping I would get picked as at this point I was convinced I could serve as an impartial juror and set the rest of the 11 morons that were picked on the right path. But alas, they never drew my name =(

The case in a nutshell was some dude assaulted his girl friend with an AXE, chopped her windshield of her car, then cut her cell phone in half (nice shot) and then fled the scene. When caught, he had blood alcohol content greater than 0.10 and thus was cited with a DUI. It would have been a great trial, only scheduled to last 2 days, but I didn't get in =(

So after we took a break they picked the 12 jurors, but when they called out someone’s name they didn't go up. We LOST someone! The bailiff went to find them but couldn't so someone was picked in there place and they proceed. The rest of us were let go.

On the way out I see the guy that told the story of old man bob in the elevator. He was they guy they called and didn't show! He must have been talking on his cell phone too long or something. I'm not sure what happened to him but the judge was PISSED when we left.

government auctions

have you ever wanted to buy the rejected crap from the US government? well now you can. just goto gsaauctions.gov and check out the junk sorted by state. hawaii has an unusually large amount of junk for sale, but of notable interest is the FAN BOAT for sale in MONTANA of course!