Let's Catch Up...

I got my grades from semester III today...A in Early Drug Discover, A in Molecular Technologies III, AB in Business of Biotechnology. I'll gladly take that after the rough start in the business course. One semester and then I am done. Thank God. I am enjoying the intersemester break and catching up with the family. We have settled into our groove again, and there isn't much else in this world that I would rather do.

Work is work, and I don't see it changing any time soon. I have been getting phone calls and emails with invitations to apply for new jobs. I have no doubt, even in this crappy economy that I will be able to find a job that gives me at least a 50% raise, nice benefits, and potentially working out of my home. There are two front runners right now. One job would be in Madison (I might get a small apartment down there) as a product manager for a drug discovery tools firm. The other job is a Field Applications Consultant for a large applied sciences company. This one would be great as I could work from my house, get a company car, and do some (50% max travel) traveling. Collecting frequent flier miles while working is always a plus.

Health wise, the last week has been brutal. I went into Afib again last weekend, and had to be electrically converted yesterday. Every muscle in my body is sore as the electricity flexed everything. The good news is that I have scheduled my catheter ablation surgery for January 8th. I should be back to full strength before I go back to school. I have been pushing for this for several years, and now the afib has gotten bad enough that I am finally a candidate. The worst thing about the afib isn't me, it is how much I let down Lorelei and the kids. I can work a full day at work, but I come home and just hold a couch down. I can't help with the kids, housework, homework....anything. Soon, this will be a thing of the past.

I have a lot to say lately, so I will try to write a little more as the semester break goes.

peace

cd

Done

I am done with semester III. One semester left before I get my MS. What a fucking relief. For the next six and a half weeks, this blog will be about fitness and my attempt to get "fit" in that time. Wish me luck.

peace

cd

Two down, one to go!

I have two classes down and one to go. The last class has a presentation that counts for 5% of my grade. At this point, I just want to get this crap over. Then on to my personal bodyfit challenge. I have a few pounds to go for the fitness bonus at work, but this time I am going past the weight and going to try to lost a fair amount of weight before class starts again. Not much else to report, as my brain is mush.

peace

cd

Bringing down the homestretch

Thanksgiving was a blast. Dinner for 19 at Bernard's, followed by dessert at Mary Jo's. Friday found us at the Pinewood Supper club with Crescent, Jason, and Nick. We closed the Pinewood down and then went downtown to a smoky Elbow Room.....Good times.

I have six days left until the semester is done. I have been done with my work for over a week, but this week I have to help get our business plan together. I have one partner that gets his work done and one partner that is MIA. I can see from her facebook profile that she has spent the last three days shopping, watching TV, and anything else other than working on our assignment. This person is responsible for 15% of my grade, and if I am given the opportunity to have input of her effort, she will not recieve good comments.

I saw it was going to snow today, so I dressed up and got out on the bike one last time by 9:30. I was out until 11am...I got 15 miles in, including riding the island. How cool is that to ride rooty, twisty singletrack on November 30th! I can't wait until next summer, when I don't have ANYTHING over my head.

By this time next Sunday I will be done with the semester from Hell, the tree will be here, and the house will be decorated. COOOL.

peace

cd

Flippin Out

Last night I was either going to go to the gym or work on my Business plan for school but a flippy heart got in the way. It wasn't a-fib, but it wasn't great either. I think we were at the tail end of a stomach bug in the house as none of us were feeling that well. Tonight I will prepare myself for the tail end of my Business plan so Andy and I can bang that out on Saturday. I will try to get some exercise tonight when I get home.

I wore a suit again today, just to mess with the boss......it worked. I had to ask him for a meeting today to talk about a partnership with a similar firm to us in Boston, and he just got nervous, looked me over, and asked, "Are you going somewhere today?" I love messing around with him.

I actually wear a suit sometimes because it makes me work harder, and I need to work harder.

peace

cd

I hate my trainer, but I rode it anyway.

Last night I spent about 45 minutes on the trainer, followed by some strength work with some dumbbells. It better not mess up my sweet jump shot! I figured with the dwindling amount of homework left and about four weeks to lose enough weight to get my $500 bonus I better get moving on the exercise. This week is getting the exercise, next week I start adding diet (right in time for Thankstaking).

I handed in my last assignment for Early Drug Discovery. The paper was actually fun to write as I really like microbiology (nerd alert!) and TB is really a re-emerging threat to global health. I think it told a good story about a mid level biotech and their patented technology in drug development. I hope to get an A in that course.

All I have left is part of a Business concept plan that I should have done by Sunday and two slides for a laboratory presentation. The Business concept shouldn't be that hard after Andy and I tackle the Pro Formas for our groups. Our doofus of an instructor said we could put more information that a simple P and L, but I am not going to as I don't care about that class anymore. You can thank Cheri Oteri for that one.

Anyway, I am glad to be completing this semester. As I look back on it, it wasn't really the semester of Hell, I just had one REALLY bad instructor that loused everything up.

peace
cd

The light is getting closer.....

Things are winding down with school finally. My lab assignment is almost done, the business assignment should be almost done after Andy and I do our Pro Formas together. I was up until 4am last night working on my final Early Drug Discovery project. I am about half done at this point. I shouldn't stay up like that, but I was on a roll and the words were flowing. With the problems I have had this semester with motivation, I will roll until the sun comes up if I am being productive. Lorelei is such a doll with me sleeping in the morning. She knows that I am just trying to get this semester finished so we can get on with it. This also gets me out of doing any homework today (likely story).

The faster I can get the work done, the earlier I can start working on me. I really need to see the business end of a gym, and soon.

have a good week.

peace

cd