Stuff to do

Now that my apps are completed, I've got a significant amount of free time and I've been trying to figure out what to do with it. As I was doing my apps, I realized that I know essentially nothing about finance. I could try to learn accounting, but the subject seems phenomenally boring, doubly so because my parents were accountants. If I actually get accepted, I'll probably buy a book on it anyways just so I don't feel embarassed when I talk to all the finance people.

I've thought about improving my chess or poker games, but chess seems so self-indulgent since it doesn't help the rest of my life. Only a couple of my friends play chess seriously, and although I used to be quite good in high school (captain of the chess team and king of geeks, baby!) it just doesn't seem worth the effort to get back to my previous level, nevermind trying to achieve Master class. And poker is more or less shot since the US government passed a bill that makes it nearly impossible to fund online poker accounts.

So I'm thinking about switching to currency trading (forex). It gives me an excuse to learn about trading, makes financial and political news more relevant to me and therefore more interesting, I can trade after work since the markets are 24/7, I only need $250 to set up an account, and despite having the option of 200:1 margin only that $250 is at risk.

Now let me be clear: I understand that if I actively trade in a forex account then this is gambling, not investing. But honestly, I'm fine with that. I enjoy gambling, and really I'm pretty good at it. I spent a couple months learning how to count cards in blackjack, I learned enough to more than hold my own at low-limit poker, and I'm proud to say I've never left Vegas with a loss. So the way I see it, this is just another game to learn while simultaneously increasing my financial knowledge.

In other news, my Kellogg interview is this coming Wednesday!

Finally done!

Well the first phase of work is officially complete, since I just submitted my Stanford app! In related news, Kellogg sent me an interview assignment today, so phase two is already beginning!

School Choice

A recent comment asked why I'm not applying to Wharton. The answer is that my school choice was heavily influenced by geography. My wife will be graduating from Stanford Law School this year, and the firm that she's overwhelmingly likely to work for has offices in Chicago, San Francisco, LA, and New York. This means that even Harvard will be a challenge for us if I get accepted there.
Also, I was born in Chicago so Kellogg & Chicago GSB were natural choices, and we've been spending time with the Stanford community out here so that was a natural choice as well. Harvard's unparalleled resources and reputation make it a good choice for a stretch school (well, maybe all of these are stretch schools), so that rounded out the list.

Chicago Submitted

Chicago submitted -- only one left to go!!

Kellogg Submitted

Two down, two to go!

HBS Submitted

First application completed and submitted! So many last-minute details...what a relief to finally have it in. Three more to go!

A few hundred dollars later...

With a new processor (Athlon Sempron), a new motherboard (some generic board with a VIA chipset), and one new stick of RAM, I'm back in business.
On the plus side, I can now write my essays. On the minus side, my computer now has only 1G of RAM instead of 2G since there are only 2 RAM slots.

Also, I hate Fry's.
Fry's sales rep: We'll install the motherboard into your existing computer for $69.99 and the processor for $29.99
My thoughts: That's sort of expensive, but it'll be faster than open-heart surgery on my kitchen table, and maybe if they're really good they'll organize the cables for air flow, know where all the case connectors plug in for the external USB ports, and I can return it on the spot if it doesn't work.
Fry's installation guy, after I drive home to get my box and bring it back to Fry's: This is my first day...I'm not really sure if covers plugging in your existing components.
My thoughts: Well WTF does it cover then, screwing in the MB?!

Fry's sales rep: You'll have to wait in line to get it installed
My thoughts: Well, 30 minutes in line isn't really a big deal
Fry's installation guy: You have to leave it overnight. Or for $65.00 extra, we can turn it around in 6 hours
My thoughts: How can it possibly take 6 hours to install a motherboard? Do you really have a 6-hour backlog of other customers who were gullible enough to pay for this?

Fry's sales rep: Yeah, you can watch them do the installation
My thoughts: Good, even if the guy makes some mistakes at least I can make sure he doesn't wipe my drives or something
Fry's installation guy: Watch the installation? I've never heard of anyone asking that.
My thoughts: That's because it's your first day, you fool!

Crash and Buuuuurn

I really, really hate computers sometimes. I'm trying to pound out new revisions of my Harvard essays, but I'm having some trouble because the damn machine can't seem to stay up for more than 30 minutes at a time. Memtest86 is complaining, but even after I pulled out 2 of the 4 DRAM chips I'm still getting problems. I'll probably run it again overnight and see if I might have pulled the wrong ones. Maybe it's the motherboard.

After a few crashes I learned my lesson and set Word to autosave every minute. Now at least I won't lose much work.

But to add insult to injury, after the last crash I decided to take a Guitar Hero break. And what happens as I start really rocking on Godzilla on Hard? The PS2 freezes! ARRRGH!

Lots of Progress

After a tough week or so, I made a lot of progress this weekend. All my recommendation packages have been sent to my recommenders, and I finished drafts of all my Harvard essays. I also took a stab at a couple of the Chicago questions, and I feel good about where my Kellogg essays are at.

Hopefully in the next few days I can finish drafts of all the Chicago essays and start cranking on Stanford.

Seeing all my deadlines for work, b-school, and my volunteer stuff laid out on my calendar has really started to motivate me. I think when this is all done I'll burn a few days of my vacation time and chill out for a while before I start stressing about interviews.