EMBA Survival

Making a little time for myself

Yesterday, I went to the gym and worked out with my personal trainer for the first time in weeks.  I'm pretty soar.  I'm so glad I did it - I feel much happier and better about myself.  I didn't at all feel like I had time to go to the gym; I feel behind on everything for school and even work.  But it's times like these when I'm totally underwater that I need to focus on my basic needs.  Somehow I'll get everything else done.  First things first - I need to take care of myself.

During the week-long intensive pre-term bootcamp, Prof. Al Napier suggested that we all maintain whatever exercise regimen we were currently maintaining.  I thought - that's not possible: at the time I was spending 4.5 hours/week in the gym.

Dropping to zero was not my plan.  I'll be happy if I can get back to 2 hours/week.  It doesn't seem like much, but it's so important.

I hadn't seen Al since the bootcamp back in July until last weekend.  He teaches Entrepreneurship to second year students.  But I ran into him on my flight back to San Antonio.  I think running into him nudged me into remembering his advice and helped get me back on track a little.

effective writing tips from Hemmingway and Orwell

EMBA students must write clearly and concisely.  The word is crisp.  Here is some great advice from the masters: http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/george-orwells-5-rules-for-effective-writing/

Another useful tip from manager tools, is B.L.U.F.  "Bottom Line Up Front".  If you try to hold your reader in suspense, you'll lose them.  Just spit it out, and follow up with an explanation.

how to cite a blog in your academic paper

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv.fcgi?rid=citmed.section.61024

most stressful two weeks?

I heard that we just completed the most stressful 2 weeks of the program.  I'm cautiously optimistic.  It really wasn't all that bad, although I talked to several students that pulled near all-nighters.  I wish I had more time to blog right now, but I should already be asleep.

studying by osmosis in grad school just doesn't work

don't fall asleep while reading about financial accounting!  it's not boring, i promise.

survival tip - prepare for financial accounting in advance

If you've never taken accounting, if you have the opportunity to read up on it in advance before you start your MBA, it will be time well spent.  I sure wish I had.  I studied Computer Science and Math in my undergraduate, and I've owned a few small businesses.  As such, I underestimated the learning curve.  It's not "rocket-surgery", as our O.B. prof says, but I feel a little behind.  Fortunately, my professor, Dr. Nelson, has optional Saturday review sessions.  She's great.  One of my teammates, Bob, went through the accounting portion of The MBA Survival Kit, and said it really helped him.  Gosh, I wish someone had told me to do that before I started the program.

Coping with stress

It's important to have various tools in your toolbox for coping with stress, especially non-destructive ones.  For example, the stress release I employed on Friday isn't something you can do all the time, obviously.  Saturday was my designated day to knock out my first individual paper for grad school.  (Our first team paper was due on the 1st day of class!)  It's an industry structure analysis for Strategy and it's worth 20% of my grade.  I was totally stressing out about it today.  I don't like that the first academic paper that I have to write for grad school is worth 20% of my grade.   My professor is whip sharp, has an MBA from Wharton and was a managing director at JP Morgan.  So I know she'll be savvy vis-à-vis the industry I work in.  But perhaps there is a lesson here.  Strategy is a high stakes game, so why shouldn't a strategy paper be worth a lot?  So...I poured myself a nice hot cup of Tension Tamer and got the paper knocked out.  It took me all day, and I'm not satisfied with it, but at least it's done.  One of the most natural (and dangerous) responses to stress is procrastination.  Do whatever it takes, but don't do that, it just makes things worse.

Gin Tummy & the 3 Martini Lunch

  I spent the first 3 weekends in a row for the Rice EMBA.  There's a big difference between traveling every other weekend and traveling every weekend.  Let me do the math for you: yesterday marked the 25th consecutive 12+ hour day in a row for me of combined work/study.  I needed a break. So, I took a half-day from work and indulged in lunch with a former colleague and fashion consultant, Bonnie, at the Emily Morgan Hotel's Restaurant.  She soars above most of the buildings in down-town San Antonio, near the Alamo.  In the top picture to the left, you can see my view of her from my loft.  The 2nd shot to the right is zoomed in.  Emily is the towering building with the flag pole up top.   The hotel is only a few blocks from home, so I parked in my usual spot and walked over.  It was a beautiful day today, and you can see how attractive the Emily Morgan is from the distance as I walked towards her on Houston St in the 3rd photo.  In the 4th photo on the right, you can really start to see the details on Emily.  It's really too bad no one builds buildings like her anymore.  The style is Gothic Revival, and she opened in 1926.  Even though you may not know it, I'm sure you have heard of this hotel, because there is a famous song about the woman the hotel was named after, The yellow rose of Texas.  I feel so fortunate to live in an area with such rich history.  The Emily wasn't always a Hotel - the building used to be a Hospital, and it is considered to be very haunted for a couple of reasons:   the basement used to be the morgue and it is located immediately across the street from the Alamo, where 2000 people died in a bloody siege.  People have reported cold spots, apparitions, strange noises, and odd electrical phenomena.  Nothing really creepy happened to me (unfortunately) while I was there, but I thought I saw a glimpse of something strange in one of the mirrors over the bar.  The power of suggestion?  Supposedly the most "active" rooms were the former operating rooms, the basement, and room 811.  I suggest clicking on the image to the left and taking a look at the faces carved in the side of the hotel, as well as the gargoyles - they must contribute to the building's haunted legendary.  They are beautiful in an eerie almost macabre way.   Now how do you convince people to come to a haunted hotel?  Cheap liquor.  Which brings me to the point of this post.  Alcohol, and lots of it, is precisely what I wanted after 25 straight long days of labor.  And every Friday, the Oro Restaurant and Bar at the Emily has 50 cent martinis.  Yes, real full-sized martinis, not made with substitute, but with real Grey Goose Vodka or real Bombay Saphire Gin.  As an MBA student, what could be a more appropriate break from school than a 3 martini lunch?  Check out the wikipedia writeup of the 3 martini lunch.  I really dig the quote by Gerald Ford; it's a shame he lost the election to Jimmy Carter.  Anyway, I knew my guest wouldn't be able to stomach 3 whole martinis, so I arrived early so I could get a head start.  I began with the classic gin version.  Shaken not stirred?  Please.  Of course.  By the time my guest arrived I was feeling fine, and relayed the appropriate quote, "One martini is all right. Two are too many, and three are not enough." - James Thurber.  For my 2nd martini, I was feeling adventuresome.  I generally don't order a non-classic martini, but I figured since I was planning to drink so many of them why not.  Options include, Yellow Rose, Cosmopolitan, Platinum, Saphire, Dirty, and the Brinitini.  I honestly don't recall which ones we ordered for my second round, but I got some nice pictures of it. Bonnie was telling me that one of her girlfriends asked her to lunch today. She had to decline because she already had plans with me.  She said the conversation went something like this (it helps to know that Bonnie is married): Girlfriend: "What? where are you going for lunch?" Bonnie: "Out with Philip."  Girlfriend, "Oh, just reschedule with him and go with me instead."  Bonnie: "No, I can't, we are having 50 cent martinis."  Girlfriend: "What??  OMG, where are you going with him?  A strip club??"  Bonnie: "No, no, gosh!  No, we are meeting downtown at a hotel."  Girlfriend, after a long pause, "...oookay then..."  Bonnie: "oh! that didn't come out right, let me explain..." Girlfriend, "no, no, I really don't want to know..."  I got a good laugh out of that.  For the 3rd round of martinis, I returned to the classic.  As you can see from the pic, the staff cuts you off from stemware after 2 drinks.  Fortunately, they don't cut you off from gin.  While I've never had a 3 martini lunch before today, I have experienced the sensation before, so to speak, while scuba diving.  You may have heard about the martini effect that divers encounter.  Fun, but not as fun as the real thing.  But now I must return to studying.  I have loads to read and a paper to write before next Friday.  I'm so glad I took a half a day off and had a decadent lunch today.  It's important to celebrate milestones and wins.  If you decide to embark on an EMBA, you won't get many days off.  But if you are creative, you can make a couple of hours feel like an entire weekend of relaxation.

On the road again

Pictured here is the downtown San Antonio Greyhound bus terminal.  It's located conveniently right down the street from my loft that overlooks the riverwalk.  I took the bus to Houston for a couple of reasons.  First, it's cheap.  Secondly, and more importantly, It gave me a solid block of time where I was forced to read.  I got a ton done, in fact, I actually ran out of things to read and started reading ahead in Financial Accounting.  That's the good part.  See, I didn't underestimate how long it would take me to do the reading, I underestimated how long it would take me to get to Houston by Greyhound.  I showed up for my bus 30 minutes early, so I could stand in line.  Unfortunately, for no explained reason, we departed an hour late.  There's nowhere to sit while you are waiting, so I just stood there for and hour and a half with my binder open reading before we departed.  The trip itself was pleasant, except for the meat locker temperatures on the bus.  I was surprised to see some interesting sites along the road that I'd never seen before as a driver.  All I'd ever seen before were cows, trucks, and trailers.  This time, I saw an inexplicable dinosaur looking thing.  Honestly, at first I thought I was hallucinating due to some sort of brain-seizure from either the over-air conditioning or the over-studying.  Fortunately, I was able to snap a photo of the creature.   Be on the lookout for this thing next time you're on I-10 headed East between San Antonio and Houston.  I can't tell what it's made of, or what it's suposed to be, but it was a pleasant surprise.

lugging stuff around

I have two Targus computer bags now, a few things for work and a ton of stuff for school.  I swapped my things around, I'm now using my school bag for work and my work bag for school because everything fits better that way.  I often find myself lugging around both bags; that's  just part of the cost of doing business.  At least I'm getting some exercise ;-)  Many of my classmates invested in large rolling bags.  I hear costco sells nice ones at attractive prices.  I think that's a really wise idea unless you are physically strong, or if you are just stubborn, like me.