MBA: Higher Standards of Integrity

When we were children, life was simple because everything was black and white. Now as adults, the black and whites are smugged and things become gray. Unfortunately, the older we get, there are more gray issues then black and white. I've seen, heard, and experience enough gray issues in my life to learn valuable life lessons. Hopefully I will continue to learn more life lessons.

At work, I would rather face the backlash of my integrity/honesty, instead of participating in questionable/gray issues.

At home, I would rather face her (future girlfriend/wife/etc) squarely in her eyes and answer, "You look simply beautiful. No that jeans/dress/etc does not make you look fat", then the backlash of telling her otherwise.

An excerpt from an article on higher stands of integrity below. Full article here:

CEOs aren't the only ones being held to higher standards of integrity these days. So are M.B.A. applicants and graduates. They are being scrutinized more closely than ever by both business-school admissions officers and corporate recruiters. At the front end, more schools are checking the accuracy of applications to weed out cheats. The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania hires an outside firm to do background checks on every admitted student. If a dishonest student manages to escape detection at that stage, he isn't necessarily home-free. Wharton recently expelled a second-year second-semester student after it belatedly discovered falsified material in the individual's application.

Friday Funnies

The universal comedy/mystery; women trying to communicate to men and men trying to understand women.

Regardless of your cultural background, all women will understand this segment.
"I like him, but don't like him, like him"

Regardless of the men's cultural background, we're lost.

Note 1: I saw Henry Cho's stand up act a few years ago. In addition to hearing a southern accent from a Korean American, his material is very funny. www.choindustries.com

Note 2: Previous embedding code didn't work. This should show the video. If not, then try this link.

R2 with GMAT

Almost done w/ the Critical Reasoning section and should ready for Sentence Correction next week. Afterwards, it's time for a practice CAT to gauge how I'm doing. It's been slow but steady progress. Full time work (completed projects, new projects, project lead, systems maintenance, troubleshooting, meetings, etc...) and squeezing in lunch work out session (for my lower back, my waistline and my sanity). After work, two - three hours GMAT study, be home around 9 pm to give mother company (watching TV in her room and small talk), and finally free time to unwind in my room whenever she falls asleep.

Make it a point to do something every day that you don't want to do. This is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain.

-Mark Twain/Samuel Clemens

LBS's R3 deadline is at the end of this month, February 23. I may or may not be ready for it. I haven't even scheduled for the test yet. There is a small part of me that feels compelled to stay one more year for my mother and god son. I'll cross that bridge after I take the GMAT. For now, it's GMAT.

A smart person learns from their own mistake.
A wise person learns from others mistakes.

- proverb

Knowing what I know now, this is how I should have approached the GMAT.

1. Studied off the Official GMAT guide first
2. Take the test
3. If I do poorly (aka my 1st GMAT test back in Nov), sign up w/ Kaplan

No worries. No regrets. We are the sum of our experiences and our learned mistakes.

Studying off the Official GMAT guide is a much better experience. I'm actually getting the material. At least answering the questions correctly. Hopefully this will reflect in a better score. Anything is better then my first score. The questions are not asking for ground breaking concepts. We're all smart humans, in our common sense way. We just need learn to think in the GMAT way for the higher GMAT score. I think I was applying too much pressure on myself last time. I always felt anxious. Always felt I was not studying enough. This time, I've developed a good schedule to juggle all the important things in my life. Time management is key in a crazy, hectic life. No anxiety.

We are more then just a number
More then just a score
We are more...

Chuc Mung Nam Moi!

Chuc Mung Nam Moi!
Happy New Year!

The year of the Pig.





Vietnamese new year is similar to Chinese lunar cycle calendar, but there are slight differences. The 12 year animal cycle is the same except for one animal. Chinese celebrate the rabbit, whereas Vietnamese celebrate the cat;

Rat
Ox
Tiger
Rabbit (Chinese)/Cat (Vietnamese)
Dragon
Snake
Horse
Sheep
Monkey
Rooster
Dog
Pig

Vietnamese girls performing in Ao Dai (traditional dress)

Biker wearing Vietnamese traditional hat

Little Wonders

Little Wonders
-Rob Thomas

let it go,
let it roll right off your shoulder
don’t you know
the hardest part is over
let it in,
let your clarity define you
in the end
we will only just remember how it feels

our lives are made
in these small hours
these little wonders,
these twists & turns of fate
time falls away,
but these small hours,
these small hours still remain

let it slide,
let your troubles fall behind you
let it shine
until you feel it all around you
and i don’t mind
if it’s me you need to turn to
we’ll get by,
it’s the heart that really matters in the end

our lives are made
in these small hours
these little wonders,
these twists & turns of fate
time falls away,
but these small hours,
these small hours still remain

all of my regret
will wash away some how
but i can not forget
the way i feel right now

in these small hours
these little wonders
these twists & turns of fate
these twists & turns of fate
time falls away but these small hours
these small hours, still remain,
still remain
these little wonders
these twists & turns of fate
time falls away
but these small hours
these little wonders still remain

Friday Funnies...

For the record, I'm cool w/ article 17 and position 13.

Valentine's day

Tomorrow is Valentines Day.

I wish all the couples in love or in the process of falling in love, a happy day for them. I can only imagine the number of marriage proposals to happen. If you're already engaged, there are questions you and your beloved should address before that faithful day happens.

For the rest of us singletons, there's always hope. Love does happen and it happens when we least expect it. He or she is out there. You just have to wait.

John Mayer poetically sings;

Staying home alone on a friday
Flat on the floor looking back
On old love
Or lack thereof
After all the crushes are faded
And all my wishful thinking was wrong
Im jaded
I hate it

Im tired of being alone
So hurry up and get here
So tired of being alone
So hurry up and get here

Searching all my days just to find you
Im not sure who Im looking for
Ill know it
When I see you
Until then, Ill hide in my bedroom
Staying up all night just to write
A love song for no one

Im tired of being alone
So hurry up and get here
So tired of being alone
So hurry up and get here

I could have met you in a sandbox
I could have passed you on the sidewalk
Could I have missed my chance
And watched you walk away?

I could have met you in a sandbox
I could have passed you on the sidewalk
Could I have missed my chance
And watched you walk away?

Im tired of being alone
So hurry up and get here
So tired of being alone
So hurry up and get here
Youll be so good
Youll be so good for me

Friday Funnies....

This last batch of commercials of Superbowl 2007 had some stand out funnies, but this one had my superbowl party gang (mostly guys) busted out laughing.

Gay activists complained about this commercial, so Sneakers pulled the commercials from TV and their website. No worries. Thanks to the internet and my belief that we should laugh at ourselves before we take ourselves too seriously, you can and should view it.




There are alternative endings...

Alt ending 1-


Alt ending 2-


Alt ending 3-


What's more funny? The reaction of the (American) football players when they screened this commercial.

The Colts players reaction;


The Bears players reaction;

Friday Funnies...

It's Superbowl weekend. One of the side product of Superbowl is all the cool new commercials that appear. This year, there's a 2.6 million dollar price tag for a 30 second slot during the game. Yes...2.6 milllion US dollars. That's a lot of $$ per second if you break it down. A lot of revenue for the TV station.


This commercial came out in the 2005 Superbowl, but have become a cult classic. I wonder why.