Grad School in Germany

Well, in case anyone was curious, I have sucessfully applied to several MBA programs.  I am excited to announce that I have decided to get my MBA in Germany.  I have been accepted to the Handelshochchule Leipzig Graduate School of Mangement and will most likely be attending the program in the fall!

This is a big step for me and my family.  First, and most obvious, we are moving to Germany at the end of August.  I can only guess what I need to plan for that I have no idea about.  Yep, I am a blind man trying to find the corner of a round room!  Secondly, I am still apprehensive about financing this whole charade.  I have some scholarship money coming, and am still waiting to hear on another scholarship, but I still need to come up with the bulk of the remaining funds through student loans.  I am pretty sure work will be difficult, if not impossible to come by for either Charmy or me, so loans will need to cover the difference.

I am confident it is all going to work out.  I think that doors of opportunity open and all of the "impossibles" fall into place when something is meant to be.  Not to say that I am not going to try my hardest to make sure this happens, but a certain amount of it is out of my control...why fret over something I have no ability to change.

I'll try to keep updating on this big change...

Oh, a couple of items that need to be taken care of before this whole thing happens:
 
  1.  I need to sell our car.  Its an 04 Corolla in great shape, if you are interested!
  2.  I need to sell our bedroom furniture - $200
  3.  I need to sell our piano - It is an old Edward Healey Player Piano...Best offer goes!
  4.  I need to sell our home in Houston.

If there any takers out there, lets make a deal!

Read More

Politics and Facebook

I wish to preface this whole post by first expressing the following:

1.  I am a very politically aware person...
2.  I am conservative...
3.  I am easily frustrated by others political views

I have come clean.  I sincerely have the best wishes in mind for this country.  I am not some extreme, right winger as some would like to categorize me.  I am educated and intelligent, but none the less, I am most easily classified politically as conservative.  I vote Republican.  I am terrified of Obama's vision for the future of this country. I cannot support collectivism, because I don't believe it is rational.  I absolutely dislike government intervention.  I think that the people in this county who call themselves "progressive" really think like 15th century French Monarchs, which in my mind is not progressive.  I wish to be left to my own devices, left to my own success, and just as importantly, left to my own failures.  These belong to me, and those around me who I choose to share them with.  Some talking head in Washington NEVER knows what is best for me.

I believe that freedom is not easy, nor should it be.  I think that individual responsibility, accountability and the determination to succeed are the core traits necessary to explore what freedom really is.  Freedom is scary, uncertain and probably the most rewarding experience we will ever know.  I believe that people are inherently self interested, and that it should be that way (Darwin thought so too).  I know that Capitalism isn't moral, nor should it be.  Capitalism allocates the limited resources of this world most efficiently.  It rewards hard work.  It rewards those who are independent, responsible, accountable, and most importantly, dedicated to personal success.  It reward those who are willing to risk everything they have in the name of individual prosperity and freedom.  I believe that government intervention is THE LEAST successful method of creating a moral, responsible, and selfless population, because government is inherently none of these things.

I am generally very vocal about all of this.  I have no problem, no shame, and no difficulty wearing all of this on my sleeve.

HOWEVER.... I use Facebook to keep in touch with my FRIENDS!!!  I don't want to get into some sort of online discussion over gay rights, healthcare, fiscal responsibility or the full host of other hot-button political catch phrases of the moment on Facebook, with people who are my friends, who I know disagree with me.  That is something best served in person.  It is nearly impossible to express exactly what you wish to express inside of the context of a website serving up platters full of "lol, byob, OMG" and other nonsensical acronyms, misspelled words, and ridiculous photos that you really wish would just disappear!

In the end, all we end up doing is alienating the people we choose to like....this seems silly to me.  There are plenty of people I really don't want to, or need to like...and the people who are my friends on Facebook aren't those people

To that end, lets all agree to keep Politics Off of Facebook.  In the famous words of Rodney King, "Can't we all get along?"

Read More