"Life's a journey, not a destination."

Between heavy traffic in Rochester, crossing the border with Red Sox Nation, and construction on the QEW, our delays seemed endless. At 6:30, Byron, Jessica, and I realized that we were not going to arrive at Roger's Stadium in time to hear Peet sing.

Garmin helped us find the nearest sports bar where we frantically and politely explained that the three of us had spent the day traveling to see our friend sing "O Canada." Upon our request, the Lone Star Texas Grill (in Mississauga), kindly turned off the Olympics and changed all of the channels in the bar to Major League Baseball so we could watch Peet's performance on television.

Unfortunately, while he was singing beautifully and throwing the opening pitch, we were watching food commercials instead of enjoying the game from our fantastic seats on the first base line. Jessica won the arrival bet when we finally sat down during the 5th inning.

Jessica and I were originally going to root for the most attractive team but that plan was discarded in the midst of our search for ballpark franks. Being a Red Sox fan seemed like fun so we cheered loudly for the away team during the 7th inning stretch.

Byron tried to protest when Jessica and I suggested that we move to highest seat in the nosebleed section to finish watching the game. The voice of reason was outvoted and the three of us proceeded to climb to the top of the stadium. Our new friend, Val, the security guard, took our photo after he informed us that we could not have an entire section to ourselves.

We were craving Dippin Dots so the three of us left the nosebleed section and the stadium to get our beloved ice cream. When it was nowhere to be found, we decided to try poutine, an authentic Canadian dish, which seemed like a reasonable alternative at the time. We ran into our concession stand friends from Massachusetts at an Irish Pub and we were all happy when I received a confirmation via text that the Red Sox had won the game.

When Jessica, Byron, and I got back to the hotel we ordered a second dinner to go with our Simon celebratory champagne. We raised our coffee mugs for a toast to friendship and how much we have all learned in just one year. The night was filled with great conversation, laughter, and late night TV.

I was the first person to fall asleep and the first person awake in the morning. Not wanting to disturb Jessica or Byron, I went to the front desk to request a clean cup to quench my thirst. The hotel clerk mumbled something so I repeated my question. He still spoke softly but this time it seemed like he was talking slowly because he wanted me to read his lips. When I got back to the hotel room, I realized that I was still wearing the complimentary earplugs that I put on before I went to bed.

We spent our lazy morning laughing about our newly created memories. Byron stayed in Toronto another night and Jessica and I hit the road in time to get McDonald's breakfast. Traffic was still horrendous as the QEW was stop and go at 20 MPH and didn't clear up until we passed the Lewiston bridge.

To pass the time, Jessica and I began blaring Christmas music and wishing nearby cars a Merry Christmas. Most people responded with raised eyebrows, a five second pause, and reciprocal holiday greetings. Occasionally, we received dirty looks which prompted us to turn up the volume of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and start dancing in our seats. We were a sight to behold and were usually able to make the most grumpy people smile. At long last we made it to the customs booth with the least amount of questioning that either of us had ever experienced:

::Jessica pulls up and slightly lowers the volume to our Christmas Music as she gives the customs officer our identification::

Jessica (to the customs officer): "If people are crossing the border in a good mood today, it's because of us."
Customs Officer: "What was your business in Canada?"
Melisa: "We were spreading Christmas cheer!"
Jessica: "If we are going to be waiting at the border until Christmastime, we might as well have Christmas spirit!"
Melisa: "Oh! And, we went to the Red Sox game."
Customs Officer: "Did you bring anything back?"
Jessica: "Nope. Nothing, not even money."

::Customs Officer returns our ID, waves us on, and tells us to go ahead. Jessica turns up the music.::

Jessica and Melisa (waving): "Merry Christmas!"
Customs Officer (smiling): "I'm a Yankees fan but Merry Christmas to you, too!"

Although we didn't make it to our final destination as early as we had hoped, we had a lot of fun getting there. Friends that couldn't make it were missed. Overall, we had a wonderful time in Toronto and much needed break from our recent exam stress.

When we try this again, we'll arrive in time to hear Peet sing and might even catch a bit more of the ball game.

Congratulations Byron!

Congratulations Byron for being the first person in our study group to become a matriculated member of the Simon community!

3 M.B.A. Students and a social worker are going to kick off our summer vacation by taking Toronto by storm as we celebrate in style! We are traveling to see our good friend Peet, and fellow Simon student, sing the Canadian national anthem and throw the opening pitch for the Toronto Blue Jays.

This is going to be a fun filled weekend with multiple reasons to celebrate!

MINI Rick Shaw does rounds in Beijing

Thumbs up to MINI Cooper's creativity in promoting its newest model, the MINI Cooper Clubman, during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. The full article on the rickMINI is here.

Once again, MINI is leading the way in fuel efficiency.

20%

My final was on Wednesday and it felt like I was hit by an oncoming train. I'm not alone. It was scheduled to end at 8:30 but I think about 75% of class was still working at 11:00pm.

I'm frustrated because I know that I knew the material but I don't do very well under pressure. I can already tell that Simon is going to help me get better at thinking on my feet. It isn't good enough to simply understand the material as I need to know how to apply what I have learned on a moment's notice.

I'm (unsuccessfully) trying not to dwell on everything I wish I could have, should have, or would have done differently. On a positive note, moments like Wednesday night remind me why I'm here. As much as I love when I pick up on things right away, I don't want to attend a school if everything comes easily and I'm not challenged.

We won't be defeated!

Lessons learned from the Crystal Ball:

1). Price can't be raised indefinitely.

2). Units are important.

3). It is unlikely that the optimal profit is in trillions.

4). When stating assumptions, always assume that your answers are correct.

5). Budgets are constraints.

6). Partial people don't exist even if you have a bun in the oven.

7). Attempts to reduce inefficiencies with trial and error resulted in more confusion when Solver Sensitivity yielded the same results as Data Sensitivity.

8). If(# of "if statement" parenthesis >=6, there is a problem, 0 problems).

9). It isn't profitable to pay people to go to your amusement park.

10). 48+ hours is too much time to spend on one problem.

11). Maximizing risk in an investment portfolio is not a good objective.

12). A model riddled with errors occasionally produces the best result.

13). It is possible to get the wrong answer with correct formulas.

During ACC401 we learned that, "You can make good inferences and bad inferences. More credit will be given for good inferences."

We hope that our mistakes will help us make good inferences on Wednesday.

14). Post Final Update 1: Order 1 when your inventory falls below 1 is not a good strategy to minimize lost sales.

15). Post Final Update 2: If the best way to minimize costs is to produce nothing, the objective needs to change.

Pre-Exam Rant

I miss the real Java City...

On Wednesday, my study group's attempt to boycott the 4th consecutive week of split pea soup ended in defeat by the closed cafe in Goergen Hall. I surrendered to a Fiber One bar, the most appealing choice in the vending machine.

This morning started off well with my traditional pre-review McDonald's breakfast with Jessica. After a two hour review of data sensitivity and tornado charts and another hour to go, I was ready for a tasty cup of coffee which was impossible because Java City is closed on weekends during the summer quarter. The vending machine made me choose between coffee, cappuccino, or espresso with sugar and/or lightener.

What is lightener and why does it belong in my coffee?! I paid full price for a glass half full that tasted like chalk.

I'll be in a better mood tomorrow because we will be getting together for a post-review Study BBQ, my most favorite way to prepare for exams.

[productive] Lazy Day & Guilty Pleasures

Yesterday was a wonderfully lazy day. I slept in, spent the day in comfy clothes, and I caught up on a bunch things around the house.

It has been far too long since Amelia and I have had a good ol' fashioned girls' night. We cashed in one of her birthday coupons: "Good for one batch of Melly's world famous vodka sauce," and ate hot fundge sundaes while watching Juno or a Sex and the City marathon.

It's back to work today and spending quality time with spreadsheet modeling. I enjoy my class but I am also looking to having a social life again (starting August 14) during my month off from Simon.