Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also

Sitting here at my computator at home tonight, recently returned from the Fisher College, where I just completed the next to last class of my Master's.  I did get the confirmation last week that my final paper/project had been deemed satisfactory, so it's just the "finishing touches" left now.  Just like on a work of art.  A terrible, crappy work of art.

As I sit here I've managed to consume four cups of fine Aldi Breakfast Blend coffee.  Because I'm eating breakfast at 10:00pm?  Haha, no.  Because I need to stay awake for the next few hours to complete a project?  No, no, remember that my MLHR project is done now.  Because Aldi Breakfast Blend is actually slang for an illegally smuggled substance that I need to eliminate all trace of before the Feds bust down the door?  Nope.  Because I want to attain a new level of spiritual enlightenment?  Why yes, that's correct.

You see, tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, which represents the start of Lent in some Christian traditions.  I've never been part of a Christian tradition that observed Lent, but I do have an affinity for challenges of a certain nature.  Therefore, the decision was made to participate this year.  Not in Lent, but rather in The 2011 Lenten Challenge!  (BOOM!!  Oh look!  Confetti!)

Several shades of inspiration

Is honorable discharge the same as graduating with honors?

Today was supposed to be the day that I would get the email telling me whether or not my final project for the MLHR program passed.  However, the email never arrived.  Coincidentally, today I sent in the official form stating that I would not be attending commencement later this month.  Perhaps that option was going to be chosen for me by default...

My rationale for not attending commencement (if I do have the option) is that 1) it will just be a big event with no real personal significance, especially given that I don't view completion of the MLHR as any great accomplishment, 2) I already attended undergraduate commencement at Ohio State, so I've "been there, done that," and 3) I don't know who the commencement speaker will be.  A quick Google search allows me to add to my knowledge database the fact that Ms. Donna James will be the Winter Quarter commencement speaker at Ohio State.  I will quickly summarize Ms. James for you by describing her as "accomplished."  National business advisor and corporate executive...Fortune 500...named by President Obama as chairwoman...blah blah blah.  No doubt Ms. James is deserving of some amount of respect, but you know who else is accomplished and deserving of some amount of respect?  My undergraduate commencement speaker, Senator John McCain.  You know how much of Senator McCain's speech I remember?  Yea, that's what I thought.

Consider yourself warned: Reading this will take a toll

A decent layer of sleety slush has now covered the ground in Columbus, so I'm secretly (not really) hoping (really) that tomorrow's evening class will get cancelled.  It is doubtful that this will occur, because theoretically people will have had a chance to prepare by tomorrow evening.  Ideally the precipitation will pause, and then start up again right around 3:30pm tomorrow, with great vengeance and furious anger.

I braved the sleet to venture up to the corner coffee shop tonight to write this post, seeking an atmosphere more conducive to creative writing.  Being in the coffee shop and suddenly feeling more inspired to write is probably something like a placebo effect, but who doesn't enjoy a nice mug of warm, Costa Rican blend placebo once in awhile?  More than that, I just wanted to get out of the house.  After weeks of buildup (procrastination?), I sat down to complete my tax return tonight.  For something that results in getting me money back, it's amazing how much I loathe completing my tax return.  It's one of those things that feels good when you finally complete it, but still, the dollars you get back barely seem worth it.

A punch in the face would be preferable

It's now official that my least favorite word in common usage is the word "vetted."  About a year or a year-and-a-half ago this word suddenly started coming up in the office vocabulary, and it rubbed me the wrong way from the start.  I don't know how words like this start getting used, but now everybody is vetting everything.  "Has this been vetted with the appropriate people yet?  We need to make sure this is fully vetted before communicating it to everyone.  What was the vetting process for that initiative?"  When words like this start getting used, I take a very hard line.  There is no compromising on such matters; the only acceptable course of action is utter refusal to use the word.  Furthermore, you have to subtly discourage people from using the word whenever possible.  If someone were to ask me "Have you vetted this with anyone?" I would respond by saying "Well, the way I look at it is that I talked with Bob about it and he didn't suggest any changes."  "So you did vet it with him?"  "No, not really.  It was more of a discussion."  People, words should not be like fashion.  Expanding your vocabulary is fine.  Trying to start a word trend deserves getting your nose bloodied.

You may have noticed that at about this point in my last two posts I've utilized the page break feature that prompts you to...

Going far afield due to icy conditions

Note posted on the gas pump at a BP gas station:

If it seems like your gas is pumping slow, follow these steps:

1. Stop pumping for 15 seconds
2. Start pumping again
3. You will see that it is okay

This is what you could call a "fail proof" set of directions.  What, gas not pumping quick enough?  Well, did you stop pumping for 15 seconds?  Yes?  Okay, well did you start pumpi...okay okay, I'm not trying to insult your intelligence.  But did you follow step number 3?  What do you mean it's still not pumping quickly enough?  If you just follow the simple instructions then it will work properly.  First you stop pumping, then you start pumping again, and then you'll see that it's okay.  If it doesn't seem to be working, just try following the three steps again, because they really should take care of the problem.  What do you mean you don't see that it's okay?  Did you follow the directions?  

The stop at a gas station was made necessary by a car trip up to Austintown over the weekend to see one of Mom's paintings that was chosen for a show at the art museum in Youngstown.  All in all it was a nice short weekend sojourn, complete with an exhilirating episode of having the car spin around while driving on slick roads at 65 miles per hour down the highway and landing in a snowy ditch.  The route up 71 and across 76 has never been my favorite, and this just added to my dislike for the drive.  A much preferred route was the one taken when Mom and Dad still lived in East Liverpool.  Although driving on 70 East across the middle of Ohio was nothing great, it was infinitely more scenic than 71, and the ride up the Ohio River on 7 was far superior to the boredom of 76.  

Aside from the highway driving, going back to East Liverpool was preferable for three primary reasons:

1. The Young Mens' Christian Association downtown
2. Topography
3. You will see that it is okay  

Haha, that third item is a joke.  The real number 3 is "the availability of places to run around East Liverpool."  Let's look at each of these items in turn: