Off To "A" Good Start

A couple of weeks ago I had my first Data Communication Networks midterm. I had studied alongside a couple of classmates meeting in the library a few days before the test to clear up all the questions we had regarding the material.

It apparently payed off.

Today the professor turned in the grades for the exam. The camp was divided into two groups: those who passed, with A's and B's, and those who didn't, with D's and F's. According to what the professor told me aside, I'm proud to announce that I was the 4^th best grade in the class!

So I started the path on my Master's Degree on the right foot; now to keep up the pace!

My Wife, The Thespian

Previous Episode: Whisked Away To The Windy City

Early this morning I called American Airlines to buy my ticket and join my wife on her upcoming Chicago trip from October 31^st to November 4^th. Since the school had bought her ticket already, we had no choice but to go on those days... or did we?

According to my brother, who works at the International Airport, we could call the airline and ask for a change of date. Pay a fee and, depending on availability, return to Puerto Rico a couple of days later? The idea was too good to be true!

Since I didn't know the flight my wife was assigned, I asked her for the information. She hadn't a clue except that it was with American Airlines and the plane leaved on Halloween around 6 PM. So I did a bit of Internet sleuthing, found the flight number, and called the 800 number on the company's site early today. After an exchange of words (and credit card info) with the customer representative, I changed her ticket's return date and booked mine as well. Simple as that...

Not quite. During the afternoon, I received a call from the airline informing me there was a slight problem. Apparently I should've asked the school for permission to do the change and that the person who originally purchased the tickets would contact me. I immediately called my wife and told her the news. After the ear-deafening scolding I got from her, she went to speak with her supervisors to try and fix the mess, which I didn't plan on causing in the first place.

After a while I recieve another phone call; my wife this time...

She was crying.

I tried to calm her down. Hysterical, and in the principal's office, she asked me to try and change the return flight to Sunday and hung up. I was in shock. This was not supposed to happen. I quickly dialed my brother's cell phone, asked him to get us some cheap seats on any Sunday flight to Puerto Rico, and then simply waited for my phone to ring.

It did; my wife again...

She was laughing.

She explained that she put on quite a show in front of her supervisors. They eventually felt sorry for her and said it was okay to stay the extra days.

I started to laugh.

I couldn't believe it. She played me and I fell for it... AWESOME! I was so worried that she was going to lose her chance to go to the seminars. She simply did what an accomplished actor would've possibly done in such an impromptu situation.

EAT YOUR HEART OUT CHARLIZE THERON!!

Whisked Away To The Windy City

Recently my wife accepted a new role as the Ethics Coordinator of her school. I, of course, couldn't be happier or prouder of her. This position apparently came bundled with a couple of perks: a bonus to her current salary, paid at the end of each semester, and the unexpected opportunity to assist a seminar over in Chicago.

This not only is a great opportunity for her to grow as a professional, but I, as her husband, get to tag along for the ride! The trip will be from October 31^st to November 7^th and the only "downside" is I have to pay for my plane ticket, which doesn't bother me at all. So, while she's absorbing all the ethic-related, information-filled conferences, I can cruise around the city while I wait for her to get out in the afternoon.

Now to head on to MapQuest and see how close the nearest Apple Store is!

Superglued To The Sheets

For those of you who know me, waking up early is definitely not my forte. Combine that with playing after-midnight sessions World of Warcraft and having to work every day with a supervisor who knows as much about computers as pigs know how to fly, the motivation needed to get out of bed is somewhat lacking.

Today wasn't any different: my wife woke me up before she left for work, I looked at the alarm clock, saw that I had a good fifteen minutes more to stay in bed, hit the snooze button, and drifted back into dreamland. Upon opening my eyes again, the clock read 9 AM; cue the wacky I'm-really-late-for-work music!

Short story even shorter: I got to work at 9:45 AM and guess who happened to be in the lobby: my supervisor. I played off the whole late-thing as a power outage at my apartment, but the indirect tension was quite palpable.

Tonight I have to stay late at the office anyway, so the extra energy I stored this morning will help me get through the evening. Nevertheless, even though the work environment is not as exciting as it used to be, my job still helps me pay the bills so I can't really afford to be late again.

As the saying (more or less) goes: "Early to bed, early to rise, keeps the boss off my back and our bank account alive!"

Concerning Concerts...

Yesterday evening my wife and I spruced ourselves up and drove to San Juan for the last Robi "Draco" Rosa concert. Going to concerts is not my kind of thing because of the hordes of people amassing together in one small area. Since my wife is so fond of his music, I decided to put my "issues" aside and just enjoy the show. I've heard a couple of Draco's songs that have a particular mood and tone which I found interesting, but didn't make me rush out to buy his albums.

As the concert began, the people cheered and clapped, my wife was really excited and I was glad to be with her sharing this experience. The curtains slowly opened and the concert hall went wild. With each minute the show progressed, Draco's mixture of hard rock and haunting melodies not only managed to get everyone to sing along, but made me tap my foot to the beat from time to time. In the end the crowd gave him and his band a standing ovation, myself included.

I can now really say I greatly enjoyed his performance and his music, as well as looking forward to any future concerts. I must truly thank my wife for opening my ears to this artist and hope to smuggle some of Draco's songs from her CDs onto my iPod.

Either that or just get them directly from iTunes! ;-)

Counting Down My 15 Minutes

When iTunes 4.9 was released during the Summer, I've was introduced to the world of Podcasting, which I wasn't aware of until Apple decided to join in the fray. Since then, I can't get enough of these homemade, pre-recorded online radio shows! So I update my iPod religiously every week to get an earful of Tech and Videogame news.

Eventually, the bug bit me as well as a couple of friends of mine and we got together to make our own. We put together a pilot episode some time in June and afterwards, as recently as last Saturday, recorded another a little more refined.

So, now with our MP3 file encoded and our feed ready, where to publish it to get an audience? Why iTunes, of course! If you have the app, click this link and you'll be whisked away to our own little place on the Music Store.

So if your interested in listening to three Mac addicts rant about whatever is on their minds, subscribe to our Podcast titled: The iWannabes!