This past Monday, firms from all industries and all locations could begin official the on-campus recruiting of first-year Chicago GSB students.
Tons of firms, lots of which you've heard of, and none of which I'll mention specifically on the off-chance they stumble across this corner of the blogosphere.
This all means I have a bunch of additional things I want to do, and I've now reached the conclusion that I actually have negative free time.
My DVR is slowly gorging itself on all the shows I haven't watched, and lots of the songs on my winamp playlist now seem strange and unfamiliar. Poor YouTube may kill itself because I've gone days without looking for videos of idiots hurting themselves.
Even my blackberry is begging me to go into I-banking for the summer so it'll get a little break from all the MBA emails.
But it's kind of nice to be busy, and don't tell anyone, but I'm kind of liking it.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
More Banking Troubles
At this point I feel like I'll never actually have my Jeopardy money thanks to terrible banks and their policies.
Last I left off, I had my whole terrible ordeal with Citibank, who eventually closed my account and mailed me a check for my Jeopardy winnings and the other cash I had put there (total over 32k)
They mailed me the check on October 22nd, and it arrived on October 27th (does this seem a little odd to anyone else?)
Anyway, this morning I finally went to put it in my PNC bank account. Now PNC has no branches anywhere near this state, but I figured the irony of depositing it to PNC through a Citibank ATM would be good.
So I take my 32k check and go to the ATM
DEPOSIT DENIED - EXCEEDS ACCOUNT LIMIT
Argh
I was all alone in the Chicago pedway, and actually screamed that I would never get this money.
So I called PNC, and the rep told me that you can never deposit over 30 grand at an ATM (over 30 grand, like my jeopardy winnings + the cash I wanted to have in the Citi account)
Can't do it at an ATM, you need to go to a branch
A branch that doesn't exist in this time zone
I'm almost ready to cry at this point, I just want my money
Now the PNC guy explained that I could do banking by mail. I just send the checks and a letter to this address and it should get taken care of.
SHOULD
But the address is this long complicated mess, Mail Stop F6-F166-02-C at the 'Miscellaneous Account Services Department' in Philadelphia.
Does anyone really think that if I do send my giant check to this place, that it will actually end up in my bank account???
It'll be another game of 'Let's See How Jared's Bank Can Screw Him Over With Ridiculous Policies'
I can't wait
Last I left off, I had my whole terrible ordeal with Citibank, who eventually closed my account and mailed me a check for my Jeopardy winnings and the other cash I had put there (total over 32k)
They mailed me the check on October 22nd, and it arrived on October 27th (does this seem a little odd to anyone else?)
Anyway, this morning I finally went to put it in my PNC bank account. Now PNC has no branches anywhere near this state, but I figured the irony of depositing it to PNC through a Citibank ATM would be good.
So I take my 32k check and go to the ATM
DEPOSIT DENIED - EXCEEDS ACCOUNT LIMIT
Argh
I was all alone in the Chicago pedway, and actually screamed that I would never get this money.
So I called PNC, and the rep told me that you can never deposit over 30 grand at an ATM (over 30 grand, like my jeopardy winnings + the cash I wanted to have in the Citi account)
Can't do it at an ATM, you need to go to a branch
A branch that doesn't exist in this time zone
I'm almost ready to cry at this point, I just want my money
Now the PNC guy explained that I could do banking by mail. I just send the checks and a letter to this address and it should get taken care of.
SHOULD
But the address is this long complicated mess, Mail Stop F6-F166-02-C at the 'Miscellaneous Account Services Department' in Philadelphia.
Does anyone really think that if I do send my giant check to this place, that it will actually end up in my bank account???
It'll be another game of 'Let's See How Jared's Bank Can Screw Him Over With Ridiculous Policies'
I can't wait
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Boston Fans Suck
I'm now actively trying to avoid all forms of major sports media because it's too damn frustrating
Not only have the Philadelphia teams been totally sucking (Phillies swept in playoffs, Eagles just terrible, Flyers have been good but since only a couple of us care I'm not sure they count), but everything keeps going right for those Boston jerks.
I used to identify with those jerks and even rooted for them on occasions. I liked that we shared common bonds of sports futility and a hatred of New York.
Now they're the assholes, with their Red Sox and Patriots.
I had no problem when they were losing, now that they're winning, the media can't stop themselves from fawning all over their greatness.
Did you know that the New England Patriots are the best team ever?
Did you know that Tom Brady is the supremest quarterback in the history of the ever-expanding universe???
Since you can't possibly escape all the Patriots = Football gods BS, I really just can't bear to watch any NFL stuff anymore.
Those freaking Patriots, not only do they cheat (which everyone in the media seems to have forgotten), not only do they feature at least one HGH-all star, but they're also a bunch of complete losers with no sportsmanship.
I'm not a Dolphins fan, but they played the Patriots on Sunday. The Dolphins haven't won a game all year, they're pretty terrible. Yet, that didn't stop the Patriots from running a fake spike when they were ahead by 28 points. For those who don't know, football teams will often spike the ball to stop the clock. A fake spike is a trick play designed to trick the defense into being caught flat footed.
Of course, it's almost exclusively used by teams that are behind and desperately trying to catch up, not by teams with a four touchdown lead.
They remind me like some kind of arch-nemesis for the NFL, like I wouldn't be surprised if they went up to the Dolphins water boy and swirled him in the toilet after the game.
But if there's any karma out there, it's dark clouds ahead for those assholes.
(Maybe like if Tom Brady had an illegitimate kid...oh wait)
Not only have the Philadelphia teams been totally sucking (Phillies swept in playoffs, Eagles just terrible, Flyers have been good but since only a couple of us care I'm not sure they count), but everything keeps going right for those Boston jerks.
I used to identify with those jerks and even rooted for them on occasions. I liked that we shared common bonds of sports futility and a hatred of New York.
Now they're the assholes, with their Red Sox and Patriots.
I had no problem when they were losing, now that they're winning, the media can't stop themselves from fawning all over their greatness.
Did you know that the New England Patriots are the best team ever?
Did you know that Tom Brady is the supremest quarterback in the history of the ever-expanding universe???
Since you can't possibly escape all the Patriots = Football gods BS, I really just can't bear to watch any NFL stuff anymore.
Those freaking Patriots, not only do they cheat (which everyone in the media seems to have forgotten), not only do they feature at least one HGH-all star, but they're also a bunch of complete losers with no sportsmanship.
I'm not a Dolphins fan, but they played the Patriots on Sunday. The Dolphins haven't won a game all year, they're pretty terrible. Yet, that didn't stop the Patriots from running a fake spike when they were ahead by 28 points. For those who don't know, football teams will often spike the ball to stop the clock. A fake spike is a trick play designed to trick the defense into being caught flat footed.
Of course, it's almost exclusively used by teams that are behind and desperately trying to catch up, not by teams with a four touchdown lead.
They remind me like some kind of arch-nemesis for the NFL, like I wouldn't be surprised if they went up to the Dolphins water boy and swirled him in the toilet after the game.
But if there's any karma out there, it's dark clouds ahead for those assholes.
(Maybe like if Tom Brady had an illegitimate kid...oh wait)
Friday, October 19, 2007
Goings On
A lot of stuff happening this week, so I'll stick to the highlights...
- Had my first Chicago hailstorm yesterday, although I don't know if that'll be like a regular thing. It kind of just blew in right around the time I was looking to leave the GSB. It was kind of biblical, the sky got completely dark, ice pellets rained from the sky furiously for like 5-10 minutes, and then it kind of cleared up...weird
- If any future Chicago GSB students are reading (which I guess is possible as I get closer to 1000 hits...who the heck is reading this anyway?) , my one piece of advice is this. Don't take 8:30am classes on Friday morning. I have statistics, and while I like the class and the professor's great, it completely messes up Thursday night when most of the other GSB students are getting obliterated. It's not fun to have to leave the bar at 1am to learn about discrete random variables the next day. Never again.
- I volunteered to help out with admissions events, and was really excited when the assignments came out because I was hoping to get something like giving building tours or speaking at an information session. Nope. I get to escort students to classes, which isn't really much involvement with applicants. And what's more, I get to escort them to the 8:30 Friday morning classes (shockingly, I'm figuring not a lot of other people could pull off that shift). That's pretty weak.
- With that said, I picked up my first applicant building tour when someone else had a conflict. I'll be giving my first tour next Tuesday, should be a good time (or it could go horrendously, hard to say what's more likely at this point)
- The Flyers are apparently amazing now, after like their worst year in franchise history last year. WTF? I mean I'm happy that they're back on track, but I have no idea what's going on being half a country away.
- Had my first Chicago hailstorm yesterday, although I don't know if that'll be like a regular thing. It kind of just blew in right around the time I was looking to leave the GSB. It was kind of biblical, the sky got completely dark, ice pellets rained from the sky furiously for like 5-10 minutes, and then it kind of cleared up...weird
- If any future Chicago GSB students are reading (which I guess is possible as I get closer to 1000 hits...who the heck is reading this anyway?) , my one piece of advice is this. Don't take 8:30am classes on Friday morning. I have statistics, and while I like the class and the professor's great, it completely messes up Thursday night when most of the other GSB students are getting obliterated. It's not fun to have to leave the bar at 1am to learn about discrete random variables the next day. Never again.
- I volunteered to help out with admissions events, and was really excited when the assignments came out because I was hoping to get something like giving building tours or speaking at an information session. Nope. I get to escort students to classes, which isn't really much involvement with applicants. And what's more, I get to escort them to the 8:30 Friday morning classes (shockingly, I'm figuring not a lot of other people could pull off that shift). That's pretty weak.
- With that said, I picked up my first applicant building tour when someone else had a conflict. I'll be giving my first tour next Tuesday, should be a good time (or it could go horrendously, hard to say what's more likely at this point)
- The Flyers are apparently amazing now, after like their worst year in franchise history last year. WTF? I mean I'm happy that they're back on track, but I have no idea what's going on being half a country away.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Citibank Sucks
Ok, for those who don't know, I keep an internal list of large corporations that have wronged me in some way. I've realized that complaining does absolutely nothing to solve problems (except for the potential opportunity to get free products/services from said companies, which just gives them another chance to screw up) so I just blacklist them from getting any of my money, forever.
Citibank, welcome to the blacklist. Take a seat between Enterprise Rent-a-Car and MetLife.
So why am I so pissed at these guys? Well, it all started when I moved out to Chicago.
After a couple of ATM withdrawls with my PNC bank card and some surcharges, I resolved to get a new bank account for spending money. I wanted to go with a national bank, someone with lots of ATMs, and I figured, a reasonably easy process. Citibank has an ATM in the basement of my building and one out at school, a natural fit right?
So I went online and signed up for a free checking account. No hassles, just some online forms and my initial deposit from my PNC account. I could expect to receive my new debit card in the mail soon.
Great right???
Well, so I got my debit card a little while later, and got all excited. Not only did I have a new ATM card (and would avoid fees) but I also got my Jeopardy prize check in the mail. All that money, and a new bank to put it in.
So I went to the nearest Citibank. Inserted my ATM card (which said it only needed to be put in an ATM to be activated) and had no problem depositing my Jeopardy monies.
Now just a quick withdrawl...
ERROR MESSAGE
Hmm...let's try that again...
ERROR MESSAGE
What the hell??? I just deposited a ton of money with this card, but I can't take out any money?
YOUR EMOTIONS ARE POINTLESS...ATMs DO NOT FEEL SYMPATHY
Ok, this seemed not too unusual, maybe there was a problem activating my card. I picked up the phone next to the ATM to contact customer service. I spoke with some nice lady on the phone, who then told me that my account was frozen.
'But why?' I asked, I went through the whole online application process, could deposit money, but couldn't use any ATMs???
Apparently, my account had been flagged because they were unable to verify my address. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, as you'd figure at least one other person in my 48 story apartment building must have a Citibank account. But for some reason, they couldn't let me access my account through ATMs until they've verified my address (if anyone could explain why, I'd love to know).
'Ok, how do you verify my address?'
They needed either a utility bill or a phone bill, something with my address on it.
'But, I don't have a phone line, and I just paid my cable and electric bills a couple days ago, they won't be back for months.'
Citibank can't be reasoned with. Rent bills don't count, neither do printed statements off the internet, and don't even think about using a cell phone bill...
Ugh...fine, I'll wait the next 3.5-4 weeks to get ANOTHER bill and mail it to them. And let's not even get started on the fact that they disclosed nothing about these requirements during the online application process.
So I wait, and I wait, and I wait, trying to avoid using cash.
Finally, last weekend, I got my electric bill. I've never been so happy to see that. So now with my bill in hand, on Monday, I go down to Citibank to have them fax it to their corporate office (it's the least they could do right???).
Columbus Day...closed
Alright, another mild inconvenience, I'll just go to Office Max and fax it myself.
Which is what I did, after failing a number of times because the number was busy.
Finally, I thought, they have my electric bill and I can get my account online and forget about the whole hassle.
Friday rolls around, and I wanted to get some money. Four business days is plenty of time for an efficient corporation to process one fax right?
Apparently not...account still frozen...
Alright, at this point, I was getting beyond frustrated with these guys and their stupid corporation.
I finally called Citibank to get some kind of answer to what the hell was going on.
God help the poor guy who answered the call that day...
Why?
Because when I called him, he explained to me the following two things...
1 - My utility bill wasn't good enough. Apparently, the address was incomplete. I can't see how this could be possible, as it had the full street name, apartment number, city, and zip code right on it. Maybe they need a bill that also featured a photo of me smiling with the doorman or something. God only knows.
2 - Once the utility bill was denied as proper verification, the 30-day time limit on getting Citibank the information verification (remember waiting for the next bill) lapsed. My account was now automatically cancelled.
Poor poor Indian Citibank employee...he really should've called in sick that day, because I went to town.
I realized after my first 4 or 5 minutes of profanity-laden diatribes that this poor guy didn't deserve that. So I spent the next 3 minutes apologizing and telling him that I didn't think it was his fault and that I shouldn't have yelled at him.
After all of that...I finally get it all out of my system, and there's a long awkward pause...
'I'm...I'm sorry sir' the poor Indian call center guy replied
I don't know what happened after that, maybe I drove him to quit, that would be nice.
Anyway, after all that crap, I officially have no Citibank account. I was expecting to get my check any day...and lo and behold, today I got a letter from the good people at Citibank.
It was my first account statement, not my money.
Yeah, Citibank is definitely on the list.
Citibank, welcome to the blacklist. Take a seat between Enterprise Rent-a-Car and MetLife.
So why am I so pissed at these guys? Well, it all started when I moved out to Chicago.
After a couple of ATM withdrawls with my PNC bank card and some surcharges, I resolved to get a new bank account for spending money. I wanted to go with a national bank, someone with lots of ATMs, and I figured, a reasonably easy process. Citibank has an ATM in the basement of my building and one out at school, a natural fit right?
So I went online and signed up for a free checking account. No hassles, just some online forms and my initial deposit from my PNC account. I could expect to receive my new debit card in the mail soon.
Great right???
Well, so I got my debit card a little while later, and got all excited. Not only did I have a new ATM card (and would avoid fees) but I also got my Jeopardy prize check in the mail. All that money, and a new bank to put it in.
So I went to the nearest Citibank. Inserted my ATM card (which said it only needed to be put in an ATM to be activated) and had no problem depositing my Jeopardy monies.
Now just a quick withdrawl...
ERROR MESSAGE
Hmm...let's try that again...
ERROR MESSAGE
What the hell??? I just deposited a ton of money with this card, but I can't take out any money?
YOUR EMOTIONS ARE POINTLESS...ATMs DO NOT FEEL SYMPATHY
Ok, this seemed not too unusual, maybe there was a problem activating my card. I picked up the phone next to the ATM to contact customer service. I spoke with some nice lady on the phone, who then told me that my account was frozen.
'But why?' I asked, I went through the whole online application process, could deposit money, but couldn't use any ATMs???
Apparently, my account had been flagged because they were unable to verify my address. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, as you'd figure at least one other person in my 48 story apartment building must have a Citibank account. But for some reason, they couldn't let me access my account through ATMs until they've verified my address (if anyone could explain why, I'd love to know).
'Ok, how do you verify my address?'
They needed either a utility bill or a phone bill, something with my address on it.
'But, I don't have a phone line, and I just paid my cable and electric bills a couple days ago, they won't be back for months.'
Citibank can't be reasoned with. Rent bills don't count, neither do printed statements off the internet, and don't even think about using a cell phone bill...
Ugh...fine, I'll wait the next 3.5-4 weeks to get ANOTHER bill and mail it to them. And let's not even get started on the fact that they disclosed nothing about these requirements during the online application process.
So I wait, and I wait, and I wait, trying to avoid using cash.
Finally, last weekend, I got my electric bill. I've never been so happy to see that. So now with my bill in hand, on Monday, I go down to Citibank to have them fax it to their corporate office (it's the least they could do right???).
Columbus Day...closed
Alright, another mild inconvenience, I'll just go to Office Max and fax it myself.
Which is what I did, after failing a number of times because the number was busy.
Finally, I thought, they have my electric bill and I can get my account online and forget about the whole hassle.
Friday rolls around, and I wanted to get some money. Four business days is plenty of time for an efficient corporation to process one fax right?
Apparently not...account still frozen...
Alright, at this point, I was getting beyond frustrated with these guys and their stupid corporation.
I finally called Citibank to get some kind of answer to what the hell was going on.
God help the poor guy who answered the call that day...
Why?
Because when I called him, he explained to me the following two things...
1 - My utility bill wasn't good enough. Apparently, the address was incomplete. I can't see how this could be possible, as it had the full street name, apartment number, city, and zip code right on it. Maybe they need a bill that also featured a photo of me smiling with the doorman or something. God only knows.
2 - Once the utility bill was denied as proper verification, the 30-day time limit on getting Citibank the information verification (remember waiting for the next bill) lapsed. My account was now automatically cancelled.
Poor poor Indian Citibank employee...he really should've called in sick that day, because I went to town.
I realized after my first 4 or 5 minutes of profanity-laden diatribes that this poor guy didn't deserve that. So I spent the next 3 minutes apologizing and telling him that I didn't think it was his fault and that I shouldn't have yelled at him.
After all of that...I finally get it all out of my system, and there's a long awkward pause...
'I'm...I'm sorry sir' the poor Indian call center guy replied
I don't know what happened after that, maybe I drove him to quit, that would be nice.
Anyway, after all that crap, I officially have no Citibank account. I was expecting to get my check any day...and lo and behold, today I got a letter from the good people at Citibank.
It was my first account statement, not my money.
Yeah, Citibank is definitely on the list.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
A (Busy) Day in the Life
I was trying to think about a longer blog post regarding this presentation I heard today...then I realized I was pretty busy and didn't have a lot of time to write it...then I figured, lots of people (ok, maybe just my family) wonder what exactly I do all day. I think their guess is a lot of ultimate frisbee and guitar hero.
So, here's my day today, as I best recollect it...
6:55 am - Wake up to get ready for the 7:48 train down to Hyde Park. Eat two yogurts. Shower. Etc.
7:30 am - Walk down to the METRA station, which is fortunately connected to my apartment building
7:45 am - Board train, which proceeds to not move for 15 minutes before we are told to transfer to another train, this time, one that works
8:15 am - Trade stats homework advice with classmate on the ride down to Hyde Park while hoping I won't be too late that my Accounting professor will make fun of me (because he likes making fun of people for not obeying the rules or for not knowing the material).
8:35 am - Sneak into class through the back hallway, only marginally disturbing everyone. Fortunately, the other 10 students from my train are right behind me and deflect most of the shame.
8:35 am - 11:30 am - Financial Accounting class, spending three hours learning the intricacies of the income and cash flow statements...yay. We get a 15 minute break, which I used to dash to the computer lab and print out next week's accounting presentation and this week's case assignment.
11:45 am - 1:00 pm - Attend lunch session with Steven Levitt (the Freakonomics guy). I really good presentation, centered around his corporate consulting efforts and how companies are reluctant to perform experiments to see potential revenue/profit/cost improvements. Also talked about his work with prostitutes...good stuff.
1:00 pm - 1:20 pm - Run into cohort film chair, talk about our upcoming student film production and the work we'll need to do.
1:30 pm - 2:50 pm - Microecon class, focused on cost and production curves and discussion of our Nike sweat shop case.
3:15 pm - 4:30pm - Gym, shower, back to school
4:45pm - Computer lab, print out new updated resume for tomorrow's session with a career advisor. Run into a classmate, plan future accounting review
5:19 pm - METRA back downtown
5:30 pm - 6:30 pm - Eat dinner, talk on the phone, respond to emails, and watch about a half hour of Law and Order (which is ALWAYS on TNT HD)
6:30 pm - 10:00 pm - Read accounting chapters, do study problems, do accounting case, with frequent breaks to bash my head against the wall
10:00 pm - Blog, watch DVR'd South Park
11:00 pm (projected) - Pass out
So, here's my day today, as I best recollect it...
6:55 am - Wake up to get ready for the 7:48 train down to Hyde Park. Eat two yogurts. Shower. Etc.
7:30 am - Walk down to the METRA station, which is fortunately connected to my apartment building
7:45 am - Board train, which proceeds to not move for 15 minutes before we are told to transfer to another train, this time, one that works
8:15 am - Trade stats homework advice with classmate on the ride down to Hyde Park while hoping I won't be too late that my Accounting professor will make fun of me (because he likes making fun of people for not obeying the rules or for not knowing the material).
8:35 am - Sneak into class through the back hallway, only marginally disturbing everyone. Fortunately, the other 10 students from my train are right behind me and deflect most of the shame.
8:35 am - 11:30 am - Financial Accounting class, spending three hours learning the intricacies of the income and cash flow statements...yay. We get a 15 minute break, which I used to dash to the computer lab and print out next week's accounting presentation and this week's case assignment.
11:45 am - 1:00 pm - Attend lunch session with Steven Levitt (the Freakonomics guy). I really good presentation, centered around his corporate consulting efforts and how companies are reluctant to perform experiments to see potential revenue/profit/cost improvements. Also talked about his work with prostitutes...good stuff.
1:00 pm - 1:20 pm - Run into cohort film chair, talk about our upcoming student film production and the work we'll need to do.
1:30 pm - 2:50 pm - Microecon class, focused on cost and production curves and discussion of our Nike sweat shop case.
3:15 pm - 4:30pm - Gym, shower, back to school
4:45pm - Computer lab, print out new updated resume for tomorrow's session with a career advisor. Run into a classmate, plan future accounting review
5:19 pm - METRA back downtown
5:30 pm - 6:30 pm - Eat dinner, talk on the phone, respond to emails, and watch about a half hour of Law and Order (which is ALWAYS on TNT HD)
6:30 pm - 10:00 pm - Read accounting chapters, do study problems, do accounting case, with frequent breaks to bash my head against the wall
10:00 pm - Blog, watch DVR'd South Park
11:00 pm (projected) - Pass out
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Ugh
Maybe someday, after another couple decades of sports futility, Time Life or ESPN or some other media company will come out with a 10-disc DVD package of 'Great Philadelphia Sports Disasters.' Or maybe it'll be on hyperdrives or terabit flashcards or something weird by then.
But I'm convinced, now more than ever, that there will never be a happy ending for a Philadelphia team as long as I'm alive. The Phillies mounted a stirring run to the postseason, overtaking the hated Mets, only to collapse in a horrendous 3 game sweep at the hands of the Colorado Rockies (with a storied tradition dating back to 1993!). The lesson, as always, is that Philadelphia can't win. I'll still keep rooting for the Phillies, the Eagles, the Flyers, and the Sixers (not to mention Penn State), but I feel like I'll always be left disappointed like some 35 year-old single woman in a romantic comedy before John Cusack shows up.
I was born in 1981. Now, you may say, 'but wait, the Sixers won a championship in 1983, so isn't this whole thing a bunch of BS?'
You could say that, but that would make you a jackass. I wasn't a sports fan when I was 1.5 years old. I date my sports consciousness back to 1987, my first sports memory, watching the Flyers lose in the Stanley Cup finals to some loser named Gretzky.
So 1987, that's the beginning...in that time, there have been...
20 Flyers seasons
20 Phillies seasons
20 Sixers seasons
20 Eagles seasons
and if you want to throw in Penn State football (which I didn't begin to support wholeheartedly until I started there in 1999), eight Nittany Lions seasons.
88 sports seasons
ZERO championships!!!
Am I some kind of sports-world Job?
I'm not sure, my bible knowledge is kind of spotty...but I definitely think I'm cursed if nothing else.
But I'm convinced, now more than ever, that there will never be a happy ending for a Philadelphia team as long as I'm alive. The Phillies mounted a stirring run to the postseason, overtaking the hated Mets, only to collapse in a horrendous 3 game sweep at the hands of the Colorado Rockies (with a storied tradition dating back to 1993!). The lesson, as always, is that Philadelphia can't win. I'll still keep rooting for the Phillies, the Eagles, the Flyers, and the Sixers (not to mention Penn State), but I feel like I'll always be left disappointed like some 35 year-old single woman in a romantic comedy before John Cusack shows up.
I was born in 1981. Now, you may say, 'but wait, the Sixers won a championship in 1983, so isn't this whole thing a bunch of BS?'
You could say that, but that would make you a jackass. I wasn't a sports fan when I was 1.5 years old. I date my sports consciousness back to 1987, my first sports memory, watching the Flyers lose in the Stanley Cup finals to some loser named Gretzky.
So 1987, that's the beginning...in that time, there have been...
20 Flyers seasons
20 Phillies seasons
20 Sixers seasons
20 Eagles seasons
and if you want to throw in Penn State football (which I didn't begin to support wholeheartedly until I started there in 1999), eight Nittany Lions seasons.
88 sports seasons
ZERO championships!!!
Am I some kind of sports-world Job?
I'm not sure, my bible knowledge is kind of spotty...but I definitely think I'm cursed if nothing else.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Google Trends: kebert xela
The labs people at Google do a pretty cool job of coming up with new and interesting tools they can use to analyze their ridiculous amount of data.
One of those cool tools that's been around for a while is the Trends tool, which allows you to put in any term and see how it's fluctuated in terms of its google frequency, that is, how often people are googling it.
For example, the link below shows how the peaks and valleys over time (ok, so it's just one peak and lots of nothing) around a certain Family Guy joke.
Google Trends: kebert xela
Major spike right around June 2007...but that's probably pure coincidence right???
One of those cool tools that's been around for a while is the Trends tool, which allows you to put in any term and see how it's fluctuated in terms of its google frequency, that is, how often people are googling it.
For example, the link below shows how the peaks and valleys over time (ok, so it's just one peak and lots of nothing) around a certain Family Guy joke.
Google Trends: kebert xela
Major spike right around June 2007...but that's probably pure coincidence right???
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