Tell me a story about a fellow with a crazy dream…

The sun is at 15 degrees off the horizon, I am heading straight for
it and it is midnight. I’ll touch down with my bag and brief, not
knowing much of anything. The Pimsleur tapes came and went bending a
few brain cells, but I am not ready to be in France for a week and
show verbal respect for the country. Guess I’ll keep my mouth shut;
there’ed be something new. I’ll take the advice and not use alcohol
(jet lag), but can’t stay off the coffee.

I should spend my last remaining battery life reviewing Central and
Eastern European history, but fcuk it. I have worked hard enough and
I would rather dance on the keyboard for a while. Did make a little
progress with economics, but wow, the exam coming in December is
huge. I am averaging around 60-70 percent on the practice exams at
the end of a Learning Outcome Statement group. 70 is passing.

My bag got packed and in a loose way, most things are handled at home
while I’ll be gone. It is too cloudy below to see the land, but I
think we are over it now. My travel plans put me into the check in
about ¾ the way through it; which, if you ask me, is perfect. I don’t
really want to stay for an extra minute with this group, although I
can say that I am excited to individually see everyone that I am
going to be with (my class).

I hope that I have a thick enough jacket. Living in Phoenix distorts
my perspective of the rest of the world. Even San Diego is way too
cold for me. Suppose to be a great time of year in Geneva. The girl
sitting one row up is going on a one year exchange program. Reminds
me of Greece. Maybe I am making a mistake by not visiting that city.
One of my underlying reasons for booking the trip to London following
class is that the time alone will give me time to study. Athens is
really the city that I would like to go to. Isn’t that funny how I
want what is familiar? And I have two friends in Athens that I would
really love to see. The other reason is that I have dreamed, once, a
long time ago, that I would like to live and work in London. I don’t
know why, other than probably some NPR radio show talked about old
men sitting in coffee shops reading their local newspaper and
cherishing this, how there are a lot of newspapers. Isn’t that precious?

There is a chance of a bonus. A friend of mine has two nieces from
Wales whom visited her and I had a chance to get to know. Their
family invited me to stay for a couple of days. My sick pleasure of
studying coupled with my desire to escape kept me from solidifying
the change in plans that would be required to secure the trip out there.

58 degrees and light rain in Paris. If I stay out in it, my light
coat won’t be sufficient. I managed about 15 minutes of sleep; I
should be good until at least I am milling around the train station
waiting again for departure. Assuming that I make it. I believe that
the train station and the airport are quite a way away from each
other, and I don’t have a clue how to make that little leg of the
journey. A little anxiety, but I built in a couple of extra hours
into my schedule due to the uncertainty. I’d like to take the time to
go to a sight or two in Paris; we’ll see. The Eiffel tower isn’t
poking its top through the clouds yet. I guess it isn’t 10,000 feet
tall.

Matthew Horvat

You know how dumb the average person is? Well, by definition, half
the population is dumber than that!

pre-trip to Geneve!

Well, my exotic, once per decade, totally fun trip abroad is about to
commence. I'll leave on Friday, and then a week from Sunday (2 weeks
from today) I'll take a train to London. That night is the 2nd of 3
days of the Notting Hill Carnival. I would love to attend this Reggae
festival near Kensington.

Then on Tuesday of that week I am going to lunch with a friend that I
met through a professional conference and in the last part of the
week there are a couple of girls which are nieces of a friend of mine
which may come to visit.

So, besides that I have the final for the Regional Business
Environment class in Geneva. The week before (class) is filled with
discussions about Central and Eastern Europe, Political and Legal
environment, Economics, and Integration.

The plans to Croatia weren't realized, I am afraid that I just
couldn't pull it together. The difficult understanding of
transportation coupled with the short time available made the trip
out of my grasp. I hope that I won't regret it once I am there.

Ode to finals

How final exams suck
Perhaps a beer will help me
Eureka a B!

Arizona Skys

Tonight is the perfect night in Arizona. Many days I wonder why the
heck I am in this land. Hell on earth is the common name I have for
Phoenix. But…. It has rained the last couple of nights (got to love
the monsoon season), my roomie and friend is doing wonders on the
landscaping for my little house, he just got a job and that is reason
enough to celebrate, I have had some major successes at work (this
usually causes me stress), and the temperature is absolutely perfect.
The clouds are making a wonderful scene above with blues, grays, pink
and oranges. There is a light breeze, the kind that makes you want to
run.