And yet another year is over..

Highlights of the year:

1. Watching the soccer game Anorthosis - Panathinaikos on my laptop during class time wearing my earphones...and swearing at the screen every now and then.

2. Stories of the Marketing Spreadsheet Modeling professor about "The Hills" and "Gossip Girls" during class time.

3. The best team I worked with on the Business Process design class. Great people to work with, amazing presentation!

4. Throwing up on our way from Indianapolis after I had two and a half beers (I swear they were large...)

5. Getting up at 5.30 almost everyday for the first seven weeks in order to work for my internship with Cisco.

6. Panathinaikos win against Inter Milan which brought back memories of 1996


7. Going to my first ever NFL game..Colts vs. Patriots

8. Having an amazing time with Molly's family on each occasion we met

9. A great summer in London with great friends! Thanks to everyone and especially those who had me in their house while being there:)

10. The great people I met at Cisco this summer.

11. The wonderful moments every time I am with my grandmother, parents, brothers and sisters-in-law!


What I want to forget:

1. My back problems, which was by far the worst pain experience I had.

2. All the doctors and money I paid for my back problems

3. Spending 3 months away from Molly!

4. The rejection letters from KPMG, Cummins, Eaton...

5. Some of the classes that I took..never mind, I already forgot them

6. Salamina's relegation to second division.



What I wish for 2009:

1. Health for everyone!

2. Personal and professional success.

3. A smooth graduation

19 things that go on in my life...

1. I am growing a beard.
2. It is really itchy sometimes
3. I have been trying to write a product concept statement for the last 3.30 hours. It should take 15 minutes but I am not concentrating.
4. I am trying to think of how to set up the simulation model for a clinical trial development.
5. I feel fat because I ate three burgers and fries. Molly says it is OK because they are low fat. I put mayonaisse on the burgers and on the fries.
6. I get freezing cold in the morning when I wait for the bus.
7. I avoid wearing my hat in the morning because it ruins my hair.
8. I am thirsty.
9. I just took a shower.
10. I am looking for a job.
11. I changed my graduation date from March to May.
12. I have 3 projects, 2 assignments and 2 final exams before this semester is over.
13. I am thirsty.
14. I just took a shower.
15. I am looking for a job.
16. I have completed 3.45 hours working on that product statement.
17. I enjoy 2 of my 4 classes these 7 weeks.
18. I love Molly.
19. I am going to get some water now.

American Football Vs. Real Football

For the years I have been in the U.S I have been listening to the same argument by many Americans.."Soccer is boring, why would you want to watch a game that finishes 0-0 or 1-1".
Today's NFL game between the Indianapolis Colts and Cleveland "Whatevers" finished for a Colts win 10-6. Now considering that a field goal counts for 7 points, if we do this in "soccer" math, then we have a game that finished 1.4 - 0.84 for the Colts. Way to go! Now take into consideration that an American Football game lasts for about 3.5 hours, 1.5 hours of which you watch commercials (if you are watching on TV) or cheerleaders if you are in the stadium (OK, that is worth it a bit), half an hour for half-time break, and another 1 hour until they decide which tactic to follow you pretty much watch about 30 minutes of action, 45 minutes maximum. Each play lasts on average 6 seconds and then there is another 30 seconds on average before the next play. Doesn't that make you want to take an adrenaline injection?
Oh btw, if you are interested, San Francisco - Bufallo final score is 10-3 or 1.4 - 0.4. Another full of action game.

Please tell me..

Why can I never find a REGULAR sized candy bar no matter how much I try? Why does Twix have to be Extra Large and Snickers has to be Super-Sized. I know that this is a consumer-oriented society but I don’t want to eat more than I want, I do not want to save it for later. I just want my REGULAR size chocolate.

Why are all candy bars in the U.S sweeter than Europe?

Why when I wait for that important call, my phone never rings?

Why when I try to take a nap my phone rings? (but it is not the important call)

Why on the U.S TV channels you can see disgusting scenes of surgeons performing surgery, you can see all sorts of crimes but yet they only censor boobs and thongs?

Why can’t people understand that Cyprus is an independent country, not a part of Greece no matter how many times I point that out?

Why do I have to decide what I want for Christmas at the end of October?

Why have I lost 8 lbs when I was in London this summer and I have gained 6lbs since I came back to the U.S?

Why are some people allowed to drive even though they are a public danger?

Why are all the good TV shows on Monday night and there is nothing good on TV on Tuesday?

Why does the Business school have more students than it should making it a real challenge to find a break-out study room?

Any answers to the above questions are greatly appreciated. Except the one about me gaining the weight I lost..

Just when I thought I've seen everything...

I come across this article:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,297121,00.html
Just to summarize..this guy decides to sue God for the natural disasters and the terrorist threats. It would be OK if he was just a guy, but he is a senator of a State...and instead of the State taking some measures, they take the case to court and they turn it down, because God has no legal address...Heeeeeeelllllooooo, check again: 112 Sky Court Road, Heaven 65221.

In other news..here is what I promised a few weeks ago. A picture of Molly's beer with a straw in it:


I had my birthday three times in the last 1 month.
1. First I had my real birthday on September 20th.
2. Then last Saturday, we went to Little Zagreb (the restaurant in Bloomington, not the city in Croatia) for some good steak. After we had our super delicious, pretty expensive steaks, we also ordered a cheesecake to go. Molly and I placed a bet on how much the bill it would be. Nerd as I am, I quickly made the calculations in my head, I added the necessary tax and predicted $93. Molly said $88 and we placed a 5-minute massage as a bet. So, when the check came, it was $88.26. But guess what?? She forgot to add the cheesecake. Being an ethical person - and not wanting to lose my bed - I called the waitress and told her that she forgot to add the cheesecake price on the bill...and the response I got was "oh well..don't worry about it..it's your birthday". So..I lost the bet:(
3. The MBAA Monday morning e-mail which comes out each week wrongly had my birthday as being October 20th instead of September. So on Monday, I started getting all those wishes from people and I had no idea why..until I read the Monday morning e-mail.

Done with two more classes today. 9 more before I get my MBA degree. And then I will go sue God because I do not have a job yet:)

The morning adventure

Molly was in Indianapolis today and I had an interview so I decided that instead of taking the bus to school it would be better to get a taxi. Here is what happened in my 7 minutes in the taxi from home to school.
- On the way we picked another passenger from an orthopaedic center around here. He was going to a dorm, so I assumed that he was a freshman. He asked me if the reason I am wearing a suit and tie is because I am joining a fraternity. I told him that I am a graduate student and that I have an interview and he told me that he was supposed to wear a suit today because he is joining a fraternity.
- The taxi driver told me how much he likes his job. That was after he asked me if I am Irish (because you know, I look like Irish with my red hair) and I told him that I am Greek. I thought Cyprus might have confused him. So he told me that he loves his job because he gets to meet people from everywhere in the world.
- Following the discussion about people from everywhere he turned it into a discussion about a show..I think it is called "Man in the Wild" and he was telling me about this guy in Alaska who is not afraid of bears etc etc etc..I did switch him off and just said "Yeah"
- He also told me that he hopes that it rains so that the taxis are more busy today because they are not busy. I did bring up that they are a monopoly in the town and that when they are busy they cannot satisfy the student population. He did not reply to that. He just told me that he worked 12 hours yesterday and he only got paid for 8.
All that in 7 minutes..and it only cost me $12.

Weihenstephan

Last night we went to this bar in Indianapolis, Rathskeller. I was really surprised when Molly ordered a beer because she never drinks beer. When I tried it though, I understood why. It tasted like wine..it had a really sweet rasberry, fruity smell and taste...just like wine. I was really more surprised though towards the end of the night when I saw her drinking the beer with a straw..I even took out my Blackberry and took a picture of it:).
Weihenstephan is the beer that I drank. I think it is the best beer I have ever had. It is a wheat beer from Germany. Unfortunately, the quantity I drank, I left it in the middle of the highway on our way back, along with my burger and fries.

Somebody please stop them..

Here is a message from me about the elections:

Mr. Obama please, please stop the commercial which starts by saying "My mother died at 53 from cancer and the only thing she was thinking was how to pay her health expenses"

Mrs. Palin please, please stop taking your 6 month son to any public appearance you make. The baby is suffering, he does not need to suffer more by going to wherever you go.

ok, now it is off my chest:)

I really can't think of a title right now

Here I am, having a class on Project Management. The professor is in China, he is teaching online and I am staring at my laptop screen, thinking what can I do right now..so I decided to just share this thought on my blog, hoping that my professor will never read it.
So..let's talk about Best Buy. I went in there two days ago, just to look around..I love looking at the laptops and thinking which one I would buy if I had the money. In my 12 minutes in there, I had 5 or 6 salesmen approach us and and ask if we need any help. I appreciate their interest..but I also do not want to repeat myself.."No thank you, we are just looking around", "No thank you, we are just looking around", No thank you, we are just looking around" , "No thank you", "NOOOO".
What really struck me with Best Buy however was when I was doing some research last night and found out that Best Buy does customer profile segmenting. What do I mean by that? Best Buy identified 6 different customer profiles that visit their stores:

• Affluent professionals
  
• Active younger males
  
• Family men who want technology to improve their lives
• Busy suburban moms
  
• Small-business customers

When Best Buy identifies a location to build a new store, they use their database to find out which of those customer segments is more likely to visit that store and they build the store in such a way to satisfy the needs of that specific segment and hire employees that are more likely to understand the needs of that segment. This technique has raised the returns of Best Buy. Brilliant, just brilliant! If you want more information you can read this article: http://www.cio.com/article/8094/Best_Buy_Counts_Customers

It is Thursday today, just 25 minutes before my last class and then the weekend startssssss..or maybe not..one more meeting for the day, work today, work tomorrow morning, then physiotherapy, then another meeting, then i will take a break for some alcohol and then getting ready for my very big day on Monday!

Mcama vs. Obain

I am not sure who "won" the debate on Friday. Most of the people said that Obama was the winner but the real winner will be the one who becomes the next president. For the time being here is what I think is going on:
Obama has been giving out an image that he is the type of person who is young, can bring change to this nation, a loving family guy with his wife and daughters probably being a sign to all the family voters. And here is how McCain responds. He selects the governor of Alaska to be his VP. Yes, the governor of Alaska. What does Sarah Palin bring into the equation for McCain..? She is the female Obama. Inexperienced, young, beautiful, loving mother with a 17-year old pregnant girl and a baby with the Down syndrome. And all of a sudden everything changes. The young mothers that would vote for Obama, hear Palin's first speech and they suddenly change their mind. McCain for President.
Now here is the reality..Most of the polls give Obama as the winner of the elections. The question is, are the people who participate in those surveys going to vote on that Tuesday of November? And somebody explain to me, why is U.S if not the only, probably one of the few countries of the world when the election is held on a Tuesday?? There must be a reason.
The market sucks, Dow Jones had the biggest drop ever in history two days ago, the job market is almost non-existent. Who will be the next president? We will find out in a few weeks.

A recollection of memories Part 1

I remember, every July 14^th, July 20^th and August 15^th of my childhood, going home after playing football in the neighbourhood, and sitting on the veranda of our house with my parents eating karpouzi and halloumi and listening to the news talking about the 8^th, 9^th, 10^th, 11^th, …..anniversary of the coup d’etat and the Turkish invasion. 34 years after the invasion here is what I remember…

I remember that CYBC was the only television channel in Cyprus.

I remember my parents telling my brother that by the time he has to go to the army, there will be no army in Cyprus. I remember them telling me the same. I remember my uncle saying the same to his son. I say it now too. The army is still there.

I remember my first football game. My uncle took me with the famous Opel Vectra registration numbers VZ609 (which at the time thought that was funny because when you say it out loud it sounds like “ViZi” which means “boob”) to my first ever Salamina game at a friendy game against Omonia at the Makario stadium..

I remember the final of 1989, Salamina-Omonia in Tsirio stadio in Limassol. The only thing that I regret in my life is that my whole family went to that game and I preferred to go to a friend’s birthday party…I was 9 years old, but I remember listening to it on the radio. I remember Pambis scoring, I remember listening to the last few minutes on the only radio we had in our kitchen. I will never forget.

I remember my dad’s navy Chevrolet pick-up truck which was then replaced by a newer white Chevrolet pick-up car.

I remember my grandmother telling me bed-time stories of her childhood.

I remember my grandfather, coming to our home riding his red Vespa and bringing along the only communist newspaper of Cyprus.

I remember my first ever trip outside of Cyprus, going to Egypt with the extended family. I remember that I was afraid to get inside the pyramids.

I remember being sick in the hospital and only wanting a specific nurse to put the IV on.

I remember the president of the Cyprus Republic coming for dinner at our house, and me feeling proud of it. I remember sitting outside talking to his guards.

I remember the gift the President brought me from Japan; a white robot which was eventually lost while moving to our new house.

I remember my brothers beating me on any occasion they could. I remember being afraid of them, but also wanting to live up to them.

I remember my brothers beating a guy who was trying to play cool with me.

I remember the Friday night they called me from the hospital to tell me that my grandfather passed away.

I remember the night they called us from Limassol to tell us that grandmother Stella passed away. I remember my dad returning from a trip and understanding what happened before we even told him.

I remember playing pilotta when my mother called me to tell me that grandfather Loukas passed away.

I remember walking to my uncle’s house almost every day after elementary school.

I remember waking up at 5am on Tuesdays during summer period to go with my father to work at the farm.

I remember being happy to see the pigs and felt close to them, not realizing that they were growing them up so they can kill them and make them pork.

I remember my brother returning home from his studies in London for the first time. He had long hair and all I wanted to do was show him the games of Salamina that I had taped.

I remember my English high-school teacher telling my parents that I will not pass my English O-level. I got a B.

I remember my Chemistry high-school teacher telling my parents that I will not pass my Chemistry O-level. She was right.

I remember playing for the high-school football team, training every Friday and the player with the most dedication would get a Sandwich and Coca-cola for free from the coach…who was also a Chemistry teacher.

I remember Mr. Chisios, the PE teacher who wanted me to play volleyball for the school team, but I always preferred the nap after school.

I remember the first time I got injured playing football, twisting my ankle. My parents were in Africa and my brother couldn’t pick me up from school because he had a phone interview with Bank of Cyprus.

I remember all the other times that I twisted the same ankle in the following years.

I remember every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday going at badminton training from 8pm until 10pm with my good friends.

I remember spending my childhood years with my best friends in the neighbourhood.

I remember my mum taking me to her work when I was 5 or 6 and her sweet colleagues saying “Ohh what a cute baby..is it a boy or a girl?”

I remember all my friends liking Power Rangers and me hating them.

I remember “Einai mia, mono mia I oneiremeni froutopia”

I remember my brother kicking me and me landing with my elbow on a rock breaking it…all because he tore a Salamina player sticker and I got mad and threw him a rock.

I remember all my birthday cakes when I was a little boy were in the shape of a Jersey and had the Salamina colors and logo.

I remember the barber with the large house in our neighbourhood who would not let us play football on the field across from his house because the dust would make the house dirty. I remember how he was hated by every kid in the neighbourhood.

I remember my mountain bike which had a malfunctioned chain and resulted in me returning home with a new bruise every day.

I remember unloading containers of plastic things at the local plastic store and the owner paying us 10 or 20 Cyprus pounds.

Time goes by so slowly..or does it..?

Like a movie...

I was reading the Guardian the other day and I found the following story:

A 31-year-old Greek man accused of beheading his girlfriend with a cleaver is in critical condition after being shot by police, the country's health ministry said today.

Restaurant cook Thanassis Arvanitis allegedly severed the head of his 25-year-old girlfriend yesterday on the island of Santorini.

Arvanitis was shot three times by police while trying to flee. He had initially agreed to surrender to officers, but then attacked one with the cleaver and tried to escape in a patrol car.

Three bystanders were injured in the clash in Bourboulos, near the island's main town of Fira. A 21-year-old Greek tourist was hit by a ricocheting police bullet, while the suspect crashed into an oncoming motorbike, injuring two doctors, both aged 26.

Arvanitis and the three bystanders, all women, were being treated in a state hospital in Athens. The two doctors were making a good recovery after suffering leg injuries, said health minister Dimitris Avramopoulos. The tourist was in stable condition. The injured policeman received treatment for facial wounds on Santorini.

Arvantis killed his girlfriend following an argument. "The (suspect) slaughtered their dog and threw it out of their home and onto the street and proceeded to kill the woman ... totally severing her head," a statement from the South Aegean police department said.

"The attacker walked around the village carrying the head of the victim in one hand and the cleaver in the other."

"It's hard to believe that people like this circulate among us," said Santorini's mayor, Angelos Roussos.

www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/04/greece.internationalcrime

In the last two weeks I've read about a guy in Canada who beheaded a girl in a bus and started eating parts of her body, another guy in Canada who stopped a taxi driver in the middle of the street and beat him to death and later told police that he wanted to see if it is the same as in Grand Theft Auto, a 20-year old Australian beaten to death by club security people in Mykonos and two Italian students stabbed to death in London...171 stabbings on one of them, and two teenagers in London who pushed a lawyer in the rail tracks of the Underground because she told them that smoking is not allowed on the station.

I really have no idea where I am going with this but it is Saturday night and I am bored. My week up to now has got me so tired that the only thing I was dreaming of today was my bed. That was exactly what I was dreaming of last night too followed by a sleep in in the morning but unfortunately the builders downstairs had a different idea. IT somehow seems reasonable to start putting holes on the wall at 9am on a Saturday. After all who would be sleeping at that time?

Two weeks left in London. As my time here is almost over, looking back at it, I will remember it as a great experience. I had the opportunity to work for the leading company in the world in its sector, meet new people, reunite and have fun with classmates from school, experience the London life and learn to not be amused by the sudden weather changes. The only thing I would have wanted most though was to be able to spend those 3 months with my baby. It has been a difficult three months being away from her and I am glad that we will reunite again in two weeks, hoping that we will never have to be apart again:)

Euro 2008

This is by far the best football (yes FOOTBALL for you Americans) that I have ever seen. Great games, a lot of goals and many upsets. The favorites to win Portugal have once again proven that despite their technique and skills they lack in winning attitude. Hence their loss tonight from a German team which had 3 opportunities to score..and did so 3 times.
Let's start from the beginning though looking at the quarter final games + Greece.

Greece: OK, they were disappointing in this tournament and they did not stand up to their title of European Champions. But remember that they have something that teams like England and Spain do not have. A European title! So no matter how awful they were at this tournament I believe the least we could do is say Thank you to that team for making Greeks and Cypriots proud and move on.

Croatia vs. Turkey: The Croatians beat Austria in the premiere of the 2nd group despite their disappointing game and then they thrashed one of the tournament favorites Germany 3-0. I have always liked Croatia -mainly because of Davor Suker and Procinetski - but beware...whatever the Turks lack in skills they have in passion. It is not a coincidence that they secured a place in the quarter-finals by scoring a goal in injury time against Switzerland and then coming back from a 2-0 against Czech Republic in 15 minutes!! Despite this, they are going into the game tomorrow with 5 players absent due to injuries and suspension, so I would favor Croatia to go through but I am leaving a chance for the upset there.

Italy vs. Spain: I am almost convinced that after their thrilling qualification from the "Group of Death" the Italians will win the tournament. Even though Spain are first or second favorites to win the tournament, they have a tendency to lose important games. The exact opposite is true for Italy. It should be an interesting game. After all, the two teams have the two best goalkeepers in the world - Buffon and Casillas - and world-class strikers - Luka Toni vs. David Villa and Fernando Torres. I believe that Italy will make it through.

Holland vs. Russia: 20 years ago, when I was 8, I remember sitting in the living room of our house and watching the big final of Euro 1988. Holland vs. USSR. I still remember Marco Van Basten's goal against the then best goalkeeper in the world Rinat Dasayev..and I still remember Igor Belanov missing a penalty kick for the Soviets. 20 years later, Marco Van Basten is the coach of the Holland team and the Soviet Union does not exist. But these two teams still play very attractive football. Holland has upset world cup finalists Italy and France (3-0 and 4-1) and has played the best football up to now. On the other hand, Russia may not be the greatest team but they do have quality players and a great coach. From what I have seen up to now, if Holland keeps their form they will probably go through. Beware of the Russians though. They are capable of losing the game 5-0 or winning 5-0.

I will be back for more predictions for the semi-finals. For the time being this is the order of likeness for each team that is still in the tournament.

1. Russia ( I do have a bet on them winning the tournament)
2. Holland
3. Italy
4. Croatia
5. Spain
6. Germany
7. Turkey

First impressions from London

My apologies for not writing for so long. I was actually waiting for the sun to come out to write again. Sun? What is this? Something that you rarely see in London!
So that is one down for London; the depressing weather. Second down..prices. I actually tried to compare prices of TGI Friday's in the U.S and TGI Friday's in London. A cajun chicken sandwich in U.S is $8, in London it's 9 English pounds which translates to about $18. A mixed drink is about $16 and an imported beer is about $7-9 depending on the area where you are from.
Let's go to the positives. There is always something to do anywhere. Want to go for a coffee or at a bar. It is more than likely that there is such an establishment down the road. Transportation is really easy with buses running all the time and underground trains (expensive..but easy).
As for my job, I really like it. I have 12-hour days (including the 1.5 hr commute each way) so by the time I come home the only thing I want to do is eat, watch an episode of Lost, talk to Molly and sleep. And yet the one episode of Lost becomes two or three, a little surfing on the web and the time goes to 1am before I sleep. And I am up by 6am and then again the same routine. Tiring, but it does fill my days.
Well, that is for now. I know, a pretty boring post but that is pretty much all I have for now. Until I have something interesting take care..

A video-game in real life

Since insomnia has taken over my life, I have decided to update this blog at 5am after 3 consecutive episodes of Lost.
Jetman is a game application on Facebook where your character is a spaceship moving through a cave. Objective of the game is to avoid the bricks or obstacles that come in your way and score as many points as possible. Driving a car in Cyprus is pretty similar to that game. The obstacles are usually cars that are parked either on the left lane of the street (if it is a two-lane street) or half-parked on the sidewalk and half in the street (if it is a one-lane street). At the same time, you have to be cautious not to hit people who think that they have the right to cut in front of you, just because they are in a hurry. Like Jetman there is no end to the game..you win a battle every time you reach your destination, but you never win the game. Of course the thing that annoys me the most is that a fair amount of Cypriots will drive a luxury or sports car well worth over 30,000 Euro, they go to cafes and pay 5 Euros for a coffee but yet they will not pay 2 Euros to park their car in a parking place. They just throw it in the middle of the street. Because, you know, here in Cyprus it is not healthy to walk for 2, 3, 4 or 5 minutes. You have to park your car right outside of your final destination. And in the case you don't find somewhere to abandon it, who cares just leave it in the street and put the parking lights on. I guess people think that if they do that, they are covered by the law.
Which brings me to another subject..people driving and talking on their cell-phones. Please everybody, buy a headset or a bluetooth and use it. It just makes life so much easier. Or if you are not willing to do that, please don't use the loudspeaker.

Okay, now that I got everything out of my system, maybe I can go to sleep.

Welcome to the United States of America...

where you can get a driving license when you are 16, you can join the military when you are 18, you can vote for the next president when you are 18, you can be trusted to having a gun when you are 18, you can go to Iraq or any other country of the world and kill people when you are 18, you can get alcohol when you are 21, but you WILL NOT BE SERVED ALCOHOL BECAUSE YOU HAVE A STATE ID AND NOT A DRIVING LICENSE even though you are 27 years old....
because you never know..a Pina Colada might force you to illegaly operate a vehicle, while holding your gun out of the window and killing people.

End of Year 1

You are probably wondering why the hell I am on vacation and I am writing on this blog instead of swimming in the pool or the ocean or running around or even doing something. The answer is because I can't. So, sitting on my porch, with the view of the ocean and the aid of a frappe to keep me awake here is a summary of the classes that I have taken this year. Depending on how I feel, I might skip or forget some classes or might even break this blog to two. Let's start from the most recent ones:

M530 - Business to Business Marketing:
This class has exceeded my expectations.I feel I learned more in this class than I have learned four years in my undergraduate degree. Professor Fred Roedl does a great job in challenging students to think about B2B issues. He is not one of the professors who will agree or reword anything that you say and it's wrong just to make you not feel bad. He seeks for the correct answers. The cases used in the class are really challenging and sometimes hard to understand but they really require a lot of thinking of business to business issues and I believe help each student understand how to apply skills in each situation.

K513 - Data Mining
As much as I like Professor Albright, I was really disappointed with the class. I came in the class with big expectations but unfortunately the class was a bit disorganized, with no book to read and students have faced a lot of problems with software. I am sure that with a little bit of more structure this can become a very beneficial course.

M503 - Market Research
Being my favorite subject, this class could not go wrong. I am glad we went into detailed analysis of data using SPSS instead of just going over high-level fundamentals of Market Research. Professor Burke is really good and knows how to make the class interesting even when you have to use Chi-Squares to determine the significance of a results. I would definitely recommend this class to anyone who is interested in analyzing data.

K507 - Data Analysis using Excel
Wow! I think that is enough to describe this class. One of the most interesting classes I have ever taken in the University. Professor Winston is an amazing professor and teaches things in this course that you would have never imagined you could on Excel. Solver and @Risk were the main Excel add-ins that we used. A word of caution. Students either love or hate this class. I think it really depends on how much one likes Excel.

K515 - Introduction to VBA
This was a really good class taught by Professor Albright. If you are interested in Visual Basic language using Excel this is a great class. It is challenging without previous programming experience but Professor Albright realizes that and teaches everything from the beginning. The assignments are challenging and time-consuming but once you complete an assignment and you realize what you have achieved, the satisfaction is priceless. My only complaint with the course was the final exam because there were no specific instructions for it.

M511- Marketing Productivity using Data
At the beginning I was a little disappointed with the course but as time progressed it got more and more interesting. Learning how to use numbers and data to measure productivity or market share or forecasting market size is extremely important and really interesting. Overall I would say that this is a really good class.

A548 - Managerial Accounting
I was a little bit disappointed with this class. The cases were interesting and I feel I learned a lot but it was hard to follow sometimes in class with the discussion. The important thing for this class is to read the book and understand what is going on.

X574 - Pricing
Professor Walters, or Rockney as he likes to be called is a guru of pricing. He is funny, friendly and makes the class a fun place to be for 1.30 hours. He manages to pass the message of pricing fundamentals and the applications he uses in class are ...priceless. Beware in class not to use the "PW" word..Price War.

These are the classes for this semester. As the year is over, I would like to wish all 2nd years all the best with their personal life and their careers and all 1st years good luck with their internships.
Also a special thanks to Professor Fred Roedl and Professor Ray Burke who were really understanding and supporting with the back problem I was going through. Kelley is such a great place to be, because of its great professors.

Have a good summer everyone. I will follow up with another blog soon about the NC vacation and adventures in London.

Glory Glory Man United!!

Saw my mate the other day, he said to me he'd seen the White Pele, so I asked who he is, he goes by the name of Wayne Rooney, Wayne Rooney



He plays on the left, he plays on the righttttttttt, that boy Ronaldo makes England look shite


Paul Scholes

Crunching the Numbers

I recently started reading a book called "Super Crunchers" where the author suggests that pretty much everything can be predicted using numbers. This book would definitely put to sleep within 2 minutes people who do not like numbers, regression and Excel so I would not recommend it if you are not interested. Why am I mentioning it? Because I like numbers and equations and because I want to show you that either Hillary thinks that U.S population is stupid or she is:
Hillary proposed the gas-tax free holiday this summer in the U.S. What does this mean? It means that there will be no federal tax on gas from Memorial Day to Labor Day. What does it really mean? Follow me:

1. The average federal tax is 18.9 cents.
2. The gas-tax free holiday will reduce the price of gas by about 19 cents per gallon.
3. The average person fills up their gas once every 6 days. If we assume that the gas-tax free holiday will go for 180 days then the average person will fill up their gas about 30 times.
4. The average tank of the car of the average person holds about 10 gallons. Therefore during the gas-tax free holiday the average person will fill up his tank with about 300 gallons of gas (30 times 10)
5. This will save each person in the U.S about.....$57 (300 * 19 cents)

No, it is not over! There are more numbers:
1. There are about 250,000,000 cars in the U.S
2. The gas-tax free holiday will prevent the U.S government from collecting about $14 billion dollars in gas taxes.

And the worst of all, is that the $57 that the average person will save on gas money will be spent at one of the following places:
a. McDonalds
b. Wal-Mart
c. Target
d. Taco-Bell
e. KFC
f. Any other fast food that you can think of

Way to go Hillary, I hope you win the elections. Then maybe we can have a TV-free day, a radio-free day, a school-free day, health-free day. Yay!

My life in the last few weeks, my health insurance provider and the Champions League

Hello again! Sorry for not writing for so long but other concerns have been dominating my life. The biggest one..how to put my socks without bending my back and/or bringing my leg up. The pain is unbearable but I finally found the solution. I just tell Molly to do it for me. Sometimes I wonder how can she stand me for so long but I know she loves me..and I love her too because she is a wonderful person!
Another big problem is sitting in a chair for 3 hours a day and paying attention to class. When you have a back problem, sitting in a chair is believe me very uncomfortable and very painful. The solution..Vicodin. Not the best solution for a class where you need to pay attention.
The biggest problem of all however is sneezing. I am glad that I have prevented myself from sneezing in the last three weeks because the pain is terrible. The solution..I just close with my fingers!

Let's move on to my health insurance provider. When I came to the U.S, the University pretty much sent me a bill of about $600 and told me this is your health insurance provider: AETNA. I did not ask for them, and I was given no choice. And here we come to my problem today. In order to fix my life (see above) I need to have a surgery. There is ONLY ONE neurosurgeon in Bloomington and guess what..he is not in the preferred network of AETNA. So I called them to ask them if they would cover the expenses of my surgery. Here is how it went:
I dial the number and I get this lovely insurance representative on the phone. I asked her how much they would cover and she told me that they will only cover 50% because the doctor is not in their preferred network. And here is when the argument starts:
Alkis: "But he is the only neurosurgeon in town..what do you expect me to do?"
Lovely lady: "What is your zip code sir"
Alkis: "47401"
Lovely lady: "OK, hold on sir"
I wait for about 1 minute when she comes back to the phone.
Lovely lady: "Sir, there is a neurosurgeon in Columbus Indiana"
Alkis: "This is 40 miles away from here"
Lovely lady: "33.6 miles"
Alkis: "Yes, thank you very much. I am an international student at the school and I have no car to get to Columbus"
Lovely Lady: "The policy says that if there is a doctor within a 50 mile radius we cannot fully cover the expenses"
Alkis: "Again, do you realize that I did not choose this insurance company, I have no way to get to Columbus and I cannot sit in a car for more than 5 minutes. I have a ruptured disc"
Lovely lady: "I am sorry sir, there is nothing I can do"
Alkis: "Ok, I appreciate your help. Bye"

I did not leave it there however. I went to the University's Human Resources Department where I got to talk to a representative. Either the slowest person on earth, or she didn't give a shit about the situation or she was concerned about her lunch break. I explained to her the situation, and for the next ten minutes she was trying to get to a computer and show me the insurance brochure which I have already read and knew better than her. I explained to her again and she kept telling me other things. At about the 4th or 5th time, realizing that I would not leave from her office (and she would probably miss her lunch break) she told me that she would go talk to her director. She came back after 3-4 minutes and she told me that the director of the insurance company would be in town that night and she would talk to him and see if they can fully cover me. She promised to call me back today. It is 9.30pm now and if you have heard from her, so did I. And I know that when I call tomorrow to talk to her she would be in a "meeting" or she would not be available and she would call me later. I know the drill.
I already sent a complaint letter to the Office of International Students, to the Director of Graduate Services at Kelley Business School, I will send one to the Dean of the Students and I will file a complaint with the insurance company.

As far as the Champions League is concerned I hope that the UEFA makes a new rule that will not allow Chelsea and Liverpool to play against each other again. Those games have to be the most boring ever. They should be highly recommended to people with insomnia. The only reason I stayed awake today (and we are talking for 3pm) is the coffee that I was drinking. I counted 2 goal chances for Liverpool in the whole game and 1 for Chelsea. Final result 1-1.

That is it for today. I hope that the next time I write in this blog, my nerve will not be hitting my disc causing my leg to hurt like crazy. Until then Ciao.
And so that we don't forget..Glory glory Man United

Simple Math

Most of you who will read the next paragraph will not understand anything but I want to express how it feels to be a fan of a small team..

What if:
Salamina (as small team) reaches the semi-finals of the Cyprus final in the expense of Omonia:
- Less money for the TV station that will broadcast the game because of less demand, therefore lower revenue from commercials.
- Less money for the Cyprus Football Association because the Salamina stadium can only hold about 4500 spectators. Therefore the maximum money from tickets is about 76,500 Euros from which about 22,500 goes to the CFA.
- Probability of a not very interesting semi-final because of the low strength of Salamina

What if:
Omonia (as big team) reaches the semi-finals of the Cyprus final in the expense of Salamina:
- More money for the TV station that will broadcast the game because of higher demand, therefore higher revenue from commercials.
- More money for the CFA because Omonia stadium can hold about 25000 spectators. Therefore the maximum money from tickets is about 425,000 Euros. Considering that the stadium that Omonia uses belongs to the CFA, about 275,000 goes to CFA. 10 TIMES MORE THAN IF SALAMINA MADE IT THROUGH!
- Higher probability of a more interesting final because of Omonia's strengh.
- The revenues quoted above for the CFA could be doubled in the very decent possibility that Omonia makes the final instead of Salamina making it.

Let's see what happened at the games:
- Omonia equalized Ethnikos in the 5th of the 4 extra minutes added (you do the math here) with a penalty that was given against Ethnikos who unfairly played with a player less for about 40 minutes.
- Salamina was denied a penalty kick which was very similar to the one given to Omonia. People who did not watch the game have not heard or read anything about it.
- Apollonas and Salamina must be the most stupid teams in the league. While knowing that Omonia was down they could have arranged for Salamina to equalize and throw Omonia out of the cup. A win-win situation. Apollonas has one less strong team to face in the semi-final, Salamina goes through. AND YET THEY DIDN'T DO IT!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that is the sadness of following Cyprus soccer.

How things work..

It's been a really bad week for me. But there are always lessons to be learned. 1) There are people who love and care about you, 2) Doctors primary concern in the U.S is if you have health insurance and if you can pay them, 3) When you are in pain, think that someone else, somewhere else had more pain than you and survived through it.

Today I went to the Kroger pharmacy to fill my prescriptions for new medication. We were the only ones at the pharmacy, I gave the prescription and the lovely lady told me that we had to wait for 30 minutes because they are running a little behind. I was wondering how can a pharmacy with three pharmacists and not many potential customers run behind, especially when I was watching them and didn't seem to me that they were trying too hard.
It took me a while...and then it struck me !!!! THEY WANT YOU TO STAY IN KROGER FOR 30 MINUTES SO YOU CAN SHOP AND SPEND MONEY. That is exactly right. I was in terrible pain, I could barely walk but they had me wander around in their supermarket so that I can shop more. And of course when I went back after 15 minutes my medication was ready and waiting. You know why? Because it only takes 5 MINUTES TO FILL A PRESCRIPTION!

To a totally different subject now..I am totally convinced that Molly has magical powers. I am 100% sure. It all makes sense to me now! There are 4 instances I can prove that. Here we go:

1) 4 years ago we were in Las Vegas and I was making some money on the blackjack table when Molly turned to me and she said "You are doing well huh..". That was it. I did not make any money on blackjack for the next three days. I even think I broke the record of fastest losing money on a blackjack table.

2) About 2 weeks ago, we woke up and there was sun outside. And for all you who live in the great state of Indiana you know why that is worth mentioning. Molly's first words were "It is a beautiful day today". It turned out to be the most rainy, yucky, very cold day.

3) I was watching the NCAA basketball final last night between Kansas (blue shirts) and Memphis (white shirts). Memphis was up by 9 points 2 minutes before the end of the game. So I asked Molly who does she want to win. Here is our conversation:
Alkis: "Which team do you want to win?"
Molly: "What are their colors?"
Alkis: "Blue and White"
Molly: "Blue"
GUESS WHAT! KANSAS makes an astonishing comeback and wins the game!!!

4) I was watching the Arsenal(white shirts)-Liverpool(red shirts)l game today when Arsenal was up by 0-1 and they were playing much better than Liverpool. So I asked Molly again..which team does she want to win. She answered "Red". And guess what. In the next minute, Liverpool scores and takes over the game and wins!

WOW. I am impressed.

The reason we lost...

This blog post is dedicated especially to two of my blog fans..or actually to THE ONLY two blog fans I have...
I love you girls but you did not give us a chance to fairly compete on Friday. We got a 1-minute penalty because we ASSUMED that we were supposed to pop the balloons. We did not cheat..we assumed.
My objections also go for the questions you had up there.."Who was Charlize Theron engaged to?". WOW. It takes a lot of E! to know this answer. It is like I am asking you "Who was the point guard of Golden State Warriors in 1999"
I mean we even knew the questions and we could not get all the answers correct. How difficult were those questions?
Thriller by Michael Jackson? I was supposed to know that? I am supposed to know a song by some singer who was born in Gary, IN? Hey..how about this question.. "Who was the lead singer for Eurovision in 1985?" Fair?
And what about the drink station? I tried putting rum in the water glass for team 3 and Erica wouldn't let me. Why, why, why??
I know you are probably laughing reading this..and I am too. I am just teasing with both of you..(even though I think we should have won). I had fun on Friday. Let's do it again soon. Melissa can you turn 26 soon?
Btw..let me not forget HIGHLIGHT of the night:
We are getting ready to leave and Molly decides that it is a good idea to put her cellphone in her camera case. I immediately turned to Nathan and told those words:
"I bet you anything in the world, she will wake up tomorrow and she will be looking all over her place for her cell-phone"
Three (3) minutes later we are in the car...and the phone rings...and guess what!! Molly cannot find it..she can't remember where she put it!!

Saturday night was fun too..well free drinks are always fun. Thanks to the MBAA Association for providing us with the drinks and to the committees who helped produce a great cultural event. It was fun to meet new people (especially Europeans) that I did not know that they were in the program.

New week tomorrow..great start with K507, followed by Market Research. 1 week left for the big presentation!!

The burned popcorn

I always thought that I liked my popcorn a little bit burned. I guess that crispy sensation in my mouth had something to do with it. So I decided to burn my popcorn today. Molly was making fun of me of course but I didn't care. I wanted my popcorn burned so I left them in the microwave more than it required. In fact I left them in there more than I should have. And there it was. I had my burned popcorn and they were disgusting. But I had to eat them so I could prove to Molly that I liked them. Plus I bit my finger while eating because I was multitasking i.e playing on the computer. This was my bad popcorn experience of the day.

Feature story of the week
Molly and I are sitting on the couch on Wednesday night watching TV...and here it goes:

Molly: So the other day while I was driving, I was at the intersection of the library at the traffic lights when this car in front of me, started moving back. I guess it was a manual and you know how if you drive a manual they can move backwards when you don't hit the brake.
Alkis: Huh..so what did you do?
Molly: I honked my horn politely.
Alkis: Huh..did he hit you?
Molly: A little bit.
Alkis: What did you do?
Molly: I went after him for a while and then came to pick you up..but I remember his license number
Alkis: Is the car damaged?
Molly: I don't think so but I didn't look very carefully.

4 days later..i.e right now
Alkis: Molly, what are the numbers of the car that hit you?
Molly: They are right over there..I wrote them on your book (she gets the book to me and reads the license plates)
Alkis: Did you check if he really hit you?
Molly: No, not yet

Another weekend is over..6 weeks left for the first year of school to be over. 38 school weeks left to finish the degree! One more year for Salamina in the 2nd division..one more year with Panathinaikos not winning the title in Greece. Indiana Hoosiers eliminated from the first NCAA round from Arkansas. At least there was Man Utd to save the week.

Movie Rating

I am really amazed at myself lately. During the first semester here, I do not remember a single movie in which I did not fall asleep..let's not even go to the ones that I fell asleep before the 15th minute. But now..I have 6/6...Yes people, that is right..I watched 6 movies in a row without falling asleep. Here you go:

1) Mighty Heart: True story, interesting. 8/10
2) American Gangster: Brings something of Godfather (even though I never watched Godfather). 8.5/10
3) Michael Clayton: George Clooney is a real good actor. Plot was okay. A little bit confusing. 7/10
4) Gone Baby Gone: Nice plot..Casey Affleck trying to be a cool ex-gang criminal, not a good idea. Let me give you a lead on that one. Directed by older brother Ben Affleck. With a different actor, I could give it an 8..but I am sorry 6.5/10
5) Dan in Real Life: I really give credit to myself not sleeping through that. 4/10
6) Rendition: I really liked that one. It had some flaws but otherwise I believe an excellent movie. 9/10

Well, you can now tell how I spent my spring break which is over at the end of the week. I am not sure if I am really sad about that. I kind of miss school and something to do. Even though I did go to the gym two days in a row and spent 2 hours each day there. I am really proud of myself. What I am really not proud of is how World of Warcraft has taken over my life. I was sitting in our room today and I was looking outside when I saw something moving in the forest behind our apartment. My immediate reaction..: Take out the gun, press 9 and then attack to kill it using my double-hand axe.
Talking about it makes me want to play..Ciao people.

TGOOOE

This is my second post where Molly is paying her comment about my "boring" blog.


I just found out what happens when you think too fast. Have a look below on what I found where else..on Facebook:

"Molly Zoeller added "The Godfathe I & IIr" to her favorite movies"

She was probably thinking of writing the "r" but then she got excited to write the "I & II" so she screwed up everything. It was kind of funny I thought.

Last night we went for Mexican and on the way back while I was driving I stopped at a traffic light behind a Nissan 3000GT. A nice car with the sign "3000GT" written across the back of the car. There was this moment of weird silence again before Molly spoke..

Molly: "This is freaking me out..oh my God, why do they have this the other way round?"
Alkis: "What are you talking about"
Molly: "That TGOOOE on the car in front of us"
Alkis: "You mean the 3000GT"
Molly: "Ooooohh" and after a couple of seconds of laughing out loud "You are going to write this on your blog aren't you?"
Alkis: "Oh yes...I will"

I am enjoying my Spring Break here. I move from the bed to the couch to the kitchen to the bathroom and back. It is snowing outside and it is cold. This is not springggggg:(

21 and counting AND Chicago trip

I know you all missed me writing on this blog but I had a really busy week. I was planning to write this post from the Chicago hotel last night but the wireless internet was not doing the job for me. Let's start

21 and Counting

Last Saturday we decided with Molly to make the big step and go to Sports Kilroys bar. To all of you who probably don't know Sports is the bar where...well it is "The Bar". The place where you can get drunk, the place where the most 21year old go, the place to be. So we just wanted to feel like 21 again and we took the chance. We decided to make a smooth transition by going to Yogi's for some drinks first and within a couple of hours we found ourselves in the queue waiting. Behind us were three girls with their little tiny skirts, when I heard the following statement from one of them:

"My vagina is freezing".

I thought that this might be the new language that young people talk. I certainly hoped that vagina was slang for something else, or even hoping that I didn't hear well. Unfortunately I verified with Molly and I immediately understood that I might be too old for the bar. This was probably the highlight of our night. I felt good and young and cute when a girl grabbed my ass and I also felt good with guys hitting on Molly everytime I went to the bathroom. At least I know that my girlfriend is still beautiful..not that I had any doubt. There is one thing for sure. For now on, I am hanging out with people my age.


Chicago Trip

As part of our Business Academy week we drove to Chicago on Wednesday to visit Dannaher Corporation and stayed until Thursday when we visited Grainger.
The 5-hour drive to Chicago was fascinating. I am amazed by the world knowledge of the people who decided to name the Indiana cities. Here are some of the names that I came across:
Lebanon
Morocco
Delphi
Frankfort (I am not sure if there were copyright issues with Frankfurt Germany and deliberately mispelled this one).
I am pretty sure the barrista at Starbucks Lebanon was the first time in her life that had to deal with so many foreign names in so little time. This was our first pit stop and I am sure they thought that we were a multinational organization.
Highlight of the drive to Chicago is always Gary, Indiana. The city where Michael Jackson was born and raised is famous in the U.S. Not because of Michael but because is the city with the highest crime rate per capita in the U.S. Definitely a place to avoid filling your gas.
The visits to the companies were informative but I was really amazed with Grainger. They distribute 350,000 different product lines and they complete 99.8% of their orders within the next day of the order placement. They miss only one small city, I believe in Idaho or Iowa..can't recall. Their distribution center is 1.1 million square feet. That is about 100,000 square meters. Or about 20 football or soccer fields. Quite impressive. That would be a company to work for.
Trip back to Bloomington was long and tiring, but here I am now sitting on my couch like I dreamed all day, writing this blog.
Until the next post..take care

The $26 car-ride and Valentine's Day

Molly was driving me to class the other day and right before she turned to the business school and after a couple of minutes of silence from both of us, she spoke:

"Your blog is boring".

I wouldn't really be surprised if that statement came from any other person in the world who does not know how I spend my days, but Molly should know pretty well why I do not have much to say in this blog. I do love her however and I am going to pay her back through this blog.
Let's start:

Valentine's Day: As I already mentioned my favorite day of the year. One of the reasons I love it so much is because the discussion of what we are going to do on Valentine's day starts around mid-January. At least this year, after my proposal, we mutually agreed that it is not worth going out to a restaurant where we will be overcharged for food, sitting half a meter away from another couple who will be able to hear our conversations, and having a waitress trying to be polite because the only thing she cares about is her tip while at the same time she is probably swearing at us back in the kitchen. Let me just make add a little point here before I go on..we always tip well because Molly always likes everybody:).
Anyway, so after we decided that we are not going to a restaurant we started (and by we, I mean my lovely girlfriend) discussing of what we should cook. I was probably asked about 15 times If I am OK with lasagna or steak and I ALWAYS responded yes. A week prior to V-day I realized that it falls on a Thursday..the day that I play soccer. The lovely boyfriend I am, I asked permission to go play, but I did not fight the initial refusal, since I got my way out of a restaurant.
So V-Day comes and I get back from school at 5pm. Molly decides that we should sleep for a while so that we are fresh. I don't really want to sleep but I lay in bed. Molly sleeps from about 6 to 8pm. By the way, my soccer game was at 6.30 and I would be done by 7.30 and it wouldn't make a difference to Valentine if I played or not. We ended up ordering pizza for the night despite all the preparations for cooking, and watching a movie. I have to say, I enjoyed not doing much and according to Molly, I got an A+ for the day.

The $26 car ride: Molly picked me up from school yesterday and on the way back she said the usual "We need milk and bread". And whenever she says that, I know that this really means "We need milk and bread and I want fruit and stuff for sandwiches and lean cuisine and some cinnamon rolls, maybe some chocolate, oh and shampoo and conditioner and probably a bunch of other things".
So if you guessed correctly by the title, that is how much milk and bread cost us yesterday. To be fair, the 7 dollars were my red-bulls and to be honest I am glad that it was only $26. Usually "milk and bread" ranges from $20-80 depending on how hungry we are at the time.

That is it for today. I am sure Molly will be glad to read this post but that is a lesson to learn before calling my blog "boring" again:)

Procrastination

Sometimes I am amazed with how many things I find to do when I have to study for two exams. Here is how it goes..I woke up this morning and I set a goal to start studying at 3pm for my exams. Here is how it went..3 to 4.45 I watched Champions League soccer, then I surfed a little bit, then watched Two and a Half Men, then Friends, then another episode of two and a half men and now I am watching college Basketball while studying. And of course now I am taking a break to write in my blog and to eat. In a couple of hours I will realize that I MUST study. That is when the Red Bull kicks off. To my defense however I did find that there is a negative correlation between class attendance and study time. And since I have not missed a class yet this semester, I can study less for the two exams. I wish I could say the same for my Accounting class but that one starts at 9.30am and even though I made all of the classes sometimes I was not concentrated.
Weather is still yucky here with temperature ranging somewhere between 10F-30F. I really can't wait for Spring and some warmth in this town. It might change the mood a little bit.
Food is here..I need to eat and study!
Take care
~Alk

And the vote goes to...

I bet that in 5 years, the presidential elections in Cyprus will be 'the most crucial for the island's history to end the fourth(by then) - decade division'. Like they were today, like they were in 2003, like they were in 1998, like they were in 1993. Cypriots will flood the streets honking their horns, singing, waving Cyprus and Greek flags celebrating the victory of the candidate they voted for. The next day, everybody will go to their work and they will talk about the elections and within a week everything will be back in the normal routine. Politicians will keep on fighting, we will have to listen to them, and then in 3 years we will have the most crucial Parliamentary elections and in 5 years the most crucial Presidential elections. It is a cycle and it keeps going and going and going...
Congratulations to Casoulides and Christofias for getting to the second round of the elections. Now the fun part starts. The two candidates will try to approach the person they were accusing the last 8+ months. They will try to make his voters feeling good by emphasizing their patriotism and we will probably see a cooperation of two parties that have cooperated in the past but it didn't work out. Actually the schmoozing started at around 6.30 pm (Cyprus time) when Papadopoulos was officially third in the run. What will happen, we will know within the next week...but please allow me to make a prediction. I believe that the new President of the Republic of Cyprus will be Dr. Ioannis Casoulides. I guess we will find out in about 160 hours.
By that time, I will be done with 4 more classes, 3 final exams and a final project. I will wake up, I will connect to the radio and I will listen to the radio. I will laugh with stupid comments, I will try to explain to Molly what is going on, and I will retreat to watch Panathinaikos. Life will go on. The Republic of Cyprus will exist and will manage equally well whether the new President is Demetris Christofias or Ioannis Casoulides. I have faith in both of them.

Taking the opportunity of Manchester United's win against Arsenal with 4-0, I will leave you today with a video that I love watching. It is a Rooney goal against Arsenal some years ago. Just forward to the 0.30 and listen to Andy Gray's amazing Scottish accent..



Until Cyprus elects its new president, take care!

Tell me your beer and I will tell you who you support

I was doing some research the other day and quite frankly I found myself on the Reuters India website where there is an article about Cyprus. The article of course describes how the team you support in Cyprus is an indicator of the candidate you will vote for in the elections and it goes on making fun of Cypriots and how Apollon fans are supporters of Kasoulides, Apoel fans are mixed supporters of Tassos and Kasoulides and Omonia fans are hardcore supporters of communist AKEL. And of course the article wraps up with this statement: "In an island where even your taste of beer can show your political preferences". Funny huh..how we think we are the center of the world and how everybody in the world makes fun of us. By that time tomorrow we will probably know the two presidential candidates going into the second round. The candidates have wrapped up their campaigns each with their own tricks and now the power is in the hands of the voters.

Let's just travel a little bit outside Cyprus now and talk about Zimbabwe. I was amazed by what I read today. If you live in Zimbabwe and you are a worker and you get a paycheck (let's assume at 5pm on a Friday) by the time you get home (let's assume at 6pm on Friday) then you might as well throw it away because it will not worth anything. With the highest inflation rate in the world of about 66000% and with predictions saying that it could get up to 1.5million% the situation is crazy. Just imagine the price of a bottle of milk being 1 Zimbabwean dollar on January 1st 2008, with the current inflation rate it will be about 66,000 Zimbabwean dollars on January 1st 2009. Isn't that CRAZY???

Life goes on here as usual. SMESES. School, Meetings, Eat, Study, Eat, Sleep. Final exams are coming up this week for three of my classes. Then there is a week of Business Marketing Academy when we will visit companies in Chicago and then two weeks of Spring Break. And then back to school!
I am off to dinner soon and then some drinking and maybe I will get to see some of the IU basketball game. Even though I am disappointed with coach Kelvin Sampson and his cheating recruiting techniques that hurt the university's reputation, I still hope that I will live the moments of 2002 with a NCAA final. Well..maybe if they bring Bobby Knight back.
Until then, take care
~Alk

The show must go on...

3 months strike..Writers lost about $260M in earning, other workers in the TV industry lost about $440M, thousands of people lost their job and broadcast television lost audience to cable. The writers strike is finally over! What does this mean for me? I can finally expect that I will watch a NEW Desperate Housewives every Sunday and that I can sit my ass down on Monday and watch Prison Break, Big Bang Theory, How I met your mother, Two and a Half men and Rules of Engagement without them being episodes that I have seen at least 3 times each. Hopefully it is not too late for the season.

On a totally different subject, there is a major reason that I love Kelley School of Business (and a reason I hate it and that is no other than the stupid coffee machine that is STILL NOT working but that is another subject for another time). Unless you are still students, close your eyes and imagine this situation...
You go to bed at 3am on Tuesday morning and you are thinking that you have to wake up at 7.30 so you can make it to your early morning Accounting class because the professor will know if you are not there. You are also thrilled that the case you are going over in class has to do with a company in Belgium that makes toilets. You wake up, you make it to class and you are ready to listen about toilets. The first question you get in class is "How do you differentiate a toilet?". I am thinking that you could get it in different colors, or with a heated seat or maybe you can get a toilet with a screen and an internet connected to it (that was just me imagining here). Hey how about a toilet that cleans you?? How about a toilet that makes you happy? A toilet that starts your day beautiful..and yes ladies and gentlemen..this is how Accounting class started on Tuesday:

http://www.washlet.com/

With a toilet that does everything for you. A toilet that senses your presence and opens the toilet lid when you get close to it...and closes it when you leave. A toilet that flashes on its own. A toilet that cleans you with water and then dries you. If you have some time, check the website. I mean if it had a computer screen and an internet connection I could live in the bathroom..
And all of a sudden, the toilet case becomes interesting, you finally wake up and you pay attention in class. All my credit to the professor for making it real!!

Weather still sucks here..we are in a winter storm right now. It is practically impossible to walk outside with slipping and falling down.

Yahoo will have to wait a little bit more before replacing "Google" in the dictionary since they denied Microsoft's offer of $44.6Billion in an attempt to secure a higher bid. Until Microsoft makes a higher bid, take care..

Lima beans

So we were eating vegetable beef soup that Molly made for dinner tonight when I noticed some green things in the soup. Here is the conversation that followed:

Alkis: "Molly what are these?"
Molly: "Try them, they are good"
Alkis: "Ok..but what are they?"
Molly: "They are lima beans"
Alkis: "Ha..like the animal?"
Molly: "That is LAma"



Anyway, so being like the pamphagos I am, I gave it a try. Didn't really like them but I just ate them since they were in my plate. Turning to Molly, I notice that she herself doesn't eat them but just puts them on the side of her plate. So there is another conversation:

Alkis: "You don't eat your lima beans"
Molly: "I don't like them"
Alkis: "Then why did you tell me that they are good?"
Molly: "I wanted you to try them to see if you will like them"
Alkis: "If you don't like them and you know that I don't like green things why did you put them in there?"
Molly: "Because the recipe said so".

As you can easily imagine this was the highlight of our Sunday which went by smoothly. For the second time this year I refused to wake up to listen to the Salamina game since I decided that there is nothing in it for me. It was a quite disappointing Sunday with United losing to City, Salamina drawing to Apollonas and Olympiakos winning.

Going on to the previous day (Saturday), it was again monotonous. I did not get out of the house at all. Instead I spend most of my day doing programming and surfing on the net..mostly on Facebook. Which brings me to my next subject.

I bet that after "Google" (as a verb), the word "Facebooking" will be the new addition to the English language. It seems that everybody is using it nowadays, and companies started capitalizing on it. People instead of "googling', they are "facebooking" someone they want to learn more about. Isn't it scary?? And on top of that, we have Microsoft making a $45,000,000,000 bid to buy Yahoo and Google complaining about the monopolistic power of Microsoft and any intentions that it might have to drive Google out of the game. Then we will just have to replace the word "google" from the dictionary with the word "yahoo". Until then, take care.

Trojan Horse

Most of you are probably wondering where did this title come from. Well, I have been craving Greek food for a while now and on Friday we decided to go to 'Trojan Horse', a restaurant in Bloomington that calls itself Greek. I always wondered how they stayed in business with such a low quality of food and poor service. It wasn't long before I got my $6.00 'Greek' salad that consisted of ONE tomato, ONE cucumber, THREE olives, about 1/32th of an onion and a little feta that I got my question answered.
Of course during dinner we couldn't help but bringing on the table Molly's favorite subject. "We should open a Cyprus restaurant in Bloomington". I kind of like that discussion because I try to apply what I learned in Business school up to now and with arguments such as high operational costs, low summer season etc. try to convince Molly that it is not a good idea. I never win the argument however, I just quit arguing because I get bored.
We continued our night out at Yogi's for some beers and some chatting with MBA classmates. Nothing fancy there.

On a totally different subject, I just realised today that the Cyprus elections are coming up soon. It will be nice to see the race between the three candidates. Mr. Tassos "I work more than any other Cypriot" Papadopoulos, Mr. Demetris "I was supporting Tassos for 4 years but now I want to be President" Christofias and Mr. Ioannis "I live in my own little world" Casoulides. Good luck to all of them. I would personally vote for Outopos if I were in Cyprus.

Elections are heating up here too with Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton racing for the Democrat nomination. No matter how much I tried to understand how the system works here with the primaries etc, I cannot get it. My prediction for the next U.S president....John McCain.

That's all for today..I am off to a 4-hour Panathinaikos festive now. Starting with basketball and then football (or soccer as they call it here). Until then take care

It all starts here...

Welcome to my blog everybody. I guess this is an attempt for me to communicate to you my life in Bloomington or just another excuse for me to procrastinate from studying. We will see how long it will last.
To start with..weather in Bloomington sucks. I never remember so many fluctuations in temperature when I was here before. On Tuesday it was 50F and raining and today it was 15F. And believe me, it is no fun when you have to wait for the bus...at least they are usually on time.
Another full day at school today. I at last had coffee for the first time in three days. I usually get my coffee from the coffee machine in the Business school but it was out of order on Monday and Tuesday. And here comes the question. Why doesn't one of the top schools in the U.S not have a coffee stand? Anyway, I made coffee at home today and took it with me..didn't want to take the chance.
Accounting was fun again. That extra 15 minutes from the 1hr 15mins to 1hr 30mins seem like a century. I had lunch at school (microwaveable stuff since if you want to grab something to eat the closest place you can get something is 5 minutes away, and yes that is a long walk when it is 15F outside).
In Visual Basic we learned about arrays today..or at least tried to learn because I got lost after the first half an hour.
Day proceeded with a visit to Marsh (the grocery store) to do our "small" shopping. After paying for this "small" shopping, I wondered what the "big" will be.
Thursdays are always good because they are soccer nights. After last week's defeat, the team recovered and won the undergrad School of Law team 6-1. Next Thursday is no good because it is Valentine's day..my favorite day of the year:). Somebody who is reading that now will not like that comment but I still love her.
Weekend is coming..can't wait for another weekend in Bloomington. Until then, take care

My first post

This is my first post on the blog. It is just a test to make sure that it works