Yup, see the guy in the background and what he’s doing? Yup, that’s what happened to me this morning as I was walking to my car, ready to go to work. Here’s the situation…

Right outside of my apartment there is street parking (no parking in my complex) and it says “NO PARKING 7 AM – 9 AM” weird hours, I know. Anyways I figure “I leave for work at 7:30 AM, it shouldn’t be a problem if I overpark for 30 mins, right?” WRONG! Apparently some women in a green Taurus graciously let me know, in sign language, that it was NOT okay, classy move! Suffice to say, I will now park ACROSS THE STREET where you can’t park from 4:00 PM – 6 :00 PM, yes weird ours again.

I understand where she’s coming from based on “following the rules” and I would better sympathize with her if there was traffic on the street…there is NO TRAFFIC! It’s three lanes (either side) and the street is NOT a main artery to anywhere! It doesn’t lead to P&G, it doesn’t lead to Krogers, it doesn’t lead to First National Bank etc. There is absolutely, positively NO TRAFFIC. Upsetting and disappointing.

Anyways…off to working out, stay classy Cincinnati!

I’m sitting here in my apartment here in Hyde Park, Cincinnati on a partly cloudy day, watching the Celtics vs Cavs through my SlingBox Solo. I’m also on Jellyfish watching the Wish List smack. A few updates for my first real full week in Cincinnati.

Overall…Cincinnati is a cool small city (it’s no Seattle but its got its own uniqueness). The diversity that I’m used to (being in Ann Arbor and Seattle) isn’t quite there, the make-up of the city is mostly Caucasian and African-American, but no big deal, just an observation.

Things I don’t like…My Kia rental car was broken into in Newport, KY (the city across the river that splits OH and KY). I parked my car under a lamppost about a block away from the busy area of Newport, which – after speaking to the officers – is normally patrolled by constables, I assumed that it was safe, stuck my GPS in the glove compartment and went on my merry way to see Ironman. I returned 2 hours later to find my passenger window shattered, GPS and Soccer bag missing. Really, really, really lame…whoever decided to commit this crime must have been watching me from a distance and my only comment to you is “Please go do something with your life that contributes to society, other than being a thug.” What really is crappy about the situation is the fact that the person who committed the crime isn’t punished, I’m the one stuck paying for the window and replacing the gear that was stolen from me! However, optimistically speaking I got a better rental vehicle (but I had to drive to the Covington, KY airport at 1:00 PM EST on a Tuesday) that has leather seats and XM Satellite radio.

Comments about electronics/gadgets stores…I’ve made two trips to Best Buy these past two weeks (every time with the intent to purchase a SlingBox Solo and/or Garmin GPS matt). My first try was to bargain with Best Buy folks on the SlingBox Solo because I had read in a Wired.com article that they were willing to match the prices found at other electronics stores such as Buy.com (I had seen the SlingBox Solo on their website for $15 less + Free S&H). After talking with several customer service reps and managers they wouldn’t/couldn’t go lower than $10 discount (they made some excuse about how Buy.com has no OH and stuff, which in response I challenged him on that comment…really? Buy.com, no OH? I don’t think so…they have to pay people to and they have warehouses that use electricity too. I think you can say they have less OH but to say they have no OH?!). Well in the end, I left the store unsatisfied and displeased with Best Buy. I thought to myself Best Buy is essentially a wholesale/volume retailer of electronics, they shouldn’t be concerned about the profit margin they derive from specific products, they should be more concerned about volume and inventory turn times (let the manufacturers, SlingMedia, worry about profit margin).

Verdict…Buy.com 1 Best Buy 0.

My second trip to Best Buy was to buy the Garmin GPS matt (it’s a better solution than the suction cup they include with the GPS units). Once again, I went in, this time without checking Buy.com, willing to pay the mark-up to get the product immediately. I had a 10% discount coupon I wanted to use but it was on my computer in electronic form because I don’t have a printer here in my Cinci apartment. When I initially checked out I asked the sales girl if she could just enter the code/serial number into the computer (I have a RewardZone membership so it shouldn’t have been a problem), she tried it and it worked. I thought “Great!” Not so fast grasshopper…haha the manager woman asked her manager and they said I needed a paper copy. We then proceeded to try to use their system/computers to print the coupon, I was going to log onto my e-mail to print it but apparently, they aren’t allowed to check G-Mail from their computers. I understand the policy from a company standpoint (someone probably abused the system and checked his/her e-mail excessively) however it really wasn’t helpful in my situation. I also tried to get them to lookup my RewardZone account (they do it by my phone number at checkout) but they weren’t able to do that either. I thought, “I thought Best Buy was a high-tech company, right?” Not so, why couldn’t they just take my electronic coupon number?! I sort of understand it from a “corporation” standpoint but this is why Buy.com is kicking your butt from my standpoint! Once again, in the end I left the store unsatisfied and displeased with Best Buy.

Verdict…Buy.com 2 Best Buy 0.

First day of my internship at GE (http://www.geaviation.com/) complete. Let me reflect.

The day started out great, traffic wasn’t too bad, as we were going the opposite direction of traffic. We went to the wrong guard gate but it was an easy 5 min turnaround to the badging office. Had a lively conversation with the colorful guard at the badging gate and we spent the next 4 hours going through the whole first-day employment process with 2 other interns (apparently we came on the good week, next week is supposed to be hectic due to the flood of interns coming on).

Done with paperwork just-in-time for lunch with some of our sponsors. Came back to the office and began the tech ramp up process (computers, phones etc.) and spent the next 4-5 hours getting setup. All in all a productive and swift one-day setup process.

Now at Caribou coffee (free WiFi hooray!) catching up on personal e-mails + other internet stuff. Until next time…Cheers!

Wow, back-to-back posts, amazing! Haha. I’m now at Starbucks across from the Panera Bread I was at yesterday. I decided to pay for internet access through T-Mobile because the speed was just way to slow over at Panera.

I’m reminded of Seattle as I walk into the store, the big Pike Place Roast sign signifying Starbucks new marketing/advertising attempts to spurn growth. It’s 46˚and sunny here in Cincinnati, pretty nice weather, don’t know what I’m doing inside blogging?! On that note. Cheers!

Check this out though…the Obama people really understand viral marketing!

http://www.obamain30seconds.org/

I’m sitting here at Panera Bread in Hyde Park (a neighborhood of Cincinnati, OH) wishing for a faster internet connection. To give you an idea of the limited bandwith I’m currently siphoning, when I pull up IE only 2 out of my 7 tabs fully load. I think it's because there is a girl here watching an MTV show on demand (lame).

It’s funny reflecting on this though, I am so addicted to the internet that I was having ‘withdrawls’ last night and even attempted to knock on the doors of my next door neighbors to possibly ‘share’ WiFi. I also thought (keyword ‘thought’) about accessing the unsecured wireless network, I thought better against it but I was really considering it.

I’m going to get caught up on e-mail now. Cheers!

I finally pulled the trigger and bought something off Jellyfish.com!

I bought a Wii!

I’m starting to like this site Jellyfish.com, check it out.

The premise of the site is that prices are always falling and the value proposition is cheap prices (makes sense).

To create engagement the site has a bunch of games and specifically this thing called ‘Smack Shopping’ administered by the ‘Smack Daddy’ I think it’s a great idea and creates stickiness.

I’m personally addicted to the 12:00 AM – 7:00 AM slot time, Gaming.

I'm in a MAP meeting right now (so I probably shouldn't be blogging) but I just want to comment on the whole experience.

For those who don't know what MAP is let me try and summarize:

MAP is a top-quality learning experience for both students and companies...

• Students have completed more than 1,100 projects at over 550 companies
• Teams of 4 to 6 MBA students help organizations address real business issues
• Work full-time with companies on projects that test
– Students' skills
– Produce valuable information for sponsors
– Stimulate exchanges that benefit scholars and business practitioners alike
• The goal is to create an outstanding academic learning experience
• To learn more go to http://www.bus.umich.edu/MAP/

At the University of Michigan - Stephen M. Ross School of Business it is the cornerstone and culmination of our first-year. I have personally found the overall experience interesting and valuable. The most important skill that I takeaway from this experience is leading and managing group dynamics (specifically with 6 Type-A personalities).

Wow! I can't believe it but my first-year at Ross is almost done. I'll briefly recap:

2007
August
· M-Trek with classmates in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
· Ross Leadership Initiative
September
· Fall A – Accounting, Economics, Statistics, Strategy & Tauber Operations
November
· Fall B – Marketing, Finance, Organizational Behavior & Tauber Operations

2008
January
· Winter A – Managerial Accounting, World Economy, Lean Operations & Tauber Operations
March
· Winter B – Multidisciplinary Action Project

So it's been a long time since I last blogged and there have been many, many changes!

After careful consideration (*um coin flip, kidding!) I decided to enroll at the University of Michigan - Stephen M. Ross School of Business.

We'll this post will be pretty random!

I'm a pretty private person in general and I don't like to brag or boast but I like to share good news.

In my planning stages I initially decided to apply to 5 full-time MBA programs.

In the end I applied to 3 (EA and Round 1):

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor (Ross)
University of Virginia - Charlottesville (Darden)
Duke University - Durham (Fuqua)

I met some fantastic and amazingly brilliant people on my application journey.

Made some good friends and learned a ton about myself through personal introspection in the process.
Through luck and hard work I've been accepted at Ross, Darden and at Fuqua.

Now it's decision time...

Background:

I was reading the interview transcript of our CEO in the Wall Street Journal and decided that "[h]ey he seems really down to earth and willing to communicate with the younger generation; maybe he'll come speak on his leadership attributes..."

So I wrote a e-mail but held back from sending it because I thought about it again; is this a CLM?! I finally said what the heck, take the risk, and I sent the e-mail. I got an e-mail back! This is what he said...

_____________________________________________
David: Thanks for contacting me. Sounds like REACH is a great program---I applaud your leadership role in it! I've got a lot of invites, and it's hard to chose without being unfair. So, let me add it to the list and we'll see if it can work sometime in the future. Best, Jim

_____________________________________________
From:
Sent: Tuesday, August 15, 2006 2:30 PM
To:
Subject: WSJ Interview & REACH

Good Morning Mr. McNerney!

I recently read your interview, “Piloting Boeing’s New Course,” in the WSJ and one comment you made really spoke to me; you mentioned “there’s one of me [Jim McNerney] and there’s 160,000 Boeing employees I’ve got to work with. They’ve got to know that that’s more important to me than public forums where I’m making big speeches or doing every interview that comes my way.”

I’m currently a core team (leadership team) member for a Boeing group in Washington State called REACH (Regional Events and Activities for College new Hires). As part of my role as a Lunch and Learn/Professional Development Co-Lead I help develop and schedule events to promote growth, education, and career/self development.

We had a “Brown Bag” Lunch & Learn session with Alan Mulally last year and we’d like to get our new company CEO to speak about leadership if you have the time?

We’ll take care of all the logistical information. Please let us know if this is something you are available to do. Thanks!
_____________________________________________


This is one of most impressive things I've come to realize working at this awesome company; the people in high level leadership positions are accessible and open to new ideas and people! I'm really impressed today with our new CEO, that's my own personal opinion.

You Have A Type A- Personality

You are one of the most balanced people around. Motivated and focused, you are good at getting what you want. You rule at success, but success doesn't rule you. When it's playtime, you really know how to kick back. Whether it's hanging out with friends or doing something you love! You live life to the fullest - encorporating the best of both worlds

Do You Have a Type A Personality?

My first Blog!

Hey! I met David Wang the President & CEO of Boeing - China!