ahegeman

That's a 2-3 year old female Cooper's Hawk. No question.

Go to MBA.com and download the practice tests written by the same people who write the real test. Take a look at your score and then decide if you need a lot of help, a little help, or none at all. I did that, decided my practice test score was good enough and saved myself a bunch of aggravation. My final score ended up being within 10 points of my practice test score, so I think the practice test is a pretty good representation. The practice test looks and feels just like the actual test. Its free and you won't have to waste $250 on it, not to mention potentially putting a lousy score on your score sheet that you'll be dragging around forever.

Here's a tip. Nobody really gives a shit about the writing score. A 4 is as good as a 6. Just don't get a truly lousy score on it. The essays are first. You should be able to finish them plenty easy. Don't sweat them and wear yourself out before the important part of the test - the verbal and math portions.

I see that you live in Houston. One option you may want to consider is a program offered by UT (Austin) McCombs School of business. Its a very good business school. They ship the professors down to Houston and you take classes every other Fri/Sat for 22 months. That still leaves plenty of time for fun on the other weekend, and lets you easily manage a full-time job. I'm doing the equivalent program that UT runs in Dallas, and I am very impressed. PM me if you'd like to know more. Might be a bit late to apply for this fall, though.

As an aside, I think its adorable when people just happen to have to mention how well they did, knowing full well its a fabulous score, but mention it casually as though its no big deal and anybody else could do it.

Definitely a red-shouldered hawk, Carrie. They love areas around water, and are well known for eating frogs and other small animals. Rapter, that picture you posted is of a Harris' Hawk.

Hawks are pretty cool. My other hobby is falconry. Here's a picture of me with my female red-tailed hawk while I was training her a couple of years ago.

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I do happen to think that bush isn't exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer.

I've seen laddles that are sharper then that knife.

what does that say about the people who voted him in?

You are assuming we had a better alternative.

My gosh, I wonder what could have possibly happened in 2003 that might have encouraged the Iranians to shut down their nuclear program?

I don't get why people leave stowing their brakes up to the packer in the first place. Or uncollapsing their slider and cocking their pilot chute.

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This thing about not stowing excess line really gets me. I just don't get why professional packers, or the riggers supervising, think it's okay.

Jeff Hawk is a master rigger in north Fort Worth. PM me if you want his phone number.

What a lovely group of folks.

I'll take water-boarding any day compared to that.

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I'm still interested as to why "law abiding citizens" would wish to go there, unless they are not so law abiding as they claim and wish to trade in some illicit substances.

With an attitude like that, if that whole "physics" thing gets boring, you've probably got a job waiting for you with the LAPD.

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I'm still interested as to why "law abiding citizens" would wish to go there, unless they are not so law abiding as they claim and wish to trade in some illicit substances.

Maybe they live there.

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In the current political reality, an orangutan could be CEO and the company would still be very profitable.

"The current political reality", whatever that is supposed to mean, neglects the billions of dollars of investment that have been made over the past couple of decades by Exxon that have allowed them to capitalize on current oil prices. I can't say this for sure, but I have heard that no other oil company reinvests as much of its earnings back into exploration and production as ExxonMobil. Whoever is running that show has got to be worth quite a bit.

Its not like oil companies just go dig some random hole in the ground and $100 bills start poring out. They take huge risks with billions of dollars, and nobody sheds a tear for them when an investment turns out to be worthless, they just bitch about the ones that hit. Its especially grating when one thinks of what oil prices would be like right now if ExxonMobile hadn't been out there looking so hard for oil all these years.

But why let something like that get in the way of self-satisfying rhetorical masturbation?

I'm surprised no one has commented on the latest development in the Duke lacrosse "rape" case. All remaining charges were finally dropped, with the State Attorney General proclaiming the players "innocent", and calling Nifong a "rogue" prosecutor.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070412/ap_on_re_us/duke_legal;_ylt=AgIj7KCWDSlT7dvMswSPa8ZI2ocA

Of course, the formerly accused will probably end up fine, getting compensation through the courts and selling their stories to various media outlets. The real victims in this whole thing are all the actual rape victims who will now face that much more skepticism of their stories.

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Try a large rock. If you carry a .380 you may be tempted to pull it in self defense. If you pull it you may be tempted to shoot some one with it. If you hit them with it, you just may really piss them off.

A large rock? Now that's just stupid. Use a small rock for better maneuverability it tight spaces. With a sling shot.
Mocking the .380. Always a good time. It beats the hell out of nothing, though. And in a pinch they're good for opening those pesky non-twist off beers.

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Which is exactly why the government should stay OUT of people's personal relationships.

Even in a libertarian utopia the role of government is the enforcement of contracts. At its bare bones marriage is just a contract in my opinion.

This is especially funny when you compare it to Bush's house in Crawford. His 4,000 sq ft home "has 25,000 gallons of rainwater storage, gray water collection from sinks and showers for irrigation, passive solar, geothermal heating and cooling"

Bush walks the environmentalist talk more than Gore does. I'm not even particularly fond of the guy's politics and I see the humor in that.

Thermite welding is the current state-of-the-art in continuous welding rail here in the US. Its not slaggy at all. I've seen it done many times, and I work for the largest railroad company in the United States.

I'm no lawyer, but using misrepresentation to gain something of value (a jump) without properly paying for it ($20+ lift ticket instead of a $200+ AFF jump) sounds like larceny by trick to me.

But I could easily be wrong, and I doubt anyone would actually pursue this. It was just a thought.

I'm going to guess it IS illegal, based on perpetating fraud against the business that provided the lift service. You can't jump anywhere without telling the DZ how much experience you have. They lied to them while entering into a business arrangement with a faked logbook, and no doubt lying on the waiver.

Congrats!

The best advice I can give you is bring a case of beer every weekend.

Business strategy stuff for a major US railroad.

I think that what would work better than government subsidies for alternative fuels and other assorted mucking about would just be to use the fuel tax to reflect all these negative externalities. Let the market figure it out from there.

Of course, adding a buck or so per gallon to the gas tax would be political suicide for whoever initiated it.

I've rented out property before, and a good tenant is a dream. As a landlord, if you get a good one you don't want to let them go. I'd rather forego a rent increase than lose a good tenant, have the place empty for 3 months, then end up with some nightmare tenant that doesn't pay rent then trashes the place before you finally get them evicted.

Being a good landlord to a good tenant is a good idea. Call it enlightened self interest.

I coulda gone without the "I'm a monkey!" scene, though.

I was just recently at Skydive Durban - wonderful folks out there, and a beautiful view on the ride to altitude. The DZ is about a mile from the shore of the Indian Ocean. Just don't land in Mamba Alley!

Also, one of the nicer 182s I've ever been on.

It's not just a "hole in the ground".