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Four years went by pretty fast. I am officially a Pitt graduate,
having received my bachelors degree in Chemical Engineering this past
Saturday. It was a moving ceremony. We arrived in Oakland at around 11
PM and got early pictures at the Pitt Panther statue outside of
Petersen Events Center (always a hot spot that gets crowded). I was
apparently way too early, as I spent the next 80 minutes in the
Multi-Purpose room in the basement of the Pete. It was all to the good
though, as all of the engineers got to spend some time together and get
a group picture together.
I had meant to sit next to Coral during the ceremony, but while waiting
in line to go into the gym I stopped to say hello to the Mechanical
Engineering contingent and got caught up with them as the line of
engineers descended onto the main floor. They ended up being fine
neighbors though: Ian made good commentary throughout the ceremony,
Sarah and Laura brought cookies and a radio to listen to the penguins
game, and Peter is always a good time. To my left, Melissa Angeles was
running a rousing game of Go Fish!, so I didn't lack for diversion
during the ceremony's more mundane portions. To top it all off, the
keynote speaker and inaugural member of our graduating class was none
other than Dan Marino! He gave a great speech and took the racuous
shouts of the crowd in good humor (several shouts of "Dr. Dan" and
"Laces Out" were more than audible to the general assembly).
Before much else could be said, it was all over. Mom and Dad were
driving me home to a quiet spaghetti dinner with some family (My
grandfather came over, my Uncle Duane and Cousin Matt were in from San
Diego, and my Uncle Jeff and Uncle Tom came over).
The next day was a dreary Monday. After seeing off Uncle Duane and
Matt to the airport, went down to Oakland to clean out my lockers.
Between books, shoes, and clothes, I ended up having enough to fill up
two duffel bags and good-sized box. Lugging them up Cardiac Hill to
where the car was parked at the Cost Center was a workout, but I didn't
have much else to do. Aside from hit up the Chinese buffet with some Bill Simmons columns.
In good news, got a call from Westinghouse today (Tuesday)
requesting a second interview at their facility in Monroeville. While I
don't want to jinx it, things are looking good for me getting a dream
job there. The rest of the week has passed by fairly amicably. I'm
sitting here on Sunday night with a slightly nicked-up left Achilles
tendon, I think I strained it trying to to do back-to-back 12-milers on
Wednesday and Thursday. It wouldn't have been a big deal, but I did a
swooping course down through Verona and Oakmont, some pretty fierce
hill work. So I'll probably take it easy this coming week with walking
and very light jogging.
Was scheduled to take my driver's test on Friday, but it didn't quite
work out. We found out on the way to the DMV that my brother's
insurance card was expired. Oops. So we cruised to the library to print
out a new one, but the only ones you can print out are post-dated by
two weeks...so I was SOL. No biggie though. My other brother is taking
me on Tuesday or Wednesday of this week, so I should be in more than
fair shape to have my license this coming week. Yay!
This past Saturday saw Mike, GP, and I heading down to the Rivertowne
Inn. Gene and Mike were meeting an old friend from Chili's, Chisty, who
ended up being very nice. We also saw a bunch of friendly faces. TJ,
back from Texas, made an appearance with an friend he knew who was an
environmental engineer. I seized the opportunity and got some good tips
for my interview and we did some general engineering talk (classes,
degrees, EIT/PE/FE, etc.). Lots of fun. I also saw Eric and AJ, fresh
from the musical, as well as a delightfully intoxicated Alana (whom I
haven't seen in ages...she was always one of the nicest lifeguards at
Rosedale). Turns out Alana is a school teacher now...very fitting.
Finally, to cap the night off, got a chance to watch Chris Paul lead
his Hornets to a Game 1 victory against the Spurs in the Western
Conference Semifinals. CP3 was superb. His raw speed is jaw-dropping
and his passing is infectious, as all of his teammates pass up good
shots to get someone else a better shot. I would be perfectly happy to
watch a Celtics-Hornets finals. In fact, you could guarantee that I
would watch every minute of a Lakers-Hornets Western Finals....CP3 v.
Kobe, Gasol v. West, Jordan Farmar v. Genarro Pargo.
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| | Posted 5/4/2008 11:47 PM - 1 view - 0 comments
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