God Bless Texas

I'm taking a break from my telecom research on "the last mile." Whoda
thunk? My prof repeatedly refers to the RBOCs as dinosaurs and lunkheads.
Gotta love that required Info Systems class.

Life in Texas is pretty swell, despite the midterm anxiety. The weather
couldn't be more perfect and Friday afternoons are ideal for mountain
biking. I've decided if you're not falling down, you're not riding hard
enough. There's great singletrack just down the hill from our place.

Sometimes it feels like a glorified placement agency around here and the
core classes could more aptly be named chore classes, but for the most part
we're having fun. I have tons (well, 400 actually) of interesting and smart
classmates and I even like the ones fixated on grades (mostly).

I'm writing for the Texas Business Weekly, the student paper for the
b-school. I did the cover for the next issue and even got to interview the
Dean. It's fun and challenging -- a nice change from all the number
crunching.

Oh, and I'm playing intramural football. I got to play QB for one series in
the last game. We were marching down that field, then ZOWIE, interception!
Not to worry, our team is so bad we lose by the mercy rule. I didn't know
there was a mercy rule in football.

Ted's doing great. He started out as a product analyst for voice and a
local telecom firm. That wasn't so exciting. But a couple months ago he
got an offer within the same firm to become a Strategic Alliances Manager so
now he fancies himself a deal-maker. He's much happier and more engaged by
his work, which is a joy for me to see. And he's building a circle of
friends there. We're going to a wine-tasting tonight that's being hosted by
one of his co-workers. Have any recommendations for "Tuscan" wines?

He's also being a trooper about taking care of me and the domestic duties
during this school thing. Danger: I could really get used to that. Nice
to know we still like each other -- we celebrated our 5th anniversary last
month.

How are things with you? Still bringing enlightenment to the world?