Total on the Saturn

We were cleaning some things out of the file cabinet on Saturday and Kris asked if we could get rid of the Saturn file. I said sure, it’s gone, so no need to save it anymore. I grabbed it, and it was thick. Since we saved all the receipts for everything ever done on that car, I decided to do a little bit of math. I didn’t include standard maintenance, such as oil changes, or replacing wiper blades or filters, but everything else was added up (brake jobs and other sorts of parts replacement and damage). Without revealing any totals, I will say that the grand total of the repair and maintenance costs exceeded the price that we paid for the car in the first place. Unfortunately, at the time, there wasn’t much we could do, $400 here, $600 there. But wow! It sucked how that car got retired, but I won’t miss it for the money pit it had become.

Missed It By That Much

Back in the 60’s on the show, Get Smart, Don Adams had the catchphrase, “missed it by that much”. That phrase is very appropriate for me, because I missed it by just that much. Saturday night Kris and I stopped at the Pick N Save to pick up a few things, like fruit, bread, etc. Not a lot, just a few quick items. As we were walking out, I decided to stop at the service desk because I had a lottery ticket that I had been holding onto for a month that was a $1 winner, and figured it was about time to cash that badboy in. While there, I saw the Powerball jackpot was at something like $179 million, so I reaced into my pocket for another dollar and rolled my winnings into another ticket.

Usually, when I buy a lottery ticket, I will get a Badger 5 ticket as well. The jackpot starts at $10K and goes up daily by a minimum of $1K until it is won. I think it goes up by more, depending on how many tickets are sold. So I thought, yeah, give me Badger 5 ticket as well. When I buy lottery tickets, I don’t normally sit and wait for the numbers to be drawn, or even check them in the morning, just because the odds are so long. Sunday night I was cleaning up and thought, hey, better check the lottery numbers to see if I won, figuring there was no way I would have.

The Powerball jackpot had increased, so I knew that was a loser, but thought I would check and see if maybe I won $2. Nope. Then I looked at the Badger 5. The jackpot was back down at $10K, so I knew someone had cashed in. I looked up the numbers for Satuday night and checked my ticket… nope, yep, yep, yep, yep. Then I thought, is that right, I matched 4 of 5? I checked and double checked and was shocked. I got 4 of the 5 numbers. So I missed a $38K jackpot by one number. Instead, I win $50. I’ll still take it.

I tell myself, that if I had won, there would have probably been 4 or 5 other winners, because the jackpot gets split between winners. But it still sucks thinking I was just shy of a pretty nice payday.

Playing Catch Up

For the entire year, I have been playing catch up with my blog. If you come around to read up on a regular basis you will know that I have been months behind with posting current happenings in the Hahn house. As it sits right now, I have (27) entries waiting to be uploaded, and at least another 40-50 entries to actually type out. I keep handwritten notes about what has happened, or is happening on paper and then type them up as I have time, and with everything that has been going on, that is about all I have had time to do… write notes. Part of the problem is that I can’t simply cut and paste into the blogspot editor because when I do that, it makes the formatting all wonky, even though when I type things up, I am using a standard margin, single spaced setup. What I need to do is see about switching over to WordPress. I have read that is the preferred blogging platform, so I have to believe that it is more user friendly. But like everything else, I just don’t have the time to read up on it and figure out if it is something that I want to do. What I really need to do is either not sleep for a weekend and spend the hours overnight just typing. So please be patient while I try to get everything written up.

Grad School

I am in the process of studying for a certification exam for work thru an engineering society. Back when I was discussing it with my boss it was around the time that Kris was going thru all her BS at work. At the time, I was talking with my boss about how if Kris wanted to continue doing what she was doing, she would have to go back to school and become a registered dietician. And then after doing that, a year or two later, she would have to get a master’s degree to continue doing the same work she was doing two or three months ago. I mentioned how the overall investment into that would not equate to career earnings over the next 10-15 years.

My boss then said something to me that she went back and got her MBA when she was something like 53 or 54 (I forget the exact age she said). She then said that since Badger Meter pays a portion, it isn’t a bad deal to go back and get a master’s degree. I think I am actually the only QE who doesn’t currently have a master’s; or maybe I don't have the Senior QE title because I don't have a master's degree.

After Sarah left for school a couple of weeks ago, I thought that maybe I would look into it and just get an idea of what it would cost. I didn’t want to get strictly an MBA, but thought maybe a Master’s in Engineering Management would be a better option. That way I get a business component in addition to some advanced technical classes. I did a quick internet search, and found out that UWM didn’t have an MS in Engineering Management anymore. They apparently suspended the program, or at elast are no longer offering it. But when I searched, a bunch of pages came up that listed “The Best Schools for an Online Masters Degree in Engineering Management”. That was something that I never considered.

I had always thought that I would need to go to either UWM, or Marquette, or possibly one of the smaller private colleges locally if I wanted to get a Master’s. But in today’s information age, there are a bevy of options. Colleges offer the course 100% online by streaming classes, or recording them and then posting them someplace to watch them. Bingo!

I have now decided that once I finish taking the certified QE exam, I am going to see about registering for a MSEM/MEM degree. Between now and then I’ll be gathering information on programs, and schools and evaluating which program to choose. I already have a list of about 100 schools, so I just need to start my research and whittling that list down to maybe 10 or 15 to consider.