Problem Solving training

I woke up a little earlier today - I knew it was a Saturday; I woke up on purpose that early. Why? I had a problem solving trainning at the plant. I did not need any trainning but the Director of Manufacturing was going to come and I wanted to pitch my ideas to him.

I was a little late since the bus didn't run that often on weekends - damn service. Once there I just apologised for the delay and sat down. Isabell, our registered nurse, brought me some orange juice and a plate with muffin and fruits. Such a nice lady, she always treats me so nice.

I found the trainning an absolute waste of time-I knew more sophisticated stuff than that, however, I was really glad I went for the following revelation. In addition to get my 2 cents to Marty, the director of manufacturing, I realized I was going to become great, indeed really great baby and no one will stop me.

What helped me to this realization was that I KNEW everything he was talking abou; I didn't just know the material, I was a guru at it inside out. Don, the problem solving coach, is in his 60s and learnt all his knowledge as an engineer through the years. Well I got a grip on it in my short experience. This knowledge, combined with a nice fat GMAT and my persuasion skills will let me enter Stanford MBA's program. Yes I KNOW i will enter, just watch me running for the touchdown from your bench.

Online Poker, is it for me or is it for you?

Since early February I had no time to go to Casino Niagara, therefore I've been playing online at PokerRoom.com and PartyPoker.com. So far this year I am in the negative -thanks to online poker. Actually if it wasn't for my casino winnings earlier this year (check the pictures); I would have been in the big negative.

So the question is; Is online poker for me?
I think I could be a good online player since I always make a profit in the first hour I play, then it goes downhill. What is it? maybe I have no patience, maybe I get tired after that or I just get bored.

One thing I know for a fact - I am a very good live poker player. My bud, Gord, suggested that it might be because of the phycological game I play in the table, which is hard to do in a chat box and they can just ignore you.

I am going to stop playing online and just try to go to Niagara once a month or just go to underground tournaments in Toronto; there are plenty, been there, done that.

From now on, if i feel like playing poker online I will stick to tournaments. Even though I can't make a lot of money from them, I am very good at them, just today I got first place in a one-table Limit tournament; I won $25. The irony is that I didn't realize it was limit till I was in, I don't like Limit. My best record has been finishing 30th in a 980 people tournament.

I believe what helps me online is that I can switch gears very quickly, I have courage and I can see player's patterns very quickly before they realize I got them.

So finally just enjoy the pictures, I hope I take some more later this month. :)

Decisions, desicions, decisions...

Life is fullof choices - do you want fries with that? or do you want to upsize your drink for 15 cents? Life is harder because of them but it adds some spice to life.

So what's my choice...it is between B-schools. I have been considering making a career boost by switching into finance. Why finance? well ihave come to realize i have a natyural talent on how to invest money; right now my portfolio 38%. I spend more time reading about investing and actually investing than i spent reading engineering stuff.

So I am basing my decision on these critireas:

	Schulich	Rotman	Stanford	Weight
1. school reputation:	20	30	50	4
2. school location	10	10	80	1
3. financial return	30	30	40	7
4. risk	70	30	0	6
5. length of program	60	10	30	2
6. tuition fee	70	30	0	3
7. admission requirements	60	0	40	5
Weighted total	1,350	630	820

	Schulich	Rotman	Stanford
Tuition	$29.00	$54.00	$151.25
Opportunity Cost	$0.00	$0.00	$235.95
1st yr salary	$73.00	$75.00	$114.95
2nd yr salary	$84.53	$86.84	$133.10
3rd yr salary	$134.47	$138.16	$211.75
4th yr salary	$192.11	$197.37	$302.50
5th yr salary	$295.84	$303.95	$465.85
Total Profit	$750.95	$747.32	$840.95

The scientifist method above is indicating that Schulich is the choice to go for, but as you know we are humans, I couldn't go for Schulich without trying my chance with Stanford, so my plan, DO my GMAT and see my score

Can you spare some CHANGE?

Nope. I cannot spare some CHANGE. I don't have change to spare, I need someone to spare ME some change. Right now I have everything I want from a 5S plan, an activity board, a changerover system, a PM schedulinbg system and I can go on and on...however, I haven't been able to crack the Maintenance Supervisor into some sense...why?-He doesn't believe in change, "if it is working don't touch it", that's what he would say and what be believes.

It is funny, if no one wants change why do they fire the old staff and hire new staff? My problem is not a big problem since I have a very nice plan to implement my change. I won't tell you yet about my plan because then...then what would be the fun in it?

Found some Pix

Hey , here are some pix of a design we had to put together. It was supposed to be put into some wood thing by one side, and on the other, we were to put weight to see how much it holds. We could use 80 letter pages, and 120 ml of some glue. it had to resist at least 5 kilos(11 lbs) and be at least 30 cm long no including the 15 cm that is to be stuck in the wood thing. So what happened with our design was that it wouldn't fit into the wood thing, 'cause it was half cm wider. So, after some long show trying to put it in, half of it got broken, and still, we had to test it, and all we wanted for it was to hold the 5 damn kilos. Anyways, I don't know how, it hold 22 kilos. God, if it just wouldn't have got broken, I bet it would have hold 30+ kilos. We got the 2nd best grade, 'cause some guys had one that was a little bit longer. check it out. In one picture (the one just showing the design) you can clearly see how it was disfigured while I was trying to fit it to the hole in the wood. That thing hold 22 kilos in one end (torque). that is almost 50 lbs for you yankees.

My Birthday

So, it was my b-day on the 3rd of this month. Yup, my bro and I have just a 4 days difference in b-days dates. So, on my b-da i woke up with this early 20s age crisis, and almost missed clases (my bro knows the reason of my age depression thing). Anyways, I go to class late, and I enter the hall, and suddenly everyone starts singing Happy Birthday while the teacher was writing something on the board. I don't know when i told them about my b-date. Anyways, someone must have had it on his calendar; yes, we are all nerds in my class, we all have calendars and they are almost full. So anyways, we finished clases at 21:15 (clases began at 8:00 that day), and everyone wanted to celebrate my b-day, I really didn't want to, but i thought why being such an ass, they didn't do that to any other who celebrated his or her b-day. They are just trying to be nice. So I said, OK, let's party. So, then, we went to a guys place, drank, they sang another time for me happy b-day, and I drank a full glass of pisco(national 40%alcohol drink) at once after I put off my b-day candle, to sutisfy their requests. Anyways, after that we went to a bar, if I can remember it well, I stood up on a table, and they sang again happy b-day. Then drank some more beer, all at once. I don't know why I was doing that, I guess I was just too wasted to try to enjoy sipping the beer. Here are some pix. One of them while I was putting off the candle, and the other in the bar, and I look so wasted. Sorry that I look in such a mess, but anyways enjoy...

The birth of a great leader

Yesterday I did not go to work....no it is not what you think- I didn't call sick nor took a personal day; I went to the 360 degrees: the measure of a leader. It was a workshop where suposedly the greatest leaders in the states would talk to 100,000 people via satelite. My opinion, crap. Here is a list of the speakers:

The goods:
1. Mark Sanborn - He is right, you don't need a tittle to be a leader.
2. Todd Duncan - I liked his bycicle analogy to good leaders and business.
3. Patrick Lencioni - He was the best speaker, I would hire him anytime.
4. Dave Ramsey - Funny guy. But nothing useful.
5. Tim Sanders - He was annoying but trying to be funny. Good effort.

The bads:
1. John C. Maxwell - I don't like cult leaders.
2. General Leo Brooks - This was a leadership workshop not a propaganda for the U.S. Army.
3. Peyton and Archie Manning - Very cute, dad and son.
4. Don Soderquist - Too old school for me.
5. Kathy Ireland - She had a sqeeky voice...very annoying. And I felt she was taing to retarded people, she had no communication skills at all. Also, I don't know what she was talking about, I think she was trying to explain why she wasn't a supeormodel anymore or something...I don't know.
6. J.C. Watts - He was of no use.

I ain't gonna bore you with what they said but in a nutshell what they wanted to get across was that the best quality of a leadership are:
1. Trust
2. Accountability
3. Vision
There are some more qualites of a leader but these are the ones that were mentioned often.

Also, today we went to celebrate our birthday; Lucian and I. What are the odds the two maintenance people born on the same day, May 7. We went to a place called Dave and Buster's, it is an awesome place, it has a pool hll, awesome videogames, a nice bar and very sexy ladies. Goodtimes.

Better movie

I just uploaded a better version of the movie, better quality. You can download it from here, just right click and save as..
Everyone is telling me i got talent, (using the software and footage I used for Colombia... , I would say I have got a lot of talent). Anyways, my next project will be a little bit longer, and about Palestine. The reason I chose Palestine, is because it is easier to find footage on the net, hopefully someday I will be able to direct my own projects, with real cameras, and may be I will be the one to direct the movie that is done on frosh week to represent my faculty.
Today I had an essay style exam, and I wrote 4 huge pages. it is a big transition for me, since I come from a Uni where all exams where more of engineering style. For example, I never had to read, prepare or even write. Now, I have to read books for each class, have exams without numbers, and give presentations almost twice a month wearing suits.
I just can't wait till I finish Uni and start woking, they tell me with a Master in Finance I can get a very good Job in california, althought I have a drawback, and that is for not being a states' graduate, I still will graduate from a top 5 b-school in whole Latin America. There is a slim chance I do my masters in the states as an exchange student. I don't know, I just can't wait for the years to fly by. I am just to damn old for all this shit.

New begginins need a new look

Today as I was seeing some of my old pics I realised I need an action plan; a plan for me to get motivated about life once again (like in the pictures i was seeing). After some thought I came up with these resolutions:
1. Start taking my poker talents more seriously and make it in the World Series of Poker next year.
2. Get a new bike and bike like in the old days...I love biking and it makes me look and feel good.
3. No girls in my life at least for a year. No need for that B.S. right now.
4. Get a pet, preferably a dog.
5. By summer 2007 get into boxing in Florida Jack's.

So usually I like to change my look when I want to change (as most of you know) so I just cut my hair. I am gonna grow my beard a little bit. So here you have it...the new and improved EVolvedHomoSapien!

Enjoying the moment

Yesterday night we started with a friendly game of poker; this time we had the infamous Nick in the table. I was looking to play agaisnt him to check my skills.

Well, it went as i expected, i had the game, at first i was low on chips so i realised i had to make a stand so i start being more agresive. Mika tried to imitate my game which worked on the other guys but i just used it to give him enough confidence so when i would need his chips i know how to steal them.
It was kinda hard getting chips since everyone was playing really conservative-even after i busted Steve's balls more than once in front of the girls to make him bet.
At the end it was down to Mika and I, he had most of the chips, i had may be a quater of his. He started really agressive, I KNEW he had nothing but i was folding to boost his confidence more so he would go all in when i need him to. I was like magic, i caught him twice when he tried to bluff so i was now the chip leader. Finally i won with an allin from him.

Later we went down clubbing with Ali's friend. We met with Ali at the entrance of Ultra, it was a nice place, alot of gorgeus women but i wasn't feeling it. Later we went to districk, there i saw a gorgeus young drunk asian girl she was just what i needed to get my stress off, but all the guys were all ver her and i wasn't in the ass kissing mode.

In a nutshell, it was a lame night for me, Mika was bombed and having fun, I envied him a little bit; how he can just be happy and live in the moment while all that's going thru my head are all these shitty problems. I took him later to some chinese food, there we ate like there was no tomorow, we had two dishes of beef with chew mein, a dish of sour chicked, and some rice as well, we were eating an enjoying it. We were enjoying the moment.

Introducing Iysam

Well, some may not know that evolvedhomosapien (E.V.) has a brother living in the southern hemisphere, taking all of E.V.'s money while attending the most expensive Uni in Chile. Well, now you know.
Well, I will not keep my identity secret, however, that will not help you finding E.V.'s identity, since we have different last names (long story). Anyways, I will be contributing from time to time to this blog, giving an "objective" view of how it is for an international student to live in Chile.
Anyways, I had a discertation about Colombia for my Power and Government class and I did a video. I have uploaded it, however, it is of lower quality than it really is. The difference really shows up at the end, when the fast pace starts. In this version just about one third of what is supposed to be shown per second is shown, so that takes a lot of the thrilling factor. I used the lowest possible tools doing the movie, that is the Windows Movie Maker.
"Colombia..." the movie
Enjoy!, and please tell me what you think.

The whiteboard.

When I entered my department I was surprised by what i saw, it was a breakthrough, the answer to my questions, it was not the whiteboardthat i installed yesterday; it was what was written on it.

I had been having this problem in the department - it was very hard to motivate my guys. I tried talking to them, paying attention to whjat they were saying but nothing. GFinally, I decided to get a huge white board, 96" x 48". i hd it installed at the entrance of the department.

First I was hesitant of what to write down. After a little meditation i came up with something; metrics, question of the day and an activity board. As for what surprised me was that I actually had some replies on the board, I was amazed. Also, they started popping in my office with ideas of what to do to improve the system. It was a glorious day.

Using NLP in Poker night

Yesterday I was handicapped; my neck was stiff. I don't know what was the resaon, either I slept bad or it was my new AC in my office. Anyways, I couldn't go out so all i did the entire day was go to the driving class and play Call of Duty 2. At night Mika called me to see what's up- we agreed to meet for a house poker game. I met his friend Steve in his house. He was a nice guy, I liked him but I was surprised Mika had friends that were no snakes as his other friends, Ali....etc.

We took off to Jason's house around 10:30, we passed by the liqor store but it was closed- what a dissapointment. It was 5 of us, 5 dollars per head, so we were playin for a 25 dollar pot, i was there just for fun. It was Jason, Steve, Mika, I and Jenna. Jenna is some girl they knew from school. I was surprised when Mika told me that everyone in the table made out with her because she looked like such a nice girl. Now she was Steve's girlfriend; poor guy.

We started playing, I started conservative so I could get some tells and know what type of players they were. After 2 hands I knew I had this game. First, I had to put Mika's state somewhere that he wouldn't win so i started busting his balls and I used a time distortion pattern to make him feel he lost already; he was the first one out. Then Steve and Jason were no problem at all, they were playing on the first level and as we know i play on the third level. If you curious what they are:
Level one: you play what you have
Level two: you play what your opponent has
Level three: you play what your opponent thinks you have

I had a 3 4 suited and I just called from the dealer button. I got an inside straight from the flop; I needed a 5. Jason bet 100, Steve and Mika called and I followed suit. It was a 5 on the turn, I got the straight. They all checked, I bet 200, they called expect Jason. The river was 8, Mika bet 200, steve called and I raised to 800. After 5 minutes of hesitation they all folded. At that time even tho I had the straight I wanted to make them angry and play foolish so I just uncovered the 3. They were so angry I knew it worked. So after half an hour they were out, it was down to meand Jenna.

She was a hard coockie to break- she was playing just good cards and very little bluffs. I had to break her if I wanted to win. I start playig really agreesive with bad hands like 7 2 and 3 4 and stealing the blinds. then I got 3 of a kind, I wanted her to bet big, so what I did I wanted to get in her mind. I told her: " You know Jenna I can't remember the last time I lost a game. Can you REMEMBER THE LAST TIME YOU LOST? WHAT DID IT FEEL LIKE?" and i jut put a fake smile. It worked since she bet big, I took half her chips. After that I played super agressive, Finally I beat her with a pocket 9s.

It was a good night, it reaffirmed me that I had a talent in poker and I shouldn't quit.

5-hour meeting...what's next?

I was in the office half an hour late-it was OK, everything is OK, I have a very relaxed boss; Lucin. As long as I do my job he doesn't care what I do. The morning was really hectic, first I had to get an extension cord for the camera since the battery dies after 2 hours and we needed continous recording of the robot working. Suposedly there is a problem with the packing robot, however, every single time i am around it just works fine so i just installed the camera, hopefullyI will able to see what problem they are talking about.

Later, Lucian called me to his office to tell me about the auditor that was coming to my department to talk to some of my guys. So I just rushed and talked to them to make sure they put their stuff together and not be caught by surprise. When I was at the TTC, I was doing some internal audits in several yards. I never got why everyone hated my guts so much since I was thre to help them out- surely I do know now. I then found out that luckily the auditor talked to Dave, the lead mechanic, very profesional individul; so I knew I was fine.

Finally, after talking to Lucian about the march report that i was preparing, I went to my office to get something in my belly and relax for 5 minutes. I barely finished my pasta and Fern was knocking at my door in a white-stripe blue golf shirt, it was his day off and obviously he was pissed that Zak called him for themeeting since it was the only day he had with his wife.

Me: "Come in Fern."
Fern: "I don't know if Zak told you but we have a meeting at 12 to talk about the printers' scheduling."

At that time I remembered Zak's email talking about that. I was the PM guy, not a process engineer. I am a big picture guy, not the one looking for the daily technbical problems.

Me: "Alright, let's go."

Zak wasn't in the meeting room, he then gave me a call saying hat he was going to be 20 minutes late because he was with the auditor. So we started the meeting without him...after 40 minutes he showed up. This meeting seemed to take forever; we were in that room till 5:30 o clock, that's a FIVE-HOUR meeting!

When it was done I noticed that Lucian wasn't alright so I went to check on him and he was really pissed how Zak is stealing me from his department. He first stole Octavian; the project engineer, now he wanted me. After Lucian entered Zak's office, I heard some yelling and after 20 minutes he came out. I just made sure he was ok and not fired. After Diego's resignation the last thing I needed was Lucian to quit. Diego, the production manager, resigned today. I was surprised because he is the best person in the plant. After he told me the news, I just had to ask him why, he replied that the job was aking too much time from him and he had no time for his kids, wife and friends. That takes a lot of courage, just to resign from a good position and dedicate yourself to your family, I envied his determination and courage a little bit.

IKEA; simply doesn't make sense.

Today I got my IKEA funiture. I am still trying to compute how I blew $1,500 on IKEA furniture. Well, amazingly it took me 3 hours to assemble 4 chairs and a coffee table for which the instructions were way off. I was thinking how good an idea it is to open a website for assembling IKEA stuff, something like BetterIKEAmanuals.com, this website would contain proper catalogues for assemblying IKEA furniture, these catalougues would include proper descriptions instead of caveman drawings.

After assembling the furniture I went online to play poker at partypoker.com, i started with $100 after 10 minutes i was at $122, after 40 minutes i was at $189, it all seemed going well and i was ruling over the table-or so I thought. I got pocket kings; this is the second most hated hand in my personal list. My most hated hand is ace king (a.k.a. big slick) yes i know you will be saying these are the best hands, but I have had bad luck with them, that is why I call ace king "Anna Kournikova"; it looks good but it never wins.

So once I got it I raised to $5, 3 guys called. After the flop of ace, queen and five, one guy raised $8 so I reraised to $20; don't ask me why, I have my retarded moments as everyone else. The turn was an ace-bad news. By now I KNEW he had at least three aces, he had me beat and i was drawing dead, however, for some unexplainable out-of-this-universe reason i bet $50 and of course he called me. The river was some low number, he bet $20 and Mr. Stupid right here called and lost to a full house; aces full of queens. After that it went down the hill and I lost all of it. Lesson learned - always keep your cool.