Yeah, that is right. I have not balanced my check book since my high school days when my parents “highly recommended” it. Well…having a business for the past year has really…made me get serious about finances. I bought (and suffered through many months of “I think this is right” and trips to the accountant for training) QuickBooks and until today never managed to really “get it”. Finally, this evening I sat down, printed out my bank statements and balanced everything and even semi-enjoyed it. If you do not know me, this does not sound like anything like me, but it is a proud day for me.

PS. Congrats to Michael who called with a riddle last night….”what beats two kings?” As I start to say “two aces”, I stop and realize he is telling me got his second hole in one on the golf course recently. A big congrats. Too bad you will be crying at the Notre Damn game this weekend when Penn State give you a 1-1 record.

Yesterday marked the move in day for new and returning Penn State students and in that spirit, I thought I would note a few of Penn State’s ranking facts. (Not to mention this weekend is our first football game of the season!! I look forward to another year of Joe!)

UCLA is the only University that receives more SAT scores than PSU annually
“The Public Ivies: America’s Flagship Public Universities, a book published by Greene’s Guides, included Penn State among the Public Ivies, public universities that purportedly offer an academic experience of Ivy League or close caliber combined with affordably priced tuition”
Penn State has the most living Alumni in the US compared to all other Universities (in 2004 we had 423,779 living members)
According to to U.S. News Best Colleges 2006, Penn State ranks 14th among public national universities
Penn State has the highest number of Fullbright Scholars
The Penn State graduation rate for athletes is 83% (compared to the NCAA Division 1 average of 62%)
Penn State enrolls over 84,000 students and ranks as one of the ten largest Universities
The Princeston Review reported that Penn State … [more]

Thank goodness I went to Penn State and met an amazing accounting student, now accountant, Amy Wessner. Running your own business so you can work on cool projects with interesting clients is one thing, but managing finances, marketing, managing off site servers and clients at all hours is another. Thankfully, I happen to know Amy!

I recently called Amy to ask her if should would take a look at my QuickBooks file. I am the last person to really want to learn about reconciling, expense accounts, payroll, etc so she was kind enough to take a look for me. Our first phone conversation about my complete mess of finances is tonight and I look forward to hearing what she has to say. A big thanks goes to Amy and I just wanted her to know I appreciate her efforts very much!
[tags]Penn State, Amy Wessner, QuickBooks[/tags]

The 2006 Orange Bowl was something to see. When I found out we (Penn State) were going to play Florida State, I was a bit upset that we were playing a low ranked team (PSU was #3 and FSU was #22). I thought the game would be a complete blowout, but as we all saw...it was anything but that. As some of you know, I am not a Florida college football team at all...so a Penn State loss to Florida State would have really been upsetting. My take on Florida football: they should create a prison team so all the Florida all-stars could actually play a game. I will say that I walked away from this game with a new respect for Bobby Bowden, but Joe will always be the #1 coach for me - regardless of his wins or losses. I have never witnessed a game like the 2006 Orange Bowl in my entire life. Between the penalties (Florida State had 13 penalties for 129 yards), injuries (Tony Hunt, BranDon Snow, Paul Posluszny), triple over time, and five missed field goals...it was a rough game. Thankfully Penn State pulled through!
[tags]Penn State, ... [more]

Not surprising to me, but finally Joe Paterno gets the respect he deserves: Coach of the Year. Good job Joe. I never doubted you. PS. Happy birthday Joe Pa!

Why I love Joe: he makes me want to be a better person.
(from ESPN article):

Now Paterno is in vogue again. Maybe more than ever.

The doubters who cried for change, who thought Paterno was hurting the school by refusing to let go, have had to eat their words.

But don't expect Paterno to call out his critics.

"To be honest, I really have never thought that way. It's not my nature," he said. "I'm not a vindictive guy. I don't read the papers. I realize the media's got a job to do and I realize the alumni, if they're interested in your program, are going to die when you lose and so forth, and a lot of them get carried away.

"What good does it do for me to say, 'I told you so.'"

109,839 fans filled the stands at Beaver Stadium on a cold and rainy evening to watch the PSU v. Ohio game. 109,839 people in attendance, millions of home viewers, and my grandmother in her hospital bed, staying up until almost midnight...watched an awesome and well balanced game with Penn State leaving on top.
We are now ranked #8 in the AP top 25...and are only 1 of 2 teams that have a 6-0 record (other team is #3 Va Tech). Next week we have another tough game...at the Big House but I have faith that if we keep playing as good as we did the last two weeks we have a great chance of winning, and winning the Big Ten conference.

Go PSU and go Joe! I never lost faith

Well, who would have guessed that so many Penn Staters (that I either know or know indirectly) are here at WWDC. I sat down next to someone that remembered going out to a bar with me back in college. Across from us at the table sat someone that I worked with at the Penn State help desk, and then later I met people that work in the office that I worked in before I left Penn State. Wild!

Day 2 summary: Penn Staters are everywhere.