Ice Coffee at McDonald's

I just realized that McDonald’s offer ice coffee for half the price than what Starbucks do. It tastes a little different and the coffee is not that strong, but the saving of two dollars sometimes makes it worth the loss in flavor.

I have studied for my two finals today and I feel ready for it now. I have not actually read all the chapters for my advertising class, but I have studied the study material and the things I need to know for the test.

The macroeconomics test will be fairly easy to me. I feel that I know everything that we have learned and the reason is that I really find macroeconomics interesting. I believe that the key to success is to get interested in whatever people want to be successful in.

My sister will come to New York today so I am very excited about her arrival. She will probably show up any minute now, but I have not yet heard from her.

I had to clean my room so that I do not make a bad impression on her so everything looks great now. Another reason I had to clean was because she will spend two nights here so I had to make up some space.

I was trying to get the IPhone today but I will have to wait another two days. I told the store that I had talked to the president’s office and they had left a note in the computer system. The store, however, has to send a letter to the general manager for permission to allow me to get the rebate.

I really hope that everything will get solved. If they won’t grant me the permission to get the IPhone for the discounted price, I will give the president’s office another call until they help me to solve this issue.

Hopefully I won’t have to do that though, and I will be able to spread good promotion for AT&T again.

Shoes, Shoes, Shoes, and IPhone

I am having some problems with my wireless service provider right now. I have AT&T and my cell phone has terrible reception in most places.

I wanted to get a new phone because of this but I was actually, at first, thinking about cancelling my contract and change to T-Mobile. I never did this because it seemed to be my cell phone that was in bad collaboration with AT&T’s service.

I actually contacted the Better Business Bureau to handle this problem. AT&T called me after I had contacted the BBB and offered me to cancel my contract for an additional fee of $175. I did not want to do this and I would rather deal with my reception problem.

Yesterday I went out to get the new IPhone. I was really excited about getting it so after I had picked up my fiancée at her school we went to an AT&T store to buy one. What happened next made me pretty upset.

They said that I am not eligible for an upgrade until next year. If I want the IPhone, I will have to pay a higher price for it and I also have to extend my contract. I knew that I would have to extend my contract and I am fine with that, but a higher price?

I will call them tomorrow and talk to them about this. It is ridiculous that they can’t help me getting a new device. My reception is terrible and I won’t even be able to use their offers. What is funny is that you see the price for the IPhone to be $199 for 8GB and $299 for 16GB. However, that is with a two-year plan for those who are eligible for it.

I have been happy with AT&T until the thing with my cell phone happened. They have handled this in a terrible way. I am not done with this though so I hope that they will finally let me use their offer.

This weekend has been great other than that. I have done a lot of shopping with my fiancée. She is very much into shoes these days so I have had to walk around holding bags and giving suggestions a lot lately.

I have also studied for my two finals next week. I am not fully prepared yet so I will have to go over it a few more times. I don’t think I will have a problem with it though. Everything about macroeconomics falls naturally to me and the advertising questions are not too hard to understand. 

9/11 Memorial

Yesterday was September 11 and I believe that it is important that everyone remembers the day and at least gives one minute of silence to show support and compassion with the people who were and are affected by this event.

I went to pick up my fiancée at her school yesterday, and we went to New Jersey to watch the tribute in light from there. The tribute in light is amazing. It is actually two very powerful spotlights that shine straight up in the sky.

New York has arranged this every year during the Memorial Day. This tribute is also called the beams of light and is fairly well known around the world. I have always wanted to see it in person so I was very excited about it.

I brought my camera and took the train to New Jersey. I was, at first, thinking about going to Hoboken but I found out that you would only see one beam of light from there because of the angle. I therefore took the train to Newport instead.

It takes about 20 minutes to walk to the best viewpoint from the train but the walk is great. It offers a good view and it is right at the waterfront.

I took a few fantastic shots but I wished that I had stayed a little longer because afterwards I realized that I should have taken some more pictures with different camera settings and angles.

I am still very happy with the ones I took though. I have posted one picture that I took from there. I want to remind everyone that I do have copyright for all pictures posted here but feel free to enjoy them.

This quarter in school is soon to be over. I do not have any more regular classes, which is pretty nice. However, it sometimes feels as though the time goes by a little to fast.

The only things I have left in school now are two finals. I was lucky when it came to that actually because my first one starts at 10.30 and my second one is 13.00. People usually have their finals different days so I feel great about the schedule for the finals. 

New Gym!

I  signed up at a gym two days ago. I am really excited about starting to work out again because it has been more than three months since I did that.

This gym is a lot better than the last one I went to. It is smaller, which makes it more personal and it is cleaner and more modern. Also, instead of traditional lockets, they are electronic so you do not need a key.

I went there the first time yesterday and everything works great. They have great machines with big screen televisions near by and people are really nice too.

I will start using the treadmill at first just to lose some weight, but I am really tempted in doing some weight lifting so I might start early with that.

I handed in my last international marketing case yesterday.  I wrote about three pages and I feel confident about it. I think I did a good job so I should end up with an A. I also got back my old case, which I got an A on.

I have an assignment in advertising and promotion to hand in on Thursday. I am working in a group, which I usually do not like but this time it is okay. Everyone in the group is motivated and I have done my part already.

I will go to school today just to organize the last things. The assignment was to create a media strategy for a new orange juice drink. We also had to create an advertisement in radio, television, or print.

My group did print so that gave me an opportunity to use my camera.  I am really happy with the result and I seriously believe that the orange juice company could use this. What we did was that we took a picture on a busy street in Manhattan when our model drank the orange juice.

At the same time as she was drinking she was stopping traffic. Together with this we have the title, “where do you enjoy your total vitamin.” The picture came out really professionally and we also have a few more ideas that we described in the paper.

Storm

There was a storm in New York yesterday. The news warned people from going outside so many stayed at home, making the streets look really empty.

However, I did not stay at home. I wanted to go out and pay the tuition for next quarter and I was also planning to go to Queens Mall with my fiancée. The weather never got that severe actually. I think that the coast took more damage than the city.

I usually pay the tuition with my debit card but my bank did not, for an unknown reason, want to raise the spending limit for me this time. That was okay though because that gave me an opportunity to write my very first check, which I did.

It very easy to write a check, I just thought it was fun because it was my first time. I have always liked to pay with credit card so I am not used to checks at all. We do not use that in Sweden that much either.

People at Berkeley College do not have to worry if they do not know how to write a check. Everyone will learn that in mathematics for business.

When I was done with my chores, I had to wait for my fiancée to get in to Manhattan. I went to the best place to wait at, Starbucks. The weather was really humid yesterday with humidity levels at 97 so it was nice to be inside to wait. I had a venti iced skinny vanilla latte and a blueberry muffin.

I have never tried the blueberry muffin before but I must say that it was one of the best muffins that I have ever had. It goes great with the coffee and it actually made me full. I will definitely buy that again.

When my fiancée arrived, we took the train to Queens. We had some fried noodles, AKA chow mein, with barbeque chicken. The food court is great there and the picture that I have posted is from there.  

I will have to do some homework today. I think that I will stay inside most of the day but I have to go out and do laundry. I think I will do some cleaning too because my family is coming over to see me soon. 

Italian Food

I had a really nice day yesterday because I went out to have a few beers with a friend after school. We have been talking about it for a long time but, unfortunately, I have been busy.

We went to a place in midtown Manhattan, somewhere between 7^th and 9^th avenue at 27^th Street. They have a section on the sidewalk so people can enjoy the weather, which I like. 

My friend’s wife came over after a few beers and we had some nachos with cheese together. We all got really hungry after that though so we went to an Italian restaurant. I had never been there before, but it was a really modern and fancy place.

The food was really good. I had a tuna salad to start with, tagliatelle with lobster for main course, and a great tiramisu for dessert. Everything was accompanied with a really refreshing margarita.

We had a really good time so we will definitely do that again.

I only have two more weeks left in school. Next week will be a normal week but the week after that is the final week. I will only have two tests that week, which will be on a Tuesday. This basically means that I only have four more classes to go to for this quarter.

I may go to Queens Mall with my fiancée today but we are not sure yet. She wanted to buy some shoes but I do not have anything that I really need.  I can be a nice trip though.

I got a new assignment in advertising and promotion yesterday. I will work together with a classmate so that will make things a little easier. We will have to come up with an idea of an ad, and I am planning to actually create one. I have the right camera for it so it could be fun.

I will go to school on Monday to finish it, but I might start doing it already this weekend. I also have to do my last international marketing case. I think I need a few hours for that one but it should be easier than the last case. 

100%

I am having a day off from school today so I am at home, relaxing and doing some homework assignments.

I was just remembering that I only have two weeks more until this quarter ends. Every quarter goes extremely fast, which is good, I guess.

I handed in my international marketing midterm yesterday. I wrote about nine pages, which was a lot compared to my classmates. I think that the average person wrote about five pages.

I really do not think it is about the number of pages you write but how good it is. The only reason I wrote a lot was because I liked it. It is a subject that I really find interesting. It was about getting a company on the right track and I came up with tons of things that they could change in order to improve their situation.

It will be fun to get the paper back because I am really curious in what my professor will think about it.

I also got back my second exam in macroeconomics yesterday. I am usually really nervous right before the tests are handed out, but this time I felt really calm. I got a perfect score together with another classmate.

It feels really good to perform that well in a class like that. I believe it is an interesting class but also a very important one. The professor is very professional and smart, and I like having conversation with him about business and the economy.

I will have to do my third and last take-home exam for international marketing this weekend. I think that it is a little easier this time but it might also be a little tricky.

The case is about a company that plans to send someone to Saudi Arabia to negotiate a contract. They have to choose whom to send, and their decision lies between to persons. The paper gives you some information about the two individuals and what the company thinks about them.

I really like the cases that our professor is handing out. I love that it covers real world activities and it is very interesting to solve them. I think it is a lot easier to learn if the study material is reality based.

I will do some of the take-home exam now. I am thinking about going to Starbucks and do it but I am pretty comfortable in my apartment. 

Weekend is Over

I ran out of Swedish groceries last week so I had to go and buy new ones this weekend. My fiancée and I took the free ferry from Manhattan to IKEA in Brooklyn to take care of this.

It is always tempting to buy furniture and accessories for your home when you are walking around in IKEA. I am really tempted in doing that actually but I will wait until I have moved to a new apartment.

I heard on the news that the IKEA store in Brooklyn is one of America’s busiest stores. It does not really surprise me though because there are always a lot of people. However, it is pretty amazing that one of the busiest stores is located in Brooklyn.

I saw a really cool advertisement yesterday. My fiancée and I were in Brooklyn and on our way to shop groceries, when we suddenly saw letters written in the sky. It said Geico, which is an insurance company here in the United States.

At first I thought it was airplanes that shaped the letters but I couldn’t see any planes. It was a very weird sight because it looked as if an invisible pen drew the letters. I still do not have any idea of how it worked but it is an amazing technique to advertise in.

I went to New Jersey today to take some pictures. My fiancée and I left at three because I wanted to catch the sunset and have the time to shop a little before taking the pictures.

There is a great mall close to the waterfront so it fit great to go there before shooting. They also have a great food court, like all the malls in the United States, so we had lunch there. We had some kind of steak with noodles and potatoes, which tasted great.

I bought two shirts for my fiancée to prepare her for, what she thinks is boring, photographing. The view is amazing from New Jersey, especially during sunset. The only downside is that you can’t really see the sun because you are facing east from there.

I got a few really good shots though so I am happy with the trip.

I finished all my homework today. I wrote nine pages for my case in international marketing and I feel really good about it. I covered a lot and some things that I wouldn’t have to cover. I am excited about getting it graded and see what my professor has to say about it.

I also did my homework in macroeconomics. It was about finding an article about macroeconomics and summarize it. We will discuss it in class tomorrow. I chose an article about the Fed, who wants to raise interest rates to meet inflation.

I really like this quarter because it covers a lot about economic issues and business situations.