Whoa, I can�t believe it�s the middle of August already. You know that old saying about how time flies when you are having fun? Well apparently, if you aren't paying attention, time can fly even when you are bored out of your skull. I guess it�s a good thing summer is almost over, because although I�ve regained full-time job status since the middle of last February, I haven�t done anything in terms of school since I graduated last November of 2004.

Although doing the school and work thing was pretty exhausting, in a way I�m actually looking forward to the challenge. I finally paid off last of my tuition, which means I will finally be getting my diploma they have been holding, plus I had a chance to register for some of my classes. Right now I�m registered for a prerequisite class and a grad level accounting class.

I decided to switch the major from an M.S. in E-Commerce Tech (ECT) the curriculum I originally applied for, to an M.S. in Business Information Technology (BIT). The reason for the switch is the difficulty I had finding a job in the E-Commerce field when I graduated with my Bachelor�s in ECT back in November 2004.

I was actually considering taking on an MBA in DePaul�s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business, but that would have involved getting and passing a GRE exam, plus I would have to pay a higher tuition rate. The M.S. in BIT is a joint degree with the Business School and College of Computer Science, Telecommunications and Information Systems (CTI) the college I�m enrolled in. I thought the BIT curriculum would be a great opportunity to get in some business courses while still keeping and building my technical knowledge.

In a way I�m really glad I�ll have school to occupy me, because my dating life as of late has been almost non-existent. It�s not that I haven�t been trying, because I�ve been a little more forward about getting phone numbers and the like. I�ve just been really bad at turning those phone numbers into dates.

It�s a really, really weird thing because I seriously don�t know how to go about this. I had this really weird idea in my head that if you like someone and someone likes you back, the natural transition would be that you start talking to each other and you start seeing each other for small things at first like meeting for coffee or meeting for lunch or whatever and in the process you have a chance to get to know each other.

It turns out things just aren�t that simple. Maybe it�s just me not being aggressive enough, I really don�t know. I mean, I�m not the kind of guy that�s going to blow up your phone with a bunch of calls, voice and text messages, but the few calls and voice messages I do put out there I do expect at least the courtesy of a call back or text back and I take no response at all as simple lack of interest in me.

Again, maybe it�s just me, but I�d totally respect someone better if I were rejected on the onset, like �You seem like a nice guy Derrick, but I�m not interested in the dating thing right now. So no you can�t have my number.� I mean yeah, sure I�d feel bad about it and I�d feel rejected, but after I�m over all that I�d have nothing but respect for that person and I�d probably buy her a drink, thank her for her straightforwardness and thank her for not giving me the runaround like so many other females have as of late.

Then again I can�t be just throwing the blame out there. I mean I�ve seen it go all different ways with other people and maybe I�m just not the kind of guy that�s good at initiating the whole dating thing. I know that I�m by nature a shy person and I know that have to take into account the small triumphs like having the courage to even ask for the number of a girl I�m attracted to in the first place. I figure if I keep going for it and in the process try not to be anyone else but me there will be some woman out there who will like me for me, shyness and all.

Oh well, whatever I just had to get some of that crap out of my chest. Maybe at this particular moment it is simply not my time and the right time is somewhere out there waiting to happen for me. Pretty soon it will all be a non-issue as my time will soon be dominated by combination of work and school and I�ll be lucky if I find any free time at all for anything else. Until next time�