The Beard at Six Months

When I interviewed at Utah State back in October, it seemed like things had gone pretty well, and I was kind of confident I’d get a job offer. So I figured I could be done interviewing and, relatedly, done having to shave. This launched me on a magical journey in which I continued to not shave (or

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2004 Nissan Titan XE 4×4, 2004-2016: In Memoriam

Not sure it’s a sad day necessarily, but it’s the end of an era either way. Sold my 2004 Nissan Titan. Had owned it for 12 years and it was a pretty vital part of my life for most of that time. 2004. I bought the truck in June 2004, the first year the Nissan Titan

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That One Time I Graduated for the Last Time (Probably)

This was back in April. Flew — man, I almost typed “home” — back to Pittsburgh for to graduate finally. I technically graduated in August 2014, but that meant that the next real convocation would be in April 2015. Ergo: this was back in April. Graduation was, I dunno, I guess getting hooded is more exciting

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That One Time When I Bought a Car in New Mexico

Because they didn’t have any of this car closer than that? Also, I think I got a very good deal on it. I’d seen an almost identical car to this one get bought in SoCal for $23,900 (by “seen”, I mean that I bid $23,500 for it, the guy “accepted” my offer, then 12 hours

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The Most Dangerous Thing I’ve Ever Done

Am heading back to Kauai for New Year’s this year. Was thinking about going on another ultralight flight like I did in ’08. This is the guy I took the lesson from: (source: http://beatofhawaii.com/crash-on-kauai-how-safe-are-ultralights/) And then the company he worked for back when I took the lesson is also now out of business because the owner

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Finding a Job in Academics (A Q&A with Myself)

Everyone likes Q&A formats, right? Yes, everyone. What field are you in? Information systems management and it’s worth noting that everything contained in this document is sort of specific to my field. Other fields will have similar processes and cognates, but eventually the specifics end up being unique to a given field. How do you

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Map for My Post-Dissertation Road Trip

Although it’s also sort of a during-dissertation road trip. Not pictured is the flying from San Diego to Pittsburgh and back. Long may it remain unpictured! Presumed worst parts (in chronological order): Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois OK to the Rockies I-80 across Wyo (time permitting, maybe I’ll drive the Colorado route instead) North Texas bkd

The Problems with Living in Pittsburgh

Here’s the short version: the roads, the weather, and the blue-collar mentality. That doesn’t sound so bad, right? Everywhere’s got at least three problems… Long version: As ever, I know that once I move, I’m going to eventually start thinking about how much easier life would be if I were only back in Pittsburgh. Preemptively

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BKDunn.com Stats for 2012

I don’t get enough traffic to get very interesting metrics. Instead, I get these. Most-Used Search TermsThese are the search terms that were most used to find my site (according to WordPress). Rank Term Last Note 1. diy tv stand 1 Still a bad project. 2. redwood tree NR 3. ford trimotor 3 3. la

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Things That Are No Longer Interesting

This is  a sub-set. Zombies. Their day in the sun should have ended with Shaun of the Dead, which came out in 2004. The zombies’ 15 minutes are up. Adding the word “apocalypse” does not grant the zombie idea any new freshness. “Bacon” as a topic of discussion. Eating bacon is still fine. It’s also

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