Everything I Missed

Today was probably the busiest day of the week, if not the past couple of weeks. Why? Well, there were a bunch of activities today that I wanted to attend. Unfortunately, all of them overlapped. So I had to choose one.

Whenever I am faced with such a predicament, I would do a little evaluation and rationalization before I make a decision. And that decision is typically based on a logic I have developed for myself. On this day, the questions I asked were how often does this even occur and when will the next one be? From here, I am able to deduce (and justify) by selection. However, a factor may be introduced and it skews my thought process and the results change. And this is what happened.

The biggest event scheduled for today was the Holy War -- a football game between arch rivals Bellarmine and St. Francis, in enemy territory. In the elimination round, both teams will play each other only once. For the last 8 years, the Bells have won. Everyone says if there was a football game to watch, this was it.

The second event on the calendar was a women's volleyball match between Stanford and Utah at Maple Pavilion. Jake and I had been wanting to watch a women's home game, and the Friday schedules seemed to work well. However, he was dead set on watching the Holy War, so the Stanford game was out of the question. Besides, there were other matches lined up for the remainder of the season that we could catch. And I don't want to watch it alone either.

Being the second Friday of the month, it was SBARA's monthly general membership meeting. The planned presentation was on fiber optics. Quite interesting, but not enough to ditch the Holy War or the volleyball game. Besides, this meeting happens every month (except in December), so missing one won't hurt.

Then, there was this invitation from a friend for a few drinks. Believe it or not, this kind of event does have its weight in gold. Anytime you ask me out for a few drinks, I'm always up for it. Coupled with good food and hearty conversation, nothing beats a night of drinks.

So, of the four events, which did I choose?

I think it was obvious. It was drinks at BJ's.

Let me walk you through my thought process on this one.

Like I said earlier, the introduction of one factor can skew my decision. This one was not any different. The factor that messed up my decision was laziness. Yes, sir! I knew the Holy War happened once a year, and this was something I shouldn't miss. But the thought of driving to Mountain View, in rush hour traffic, at the end of long work week, didn't seem to enticing for me. Not enough motivation for me to look beyond these obstacles to make the trip. It was just plain laziness. Bad mistake. Really, my bad!!! Well, there's always next year. And it's probably going to be a home game.

Watching a volleyball game solo was out of the question, so that was easy. And since SBARA's meetings were more regular and frequent, that trumped having drinks. Although the latter was more deliberate and can be had at any time, it sure was more exciting than listening to the latest and greatest technology on fiber optics.

Did I make the right decision? At the time I made it, yes. Do I regret making that decision? In hindsight, yes. Yes, because the Holy War doesn't happen everyday. But I do not regret the company because I enjoyed it.

Note:  Author wishes to acknowledge Wikipedia & BJ's for the use of the logo in this post.