Although the wind did blow about 30mph out of the West today, I was elated to have the opportunity to ride no matter the weather conditions. I did a REALLY easy 45 miles around Buffalo Springs Lake west of town, and I finished my ride with a cruise on the Canyon Lakes bike route (which was under construction) and through the Texas Tech University campus. It's been a while since I've ridden through campus...most of the time I am cruising the perimeter as we're departing or returning from a ride. It was nice to look around the campus and see all the new things that have been constructed since I graduated in 2005.
I have been getting the itch to return to school and study engineering again. I began my college career as a petroleum engineering student, then I dropped out during my third semester to enlist in the Marines. When I returned to Texas Tech following my four-year tour in the Marines, I changed my major to Business Administration. I've been looking at the curriculum for the PE undergrad program, and it'll probably take me 3.5 years given that almost all the courses are specific to the engineering college. The problem is that my wife stays at home with the kiddos, and it will likely be too daunting a task to take 15 hours of engineering courses and work full time+ to pay the bills!!!
It may be a while before I can make this dream come true...if ever! I decided to stop and take a picture in front of the Petroleum Engineering building on my way through today. I'll stop in and talk to Dr. Heinze about my plans one of these days, but it will probably be the fall semester of next year before I could make something happen anyway. Until then, I'll keep burning the midnight oil with Halliburton and sneaking in rides on the Baron whenever & wherever possible!