I was chatting with Chris, the new middle-aged trainee here at the Firm, about licensing and all that jazz. They’ve apparently ceased giving out study manuals for the Series 7, relying solely on guides posted on the Firm’s network, an act which Chris finds rather unfortunate. It’s difficult enough, and unhealthy enough for the eyes, to stare at a computer screen for an hour and a half while taking a practice exam, much less dedicating eight hours a day to reading small fonts. Anyway, I offered to bring in my five-inch binder of Series 7 wonderment tomorrow for him to use. I’m pretty much through with it, anyway.

Chris also pointed out the fact that I’ve now got a gold nameplate next to my little cubicle office thingy, advertising me as an official Financial Adviser. Sweet! Now I just need some business cards and I’ll be set. Oh, and some clients would do me well, too, but I can wait on that until I’ve gotten all of my necessary qualifications. And more power suits. The nameplate has definitely made my day, though. It’s hot.

On Monday I’m to start a ‘life, health, and variable’ insurance course over in Fairfield. It’s the only qualification I’m to get that is not proctored under the guise of the Firm, though of course they’re paying for it. So, from eight to four every day for the next week and a half, I’ll be learning about insurance stuff. One of the girls here says it’s extremely dry, but that’s to be expected. I think it’ll be good for me, though. And it’s a change of scene, which is oh-so-necessary once in awhile for a Gemini like me.

And in two weeks and one day, Meg and I will be going to London, baby! Actually, we’re going up to Scotland for the first weekend, definitely making a stop at my alma mater and maybe even some of the cheesy, local, but wonderful clubs of Dundee where I spent many a Boozeday Tuesday. It’ll be tight. Surreal, but a good time, I’m sure. And for the rest of the week, we’ll be hanging in London with some of my closest friends from university. Man. I am so excited for a vacation!

Monster.com offers a test via Jasper, a job asset and strengths profiler. This ten-minute test of sorts offered a description of me as a working individual. It doesn’t really aid me in figuring out what I’m doing, what my ideal career is, and where I’m going with my life, but it’s at least interesting!

“It is time for us to stand and cheer for the doer, the achiever, the one who recognizes the challenge and does something about it.”-Vince Lombardi

TYPE 8 (ACHIEVER)

What You Want Out of Work: To have your hard work lead to a sense of achievement, prestige, and financial reward.
Your Colleagues See You As: Motivated, fueled by a desire to be successful, and driven to reach your goals.
What You Have to Offer: Unparalleled passion and commitment, and a willingness to do whatever it takes to achieve success.

Leadership Style: Empowering. You are encouraging and motivating, which likely means that you help others reach their goals and dreams. People probably see you as a good mentor due to your patience and talent for giving direction.
Work Personality: Composed. You have a calm temperament about you and function in a relaxed manner. As someone who does not get highly emotional about bothersome work issues, people tend to rely on your calming presence.
Universal Skills: Multi-Tasking. you are likely effective in managing multiple things at once and are talented in producing work quickly. You are sharp, tend to be a quick learner, and don’t get daunted in the face of stress.
Work Style: Collaborative. While you’re not at a loss when working by yourself, you feel much more productive when you can work with a team and bounce ideas off of other people. You also likely enjoy the camaraderie of group work.

On this Independence Day, I would like to give thanks, thanks that is devoid of any political sentiment, to the brave men and women who continue to risk and give their lives for the country in which they believe.

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great … war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate – we can not consecrate – we can not hallow – this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us – that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion – that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain – that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. - Abraham Lincoln, 1863

Happy Fourth of July!

In line with all of my talk about work and stuff, I found this little gem on my friend Erica’s blog.

Looking for just the right employees? Try this simple personnel test. Take the job applicants and put them in a room with only a table and two chairs. Leave them alone for two hours, without any instruction. At the end of that time, go back and see what they are doing.

If they have taken the table apart … put them in engineering.
If they are counting the cigarette butts in the ashtray … assign them to finance.
If they are waving their arms and talking aloud … send them to consulting.
If they are talking to the chairs … personnel is a good spot for them.
If they are wearing green sunglasses and need a haircut … IT is their niche.
If the room has a sweaty odor … perhaps they’re destined for the help desk.
If they mention a good price for the table and chairs … put them in purchasing.
If they mention that hardwood furniture doesn’t come from rain forests … public relations would suit them.
If they are sleeping … they are management material.
If they are writing up the experience … send them to the technical writing team.
If they don’t even look up when you enter the room … assign them to security.
If they try to tell you it’s not as bad as it looks … send them to marketing.

I think it’s absurd that we’re expected to come into work today, even for a half day (and half is all relative, really, given that we get off at two). On the upside, we were allowed to dress ‘casual’ today, which means jeans for me. They’re about the same comfort level as a suit, but wearing jeans to the office kind of feels like sticking it to the man. Kind of.

On Friday night, Meg and I ended up hanging out with my flatmate TJ and a group of people, and somehow we found ourselves playing board games until four in the morning. How that happened, I have no idea; I blame the addictive quality of such games as Taboo and Cranium. The next night was absolutely gorgeous and breezy, so a whole bunch of us chilled in the backyard, drank, chatted, and, yes, played another game of Cranium, boys versus girls, and we girls lost again by one question. Frustrating as hell, I tell you. We’ll get them back, sooner or later.

I’m supposed to hear back from the insurance people about my car sometime this week. I’ve been looking at used vehicles on Craigslist, and I can get a pimped-out version of my now-defunct car, including the very necessary alarm system, for less than $5000. That’s the limit I’ve set myself. I’m not going to go out and buy a new car while I’m living where I am. That would be just asking for trouble, I’m sure, and anyway, now is the time to be saving money. And I pay enough in rent as it is to be worrying about car payments.