Christmas Moments

Tabby came running down to our room all excited at about 6 AM, "Mom! Dad! There are presents!"

Ben opened the Minecraft t-shirt we got him. A second later he saw the note, "go check the computer". I've never seen him bolt so fast.

Sam opened the brony shirt we got him, hugged it, "I'm happy. I got what I wanted. Tabby, go put your Rainbow Dash shirt on. Let's get a picture together."

Jack handed out gifts to everyone this year that he had bought with his own money from working at his own job.

What Does an Actuary Do?

A week or so ago as I'm walking out for work in the morning, Jack and Tabby were at the kitchen table eating breakfast.

Jack: Bye, Dad. Have fun crunching numbers.

Tabby (jaw drops): You crunch numbers?

Me (laughing): Yeah! Like this (crunch fist).

Tabby: Wow. Are they hard or soft?

Friday morning as I'm leaving for work, Tabby is at the computer and looks up.

Tabby: Bye, Dad! Have fun punching numbers!

I can't even think of a good title

I thought this only happened as part of an apocalyptic future in sci-fi books/movies/games.

Planet of the Apes

This past Friday, instead of watching a movie from our Blockbuster queue, Becky and I actually went to the 2nd run theater down the street to watch Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The trailers made it look like it had potential, which, you know, is better than trailers that suck.

Wow. If I had known just how good it was I'd have gone weeks ago and not flinched at paying full first run theater prices.

It starts out with a very exciting sequence introducing us to the main human characters (a genetic researcher and his family, friends, work associates) and the situations they're in that provide the context for the rest of the show. Then it slows down to a sweet story about characters that care very much for each other . . . with tensions gradually increasing towards the inevitable uprising the movie is named for.

The way they develop the main ape, Ceasar, as the leader of the uprising is executed amazingly well. Despite his development during the "slow" portion of the movie, it is still incredibly engaging. I found myself, literally, on the edge of my seat in anticipation. Such that when it happened, it was like an emotional explosion. And I was totally cheering on the apes.

Two opposable thumbs way up. Becky and I both loved this movie. It was exciting, well made, had some thought provoking depth. There are several parts that we think are too intense for a four year old, so we're not letting Tabby see it. Yet. However, we're definitely sending the boys.

Once Upon a Time

Becky and I really don't watch much TV. Mostly our TV set is only used for watching videos. Which we don't do often either, really. Just a movie most Friday nights. Last Friday, however, we hadn't received a new one from our online queue, so we decided to go check out if hulu had the Bones season opener yet. You see, occasionally, we do find a television program we like to watch and when it is available online we'll catch it there.

Well, I think we recently found a new favorite show. Since the episode of Bones won't be available until next Friday, we decided to check out Once Upon a Time. And man, we liked it well enough that we didn't wait for episode 3 to come out online. We actually tuned in Sunday night to watch it.

Fun show.

Pictures!

Finally. Getting the pictures up from when my Mom and Dad came up to visit.

We spent an afternoon at the Green Bay Botanical Gardens

Funny story while we wre there. Tabby decided she wanted to catch a fish with a stick. She found a stick of suitable length and went to sit patiently on the step by the koi pond.

"What fish do you think you're going to catch," I asked.

"That one," Tabby answered, pointing to a big orange one.

"I think that fish is old enough that it knows better than to bite a stick."

"Then maybe I'll catch a stupid small one."

We spent another afternoon at the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary.

My parents were here for Jack's 18th birthday!

We went to Baird Creek Park to get a family picture taken. We had fun in some pictures. Tabby was mostly fussy, which is really unusual for her. Especially in front of a camera. We even got a picture to turn out okay, I think. Yay digital cameras.

I like this one because Becky always says Sam's name sounds like a doctor. Like she could imagine hearing "Paging Dr. Samuel Marsh. Dr. Samuel Marsh, report to wherever," over a hospital PA system. And here we caught him looking kinda' doctor like.

Fun Filler

So much eventful I hardly know where to start.

The new job has been good. Mostly I'm playing with spreadsheets. I get paid to do homework!

Jack turned 18! And got his driver's license! Becky is scared to death.

My parents spent a few days here. It's been about 3 years since we've seen them. It was very nice. I've got pictures to post.

But that's going to take some time to put together. So for now I'll just pass on a little fairy tale Tabby acted out in the tub tonight.

Several of her "My Little Ponies" were lined up on the edge of the tub talking or playing or I don't know what, when her dolly came along and started kicking them into the water.

"What a naughty little girl!" I said.

"Yeah," Said Tabby. Kick.

We had a great time with me running ponies away from the doll while she chased after to kick us into the water. In the end, there just aren't enough places to run around a tub and all the ponies were kicked in. I picked up my book and read a bit. Next thing I now, the doll is gathering all the ponies out of the water in a pot.

"Oh, is she rescuing the ponies now?"

"No. She's going to boil them and eat them."

"Like, she's going to eat the ponies for dinner?"

"Yep."

"Wow, that's horrible. You're not supposed to boil ponies. You pet them and ride them and feed them apples."

"Yep. She's naughty."

Back to reading my book. Suddenly all the ponies are lined up on the tub again and the Barbie mermaid is casting healing magic over them all.

"Did Barbie rescue the ponies?"

"Yes, because she's a good guy."

"Oh that's wonderful."

"And now they're going to boil the naughty little girl."

Sure enough. Now I noticed the doll in the pot that the ponies had been in.

"What?! That's horrible."

"They're going to eat her for dinner now."

"Maybe . . . maybe instead of eating her, Barbie can rescue her from the pot and heal her up and maybe she's learned her lesson and will be good now?"

"Yeah, whatever Dad."

The end.

Good News!

I got a job working for United Health Care as an Associate Actuarial Analyst. From what I understand, I'll be working with their rate engines. I'll find out more on 9/12 when I start.

Wyoming

Our niece got married recently. Becky took the kids out to Wyoming for the reception and a visit with thier cousins. They had a great time.

On the way out they stopped to visit Grandma Muggy in Lincoln.

They stayed at a home near Becky's sister's place. It had hummingbird feeders that Becky had a great time photographing and a nearby park they visited.

They spent an afternoon at a gymnasium where another niece has gymnastics lessons.

Becky's favorite part of the trip was hiking in Vidaboo state park. Pretty sure I'm spelling that incorrectly, but that's how it sounds.

I love that last picture of Tabby catching on how to pose for pictures like a girl. You know, after hanging out with girls for a change. She absolutely loved it.

4!

We had a great party with My Little Pony presents and fireworks. Yay Tabby!

Take one

Becky took Jackson to Baird Creek Park for a photo session. She's not sure she's satisfied with what they got, so there might be a take two, but here's a few of them.

Of course, because she's the cutest in the house, and the subject of most of Becky's practice, I have to include one of Tabby. Acting like a Dragon.

How to deal with mosquitos

Me: Oh man, Tabby, it looks like you had a mosquito biting you last night.

Tabby: Yeah, I hate mosquitos.

Me: Stupid mosquitos.

Tabby: It's in my bedroom. We need to go whack it.

Me: You think we can find it?

Tabby: Yes. We need the bug whacker.

Me: /grabs fly swatter, starts looking around Tabby's room in the window, by the lights~

Tabby: There it is! On the wall. Get it.

Me: /whack!

Tabby: Pwnd!

Long Day

I was scheduled to work 10:00 - 4:30 yesterday. Not really all that long a shift, but a busy one. On Fridays it involves "putting away the truck", i.e. rotating old stock and shelving new stock that arrives that day, washing dishes, all the usual driving prep jobs like stocking soda and folding pizza boxes and, of course, delivering pizzas. It was hot for Green Bay. Like, 90 degrees most of the day. Hot weather generally means increased deliveries and sure enough, deliveries were pretty busy. Kids eat free at the afternoon buffet, so that was busy too, which doesn't directly involve me, but means a huge amount of dishes.

I ended up going home a little after 5:00. Still not exactly a long shift, but it was a busy, busy, busy, work-your-butt-off seven hours. I hadn't finished dishes yet, hadn't even started soda and boxes. The only reasons I got to leave when I did is that other drivers arrived to work their butts off and I guess since I was on call from 7:00 - 9:00 the manager, Kayla, decided I should get a break before possibly being called back in.

Well, things must have slowed down enough that the scheduled drivers could handle it just fine. When I called about 6:45, Kayla said I could stay home. I was so happy. Becky and I planned to watch Flight Plan, eat some popcorn. It was going to be a nice relaxing evening. About 8:45, as we were getting Tabby in bed, I had just commented how much I was looking forward to it when the phone rang. The closing driver had fallen, injured his knee and was going to the emergency room. Could I come in and finish his shift? Uhg. So I went back in to work from 9:00 - 2:00.

I am so looking forward to getting an actuary job.

Pictures!

Becky is amazing. I seriously lucked out when she said yes.

As Jack is entering his senior year, it's time for senior photos! So we're pricing out having them done and thinking, "Screw that!" As laid back about the whole thing as Jack is, it somehow still seems like we ought to do senior pictures, but seriously? They're expensive. Especially for cheapskates like us.

So Becky checked out several books from the library, some photo magazines and went out to play with our camera. She has decided two things. First, she can do this. Second, we should get a new camera. We looked at some, she felt real guilty about wanting one that cost what it did, but I'm thinking, "Hey, it still costs a lot less than senior pictures."

She said one of the pieces of advice she read was "take lots of pictures." So she has. A ton. The boys have sometimes cooperated. Tabby mostly loves it. Of course some of them are awesome. So I'm gonna' post a few.

Mood




Action




Rain






Flirting with the neighbor boys

Job Hunt

About two weeks ago I sent a resume to Coventry Health Care in Downers Grove, IL for an associate actuarial analyst position. A few days later one of their actuarial directors contacted me by e-mail to set up a phone interview. I had the interview this morning. It seemed to go very well.

Until now, when I've talked to anyone about specific positions it has kind of seemed like the type of position Acuity advertised at the end of school semesters. You know, no specific project to hire for, but there are a slew of candidates coming available, so let's check out the pool and see if anyone strikes us as amazing. If we find any really impressive candidates, hire them just because it'll be a good general investment for projects we have coming down the road.

This interview seemed a bit different in that there is a specific project the actuarial director has and she contacted me because the skill set on my resume matches what the project needs pretty well. Kind of like, "Ooo, this looks like a good fit. Let's call him, make sure he doesn't sound like a total loser on the phone." I must not have. I was invited down for an on site interview next Monday.

It's not a job offer yet, but I'm pretty excited.

Quilt

Becky made a new quilt for Tabby. It's double sided. The fairy side was unofficially the "back", but Tabby had decided it's her favorite, so it's not really the back anymore.

Job Search Methodology

(Expanding on a linkedin discussion board topic)

"How to get hired" books will tell you there are two approaches to job searching: front door and side door. Front door means the traditional methods of sending in resumes to apply for open positions. Side door means directly contacting the people in charge of hiring, or who can influence hiring. The books say side door methods are far more likely to actually result in getting a job. Which is not to say that calling the head actuary at some company will get you hired there. You may just be politely told he or she is busy and may or may not get back to you. In fact, more often than not that's what happens. However, most of the resumes we send through the front door get an equally dead-end response, but we do that anyway, right? The important thing is to use both methods. If the books are correct, odds are one of the side door attempts are what will get us a job. But people also get hired through traditional channels, so also keep blasting out those resumes.

One of the side door methods I've used are talking to people I know who know people in the insurance industry, e.g. my insurance agent or a coworker whose dad works in IT for a local company. That hasn't gotten me anywhere, but it could have and it was easy. Another was suggested to me by a recruiter. Use the soa.org actuarial directory advance search feature to find the names of actuaries at organizations in which you are interested. Click their names to get contact information - usually numbers at the companies they work for. The search is pretty good, alowing for partial words to narrow it down. For example, I typed "WI" in the state and "G" in the city to get actuaries in Green Bay, WI. "M" in the city got me both Madison and Milwaukee . . . and Mequon and Marshfield and Menomenee Falls. The point is, just searching by state was too broad, but it's possible to narrow it down. That let me pick several local companies and contact their head actuaries. Just called them up and let them know I'd like to work for their companies and wanted some advice on the skills they look for that I should emphasize or acquire on my resume. Of the five or so I've called, I only actually got to talk with two of them, but they were good conversations. And a step ahead of not talking to anyone.

I've got to admit, though, what seems to have been the most successful is simply sending out resumes to positions I've found through internet job board searches, i.e good old front door methods. I've mostly used http://www.actuary.com/ and http://www.americasjobexchange.com/. Some of the positions I applied for put me in contact with a couple recruiters. One of them set up a phone interview. Another phone interview is with a company responding directly to a resume I sent.

I haven't gotten beyond a phone interview yet, but I keep plugging away. I keep applying for open positions for which I'm qualified and continue preparing for exam FM to be more attractive in those positions and maybe qualify for more. Yeah, the field is tight, but someone gets hired, right? Who knows what goes through interviewers' minds when they're making their decisions? I figure if I just do the best I can, eventually I'll make a good impression on someone. And as competetive as it may seem when there are 100 applicants for a position . . . when I was looking for a mainframe developer job it was 300 applicants. So hey, it's not as bad as it could be.

Inception

Becky and I celebrated our 19th anniversary the other night with dinner at Chile's, a walk at the Green Bay Botanical Gardens and watching Inception. Even though this entry is going to focus on Inception, I have to admit the movie was not the best part of the evening. I really enjoyed the long, liesurely walk. The weather was perfect for it. The gardens were beautiful. I'm not really sure what else to say about it though except that if you ever get up to Green Bay, you should visit the botanical gardens.

So, anyway, the movie was good. Not as exciting as I thought it would be after seeing the trailers. I mean, plenty of action, but a lot of it seemed to be there merely for the sake of having action in the movie. It really wasn't an action flick. It's a psychological thriller about a man named Cobb who leads a team of individuals into peoples' dreams to steal their ideas using a process called extraction. Of course, that kind of activity is illegal. The whole "entering dreams" thing is really the only sci-fi/futuristic element of the story, though. It could otherwise take place today in this real world.

Cobb's team gets hired to do something radical. Instead of stealing an idea, they are to insert an idea - inception. Most people believe it's not even possible, but Cobb does. Or at least, he's willing to try for the chance at a clean record and a normal life with his kids. But there are complications that go beyond merely the technical difficulties of inception. I'm not sure how to say more than that without ruining the thriller aspect of the movie.

It was put together well. The characters are acted out well enough that I wanted to see them succeed. The action was fun to watch, even if it seemed gratuitous at times. The extraction and inception concepts are illustrated well enough to not lose us in either the boring tedium of someone elses fantasy or the complexity of something totally foreign. What really made the movie good, though, was how the characters' projections, their subconsious ideas, enter the film, interact with each other and affect both dreams and reality. The movie blatantly sets up a "was this all real or a dream?" conundrum in the end. Personally, I don't think it matters and it seems somewhat of a trivial debate considering that it's a work of fiction. The important thing is that it's a well imagined work that was fun to participate in.

Rango

Tabby: Dad, you haven't played pony yet today.

Me: You're right, I haven't. I'm going to eat lunch right now, though.

Tabby: Okay, I'll wait while you eat lunch. Then we can play pony.

Me: I was thinking about going to a movie.

Tabby: /gasp! Can I come?

Me: Do you want to see a movie?

Tabby: Yes! And we can eat popcorn and drink soda!

Me: Okay, let's go to a movie.

So we went to the nearby budget theater. While the boys went to see Limitless (which they thought was an awesome show), I took Tabby to see Rango.

Rango was a fun movie. Weird, artsy, but lots of fun. Good storyline, well developed theme, great characters. I've got to admit that after watching the movie, I kind of worried about it scaring Tabby. The bad guys are frightening. Heck, a lot of the good guys are frightening! It's violent for a kids' film, kind of dark at times and coarse in an out west, cowboy way. More foul language than you find in, say, a Barbie movie. Tabby seems to have done fine with it though.

(This Movie About) Vampires Suck(s)

Becky and I tried to watch Vampire's Suck on Friday. The trailer made it look like it had potential. Which is what trailers do, I guess. We went into it knowing it could either be hilarious or a 10 minute sketch drawn thin by the length of the film. We hoped for the former, but were willing to laugh at the latter.

Turns out giving it credit for 10 minutes of laugh worthy material would be generous. Unless it somehow got funny after the first 1/2 hour. That's about as long as we gave it. 20 minutes in I was like, oh come on . . . let's just actually watch Twilight. And you know, other than the baseball scene, I really disliked Twilight.

But we continued watching Vampires Suck for another 10 minutes anyway before giving up on the jokes being anything other crass sophomoric garbage. The acting was bad, the production value poor. I'm sure some of that was intentional camp, but it wasn't pulled off well.

This is already way more words than movie deserves. If you want my advice, just skip it.

Best Friends at the Zoo

Becky took Tabby to the local zoo yesterday along with Tabby's best friends Ella and Brindley.

Tabby says she especially liked the llama. It licked her.