Week 13 - Getting My Money's Worth

With a gift certificate for a one night stay and breakfast for two at the Lord Elgin Hotel set to expire on March 31st, and because I hate to let gift certificates/cards expire (that’s exactly what the gift card companies want you to do…it’s a billion dollar industry), my goal for last week was to book my night. In order to get maximum value (in truth, I got a great deal on the gift certificate through the United Way auction at work), I made a reservation for last Saturday night.

Not only did I have a wonderful night’s sleep in a king-sized bed (my first since Turkey), the breakfast was sensational. If bacon was a performance enhancing drug, I’d be an Olympic caliber athlete for the next couple of weeks while it works its way through my system. A good night, good company for breakfast, what more can a guy ask for?

Week 12 - Back It Up

"They say I'm cocky, and I say 'What?'
It ain't bragging motherfucker if you can back it up!"
Kid Rock - Cocky

Last week, my current Thursday night team Gauntlet of Destruction (GoD) played my former team Five Finger Discount (FFD). As is prone to happen on such occasions, there was a whole lot of trash-talking that preceded the game. Along with the smack-talk, which I admit to enjoying a great deal, there was a bet. The stakes for me consisted of posting a ridiculous, falsehood about my feelings toward the color purple if GoD lost (btw – does GoD EVER truly lose?). On the plus side, when GoD won, I got to take a picture of two friends with a sign that I’d construct (more humorous than anything) and tag them both on Facebook.

My goal was obviously to win the bet, and I planned to do this by contributing to my team’s win in any way in which they needed. With a smile across my face, I can safely say mission accomplished. We prevailed with a 1-point victory (much closer than I expected), and I played a very solid game.

My contributions were mainly on the defensive end (surprising as that sounds) where I matched up against the other team’s best player most of the night. Although I can’t say I shut him down, I did get numerous D’s, and held my own on offense despite not being our primary target.

As sometimes happens when you accomplish your goals, I got a beautiful reward in terms of a picture that will live in Facebook infamy forever.

Week 11 - Influencing People

After reading Dale Carnegie's famous book "How to Win Friends and Influence People", I was excited to put some of the suggestions into action. With a EUR 160 invoice sitting on my desk, for a conference I didn't attend in Brussels, I decided to put some of Dale's tips into action.

Let me preface what I did by saying, after registering for the conference in advance, and seeing notice had to be given before canceling, I fully expected to HAVE to pay the invoice. While in Brussels, my schedule simply became much busier than I expected, and I didn't have time to catch any sessions at the conference.

As per Mr. Carnegie, I put myself in the mind of the other person, apologized right off the bat, and explained the situation. The email took me about 10 minutes to draft, and I felt very happy with it at the end.

Arriving at work the next morning, I received a short reply relieving me of my EUR 160 debt, and instructing me to tear up the invoice!

If you haven't read Dale's book, I highly recommend it. It paid off huge for me, and I've ordered a copy of Ebay for reference purposes.

Week 10 Recap - CFA Pursued

I lined up 2 of my 3 CFA sponsors last week, downloaded the appropriate forms, and will send them along this week. The third sponsor was on vacation, but will likely say 'yes'. I'm counting that as mission complete!

Have to think of something for week 11. My neck is pretty sore, so I want to get a little extra sleep. Will post tomorrow :)

Week 10 - CFA Pursuit

Back in 2002, I took (and passed) my first of three CFA examinations. Having received my CMA and CIA designations between 2002 and 2006, I put the CFA on the back-burner. I beleive I passed my last CFA exam in 2007, and knowing my internal auditing experience didn't count as "eligible" to achieve the CFA charter, I stopped caring about adding that third set of letters behind my last name.

I received quarterly emails from the CFA society, reminding me of reporting the necessary experience to get my charter (i.e. use the designation). When I changed jobs in January 2009, I realized that what I was doing could count toward the CFA experience requirement. Last week, I got an email from the CFA folks, indicating that I could apply to be a CFA "affiliate" member, while gaining the necessary 4 years of experience.

This week's goal is to line up the necessary CFA references (I work with a bunch, shouldn't be a problem), and get done the paperwork to become an affiliate member. Looking forward to taking this big step forward in my career :)

Week 9 Recap - Threw It Away

Well, I knew it would happen sooner or later...I failed in week 9. I was on track with 2 throw-aways after the first game, but then doubled my mental mistakes and threw away 4 discs instead of 2 in the second game. Not horrible decisions, just being overly aggressive.

On the plus side, failing is a sign that some of these challenges are stretches...which is a good thing. Pushing myself will pay off down the road, even if it doesn't on a weekly basis.

Here's hoping next week will see me getting back on track...