An update...

Seems like I'm slacking more and more when it comes to updating my blog. I think it's my fault of setting a really low target of updating it once a month at least. Even that, I think I'm barely meeting the minimum. Oh well, I'll try to make up for the lack of frequency with severity. So, I'll try to write a long one here.

Thanksgiving came and I didn't travel to Richmond, VA like I did last year. I didn't spend much on Black Friday either. I bought a shoe rack, a couple sets of tools and a vacuum cleaner. I'm so proud of myself for not succumbing to all the 'temptations'. What I did over the long weekend was just eating, drinking, watching tv and reading. How relaxing!

Can't believe it's December already! Well... in less than 3 weeks, I'll be done for the year. I'll be heading down to VA to celebrate Christmas and New Year. On the way back from VA, I'll be stopping in NY to attend my cousin's wedding dinner. Maybe even stay a day or two in NYC. :-)
However, that translates into slightly longer work hours, just to make sure I can get my stuff done before I take my vacation for the year.

(Took another week off here...)
Last week, in separate visits to stores and Amazon.com (thanks Trent for hooking me up with Amazon Prime!), my Christmas shopping's done. I still need to wrap them up, most probably will do that while watching football tomorrow.

Anyway, just found out that I PASSED CAS 6!!! So, 6 downs, 3 more to go.

I've been reading more, as some of you might be able to tell with those quotes and all. Currently, I'm reading Super Crunchers by Ian Ayres. Hopefully to be able to get a few more books in before I start studying for CAS 7. Given CAS 7's reputation (most material among all CAS exams), I'm pretty sure I'll be spending much more time preparing for the exam. Also, given it's the exam to ACAS, a lot more is at stake. :-)

So, working on Monday, and I'll be done for the year! I've said 'time flies' too many times now, but really, it certainly does. In less than 2 weeks, we will be entering the year of 2010. That's mind boggling!

Again, it's been an amazing year. Just want to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have supported me in any way.

Wishing all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Enjoy this video by Straight No Chaser - an a capella group with their version of 12 Days of Christmas

One year ago...

Not sure if it's just me or everything has this thing about counting... days, months, or years... Funny thing is I'm pretty bad when it comes to remembering friends' birthday, but I'm a fan when it comes to tracking dates.

I still remember how I started counting every 23rd when I first started college more than 4 years ago, because that's when I first arrived in the US. It was on the 23rd Aug of 2004. So, for a few years every month, I would pay particular attention to date 23rd. I don't know why but just being able to count and reminisce the days and to think how fast time flies is my thing.

Anyway, life's been busy. And yes, I'm ranting about being busy. Guess as much a workaholic that I am, there's a limit to it.

Been changing from nocturnal to an early-riser... instead of going to bed at 1 and waking up at 6ish, i've been going to bed at 11ish and waking up at 4ish... Not sure how long i'll keep these hours, but will be at least until after my exam on the 13th. The reason for doing so is so that I can get my study hours for the day in before immerse myself in work. I kinda like the change as most of my time after 11pm were wasted surfing the internet and all that. So, might as well going to bed earlier and waking up and going into work earlier to study. More efficient that way it seems. Hopefully my hard work will pay off soon. Else, it's gonna be a dreadful 1 year wait for the exam.

Weather's been getting much warmer. And more rain too. Just 10 more days and I'll have my freedom back. There's so much to do... But I'm pretty sure when my exam is done, I won't be as excited about doing things as I'm now. But hey, all those Summer blockbusters are popping up, and there are so many books to on my shelf... and all those miles to run... I'm planning to run 2 marathons... One in July, and another in October... So, better get those miles in... I've been testing with a new running style, well, just giving more attention to how I'm landing my feet... Instead of pounding the ground with my heel, I'm gonna land on my heel and use more of my forefoot. It's more taxing for my calves but, it's definitely easier on my knees and ankles...

So, just want to drop by and update this blog before people start wondering where the heck I am.

An update since graduation... for real

I didn't publish many posts since late April, but that doesn't mean that I didn't write many posts. Most of those posts (half-written) are saved as drafts and most likely will remain as draft forever, lost in wasted memory space, stored as 0's and 1's, never to be read (at least that's what I hope). One thing about blogging is, it's rather a spur-of-the-moment thing, if you don't blog about it now, eventually, you will tend to forget a little, and then, you don't feel like publishing it after you wrote it half-heartedly.

So, here I am, late at night, typing this post. A real (in my opinion) post. The reason I'm still up late at this hour is because I had a headache earlier today, took some aspirin and had a nap in the afternoon -> won't fall asleep til much later in the wee hours. So, what's better to do than to update my blog when the air is cold (it's less than 50 degrees outside, and it's late May) and the surrounding is quiet?

About the headache. I think I'd been rather stressed out recently. Well, I always think that I handle my stress well, that's just because I don't show it, and manage to let go of it (at least that's what I think) with a chuckle, a deep breathe and a smile. But, come to think about it, do I really handle my stress well, or I'm just good at hiding it? Come to think about it, maybe it's a good combination/mixture of both. So, back to headache and stress. So, since graduation, I'd been trying to study as much as I could for the exam. Even with all the support and understandings from Jessica, Tomas and my dad, I still couldn't concentrate, partly because I feel bad for them, and I still think it was kinda selfish for me to write the exam, with my dad flying across the globe to come to the states and all. And now, knowing rather well that I didn't do well enough to pass the exam is really adding salt to wound. Ouch!

So, other than a 3-day vacation to Harrisonburg, VA and Charlottesville, VA, I hadn't been enjoying much of my 'freedom' of a fresh graduate. In addition, there's the apartment hunting, and still staying under other's roof stress that I'm feeling. Because of preparing and taking the exam, I didn't have much time to hunt for apartment in Worcester, MA. Fortunately, my colleagues help me on that. Now, I've the furniture hunting stress too.

Living off suitcases and with your car-trunk loaded is no fun too. And, the worse of all is, eating out! Try eating out 80% of the time for close to a month now. There's only that many restaurant and fast-food that one can have before you get sick and tired of them all. To me, eating out is only good once in awhile. Regardless how good is the premium burger, or the panini, or the pho, or the sandwich taste, it's not as good as a simple home-cooked food like simple celery hearts stir-fry, oyster-sauce chicken with potatoes and a simple omelet, all to go with rice.

So, thanks to my colleagues, I found a 2-bedroom apartment for myself. Why a 2 bedroom? Because this apartment doesn't have any of the extraneous amenities like gym, dvd library, tennis court, pool and whatnot, and for that reason, it's cheaper and bigger and more practical that all the 1-bedroom apartment that I found. So, if you need a place to crash if you are in town, once it's furnished (not sure when), just let me know in advance. I'll be moving into the apartment this Wed or Thurs. As much as a planner I am (aka a worry-freak), I started looking for furnitures since Sunday, actually, since 2-3 weeks ago on Craigslist, but didn't find much. So, I've been to Lowe's, the Home Depot, furniture outlet stores, Bed Bath & Beyond, Linen N Things, too many websites to remember, Pier 1 import, Sleepy's, Mattress Giant, BJ's wholesale club (which I'm now a member), Target, Staples, Office Depot and you-name-it. Furniture hunting's been not bad, especially for today, it's rather fruitful as I have quite some KIVs at Pier 1 and bought a set of cookware.

So, that's all the stress. People were telling me furniture hunting is fun, maybe, if you have the money to spend and also don't have a deadline to meet. Deadline being having no real bed to sleep on, and no chairs to sit on, and no table/desk to use.

Also, I can't mention enough how grateful I am to all the people that have helped me over my pre-university and undergraduate life. Also, worth another mentioning, is to Jessica and Tomas for helping me transitioning from graduating to starting my new job. THANK YOU!

So, guess, pictures next! A picture a day, and I'll try to elaborate on that day...
04/25/08 -- Right after Econ commencement. With my dad. In front of the Rackham Graduate School. Bell tower as background!

04/26/08 -- Right after the Actuarial Math Commencement, which was after the Spring Commencement. Congratulations, Class of 2008!


04/27/2008 -- Because of the dinner and then a party last night, I didn't finished packing and didn't start loading the car yesterday night. So, with all the cleaning and packing and loading to do, my dad and I only started our journey to Richmond, VA at 11am, 2 hours later than we initially planned. Here's how my bedroom look after all the cleaning up and stuff. Goodbye Ann Arbor. You'll be missed.

04/28/2008 -- Arrived at my Tomas' and Jessica's, Richmond, VA at about 10.45pm last night. Other than a 25-minute delay, before I decided to turn around and took a different route, because part of I-70 being closed for hazmat cleaning up after a spill, it was a great smooth drive. After a good night sleep, I did some unloading today and getting comfortable in this great house which I'll call home for the next 3 weeks.


04/29/2008 -- A big bird (related to hawk) perched on the very top of the tree beside the house, and shows how bored my dad was. (He took this pic.) LOL!


05/03/2008 -- Weather was great. Went to the park, Deep Run Park. Look at those cute goslings. Then, we went to downtown Richmond, and took the James River boat tour. Pretty interesting and informative.


05/04/2008 -- Cousin threw me a party. THANKS! Beef was great! Beer was better! Then, Jose took us back to his place at Harrisonburg, VA. Where we spent 2 nights there! First night, we tried some really authentic Mexican food for dinner. Also, my dad and I sampled 3 tequilas -> 3 shots each supposedly, but my dad gave me some of his, sangria, wine, and more!

05/05/2008 -- Visited the Luray Caverns. Nice and not smelly like Mulu Cave I visited. No bats!

05/06/2008 -- On the way back to Richmond from Harrisonburg, we stopped by Charlottesville to visit University of Virginia. Of course, I took the opportunity to visit Wooi Yang. Back to Richmond, VA! About 1 week to study for my exam! Yippee!


05/08/2008 -- A doe? Well... it's eating some flowers at my cousin's backyard.

05/11/2008 -- A squirrel got onto the bird-feeder! I was bored! And studying for the exam, and saw this. :)

D... 5...

What about the title? D? What D? Well, D is after C... that's what it is. Or maybe I should put 5, since I'm very possibly venturing into P&C actuarial, which uses the number, instead of letters.

This following joke is kinda relevant to what's on my mind now. Making a decision on what's after college...

From Daily Yiggles
"College Grad's Starting Salary
Reaching the end of a job interview, the Human Resources Person asked a young engineer who was fresh out of MIT, "What starting salary were you thinking about?" The Engineer said, "In the neighborhood of $125,000 a year, depending on the benefits package." The interviewer said, "Well, what would you say to a package of 5 weeks vacation, 14 paid holidays, full medical and dental, company matching retirement fund to 50% of salary, and a company car leased every 2 years - say, a red Corvette?" The Engineer sat up straight and said, "Wow! Are you kidding?" The interviewer replied, "Yeah, but you started it." "

So, finally, I'm finding life. Finding a life of my own other than studying for the actuarial exam, which I finally took this morning. If I were to fail this exam, I only have myself to blame, for procrastinating. Instead of the advised 400-hours of studying, I did about 200 hours. And, instead of following my plan, of studying from Aug til Nov, I did start in August, just to stop for 2 months, before I finally picked it up again in late Sept. After the exam, my brain was really fried... I found myself unable to read a paragraph longer than 3 sentences. Really!!! But, it's over now!!!

Also, in between classes, I had about 20 minutes, and so, I took a walk to Starbucks, and asked the barista for something strong... and he recommended me a ice black eye. For those new to Starbucks lingo:

REDEYE = Cup of Coffee with 1 shot of espresso
BLACK EYE = Cup of Coffee with 2 shots
DEAD EYE = Cup of Coffee with 3 shots

And after that, I can feel my heart beating hard on my chest. Maybe I should try the dead eye next time. :)

After the class, I went to the computer lab to start working on my Stats assignment, due tmr, wait it's 12.11am now, so, it's due today. And I'm going no where with it yet. And, at the same time, I went to ActuarialOutpost.com, and check on the PAK (popular answer key) of the exam I took. Damn, actuaries are efficient. As they can only start discussing about the exam after 5pm, they had a PAK of a sample size of more than 60 by 6pm. I compared my answer to it, and guess what?!?! I'm borderlining passing again!!! At the moment, I'm assuming that I failed the exam, so that I won't be disappointed when the official result is announced... and I will be surprised if I were to pass it. Yup. My defense mechanism: disappointment averse...

Really. Taking exam during a semester is really much tougher than I expected. All the other stuff going on really make it much tougher. Especially if you are crazy college football fans... coz, that really makes ur week a day shorter. Be it home game or away game, it doesn't matter. And not to mention all the assignments and midterms peppered around the exam.Oh yar, studying for actuarial exam is never green. I opted the lighter and more condensed study guide, and it's 1200 pages thick.... There's another study guide by a different author... and it's 4000+ pages...Sorry for killing all the trees!!!

So, finally, after C, I can finally get on with my life. I finally realized how much I had been sacrificing to make time to study for the exam. The 4-5 hours sleep per day on average. All the tv series. The buying and playing of Wii. The weather and the falling leaves. The running (you really can't run when you don't have enough time to sleep). And not to mention, the joy of doing nothing...And also, all the invitations to bars and parties...

So, back to my life...What's better way to kick off your life than to do 3-week worth of laundry? LOL...

And, also, making plans for holidays, and also, writing emails that I didn't get to write. And also, cherish everything around me more.

So, all those words... BORING rite?

Here are some pictures...
An ice cold brewski...
Also, when i was studying, I had quite some tea... 4-6 teabags a day... And hence, I had to get a new box of it. And, because it's a box of 100 teabags, and there's only 3 rows in the packaging, they got me wondering, how do they separate 100 teabags into 3 rows? Intriguing? At first, I think, well, must be 33-34-33... or any of the 3 combinations of that. So, I counted them, and to my surprise, it was 34-32-34... Interesting...
Also, while taking that shot, I find it to be a rather background for my OSU at Michigan football ticket. Well, according to market price, this ticket is fetching USD$300... but well, I'm not sure I'm willing to sell it at that price. Yeah... I'm serious about it.

Well... the fact that it's gonna be my very last home football game added a lot of sentimental value to that game. And, I'm hoping that we will pull off an upset against the national top-ranked team, and beat OSU for the first time in many years... and to top it all off, a chance to rush the field...All these possibilities really add up to a lot...

Maybe $500? Maybe...

Boxes and Balls

How often do you talk about boxes/urns and balls? When, it's way too often for me.

So far, in two of my 4 classes, we talk about boxes and balls...

Anyway, it's been a really long while since I last updated my blog, so, I'm sacrificing my sleep, and hopefully, I won't be late for work tomorrow, to update my blog.

First off, here's a classic for those who missed it a month ago, and for those who watched it before, well, it's worth another watch.



So, more good news on the Michigan Wolverines football team. After the first two home losses, the Wolverines are doing pretty well, with 6 straight wins and is back in the rankings, even though that might not be a blessing since so many of the ranked teams are getting upset week in week out. So, Minnesota this week, and my friends and I have plans to dress-up for the game. I'll get some photo up, I promise.Also, 3 Saturdays ago, it was such a tiring day, as in the morning, I went to the football game against Eastern Michigan, which we won, and then, caught a football match at my friend's place, and then, went back to my apartment for a short nap, and then, in the evening, attended the Filarmonica della Scala performance at Hill Auditorium. It was their premiere performance in the States, and to say the very least, it was mind-blowing. It was really amazing, and the tenor, which I forgot his name was really spectacular too.


So, studying for the 4th exam had been going alright, even though time's pressing, but, I guess I'm studying 'smarter' now, with more understanding (at least trying to understand) and scheming through the materials, and skipping some impossible materials. Hopefully, by doing so, I'll have more time to spend on the practice exams, and then, trying to learn the impossible materials by reverse engineering.

Also, Manchester United had been doing really well lately. They are starting to score goals and it's always good to not be Liverpool - the 1 - 0 specialist.

I had been cooking less nowadays because of my busy schedule, and also, all the free food I got from the companies' information session. So, it's all good. But here are some of the pictures of my cooking.
Spicy tuna casserole topped with melted mozzarella cheese.
Pork chop...
Black pepper chicken
Braised chicken with mushroom.

Also, 2 weekends ago, we celebrated Hari Raya. Trying to be artsy here. That's a macro shot of the ice lemon tea I prepared for the Raya dinner. A huge cooler box of it (5 gallons).And I got this cooler from a raffle three years ago. It's still brand new though. I mean, how often do you need a huge cooler?

It was all fun and the food was great. Spicy! And the next day, many of us spent quite some time in the bathroom - not because of unhygienic reason, but, because of the pure spiciness of the food. Quoting Melissa: Ass on fire!

And did I mention the new jersey I bought. Mike Hart - 20!!!
I think I might get a helmet too. :) That will be a huge investment, because it's quite pricey. But well, it's the most recognized helmet in college football. The WINGED helmet. Maybe another jersey of Chad Henne - 7 too.

Also, currently, I'm postponing everything until after Nov. 5th. Everything here includes, talking about my job after college (even though it's lingering on my mind all the time, planning for the Christmas holiday, all other miscellaneous stuff...)

Just a random pic I took. Well, I had been drinking a lot of tea lately, 4-6 teabags a day on average. :)

So, here you go. Sorry, that I had been forgetting a lot of stuff I wanted to blog about. I'll try to have a recap post soon. And yeah, even though I did say soon, or promised a date that I will update my blog, it's really not dependable. :P

Two in one.

Can't believe September just went by like that. Chop chop, and first month of my senior year of college just rushed by. So, last 2 weeks was a really busy week for me. Well, actually, since I started studying more on C, it had been really really busy. And the fact that a nice TV sitting in my living room, and all the tv shows premiering didn't make it any easier for me.

Anyway, it was all good, just the usual 4-5 hours sleep for me on weekdays, and waking up 10 minutes before my work a couple of times. It was fun running to the bus stop at 6.55am in the morning, trying to catch the 6.58am bus. And reaching at 7.09am for my 7 o clock shifts.

Companies started their recruiting again, and I was slightly 'obligated' to attend some of them. Anyway, it was actually pretty good to catch up with some of my friends who are currently working with those companies. I mean, seeing their transition and knowing that I'll be in their shoes really soon really got me started on some reality check. Am I ready to graduate? Do I really know what I want to work as after I graduate? Am I happy with what I'll be doing and where I'll be doing it and who I'll be doing it with?

So, come to think about it, I can't really remember clearly what I did daily 2 weeks ago, and so, I'll be breaking the tradition of writing a daily report for the first week but just the highlights of the week.

The brightest point of 2 weeks ago would be witnessing Michigan Wolverines beating Penn State Nittany Lions. It was a rather good game, relatively. Going into the game as underdog, and being able to keep and finally beat a ranked team really gets me back on believing that the season is not over for us yet. And, what makes it better is I brought my camera to the game and took a bunch of shots and videos. Sweet...

Actually, another high point of that week was going to Ashley's with my buddies, Alex, Dane and Quang. It's been awhile since we had such a good time. And, can't believe I got a glass from Ashleys. :)
Had quite some to drink that night, and after a long night of staying a little tipsy, I jogged-walked for thirty minutes to go back to my apartment, leaving my car at my friend's place. And the next day, I had to walk 40 minutes to my friend's place to meet up with them before heading out to the Michigan - Penn State game.

So, here are some of the videos and pictures from the game:
I started off with a King-size breakfast... 4 slices of toast, 6 slices of bacon and 3 eggs, not to mention 2 cups of milk.
Frat parties we passed by on the way to the field.
We were there at the stadium rather early. About 25 minutes before the kickoff.

The football team running onto the field...

Kickoff...
Someone decided to bring poolside fun into the field with a killer-whale float.
Freshman quarterback - Ryan Mallett (15) taking the helm.
Cheerleaders...
Mike Hart (20) a whole lotta heart!

Currently, I am having error uploading more pics... sorry...

Anyway, it was an amazing game... and we won..

So, this past week. It was even better. And again, we won. And Manchester United had been doing pretty well too. On the premier league at least. Winning 1 - 0 and 2 - 0.

Handed in a half-ass paper for the internship course (formality reasons). I can't believe that I pulled out 6.5 pages of random stuff, and trying to connect the dots with examples and all. Kinda corny. :P

Yesterday, it was an away game for Michigan wolverines... And because of stupid duel between the cable companies and the new network, Big Ten Network, it wasn't show on the channels I can get on my tv, hence, I had to go to a sports bar to catch the match. I was at B-dubs and the place was packed, and because of a bad server, my friend couldn't save a seat for me. I was standing there for a good two hours before a couple of my friends decided to leave and I took their seat.

And the first half was pretty bad, and because I was standing, I think, I went through 2 huge 23oz of Guinness rather quickly. (16 ounces is a pint. That makes it almost 3 pints) :P Fortunately, the game picked up in the 2nd half, well, very much so in the 4th quarter, and we were able to pull off a very much expected win. 28 - 16.

So, after starting the season with 0 - 2, we are 3 - 2 now. Couldn't ask for more.

Also, last week, we finally won our first IM soccer game. I actually bought a pair of gloves and cleats so that I won't let the slippery ball escaping from my catches, and the cleats was really helpful on the wet grass field. At least I wasn't slipping and falling whenever I tried running and all. We won 2 - 1. And will be playing in the playoffs in 2 weeks time.

So, that's about it. Studying for exam C is going OK. Need to pick up another notch so that I will have more time doing practice exams.

And, I think it's finally warm out, warm enough for me to run outdoor. Been slacking lately, only able to cover 10 - 15 miles a week. But it's still better than nothing. :)

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY to MOMMY!

No Wii for C...

So, after a lot of thinking, and also many failings on my several attempts to get a Wii, I decided to not buy a Wii this semester, well, at least not to buy it before my Exam 4/C.

And I've finally decided that I will take Exam 4 and I started studying for it, with more effort.
Woo hoo!!!

Last week was a less hectic week. Well, it always feels that way once I get the routine going.
But I did something rather stupid on Monday actually, where I forgot that I had another class at 4pm, that, I took a bus back to North campus, heading back to my apartment at 3.40pm. Fortunately, I remembered and got off and took another bus, and got to the class just 5 minutes late. Not too bad.

What other 'highlights' of the week? Well, last Sunday, I cooked my favorite dish for the very first time, and it turned out to be quite OK. It's a double-cooked pork, first deep fried and then, stir fried over sauce.Deep frying...Stir frying...
The end result... delicious...

Also, yesterday, Michigan finally won their first match of the season. A good 38 - 0 win against Notre Dame. It was a pretty good game, but, there's still a lot of things that Michigan wasn't doing right. And for the upcoming week, a game against Penn State really got me worried. Not to say that I don't have confidence in my own team, but really, to be realistic, it's just not going to be easy. After the game, Quang and I went to Macaroni Grill for dinner. The food was amazing. The Shrimp and Artichoke dip as appetizer was just so good. I actually smiled and felt great after taking my first bite. To top it off, I went back to my apartment and started studying. Welcome to the life of an actuarial student.

This afternoon, I finally got around buying a new pair of running shoes. I went to the running specialist store and professional they were. First, the guy asked me to walk down the aisle, and back, and then, measured my feet size, (by the way, my left feet is half a size bigger than my right), and he went into the stockroom to grab 3 pairs of shoes for me to try on. Alright, the first pair of shoes was great. Then, I tried on the 2nd, and then the 3rd. The 3rd one was just sooooo good. Without any hesitation, I bought the 3rd pair, and then, 'hangat-hangat tahi ayam' (in Malay), 3-minute heat(direct translation from Mandarin), because of this 'newness', in the evening I went running, and really, it was really a different experience altogether. It felt so much better, and my leg didn't hurt at all after 4 miles of running.

Also, forgot to mention that at 4.45pm, I learned that Target was having a clearance sale on futon, so, I rushed to the Target store that I knew, just to find out that it's at another Target store elsewhere, and drove there, and fortunately, there were still 10 futons left. As it was only $25 (original price of $100), I bought it without a doubt. And then, spent the next 1 hr + 15 minutes assembling it. That's right before my running.
Oh yar, on Thursday night, I played soccer for Student Actuaries @ Michigan (SAM). It was kinda sad that only 6 of us showed up. It was really saddening. We can actually play, but, well, with only 60% of full force, we got killed by our opponent. But, after we forfeited ourselves, and had a couple of players from the our opponent to play for us, we started winning. And I was actually doing not too bad a job as a goalie. Really, sorry for blowing my own trumpet here, but, I found it surprisingly hard to believe too.

And, on Tuesday night, it was Student Actuaries @ Michigan (SAM)'s mass meeting. A lot of people showed up, and it was good. Everything went rather smoothly, other than me forgot to mention Kai as Social chair until later. Sorry! :)

And I'm getting tired of Dell. I contacted them many times about my faulty DVD-+RW rom, and I've yet to get them to send me a new one, or to have them to take some action.

So, that's about it, my week, all jumbled up. In a nutshell.
Monday: Work, class, to the wrong bus, class.
Tuesday: Class, class... more class, and SAM mass meeting
Wednesday: Work, class, work, class
Thursday: Class, class... SAM IM Soccer
Friday: Class, Work... some drinking, studying...
Saturday: Studying... Home game vs Notre Dame... Dinner... Studying
Sunday: Studying... shoes shopping... futon shopping... futon assembling... running... Emmy awards... Studying

Good news!!!

So, 33724 & 33725... Great news!!! Have fun figuring what are so great about that 2 numbers. I'll let you know soon.

So, work had been picking up, and guess what? I'm liking it! I'm now sure than ever that I'm a workaholic. Really. I got excited with work sitting on my table, waiting for me to work on them. Even more so if I get emails from my manager asking me to work on something and me being able to get those answers quickly and then, resulting a chain of emails and all. It's really good to know that I'm working on something useful, and I'm contributing, that my work is valued, and it's somehow affecting something, somewhere and some-time. The sense of being valued, the sense of accomplishment, the sense of satisfaction are really amazing.

But, all these are not amount to what I'm taking away from my work. The actuarial training - learning about the insurance industry - that i am getting, twice a week, 1-2 hours per session, is really helping me a lot in understanding how insurance work and all.

And, to top it up, a group of about 40 of us (new hire) were fortunate enough to had a assimilation breakfast session with our CEO. He is a really good speaker, and I'm moved... so moved by his speech. And, he even mentioned actuaries being important to the company, and being an actuarial intern, of course I was happy to hear those words...

So, what are the good news? I passed my actuarial exams. MLC and MFE. So, gonna start studying for C i guess. Well, life of an actuarial student...

Dreaming...

So, opting to take both the MFE and MLC exams in one sitting was a really bad decision. Having made that decision resulted in me studying for more than 8 hours a day for 3 weeks.

So, other than studying at the Math Atrium or at the UGLi (Undergraduate Library), going back to my apartment to catch Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!, and then, occasionally the playoff games for PISTONS and RED WINGS, that's pretty much it.

I was spending so much time studying that I felt bad for people around me. I mean, my house mates and friends.

So, in order to wake up early this morning so that I won't be all groggy getting into the exam, I went to bed early yesterday night. Early as in 12 midnight. Normally, I don't get much dream in my sleep. Or, I just couldn't remember them. But, yesterday night was weird. Not only did I remember my dream, but the people in the dream were my high school friends and current friends preparing to take the actuarial exam in my high school. It was so weird.

Also, I was late to the exam, and that woke me up right away. And I woke up to only find that it was 3.50 am. So, I went back to bed and woke up at 6.30am again.

The exams were alright. One OK, and the other, borderline I would say. Hopefully, I will be able to pull both out.

But, now the exams are over. I need to worry about what to do for the actual beginning of my long summer. :)

GLORY GLORY MAN U!!!

Glory Glory Man United!!! With Chelsea choking at the home stretch, drawing at Arsenal 1 - 1. Manchester United clinched the English Premier League yesterday. Even though it would be sweeter to win it without Chelsea's help, but a win is still a win. It's definitely some good news I can use after the devastating, outclassed and lousy performance (or lack thereof) when they lost 3 - 0 against AC Milan on Wednesday.

Last weekend was pretty bland, other than studying, sleeping, eating, and the only highlight, catching Spiderman 3, HIP THRUST!!!... oops, I don't know where did that come from, but well, it's just as random as the HIP THRUST in the movie. Other than some corny scenes here and there, Spidey 3, in my opinion, is better than the 2nd, but not as good as the first... (well, pretty much every trilogies are like that... LOTR, and hopefully, Pirates of the Carribean).

So, I'm being hopeful again, with some internship opportunities, but, I really don't like this last minute thing, because half of me is planning on going to Camp Davis, in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. And this possibility of getting an internship is definitely what I want to do for the Summer too. I mean, it would be a great opportunity for me to look at which field (consulting or insurance and in insurance (Property & Casualty or Pension/Life)) of actuarial work do I want to venture into. And, any experience is good experience in this field for me.

But, all these will only matter after my 3rd - 3.5th actuarial exams on May 17th. I still have tons of material to study for the MFE exam. But currently, my plan is to focus on MLC and see how much I can get through on MFE. I don't want to get 5 on both of my exams. That would be a huge blow and I would rather get a 6 and 1, at least passing one of the two papers.
(Sorry for being all nerdy and using actuarial jargons but, well, if I were to study 6-8 hours a day on actuarial stuff, I might as well walk and talk like one... so, now, how does an actuary walk?)

Well, other than studying, I still watch some tv series and NBA playoffs... GO PISTONS!!! 24 tonight, House tomorrow, Lost on Wednesday...!!!

So, that's pretty much my week... Study, eat, TV... I need to start running again!!! I blame it on my not being able to use the gym. (but seriously, the weather is great... with 20+ Celcius high, it can't be any better.)

So, take care, and I'll go back to put-call parity, options, futures, black-scholes, greeks...

Summer's here...

So, I've not been updating my blog for awhile now. Well, here I am again.

Last week had been really busy. Exams, packing, moving to my sublet, moving stuff into the storage, unpack my stuff at the sublet. This semester might probably be the worse, depends on what I get for my last result. Still waiting for the upper level writing course for my Econ, where I wrote a huge 20+ pages paper for.

Anyway, so far, I had been eating out every meal since last Thursday. I need to do some groceries pretty soon before I stop eating out.

Also, I started studying for the actuarial exam since Sunday. And, it had been going not bad. So far, the review of all the life contingencies are all good. Zooming through them since I still had most of the stuff fresh in my head.

So, Ann Arbor is pretty quiet now, with most students gone. I'm staying back for the sake of staying back. And, my plans for the Spring and Summer are:

Actuarial Exam on May 17th
Midwest Games on May 25-27th
Cedar Point with house mates sometime
Camp Davis from June 22nd - July 28th

So, I have a month after the actuarial exam and another month after the camp Davis. I'm really looking forward to the camp Davis, at Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Also, hopefully, after the actuarial exam, and when the weather gets better, I'll start running more again. I'd been slacking off again since the moving out. One reason is, I need to pay to get into CCRB, unless I register for a class. But, maybe I should be running outdoor, since the weather allows (other than the isolated storms).

Also, I went to the graduation last Saturday, where President Bill Clinton gave the commencement speech. The speech was amazing. I'll get some pictures and even videos up here too.


President Clinton giving his speech.

It was rather cold earlier in the morning, but once the Sun came out, it was baking hot. The attendance was good. It was a huge event. Can't imagine that I'll be down there next year. Really. It's crazy to think that my parents and hopefully my brothers will be here next year, while I'm down there and all.