September 24, 2008
Oh what ….. fun …..
Just remembered. Colleague is now on vacation, so I get to do all her work, in addition to mine, for the next two weeks. And prepare some employee training guides. Oh goody. I’d just excavated my desk!
August 27, 2008
It’s what day now?
*looking around*
Is it really Wednesday? The last Wednesday of the month? Already?
Geez.
I feel like it’s been ages since I last blogged, and it’s probably due to the action-packed-ness of life. Let’s see. When we last met … oh, that was yesterday? Good grief!
Well, since yesterday I’ve:
~ discovered that I would need to make 81% more money than I do now to be “equally comfortable” in New York.
~ forced myself to go to a networking event in the downtown area (I hate driving in downtown, especially during high traffic), exchanged business cards with two people, and got out of the scary dark neighborhood safely.
~ met with NY friends who were in town for a couple days, and recommended that they try public transportation to get back to the airport. Happy to report that went smooth as silk, and they enjoyed not sitting in traffic greatly.
Spending since Friday?
~ we had a mandatory work event on Saturday so I combined a help-a-coworker-out situation with the work event so we could carpool part of the way: + saved on a little gas.
~ went to tea with a coupla the gals: – $14
~ visited a comic shop: priceless (and I didn’t spend anything): $0
~ bought ten pounds of pork shoulder ribs (that’ll last our family a good while, we cook it various ways and I like pork): – $10
~ did my “home”work at Borders: free air conditioning! and made money, of course.
~ brother actually paid a bit of money towards household bills: + $100
~ missed a friend’s 21st birthday party because my train was late: $0
~ went to the networking event at a bar: $0
~ went to another bar afterwards to meet up with my friends: $4 for a burger I bought before getting TO the bar. Tacky? Only if the staff were around. We hung out on the patio after 10 when drinks were no longer allowed outside so there were no witnesses, and their kitchen was closed by the time I got there anyway.
My car is being a brat and celebrating our fifth year together by falling apart in tiny ways:
1. The auto lock on the driver’s side doesn’t work.
2. The window on the passenger’s side doesn’t work.
3. The “cabin” light switch needs strange toggling to work.
4. The heater went out this morning.
August 18, 2008
Bargain book shopping
I was on the hunt for a copy of a book that was recently recommended: Carrie Black’s Basic Black.
I checked Paperbackswap.com first, since I’ve got some credits on that site, but no dice. I checked retailmenot.com for Borders.com coupons in case they still have that dandy 40% off coupon, no go there either.
I went to Amazon, and found that my preference, the paperback, isn’t out until September 9th, and Amazon’s currently offering a pre-order option with a Price Guarantee. If you haven’t heard of it before, the details are as follows:
Pre-order Price Guarantee
Amazon.com’s price for not-yet-released items sometimes changes between the time the item is listed for sale and the time it is released and shipped. Whenever you pre-order a book, CD, video, DVD, software, or video game, the price we charge when we ship it to you will be the lowest price offered by Amazon.com between the time you placed your order and the end of the day of the release date. A pre-order price guarantee message will appear on your Order Summary during the checkout process. If you use 1-Click ordering, pre-order price protection will be automatically applied. The order summary in Your Account will reflect the lowest price within 24 hours of the price change.
Terms and Conditions:
- Pre-order Price Guarantee applies only to items sold by Amazon.com, and not to items (or prices) offered by other sellers on our site. Does not apply to any products purchased at Amazon.com’s other sites, including Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.co.jp, Amazon.ca, or any other web site operated by Amazon.com or its affiliates.
- Pre-order Price Guarantee applies only to not-yet-released books, CDs, videos, DVDs, software, and video games sold by Amazon.com. It does not apply to other product lines or to items that have already been released.
- Pre-order Price Guarantee applies only to qualifying items displaying the offer message on their product detail pages. Items that do not display the offer message do not qualify, regardless of the nature of the items.
- If your order enters the shipping process before the release date and the price is lowered before the end of the day of the release date, we will automatically refund your credit card for the difference between the price you were charged and the release-date price. If you did not use a credit card to pay for your order, please contact Customer Service.
The price ranges from $15 (after shipping) for a used copy of the hardcover, to $17 for a new copy from Amazon and it qualifies for Super Saver Shipping.
Because it was published in 2007 (so, recently) and I don’t have a whole lot of faith in our library, I checked our local library catalogue online without getting my hopes up and voila! They have it! I should really check there first. Unfortunately, my work schedule just changed today and I’m going to be stuck at work late every night for the rest of this month. Gar. Maybe my cousin will be able to make a stop for me.
August 14, 2008
Discombobulated
As much fun as some of the travel has been, I’m starting to feel a bit turned around by so much of it. Already, I’ve got to pack tonight for another trip, this time for a wedding up north. Of course I’m looking forward to seeing and spending time with people but there’s been scarcely a moment to breathe between trips (or blog!)
I’m looking forward to a weekend or two of peace and quiet to catch up with myself.
I did get a nice 30 minute workout in last night. Spent some time on the treadmill, broken up by chasing the dog around the yard or being chased by him, and worked with some free weights for a while. It’s hot enough that it’s not hard to break a sweat, but at least some of that was from actually working out. The dog joined me because he needs a workout too, but I get nervous playing the chase game with him, he’s still a big galumph and tails me too closely. He nearly took me down last night and I’m not sure if that’s because he meant to or because he sprang too closely. Anyway, if I end up with some major injuries caused by falling during a run, you can blame the dog.
Also, I managed to fit in some studying before and after dinner. It wasn’t a ton, but it was good brain food.
Yodlee’s acting funny. It refuses to retrieve ING account information.
Regarding work: *sigh* All I can say is, I’m Kim Possible, “so not the drama.”
Lastly: I love Bin Bin rice crackers. (aka: MSG crackers, to some folks.)
July 27, 2008
Back from Con, and moving on!
Whew, from one spectrum to another. I drove home from San Diego just around midnight, and left again before 6 am to catch a flight, and now I’m on the East Coast for two days of meetings and turning right back around and leaving again.
It’s humid.
I’ll have a Con update when I get back, I have to upload some of my photos. I’m going to have a LOT of catching up to do.
July 23, 2008
Career Considerations, Part II
Higher Education, yea or nay?
As an Asian, I was raised to believe that higher education was the key to advancement, and practically the key to life. Even knowing it can mean nothing, having met my share of M.D./Ph.D. idiots, I still have a thing for the validation of a higher degree. I can’t deny that I’ve also got a fascination with the idea of being called Dr. Revanche someday. [Smartass friends suggest that I change my name to Doctor. Funny!] But I digress.
I’m not trying to make a six figure mistake without first evaluating the costs and benefits. The last time I did this, much like The Baglady’s analysis, the benefits didn’t bear out the costs. At the time, though, I was able to secure a major raise based on my work and experience. Now, assessing the prevailing head winds, I may have reached the point of salary saturation.
A: If I stay in my field, there are some benefits to attaining higher education than the standard bachelor’s degree, but it’s not a pass go, collect $200 step to success. Experience is equally, sometimes more, prized. I’ve got experience in spades for the amount of time I’ve spent in this industry, so I’m set for moving up into the management level. If I want to continue on this path, though, I still need to seek out greener, happier pastures in keeping with my intention to move out. I had set a tentative goal for the end of this year, I’d still like to make that happen.
B: If I leave my field and try my hand in business, accounting, banking or financial advising, I’m almost certain to need some higher education. Perhaps not entirely a whole new degree, but definitely some classes in more quantitative subjects. School, though rather intimidating with all the talk of calculus and such, is really appealing. I’m loving the idea of an M.B.A. or an E.M.B.A, or an M.S. in Management. Not, however, loving the price tags involved just in applying. I’ve spent a whole lot of time this weekend researching business schools to get a feel for what they teach, and talking to friends who have gotten in to familiarize myself with the admissions process. An M.B.A. seems to run anywhere from 100k to 150k for a full time program without assistance. Ideally, I’d like to get a job that offers a healthy tuition reimbursement, preferably at the university itself. The entry costs are pretty hideous: $250, GMAT; ~ $250, application fee per school; $XXX, interview costs if necessary; $XXX, new suit if interviewing. (Friend who was recently accepted to b-school reminded me of that cost, I’m not sure if I’d spring for it yet but I may.)
If this is the path I choose, and I haven’t yet completed my research to make the call that the degree gives me the kind of leg up that I want, I need to:
~ have $2000-3000 in application money
~ start studying for the GMAT right now
~ find job options near all the schools I want to apply to that offer tuition reimbursement and figure out the balance of work vs school
So here’s the conundrum: I love my current field, and I love finance. To be honest, I love working, too, so doing what I love as a job is probably more appealing than I give it credit for. I’ll let you in on a secret: I always had a sneaking conviction that doing something for fun is fun, but doing something for fun because you have to for your job makes it less fun. It turns out that doesn’t mean it’s entirely not-fun anymore. Good to know.
I’m still pondering, exploring the options, and collecting information on the various parts of the country where I could attend school and work. Ultimately, the choice I need to make is whether or not the M.B.A. or a graduate degree gives me the kind of knowledge and ability that I need and cannot get simply by working in the field. Is it going to serve as a door opener where my experience alone may not suffice?
I’m not positive how to answer that question yet, but before I make the decision, I’ve got to decide where I’m trying to go (industry) and what I want to do when I get there (actual work).
Decisions, decisions, heavy decisions to be made right before Con!
July 22, 2008
Careering: Depth or Breadth?
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately. By my measure, I’ve reached the height of my career with this company. There are a lot of reasons to stay: more experience, projects and management courses, not to mention the fantastic tuition reimbursement and retirement plans, but the overriding reason to leave can’t be argued with. This environment will get a whole lot worse before it gets better. My sanity has already been through the wringer and back, and the law of numbers says I’m going to lose it permanently if I stick around too much longer. No one wants to be the best-performing lifer in the asylum, right?
This brings me to a very important question: what’s next?
I ask myself that question daily to keep myself moving, working harder, smarter, faster and as best I can manage, more than 100%. And it was all to build my skill sets and knowledge, to get the promotions and raises to set myself up for the next step in my career. I thought I kept my eye on the bigger picture this entire time, but it turns out, the next step isn’t always that obvious. I need to break out of the comfort zone that is my job with the uberstress but is a known quantity, my responsibilities, my cushy healthcare with a doctor that takes me seriously and takes good care of me. The benefits, the things that are basically peripheral to the job itself are great, but the main dish isn’t so hot anymore.
So, this early on in my career, I’m not sure what the best next move is: to pursue higher education, deepen my experience by climbing the ladder to the next logical step (management), or broaden my horizons by expanding on my current experience in a related job (lateral move)?
What’s more important? Which road is the best for both the journey and where I want to end up? More than job security which doesn’t truly exist, more than oodles of money in the bank that can go away, I want to know that come rain or shine, richer or poorer, I have developed the ability to survive and thrive. I want to be the person who can pick herself up in any set of circumstances, determine what needs to be done to succeed, and make it there. The key to this is marketability and flexibility.
Decision making process to follow ….