Wednesday, August 15, 2007
300!
No, this isn't a post about the bloody movie where a bunch of ripped men run around in their underwear for 2 hours. (Not that that's a bad thing. It's actually a great movie. Though admitting it kind of makes me feel like the pilot in Airplane. "Joey, do you like to watch movies about gladiators?") I've actually written 300 posts in my blog. And you poor saps have READ them! Ha! Jokes on you!
Anyway, it's kind of dead here at work now. And that's being generous. Half the office is on vacation because they KNEW it was going to be dead around here. Stupid me and it being my first full year. It's actually rather amazing because I've been here almost a year (that'd be a record or something) and I've been busy the whole time. From the day I walked in, I had work to do. But now I have nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Zero. Bupkus. (I think more people should use that word. Like football announcers should say, "And that's the end of the first quarter with the score bupkus-bupkus.")
When I first started working as an actuary, the work was more spread out. Summers were generally more busy. But now with Sarbanes-Oxley (if you don't know what it is, you're lucky), companies have a little more urgency to get their results sooner. What results? Come on, I know you don't really care. You're just humoring me. The point is, before they didn't care when they got them. Now they care. And they want them early.
So this year, my spring was horrendous. Lots of work, lots of overtime (do they still call it overtime if you don't get paid for it?), lots of stress. But now all those projects are done. So everyone's kinda sitting on their thumbs.
The good news is that it isn't just me. I have people beneath me (heyo!) asking me for work. And I keep asking people above me with no luck. There just isn't anything to do. And to make matters worse, I think people are hording projects. Imagine (if you will) that you have no work to do. Something comes across your desk that should take about an hour to do. Do you do it yourself (thus giving you something to break the monotony AND add to your billable hours for the year) or do you give it to someone else? If you're budget-conscious, you hand it down. But if you like getting big bonuses, you keep it. Unfortunately, I'm not at the phase of my career where clients call me directly. Otherwise, I might have projects to horde. Jerks.
To make matters worse, there's nothing good on TV and I have no time to see movies. I'm pretty excited about Superbad coming out this week. I'm a big fan of Judd Apatow, who did 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up. I'm also a sucker for teen movies like Dazed and Confused and even Can't Hardly Wait (I almost just threw up there. I can't believe I admitted that.) Combine Judd Apatow and teen movies and that's a winner.
In other news, I've been watching old episodes of The Wire on my iPod. It's an HBO show that I'd heard good things about. Now I understand why. It's basically about a bunch of cops who try to bring down an organized crime ring. (I've only seen 2 seasons so far and it's been the same cops, but different rings each time.) It's a fascinating show. It really shows how painstaking the evidence-gathering process is and how the whole thing can change in an instant. I should be watching seasons 3 and 4 soon, so I'll have to give my impressions of those too.
The other show I've been watching is Battlestar Gallactica. I kept hearing good things about this show too. I watched the first 4 episodes and was ready to call it quits because it just wasn't doing it for me. But after the 5th episode, I think I may be hooked. I'll give it a few more before I make my final call.
Anyway, it's kind of dead here at work now. And that's being generous. Half the office is on vacation because they KNEW it was going to be dead around here. Stupid me and it being my first full year. It's actually rather amazing because I've been here almost a year (that'd be a record or something) and I've been busy the whole time. From the day I walked in, I had work to do. But now I have nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Zero. Bupkus. (I think more people should use that word. Like football announcers should say, "And that's the end of the first quarter with the score bupkus-bupkus.")
When I first started working as an actuary, the work was more spread out. Summers were generally more busy. But now with Sarbanes-Oxley (if you don't know what it is, you're lucky), companies have a little more urgency to get their results sooner. What results? Come on, I know you don't really care. You're just humoring me. The point is, before they didn't care when they got them. Now they care. And they want them early.
So this year, my spring was horrendous. Lots of work, lots of overtime (do they still call it overtime if you don't get paid for it?), lots of stress. But now all those projects are done. So everyone's kinda sitting on their thumbs.
The good news is that it isn't just me. I have people beneath me (heyo!) asking me for work. And I keep asking people above me with no luck. There just isn't anything to do. And to make matters worse, I think people are hording projects. Imagine (if you will) that you have no work to do. Something comes across your desk that should take about an hour to do. Do you do it yourself (thus giving you something to break the monotony AND add to your billable hours for the year) or do you give it to someone else? If you're budget-conscious, you hand it down. But if you like getting big bonuses, you keep it. Unfortunately, I'm not at the phase of my career where clients call me directly. Otherwise, I might have projects to horde. Jerks.
To make matters worse, there's nothing good on TV and I have no time to see movies. I'm pretty excited about Superbad coming out this week. I'm a big fan of Judd Apatow, who did 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up. I'm also a sucker for teen movies like Dazed and Confused and even Can't Hardly Wait (I almost just threw up there. I can't believe I admitted that.) Combine Judd Apatow and teen movies and that's a winner.
In other news, I've been watching old episodes of The Wire on my iPod. It's an HBO show that I'd heard good things about. Now I understand why. It's basically about a bunch of cops who try to bring down an organized crime ring. (I've only seen 2 seasons so far and it's been the same cops, but different rings each time.) It's a fascinating show. It really shows how painstaking the evidence-gathering process is and how the whole thing can change in an instant. I should be watching seasons 3 and 4 soon, so I'll have to give my impressions of those too.
The other show I've been watching is Battlestar Gallactica. I kept hearing good things about this show too. I watched the first 4 episodes and was ready to call it quits because it just wasn't doing it for me. But after the 5th episode, I think I may be hooked. I'll give it a few more before I make my final call.
