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| I was back at the Prometric testing center today to complete the third test I needed for being a fully licensed banker with Chase. I came into the company with my "Series 6" license (mutual funds, variable annuities) from when I worked at Invesco, I obtained my "Series 63" license (Uniform State Law) last week, and once I complete the Life (insurance) Agent examination, I have everything external I need.
I was more worried about this test than I was about the Series 63, but not nearly as worried as I was heading into the Series 6, when the financial services industry was still relatively new to me. Thankfully, I didn't need to be worried. The first 20-some-odd questions were surprisingly easy, and set a tone of confidence that carried through to the end of the test, which allowed me to pass without a problem.
From what I understand, next I'll attend a course on variable annuities, then I'll have to tackle a class on investment products, neither of which will have a formal test but will give me the required background I need to start working for Chase Investment Services Corporation and Chase Insurance Agency, Inc. At that point, I'll be entitled to commissions on investment and insurance sales, and all I'll have to do to continue the licenses is periodic continuing education that I'm more than happy to complete.
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| I never realized how much it sucks to have to wait out a paycheck just to pay down the last few bills you've got. I mean, I've been accumulating quite a bit on my credit card, though I've been keeping to my budget as if I've been using a debit card, which has allowed me to do a great job of budgeting while still earning rewards and cash back. The problem is, I'm practically on a 2-week delay in terms of being paycheck-to-paycheck aside from what little money I have stashed away for savings.
I think the real problem is the fact that I have thousands of dollars in outstanding student loans that I need to get repaid as soon as possible. I'm not sure what the deferment options are for only taking one class in the fall, but the money I've been saving has been going into a special account just to knock that out. I haven't been paying on it since it's a zero-interest loan right now, but the interest rates I'm getting on the sitting money aren't exactly grand either.
Even worse, it looks like the home markets are picking up slightly, or maybe it's just that time of the year-- people allegedly buy houses mostly in the springtime-- so inventories are dropping. I'd like to have this loan paid off in full as soon as possible so I can start saving towards a down payment on a house and actually have some property equity to show off... Oh well, we'll see how that goes; I'll probably have to wait out another year or two and gun for a promotion before that'll pan out.
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| Derek joined me at my apartment after I got off work and we tackled the remainder of the box spring and the bed as a whole. It took us about three hours, but we managed to get the whole thing set up. It's nice and very sturdy, and it distributes weight really well-- the memory foam mattress distributes weight on one level, the box spring distributes what's left through the wood balances, and the bed frame itself provides great support and distribution.
While Derek was handling some of the screws with the only Phillips screwdriver I had, I ended up assembling my bar stools and setting them in a corner, then boxing up all of the trash. We've accumulated quite a bit of packing waste-- cardboard boxes, Styrofoam boards, plastic wrap, and the like, but we managed to pack most of them into a couple of boxes and get them taken down to the dumpster. I left a couple of the larger boxes in the apartment for posterity while we unpack the few remaining things and put the waste into them for disposal.
Thankfully, we're almost done. I've got to set up the television stand, the home bar, my nightstand, and maybe a bookshelf or two, and everything will be complete. I do have additional furniture I was considering buying, but at this point it probably would make no sense, particularly because I don't really have a good place to put it. I might go ahead and post some pictures once we're done setting up the last few items and cleaning up after.
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| Christian and Derek were nice enough to make the trek out to my apartment yesterday to give me a hand setting up furniture. We ended up getting my dining table and chairs set up, as well as my box spring (yeah, that one came "some assembly required"), and my futon/couch. We were hoping to get more done, but Christian had to run home to let his roommate's dog out, and the remaining items (bed, bar, etc) were too complex to handle without additional tools. Even worse, my TV stand came out of the box damaged, so we had to load it in Derek's car to get it back to Wal-Mart for replacement.
Christian joined my siblings and I for mass and the reception, then Derek joined us afterward for dinner at Ninfa's. Following dinner, we parted ways, and Derek and I headed down to Wal-Mart to see about getting the television stand replaced. Unfortunately, they couldn't replace the item since it was only available online, so we went ahead and just returned it. We'll have to get a replacement item sooner or later-- the same item is on sale online, so I can buy it even cheaper, or I can buy a slightly larger and more expensive one in store and not have to wait. Either option is pretty reasonable at this point.
Derek and I ended up making plans to tackle the rest of the furniture load on Monday after I get off from work. Even with a full set of tools, I don't think we'll get far, but perhaps we can get the bed and one or two other items done in the meantime...
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| I broke my normal schedule and went with my brother and sister to Saturday mass at St. John Vianney. For some reason, they decided to do their "baccalaureate" mass on a Saturday, which makes about as much sense as anything else since Fr. Troy has systematically mangled the youth group from the time he took over as pastor, immediately dropping the vastly successful Life Teen program and phasing out the youth mass altogether.
The weirdest part was, this didn't feel like a baccalaureate mass in the slightest. Over the years, I've probably attended about a dozen of them now... they almost always involve some focus on the graduates, be it the central audience of the homily or even specific prayers of the faithful targeting their transitional period in life. This mass had absolutely no elements of a baccalaureate mass, except for a brief prayer at the end that overshadowed the fact that this was the vigil mass for the Sunday of Mother's Day.
There was a reception in one of the halls after the mass. I went along with my siblings for the sake of posterity, then we promptly took off. We didn't know anyone there anymore anyway...
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