Now entering Yuppieville

Yesterday the Society of Actuaries finally granted me associate-level member status. So after 5.25 years of taking exams (and ~$20,000...company paid), I am now officially an actuary. It feels great to not caveat the statement "I'm an actuary" with "well, my profession still regards me as an actuarial student". I'm STILL studying for fellowship exams, but it feels great to be far more secure in our future now.

Aside from the pay increase and greater future opportunities there have been a few interesting benefits of the new designation: I have felt far more respected at work the past month (since I passed the final requirement for associateship), I'll soon be able to sign statements of actuarial opinion, and now I have a professional title - Peter D. Hedgecock, ASA, MAAA, ALMI. What a mouthful! I'd prefer something simple like JD or MD but apparently those were already taken. (In case you're wondering what the initials mean... Associate of the Society of Actuaries; Member of the American Academy of Actuaries; Associate, Life Management Institute).

In light of this monumental event, Cyn and I just had to celebrate...which means we got a pizza, rented a movie (my choice tonight: Man on Wire), and fell asleep before getting 30 minutes in.

We hold these truths to be self-evident...

When in the course of family events it becomes necessary for one couple to dissolve the outdated and infrequent 'newsletter' practice that connect them with procrastination and to assume the powers of bloggism (that vehicle of brevity the laws of the internet entitle them), a decent respect to the opinions of 'the readers' require that they should declare the causes which impel them to the registration of the aforementioned blog.

1. That good ol' newsletter "Bushchicken Weekly" that we used to write was just way too time consuming. There's a reason we haven't issued one in 2+ years.

2. The short-versed nature of blogs will, hopefully, give us more incentive to keep in touch. Hopefully we'll post something fortnightly...or every other year instead of every three.

3. Cynthia is getting really tired of reading everyone's blogs and not having a digital identity for others to peruse.



We haven't jumped into the blog scene earlier mostly due to many qualms I personally have about blogs:

1. It's hard to establish a blog identity...should it be humorous? Should it be all about the fam? Should it be so mind-numblingly boring as to be unique? I've tried a few identities on previous attempts at blogs, none worked. I guess we're going for eclectic here.

2. Cynthia regards me as the expert in creative writings (though I don't understand why), so most posts will have to come from my hand and fit my schedule. Moreover, Cyn is pretty busy herself. Any time she puts in will likely be when I'm around; conversing with an intent blogger is difficult (go ahead - try it).

3. I don't have control over the presentation of what I write as much as I did when using QuarkXpress; for some reason presentation is very important to me (anyone I've cooked dinner for understands this mild OCD behavior).


There are more reasons, but I'm glad to get that much off my chest. Expect more posts, from the both of us, shortly.

Dear friends/relatives, this is our replacement for the officially disbanded "Bushchicken Weekly" and our attempt to keep in touch. Enjoy on an irregular basis with toast and marmalade.

Bushchicken Weekly

We want all of you to know that we love you and now you know we just haven't written anything in 3 years. Hopefully this blog will help us stay up to date with all of you. So please keep in touch!