The Year of the Dragon

Enduring a lengthy unemployment stint and the subsequent job search last year got me thinking long term about my career. I had become burned out working in information technology as a web developer but make a good living doing it. You hear lots of people saying they don't like their jobs for one reason or another. But you also hear about dream jobs and "doing what you love". Jennifer was got a degree in a field that she loves - art education. It doesn't mean she's automatically going to find a job , but it got me thinking "what do I love and can I make a career out of it?" Back when I first started college I thought I wanted a job in broadcasting, but found out it's only fun as a hobby, not as a career. I jumped on the IT bandwagon and never looked back-until now. The reality is most hobbies don't translate well into careers. Having a family, being the sole income earner for the next few years, having a mortgage and facing the reality of paying Jennifer's student loan debt for at least the next decade presents a massive roadblock to a career change. But that doesn't mean I can't prepare for it. I read the free daily news publication Express on the subway on my commute. Most of the ads are for higher education institutions touting their graduate degree and certification programs. The majority are MBA or international relations programs that don't interest me. But one caught my eye - the University of Virginia's Certificate in Certified Financial Planning. It's a classroom instruction program taught during the week in the evening at their satellite campus in Falls Church, VA which is just a few subway stops away from my house. Personal finance is one of my two main hobbies (the other being poker) and the only one of the two that I could legitimately turn into a career. One of my close friends did it. The program is a pay-as-you-go program and reasonably affordable so I can pay for it out of my pocket and not have to get financial aid. The program consists of seven classes that can be completed in 18 months. I applied to the program and registered for my first course, the intro fundamentals class. I had my first class last night.

To become a CFP one must:

1. Complete the education requirement - complete a CFP Board registered education program and have a bachelors degree from an accredited university. The UVA CFP program is registered with CFP Board. I have a bachelors degree from Georgia State.
2. Pass the CFP Certification Exam - that's what I'm taking the courses for!
3. Meet the experience requirement - At least three years of qualifying full-time work experience are required for certification. Qualifying experience includes work that can be categorized into one of the six primary elements of the personal financial planning process. I don't have any work experience in any of the six primary elements, but I hope to start gaining that experience later this year.
4. Pass a background check - It shouldn't be a problem for me as I've held multiple government security clearances over my career.
5. Pay the certification fee - of course!

I'm looking forward to my new career in financial planning. However, I'm not letting my IT career fall by the wayside while I'm still in the industry. My company has a great education and training program. Every employee gets $3000 per year towards work related training. I signed up for two ColdFusion courses last year but both were cancelled due to low enrollment. Turns out I was the only one enrolled in both! This year I've signed up for a Java programming class. Hopefully that won't be cancelled. I'm going to be busy learning this year. I haven't been busy learning in a long time. I'm up for the challenge.

Don't Call It a Comeback

As I've detailed in previous posts, I was having a very challenging 2011. I say "was" because the second half of the year is turning out to be great. Three things have shaped the rebound.

The first thing is I won a charity poker tournament. The charity proceeds went to a relative of a poker league player that needed a kidney transplant. The top four players, me included, "chopped" the pot. "Chopping" is a poker term for splitting the pot. I made over three times my money. There were 40 players in the tournament. I then went on to win in my league nine days later. I also won a league game a month earlier. I hope my hot streak continues as I'm playing in two more charity tournaments in October and November.

The second thing is that I got a new job. I know what your thinking, "didn't you just get a new job in June after being unemployed for a few months?" Yes. Back in June, I got a job with a defense contractor working on a contract with the Postal Service (USPS). If you watch the news, you know that the USPS is having major financial trouble. Their fiscal year ends September 30th and the contract was up for renewal. I was doubtful since every financial transaction was being scrutinized. The wife and I were concerned if I would be out of a job just a few months after being unemployed for 4+ months earlier in the year. I had other concerns as well. I was using outdated software and there wasn't much work to do. This job was not good for my career. At most it was a stop gap. At the same time, a company I interviewed with back in March contacted me about the same position. I never heard back from them after the March interview. It seems that they were having a hard time finding a senior ColdFusion developer. They went back to review all the resumes they had obtained and contacted me in September to see if I was still interested. The timing couldn't have been more perfect. The position offered me an opportunity to get into object-oriented programming using current technology and software that was new to me. It would be a positive challenge that would be good for my career. I was offered the position and happily accepted. And it turned out to be in the same general area of DC as the USPS job, so my commute would be the same. It was lucrative as well.

The third thing is the most exciting-Jennifer is pregnant! Shock Jr. number two is on the way. She is due May 18. We go from double coverage to man-to-man. Keep up with the family and the coming attraction at the Shock Family Circus blog.

Shock Family Circus: Coming Attraction at the Shock Circus

Shock Family Circus: Coming Attraction at the Shock Circus: Oops! We did it again :) Another Shock baby is on the way! Our bundle-to-be will be arriving some time around May 18th, 2012. Fletch is ver...

Chris Neild has memorable debut, big beard

 just had to share this. It involves my favorite football team and one of my favorite hobbies. Chris Neild has memorable debut, big beard - DC Sports Bog - The Washington Post. My favorite quote "It’s like Bam Bam Bigelow, that’s the look he goes for”. Here's an earlier article about Neild shaving off the beard.

Shout Out

As I mentioned in a previous post, I am a member of the athletic aesthetics cult. Although I've been a long time reader of the Uni Watch blog, I've never contributed until now. That's right, I got a shot out in the UW ticker. I sent in three Redskins items to Uni Watch founder and writer, meat aficionado, and Mets fan Paul Lukas. He posted what I thought was the dullest of the three items I sent in. I guess the other two will get posted in future tickers or they will be part of the upcoming annual ESPN NFL uniform article, which is also written by Lukas, or maybe they will be ignored. Regardless, I'm happy.

I noticed after re-reading my Monochrome post from November 2008 that I foretold of things to come for the Redskins, at least in the uniform department- "Or bring back the yellow gold pants, like they wore in the '70s." The Redskins did that very thing last season. Thanks to the Gridiron Uniform Database blog (another of my favorites) for the image. Hopefully they'll be wearing them again this season. 

A Very "Moving" Post

Check out the latest post on the Shock Family Circus blog!

Rage Against the Green Machine

In my ongoing series Rage Against the Machine, I explore my love/hate relationship with technology. Earlier this year I detailed our string of technology mishaps. Two of those dead devices are headed for the recycle bin-the HTPC and my XP laptop. Since going to computer heaven, their carcasses have been taking up much needed space in the closet. I didn't want to just throw them away. That's not the proper method of disposal. Having finally stripped them of their vital parts-hard drive, optical drive, RAM, peripheral cards-I took them to Best Buy to have them recycled. Good riddance to the HTPC, it was more trouble than it was worth. Hopefully it's second life will serve a greater purpose. My "bachelor laptop", so named since it was the computer I bought for myself after I lost custody of my previous computer in my divorce to my first wife, will be missed. It was the first laptop I ever owned. Maybe both machines will be recycled into playground equipment or for us in prosthetic limbs.