Insurance Quotes

I just finished my first week selling insurance and I have to say I think that it went rather well. I met a lot of very nice people and I believe that I'll be able to do a lot of good for them - and make a decent living of doing so.

The people who work in the insurance field are likable and friendly, generally bright and considerate. The customers run the entire spectrum of the human race and have needs as diverse as one could imagine. There are enough prospects available that I never need to chase or cajole people who don't know they need my products, and the products I sell are affordable enough that they fit in just about every budget.

I can honestly say I feel good about what I do. That feels nice.

So, you ask, what's with the picture of the former prime minister? Well, we have two quotes posted in the office. The first is from Winston Churchill:

“If I had my way, I would write the word ‘Insure” over the door of every cottage, and upon the blotting book of every public man; because I am convinced that for sacrifices that are inconceivably small, families can be secured against catastrophes which otherwise would smash them up forever.

It is our duty to arrest the ghastly waste not merely of human happiness, but of national health and strength which follows when, through the death of the breadwinner, the frail boat in which the fortunes of the family are embarked founders and the women and children are left to struggle helplessly on the dark waters of a friendless world.”


Winston Spencer Churchill
Manchester, England May 23, 1909

The second is from JFK:

THE LIFE INSURANCE AGENT

I can think of no more effective person in advancing our freedom to live as we choose than the insurance agent. This person knows the economic and human pulse of the country as few people may, for they walk all streets of American life and they sit down and talk with the youth and the mature and the aged. They know their wants. They help them to help themselves in times of need. They build, for they help others to build. They insure the future. They are respected, and they are friends.


- John F. Kennedy

Self Determination

Charles Darwin to receive apology from the Church of England for rejecting evolution

The Church of England will concede in a statement that it was over-defensive and over-emotional in dismissing Darwin's ideas. It will call "anti-evolutionary fervour" an "indictment" on the Church".

The bold move is certain to dismay sections of the Church that believe in creationism and regard Darwin's views as directly opposed to traditional Christian teaching.

The whole of the Telegraph article from which this is reprinted may be found here.

It Is By The Smallest Increments We Take The Biggest Steps

I registered to vote yesterday.

This means that I am now a resident of Washington State.

I've been here four months, but I wasn't a resident. I'll get a Washington State license soon, and re-register my car. Soon I'll have a job. And a place to live. At some point in the not too distant future, I'll own a home in this state.

None of those things are what will have determined residency, though. The fact that yesterday I filled out a voter registration card and mailed it make me a resident of Washington State.

Since before I could conceive of distinctions like states and borders, I've been a resident of California, and I still have an abiding affection for the state. I knew as soon as I arrived in Washington that this is where I belong, but I felt the strangest sense of disloyalty and guilt in filling out that voter registration card.

That feeling of guilt is gone now, though, and I am glad to finally make it official. It won't really be home until my wife is here, and I won't be settled until we have our dogs. I won't be truly content until we have a home, but at least now I can be counted amongst my people - the people of Washington State.

Core Capacities Index

As part of an online application today, I took a personality profile-type test. I find these endlessly fascinating. This one indicates that I'm especially good at inspiring others and taking inspiration from them, that wisdom is a chief value for me and that I'm seen (or more likely, if you think logically, I have come to believe that I am seen) by others as showing wisdom, that knowledge is a "cornerstone value" for me and that I have a desire to see right done in the world, but that I am not as pragmatic as some people.

I like the almost-condescendingly diplomatic language in which these personality test results are couched. I am endlessly fascinated by the value in further introspection provided by their insights. The people-don't-fit-neatly-into-boxes-so-we-made-a-differently-shaped-box attitude which necessarily underlies their creation is tremendously amusing to my heightened sense of irony. Most of all, I love graphical displays of data - this foreshortened square allows me, when queried "What kind of a person are you?" to respond "I'm a purplish-blue person with strong hints of green, but hardly red at all."

Low-Res_Photos

I found some shots on my phone that I had never transferred over to the computer or deleted. These three were among them. I cleaned them up a bit in Picasa and thought I'd try out the "Blog this" feature built in, since I'd never done so before. The one on the far right, of both dogs, is the one I use as a wallpaper on my phone. Amazing, isn't it - what low resolution is tolerable on a 2" screen?

Sept. 12 Round-Up

I haven't posted in a while. I've been busy.
Microsoft came out with a new ad, featuring Bill Gates and the creator of a-show-about-nothing, Jerry Seinfeld:

Blogs, interviews, news commentators, and folks at the water cooler all seemed to agree that it was dumb and pointless - that Microsoft was crazy - that they didn't know how to advertise. This meme, Microsoft's dumb new ad, seemed to be pretty pervasive. The ad executives seem to agree that that's a pretty good start to an ad campaign.
Now there's a sequel. It's wacky, too.

Patriot Day was yesterday. I heard no mention of it. Seven years gone and now it's passe. That's interesting to me. I remember where I was September 11th, 2001, sort of the the-day-Kennedy-was-shot of our generations, but the impact has been more drawn out, I think, and therefore, perhaps diminished in some way.

Wow, it has been a long time since I blogged, hasn't it? The Democratic and Republican National Conventions have come and gone. The tide of the election seems to have changed, shifting notable toward the right since before the conventions.

I worked at the Pan Pacific Hotel for about two months. It's a beautiful hotel with a wonderful staff. I'm still kind of sad that there wasn't room for me to stay. The next time I'm there, it will be as a guest. I thought for a bit that I might get a job at the Fox affiliate, but that didn't pan out, either. I keep plugging away, though. Things will pull together at some point.

I'm unemployed at the moment. I'm interviewing today for a job, though, which I hope will be a better fit, and which I hope will be much more lucrative. Keep your fingers crossed. I'm ready to move on with life - to get my wife back and my dogs back and have a place to call home. I'm ready to get out of my host-family's hair and be more neighbor and less nuisance. I can finally say that I'm hopeful that Shel will be starting school soon, which is better news than I've had in recent memory.

I did a single set of bench presses at low weight and was sore for almost a week. Maybe that means I should continue to work on that. I have cut way back on calorie intake, and at least while I was working, I was climbing stairs every day, so I continue to lose weight, which is good.

Now that Shel and I both have working computers (knock on wood), we've been able to use Google Talk and hang out together online and play World of Warcraft together. It's not as good as face-to-face interaction, but it's a whole lot better than isolation.

I've been learning some more features of Microsoft Office, which has been nice. I'd still like to learn more about computers, and IT specifically, but it's something that will have to go on the back burner for the time being while life normalizes.

I responded to a phishing email today to explain to the phisher that their attempts were fairly ham-fisted and to offer helpful advice.

I'll try to update again soon, hopefully with good news about new employment, and maybe with a photograph or two. I've discovered all of the best blogs have lots of terrific original photography.