Hey guys – just wanted to let you know that I won’t really be updating this blog very much anymore.  I never really have anything to write.  For those of you who are interested though, I’ve started another blog which is purely dedicated to scrapbooking.  You’ll see some my pictures, etc on that blog.

http://silverthreadscraps.blogspot.com/

Some pictures of my newest nephew (now 7 months old and HUGE at 24 lbs):

He’s finally starting to stand on his own:

And some Xmas Lee family photos:

Some Christmas photos from this year~~ Hope everyone had a merry xmas!

Pictures from our christmas tree – this is one of my favorite ornaments – from our trip to Disneyworld

The last 2 pics are of Rob’s niece / 1st cousin once removed? I don’t know what the correct term is – but the daughter of his eldest cousin.  She was really adorable!

Happy Thursday:

http://howtoprankatelemarketer.ytmnd.com/

GUILT…

Okay - so initially when my mom asked me for money, I was reluctant to give it to her.  I’ve basically promised my hard-earned bonus this year to her.  I guess there were a couple things bothering me about that – first, that it’s been a really tough, long year for me, and this bonus is the result of long hours of frustration, misery, and fatigue; secondly, because I knew it was needed because my dad is wasteful and doesn’t understand the value of other people’s money.

So, I’ve been thinking of ways to get out of it without making my mom think that I was an ungrateful kid.  Or at least to get my dad to understand what it means to me to give this to them…Then the other day, I am talking to my mom about my job, and start rambling about how it’s taking its toll on my health, completely unaware of how that’s going to make my mom feel.  And then she’s crying on the phone, feeling guilty about what all this hard work is putting me through, and she tells me to forget about the bonus money and keep it for myself, use it to go on a nice vacation and relax and get better.

Completely unintentionally, I’ve achieved the goal I’ve wanted all this time – a “Get out of jail free” card.  And of course, I feel like a complete ass. I hadn’t meant to say it in that way, I didn’t want her to feel guilty, and I didn’t want her to cry, I felt so shitty that I hadn’t thought enough ahead to realize how she would react.  So, of course I tell her that no, no, I’ve already set that money aside, and I want her to have it, and she shouldn’t feel bad about it.  And I end up in the same place I was, still wanting to keep that money, but now feeling even more guilty for feeling that way in the first place.  It’s a vicious cycle…

Okay, my lazy butt finally got around to posting pictures of our wedding & honeymoon on our wedding website.

You can view them on the Photos link at www.mymemorypage.com/cindyandrobert

Time to sleep! Goodnight everyone!

Hey anyone interested in a job in consulting or software engineering?  My company has the following positions open.  If interested – send your resume and cover letter to elee@erisk.com:

Software Engineer – NYC (ERisk)

SunGard BancWare ERisk seeks a software developer to join technology group and assist with development of additional functionality for existing products as well as new product development.  Requirements: 3-5 years software development experience or product management experience in the banking industry.  Java, C#, SQL development skills preferred; ability to produce production-quality software; problem solver.

Financial Engineer – Boston

SunGard BancWare seeks a financial engineer to join the newly created quantitative finance group.  Responsible for implementation and maintenance of quantitative ALM models.  Requirements: Master’s/PhD in Mathematics, Physics or Engineering; solid knowledge of complex financial products; C++ development skills; ability to produce production-quality software implementations of quantitative models; problem solver.

Product Manager – London

SunGard BancWare seeks asset/liability management software product manager.  Requirements: MBA/Finance, Economics or Quantitative Methods Experience; 10+ years experience, 7+ years in the financial services industry; strong written/oral communications and project management skills, regulatory/supervisory experience a plus; practical experience in project and/or product management a plus; multilingual skills a plus.

Senior Basel II Consultant – Boston, New York, London, Zurich
SunGard BancWare seeks an experienced Senior Basel II implementation consultant to develop Basel II risk model customizations for customers.  Requirements: 3 years modeling experience in a consultancy/financial institution; solid understanding of credit risk concepts and Basel II; practical experience with databases and SQL; willing to travel; client facing skills.

Consulting Manager Professional Services – Boston

SunGard BancWare seeks a professional services consulting manager to manage team of consultants. Manage client relationships, generate new business, recruit, train and grow staff. Requirements:  BA/BS; 2-4 years experience managing consultants; 4-6 years working directly with clients; demonstrated project leadership; excellent skills in communication, management and problem solving.

Profitability Consultant – Boston, New York, London, Zurich

SunGard BancWare seeks profitability consultant.  Requirements:  BA in accounting, finance or MIS; Minimum one year work experience in banking/finance institution; Working knowledge of financial principles and methodologies, standard reports, activity based costing, and profitability;  Excel, Word, and SQL; strong interpersonal and problem solving abilities; ability to travel 70% of time. 

Budgeting Consultant – Boston, New York, London, Zurich

SunGard BancWare seeks budgeting consultant.  Requirements: 5+ years relevant experience in financial services; strong finance, accounting, analytical, communication and people skills;   BA and possibly an MBA, CMA, or CFM; Excel – certification desirable; experience in business analysis, data analysis, data modeling, and data design; willing to travel.

ALM Consultant – Boston, New York, London, Zurich

SunGard BancWare seeks an asset/liability management consultant. Requirements: Experience in some or all of ALM, market risk management, fixed income portfolio management, trading, complex valuation models; strong math and problem-solving skills; MS Excel/MS Access and/or SQL server; knowledge of bank products and/or fixed income concepts; 50 – 75 % travel.

I’m here! In NY and in the office!  Thank goodness.  Actually, I’m pretty lucky that we took off when we did because in another hour, severe thunderstorms were about to hit Richmond, and who knows if I would have been able to make it back today.

Now I get to gruel away in the office all night to get those things done that I was supposed to do last night and today…

The weekend cannot come fast enough…

Yes – you guessed it…more delays.  Okay, so apparently, there’s a screwup in the system, and the flight that they had thought had already taken off from NY is actually still sitting at the gate in JFK.  And since we need that plane in order to get back to NY, our flight is now delayed indefinitely.

Someone shoot me.

Okay – so, in order to be there in person for a 1.5 hour meeting, I’ve been stuck in transit now for a grand total of about 36 hours.

I was supposed to take off from LGA at 7:10 on Tuesday, and it was delayed for 3 hours, so I ended up checking into my hotel in Dallas at 2 AM EST. 

Meeting the next morning went fine, and I headed off to the airport at 11 AM for a 2 PM flight.  Amazingly enough the flight took off exactly on time, and I was feeling quite optimistic. 

However, about 30 minutes before we were due to arrive at LGA, we’re told that they’re not allowing anyone to land due to weather conditions and we’re about to run out of gas – so they haul back to Richmond – the only airport in the vicinity that’s allowing planes to land. 

The pilot says that as soon as we refuel and get clearance we’ll be able to take off again – so they don’t deplane us.  3 hours later, yup, we’re still on the plane on the runway at Richmond, at which time the pilot tells us that unfortunately, they’ve now reached the legal limit for the amount of time the crew is allowed to be on duty for one flight.

So – they take us back to the gate, but they’re not allowing us to deplane yet because they don’t have anyone licensed to operate the gate plank available right now.  So we sit on the plane for another 30 minutes before they can get someone out there.

We finally get out of the plane, and then are told to wait by the gate until they can sort everything out.  Meanwhile – all staff are needed to help deplane other flights.  So, an hour and a half later, I finally get reticketed for Thursday morning and get downstairs to try and find a hotel for the night.  It is now 10:30 PM.

I called literally 30-35 hotels before I found one that had an available room and that cost $190 a night – geez.  By the time I get checked in, it is midnight, and most of the restuarants in the area are closed.  I manage to just make it in time to order some really bad pizza for delivery and manage one slice before I’m too disgusted and decide to go to sleep. 

But I’m stressed out about all the work time I’m missing which means I’ll just be up till forever tomorrow trying to get it done, so I can’t seem to sleep very well.  I squeeze in about 4 hours of rest before I have to get up again.

So I come back to the airport in the morning to find out that my flight has been canceled and I’ve been put on the next flight out at 10:40 AM.  That flight is now delayed for another 45 minutes and I’m still waiting for the ball to drop on that one too.