The Sugar Lady
I haven't had a chance to update here for a long time. First of all here's a clip of our cat's pictures. He's the best!
My doctor officially diagnosed me with diabetes on 12/06/07. She's not prescribing any drugs for the time being because she says maybe we can control it with diet and exercise.
I've changed my diet. I'm trying to eat more healthy food but it's more difficult than eating junk. It's so difficult to make the time to cook during the week because when I get home I just want to chill out and spend time with Payam. Living healthy is demanding. I'm going to try more. There's a self-management class that I'm going to in January.
I cannot believe the year is already over. It feels like it was New Year just a couple of months ago! This year I'll be turning 30 which is scary. I don't know where the days and months are going. The funniest thing I noticed was that I always used to be the youngest in all activities I took part in, but now it feels like I'm the oldest. It sucks :( I can't imagine myself as an old person. I guess it doesn't matter how I feel about it, it's going to happen anyway!
I was reading somewhere that people who haven't settled and advanced in their careers by the time they are 30, are never going to be successful. I hope that's not true! Moving to US put me back by at least 5 years. I had to start all over and now I know that I'd like to continue in insurance but don't know how long before I can start making good money out of it! hopefully soon!
The AIS, API to be
After getting my insurance agent license in January I have started working in an auto insurance company. It’s so interesting what big deal car insurance is in the US. In Iran it was only some years ago that they made liability mandatory and I know as a fact still a lot of people do not know what it exactly means; they call it third party insurance in Iran.
It is amusing to see similar misconceptions exist here.
I did not know much about the meaning of liability and comp and collision either when I came here. Only thing I knew was that we had to have insurance and we had minimum coverage all the time. Now that I know what everything means it seems so necessary and crucial!!
Insurance is a whole new world in a capitalist country. In Iran insurance system is mostly socialistic and not really an industry; however in US it is one of the most powerful industries. The money that is made through insurance can be enormous if you have a strong marketing department and creative minds. Out of this pool of money that keeps getting bigger and bigger the loss payments seldom compare to the earned dividend. I am sure the proportions are much much bigger and higher when it comes to commercial insurance.
Anyhow, I think I have found my career at last! I have been a teacher, educational manager, advertising account manager, semi-journalist, translator, designer, customer service supervisor, and now at last licensed insurance customer service specialist. After taking 3 courses which are all paid for by my company I will have my Associates in Insurance Services and a couple of courses more I'll get my API (Associate in Personal Insurance); finally next year I can start what I was planning on doing this fall, MBA.
Accepting this job offer was a challenge; I was already a supervisor at my old job but felt nervous, tired and disgusted every day at work. Too much stress, an asshole of a boss and no bright future in sight I was offered a job as CS Specialist in an insurance company and they were going to pay me 22% more! So I said yes although it felt like going backwards in my career. I hope I have made the right choice and that their promise to have promotions in store after a short while is true. I have many stories about working in my new place which I’ll tell in the next post, hopefully soon ;)
Nag your brains out!
One thing that I have a problem with over here is the over-excitement about repetitive and routine events. All year long the shops are just waiting to get a chance to advertise an event to sell more and it gets so tiring sometimes.
I think they have these calendars that tell them, “Ok, only 4 months left to Christmas! Let’s start the tree ornament and decoration sales!!” For god’s sake it 4 freaking months! Give it a rest! Or since 2 months ago they have started with the Halloween stuff and will not give up! Every where we go there are those repetitive, uninteresting pumpkins where the usual things should be.
This fake and pushing enthusiasm is really overwhelming for people who are not constantly waiting for various events to make their life meaningful. When Halloween is done, it’s time for Thanksgiving, and then of course it’s Christmas time and then the whole New Year thingy. Then all the repetitive talk of resolutions and then … Why can’t these people just get a life and stop disrupting ours?