Week 37 Review-37 Year Life Celebration

This week marked my 37th anniversary and life celeration, commonly known as a “birthday”.  Here are a few pictures

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I spent most of the week considering what two task I would take on for the upcoming year, and settled on the following goals:

1. Intermittent Fasting

   1. I never really took the time to consider that my weight gain (12lbs) might be due to the time and type of food I consumed.  So while sitting in the bed with my partner who actually took some time to do the research on Intermittent Fasting we decided to give it a try.  Keep in mind abstaining from eating from 8pm to 12pm the next day takes some life adjustments, but so far I haven’t really noticed much in the way of craving after what we have termed in the house as ” The Blackout” period

      

      My Vegetarian Plate

2. Fitness Education & Tools

   1. Defining what level of physical fitness I am currently at vs what level of physical fitness I want to be by September 08 2016.  I have studied for the NASM Personal Trainer certification but after being forced to leave the school I simply have not cracked open a book.
   2. Surprised this week with new technology that will assist me in my fitness journey.  I am the proud owner of a new Apple Watch Sport in black.  When I took it out the box I figured I have small writs it would fit as is straight out of the box, but you I am very happy I kept the medium/large band option.  Last 48 hours with the watch has been really allot of fun.  I spent about 2 hours actually setting up all the notifications and decided to take it along for my weekend walk.  Did my 3.70 mile walk this Saturday and killed a 3.19 mile walk this sunday 

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Well guys that’s about it for this week.  I will see you guys next week on Sunday with week 38 update.  Have a great week and make sure you get some exercise.

People say I’ve had a difficult time in life. I think I’ve had an exciting time in life. ~Iyanla Vanzant~

Aon Advocacy-How I Got Hired in less than 6 months.

So you want to be an Advocate right?  You want to help educate, guide and assist with resolution of many different issues?  So what does it take to become and Advocate?  Short answer are many things make advocates and my journey may be slightly different than yours but the result is still the same.  

1. Video Interview

   -You will start the process here with a video interview that honestly is very easy to do.  Don’t over think it!  Just sit down and answer the questions as if your new boss is sitting there talking to you.  I had a bit of expierence going into the interview because in the past I had interviewed with Aon via video but my application was pulled during open enrollment for another position.  

2. Phone Interview

   -If you make it too step two than prepare to show your background in ;claims or health insurance, or you are a wiz with getting appeals paid.  This is your first time speaking with your manager so make sure you come prepared and you answer the questions intelligently and briefly.  They will let you know if they want further details.  

3. In Person Interview

   – Made it this far so now it’s time to talk about what you can bring to the Advocacy family.  Are you an organized person with a flair for presenting bad news? Or are you someone who loves the art of looking through plan details to help a person understand why a claim is failing to pay properly?  What ever your quirky skill bring it to the table and let your mangers see where and with what team you fit best.  

4. Offer Letter and Background Check

   -Congratulations you made it and you have your offer letter.  Trust me your work has just started.  You will have many challenges to overcome and I encourage you now to remember to stay patient with yourself.  You have made it far and to reach your goal you may need to provide background information, proof of education and financial planning.  Remember this is normal and you may feel like it won’t end but this is what being and advocate is all about.  Looking over the details.  

5. First Day Check In

   – Take some time to write down your goals and plan where you want to go.  This process has taken me 6 months to land this job and my process will vary from yours but the steps are the same.  

Five steps that will test your patience and your dedication to becoming an advocate.  You know when your finally take a seat at you’re desk you have earned your way to be called an Advocate.  

2008 Scion XB

Year end goal finally reached and I could not be more proud of the hard work.  We worked hard throughout the year and finally stopped by and picked up our car I have passionately named Beast.  Beast is our 2008 Scion XB with just over 38,000 miles in really good shape.  No cosmetic flaw with tires in mint condition. One previous owner who took great care of his car.  This is a keeper for me!

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Wheeling Pine Hill Condominium Fire

  
Pinehill Condominium at 500 Manda Lane, Wheeling IL 60090 awakes at 1:30 am to the all to familiar sounds of the fire alarm.  This time it’s not a drill!  A fire broke out on the second floor and while the fire doors closed you could only go out though the emergency exit.  

Like most residents when the fire alarm goes off you open your door and start to smell for smoke.  This time the acrid smell of burning plastic filled the hallway.  I ran around downstairs to see if I could see the fire but the smoke was pretty thick.  I ran back up stairs to get my family and let them know it was a real fire and we had to move.   

 

 By this time several police and fire departments were on the scene.  Once my family was safely out of the house we were told we could not go back in.  Neighbors stood by each other confused about where the fire was and if anyone was hurt.  Several people we injured and taking to the hospital..but as we were told by police no one was killed. 

Police kept us out of our condo for the next two hours to allow the carbon monoxide levels to lower.  We finally were allowed back inside at 5am.  

 

3rd floor panels were removed

Now that all the smoke has cleared!  You can see the extensive damage 
  
My prayers go out to all the families affected and displaced by the fire.  

Simple-Not A Happy Camper

Simple I am not a happy camper right now!  Why you may ask?  Let me explain how this small inconvience has spiraled into a major problem.  While working out I received notification from my Simple team letting me know there was some questionable activity on my account (see photo below)

 

I rushed out of the gym to call Simple to confirm I have never heard of Lazeda from Thailand.   The young lady who helped me did her best to assure me my money was safe and that she was deactivating my card and would send a replacement out to me as soon as she could.  I explained I had to catch a flight next weekend and would be out of town and I needed this resolved.  She overnights the card to me and it arrives one day early (awesome job), now the problems start..
I rush home to get the package before my rental office closes and activate my  card and request Apple Pay Set Up.  Activation of the card is complete so I go through the task of updating all my accounts (HULU, Netflix, Apple Music etc) only to get errors ” your card information is incorrect“. I was puzzled and continued to enter information thinking I was missing a number or expiration date.  Finally I pick up the phone and called to track down the problem, and was informed of the following:

1) Your card was shipped out so quickly we were unable to create your account. But that will be resolved by 11:55 pacific time. 

WTF are you talking about?  Creating my account?  I already have an account  with Simple why do you need to create a new one? 

2) Repeat Call (7 min later) second agent explained this was a “unique” case and that again “this rarly happens” which leads me to beleve this has happened in the past but this was not covered in a FAQ 

After my second call I was so frustrated with the situation that I was never informed my card would have to be relinked to my account after it was shipped, that I considered taking my business else where.  

Let me be clear about this post, I am not blowing off steam or venting my emotions, but rather informing others who will eventually have to have a card replaced due to stollen wallets or questionable activities need to know they MAY receive a card they cannot use for 24 hours after activation.  

Fee free to contact me if you have any further questions! 

  

It’s September

Ok today is the first day of September and I am very happy to welcome in the fall.  We still have about 30-40 days of 90 degree temps here in the Northern Suburbs to go before the affects of summer wear off.  

Today marks the anniversary and completion of my two goal I can mark off in 2015:

1. I quit smoking in August 2014 and have not looked back.  I will admit when I first started down this road I was worried when the journey of life seemed really tough I would reach back for enouragement through the consumption of nicotine.  I could not be happier that nicotine no longer has a hold on me.
2. I remember the last meat I consumed and How it made me feel afterwards.  After that glorious moment I decided to no longer consume flesh and I have stuck by that mindset.  

I gave up nicotine and meat on the same day and how do I feel 1 year later?  Amazing!  

  

Got me to thinking?

Have you ever noticed when you are really not giving something your all?  Today while my mind was hyped up on Redbull and running in hyperthread mode I noticed a few things I simply had to be honest about. I have not been giving school the attention it really deserves.  Here I am expected to pay this school over $900 to cover classes in June and July of 2015 and I am not really giving this process my “very best”.   Going to school online has always been pretty easy for me, basically you do a few post and write a paper and overall your done.

Unfortunately this simply will not get me through this certification program.  I have to kick myself in the butt and buckle down and set up a goal to get my certification done and over with.  I know this journal entry is pretty random but hey it’s better out of the mind then swimming around in there keeping me from a awesome night sleep.

So let’s get started!  Let’s turn a C and mediocre effort into something I can look back and be proud of..

These are my thoughts, my mind is not a good place to hold them so I share them with the worlds conversation!