progress at work

I guess I haven't said much about my job. I work for the Commercial Business Division, and for the past 6 weeks or so, I have been working out of the Corporate (down the street) office on a special project. I am single-handedly rewriting the programming language that we use to pull the policy data out of the mainframe and validating that the data is good. Six weeks ago, I had never seen the programming language that I am using (SAS). And today, I am almost finished with the job. I guess I'm what you might call a "SAS-Master."

My position is extremely unique and I am doing very non-traditional actuarial work that causes me to have direct interaction with upper layers of management. I have made a fine impression on a lot of people and have already seen some direct benefits.

• I am officially admitted to the Actuarial program now, which means that they are paying me to study and helping me with fees, seminars, etc. to help me pass subsequent exams (and reimbursing me for the one I just passed.)
• The VP in Corporate Risk Management has made a deal with my boss in Commercial to transfer me into his department at the end of the year. (I think I am not supposed to know this yet - but I am elated because I basically keep doing what I am doing - walking distance from my house - for good.)
• My promotion paperwork is in, so I get the Actuarial Assistant job title and a raise (I've been there <120>

My only regret is that big car payment I'm making on the idea that my commute would be 70 miles a day. (Hey, anyone want to take over payments on a brand new Mazda3 with less than 4,000 miles?)

I am trying to study for my second exam: Interest Theory and Financial Deriviatives. It's extremely hard to make the commitment necessary to master this stuff in 16 weeks. I made it on goal through week one. (Which is why I haven't posted anything.) My typical day involves working until 2:30. Coming home and studying until bed. Cooking and eating dinner and showering are the only short "breaks" from study I get. Weekends are: hang out with Mark until noon. Study until bedtime. (Obviously, given that I am posting this, I am a little more liberal with the breaks when I am studying for a 9 hour block.) I realized that if I put in enough effort to pass every exam on my first attempt from now on, I could be an "Associate" in three years. (That would be really exceptional - the average is 7 years - so reality probably lies somewhere in between.)