Making honey

It's been an immensely busy week. I suppose in most aspects, that's a good thing. I've got about four hundred new topics to blog about, and I'm starting to feel a little bit more confident in my pursuits. Unfortunately, all of this activity has left me exhausted at the end of the day. The blog took a little lower priority than it probably should have. I mean, one day, ok, but two days of an NCIS rerun taking higher priorty? Probably not a good thing.

Perhaps the most interesting, non-intuitive thing I did all week was meet with two Amerirprise guys. At a job support group, two Ameriprise guys sat in, saying they were there to help counsel people who needed financial help in this time and possibly use their network to help them find a job and that they were willing to meet with all people.

I agreed to meet with these fellows, which defies most common sense. On one hand, was I setting myself up for harassing phone calls, high pressure techniques, and a sordid breakup with my current financial advisor? I decided that if these guys were allowed to sit in on a state sponsored job support group meeting, they were probably a little more legit than your average bear. Besides, if they weren't, I would have the joy of reporting them to the QSC director who probably would be less than pleased should they be preying on desperate people on his watch.

To my surprise, the guys weren't as selfishly motivated as I thought. I was completely prepared for an onslaught of aggressive financial salesmanship. But at least half of the meeting was spent discussing my resume, career goals, and whether or not they knew anybody that could help. Turns out, there were at least two companies they worked for that were good leads, and they said they would be happy to be used as contacts should I find an occasion to do so.

And I did indulge them in some financial planning discussion. In my particular case, I have a financial advisor I'm reasonably happy with. He's done a good job making sure I understand the complexities of my investments. Plus, financial advisors are like wives. You don't dump your wife because someone one point higher on the looks scale walks by. It's a long term commitment. I won't divorce until he completely screws my financial pooch.

So that said, I have at least two new good LinkedIn contacts, some more leads, and got out of the house to boot.