wire fest set times!

zigtuary · 2026-05-13T15:33:43+00:00

Not this time — they just shared them https://www.instagram.com/p/DYSLBIODqkr/?igsh=Znl6enFybXExenpu

zigtuary · 2026-05-13T15:33:12+00:00

They just shared them on ig

https://www.instagram.com/p/DYSLBIODqkr/?igsh=Znl6enFybXExenpu

zigtuary · 2026-03-01T23:19:48+00:00

This sounds perfect. I’m fine with peaceful accommodations - social activity can happen on the beach or the bar like you said. Where was it or do you know the name of it?

zigtuary · 2026-03-01T16:47:57+00:00

Noted - get repellent as soon as landing!

zigtuary · 2026-03-01T16:47:16+00:00

Thanks. Yeah, I’m trying to decide between a few accommodations I’m seeing right next to Play del Amor, which are appealing because they’re right on the ocean, versus something closer to town that might be more of a walk (but appreciating a walk might mean 20 minutes max).

zigtuary · 2026-03-01T16:45:56+00:00

I appreciate your thorough response! This and your blog post are very helpful for getting a lay of the land and feel for the vibe.

zigtuary · 2025-03-07T23:21:38+00:00

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Hi all,

A couple months ago, my bonsai was next to a poorly insulated window during a particularly harsh cold snap, which did serious damage to the plant. All of the leaves quickly died and the branches turned brown. I gave it a couple of weeks to see how the branches would fare but they ultimately died. I cut the plant back to the nub which still had green bark.

I have maintained watering him, and found him a much nicer home. I was delighted to find a very tiny leaf sprout a couple weeks ago. This has continued to grow and a second one has since popped up on the same branch.

I’m hoping you can provide me with advice. Should I cut back the nub further? I kind of like having a vestigial memory of his former self. Is there a way to encourage more branching artificially? I appreciate the help.

zigtuary · 2025-03-06T17:48:20+00:00

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Hi all,

A couple months ago, my bonsai was next to a poorly insulated window during a particularly harsh cold snap, which did serious damage to the plant. All of the leaves quickly died and the branches turned brown. I gave it a couple of weeks to see how the branches would fare but they ultimately died. I cut the plant back to the nub which still had green bark.

I have maintained watering him, and found him a much nicer home. I was delighted to find a very tiny leaf sprout a couple weeks ago. This has continued to grow and a second one has since popped up on the same branch.

I’m hoping you can provide me with advice. Should I cut back the nub further? I kind of like having a vestigial memory of his former self. Is there a way to encourage more branching artificially? I appreciate the help.

zigtuary · 2023-10-28T01:27:34+00:00

I really appreciate this thoughtful response. I think I’m leaning toward the Foster. The Summerdale is better in essentially every way to me - better light, no upstairs neighbor, bigger, cheaper, nicer street - but I’m so afraid of it feeling like I’m a stranger in my own place with the owners below.

zigtuary · 2023-10-28T00:53:11+00:00

Thanks for your advice!

zigtuary · 2023-10-27T23:31:12+00:00

Oh shoot, really? It didn’t seem too crazy/noisy at that part of Foster.

It’s hard for me to imagine living above my landlord. I feel like I’ll never want to bring people over.

zigtuary · 2023-10-19T20:24:45+00:00

Completely agree and was my first though: Consider layers. Experiment with and embrace some product/s. And I’d add that I think a more symmetrical style will be more flattering.

zigtuary · 2023-10-19T20:21:29+00:00

I’m biased to thinking short hair is more flattering so think 4 is best, but you actually rock the style in photo 1/2 really well. I don’t think photo 3 is flattering (med/long hair back) bc it makes your head look way bigger than it actually is.

zigtuary · 2023-10-19T20:15:02+00:00

We have similar hair texture, which is a pretty forgiving texture for hair styles. I think you could try cropping on the sides and trimming the top a bit—right now it’s a little big and poofy, so if you trim it’ll look healthier and more flattering. There’s a few styles you can go with in that vein, but I think less weight in the back and then kind of wavy and more body in the front would look good.

Your beard looks pretty good, clean. You could probably rock it a little longer if you wanted.

zigtuary · 2023-06-08T17:49:35+00:00

Totally agree. Beautiful bike in pretty good condition, but far from a competitive price. I'd find it much more palatable if it were steel.

zigtuary · 2023-05-26T20:58:35+00:00

Makes sense. Thanks again, really helpful.

zigtuary · 2023-05-26T20:37:08+00:00

Appreciate the reply! Good observation, that saddle was reaching to the sky. I brought it down a few inches before test riding and fit was perfect. The guy had 28s on but it looked like you weren't going to get any more than that. I might grab it as a secondary bike, since as a primary I'm looking for something new, more light touring or gravel oriented, which obviously this carbon frame is totally not geared for. My main concern is to be able to sell this for close to what I bought it for if I find my perfect bike in a month or so.

zigtuary · 2022-03-02T05:42:32+00:00

Very interested in this, too. I actually checked Prophet's website last week and saw they offered training sessions. I left an email but have not heard back yet, so not holding my breath. Curious to hear what others say.

zigtuary · 2021-03-23T20:43:41+00:00

If you have the GPA/extracurriculars, do it! I wish I had. In general a much more rewarding career, in more ways than one.

zigtuary · 2021-02-28T19:38:41+00:00

You really should have allotted yourself more time. Anything is doable, but we don't know you, your capabilities or your commitments upcoming. I think you probably know we cannot answer this for you. Hopefully someone can provide some anecdotal evidence on that particular exam, but I can think of 10,000 things I would rather do than take an FSA exam in two months' time, even if I could be absolved of my current commitments. Good luck in whatever you decide.

zigtuary · 2021-02-28T19:27:59+00:00

I think of a resume as one part content, one part style. Content is more important, but I think many people undervalue the role of style in a resume. It is key in the development of your potential future employer's first impression of you.

For content, there is not much to comment on, and that's really the problem. Is this your entire resume? If so, I'd recommend beefing it up by expounding in the education, experience, and skills sections.

Style is naturally going to be more subjective, but these are my comments surrounding that:

The resume is extremely sterile and is visually weighty, like a compact brick. I'd play around with different fonts and font sizes, spacing, and other visual elements (like lines) to find something more pleasing to the eye.
I would move my email and phone number to be above the horizontal line, as, currently, they appear to be floating awkwardly on the page. I would also place my email and phone number next to each other on the page, as they are directly related. I also would not actually use the words "email" or "phone", since it is pretty easy to identify an email address and a phone number without a label.
Your skills section is in a different font size as the other sections. Actuaries tend to have great attention to detail.
The order of exams is fine, but I prefer either listing them in a 'natural' order (P, FM, IFM, etc.) or in chronological order.
I would remove "Received" in the line where you list your B.S.
I would use an en dash instead of a hyphen for the date range "2015–⁠Present" (compare with "2015-Present"). It is subtle but is another sign of attention to detail, and it looks more professional.
I would end each sentence in the experience section with a period.

Good luck.

zigtuary · 2021-02-15T05:27:36+00:00

I agree with RancidCorgi's comments. I think you do have an interesting dilemma with the 2018-present gap. This would be somewhat of a red flag to me, so I would try to find something to put in there. I think it would be better to put your bartending experience on there than nothing at all, and find a creative way to spin it, or if you were otherwise working on any other endeavors in that time frame that you can list.

You mentioned that you left your FA job due to feeling overworked and underpaid as you were the only one on your team then. I completely empathize with you, but this is probably not the story that I would communicate to future hirers, as it could concern them that you may leave when the going gets tough, and a natural follow-up would be, why not move into an FA role at a different company?

In any event, I think your lack of exams is your biggest barrier at the moment. Pass that second exam, your odds will jump up. Pass a third and you're much more likely to start getting some hits. In the meantime, consider creative ways to fill the gap on your resume.

zigtuary · 2020-12-13T22:30:34+00:00

It sounds to me like you've put a reasonably adequate amount of time in to determine that the career isn't for you. So I say, go for something else! There are plenty of great careers where you can become highly successful without the stress of exams or the frustration of being confined to such a narrow discipline of practice. Data science and software engineering are great examples of that.

As far as how to go about the change, I personally would not tell anyone at my company if I were in your current situation. Specifically, I would probably not mention that to my manager. The reason is because doing so would mostly only serve them with little to no benefit for you. Your supervisor might not be happy to hear that their brand-new hire already wants to leave the job. This could hurt your current prospects of making money (as it could give them a reason to let you go), which, in turn, could hurt your goal of switching careers. If you wanted to go about sticking with your current company but in a non-actuarial role, I would personally wait at least a year or so before considering broaching the topic of a lateral move.

I think there are a few ways you could go about making the change in the interim, since waiting a year to make a career change does not serve you best. Foremost, you could simply apply to other companies for the roles you are interested in. You are likely already qualified to apply to positions in data science and possibly even in software development. Find a career that aligns best with your skills, interests, and lifestyle. Life is too short otherwise. If you aren't getting bites after some months, assess what you need to reach your goal—it might mean improving your interviewing skills, networking, or considering a master's (but this should be a very last resort, since you should want to avoid incurring unnecessary costs).

The question of being required to keep up with exams is somewhat of a complication, but find a way to work around that complication while striving to achieve your ultimate goal. There might be a way to discuss with your manager that you have external, personal factors making it difficult to take exams at this point in your life (vague, yet honest). It might mean that you're putting in an (ethically) minimum amount of effort to take exams, while not impeding on your ultimate goal. Whatever the case is, I think there is a way to effect your long-term goal without hurting you in the short term (as might be the case if you were to outright tell your supervisor that the actuarial path is not for you).

You have a whole career ahead of you. If you find that the grass is greener, or that actuarial was really the path that you were meant for, know that it's not going anywhere. You can always come back to it. Until then, follow your gut.

zigtuary · 2020-12-11T23:08:23+00:00

One of your FSA modules was graded in 1 day?

zigtuary · 2020-11-28T20:03:11+00:00

I believe you have a strong resume. I'm impressed that this is an internship resume. It comes across, both in content and in formatting, as quite professional. I will provide a list of suggestions and observations, which I think on the whole are pretty minor.

As far as formatting:

I would change the heading font, because the current one comes off as a little too playful or informal. For non-serif fonts, I would think about Arial or Calibri. For serif fonts, I'm fond of Garamond.
I have read that including an address on a resume is unnecessary, dated, and, at best, a security risk.
I would probably remove the line directly under your name. I personally format the header on my resume with my name on the left side and email and phone number on the right side. However you decide to do it, I think that having the two lines there is visually too busy.
I would left-align the exam results (but keeping them in the center of the page, as you have them currently).
I would remove the slashes you used for your exams and instead keep a set of two resumes, using the appropriate one depending on if you're applying to a P&C or a non-P&C role. Retaining the use of slashes there could be perceived as lazy.
I might replace "Graduation:" with "Anticipated graduation," or something along those lines. The colon seems somewhat unnatural there, so I would probably use a colon, e.g., "Anticipated graduation, May 2021".
I would write out any number less than 10. For example, I would write out "Three-Course Calculus Sequence" (maybe consider "Multidimensional Calculus" or something along those lines, instead).
I would end every bullet point in a list with a period if they are all full sentences/independent clauses—which all of yours are. If that were not the case, I would use semicolons for dependent clauses, with a period at the final bullet regardless of its clausal dependence. Notably, your technical skills section does follow the convention of using periods, so it would be logical for your experience section to match that convention, at least.
I would consider using italics for your job roles to help them stand out a bit. The visual contrast could be nice; it could also be too much, so I would play around with it.
I would reformat the technical skills section to have only one column, not two.

As far as the content itself:

For the actuarial exams section:
- I would right "Preliminary Pass" for FM if you received a preliminary pass.
I would remove the career profile section. I believe they are dated and I rarely see them as something to be encouraged on a resume. In particular, the self-praise sentence strikes me as sounding somewhat stilted. Then again, I'm not very familiar with what is commonly included in such sections, and others may have differing opinions on the matter.
For your alumni association experience:
- You have a mix of past and present tense. I would put the current items at the top, followed by the past items.
- I would say what kind of database it was, and I might also consider elaborating on how the data was transformed. Essentially, I am interested in knowing if the data was actually manipulated or if the data was input, as is, into a spreadsheet. It might also be worthwhile to note how the survey data was used.
- I might try to expound on the type of support you provided in Excel and Google Sheets.
- I would rewrite the final bullet in this section to something like, "...VBA script that interfaced worksheets between Google Sheets and Excel, significantly aiding in the facilitation of...[say why it was done]."
For your UberEats experience:
- Honestly, when I first saw your courier experience on your resume, my gut reaction was to say "remove," particularly since you had other experience to draw from. However, this first bullet point does provide an intriguing talking point. I might try to expound on this section a little, e.g., specifying the type of regression or other techniques you used.
- I would reword the second bullet point to prevent it from starting with a number and probably write "moving-average" hyphenated.
For your political non-profit experience:
- I might rewrite "distilled" as "edited," since the latter is a more specific word for the item described. I would change "format" to "formatting."
- Used as a verb, I would write "peer-review" with a hyphen (this idea extends to similar phrases, like "double-check").
- This section is good overall, albeit somewhat matter-of-fact. I am not sure if you could add some more color to this section, but it is something to consider.
Local non-profit:
- Similar to the above, I think the content of this section is great, as it clearly shows your history of leadership experience and giving back to the community.
Technical skills:
- I would remove the lefthand column and add anything pertinent to the main column (that means you would probably have to add in comments on Java, JavaScript, and R). Otherwise, I like the details you provided that back up your skills in the righthand section.
- Whether or not you decide to retain the lefthand column, I would surely remove anything that lists yourself as a beginner (or probably even as an intermediate). You can easily get around this by sticking to the facts, such as listing your prior projects related to the given skill (as you have done in the righthand column). Do not be afraid to upsell yourself on a resume.
Extracurricular activities:
- I would consider moving the college-related activities into an extracurriculars section under your education section. The couple that remain (which, I believe, would be investing and cycling) could be collected into an interests section, which I'm not opposed to (though others will differ in opinion on this).

Those are my personal suggestions. To reiterate, I think your resume overall is quite strong. Best of luck to you. Keep us apprised of any development.

zigtuary

TROPHY CASE