ryanstask

Cabrillo Ocean Series Race 3

2009-03-30T12:27:00.000-07:00

This is probably the best sailing movie I've made yet:

On top of San Diego

2009-03-26T19:24:00.000-07:00

On top of San Diego

CFPeved

2009-03-23T15:09:00.000-07:00

The test was a bitch. Truthfully, I'm not sure I passed. There we're just too many things coming at me that I was not sure about.

Whatever the case, my fate is in the hands of something called the "modified Angoff method" of scoring.

Life goes on.

Enjoy a recent movie I made of a local hike:

Incommunicado

2009-03-12T11:15:00.000-07:00

Not that I was doing a lot of posting anyway, but I’m going to drop off the grid starting this weekend and going into next week in the days leading up to the CFP exam.

I already told work I was taking the entire next week off. I want to leave the March 20th exam thinking, “Nailed it!” I’ve been studying like crazy since December but I just want a little insurance.

I've also told the hubby I would be sitting at my desk studying every day by 6:30AM or I will buy him a lavish dinner at San Diego’s famous Marine Room Restaurant. No downside for him, but a $250 dinner bill to me if I don’t wake my ass up and get busy before dawn.

Cabrillo Ocean Regatta - Race 3

2009-03-09T16:23:00.000-07:00

Well it took 9 hours 35 minutes and 32 seconds, but we finished first in the 44.25 miles Cabrillo Ocean Race - the third in the four race series. It was a hell of a ride in which we only used the spinnaker for the LAST 3 MILES. Amazing!

Here was our GPS path:

One more race to go. If we do well we win the entire series. Go Team!!

CFP - Take Deux

2009-03-05T11:58:00.000-08:00

Fifteen days till I take the CFP exam… again. This time I’m much more prepared and focused. I’m taking the week off before the test for a full scale review. I’ve been getting home at 5PM almost every night and studying till 9ish. Thankfully my boyfriend has been understanding knowing this is the single most important test of my life… at least until I make my way over to the CFA Level I.

This weekend I’m taking some time out for another extended sailing race down into Mexico. The weather is starting to look bad so I’m excited about the prospects of actual heavy winds and rough seas. Fear not, my friends, there will be about 30 boats in the fleet and we’ll never be more than 20 miles from the shore.

Heineken Regatta Remembered

2009-03-03T22:05:00.000-08:00

A year ago this week I and several friends competed in the Heineken Regatta. We were supposed to go again this year, but once the economy started to dive everyone pulled out. Yesterday we had a party to remember the event. Here is the movie I made for the team:

Too much reading....

2009-02-26T22:31:00.000-08:00

My candle burns at both ends
It will not last the night
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends
It gives a lovely light!

- Edna St. Vincent Millay

Tottering

2009-02-23T22:21:00.000-08:00

I don't much like to talk about work on this blog, but... this market continues to suck (as if I needed to tell you). There has to be some catalyst out there to turn this thing around. Thankfully my company has been doing pretty well and I'm not worried about my job. But I do have a few friends that have lost their jobs - one whose wife is pregnant. Sheesh.

What a mess. I guess I'll just hang on and keep dollar cost averaging.. right?

While I was in my CFP review course this weekend the instructor - one of the most knowledgeable guys I've ever meet with respect to finance - kept saying "Now try not to laugh through this section" when it came to parts of the study guide going over FNMA, systematic market risk, and general principles of investing that have been up till now gospel. These are interesting times.

The economist in me is fascinated by the pure spectacle of it all. This is truly a pure Keynesian test of jacking up the economy with government spending and a certain degree of tax deductions. The last time the government moved at this scale was right before WWII. Some argue the results were distorted by the war, while others say "You see, it worked." I've always been in the former camp, as if it matters.

So I go on with my daily trainwreck fascination of watching the markets teeter on the brink of collapse. At this pace I'll finish the CFP just in time to manage portfolios consisting mostly of vapors.

Daily drudge...

2009-02-20T10:10:00.000-08:00

I have my morning rituals as I imagine you do.

Most days I log into my computer at work. While it boots up the endless programs I use throughout the day I get a cup of coffee. When I get back it's time to visit NASA's Photo of the Day. Love it. Yesterday's picture was particularly amazing.

Included in Friday's schedule is something I've been doing for around ten years. I log into MSNBC's The Week in Pictures and try to vote for the WORST picture. It's harder than you think. Over the years I've come up with about 20 rules to follow when determining which photo to choose. As the list is too long I'll save it for another day. In the mean time feel free to try your hand at picking the worst picture of the lot.