Television Shows To Watch

Here are some tv shows that I've been watching recently.

1. History Channel/NatGeo/History International/Discovery Channel documentaries.
What can I say? I'm a history nerd. Seriously. Cold War conspiracies? Seen it. Exodus Revealed? Know it. Anything regarding the DaVinci Code? Uh huh. Science stuff on the planets? Yup. Anything regarding the Bible and history/science? Totally. And then of course there's Mythbusters.

2. Miami Ink/LA Ink/London Ink.
It all started with Miami Ink. And then Kat Von D left Miami to go back home to Los Angeles, and TLC gave her her own Ink show. And I have no idea how or when London Ink popped up. But because it revolves around tattoos and tattoo shops, I watch it.

3. Dog Whisperer
Cesar is remarkable. I don't know if he's "legit" or not, but he does a lot of scientific stuff. Its a lot like retraining the dogs, not him claiming to be able to talk to dogs and tell their owners what they are 'thinking' like other animal whisperers. Its a rather good show, and I like to watch it because I have a pitbull back home with my mom, and I can only imagine what Cesar would do with her.

4. The Office (USA)
The dry comedy series from England made its way across the pond into American homes. I haven't actually seen a full episode yet, but I bought season one to get started. What I have seen so far is hilarious. I'm familiar with the British series and Ricky Gervais, and if the American version is just as funny as the British version, this show has a lot of potential. I think the series is in season 4 right now, so I have a lot catch up on.

5. Heroes
This one is a guilty pleasure. I didn't get into Heroes until halfway through season two. Then I went to a friend's house, and watched the unaired pilot episode and was instantly hooked. I joined Columbia House DVD club (I'm a huge movie fan), bought the Office (1) and Heroes (1) for a total of $9.95 and watched Heroes in one weekend. Amazing. Simply amazing. Its basically a series about a group of unique individuals with specific powers. It reminds me a lot of the show the 4400, without the abductions.

6. Prison Break
I've been a huge fan of this one since its premiere. When I was in college, I'd get all my friends hooked on the show, end up watching Season One on DVD a couple times with different people. And then Season Two came on last year, and of course I bought the DVD set when that came out, and now Season Three is currently on their mid-season season hiatus, partially due to the Writer's Strike. Prison Break features Wentworth Miller as Michael Scofield, a structural engineer who tattooed the blueprints of Fox River Penitentiary onto himself to break out his brother, Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell), who was wrongfully accused of murdering the vice president's brother and sat on Death Row. The whole series revolves around conspiracies and close calls, and the storyline of breaking out of prison has survived three seasons. I can't wait until this show is back on the air in January.

7. Beavis and Butt-head
What can I say about those two? I'm still surprised the show is syndicated.

8. Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Oh my god. Funniest show I've seen in a long time. The series takes place primarily in Paddy's Pub, a bar owned by three friends - Charlie, Mac, and Dennis - and Dennis's twin sister Dee. Danny DeVito plays Frank, who raised Dennis and Dee, but later it was revealed that Frank is not their real father, but rather a rich philanthropist named Bruce (the guy who played the dad on Seventh Heaven). And Frank may even be Charlie's dad. But yeah, each episode is based upon an issue which the gang ends up bastardizing. The Welfare episode is a classic. Dennis and Dee go on unemployment and learn of Welfare. Dee pretends to be retarded, Dennis pretends to be a recovered drug addict, and in the process, Dee and Dennis end up getting addicted to crack.
The show is in its third season on FX. Read more...

Jobs and Games

So I quit my job. Why? I haven't gotten paid. I can't afford to work there. So I've been job hunting, putting in applications for everything else except fast food. So far, nothing. Ugh.

And I got Rock Band and Assassin's Creed for the XBox 360. Amaaaazing games. Currently playing through guitar solo career on medium, drum solo career on medium. Love the Create a Rocker features. Love the earning money feature (you get money for each song no matter if you've already played it).

Assassin's Creed. All I can say is WOW. Graphics are sick, the storyline is awesome. I just finished my first mission, and according to the storyline, I have 8 more targets to go. The hidden wrist blade is the sickest weapon known to man. I love sneaking up on soldiers and Templars and assassinating them.

Hopefully I'll get a job where I can support this habit of playing video games. Read more...

Christmas = Slow

The upcoming holidays are really throwing off my work schedule. I could only manage to get three appointments today, luckily it was local. The first appointment turned out to be a dud (couldn't help them), the second appointment I got blew off at the door, and I can't find the third house even though I've been up and down the road for half an hour. I tried calling also, but no answer. What a shame.

And business is slow too. No one wants to buy anything because they're worried about the holidays. Life insurance is a great gift, folks. Trust me.

Went to admissions today. They're finally processing my application, FinAid is finally processing the money stuff, and my favorite faculty member in the entire world is now the administrative assistant in Admissions and wants me to work with her next semester and over the summer! So I'll be getting another job next month! Go me.

School+ Work + Work. It seems like high school all over again when I worked two jobs and went to school all day. I love it. Love being busy. Read more...

Medi(doesn't)care

There's a lot of controversy going on in the insurance and health care businesses regarding Private-Fee-For-Service plans, or PFFS. As an insurance agent contracted with three companies regarding health care, especially for senior citizens, I have to know what's going on.

Okay, sure, I'm not 65 yet. That doesn't mean anything. If Medicare is falling apart now, I can only imagine what it'll be like when I retire. It almosts makes me want to NOT retire.

Back to PFFS. PFFS is basically a restructuring of Medicare benefits. There's Medicare Part A, Part B, and as of 2006, Part D (Prescription Drug Plan). The PFFS is like a Part C, also called Medicare Advantage. All you really do is enroll in these plans, and you pay a co-payment to the doctor.

Sounds great, huh? Sometimes. The biggest concern is that not everyone accepts PFFS. And that's the big controversy right now, at least in the NC-Triangle area.

With all these other providers (United Health, BC/BS, Humana, Pyramid), its not a regulated practice, and that's the beauty of it; no contracts to hospitals and health care providers. But because of the lack of regulation, PFFS plans are not paying in a timely manner, not paying a decent amount, and even denying claims. This is because PFFS is run by the insurance companies, not Medicare.

I wonder which presidential candidate will address this one. Read more...

Introduction

I work in your typical cubicle job. I sit at a desk with a telephone and note cards and papers. I call people on the phone all day. I schedule appointments to come see them, speak to them, and try to sell to them. I work in the Senior's division of a major insurance company. I am an insurance agent.

I just started though. This is my second week at the job. Do I like my job? Sure. Hell with fluorescent lights, then? Not necessarily. Its just what I call every cubicle job.

This blog is more of a personal blog than a work-related blog. I'll post things about my life, but since my job takes up roughly 12 hours a day out of my daily life, a majority of this will pertain to my job. Expect post about technology, gadgets, gizmos, movies, tv shows, what I want for Christmas, recipes, money, etc. It's a catch-all, you poor readers. Read more...