A Day I Will Never Forget

12 07 2009

This past week I have been at a UFE preparation course (Densmore Consulting) in Vancouver. In is a 9 day intensive course to help you pass the UFE in September. There were about 10 of us from the office that attended the course as well as a whole bunch of students from firms all over Vancouver. For the whole week we were all talking about how we will catch the ferry back to Victoria as we all thought we failed the Module 5 exam for CASB (FYI – If you fail the Mod 5 exam, you have to wait a whole year to write the UFE and also retake the entire module!). So we were an anxious bunch that week.

Fast forward to July 10th, Friday afternoon. It is results day. Some of the students skipped the afternoon session as they did not want to be in class to find out the results. The lecture theatre we were at had internet access so I was able to check every 5 seconds or so on the CASB website. As we were listening to the course instructor, one student yells out, “Results are up”. We all rushed to check our results. When I had checked mine, it showed “Not Eligible to Proceed“. I did not pass. I was completely devastated. Let me tell you that it is one of the worst feelings in the world, especially Module 5. It feels like everything that you had ever worked hard for has come to an end and was all for nothing. I sat in the lecture theatre for the next 2 hours with only one question resonating in my mind- “What am I going to do”?

After the session was over, I headed back to the rental car with my co-workers with my head down. As we were driving back to the hotel, other questions began to pop up on what I should do. Should I continue to stick with the course for 3 more days? What will people at the office think about me? When do I have to retake the module? I tried to stay positive but it was hard.

Now some of the students from the office had already left that afternoon and were at the hotel waiting for us. As we were walking back to the hotel rooms they mentioned to us that there was a revised version of the marks on the website. I thought that was pretty odd as there is almost never any “revised” results. Once the marks are up, they are up for good. None of the revised marks had changed the final results of the other students though. Everyone had passed but me. But there was a little glimmer of hope. I had to check again just to make sure but I remained skeptical.

As I checked the revised marks, I saw that I was Eligible to Proceed“. The 3 best words of my life! I was ecstatic! I leaped so high and yelled so loud that I the whole hotel could hear me. I was the happiest man alive at that point. It was such a relief knowing I will be writing this year and not have to retake the module again. I later received a call from CASB headquarters that I had passed and had apologized for the error. It was apparently a computer glitch that screwed the marks up. Some students had it worse than me. Some had passed the first time but failed the second time. That would suck big time!

To celebrate my pass, I went to the BC Lions home opener game vs. the Hamilton Tigercats with a few of my co-workers. It was an entertaining game and the Lions almost came back to tie it in the last minute but an interception caused the Lions to lose 31-28. Here are some of the pictures:

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Singing the National Anthem. That is one huge Canada Flag!

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Having some fun at the beginning of the game. My co-workers (l-r) Michael, Danielle, Brian

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Our row each won a free Tim Horton’s coffee mug with a coffee coupon inside!

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Lion fans celebrating after a touch down

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Setting up for the extra point conversion

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So close to getting free stuff from the blimp!

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What’s a football game without the cheerleaders!!





Recruitment Video

5 07 2009

So I was part of a student recruitment video for my work (Office of the Auditor General of BC). It was so much fun being a part of a video and missing part of the day at work (oops, I hope nobody at work reads this…). The gist of the video is that there are some associates (students) who each have a “puzzle piece” and they each get a call from the Auditor General asking to bring in their “puzzle piece” in front of the Parliament Buildings as soon as possible for an important meeting. Each associate had a different role including an associate studying for the UFE, an associate on tax experience, an associate on an audit, an associate on a flex day. I was the one flexing. So my role would be that I would be riding my bike and get a call from the Auditor General on my Blackberry. (Note: This is a bit misleading  as student’s do not actually get Blackberry’s when they start work, nor do they get called into work during their flex day). I had a few lines something to the effect that I’ll be bringing in the puzzle piece right away. We had to take another take on that since I mumbled my lines the first time…oops!

There was another scene I did where along the way I end up getting a flat tire and was frantically trying to pump my tire as quickly as I could. I can’t wait to see the final take on this as it was pretty funny to see. The last scene I was involved in was the actual piecing in the puzzle pieces at the Parliament Buildings. All the associates were together at this point including the Auditor General. I think you’ll have to wait and see until the video comes out to see what the puzzle is! The final video will be out in a few weeks so I’ll keep you posted.

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Talking to the film crew (notice my puzzle piece)

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Loosening up for the scene

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Pumping my flat tire





Congratulations Roger!

9 06 2009

Congratulations to Roger Federer for winning his 1st French Open and tying Pete Sampras’s record of 14 majors. Possibly the greatest tennis player of all time?

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Roger celebrate





Go Roger!!

30 05 2009

I am predicting it now…it will be Roger and Rafa in the finals of the French. Come on Roger, you can do it!

federer              nadal





Vista 18 – Tax Party

12 05 2009

For our season-end tax party, the company decided to go to Vista 18 restaurant. If you haven’t been to Vista 18 before, you can check it out at www.vista18.com. It is a roof top restaurant with spectacular views of Victoria. I had a real tough time ordering but in the end I chose the roasted peppered lamb with shephards pie. It was mmm mmm good!

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Passion for Steak…I mean Cake!

29 04 2009

Believe it or not, the following pictures below is actually cake – not steak! I received this cake on my birthday when I used to work at FunctionFox a few years back.  My old boss Corina Ludwig is the creator of these fantastic and unique cakes. She makes these cakes as a part time business while working full time as VP of Operations at FunctionFox. Some of the other interesting cakes I’ve seen her make are a pair of shoes, a purse, and a drum cake.

To see more outstanding cakes you can go to www.passionforcakes.com

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