Payday!

09 30 2008 - 12:00 pm. Category: work

First paycheck since April, woo!

UPDATE 10/1: Expense reimbursement, woo!

Patriotism, Individualism, Socialism, and Politics

09 29 2008 - 2:28 pm. Category: two cents

I'm sure by now everyone who's anyone has heard about the $700 billion bailout plan. If it passes we are all doomed to something like $2,000 of debt when it is distributed amongst the American population. For this reason many are apposed to it.

I for one am up in the air, or at least I was until I started thinking about where this post was going.

On the one side, it seems fundamentally wrong for the government or it's people to bail out companies that are suffering because of their own poor policies and judgment. There really shouldn't be a "get out of jail free" card. I can perfectly understand not supporting the bailout plan. Even with the multiple reforms to the bill preventing its abuse.

But on the other side is a notion of responsibility. Call me Japanese, but I believe at some level individuals are responsible for the welfare of their country. It's the classic "do what's right for the whole, not the individual" argument which is not a very American concept, considering our love of individualism. But when your country is under pressure, potentially on the brink of failure, I believe there is a level of duty to protect it, save it, and help rebuild it. I don't think this is a far-flung notion. It happened after 9/11, it's why many people join the military, and it's what creates the occasional politician (the ones that become truly great).

See it as big government bailing out big business while the individual forks the bill if you like, but I see it as each individual contributing to the welfare of the whole. It's not saving some big business, it's saving your family, friends, coworkers, neighbors, favorite bartender, and the friendly checker at the grocery store from the economic hardship that would ensue if capitalism in essence fails. Individual livelihood is dependent on the situations they are in. This includes the government and economy they live under. Saving your skin some tax dollars will not make you necessarily better. If the economy suffers, we all suffer.

Speaking of the tax dollars. Do individuals and news corporations just fail to realize that our tax system is based on a scale? Not every single American would get a $2,000 tag on their head. Tax brackets people, it's pretty simple. It would depend on the tax system in place as to how much each person would see an increase.

I was saddened to read today that the House didn't pass the bill. And the major reason? Elections are in five weeks. Getting reelected is more important. Politics should not be an element in this situation, it should be about what is best for our country and how to keep it strong. Call me socialist if you will, but politicians have a responsibility of keeping this country thriving which results in protecting the livelihood of their constituents. Voting no simply to hope you get reelected is a very individual stance to take. Why would you reelect a person like that anyway?

There is no doubt some serious mistakes have been made by corporations, and it is unfair for them to receive a bailout. But if that is what our country needs to avoid an economic crisis, do it. If that is what we need to get back on track to a profitable and growing economy, do it. After you do it, then you motion for the reform. Some form of regulation needs to be put in place, creating a good piece of legislation will take time. The bailout is by no means a solution to the problem, it is a stop-gap measure.

With that I'm done. It's a terrible closing but I'm stuck and ranted out at this point. Just think on the perspective difference. Look at the whole, not at yourself. Imagine your personal situation in a suffering economy, and imagine your situation in a better economy, where you suffer to some degree with everyone else. Which results in a greater good/better situation?

UPDATE: The 770+ point drop in the stock market today as a result of the no vote cost the economy an estimated $1.1 trillion. Just a bit more than the $700 billion it would cost the government.

Quickies

09 26 2008 - 11:43 am. Category: default

• The cheap pencil sharpener I picked up for my desk (with batteries more costly than it) is terribad. The thing is the loudest sharpener I have ever heard. Remember that red pencil I hate? Now I have a sharpener I loathe to go with it (I probably won't use it, it's embarassing how loud it is).



• Speaking of loud, my new alarm clock woke me up quite quick on Monday.



• Why is it that what looked and felt like a perfect shave that morning ends up being missed hairs and rough when you look in the mirror at work?



• A New York Times contributor and Princeton Univeristy professor said "all your decissions are belong to me" on Monday's Countdown. He was refering to Paulson's plan to personally control, without oversight, the 700 billion of bailouts. Win.



• The copy machine near me has been named Patrick Oliver Smith - think about it. The feeder likes to jam.
  

Paranoia Mix

09 25 2008 - 12:54 am. Category: default

My friend stumbled this to me tonight. I had to share:

/facepalm

09 24 2008 - 3:54 pm. Category: work

The phone on my direct desk line rings
Me: This is Derek
Girl: Is this Susan?
I notice the girls confused, young, teenage voice.
Me: No. Who are you looking for?
Girl: What's your name?
Me: I tell her my full name.
Girl: What's your last name?
Me: I give her my last name again.
Girl: What's your last name?
Me: And again. sounding a little flabergasted and annoyed.
Girl: Oh, I'm calling about the square dancing.
Me: This is a public accounting firm, you have the wrong number.
Girl: Really?
Me: Yes.
At this point she varifies the phone number with me, which was indeed mine and there is an awkward hangup.

Break for lunch. Which btw was very tasty sheperd's pie.

The phone on my direct desk line rings
Me: This is Derek
Girl: Your name is Larry right?
Me: No.
Girl: Oh, well I wanted to call about the square dancing and make sure it wasn't you guys.
Me: We're a public accounting firm, you have the wrong number.
Girl: Oh *click*

Because we did NOT go over the fact that she had the wrong number last time.

Sword of Truth!

09 24 2008 - 12:14 am. Category: default

Craig over at Puntabulous posted today about this up-and-coming TV show. It is based on the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind. This is one of my favorite fantasy series. It's adult in the sense that it isn't the magical fantasy of Harry Potter and the character development is well done. Granted Goodkind started to drag it out through the last couple of books, but it is still a great series.

The show has turned the main character from a grown, woodsman, adult (pushing romance novel rogue-ish), individual into a young pretty boy. But I'm vain enough I don't mind that. I just hope they keep the story enough to make me love it:

Unpossible

09 23 2008 - 12:08 pm. Category: default

I've run out of things to do with the Internets. Well at least at work. I've checked my email, read the Warcraft forums, read the interesting articles on MSNBC, dinked around on Warcraft.com, and updated my Google calendar with the debate schedule.

Yes, yes, there is more to do with the Internets but what I can do at work is limited. I don't stumble, simply because I could come across something NSFW and random noisy websites.

Btw, it's currently 10:08. I have no work to do today as of yet. I put in 45 minutes of actual work yesterday.

Hmm... maybe I'll look at apartments...

UPDATE: Right after I posted this they got some work for me to do. Work who's procedures are not solidified or clarified, so I am a tiny bit frustrated. We're converting client stuff from one system to another and I've done a few already but just today I learned about the check list, and the client list, and what we have to print, and they still don't have an answer about who is reviewing it afterward. gah.

It is getting overcast

09 22 2008 - 12:53 pm. Category: default

Happy autumnal equinox everyone. Here's a couple shots of my visit to Berlin last October:

09 21 2008 - 12:22 am. Category: default

It is finally fixed! This is my Germany watch. I woke up after a rough night of partying to my old Fred Meyer watch with a busted crystal and a lack of tick. So I picked up a new one while I was in Germany. Then, about three months ago or so a pin fell out of this watch, it fell to the sidewalk (face down) and then I stepped on it. Pure tragedy.

It's weird wearing a watch after months without one. While no watch tan line is a plus, I definitely felt naked for a while. Putting it on today, it felt kinda of foreign. I'm glad to have it back though! You can probably see the scratches on the face, a repair to be done later.

Quickies

09 17 2008 - 3:40 pm. Category: default

• It's amazing the amount of increased comfort you get sitting at work all day by taking out your wallet.



• In classic slap-stick comedy fashion I took out an entire display of tuna with my cart at the grocery store.



• Twice this week I was baralled past by short fat women who found it easier to use their moment to get me to move rather than a polite word.



• I drooled on myself a little when I feel asleep on the tram this week. I also missed my stop.



• Yesterday was a very Picard-esque day. I wore a sweater and kept tugging it down all smooth when I stood up.



• My alarm clock decided to die last night. Forty-five minutes late to work, but no one was here yet to notice. I also took a long lunch and left a half hour early. Huzzah for off-season Fridays!

Cue Jeapordy music

09 16 2008 - 3:09 pm. Category: work

I've worked for all of 45 minutes today. That's how long it took me to complete the level 2 return I was given at 4:00 yesterday. By 9:00 I was out of work to do.

I'm now also out of news worth reading and Warcraft forums as well. I also did some preliminary research into switching banks, since Washington Mutual is facing some tough times.

I've got nothing left to occupy myself. My "use me, please" email to the office got no responses.

Good thing I'm salaried.

UPDATE: I created an avalanche of tuna cans at the grocery store today. Go me.

The right to bear bandwidth

09 16 2008 - 12:39 am. Category: two cents

Comcast has officially put a 250gb bandwidth cap. Supposedly like most of Europe, Comcast clients will only have so much bandwidth allotted each month for total uploading and downloading. I'm not a fan (thankfully we're with Verizon). I wonder how they managed to pull this off, that significant a change in the client-provider contract has to cause some issue somewhere.

Internet is something we pay to access, I do not believe it gives providers the right to control the frequency of that access. Once the magnitude of access comes under corporate control, it will make it a lot easier for the content to come under control as well. There goes net neutrality.

From LogicSequence: " what i'm REALLY scared of is the "tiered" service ideas like they do with cable tv... where you'd have to pay more to access more than google/yahoo/amazon, and even more to access other sites... There'd be the socialization tier (myspace, facebook), the info tier (wiki, encyclopedia.com), the news tier (abcnews, cnn.com) all costing more $$$." I find this even more frightening. Surely this falls under something dealing with the freedom of information.

The right to bear bandwidth. Not in the Constitution by any means, but I think it's something worth contending for. Keep in mind anytime anyone puts restrictions on the distribution and access to information. What's the point? What do they gain? What do we lose? (more)

12 of 12, September

09 14 2008 - 11:00 pm. Category: 12 of 12

As you well know, 12 of 12 is when a bunch of bloggers share 12 photos of their life on the 12th of the month. It was originated by Chad Darnell. This month, I was at the Mt. Angel Oktoberfest. It was a visit back to my hometown.




06:28:34 - I had to go to work first on Friday. I was packing my lunch.



08:32:35 - Of course, by "work" I mean "sit at my desk for four hours with nothing to do." I brought along my old auditing text book to work on writing up an idea I thought of the other night. Thankfully some work turned up for me by noon.



12:35:03 - This is Boxer, my university's mascot. He guards my desk, particularly my phone and my keys.



05:14:10 - We're off to Oktoberfest! But first Boyfriend and I had to pick up my "wife" at a park along the way. There were swings, we took advantage of the opportunity.



08:22:19 - We're here! And now it is time to find some sausage! This was before the drinking started. Btw that's Caro on the left, Sarah on the right. These are the women of my life.



08:32:58 - Oh look! We found the beer!



08:36:06 - Me being ridiculously silly as is my fashion. I think Sarah was technically manning the camera on this one.



08:59:25 - I took this picture to document a miracle: Caroline finished a second beer.



09:21:16 - Everyone say hi. :)



09:42:44 - We found this hat sitting on a garbage can. When I went to grab it some punk kid came up to me and was all "Dude you should take it. My bro told me to hold it for him and I was just gonna leave it there." The kid wandered off, so we took the hat. We passed it around all night. Caro definitely pulled it off the best.



10:03:48 - Back into the Weingarten. This is just to give you an idea of the crowd.



10:14:30 - Boyfriend getting some kisses.

At that point my camera died. The rest of the night was pretty much the same (Saturday night too). Accept for the fore-blogged event, it was a great time.

A friendly reminder

09 13 2008 - 12:53 pm. Category: default

Last night's Oktoberfest was a blast, and we are doing it again tonight. The beer is over-priced but tasty and the sausage is to die for. My camera died, but I think I have sufficient pictures for a decent 12 of 12. I'll probably get that out to you all on Sunday or Monday.

There was something that soured the evening though.

While in the Biergarten, my friend Kyle jokingly lifted his leg up onto me, I'm sure you know the gesture. When he did that, one of the tent staffers walked up and said to us "I wouldn't do that. Something like will get you kicked out of here." He was too chicken-shit to say what "that" was, but it was obvious.

I live in a fairly liberal bubble of accepting individuals, family, and friends. My experiences with bigotry and discrimination are few and far between which makes them sting. I felt comfortable in my home town because it is home. Good to be reminded otherwise.

As a side note, the law adding discrimination based on sexual orientation to the list of anti-discrimination legislation in the state of Oregon takes affect January 1.

Ow, my eyes!

09 12 2008 - 10:10 am. Category: default

You know what sucks? Driving into the sunrise at 7:20 in the morning when you don't know exactly where you are giong, which streets go what way, and which intersections have signs, signals, or nothing.

You know what's awesome? I made it to the office driving this morning in 30 minutes. Via the highway it would take me 45 minutes to an hour, if not more. But I only drove into today because after work I'm headed to my home town area to go to the Mt. Angel Oktobefest! Horrid site, btw.

Me, five four friends, and boyfriend are going to be getting our party, drink, and german-ing on! I'll be busting out my German skills hard core. And of course, I will be taking pictures since it is the 12th.

12 of 12 probably won't be posted for a few days, since I'm down at home until Sunday.

Peace out foos!*





*oh the terrible, terrible, sayings I have picked up from World of Warcraft.

Frakin' Pencil

09 11 2008 - 12:11 am. Category: work

Everyone says that the business world is becoming a "paperless" environment. That folks, is mostly a buzz word. The first picture from work I present you is the FIVE manuals that I have for work:



It's the recent accountant's training manual, the ProSystems Engagement (trial balance) software manual, the older (mostly outdated) accountant manual, the general office manual, and 2007 tax updates and preparation instructions left over from my internship. I have quite the collection.



This second shot is my desk covered with a return. This one hasn't moved entirely paperless (mostly not actually). everything on the desk itself is for the one corporate return. And it was a small one by most standards. I finished it this morning, after working on it cumulatively for 23.5 hours. I'm a noob.



I hate this pencil. 1) I hate non-mechanical pencils, 2) it doesn't erase well, 3) I have to get up and sharpen it all the time (see 1). But this is what I have to use to input all of my check marks to show the reviewer that I did indeed look at the numbers. Where this paperless, I would not have this problem. I would kill for a red pen, but I'm a noob.

The other thing silly? say I want to send out an updated client letter with their return. I don't' update it. I print an old one, mark it up with said red pencil, walk to to the other side of the office. There I put it in a secretaries inbox and she does it, then shortly later walks it all the way back to me ready to be mailed out, including an envelope. The only reason this isn't completely ridiculous is because it makes sense to bill word processing ad administrative stuff as seperate line items, at separate rates. No client will like being billed an accountants hourly rate for some letter being typed up and a sticker put on an envelope. Granted, it is still ridiculous.



The printer! This is the view from my cubicle. I'm all of three steps away from it. But I can hit print on my computer and make it to the printer before my print job was. Our office is kind of a half-circle around a office tower, and the servers are in the opposite corner from me (I'm in what is commonly referred to as the back 40 or Siberia). I think I make it to the printer faster than the job makes it to the other side of the building and back.

Work is going well. I easily get absorbed into any project I'm given so hopefully I will not become a clock watcher.

Weekly One Sentence(s)

09 09 2008 - 11:38 pm. Category: default

gofish: By putting the card table on the property line I had outwitted my parents punishment of "stay in the yard with no friends over.

AM Jordan: To the roar of applause, I turned, holding my violin proudly to the shouts of ENCORE, and promptly fell off the stage in a heap.

Breathe: One of my most cherished human reactions ever was the look on the cashier's face as I informed her, "Ma'am, I'm not pregnant, I'm just fat."

Elize: Home is where the luggage isn't.

I especially agree with the last one.

It does happen

09 09 2008 - 4:58 pm. Category: work

Most of us have a "but it won't happen to me complex." This applies to things like downloading MP3s, torrenting movies, usw. when people get questioned about breaking copyrights and getting caught.

Well hey, I broke a copyright, and I got cought. It does happen. Thankfully the RIAA is not out to get me, but you'll notice a new comment on this post.

I gladly edited the post, and I do feel guilty about it. Mostly because I will support Portland natives when and were possible. But adding the post does equally no harm as not having the addition to the post. I perpetuated free media (promotional card) content to another free media. I just put the author's name out there again.

So be careful Mike, your book reviews which I thuroughly appreciate could get you a comment too.

Sorry I haven't posted about work. I've been pounding away at one S Corp tax return for almost three complete days now. Down to the last $4,933 to find! I'm actually on the return. Finished with the general ledger, finished with depreciation, finished with adjusting journal entries. Now to just get the actual return to be happy. Such is my life.

I can't believe it

09 05 2008 - 12:52 am. Category: default

A recent acquaintance of mine and friend of Boyfriend is in Louisiana and has born a severe amount of the latest hurricane. His area has been told that they will be without electricity weeks, there is no gas available to drive out, and flying is not really an option either. Oh, there is only a few places with accessible water within the city.

He's not in New Orleans, he's in Baton Rouge. But after Katrina, the current administration is too busy trying to make themselves look good this time around. Our friend sincerely feels and I'm inclined to agree that unnecessary levels of resources are being funneled to New Orleans for images sake, while other areas suffer. Oh, did I mention phone service is limited to? The best we could do was text.

I've grown accustomed to letdown by this administration, and disgust at their actions. But the fact that they can ignore the people of our country in a crisis a SECOND time is abhorrent.

Read Boyfriend's post. Links to some good articles in there.

In the beginning

09 04 2008 - 12:02 am. Category: work

Do you remember when I posted this picture? This was my internship cubicle. Well guess what, it's my full time employment cubicle too! Yes I am still as far in a corner of the office as I could get, but I have a senior manager to keep me company, as well as a copy machine and a printer. I just kind of chill by myself. And it's not technically the same cubicle, I got shiny new matching monitors now.


Lets go over the highlights of my first day shall we?


Pizza!
The office went out for lunch to welcome myself and the two other new staff accountants. It was a pretty fun. Literally the entire office came to lunch, something that apparently hadn't happened before. Speaking of the staff accountants, myself and my mentor Isaac are the only two male staff accountants. We're surrounded by women! Oh noes! The pizza was tasty, I ate three slices.

n00bs
As I mentioned, I'm one of three newbies. All three of us are recent college graduates. The one girl played softball and has that whole sport mentality and attitude. We have a lot in common... The other lady is in her late 30s (I guess) and has a 12-year-old sun and decided to go back to school. I get along with her quite well. Of course, they got the two cubicles amidst all the staff accountants that opened up. I got the corner.

Manuals
I was given three manuals today. I was given an office manual, an accounting manual, and an accounting trainer's manual. Basically the third is an updated and more relevant version of the second. I logged about 5.5 hours today just reading manuals. The other three hours was in meetings covering time cards, phones, insurance, usw.

Perks!
Thankfully I'll be covered by the companies health insurance starting in October, so I only have to wait a month. The premiums are covered by the company. The only problem is it doesn't cover eye care what-so-ever. I need glasses and contacts every year, it's my biggest expense. I can also opt into the 401(k) plan in six months, in which as much as 5% of my salary will be contributed by the company. Score.

Movie
We were privileged enough to watch a 1999 video discussing sexual harassment. For an hour. Lord help us. There was big hair, glasses, and noses. The only thing I really appreciated is the fact that the guy hosting it took the time to say something to the effect that "Even though harassment based on sexual orientation is not in the law federally or most states, it is still sexual harassment."

So that was my first day. It was amazingly thrilling. OH! I also got a canvas briefcase that I can carry everything in. This thing has so many friggin' pockets I don't know what to do with myself. But it can hold some papers, my book, and my lunch. I'm excited. The end.

Weekly One Sentence(s)

09 02 2008 - 11:30 pm. Category: default

Another dose:

flabbermeister: Five years ago I was a second-degree black belt, lead-role, vegetarian, straight-A student and today I am an overweight, chain-smoking, meat-eating, 3.0 GPA.

silence dogood: When I lost all my school stuff on a crowded city bus on Friday, I did not expect the pot-smoking pervert from my Spanish class to carry it all the way home and bring it to me on Monday.

Also, for something adorable that makes you sigh, check out Kiss Me Daily.

Auto play = evil

09 02 2008 - 4:29 pm. Category: two cents

I'm a frequent user of StumbleUpon. Amongst the variety of websites I visit are ones with videos. Now I don't mind a video every know and then (often I skip them though), but what I cannot stand is videos that start playing the second they loud.

Please, DO NOT make your web videos auto play. I truly hate when I'm checking my email or whatnot and a stumble page loads, causing my speakers to cry out in pain and my ears to be assaulted by the dreadful mix of my good music and the overly high decibel level of whatever piece of random entertainment (or junk) someone posted online.

Please for the sake of being able to randomly surf the internet contentedly (at least auditorally) don't make your videos auto play!

DVR Revelation

09 02 2008 - 12:28 am. Category: two cents

All you people with DVRs have probably have the same problem I have had. While watching a commercial you happen to actually not fast forward through, you see a preview of a new upcoming show you'd like to watch. Being a DVRer, you want to record an episode of said show to check it out. Gone are the days of remembering when a show is actually on TV.

How great would it be if you could pause on the commercial, and access meta data on the show that was embedded in the commercial. You could see scheduled times, description, and use the commercial as a source point to set your DVR to record the show itself. How great would this be? It would make having a DVR that much more often, and it would give commercials some power again, after being castrated by Tivo.

Lets take this a bit further. What if every commercial could have this same concept of embedded data? In the future, your fridge would have a digital screen on it that kept a tally of your groceries and what needed to be replaced. What if you saw an advertisement for something you want to go out and purchase? You pause your DVR, relay the products data from the commercial to your fridge. Now you have it documented for a later purchase!

It gets better! When you leave the house, the fridge list (and other lists?) syncs to your blueberry!* Blueberries will be the technology of the future, part of the whole integrated house computer system. How awesome would that be?



*blueberry - the accidental mashing of bluetooth and blackberry into one word upon the original conception of this whole idea.