Financial Accounting

Holy Cow it's been a long time since I've postied here!  Despite that, this blog seems to garner more views than the one about my life in photos.  What is wrong with you people? (just kidding, thanks for reading).  

Looks like 2010 is the last post - my birthday, no less.  So, I've had another one of those - birthdays - and am now smack in the middle of my 40s.  I think I wrote before about my Fear of Turning Forty....totally unwarranted.  This has been the best decade yet (or at least a super close tie with my 20s).  

So, now it's 2014, and I've done a few things: moved cross country a few times, left my secure job to jump off as an independent contractor, and moved to an area of the country that I just used to dream about visiting on the rare vacation time off.  Couldn't be happier!  Which is probably why my mind is starting to muse about unnecessary things again.  What a beautiful mental luxury!  And that is what brought me back to this blog.  So, without further ado, I will post my latest musing - no so much a hap, or even a mishap.

I've just heard it referred to as "Financial Accounting". Isn't that a given? I know there are lots of varieties of accounting (tax, project, grant, forensic, etc), but aren't they all just variations on a theme? I mean, it's not as though we're going to confuse Financial Accounting with, say, Recreational Accounting. Can't it just be called Accounting? Isn't life simpler that way? 

ahh, thanks - it's good to be back. 

It's my Birthday.......again

I learn something new about my birthday on my birthday each year, usually nuggets of info forwarded by friends. So, today, I looked up April 20 on Wikipedia and learned a lot more - some good items, but mostly sad.

Yes, I am that geeky - I exported the list of famous birthday people into Excel and added a few category labels, generated a pivot table for sums of those categories and spun them out into a quick chart:

The rundown?  Apparently folks who share April 20th for a birthday can largely be classified as predominantly Artists or Athletes, which was surprising to me.  The folks in the Artists category include authors, dancers, painters, sculptors, singers, and actors. There are a few Thinkers and scientist sorts, but not very many.  The really interesting aspect was seeing the number of Leaders - although some of them would be better classified as despots including Hitler and Papa Doc Duvalier.

Another interesting tidbit was the number of Religious folks who were born on this day - including Mohammed.  Continuing in the Religion vein, today is also the day of 3 Christian feasts, a Bahai faith holiday, and a Scientology exhibition day.

Finally, I read a little about April 20 (or 420) being a counterculture day celebrating the consumption of pot.  Which, perhaps, could explain the number of notables born on this day who turned out to be Artists. Or not.  

Usually, my birthday week is marred by mass shootings or massacres - Waco, Columbine, Oklahoma City, West Virginia Tech, and smaller events.  I hope to get through my birthday week without such news.  So far, this year is feeling like I might make it.

All Right Now!

Yes, I know, it's September. 4 months, no new writings. So I get lazy from time to time. Blame my ever-shortening attention span, Facebook, Twitter, long sunny days, long vacation expeditions........Blame Summer!

Can't Think of a Title

Today is one of those wonderful spring Saturdays....I know, it's the end of May, and in much of the country, that's called "summer". Not here. Not yet. Anyway, the air is crisp and floralized, my roses are blooming and the peonies are giving off their last breaths of scent. My pets are happy, and I've stumbled upon a nice Sirius radio channel. I've been productive in many things - writing, managing photos, catching up on emails, nailing down travel plans and wish lists, and I've even gotten a little work done on the side. And the day's not yet half over. Which is probably a good thing; I have a lot of housework to do!

I love days like these when happiness seems to drift through the air and a half permasmile is planted on my face. It's a good day!

A Simple Springtime Evening

Sometimes, simplicity goes a long way. Take tonight, for example. It’s a Saturday night in May; clear, star-filled skies carry the scent of various wood burning in the neighbor’s fire pit. The crickets have just come out from underneath winter’s weight and have begun their nightsong. The air is that perfect temperature: cool, without being cold, and the occasional breezes add interest rather than a chill to the air. There is an easy peace that has crept into the evening – there is a full moon, and the scent of freshly mowed grass mingles gently with lilac when that occasional breeze whispers through. My dog is tired out from a good, long walk and a little horse-play. The cat senses this and acts with impunity. I have placed tea lights in the metal lanterns that Sushil gave me in Nepal, and in the background is music from some Sirius channel featuring mellow tunes from the 70s. To top everything off, I still have half of a chocolate truffle blizzard in the freezer from an earlier walk with the dog to Dairy Queen. I have an ice cold Shiner Hefeweizen. All is well here with me and the world tonight.

Prom Season in NW Ohio

It's that time of year again - girls donning shiny gowns, heading to salons for up-dos, and hitting the tanning beds and nail salons pretty hard, too. The 'cruise' isn't what it used to be when I went to the prom. Here, instead of folks gathering at parks for late sun-drenched photo shoots, you see a lot of dressed-up prom-goers at.........wal-mart.

So, imagine standing in a check-out line with cat litter and dog food and Dr. Pepper (essentials only this trip). You turn to look at the inane chatter of teenagers to your right, and see a gaggle of kids playing fancy dress-up. Nothing against that, it's fun and everyone should enjoy the opportunity.

But, right behind this flock was an elderly farmer and his wife - complete with John Deere trucker's cap, just tickled pink to be talking with these preened young'uns. If I had a camera, and could have been less obvious than snapping a photo from the next checkout lane, I would have.

Forty. Finally. Fortunately.

I never thought I'd live to be 40; I've tried hard to cram adventure into my life when I can. But, I made it. And so far, it's not so bad. I was able to spend my first week of forty in Houston with good friends, good company, and family. And this year, my birthday present to myself was an iphone, which I'm still very pleased with. So, for all the hype, fear, marketing, and innuendo - it ain't all bad.

40: you're not so bad. You're not all that. You're just a 4 with a hole at the end, like every other living thing.

An Ode to my Third Decade

As I enter the very last weekend of my thirties, I’m struck with a variety of thoughts – spinning from reminiscence to hapathy and every emotion in between. There are so many things I thought I might accomplish by now – finding my work true calling, my ‘soul mate’; my place in the world. I thought I would be a member of my own, new family. I thought I would be showing a child the wonders of nature, art, math, music, and the world in general. I was sure I’d be much more mature.

In hindsight, I have come to realize that my path has taken detours that wander more than a Jerry Garcia solo. In my years, I have been so fortunate to have met and loved and experienced the friends I have had over the years, even if our relationships have slipped away with time. I am not sure there is a true calling in work (although I could come close to that with photography….). I do know that you can control how much you enjoy your work, whether through a sense of accomplishment or by learning to leave something you don’t like to try something that you do. I have not found my ‘soul mate’, but I have been fortunate to have some memorable relationships. (Some for the wrong reasons.)

I think I have found where I would like my place in the world to be, after exploring 5 continents. But I’m not there yet. I have learned to at least try to make the place you are today, right now, the most meaningful place you can be. It is, after all, where you are. I am a member of my own family, just not the kind that involves a husband and children of my own. And, I am fortunate to share the wonders of the world and of the mind with my beautiful niece and nephew. I love that I can be both a guiding factor and an immature adult with them.

Mostly, I’m thankful that my family is alive and well, and that my friends – far and near, old and new, share a common bond with me in their lifetime experiences – that of being able to enter into, and sometimes exit from, the path of my life so far.

So, on the weekend-eve of 40, I’m looking forward to what is with the comfort of the fact that what was has been a hell of a ride so far. If I’m lucky, it’s not quite half over yet.

I just had some great thoughts about religion....

....but seeing as it's Easter Sunday, it would be inappropriate for me to post them today.

The Unbearable Weightiness of (Turning) Forty

I can see the crest of the hill now......the beginning of the latter half of my life. Then again, if I had been living each day as though it were my last - which we probably all should most likely do - I'd be used to this sense of denouement. But there are several things that prevent this logical, philosophical transition.

First, I don't feel like a grown-up. I have been feverishly Facebook updating recently, and frankly, in many cases, I can't believe how old some of my old friends look. Maybe not so much "old" as "older", and older than I feel I look. I'm sure I look shockingly older to folks who haven't seen me in 25 years as well, but it still causes pause. I sure as hell don't feel anything NEAR 40. And not quite like a Grown Up.

Next, almost all of my grownup friends have families - spouses, significant others, children, the whole American Pie thing. I'm not sure if that's right for me - I've become so comfortable being the 'aloof wolf'' that I don't think I'd know what to do if I had to spend actual uninterrupted time with someone. I'm purrfectly happy with my cat and dog. They're as happy as kids, can walk, don't shit themselves. have basic communication skills, and never complain about what I feed them. And they love to love on my feet when I sleep.

Now the scary part. I'm currently working in a small town (~40,000 people) in Northwest Ohio. I'm single, and I'm not into Budweiser, Nascar, or God - so I have very, very little in the way of shared interests here. Add to that my work with an oil company, and my the fact that I am an alternative-energy supporting tree-hugger, and you've got a good picture of limbo.

So, my joke nightmare when I was in my 20s was that I'd become one of those old ladies down the street in a little cottage house with a wooden fence where the kids would be afraid to retrieve their frisbees, because the woman who lives there is "weird", and has "junk from all over the world", and speaks "weird languages" and has pets.

To prevent this terrifying future, several friends and I had a pact in our 2os that if any of us were single at 40, we'd find eachother and marry. Scary prospect as it is - but it turns out all my backup men are married!

The most disconcerting part - and I just noticed this last weekend -when I talk with my older friends, some part - even if it is just a sentence - always goes the way of medical talk. Old people talk. See, if I had died in my 30s seeing almost 100 countries, I would have gone out on a high note. Now, even if I still have a good trip every year, the diminishing adventure over the remainder of my time will dilute the adventure of my younger years, and all of my best stories will begin with "I used to..." or "Once I did......".

There will probably be more paranoid rantings like these as the dreaded day arrives. The day at which.........I become.......a SPINSTER!!! oy vey.

Save Wild Utah!

Supporting and participating in efforts to save the wild lands of Utah has been a pet project of mine for almost a decade now. Utah is one of the most uniquely beautiful, natural places in the world - in my opinion. I've only been to about 33% of the world's countries, but that's still my opinion.

At any rate, for several years now, the Bush Administration has been working to open public lands to private oil and gas leases and drilling. The problem? Some of these lands are archaeologically and geographically sensitive. Most are inaccessible and would require road-building, not to mention the destruction enacted during the actual drilling or even exploration process. The other big problem: many of these locations are within or adjacent to public lands, such as Arches, Canyonlands, and Bryce Canyon National Parks. Others are within BLM public lands -land set aside to remain natural and available to the people, to hold off - if even for a while - the destructive human impact. Keeping these places wild is essential to the American anathema, in reverse. These places are incredible in their geology, history, and their raw beauty - as though a gift from the earth to mankind. (I should say, one of many, but that's a long tangent.)

There are few places in this country where an avid outdooorsperson can enjoy so much - hiking, climbing, rafting, kayaking, mountain climbing, skiing, camping, and best of all - discovery. There is nothing like walking 6 days through various Canyonland trails and stumbling unexpectedly upon a pre-basketweaver civilization ruin, a petroglyph, or a series of pictographs guarding over your path. There are few places, perhaps Alaska is one, in this country in which one is able to go so far off the beaten path that you can see one of the most clear night skies in the country. With the ability to count numerous shooting stars on a clear camping night.

There are no other places like it in the world. These places, which have been set aside by other legislation as a means of protection, should continue being protected as the natural jewels that they are.

And it is an op-ed article by Robert Redford that I noticed this morning which has prompted me to write this post. You can read Robert Redford's op-ed piece here. Support SUWA here.

Full Disclosure: I work for an oil and gas company. That doesn't mean I can't also be a naturalist and support environmental responsibility and ecological preservation. I don't mind being called a tree-hugger at work!

3 Little Pigs

Well, the consumer market has finally moved the Big 3 to face the music. Too bad it's a decade too late. I remember a conversation in New York with two friends, about this time 10 years ago, in which we were discussing how the auto industry - or for that matter, the energy industry - would move toward adopting alternative energy strategies. These people, including myself, were in the oil industry. The ideas went along these lines:

• Consumers need to drive change, but until they're forced to do so with high fuel prices, they're too complacent.
  
• The auto industry could take clues from Europe and Asia regarding fuel economy, and take a leadership position on higher mileage.
• The auto industry could also drive change by supporting or more proactively developing alternative fuel vehicles.
• The petroleum industry could take a leadership position by developing alternative fuels, taking advantage of their existing infrastructure and delivery systems. The auto industry and consumer base would follow. The feds were providing strong incentives, in addition to several state suspension of taxes, for just this strategy.

Sad to say it's taken an economic crash, $4.00 a gallon gas, and the brink of bankruptcy for the auto industry to see this reality.

Wonder how long it will take the petrochemical industry?

Full disclosure: I still work in this industry, but may be a minority with this viewpoint. I wouldn't know, because within the industry, it's not widely discussed - alternative fuels are the elephant in the room.

Another Pet Peeve......

If it goes without saying, then shut up.

Word Attack!! - SUPPOSABLY

This word is one of the banes of my existence: Supposably. It's commonly used in lieu of Supposedly. It is a real word, but with quite an obscure definition: it means that something is CAPABLE OF being supposed, not what IS being supposed - which is how it's typically used. Here is more:

Supposed(ly): Something that is or has been supposed, a supposed fact, or true without personal knowledge.
Example:
Supposedly, he has a post-graduate education; he is an attorney, after all.

In other words, what is being supposed it the level of the attorney's education. The speaker may not have the attorney's transcripts to prove or disprove the attorney's education, but common knowledge indicates that higher education is required for attorneys, as well as bar exams, supposedly.

Supposable(y): Something that could be supposed.
Example: Supposably, my dog could fly to the moon.
In other words, it could be supposed that my dog can fly to the moon, but of course, that would be ridiculous.

As ridiculous as the use of supposABLY when speakers REALLY mean to say supposEDLY.

Scheisse wrapped in a well-designed box

Recently, I've enjoyed the company of friends visiting from Norway. Norway is one of those 'top 5' type countries in the world for practically everything: quality of life, cleanliness, education, social services, health care, employment, child care, quality of locally grown and imported food, and last of all - cost of living. Therefore, it was quite interesting for me to be surprised by some of the things I was surprised by through my visiting friends. I don't know if this represents my aging process and related complacency (God, NO!), or if it's just been so long since I've been overseas that the clarity with which I used to observe such things has faded. (For anyone wondering, I have not been overseas since....2006.)

I suspect that I wasn't expecting to be too surprised by observed differences, other than prices, since our countries are relatively equally robust. However, it was the robustness of a different sort that my friends, and therefore I, observed most frequently.

To start, size. First was People Size. When I was on assignment in Norway, more than one Norwegian observed that I was the first or second ‘regular sized’ American they’d seen on the project. This may have been an anomoly, but there weren’t that many Americans on the project, and I know at least one or two more who were not very large. I’m not talking tall, here.

My friends echoed this sentiment on a few occasions, not menacingly, but rather as an observation. They simply had not seen people of the size and girth in Norway as what they were regularly encountering in the US. The first observance was in a grocery store, in which one woman was so unfortunately obese that she did an about face, got one of the motorized scooter shopping carts, and continued on her way sans foot-power. And, just as when someone points out red flowers that you soon begin seeing everywhere, the same occurred with the observation and discussion about the ‘morbidly obese’ descriptor that the Norwegians had never before heard. We began seeing them everywhere. This was followed by a chance news report stating Colorado as the fittest state in the nation, with only a 46% obesity rate.

Next was Portion sizes. Less is More has probably never been as meaningful before as it is today, in terms of food and drink portions. There are over 200 countries in the world are balancing on a knife's edge in their efforts to fight food shortages, but you'd never know that traveling cross country.

We were trying to eat healthy food - meaning real, unprocessed food, actual fiber, and a minimum of artificial ingredients or preservatives proved difficult at best. This is hard on a road trip, to say the least. And, my Norwegian girlfriend is 4 months along in her pregnancy, and has begun to watch everything she eats much more closely now than before. (I remember a time in Singapore when we ate semi-cooked fish and Indian food on plates made of banana leaves, with our hands, but that's another story.)

The most significant example is our stop in Colorado at a Subway sandwich shop. They each ordered according to desired ingredients, which they enjoyed – except they didn’t know and weren’t asked about the size sub they wanted, so were given 12” subs as default. Each also ordered a Medium-sized soft drink. This is where you are handed an empty cup and pointed to the self-serve soda and ice machine. The Medium-sized cups were HUGE. Bigger than anything other than an iced tea pitcher that I have at home. I’m not sure of size in ounces, but even I was surprised. In fact, right now, I’m drinking an Arby’s Medium-sized soft drink, and it’s a 20-ounce cup. This was the size of the SMALL at Subway on our trip.

Even at a few very nice restaurants, veggies that came with a meal were often just scooped out of the birds’eye frozen baggie, nuked, and served a bit blanched and tasteless. Fortunately, the main servings at nicer restaurants had more of a grip on realistic portion sizes than what you find at most national chains (excluding fast-food and the ‘super sizing’ phenomenon therein). Even so, they could not always be counted on to accurately befit their menu descriptions. On more than one occasion, orders for something containing chicken breast were often delivered with fried chicken breast. On one stop at a grocery for car-worthy snacks, we found it difficult to find a simple granola bar type snack that didn’t have noteworthy amounts of added sugar or other additives. And, surprisingly, they were often quite low in fiber – none more than 10 grams, and none that we could find with a 100% DV of fiber.

So, it was with renewed focus on good, healthy eating that I returned from my trip with the Norwegians. I’m all the better for remembering that what looks healthy on the outside may still be scheisse wrapped in a well-design.

Only YOU can prevent Apostrophe Abuse!!!!!

I'll try not to get soap-boxy here. Has anyone noticed that there has been a seemingly exponential increase in Apostrophe Abuse? Is there perhaps a correlation between Apostrophe Abuse and increased texting or blackberry use? I understand that language often evolves over time, as does communication; and I also appreciate use of brevity when texting or blackberrying.

But - and perhaps I'm old-school here - I still believe that there should remain some pride in one's written word, particularly when it's published. (See how I used that apostrophe there, as a replacement for the "i" in "is", forming a contraction? And earlier in the sentence, for one's, the apostrophe indicates possession?)

I think we have all borne witness to Apostrophe Abuse in local communications - business signs, newspaper ads and the like. But when this starts appearing on a more national level - in magazines, and television - then I feel this is a significant red flag.

When language adapts with communication and technological change, it often adheres to established use, as far as punctuation goes. So, when punctuation changes (incorrectly, at that), does this indicate a tipping point for the general respect for proper grammar? I sure hope not.

YOU can help prevent this scourge by correcting Apostrophe Abuse when you see it - or at least taking the opportunity to educate those who commit the offense. Surely, this abuse is only a matter of educating the offender. I hope.

Clinton Math

Promotion + Raise = Smaller Cubicle....?

Venn, anyone?

...add "wah-wah" effect here...

Life in a Small Town

Life in a small town is easy to take for granted. There is a degree of contentment and safety that tends to make real crimes seem unimaginable - the result of which is a pretty charming daily 'docket' in the local paper. Some excerpts, just from today, include:

A woman reported she was sleeping on her couch when an unknown person entered her apartment sometime after 10 p.m. Wednesday. The intruder ate some bread and cereal and took $5. The intruder then returned at some point, the woman said, and left two full cans of beer along with change from the money that had been taken. The woman said she drank the two beers before calling police Thursday.

A teen called the sheriff's office at 9 p.m. Wednesday to report a UFO sighting. The youth was advised that the object in the sky was a medical helicopter landing at the hospital. The youth apologized to the dispatcher, and admitted he watches "too many space movies."

Yet, even in our little small town, we occasionally have big-city crime. Case in point:

Menacing charges are pending against two brothers, 16 and 21, as a result of a road rage incident. The brothers chased after a man in a pickup truck, after the pickup passed them while in town. No injuries were reported.

It's Christmas Season in NW Ohio......

....and the women are turning orange.

Yep, it seems this time of year tanning salons in NW Ohio do a booming business - women most likely trying to maintain the color gained during summer, but losing themselves in the effort, somewhat. I've seen people walking around in shades rarely found in nature, and it's creepy. Perhaps they all also have fluorescent lighting at home, and honestly can't see how orange they've become. I suppose this is the fashion effort of choice for people who've never lived in an area that gets sun in winter. One day, if I get gutsy enough, I'll snap some photo examples.......