The Blonde Diaries

So the other morning I went with my coworker to talk to one of our client contacts. This has been a rough busy season so far as we started much earlier than usual working late and weekends. To combat this, I have been taking my sleeping pills and getting a full nights rest each night, reading before going to sleep, and dressing up a little more – ie more tights and dresses. I thought I was doing well.

That was until I walked into this particular client’s office and she told me that we looked very tired. ACK! I know it is because I had some visible

Guten Tag! Wie geht es Ihnen?

I am currently plodding through busy season #5 of my career.  I have to say that things do not get easier the more busy seasons you have under your belt.  In fact, I think they get harder! We hit the ground running last Monday and haven’t stopped (well except for Sundays). I’m not too sure we are going to meet the Friday deadline but I don’t think my client is nearly as ready as they thought they would be either so that is good.  Unfortunately, the easy week I thought I’d have with leaving work by 9pm for 1 week is now going away and I will probably be working next Saturday as well.  Boo Hiss!

I am trying to stay sane by reading books as usual and learning German.  I thought it would be a fun hobby to try and learn another language and being that German doesn’t require you to roll your R’s like Spanish and English is a Germanic language I thought I might have luck.  So I’ve downloaded a few free podcasts on iTunes, picked up Rush Hour German from Barnes and Nobles ($10), and the German Transparent Language course. So far it seems fairly easy I just need to make some flash cards so I can start recognizing words.

Auf Wiedersehen.

The countdown began yesterday when I happily got to work at 9 am. We are scheduled to file my client’s Form 10-K on Wednesday and I am just counting down until that button is pushed and my busy busy season comes to an end. Busy season won’t totally be over but there will be no more 9ams to 10pms. More like 9 to 6 so I can have a life again. I’ll be able to cook, read, and exercise. No more working on Saturdays, no more stress, and more blog posts. Oh it will be a happy day. So just 48 hours to go and I’m done for the week and can start relaxing.

Here is a funny blog I found that sums up an Accountant’s life pretty well when it comes to us Big 4 people -> Stuff Accountants Like. If you are an accountant or know an accountant there should be a few things on that blog that should be fairly familiar.

A common mistake many people make when it comes to the accounting profession is that we all sit behind desks all day add or subtracting numbers.  Even worse, all we do are taxes and audit people for the IRS.  Well, I try and give insight into my job every now and then since I do more than just sit behind a desk all day adding numbers and I don’t touch taxes or harass innocent civillans in my day to day job duties.  Today we are finishing our tie out of my client’s Form 10-Q.  Basically, in a tie out you make sure whatever numbers they are reporting in that filing are agreed to a form of support or backup.  After this we get to move into year end mode.  Basically, we have to close down our testing of controls and start planning our tests for year end.  One of these tasks will be our physical inventory observations or PIO for short.  PIOs allow us to test the inventory balance to ensure what they say they have in inventory actually exists and is in usuable condition (ie not damaged, spoiled, ruined, or obsolete).  As an auditor in Houston I have been on quite a few PIOs because Houston has a ton of businesses and the Ship Channel where large containers arrive from overseas.  In the past I’ve counted sheets of plastic, groceries, false teeth, and climbed oil tanks.  Each one was interesting and I was able to learn something new.  So there is a little more than numbers involved here.

By far, the one that scared me the most was not the false teeth but the oil tanks.  I never realized how tall those tanks are and how many steps are involved to get from the bottom to the top and back down again.  I actually thought that maybe there were elevators that took you to the top.  Boy was I surprised.  I was very grateful that someone warned me before I arrived to wear a pair of work boots and I was able to find a pair to borrow.  When I am planning our PIOs for this year, I will be recommending that everyone purchase a pair so that they can stay safe.  In the cold and rain when I was climbing two years ago, I was so happy to have some work boots and not tennis shoes.  Had I been in the tennis shoes I might have slid down the stairs and not walked down the stairs on my descents to the ground.  If you need work boots for your job check out Workbootsusa.com as they carry many varieties to fit any budget.

I hate “connectivity” events that we have at work. These are events where a group of about 100 of us (normally 50 turn out) get together to connect with one another and discuss what is going on in the office and with our team. Usually the ice breaker, or team building, event is corny and not very value added. I actually dread these things and try my hardest to weasel out of going. Last time I was truly sick, another time I was on vacation. This time though I had no excuse and off I went this afternoon to see what this Drum Cafe thing was all about and why the partners were insistent that we have them come for a connectivity event.

Can I tell you that I had a blast! This is just a fan-freaking-tastic way to get a bunch of people together in a room and have fun (yes auditors can have some fun). You sit around as a group and you are given your individual drum and are taught different rhythms to mimic as a group from the Drum Cafe leaders. The whole time there is very little talking, just listening and trying to follow hand signals and keep up with your fellow coworkers. You learn that when everyone stops,listens to one another, and works as a collaborative group you can do great things as a team and make some awesome music. I am so glad I drug myself to the event today and experienced the Drum Cafe for myself. If you need a team building exercise you should really check into the Drum Cafe and their program. You will laugh and have such a great time. My only recommendation is not to pound on the drum but to tap it softly. It can really hurt your hands!