Stock Kevin

First of all, be warned, these CNBC documentaries are just media propaganda. More praise for a school that is already prestigious.

Nonetheless, the title caught my attention, The Money Chase – Inside Harvard Business School. I will say, however, that I did take away from the documentary the need to develop a knack for solving problems. At Harvard, they do this by simulating real life issues high level executives are facing or have faced already– case studies.

What you and I can do to simulate a similar experience is read about them. Put yourself in the CEO's situation and determine how you would approach the issue and what actions you would take to solve the issue at hand. Perhaps even discuss it with some of your colleagues.

For those of you who have read my “about me” page, you already have discovered that I made the exciting transition to a Big 4 accounting firm not too long ago. To say that the adjustment from life in college to working at a Big 4 has been a minor one is a major understatement. I wish I could say that most of my time in college was spent enjoying life, but I was too wrapped around making that A grade and chasing that next prestigious internship. Even still, I’d like to believe I had more time then for my own life than I do now.

Nowadays, my mornings, afternoons, and more often than not, nights are taken up by work related activities. If it’s not waking up at 6:50 a.m. to get to work by 8:30 a.m., it’s waking up at 5:30 a.m. on a Saturday to drive an hour or two only to arrive at a warehouse to perform, you guessed it, work related duties. Even if my day ends at 5:30 p.m., much of what is left of the day is spent studying for the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination or CPA. Unlike the typical approach people usually take in college classes, I’ve never heard of anyone cramming for the CPA and passing all four parts at once. The CPA is a somewhat lengthy process and involves demonstrating understanding of accounting-related material on a high level. I’ve taken two sections - regulation and financial. Fortunately enough, I’ve passed regulation. But I am still waiting on the results for financial. In the meantime, I’ve started on studying on my third section, BEC (business environment concepts), which I plan to take early next year. Though I prefer to make my own luck, it wouldn’t hurt if you wished me luck!

I await the day; I pass my CPA exams and develop thick skin for the amount of hours I am putting in to this seemingly underpaid job. Until then, I can ponder about the activities I’d rather be involved in.

This is a list of the top three activities (in no particular order) I would rather be immersed in:

1. Driving golf balls down the fairway at the local country club

I haven’t held a golf club in about two months, but it feels like six. After spending much of this summer working on my game, it’s upsetting that I could very well be extremely rusty. My dreams of turning pro have been washed away - only half joking.

2. Curling forty pound dumbbells and benching my weight plus a hundred pounds

Gym hasn’t been in my vocabulary for what seems like six months now. I’ve lost about what feels like ten pounds of muscle mass. Sitting all day doesn’t help me feel any better about my health either. But, I have to say that I’ve been able to find thirty minutes after work to swim laps in the swimming pool.

3. Meeting genuine people in college.

When I was in college, I thought that I’d rather be in high school. Now that I am at work, I tell myself that I’d rather be in college. It seems to me as a “community” at each “progressing stage” we drift further and further apart from each other. I’ve never been extremely close with anyone in high school, but still I found it more possible in high school to build a connection with someone than in college. Now at work, I feel like I missed the boat when I didn’t do that in college. It could still be possible, but mixing life and work could be tricky. But, like Jennifer Aniston said during an interview for her movie, Love Happens, “Love brings up anything unlike itself! [It’s important] being open to it and being open to what form it comes in, what package it’s delivered to you in…”

“Where exactly do you work?”

“I work at a Big 4 accounting firm.”

In the most dull and lethargic tone possibly imaginable coupled with the rolling of the eyes, “oh so, you are an accountant, well that’s boring. You are going to spend the rest of your life as an accountant?” First of all, the boring you are thinking of is a different kind of boring I am thinking of. I don’t do much accounting in terms of bookkeeping nor do I sit in front of a desk with a calculator crunching numbers. In this day in age, we have Excel for that. Second of all, who said I was going to be doing this my entire life? Thirdly, are you even employed?

“What do you do exactly?”

To which, I calmly reply, “I do auditing work.”

Suddenly there is a moment of excitement. I see my friend break out a smile. Perhaps she understands what I do after all.

The next words out of her mouth are, “Oh, will you do my taxes?” No, I will not do your taxes. You don’t have complicated income. In fact, you are unemployed. Do your own taxes with TurboTax.

“Can you get me out of paying taxes?” No, I cannot. With your income, you probably don’t even need to file taxes.

“So, where is your office located?”

“Typically, I work at the client’s site.”

“Oh, so you are a temp?”

“No, we just do work at the client site because that is where the information and resources are. We need to test controls and perform certain tests to ensure their financial statements are fairly stated”

How do you explain to your friend, what you do? If I were a lawyer or doctor, there would be no explanation necessary. Eventually, I relinquish any hope of explaining to her what I truly do and end up convincing her that I do accounting, which has a negative connotation in it of itself. But, there is no need for social affirmation anyhow, right?

There must be at least fifty online survey companies out there. I’ve narrowed my focus into two survey companies that I thought paid the most often and in a timely fashion. One of which includes Opinion Outpost.

Companies who look for ways to understand their attitudes, beliefs, values and past behaviors use companies like Opinion Outpost to gather information. Essentially Opinion Outpost amasses a large amount of surveys and holds it in their database, and then it disperses it to the pool of individuals. When a survey is available to its users, Opinion Outpost will send its user an e-mail notification with the direct link to the survey. Alternatively access to these open surveys is accessible through their website interface through your individual account. The results go directly to the consumer products based company or Opinion Outpost’s client.

Each survey has what are called pre-screener questions that helps the consumer product company find their target consumer. Companies want to survey those who fit a certain criteria – including age, sex, ethnicity, income, job profession. Most times, they won’t tell you who they are looking for. So your pre-screener answers could be in vain. But the neat thing about Opinion Outpost is that even though you do not pass their screener they offer you three options. You can donate to a charity, try your chances at an instant win of $50, or enter your name in a large sum sweepstakes.

They do offer a referral bonus incentive when you refer people to the site. It’s only a dollar, so if you are interested, I’d appreciate it if you signed up under my link. Alternatively here is the direct website without the referral link. It takes as little as $5 to cash out. From my experience that is about two or three completed online surveys.

Now that I have graduated college, I am 21, about to turn 22. Should I leave the parents’ house?

Situation

I spent half of my college years living near school in an apartment and then a townhouse. In my third and fourth year of college, I moved back home to save money. For me, classes, internships/work, and club activities kept me out of my place for most of the day. Essentially the only time I was at the townhouse was basically to sleep. I would wake up at 6:30am to go to the gym, then work, and finally to school at around 5:00pm and end up going at 12:00am after my extracurricular activities. Some days it would be just the reverse, I’d have class in the morning and then work at night. Occasionally I’d have a dinner or lunch date and every week my friends and I would kick it somewhere. Since I’m considered relatively “local” to my university, it makes little sense financially to continue paying someone else’s rent. Still, the reason I spent my first two years near school was to be closer to colleagues and friends. For a good part of college, it helped maintain my social life and that’s something I was/am willing to pay for. In a couple weeks, I will be beginning work at an accounting firm. Entering the working world is a different transition. Is it now time to start saving money for a down payment by moving out?

After changing majors twice, once from economics to sociology then a second time back to economics, I graduated from University of California, Irvine cum laude with a Bachelors of Arts in Economics and a minor in Accounting in four years.

I know now what what I knew then. That is, I can’t bring home the bank roll with a sociology degree. Still, I would wrestle with the idea that the type of job I could have landed with a sociology degree would make me a happier person than that of which an economics degree could have presented. Typically, sociology majors end up becoming teachers. In all honestly, aside from their crazy antics from time to time, who wouldn’t want to be with little kids all the time? There is something about their raw human nature that is enormously refreshing. To be able to shape their future and ultimately society for that matter is a powerful privilege. On the other hand, economics majors end up in what seems relatively less meaningful– advising companies on how to buy each other out. Ultimately, I gave in; my competitive nature wouldn't allow me to take the former. I settled into one of the Big 4 auditors. I probably should have just double majored.

If it’s happiness we are all pursuing, why do we chase the dollar when we know money does not buy happiness? Why not live the simple life in a lesser developed nation. If all we are doing is working to retire to Baja California, why not just go straight there? Studies have shown we aren’t any happier now than years before, yet we have better and bigger things. We don’t need much to live. We didn’t need this much junk half a century ago; why do we need it now? This boggles me as it should boggle you.

I have only just recently entered the working world. I’d like to stick it out for a bit, just to give it a chance. Perhaps, I jumped to conclusions too quickly. There might be more to work than I've been lead to believe; though I am doubtful. Up till now, my ideas have been based on the advice and experiences of others. Ultimately, I’d like to develop enough cojones to live the simple life back where my parents originated.

At first, I started this blog to track my stock trades. As time passed, I began to spend more time researching personal development. It took me a while to truly understand that no amount of money will bring me true satisfaction. As long as I chase, I will always want more and it will never be enough. I still feel the same, only now (two years later), I’ve learned to control it.

I looked deeper. What I truly desire is to achieve peace of mind and well-being. This is particularly difficult when it seems like nearly everything around you tempts you into getting bigger, better, and more material. For that reason, I am dedicating this blog to living life in a way which allows us to “fit” into this individualistic society, yet at the same time have peace of mind and well-being.

When I am not looking for ways to live, I live through meditation, golfing, cycling, rock climbing, and yoga.

I must have deleted my story post. In any event, this will serve as a reminder to live life.

An American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The Mexican replied, "only a little while."

The American then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish?

The Mexican said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs.

The American then asked, "but what do you do with the rest of your time?"

The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life."

The American scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise."

The Mexican fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all take?"

To which the American replied, "15-20 years."

"But what then?"

The American laughed and said that's the best part. "When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions."

"Millions.. Then what?"

The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."

Alain de Botton examines our ideas of success and failure -- and questions the assumptions underlying these two judgments. Is success always earned? Is failure? He makes an eloquent, witty case to move beyond snobbery to find true pleasure in our work.
Through his witty and literate books -- and his new School of Life -- Alain de Botton helps others find fulfillment in the everyday

Think about it: In the United States, people believe that we live in a society based on meritocracy. This means those who are successful are so because of their own skills and abilities. Likewise, those who are “losers” are those who lack skills and abilities. We prejudge people based on their business cards. We are all afraid of becoming "losers" and that's where the "social anxiety" comes from. In the middle ages, those who were poor were deemed unfortunate. Nowadays, they are “losers”. We are so immersed in our own successes, we worship ourselves. We respect certain people and look up to other people. Whereas, in prior times, more often than not, we worshiped divine figures. That is one reason why we are attracted to nature as an escape from ourselves and the pressures of society.

Bottom Line:

It's not that we are materialistic. We value the emotional rewards that comes with having that item. We are trying to prove something to someone. We are just looking for somebody's attention and approval. In hopes to prove that we are worthy of dignity and respect.

Want more? Check this documentary out: Status Anxiety
This is the link to Part 1 (1 of 5)

There are three parts and five subparts for each part on Youtube.

Books:

The Architecture of Happiness (Vintage)

The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work

I'm fairly certain my power supply on my computer burned out. It reeks of burnt computer part. The fan on the power supply is off when I turn on the computer. I keep getting these COMS errors. Right now I have a 350W power supply, which I think is not enough to support for my power house computer. I built the computer about four years ago and the power supply came with the computer case.

I wasn't sure how much power I needed because like I mentioned before the 350w came with the case. So, I did some research and found the below information. I also discovered that it doesn't matter how much power supply you have your computer will only take what it needs.

Power Supplies: How Much Power Do You Need?


Component-Requirement

AGP Video Card [30W - 50W]
PCI Express Video [100W - 250W]
Average PCI Card [5W - 10W]
DVD/CD [20W - 30W]
Hard Drive [15W - 30W]
Case/CPU Fans [3W (ea.)]
Motherboard (w/o CPU or RAM) [50W - 150W]
RAM [15W per 1GB]
Processor [80W - 140W]

For overall power supply wattage, add the requirement for each device in your system, then multiply by 1.5. (The multiplier takes into account that today's systems draw disproportionally on the +12V output. Furthermore, power supplies are more efficient and reliable when loaded to 30% - 70% of maximum capacity.)

Got this from : PC Power

I just ordered a 500W power supply from Fry's. Hopefully, it will be back like before when I install it.

Into The Wild is story about Chris McCandless' experiences after graduating from Emory University. Instead of taking the conventional route after graduating college, Chris left his upper middle class family to "LIVE LIFE".

[Chris was] an American wanderer who adopted the name Alexander Supertramp and hiked into the Alaskan wilderness with little food and equipment, hoping to live a period of solitude.

Notable Quotes:

"I read somewhere... how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong... but to feel strong."

"[written into book] Happiness only real when shared."

"Mr. Franz I think careers are a 20th century invention and I don't want one."

-Christopher McCandless

Despite all this jazz by Hollywood, which is extremely convincing while you are watching the movie, I was disappointed to discover that his journey may not have been as remarkable as was presented in the film.

Alaskan Park Ranger Peter Christian wrote: "I am exposed continually to what I will call the 'McCandless Phenomenon.' People, nearly always young men, come to Alaska to challenge themselves against an unforgiving wilderness landscape where convenience of access and possibility of rescue are practically nonexistent [...] When you consider McCandless from my perspective, you quickly see that what he did wasn’t even particularly daring, just stupid, tragic, and inconsiderate. First off, he spent very little time learning how to actually live in the wild. He arrived at the Stampede Trail without even a map of the area. If he [had] had a good map he could have walked out of his predicament [...]

This just brings me back to reality. I was really feeling this movie, but this romanticized Hollywood movie probably isn't what it is all cracked up to be and the above passage helped me see that. Still, there's got to be more than life than working that 9 to 5.