I don't know if I've lost the plot or what, but I've caught myself angrily muttering 'Shut the hell up' to my computer screen over the last few days. Mostly in reaction to stuff that people post on Facebook.
Then again, it might just be an increasing quantity of 'shut the hell up' posts on Facebook.
Who knows.
Word of the Day: Plot
Showing posts with label CA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CA. Show all posts
Saturday, 13 September 2014
Sunday, 8 June 2014
Super deep analysis.
There's an element of the human condition that's a bit sad, but also simultaneously excellent. I'm talking about Familiarity.
Using Familiarity as the lens through which we sort people, humanity is divided into three types:
1. Those who we feel more fondness and respect for as we become more familiar with them, and get to understand and know them better.
2. Those that we distance ourselves from (or should, but sometimes don't), whether consciously or unconsciously, because Familiarity reveals, for want of a better/less melodramatic phrase, their dark side.
3. Those that we don't become familiar with at all. Apologies in advance to those 6.5 billion (and counting!) people.
It seems an obvious thing, but it's sort of taken me a while to reach this conclusion. It kind of developed into a cohesive thought on Friday night. Of all times. Maybe my mind becomes more metaphysical when it's tired/stretched.
I've never been one to sit down and really think about human relationships, in particular my relationships with other people. I usually just sort of let it all develop/maintain/die organically. I think actually dedicating time to thinking of these things, and in particular, bracketing people that you know into those three brackets, helps to assess which relationships are truly worthwhile, and worthwhile developing and maintaining, which ones need rectifying or management, and which definitely need to be terminated.
On a slightly cheerier note, I've managed to catch the vast majority of my favourite people in the world over the past three days. Does wonders for the soul. And all this with another day of liberty to look forward to tomorrow.
On a definitely cheerier note, I managed to sneak pass in Taxation. 3/5. Almost through it.
Word of the Day: Familiarity
Tuesday, 29 April 2014
Saturday, 19 April 2014
Post-CA-exam list #3.
I think this is probably the third iteration of my semi-bi-annual post-CA exam to-do list. Here it goes (in no particular order):
1. Have a decent lunch with people outside of my immediate family. Not that there' anything wrong with them. Just gotta keep it fresh.
2. Build the Lego set that I got for my birthday. (Man, that seems like ages ago. Oh wait, it was).
3. Shopping. H&M, Emporium, Chadstone, the list goes on. Camberwell Markets is probably overdue for a visit as well.
4. Photo trips. Mount Dandenong autumn run, the city, maybe somewhere a bit further out as well.
5. Seeing my neglected friends.
6. Clean my room.
I think that'll do for the time being.
Word of the Day: List
1. Have a decent lunch with people outside of my immediate family. Not that there' anything wrong with them. Just gotta keep it fresh.
2. Build the Lego set that I got for my birthday. (Man, that seems like ages ago. Oh wait, it was).
3. Shopping. H&M, Emporium, Chadstone, the list goes on. Camberwell Markets is probably overdue for a visit as well.
4. Photo trips. Mount Dandenong autumn run, the city, maybe somewhere a bit further out as well.
5. Seeing my neglected friends.
6. Clean my room.
I think that'll do for the time being.
Word of the Day: List
Sunday, 13 April 2014
Random funny things.
A few quirky/funny things I've noticed over the past little while:
1. When people leave comments on a photo album on Facebook, and the album gets updated semi-frequently. Funny for a number of reasons:
(a) The commenter usually thinks that their comment applies only to a single photo in the album. The comment therefore eventually becomes completely irrelevant as the album gets updated, sometimes leading to often hilarious disparities between the photos being posted and the original comment.
(b) The comment pops up every time the uploader uploads a photo to the album.
2. The temperature within a train carriage has a direct positive correlation with the amount of rain pouring down outside.
3. It's funny how 99% of the population assumes that accountants are good at tax. I mean, I can see why they would, but it's just funny, in the sense that it's completely alien to most of us. Like getting a baker to cook seafood.
Completely unrelated (because all that other stuff above was really related and intertwined), but this Coldplay song:
Word of the Day: Quirky
1. When people leave comments on a photo album on Facebook, and the album gets updated semi-frequently. Funny for a number of reasons:
(a) The commenter usually thinks that their comment applies only to a single photo in the album. The comment therefore eventually becomes completely irrelevant as the album gets updated, sometimes leading to often hilarious disparities between the photos being posted and the original comment.
(b) The comment pops up every time the uploader uploads a photo to the album.
2. The temperature within a train carriage has a direct positive correlation with the amount of rain pouring down outside.
3. It's funny how 99% of the population assumes that accountants are good at tax. I mean, I can see why they would, but it's just funny, in the sense that it's completely alien to most of us. Like getting a baker to cook seafood.
Completely unrelated (because all that other stuff above was really related and intertwined), but this Coldplay song:
Word of the Day: Quirky
Friday, 4 April 2014
Time.
"It is a strange thing, but when you are dreading something, and would give anything to slow down time, it has a disobliging habit of speeding up." - J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of FireWord of the Day: Time
Tuesday, 4 March 2014
Happy one year.
365 days ago, I started full time work.
Nothing really prepares you for it. Even vac work, working full 8-hour days for four weeks, didn't really get me ready for it. It wasn't until I was well and truly stuck in that it sort of sunk in, that this full-time work thing was for, more or less, the next 40 years.
It seems stupid when I put it out there, but there it is. There's some kind of Chinese proverb/wise Mum saying that my mum often says, which goes something along the lines of:
I won't bore you with all the details, but suffice to say it's been much more than 9-to-5, five week days. In more ways than one. The hours, the experiences.
And just when you think you've almost got a handle on the whole work-life thing, CA starts.
And now you have to re-adjust that equation to work-life-study. It ends up looking more like work-life-study.
I've learned an incredible amount, and I've been thrown in the deep end more times than I can count. The two probably go hand-in-hand a little bit. The number of times that I've done work, and seen somebody a couple of years more senior sign off on last year's equivalent is getting more and more frequent.
I'd like to think it's made me stronger. The truth is, I don't really know. Technically, professionally, and auditing-ly, most definitely yes. Physically and emotionally, I'm starting to feel a little bit drained. I think this is what burnout feels like.
Especially from the start of January, it's just been go-go-go. Not even client to client. More client (not really finished) to client (not really finished) to client. I'd rather be busy-ish than have absolutely nothing to do, for a variety of reasons. One, it means people are liking what you're doing. Two, doing nothing gets boring pretty quickly. Three, if you're not doing, you're not learning.
But I would've liked a couple of days of nothing somewhere along the line. Or even an easier client. Not even to do nothing, but just to do some admin stuff.
When you're on a bad run, nothing works. The client this week was supposed to be pretty good, and out in Dandenong. Just a one weeker, nothing major, and close to home.
Nek minit, client not ready until Thursday, working from the office. Looks like it's going to be a mad scramble to the end on Thursday and Friday.
I'm planning on booking a few weeks of leave for later in the year. No idea what I'm going to do with it yet, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.
It could've been worse. I have friends in other industries that get worked much, much harder. Heck, I have friends at other clients that get worked much, much harder.
Still doesn't stop me from feeling slightly burned out though.
At least I've got two CA subjects in my pocket now. It feels like I'm limping through them, but if I can pull that off for the next three, I'd be over the moon. I'm calling it now, drinks on me.
A major plus is that I've met some fantastic people. Not only people from my level, but people from other levels as well. The great thing about rotating through a number of teams is the variety of people you get to meet, and if you don't like them, or if they don't like you, you're rid of them for a long time. And if you do happen to get along, there are ways of keeping in touch.
I've also worked on some pretty cool clients, and travelled to some pretty cool places. Well, cool places being Perth. Sydney not so much. Mainly because of the workload.
To bring it full-circle (for the first time in months uncounted, HR have managed to nail something, and probably by accident), I met the buddy that's been assigned to me today. Youthful vitality is refreshing. I'll try and keep it for a bit longer.
Word of the Day: Circle
Nothing really prepares you for it. Even vac work, working full 8-hour days for four weeks, didn't really get me ready for it. It wasn't until I was well and truly stuck in that it sort of sunk in, that this full-time work thing was for, more or less, the next 40 years.
It seems stupid when I put it out there, but there it is. There's some kind of Chinese proverb/wise Mum saying that my mum often says, which goes something along the lines of:
"Everyone knows that a cut on the arm is painful. But you don't truly know what the pain feels like until you've been cut."Given all of that, a year of 9-to-5, five week days would've been a bit of a shock to the system. Especially coming out of uni, where starting at 10 and finishing at 4 was considered a long day, and not having at least one day class-free was considered by many to be some kind of human rights infringement.
I won't bore you with all the details, but suffice to say it's been much more than 9-to-5, five week days. In more ways than one. The hours, the experiences.
And just when you think you've almost got a handle on the whole work-life thing, CA starts.
And now you have to re-adjust that equation to work-life-study. It ends up looking more like work-life-study.
I've learned an incredible amount, and I've been thrown in the deep end more times than I can count. The two probably go hand-in-hand a little bit. The number of times that I've done work, and seen somebody a couple of years more senior sign off on last year's equivalent is getting more and more frequent.
I'd like to think it's made me stronger. The truth is, I don't really know. Technically, professionally, and auditing-ly, most definitely yes. Physically and emotionally, I'm starting to feel a little bit drained. I think this is what burnout feels like.
Especially from the start of January, it's just been go-go-go. Not even client to client. More client (not really finished) to client (not really finished) to client. I'd rather be busy-ish than have absolutely nothing to do, for a variety of reasons. One, it means people are liking what you're doing. Two, doing nothing gets boring pretty quickly. Three, if you're not doing, you're not learning.
But I would've liked a couple of days of nothing somewhere along the line. Or even an easier client. Not even to do nothing, but just to do some admin stuff.
When you're on a bad run, nothing works. The client this week was supposed to be pretty good, and out in Dandenong. Just a one weeker, nothing major, and close to home.
Nek minit, client not ready until Thursday, working from the office. Looks like it's going to be a mad scramble to the end on Thursday and Friday.
I'm planning on booking a few weeks of leave for later in the year. No idea what I'm going to do with it yet, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.
It could've been worse. I have friends in other industries that get worked much, much harder. Heck, I have friends at other clients that get worked much, much harder.
Still doesn't stop me from feeling slightly burned out though.
At least I've got two CA subjects in my pocket now. It feels like I'm limping through them, but if I can pull that off for the next three, I'd be over the moon. I'm calling it now, drinks on me.
A major plus is that I've met some fantastic people. Not only people from my level, but people from other levels as well. The great thing about rotating through a number of teams is the variety of people you get to meet, and if you don't like them, or if they don't like you, you're rid of them for a long time. And if you do happen to get along, there are ways of keeping in touch.
I've also worked on some pretty cool clients, and travelled to some pretty cool places. Well, cool places being Perth. Sydney not so much. Mainly because of the workload.
To bring it full-circle (for the first time in months uncounted, HR have managed to nail something, and probably by accident), I met the buddy that's been assigned to me today. Youthful vitality is refreshing. I'll try and keep it for a bit longer.
Word of the Day: Circle
Saturday, 22 February 2014
Almost floating.
After passing FIN, I feel like a massive weight has been lifted off my shoulders. There's no nagging feeling of anxiety in the back of my mind, no planning of doomsday hypotheticals, less random nights of sleeplessness, reduced bouts of random melancholy, and confidence slightly boosted.
Yes, it was that serious. I was almost certain I failed. Always seems stupid once you've passed.
To celebrate, I chanced upon a bar called 1806 - recommended by Liz. Evelyn was nice enough to join me for a celebratory drink. Highly recommend the 'Blue Blazer' cocktail. It looked freaking amazing. Just this blue comet falling out of the sky, trailing a blaze of fire behind it. Alien in its beauty, slightly terrifying to behold, and majestic in its countenance.
No, I don't know what it tastes like. I'm sure it's good though. According to the bartender, it tastes 'nice'.
Case closed.
Afterwards, the grads and I attended my birthday dinner thing. Good times.
And now I'm back into studying for Tax.
Sighface.
Word of the Day: Countenance
Monday, 14 October 2013
Misfortunate.
A litany of misfortune yesterday (which I actually found quite funny):
1. My FIN test decided to call it halfway through yesterday. This unfortunate incident actually carried over to today, as I had to call the CA people and start doing it from where it left off.
2. My lunch came out last out of five people.
3. It was also very small.
4. It also didn't really taste that good.
5. I missed golf because nobody picked up their phone.
6. I paid $9 for parking, when Safeway had it for free.
7. There was no football on. Not sure if that's a Sunday thing or a Saturday thing. Whatever. Point being, it wasn't on.
On a happier note, most of that trail of destruction was counterbalanced by being in good company for the better part of the day, and, in the case of point 1, having awesome people help me through it.
Yep. Cool.
Word of the Day: Litany
1. My FIN test decided to call it halfway through yesterday. This unfortunate incident actually carried over to today, as I had to call the CA people and start doing it from where it left off.
2. My lunch came out last out of five people.
3. It was also very small.
4. It also didn't really taste that good.
5. I missed golf because nobody picked up their phone.
6. I paid $9 for parking, when Safeway had it for free.
7. There was no football on. Not sure if that's a Sunday thing or a Saturday thing. Whatever. Point being, it wasn't on.
On a happier note, most of that trail of destruction was counterbalanced by being in good company for the better part of the day, and, in the case of point 1, having awesome people help me through it.
Yep. Cool.
Word of the Day: Litany
Friday, 20 September 2013
Post-exam post
With the distraction of an exam out of the way, loneliness swiftly settles into my being.
What a downer.
Word of the Day: Downer
Sunday, 15 September 2013
Surprise Song Sunday: End of Line - Daft Punk
I was listening to this song because it's cool, then I realised that it was sort of poignant.
Almost there.
Word of the Day: Poignant
Saturday, 4 May 2013
Time lapse lifeography.
Unbelievably, it's already May. The fifth month of the year. Out of twelve months. Almost half way through.
Quite fortuitously, today, the 4th of May, is exactly two months since I started this job.
Feels like just yesterday when I was all like, where am I? Where am I supposed to be? What do I have to do next? Who do I talk to?
Quite a bit has happened since then. I'm on to my third client, learned a great deal, got most of my admin stuff under control, and I'm soon to enrol and begin my first CA subject. I've also gotten into Game of Thrones (so, like, I heard that winter is coming), Arsenal are a bit more on track than they were a few months ago, I've made a few friends, watched Iron Man 3 (good, good movie) and increased my hatred of public transport.
I'm enjoying it so far. There's been a few late ones, and a couple of people I didn't really get along with, but the great thing about audit is that these two variables generally don't persist for more than a few weeks.
Finishing late is usually attached to certain jobs. Likewise with people you don't get along with. Rotating jobs every few weeks lets me get away from both after a few weeks. Usually, anyway.
Even with the people I don't really get along with, I've sort of learned to not take it personally. I mean, some people make it personal, but I've just kind of tried to take the view that that's just how they are. Just not very personable. Or maybe it's the pressure from work. Anyway, I haven't had to work with a great deal of people like that. Maybe just a couple.
It's all a learning experience anyway. You learn to not be like that to someone when you're teaching them something. Also, angry/angsty feedback doesn't necessarily preclude it from being useful feedback. Just because someone pretty much labels you an idiot for stuffing something up, at least they've let you know that you've stuffed something up.
I'm also pretty pleased that the social calendar is picking up somewhat in the next couple of weeks. Kind of the storm before the storm. The social storm before the work storm. Or something.
Word of the Day: Thrones
Quite fortuitously, today, the 4th of May, is exactly two months since I started this job.
Feels like just yesterday when I was all like, where am I? Where am I supposed to be? What do I have to do next? Who do I talk to?
Quite a bit has happened since then. I'm on to my third client, learned a great deal, got most of my admin stuff under control, and I'm soon to enrol and begin my first CA subject. I've also gotten into Game of Thrones (so, like, I heard that winter is coming), Arsenal are a bit more on track than they were a few months ago, I've made a few friends, watched Iron Man 3 (good, good movie) and increased my hatred of public transport.
I'm enjoying it so far. There's been a few late ones, and a couple of people I didn't really get along with, but the great thing about audit is that these two variables generally don't persist for more than a few weeks.
Finishing late is usually attached to certain jobs. Likewise with people you don't get along with. Rotating jobs every few weeks lets me get away from both after a few weeks. Usually, anyway.
Even with the people I don't really get along with, I've sort of learned to not take it personally. I mean, some people make it personal, but I've just kind of tried to take the view that that's just how they are. Just not very personable. Or maybe it's the pressure from work. Anyway, I haven't had to work with a great deal of people like that. Maybe just a couple.
It's all a learning experience anyway. You learn to not be like that to someone when you're teaching them something. Also, angry/angsty feedback doesn't necessarily preclude it from being useful feedback. Just because someone pretty much labels you an idiot for stuffing something up, at least they've let you know that you've stuffed something up.
I'm also pretty pleased that the social calendar is picking up somewhat in the next couple of weeks. Kind of the storm before the storm. The social storm before the work storm. Or something.
Word of the Day: Thrones
Saturday, 26 September 2009
If I try to understand things, I may reach some understandings
People continually baffle me with their behaviour. But I can't really complain, because I sometimes baffle myself with my behaviour. So now, whenever it seems as though someone does something seemingly without a logical or even slightly plausible reason, I try to see things from where they're standing.
It works a lot of the time. Well, it works better than not doing it at all. At the very least, it gives you a certain sense of optimism, in that you believe that there is in fact a logical reason to their behaviour which originally made no sense at all. Where I come from (Footscray), they sometimes call this 'kidding yourself.'
In a sense, it is. But that's only if you screw it up, and there really is no logical reason behind why they're acting the way they are. Which is hard to confirm anyway, as you're hardly going to go up to them and ask them if your suspicions are correct. Which makes most of this post a null point. Just know that now I'm trying to think like girls think about peoples' behaviour, and I have found that it has quite a calming effect on me, in that I don't get down in the dumps every time someone treats me like dirt. I bounce back a lot quicker even if I do.
ANYWAY. Now that that suddenly thought up rant is over, a bit of filling in about the CA Careers Forum on Thursday.
On Thursday, headed out to the city with Davy and Imesha, and had coffee before the main event because we were 45 mins early, even though we'd already walked for about half an hour. Clearly it's all a conspiracy theory to get us to buy coffee in that building.
Overall, the event was fairly good, except for that fact that they didn't analyse my resume for me. And don't tell me I deserve the pain because I sent it in the night before. They just said to send it in before the day.
So we found out that marks aren't that important, but interviews sound scary. And I must say, we all look rather dashing in business attire. Attire. What a lovely word.
Word of the Day: Understanding
It works a lot of the time. Well, it works better than not doing it at all. At the very least, it gives you a certain sense of optimism, in that you believe that there is in fact a logical reason to their behaviour which originally made no sense at all. Where I come from (Footscray), they sometimes call this 'kidding yourself.'
In a sense, it is. But that's only if you screw it up, and there really is no logical reason behind why they're acting the way they are. Which is hard to confirm anyway, as you're hardly going to go up to them and ask them if your suspicions are correct. Which makes most of this post a null point. Just know that now I'm trying to think like girls think about peoples' behaviour, and I have found that it has quite a calming effect on me, in that I don't get down in the dumps every time someone treats me like dirt. I bounce back a lot quicker even if I do.
ANYWAY. Now that that suddenly thought up rant is over, a bit of filling in about the CA Careers Forum on Thursday.
On Thursday, headed out to the city with Davy and Imesha, and had coffee before the main event because we were 45 mins early, even though we'd already walked for about half an hour. Clearly it's all a conspiracy theory to get us to buy coffee in that building.
Overall, the event was fairly good, except for that fact that they didn't analyse my resume for me. And don't tell me I deserve the pain because I sent it in the night before. They just said to send it in before the day.
So we found out that marks aren't that important, but interviews sound scary. And I must say, we all look rather dashing in business attire. Attire. What a lovely word.
Word of the Day: Understanding
Wednesday, 23 September 2009
What UP!
Our tute's disaster movie was the best. Hands down. And for some strange reason, I got a starring role, and looked better on camera than I expected. My acting, however, is somewhat not up to scratch. I was half-smiling while an earthquake was supposedly happening. Which makes the decision to put me in a starring non-speaking role all the more puzzling. Must be my photogenic looks.
The one that actually won was filmed Lego-style. It was just pure funny. Didn't even make sense, and I couldn't hear what was going on most of the time. Probably not much going on anyway.
Speaking of movies, this is an awesome linking sentence.
Today, I saw UP! with my sisters, seeing as they had begged me non-stop for the last five months. Not that I didn't want to go with them. But I'm a busy, busy man.
So went down to Village at Glen after MGMT tute today, and saw UP!.
All in all, a pretty top movie. A tad overrated. But then again, so was the Dark Knight.
Plot was fairly predictable, but plots of most Pixar films are. I don't think you're supposed to watch them for the plot, but for the process of rendering the plot. A very good effort in that respect. As always from Pixar, beautifully rendered animation and a good score. Characters, as usual, were delightful. Wouldn't mind seeing it again. Depends on who asks though.
Back to uni today. I think I fair failed the French test, owing to the fact that I did about 15 mins of study for it. Management essay gets in the way of not only French study, but life in general. On the upside, no more assessments for management. On the downside, a bazillion assignments due after the break. Fun times ahead.
CA Career Development Forum tomorrow. Highlight: Suit and tie. What a boring life I lead.
Word of the Day: UP!
The one that actually won was filmed Lego-style. It was just pure funny. Didn't even make sense, and I couldn't hear what was going on most of the time. Probably not much going on anyway.
Speaking of movies, this is an awesome linking sentence.
Today, I saw UP! with my sisters, seeing as they had begged me non-stop for the last five months. Not that I didn't want to go with them. But I'm a busy, busy man.
So went down to Village at Glen after MGMT tute today, and saw UP!.
All in all, a pretty top movie. A tad overrated. But then again, so was the Dark Knight.
Plot was fairly predictable, but plots of most Pixar films are. I don't think you're supposed to watch them for the plot, but for the process of rendering the plot. A very good effort in that respect. As always from Pixar, beautifully rendered animation and a good score. Characters, as usual, were delightful. Wouldn't mind seeing it again. Depends on who asks though.
Back to uni today. I think I fair failed the French test, owing to the fact that I did about 15 mins of study for it. Management essay gets in the way of not only French study, but life in general. On the upside, no more assessments for management. On the downside, a bazillion assignments due after the break. Fun times ahead.
CA Career Development Forum tomorrow. Highlight: Suit and tie. What a boring life I lead.
Word of the Day: UP!
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