Okay, Now It's Official

I just settled on my lease. I'm out of the old place, and have freed up lots of $$$. Anyways, as promised, here's pictures of my new digs...It's not as big as it looks! BUT, it's big enough for me. I have everything I need. My HD-DVR should be working sometime this weekend (hopefully) and all will be good. And I'm even eating less than before. Way to go!

Okay, check out my boy-themed room. Cause I'm a boy.

Welcome to Your (My) New Home

I moved. I did it. Right down the street, say, about five miles. But it's done. (Almost) officially. I have everything moved, you see, I just haven't paid the moola to break my lease. I won't have the money until Thursday.

I went to the office on two different occasions to confirm that, yes, I can show up the day I want to break my lease, and yes just pay the money, no questions asked. That better be the case or I don't know what happens then.

My apartment is empty. I cleaned it out yesterday. I was hoping to have some help, but my help came down with something. I ended up getting help where necessary, but the rest I did on my own. Man, I must've taken 100 trips up and down that staircase to my front door.

So how do I go from a one bedroom apartment to a...one bedroom bedroom? It's not easy. I thought, well, I moved into my apartment from a bedroom in an apartment in college. I couldn't have acquired that much more, could I? Well, I must've. I somehow managed to fit it all, though. I may have to put some boxes in the garage to make it a little more comfortable, but it'll work. I even took a trunk load to Goodwill.

The furniture I acquired in November was from my new landlords. Well, neither of us knew we'd be roomies and I wouldn't need the furniture nor have room for it a few months later. A waste in hindsight. Since I didn't have room for the sofa-sleeper and the dresser, nor help to move it, I had to get rid of it. I originally wanted to take it to Goodwill, but that was a more than one person job. A little birdie told me I should just craigslist it and it'd be gone by the end of the day.

Sure enough, within 30 minutes of listing it, I had a call for each. Within an hour, I had 3 calls for each, 1 for both. Within 2 hours, they were both gone.

The first buyers (although I was giving them away for free) were a Russian or Slovakian couple or something. The lady was as manly as her husband and had construction worker hands and a deep voice with a think accent kind of like Nikolai on 'Six Feet Under.' It was great.

The second buyer was this fella named Gao. He wanted the dresser. He came over with his wife. He came in first and looked at it and said he better make sure his wife wants it before he decides to take it. So she comes up. I was a little worried they wouldn't want my generous gift when they realized not all the drawers worked. Thankfully, they didn't try them out first...until we got the unit in the car and were like "there's no room for the drawers!" But of course, Gao is all "lets pull out the dresser and put the drawers back in, then it will all fit!" And I am all "oh I hope he doesn't want a refund!" But before they finished he thanked me and I went back inside and locked the door. He never came back. Success!

I don't know if you've ever used craigslist before, but it was my first time. Next time I think I'll hire a secretary to make all the arrangements for me. Once things got rolling I bet I got 10-12 calls in the matter of 60 minutes. It was nuts.

I've only spent one night in my new digs, so it's too early to say how it's going to be. I have a lock on my door, and bathroom to myself, and we're getting me a HD-DVR box this week, so I think that's a good start. Plus, oh yeah, I'm saving $800+ a month on rent. You just can't beat that. For now.

Pictures to come.

I Should Be a Writer

At least that's what people tell me. But taking advice like that is how you end up on American Idol having Simon tell you you're the worst bloody singer he's ever heard. Here's how it would go down...

Simon: What is it that you do for a living Brett?

Me: It's Brent.

Simon: No, I asked what it is you do for a living.

Me: I'm an accountant.

Simon: Well if you're as good at accounting as you are at singing, a lot of people will be amending their tax return.

Me:

Simon: Off you go, Brett.

Granted, I'm not a tax accountant, but most people default to that when I tell them I'm an accountant. And I couldn't think of anything else.

The point is, I have to really take people's praise with some grain and a little salt. Sure, I enjoy writing, but people's comments are based on my free-thinking semi-regular observations and anecdotes. These days, blogs like mine are a dime a dozen. Back in the...'90s, I could have maybe used my musings to land me a column in a local rag but these days...pffft. This may be my only outlet.

I do have ambitions to write a novel some day. Thing is, I can only seem to write about what's real. I have a hard time coming up with anything that could actually develop into something. I'm sure if I spent a lot of time on it, I could learn the proper form and how to develop my ideas, but that's going to have to wait. I need to make money for awhile.

I would absolutely love to write a novel that is a smash and allows me to just quit doing the 9-5 and maybe buy a bungalow near the beach while I try to come up with my follow-up novel. Hey, it's been done.

I had this idea for a story once. It actually came to me in a dream. And I remember dreaming that it would be a good story to write about. When I woke up, all I remembered was that I thought it would be a good story for a novel. I can't do much with that.

Another idea I had the other day was this: I wonder if anyone has ever called the wrong phone number, and through a series of events, ended up dating and marrying that person. How would you get from point A to point B? I have no idea. That's the story, but I'm sure it's had to have happened out there somewhere. Or maybe it's a stupid idea.

Now don't steal it.

I suppose I should start small by writing short stories or a novella. I have no idea.

In the mean time, I'll just keep writing on my blog and hopefully you will continue to enjoy it.

For those of you who compliment me on my writing, don't stop (unless you're just sucking up to me so you get a shout-out on the World Wide Web). It's people like you that keep the hope alive that maybe some day I can do something with it.

Pizza the Hut

I've had pizza the past 6 out of 7 meals. I don't eat breakfast, so don't figure that in.

Here's how it went down...

Friday I wanted Digiornos after a long week of auditing. And some beer. Well, I ate half of it that night and thought I'd eat the rest for lunch on Saturday.

Saturday I went into work at 10AM. Well, there was a bunch of us there, so we bought pizza. There was way too much.

I ate the rest for dinner Saturday and then for lunch and dinner Sunday. It was so good. Fresh parmesan cheese. No lie.

Tonight, I still had my Digiornos left. And that's all she wrote.

And I had Chipotle for lunch cause I have a gift card to use up (which I ended up spacing on and forgetting to use!).

So no wonder my belt almost doesn't fit anymore.

Oh, and kudos to T.K. and Rachel (of Huntington Beach, Calif.) for winning the Amazing Race last night! Woo!

I'm Going to Miss This View

This was taken from my balcony on Saturday evening. My last Saturday in my apartment. Sad.



That there is Saddleback Mountain. I will be able to see the same mountain from my new place, just further away. You'll probably see it once I get moved next week.

Don't Be Hatin'

Gettin' Busy

It's very sad that I have such a boring day-to-day existence that I blog about work 3/4 of the time. I suppose since I spend 40+ hours a week working on work, it makes sense though. The problem is, I can't say too much about work because my website is all public and everything.

Well anyways.

Busy season has officially begun. Although I was pretty stinkin' busy the last 2 months of 2007, it really picks up steam this month. Looking at our work schedule, it seems I'm pretty much out of the office mostly until sometime in March. It goes by so fast, though, it's not bad. I'm trying to mentally prepare for working nights and weekends. This weekend will be the first of many. I need to go in tomorrow for a half a day. And to be ahead of the game so I can be more useful to my colleagues, I even went in tonight and spent a couple hours finishing up my junk.

This is how workaholics get their beginnings.

I'm going to try and think of some old stories to blog about in the near future so I don't have to write about work just for the sake of blogging. Because, really, work is work. You work. I work. It's all the same but with different jargon and pay scales. Who wants to come home from work to read about someone else's job?

Enough of that.

I move out next weekend.

I need to keep packing.

The Day Has Come

I've finally had to loosen my belt up a notch. It's been about 5 years on this belt. Hasn't budged. What's happening? Is 25 the age one starts to lose that high metabolism?

I guess I won't start to worry until I run out of notches to use on the belt. But my buddy Don just tells me to use a hole-puncher to make it bigger. Desperate times...

I'm Moving...

...down the street.

It's true. What? Did you think I was moving back to Minnesota? Alas, it is a wonderful place, but it was 72 degrees here today and completely awesome outside. It smelled like spring. I came home for lunch and opened my windows to air the place out. I love that spring smell. Especially in the middle of January.

But yes, I'm moving in with some family friends. A dad, mom, three kids, three turtles and one dog. I'm going to be saving major money, so I'm not completely insane. I'm paying $2000 to get out of my lease 3 months early. Sure, it sounds like a lot, which it is, but I will be up by $2000 by June for getting out.

I'd stay where I am, but I'm a auditor. I like to mitigate risk. Such as, my car is old and broken in and right now I have no money to fix it and/or replace it. Moving will change that. I need to go to the dentist. I'm pretty sure I need a crown or two. Moving will allow me to fix them chompers. I need to buy the review course for the CPA exam. It's expensive. Moving will free up some cash to pay for that.

See what I'm gettin' at? It's a no brainer. Plus, I'll be gone so much working that it's not worth paying my huuge rent when I'm not even here.

I move out the end of this month. I plan on staying with the family for at least three months, probably more if both parties are satisfied.

Now it'll actually feel like I really make what I make. College budget gone; real job budget here. The high cost of living in California will essentially be eliminated.

Christmas Photos

Here are the best of the pictures from Christmas 2007:


Grandpa Watts and Me



My siblings, their husbands, and their kids.



Me, cousins Brad and Blake



Kyleigh and Grandpa with his new hat (she purchased at the $1 store!)



An experiment I learned from David Letterman. Diet Coke and Mentos.



I will never wear these again.



ItalSteam!!! I've only seen these in Vegas. Santa tracked down the kiosk at Planet Hollywood Casino and picked one up for me.



It's never to early to domesticate (the big one's still learning).



Dad, Me, and Mom.



Kyleigh and Makenzie.



Mom, Dad, Aunt Karen, Uncle Tom



Heidi, Me, and Krysti.

Welcome Back!

Well, thank you very much. If I do say so myself.

Two weeks in Minnesota for Christmas/New Years. The two most popular questions I was asked:

1) How do you like California?
2) How did you get so much time off?

And the bonus question:

Do you have any women in your life?

I'll just answer the first one. I love California. I guess I didn't really realize how much I feel like I belong here until after my trip back home. Of course, it has nothing to do with my family. I would love for them to be closer, I just know that the Midwest is not for me. The weather aside, I was yearning to get back to Cali for reasons I can't explain. There's just something about it - SoCal in particular - that is unmatched. And that's what I missed. Now that my oldest sister is moved back to Minnesota, and I really am all alone out here, I feel like a loner. Aloner. Alone. But I have goals I want to accomplish, and those goals co-star Los Angeles with me in the leading role.

I achieved a lot in 2007. I finally graduated from college. I landed a real job. I moved across the country (again) with no one to lean on but myself (again). And I'm making it. 2008 is going to be even better, but if all I do this year is pass the CPA exam, I will still be on track with the 5-year plan. It's also a goal of mine to aggressively attack some debt. More on that at a later time.

Okay, I'll answer the bonus question, too. No. I don't. And I won't. I'm enjoying the single life too much. Plus, no time. Or money. Seriously, if I had a woman in my life right now, I think I would be miserable. I have too much I am focusing on without having to spend my time, attention, and $$$$ on a woman. Maybe in a couple of years. That's not to say I'm not looking, it's just a passive search. Extremely passive.

What else... I read about 1.2 books a month in 2007. I hit the 20,000 song mark in my iTunes library. I watched 30 less movies than in 2006. I'm assuming it will be even less this year. How depressing. It forces me to be more choosy though, which is good.

Oh, and I bought a Blu-Ray disc player. It's the bomb. And now that Warner Brothers announced they were ditching HD-DVD completely and going with Blu-Ray, it's only a matter of time before Blu-Ray wins and we have one hi-def DVD format. Hooray!

How many of you did I lose there?

Anyways, Christmas was great. I had a wonderful time spending with my loved ones. I look forward to seeing them again. In the meantime, it's time to tear up 2008 and make this my best year yet.

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

I'm on holiday for the next two weeks. Don't expect many posts, if any. I'm turning my brain off. I haven't been home for a year and I'm here to spend time with the family.

That sounded bitter.

It's not meant to be.

So everyone who reads my blog (and those of you who don't, you aren't reading this anyways), Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all.

I Think We Need a New Suitcase

For real.

See, our office is not paperless yet. So when we are out doing fieldwork, we have to haul a suitcase with us containing all of our perm files and workpapers. The bigger the client, the more files, the bigger (and heavier) the suitcase. And since I'm a lowly staff accountant, I'm the one who gets to pack and haul it all over. I frequently have to pay $25-50 for an overweight bag (more than 50lbs). You can imagine how that sucks to lug around.

Well, imagine pulling that weight behind you with a suitcase whose wheels aren't 100%...or 10%, for that matter. That's been the situation with our medium sized suitcase since the summer. Well, 3 weeks ago, under the 57 or so pounds, the back of it had a huge crack in it. Ryan decided to be classy and duct tape it. That surprisingly worked for two weeks.

Exhibit A:





When we got to New York, I pulled the newly named "ghetto blaster" suitcase off the baggage claim, set it upright, and watched it fall over.

The wheel had broken completely.

I'm wheeling/dragging this thing outside in the rain, through the puddles, to get to the cab. It is not good.

I get to the hotel and upon further inspection, this is what I see..

Exhibit B:




This thing still has to get back to Orange County by way of Chicago. There's no way.

Ryan and I go to Macy's, Bloomingdales, Kohls, Lord & Taylor (?), and even a luggage store: no one has hard cased luggage. No one. We can't do soft luggage; our printer would be toast. Who knows about the audit files.

Well we had no luck. Ryan managed to secure the wheel with some more duct tape. And somehow it made it rolling 4-6 blocks in Manhattan, through the airport, to Chicago, back to Orange County in one piece.

I go to the office on Saturday to unpack/pack for this week. I can't get the sucker open. What? Yeah, I guess TSA inspected it and proceeded to LOCK it. I noticed a little code engraved next to the keyhole saying "TSA 003." It leads me to believe that the TSA have a master key or something to open people's luggage. Problem is, it wasn't locked when they opened it, and we don't have a key for it.

I had to pry it open with a screwdriver. How I was able to find a screwdriver at an accounting firm is another story. But I did.

Well now the thing won't latch shut because we can't reverse the lock.

I hope by the time I get back from Minnesota we have a new piece of luggage for the busy season. Somehow I think we'll still be using the "ghetto blaster."

New York Photos

Here they are...


Bryant Park with the Empire State Building in the background (blue lights).



Times Square looking south (I think). I had trouble getting my bearings.



So close!



Not sure what this place is, but it's 1251 6th Avenue, if that helps.



I love this shot.



Rockefeller Center



Rockefeller Center



Rockefeller Plaza



I wish those dudes weren't in the way, but you had to pay to get an unobstructed shot.



I saw some lady taking this shot, told her it was a good one, and did it myself.






They turned out better than I had hoped. Can't wait to go back. And, I think being their in the winter enhanced the experience. It had to of. Look at it.

New York State of Mind

My first day in New York City, and my manager is sick. Being that he and I are the only ones on this job, that poses a problem. Monday morning, he basically just came to work with me just to introduce me to the CFO and get me started working. Then he went back to the hotel. I've never been left unattended like this since I started at the firm. Much less with a bunch of accented New Yorkers in a city I've never been to. Oh, the largest in the country at that. Well, after a minute of panic, it was no big deal. I figured things out. I got done what I needed to get done. I was a trooper.

Since we're at a culinary school, naturally, there was culinary (food?) to eat. I ate lunch with the CFO. Intimidating at first, but he was really cool. He gave me his little pocket map of the city and told me what to see Monday night. Oh, we also ate veal and some other weird looking stuff that tasted mighty fine. Loved it. And it was $2. Which the CFO picked up. Score!

By Monday evening, Ryan wasn't feeling any better, so I went out by myself. It was actually better that way. I was pretty much scared to go exploring on my own. They say it's safe, but I'm a Scandanavian from a small town in Minnesota, I was a little nervous. I left our hotel on 24th and 6th, intending toget to Midtown on the first subway I saw. Well, I didn't see one. I think I was a block over too far. So by the time I got to 34th Street, I decided to just keep on walking! It was mid 30s out; not bad actually.

I stopped in Bryant Park to watch some ice skaters; I wandered through Times Square and gawked like an idiot; I hiked it up to 52nd and saw the Ed Sullivan Theater - where David Letterman tapes; I saw Radio City Music Hall; finally, I went to Rockefeller Center and saw the big Christmas tree and all the ice skaters. It was pretty much surreal. To finally be in NYC and verify (to myself) that it exists beyond tv and folklore was pretty wonderful.

By the time I returned to the hotel, I'd walked for 2 and 1/2 hours. I was pretty much shot by then, but it felt good. I only saw one hobo. And I actually felt safer walking around Manhattan than I did walking around San Francisco. No idea why. Less weirdos (at least that I saw)?

Tonight we're off to Long Island for the rest of the week to audit a sister company of the one in Manhattan.

As I was walking back to the hotel last night, I couldn't help but be thankful that the $800 hotel bill (for only two nights! not even that nice of a place!), airfare, and food are being expensed. You can't beat that.

I hope to come back to New York on my own sometime and see the plethora of things I didn't get to see this time. Thankfully I hit two of the major sites. Success!

Alabama, Y'all!

Although Alabama isn't the most exciting place I've ever been, it sure has some of the nicest people. How can someone speaking in a slow southern drawl sound angry? I think it's impossible. We worked with some really nice people last week in Birmingham. We got there on Sunday, so that makes for a long week, but it went by pretty fast.

It was kind of a bittersweet time, though. Mike, my co-worker and friend, is moving on to another firm. This was his last trip and I'll be out of town this next week, so I guess our working relationship is over. We had such a great time this week, though. He's really enjoyable to work with, and I'm gonna miss him. Good thing we still have the batting cage to hang out at.

Wednesday night we managed to land tickets to the SEC-Big East Invitational college basketball doubleheader at BJCC Arena in Birmingham. The first game was Georgetown vs. Alabama followed by West Virginia vs. Auburn. I've never been to a real Division I event before, so I was super pumped. The place was electric. The band was playing. The cheermanleaders were throwing the lady cheerleaders up in the air. It was so much fun. We somehow landed good seats, too.

Being on the road for work is definitely worth it when we get to do fun stuff like that.

Tomorrow I leave for Manhattan and Long Island for the week. We're auditing two schools in four days. I'm a little concerned I won't get everything done that I need to. But I guess that's what late nights in the hotel room are for. My first time to New York, and it's looking like I won't even have time to sightsee. We're auditing culinary schools, and I hear that they feed us like no other. Five-course meals for lunch!! Sounds good to me.

Here's some pictures from Alabama:








Mike, Nicole, and me. The coolest accountants ever.






Mike and I with "Bear" Bryant and some other guy.

It's Not Even Busy Season Yet!

Yeah, it's been over a week since I've checked in. I know. I've been going and going for about two weeks. Well, really since the beginning of November. What with my trip to Connecticut, then a local job, Thanksgiving, Oakland last week Alabama this week and New York the week after....I'll have four days in the office then I'm home for Christmas. Just like that! Six months of my career, gone. Vamoose. I don't think I've ever written that word before.

I'm glad it's all going by fast but the biggest bummer is that I have DVDs from Netflix sitting here from two weeks ago that I haven't watched yet. That's hard for me to accept. The pre-career minded me would have hated that idea. I don't really hate it now; it just bugs me. Well, it won't get better. Work will only get busier. Is it almost summer?

Things are going well, though. The weeks on the road seem to go faster than I would have thought. I think I need to start being more conscious of how much I'm eating. Last week I ate at California Pizza Kitchen twice, PF Changs twice, and Cold Stone THREE times. There wasn't much selection obviously. Problem is, even if I'm full, I keep eating. I can't leave food on my plate, right?

Maybe I should buy a scale?

The goal for this week in Alabama is to eat a salad or something light for lunch every day, to not finish my meal at dinner, and to not buy a beer every night. Oh, and Cold Stone or something similar only once the whole week. Sure, when my role is to be an accountant during the day, I like to pork out at night. One, because I look forward to it, and two, I'm going to expense it anyways. But I don't want to start getting a gut.

Back to back east coast trips is going to totally mess with my sleep. I'm going to start complaining right now. It's going to be brutal. I'll be back here for one day next weekend, then it's off to NYC. I suppose I'll just stick to eastern time next weekend. Might as well.

I'll try and post something this week from Alabama if they have the internets there. I'm not sure if it's reached the deep south yet.

When the heck am I going to study for the CPA exam?

My First Turkey

I did it, folks. I made my first turkey. I feel bad though, because it was a young guy. Said so on the packaging. "Young Turkey Breast." At least it was just the breast and not the whole little fella. Although it looked pretty whole. Let's not think about that.

I cooked him on Wednesday night because it just wasn't going to be practical on the day of. I'm not slaving away in the kitchen all day when I have tom-peeping to do. That is, to be a peeping-tom.

Before you get all appalled at my admission of tom-peepery, it's not what you think. I paid to do it. Hm, that sounds even worse. How about this? We went on a tour of the stars homes yesterday. Okay, there you have it. I'm not a pervert. But we were stopping right in front of houses and looking into windows. Anywhere other than Hollywood, I suppose would be grounds for jail time.

I should mention that I'm not spending my Thanksgiving alone. I have a friend from back home out here for a few days. We're seeing all the sites. Four days is probably just the right amount of time here to see all the major spots and yet not get tired of the perfect weather (as if!).

Anyways, the tour was pretty fun. Could be cheesy, but it wasn't really. We supposedly saw everyone from the Guess? Jeans guys house, to Bennifers (Ben and Jen) and TomKats (Tom and Katie). Steve Martin. Liz Taylor. The "Fresh Prince" house. It was pretty much worth every penny.

We were back here by 530, in time to heat up that turkey, pull out the KFC potatoes and gravy I picked up last night, and have some wine in the non-wine glasses I didn't realize I should probably have until too late.

I have a great excuse for this wonderful Thanksgiving non-feast. I'm a guy. It was my first time. Cut me some slack! The bird turned out perfect. End of story.

Today we're going to head down to San Diego for the day. Should be fun, as always.

The Great Sea Captain Debate

I'm sure this has been argued for centuries...from Christopher Columbus to Jack Sparrow.

So which is it?

Care-uh-bee-un

OR

Cuh-rib-eee-un

My First Vacuum

I've been living in my apartment since June. I should have vacuumed by now, right? Well, I've had good intentions. A vacuum has been on my list of things I need to buy for almost sixth months. Today was the day I got around to it. And before you get all on your soapbox and tell me how nasty it is that I haven't sucked dead skin out of my carpet for 24 weeks, let me say this: Vacuuming is overrated. Unless you are and slob or have kids. Or both.

I'm sure there was a lot of yucky-yuck that I sucked up today, but I could have gone longer. I have my windows open all the time. I clean other things. I dust. I don't molt as much as most people (I can't prove that).

Purchasing your first vacuum is quite a seminal moment in a twentysomething bachelor's life. I couldn't just go buy one the very first week I lived on my own. No. I don't want to just buy the first vacuum that's on sale on Wal-Mart. It has to be the right time. This is not something to be rushed into.

What am I talking about? Let's get to the pictures!!

Here's me and my vacuum on our first day together:



I love the little guy. THE BOSS WHIRLWINDlite by Eureka. It's sports car yellow. Hm..I feel a little like Danny Tanner right now.