I’ve written eight blog posts in my head between now and the last post. Some of them were good, some not so good, and some not of general interest. None of them were pushed through my keyboard.
Life continues to cruise along. Another semester is half over. I’ve never churned through as many textbooks as in this semester. This weekend I have over 800 pages of assigned reading from five books; not a chance of that happening—I’m not even going to try. At that volume I learn very little in return for the amount of hours spent. I would rather be mountain biking or hiking. So that’s what I do instead.
Last Sunday I laboriously hauled said books over to the business college for a homework session. The atmosphere there usually puts me fully into homework mode. I like the huge tabletop to spread books and papers and calculators on and I can utilize multiple computers, i.e. use one for research, another for spreadsheets, and a third for email and related distractions. I can make lists on whiteboards and use a projector to shine study guides on the wall. Stuff gets done fast. When I get stumped I cruise across the hall to a professor’s office; they’re often in on Sundays and they never seem to mind answering questions or talking with students. The downside is the floor-to-ceiling windows facing the mountains. Looking that way too often kills the homework buzz.
Last Saturday and Sunday I powered through subject after subject, wrote four papers, completed several quizzes, and did mountains of homework. I almost got it all done. Then I went to the windows and looked at the band of aspens on the mountains, glanced at my watch, furiously stuffed it all in my backpacks, and took off for the inner basin. I got there around 4pm, the sun was getting a bit low and the 10,000’ chill was moving in. I hiked six miles up through the aspens and beyond, and got lightheaded from running at elevation—after a weekend of immobility and little sustenance other than coffee. It was freezing cold and there was snow on the shaded parts of the trail. But I was free and the skies were hopelessly blue. The exams last week that I should have studied for were brutal, very brutal, but I didn’t regret the decision.
Today (Saturday) was another long day of homework and study. I’m almost getting this stuff and the dots are starting to connect. All for the CPA exam, I tell myself. I don’t need a CPA for my job and won’t be doing hardcore accounting stuff as a consultant, but with only a 14-hour exam between me and those three letters it’s hard for me to not “finish” this. Those other three letters—MBA—will have to wait, though. I’m over school. It’s been great, I’ve learned a lot, it’s helped me get a dream job, but there comes a point… hmm, really? I did skip out this afternoon for a 15-mile mountain bike ride up over Schultz Pass and down the other side. I love having forest access an eighth mile from my house. This is a rare privilege that I don’t advantage often enough. The weather was perfect, as usual, but a bit chilly at the higher elevations. A few spots on the trail had snow left from last week’s storm but it was a spectacular ride.
Anyway, my enrollment list is complete for next semester. I’m excited about it, can’t wait for it to get here, in fact. I’m in an advanced ski class which meets two days a week on the mountain and comes with a season pass. I’m also in a fitness conditioning class for excuse-makers like me who can’t keep a fitness schedule. I do active things but I do them only on my own time and when I’m in the mood to do them. I don’t stick with conditioning plans because it hurts my body. I’d rather be sitting beside a pristine bike trail eating a flavorful Clif bar on a gorgeous day than spending painful minutes running at a prescribed pace and time. This class promises to help people make fitness plans and stick with them—ahh, but I am skeptical. On a side note, I’m also taking an extreme corporate taxation class, a financial auditing class, a management capstone class, and a class on international financial reporting standards—IFRS if you speak accounting lingo. I also had an advanced international financial analytics class just for kicks but dropped it to prove I still possess a little sanity.
Well, it’s time for me to find food again, buy lunches for the next few days, and get some sleep. It will be another week of early mornings, much coffee, little food, late nights, and little time to think about anything other than accounting. Cheers!