Emma and I went to a nearby Elementary school twice today. We were playing the first time we went and I kicked myself the whole time for not having my camera. So, we went back later in the afternoon when the light was better—this time with the camera!
Emma and I didn’t have such a good day today. We planned to enjoy the beautiful day, but things didn’t go as planned. We went to a park that was new to us that we heard had a fenced-in dog walk. It was perfect! We were alone and Emma was exploring and enjoying being off her leash.
Just a few minutes after we arrived, two more dogs arrived with their owners. Both dogs seemed older—they were at least past the crazy puppy stage. Emma ran circles around them and they just padded around and didn’t seem to care about the furball chasing them.
Then disaster struck. An Akita and an Akita mix arrived. They were immediately let loose in the dog walk and the full-blooded Akita that had to weigh at least 150 pounds took an interest in Emma. Before I knew it, the other dog was chasing Emma and she was running as fast as her little legs would take her. She was screaming because she was nearly being trampled with every step of the larger dog. All this commotion attracted the other three dogs who were there and before I could even get to Emma, all four of them were swarming Emma. She was stuck in the middle and the Akita had it’s teeth on Emma. I don’t know if it thought she was a rabbit or what. I pulled it off her and snatched Emma away from all the others. I really thought she must be dying at this point because when I was finally able to put my hands on her, she was laying motionless on the ground. Thankfully, her little heart was racing and she was for sure still alive.
Emma and I quickly made our way as far away from the other dogs as possible so I could assess her injuries. She was covered in saliva from the dog that wanted to take a bite out of her. I think it could have taken her entire body into its mouth had it been given more time. I am so grateful that Emma was seemingly unharmed. She didn’t have any puncture wounds and could walk without a limp. Physically she was ok. I can’t say the same for either of our emotional conditions. I’m afraid that she is traumatized and won’t walk off a leash or get near other dogs again. I must have been showing signs of what had just happened because another dog approached us while we were leaving the park. I must have jerked or showed some other physical sign of my discomfort because the owner apologized even though Emma was in my arms and the other dog didn’t get within 5 feet of us.
Emma and I went home and tried to recover from our experience. Emma required a bath to get rid of the “other dog” smell that permeated her fur. Just add another thing to Emma’s list of bad things that happened to her today.
We’re ok, but I don’t think we will be going to that park again. Although the conditions pre-dogs were wonderful, I can’t take the chance that she would be in that situation again. We were lucky that she wasn’t physically injured this time, but we might not be so lucky next time.
We won’t be going without my Dad at least—when I told him the events of the day, he said that he would be at the hospital having his broken foot seen to after kicking the offending dog until it stopped harassing Emma. I never thought he could like such a tiny, girly puppy, but he loves her and she loves him even more. I’ve always been his Little Buddy, but I think she’s his Littlest Buddy! :)
What I want more than just about anything right now is knowing where I am going to be living come next September. I’m the kind of person who has a five year plan and right now it’s really hard to solidify that plan without a location where the plan is going to be taking place.
I’ve been looking for jobs for over a year really if you consider my search for an internship. I’ve known the firm I interned with was not hiring since April. I’ve been actively searching for jobs since August with the help of my Graduate Program Director. Interviewing during normal Accounting Interview Weeks didn’t go as I had initially planned. I really thought that I would have a job at the end of those two weeks. I applied for eleven positions and only got three interviews. I was told during the first interview that there were no jobs with that firm. I really don’t know why they even offered me an interview if they knew going into it that the Birmingham office had no positions in Tax.
During my second interview, they told me that they weren’t hiring right now, but in a few months they might have an opening. Well, it’s been almost two months and I haven’t heard one thing. Not one single peep.
During my third interview, they seemed interested and said the Birmingham office was primed to grow by 200% during the next five years, but again I haven’t heard a thing.
Ms. Campbell…Murphy…whatever has been trying to check with these firms along with any others she can think of to put my name out there. I really want to knock down doors—hers included—but I especially hate to bother her on what seems like a daily basis. I’ve had two teachers ask for my resume and I know it was forwarded to at least one firm in Huntsville.
At this point, I’m looking in Birmingham and Huntsville and Nashville (although Auburn doesn’t seem to have many TN connections). I really want to live within a reasonable driving distance of home. At this point, I have been in Auburn for over four years and I don’t really consider 5 hours a reasonable drive anymore. I would love to be as close to home as Birmingham or Nashville and Huntsville would be wonderful too. I really can’t imagine being about an hour from home.
I don’t feel that I made a mistake choosing to go to Graduate School. The benefits of having my Master’s as well as my increased chances of passing the CPA exam on the first try make it more than worth it. However, I have to wonder if I would have been hired after my internship if I would have been ready to work this past September. I know hiring this far into the future is hard for companies, but it’s been happening for years. The ones of us in the Auburn MAc program are the best of the best. I just don’t understand why people aren’t jumping to hire the ones of us left without contracts.
I’m really tired of hearing that firms aren’t hiring because of the economy. We all know the economy is horrible and is probably going to get worse because of all the debt this country now has. That’s not a good enough excuse for me anymore.
I’m a Tax Accountant for Pete’s sake! As long as we have a government, there will be taxes. People are going to need accountants for their tax compliance. It’s not like my skills are not in demand.
I know that I will get a job eventually. I know Ms. Campbell won’t let me graduate without a job—1. because she’s told me so and I trust her and 2. because anything less than 100% employment post-MAc would hurt the program and she’s not about to let anything or anyone hurt the program. Especially if I am CPA licensed and just need the rest of my year of experience to practice, I know firms will jump at me.
Sorry for the rant, but sometimes the uncertainty of it all just builds up in me and I can’t keep it inside anymore. I’m a planner and this is seriously disrupting my planning abilities. Come on, I just want a job! Is that so much to ask?
Those are the words I heard before I knew it this morning. We had a hour and twenty-five minutes for the exam this morning, but I could have taken much more. In general, I think it went ok, but I know my essay responses could have been more thought out if I had been given more time. Oh well, it all depends on how my classmates performed anyway since everything we do is judged based on our peer’s work. Audit is not my specialty, so I guess I should be happy if I get a B. I’ll just have to see how things come out and hope I’m at least average when compared to the rest.
On another note, I have three weeks and two days of class left. Officially, that is 14 days since we only meet Monday-Thursday. In that time, I have one more AIS project and presentation, an Audit presentation, a Governmental project (not a big deal at all) and a Corporate Tax project. I also have one more AIS test, two Governmental tests and a Corporate Tax test. There’s lots to be done in the next 14 class days!
One thing that irritates me about the condo complex I live in is that we have lots of solicitors.
Since I was a little kid, I have been taught to tell telemarketers, “We don’t accept telephone solicitation.” Well, this time I want to publically say “I don’t accept any door-to-door solicitation, either!”
They come around offering such great deals or claiming to be doing work for school. Today, for instance, this girl came by claiming to be working on a project for her Communications class. She talked for a while, told me I looked like I was 18 tops, and then proceeded to tell me she was not in college, but high school and was trying to win a competition. I don’t believe that because before I knew it she was trying to sell me magazines saying that her sales gave her points to win this “competition”. I don’t know if that was real or not (I doubt it) but I politely told her I did not want to purchase any magazines and she left.
Unfortunately, I saw several other people going door to door and I assume they were other solicitors. And this girl should have been in school too. I wanted to ask why she wasn’t in school at 12:30 anyway as soon as she quickly said she wasn’t here for a college class, but she was in high school.
This has happened before. Usually, they are not so convincing in telling you that it is a school project. I have also had auto parts people come offering free oil changes and other regular maintenance, but you have to pay for the services up front and once you use them all, you get your money back.
Regardless of what they are selling, I wish they would just leave me alone. I really want to put up a big sign that says “No Solicitation, Please!”
This may be harsh, but I just don’t want to have my time wasted or waste the solicitor’s time either because I am simply not going to sign up or buy something from them.
I have to admit that I was happy for it to be bright and sunny at 6AM this morning. It made it so much easier to get up and take Emma out. Neither she nor I are big fans of going outside in the dark. However, I’m not happy about it being dark shortly after 5PM—AND it’s only going to get worse. I’ll just have to look forward to springing forward, I guess.
I haven’t done anything special or unusual today. All I did was go to class as usual. Emma and I did go on a little adventure to get Heartworm medicine for her. I let her run free for a little bit after that. She usually loves being off her leash and runs like a crazy person. She really has grown up though and usually comes when called. Her only problem is that sometimes she’s not finished being psycho when I decide it’s time to go inside!
Emma is happily sleeping under the coffee table watching me type and read and study. She is pretty good support and listens to me when I complain that I will never finish a reading or never learn the material.
I think Break Time is over and that I should get back to preparing for this test on Wednesday! Until next time!!
Is it seriously November 1 already? I can’t believe it. I really can’t believe that I’m two and a half months into a year-long graduate program. Minus a week for Thanksgiving, three weeks for Christmas, Spring Break and semester break in May, I have less than eight months of school left. EVER! I know people say to never say never, but I don’t see myself going back to school for a PhD. I liked practice too much during my Internship. I think I would much rather be a partner in firm than a professor at a University. (Why is is a university and not an university…or is is “an”, but it just sounds funny?)
This week will be busy. I have a project that was supposed to be due Monday, but the deadline was extended to Wednesday, if necessary. I also have a test that was supposed to be tomorrow, but got moved to Wednesday because of the Ole Miss (Mississippi University, to you Dad!) game and because of Halloween. I didn’t take part in Halloween festivities, but it’s apparently a big deal to some of my classmates. Enough to basically beg to have extra time for the project and to study for the test.
I’m planning on making a trip up to Birmingham Saturday night or Sunday. Uncle Mark’s 50th Birthday is next Monday and we are planning a little family celebration. Turning 50 is a big deal to my family and we want to make sure Uncle Mark is not alone on the day before his birthday, at least.
That’s about all for now. I need to re-read all the articles that were assigned in my class for the semester to get ready for this test. I really have no idea what to expect, so I hope the review session is helpful tomorrow.
