Going to school again at 34. Shall I say that is ambitious, lucky (not everyone has the time or financial resources to return to school in adulthood), or just plain masochistic?
So I am taking accounting and macroeconomics classes at a local junior college. Actually it really doesn't matter whether this college is local or not because I am taking the classes online.
Online classes, what a brand new concept after going to college the conventional way for so many years. At first I thought online courses would be a walk in the park, like child play. Boy, was I wrong. Not only are the tests harder because they are "open book," we are practically teaching ourselves the subjects with minimum guidance! (You have the option to go to class and set up appointments with your professors, but that'd defeat the whole purpose of "online" classes!)
Here's my thought on the two classes after my first month as a returning student.
Accounting: it's like reading the lengthy instruction manual to an seemingly interesting video game. I enjoy the number-crunching part (yes, I do realize how horrible that sound as I am typing it), but to get to the number-crunching part, one will have to first read through the dry and boring chapters (the instructions).
Economics: pages after pages it's like "stating the obvious." "There are demands and supplies." Duh! "When demands are higher than supplies, the prices go up." Ya think? "Technological advancement enhances growth." No sh*t!
And then I learned it the hard way that reading pages and pages of "duhs" and "no sh*ts" doesn't necessarily guarantee an A. So it's studying, studying, and more studying. I only wish I was half as studious the first time I did this college thing... =.=
Monday, October 31, 2005
Sunday, October 23, 2005
My Little Friend
I made this little friend online. Little, being all 19 year old. Yes, that's "little" to me because I am almost, note almost, double his age. I like chatting with this boy for two reasons. First, I am working swing shift from 12 noon to 9PM right now and hubby works morning shift, 6:30AM to 3PM. I don't get home till 9:30 PM and hubby must be in bed no later than 10. Needless to say, we hardly get to see each other during the weekday. The little boy and I don't have a lot in common per se, but since he works from my 9PM to my 12AM, it was nice to have company until I leave work and right before I turn in.
Second, boy is the FIRST male that I've chatted with online that had never took the conversation down the sexual path. Mostly because he thinks that thinking about a 34-year-old woman having sex is, well, gross. Because I am old enough to be his mother, he says. Regardless of the reason, I am just glad I don't have to listen to, "so, hehe (beavis and butthead style), what are you wearing."
Third, (I guess there are three reasons why I like chatting with him after all :) he's a practical kid. I like chatting with practical, realistic, and rational individuals. You see, there are always someone who'd say, "I'll NEVER trade sex for money." Well, honey, you hadn't needed it bad enough.
And I quote this little story from my Economics textbook written by Colander (anal as I am, I am not referencing it in MLA formating or whatever the other one is called...):
There are many stories about Nancy Astor, the first owman elected to Britain's Parliament. A vivacious, fearless American woman, she married into the ENglish aristocracy and, during the 1930s and 1940s, became a bright light on the English social and political scenes, which were already quite bright.
One story told about Lady Astor is that she and Winston Churchill, the unorthodox genius who had a long and sitinguished political career and who was Britain's prime minister during World War II, were sitting in a pub having a theoretical discussion about morality. Churchill suggested that as a though expierment Lady Astor ponder the following question: If a man were to promise her a huge amount of money -- say a million pounds -- for the privilege, would she sleep with him? Lady Astor did ponder the question for a while and finally answered, yes, she would, if the money were guaranteed. Churchill then asked her if she would sleep with him for five pounds. Her response was sharp: "Of course not. What do you think I am -- a prostitute?" This time CHruchill won the battle of wits by answering, "We have already established that face, we are now simply negotiating about price."
One moral that economists might draw from this story is that economic incentives, if high enough, can have a powerful influence on behavior. An equally imporatnt moral of the story is that noneconomic incentives can also be very strong. Why do most people feel it's wrong to sell sex for money, even if they would be willing to do so if the price were high enough?
So you see, people's behavior can be altered if we are talking about high dollar amount. To be all fair, Colander did also mention that money wasn't the only force at work here. There's also cultural and social forces.
Being someone who grown up in the more conservative Chinese culture from Hong Kong, I can certainly see that some women will not trade sex for money even if it means they'd starve to death. You see, I do believe in some good in the human nature. But what if it's not their own lives that are at stakes here? What if we are talking about their mother's life? Their husbands? Children? Can they really sit around and watch them die while the women (or men, I suppose) in question insist on their moral believe? And there's conflicting moral believes too. What would the society say if they, indeed, let their love ones die without willing to sacrafice themselves?
So you can now see why I said anyone who'd say "I'll never trade sex for money" was only because they were never in the position that they needed the money badly enough.
Back to my little 19-year-old boy after all the digression. Knowing how men are generally homophobic, I've raised the price from the beginning, "Would you trade sex with another man for $1 million."
His answer? Heck yes, probably even less.
And we have established that his bottomline was $100,000. Of course, this is all hypothetical. Given that he is not in dire need of money (everybody can use an extra million or two at any given time, but most of us, fortunately, don't NEED them for food on table tonight), the final prices, should it come to that, would probably be closer to half a million or higher. But my point wasn't how much it'd take him to perform such an act, but the fact that at his young age, he already realized that, ultimately, everybody has a price.
Second, boy is the FIRST male that I've chatted with online that had never took the conversation down the sexual path. Mostly because he thinks that thinking about a 34-year-old woman having sex is, well, gross. Because I am old enough to be his mother, he says. Regardless of the reason, I am just glad I don't have to listen to, "so, hehe (beavis and butthead style), what are you wearing."
Third, (I guess there are three reasons why I like chatting with him after all :) he's a practical kid. I like chatting with practical, realistic, and rational individuals. You see, there are always someone who'd say, "I'll NEVER trade sex for money." Well, honey, you hadn't needed it bad enough.
And I quote this little story from my Economics textbook written by Colander (anal as I am, I am not referencing it in MLA formating or whatever the other one is called...):
There are many stories about Nancy Astor, the first owman elected to Britain's Parliament. A vivacious, fearless American woman, she married into the ENglish aristocracy and, during the 1930s and 1940s, became a bright light on the English social and political scenes, which were already quite bright.
One story told about Lady Astor is that she and Winston Churchill, the unorthodox genius who had a long and sitinguished political career and who was Britain's prime minister during World War II, were sitting in a pub having a theoretical discussion about morality. Churchill suggested that as a though expierment Lady Astor ponder the following question: If a man were to promise her a huge amount of money -- say a million pounds -- for the privilege, would she sleep with him? Lady Astor did ponder the question for a while and finally answered, yes, she would, if the money were guaranteed. Churchill then asked her if she would sleep with him for five pounds. Her response was sharp: "Of course not. What do you think I am -- a prostitute?" This time CHruchill won the battle of wits by answering, "We have already established that face, we are now simply negotiating about price."
One moral that economists might draw from this story is that economic incentives, if high enough, can have a powerful influence on behavior. An equally imporatnt moral of the story is that noneconomic incentives can also be very strong. Why do most people feel it's wrong to sell sex for money, even if they would be willing to do so if the price were high enough?
So you see, people's behavior can be altered if we are talking about high dollar amount. To be all fair, Colander did also mention that money wasn't the only force at work here. There's also cultural and social forces.
Being someone who grown up in the more conservative Chinese culture from Hong Kong, I can certainly see that some women will not trade sex for money even if it means they'd starve to death. You see, I do believe in some good in the human nature. But what if it's not their own lives that are at stakes here? What if we are talking about their mother's life? Their husbands? Children? Can they really sit around and watch them die while the women (or men, I suppose) in question insist on their moral believe? And there's conflicting moral believes too. What would the society say if they, indeed, let their love ones die without willing to sacrafice themselves?
So you can now see why I said anyone who'd say "I'll never trade sex for money" was only because they were never in the position that they needed the money badly enough.
Back to my little 19-year-old boy after all the digression. Knowing how men are generally homophobic, I've raised the price from the beginning, "Would you trade sex with another man for $1 million."
His answer? Heck yes, probably even less.
And we have established that his bottomline was $100,000. Of course, this is all hypothetical. Given that he is not in dire need of money (everybody can use an extra million or two at any given time, but most of us, fortunately, don't NEED them for food on table tonight), the final prices, should it come to that, would probably be closer to half a million or higher. But my point wasn't how much it'd take him to perform such an act, but the fact that at his young age, he already realized that, ultimately, everybody has a price.
My Doll House
I had a doll house when I was a kid. Well, I had it in a box. It was one of those 2 feet tall ones after you put them together? But our house was so small that my grandma, whom I was living with, would not let me put it together. :( On hindsight, it would have been better if she'd throw it out after I have assembled it instead of before. ;_; So I am always in seek of another dollhouse, now that I am an adult.
Ironically, I do own one now, still in the box. Being a house owner made me realize that: my granny was right, you need a lot of room for that... Maybe I'll put it together and give it away. :) In the meantime, I am very happy with this new MMORPG that I've found, Yohoho Puzzle Pirates (http://www.puzzlepirates.com). Not quite sure how this part fit into the whole pirate scheme, but you can buy houses and buy furnitures for the house (or put in your boat, or your shop), so I can happily use it as a substitute for my dollhouse fetish until I have space to put up the real one. I have recently purchased a bed for my bedroom, here's a screen capture:
(click on it to see bigger image)
Ironically, I do own one now, still in the box. Being a house owner made me realize that: my granny was right, you need a lot of room for that... Maybe I'll put it together and give it away. :) In the meantime, I am very happy with this new MMORPG that I've found, Yohoho Puzzle Pirates (http://www.puzzlepirates.com). Not quite sure how this part fit into the whole pirate scheme, but you can buy houses and buy furnitures for the house (or put in your boat, or your shop), so I can happily use it as a substitute for my dollhouse fetish until I have space to put up the real one. I have recently purchased a bed for my bedroom, here's a screen capture:
(click on it to see bigger image)
Love at First Sight
I saw this Sony Dream Machine radio alarm clock yesterday and it was love at first sight. :( The :( is because I have just bought a new radio alarm clock not too long ago. ;_; But at least I can put the Dream Machine pic on my blog. :) Isn't it a beaut? :D
Sunday, October 16, 2005
From Accounting to Chinese Characters to Meaning of the Universe
So I have starting taking an introductory accounting course at a local community college. Learning accounting is very much like writing numbers in Chinese. How so, you ask. Well the number "one" is denoted by a horizontal stroke; "two" is two horizontal stroke, with the top stroke approximately 2/3 the length of the bottom one; "three" is three strokes, top and bottom strokes resemble that of a "two" with the middle one being the shortest stroke.
My grandmother told me this story when I was a kid: a boy started learning how to write. On day one he learned to write "one"; day two, "two; day three, "three." This genius incarnated then told his tutor that, "Okay, I get the gist of it all, your service is no longer needed," and let go of his tutor. The parents (being Chinese) were delighted that they had a genius son, so the mother asked the son to write an envelope for her, addressed to "Mr. Ten Thousand" (yeah, that's a last name). Son said, "no problem, mom." Half a day had passed and the mother still has yet to see the envelope, so she went and asked the son. The son replied, "but mother, 'ten thousand' has a lot of strokes."
What does that have to do with accouting, you asked. Well, upon finishing chapter 1, I thought to myself (being the genius that I am), "This stuff is easy. I am going to be the next super star at H&R Block, working only 4 months out of a year. Heck! I am ready to start tomorrow!" Then I thought I'd speed past chapter 2 in no time. Wrong! Chapter 2 introduced the wonderful accounting concept of credit and debit. To give you a glimpse of why I was stuck: "each transaction has a debit and a credit. A credit or a debit can be either addition or subtraction..." How is that for confusing?
Regardless, I figured it was just one of those "humps" in studying a new concept. Once I get passed that hump, rest will be a breeze. Sure enough, once I've figured out that "debit" and "credit" and nothing more than "left" and "right," the rest of the studying went smoothly.
Then comes chapter 3, adjusting the accounts -- the balance at the end of the month might not reflect the true balances of a company, therefore adjustments are necessary. Wasn't too hard of a concept. This time I felt for sure that I have learned everything I'd ever need to know about accounting.
Then there comes chapter 4... and that's when I realized there are still all these nitty gritty little concepts that are involved. Heck! There might even be a few major concepts that I can't even begin to imagine or comprehend at such an early stage. Beginning accounting is a three course series, and then there's still tax accounting and all the advance courses. And this is only the lower division courses...
Perhaps trying to figure out what life is all about is the same thing. Perhaps our existence on earth right now is just a phase; a phase out of many, many phases. Let's pick a finite, comprehensible number. Say, thirty. But being at phase 1 (or maybe even phase 5 and we just don't remember the previous phases), it is simply not possible for us, at this point in the space-time continuum, to even begin to imagine, and let alone understand, the whole picture.
My grandmother told me this story when I was a kid: a boy started learning how to write. On day one he learned to write "one"; day two, "two; day three, "three." This genius incarnated then told his tutor that, "Okay, I get the gist of it all, your service is no longer needed," and let go of his tutor. The parents (being Chinese) were delighted that they had a genius son, so the mother asked the son to write an envelope for her, addressed to "Mr. Ten Thousand" (yeah, that's a last name). Son said, "no problem, mom." Half a day had passed and the mother still has yet to see the envelope, so she went and asked the son. The son replied, "but mother, 'ten thousand' has a lot of strokes."
What does that have to do with accouting, you asked. Well, upon finishing chapter 1, I thought to myself (being the genius that I am), "This stuff is easy. I am going to be the next super star at H&R Block, working only 4 months out of a year. Heck! I am ready to start tomorrow!" Then I thought I'd speed past chapter 2 in no time. Wrong! Chapter 2 introduced the wonderful accounting concept of credit and debit. To give you a glimpse of why I was stuck: "each transaction has a debit and a credit. A credit or a debit can be either addition or subtraction..." How is that for confusing?
Regardless, I figured it was just one of those "humps" in studying a new concept. Once I get passed that hump, rest will be a breeze. Sure enough, once I've figured out that "debit" and "credit" and nothing more than "left" and "right," the rest of the studying went smoothly.
Then comes chapter 3, adjusting the accounts -- the balance at the end of the month might not reflect the true balances of a company, therefore adjustments are necessary. Wasn't too hard of a concept. This time I felt for sure that I have learned everything I'd ever need to know about accounting.
Then there comes chapter 4... and that's when I realized there are still all these nitty gritty little concepts that are involved. Heck! There might even be a few major concepts that I can't even begin to imagine or comprehend at such an early stage. Beginning accounting is a three course series, and then there's still tax accounting and all the advance courses. And this is only the lower division courses...
Perhaps trying to figure out what life is all about is the same thing. Perhaps our existence on earth right now is just a phase; a phase out of many, many phases. Let's pick a finite, comprehensible number. Say, thirty. But being at phase 1 (or maybe even phase 5 and we just don't remember the previous phases), it is simply not possible for us, at this point in the space-time continuum, to even begin to imagine, and let alone understand, the whole picture.
Friday, October 07, 2005
Whistle Blower
So a few days ago I had the honor to attend a speech given by Cynthia Cooper. Don't know who she is? Well, she is the "whistle blower" in the Worldcom case. Listening to such a speaker is very empowering. I mean, we all know these public figures (?) exists, but when they are standing live in front of you, they are real in flesh and blood. It's no longer like the 10 o'clock news. So she told the story of how it happened and how things progressed and I only wish I am more knowledgeable in the field to be able to fully understand the story. It's not easy when I am only, well, one week into the field -- one week since I started my intro accounting class. Oh boy, I sure hope I can pass it.
Interestingly enough, I read about a list of female "whistle blowers" in my text a couple of days before I attended Cynthia Cooper's speech. Which made me wonder: (bear with me that I am brand spanking new in this field) was the text only listing the female whistle blowers, or are whistle blowers predominantely female? And if it is the latter, why? Is it because (a) female are more communicative or (b) when all is said and done (sorry, you all feminists out there), we have something to fall back on?
Take one of the executives for example, when the scandal was exposed, it turned out that he had his resignation letter all written up before the fraud started. Why didn't he turn it in? His wife just had a miscarriage and he was the breadwinner of the household. He could not afford to lose his job at the time. Of course once the ball got rolling, there was no stopping.
As a Chinese saying goes, "Behind every successful man, there is a good woman." Applying to our modern society, I think that should be modified to, "Behind every successful person, there's a good partner." According to a Newsweek article, most men still prefers to be the primary breadwinner and most women doesn't. Perhaps, at the end of day, us females are the ones that have the luxury to "do the right thing."
Interestingly enough, I read about a list of female "whistle blowers" in my text a couple of days before I attended Cynthia Cooper's speech. Which made me wonder: (bear with me that I am brand spanking new in this field) was the text only listing the female whistle blowers, or are whistle blowers predominantely female? And if it is the latter, why? Is it because (a) female are more communicative or (b) when all is said and done (sorry, you all feminists out there), we have something to fall back on?
Take one of the executives for example, when the scandal was exposed, it turned out that he had his resignation letter all written up before the fraud started. Why didn't he turn it in? His wife just had a miscarriage and he was the breadwinner of the household. He could not afford to lose his job at the time. Of course once the ball got rolling, there was no stopping.
As a Chinese saying goes, "Behind every successful man, there is a good woman." Applying to our modern society, I think that should be modified to, "Behind every successful person, there's a good partner." According to a Newsweek article, most men still prefers to be the primary breadwinner and most women doesn't. Perhaps, at the end of day, us females are the ones that have the luxury to "do the right thing."
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Wouldn't It be Nice if There Is an End to Desires
This hasn't been a good year; started out with tsunami in Asia, war in Iraq continues, hurricanes in US, bombing in UK, bombings in Indonesia, still three more years of Bush to go... but, for the rest of us who are not directly impacted, life goes on.
This is, however, a good year for TV shows, at least for sci-fi/thrillers/monster flicks junkie like me. For reasons beyond understanding, all the network channels decided to go the same route at the same time, pushing out shows like Nightstalker, Invasion, Threshold, Surface, and Supernatural. I must say, of the five, I prefer Surface, Threshold, and Invasion the most, in that order, whereas Supernatural pales in comparison with the rest. Guess I'm more of a sci-fi than supernatural kinda gal.
It is in time like this (so many good TV shows) that one would really like to own an awesome PMP (personal media player) such as this one:
This is the Archos AV700 Mobile DVR, it comes in 100GB or 40GB. It allows you to record directly from TV and even your DVD player!! Other miscellaneous functions (that I don't use) are MP3 player or digital photo album.
Price range:
$599.95 from the Archos site
$569.99 from Amazon.com
$559.95 from Office Depot (through Amazon.com?)
Or find it for as low as $499.00 at Nextag.com!
Oh, how I wish I can have one!! ;_;
This is, however, a good year for TV shows, at least for sci-fi/thrillers/monster flicks junkie like me. For reasons beyond understanding, all the network channels decided to go the same route at the same time, pushing out shows like Nightstalker, Invasion, Threshold, Surface, and Supernatural. I must say, of the five, I prefer Surface, Threshold, and Invasion the most, in that order, whereas Supernatural pales in comparison with the rest. Guess I'm more of a sci-fi than supernatural kinda gal.
It is in time like this (so many good TV shows) that one would really like to own an awesome PMP (personal media player) such as this one:
This is the Archos AV700 Mobile DVR, it comes in 100GB or 40GB. It allows you to record directly from TV and even your DVD player!! Other miscellaneous functions (that I don't use) are MP3 player or digital photo album.
Price range:
$599.95 from the Archos site
$569.99 from Amazon.com
$559.95 from Office Depot (through Amazon.com?)
Or find it for as low as $499.00 at Nextag.com!
Oh, how I wish I can have one!! ;_;
Monday, October 03, 2005
Another Item That Will Complete My Life
So Hubby and I was watching Gilmore Girls (yes, even though my fairly crude friend Mike said "Gilmore Girls remove your balls" I did NOT, I repeat, did NOT, force Hubby to watch it with me. He did it entire out of his own will) Season 2 and there was this one scene during Max and Loralei's engagement party when he lifted up this one gift and asked her, "Why are all the gifts for you?" And my eyes just lit up as soon as I saw the item in his hand.
"Was that a Hello Kitty waffle maker?" I asked Hubby.
"Looks it," replied Hubby nonchalantly, knowing the inevitable.
And sure enough, after a few minutes on the web, I've found the next item that will complete my life.
:D :D :D
And the cheapest I could find goes for $39.99 at Target.com
Every time I showed the picture to a friend, he/she would remind me that, "but you already have a Mickey Mouse waffle maker?!"
And?? Who said one can only have ONE waffle maker?? O.o I am SO getting this for myself. XD
"Was that a Hello Kitty waffle maker?" I asked Hubby.
"Looks it," replied Hubby nonchalantly, knowing the inevitable.
And sure enough, after a few minutes on the web, I've found the next item that will complete my life.
:D :D :D
And the cheapest I could find goes for $39.99 at Target.com
Every time I showed the picture to a friend, he/she would remind me that, "but you already have a Mickey Mouse waffle maker?!"
And?? Who said one can only have ONE waffle maker?? O.o I am SO getting this for myself. XD
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