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Buyer Beware

So I decided to scrap the old Nokia for a *pink* Motorola v3m Razr. (I know, I am always running behind.) But buyer beware, there are tons of imitations out there! The first one I received was made of plastic, with a different colored metal battery door! (The whole phone should be aluminum and for crying out loud, at least match!) The little bit I played with the phone, I can already see it is sorely overrated, not to mention it is too wide for me to open one-handed. But at least I can send photos, use Bluetooth, and not have to enter voice commands manually, not to mention the phone is pink which is really all that matters!

What was I thinking?!

Now that Christmas vacation is already over (and sooo soon!), school is back in session and despite going back to work full-time on the 14th I will also continue to go to school full-time. I know, what was I thinking?! For this term I am taking Bestsellers and Accounting for Not-For-Profit Organizations, and just looking at the syllabi (plural for syllabus?) I am so overwhelmed. I have no clue about nonprofit accounting to begin with, and I have to read a novel a week for the Bestsellers course. In addition, I have W-2s and 1099s for three different companies to push out before the end of this month, not to mention the tax return preparation on the side... These next couple of months will certainly prove to be very challenging. Don't get me wrong I'm really excited, but I just want to be able to enjoy it all!

Lovin' my new HP Verve!

Yes, this would be what I got for Christmas...

Although the honkin' 12-cell battery has got to go! Otherwise weighing in at only 5.5 lbs, I love, love, love how light this is compared to my old one, which has now been given to my mother for those of you asking... ;)

Out with the old, in with the new!

Microsoft is finally issuing @live.com email addresses! So as of January 1st I will no longer be using kristadallmann@msn.com; my new email address is kristadallmann@live.com. Watch for new Messenger invitations from me and please update your address books accordingly!

Get your new @live.com Live ID here.

Lesson Learned!

Less than a week until the start of Christmas vacation... I desperately cannot wait! The last time I had a break was last year at this time... I didn't take a summer break; in fact, I doubled my course load! That being said I will have 33 credits behind me with 27 (or 9 classes) to go... The plan is to graduate by the end of August, attending the graduation ceremony in May. I want to be done!!!

Now that I'm past the halfway mark, or over the hump, however you want to put it, I have more or less a few gripes with Upper Iowa University's online classes. First off, no grading scale is alike! In one class (regardless of core classes), a 90% may constitute an A whereas in another class a 92% or 93% might. Another is that the policies are not applied consistently; take for example, all instructors require 5 out of 7 days class participation, but there seems to be confusion whether it is one post or two per day that is required (most classes is interpreted to be two). All of my instructors (but one!) have accepted work late in which you usually incur a 10% penalty per day that it is late, but this one class I'm currently in I definitely learned the hard way (hence, "lesson learned" the topic of my post).

I tend to push off my homework until the very last minute (for which could yet be another gripe - "midnight on Wednesday" is always construed differently across instructors), and this last Wednesday evening was no exception. For this paper I was to view either the movie Wall Street or Fun with Dick and Jane and answer a number of questions. I was getting tired, and for once (just once!), I decided to accept being late and finish it up the next day, this was at around 11pm. At 12:06am Thursday morning I receive an email message stating that the online week was closed for credit, focus on the next week, in addition to an attachment regarding his specific policy regarding late work. I was shocked! This paper was worth 80 out of 1000 total course points! Luckily I am still pulling an A (and a 4.0 as a matter of fact). Not only did it cost me 80 points however, it also cost me $2.90 to rent the movie "Fun with Dick and Jane" and $10.55 in late charges. I'd say lesson learned!

Microsoft Office Accounting Expert

Dear Santa...

All I want for Christmas is whatever you find here. I've been really, really good this year... I donated all of my technical reference books on Windows XP and Office 2003 to my local library as soon as I could so that my under-educated community may benefit... leaving my bookshelf nearly empty...

Did I really upgrade?

Now that I practically have a new machine now - I've upgraded to Windows Vista Ultimate, upgraded to Office Ultimate, and nabbing only yesterday Microsoft Office Accounting Professional 2008, and all of it for just under $200 - with my savings, I figured it was time to upgrade my workspace with all of these new applications!

I originally ordered my computer with the Dell UltraSharp 1907FP as at the time I couldn't imagine needing anything bigger than 19" and I absolutely refused purchasing a widescreen. Well now that I've been playing around with a seemingly huge 22" widescreen monitor, I could not help but desire one for myself. (What can I say, it grew on me, and it was awfully hard to go back home and look at my what had seemed so large at the time of purchase now seemingly small monitor.)

I immediately took a liking to this matching monitor from Dell, but then my eye caught this one. It was a hard call! I wanted something different, and although I'm short (or is it slim?) two inches (Dell does not have a similiar model in a 22"), I gained two USB ports, webcam, and a microphone that I would not have if I had opted for the other model. Besides, it was a bit cheaper and it looks cooler!

However it is not an UltraSharp model as was my original monitor, and my old monitor even retails for more than the one I just upgraded to. So did I really upgrade? I haven't quite figured that one out yet, but I'm sure loving the additional space the widescreen has to offer. ;)

All the way!

Since everyone around me seems to have Vista now, I went ahead and upgraded now - to Windows Vista Ultimate. I wouldn't have done it with any other version on my Dell as I use it both for business and entertainment; I use Remote Desktop and the media center totally replaces my VCR for recording shows such as Grey's Anatomy ;). Anyway, coupled with the Office Ultimate offer, this machine really has it going on! What I thought was pretty cool however had been that I purchased the Upgrade yet it required me to do a clean install (which is what I had been intending to do). Even my mother has upgraded to Windows Vista, she also installed the Upgrade but hers demanded that it be installed over Windows XP. We fixed it with this little trick though, and it did the trick! I really dig the Aurora screensaver.

The Ultimate Steal!

Calling all students!

Microsoft recently launched a promotion where you can get Office 2007 Ultimate at a real freakin' steal - $59.95! I'm not kidding!

So I've broke down...

...and purchased Microsoft Office Professional 2007! While I fiddled with a trial version had been installed on my friend's PC, I could not help myself. I fell in love with the new fonts introduced in this new version of Office in addition to the new formatting features in customizing the headers and footers of Word documents as well as the new schemes for PowerPoint. I must say I am very impressed as the final documents are very sharp indeed! While everything (and I mean everything!) has been completely rearranged in this new version, I have found things to be much more easily accessible, and in reverting back to Office 2003 of which I've had for going on four years now, I have found that I am unable to locate those same features! Talk about strange...

While I only have the Pro version, I have to wonder what happened to FrontPage? I never really used it anyway but played with it a few times to a certain extent, however had Microsoft rolled out a new version I'm sure the new templates would have been equally as impressive. Nonetheless I totally dig this new version of Office!

Authorized IRS e-file Provider

It's the best news I've gotten all summer - I just received notice from the IRS that I've been accepted as an Authorized IRS e-file Provider in the IRS e-file program. I couldn't be more thrilled as beginning this coming tax season, I will be able to move away from TurboTax and invest in commercial software for the processing of individual tax returns, in addition to the ability to utilize QuickBooks Enhanced Payroll for Accountants for my existing and future bookkeeping clients, once I become a QuickBooks ProAdvisor (which happens to be next on my agenda!). I don't think anybody has a clue as to how much this means to me... This means business!

I know what I'm doing...

I'm so excited, I know what I'm doing... well as far as my senior project is concerned anyway! I wish I could enroll for it this coming term however I must be within 15 credits of graduation. So far I have found that usually students wait until the last term to do their senior project, but I want to complete it as soon as possible. I wish I could say what it is! I have a choice of fulfulling it at the Wausau center in which I would be required to do a presentation, or via online, and while I am not at all fond of public speaking I am strongly considering making it a public presentation as my project benefits all those currently pursuing accounting, and I'm just that excited about it.

Kinda funny how the idea originally occurred to me; I actually wasn't looking! I had been considering (and researching) CMA certification at the IMA website when the idea for my senior project had occurred to me (I am not even sure what spurred me in researching CMA certification). Nonetheless I'm excited about it, and I can't wait to finally do it!

I can't believe how many credits I've conquered since I started at Upper Iowa at the beginning of this year; I have exactly one year left and will be attending the graduation ceremony this coming May! I hadn't realized how fast time is actually flying and that I am having to think (now!) about where to fulfill the remaining number of credits needed to sit for the CPA exam. (Oh I remember now in how I got to researching the CMA certification...)

I'd been researching another college in looking for one located in-state as the cost of tuition is just getting to be insane, federal stafford loans and their limits are currently just barely covering the cost this academic year as an undergraduate and most certainly will not the following academic year as tuition rises, hence the reason why I am anticipating graduating already. So therefore I was looking at Lakeland College in which the Marshfield center is closest to me, and stumbled across the perfect programs of which to fulfill my remaining credits; the accounting program offered at Lakeland College is considered one of the best in the nation, and the credits earned in both the CPA and CMA tracks will not only fulfill the remainder of my credits needed but also complete the concentration of accounting part of a Lakeland College MBA. I am quite impressed with my find, the idea of actually having a professional career is starting to become reality now and I am very excited!

Vista Sucks

I had a feeling this post was coming, but I'm afraid my next PC is going to be a Mac. My friend recently purchased a Gateway GT5435E with Vista Home Premium preinstalled from Sam's Club. No doubt a very nice system, and this is his first computer. (Yes, there are still people out there who've never touched a computer yet, and unfortunately they have to resort to this!) First off, I'm not really understanding the pathetic size of the All Programs menu, and overall I'm not all that impressed with the Aero interface - does anybody else think this is ugly? And the icons... Next, it continually has to ask your permission to do just about anything, isn't that just a little overkill? Finally in some areas, you have to click around that much more whereas in XP you can go to the same thing with fewer clicks, which is just absolutely ridiculous! I'm not sure what Microsoft was trying to accomplish here. Let's just say I'm embarrassed; his family are big Mac users and he should've just got one. While this is his first computer, he'll probably not notice how bad this really sucks, but I do; if Microsoft never came out with a bad product before, Vista is it, and I'm sorry but Vista sucks. What a piece of... bloatware!!!

Unable to...

...browse My Network Places in Windows XP?
...view workgroup computers?
...set up a network printer?

Windows Live OneCare is the culprit dammit! (I didn't think Windows XP changed that much since the last time I set up a home network!) You can now tell what I spent all day doing, and now may you benefit as a result. Double-click Windows Live OneCare located on your taskbar, under Common Tasks click Change OneCare settings, and under the Firewall tab, click the Advanced settings... button. Under the Managing and sharing tab, select Only share them with computers on my local network (subnet) under Sharing. OK twice out, and now you can finally browse My Network Places in Windows XP, view workgroup computers, and set up a network printer! May all your queries lead to my solution as Microsoft has not been this kind to me.

DSL Dreams Come True

Having become fed up with only a dial-up connection, I decided to scope out the market once again, as previously a local dish installer had been advertising WildBlue in the local newspaper, a satellite internet provider recently becoming available in my area. Yippee! I thought, finally competition in this area against Price County Telephone Company, of which at the time was charging $50/month for 128kb for DSL whereas WildBlue would be 512kb for the same price. Although the entire installation of WildBlue would cost roughly $250, this seemed like a godsend as I was not about to let that cashcow of a telephone company suck me dry for a pathetic DSL connection until...

I looked up reviews on WildBlue as an internet service provider, and was immediately disappointed in what I had read and continued to read. It was at that moment I decided to disconnect from my pitiful dial-up connection and give our cashcow telephone company a call, and found out they had significantly raised their internet connection speeds and decreased their prices dramatically - 512kb for $40 & 1.5MB for $50 (minimal start-up costs and no contracts)! Needless to say I signed up immediately. So I am finally, finally getting DSL! However of course, as typical of our cashcow telephone company, will not be able to configure my line until the 27th, because practically all of the office is going on vacation this week. I don't mind, but they better not charge me for a half a month of DSL because of it!

God, I hate this class!

Now that tax season is over, and well, has been over for sometime now, for this term I took on two courses: Marketing Principles and Diverse Cultures in America, which puts me at full-time status. (In addition to the bookkeeping job, I think you can now see why I am still so busy.) Anyway this is the first term I am taking a class at the Wausau Center - Marketing Principles - in addition to one, Diverse Cultures, online. While Marketing Principles has been going relatively well with the exception of the instructor rather insistent on creating and developing a marketing plan based on a nonexistent business as a group project - I so had my heart set on devising a marketing plan on my own business, a CPA firm which currently fits the bill for nonexistent and I am getting sick of group projects - I am having a horrible time in my Diverse Cultures course, in particular with the instructor. I am not sure how to explain why other than he is a complete and utter asshole?

Now I am just taking this course to fulfill just some basic general reqs, and granted I have been behaving throughout this course accordingly, but if I were to venture to say anything, I would have to say this man's got a lot of time on his hands, he's way much too overqualified to be instructing a 200-level course, and more importantly, I strongly feel he himself is a minority with a fair amount of attitude toward white, non-Hispanics such as myself. He takes things much too seriously (after all, we aren't all sociology majors), in addition to his pompous-ass attitude. I absolutely cannot wait for this class to be over with (I have only three weeks left), but more importantly I cannot wait until I receive the course evaluation form for Term V, as I've got my list handy. ;)

My first CPE!

Because I have now become involved in the bookkeeping of a local business, recently I had decided to look into a course offering for QuickBooks as I had obtained a copy of QuickBooks Pro 2007 in an effort to convert their manual accounting system into a computerized one. However once I had received it, I found out rather quickly how different it was to QuickBooks 2002! (I hadn't realized it had been that long since I was in college!) Either way, I now needed to polish my skills in using this program and decided to attend Advanced QuickBooks 2007, a WICPA-sponsored seminar that had been held recently in my area. Although at first I had been intimidated by the cost, upon registering I had been notified that I would receive a free copy of Microsoft Office Accounting Professional 2007 - a $150 value - and I thought it would be a great way to be able to meet other people who have taken to a passion for accounting.

Little did I know, however, that I would receive in software above and beyond what I had paid for this course! Prior to its start not only were we all handed out a copy of Microsoft Office Accounting Professional 2007 as was advertised, but we were also signed up for an additional license as well as a copy of QuickBooks Premier Accountant Edition 2007 in addition to another license, but during lunch a drawing had been held and I won a copy of Adagio Accounting! I just couldn't believe my luck! As you can see, the Accountant Edition of QuickBooks is roughly $400 alone; it was just absolutely unreal, nevermind the free WICPA pen as well that is nothing compared to this!

What was interesting to note was that there were approximately forty of us and during lunch (which was on them by the way) I had met a CPA local to the area of whom much to my surprise I am following in the same footsteps - she attended and received her Associate's degree from NTC and later on to Upper Iowa; but luckily for her she was able to beat the 150-hour educational requirement before it went into effect in 2001 (believe me, I am envious). However she had suggested to me that I ought to jump on becoming a Certifed QuickBooks ProAdvisor in my area, as there are absolutely none within a fifty-mile radius of me (and yet another program I had been unaware of). But just starting to refamiliarize myself with QuickBooks all over again, in doing such may be just a tad bit too soon for me (that, and I probably best not put the cart in front of the horse just yet).

Nonetheless I had an absolute wonderful experience, and although I am not a CPA - yet - this CPE earned doesn't really count for anything other than getting the skinny on the latest version of QuickBooks. However I left the seminar knowing why people go to college; you can really live the good life just on earning CPE! ;)

So busy...

I know, I've heard from so many of you: "Krista, hello... tax season is over... where are you?" But the truth of the matter is that I've been so busy between school and a bookkeeping job I had picked up in March; I am now attending classes full-time since tax season end and am currently in the process of computerizing the local restaurant's books, inputting data for all of 2007 - that in itself is quite a chore! However don't worry, I've got plenty to blog about in the coming weeks. I had a wonderful and very interesting turnout this tax season, this year the first year I decided to keep a record and hope to be posting statistics soon. Wow, thanks to all of you who came to me in getting your taxes done and I definitely hope to see all of you next year, especially as a few of you singles have taken my advice and I was able to attend a few weddings so far this year... ;) With a few of you "combined" now, I won't anticipate running out of tax supplies so quickly!

Oops!

I just realized my website has been offline now for about a week! Funny my domain provider didn't send me an email on this more recently as they usually send the invoice like three months prior to expiration - much too soon to even think about it! But they did send me an email today trying to sell me something of course, hence how I was reminded!

Every year this happens to me, I forget and my site is usually down for a day or two, but I can't believe I let it down for a week! Oops... I suppose that's what will happen when you are this busy!

I Got an A!

I just recently finished English Composition II and got an A! A great start towards my Bachelor's I must say... I am now already onto my second week in my next course, Critical Thinking, which appears to be a much lighter load than this last one. Believe me, I sigh of relief as this week also happens to be the halfway point of tax season, of which there are only five more weeks to go! I am looking forward to our tax party at work, which also happens to be the night before my birthday... ;)

Don't Fall in Love With a Dreamer...

Just look at you sitting there
You never looked better than tonight
And it'd be so easy to tell you I'd stay
Like I've done so many times
I was so sure this would be the night
You'd close the door
And wanna stay with me
And it'd be so easy
To tell you I'd stay
Like I've done so many times

Don't fall in love with a dreamer
Because he'll always take you in
Just when you think
You've really changed him
He'll leave you again

Don't fall in love with a dreamer
Because he'll break you every time
So put out the light and just hold on
Before we say goodbye

Now it's morning and the phone rings and ya say
You gotta get your things together
You just gotta leave
Before you change your mind
And if you knew
What I was thinking girl,
I'd turn around
If you'd just ask me one more time

Don't fall in love with a dreamer
Because he'll always take you in
Just when you think
You've really changed him
He'll leave you again

Don't fall in love with a dreamer
Because he'll break you every time
so put out the light and just hold on
Before we say goodbye

My new nephew!

What a find!

Recently I had to visit Sam's Club to pick up a few items. Because the location in Wausau is moving their entrance to a different section of the building and rearranging the store in the process, upon entering the store there was a clearance section! I had never seen a clearance at Sam's Club before, and so due to the nature of products sold at this store, I hurried right over. They had electronics and clothing items, discounted dramatically. After a brief inspection, I proceeded to pick up the items that were on my list.

However, after picking up a few of my items, I was in dire need of a shopping cart. On my way back to the entrance I was about to pass by the clearance table and I about stumbled over an open cardboard box. Here, on the floor beside the tables was a laptop/printer/case bundle just recently marked down from $699.81 earlier this week to $500, and to $400 just today! I couldn't believe my eyes! Because I had only given my old Compaq notebook away a few months prior, and then now recently decided to return back to school, I was in the market for a new notebook. This one, the HP Pavilion zv6123cl-b (HP PSC 1410 All-in-One Printer/Scanner/Copier & HP Sport Backpack), had double everything (and then some!) my old notebook, a Compaq Presario 900US, had. I just couldn't let this go. What a find!

I peered into the box only to find the printer, and then located the price tag which indicated that the notebook was currently locked up (probably because it was so close to the entrance!). I scurried over a clerk manning a cash register near the entrance, inquiring if I could inspect the laptop and accessories. My intention was to keep "hush-hush" and near the location of that box so nobody else would nab it but...

The clerk paged overhead for another clerk working with electronics, and proceeded to announce throughout the whole store that, "a customer is inquiring about the notebook located at the clearance tables." So much for keeping hush-hush! I then hurried back to the box and stood over it like a hawk, waiting in anticipation for the clerk from electronics to explain a bit further about the notebook I wanted to inquire about.

Come to find out it had been a return from the holiday sales in addition to the bundle being the last of its stock to clear. I inspected the notebook in lockup, noting any accessories or discs that may have been missing; at this time I noted that Microsoft Windows XP Professional was also installed on this system, disc having been included, a $200 value in itself! After verifying all was there, I purchased it. On my way out, everyone commented on my find including the cashier herself and the customer service rep as I had to log it out, as the tag was still attached, visibly waving at everyone as I exited out the store. I was so thrilled!

I took it home and did the whole clean install routine, personalizing it in addition to installing my old faithful academic edition copy of Microsoft Office Professional 2003 w/FrontPage that I had obtained the last time I had been in college (which of course Microsoft gave me trouble in activating as I had installed it on my Dell XPS 410 desktop purchased back in October). Everything went very smoothly, even better than when I had purchased my Dell. I am still impressed HP included the operating system CD; they have been known in the past for not doing so on the HP systems I have worked on in the past. Paging through the user's guide, I also noted I have every available optional component available this notebook can have, such as the 15.4" widescreen, the digital media reader, 1394 port, express card slot, wireless 802.11 b/g compatibilty - even an infrared (IR) lens! Along with the all-in-one printer, which prints, copies, and includes a flat-bed scanner that can be operated without a computer and takes the cheapest ink HP manufactures, this made the HP Pavilion zv6123cl-b quite the steal at the price I paid for it!

It has now been three days and is still running beautifully. In hindsight, this purchase can also be justified as being a wise choice as the new version of Windows - Windows Vista - is expected to debut right around the corner - January 30th - in which PCs will be retailing with this new version on it. (Suppose maybe there will be more clearance sales ahead?) As I anticipate both my employer and university to not upgrade for quite some time yet, having purchased my laptop now will have saved me trouble and headache in potential compatibility problems, which I hadn't thought of previously, as upgrading is usually much easier than downgrading...

Again, I cannot say this enough, what a find! Not only had this made my whole day, but my whole week, month... even the whole year! :)