Shirtsleeve Accountant

The following poem from the Vietnam war goes out to all those vets (from any war) that made it good in accounting.

Half way House. I've had, over the last 15 years a bottom drawer either in my desk or, like now, a box, where I toss papers that I'm not sure what to do with. I didn't want them laying around on my desk nor was I comfortable trashing them. And, I didn't have a place (or desire) to file them. Once this drawer or box gets full (about 90 - 120 days worth), I reach down, grab the bottom half and toss the bunch in the recycle bin. Fact: I can count on one hand the number of times I went into the drawer to retrieve a document and I've never needed something I finally tossed in the trash.

Anyone with more than a mop for a head knows that Darwin's opinion on the evolution of life on this spinning olive is just a theory. In his, On the Origins of Species, he attempts to support his theory through observations, comparison, conjectures, etc. All his data is either historical or anecdotal or both---a bestiary ben trovato.  B. J.

In October 2008, as a hedge against inflation, I purchased a 5 year, $25,000 Treasure Inflation-Protected Security (TIPS) at a discounted price of 89.114 with an interest rate of .625%.  As of last October 2009, its inflation-adjusted value was $25,497.25.  So in 12 months, it has increased in value by $3,188.75 [25,000 - 22,278.50 (25,000 x .89114)] but most due to the discount.  I only bought one because they were new to me as an investment vehicle but I thought that the best way to test out the waters is to get your feet wet.

I recently changed jobs. Yes, actually swap one job for another. It's been 20 years since I left a job that wasn't first yanked out from under me by a sale, merged, relocation or being bumped by someone senior, or got a new boss who didn't like me!  Over the last 15 - 20 years manufacturing has taken it on the chin with all the down sizing, off shoring and sales to investors who trim all the "fat" off for short term profit.  They say that we have lost 3 million manufacturing jobs since 2000 for those very reasons.