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fredericksWhen I woke up this morning dad informed me that some TV show people had come around, inquiring if they could use the house for filming. I sort of didn't believe him, and he told me to check the card they'd left downstairs. The "card" turned out to be a note of interest from the production crew, with a (photocopied) signed cast photo of the people of "Third Watch" on the back. I was "eh", since I really don't watch the show and I know no sane site scout [sorry for the alliteration] would choose this house for anything else but a crack den. The siding on the outside is grey and the visible attic window is missing a pane. When I left dad said he would have given them a call today (guess he was sort of hyped about it) and I figured I'd have some time (at least) to tidy the dump that is my room. Wrong. Turns out they popped back out today to do site photos. I'm so embarrassed. The entire house is a genuine mess. But maybe that's what they're going for. My house as a crack den. But, wait - isn't "Third Watch" a fire department show or something? Eh.
Tomorrow's D-day for the tax class thinggey. We have our exams and exit interviews, to determine who they're going to hire. I'm not worried, but sorta am. I think the job would be fun. It combines my love of crunching numbers, working with computers, and helping people. Couldn't get better.
I'm going to be honest when I say that I'm not prepared in any way to work on income taxes. I would not feel comfortable walking through someone's financial statements, and I damn sure know that I'm better off than most of my classmates. This company's "training" is a joke, especially when you take into consideration that H&R Block, the big name in Income Tax, requires 11-weeks MINIMUM training for its seasonal tax associates. Notice the "you might have to pay for training" part. I'm guessing they pay a hell of a lot more than where I'm looking, though. This training I'm going through now isn't paid, and it's fairly incompetent and sloppy on the whole. There weren't enough books to allow us to take any home and so we're basically working off of memory and whatever hastily scribbled notes we manage to jot down. And the instructor...she's a good woman, but a *miserable* teacher. She started out by saying that she graduated with an accounting degree and she's been doing taxes for 25 years. And for the last three days she's been showing us that she can demonstrate very little of all that knowledge she has. She doesn't even seem to re-read the classbook before the lessons and, if the way she interacts with the class is any indication, her people skills are lacking. Which doesn't say much at all to the potential employees. And the managers! They're bloody kids that have no knowledge of any sort of tax work. The manager of the site I'm training at said as much on the first day; his job is to "get people in the door" (wearing jeans and a t-shirt, mind you; I've been coming in with the same on since that first day). Riiiiiiiiiight. Not to be a model of efficiency and competence for his employees.
With all that being said I still want to work there. I can never give less than all of myself at work. I just can't. Schoolwork I tend to half-ass, but any service position has me working my behind off. If I get hired I'll make it my duty to become as knowledgeable as possible on the topic, that's all.
I met a fellow Ivy-er today in the class, by accident. We ended up sitting next to one another and amusing each other in order to stave off the brain freeze/frustration/sleepiness that working in a room with 70 other people a cramped space while not understanding what's going on tends to engender. When we were packing up to go I noticed he was using a Yale notebook. I told him I'd gone to Brown and he said something along the lines of "Ah. It fits. You're pretty well-spoken." ... to which I responded "Err, okay. Whatever that means." I'm still trying to figure out if that's a compliment or a backhanded insult (in general; I've heard it before, used for other people and towards myself).
So, right. I'm going to study hardcore for this exam. AFTER I get in some "Arrested Development" Season 1. Because I'm still a slacker at heart.
Tomorrow's D-day for the tax class thinggey. We have our exams and exit interviews, to determine who they're going to hire. I'm not worried, but sorta am. I think the job would be fun. It combines my love of crunching numbers, working with computers, and helping people. Couldn't get better.
I'm going to be honest when I say that I'm not prepared in any way to work on income taxes. I would not feel comfortable walking through someone's financial statements, and I damn sure know that I'm better off than most of my classmates. This company's "training" is a joke, especially when you take into consideration that H&R Block, the big name in Income Tax, requires 11-weeks MINIMUM training for its seasonal tax associates. Notice the "you might have to pay for training" part. I'm guessing they pay a hell of a lot more than where I'm looking, though. This training I'm going through now isn't paid, and it's fairly incompetent and sloppy on the whole. There weren't enough books to allow us to take any home and so we're basically working off of memory and whatever hastily scribbled notes we manage to jot down. And the instructor...she's a good woman, but a *miserable* teacher. She started out by saying that she graduated with an accounting degree and she's been doing taxes for 25 years. And for the last three days she's been showing us that she can demonstrate very little of all that knowledge she has. She doesn't even seem to re-read the classbook before the lessons and, if the way she interacts with the class is any indication, her people skills are lacking. Which doesn't say much at all to the potential employees. And the managers! They're bloody kids that have no knowledge of any sort of tax work. The manager of the site I'm training at said as much on the first day; his job is to "get people in the door" (wearing jeans and a t-shirt, mind you; I've been coming in with the same on since that first day). Riiiiiiiiiight. Not to be a model of efficiency and competence for his employees.
With all that being said I still want to work there. I can never give less than all of myself at work. I just can't. Schoolwork I tend to half-ass, but any service position has me working my behind off. If I get hired I'll make it my duty to become as knowledgeable as possible on the topic, that's all.
I met a fellow Ivy-er today in the class, by accident. We ended up sitting next to one another and amusing each other in order to stave off the brain freeze/frustration/sleepiness that working in a room with 70 other people a cramped space while not understanding what's going on tends to engender. When we were packing up to go I noticed he was using a Yale notebook. I told him I'd gone to Brown and he said something along the lines of "Ah. It fits. You're pretty well-spoken." ... to which I responded "Err, okay. Whatever that means." I'm still trying to figure out if that's a compliment or a backhanded insult (in general; I've heard it before, used for other people and towards myself).
So, right. I'm going to study hardcore for this exam. AFTER I get in some "Arrested Development" Season 1. Because I'm still a slacker at heart.
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Date: 2005-01-07 07:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-08 07:29 pm (UTC)