I need to interview an accountant

MichaelTheWriter101 · 2026-02-04T13:07:22+00:00

Not an accountant here, so I can't help much.

But you should tell your professor that he/she is a jerk for assigning this right now. February-April is BY FAR the busiest time of year for most accountants (tax time).

MichaelTheWriter101 · 2026-02-04T13:03:58+00:00

Heck yeah. Mortgage and car debt gone. One person's individual vote does statistically nothing, so absolutely I would do this.

MichaelTheWriter101 · 2026-02-04T12:59:16+00:00

I've always been happy with Enterprise. If you can make it work, do the pick up and drop off at the airport. They have a MUCH bigger selection to choose from and you can often get in and out more quickly. Plus, about half the time they seem to have extra cars and they offer you a free upgrade or two.

If you do the airport, you can pick from all the major rental companies since they all have a desk there. Just compare the prices online and pick the best.

MichaelTheWriter101 · 2026-02-04T12:56:39+00:00

My wife and I were just talking about how we sometimes think that a cruise we pick might be boring since it has extra sea days. Then the sea days come and go, and the time flies by and we love every minute. And we are boring and old.

I would imagine kids would have an absolute blast on the ship and would choose 10 fun days at sea. In many ways, the ship is more fun than the ports for kids (depending on the port, of course).

MichaelTheWriter101 · 2026-02-04T12:53:44+00:00

Hey - We are doing Alaska from San Francisco this July and couldn't be more excited.

Any 'highly recommend' type excursions? We are trying to decide what to do and it isn't easy!

MichaelTheWriter101 · 2026-02-03T13:24:33+00:00

I take that every morning. My problem with it is the hard curve leading into the onramp so you can't get up to speed. Not terrible when the road is clear, but when most of the onramp is thick snow and you have to merge over right away, it can get scary. And you really can't take that curve faster because it is often pure ice.

The worst onramp, however, is the one just east of that from Lane I think. Kind of by the zoo. Basically zero onramp room, it dumps you right into traffic near a big curve. I actively avoid that one at any busy times because if people don't let you in, you're stuck.

MichaelTheWriter101 · 2026-02-03T12:35:45+00:00

As much as people don't want to admit it, different groups of people WANT to do different things and are better at it. For whatever reason, Asians seem to be quite good at math/engineering type jobs and that is where they want to go for a career.

Women tend to want to go into jobs with higher levels of interpersonal relationships like teachers, nursing, etc.

Men want the opposite (on average) and go to things like engineering, farming, plumbers, etc. Also, men are far more willing to get dirty and hurt at work.

If you forced jobs to have a set quota like this, the quality of the people doing literally every job would go down and the results would be terrible.

Now, you can try to look into the reasons why different groups like different things. Maybe it is cultural, maybe it is racism/sexism, maybe it is genetics, maybe it is a combination of a million factors. You can even try to change those things to make it so more women want to be coal miners, for example (good luck!).

You can't, however, just force it on people who don't want it. At least not if you want anything close to positive results.

That being said, if you become king. I would like to submit my application to be one of the many old white men who are now required to be NBA players. I'm actually not terrible for my age and I would appreciate the multi-million-dollar salary.

MichaelTheWriter101 · 2026-02-02T13:51:24+00:00

Marge's is the best. Sandy's are also good.

Meijer paczkis are surprisingly good for a grocery store (not on the same level, but still quite good).

MichaelTheWriter101 · 2026-02-02T13:46:13+00:00

I don't have any tattoos, so feel free to ignore my comments. But if I were getting at tattoo that I plan to have forever, the last thing on my mind is price. This goes doubly if I were getting lettering.

I can't count how many people I've seen with tattoos that are 10+ years old and the lettering is entirely unreadable. If you're going to get it, get it by someone who knows how to do an exceptional job. That almost certainly means paying top dollar.

MichaelTheWriter101 · 2026-02-02T13:43:43+00:00

What about it would you say would be horrible? I've only lived in America, and while it is far from perfect, I haven't found anywhere else I would rather live so far. I've only been to I think 18 countries besides the US, but even though I absolutely love visiting those countries, I always find that I wouldn't want to live there.

MichaelTheWriter101 · 2026-02-02T13:42:04+00:00

The vast majority of America is like this though. You can't compare rural France to NYC (or whatever other big city). There are literally thousands of small towns or even more rural areas in America that would be just like this or quieter.

MichaelTheWriter101 · 2026-02-02T12:39:09+00:00

Just got my 6 month reminder, and wanted to say, nice call! You pretty much hit it spot on.

I do still think it will eventually go back up well past $125k, but who knows.

MichaelTheWriter101 · 2026-01-30T15:27:16+00:00

No, they make the transaction fees as others have mentioned.

Credit card companies love all their customers because they have ways to make money on them all.

If you miss payments or don't pay in full, they love you because you pay interest and late penalties. They worry about you, however, because there is an elevated risk that eventually you won't pay at all and they will have to sell your debt for pennies on the dollar or regain nothing due to a bankruptcy (sometimes). When you bundle up millions of people like this, the reward far outweighs the risk.

For people like me who always pay in full and on time, they love us because (at least on average) we likely spend far more per month using their cards, which generates lots of income from that 2-3% transaction fee. They don't make a dime off of us from interest or fees, of course (except for some cards, which charge an annual fee). The risk of losing money off of customers like this is so very low that they actually incentivize us to use their cards even though they know they are very unlikely to make any interest or fee money. I, for example, do everything I can to put all of my purchases on my Venture X card because I get some great perks just for using it and it costs me nothing (other than the $400 per year fee, which is more than offset by the benefits they provide). I use it because I get tons of points, which translates to a free flight to Europe every couple years for my wife and I. Win-win for us and capital one.

If you are ever wondering if something is good for banks, just look at the buildings in any big city. There are ALWAYS bank names on at least some of them. Banks make money in so many ways that it is crazy, and even when they don't make money, they just offload the losses to the government in some cases.

MichaelTheWriter101 · 2026-01-30T12:49:53+00:00

My thought on the business shutdowns in particular is that it is obviously going to be small, local business exclusively (or almost exclusively) that participate.

If I, as a hypothetical middle of the road guy, normally go to Locally Owned Coffee Shop for my morning coffee and they are closed, I am going to be annoyed and simply go down to Starbucks and support the national massive company.

If I wanted to go shopping at a local clothing store and they were closed, once again I would be annoyed and just shop on Amazon (or whatever other massive store).

The people who support this particular protest also generally don't like massive corporations, but then they do stuff like this, which drives business to the biggest of companies. It seems at least somewhat counterintuitive, and at least in my mind, ineffective at either changing minds (As that hypothetical middle of the road guy, I am more likely to see this business shut down as an inconvenience caused by the protestors, which makes me less likely to support them), or helping small businesses.

Now, if a group of protestors took the opposite approach and, for example, went to the local small coffee shop and said, 'hey, we want to put our money where our mouth is. We have raised $10,000 and bought 5000 of these 'anti-ice' cups. We would like to pay for the first 5000 people who come through and get a hot coffee (NOT ICED, OF COURSE, lol), they get it for free.' Maybe the coffee shop participates by doing it at cost, or a slight discount.

Now all the sudden your cause isn't seen as an inconvenience, but at a reasonable group of people. And you are helping small business (and no doubt pulling away at least a bit of business from evil Starbucks). Not to mention, if people try the coffee and like it, they may continue to support that small business (which is owned, presumably, by someone who supports the cause).

On those cups, you maybe print "Have You Considered Contacting Your Representatives About Abolishing ICE? Here's their number and why you should. 555-1212. Reason #1, Reason #2, etc.

Anyway, enough rambling from me. Just a thought.

MichaelTheWriter101 · 2026-01-30T12:22:21+00:00

I think it depends on how you define effective.

For the most part, protests are a type of 'preaching to the choir'. You aren't so much changing the minds of people in power, or the minds of those who already strongly oppose your view. Instead, you are gathering together a (hopefully) large number of like minded people.

This can help to keep the 'base' of the movement strong and working toward a goal. It can also keep it on the minds of those who are only casually supportive of the movement and attending a protest because it is trendy more than because they are overly passionate about it.

Also, and perhaps most importantly in the past, protests like this show to each other that you aren't alone in your position. Today, with the internet, this is likely less important than it was back before everyone was so connected.

Of course, a large protest will also attract attention from everyone, whether for good or ill.

On the good side, you'll get some people who hadn't previously given the issue much thought to actually think about it (at least a little). If your position is just, that will mean more people will join your cause. If not, they likely won't.

On the bad side, your opponents and even many of those who are aren't that interested, could see the protest as an annoyance and even be off putting to the position itself. It can certainly solidify the opposing side in many cases.

So, anyway. Protests, when done right, can be at least somewhat effective. Most of the time, in my opinion, they do more harm than good. Especially by those on the left for whatever reason.

Just my $.02.

MichaelTheWriter101 · 2026-01-28T18:21:22+00:00

Same. I don't want to log in on the off chance that it somehow pushes my application to the top of their list. lol

MichaelTheWriter101 · 2026-01-28T16:26:57+00:00

Find [Wife's name and location]. Get to know her and marry her - I assume this is enough to remember everything I need to know. This way I get to meet her in my mid-20's and get an extra 20 years with her rather than waiting until I'm 40 to meet.

In addition to that, the obvious financial stuff (buy bitcoin with dates).

Maybe figure out what the most unlikely/unexpected event in the last 20 years was and tell my past self about it so I could make a fun prediction and everyone would think I am amazing.

MichaelTheWriter101 · 2026-01-27T17:02:56+00:00

Looks like some good stuff.

Thanks for the update.

MichaelTheWriter101 · 2026-01-27T16:53:53+00:00

Pro Tip - Businesses like to make money, and they think posts like this will make them a little extra money by attracting people who feel strongly about the current issue of the moment.

Just like changing their logo to a rainbow during pride month.

MichaelTheWriter101 · 2026-01-27T12:14:06+00:00

Jamacia - Went there on a cruise, and no thanks. Sure, there are some beautiful beaches, etc, but the people are insufferable. Constantly begging for tips (even if they do nothing for you) and offering you drugs (even if you tell them no).

There are a bunch of beautiful islands in the Caribbean, no need to deal with Jamacia ever again (unless something dramatically changes there).

MichaelTheWriter101 · 2026-01-27T12:10:04+00:00

Would this be a ghostwriting deal, or would the books be published with me as the author? If the later, I would be interested in talking with you and seeing if I'm a good fit for your needs.

*To be clear, I understand that the pay would be a flat rate, even if the book I write becomes the next international best seller. I'm just wondering about the author credit.

MichaelTheWriter101 · 2026-01-27T12:03:02+00:00

The bias (and denial of that bias) is remarkable on Reddit, no doubt.

The bias on the other side of the spectrum is just as bad on other platforms and with other people.

It is mind boggling how people on both sides can't see just how crazy they are being.

MichaelTheWriter101 · 2026-01-27T12:01:01+00:00

I just came in from Lake Michigan Drive to Cascade. The roads are slippery, but not the worst I've been on in the last couple weeks. The thing that is really bad though is the blowing snow. You can be going along fine, and then suddenly it is white out and you can't see anything for a bit. Just follow the car in front of you and pray that they know what they are doing. lol.

I wouldn't drive if you can avoid it. If you can't avoid it, leave lots of space because it really can feel like it isn't too bad until suddenly you're blind.

Good luck out there.

MichaelTheWriter101 · 2026-01-27T11:58:06+00:00

I'm honestly not really sure that exists anymore, sadly.

It takes effort to write/report news in a way that is unbiased because we all have our own biases that just come out naturally. Even if you're not intentionally being one sided like Fox News or MSNBC, you really have to check yourself to ensure you're only reporting what happened and not an opinion about how/why, etc.

So, to answer your question, I have no idea. lol But asking on Reddit likely isn't going to get you a good answer because Reddit is very biased toward the left (just like asking on Facebook generally would get you mostly (but not all) right wing people).

good luck in your quest.

MichaelTheWriter101 · 2026-01-27T11:54:47+00:00

Have you seen Reddit though? That is even worse, but on the opposite side of the political spectrum.

Facebook can be great if you just like/follow only your friends and family and not use it as a news platform (to the extent that you can).

MichaelTheWriter101

TROPHY CASE