Gothic · Memories

So I left work Thursday morning, and instead of heading home I ended up in Seattle. One might ask why I might go to Seattle on a Thursday (or any day, for that matter). This one would then receive the answer that I was heading off for the most awe-inspiring of TAX COMPETITIONS!!!1!

Yeah, I was part of a four man (or perhaps woman is more appropriate, since I was the only guy) team, one of three that our lovely school dispatched to put the undergraduate students of the University of Washington in their place. There were five teams from the UW, three from Central, two from Walla Walla, and one from Seattle University. The basic gist of the contest is that your team is locked in a room with nothing but a problem, an answer sheet, and a copy of the tax code (all 5000+ pages of it), and given four hours to solve one problem. Sounds relatively easy, right? If you just nodded your head, I suggest you go and actually try doing your own taxes sometime. Then you’ll get a little understanding for why we just barely finished in the allotted time span. It was quite hectic indeed. However, we eventually persevered, handed in the problem, and were released for the evening (it was about 7PM at this point).

After going to our hotel and dropping off books and things, all three teams and the professor that accompanied us (Professor McDonald, who also happens to by my thesis advisor), along with a few Central graduates who were now attending the MPAcc Program at the UW and had decided to tag along for the ride, all ended up at this very classy restaurant/tavern called The Ram. It was here that the what could of potentially been the highlight of the trip was discovered- because this excursion to Seattle was being funded entirely by Central, that meant that all of our food (and Drinks) were free.

Alright, I’m going to repeat that last sentence and then give a few seconds for it to sink in. All, repeat, all, of our drinks, alcoholic or non, were being paid for by the school. Immediately ID cards flew out of wallets and purses, and the poor waiters were soon deluged in drink orders. Within minutes, large quantities of alcohol began hitting the table, along with gross amounts of the restaurant’s specialty: a one pound hamburger covered in onions, referred to as “The Dawg”. Even yours truly couldn’t resist the call for free booze. We all now what a weakling I am when it comes to free food, right? Earlier that day I had consumed some seven slices of a large pizza because no one else was hungry (apparently some people lose their appetite when nervous), but it was being provided free by the UW. This also led me to partake of some mixed drink (don’t remember what it was specifically, but I know it had a fair amount of Bacardi in it) which came in a glass that I thought was rather large, given it’s contents. Times were good, and we were all chatting it up and relaxing.

Then the calls started coming in from the UW, about who made it to the finals the next morning and who had been eliminated (only four teams would be selected to continue on). The other two teams get their calls first, and they’re both eliminated. Then, ours gets the call…and we’re in the finals the next morning! While this means we have a chance at some of the prize money, it also means no more drinking, and straight to bed. Sad.

So off we go, and then rise again bright and early the next day, to be locked in a room for another four hours. Instead of working on a problem this time however, we are tasked with preparing a presentations for the family who was the focus of the problem yesterday, and prepare to talk to them for half an hour about future tax planning options. All of which is conducted in front of a group of CPAs from various firms in the community. While I’d say we did fairly well with our presentation, we were feeling a little less confident after it was over than we did the day before.

Eventually, the judges make their decisions about the four teams, and we’re all called into a large room for refreshments and to hear who took what place. The results are given…and my team ended up taking third place. Not the best, but good enough to take home some prize money at least ($150 for each of us). So after that we were all utterly exhausted, and just piled into the car we came in to head back over the mountains. As per most car rides wherein I’m not the driver, I immediately fell asleep, and didn’t wake until we were nearing Eburg. Then when I got back to my apartment, I was so exhausted I ended up just crawling into bed and going to sleep. So much for a wild Friday night!

My Saturday was much tamer. I had an AKPsi workshop that took up most of the morning and afternoon, so by the time I got home, exercised, and finally hit the books, it was about 6PM, and I didn’t finish reading until about 11. Today looks to be much of the same as well, have a paper to write, then laundry, shopping, and an AKPsi Executive board meeting this evening. With a little luck should get all of it done.

Oh, as far as upcoming events go, this Friday I’ll be presenting my works in process for my thesis. It’s a rather pointless little session, since our theses are essentially all done at this point (the DHC really should do these workshops much earlier, like last quarter), but it is somewhat open to the public, so if anyone is interested in hearing about income tax history, please feel free to drop into L&L Room 106D, or whatever that lounge is called, at about 3:30PM this Friday. I can’t guarantee it’ll be entertaining, but who knows? You might get a laugh out of it.

Also, the Saturday morning after my presentation is also my first race of the season. I’m not expecting to rank too highly, since my training is still picking up and its relatively early in the season yet, but who knows? In any case its bound to be cold, so hope that I don’t get hypothermia! Its only 4 miles though, so I won’t even be outside for more than about 30 minutes, with a little luck.

Alright, and that’s past and future, all wrapped up in a neat little package. Hope everyone else is enjoying their weekend, and be certain to get plenty of rest.