Friday, June 13, 2003

Trip06

Monday

I really like this place. Buildings scattered all around with wandering pathways, crossovers, shortcuts, long cuts, hidden courtyards, swimming pools, fountains. It’s always interesting to walk from one place to another. It’s well planted and well kept.

We have great-tailed grackles, mockingbirds, hummingbirds, mourning doves, and a roadrunner.

A hundred ten degrees is not really all that hot. It is so dry here that you still get an evaporative cooling chill when you get out of the water. And besides, it cools down to less than a hundred degrees at night.

OK. This place is great. I’m not leaving. Just send all my mail here from now on.

Let’s see. Monday. Today I learned about succession planning. Yesterday I learned about staffing. CPAs are still concerned about staffing, just like they have been for years. It is the issue most on our minds. Except this year, comments have shifted from: “I can’t get good people.” Or “I can’t get good people to stay.” To “All of my people have been with me so long now, and are so well paid, I can’t make any money any more.” Sucks huh? Sure glad I don’t live in their world.

Succession planning. Everyone needs a succession plan. They all seem to revolve around how to get your partners to give you money when you want out, though. Maybe I don’t get to have one at all. Not having a partner, I don’t get to pick who should give me money.

This is a conference of CPA firm owners and partners. Looks like 15% of CPA conference attendees are women. Looks like 5% are minority.

No-one answered the challenge on the conference message board. However, know how lucky I am? Tonight is challenge night at the racquetball court. They open the club to local players who come here practically every night to play. I got one of them tonight. Young left handed guy. Hit it pretty hard. I got to play a few other people too, but I got thumped by Lefty. We got to talking, and he was kind enough to agree to come back tomorrow night and do it again for an hour.



Here are a couple pictures of the lazy river we floated.