Bookkeeping

I had been trying to get into an online bookkeeping class, but I was too late and the class was too popular. I scrambled onto the waiting list, but didn't make the final cut.

Honestly, I'm not that motivated about it. Numbers have always been a difficult subject for me, and flatly disinteresting. However, I acknowledge that it's a limitation that closes off very real potential for me as well. So, I decided to look into alternative forms of education.

I robbed the subjects listed in the textbook I would have bought (none too cheaply, I might add), and Googled some of them. A hop, click and a jump led me to Intuit's recently-released "QuickBooks Simple Start Free Edition 2009 ." I compared it to a favorably-reviewed free offering from Microsoft, and chose the Intuit version for the following reasons:

• I have experience with and access to Intuit's legit Quickbooks
• The MS version is not reallyreally free, as you apparently must have MS Office installed before it will work

Both options are huge (320+ Megs) to download, but I've got mine up & running. I hope to teach myself something new, and if nothing else organize my own meager money matters as well.

I fought the law, and the law won

It's been over three years since I have been in a formalized education system. Living where I do (among other logistical considerations), it's tough to get my butt to a physical location at which I may absorb knowledge.

"Aha," I thought to myself: "I'll just sign up for one o' them-there Innernet courses, and study from afar, saving gas, travel time and other logistical considerations. I went so far as to sign up for an online course for introduction to the American Legal System. Having already taken the field trip portion of the class, I figured I'd back it up with the less-expensive, classroom version.

The cost of the course itself is $60; pretty reasonable, I think. Then, I went to buy the book. Ninety bucks minimum, for the used, scribbled-in, dilapidated version, and a few bucks more for the new one! I must be cheap (scratch that, I know I am), but that's a tad pricey for a single book! I even tried to cheat and get it at Amazon, but even the used versions there are $70+plus.

Fuuuuuck that! I'm gonna slither my way through a few used bookstores, and see what I can come up with. Textbooks are just too much!

Continuing education?

Just for the Hell of it, here are available online classes at San Joaquin Delta College next semester:

• ART 001B Art History: Europe from the Fifteenth to the Twentieth Century
• BIM 043 Records Management in Public Agencies
• BUS 008 Introduction to The American Legal System
• BUS 020 Introduction to Business
• BUS 026 Economics of Business
• BUS 037 Human Behavior in Organizations
• BUS 060 Small Business Management
• BUS 067 Introduction to Personal Finance
• BUS 094B Essential Topics for Small Business
• CSA 035 Multimedia Presentations
• ENG 044D Creative Writing: Play and Screen Writing
• ENG 044B Creative Writing: Style
• MUSIC 004 Exploring Music

I hope to choose one or two from the mix. Who knows what life will look like by mid-August?