Oops, I did it again!

 

Following a few glasses of a full-bodied cabernet last week, I happened to be scrolling on my phone when an enticing ad appeared for one of those fancy sport watches, you know the models with more dials and LCDs than the dash on a 767.

Now for those who keep abreast of fashion trends, wrist watches at least on men, have more or less morphed into an accessory as opposed to a necessity. As evidence, I have no less than three everyday timepieces languishing in my amoire all of them in need of new batteries. With the date and time continuously evident on my mobile phone, I have no need to spend a month’s salary on an upscale sport watch.

And yet I did it anyway.

It came in a handsome box, accompanied by a 30-page instruction booklet in four languages including Mandarin. I have enough trouble deciphering instructions in English, so I did the next best thing – I handed it to my future son-in-law with one simple instruction – “set it.”

By coincidence, this weekend I came across an article detailing the top purchases you would be most likely to regret. Since I was already regretting my latest impulse buy, I wanted to see how that stacked up against others.

United We Stand?

 

More years ago, than I care to remember, my father wanted to take the family to the once famous and now long shuttered Palisades Amusement Park in New Jersey for a Saturday outing. My mother however being a lifelong lover of the outdoors wanted to travel up to farm country for an extended nature hike, while my brother and I suggested a day at one of the local beaches.

Needless to say, our opinion carried extremely little weight, while my father and mother “discussed” which venue would occupy our day. Eventually my mother relented and shortly thereafter we found ourselves crossing the George Washington Bridge to New Jersey.

As luck would have it, my sibling and I got nauseous on the rides, requiring multiple bottles of ginger ale from the concession stands and before we would change into our suits to romp in what was then billed as the world’s largest salt-water pool, it began to rain. I do not think my parents exchanged a half dozen words over the next week.

If nothing else, this unfortunate vignette illustrates the importance of everyone being on the same proverbial page. And perhaps that axiom is no more critical than when a multi-partner CPA firm is contemplating a merger. There have been countless articles and webinars centering on how vital the concept of partner unity but until you witness it up close and personal any appreciation is somewhat diluted.

From Gluttonous to Glut

 

I spent this past weekend recovering from my COVID-19 vaccination, the one and done stick from Johnson & Johnson. With roughly twice the dosage as those offered by Pfizer and Moderna, it came as no surprise the side effects were twice as powerful.

A day or so later, feeling better and spurred on by a 75-degree afternoon I decided to take a walk through town which included a mandatory stop at the local barista for their signature black coffee. During my travels I noticed an inordinate number of signs highlighting office space for rent, including those positioned in front of buildings that I knew were previously filled, with some even having a waitlist.

So, I got to thinking. Now from everything I’ve heard or read ad nauseum I know that the pandemic has forced businesses across the country to rethink their office space requirements and renegotiate their leases. Remote workers became the rule rather than the exception and, in many cases, a critical component for survival.  For those of you who operate CPA firms or run businesses you know that leases are typically signed multi-year. In fact, the larger companies traditionally secure leases for five-to-10 years and in many cases even longer.