Any other parent who reads this blog will understand my reasons behind throwing together KinderQuotes.com. My kids, like most, say the funniest, cutest, or most embarrassing things throughout the day. Sometimes it’s funny because they’re learning to master this silly language we call English. Sometimes they try to mimic my wife and I and spout off adult-like language from their little three year-old mouths. But many times my wife and I have turned to each other and said, “we should write that down.”

Enter KinderQuotes.com. We created the blog to help us jot down those funny, cute, and embarrassing quotes in a way we can share with friends, family, and the web in general. However, we’ve also set up a contact form that anyone can use to submit their favorite quote.

So if you’re looking for a daily dose of childish humor, check out KinderQuotes.com, and be sure to tell us your favorite quotes!

College students generally ask about the level of work-life balance in the world of public accounting for one reason - they are worried about the stories they hear of 80+ hour weeks and are afraid that those stories reflect reality. They don’t want to go from pulling all-nighters during mid-terms to pulling all-nighters for a group of partners that go home at 5pm everyday. And I can understand their fear, because I had the same concerns when I first explored the possibility of joining public accounting. However, many of these students also have an unrealistic idea of “balance.” For some, balance means 9-5 work days so that they can go out with their friends in the evening. The reality? Well, as any one of you who work in any sort of client services industry can attest, the reality is much different.

In the client services industry, the time spent at work isn’t determined by the clock - it’s determined by the client and the expectations that the client has set. For an accountant, that expectation is often a financial statement filing date or April 15th. For a waiter, the expectations is that the food will reach the table in the shortest time possible. For a lawyer, the expectation is to win the case. But most of the time, winning the case doesn’t get done by putting 40 hours a week into the case. Winning the case means going the extra mile and spending those extra hours to make sure the job is done right. And that’s what the client expects - quality.

However, for some reason many students I talk to are instantly disappointed when I tell them they might have to put in some 55+ hour weeks in order to meet deadlines. At the same time, I can honestly tell people that I have a fairly good work-life balance. Why? Because I believe that the key to achieving a work-life balance is perspective. In order to achieve a work-life balance you have to stop thinking in terms of hours or days, or even weeks. In order to achieve work-life balance you have to begin to think in broader terms.

Last week was tough for me, for example. I left work about 8pm or so every night, and didn’t get to see my kids before they went to bed. Last week was not a balance between work and life. This week, however, I was able to go to a Sharks game, come home early to babysit while my wife went out, and leave work early to attend a fun recruiting dinner. If you had asked me last week if I thought I had a work-life balance, I might have said no. If you ask me now if this week was a good balance between work and life I would say no. But if I stand back and take a look at the past few weeks, I can honestly say that I have achieved a good work-life balance.

What’s the point of my rambling? I’m not sure, actually. I think I’m just tired of hearing people complain that they don’t have a good enough balance in their life - when in reality they’re either not taking the proactive steps to create that balance, or they aren’t looking at the broader view which would actually reveal that they have a work-life balance after all.

As you may or may not have noticed, the personal finance blogging niche has grown incredibly over the past year or two. There now are even personal finance blogs dedicated to smaller PF niches including single mothers, dual-income with no kids, students, etc. But as I read more and more PF blogs I see that an increasing number of them seem to be going after the get-rich-quick approach. This trend has been just one sign to me that our society is focused more on money than ever before.

If this trend isn’t enough, just take a quick look at bankruptcy and credit card debt statistics. The fact is, Americans are spending more than they have, saving less than they ever have, and entrenching themselves in more debt than they can handle. I have noticed even in my own life how I seem to think that what my parents considered luxuries are now necessities to me. I always remember hearing stories of my parents’ college days when they lived in some hole-in-the-wall with horrible plumbing and ate nothing but Ramen. However, I find myself complaining when my two bedroom apartment isn’t big enough and my lamp crab meat ravioli didn’t turn out just right (I like to cook by the way). My parents had to wait years to save up for a down payment on a home - but many of my friends right out of college are buying homes much larger than they can afford - and are taking out zero-down loans to do it.

I just wanted to get up on my soapbox and hopefully instill within you the idea that money is not a solution to any personal, professional, or any other type problem. Take a look at the recent corporate frauds that lost investors millions - the men that perpetrated those frauds always thought that more money was the solution. If only they could make more money then they could hide the previous quarters’ losses and stop cooking the books. Those who believe that money is a solution for their personal problems will only find themselves with a new set - and throughout the process you might even lose other things you hold dear such as your family and friends.

Instead, begin to think of money as a tool. If you think of money like a hammer, for example, the idea of using a bigger hammer or using more hammers to get the job done begins to sound funny. But if you use the tool in a new, smarter way you will be able to get more out of the tool without spending too much more time and energy. My favorite example of this would be using a wrench to loosen a stubborn bolt - no matter how hard you try and turn that wrench it’s not going to budge. But throw a piece of pipe on the end of that wrench to take advantage of leverage - and that bolt will come loose in no time.

As much as I talk about money on this blog I just hope that you realize that personally, I believe that money isn’t the answer to everything. There is too much good that can be done with money that it’s sad to see people striving after it for the wrong reasons. So if you think you might be focusing on money a bit too much - looking at it as a solution and not a tool - I invite you to take a step back and re-prioritize your life so that you use money to accomplish the things that really matter.

Ok, I’m stepping down from the soapbox for now…

After making a number of phone calls trying to schedule appointments to view my list of apartments I have come to a realization that supply and demand affects attitude and customer service - and in my case it results in a poor attitude and crappy customer service.

My theory is that because the landlords in the Bay Area know that people are desparate to find affordable housing (demand is high), they can do whatever they want (because the supply is low). It doesn’t matter if they’re rude, have outlandish requests, and never return your phone calls because there is always someone desparate enough to jump through the hoops. I’ve had several problems with the rudeness that comes out in this season of high demand and low supply…

First of all, I can’t get a hold of anyone! Regardless of whether or not the listing includes “office hours” nobody seems to be working during those hours. I’ve spoken with more answering machines the past few days than actual human beings. And even after leaving countless messages, can you guess how many landlords have called back? Zero!

When I do get a hold of someone they act like they could care less whether or not you’re interested. “Umm… does the apartment have washer & dryer hookups?” you may ask. “Hmmm? What? Oh, ummm…. I don’t know.” These people don’t know anything!

The most frustrating part about this process has been the large number of different “procedures” (aka hoops) that you have to jump through to even apply. One landlord I talked to told me he couldn’t show me the apartment until I had applied and been approved. But why in the world would I go through the trouble to fill out a 5 page application (literally) for an apartment that might be a rat-infested hole-in-the-wall?

Most businesses, even when demand for their product is high, still understand that someday the demand will drop off and customer service in the “good times” will help keep customers close. Landlords don’t seem to realize this. Perhaps when the housing bubble in the Bay Area bursts (oh how I pray for that day…) they will realize that being a jerk to me will only make me hang up on you and call a different apartment. Yeah, and perhaps hell will freeze over…

Writing a “real” article like this was a challenge but also very rewarding. I enjoyed the experience very much and appreciated the helpfulness and professionalism from the staff over at Treehouse Magazine. Be sure to stop by their site www.treehousemagazine.com and pick up a copy of their April issue - even if you’re not a web developer. I’m sure you’ll learn something.

Blog is short for weblog. A weblog is a journal (or newsletter) that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption. Blogs generally represent the personality of the author or the Web site.

That said, Lyons starts an all-out attack on Blogs referring to Bloggers as “more of a threat than people realize, and they are only going to get more toxic.” A threat? Maybe a personal threat on his own reputation, but a threat to society that is only going to get more toxic? You have to be kidding me here… and this coming from a financial publication that I used to read and respect. I’m sure that you, just like me and every other American, are thinking that Blogging is a form of expression - one of those things protected and encouraged under the 1st Amendment. Well, Lyons addresses this argument in his article stating:

And though they have First Amendment protection and posture as patriotic muckrakers in the solemn pursuit of truth, the blog mob isn’t democratic at all.

I didn’t realize speech protected by the First Amendment needed to be passed through some democratic process before being released to the public. Perhaps I misunderstand the whole “free speech” issue but I thought that we were free to express our thoughts no matter if people agree with us or not. If you don’t like what I have to say on this Blog, you have the freedom to leave and never come back. If I say that Quickbooks is a waste of money (which I’m not) and you believe me without looking into the decision to purchase any further, than that is your fault. But because people band together to express their feelings about a company does not mean that Blogging is evil and toxic and going to be the downfall to our civilization. Blogging can spread rumors and lies much faster than print, but I’m sure that you take the same approach I do: don’t believe everything you read. I’ve read many stories at walmartsucks.com but I still shop there. Just because a whole “mob” of people have had a poor experience does not mean that the medium through which they communicate those experiences is toxic.

The solution to the problem that Lyons seems to think is so toxic is education, not the extermination of the evil race known as Bloggers. I think educating the public about what Blogging is would help Lyons feel better about himself and hopefully curb his hate against whomever called his column idiotic and one-sided. By helping the public realize that blogging is just like every other form of speech, open to interpretation, will help them realize that what a Blogger says is not necessarily true. At the same time, however, just because I say Apple is going to go bankrupt next year does not mean that I am some evil force that needs to be stopped before, heaven forbid, people start listening to me.