I just finished my first full week at my new job as "corporate accounting & administration" with Famoso Pizza. We had to figure out my new title, and sometimes that takes a bit of creativity. I think it's more about how I want to be presented to our Restaurant Partners (the franchisees).
It's the a great change of pace for me and I'm absolutely loving my new job, co-workers, position, everything. I have a lot of work a head of me, but I have my fingers crossed that I'll get that all under control. When in comes to accounting, it's all about "the math", the work may not be very difficult, it's just that there is only you can do so much in a day, and you have to stay a little late. I think the last couple of weeks have been a bit mentally trying on me, and I'm working about 10 hours a day or so, plus my running, has kept my life busy and me quite tired by the end of the day.
The actual office is out by the airport. It's in the middle of nowhere, so I won't be strolling around at lunch time checking out shops (or spending money). It's at 3600 Lysander Lane if anyone wants to google-map. The interior is still coming together, as Famoso moved in a week before I was hired, but we are slowly getting it up and running. A great feature of the office is the deck. It's absolutely massive, and actually has a beautiful view of the Fraser river, plus being close to the airport, there are a steady stream of planes coming in and leaving. I have a great work area and it's in the middle of the office, so I get to see everyone coming and going.
There are about 15 employee's for the head office, but only about 6 that work out of the head office. so far I've met Justin who is the founder of the company, and Christian who is one of the partners. There is Justin's wife Polina who is the company's legal council and does a lot of work with the legal documents around the franchise agreements. I've also met Mitra, who is in marketing and then there is Kitson who takes over getting restaurants up and running once a location is secure.
It's all very much the same, and yet very different in many ways. I'm enjoying the freedom I have with whatever system I want to get up and running. There are about 5 or 6 companies that are closely related to the Head Office operations that I have to do the accounting for, and in addition to that, I do the bookkeeping/accounting for 6 of the restaurants (though it's just a service we offer and not mandatory that they use us for monthly bookkeeping). Plus I'm also called into some meetings when they are discussing possible investing scenarios and want my input on different accounting terms.
I'm really glad I made this switch. I wouldn't say it was long over due, but I doubt I would have lasted much longer in public accounting without totally snapping.
I'm trying my best to keep up with my running, but with Grant Thornton, I was working 7.5 hours a day, and had plenty of time when I got home to run. I seem to be working till 7:30, getting home at 8, running till 9, THEN start dinner and laundry etc. So i will say that it's getting more difficult to juggle things. I'd try some morning runs, but so far, my mornings have been for sleep, and that's it.
I would like to get a new bike to ride the 12K out to work each day, which would help ease up on my running requirements. But, I just don't have the money for that. I took a bit of a pay cut to take the job with Famoso (totally worth it), but things are going to be a bit tight for a while.
All in all, it's going really well. I'm feeling very good mentally, physically and spiritually. I'm trying to concentrate on my new job and get everything running smoothly.
I've been watching the Tour de France, and have a new hero. Peter Sagan in the green jersey. What a great athlete and cyclist, and very interesting as he moved from BMX to mountain biking to road cycle.
Sunday 15 July 2012
Sunday 8 July 2012
Wednesday 4 July 2012
Making Sense of the Numbers
I started running with my GPS Nike+ watch on May 14th, and I've got lots of data that gets up loaded into my Nike+ web page after each run. If I could figure out a way to link that web page to this blog, I do it and let you, the reader, look through it all. But since I haven't found a way to do that, I'll try and summarise what's been going on with my running.
First, when I started seriously running, I figured I would try to run 4 times a week. So far, I've been able to keep that up. In May, I ran 5km, 4 times a week. Then in June I up'd it to 6km, 4 times a week, and for July, I've increased that to 7km. Also, when I started, I was running 5 minutes, walking 1. Then I increased that to running 7 minutes, and walking 1. Now I'm running 10 and walking 1. I think I will stay at the 10 & 1's for a while.
I can tell you right off the bat, without looking at any data, that it's gotten much easier to get out there and run. When I first ran, I could barely reach my 5K, desperately staring at my watch, just waiting for it to go from 4.99km to 5, and I would STOP. Now I can pretty much run without feeling like I'm going to die in the last km or 2. I even ran a full 7km one day non-stop, no 1 minutes rests.
But the watch has given me proof (and hope) that I really am getting better, and faster at running. My first run my pace was 6'33", now I'm running 5'37". As I look at weekly and monthly average paces, it's steadily gets better (with the exception of some slow days). I've run a total of 158 km over 28 runs. Most calories burned was 692, farthest run was 7.19km, longest run was 41:43 minutes, my fastest 1km 4:57 and my fastest 5km was 27:09.
A feature I really like, on my running watch and the Nike website is they can compare my data with other runners (my age and the entire "Nike+ community"). In the last 30 days, I've run a total of 102km, men my age it's only 49.7km, and the entire Nike+ Community is only averaging 38km. My average distance over the past 30 days is 6km, men my age it's 6.4km, and again, the Nike+ Community is falling below the line at 5.6km. Then there is the average pace over the past 30 days, mine is 5'53", men my age is 6'51" and the Nike+Community is 7'13".
Is this all worth it? Is this helping me become a better runner? Well, I think it is. At the very least, there always seems to be some sort of "pat on the back" from Nike as I upload data. I'll tell you, nothing feels better than "Hey Eric, job well done! Great run! Way to go!" even if it's coming from a faceless corporation through my GPS watch. There is only so much of that I can squeeze out of Tamara or Craig. But you know what, it's still me that's out there sweating that data into the watch.
On a much bigger level, it's my decision to try and get my life on track, my health up to what it should be, to start taking these areas of my life much more seriously, and this is just a great tool to help me do this.
I remember I used to have an odometer/speedometer on my bike, tracking how fast I go and how far my rides where, until one day, not too long after my cross Canada bike ride. I was pushing over 10,000kms on my bike for that year, and I just decided one day "yeah, let's just say I bike a lot" and I ripped it off my bike and never put it back on again. Maybe there will be a day when I effortlessly run 10km, 4 times a week, with a 10km time of 45 minutes, and I won't need "the watch"; but I don't think I'm there yet, ask me again at Christmas.
First, when I started seriously running, I figured I would try to run 4 times a week. So far, I've been able to keep that up. In May, I ran 5km, 4 times a week. Then in June I up'd it to 6km, 4 times a week, and for July, I've increased that to 7km. Also, when I started, I was running 5 minutes, walking 1. Then I increased that to running 7 minutes, and walking 1. Now I'm running 10 and walking 1. I think I will stay at the 10 & 1's for a while.
I can tell you right off the bat, without looking at any data, that it's gotten much easier to get out there and run. When I first ran, I could barely reach my 5K, desperately staring at my watch, just waiting for it to go from 4.99km to 5, and I would STOP. Now I can pretty much run without feeling like I'm going to die in the last km or 2. I even ran a full 7km one day non-stop, no 1 minutes rests.
But the watch has given me proof (and hope) that I really am getting better, and faster at running. My first run my pace was 6'33", now I'm running 5'37". As I look at weekly and monthly average paces, it's steadily gets better (with the exception of some slow days). I've run a total of 158 km over 28 runs. Most calories burned was 692, farthest run was 7.19km, longest run was 41:43 minutes, my fastest 1km 4:57 and my fastest 5km was 27:09.
A feature I really like, on my running watch and the Nike website is they can compare my data with other runners (my age and the entire "Nike+ community"). In the last 30 days, I've run a total of 102km, men my age it's only 49.7km, and the entire Nike+ Community is only averaging 38km. My average distance over the past 30 days is 6km, men my age it's 6.4km, and again, the Nike+ Community is falling below the line at 5.6km. Then there is the average pace over the past 30 days, mine is 5'53", men my age is 6'51" and the Nike+Community is 7'13".
Is this all worth it? Is this helping me become a better runner? Well, I think it is. At the very least, there always seems to be some sort of "pat on the back" from Nike as I upload data. I'll tell you, nothing feels better than "Hey Eric, job well done! Great run! Way to go!" even if it's coming from a faceless corporation through my GPS watch. There is only so much of that I can squeeze out of Tamara or Craig. But you know what, it's still me that's out there sweating that data into the watch.
On a much bigger level, it's my decision to try and get my life on track, my health up to what it should be, to start taking these areas of my life much more seriously, and this is just a great tool to help me do this.
I remember I used to have an odometer/speedometer on my bike, tracking how fast I go and how far my rides where, until one day, not too long after my cross Canada bike ride. I was pushing over 10,000kms on my bike for that year, and I just decided one day "yeah, let's just say I bike a lot" and I ripped it off my bike and never put it back on again. Maybe there will be a day when I effortlessly run 10km, 4 times a week, with a 10km time of 45 minutes, and I won't need "the watch"; but I don't think I'm there yet, ask me again at Christmas.
Monday 2 July 2012
A Fresh New Start
After 16+ years of public accounting, I felt I needed something new in my life. So last week, I took a position with Famoso Pizza, at thier head office, and gave my notice with Grant Thornton. It all happened very quickly, applying on Sunday, interview on Monday, job offer on Tuesday, quit Wednesday; but it seems like I've wanted to do this for a while, so it just felt natural, like it was the right thing to do.
I had Friday off from Grant Thornton, so I went over to my new work place and just dove right in. They really need someone to take the bull by the horns and I'm just the guy to do it. There was a bit of a "corporate shake up", that has left them with no accountant, and a new head office, so I'm starting from scratch, as we unpack the head office, build all the furniture, and I try and continue the accounting side of things, with no one to actually show me what's what.
I love the company, and it's great to get back to my roots in food service industry. Though the company doesn't own or manage any of the resturants (it just sells and maintains the franchises), I will be working fairly closely with the franchise owners & managers, as well as the excitement of getting new locations up and running.
The team I've met so far are great. They are young, energetic, fun and very dedictated to the business. I know I'm going to love working at Famoso, and can't wait till I'm past this initial start up and into a bit more of a routine there.
Everyone at Grant Thornton was super supportive and very happy for me, which is always nice, when you're making big decisions like these.
BTW - I did make it up to Whistler yesterday for my first day on the mountain.
http://www.famoso.ca/
I had Friday off from Grant Thornton, so I went over to my new work place and just dove right in. They really need someone to take the bull by the horns and I'm just the guy to do it. There was a bit of a "corporate shake up", that has left them with no accountant, and a new head office, so I'm starting from scratch, as we unpack the head office, build all the furniture, and I try and continue the accounting side of things, with no one to actually show me what's what.
I love the company, and it's great to get back to my roots in food service industry. Though the company doesn't own or manage any of the resturants (it just sells and maintains the franchises), I will be working fairly closely with the franchise owners & managers, as well as the excitement of getting new locations up and running.
The team I've met so far are great. They are young, energetic, fun and very dedictated to the business. I know I'm going to love working at Famoso, and can't wait till I'm past this initial start up and into a bit more of a routine there.
Everyone at Grant Thornton was super supportive and very happy for me, which is always nice, when you're making big decisions like these.
BTW - I did make it up to Whistler yesterday for my first day on the mountain.
http://www.famoso.ca/
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