...which is sad, because I'm good at it, and I have a Master's degree in it, and getting licensure was truly a bitch. But I'm 52 years old, I don't want to be self-employed (liability, and also I like working with other people) and I don't see the construction industry recovering in time for me.
So I've gone back to school, the local community college, and I'm taking some courses. In accounting, which it's embarrassing to admit I find oddly compelling.
Today in class we were talking about depreciation, of equipment and of buildings, that businesses deduct from their profits prior to paying taxes. We had learned in class, that assets are valued at the cost for which they were purchased for the purposes of toting up the balance sheet. So I had asked how the "historical cost principle" worked vis a vis depreciation (since this is community college, where for the most part instruction involves the teacher reading the textbook to students, the teacher refused to answer my question -- this is not to denigrate all teachers at all community colleges [although, since I've taught at one myself, I have earned that privilege] -- but the quality of instruction is not as good as it is at, say, Princeton). Of course, depreciating equipment makes sense; software and computers do need to be replaced, and with some frequency. But depreciating buildings does NOT make sense, because for the most part real estate becomes more valuable (see: bubble, housing), not less valuable, the way cars and xerox machines and espresso makers do. So as I was driving home from class, I started off thinking about what a boondoggle real property depreciation is, what a gift it is to businesses and corporations. And then I thought next about Mitt Romney's unfortunate (for him) "Corporations are people too, my friend" remark (and of all of the GOPee-ers to borrow from, oratorically speaking, McCain? I mean, really, McCain?