so..
how bout dem rockets?

all you houston people, if you haven't already done so, just go ahead and hop on the bandwagon now. that way, you'll be able to look down upon the later bandwagoners once the playoffs start.

so tomorrow is my last day working here in monroe. oh btw I learned something new today. monroe is pronounced "mun-row" and not "mon-row." crazy, huh?

anyways, like i was saying, tomorrow's my last day, so tonight we went out to a nice restaurant for my farewell dinner. i really appreciated it, actually. everyone came out for dinner, even this one lady who never joins us for dinner. i felt quite loved.

there's alot of little things I'm going to miss about this place. the people, of course. the food, no doubt. most of all, probably the entire atmosphere. easy-going, yet hard-working. it's an interesting mix.

but one thing I'm looking forward to at my new engagement? 40-hour weeks.

anyways, going home this weekend. deuce.

“how’s work?”
Lo and behold, the million dollar question.

Or perhaps more pertinent to your sense of curiosity, “What do you actually do all day?”

Well all that praying had paid off because today both of these mind-boggling questions will be answered with tremendous detail, and with pictures to boot.

Work is good.

Okay I’ll elaborate a bit. Don’t mind the cliché, but the past two weeks in Monroe, Louisiana as a KPMG intern have been a great experience. I’ve learned how to interact and work with different people with different personalities and different expectations. I’ve been able to talk to my coworkers about everything ranging from Tony Romo to Jesus Christ. It really is going to be bittersweet leaving here after this week.

So what is it that I do..? In the words of Hitch, nobody knows what I do -- that’s why I get to charge them so much. But in a nutshell, I do whatever they need me to do. I’ve taken a mini road trip to deliver a laptop, made copies, shredded papers, edited work documents, you name it.

Before I begin a short picture blog of a “typical day,” I feel the need to clarify what I’m doing here. I am an audit intern with KPMG, which is one of the Big Four accounting firms, and as an auditor, I never visit the “office” in Austin. Basically everyone is assigned to an “engagement,” which is just a fancier way to say “project.” So right now, I have been assigned to the CenturyTel engagement, which explains why I am sitting at a desk in the audit room in the CenturyTel building in Monroe, Louisiana. Tada!

But without further ado, here is a visual representation of a typical day here. I would call it a liveblog, but it’s not. Anyone ever seen that movie, “Being John Malcovich,” or something like that? Yeah, this is sorta like that. Except you can’t control me.

More or less, right now my life consists of working, eating, and sleeping. I set my alarm for 6:30am, snooze for 20 minutes, then shower and leave the hotel room by ten past seven.

I don’t have a car here, so I carpool with a coworker everyday. Can you carpool without a car? Maybe I’m just jacking a ride to work everyday, that’s probably more correct.

So here is my view from the passenger seat every morning.


We arrive at CenturyTel at approximately 7:28. It’s an outdoor parking lot, so I cherish those few ounces of sunlight as I scurry into the building. For serious, that’s all the sun I get.


I’m supposed to stop at the front desk everyday to get a visitor sticker, but I decided to go covert op style and dodge them for the three weeks that I’m here.

This is the audit room, where I reside for the majority of the day.


More specifically, this is my spot. Sweet landscape, huh?


Like I said, work/eat/sleep. Lunch takes place in this cafeteria downstairs. The food is actually quite delicious, but I seem to be one of the few who believe this. I look forward to lunch every morning.


I work until 7 or 8pm, then a few of us usually go out to eat somewhere as a team. Firm policy is that whenever 3 or more employees eat together, the most senior person picks up the tab. Let me just say this. It’s a good thing we’re accountants and good with numbers because with some of the bills we get at restaurants, you’d think they got the decimal in the wrong spot.

Yesterday we went to Tokyo’s for David’s birthday. David’s the other Asian guy there. Everyone say “happy birthday” to David. Good.


After dinner, it’s about 9 or 10pm – time to return to the hotel to, you guessed it, sleep. I’m not sure why I require 2 beds, but whatever.


So that’s a day in the life of Jonathan Mok in Monroe, Louisiana. Hope it was as time-consuming for you to read as it was for me to write.

"Meaningless! Meaningless!"
says the Teacher.
"Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless!"
- Ecclesiastes 1:2

Gideon talked about this passage on Sunday, and it's really got me thinking. True, sometimes the processes we go through just seem repetitive because it resembles one endless, inevitable cycle. You go to school to get your degree to get the job to get the security to get married to get the family to get the house to raise the kids to go to school..

Is that it?

If that is all you are living for, then yes. That's it. It is meaningless. If that's all God wanted us to do here on this earth, then that's pretty freaking weak. God's got so much more in store for us. Is it wrong to have all those things? No, it isn't, but they should not be our end goal, in my opinion.

I was talking to Peter about this, and he said we all have to get rid of this bolted-down idea in our minds that "full-time ministry" is the holiest and most glorious option available. In essence, our entire lives should be our "full-time ministry," right?

It bothers me when people are too idealistic in their thinking, but I'm rather sure Ecclesiastes chapter 1 was not meant to turn the world apathetic and cynical. I mean, if everyone just thought "to hey with it, it's all meaningless anyways" and quit their jobs, where would that leave us? Is nobody "called" to the working world, then? I hope that sounds as absurd to you as it does to me because in my mind, you can send as many missionaries to far-off countries as you want, but there's a reason thousands of missionaries are sent here every year, and it sure ain't all because of the people living on the streets.

oh a choice!
I've been told to offer a disclaimer about the change in schedule from the whole "40 posts in 40 days" thing. the reason for that marketing campaign was to revive blogspot, but seeing as to how many people now know what hibachi is, i think i can safely say that blog is back. either way, i've skipped a few days here and there for various reasons, but I've decided to change my motto to be "updated every workday." of course, this essentially means every "weekday," but workday sounds more official and/or professional. this way, every day after school or work or lunch or dinner or whenever you decide to waste time in front of your computer, you can depend on www.mokalus.blogspot.com to hold your attention for at least 1 minute.

but on to the post. today, for the first time in this blog's history, you can help test out this beta version of a "choose your own adventure" post. anyone remember those books? they were great. this adventure is based on a true story known as "this past weekend." I don't think it's exciting enough to be deemed an adventure, but hey, you're here reading this, so you must have nothing better to do anyways.

so here it is. hope this works. i'm not entirely sure how to write or organize one of these dealios, but we'll see how it goes.

The following takes place between 12:00 PM Saturday and 11:59 PM Sunday.

1) The alarm goes off, but you're exhausted after the previous night's Bang! club meeting. You hop in the shower to wake yourself up, only to walk out 10 minutes later to the sound of Lex singing some gospel song at the top of his lungs in an attempt to either wake Peter up or kill the cat. Xiao is there as well and asks if you're still going to Saltlick for Jonathan Barker's birthday. Do you go?
If you choose YES, go to section 2. If you choose NO, go to section 3.

2) Wise choice, young grasshopper. You drive all the way out to Slaughter Lane to pig out on pigs and cows. You also receive a front-row seat to witness your adopted son, Caleb, chow down the most brisket you have ever seen in your life. After 7 rounds of gluttony, you top it all off with the most delicious peach cobbler ala mode imaginable.

On the way back to campus, you remember that Lawrence asked if you wanted to go see the UT basketball game with him. Considering the fact that you've never been to a game, as well as the continually more-obvious conclusion that Kevin Durant is not going to be here next year, do you decide to go?
If you choose YES, go to section 4. If you choose NO, go to section 5.

3) You fool! Saltlick is a once a year ordeal, and guess what? So is Jonathan's birthday. So by skipping out on this, you are 0 for 2. Your friends come back from Saltlick with full bellies and intriguing stories, and you die from the overwhelming jealousy.

4) You show up at about halftime and try to enter the building with Weili's student ID, since you don't have a sports package. The ticketing agent just happens to be of Asian descent, so he doesn't think all of us look alike. You get arrested, only to be let go 30 minutes later due to your uncontrollable sobbing that the police mistake for a seizure. Bad choice.

5) You watch the 2nd half of the game on TV, which ends up being a better view as well as within close proximity to a clean toilet, which is always a plus.

Ophelia calls you up, and you ask her if she wants to watch a movie. She says sure, then mentions that she has a couple at her place, including "Underworld." You normally say nay to movies that have anything to do with vampires or werewolves, but this one includes both species. Do you watch the movie?
If you choose YES, go to section 6. If you choose NO, go to section 7.

6) The movie turns out to be much better than you expected, and you found a reason to get out of your apartment. You win. GG.

7) You decline the movie, claiming it'd be stupid to watch it since vampires and werewolves don't even exist. Then your cat leaps onto your back and digs her teeth into your neck. You lose.

Well, I was gonna do the whole weekend, but this is taking a lot longer than I thought it'd be. Sunday was basically basketball (managing and playing), vox (with david crowder), and hyde park bar and grill (with the gf).

speaking of basketball, though, my knee was pretty sore today. and i didn't even run or jump on it real hard yesterday. knee injuries are just scary. i feel for ya, shaq. and lawrence.

aite peace out. remember, updated every workday!