IRS Sucks

So I owe $57K to the IRS. So I have been paying $1K / month. So I have had trouble meeting all of my responsibilities. So it has been getting me down. So I met with a tax export. So he looked at the numbers and confirmed that I can not pay it. So apparently if you can not pay it you do not have to pay it. So I have to submit what is known as an Offer in Compromise.

Could there be a light at the end of the tunnel? Maybe so. We will see.

Happy Dromedary Day!

Apparently some parts of the British Empire do not have camels and they have camel envy. So I understand that the people there who wanted to import camels into thier country would have meetings on Wednesdays and these meeting days came to be called "Dromedary Day", which is named after a certain type of camel. And so in countries of the old empire on Wednesdays people often say, "Happy Dromedary Day"!

Well aparently here in the U.S. they got tired of such a long name for such a common day, so around the time of the American Revolution it got shortened to "Hump Day", since camels have humps. So that is how we get hump day here in the states.

So anyway, happy hump day!

LG15

In the comments section of this post please debate the social significance of LG15. Thank you.

Very Cool!

Very cool! I thought my article quickly got buried but I see that it is now on the front page of the annoucement section!

If you have not voted, yet, vote for me and get it up higher, or help it stay longer. :)

CINCH

Shaklee has a new wieght loss program called cinch. Basically the problem with other wieght loss plans is that you also lose muscle, which lowers your matabolism. The difference with cinch, is that Shaklee uses leucine, a protien which prevents you from losing muscle while you lose the fat. I think I might try it. I could lose 20 or so pounds.

Shocking News: Pluto Voted Out!

In shocking news today, Pluto has just been voted out!

Movie Review: The World's Fastest Indian

When I first heard the title of this movie, it made me think of the story in the "Little House on the Prairie" books about the Indian that outran a horse. However, this movie has nothing to do with fast indigenous people of North America.

It is a true story about a Kiwi (New Zealander) named Burt Munro who has an Indian brand motorcycle. Over the years he builds his own parts and improves it, and for 25 years he dreams of bringing it to the United States and racing it on the salt flats in Utah. He overcomes many obstacles to get there and get that chance to race it at age 65 and ends up setting a world speed record that stands to this day.

I am not sure why this movie is even rated PG-13 except for the scene with the transsexual. Although a likeable enough character, I am somewhat puzzled why they included a transexual character. I do not recall a whole lot of them around in the 60s.

None the less this is a wonderful movie about not giving up on your dreams even in your later years. The movie stars the always amazing Anothy Hopkins.

Update: Sorry, I think I am mistaken in my perversions. I believe the chracter in question was a cross-dresser, not a transexual.

Insurance

Insurance is an important part of your financial plan and everyone wants to get a good deal on insurance. However price is only one component of a good deal. Another component is service, and for insurance a critical component of service is if they will pay when they are supposed to.

A number of years back my Mother's house caught fire while she was at the beach. She was insured by USAA and everyone said that USAA was a fabulous insurance company. They took her premiums for years with no problems, but when it came time to pay the claim they offered her pennies on the dollar. If she did not like it she could sue them. She did not have any money for a lawyer, so she had to take what she could get. It was not enough to rebuild her house, so she had to move back in with her mother. I do not recommend USAA insurance.

Recently Ruth Ann was hit from behind by someone insured by Gieco. We are not Gieco customers, but they treated us wonderfully. They got us a rental car. When we told them we needed a bigger rental car because we have so many kids, one with at least as many seats as the van that was hit, they cheerfully complied. They found someone who repaired the van and did great work. We did not have to worry about anything and they were always a pleasure to deal with. I highly recommend Gieco.

If anyone knows of a good website that had information about insurance companies, and what percentage of claims they pay fully, etc, I would be very interested.

We Get By With A Little Help From Our Friends

If you have been reading my blog for a while you know that Ruth Ann and I are taking care of my nephew Brandon and my niece Bri Bri. What you may not know is that it is not just Ruth Ann and I, but in fact a team of people have volunteers to help us.

Sarah has offered bedding materials and other help as needed.

Joe and Diane go to Costco every week and buy us a big pile of food. Today they took us out to eat after church.

Now that we have six kids in the house it is not easy to get a break. It is not real easy to get a babysitter for six kids.

Becca this summer, even though she is taking care of a nephew herself, offered to take all of the kids for a few days so Ruth Ann (and to a lessor extent me) could have a break.

Joanne, from our church has also offered to take all of the kids for a night so Ruth Ann and I could have a break and also a date this Saturday.

There are probably others that I am forgetting about. There really are a lot of really nice people out there, and we really do appreciate it. Thank you!

Desperate Help Needed!

Helena has two new kitties who do not have names! Please go to her blog and suggest something good. What can be worse than not having a name?

Monster Discovered!

You know those monsters that no one can actually pin down (Big Foot, Nessie, etc). Well apparently a town in Maine called Turner had one of thier own, and apparently someone hit it with a car and killed it and the local Wildlife officials and animal control officers declined to go to Turner to examine the remains?!? Where is the sense of adventure? What about the chance to perform some original science, or make history? Heck I would have emptied my freezer and warapped it up and tried to sell it to some lab somewhere. I can see it now: Monster for sale on E-Bay. Auction ends in 32 minutes.

New Link: Bettina's Brave New World

Bettina, a beautiful young lady from Australia was kind enough to link to me. She is a very intersting person, and also a wonderful photographer. Do find out for yourself, though.

Freaked Out

I am a little freaked out at the moment. I think I have just seen my first dead person in my life, not couting funerals. I was just driving back from exchanging Brandon's football shoes, and a police car passes me while I am waiting to turn left. The police car turns left, too, drives a little ways, and then stops. Then I see a firetruck coming and it pulls up to the same place. Then the light turns green and I turn left, and I see several cars, so I figure it is a car accident, but strangely I do not see any damage on the cars. As I drive past, I see a full grown man crumpled on the street and the way he is set on the street does not at all look natural. He is not moving. There is blood. Someone must have hit him. Maybe he is (was?) one of those homeless panhandlers? As I pass I see an ambulance coming. I feel kind of sick thinking about it.

Meet My Mother-inLaw

Meet my Mother-In-Law Jeanette! She has just joined the blogger ranks.

I Used To Be A Blonde

Marjorie With Digital Camera

Need Your Help!

I want to publish my remarks at Open Source Fest to various programmer news sites. The way these sites work, is that you submit an article and then if people like your article they can vote yes, and your article will get more visibility. So I need you to create an acocunt on these sites and vote for my article. It is really easy to create an account on all of them and it just takes a minute, and it would mean a lot to me to get your vote.

dzone.com is the first site. After you have created an account click here to vote for my article.

reddit.com is the second site. After you have created an account, then go to http://programming.reddit.com", click at the top on "new" and then scroll down to the article on NewI\O written at about 8:20am today, and vote it up.

Lastly, get an account on digg.com and then click here to vote for my article.

Thank you!

At the Computer Store

You do not need to be a good artist to be a good cartoonist. Toothepaste For Dinner has a really funny blog, too!

Mary Ann Has San Diego Pictures!

I love Texas, but I grew up in San Diego, California. Mary Ann has some wonderful pictures of La Jolla on her blog. A very pretty girl who went to my church growing up named Angela used to live in La Jolla. On a number of occasions we would go to the beach in La Jolla, which was a little more exotic with the cliffs, than Pacific Beach, which was our normal beach destination. Also, be sure to scroll down and see the wonderful pictures of the world class San Diego Zoo and Wild Aninal Park.

New Basketball Goal!

The main trunk goes up.


The first branches bloom. Small child blissfully unaware.


At this point the nieghbors probably think we struck oil in the front yard.


Emily, not being interested in basketball, rides her tricycle with "Cat".


Frame for glass goes on next.


Then the glass is mounted. Our glass is actually plastic. You can pay extra for real glass, but I did not think we needed it.


Dad and NatJ. That sure is a fine mustang in the background.


The lovely Bri Bri.


The rim goes on next.


Emily assisting Coach Oran.


NatJ helping Coach Oran.


The new basketball goal is completed!


Brandon takes the first shot!


Next step: painting the court.


The goal drops down to as low as 4 1/2 feet, so even NatJ can sink shots.


Brandon showing his dunk.


Close up of the finished product.