punishment would be a deterrent.....

We have been having a discussion over on the GeezerGamer boards about DRM & anti-piracy devices. We also have gotten into a discussion about the general behavior of "the masses" on Xbox Live and Playstation Network (which you could extrapolate to the internet as a whole), but I'll save that for another post.

While in the discussions I have felt DRM and devices like it, are just part of the world we live in today, others have an opposite view that they are "paying" an extra price for being a good person who would not be inclined to steal or pirate material. I agree 100% with them, but I look at it from the business / company side of the equation, that business is just trying to "protect their own".

One of the other guys in the discussion mentioned enforcement, and he is completely correct with his thoughts and statement. At the end of the day, it is lack of enforcement of rules and laws which is making "good people pay for bad ones".

The are laws and rules for almost everything we do, but it seems that for some, those rules are silly, so not really meant for them. A good example is when the record industry does prosecute someone for piracy. There is a section of our society that looks at it and thinks those rules are unfair, and that the punishment is unjust. They might be right, but those are the rules in place now. Don't like them, try to change them.

But sometimes I can see the "bad guys" point and say, why can't I ignore the rules. Others do and are not punished. Just look at the Secretary of the Treasury who is in charge of the IRS. He did not pay his taxes in an honest or timely fashion, and he ends up getting rewarded at the end of the day with a Cabinet post. I'm not saying he should have gone to jail, but being disqualified from that particular job would have said, "your actions have caused you not to be able to get this position". Instead it was just swept away.

I have 300+ clients who don't think the tax code is fair, but they, and I, don't go around breaking the law. If we did, a punishment could be served.

So at the end of the day, I could blanket many areas with this. Bottom line is, we have rules and laws. Break them and there will be consequences. The consequences may seem harsh to some, but they are usually there in black & white. Crime should equal punishment. That is the way as a society we can take back what is rightfully ours, and by that I mean "paying" because of bad behavior.

We as the "good guys" just need to have a voice and make sure we let others know that we follow the rules and don't like being punished because some do not.

Until the next time.....

market fresh.....

Not much going on right now besides the landscapers finishing up our yard. They should wrap up everything tomorrow sometime in the midday. So far it all looks great, but I can't wait to see it all "put together".



Cassie got her haircut today to look like Hayley Williams of Paramore (pictured). Cassie really likes the band and Hayley, and they are a nice band for her to admire. The haircut looks great and Cassie is really happy with it.

Morgan has been stopping by the NC State Farmer's Market the past few Saturdays to pick up different fruits and vegtables for us to try. I like to eat berries and either an apple or pear every morning, so we started picking up my breakfast fruit from the market.

It has been nice to try out a few different items that we normally don't have for or with a meal. Morgan asn't crazy about collard greens, but I enjoyed them. I enjoyed even more the fresh lima beans that Morgan prepared for me. I also bought a jar of chow chow for myself to have with chicken of maybe a turkey burger, but have not had a chance to try it yet.

Kellie and her husband have given us a large bag of squash and an equally large bag of fresh string beans for us to eat. It was very nice of them, and greatly appreciated, as I have been enjoying all this fresh food.

NHL schedule is released tomorrow. Will be marking my calander for what night we will be at the arena. Less then 3 months before the hockey season starts up again.

That's it for now. Hope to have some yard pictures for the next post.

Until the next time.....

noisy around here.....

They finally started building the house next door to us (to our left if looking from street), so the noise has begun. It is not terrible at this point, and probably won't be too bad, but that is easy for me to say as I am not trying to broadcast 4 hours a day like my Morgan does every morning.

She has some "sound foam" in the office that she might have to strategically place around the desk / mic to soften the noise, but for the most part she is not overly concerned. I am just glad it is going on during the summer when we have the windows closed, and not after September when we open the house up. This is especially true because this building is on the same side as her studio / office.

Maybe this means we might get some new neighbors eventually. I see plenty of people around when I walk the neighborhood each morning, but then I turn on our block, and nothing. Of course I say this a day before the landscapers come to plant trees to give us more privacy in the backyard, and to cover up and give shade to the front of the house. :-)

Otherwise it is quiet around here. Well, in the house. :-)

Until the next time.....

office works.....

Sometime around 2am on Wednesday morning, the last of the files uploaded from my electronic filing cabinet to the servers over at my new "office". Did some random checking, and everything seemed to be there. Woo Hoo!

Finally started working with the network yesterday, and once loaded, I had to make some tweaks to some personal preference settings, but once that was done, everything worked flawlessly. It was nice to work that way, and once done, just shut it down, and not worry about backing up, putting the backups in a safe place, etc.

On Wednesday, I finally got the tattoo of Morgan completed. Took over 3 1/2 hours, and it looks great. There are a few minor cleanups that need to be taken care of once I heal at the end of the month, but that is pretty normal. I posted some pictures on Facebook during the process, and will post some here of the completed, healed tattoo in a future posting.

Wednesday morning Cassie left for another week of camp. This time up in Virginia, and through our church and their student ministries. She returns late Monday afternoon, and then will spend the rest of her summer here at home. Even though Morgan and I like having this "alone time", it will be nice to have her around for the five weeks or so before school starts.

That's it for now, as I have some catch-up work to do and figure I can get it done while others take today off. Have a happy and safe 4th of July.

Until the next time.....

slow move to new office.....

So last post I mentioned that I would be using a "virtual office" through my tax software company's servers. Well, on Friday I started the migration. I finished all my work, backed up all the files for all the different accounting products to a separate directory and separate folders on my hard drive, and was ready to go.

Spoke with tech support Friday afternoon to get a few questions answered, and only saw a clear road ahead of me. After speaking with support, I moved all the Excel and Word files over to their "new home". Because I will now be using Office 2007, while I currently use Office 2003, I stayed in Excel and Word for a little while and played around. All was fine. I then wrapped up for the day, and figured I will move all the accounting files on Saturday.

So, around noontime on Saturday, I started moving the accounting files. Depreciation went smooth. Tax Programs for 2007 & 2008 (I could go back to 1999 if I want to, but probably don't need that far back) went flawlessly. Business accounting clients also without a hitch. Things were looking good.

Then came largest product, which is my "File Cabinet" program. This is the program where I have every piece of information (Which is tax returns and workpapers for personal income tax clients and for business clients it consists of tax returns, workpapers, payroll tax returns, and ledgers) for every client I have worked on since 1999.

This is 836 different client drawers and almost 16GB of information. I knew it would take some time, but I did not expect that almost 38 hours after I started, only 501 of the 836 drawers would be moved. Yikes! Good thing I hardwired the laptop and didn't try to do this wireless. It should be completed sometime tomorrow afternoon (I shut it down when Morgan is on the air). When it is done, it will be nice to move forward and not worry about client data and making backups.

Cassie came back from Camp Kanata last Saturday morning. She had a blast, like she always does, and looks forward to returning next year. The camp sent home almost 80 out of the 250 kids at the camp because of 100+ degree fevers. While they were concerned about Swine Flu, I would guess this was just a normal bug that made its way around the campgrounds. Cass feels fine, but did have a little bit of congestion Sunday morning and today. We'll keep an eye on her, as she goes off to camp up in Virginia through the church on Wednesday, as we will keep her home if a fever does arise.

That's it for now. I have a progress bar to watch. :-)

Until the next time.....

virtual office.....

I could not have been any lazier today. I really need to stop this, and get a little organized, as July is a "payroll report" month, and I will be working on 22 clients, plus one brand new one. After going for my walk, I washed the motorcycle, then decided to ride it for about a hour to "dry it". Really?

Then after that, I did take care of a couple of office emails, then it was over to the Harley dealership for a scheduled maintenance, which included an oil change, etc. Those last a couple of hours, so I just stayed at their tables in the dealership, grabbed some old coffee, read the today's paper and updated Facebook from my phone. I did behave and only glanced at the new bikes.

If I ever complain about my work life between May 1 and December 31, you have the right to call me out and slap me. :-)

I do need to get caught up, so I can start working in my new office. I'm not going anywhere, but I am changing the way I handle my clients and their data. My software company started an experimental program last year, where instead of purchasing the software I need, they "rent" my their entire software suite, and also include the latest MS Office as part of the package.

So for me, because I am by myself (you pay per user), I will save a couple thousand dollars over my normal yearly fees, have access to programs that were not "dollar wise" for me to purchase, and get the latest MS Office product. And even better, this is all done through their servers, so all my data will now be on their secured servers. No more backups (except for my pictures & iTunes), no more worrying about computer crashes, no headaches at all. As long as I have internet, and my password, all my data is always available to me.

Now, I'm not big on change, so it took me almost 6 weeks to tell them "yes", but I did it last week, so there is no turning back. I just need to get together with them on uploading all my data from the laptop to them, then I am ready to go. I am hoping to do this later tomorrow or Friday, so I can upload the information over the weekend.

I have never worked on a network before, so it has been a little bit of an adjustment while I have been playing around in the "empty office". I know most of you are used to that type of office environment, but for someone who has worked by themselves, this is a whole new area for me.

That's about it for now. Supposed to be gaming tonight with the other members of the GeezerGamers Community Podcast. We are now listed and available for download on iTunes. Search for GeezerGamer Community.

Until the next time.....

kick start this blogging again.....

OK, going to back into some posting here on my blog. I figure if I can keep posting on Facebook, I can post here also about the different things going on in my life.

I have caught up on most of the other blogs that I link to here. I apologize for not following and commenting during my "non writing" time. I should have been better about following all of you, even if I didn't want to write myself. Sorry.

The news for today is that Morgan has sent in an application for the Food Network show, "Next Food Network Star". She decided to try this last week, and has been working on the application ever since. For those that know Morgan, she is a morning show host and loves to cook (including a small catering business that has done work with our churches), so this will be a nice combination of talents / skills / likes for her.

For me, this has been the laziest of after tax season times. Not that my work hasn't been getting done, because it has, but I have no real "extras" to tackle, so it has allowed me to me lazy, and I'm just not used to it. Instead of getting up at 5:30, I have been rolling out of bed around 7am or 7:30am. I'm not used to that, but I have kind of liked it. Otherwise, I have been reading a bit, riding the motorcycle whenever I can, and just spending lazy time.

Cassie is off at camp (through YMCA) this week. She will be gone until Saturday, then home for three days, then she is off to a camp through church up in West Virginia. So, she will be home enough to wash her camping clothes, pack them, and then it is away again. She loves it, and we are glad she likes these times away. After that, she will be home for about 5 weeks until school starts again.

Well, there is a catch up for you. I promise to be better. :-)

Until the next time.....

visiting with the parents.....

Still have not gotten the "writing bug" back at full tilt yet, as the gap from my last post would indicate. I mentioned to Morgan tat I am doing what I need to do for work, around the house, and family, but nothing extra. Still sluggish from tax season. Ugh. Not like it will get any easier as I get older. :-)

I traveled on Wednesday down to Florida to see my mother and stepfather. And for those of you who know me, yes, I flew on a plane. Took something to relax me, but I don't seem to have same same anxiety about flying as I used to. They are healthy and look pretty good after the beating they both have taken these past two years. That makes me feel better.

Looking at their calender, it seems like each week has a day or two with doctor appointments to check on this or that, and to have different tests. Hopefully that will be ending soon.

At home, all is going well. As I said above, I still have not done too much "extra", but I did get to check a few things off the after tax season "to do" list.

One thing taking much of my time are the NHL Playoffs, as I watch every game on television. There is nothing better then playoff hockey.

Actually, there is one thing, and that is when your favorite team is part of those playoffs! The Hurricanes won their second straight Game 7 of this playoff season (and 4th straight series win in a Game 7) by beating the Boston Bruins 3-2 in overtime last night, while on Boston's home ice. I have seen many game 7s, and a few have gone into OT, but never have I watched my team in a Game 7 that went into OT. I was a wreck.

Now it is on to face Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Finals. Over in the West, it is a match-up of Original Six franchises as the Detroit Red Wings go against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Our friend Tony commented on my last post and mentioned that he and his wife, Alisa, are speaking at a marriage retreat in July through our San Diego church, CRB. It will be about the topic we studied in our first small group with them, Intimacy Ignited. He asked if we might be able to make it. We won't this year, but if they start asking Morgan to travel out there for work, we will try to make sure I tag along once and get to see all our friends from CRB. We miss ya.

Until the next time.....

OK, it has been forever.....

Yes it has. Hope all is well with all of you, your families, and loved ones.

My last post was the day after my birthday on March 22nd, so that is over 6 weeks ago. Of course I had the built in excuse of tax season, but that ended 3 weeks ago, so what happened? Plain ol' laziness. I was so constantly busy from March 1st forward, that I just wanted to do nothing with my brain after the 15th, and that is basically what I have done, or haven't done, based on your perspective.

Family time, church time, out on the motorcycle (when not raining), watching hockey, and video games have been pretty much it for my extra time since April 15th. Nothing "taxing" (pardon the pun). Usually by now, I have merged all the new client information from tax season into the existing information (mailing labels, labels for their folders, etc.), so that it is already done for next January, with any clients I receive from now on being merged one at a time, but I have not even wanted to do that type of stuff.

Looks like the final tally will be 319 returns for this year, with only 3 lost (2 women got married, and new husbands don't like using an accountant, and the other was a CA client I had for a while, but don't know what happened), so that ended up being a net increase of 51 clients. I feel truly blessed and even humbled (yes, I can actually be humbled), because that is all recommendations and "word of mouth" from existing clients and friends, as I do no advertising at all.

I was not prepared for that much of an increase, so I think that is why I got so "brain tired" towards the end. I'm just starting to get back into it, and hope to be caught up with all those little "loose ends" by the end of this month. That includes going back and reading over the blog posts I have bypassed from my day to day reading. I may not comment on your writings, but I will be reading those on my list. Luckily, Casey's are mostly pictures, so his won't take me as long as some of the others.

As for these pages, I hope to get back into a regular routine again. I like writing, so hopefully once I start again, I won't let time go between posts.

Otherwise in a nutshell, things are very good. Very, very good. I could not imagine being this happy with the woman I love as we approach 19 years together come June 2nd. On that same day, our "little girl" will be leaving elementary school, and getting ready for 6th grade this August. On top of that, she will be returning to Wake Christian Academy for her education. She, and we, are very excited and happy about her return to the school.

And just to add to all of this, the Carolina Hurricanes are making a playoff run, and as I write this are tied at 1 game apiece with the top seeded Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference semi-finals, with the next two at home in the very loud RBC Center.

So, that's it for now. Hope to get read and caught up on many of the blogs I have listed to the side, as my brain starts getting out of this "fuzz", and I start getting into a normal "of season" routine.

- Burt Reynolds' "sidekick", Dom DeLuise passed away.
- Josh Hamilton injured, and off to a slow start. Hope he gets healthy soon.

Until the next time.....

been a while.....

Yes, I am still around, and this post is to prove it. :-)

Nothing overly exciting been going on since my last post 3 weeks ago. Morgan and Cassie spent a week down in Florida at my mom's house. They had a great time, and really enjoyed themselves. They visited Universal Studios, and got a chance to see the Space Shuttle launch by just standing in my mother's driveway. Morgan has pictures up on her blog and Facebook pages.

Otherwise, Morgan and Cassie have been just doing "their thing", while I have been working, and that is much appreciated by me, when my mind is in "tax season" mode. This tax season has been a "bear", and I will really need to crank it up these last 3 1/2 weeks, with many nights going to 11pm or later. I have been conscious about not working past 9pm any night, so I will not burn myself out, but I did not anticipate so many new clients this year, so I am still a bit behind in my "to do" pile. It looks like I will go over the 300 count in terms of personal tax returns, which will be about a 15% increase. I feel truly blessed to be doing so well, and this "bump" will help me plan my workdays better next tax season. I caused this myself in February, where I probably should have worked a few more late nights. Oh well, it will all get done in time, and I am better prepared for the future years.

I do stop each Saturday at 3pm to get ready for Saturday evening church services, and then do not work on Sundays. I answer my e-mails, but I do not work on a tax return after 3pm on Saturday until I start again on Monday morning.

Did take some time out to celebrate my 43rd birthday this weekend. Had a nice dinner out on Friday evening, and went to see the Hurricanes play the Capitals on Saturday night. The Canes' are playing real well right now, and they came away with a 4-1 win.

Last week, we got the phone call from Wake Christian Academy that Cassie has a spot in their sixth grade class. We had been thinking, discussing, and praying about the situation for a while now. While our first choice was for Cassie to return to WCA, we had come to peace (somewhat ;-) ) with her going back to public school, if the WCA door was shut on us. Now we just need to finish the interview process, to finish off her application and acceptance. Cassie is excited to go back to WCA, although a little bummed about leaving her current school. This is mostly because she really likes the year-round schedule, and to tell you the truth, Morgan & I really like that schedule also. Easier for her to be off 3 or 4 weeks at a time, at different times of the year, instead of 10 weeks during summer.

That is pretty much what has been going on, so I'm done for now. Only have a little more time before I am back at the desk tomorrow morning. Hope all is going well with all of you, and I look forward to doing more writing next month after the 15th has passed by.

Until the next time.....

just busy.....

So, the weather people are saying we might get some snow in the area. I am hoping the track moves west a little so we only get a trace or so. Any real amount with the temperatures that are supposed to be here until Wednesday will mean the area will "shut down" for a couple of days. Cassie already has one make-up day, and they really don't need many more.

Yes, it has been a while since I have posted anything. All going well, just the normal "tax season busy". I am trying to get the personal things I need to do done during the week, and keep some "family time", so posting here does end up falling through the cracks. I lost some of that "family time" when I was too tired to stay up and watch Lost with Morgan, and was not happy about it, but that will unfortunately more these last 6 or so weeks.

I plan to spend some extra time in the office this week and then again next week while Morgan and Cassie are in Florida. It is the start of the month, meaning I have my normal business client work to handle, so I really need to be on top of my time these next two weeks. Hopefully by the time they come back the pile of "to do" will be very minimal.

Only real news was Cassie needing an ultra scan on Friday. She had been feeling some discomfort in her chest/breast area. The doctors thought it was just growing pains, but with both grandmothers having battled breast cancer, the doctor wanted to rule everything out. The test showed normal hormonal activity causing her discomfort. Basically, "growing pains". Of course we are glad and relieved that was the case.

We ended up going back to Hope Community Church last night. To me, it has been the best of those we have visited. Cassie enjoys her Sunday School class, and Morgan and I both enjoy Pastor Lee. The message seems to hit home more with us in practical ways, like we felt at CRB. I think we will keep attending here, and maybe if someone else gives us a recommendation, we could still visit others.

There are more birds and some squirrels hanging around the backyard. Have not seen any rabbits, opossum or raccoons in the backyard, but I am sure they are around. No deer either, but I have seen as many as eight of them together in the morning when I am walking in the back part of the subdivision. Already have two feeders, but I might need to pick up one more larger feeder to put in the yard.

Morgan is doing well, and starting to get more comfortable doing the broadcast from here. She likes being around her partners, so her adjustment is a little more difficult and takes more time. I know her body is feeling better by sleeping "normal" hours.

Morgan's work blog now is able to show when it is updated, like most other blogs. The station did a nice web makeover, and part of the upgrades lets you follow her blog easier.

The Hurricanes lost a terrible game last night, 5-3 to the Atlanta Thrashers. They blew two, 2 goal leads, and held that lead with 11 minutes to go in the game, and then collapsed. These are points that are going to haunt them at season's end. Very frustrating as a fan to watch them blow these opportunities.

Lots going on in Washington, DC, and none of it good. I actually hope that as things get worse (and they will, even if some of this "works"), that the people of this country wake up and realize that we can not spend our way out of this situation, and the debt that we have as a country. First the stimulus package, and now the budget are bloated with some much garbage (and some Republicans are also guilty, so yes they should also go) that I hope people will look closely at what is going on, and be ready to make a real "change" come 2010. Highly doubtful, but I can dream. Ugh!

That's it for now. Enjoy your week.

Until the next time.....

lesson learned.....

Don't have time to be posting, but I am so angry that need to vent it out, so thank you in advance for your patience in reading this post.

I prepared a tax return on Monday afternoon for a client who has been with been quite a few years. Works for the local public school system with 2 college age children. Doesn't even crack $20K of income.

In looking over the closing statement from the house she sold in February 2008, I see she paid the closing costs for the buyer, which is unusual, especially since this market has not been too heavily effected as other parts of the country. In discussion, come to find out that she had a real bad real estate agent, and it cost her money.

During the conversation, it is mentioned that she even had to move from the house, and let the buyers stay there until they were ready to close. She says that at least she collected some rent. Rent? That was never told to me. She then bemoans the fact that the apartment she had to rent until she found a place was more money then what she was collecting.

So with all that in my mind, we discuss the rent and how she should have told me about it because it should have been reported on her 2007 return. She is not happy about that, and wishes she did not say anything. So I tell her let's just worry about 2008. She tells me she rented the house for two months, as the closing was February 29th.

I put down the gross rent, and don't worry about anything else. Normally you would deduct homeowner insurance (mortgage interest & r/e taxes were already on the return on another schedule), homeowner association dues, etc., but for the two months I tell her that we won't worry about it, and just leave as is, and ignore amending 2007.

Yes, this was not correct on my part. She should have picked up the income for 2007, and I should have amended the returns. If I did that, she would have been paying me a fee for amending the returns, and she would have owed taxes on the amended returns, and if the income was high enough, her $4000 refund, would have turned into her owing money (because of the Earned Income Credit). Even if lesser income, she was looking at about a $400 tax payment plus my fees.

After hearing her story, I thought this was a good idea.

Bad idea.

Seems the increase in her income for 2008 because of the rental income, has played with her FAFSA application, and does not make her eligible for as much financial aid. So now she is ranting about me rushing through her returns, giving her no guidance, and looking to screw over her numbers.

I explained to her that I would correct 2008 to reflect certain expenses and change the rental income figure, but in doing so, I feel obligated to also correct 2007, because I know of that unreported income. Can you say "not happy"?

So, I have a client that does not report income to me. When she does, and I tell her it is income (she says she did not know this would be income), she tells me she wishes she did not say anything. I skip the amended return, lose a fee, place the rental on as "gross only", don't charge extra fee for rental schedule, and also save the client about $400 tax dollars, which could go as high as $4000. And, she is not happy.

This has been my back and forth in emails for the past two days.

Lesson learned:
Do it by the book, even if it is for $1. Charge the client for everything. Stop worrying about the client and there "back story". Sometimes it takes me 23 tax seasons before I learn certain lessons.

Until the next time.....

and the nominees are.....

Work has me really backed up, so this will be short as I have been at this desk for almost 13 hours. So far 28 returns completed, 12 in the "pile of shame" (means they are missing information), another 12 have appointments set, and 27 are in the pile on my desk waiting to be worked on. And it is only February 11th. I can't remember ever having so many returns already in the office this early into tax season. This is a good thing, and I feel blessed that I am busy, but I also feel a bit overwhelmed because this is busier then normal.

Combine the large number this early with still wrapping up corporate work from 2008, and the January work that needs to be done for corporate clients (payroll and sales taxes), and I keep leaving here each night thinking nothing is getting done.

I will say that I am much calmer then I have been in prior years, and that is a good thing. I normally would be in "sweat mode" and not sleeping at night thinking of that large pile, but I know it will all get done.

OK, enough about me. On to my lovely wife. Once again, she and her morning show partners have been nominated for a ACM Award (scroll down to find Morgan). This is the 4th consecutive year that they have been nominated (ACM or CMA), and the 8th time in her career that Morgan has been nominated (CMAs and ACMs). I am extremely proud of her.

If you can, please visit Chris' page. He writes about some tests his baby daughter will be going through on Thursday (2/12). Thoughts and prayers to him and his family from all of us would be appreciated.

The Hurricanes have been playing better, but can't separate from the rest of the group fighting for those last playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. A nice 4 or 5 game winning streak would be the medicine to take some pressure off the guys.

And then there is the Stimulus Bill. You know I finally came around (thanks, Chris) and didn't want the Bailout. We see now how well that worked out. Doom and gloom if we didn't do it (guess these last 4 months have been roses and honey). Well, I hate this garbage even more. God save us, because these clowns in Washington are doing their best to ruin us.

OK, done. Off to the DVR to watch Lost with my ACM Nominated wife (But she can't get too close because she is fighting a cold. Don't want germs. :-0 ).

Until the next time.....

unkind cuts.....

A few things to post about, but this is going to be short and crisp as I am battling a slight head cold that has made me fuzzy (or fuzzier then usual).

The economy / job loss situation has finally hit close to home as my buddy, Casey, was let go from his job. He has been pretty upfront about it, and wrote about it yesterday. Just Sunday he and his family were at our house for some eats and football. We knew it could happen on Monday, but we had a good time and did not discuss it. Hopefully, it was a distraction for him / them.

His company, Caterpillar, has really been hit hard by the slowdown. Also, they like many others with these massive layoffs, are not letting go people, as much as they are just slashing divisions or departments. Have a hard time believing that all the employees not let go were better at their jobs then Casey was at his.

And it is not only companies with problems adding to this mess. Starbucks is laying off 6700 people because profits are down 39%. They did not lose money. They made money, but not as much as prior years, so they are laying off people to help their bottom line. Remember that next time you get that double latte.

Tax season has officially started for me, and let me know that in a 48 hour period. When I left my desk on Saturday afternoon, I was "empty". By Monday evening, I had 17 returns on my desk. Good problem to have, but it was a little surprising.

The start of February is such a mess for because there is normal monthly work, income tax clients, and then those business clients who just could not get me everything in January to complete the prior year. Those are the clients that put the "monkey wrench" in things, as I need to get their backlogged work done, so they are caught up, and we can get their 2009 work up to date.

Otherwise, things are going well. Supposed to hit the high 60s around here this weekend (after snow showers last night, and a low of 18 degrees tonight). Hopefully, I will be able to get a short ride on the motorcycle. I also hope this head cold will be gone by then. Don't want to sneeze in a closed helmet. :-)

And with that, I'm done.

Until the next time.....

you look like.....

Have nothing on my desk from clients that needs to be processed at this time. For late January that is a good thing, as this will certainly not be the case in two weeks as there will be about a dozen or two income tax folders piled on my desk.

Now, it probably would not be empty if all my business clients got me the information they owe me to finish processing their 2008 year end numbers. I have less then 10 that owe me information, and it is just a piece or two for most of them, but I would like to get those business returns "off my plate" before all the personal clients start filling my office.

Last Sunday morning, we visited another new church in our search for a church here in NC. We attended Triangle Community Church, which was not far from our old home, and where one of Cassie's friends has attended in the past.

When we get there, Morgan takes Cassie to Promiseland for the kids, and I am standing in the hallway. A woman passes me in the hall, takes a few steps and starts looking at me, while at the same time I start looking at her because I get that "I know you from....." thought in my head.

As she comes back towards me, we start asking each other, "are you "Sal / Laura?". Turns out, we were who we thought the other was, and how we know each other is because we used to do our exercising along the same roads.

When I ran along a long country road near the house, a woman on a bicycle used to always pass by. After about a year or so of this, she was coming beside me, and decided to slow down and we chatted for a while. This went on for a few years. She knew about Morgan and Cassie, while I knew about her husband and kids. All the while getting in these conversations for maybe a mile or so, on the one or two days a week we would see each other. So we became friendly, and it was nice for us to see a friendly face while on those roads.

She is also "part" of the reason I blew out my knee. One day in January 2006, we caught up to each other towards the end of my run. Well, as I turned to head down my block, we were still having a conversation. Because my head was turned as I was saying goodbye to her, I never saw what was in front of me and "caught" my leg, and damaged my knee. She felt bad about it, but it was probably going to happen sooner or later with these knees of mine.

Anyways, she is in charge of the children's' part of the church and Promiseland. She took care of Cassie, and helped Morgan and I feel very comfortable at the church. We are looking forward to more "catching up", and some more time at the church. It was a nice and friendly church, and felt comfortable to us.

Off to do a Podcast with the guys from GeezerGamers for Geezer Radio. Yes, we are truly geeks.

Until the next time.....

weekend playing.....

Worked to "play catch up" most of Saturday, but I did not worry about what got finished. When Morgan called me for dinner, I had all but one "project" that started on my desk completed, so I am in good shape for Monday morning.

Saturday night I got to play "Left 4 Dead" with the guys (including Casey), and had a blast. The game is basically a bad zombie movie (with cheesy dialog) made into a game. Good fun.

Morgan has really been enjoying her time with Facebook. She has really enjoyed "talking" with old friends from high school, and playing with the other features (including mocking her husband).

I have only scratched the surface with it, and just post "what I am doing" notes right now. Will get more into it after tax season.

Went to DMV on Friday afternoon to register the cars and motorcycle, only to find out that because of a mix-up between California and NC when we registered the cars in San Diego, NC wanted to charge us an extra $100 because we did not get our plates returned to them in time. DMV just needs a copy of the insurance certificate showing we had insurance in SD by a certain date in 2007, and we did, but it was just a waste of time.

On top of that, it seems California did not request a title change (to CA from NC) for my truck (still have a few payments left), but there is no positive way to tell that except for getting a title copy from Ford. Seems CA did ignore changing the title to their state, but NC will not do anything for me until they see the title as "NC". Ugh!

I believe in "50 individual states", but when it comes to information like this, DMVs should be "tied together". It would save people lots of time. and I think save DMVs money in the long run. These return trips by people like us cost them time and money.

OK, off to watch the NHL All-Star Game. Hey, it's hockey. :-)

- Did the people of Illinois really elect this guy?
- So the next Treasury Secretary has tax return problems?
- "A-Fraud". Now that's funny. Joe Torre writes Yankee tell-all.

Until the next time.....

too many distractions.....

It always seem the "distractions" happen between January 1st and April 15th in my life. They can be big ones like my diverticulitis in 2003, moving to San Diego in 2004, or my knee surgery and uncle dying in 2006, or they are just the little "time killers" like repairmen in the house, registering cars at the DMV, doctor/dentist appointments, etc.

I try to make sure none of those "little" ones take place prior to April 15th, but it is impossible to do. Before, I would get completely annoyed and agitated over those "time killers", but now I handle them quite a bit better, which is a good thing.

This year had been all the small ones because of the move and new house. I see a light at the end of the tunnel, and should have complete days in front of me by early next week, right after we get all the cars registered.

Did a little more on Facebook, but I have no idea what I am doing there right now, so please bear with me as I get that going. I like using it, but it is a little confusing for "newbs".

Morgan set up accounts there also, and is enjoying seeing all her high school friends that are part of it.

She also was able to get her work blog to be recognized by Blogger, so that her updates will "update" on the right side of this page. Hopefully you are reading her after you read this one (geesh, or before this one).

Off to relax for the evening.

Until the next time.....

more social.....

All that snow I mentioned yesterday is almost all gone from roads and rooftops. Should stay another day on the grass, but by tomorrow night, it will probably all be gone. For me, that's enough snow for this winter. Cassie has been off for two days, and they are even delaying school for two hours tomorrow morning. Not sure if the two hour delay is all that necessary as the roads seem to be dry as people were driving and the sun was out all day today.

Received a Facebook "friend request" from Linda Howell, who along with her husband, Randy, are the leaders of the Eternal Riders, CRB's motorcycle small group. I've ignored the few others I received, but decided to accept Linda's, as I know many Geezers participate on Facebook.

I made sure I got into the groups for my high school and college graduating classes, as well as the GeezerGamers group, but that will be about it for now. It was fun to see some of the people I went to high school, and what they are up to now. Our 25th reunion is this year, so maybe this will give me a "push" in case they have some sort of gathering.

Morgan and Cassie both went for eye examinations today, and both needed to upgrade their glasses. Morgan still only needs them for reading, but poor Cassie seems to be getting my eyesight. It's not as bad as mine was when I was young, but she does need to use her glasses for all classroom activities.

Morgan's station, KSON, has upgraded their website. That means updated pages for Morgan's blog posts. Still have not been able to link them to the sidebar on this page for when she updates, but I am hoping they make that available soon.

The Hurricanes have won two in a row, on the road, and on back to back nights. Great play from Cam Ward as he allowed only one goal in two nights to the Toronto Maple Leafs (2-0 shutout), and then the Penguins in Pittsburgh (2-1 win). Hopefully they can keep this train rolling after the All-Star Game break.

Time to leave and get ready for the new season of Lost.

- People love iTunes, so Apple is making some money.
- The game industry also doing OK.
- Some "big game" going on next Sunday.

Until the next time.....

snow in North Carolina.....

So, we are back one month, and we have a significant (well, for the area) snow here in central NC. Probably about 4 or so inches here at the house. With the 20 degree weather tonight, they have already canceled school for tomorrow, so Cassie will end up with a long 5 day weekend.

Hopefully it will melt off the roads tomorrow so we can get back to normal driving, while staying on the grass and trees for a few more days.

Until the next time.....

you don't live there.....

Let me tell you that there are good things and bad things about being the first house on a street. Some of the good things are having the street to yourself, and the quiet that comes with it. Off of that, some of the bad is the noise when houses start going up near you (so far, that is not a problem). The other "bad", that I did not realize until this move is that nobody knows where you are, and unless you wave a flag telling services (post office, garbage service, UPS, FedEx, etc.) that you are occupying the house, you get completely skipped over.

After talking with the Apex Postmaster prior to the move, that we were the first ones moving to the street, and getting an "OK" from him that we were all set, I still had to go to the post office to get mail delivery started because the Postmaster failed to get the postman for the route my information.

After our town delivered our garbage and recycling cans, the drivers of those respective trucks skipped over us because they were not told anyone was living in the house. Ugh!

The worst of them all was UPS. Last week (Monday) I ordered some office supplies from two different vendors. The email with the tracking for one of the items had a scheduled delivery date of last Wednesday. I decided to "track" the package and see a notation about checking on address. OK, fair enough. Two hours later I recheck, and see that the package was delivered. I look all around the house, and I have no delivery. I call the vendor, and they contact UPS. Seems they delivered to wrong address. Really?

So I get the item the next day, and see our current address on a sticker, covering up other stickers. Seems that UPS was given our new address, but when they could not find address on a map, they decided to look up my business and use the old address (from 18 months ago!!!), and only when they were called and told tat we had indeed moved to our new address, did they finally use it to make the delivery.

All the while, a simple phone call to my office would have taken care of the situation.

Two days later, the same problem arose with our delivery of blinds by the freight company Roadway. They also decided the address we provided could not be correct, and decided to just hold our items.

Let me just state that I am can't wait for the day Mapquest and Google finally adds us to their mapping to clear up these hassles.

Work is going pretty well considering all the "new home" distractions Morgan and I have going on. Always seems like we have someone at the house for something, or we need to go out to take care of something for the house. Next week I need to get the cars inspected before NC will issue license plates, and after that, spend time at DMV.

January is a "bogged down" month for me. Between W-2 & 1099 preparations, firming up companies year-end numbers, getting corporate tax returns started, and just the questions that normally arrive because it is "tax season" (.... I know you are busy, but...), next to the two weeks in April, this is probably my busiest time. Always seems I go a step forward and backwards by the end of each day. A couple of good solid days in the office should help me get on top of the mess.

For my San Diego friends, yes, we have seen the heat wave you are going through this week. Here in NC, it will be a high of 25 degrees on Friday, and a low of 9 degrees Friday night.

Morgan, Cassie and I hung up some bird feeder houses and some bluebird houses (purchased through our bank, SECU)this afternoon. We've seen birds and squirrels around, but have not seen any rabbits, raccoons, opossum, or deer yet. I am sure they are around.

Last Saturday night, we attended Hope Community Church. It was nice, and had some of the same aspects about it as CRB, but we are/were spoiled by CRB, so it will need time and an open mind before we will say a "yes or no". It does have a Starbucks in the building, so you can tell that it is a large church.

Not even going to discuss my Hurricanes. Three game road losing skid says more then enough for me. Just not good hockey.

OK, time to relax a little.

Until the next time.....

getting back to normal.....

The boxes with all our important "stuff" have been emptied and put away, and Morgan and I have both been working regularly since Monday, as well as Cassie being back in school. So, we are pretty much "back to normal" (whatever that means).

I've got moving truck, our window blind order, and electrical stories from the past two weeks that I will fill in over the next few postings. As for now, with tax season here, I am usually tired after sitting in front of the computer all day, so updating this space, like last year at this time, will be a "hit and miss" effort.

Did find out that my mother-in-law is now also battling cancer. She also has breast cancer, like my mother. At 85, she is a tough lady, so are prayers and thoughts are with her to get through this tough time. Of course Morgan only found out about it a day before she was operated on, as her mom decided to tell nobody, except Morgan's brother, and that was only a few days before we found out.

On top of that, my step-father's throat cancer has possibly made a comeback. He has been having problems that might be related to the scar tissue or to a recurrence, and they went to the doctor today for more test. It has gotten so bad that he can only sleep by sitting up in a chair, and even that is not allowing him to sleep well, so he has been falling asleep at different times during the day. It is so bad, they don't allow him to drive until this is corrected. Needless to say, we have our thoughts and prayers with him also.

Otherwise, on a more upbeat note, I really feel comfortable being back here in North Carolina, and on the east coast. Now, I just need to get into a better flowing work routine (too many new house interruptions this week).

The Hurricanes had won four games in a row before losing 4-2 last night to the Panthers in Florida. They had been playing well, and I hope this was just a "blip" of a bad road performance. I also hope Tim Gleason is OK, as he was injured in an awkward looking play along the side boards.

This weekend also bring about the divisional round of the NFL playoffs. Morgan and I have the DVR set, and look forward to a Saturday night and late Sunday afternoon/evening of football on the couch together.

Hope all is well with all of you that follow and read these posts.

Until the next time.....

boxes, boxes, everywhere.....

Happy New Year to all of you! We are settled into the house, and actually are starting to get back into our routines. The moving truck arrived last Tuesday afternoon, and by Sunday afternoon, we had about 90% of the house unpacked and ready to live in. Now it is just a matter of "feeling" the house and deciding where to put up pictures, and place our collectibles and nik-nacs.

Morgan had her first show from the new studio today, and she said all sounded great. The room is really "dead" for echo and sound, so it is perfect for broadcasting. Now if we can keep the noise when the other houses around us get constructed from bleeding into the mic, she will be all good.

I started getting some work done, but after some running around this morning getting Cassie registered for school, then tried to get some of our bills/paperwork taken care of that has been placed in a pile these past two weeks. Also a friend stopped by to see the house and drop off his accounting work. All that added up to me not getting as much done as I wanted to for today.

Tomorrow will be the same, as I have the alarm company arriving in the morning to finish the alarm system, and that same friend stopping by to hang some speakers for us. The rest of the week is pretty "free" from workday distractions (so far), so I should be able to catch up to where I want to be by Friday.

Cassie is all ready for her first full day of school. It will be different then what she saw in San Diego, as the classroom is considered full with 26 kids, while in SD her last classroom has 33 children in it. Also, this school is "year round", so she will have school for nine straight weeks, then be off for three weeks. Those three weeks happen at the beginning of March. Maybe I will get some cheap office help. :-)

Otherwise, besides the unpacking, and arranging the house, we have not done much. I did get the chance on Sunday afternoon to see my Dolphins get beaten up the Ravens. That was after watching Saturday night's exciting game where the Chargers beat the Colts in overtime. Morgan was very happy, while I have a big problem with an 8-8 team even making the playoffs, much less hosting the game instead of the 12 win team. But, that is for another rant.

With us getting back to some "normal", we hope to attend church this weekend. A client forwarded to me information about Hope Community Church, and it happens to also be part of the Willow Creek Association, which is also the association for CRB. There are many associated with Willow Creek in the area, so we should eventually find one that we are comfortable and feel welcome in. Pastor Harry told us before we leave we must attend 3 services before making a "yay of nay" about any church we "try out".

Off to get a few more things organized in the house.

Until the next time.....