Taxes - Blah Blah Blah

With the weather cold and crappy outside it allows me to stay indoors and do what I usually put off until the last minute.  Taxes!.  My business accountant has opted to file extensions the past few years rather than do my business taxes on time.  This in turn delays my personal filing since I have an S Corp.  Well this year I have taken on the task of doing my own business taxes again and so far it has gone pretty good.  Hopefully I will get all down by the dreaded April 15th!  Hate paying taxes to our government who mismanages the money to the hilt but hey that's America. Would love to see the government do a check prior to paying money out to some people who have never worked and do not want to work.  Let's say when you apply for government funds they look and see how much you have put in to the system as in actually paying taxes and your payments are based on that amount.  Too many are taking advantage of government programs that have never worked or paid a dime in taxes. Then again why should they work when they paid more by our broken system government then they would if they actually worked.

RETURNS

My neighbor jokes about me when I head to Lowes or Home Depot because I am always returning items I bought. Most of the time it's hardware, irrigation fittings or plumbing.  Like to make sure I have the right crap to finish the repair or job.  Hate to make multiple trips back and forth so I cover all the bases on the first trip.  Same goes for car repairs when visiting auto parts stores. Other than these stores I am not much of a shopper and usually go in and get what I need and get out.  I would not classify myself as a "Returnaholic".

Are You A Returnaholic?
Here are 5 ways to know if you’re a returnaholic:

• You return more than 50% of the things you buy.
• You spend more than one hour a day returning items.
• You feel like your return mania is interfering with your life.
• Your mood changes when you shop — usually with a strong adrenaline rush. But when you return an item, the thrill is gone.
• You buy with a mind for using something once or “trying it out,” then returning it.

Back to Coolness in North Texas

After a week of pretty much perfect weather I awoke to dreary overcast and cool temperatures this morning that are expected for this time of year.  Last week I was able to get in some good trail riding on the horse while enjoying the beautiful weather. Worked on taxes a few days and that was a beat down but a must do process. Yesterday my community had the semi annual garage sale, as usual the streets were impassable with visitors stopping in the middle of the road when something caught their eye.  Every year I dread the traffic and people parking on both sides making the roads one way causing road blocks when cars come from either way. Ventured out to meet family at Joe's Crab Shack in Dallas for a late lunch which took me on Hwy 114 that was totally closed for new overpass construction.  A normal 20 minute trip took almost an hour going down side roads and miles out of the way.  On the way back the traffic was backed up for miles with Southlake's finest handing out tickets for those cutting across the median to avoid traffic backups. What would that traffic violation be called?  Lately I have been getting back in to the workout routine pretty heavy and yesterday was more than usual due to guilt of stopping at Braum's for a treat after Joe's Crab Shack. Went for 4 mile walk then 4 mile run on treadmill to finish off with a P90X Stretching video.  Love that video, all feels good afterwards.

On another topic this past week we lost Dame Elizabeth Taylor and past VP candidate Geraldine Ferraro.  Both made an impact in our world and will be remembered.

Still trying to figure out why my gadgets and widgets do not display any more on my Blog.  Anyone have a solution?

Windy Day

Great day to fly a kite in North Texas.  Spent most of the day in a hotel ballroom getting re certified to work Florida Citizens Insurance claims. Required to attend same class, same PowerPoint slides, same boring session for those large number of hurricanes that the brilliant forecaster have been predicting for the past three years. On the positive side this years class only lasted four hours versus the normal eight.  Came back home and pulled the "Ole GTO" out for a leisure drive to view brothers new house about 15 miles away.  Perfect convertible weather with a light cloud cover and 80 degrees.  Another month and top down drives will be limited to evenings only especially with a black interior. Yesterday after horse rail ride I applied another round of weed killer to hit those stragglers that survived last round.  All in all yard is looking pretty good.  Tulips and daffodils have run their course and starting to die off while other foliage and flowers are starting their growth. With spring break coming to an end and kids heading back to higher education establishments its back to a tidy and quite home front.  AAAHHHHH how nice.  Honestly I enjoyed having them home for the past week.  I am blessed with two great kids. Well better head out to 24 Hours Fitness for the Spring body workout.

Trail ride

Yesterday was spent looking at old classics cars at Texas Motor Speedway Good Guys Show . This morning it was off to Lake Ray Roberts for a three hour trail ride in perfect weather.  Looking forward to more trail rides before it gets too hot here in North Texas.  Its been a big change from last weeks mid 30's weather in Northeast Ohio and this great weather in Texas.  Glad I live here and don't get the cold stuff too much.

Care or Don't Care

Past week I've been enjoying the greatness of the Ohio Valley weather. NOT, unless you like cold rainy miserable weather.  Left DFW area last week and my sprinklers were on watering in some Scotts fertilizer and by Tulips and Daffodils were looking good with some popped out already.  Even the birds were chirping away in the nice mid sixties and expected high of seventy three.  Amazing what the technology of air flight can do to a person.  Got off in Pittsburgh to be greeted with 19 degrees of pure coldness.  It was as cold as Big Ben performance in the recent Super Bowl.  All I can say is "glad they have flights back to warmer climates".

Care or Don't Care??

- Charlie Sheen - big DON'T CARE
- Last Flight of Space Shuttle Discovery - Care, amazed every time one goes up.
- "Golden Voice" Ted Williams - Don't Care.  Used up his 15 minutes of fame
- Anything Lindsay Lohan or anyone else with Lohan last name or Cyrus - Don't Care
- FDA approval of Drug for Lupus - Care
- Possible NFL lockout/Strike - Don't Care about overpaid athletes that whine and just as greedy owners.  The fan gets screwed by both sides.
- Jared Lee Loughner Tucson, AZ shooter - Don't care but think and he cannot be put down fast enough
- Gas Prices (gouging) - Care, everything will start to rise in price due to cost of deliveries and air fare.  The economy is getting worse not better.

All You Need is a Vending Machine

What's not in a vending machine these days?

Okay I've seen snacks, drinks, lottery tickets, detergent at laundromats, years back cigarettes and in raunchy restroom condoms.  Found this article on the Web and appears you can get just about anything these days from a vending machine.  Some examples are unicycle rentals, gold bars, phones, luxury cars, rental cars but I think they crossed the line when it comes to crabs and fried chicken.

Where, Oh Where Did My Widgets Go?

Anyone else having Widget issues?  All of my Html, blog rolls and others vanished about two weeks back and I have tried to open and save in design but no luck.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Pony Grooming Cat