I E-filed my tax returns today. I'm proud of myself, because that's a day earlier than usual. One year I was sweating making it by 11:59 on the 14th, but didn't get them in until a few minutes after midnight. I guess that was okay with the IRS, because I didn't get the penalty letter. Now I just have to see if they penalize me for not paying any taxes until this afternoon. It seems that each time I took money out of my IRAs, I was supposed to tell my broker to take out taxes for the IRS and the state. Another lessoned learned. The 10% early withdrawal penalty is bad enough, but now this. I won't be 59 1/2 until May 4th, so each time I take money out of the IRAs to buy food, gin & tonic and pay bills, there is a 10% early withdrawal penalty. Is it May 4th yet?
I read today that they dug up a Red Sock jersey that a Bronx born turn coat planted under 2 feet of concrete in the new Yankee Stadium they are building to jinx the Yankess. It seems that the turn coat construction worker is Red Sox fan. Now that he got caught, he claims it was just a joke. "Can't they take a joke?" he said. I guess his friends didn't think it was a joke, because they did their duty and turned the bum in. Is it a joke that they lost a day of construction digging up the jersey? NO! That's no joke! How much do you think it cost to dig that stupid jersey up? It's a union jobs so you know it cost plenty that's for sure. I may be a Mets fan, but what he did is unforgivable and he should get life cleaning toilets at Yankee Stadium for what he did.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Friday, April 11, 2008
Miracles Do Happen
You might remember this story.
Last August I had my bathrooms remodeled. Everything went fine until I hired this guy to do some work in the half bath. I paid him to build a custom vanity, which he did, then gave him a sink and $300 to have a marble top made to finish the job. A couple weeks goes by and I still haven't heard from him, so I called him. He told me the marble guy was supposed to drop it off and he'd call them. More time goes by and I call him again. Still the same story. This went back and forth and of course I got angry. We had some words and that was the last I heard from him.
I went by his shop numerous times, but he was never there. I finally in November I gave up and decided to file complaints with the Better Business Bureau and the county Department of Consumer Affairs. I received email from them both that they received my complaint and would look into it.
The Better Business Bureau sent me another email telling me that the contractor isn't licensed, so they have no jurisdiction and suggested I sue in Small Claims Court. I decided not to bother.
I didn't hear from the Department of Consumer Affairs for months, so figured and just write it off and find another contractor to do the job.
Now being the king of all procrastinators, I didn't do that either, but a couple days ago decided to finally make a few calls and a buy another sink. The next morning I got a call from the Department of Consumer Affairs. The man told me the contractor was sitting at his desk. I would get a certified check for the $300 and the contractor would call me in a day or two to drop off my sink. I just had to come down to his office when he received the check and sign for it.
To say the least I was in shock. It had been five months since I filed the complaint and I never expected to even hear from them. About 15 minutes later the contractor called and we made arrangement for him to drop off the sink that night. I expect to pick up the check early next week. Then I'll call a place to have the granite top made. This time I'm going to do what I should have done in the first place and check on the Better Business Bureau web site to verify they are licensed and how many complaints they have against them. Then hopefully I won't get screwed again.
Last August I had my bathrooms remodeled. Everything went fine until I hired this guy to do some work in the half bath. I paid him to build a custom vanity, which he did, then gave him a sink and $300 to have a marble top made to finish the job. A couple weeks goes by and I still haven't heard from him, so I called him. He told me the marble guy was supposed to drop it off and he'd call them. More time goes by and I call him again. Still the same story. This went back and forth and of course I got angry. We had some words and that was the last I heard from him.
I went by his shop numerous times, but he was never there. I finally in November I gave up and decided to file complaints with the Better Business Bureau and the county Department of Consumer Affairs. I received email from them both that they received my complaint and would look into it.
The Better Business Bureau sent me another email telling me that the contractor isn't licensed, so they have no jurisdiction and suggested I sue in Small Claims Court. I decided not to bother.
I didn't hear from the Department of Consumer Affairs for months, so figured and just write it off and find another contractor to do the job.
Now being the king of all procrastinators, I didn't do that either, but a couple days ago decided to finally make a few calls and a buy another sink. The next morning I got a call from the Department of Consumer Affairs. The man told me the contractor was sitting at his desk. I would get a certified check for the $300 and the contractor would call me in a day or two to drop off my sink. I just had to come down to his office when he received the check and sign for it.
To say the least I was in shock. It had been five months since I filed the complaint and I never expected to even hear from them. About 15 minutes later the contractor called and we made arrangement for him to drop off the sink that night. I expect to pick up the check early next week. Then I'll call a place to have the granite top made. This time I'm going to do what I should have done in the first place and check on the Better Business Bureau web site to verify they are licensed and how many complaints they have against them. Then hopefully I won't get screwed again.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Broken Clavicle Update
I took Brian to the doctor today and the x ray shows some new bone growth. The next appointment is in three weeks and if his range of motion is good, he can go back to work, but no heavy lifting for at least a couple more months. Brian is due for a promotion to manager in May, so he wants to get back to work ASAP so he doesn't miss out on that.
I met a guy a little over a week ago that broke his collar bone in two places last October and they didn't set it either. It still hasn't healed even after all this time. Another guy I met broke his collar bone twice and neither time did they set it. All they do now a days is to put you in a sling and have you wait it out. Now if the bone had broken through the skin, then they would of had to operate. But the consensus today is to avoid surgery because the damage it can do to the nerves running down the arm can be worse than the break. If they are damaged, they may never get better. Like several people I read about when I was researching this.
One good thing that's come out of this is that Brian and I have been talking A LOT more and having actual conversations about all kinds of things. :-)
I met a guy a little over a week ago that broke his collar bone in two places last October and they didn't set it either. It still hasn't healed even after all this time. Another guy I met broke his collar bone twice and neither time did they set it. All they do now a days is to put you in a sling and have you wait it out. Now if the bone had broken through the skin, then they would of had to operate. But the consensus today is to avoid surgery because the damage it can do to the nerves running down the arm can be worse than the break. If they are damaged, they may never get better. Like several people I read about when I was researching this.
One good thing that's come out of this is that Brian and I have been talking A LOT more and having actual conversations about all kinds of things. :-)
Monday, April 7, 2008
I've been tagged
The Rules:
1) Write your own six-word memoir about yourself.
2) Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you'd like.
3) Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to this original post if possible, so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere.
4) Tag five more blogs with links.
5) And don't forget to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!
Here's mine: Living my life to the fullest.
I try to do that each and every day, because I have no idea how long I have on this earth. Life can throw you a curve at second and the next thing you know, KABOOIE and your gone. So my friends, take it from me and enjoy your life each and every day to the fullest, for as long as God allows, because you never know when it's KABOOIE.
I never pass these tags along, but this time I'm making and exception. I want you five to really think about your own your own six-word memoir. I'm tagging Barman, Lime, PattyCake, Gab and SignGurl.
1) Write your own six-word memoir about yourself.
2) Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you'd like.
3) Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to this original post if possible, so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere.
4) Tag five more blogs with links.
5) And don't forget to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!
Here's mine: Living my life to the fullest.
I try to do that each and every day, because I have no idea how long I have on this earth. Life can throw you a curve at second and the next thing you know, KABOOIE and your gone. So my friends, take it from me and enjoy your life each and every day to the fullest, for as long as God allows, because you never know when it's KABOOIE.
I never pass these tags along, but this time I'm making and exception. I want you five to really think about your own your own six-word memoir. I'm tagging Barman, Lime, PattyCake, Gab and SignGurl.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
More Car Problems!
Yesterday I went outside to my car to go food shopping and get a haircut. The problem this time, was my car wouldn't start. Not only wouldn't it start, but it DEAD, DEAD, DEAD!!! The radio didn't even work.
I started to wonder if someone had stole my battery or some, because a dead battery isn't completely dead and I should have at least been able to turn on the radio. So I popped the hood and everything looked like it was there, so now it was time to use my well tuned troubleshooting skills. I used to work on all my cars before they became computerized and I've been in electronics for almost 40 years, so I figured I had a shot at finding out what was wrong. So I got my volt meter and got to work.
The battery read 12.45 volts, so that was fine, so it might be a fuse. I opened the fuse box and found the main power fuse for the car. It tested fine too. So it must be a a bad connection somewhere. Remember last Saturday when my car died? They replaced the battery, alternator, etc. There was only one thing that could be wrong then! I checked the battery terminal connections and the negative battery cable was loose. I moved it around, back and forth a few times and popped the trunk with the remote. SUCCESS!!
I went back inside the house, got a wrench and tightened the bolt on the battery. It really was quite loose. The girl that worked on my car just forgot to tighten it. No foul, no harm! Even I made a mistake once. That was the time I thought I was wrong, but I really wasn't. ;-)
MOFO, SOB, WTF!!!!!!!!!!
I started to wonder if someone had stole my battery or some, because a dead battery isn't completely dead and I should have at least been able to turn on the radio. So I popped the hood and everything looked like it was there, so now it was time to use my well tuned troubleshooting skills. I used to work on all my cars before they became computerized and I've been in electronics for almost 40 years, so I figured I had a shot at finding out what was wrong. So I got my volt meter and got to work.
The battery read 12.45 volts, so that was fine, so it might be a fuse. I opened the fuse box and found the main power fuse for the car. It tested fine too. So it must be a a bad connection somewhere. Remember last Saturday when my car died? They replaced the battery, alternator, etc. There was only one thing that could be wrong then! I checked the battery terminal connections and the negative battery cable was loose. I moved it around, back and forth a few times and popped the trunk with the remote. SUCCESS!!
I went back inside the house, got a wrench and tightened the bolt on the battery. It really was quite loose. The girl that worked on my car just forgot to tighten it. No foul, no harm! Even I made a mistake once. That was the time I thought I was wrong, but I really wasn't. ;-)
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Graduation HNT
"Two score, nineteen years, four months and twenty nine days ago, my mother and father brought forth on this continent a new baby, conceived in lust, and dedicated to the proposition that life shall be lived to it’s fullest."
I've lived life to the fullest. In high school I drank, smoked, stayed one step ahead of the police and generally screwed off too much and barely graduated. However, graduate I did and on time at 300th in my class of 334 and here's proof!
Happy HNT!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
