On my seventh birthday, I wanted a toy fire truck, and I didn't get it, and you were real nice about it, and then the house next door burnt down, and then real firetrucks came, and for years I thought you set the fire for me. And if you did, you can tell me!

Xander ,'Same Time, Same Place'


Natter 57 Varieties  

Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.


megan walker - Mar 18, 2008 7:51:23 am PDT #5683 of 10001
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist

The only time I paid someone to do my taxes (since normally, they are pretty easy and it's almost never worth it to me to itemize) was 2 years ago when I had to file in CT, MD, NY, and VT. The CPAs certainly didn't save me any money given what I paid them and I had to check everything anyway, so I'm not really sure it saved me much time, except I didn't have get all the different forms myself.


lisah - Mar 18, 2008 7:55:01 am PDT #5684 of 10001
Punishingly Intricate

The only time I paid someone to do my taxes (since normally, they are pretty easy and it's almost never worth it to me to itemize) was 2 years ago

Yeah, I only started using my accountant after I bought my house and could start itemizing.


msbelle - Mar 18, 2008 7:58:03 am PDT #5685 of 10001
I remember the crazy days. 500 posts an hour. Nubmer! Natgbsb

lisah is me. What it saves me is headache and stress. I am not sure he even works that hard to max out my deduction options, but I consider it worth it after the house-buying and adoption.


Matt the Bruins fan - Mar 18, 2008 7:58:41 am PDT #5686 of 10001
"I remember when they eventually introduced that drug kingpin who murdered people and smuggled drugs inside snakes and I was like 'Finally. A normal person.'” —RahvinDragand

I'm saving it for my trip to Australia. I'm going to SPEND IT IN ANOTHER COUNTRY!!

Hmm, how far is Madison WI from the Canadian border?


sumi - Mar 18, 2008 8:07:08 am PDT #5687 of 10001
Art Crawl!!!

Is there video of Obama's speech somewhere?


Susan W. - Mar 18, 2008 8:12:08 am PDT #5688 of 10001
Good Trouble and Righteous Fights

We might just put all of ours toward one of our debts, but if I spend any of mine, it'll go toward the main writers conference I want to attend this year...

...which happens to be in Canada!

I loved Obama's speech, and y'all know I'm a supporter, but I have to admit that lines like this in anyone's campaign speech make me roll my eyes a little:

Farmers and scholars; statesmen and patriots who had traveled across an ocean to escape tyranny and persecution finally made real their declaration of independence at a Philadelphia convention that lasted through the spring of 1787.

Because while it's true that some of the early colonists came over for religious freedom (or, in the case of the Puritans, to build a society where THEY were the dominant creed), 18th century Britain was really not so much with the tyranny and persecution, especially by the standards of the time! I mean, I doubt the Revolution would've worked and resulted in a stable republic if the founders hadn't come out of an existing tradition of devolved power and partially representative government. And I'm sure Obama knows that, and it's not like he should revise his speeches into history lectures just to please one hopelessly pedantic supporter. It's just that I've focused so much of my energies on 18th and early 19th-century Britain in the past seven years that I have divided loyalties for that time period. The War of 1812 really messes with my head, given how much writing and research time and energy I've devoted to the Napoleonic-era British army--I can't root against them.


msbelle - Mar 18, 2008 8:19:21 am PDT #5689 of 10001
I remember the crazy days. 500 posts an hour. Nubmer! Natgbsb

any refund I get is going to either credit card payments or into savings. no unplanned spending is (one of) my mantra(s) of the moment.

I may clean my desk off today. That would be awesome.


Sparky1 - Mar 18, 2008 8:21:04 am PDT #5690 of 10001
Librarian Warlord

I will read the Obama speech, but the McCartney/Mills divorce decree is here: [link]


Tom Scola - Mar 18, 2008 8:21:26 am PDT #5691 of 10001
Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward.

Is there video of Obama's speech somewhere?

nytimes.com has it.


Frankenbuddha - Mar 18, 2008 8:21:31 am PDT #5692 of 10001
"We are the Goon Squad and we're coming to town...Beep! Beep!" - David Bowie, "Fashion"

I think paying down debt is the perfect way to spend my "stimulus" package.