Say

I got a really meaningful voicemail from my sister yesterday.  She called to say all those things you never really say to people for fear of being too mushy.  It was good to hear, because you know when people say things like that out of the blue they're not doing it for any selfish reason whatsoever.  

She's really worked hard in the last several months to improve herself and her life.  It wasn't even anything drastic, but really more just a shift in her state of mind which has allowed her to be a LOT happier.  It's good to see the people you care about doing well.

I guess every family has their drama and skeletons, but it's your own that always seems like the worst.  I'm very blessed to have a family that can work through junk like that.  I've learned a lot from all the little (and big) issues over the years and I know they will make me a better husband and father.

So to everybody that may come back and read this one day, know that even if I didn't say it explicitly, I meant to.  Even if I didn't tell you everyday, it's not because it wasn't true.  I can only hope that my actions have been (and will be) indicative of the words I did or meant to say.

P.S. Thanks for the song/blog title John Mayer.

It's the End of the World as We Know It

'That's great, it starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes, an aeroplanes and Lenny Bruce is not afraid.' (whoever that is) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenny_Bruce

Good news everybody...
It's just a song.

All I hear lately is how atrocious our world is going to become because of the financial breakdown that is occurring. Hey, I'm not that smart of a guy, but as long as there's still food to eat and places for people to live I think we'll make it. Will everyone in America continue to have a 72" plasma screens? Will people continue to be able to live in $500,000 houses that they can't make interest-only payments on? Will every family in America spend $13K on Christmas this year for tons of junk (and next, and next)? Spoiler Alert: no

How on earth did our 'feeble little grandparents' ever make it through such a horrible time as the Great Depression without big tv's and brand new cars every year? How did they manage to even buy groceries without a credit card? It's amazing!!! It's almost like they only spent money if they had actual cash. But who nowadays could EVER limit themselves to SUCH mediocrity? It would be pure torture.

So you say it's worse than that huh? OK, well now I'm worried because that means one of several options are present.
A - Nuclear war is upon us and we should all begin building shelters or making love. (If that's the case I don't think it's gonna matter either way.)
B - An army of zombies is forming in the northern regions of Canada and they're going to attack all major US cities at daybreak on March 18, 2011 (I had to pay an astrologer big money for that date.)
C - There really are 70 something virgins waiting on those crazies that blow themselves up.
D - Barrack Hussein Obama might really be the AntiChrist (Snopes: False http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/antichrist.asp)
E - All/None of the above

Why can't people take responsibility for their own actions? Yes it's difficult, but that's how we get out of the mess we're in. One guy called the POTUS is NOT gonna get it done. I don't care how much of a 'Maverick' he is, or how much 'Change' he calls for. The only kind of change that's gonna calm things down is the kind people put in a big glass jar at the end of the day, and the only way Maverick is gonna help us is if he flips off another mig during a 4G negative dive (while inverted.) I'm not saying things are OK. I'm saying we took several years to get into this mess and it's going to take several to get out of it. It may be the end of the world, but I feel fine.

Afterthought: I wonder how many people read this post and think, "What a moron!" Not that anyone actually reads my blog, but I sure would love to get some comments on this one.

Taxes...ugh!

I met with my accountant yesterday. It was our initial meeting actually, as I've been looking for someone who's extremely capable (yet still affordable.) He seemed very thorough and knowledgeable so I think he'll be a good one to work with for years to come.

But this post is not about him, it's about the KGB (IRS). The rules and the forms are so complicated it's a wonder anybody can ever get anything straight. I wish there could just be a number, like a percentage, of what I make and that's what I owe - like church. But noooooo!

Here's what really kills me. I could really try to be honest, or really try to skimp the man and either way I'm nervous about it if I don't hire a professional. Maybe I should just read more, but then again I can't find a decent book to guide be. With programming I can get a book and learn how to do specific things. With this I can't find anything except "IRS publications" which are worded so funky and broad-stroked that I can't gleam anything that applies specifically to my situation.

For example, I spent almost a full hour reviewing how to find the number for a baseline for depreciating the percent of my house used for an office. It's not based on the current estimated value. It's based on when it was sold and how much someone originally paid for it and who owned it, who gifted it, who was alive when it was gifted, the color of the inside of an eggshell and how many pop tarts Al had for breakfast. !@#$%& I just need a number!

But I'm not special in this. Everybody moans about taxes and tax season and no one will really ever be satisfied with taxes so long as they exist. I guess I'm just hoping one day we can figure out how to make taxes make a little bit more sense.

Opening MLONF's

What is a MLONF? We'll cover that in another blog (probably titled 'What is a MLONF?')

I've put off starting this blog because I kept telling myself I'd put it on topwake.com, but never did. So here I be!

I started this blog really as just a place to get all my thoughts out. I see the nifty video icon above and have webcam capabilities (it's a super power of mine), so I'm hoping to add some vlogs too. I hope to cover topics ranging from tech to totally insane. I'll start with the latter just so this opening will have some actual content.

Stories from the road:
backdrop - I drove from 4 hours yesterday. I've included 3 interesting notes from my trip. These don't really serve any purpose. I'm just rambling.

1. Questionable Petunias: Wildflowers grow along certain parts of Bama interstate. They're nice to look at... except when they're not growing any flowers. Then they just look like cannibas. Now, I don't do drugs - I never have. But at that point, even I was thinking, "Boy, it sure would be nice to pull over and smoke a bowl."

2. Do you need one that big?: twss (sorry couldn't resist) But to the point - I stopped at Pilot in Meridian to get fuel and a drink. sidenote - gas was $2.79, woot! There was a sign on the window "Mgr's Special - 44oz - 99¢". I went to the fountain and reach for the bottom of the cup dispenser and grabbed one, (they got bigger as you went down) thinking surely no one would need more than 44 bleepin oz of Coke Zero. But to my utter shock and amazement I held in my hand what I can only describe as a 'barrel'. It was an 88oz souvenier...jug!!! JC and his good friend Peter!!! 88oz?!?! Who the F needs that much drink? My bladder would explode and I'm a pretty decent traveler. But I digress.

3. Shortcut: Apparently there was a giant wreck on I-20/59 that shut down the roadway completely. So traffic was being diverted through exit 17 - Livingston. And I said to myself what I guarantee no one has ever said before "Thank God it's at the Livingston exit." I used to go to school at UWA so I knew my way around. I rolled through campus admiring the... scenery and stopped at Dandy Don's for a double bacon chee. "Dandy Don's - Nobody beats our meat!" Anywho, I got back on the road and ended up 10 cars ahead of where I left the traveling parking lot. Double Score!!!

Congratulations on reading my first blog post. I'm sure you're a better person for it.