Monday, February 27, 2006

Scary


This weekend I heard a very informative speech on the

Goblin Shark!!!!


In the words of the speech giver, "That thing is ridiculous." I must agree. Complete with snout and protrusible jaw, Tenguzame, as it's known in Japan, is certainly a work of underwater art...you know, the kind that I would do.

Thank you Gabe for adding to my library of useless knowledge.

Friday, February 10, 2006

And the winner is...


T!


Today the State return showed up in my account. So, that's not too bad. I only missed it by 2 days, and considering that I didn't have my W-2 in hand by Jan. 31st, I can see room for improvement next year.

I'm not gonna post up the prize just yet. Gonna let ole' Blog of Thunder play out for a bit.

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

It made it!!!!!

Well, I have finally reached my goal of having my tax return in the bank account by Feb. 8. As the screenshots below show, the proof is in the pudding.

I was sweating it a bit that today would come and go and I would have to wait another whole year.

Before:






After:
















If you believe this then shame on you.

Friday, February 03, 2006

Death and Taxes

Today, I talk about the latter.

My goal for the past I-don't-know-how-many years has been to have my taxes done and return in the bank by Feb. 8th. So far, I have not acheived this goal. The closest I've gotten was Feb. 10th.

The main reason for missing the goal is the fact that the home office of my employer is in another state. This means that even though they send my W-2 out within the legally required time-frame, it still takes a couple of days to get to me.

This year will be different...I hope. I got my W-2 yesterday, and had the Federal and State returns finished and filed last night.

How can I do this you say? Turbo Tax Deluxe. I love that thing.

My father-in-law got me hooked on this product by Intuit. I think the first year I used it was back in '98. The first year you use it, you pretty much have to answer a ton of questions about all your financial activities. It can seem laborious, but even that first "interview" is easier than filling out the paper forms and schedules. However, the real benefit comes each successive year you use it. It sees the prior year's return, imports all of that data, and allows you to make changes to it.

Another nice thing about it is the easiness in e-filing and direct deposit. Any processing fees that are generated from these activities can be taken out of your return or paid for with a credit card.

So, let the countdown begin. Will this be the year? Anyone want to put an e-wager?