Tax season is here, where if every American were actually forced to pay close attention to how much it is they actually have to send in, there'd be some sort of revolt. Or, at least a mild annoying protest or collective whine.
A quick scan of the internet, and I've discovered that Tax Freedom Day is April 18th this year. That's five days later than last year, representing a slight increase in how much all of us pay. Yes, we all pay more taxes this year. That's how I read that, don't you? Based on this logic, if we pay more, then the assumption is that taxes went up for all of us. Okay, and with that settled, I can move on:
For those of you unfamiliar with the concept of Tax Freedom Day, it's this: every day this year until April 18th, all the money made by you from four months at work... belongs to the government. It's not yours. Instead, it's sent in (by Monday), and used for useful endeavors, such as:
* $50 million for an indoor rainforest in Iowa
* $1 million for the Waterfree Urinal Conservation Initiative
* $211,509 for olive fruit fly research
* $700,000 for a science-based musical that features flying monkey poop
* part of $13.5 million for the World Toilet Summit
* $500,000 for the Sparta Teapot Museum
* $1 million to develop a decent menu of food to eat on Mars
* $25,000 for a study on mariachi music
*$1.7 million for animal waste research
* And of course many more.
Personally, Daddy is thrilled to know that his money is being used in such a frugal way, as are many Americans. Those wackos who think these projects are unnecessary are probably just some right wing tea party extremists, because here's the big question for you: how can any of us possibly live without these?
Still, maybe the government could send us free passes to the Iowa rainforest, the World Toilet Summit, or that musical. But the thing Daddy is probably most interested in seeing is the Robosquirrel. If I could check off where exactly I want all my tax money sent this year, I would tell the government to please invest it all into this amazing robotic squirrel. Now that's valuable research! Schools charge a zillion dollars for students just to attend, and yet on top of that our government still gives them $325,000 to develop a robot squirrel designed to "test the interaction between rattlesnakes and squirrels."
Critics complain that this is wasteful spending and not exactly something we Americans should have to pay for with our taxes. But those critics are crazy heads. I mean, look at that little guy - he's cute! And the name "Robo Squirrel" is pretty awesome, you have to admit. It sort of conjures up images of some cross between Robocop and a small, furry rodent. Perhaps he's out for justice, defending all the squirrels in his crime-stricken neighborhood from the evils of nefarious rattlesnakes. On paper, the official explanation for $325,000 is this:
The robosquirrel research project, in which robosquirrel is used and developed, has four aims: (1) to establish collaborations between ecologists and engineers to develop next generation robotic technology for studying predator-prey communication behavior, (2) to increase minority participation in science, (3) to develop public outreach, and (4) to support undergraduate and graduate education in biology and engineering.
That's the official entry on Wikipedia. But that is all nice wording to cover up the real motivation. Here's how I would phrase it:
The robosquirrel research project, in which robosquirrel is used and developed, has two aims: (1) to make a cool robotic squirrel, (2) and have somebody else pay for it.
So, to sum up: Mommy's doing taxes this year. She's a bit busy in that regard, counting up medical bills and so forth. We all pay more this year, but maybe we've been setting aside too much, and maybe we'll actually get a refund. We'll see - it would be nice to get some extra cash back. We could spend it on useful things like our debt, or food. Or we could use government logic and skip those necessities, and spend it on robotic squirrels!
All day long we were tracking a slow moving, yet powerful wave of storms that were crossing the entire Southeast. Tornado watches were in effect, and hail was falling everywhere as this monster storm system plowed it's way across Mississippi, Alabama and then Georgia. Yet a strange thing happened to us where we live. Though warnings and hail were ten miles east and ten miles west of us, we didn't even see rain until later on in the night. It's as if we're in this little zone that slips through the cracks - somewhat like that time we saw two springs ago. We're not complaining in the slightest. Daddy stayed up for a bit, and as there was nothing to worry about for Madison before bedtime, she was off to sleep before any of the rain or thunder ever made noise.
In fact, Mommy and Daddy were in the mood for a Beach Party! Still in our Annette Funicello Tribute Week, Mommy and Daddy have been watching the "Beach Party" movies at night this week, and tonight's feature, "Pajama Party" might be a contender for a low point in the series - which is saying a lot. Most of these are goofy fun, but at least they're coherent. Not "Pajama Party." There are times where we were asking ourselves what exactly is going on? Which, considering the series itself, is saying a lot.
We're leading up to a big weekend again, although we dropped hope of setting up for the yard sale this Saturday. The community is having its annual yard sale, but we didn't find out about it until too late - there's just not enough time to gather up all the stuff to put out in a decent presentation. Besides, there as been a tragedy in our church:
This is Beth. This picture was taken the night of Mommy and Daddy's wedding rehearsal dinner. She did something wonderful - back then, O'Charley's was a new and popular restaurant, very busy. It was where Daddy wanted the wedding rehearsal dinner, and Beth arranged for us to have the whole patio area to ourselves. We decorated it, and God arranged some perfect weather.
She pushed it all along, reserving a patio on a Friday night (at the time a really popular restaurant), despite annoyances from management and complaints from other customers.
She was such a carefree spirit, and a genuinely funny person. After our time working together, she went off to Hawaii to live in a camp, and I could never do that at the time. I was so uptight and worried about stuff, and she was so optimistic and full of faith in life. She was so free! I was so jealous of her ability to release and float through it all.
Of course, she faced problems like everyone else. Some of them put a damper on that spirit somewhat, and there's no question the weight of all the prayers of her worried mother pushed her back home. But that became here at Free Chapel. And it was here that she would make sure her kids heard from God. Despite any troubles, she was beginning to lift above it all, and become free again. She was creating good memories for her children, building on a firm foundation for her family.
This morning, it is my understanding that the children heard for the first time that Mommy is with God. And our hearts are so heavy.
She had three children. One of her friends is having a yard sale this next week, where she'll raise money for the family (and there are other fund-raising efforts going on as well). We'll be donating our yard sale stuff to the cause, and although it's not much, it all adds up.
A quick scan of the internet, and I've discovered that Tax Freedom Day is April 18th this year. That's five days later than last year, representing a slight increase in how much all of us pay. Yes, we all pay more taxes this year. That's how I read that, don't you? Based on this logic, if we pay more, then the assumption is that taxes went up for all of us. Okay, and with that settled, I can move on:
For those of you unfamiliar with the concept of Tax Freedom Day, it's this: every day this year until April 18th, all the money made by you from four months at work... belongs to the government. It's not yours. Instead, it's sent in (by Monday), and used for useful endeavors, such as:
* $50 million for an indoor rainforest in Iowa
* $1 million for the Waterfree Urinal Conservation Initiative
* $211,509 for olive fruit fly research
* $700,000 for a science-based musical that features flying monkey poop
* part of $13.5 million for the World Toilet Summit
* $500,000 for the Sparta Teapot Museum
* $1 million to develop a decent menu of food to eat on Mars
* $25,000 for a study on mariachi music
*$1.7 million for animal waste research
* And of course many more.
Personally, Daddy is thrilled to know that his money is being used in such a frugal way, as are many Americans. Those wackos who think these projects are unnecessary are probably just some right wing tea party extremists, because here's the big question for you: how can any of us possibly live without these?
Still, maybe the government could send us free passes to the Iowa rainforest, the World Toilet Summit, or that musical. But the thing Daddy is probably most interested in seeing is the Robosquirrel. If I could check off where exactly I want all my tax money sent this year, I would tell the government to please invest it all into this amazing robotic squirrel. Now that's valuable research! Schools charge a zillion dollars for students just to attend, and yet on top of that our government still gives them $325,000 to develop a robot squirrel designed to "test the interaction between rattlesnakes and squirrels."
Critics complain that this is wasteful spending and not exactly something we Americans should have to pay for with our taxes. But those critics are crazy heads. I mean, look at that little guy - he's cute! And the name "Robo Squirrel" is pretty awesome, you have to admit. It sort of conjures up images of some cross between Robocop and a small, furry rodent. Perhaps he's out for justice, defending all the squirrels in his crime-stricken neighborhood from the evils of nefarious rattlesnakes. On paper, the official explanation for $325,000 is this:
The robosquirrel research project, in which robosquirrel is used and developed, has four aims: (1) to establish collaborations between ecologists and engineers to develop next generation robotic technology for studying predator-prey communication behavior, (2) to increase minority participation in science, (3) to develop public outreach, and (4) to support undergraduate and graduate education in biology and engineering.
That's the official entry on Wikipedia. But that is all nice wording to cover up the real motivation. Here's how I would phrase it:
The robosquirrel research project, in which robosquirrel is used and developed, has two aims: (1) to make a cool robotic squirrel, (2) and have somebody else pay for it.
So, to sum up: Mommy's doing taxes this year. She's a bit busy in that regard, counting up medical bills and so forth. We all pay more this year, but maybe we've been setting aside too much, and maybe we'll actually get a refund. We'll see - it would be nice to get some extra cash back. We could spend it on useful things like our debt, or food. Or we could use government logic and skip those necessities, and spend it on robotic squirrels!
All day long we were tracking a slow moving, yet powerful wave of storms that were crossing the entire Southeast. Tornado watches were in effect, and hail was falling everywhere as this monster storm system plowed it's way across Mississippi, Alabama and then Georgia. Yet a strange thing happened to us where we live. Though warnings and hail were ten miles east and ten miles west of us, we didn't even see rain until later on in the night. It's as if we're in this little zone that slips through the cracks - somewhat like that time we saw two springs ago. We're not complaining in the slightest. Daddy stayed up for a bit, and as there was nothing to worry about for Madison before bedtime, she was off to sleep before any of the rain or thunder ever made noise.
In fact, Mommy and Daddy were in the mood for a Beach Party! Still in our Annette Funicello Tribute Week, Mommy and Daddy have been watching the "Beach Party" movies at night this week, and tonight's feature, "Pajama Party" might be a contender for a low point in the series - which is saying a lot. Most of these are goofy fun, but at least they're coherent. Not "Pajama Party." There are times where we were asking ourselves what exactly is going on? Which, considering the series itself, is saying a lot.
We're leading up to a big weekend again, although we dropped hope of setting up for the yard sale this Saturday. The community is having its annual yard sale, but we didn't find out about it until too late - there's just not enough time to gather up all the stuff to put out in a decent presentation. Besides, there as been a tragedy in our church:
This is Beth. This picture was taken the night of Mommy and Daddy's wedding rehearsal dinner. She did something wonderful - back then, O'Charley's was a new and popular restaurant, very busy. It was where Daddy wanted the wedding rehearsal dinner, and Beth arranged for us to have the whole patio area to ourselves. We decorated it, and God arranged some perfect weather.
She pushed it all along, reserving a patio on a Friday night (at the time a really popular restaurant), despite annoyances from management and complaints from other customers.
She was such a carefree spirit, and a genuinely funny person. After our time working together, she went off to Hawaii to live in a camp, and I could never do that at the time. I was so uptight and worried about stuff, and she was so optimistic and full of faith in life. She was so free! I was so jealous of her ability to release and float through it all.
Of course, she faced problems like everyone else. Some of them put a damper on that spirit somewhat, and there's no question the weight of all the prayers of her worried mother pushed her back home. But that became here at Free Chapel. And it was here that she would make sure her kids heard from God. Despite any troubles, she was beginning to lift above it all, and become free again. She was creating good memories for her children, building on a firm foundation for her family.
This morning, it is my understanding that the children heard for the first time that Mommy is with God. And our hearts are so heavy.
She had three children. One of her friends is having a yard sale this next week, where she'll raise money for the family (and there are other fund-raising efforts going on as well). We'll be donating our yard sale stuff to the cause, and although it's not much, it all adds up.
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