Work

Ahh work. Thank God I have a job, but sometimes it gets on my nerves :P

Then again, I'm so dedicated to the company that I'll probably be working this afternoon, even though I technically have it off. The boundaries of work and home time blur significantly when you are a salaried employee.

Tax man cometh - economic stimulus

A friend over at Griddle Bandits put together a great little post about the economic stimulus plan. It's a good read to help dis-spell some confusion over the issue.

For a more in depth look at exactly what you'll get, look at this Blog post from another person on my "to read regularly" section in Google Reader.


Update: I read a little further into Mindy's article and looked at the IRS website link she had there.
This link shows how the package will work for a married couple with children, and covers a lot of different situations. For instance, I had heard that if you did not pay taxes into the system (didn't have ANY tax liability), as a married couple you would only get $600 instead of $1,200. Well it turns out that that is correct. However, if you had SOME tax liability BEFORE child tax credits, you will get that amount back up to $1,200. Anyway, look at the link and find out all you wanted to know! :)
Technorati Tags: Money

One Thing you can't do in Michigan in February

A good friend of mine and his wife (also a great friend) told me once or twice about a book called One Thing You Can't Do in Heaven.

Well, as a spin-off on that, here's a short list of things you can't do in Michigan in Febraury:

• Have a barbecue
  
• Cut your grass
• Go to the Water Park
• Go fishing from a boat
• Go Para-sailing, water-skiing, or feel the sand between your toes at the beach (it's frozen solid)
  
• Buy a SNOW SHOVEL

That's right, it is nearly impossible to buy a snow shovel in Michigan in FEBRUARY!

Last week, my car was stuck. When I say stuck, I mean STUCK.

Oh, by the way, it was stuck in the driveway. I tried to get it out for an hour and was unsuccessful. I was successful, however, in breaking my snow shovel. That initiated my search for a new snow shovel. I was willing to pay 20 or 30 bucks just to get a good one with a metal edge.

Checked Sam's Club - Nope.
Checked Wal-Mart - yes, but only one, and it was really really cheap and flimsy. Not good at all for a foot of packed-down snow.
Checked Lowes - Nope.
Checked K-Mart - Nope.

Argh!!!!

So finally I got one. Good ol' Meijer came through for me. Thank goodness for a Michigan-based company who has the brains to look outside and see that there just MIGHT be a need for snow shovels in February. And, as a bonus, they are on clearance for 50% off!


I can finally get into my driveway again, after about an hour and a half of shoveling last night. Not fun. At least I got to enjoy the snow over the weekend on Snowmobiles at my in-laws :) I just had to pay for it last night, lol.

Work and other necessary things

Well it's "high-ho, High-ho, and off to work I go". Some would say "I owe, I owe, so off to work I go", but this post isn't about personal finance. At least not directly.

Last week was kind of a fun week for me at work. We has our annual Christmas Party on Saturday (yes, that's a Christmas Party on February 2nd) and I assigned myself to help put together the company slideshow. I say I assigned myself, because last year I had an awesome friend head up the project and do a GREAT job on it. I helped a little, but she really put in all the hard work for it. Well, she left the company to become a mommy (and doesn't look back!) so I tried to pick up the ball and run with it. I recruited a couple of friends at work and we locked ourselves in a room all of last week composing the slideshow.

Sometimes my wife can't believe I get paid for this stuff.

But it really wasn't a walk in the park, and took all week, plus a few nights, plus most of Saturday to finish it. In the end, it turned out pretty good, and I think everyone enjoyed it.

The not-so-much-fun part is going back to the normal routine this week. While it's not horrible, it definitely doesn't engage my creative side as much as last week did. But in every job, and in most of life, we have to have peaks and valleys. And sometimes, vast flatlands. Lol! anyway, my adorable son is stacking up blocks so he can have the privilege of knocking them down. Looks like fun. I'm going to join him :D