South Korean customs officials say they
have arrested eight men over a scheme to
allegedly smuggle gold out of the country by
hiding it in their rectums.
The Korea Customs Service said Monday the
men allegedly transformed $260,000 in gold
bars into small beads and smuggled them in
their rectums to Japan two times in 2010 to
avoid import taxes.
No, they are connected. Apparently the thrill is pulling them out with the string. or rather having someone else pull them out. There's no sense in having unconnected ones. What are you going to do, shit them out? Use your heads, morons
Connected they are
Be they gold or otherwise
Happy, happy times
2 loads of laundry in the washers. Next up: ordering car to take BH to JFK in the morning, dry/fold/put away laundry, shop for and pack plane snacks/lunch for BH, stop at 99 cent store, start to organize tax papers, make swedish meatballs for dinner.
Have I mentioned how much I hate it when BH goes away on trips? I really hate it. Nothing feels right when he's gone.
He's awfully sad about his step-dad's death, so it's good that he's going to the memorial. Humans need these rituals. I just hope it's not too big a hoop-dee-doo out there in LA, and he can really mourn peacefully for him. They've rented some kind of theater for the event. I imagine all sorts of Hollywood big-wigs and the like will be there. Just hoping it's not too much of an asshat 'event'.
By crazy, do you mean highly priced?
Real estate here certainly has not fallen like most of the rest of the country.
I don't know about the Bay Area, but Los Angeles prices seem to be around where they were in 2000, and close to half off their highs.
Not to mention also that you'll be an "unescorted lady" about town while he's gone. I might think that your more conservative older Ditmas Park neighbors might frown upon that.
Thanks, BHS. Me, too, I hope his family are on their best behavior. He'll see his daughter/my step-daughter, so that's a huge plus. But the rest of them can get a bit unruly in a 'me-me-me, it's all about me' kind of way. So there are all sorts of family 'sub-plots', as it were, going on — you can imagine.
Yes, sit out on the porches of their Victorians and shake their canes at Cobble as she passes by on her way to the laundromat. This is NOT who Mary Kay Gallagher RE was trying to bring here. There goes the neighborhood!
"This would be characteristic of most people from L.A."
It's so true. And, as you can imagine, there is all sorts of 'proprietary' posturing going on. And dinners being arranged. OY. OY. OY!
I told BH to make sure he had quiet time to reflect and go sit on the beach or drive up into the canyon where they lived together and cry if he needs to.
Mary Kay Gallagher shook her cane at ME. I was looking at a house with her, the back was to the subway tracks and it was big. I was thinking aloud how much the heating would cost for me and she started ARGUING with me. I was thinking "ok then". I guess she decided I was an undesireable and just didn't care what she said.
1. At a friend's recommendation, worker accepts friend's old job at $25K/year w/o benefits, same wage friend had.
2. Worker moves on to better job in a different company.
3. Division manager emails worker to ask if worker was, indeed, working. Manager didn't know anything and wants to make sure worker was paid properly.
4. Worker says yes, was paid $25K/year w/o benefits.
5. Division manager informs worker his salary should have been $125K/year according to company policies.
6. Worker asks for back pay.
7. Division manager says that's not possible.
8. Worker complains to another division manager.
9. Division manager does a detailed study of hiring practices in his division, which he had apparently never done before, and informs worker that actually $25K was the proper salary, but worker was not hired using proper procedures, and accuses worker of being disingenuous in asking for back pay.
"3. Division manager emails worker to ask if worker was, indeed, working. Manager didn't know anything and wants to make sure worker was paid properly."
Nor of course does #5
The whole thing sounds rather fucked up. What type of "company?"
#3 - worker wasn't on the list of employees. then when worker confirmed he did, in fact, do his job, division manager said the salary for that job is much higher than what the worker was paid.
Is that for real, Six? I never heard of something like that. I would say if the worker wants the 25,000 dollar job in that crazy place, I would just shut my mouth and try to smooth it over with supervisor. OR try to find a job for 125,000 dollars somewhere else. Sounds a little crazy.
(back up on the real estate thing, yeah, by crazy i meant expensive. Both brooklyn and the bayarea seem to have stayed in their hyper-overpriced state.)
six, that seems like fairly nutty scenario. does this person have any sort of contract?
cobble, give my best to BH. If he's got time a drive up to malibu/central coast would give some peace of mind away from LA/family. los padres natl park quite lovely and route 154 is an exciting drive.
I'm not sure I follow scenario, but if you agree to work for a certain amount and get paid that amount, I'm not sure how you can assume a right to back pay.
I've known of situations where people were paid both above and below the official range for a position/job code.
Note: all this assumes there is no union or other contractual pay scale in place.
Dibs, point taken. I suppose it's more the crazy rise in pricing that makes it seem nutty... and there are plenty of places in my nabe that are sitting there unsold because their owners (imho) refuse to acknowledge the bubble popped.
Dealbreaker is the best blog out there. The people who write it actually know what they are talking about when it comes to financial regulation, which is spectacularly rare these days. Most people who shoot their mouths off on the subject these days are just repeating bullshit they read in some politically motivated rag, or maybe heard on NPR.
#3, #5, and #9 seem pretty crazy, though I guess I understand #3 in the context of big institutions with separate HR and management areas. But if you're going to tell someone they're supposed to make five times their salary, you need to wait until you're certain about that and can deliver before you make such a statement.
But the labor lawyer is probably a good idea, unless they like their $25k job.
quote:
bfar, if large numbers of people are paying the prices, is it really overpriced???
that's such a moronic statement. and it's people who say moronic things like that who perpetuate the insanity and rip-offish nature of nyc real estate.
and YES nyc rents and real estate prices are GIANT RIP-OFFS. NYC is NOT that special, in fact it mostly sucks! and dont tell me to move somewhere else, i aint going anywhere.
Apt 6 in 315 clinton(arbuckle mansion) is up for sale for $749. Sold dec 09 for $652. Will be interesting to see what they get as it doesn't seem that any improvements were made. Countertop still looks like fake granite.
BHS, I agree, no "right" to back pay in absence of union contract and so on. But as bfar just said, manager better deliver! Worker already moved on to another company, so no chance of staying.
Meh, granite can be really hideous (see every "stainless steel countertops/recessed lighting/granite countertops" Craigslist post), and it's easier to rip out fake granite. If it was nice stone, maybe.
btw, I'm the "worker" and the department head at my former university is the "manager" - relevant salaries $12/hour (about $2K at most for the academic year) vs. $8K + benefits (winds up being about $10K). I was a TA in his department but not, apparently, on the list of TAs because a prof wanted to hire me without having to go through the usual hoops. This prof had done this for years - I "inherited" the job from a friend who recommended me.
The most aggravating thing is that this department head - a typical tenured academic Marxist - makes all sorts of noise about being progressive, anti-corporate, etc. His friend I complained to in step #8 (another tenured academic Marxist) flat out said I was "exploited" which is a bit absurd but whatever. Typical "management" by people with no administrative training whatsoever.
i have that fake looking granite countertops in my apartment. i actually prefer it. i find real granite, and all those kinds of real stone type countertops have a funny unappealing smell.
Yes, some granite can be hideous, but nice granite is better than fake granite. It's not easier to rip one out vs the other. If it's formica fake granite then it's lighter yes, but isn't necessarily easier to rip out. In fact, a heavy real stone is sometimes not even adherered to the cabinets due to its sheer weight while formica needs to be, making it harder to remove.
In either case, it's usually done by hot mexicans so it's always fun to watch
TAs are totally fucked by the system (I'd say they actually are exploited with some regularity). Adjuncts (yours truly) aren't much better off. I understand the situation a lot better, in that TAs are usually pretty casually hired.
"dave, was thinking that it's easier to chop up a shitty counter and take it out in pieces..."
Wrong again, Marxist breath.
A real granite counter can be hit with a sledge a few times and carried off. A cheap ass Marxist Formica counter has to be actually sawed up into pieces.
granite the pieces are lighter but the overall labor is higher (see how i worked that pun in???)
Bfar, didn't know you were an adjunct. I mean, I totally get it that I was casually hired (nh), and that's fine. Got a rec from a well-known prof in my field, got into PhD program, etc. I never did anything except based on what I knew. I took the job based on my friend's description of its duties, compensation, etc. When marxist man told me I was entitled to more, I asked for more. Then he *actually* looked at his department policies, found I was paid properly, and called me disingenuous.
I almost want to ask him to see these hiring policies myself. Good thing I'm no longer at that university. Instead I'm at one with a strong history of grad student unionization (dibs and rob, go ahead and vomit).
Not really, dave. Since they have to pay us extra to TA now, they just hire fewer TAs (what a shock, as if nobody could see that coming!). They did raise our stipends but we're hardly out of line with other major institutions. Tuition is rising everywhere regardless.
quote:
Instead I'm at one with a strong history of grad student unionization (dibs and rob, go ahead and vomit).
im not really against unions, what would make you think that?
and paying grad students to TEACH (they get paid shit tho) isnt what makes university tution so ridiculous. it's ridiculous bank loans backed by the government that cannot be erased with bankrupcey. oh yeah and these days all new dorms made are "luxury", now THAT''s barf.
Bfar, not sure what happened at yale. They may have been recognized by NLRB at some point but I don't think they are now. I was (cough cough) an undergrad there when they were just getting started.
Dave, they should cut all the extras for "student life" as well - fancy gyms, centers for the study of x, y, and z, junkets for profs, and so on. Why, I'm getting a free trip plus spending money to chaperone some undergrads to the UAE this spring break - they're also traveling for free!
The other problem is that if you make lots of money available for student loans, tuition goes up. No politically palatable way out of that one.
"Dave, they should cut all the extras for "student life" as well - fancy gyms, centers for the study of x, y, and z, junkets for profs, and so on. Why, I'm getting a free trip plus spending money to chaperone some undergrads to the UAE this spring break - they're also traveling for free!
The other problem is that if you make lots of money available for student loans, tuition goes up. No politically palatable way out of that one."
quote:
I'm getting a free trip plus spending money to chaperone some undergrads to the UAE this spring break - they're also traveling for free!
:-/ not that i want it to happen to YOU, but the to the people you are babysitting on their spring break, i hope it turns into a real life version of that movie Turistas.
I think we should replace these greedy grad students with children. Children can teach these courses, grade papers, meet with undergrads and help profs write textbooks and papers for much less $$, saving money and lowering tuition for all, while teaching the children the value of work AND an education.
most of the grad students who taught us and who were TA's were pretty much straight up retards. half of them no one could even understand because of their accents, totally useless.
Bfar, my class had the joy of hearing a certain Prince song at every major event (and now at every reunion). Are you also a Yale grad? That would make three of us here.
quote:
You're getting ripped off if you pay full tuition and you get a TA
like 3/4's of the classes taught at some schools are taught by TA's. the professors just sit in their offices 4 hours a week for office hours and just twiddle their lice infested beards or give people bitchface.
Yeah bfar, 5th was lots of fun, 10th a little on the weak side. 15 isn't an important number anyway, is it? New Haven is pretty much unrecognizable these days.
I went to my 30th (OMFG!) HS reunion a couple years ago. Ba! Not my thing. Although, I did see the Math dept. head, who was a really nice guy. But he'd become very cynical, which was a downer.
i completely missed out on my 10 year high school reunion. oh wait, they didnt HAVE a 10 year high school reunion, they had an 11 year one :-/ pre facebook, how did people even find out about their high school reunions anyway!? i didnt hear anything about the 11 year reunion.
was writing that it was depressing because I left HS with great expectations, and felt like I'd accomplished nothing/was a total failure. Got some good pix of people in their old bedrooms, though.
6 and Bfar, this year is my 35th. (Wags cane, feebly) Don't know if I'm going or not, might be in the middle of a move upstate. Last time, my friend and I were walking around the campus, and wanted to go into the residential college quads, like in Branford, and they were locked up like Fort Knox, and you needed an swipe card id. We got in, as we had reunion id cards, but sheesh. Even in the rolicking '70's, you could walk around the campus. The other big change was that they had gotten rid of the massive banks of card catalogs in the library, and replaced them with computers. Makes sense, of course, but having spent hours in those card catalogs, I had a nostalgic moment.
Uh-oh, Six! To be honest, I didn't graduate from that school. I switched to another HS when I was told mid-senior year that I needed 40 GAZILLION gym credits, 1 economics credit, 1 math credit and 1 english credit to graduate.
I switched to a HS school that didn't require gym credits to graduate, and took college courses (for free!) at the New School and City College, and got my diploma.
I took one of the card catalogs (top half) when they were tossing them, paid a mint for it to be shipped back to CA, and it never arrived (I was elsewhere, and didn't know that only the drawers had shown up until it was way too late to do anything about it).
The part about college reunions that makes me feel old is when you listen to people you went to college with tell you their kid is graduating from the same college this year. 6, I have friends who are probably your friends' parents.
Bfar, those photos are great - love the one with the Reagan '84 on the bulletin board! My room is like that, my mom hasn't changed it much since I left. It's kind of strange, like walking into a Museum of the Past Self.
Montrose, I never used the card catalogs, but I thought they added a certain dignity to SML. Campus was already on lockdown by my time so I never saw it any other way.
Bfar, they could have made an announcement, or had a sale. I bet alumni would have paid enough to put a kid through college, in order to grab some memorabilia.
Ok 6, you're a bit older than my friends' kids. Thank goodness.
Our college rooms had great architecture. My suite, freshman year, was in Vanderbilt Hall, (Yeah, those Vanderbilts paid for it) and had casement windows, wood paneling, a working fireplace and a window seat. I was in heaven. Gotta say, though, the casement windows could get drafty. It was my first introduction to the lifestyle of the 1%.
(and my "aww" (and accompanying [blush], which didn't show because I accidentally put it in html) was directed at the crush comment, NOT at kenny g. No aww for him.)
my college dorms were pretty much roach infested communist style (is that a style?) buildings. one overlooked the passaic river so the view was nice, of course my room was on the other side of the building and faced the street :-/
Nice, Bfar. I only had a single in my senior year. It was great. Small room in Berkeley, looked out on the walkway between Berkeley and Calhoun. No paneling, but still had a fireplace and casement windows. I never used the fireplace.
Sadly, I never lived in a dorm. I had an apt. and roommates. Eventually, the lease was mine, and I had to pick people for it. Most of my roommates were pretty cool. The worst one was my own sibling, who, while I was on VACATION, informed me that they'd be moving out and I needed a new roommate STAT! I could have committed sibling-cide in that moment. Fortunately for sibling, I was 1500 miles away!
I always figured they let me in by mistake, thinking I was actually somebody fancy - My frosh hall was Durfee (grandmother's maiden name) with a plaque dedicating an entryway to a old fellow of the corporation whose last name was Farwell (my last name, obviously).
But enough nostalgia... gotta go take a shower while the hot water is on (in winter it only gets really hot when the radiators are on) and wrangle the urchins. Polishing all their silver spoons takes forEVER.
Cobble, one of my closest friends lived off-campus through most of college. His apartments, which changed each year, were interesting, to say the least. One was located above a furrier's. They were all furnished in student chic, which was anything the Salvation Army wouldn't even take. I thought he was soooo cool.
living off campus in apartments with people you actually got to pick was always great. except i made an awful choice of picking two one time when it was basically me who was left to get to pick people. i picked a molester who snuck into one of the chicks rooms, pulled down her panties, and took polaroids. she was passed out from drinking and klonopins. we wound up kicking the molester out the next day
My apt. was furnished with "Free-take-me" and "Somebody-sold-me-this-real-cheap"! ; ) I had a futon on the floor until someone sold me platform for about $50. And I had a sort of side table with two leaves for a desk and folding rattan chair which I found on the street outside my apt. Oh, and the dresser, which was a HUGE purchase at $150! (Like a week's pay, at that time.)
I don't think I have any of my street find items anymore. The best 'find' was a dresser I found on Clinton Street. It was a beautiful mahogany antique dresser with a scuffed up/slightly water damaged top. I just polished it up, threw a linen table covering over it, and voila! I had that dresser for years until I inherited a really great tall mahogany dresser from my grandfather, via my father.
I'm in the process of cleaning out my desk here and starting to organize all sorts of papers and files which heretofore have beeen an unorganized mess due to the large amount of space I have.
Unfortunatley there's no such thing as an historically correct 18th century file cabinet to keep all this stuff in for Bucks County. Hell, I don't even have a desk there. i need to search for one of these....
Even in the dorms, you needed some furniture. They provided a bed and a desk/chair, and a dresser of some kind. My sophomore year, my room had cabinets on the wall instead of a dresser. But we all had a common living room space for which we needed furniture. We had hand me downs, too. My parents got a couple of old beat up club chairs really cheap upstate and brought them down for us. We were the envy of the non-rich kids. The dorm had a storage room for furniture, and anything unclaimed could be taken, which helped tremendously.
This was also before most kids had tv sets in their rooms. I think I only knew one person who had one. I think I actually sat down and watched tv once while actually on campus, in college. There was just too much other stuff to do: meetings, studying and my job at the library.
Dave, I can just imagine you having a spirited conversation with those 18th century furniture experts on Antiques Roadshow. I'm blanking on the names - the brothers.
DIBS, My cousin has one of those — almost identical. It was my gr. grandfather's. It's beautiful. I have my grandfather's desk. Which has a cabinet up top with shelves in the center, and little mail slot type things in the side cabinet doors. And it has 4 drawers on either side of the leg well. It's pretty neat.
Not too shocking that Obama rejected the keystone pipeline - pandering to environmentalists who think that the more fossil fuel projects they can stop, the less polluting energy sources we will use. Of course, the reality is that without real alternatives, we will just get the fuel from other countries.
I see parallels with the conservative attitude that the more federal taxes are cut, the less the federal government will spend. Of course, the reality is that without real budget changes, we will just borrow the money.
dave, if you want to move anything yourself, locally or to PA, feel free to use the CCar. The Champions, Smokey & the Bandit and Thelma & Louise can direct you to CGar's List.
CGar...David & Dennis are driving up here for a weekend at some point. All I'm sending to PA is my clothes, files and books. They will take that back in my car. All the rest will go to MA and I'll try movers Not Shakers for that. The only furniture I'm keeping are the LR pieces...sofa, armchair, coffee table and the accent tables. the rest will get sold, given away or remain with the house.
Sometimes, graphical presentations in PowerPoint slides can be totally hilarious. I'm looking at one right now - there are triangles, arrows, stick figures, more arrows... it's trying to get across a totally basic point, but instead it's hilariously confusing.
Even worse, lech, is when they incorporate shades of colors and when it's up on a screen in front of a larger audience, totally indistinguishable and useless
bought new razors today, trying out the ones with FIVE blades (had no idea they make ones with 5 blades, i havent even tried the ones with four yet. the ones with three work perfect and i love, the ones with 2 blades cut my face up badly and the ones with 1 blade are just completely non functional.
oh and im really pissed... my phone plan i use Net10, and they changed conditions of the plans... well the pay as you go ones... before you were able to buy a 450 minute card and it lasted 120 days. ugh! now it's only 60 days. i dont go thru that many minutes! and the 200 minute card has to be used withing 30 days and before it used to have to be used within 60 days. SO frustrating.
and GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH the price of deodorant like doubled overnight.
i cant standing toiletry and phone minute shopping
NYtimes: "According to the Census Bureau's 2010 American Community Survey, the majors that give you the best chance of reaching the 1 percent are pre-med, economics, biochemistry, zoology and, yes, biology, in that order."
pre-med is not a major tho. anyone can go to med school. all you have to do is study for the stupid MCAT and get a good score. med students like to whine about their plight and how grueling it is. something tells me they're lying
oh and i dont mean ANYONE can just get a good score on the mcat. no way in hell i would be able to. but i doubt actual medical school is as hard and grueling as med students whine it to be
also no one ever blames doctors themselves for the high cost of medical care. sorry but they dont NEED fancy mansions and expensive cars. it's like moonface ice cream scoopers who charge 50 gazillion dollars a scoop so they can afford luxury lofts and stuff. same thing involved. doctors always get a free pass, they should not! they are part of the problem with healthcare costs! obviously there are other factors and it's not AS simple as moonface ice cream, but the basic economic premise is there..
Phone companies are ridiculous; AT&T doesn't have *any* text plan except an unlimited one. I use maybe 200 messages a month, but they're socking me with $20 (my wife got grandfathered into a $10/1000msgs one, but my 200/mo plan somehow can't be grandfathered)
only someone who has lost their marbles would pay those ridiculous prices.
and
they were extended rob...jan 1
extended? when did they start. i didnt really see an increase in my pay. oh wait, maybe months and months ago i noticed a little uptick in my paycheck, so they just extended the same thing? ugh i would have been mad if they didnt extend it.
and i never realized how much NYC taxes are holy crap. ugh why did my grandmother move out of jersey so i could still use our old address and not have to pay nyc taxes GRRRRRRRRR
Got my hair washed & cut for $35 at the Dominican ladies place nearby. I have to say that the hairdresser did a fantastic job on the blow out. Super smooth. Discussed coloring options for another day. Picked up snacks/lunch things for BH's plane ride. Also went to the 99 cent store. Now to attack the tax crap...while partially avoiding do it because I'm posting here. : P
Cgar,
beware of sneaky doctors out there that will charge more if you are uninsured.
They're supposed to have a set policy for cash visits, not just make up a number.
I'm pretty honest about those things.
Cripes almighty. I'm a pack rat. I have every freaking receipt for every little thing. The interesting part, so far, is how much money I'm saving doing our laundry here in the building. We may be able to go to Jamaica next winter for the laundry savings ALONE!!
I think if you polled most doctors, they'd tell you that they'd be glad for the government to just set up a standard pay scale and pay them a salary.
Provided they quit burdening healthcare with mandates, rules and enough paperwork to replant the Amazon rain forest yearly!
And that there be a reasonable patient flow, not some kind of patient mill.
"I think if you polled most doctors, they'd tell you that they'd be glad for the government to just set up a standard pay scale and pay them a salary."
Oh dear, that sounds an awful lot like socialism, tsk, tsk, legion! : P
oh nevermind, i saw you said shampoo and cut. i thought it was just a shampoo
(i still think 35 dollars for a haircut is absurd tho). and then people who cut hair be expecting tips too? bitch please
Rob, pre-med is a major. Unless you are some kind of genius savant, you can't pass the MCATs without being pre-med. Most of the questions require a firm knowledge of organic chemistry and other requirements for the major. Both of my roommates in college were pre-med. It was ridiculously difficult, and took years from their lives. Both are now doctors, which worked out well for them.
Haircut part was $15, rob. And yes, I tipped her nicely. And next time, she'll be very happy to see me, because she'll know I'm not a cheap ass that expects something for nothing!!
Pre-med is not a specific major in that you don't get a degree in Pre-med like you might in Biology or Chemistry. Yes, you have to have a lot of biology and chemistry background to pass the MCATs but neither of those need be your actual major.
Where I went to college, pre-med was somewhere between a minor and a major.
You had to major in something else, but more courses were required for pre-med than any minor.
Most pre-med students chose to major in biology, since there was the most overlap with pre-med courses.
My guess is that some colleges have pre-med as a major, and some don't.
Colleges can create pretty much any degree they feel like.
My dad got a degree in "General Studies"
haha donatella,
My new avatar is none other than HAL-9000,
the murderous computer with artificial intelligence and ulterior motives from Kubrick's : 2001 A Space Odyssey
My mother got a degree in sociology or anthropology (can't tell the difference anyways) and was on her way to getting a phd in some other b.s. subject when she decided to take the MCAT and then went to med school. I think maybe she took some science and math classes on the side when she was doing phd work or something? Unusual case anyways. My doctor sister studied environmental blah blah but had some kind of real science minor or something (and graduated with a 4.0 I think?? Have to ask her again).
ok, Legion. Hal was scary. He was important, but scary. I should watch that again sometime. All I remember is people floating around this thing that was the universe's new ruler. Or something like that.
The Engineering students.
While everyone was playing hacky sack or blasting Pink Floyd,
those engineering students were carrying their stacks of books to the library. :o(
kubrick films was like half the semesters course for one of my film classes. i really LIKED 2001 but i could never sit through the whole thing. too slow paced for me. pretty much all of his movies that i saw were. in fact i pretty much hated every movie in every one of my film studies classes. tho i think i only had two proper film studies classes, the rest covered video artists and stuff which was more interesting.
Legion, Stanley Kubrik was a commodity trader. A friend of mine had him as a customer. My friend told me that just as they were discussing trades, Kubrik started yelling. His cat had pissed on his papers on his desk. He lived in London and was sort of trapped there since he was terrified of flying.
Kubrick was known for being a director's director. He was very obsessive and would take shot after shot until the lighting, the set design or the acting was exactly as he wanted it.
That's why he only made a dozen films or so. You can see the quality of the work in his films though,
From Dr. Strangelove to Full Metal Jacket, he had a unique vision which makes his films age well. Because there's not much like them. I'm still amazed by the set design on 2001. For a film from 1968-69 the imagery is so crisp and detailed.
*rob* is right though about it being slow paced. He wasn't the type to hurry, and his films were the same.
I really hope Mitt crushes it in SC and we can end this Republican in-fighting.
I would vote for Newt in the general election, but would do so holding my nose and would immediately take a shower. I would feel good about voting for Mitt.
I can't say I will really feel good about voting for Mitt. i just can't sit around and watch the country turn into a socialist entitled hell hole with Obama
Newt Gingrich just isn't a leader, plain and simple. He's a snarky know-it-all. Leaders don't act like that. Obama is likewise not a leader, but for different reasons. Romney is a leader. Newt is not a leader for the same reasons that Larry Summers is not a leader.
Ok, I should do the math part of my tax stuff now that I've finished sorting the receipts, but some asshat sent me an email with cool pix in it. I think I'll go look at that instead! My middle name should be procrastination. : P
I agree that Romney is more polished and classy and actually "presidential" than all of them including Obama. Plus, he's not likely to continue with the class warfare bullshit that has done nothing but divide and hurt this country. What has it really accomplished???? Nothing.
My grandfather and his brother were fairly serious amateur photographers and belonged to a camera club for many years in NYC in the 1950s and 60s. One day a fellow clubmember asked if his son could tag along on an outing. The son was apparently quite annoying, stopping at great length to take pics that were entirely off the club's topic and generally getting on everyone's nerves. The son turned out to be Kubrick.
My favorite line in Dr. Strangelove is the military personnel uttering: "You break that machine and you'll have the Coca Cola bottling company to answer to."
I don't do my own taxes. I get all my receipts, expense and income stuff ready for my accountant to do my taxes. I pay him a tidy sum because he knows how not to screw them up and knows all the little tricks of the trade. He's worth every penny.
10K of it went to the mobile "rolling cigarette station". i shit you not. i recently read an article about it the other day, and one of the people involved with the financials came out and just said saying "yeah sometimes people just need a cigarette out there" hahaha.
quote:
I don't do my own taxes. I get all my receipts, expense and income stuff ready for my accountant to do my taxes. I pay him a tidy sum because he knows how not to screw them up and knows all the little tricks of the trade. He's worth every penny.
well it's still lolzy that you have to pay someone. what kind of receipts can you get tax breaks for!? should i be saving my receipts for stuff?
Doesn't matter if someone's a leader if they have no vision. I have no idea where Romney would lead this country. Since he has no convictions at all, I assume Romney doesn't have an idea either.
Right, Romney won't *talk about* the class warfare sh*t, but he'll certainly be perpetuating it, in the form of helping the rich get richer. I don't trust one single republican to do what's right for the middle class in this country. Not one. They can't relate. They're out of touch. They cannot comprehend what has happened to ordinary individuals such as myself.
Am I the only one on here who does his own taxes? I bet DH does his own as well. I don't have anything complicated but if I had various state incomes, rental properties and so on so forth I would use an accountant as well.
rob, I am self-employed. I save receipts in certain categories (well, I save all receipts but that's another story), because I can deduct things as they are related to my work. Office supplies, certain transportation costs... there's a list. One can also deduct donations. I've been using this accountant since the early 90s. He and I set up a system, and I follow it every year, because I've pretty much always had freelance income, and I USED to have a little investment income, so it got a little complex. Even when I had a full-time office job, I'd have a freelance gig here or there.
Cobble, would TurboTax be too difficult for that? I figure you can save a nice chunk if you did the taxes yourself with turbotax. I dunno, I never paid for either tax software or an accountant in my life.
kens, It's $350 for my accountant. Even if I could do TurboTax, and I probably could, it's worth it's weight in gold because I go to him, he does my taxes on the spot, he has all my other years info, and I don't have to sit around wondering or worrying after they are sent in if I will get audited. And there are carryovers and things that make it more complicated. I know I will not get audited, and that feeling is PRICELESS. He's saved me a lot of money over the years. He specializes in arty people and their arty tax problems. : P
I do not do my own taxes. With the accounting involved in renovation depreciation (different portions of which are accounted for differently depending on which part of the house they are attributed to) and rental income and expenses, among other things, I not only want an accountant to take care of it but also to stand between me and the IRS in case of an audit. I would not trust myself to get this stuff right.
the thing about doing your own taxes is that if something is screwy YOU are the one gets audited and in trouble. when you have someone else prepare your taxes THEY are the ones will be sent to prison and fined if the IRS notices any shenigans. i think Dave would have a MUCH better time in prison than i would.
The only time I didn't do my own taxes was 2004-2006, when I was filing in two countries. PwC did my taxes for those three tax years (in both the US and Australia, though Australia is on a June 30 tax year, which is a bunch of annoying bullshit, not surprising really since Australia can really annoy the crap out of you sometimes).
The only time I didn't do my own taxes was 2004-2006, when I was filing in two countries. PwC did my taxes for those three tax years (in both the US and Australia, though Australia is on a June 30 tax year, which is a bunch of annoying bullshit, not surprising really since Australia can really annoy the crap out of you sometimes).
The IRS is really not nasty if you screw up, as long as you agree that you were wrong and pay them.
I made an enormous mistake once and all I got was a nice letter telling me how much more I owed. I sent them a check for that amount and all was fine.
lol Rob. If Dave screws up, you're going to jail. He has no responsibility once so ever unless it's a CPA who does it for you and signs off on it. AND you are responsible if you gave false information to the accountant. Accountants are only responsible if they are the ones that screwed up.
rob, I'm not f*cking housewife. I just feel like one most of the time. I actually do work, just not as much as I need to. I just make 1/5th of what I used to earn.
I have a friend who REALLY REALLY f*cked up with the IRS. And kept putting off speaking to them, ducking them for months. After much cajoling on my part, he finally called the IRS guy, told him what was what, and the IRS guy was completely reasonable once he heard that the IRS was going to get paid in full in a short time.
what's the point of having someone else do the taxes if you can still get in trouble!?! for something THEY did. ugh. that's like asking someone to beat someone up for you and getting in trouble for it. wtf? the person doing the beating should be the one to get in trouble if they get caught.
On the way home on the subway two young guys were sitting next to me and worried they were on the wrong train. They were going to my stop.
At every stop in Manhattan: "Ok we're at__________. Our stop is next, right?" "Yeah, I think so."
At Jay Street: "I don't remember a Jay Street. Jay Street? Berman, do you remember a Jay Street?" "No...I don't know."
At Church Ave: "Where is this? Is this right? I don't remember it being this long." "Yeah me neither...if it's not the next stop, let's turn around and go back."
Of course I was sitting right next to them and the map was right above my head, easily in their sight. They never saw it but they did get to where they were going.
I had an accountant once who was also a lawyer. He screwed up my return - left off unincorporated business tax. When I was notified by the IRS I said, why am I liable, why does the accountant/lawyer not have to pay interest & penalty? They said I owed it all & would have to go after him separately. It really sucks. I'd paid him for his expertise & services he didn't render.
rob, Taxes can be complex. There are tax rules. The tax code in the US is incredibly byzantine and hundreds of thousands of pages. And the rules change all the time. Are you up on the latest tax rules? Do you know what's deductible in what circumstance? Do you understand where and when to do a carryover, a depreciation or other deduct expenses? I pay this guy because he KNOWS ALL THIS STUFF inside and out, upside down and backwards. He's brilliant, if I do say so myself. And I'm pretty smart. They only do stuff if the client can back it up on paper, in the form of receipts or records. They don't just make sh*t up. Well, some do, but it's better not to go that route! : P
Accountant has expertise and license on the line. If he screws up, IRS penalizes you and you have a malpractice claim. But more importantly, I simply want that expertise talking to the IRS about my returns.
"youre the one who's always complaining about things housewives do with glee!!!"
No, I'm rattling things off to encourage myself that I'm being productive and should not go up to the roof and throw myself off because I don't have a fancy ass office job anymore and my life still has some meaning/productivity.
And on that note: I'm going to go turn on the news and make my swedish meatballs for dinner. BH is on his way home to pack for his trip tomorrow and I want to have a nice dinner and hang out with him.
If I had my own business that made any real amount of income, I would pay someone to do my taxes.
For W2 employees, the rules are pretty straight forward.
I'd had one accountant from age 17 to 34 & then he died. Took me several years (w/ a new person each year) to find a new one. I wish I had taken the one guy to court for my interest & penalty. I should have had to pay only the tax.
If I only ever had W-2 income, I would do my own taxes. But that has not ever been the case for me, or at least not since I was about 25 years old, which is approximately the last time I did my own taxes.
Five years into my teaching career I found out that one of my colleagues was a CPA. He knew all the loopholes and exemptions for educators. Suddenly I could afford lots of travel. If only I had found out about him at the start of my career....argh!
I do my own taxes; only year we paid somebody was one where we lived in two different cities, got married, and I had a bunch of different random jobs all within the same 365 days.
Of course, I'm also assuming I do them correctly (I'm pretty sure - I've overpaid them a couple times, but otherwise been okay). As someone who is part freelance and part employee but sells mostly (not entirely) services rather than stuff, it does get a little confusing. I used to deduct my home office, which was a further PITA, but don't anymore. Once you have mortgages and rental income and IRAs and investments (eg: for me, never) it seems like it would be more than I care to deal with.
It was a painful thing since I had had him my whole working life. I was "part of the family". Actually I am lifelong friends with his cousin. That seems to mean to some people that it is ok to be a little "relaxed" because you are family. And it is ok to be a little rude if you are stressed out because you "are family". But then he started delegating my taxes to assistants and making mistakes that cost me money. The last three years he did them, each year was some error which cost me money.
So I said bye bye. I have a new guy who charges me 40% of what the other guy charged. I got the depreciation schedules from accountant #1 and so far so good. I also bought Turbo tax to double check the new accountant and I may do my own next year.
Good for you donatella,
when it comes to finances, you have to take a hard line.
At this time of year, I start looking at how much insurance I'm paying, how much on phones, all kinds of things.
Then I change companies if I need to.
At 60% off, sounds like the right call.
Where's benson? He should order one of these t-shirts pronto:
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/01/italys-latest-fashion-statement-get-back-on-board-for-s-sake/?fb_ref=.TxdU0pgUzm4.like&fb_source=home_multiline
i passed by the old ozzies coffee shop (that used to be HUGe and took up half the block which recently turned into another coffee shop in half the space, and on the other half the space they were renovating there was a sign up that says Beauty Bar is coming there. lol. is that the same beauty bar that is in manhattan? is it in manhattan? you can get a manicure and have martinis at the same time kind of place? hahaha. some of the megans arounds here sure CAN use a bit of beauty, so i think maybe it's a good addition to the neighborhood.
Legion, I find it hard to change things financially where people are concerned. That decision was hard until it was too outrageous to ignore any more. I also have an older man from the block who has been taking care of my garbage for me. I pay him monthly. This made sense when I was traveling constantly, otherwise my place would be like a landfill. Now....no, it doesn't make sense. I am keeping him doing it though. Maybe my next job will be the same so I am keeping things the same. Now......to find a new hair dresser. I can't afford the SOHO duo who do my hair.
in St. Pete....little rain when arrived but should be all sun tomorrow. just went to publix to buy some stuff for dinner.
(at friend from park slope's place in st. pete - another retiree)
"...doctors always get a free pass, they should not! they are part of the problem with healthcare costs!"
What!?
I took a 50% pay cut in the late 90's when they switched over all those sweet private health insurances, like Traveler's and Cigna, to cheap ass managed care plans.
Then I took another 16% pay cut around 2005 when Medicaid summarily cut it's usual 20% copayment rate down to 4%.
Then I took another 10-20% pay cut from the mandated movement of Medicare patients into magaged Medicare which pays as well as cleaning up Elephant poo at the circus.
Now I'm staring down the barrel of a 27% medicare cut in reimbursements from the "doctor fix" bill that congress keeps extending because they don't want us all to finally say GTFO government!
CASH ONLY!
have arrested eight men over a scheme to
allegedly smuggle gold out of the country by
hiding it in their rectums.
The Korea Customs Service said Monday the
men allegedly transformed $260,000 in gold
bars into small beads and smuggled them in
their rectums to Japan two times in 2010 to
avoid import taxes.
Connected they are
Be they gold or otherwise
Happy, happy times
So much for **Brownstones Half Off**
I've always seen ones connected with a string called "anal beads"
The ben wah balls I know of are designed to be used vaginally.
NYC real estate has done much better than the rest of the country over the last few years.
2 loads of laundry in the washers. Next up: ordering car to take BH to JFK in the morning, dry/fold/put away laundry, shop for and pack plane snacks/lunch for BH, stop at 99 cent store, start to organize tax papers, make swedish meatballs for dinner.
Have I mentioned how much I hate it when BH goes away on trips? I really hate it. Nothing feels right when he's gone.
He's awfully sad about his step-dad's death, so it's good that he's going to the memorial. Humans need these rituals. I just hope it's not too big a hoop-dee-doo out there in LA, and he can really mourn peacefully for him. They've rented some kind of theater for the event. I imagine all sorts of Hollywood big-wigs and the like will be there. Just hoping it's not too much of an asshat 'event'.
Real estate here certainly has not fallen like most of the rest of the country.
I don't know about the Bay Area, but Los Angeles prices seem to be around where they were in 2000, and close to half off their highs.
This would be characteristic of most people from L.A.
Have I mentioned how much I hate it when BH goes away on trips? I really hate it. Nothing feels right when he's gone.
that's mad needy on your behalf. most normal people are thrilled when their significant other goes away on trips.
and anal beads are gross. they should just be called what they REALLY are. shit chains.
*rob*
Yes, sit out on the porches of their Victorians and shake their canes at Cobble as she passes by on her way to the laundromat. This is NOT who Mary Kay Gallagher RE was trying to bring here. There goes the neighborhood!
Hope bh's trip goes well, Cobble.
All sorts of vermin can slip through the cracks.
It's so true. And, as you can imagine, there is all sorts of 'proprietary' posturing going on. And dinners being arranged. OY. OY. OY!
I told BH to make sure he had quiet time to reflect and go sit on the beach or drive up into the canyon where they lived together and cry if he needs to.
No doubt the LL has already received complaints about letting the likes of me move in here! : P
Thanks, Six. He'll be ok, it's just going to be a difficult trip.
1. At a friend's recommendation, worker accepts friend's old job at $25K/year w/o benefits, same wage friend had.
2. Worker moves on to better job in a different company.
3. Division manager emails worker to ask if worker was, indeed, working. Manager didn't know anything and wants to make sure worker was paid properly.
4. Worker says yes, was paid $25K/year w/o benefits.
5. Division manager informs worker his salary should have been $125K/year according to company policies.
6. Worker asks for back pay.
7. Division manager says that's not possible.
8. Worker complains to another division manager.
9. Division manager does a detailed study of hiring practices in his division, which he had apparently never done before, and informs worker that actually $25K was the proper salary, but worker was not hired using proper procedures, and accuses worker of being disingenuous in asking for back pay.
Thoughts?
No, "mad needy" would be me insisting on going even though we really can't afford it, rob.
"3. Division manager emails worker to ask if worker was, indeed, working. Manager didn't know anything and wants to make sure worker was paid properly."
Nor of course does #5
The whole thing sounds rather fucked up. What type of "company?"
LOL DonaT! Probably any PLUSA would be bad for Ditmas Park's "family environment"
A university, of course.
#3 - worker wasn't on the list of employees. then when worker confirmed he did, in fact, do his job, division manager said the salary for that job is much higher than what the worker was paid.
I figured as much. Not a real company.
six, that seems like fairly nutty scenario. does this person have any sort of contract?
I've known of situations where people were paid both above and below the official range for a position/job code.
Note: all this assumes there is no union or other contractual pay scale in place.
#9 is the step which I found strangest.
Anyways, love Dealbreaker. Smart, funny people.
http://dealbreaker.com/2012/01/volcker-rule-is-bad-for-securities-industry-says-guy-paid-by-securities-industry-to-say-volcker-rule-is-bad-for-securities-industry/
Hard to believe that given the volume of your posts, Dave!
But the labor lawyer is probably a good idea, unless they like their $25k job.
bfar, if large numbers of people are paying the prices, is it really overpriced???
that's such a moronic statement. and it's people who say moronic things like that who perpetuate the insanity and rip-offish nature of nyc real estate.
and YES nyc rents and real estate prices are GIANT RIP-OFFS. NYC is NOT that special, in fact it mostly sucks! and dont tell me to move somewhere else, i aint going anywhere.
*rob*
SNORT!
Once you grow up and acquire some taste you will!!!
The most aggravating thing is that this department head - a typical tenured academic Marxist - makes all sorts of noise about being progressive, anti-corporate, etc. His friend I complained to in step #8 (another tenured academic Marxist) flat out said I was "exploited" which is a bit absurd but whatever. Typical "management" by people with no administrative training whatsoever.
*rob*
In either case, it's usually done by hot mexicans so it's always fun to watch
*rob*
But the pussy marxist is a total jackass.
Most marxists are. And, have you noticed that there aren't very many of them around anymore????
Wrong again, Marxist breath.
A real granite counter can be hit with a sledge a few times and carried off. A cheap ass Marxist Formica counter has to be actually sawed up into pieces.
granite the pieces are lighter but the overall labor is higher (see how i worked that pun in???)
I marble at your wit.
I almost want to ask him to see these hiring policies myself. Good thing I'm no longer at that university. Instead I'm at one with a strong history of grad student unionization (dibs and rob, go ahead and vomit).
I bet that raises the tuition costs above most people's reach!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What a farce.
six, do you know what ever happened with yale's grad student union attempts? I didn't know many places had much luck.
You're a glutton for pumicement.
You'll be pumiced for your oversight.
Maybe universities should cut some pay and benefits LIKE EVERYONE IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR HAS. Christ, they don't even pay taxes.
Like everyone except the people in charge, you mean.
Instead I'm at one with a strong history of grad student unionization (dibs and rob, go ahead and vomit).
im not really against unions, what would make you think that?
and paying grad students to TEACH (they get paid shit tho) isnt what makes university tution so ridiculous. it's ridiculous bank loans backed by the government that cannot be erased with bankrupcey. oh yeah and these days all new dorms made are "luxury", now THAT''s barf.
8rob*
Dave, they should cut all the extras for "student life" as well - fancy gyms, centers for the study of x, y, and z, junkets for profs, and so on. Why, I'm getting a free trip plus spending money to chaperone some undergrads to the UAE this spring break - they're also traveling for free!
The other problem is that if you make lots of money available for student loans, tuition goes up. No politically palatable way out of that one.
The other problem is that if you make lots of money available for student loans, tuition goes up. No politically palatable way out of that one."
Yes, the whole system needs overhauling
I'm getting a free trip plus spending money to chaperone some undergrads to the UAE this spring break - they're also traveling for free!
:-/ not that i want it to happen to YOU, but the to the people you are babysitting on their spring break, i hope it turns into a real life version of that movie Turistas.
*rob*
If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
Technology also seems like it has been a big cost, esp. in the sciences though they bring in more $
*rob*
bfar is now the frontrunner in the OT primary.
You're getting ripped off if you pay full tuition and you get a TA
like 3/4's of the classes taught at some schools are taught by TA's. the professors just sit in their offices 4 hours a week for office hours and just twiddle their lice infested beards or give people bitchface.
*rob*
*rob*
PS I looked at the silver page on periodic table on the web, and there's a fundraising ad for Ron Paul. I imagine he's on the gold page, too.
[And no, I was not on Ag Daddies!]
Bfar, I was a fan of the Yankee Doodle. Louis' Lunch is still there too.
Everyone was a carbon copy of their youthful selves?
facebook makes reunions pointless anyway.
*rob*
Yeah, who wants these face-to-face meetings when you can travel to see people on the internetz?
Cobble, I know exactly where the yearbooks are kept at your alma mater. Next time I'm there, I'm finding your senior photo. Be warned!!!
was writing that it was depressing because I left HS with great expectations, and felt like I'd accomplished nothing/was a total failure. Got some good pix of people in their old bedrooms, though.
http://www.bradfarwell.com/proj/hsbedrooms/1-ben.html
6 and Bfar, this year is my 35th. (Wags cane, feebly) Don't know if I'm going or not, might be in the middle of a move upstate. Last time, my friend and I were walking around the campus, and wanted to go into the residential college quads, like in Branford, and they were locked up like Fort Knox, and you needed an swipe card id. We got in, as we had reunion id cards, but sheesh. Even in the rolicking '70's, you could walk around the campus. The other big change was that they had gotten rid of the massive banks of card catalogs in the library, and replaced them with computers. Makes sense, of course, but having spent hours in those card catalogs, I had a nostalgic moment.
I switched to a HS school that didn't require gym credits to graduate, and took college courses (for free!) at the New School and City College, and got my diploma.
I'll post a pic of me from HS, in a minute.
And yes, the security thing is ridiculous.
Montrose, I never used the card catalogs, but I thought they added a certain dignity to SML. Campus was already on lockdown by my time so I never saw it any other way.
Bfar: crazy about the card catalog. You'd think something like that doesn't just disappear.
Cobble: You should caption that photo with "YOU THINK THIS IS A MOTHERFUCKING GAME?!"
LOL! We were all very smart and 'creative'! ; )
SNORT!!!
NY, Kirsten Gillibrand, 212-688-6262
Our college rooms had great architecture. My suite, freshman year, was in Vanderbilt Hall, (Yeah, those Vanderbilts paid for it) and had casement windows, wood paneling, a working fireplace and a window seat. I was in heaven. Gotta say, though, the casement windows could get drafty. It was my first introduction to the lifestyle of the 1%.
*rob*
*rob*
But enough nostalgia... gotta go take a shower while the hot water is on (in winter it only gets really hot when the radiators are on) and wrangle the urchins. Polishing all their silver spoons takes forEVER.
*rob*
*rob*
*rob*
Unfortunatley there's no such thing as an historically correct 18th century file cabinet to keep all this stuff in for Bucks County. Hell, I don't even have a desk there. i need to search for one of these....
This was also before most kids had tv sets in their rooms. I think I only knew one person who had one. I think I actually sat down and watched tv once while actually on campus, in college. There was just too much other stuff to do: meetings, studying and my job at the library.
I see parallels with the conservative attitude that the more federal taxes are cut, the less the federal government will spend. Of course, the reality is that without real budget changes, we will just borrow the money.
I was pleased.
Yes, if calcified is a goal!! : P
Don't you have to run along and do some washes about now?
:-)
"Ahh, yes...didn't see that mistake"
Do you have a lolcat pic with the caption: "Who you calling moron, MORON?" I could use it right about now.
OK, I was right on two premonitions, Kripalu and the imminent posting of cat pics.
You're decades too late for that admonition . . . or have you not been reading the OT for the past 4 years???
I forget I have to work extra hard not to make a double entendre out of every single thing one says about DIBS.
oh and im really pissed... my phone plan i use Net10, and they changed conditions of the plans... well the pay as you go ones... before you were able to buy a 450 minute card and it lasted 120 days. ugh! now it's only 60 days. i dont go thru that many minutes! and the 200 minute card has to be used withing 30 days and before it used to have to be used within 60 days. SO frustrating.
and GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH the price of deodorant like doubled overnight.
i cant standing toiletry and phone minute shopping
*rob*
*rob*
*rob*
*rob*
*rob*
*rob*
*rob*
The same way it is cheaper to visit Europe on the internet than by plane.
Speaking of, I just got back from Blue Marble >>>
and
they were extended rob...jan 1
extended? when did they start. i didnt really see an increase in my pay. oh wait, maybe months and months ago i noticed a little uptick in my paycheck, so they just extended the same thing? ugh i would have been mad if they didnt extend it.
and i never realized how much NYC taxes are holy crap. ugh why did my grandmother move out of jersey so i could still use our old address and not have to pay nyc taxes GRRRRRRRRR
*rob*
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46042861/ns/local_news-new_york_ny/
*rob*
I see you got the double scoop. Must have set you back quite a bit.
Got my hair washed & cut for $35 at the Dominican ladies place nearby. I have to say that the hairdresser did a fantastic job on the blow out. Super smooth. Discussed coloring options for another day. Picked up snacks/lunch things for BH's plane ride. Also went to the 99 cent store. Now to attack the tax crap...while partially avoiding do it because I'm posting here. : P
It was a pun! rob punned! Inadvertent or not, it read as a pun, therefore it is a pun!!
What's his name????
I would be glad to charge $100 dollars a visit including an x-ray or an injection.
10 patients a day and I'm out.
...keep in mind, the plumber charges $80 just to show his butt crack!
LMFAO
beware of sneaky doctors out there that will charge more if you are uninsured.
They're supposed to have a set policy for cash visits, not just make up a number.
I'm pretty honest about those things.
Provided they quit burdening healthcare with mandates, rules and enough paperwork to replant the Amazon rain forest yearly!
And that there be a reasonable patient flow, not some kind of patient mill.
Oh dear, that sounds an awful lot like socialism, tsk, tsk, legion! : P
Got my hair washed & cut for $35 at the Dominican ladies place nearby.
BWAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAA, THEY TOTALLY MADE A WASP LADY OVERPAY!
*ROB*
It was a pun! rob punned! Inadvertent or not, it read as a pun, therefore it is a pun!!
NO! IT IS NOT. A PUN NEEDS TO HAVE INTENT IN ORDER FOR IT TO BE CONSIDERED A PUN
THAT WAS JUST RANDOM VERBAGE
*ROB*
Wah, wah, wah! A pun typed is a pun read is a pun! HA HA! Quit ya cryin'!
My guess is that the Bay Area ones were already against it, and the LA area ones support it and will not change.
(i still think 35 dollars for a haircut is absurd tho). and then people who cut hair be expecting tips too? bitch please
*rob*
Legion, am I wrong? I don't think so.
You had to major in something else, but more courses were required for pre-med than any minor.
Most pre-med students chose to major in biology, since there was the most overlap with pre-med courses.
Colleges can create pretty much any degree they feel like.
My dad got a degree in "General Studies"
My new avatar is none other than HAL-9000,
the murderous computer with artificial intelligence and ulterior motives from Kubrick's : 2001 A Space Odyssey
You are right MM,
MCAT covers:
Math
Physics
Organic Chemistry
Biology
Reading Comprehension
Writing
...that last one is the real obstacle for most on the MCAT, since most pre-meds are science and math oriented.
The Engineering students.
While everyone was playing hacky sack or blasting Pink Floyd,
those engineering students were carrying their stacks of books to the library. :o(
one of my favorite films. Kubrick was a great director, and from the Bronx!
*rob*
*rob*
My Stanley Kubrik knowledge.
That's why he only made a dozen films or so. You can see the quality of the work in his films though,
From Dr. Strangelove to Full Metal Jacket, he had a unique vision which makes his films age well. Because there's not much like them. I'm still amazed by the set design on 2001. For a film from 1968-69 the imagery is so crisp and detailed.
*rob* is right though about it being slow paced. He wasn't the type to hurry, and his films were the same.
Reminds me of this.....
I would vote for Newt in the general election, but would do so holding my nose and would immediately take a shower. I would feel good about voting for Mitt.
I love that Slim Pickens scene Delepp!
with him riding the Atomic Bomb into oblivion.
"YEHAAAAAAAAAAAAW"
The newspapers today are reporting that OWS is losing its money fast.
They're down to their last 100 thousand.
A roving protest caravan chasing you around your four houses, always arriving a day too late.
*rob*
My favorite line in Dr. Strangelove is the military personnel uttering: "You break that machine and you'll have the Coca Cola bottling company to answer to."
What exactly have they spent it on??????
10K of it went to the mobile "rolling cigarette station". i shit you not. i recently read an article about it the other day, and one of the people involved with the financials came out and just said saying "yeah sometimes people just need a cigarette out there" hahaha.
*rob*
I don't do my own taxes. I get all my receipts, expense and income stuff ready for my accountant to do my taxes. I pay him a tidy sum because he knows how not to screw them up and knows all the little tricks of the trade. He's worth every penny.
well it's still lolzy that you have to pay someone. what kind of receipts can you get tax breaks for!? should i be saving my receipts for stuff?
*rob*
*rob*
donatella and slopefarm,
amazing how small the world is, six degrees of separation, as they say.
what gives?...and are you paying the 15% rate like Romney?
"well it's still lolzy that you have to pay someone"
Says the guy who has dave do his taxes!!
he should wear a t-shirt that says:
I'm Part Of The 1%
...that's why I get to pay 15% you dummy.
I've been using it for 11 years or so, including 3 years when I lived in 2 different states.
*rob*
Completely WRONG. I am responsible even if my accountant screws up. But he doesn't, that's why I love him.
I made an enormous mistake once and all I got was a nice letter telling me how much more I owed. I sent them a check for that amount and all was fine.
*rob*
http://www.forbes.com/sites/billsinger/2012/01/12/sullivan-and-cromwell-law-partner-sentenced-to-prison-in-irs-case/
rob, I'm not f*cking housewife.
omg, calm down donna reed. youre the one who's always complaining about things housewives do with glee!!!
*rob*
At every stop in Manhattan: "Ok we're at__________. Our stop is next, right?" "Yeah, I think so."
At Jay Street: "I don't remember a Jay Street. Jay Street? Berman, do you remember a Jay Street?" "No...I don't know."
At Church Ave: "Where is this? Is this right? I don't remember it being this long." "Yeah me neither...if it's not the next stop, let's turn around and go back."
Of course I was sitting right next to them and the map was right above my head, easily in their sight. They never saw it but they did get to where they were going.
They always do.
So when is dibs planning on doing your taxes?
No, I'm rattling things off to encourage myself that I'm being productive and should not go up to the roof and throw myself off because I don't have a fancy ass office job anymore and my life still has some meaning/productivity.
DO NOT hire a honey badger to represent you at the Treasury Department.
Things can only go downhill from there.
For W2 employees, the rules are pretty straight forward.
Of course, I'm also assuming I do them correctly (I'm pretty sure - I've overpaid them a couple times, but otherwise been okay). As someone who is part freelance and part employee but sells mostly (not entirely) services rather than stuff, it does get a little confusing. I used to deduct my home office, which was a further PITA, but don't anymore. Once you have mortgages and rental income and IRAs and investments (eg: for me, never) it seems like it would be more than I care to deal with.
okay, my back-from-childrens-museum respite is over. time to go wash some diapers.
...I'm thinking of going to one of those local Brooklyn Aviators hockey games soon.
It's fun and prices are really reasonable.
It was a painful thing since I had had him my whole working life. I was "part of the family". Actually I am lifelong friends with his cousin. That seems to mean to some people that it is ok to be a little "relaxed" because you are family. And it is ok to be a little rude if you are stressed out because you "are family". But then he started delegating my taxes to assistants and making mistakes that cost me money. The last three years he did them, each year was some error which cost me money.
So I said bye bye. I have a new guy who charges me 40% of what the other guy charged. I got the depreciation schedules from accountant #1 and so far so good. I also bought Turbo tax to double check the new accountant and I may do my own next year.
when it comes to finances, you have to take a hard line.
At this time of year, I start looking at how much insurance I'm paying, how much on phones, all kinds of things.
Then I change companies if I need to.
At 60% off, sounds like the right call.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/01/italys-latest-fashion-statement-get-back-on-board-for-s-sake/?fb_ref=.TxdU0pgUzm4.like&fb_source=home_multiline
Cazzo means "dick" in Italian.
I do my own taxes too.
Good night.
*rob*
I am thinking about Jester.
Come back!!!
in St. Pete....little rain when arrived but should be all sun tomorrow. just went to publix to buy some stuff for dinner.
(at friend from park slope's place in st. pete - another retiree)
*rob*
What!?
I took a 50% pay cut in the late 90's when they switched over all those sweet private health insurances, like Traveler's and Cigna, to cheap ass managed care plans.
Then I took another 16% pay cut around 2005 when Medicaid summarily cut it's usual 20% copayment rate down to 4%.
Then I took another 10-20% pay cut from the mandated movement of Medicare patients into magaged Medicare which pays as well as cleaning up Elephant poo at the circus.
Now I'm staring down the barrel of a 27% medicare cut in reimbursements from the "doctor fix" bill that congress keeps extending because they don't want us all to finally say GTFO government!
CASH ONLY!