Credo
"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me." -- John Paul Jones
"Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature" --George Bernard Shaw, "Caesar and Cleopatra"
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."--Friedrich Nietzsche
"A kind Providence has placed in our breasts a hatred of the unjust and cruel, in order that we may preserve ourselves from cruelty and injustice. They who bear cruelty, are accomplices in it. The pretended gentleness which excludes that charitable rancour, produces an indifference which is half an approbation. They never will love where they ought to love, who do not hate where they ought to hate."--Edmund Burke
“You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours.”--General Sir Charles Napier
"Μολὼν λαβέ" -- Leonidas
"Blogito Ergo Sum" -- Neptunus Lex
Lex,
The IRS claims you owe them $$$?
I never knew you’d been appointed to Cabinet…..
Actually, I’m going to get ahead of the curve and pay my taxes as they’re do. So maybe I’ve got a shot, nu?
Huh. Usually it’s the other way around – the Feds are willing to give you some of your money back but the state is standing next to you, swiping bills out of your hand.
Scholarships.com
FastWeb.com
FinAid.org
StudentScholarshipSearch
Don’t forget National Military Family Assn. and the the Commissary’s scholarship too.
And there’s always ROTC…
Your first FAFSA application, Lex. I’d say that’s a “left-handed” congratulations if I ever heard one.
We did three girls through Seattle Pacific University, a private Christian school, and had two going at the same time for a period of four straight years. Welcome to the good old FAFSA club!
We’d have never done it except for the older two going ROTC!
Please let me know if the vodka helps…
Chatham Artillery Punch. The Donovan has an excellent recipe, suitable for smaller parties than the ones usually published. It still comes to a gallon or two, so be wary, considering Velociman’s accounts of its effects on bishops and judges and dowagers. (made them act like young middies and ensigns)
Lex … I guess Guinness is for fun and frolic, and vodka is for anesthesia. Sounds about right.
Marianne
Bourbon, Lex, think bourbon …
Bourbon,
The American drink. Pride of place among gentlemen of all categories. Healer of many wounds. Flaggelant of others. Always reliable. Always the best choice.
Myself prefers Evan Williams, though on occasion I will stand to Makers Mark or Knob Creek.
3 fingers worth in a plain glass. No ice, no pretentiousness, no nancy-boy flavors, the sole (and perhaps soul) exception being a frosted Mint Julep, served on the porch to break the heat of the day.
Bourbon. It’s not just for breakfast anymore!
I don’t doubt Stephen Green will feel complimented…
Oh, wait, I forgot! The Punch has to age for a month or so before adding the champagne. You obviously need relief right now.
Everclear and grapefruit juice, yep, that’s the thing.
‘The feds want $4K+ more.’
Does this mean, could it be true, that you’ve been tapped for a Cabinet post?!
Buy American-
Rum from the Virgin Islands (Cruzan 2 year Estate) is affordable and effective, and helpful to the economy.
Dilute as necessary.
Does this mean, could it be true, that you’ve been tapped for a Cabinet post?!
No, it means he’s one of those filthy rich jerks that have been abusing us poor victims of the heartless capitalist system.
Oh, and if it’s gonna be vodka, I recommend vodka martinis. With lime. Yum!
Oh yeah – like you’ve actually finished a whole one!
Oh, my favorite Heinlein quote:
“Beware of strong drink. It may cause you to shoot at tax collectors. And miss.”
Oh, to be serious, I’ve always wondered what purpose was served by charging federal employees income tax, instead of not doing so and just paying them the after-tax sum. Was somebody trying to make work for somebody, or just being an obsessive busybody nosy record-keeper, or what?
I am so proud of you, Lex! Paying that thar income tax you are! This is the first year in over 30 in which I, a new retiree, am stuck owing the federales any moolah. BarryO has asked me to voluntarily donate an additional $1042 to the money I have already voluntarily volunteered to have withheld–all on a voluntary basis, of course.
And kudos to your little one who is doing that which is “good for the nation”, getting her ejicashun. Patriotic she is, too-so says the Patriot-in-chief his ONE-ness self.
Captain,
You should consider having your California refund applied to next year’s return.
I would then recommend calling human resources and asking them to temporarily adjust the withholding allowances on your W-4. Once you have recouped the amount of your IOU, call your HR dept. and have them change your W-4 back to the proper allowances.
If you are comfortable comparing your pay stubs and doing some subtraction, this is a great way to get
theyour money back AND stick it to the man.Lex, do yourself a favor and go out and buy yourself a bottle of Diplomatico 12yr Reserva Exclusiva rum. Or order it online from http://www.shoppersvineyard.com for only $25.
Trust me – it’s money well-spent. And it’ll helps soothe that painful gouge where your wallet used to be.
Vodka? Sounds like communist claptrap to me. A proper drink with little flavor is the gin and tonic, which not only wipes away the memory of fading empire but also prevents malaria.
So you’d have that going for ya. Which is nice.
Once while at Purdue, visiting as it were to see how the other half lived, some of the NucE majors in the group determined that the right and proper way to rate the visiting schools was a drinking contest. This being college and all, and NucE’s being well-known for liquid courage. Which, given what they played with in the lab is sort of understandable.
After much calculating of stiochiometry, which mainly boiled down to alcohol and sugar content so we could get the ladies to drink it, the Geiger Counter was born.
2 parts Bacardi 151, 1 part High-C fruit punch (for the ladies) and 1oz of liquid nitrogen per 8oz glass . Wait until it stops bubbling before drinking.
I believe we killed more brain cells that night than were ever to be found at a pop music concert, and while pain was much reduced that evening the following mid-morning found the total content was still a constant and had merely been concentrated.
I can also state with some confidence that while the drink does kill brain cells, it only kills the weaker ones. Or at least the ones responsible for self-inflicted wounds. Because near as I can tell none of we who tried it ever thought it was a good idea again.
Come to think of it, vodka is nice…
– Max
Max/
The all important question is: After the imbibing of mass quantities (yes, I’m still on the Beldar kick) of Geiger Counters; could you still count?
Virgil, I’d like to say that after consuming mass quantities I pulled my Versalog from its holster and engaged the nearest ME major in a contest of calculating logs or something, and was able to count my victories using a base of purely imaginary numbers.
Can’t do that, I’m afraid. In all honesty, I simply don’t remember.
I do remember the hangover though. It’s been 24 years, and haven’t touched a drop of it since.
– Max
Lex/
In the old days we in the USAF fighter community used to call vodka martinis “TAC Burgers.” Never was a martini man myself, but a double vodka gimlet on the rocks in a refrigerated glass? The taste, the bite of that cool lime? NOW were talkin’….
Vodka. The favored drink in socialist states.
I may need to pull out Dr. Strangelov and review the content of Slim Pickens’ survival kit to stock the house.
IOU? I filed on the Virginia file online site. Hit the Send button on a Sunday afternoon and the refund check was in my account on Wednesday. Don’t you people know how to run a state government out there.lol
FAFSA: Welcome to the middle class lament. That’s when you find out you are RICH, RICH I tell you! How do you know you are rich? You can’t qualify for government aid because you were FOOLED into working hard, paying your taxes, saving too much money and having too little debt. You capitalist PIG you! Then you find out you are too poor to actually have saved all the money required to send your young’n to that private college…. and that EVEN if they work, all they can do is make enough money to affect their grades and MAYBE buy an overpriced candy bar at the cantina. And the kick in the teeth is you find out you are in the wrong ethnic, disadvantaged, or indigenous native group to qualify for other special government assistance.
Question: “How long (how many generation) must a group live in a land before they are ‘native’? ”
I went through that futile FAFSA exercise twice, just because (two boys). The only upside is I did it at time of falling interest rates and managed one of those parent loans from SALLIE MAE, then accepted a consolidation offer at 2% interest. Means I borrowed really cheap money. Of course at the payoff rate I have, it’ll be another 20 years before I pay that sucker off, but what the heck? (The GREAT part about that is they send me pleading offers every 6 months wanting me to “consolidate” my loan again. Heh. Man I love my shredder.)
Oh, the joys of FAFSA. Eight years running for me (and just ending now) for my daughter and son. I find that “middle class” can be defined as “don’t qualify for Federal aid, don’t have enough money to pay for it myself”.
Me, I prefer Irish Whiskey. Bushmills’ makes an excellent 21 year old single malt. In any case, my guideline on what to buy goes along the lines of “don’t drink anything that isn’t old enough to date.”
First, clearly rum is the way to go.
Second, now that you’ve had a peek at the FAFSA, it may be worth talking to an accountant about ways to look poorer on paper…I know, it sounds like cheating, but its how many of my students have gotten through.
Don’t be afraid for your children to take on student loans, they are lower interest and have gentler payback terms than the commercial alternatives…besides, students who have a financial investment in their education tend to do better in schoo. We keep getting told that Pell grants and similar are going to be getting a boost soon, if it indeed comes to pass, it should help folks in the middle class.
Laurie,
Agreed. My oldest daughter graduates in May from a private college. She worked hard all through High School, and scored a scholarship which helped her greatly. The balance she has gotten through grants, loans and working summers and school vacations.
I told all three of my children that they would do well to apply for, and attend, College, but that should not expect financial help from me in the matter. Maybe it seems cold, but I could never justify taking on that amount of debt on behalf of my children. It’s THEIR education, and they need to have an ownership stake in the matter. I would no more cosign their loans than I would their mortgage.
Having said that, I told her (and the other two) that they were welcome to live at home while going to college, and they can also live there after they graduate while they look for a job. However, they’d be expected to help out both through chores and some financial help with rent, groceries, whatever.
I simply have never understood the concept of parents paying for their children’s college. I paid for mine out of my own pocket, as did my father and my mother. We worked hard, saved, took out our own loans, etc. I could have never brought myself to ask my parents for help with college. I expect my children to act in the same manner.
respects,
I worked with an outstanding navy Captain several years ago who was of the same mindset. As he told us at his going away lunch (off for a one year IA in Iraq), “I told all my kids that there were plenty of people out there willing to pay to send them to college and that I wan’t one of them!” All of his kids scored scholarships and went to and graduated from College and Nursing School or whatever else they’d set their ambition on. 3 of them joined us for lunch. The others were deployed.
Just remember – you can borrow for college. You can’t borrow for retirement.
That is great advice. When DNO graduated from high school, my husband decided he had spent enough time working for someone else. It was time to start his own business. What we had saved for her college tuition became his start-up capital (no way were we going to raid our retirement savings). I went back to work to pay her tuition bills.
Amen brother.
AW1 Tim,
Unfortunately, the Feds refuse to not consider your income when student aid is evaluated, so unless you are bankrupt your kids are screwed in the college funding game.
That said… GI Bill and Army College Fund. No loans. Bachelor’s Degree. Occasional employment when I was at 1/2 to 3/4 time at school due to a lack of classes to take.
Oh yeah, I had to do the whole FASFA bit as well. 4 years running. The girl may well apply for OCS as a means of both employment and repaying her loans. We’ll see how that goes…
My son will be doing the GI Bill. He’s an airborne infantryman overseas right now, holding up his end of the contract
Not a bad way to go to school, indeed !
The Feds will get their pound of flesh no matter what. But I’m surprised no one has mentioned the solution to the California tax situation, Lex: TEXAS. As in: no income tax.
And Texas has certainly been discussed in these parts as an alternative to Sandy Eggo. Just one more reason to emigrate.
Especially when Lex has TWO incomes, one from his current day job and one from retirement. I would guess that pushes him into the top 9.?% California State Income Tax bracket.
Another thing (too late for him now) I like is the “Texas Tomorrow” fund for paying future college tuition costs. Didn’t help me, but what a great deal for those who are smart enough to take advantage of it.
And one thing I forgot: Add Orange juice to that vodka. You can convince yourself the vitamin C will drive away the bugs. Add some peach schnapps to it and call it a fuzzy navel. So straight, screwdriver, or fuzzy navel, you” have it covered.
Ah Lex — the joys of soon-to-be college students!
With Husband’s retired military pay and both of us working, I never even bothered to fill out the FAFSA forms — knew we made too much from the start. Both kids got some money from grandpa to save for college, but when it ran out, they were on their own (except for books — we paid for books as long as grades were good).
Once DNO got married, told her to figure it out herself — you’re not a dependent for us anymore. She thought it was harsh, but with both of them in school and him on the GI Bill, they made out better than if we were still paying for her. Made her a touch grumpy as her older brother was still getting book assistance from us, as he was getting the grades and was single and was working. Life’s unfair, I told her, and she’d made her choice to marry. Grown up consequences for grown up decisions.
I went back to school shortly after that (just after 9/11) and we paid for it ourselves — still didn’t check out filling the FAFSA forms because I knew we still made too much. But it’s nice not having those loans hanging over our heads! SNO does still, but he’s the one who took 7 years for a 4-year degree!
Be sure she contributes to her education in some fashion — working, work/study, summer jobs, etc. I had friends who could earn their entire school year’s funds in a summer when the logging mills were still running. I don’t think that’s possible anymore. If she has to contribute to the funding, then it makes sticking to the work of school a little more emphatic in her impressionable mind — with friends who goof off the whole time and spend like drunken sailors (so to speak) pushing her to join in teh par-tay.
Good times ahead, Lex. Enjoy the peace and quiet of one child!
Consider this method: Jr. College for the first two years, and anywhere you can get into for the second two. My guys did that, and the diplomas both say Dartmouth. Savings? About 60K total. Sweetened the deal by offering to split the first two years savings with them at graduation.