So, it's been three weeks since I was summarily dismissed from my full-time job. And you know what? It actually feels a lot longer. I've finally gotten used to sleeping past 4:30 (well, except for yesterday, when I freakishly woke up and could not go to sleep), I don't have to deal with pumping, I no longer carry 7 pairs of earplugs in my pocket, and oh yes, I don't stink any more. So far I've gotten to watch Porter get on the bus (that was a first), I've sewed and done a ton of scrapping, I've been to the school a couple of times, I've roasted a chicken and made shamrock cookies, and in general I've gotten to enjoy the normal life that I really missed. Still looking for another job - but really enjoying this too.
We got our tax refund check last week, yay! We've been planning for ages to get a play set for the backyard so our little gift from Uncle Sam (or rather, the repayment of the interest-free loan that we made to Uncle Sam, since I know Mike is reading this blog) is going toward this. (They are a lot cheaper than I thought they'd be!) Matt will be assembling it himself so wish him luck. I can't wait for the kids to have somewhere to burn their excess energy. They've actually been on the neighbors' swing set like every day this week so it's about time we got one of our own.
The tornado sirens went off last night... we had weird weather all day so I thought, Huh, maybe. So I hustled the kids into the basement and turned on the radio. (Only the radio is in the kitchen so that doesn't really help much. Note to self.) It turns out that this is Indiana Severe Weather Awareness Week or something like that (I really like the idea of awareness that actually means something) and the sirens were a scheduled test that I would have known about it I was a little more up on things. But I think that not knowing for sure if it was real or not was helpful for me. The kids handled the whole thing pretty well - I'm sure it doesn't hurt that most of their toys are in the basement. And it was a good chance for me to analyze how prepared we are (really well in some areas, not so much in others) and have a talk with the kids about tornado sirens and what we should do.
is TOLERATION even a word?
13 years ago
2 witty remarks on "Three weeks"
Yay for false alarms and tax refunds!
Boo for writing the word b#$%eyes on our blog - blasphemy!
But I still love you!
Actually, I've softened my stance a little bit as I've studied taxation. To the extent that you are actually overpaying based on your income base, it's an interest-free loan. But the income tax code is also a convenient way for the government to subsidize various activities; to the extent that those subsidies contribute to your refund, you might just say that that is when the government disburses it. We could have an interesting theoretical debate about which deductions, exemptions and credits are actually subsidies, and which simply attempt to bring the tax base closer to the ideal Haig-Simons income (named for the tax economist Hans Income.) And what fun that would be! But for example, I got a $4K credit for education expenses: the usual $2K, doubled because -- I swear I am not making this up -- it rained a lot in Bloomington last summer. That is almost certainly a subsidy, not a base-defining provision, so it wasn't really an interest-free loan. On the other hand, if you itemize and claim a deduction for your tithing, then that portion of your refund arguably is an interest-free loan. Some scholars, at least, justify the charitable-contribution deduction on the grounds that such contributions are not personal consumption and thus are properly excluded from the income base.
Tax is fun! (No, seriously!)
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