I am finally more or less recovered from traveling for nearly a month (a 25 day trip, which I left on only a couple of days after a 5 day trip). So I have a lot of catching up to do ( Read more... )

Celebrity Death Watch: Cynthia Weil was a songwriter who, along with her husband, Barry Mann, was responsible for a lot of popular songs, such as “You’ve Lost That Loving’ Feelin’” and “On Broadway.” Roger Squires was a prolific crossword compiler, who used the pseudonym Rufus in The Guardian and set Monday puzzles for the Daily Telegraph. ( Read more... )

The Cheery Metro Driver: There’s this one driver I sometimes get on the Orange Line who is notable for his cheeriness. In the morning, he has a spiel that includes things like, "as I always say, think great, be great." In the afternoon / evening, he has something to say at each stop, e.g. "Clarendon welcomes you," or "Ballston greets you with a ( Read more... )

Rant the First - Republican Health Un-Care: Giving people a maximum $4000 credit when health insurance often costs over $1000 a month doesn't do anything for affordability. Eliminating coverage for things like maternity care and vaccinations will increase the need for more expensive coverage later on. This is sheer cronyism, a break for rich ( Read more... )

I scribble a lot of things in my planner, some of which I intend to write about here. These are kind of random and I have no idea why I numbered them ( Read more... )

Several years ago, I was scurrying around just before the filing deadline, trying to finish my taxes because of an inadvertently exotic investment. I had bought shares of the Boston Celtics on the New York Stock Exchange, more on the grounds of thinking it was cool to own a little bit of a sports team than anything else. When it came to doing my ( Read more... )

Back in August, the bank I have my credit card with (a card chosen for frequent flyer mile maximization and fee minimization) sent me a new card because (they said) their database had been compromised. There was no evidence of fraud but they were doing this out of an abundance of caution, a phrase that should strike terror into the heart of ( Read more... )

I came home from the theatre and minor automotive crisis to another stressful moment. My mail held a letter from the IRS.

I had apparently made an error in my taxes, due to having had qualified dividends. My taxes were reduced about a hundred bucks.

That's right - the IRS actually caught an error I made in their favor. There are instructions ( Read more... )

I finally (3 days before the deadline) got around to filing my claim for that class action lawsuit involving foreign currency transactions on credit cards. Being the sort of traveler that I am (and compulsively organized about financial record keeping, so I actually had the credit card statements to back it up), I chose the option where you ( Read more... )

I finally finished doing my taxes. My major hold up this year was misplacing a 1099 form. Which I still have not located but I realized I could find the amount from the end of year statement from the account ( Read more... )