Truth: when you file your taxes the first week of February, it's not uncommon to get any refund(s) owed you before the end of the month.*
Now, I think I'll head out to stimulate the economy a bit.
*Unless you live in a state that is giving out IOUs instead of refunds.
Instapundit Glenn Reynolds asks an interesting question, presenting one possible answer to Fermi's Paradox.
As much as the sci-fi nerd in me would like to think that it's possible there is life out in the universe, the pessimist in me suspects that maybe we're better off being alone.
On "kinder, gentler" diplomacy:
Given the depressing nature of the world abroad, the more we now keep promising to be gentle, the bigger the stick we will later on have to carry.
Victor Davis Hanson, at NRO.
At Hot Air: California grinds to a halt.
This was, of course, entirely predictable. Inevitable, even — if not this year, then next, or the next. And under normal circumstances, I'd say fine, let them sink.
The downside, though, is that my entire family and many of my friends are still there. As are several million other normal productive Americans.
For years, I've cajoled my family members to get out while the getting is good. I can understand their reluctance, though. My mom has a lifetime's worth of friends there. My brother's business is there. I'm not entirely sure why my sister stays.... And of course we're natives — unlike the vast majority of those who have done their utmost to entirely screw up the state.
It used to be such a great place. I loved growing up there. No longer. It is as if God had lifted the country up at the East Coast and all the human detritus rolled down and stopped in California.
If only the debris had gone another couple of hundred miles... out into the Pacific. That'd be one way of making sure the hippies had a bath.
As things stand now, though, I expect some very bad things will be happening in California. Confiscatory taxes on producers, property taxes on assets other than real estate, confiscation of personal assets on departure from the state (either by taxing real estate sales, or the death tax, or both) and so on, starting with the (for now) failed attempt by legislators to increase the tax burden by $14.4 billion — most of it going to feed the ravenous entitlements beast... and, it should be mentioned, the state's overgenerous underfunded employee pension funds, as Instapundit points out from time to time.
Add into the mix unchecked illegal immigration and voter fraud on a level that would make the late Richard Daley green with envy, and I have a bad feeling we're going to be seeing California turning into North Venezuela... or worse, West Zimbabwe.
Not too long ago, Victor Davis Hanson noted:
California is now a valuable touchstone to the country, a warning of what not to do. Rarely has a single generation inherited so much natural wealth and bounty from the investment and hard work of those more noble now resting in our cemeteries — and squandered that gift within a generation.
Sad, but as true as anything ever was.
Things are going to get ugly in California. The only question is, how ugly?
This would be the 28th consecutive V-Day I've spent alone.
John Nolte:
The reason you keep thinking Hollywood’s finally hit bottom is because you forget how well they dig.
From his review of The Reader, at Big Hollywood.
There are many kinds of geek. Computer geeks, Star Trek geeks, and so on. I am an admitted network geek. Heck, I'm a network Über Geek.
While picking up the monthly supply of kitty litter today, I also grabbed a copy of Cat Fancy magazine.
I am now a cat geek.
I'd tell you to go over and try your hand at the caption contest at Hot Air, but as far as I'm concerned, you can't beat this: Heh.
It occurred to me today that if the average person woke up one morning feeling like I feel on my best days, he or she would probably be on the phone to their doctor screaming to get an appointment for right now.
If that same person woke up feeling like I do on a bad day, they'd probably call 911 and spend the day in the Emergency Room.
I do believe I've begun to embrace the suck.
A vacuum cleaner makes a very poor substitute for a cane.
Yesterday I had another followup with the neurologist. He seemed pleased with how I'm doing, post-MRI, and for the time being, plasmapheresis is off the table. He wants me to go back to doing physical therapy regularly, though I suspect a gym membership would be less expensive. I do plan on acquiring some sort of home gym equipment.
If there's an upside to this whole Magical Neurological Thrill-ride, it's that I have a legitimate excuse to avoid one of the least-pleasant things about being in management at Mega Huge Telecommunications Corporation: strike contingency assignments.
There's a chance that the large-ish union that represents a substantial number of our employees will go out on strike when their contract expires sometime this Spring. In anticipation of that possibility, management employees such as myself have all been given contingency assignments so that the work of the company will go on.
My assignment: climbing utility poles in Dayton, Ohio.
Right.
Now, while my direct managers have been quite supportive since the beginning of the Neurological Unpleasantness, the company as a whole has no idea that I am among the ranks of the disabled. In order to get a "pass" on the strike assignment, I had to jump through quite a few hoops, the most important of which was getting a letter from my doctor explaining why I might be unable to perform my contingency duties.
My neurologist is a good guy, and sent a letter so good that if Charles Manson had it, he'd be a free (albeit barking-at-the-moon crazy) man today. The upshot being that I'm not going to have to go to Dayton.
On the other hand, almost all of my teammates have been assigned to various odd jobs around the country, leaving me and a small handful of the team to handle the entire workload. If there is a strike, I expect to be pulling some very long shifts.
I've never been a fan of unions — for the most part, I think they've outlived their original purpose by about 75 years — so I'm sort of thinking that it'd be nice to hurt them at contract time... but I'm not terribly keen on working double shifts. We'll see. Maybe they'll realize they just aren't going to get much from the company in this economy.
At least I don't have to go to Dayton.
The morning started bright and early with me in the dentist's chair. Three and a half hours of pure joy.
Next time they offer me nitrous oxide, I'm going to say yes.
Afterwards, I had enough time to come home, slam down some DIet Coke, gather my paperwork and head off to see the tax people.
Given my medical bills from last year, I shouldn't have been surprised by the size of the refund I'll be getting, but I was, nevertheless.
The best thing about getting my taxes done is that they're done.
Imperial Department of Hegemony By Force
