indigobl

A foreign student in my tax strategy class summed up the tax code in the US quite nicely:

"Tax laws to me are sort of like the English language, there are exceptions to exceptions."

PLEASE HELP! I have no idea where people get certain ideas. Please explain the other thought processes below, if you can. Your explanation may just end my confusion.


There are so many confused people in this world, and I think I must be one of them. I have people who give some of the strangest explanations for seemingly simple topics. Age is an initial value problem, as everyday I get a day older just like everyone else, but I guess I just reject some of the concepts that some people try to sell me, and I may be wrong.

My first confusion:

I know a single mother, and this single mother's annual income has increased every year for the last seven years. At the same time, she had high expenses--high car payments, high rent, high utilities. High is a relative term that can be measured against income and society norms.

Seven years ago she was renting a large 3 bedroom house, and the utilities were not included in the rent. Now she rents a 2 bedroom apartment with all utilities included for considerably less than the rent in the former house. She was paying $350 per month on a high-interest car loan. Now she drives a paid up $1,200 car that has required little maintenance.

In any event, her income has increased for the last seven years while her rent, transportation and other basic expenses have decreased.

MY OBSERVATION: Increased income with lower expenses => BIG SAVINGS.

Her statement to me: She is now in more debt now than she ever has been in the past, and she struggles to make it from day-to-day.

MY CONFUSION: All I can think is WTF!

==== NUMBER TWO ====

My second confusion:

Rent versus buy... Which one is better from a cost perspective? I certainly understand that there are some advantages to buying--and usually advantages equate to a greater cost.

I once had a friend explain how 'buying is always cheaper than renting.' When I asked a complicated question like, 'Why do you think that,' I received the summary, 'Well, when you rent, you are just throwing your money away, as you only make the landlord rich and have nothing in the end. When you buy, you actually are getting value for your money.'

Me: 'What if the rent was cheaper?'
Him: 'You'd just be throwing away less money.'
Me: 'What if the rent was even cheaper?'
Him: 'You'd just be throwing away less money.'
Me: 'What if the rent was free?'
Him: 'You'd still have nothing in the end.'

My confusion must be in the fact that the money that I don't spend magically disappears. Also, there is something about how real estate always increases in value, and I guess that is true even in Detroit, where the population has been decreasing for many years and the auto industry currently is in trouble. I guess it's also true in New Orleans, where the change in the rate of population change changed so drastically.

Don't get me wrong, if you own property in Florida, then you probably have experienced a very nice increase in the value of the property. Most parts of Florida have experienced annual gains of 25% for a few years now. There are also areas on the west coast that have experienced high property value gains, including Las Vegas and parts of the I-5 corridor.

How do we know which direction property value will go? Who knew that values in New Orleans would plummet so quickly? What happens if an earthquake hits the west coast? What about a volcanic eruption, such as Mt. Saint Helens in 1980? Who knows when Rainier will wake up? Who knows when the value in Florida will cascade down like Dominoes?

Part of the confusion, I believe, stems from real estate agents. If a seller's agent said, 'It may be in your best interest to rent,' then I doubt that they would make a sale, and the seller may have a claim against the agent.

Maybe there is an underlying assumption that the efficiency is equal on the rent versus buy, but I am still not entirely certain. Maybe you can help explain!



Maybe I need to go do a few more calculus proofs?


.

I was in a store the other day, and everything was on sale. Specificially everything in the store was 25% off. The customer ahead of me was very pleased to find out that she was getting the 25% discount.

Then she asks, "Was that 25% off each item or the total amount?"

I have spoken with many people who think that all functions are linear, but in this case we have a woman who is suspicious of the linearity of percentages.

I can remember the days when I could see the twin towers...

The days when I didn't have to cut off these pesky, clear, plastic seals on the top of many liquid containers.

The days when I could actually open a package without any special tools.

The days when I didn't worry that my mail might contain a strange white powder or explode.

The days when I could talk to my neighbor and not worry about all the meth labs in the local area.

I can remember the days when I could breath the air and listen to dogs bark and the birds chirp.

Back when I lived down the road from an Apple orchard.

Back when products were actually manufactured in the United States.

Back when General Motors meant safety and security.

Back when I only had to worry about the U.S.S.R.

Now I have lungs filled with orange polution from China.

Now I have instant media that shows the war and killings.

Now I have sores on my hands.

Miracles never cease to exists:

Alito's first decision!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060202/ap_on_go_su_co/scotus_death_penalty

If you are interested in easy-to-use mass e-mail type software, I use GroupMail and have been very satisfied with it. I use it only for small personal mailings, and it does an excellent job of that, but it can also handle major mailing jobs.

http://www.group-mail.com/asp/common/groupmail.asp

Here is an explaination of the differences between versions:

http://www.group-mail.com/asp/common/editions.asp


I don't receive, nor do I seek, any financial gain from recommending this software.

Feel free to ask if you have any questions.

I read this report from the Seattle PI:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/lifestyle/255461_indigo.html?source=mypi

Which referenced a new Indigo movie that will premier Friday, January 27, 2006:

http://www.spiritualcinemanetwork.com/

There is a famous puzzle that asks for the number of a house in Louvain, Belgium, that has the peculiar property that the total of the house numbers below it on the street is exactly equal to the sum of those above it. The houses are numbered consecutively. Furthermore, the number of houses on the street is more than 50 but fewer than 500.

What is the house number?

Santa was pulled over by the cops this season.

This just in:

http://www.heavy.com/heavy.php?videoPath=/content/contagious/flash_video/santacops

I just heard President Bush on the radio.

He was explaining the problems with a "premature pull-out."

I knew that Project Management stuff was good for something!

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/30903

Here's a video produced by NASA that shows the 2005 Hurricane season:

http://www.nasa.gov/mpeg/136417main_hurricanes2005_Wide_320x240.mpeg

"If George Bush was running for the President of Iraq, I'd vote for him. He's much better than Saddam."

-Jerry Springer

Over the years I have spoken with many people who make absurd claims about the nature of energy. That being said, there are some experts available to help.

( Read more... )

With Katrina helping fuel a surge in price of crude, according to www.lansinggasprices.com, the price of a gallon of gas is already $3 at many station in Lansing.

http://www.lansinggasprices.com

The real question is when will it hit $4 per gallon? With fall fast approaching, it won't be long until we have home heating fuel concerns.

That being said, I think we should all keep in mind that our problems are so small compaired to areas much more deeply affected by Katrina.

This photo was taken looking East from the main Lansing Post Office at 4800 Collins Road. So while the photo was taken within the City of Lansing, the subject matter of the photo is actually part of Michigan State University.

( Larger version under the cut. )

Here is what was in my e-mail today. I am sure that I was selected because I am the lucky heir to millions of dollars because all the other heirs were killed in the tragic accident.

Maybe I should go open a new e-mail account with Yahoo or Hotmail just to reply to this guy. Sometimes I like to have fun with them. I lead them on as if I am "very interested," and I give them all the replies as if I am a sucker. It's great entertainment, and it speaks volumes about the techniques deployed to scam so many.

I should say that I had three notifications that were warnings from "PayPal" that my account has had problems. One was that I there is now a complaint against my account. One was that there were login attempts from a "foreign country," and the last one said that I needed to verify my information or my account is subject to "deletation." Of course not one of these were sent from the real PayPal, nor did any one send me to www.paypal.com to take care of the problem.

I never know what's next, but I root them all out.

( Don't miss the grand opportunity )

In a comment, eternal_capture posted,
"I want to see a picture of you."

I looked on my computer, and I found a picture of myself...

( My picture... )

On my way to go to the Henry Bloch, a University of Michigan Graduate in 1945, reception party, I met a guy who really wanted me to take his picture.

( Pictures... )

Henry Bloch is the co-founder and honorary chairman of the board of H&R Block and will receive an Honorary Degree from the University of Michigan.

http://www.hrblock.ca/Company/Henry_Bloch_Story.asp

It's never a dull moment here...