Same Auld Lang Syne

We had an old record player growing up and six to seven vinyl records which included Elvis Presley, Bee Gees, Air Supply and Dan Fogelberg. With Dan Fogelberg's death earlier this month, I found myself lost in nostalgia for those lazy evenings sitting around the living room listening to a scratched up version of "Same Old Lang Syne". It was my favorite because the lyrics depicted an emotional circumstance that I've pondered about many times.

Our local radio station played "Same Old Lang Syne" this evening and the ending gets me everytime:

Just for a moment I was back at school, And felt that old familiar pain .........

I attempted to play the chords to the song tonight....

C - Am - C - Am - C - Am - D7/F# - Fm7 - G

errr.. Fm7 - barre chords are still toughie


Happy New Year.

Back taxes

Back in 2005, I neglected to report additional income from freelance jobs and was audited earlier this year resulting in back taxes. I understand that fees/penalties incurred as a result of my oversight. However, I don't understand why interests is charged. From what I've researched, three different penalities are applied to late tax returns:

• Failure to file penalty - This is calculated based on the time from the deadline of your tax return (including extensions) to the date you actually filed your tax return.
  
  
• Failure to pay penalty-This is calculated based on the amount of tax you owe.
  
  
• Interests - This is calculated based on how much tax you owe.
  

I thought interest was a fee a financial institution charges to lend money. I pay interests on my car loan, my graduate school loan, my medical loan and now my mortgage. I pay late fees on a medical bill, a late fee on videos I forget to return and a late fee on picking up my little girl "late" from day care.

However, for my back taxes, I didn't borrow from the IRS. So why do I have to pay interests on my own money? I understand paying the "late" fees and penalties for not paying my taxes on time. But why pay interests when I didn't borrow from the IRS?

..:: untoward events ::..

I hardly leave my garage door opened for a long period of time because I still have boxes stored in the garage and I always fear the worst -- theft. Last week when it was raining heavily, my garage door malfunctioned. I had opened the garage door to set something in the garage and closed it like I normally would as I entered my house. Couple hours later as I entered the garage to do some laundry, I noticed the garage door still opened. I push the wall mounted switch to close the garage door. The garage door closed halfway before it stopped and rolled back up. After pushing the switch several times, it finally closed. Unfortunately, several days later, I notice a box missing....

On Christmas day, the door to my meters (outside) was opened. Do PG&E service technicians work on Christmas day?

On several occasions, the water hose that I neatly store onto the reel mounted on the side of the house is untangled on the ground and water still turned on.

I'm either going senile or there is a pilferer on the loose...

Happy Holidays

2007 was a monumental year for me. I purchased a condo/townhome in the city of Arroyo Grande - just minutes from Pismo Beach. I have spent the last several months re-modeling, painting, and gardening.

Professionally, a naval application I have been working on for the last year and half finally went into production and I am starting on a 2nd release for Sept 2008.

In my personal life, my boyfriend of two and half years and I have decided to move in together. Also, my eight year old daughter is coming home after spending six months in the Dominican Republic with her dad. She's been attending a multilingual school in the Dominican Republic and loves to flaunt her French accent! I can't wait to see what 2008 will bring.

Happy Holidays to all of you!!