tax season, as usual, is getting the best of me. here are my picks (i know a day late, but this was my #1 bracket)
Sweet 16
Midwest - Kansas, Michigan St, Georgetown, Ohio St
West - Syracuse, Butler, Xavier, Kansas St.
East - Kentucky, Wisconsin, New Mexico, West Virginia
South - Duke, Purdue, Baylor, Villanova
Elite 8
Midwest - Kansas vs Georgetown
West - Syracuse vs Kansas State
East - Wisconsin vs West Virginia
South - Duke vs Baylor
Final Four - Kansas over Kansas State, West Virginia over Duke
Champ - Kansas over West Virginia.
Georgetown really screwed me already....oh well. I have saturday off this week, so big weekend of basketball w/ Scott, Andy and Dave. should be fun!
In Diddy's and I annual pick every game against the spread against one another, I jumped out to a 10-6 lead after Day 1. He has owned me in this rivalry (0-3 all time for me)...i'm pretty sure this is the first time i've ever had a lead after Day 1, so I'm fairly excited.
I'm out, more posts in the near future hopefully
Friday, March 19, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Venting
Monday, March 8th....one week till the 1st deadline is past. Last week and it's 73 working hrs in 6 days can go to hell. I think that's the earliest in busy season I've ever worked a 70+ hour week. 5 more weeks total, w/ a slight breather week March 15-20th, where I become useless once the NCAA Tourney begins. Can't wait.
8am on monday morning and i'm sitting here waiting for the roofing/attic guys to show up. Getting the insulation in my attic doubled. Thought about doing that myself later this spring, but laziness and convenience got the best of me. It's the thought that counts. Got me thinking...in the past 2-3 years I've spent a decent amount of cash on my house just to "maintain" and basically my house is appraising for what I paid for it 5 years ago. I suppose that's better than the 25% less....but we all know that I probably couldn't sell it for the appraisal value. Typically I've always seemed to be in the right place at the right time when it comes to these kind of things, but not this time. If I could unload this house for what I paid for it and then go and buy a nicer/bigger house on the cheap all while lowering my monthly payments, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Problem......I can't sell this for what I paid for it, no question. Brand new deck, all new HVAC system, new roof, better insulation, it doesn't matter, too much of a buyer's market right now. Oh well
I'm looking forward to my next post - NCAA predictions! I did so well last year getting a whopping ZERO Final Four teams right, which was the first time ever I've never gotten at least one. I did get 4 of the Elite Eight teams right though. Can't wait, love the 3 weeks of the tourney, excluding the whole work thing.
My mom is on a cruise this week in the Caribbean and of course I took them to the airport Saturday. "Wish you could come w/ us...." she says....yeah, no kidding! Same ship we were on 18 months ago when Buell and I took the ultimate man-date w/ them. It was fun though!
"My" Ritter alumni bball team earned the #1 seed for the tourney and we won yesterday to move into the semifinals. I would say there are 3 other "good" teams, besides us, that have a legit chance of winning the league, and all 3 of those teams are on the opposite side of the bracket. We were basically given the draw that we would have picked ourselves if we were running the tournament. To put in 2010 NBA terms, it's basically the equivalent of the Cavs playing the Nets, Knicks, and Pacers to get to the NBA Finals
7 more days till the first one has passed, breathe, breathe
8am on monday morning and i'm sitting here waiting for the roofing/attic guys to show up. Getting the insulation in my attic doubled. Thought about doing that myself later this spring, but laziness and convenience got the best of me. It's the thought that counts. Got me thinking...in the past 2-3 years I've spent a decent amount of cash on my house just to "maintain" and basically my house is appraising for what I paid for it 5 years ago. I suppose that's better than the 25% less....but we all know that I probably couldn't sell it for the appraisal value. Typically I've always seemed to be in the right place at the right time when it comes to these kind of things, but not this time. If I could unload this house for what I paid for it and then go and buy a nicer/bigger house on the cheap all while lowering my monthly payments, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Problem......I can't sell this for what I paid for it, no question. Brand new deck, all new HVAC system, new roof, better insulation, it doesn't matter, too much of a buyer's market right now. Oh well
I'm looking forward to my next post - NCAA predictions! I did so well last year getting a whopping ZERO Final Four teams right, which was the first time ever I've never gotten at least one. I did get 4 of the Elite Eight teams right though. Can't wait, love the 3 weeks of the tourney, excluding the whole work thing.
My mom is on a cruise this week in the Caribbean and of course I took them to the airport Saturday. "Wish you could come w/ us...." she says....yeah, no kidding! Same ship we were on 18 months ago when Buell and I took the ultimate man-date w/ them. It was fun though!
"My" Ritter alumni bball team earned the #1 seed for the tourney and we won yesterday to move into the semifinals. I would say there are 3 other "good" teams, besides us, that have a legit chance of winning the league, and all 3 of those teams are on the opposite side of the bracket. We were basically given the draw that we would have picked ourselves if we were running the tournament. To put in 2010 NBA terms, it's basically the equivalent of the Cavs playing the Nets, Knicks, and Pacers to get to the NBA Finals
7 more days till the first one has passed, breathe, breathe
Sunday, February 21, 2010
I'm an idiot
I'm writing this on my phone, so this is my first mobile blog post. Awesome right? The reason I'm doing from my phone is because I'm sitting in my car, in my driveway, locked out of my house. Yep, keys on my dresser... So I also don't have my car keys. Thank God for cell phones and my savior, my old roommate Matt. He still has a key to my house, so he is driving up here to let me in...then I'm taking him and his girlfriend to lunch! Better than paying a locksmith, on a sunday.
Tax season sucks, but that's nothing new. Buell and I's Ritter alumni team pulled off a miraculous victory this morning over a team that probably should have beat us. It was a 3 point onslaught by us with yours truly draining at least 5 of them. Good times.
Wish I could have been with Craig and Adam this weekend in Vegas for a bachelor party...I'm starting to get that itch again.
Played about 3 hrs of ping-pong two weekends ago at my stepbros house. Lots of fun and we had some epic showdowns...very similar to the fresh out of college days with our fusbol rivalries with the old roommates at The Plex.
2009 Taxable Income Reviewed to date - approx $8 million. I'm not in front of my computer, ya know, SINCE I'm LOCKED OUT OF MY DAMN HOUSE!!!!!!!!! I always knew this day would come...
the first real event in the Winter Olympics that I'm excited for is tonight. USA vs Canada in mens ice hockey. Well Matt should be here any minute. Fiest mobile blog post...out. Over/under on number of typos is probably at least 20
Tax season sucks, but that's nothing new. Buell and I's Ritter alumni team pulled off a miraculous victory this morning over a team that probably should have beat us. It was a 3 point onslaught by us with yours truly draining at least 5 of them. Good times.
Wish I could have been with Craig and Adam this weekend in Vegas for a bachelor party...I'm starting to get that itch again.
Played about 3 hrs of ping-pong two weekends ago at my stepbros house. Lots of fun and we had some epic showdowns...very similar to the fresh out of college days with our fusbol rivalries with the old roommates at The Plex.
2009 Taxable Income Reviewed to date - approx $8 million. I'm not in front of my computer, ya know, SINCE I'm LOCKED OUT OF MY DAMN HOUSE!!!!!!!!! I always knew this day would come...
the first real event in the Winter Olympics that I'm excited for is tonight. USA vs Canada in mens ice hockey. Well Matt should be here any minute. Fiest mobile blog post...out. Over/under on number of typos is probably at least 20
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
early tax season blues
So the Colts sucked in the Super Bowl. Well, we didn't play horrible, just had a few bonehead plays and a few "hindsight is 20/20" coaching moments. Also the Saints played a great game and deserved to win. Onwards.... Finished 27-24 on the year for NFL bets for a less than inspiring 53%. Not great, but it always comes back to being better than Scott's 0-6 showing in Vegas.
9:55 on a Wednesday night, early February, and I just got to sit down on my couch. Ahh, the joys of being a public accountant during tax season. I'm still a month away from the corporate deadline (2 months from individual deadline) and I'm already starting to feel the invisible force of my client's needs/expectations pulling me in all different directions. Don't get me wrong, I love my job most of the time and would recommend a public accounting career to incoming college students, however, it does have it's negatives. On a positive note, I've been exposed to a few unique tax situations that has taught me a lot in the past few months, so I'm a better CPA today than I was 6 months ago....and I'd like to think I didn't suck at my job 6 months ago....
Valentines Day...not a huge fan, but this year should be fun. Going to a "put the SIN back in SINGLE" party. Sounds more scandalous than I'm sure it'll be, but it'll be fun. Basically just an excuse to get together w/ some friends, not all of whom are single, to drink. Nothing too crazy though since the Ritter Alumni Bball league started up a few weeks ago and we play on Sunday mornings, so don't want to be hungover for that. We are 2-0 having outscored our opponents by 75 points over two games....but we've also played the two worst teams, I'm sure.
That reminds me, I'm hoping I there is a shitty table at this party so me and few other friends can try out this (your video of the week, courtesy of Club Tril). Seriously, of all the years that I've dominated people (along w/ the occasional loss) at beer pong, i've never seen anyone do this...NOR do I recall it ever being discussed. I'm very excited to witness or partake in beer pong dunk live.
On another note, has anyone else noticed that the Pacers current two point guards are Earl Watson & AJ Price...who? exactly....the Pacers are awful. I don't understand how a team in Indiana can be this bad. Wait, IU isn't good either? Jesus, what the hell is going? At least Purdue is a legitimate Final Four threat, Butler is solid, and ND is making a push for the tourney...so the state isn't all bad.
For my long-time readers, you may remember that I kept track of the cumulative taxable income (netted w/ losses) for the clients that I was responsible for during tax season. I think last year ended up around $50 million of net taxable income. I'll keep a tally again this year and am guessing the year will end up around $48 million...we'll see how accurate i am. last year I guessed $103M...so surely I'll be much closer this year!
2009 Taxable Income Reviewed to Date - $2,721,521 (it's early in the year, obviously. not the mention the economy sucked in 2009)
9:55 on a Wednesday night, early February, and I just got to sit down on my couch. Ahh, the joys of being a public accountant during tax season. I'm still a month away from the corporate deadline (2 months from individual deadline) and I'm already starting to feel the invisible force of my client's needs/expectations pulling me in all different directions. Don't get me wrong, I love my job most of the time and would recommend a public accounting career to incoming college students, however, it does have it's negatives. On a positive note, I've been exposed to a few unique tax situations that has taught me a lot in the past few months, so I'm a better CPA today than I was 6 months ago....and I'd like to think I didn't suck at my job 6 months ago....
Valentines Day...not a huge fan, but this year should be fun. Going to a "put the SIN back in SINGLE" party. Sounds more scandalous than I'm sure it'll be, but it'll be fun. Basically just an excuse to get together w/ some friends, not all of whom are single, to drink. Nothing too crazy though since the Ritter Alumni Bball league started up a few weeks ago and we play on Sunday mornings, so don't want to be hungover for that. We are 2-0 having outscored our opponents by 75 points over two games....but we've also played the two worst teams, I'm sure.
That reminds me, I'm hoping I there is a shitty table at this party so me and few other friends can try out this (your video of the week, courtesy of Club Tril). Seriously, of all the years that I've dominated people (along w/ the occasional loss) at beer pong, i've never seen anyone do this...NOR do I recall it ever being discussed. I'm very excited to witness or partake in beer pong dunk live.
On another note, has anyone else noticed that the Pacers current two point guards are Earl Watson & AJ Price...who? exactly....the Pacers are awful. I don't understand how a team in Indiana can be this bad. Wait, IU isn't good either? Jesus, what the hell is going? At least Purdue is a legitimate Final Four threat, Butler is solid, and ND is making a push for the tourney...so the state isn't all bad.
For my long-time readers, you may remember that I kept track of the cumulative taxable income (netted w/ losses) for the clients that I was responsible for during tax season. I think last year ended up around $50 million of net taxable income. I'll keep a tally again this year and am guessing the year will end up around $48 million...we'll see how accurate i am. last year I guessed $103M...so surely I'll be much closer this year!
2009 Taxable Income Reviewed to Date - $2,721,521 (it's early in the year, obviously. not the mention the economy sucked in 2009)
Friday, January 29, 2010
Super Bowl prediction
So both of the Colts home playoff games were awesome atmospheres. It was nice to stick it to Baltimore (for like the 64th time in a row). The AFC Championship game was unreal. The stadium was ridiculously loud and if it wasn't official before, it definitely is now...Peyton Manning is the greatest QB to ever play the game. I'm not sure how you can argue for anyone else. The way he can pick apart defensive schemes is unbelievable. We've been spoiled for the last 10 years and I don't want to imagine the Colts w/o him.
Along w/ the NFL playoffs comes my annual betting on every game. the first round was awful as I went 0-4. I've since gone 3-3 on the past 6 games, w/ two of those victories being the Colts covering. So, I suppose I'll have to bet on them in SB...if it ain't broken, don't fix it. 27-23 on the year for a mediocre 54%...stupid first round of the NFL playoffs! And my head-to-head battle w/ Evan is officially over as he went 0-2 last weekend giving me a 2-game lead w/ one to play. He hates the Colts anyway, so don't feel bad for him.
Thanks to all of you who voted on my 3rd goal poll. the Thriller Dance won by 1 vote, so I'll have to start working on that. Babysitting fell short by one vote, so I suppose I'll throw my name out there to potentially do that for some family members...we'll see. Sports stadiums was 3rd and I'll try to achieve that anyway as it's definitely the most fun! Calling my mom once a week was near the bottom....sorry Mom.
Goal #1 for the year, Boxing, is progressing nicely. I've been to 4 or 5 classes and I can see improvement. I've taken a couple of decent punches in our light sparring sessions...nothing that is going to leave a bruise or anything, but enough to make me take a step back and gather myself. I did take one shot to the body that put me on my knee as I had to catch my breath. Unfortunately none of my friends (Matt sucks) have joined me for the class, but that's OK, I'm still enjoying it. And yes, it's true what people say about it being one of the best workouts you can do.
Went to see LeBron tonight against the Pacers, thanks to Andy getting his boss's tickets. We had 14th row seats, so great vantage point to see him. A ho-hum game scoring for LeBron (22), but he did have 9 assists...in the 1st quarter! He finished w/ a line of 22 pts, 9 rebounds, 13 assists, 2 steals, and 4 MONSTER blocks. Good time for sure!
Busy season has officially begun for me as I'm starting to work Saturdays. I'm not happy about it. On a positive note, the Ritter Alumni Bball League starts up this Sunday, so I need to dust off the shoes and hit the hardwood again. Should be fun! Hmmm, nothing else too new. Dating life has been interesting, but as you all know, I'm not going to get into that here...
My prediction - Colts 34, Saints 20. Total domination. i'm out
Along w/ the NFL playoffs comes my annual betting on every game. the first round was awful as I went 0-4. I've since gone 3-3 on the past 6 games, w/ two of those victories being the Colts covering. So, I suppose I'll have to bet on them in SB...if it ain't broken, don't fix it. 27-23 on the year for a mediocre 54%...stupid first round of the NFL playoffs! And my head-to-head battle w/ Evan is officially over as he went 0-2 last weekend giving me a 2-game lead w/ one to play. He hates the Colts anyway, so don't feel bad for him.
Thanks to all of you who voted on my 3rd goal poll. the Thriller Dance won by 1 vote, so I'll have to start working on that. Babysitting fell short by one vote, so I suppose I'll throw my name out there to potentially do that for some family members...we'll see. Sports stadiums was 3rd and I'll try to achieve that anyway as it's definitely the most fun! Calling my mom once a week was near the bottom....sorry Mom.
Goal #1 for the year, Boxing, is progressing nicely. I've been to 4 or 5 classes and I can see improvement. I've taken a couple of decent punches in our light sparring sessions...nothing that is going to leave a bruise or anything, but enough to make me take a step back and gather myself. I did take one shot to the body that put me on my knee as I had to catch my breath. Unfortunately none of my friends (Matt sucks) have joined me for the class, but that's OK, I'm still enjoying it. And yes, it's true what people say about it being one of the best workouts you can do.
Went to see LeBron tonight against the Pacers, thanks to Andy getting his boss's tickets. We had 14th row seats, so great vantage point to see him. A ho-hum game scoring for LeBron (22), but he did have 9 assists...in the 1st quarter! He finished w/ a line of 22 pts, 9 rebounds, 13 assists, 2 steals, and 4 MONSTER blocks. Good time for sure!
Busy season has officially begun for me as I'm starting to work Saturdays. I'm not happy about it. On a positive note, the Ritter Alumni Bball League starts up this Sunday, so I need to dust off the shoes and hit the hardwood again. Should be fun! Hmmm, nothing else too new. Dating life has been interesting, but as you all know, I'm not going to get into that here...
My prediction - Colts 34, Saints 20. Total domination. i'm out
Friday, January 15, 2010
a friday quickie
It's been a little while, so thought I'd post a little something. The voting is going strong w/ the two of the options neck and neck for my 3rd goal for 2009. VOTE VOTE VOTE if you haven't done so already. I think the poll is open for another 4-5 days
Started Goal #1 last night. Yep, went to my first boxing class, by myself as the two individuals who I think are going to join me couldn't go last night. To say that i'm sore today would be like saying Indy is a slightly better place to live than Elkhart...HUGE UNDERSTATEMENT. I got home last night and couldn't lift my left arm, my whole body ached when I got up this morning and I sorta felt like someone beat on me w/ a baseball bet for an hour. I wasn't really expecting to spar and take/throw punches w/ someone else on the first night, but hey, go big or go home, right? Let's just say learning to take a punch and get hit is WAY harder than actually throwing punches. Sounds fun, doesn't it?? Despite the pain, it was a GREAT workout and i'm looking forward to Matt & Kara joining me next week.
Haven't really done anything w/ the cooking goal yet, but i'll get on that here in the next few weeks.
Since Evan & I tied in our NFL picks against each other, we decided to pick every game of the playoffs. Well, we both picked the same games last week....and both went 0-4, ouch! So, we are still tied. I'm now 24-20 on the year in my actual bets and my quest for 11-0 in the playoffs was over before it began. Looking for a 3-1 or 4-0 this weekend to get off the schnied.
Heading to the Colts game on Saturday night...should be a blast! Yes, i bet on the Colts to cover at 6.5pts....no way for me to bet against them, right?!. Alright, I'm out
Started Goal #1 last night. Yep, went to my first boxing class, by myself as the two individuals who I think are going to join me couldn't go last night. To say that i'm sore today would be like saying Indy is a slightly better place to live than Elkhart...HUGE UNDERSTATEMENT. I got home last night and couldn't lift my left arm, my whole body ached when I got up this morning and I sorta felt like someone beat on me w/ a baseball bet for an hour. I wasn't really expecting to spar and take/throw punches w/ someone else on the first night, but hey, go big or go home, right? Let's just say learning to take a punch and get hit is WAY harder than actually throwing punches. Sounds fun, doesn't it?? Despite the pain, it was a GREAT workout and i'm looking forward to Matt & Kara joining me next week.
Haven't really done anything w/ the cooking goal yet, but i'll get on that here in the next few weeks.
Since Evan & I tied in our NFL picks against each other, we decided to pick every game of the playoffs. Well, we both picked the same games last week....and both went 0-4, ouch! So, we are still tied. I'm now 24-20 on the year in my actual bets and my quest for 11-0 in the playoffs was over before it began. Looking for a 3-1 or 4-0 this weekend to get off the schnied.
Heading to the Colts game on Saturday night...should be a blast! Yes, i bet on the Colts to cover at 6.5pts....no way for me to bet against them, right?!. Alright, I'm out
Monday, January 4, 2010
2010 Goal Update
Alright, so I've received numerous suggestions both via my previous post comment section along w/ a few that were passed along via email/text/in-person.
The first two goals I am setting on my own, although I have swapped the Thriller goal out w/ Katy's suggestion of increasing my culinary skills. So, the two goals that I have set for myself for 2010 are:
Goal #1 - Boxing class
Goal #2 - Culinary skills
As for goal #3, here are the suggestions for you to vote on via the poll on the right, PLEASE DO SO!:
The first two goals I am setting on my own, although I have swapped the Thriller goal out w/ Katy's suggestion of increasing my culinary skills. So, the two goals that I have set for myself for 2010 are:
Goal #1 - Boxing class
Goal #2 - Culinary skills
As for goal #3, here are the suggestions for you to vote on via the poll on the right, PLEASE DO SO!:
- Be able to due the whole Thriller dance
- Begin to baby sit
- Visit 3 new professional sports stadiums in 2010 (1 down already thanks to my Buffalo trip last weekend
- Adam suggested running a half marathon, which I have absolutely no desire to do since I don't like to run. However, i'll tweak his suggestion to be to run a 5K in under 20 minutes as I do run one 5K a year. I think I ran it in around 21:45 a few years ago, so that'd be a lofty improvement for a non-runner.
- Call my Mom once a week
- Do a home improvement project that I would normally hire someone to do myself
- Travel to a new country
- Shoot a round of 5 over or better in golf
As for the dating/girlfriend suggestions, I am not making this a goal. Anyone who knows me understands that I'm not going to "settle" on a girl just to have a girlfriend. So those suggestions are being politely nixed. Thank you for caring though :)
General life update -
New Years Eve was fun. Craig was in town and we had a good time out at the bars w/ Dave & Mo, along w/ a few of her friends and another coworker of mine. Christmas was good as I got to spend some time w/ my sister and my niece, both of whom I rarely see since they live in Dallas. Good to see the rest of Dad's family as well. Mom was in Florida, so didn't get to see her & Rick over the holidays.
Spent this past weekend in Buffalo and went to the Colts/Bills game on Sunday. The Colts lost the game before they ever showed up as they weren't going to play their starters for too long. The game itself was a unique experience due to the weather. 10 degrees w/ wind chill of negative 2. It snowed more than 5 inches during the game and during the 2nd quarter was essentially a white out. Despite our hand warmers, blankets, and multiple layers of clothing, we still froze....just too damn cold. After the game we went to Anchor Bar, which is famous for "inventing" the chicken wing (hence, why they are called Buffalo Wings).
Evan & I called off our Week 17 picks against each other since the NFL lines were so jacked up this past sunday due to many teams not playing their starters. Good news is that I gained 2 games on him in Week 15-16 and we are all square heading into next week's playoff games thanks to me going 3-1 those weeks and Evan going 1-3. I also bet on a few additional games those weeks and won all of those, so overall i went 6-1 in Weeks 15-16, bringing my total for the year to 24-16, a respectable 60%!
No videos this week, but check my Facebook account in the near future for my Buffalo trip pics.
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