90:1...almost

Like my buddy Scott, I could dedicate this whole post to the World Cup and how the U.S. did fairly well despite the officials trying to screw us in every which way possible because they are obvioulsy afraid of our impending dominance of the world's sport.   My only other thought on the World Cup is that I was so close to getting the best gambling payout of my life....90 to 1 odds on Uruguay to win the whole thing.  Unfortunately they went down in the semi-finals today.  even though I didn't bet a lot of money, at 90:1 odds, even a non-CPA can figure out that it's a nice payday.  As with most things, gambling makes 99% of things more interesting! 

Alright, been a few weeks since my last post. Highlight of those weeks was my Myrtle Beach w/ mom's side of the family.   The trip was very fun.  Despite that this is the first vacation that i've taken in like 5 years w/o one of my buddies going w/ me, I was able to keep myself entertained by playing w/ the 5 kids under the age of 10, my step-brother and his wife (Tad & Kimberly), along w/ the Heitkamps, my mom & step-dad, and my Aunt Pam & Uncle Terry.  My 17-year old cousin Nick and I made the drive out to Myrtle, just the two of us in 12 hours flat.  A fairly easy road trip.  Most days went something like this... wake up around 8:30-9.  at beach by 9:30.  come in around noon and eat lunch/start drinking Bud Light.  back out to the beach around 1:30 and remain there until 4:30-5.   Continue drinking.  Dinner, then an array of card/board games along w/ some Rock Band sessions.  The older adults would normally be in bed by 10:30-11, while us younger adults would play more cards.  I also won our big round-robin, 2-night, Euchre tournament.....never a doubt!  (except for when I was in 2nd to last place after the first night).  

I tried to load some pics but for some reason can't get them to attach to the posting...not sure what the problem is since i've added pics in the past.  Tawnya Keitkamp and Kimberly Frahm have a lot of good pics from the vacation, so you can check their facebook pages if you are really interested. 

Let's see.  i went to Elkhart for the first time since Xmas for July 3rd-4th.  Heather was home so I got to see her.  Hung out w/ a few cousins most of the day on Satruday, then spent some time up at my Aunt Geneva's lake cottage on Sunday before making the car ride back.   Sunday night was one of those disasterous successful nights.  Craig, Buell and I ran up a $270 bar tab in about 5 hours celebrating America's b-day.  Ummm, Monday, July 5th was essentially a wasteful day until one of my water heater pipes decided to spring a leak.  That cost a few dollars today to get repaired, but now I have hot water again. 

Summer tennis league is going OK.  My team is 3-4, but personally i'm 4-1 in my individual matches, w/ my only loss coming in a 3rd set tie-breaker.  We've lost some close matches as a team...could easiliy be 6-1, but oh well.   I've been very active this summer playing basketball (Monday), softball (Tuesdays - although doesn't start for me until next week), tennis (Wednesdays) and kickball (Thursdays).  Kickball is fairly interesting...a lot harder to score runs then you would think.  Much more strategy playing against adults then what I remember playing as kids. 

Also, since my last post 3 weeks ago, the Cubs are now 99% officially out of the NL Central Race.  until next time (or year in the Cubs sake...)

Summer prelude

Sorry it's been a while since i made my last post, but it's been busy couple of weeks.  A little bit of traveling, some work, and trying to survive the onslaught of rain we've had recently have taken up my time.

Many of you know that I made my trip to Oakmont Country Club (Pittsburgh) a week ago.  The experience & day was fantastic!  I took my step-brother, Tad, with me for the journey.  The golf course/club house was unbelievable.  We were in awe the majority of the time we spent at the course.  Everything just had an aura about it, even down to the men's locker rooms (old wood/wicker lockers, no AC, old school bathrooms).   Very cool experience and honestly probably one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me.  We both broke 100 and each pared the hardest hole on one of the most difficult courses in America!  Mr. Bob Gallagher is the gentlemen/member that hooked us up w/ our round.  I can't thank him enough.  Tad is even sending him a piece of his ceramic pottery to thank him.  All I could thank him w/ was a kind note...but then again, what do you get a man w/ his achievements & successes in life?  He's a former partner of the largest public accounting firm in the world, then started his own firm which he built into a successful company.  Once he 'retired' he has formed his own consulting firm, mainly leading national education conferences for accounting firms.  In addition, he's appeared on Oprah, is an adjunct professor at the Univ of Pitt, and founded a girls basketball clinic/camp in Pittsburgh, and from all accounts has touched many lives in a variety of different facets.  I'm fortunate to have made his acquiantance...amazing what joining the instructor of a national conference for a beer after his presentation can lead too! 

Heading to Myrtle Beach on Saturday, June 18th for a week.  Along on the trip will be family members from my Mom's side of the family including the Heitkamps, Frahms, my mom & step dad, my Uncle Terry (mom's brother) and Aunt Pam (mom's sister) along with 5 children under the age of 10.  Nick (my cousin) and I will be driving down separate from everyone else, choosing to make the 12 hour drive in one day as opposed to stopping.  Should be good bonding time for us.  I'm looking forward to peering into the life of a 17 year old that apparently wants to go to Stanford! 

The trip should be fun.  We rented a 9-bedroom (i think, maybe 8-bedroom) house right on Myrtle Beach.  Personally, i'm looking forward to the sun, relaxing on the beach, some cold beers, family games/dinners, and golf!  Unfortunately one of the casualties of going on the trip is that I have to miss the annual Ritter HS Alumni Golf Outing, which I believe i've played in 8 of the past 9 years.  Since we won the Ritter Alumni Basketball League this winter, we were looking to be the first ever golf/basketball alumni champs in the same year (my facts on being first ever may or may not be true, but it sounds good).   Sadly, i'll have to miss the outing, as will Buell, so Scott will be playing w/ Andy, Matt, and Buck.  Scott has informed us that Even par is his goal....i feel bad for him. 

But the good news....Scott & Dave will be making their Jimtown HS Alumni Golf Outing debut this year!  I have convinced them to waste a one night of their lives in beautiful Elkhart, IN, and make the trip w/ me to play in my foursome.  I still need to get a fourth to round out that group. 

Looks like Andy & I will be going to Vegas the last weekend of July.  Unfortunately Dave can't make it that weekend and Scott now has a kid, so his life is basically over.  Rumor has it that our buddy Jeff Rabjohns (Indy Star Sports reporter) will be making the trip w/ us, along w/ maybe a mutual friend of Jeff's.  We'll see how that comes together, but I think Andy & I will go regardless. 

Hope the rest of you are having a great start to your summer!  Go USA Soccer...they may as well make a good showing since the World is watching.  I've actually enjoyed the World Cup and am looking forward to watching more of it over the next few weeks, even though I'm not the biggest soccer fan. 

Where did May go?

Holy Cow!!!  The month of May went by way to fast.  Since my last post, life has been fantastic.  Unfortunately my Oakmont CC trip was postponed to June 8th due to severe weather.  That's OK, i've been busy w/ the following:

• Joined a basketball league w/ one of my co-workers up at the Monon Center in Carmel.  We've  played two games so far and I'm still getting acclimated to my new teammates.  Monday nights throughout the summer you can find me there
• Went to Dallas May 21-23  For those who don't know, my sister also lives there.  Caught a Cubs/Rangers game (Cubs won in 10 innings!) and got to spend some quality time w/ the family.  It was great to see my Texas cousins & aunt/uncle who I don't get to see very often.  Plus add the fact that my Dad, Grandma, and another aunt/uncle were also in town, it made for a nice weekend. 
• Learned that I will probably never use my sister's buddy pass again.  Flight was free (thanks sis!), however, my travel days were 9 hours and 11 hours, respectively.   Considering I was only gone for 60 hours total, not worth it in my mind. 
• I turned 29! 
• Have finally got out and played some golf.  played 4 rounds in the past 3 weeks.  Shot a 90 (in a monsoon) and 92 (on a course i'd never played before) in my first two rounds.  Came back and shot an 81 at West Chase last week, my best score by at least 4 or 5 strokes at that course.  Then played in a scramble at the fort last saturday. 
• Indy 500 - normally that weekend involves an RV, 4 kegs, 20 lbs of meat, no showering, tents, and miscellaneous shenanigans.  However, this year we did not do that and decided to take it easy.  I actually had decided to boycott most race activities....that is until Marko called me and told me had pit row/garage passes for race day.  Needless to say I took him up on that.  Check out my facebook page to see those pics

Other news...the annual Indy CPA basketball tourney started this week.  My firm was lucky to get a first round W, squeaking out a close one.  I played decent in 1st half, leading us in scoring, but only scored 4 pts in 2nd half.  Luckily we got some good production from other players in the 2nd half to help lead us to victory.  We play again on Wednesday & Thursday.

Summer tennis league has also started.  Our team has played two matches, losing 3-2 in both matches thanks to our team having a 1-5 record in 3rd set tie-breakers.  I only played in one of the matches so far, winning easily.  Hope I continue to play that well in future weeks. 

Myrtle Beach in 3 weeks, then Vegas at the end of July...can't wait for both! 

In other gambling news, my group of friends that competes in the ESPN Streak for the Cash have now successfully turned it into a gambling event, combining some the theory behind "High Chicago" or "2/3rds" (variations of 7-card stud).  Leave it to us...., but as with everything else, gambling always makes it more interesting.   Speaking of gambling, is it crazy that i'm considering betting on the World Cup (see previous sentence about making things more interesting).  Somehow I let Gill talk me into Uruguay as a sleeper to make it out of pool play.  They are 100:1 odds to win the whole thing.  sounds like it's worth at least a $10 bet. 


Decided my next Elkhart trip will be 4th of July weekend, and then a quick trip on July 17th to play in the Jimtown Outing. 


No videos this post...i'm too tired

God bless the DVR

So for obvious reasons I don't get to watch that much TV during the tax season.  I don't know how I survived 2003-2006ish busy season's without a DVR to record my shows.  Since April 15 has come & gone I've been catching up on most of my shows:

• 24 - yeah, i know it finally hasn't been renewed, making this the final season.  I also know it started out slow and many people gave up on it, but man, Jack Bauer has really picked it up the last 8-10 episodes.  Needless say, Revenge Jack is definitely the best kind of Jack.
• Damages (FX) - The 3rd season of this FX staple was just as solid as the first two seasons.  Definitely one of the best kept secrets on cable
• The Pacific (HBO) - the next WWII miniseries drama on HBO from Hanks & Speilberg.  Basically if you liked Band of Brothers, then this is a must watch for you and any other war historian buff
• The Office/30 Rock - Hilarious, enough said
• ESPN's 30 for 30 Documentaries - These are beyond awesome.  Something to me about sports documentaries just draw me in.  All of these are riveting and I can't get enough of them.  Even the one they turned into a corny animation type episode (fantasy baseball being invented) was very solid.  Can't go wrong w/ these
• Flashforward - On October 6, 2009, the entire world blacked out for 2 minutes and 17 seconds.....great show

A show I haven't started watching yet, Justified (another FX original), I hear is very good, but I'm holding off until catch back up on the shows above.  Not to mention the NHL Playoffs and NBA Playoffs, TV has been a big part of my life recently.

Next 10 days will be fairly busy.  Playing golf Saturday w/ Rick and Tad, then again on Sunday w/ Dad & the Pappas's.  Tad and I then make the road trip to Oakmont CC (just north of Pittsburgh) Monday night for a Tuesday morning tee time.  It can't be said enough, but this course is rated in the Top 10 in America (Golf Digest) and could be the most difficult course in the nation.  It's gonna be awesome.  Then Dallas for the weekend for my cousin Rachel's graduation along w/ the fact that I can visit my sister and aunt/uncle that live in Dallas. 

These videos were brought to you by Diddy, both very funny.  The first video comes to you in the spirit of fans getting tazed at a few sporting events recently.  I vote for this to be a punishment option.
Second, if I remember correctly, this is why I wasn't allowed to enter the sports broadcasting world.  This is pretty damn funny for you sports media enthusiasts.  As always, thanks Diddy

BFC

I couldn't have said it better myself

I wish I could take credit for this analogy, but the best I can do is share it w/ all of you.  Trust me, I've worked w/ the US Tax Code for my whole professional life and this is by far the best story/analogy on breaking down symplistically how our tax system works.  For all of you who voted for "Change" in November 2008, this is essentially what you voted for w/ O.B.A.M.A's (One Big Ass Mistake America) tax proposals.   Once again, in 15 years when we are paying 45-50% income taxes along w/ a national sales tax or VAT, don't come crying to me.  Enjoy!!!!

Tax system explained in terms of beer - to make it more manageable*

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

•  The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
•  The fifth would pay $1 
•  The sixth would pay $3 
•  The seventh would pay $7 
•  The eighth would pay $12 
•  The ninth would pay $18
•  The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do.  The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20."  Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.  The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes, so the first four men were unaffected.  They would still drink for free.  But what about the other six men - the paying customers?  How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33.  But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer.  So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.  And so,

•  The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings). 
•  The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings). 
•  The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28% savings). 
•  The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings). 
•  The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 ( 22% savings).
•  The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before.  And the first four continued to drink for free.  But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.  "I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the sixth man.  He pointed to the tenth man," but he got $10!"  "Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too.  It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!"

"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!"  "Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.  

David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
University of Georgia

For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible...

By the way, I've mentioned on here multiple times that I love Athens, GA - case & point w/ the apparent author of this story being from UGA.   Dr. Kamerschen actually refuted the writing of the story, although he acknowledges that it is an accurate portrayal of our tax system.  Either way, we'll give him credit since no one else has claimed it.  Love it...

stupid rain

by far one of my favorite commercials currently showing on TV...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KscChA1DxAk

not really sure I want to have a Heineken afterwards, but i'm not opposed.

Congrats to Scott & Sara on their new addition to the family, JJ, born yesterday. Andy, Dave and I cancelled our Cincy trip due to the weather...didn't feel like watching baseball in the rain. I suppose we could have just gone to the riverboat instead, but we chose to pass.

My trip to Oakmont on May 18th has been confirmed and the lucky winner who gets to go w/ me to play the 5th rated golf course in America (and possibly the most difficult) is my step-bro, Tad. Needless to say he was fairly excited as he's a big golf fanatic, not to mention a better player than I am. should be a nice road trip.

Got the PS3 now...it's awesome. And since it's rained for 3 straight days, that's about all i've done w/ myself this weekend Had Friday off of work, which was nice, but it rained all day. I also have next friday off, so hoping for better weather then.

In closing, Las Vegas (and Harrah's specifically) misses me so much they've offered me a free room for a 3-night stay at any of their hotels, excluding Caesers in June or July. Just planting that seed....let me know if you're interested

spring & summer fun

Now that i'm through my hell on earth time, I can begin to focus on the fun things in life. Should be a busy 2010 and I hope it's the best year ever. Here are a few of my plans for the upcoming 6 months:

• Pearl Jam concert - early May
• Playing Oakmont Golf Club (Pittsburgh) - May 18th
• Texas for 2-3 days in late May
• Myrtle Beach for a week - late June
• July - still up in the air...was considering going out west (Portland, Seattle), Vegas at some point, Jimtown golf outing. Somehow Scott and I have to come up w/ a plan for him to ditch his wedding anniversary to play in the outing w/ me (love ya Sara!).
• August - Vegas if I don't go in July
• October - third annual Georgia trip

At some point during the summer, i'll make my annual trip to Wrigley and catch a few games in Cincy.

Should be a great summer. Being around Broad Ripple these past few beautiful weather weeks reminded me why I love living in this area during the summer. Winter, not so much....but we'll take the good w/ the bad.

Let's see, some news. Matt & Abby got engaged last week. No immediate plans for when/where the wedding will be, but possible talks of a destination wedding. Six of us went to celebrate w/ them last night, going to dinner at a Japanese steakhouse - very tasty. Makes me wish I could cook like that!

I love this time of year for sports. NHL & NBA playoffs, MLB in full swing, NFL Draft, personally getting outside to start playing golf and tennis again. Last year I achieved my golf goal of breaking 80. I don't really have a goal for golf this year, but to continue to improve. It's been fun the past seven years or so to see us all get better at golf, except for Andy who has digressed so bad that he is now going to try and play opposite handed to see if it will help.