Three days

MONDAY-
The Maryland auditor showed up on time at 9:30. I had all of the documents printed and organized per the audit letter as to speed the process and show compliance. The auditor was friendly and happy to see the documents all ready to review, he asked a few reasonable questions and was on his way. Total time was one hour, 9:30 - 10:30. THAT is why I didn't loose any sleep over this one, nothing to hide, so I wasn't worried. There was a funny moment when he asked what a "Hog Widget" is and why I needed to rent it.

SUNDAY-
In geekier news I spent a good bit of Sunday out of the cold enjoying the arcade. I spent hours playing Donkey Kong and Burgertime. In Donkey Kong I finally got to the 5th level. In Burgertime I got to the 5th or 6th screen. Burgertime is a very difficult game for those of you that don't know (Xbox generation, or just plain forgot).

SATURDAY-
I went to the annual 12th Night party held at Andrew and Caroline's house. The evening was started off by a stop to Cubanos for dinner. The Cuban food and drinks at this restaurant in Silver Spring are simply fantastic. The food and service are top notch and the bar tender knows how to pour a proper drink. No chain restaurant short-pour-glass-full-of-Cool-Aid at this place. Their mojitos are the best I've ever had, but I really haven't had that many, I should have more... If you happen to be near Silver Spring you should really check this place out. Yelp Reviews
Cubanos Restaurant site



After we left the restaurant we drove the 30 minutes to Caroline and Andrews. We got there a little early, before the table full of liquor, beers, and wines were opened. Andrew could get a job at Cubanos due to his heavy pouring hand. There was food here and there through the house with lots of choices. I saw the deviled eggs, and made a mental note to get some, but I must have gotten distracted. I enjoyed a strong cocktail called a Tipperary containing chartreuse (like the color). Make sure you get at least one ice cube in the glass, more if you have the option. I only had one Tipperary before switching to "lighter" drinks for the rest of the evening. I should mention that I was not driving during the evening of many drinks. Anyhow, the party was a good time as expected. It got crowded, met a few cool people, good conversation, and most surprisingly there was no football or sports talk of any kind. I didn't even see people fooling with their phones. I must have been in an alternate universe. I love their parties.

Not much to report today come to think of it. Usually when I start typing I have something in mind, but today I really don't. It's like Seinfeld, a show about nothing. However I did get all of the tax filings finished today. I called the assigned auditor and made the audit appointment for next Monday at 9:30. I told the auditor that tomorrow worked for me, but Monday is the earliest available date. I'm ready to get this wild goose chase over with and expect another notice of audit in two years.

After work we went out for high priced beer night at Victoria in Columbia. The food at Victoria is always tasty, and the beer selection is always vast (but, quite expensive). We went because the wife likes the Belgium beers and it is Belgium beer week at Victoria and I can always find something non-Belgium to get me through. We ordered food and I was particular to order German potato salad as my side, not fries. When the food came to the table it was fries, but I reported the error and my potato salad was dropped off minutes later. However, the fries don't go back, they just sit there to remind you that you said you weren't eating fries for the month of January. Luckily we bumped into a friend and she ate some of the fries after being encouraged to do so. So far not eating fries or drinking soda has worked out, but it's the 5th of January so it's really not much of an accomplishment, just a start.

There is a 12th night party this Saturday that I'm attending, I look forward to it because not much happens in January, and I like Caroline, Andrew, Chris, and the crowd that comes to their parties. Alright, more later.

Budget shortfall

The day started out nicely when I made the choice to ride my motorcycle this morning because the phone said the temperature was 20º. When I got outside and all hooked up I thought, it's not that cold out here today. It was cold enough to have a constant battle with the helmet face shield fogging up. If I opened the front vent it was a blast of freezing air, closed the fogging bordered on dangerous. When I got up to highway speed things cleared up a bit. I noticed the outside temp at a local machine shop with a fancy LED sign read 25º, that was more like it.

In the mail today I received a Maryland Tax Audit notification. This isn't the first time I have been audited by the MD tax authority so I wasn't startled or any other emotion that is generally associated with a business tax audit. The form letter says that I need to contact the listed auditor by January 12th to arrange a mutually acceptable date and location for the audit to be conducted.

Some details in the letter struck me as odd - "...the State conducts audits of several thousand employers each year." SEVERAL THOUSAND!? Really, as in more than 3,000 audits per year? Your auditors must really be efficient, or you actually mean to say that you audit a few thousand employers and we singled out your company because we have audited you in the past and walked away at a net loss. We figured we'd double down to see if we can catch you slipping up on any of the tax payments these past two years.

"...to ensure employers' compliance with Maryland's Unemployment Insurance Law..." this one is most likely accurate and true. The unwritten theme is that governments are having budget shortfalls and we have found spending more on audits is worth the investment because sometimes we hit pay dirt.

Speaking of taxes and audits, I was working on the Federal W2 and W3 filing when I got the mail with the news. I've been working the last two days getting the end of year tax filings completed. For the employees out there that don't deal with taxes but once a year, consider yourself lucky, it's time consuming and sometimes difficult. I should be finished up the end of year tax forms and deposits by the end of the day on Wednesday. I finished the W2's by the end of work today, which is always a good feeling because I've noticed a lot of vendors over the years that had a difficult time of meeting a January 31st deadline, year after year. It helps that I'm not running a Fortune 500 company, but it still makes me feel good.

The last tax audit I went through was a MD Sales Tax audit that lasted a day and a half. Since I knew nothing of the audit process I was sweating bullets for two weeks, before getting to the table realizing that I was not who they were looking for at all. I was 99.5% compliant and they spent more money auditing me than they walked away with. It was a valuable learning tool that has prepared me for this next round. I'm not loosing any sleep over an audit this time, I have a vacation coming up anyhow.

Before we start again

As the end of the year rapidly approaches things wind down at work and home for me. Christmas now isn't what it was when I was a kid, but I certainly enjoy the time off from work. It always seems like the days off are shorter than they should be and I'm back at my desk. This time of year works slows practically to a halt and I have time to myself.

I have been thinking about getting a Twitter account, but haven't pulled the trigger just yet. I always feel like I should blog more, but don't have the topicality on hand - and readers / or lack there of don't want to hear constant updates on Donkey Kong high scores. Maybe Twitter is for me - tiny blogs.

So, while clicking around on Twitter I looked for some bands that I like to see if they actually use the new craze. (I guess it's not so new, but kinda new to me)
I found Faith No More's tour ended on December 5th in Chile and that was it for now. Only 8 US dates on that tour and 5 were in California, mostly European festivals. Megadeth had a lot of postings and there was even a Christmas Card contest. They are certainly trying to stay close with their fans.



the note on the nuclear missile reads "Don't open before judgment day"

I have spent a good deal of time at work fooling with the end of year accounting to make sure all profit is spent as planned in order to avoid paying excessive income taxes. Paying taxes isn't a bad thing, it indicates that it was a good year and you were profitable - which is especially fortunate in a struggling economy like 2009 and 2010. We have always been profitable so it's just a mater of degree, but end of year accounting does require proper planning, I can't just spend on whatever. As an added challenge most of the vendors that I purchase from shut down on 12/24 and don't reopen until the Monday after New Years. Not a problem, I got it covered and purchased equipment that was needed and offset the profit as planned. I'm still paying taxes, but that was my plan.

Right now I have two screens active on my desk. This blog is the right screen, and the left screen is a stock ticker showing active trades of USG Corporation. They are the company that makes Sheetrock and the joint compound called "mud" by the construction guys. I bought USG on 11/14/06 because new home building was gangbusters and Warren Buffet was buying into the company. The ticker is sitting at 16.74 for the last 5 minutes with my limit trade set for 16.75. I purchased the shares for $50.40 each. Selling off this stock is a quick way to work down that profit / tax situation by taking the paper loss on the chin before the end of the year. The only stock I've picked the last few years that has never let me down is Philip Morris, because you can count on the smokers - they will stand out in the cold and rain to send the dividend payments. Exxon is the runner up for similar reasons.

I hope you all had a great 2010, I feel pretty good about my year and think 2011 will be just as good or better.