I meant to file early this year, but life interrupted. So, just like so many other Americans, I spent the better part of the past few days grumbling and pounding away at the computer, with a stack of receipts, W-2s, 1099s, and pay stubs. The wife wisely kept her distance, except when I would yell out, "Honey, where are the receipts for the thing you did last August?" The dog sensed I was stressed out, and laid at my feet to keep me company. The cats tried to help out by shredding important paperwork -- often before I was finished with it.
I can just imagine being audited, and having to explain to the IRS guy why certain forms have little bits torn off of them. I don't think "my cat ate it" is an allowable excuse for not having a readable receipt. Hopefully, I'll never have to find out.
One positive thing about filing a tax return is that it gives you a decent review of your financial activities over the past year. Our income went up slightly -- it might have been steeper, but Mrs. Smash couldn't work for several months due to her back injury. We also had more deductions for medical expenses (no surprise there), and charitable contributions (mostly for the Katrina Challenge and Project VALOUR-IT).
In the end, however, we ended up owing the Federal Government a few hundred dollars. This was largely because Mrs. Smash earned a little cash doing some contract work, giving us direct income without the automatic bite from Uncle Sam. Of course, he always gets his share in the end -- in this case, a direct debit from my bank account authorized for today. (I prefer to hold on to my money as long as possible. After all, why should I give the government an interest-free loan out of my paycheck?)
The State of California, on the other hand, owes us several hundred dollars, about three times as much as we owe the Feds. I'm sure it will take several days if not a week or two for them to pay us back. Funny how when we owe them, they want it right away; but when they owe us, they can take as much time as they need...
I'm just glad that onerous task is done.
MY REGULAR READERS may have noticed that I've been posting much less frequently lately. Life, as I said earlier, interrupts. The last few months have been busy and tumultuous in the Smash household. Changes are coming.
First, I'm changing jobs.
You might remember that back in August, I started looking for new work when my then-employer informed me that the contract I had been working under was running out of funds. That search landed me with a new job with another company, with significantly increased pay and responsibilities.
Things were looking up for the first few months, but then it started to go sour. I won't dwell on all the gory details, except to say that the job wasn't a good fit for me. In the end, I made the difficult (but ultimately correct) decision to resign my position.
Unfortunately, much of this was going on about the same time that my friend Mikey was hospitalized with a stroke. I focused much of my energy on helping his family get through that difficult time, and coupled with the job difficulties, it didn't leave me much time for recreational stuff like blogging. (Mikey is doing much better now, although he still needs a kidney transplant. Read all about it on his blog).
This past month brought more adventure, as I traveled to Korea with my reserve unit. Getting out of the country for a couple of weeks, and away from the Internet, was a good thing. It helped me to regain perspective on what is important to me, and where I need to concentrate my time and efforts.
The birth of my nephew Ben, two weeks ago today, brought things into sharper focus. He's a beautiful baby, but his birth was very difficult. Not so long ago, he may have been still-born, or my sister-in-law might not have survived childbirth. As it happened, they are both healthy today, and Sallie is slowly recovering from her emergency C-section. We were very lucky.
I look forward to watching my newest nephew grow up. Unfortunately, my brother is being transferred to Hawaii, so I won't be seeing much of them (on the other hand, we now have a perfect excuse to visit Hawaii on a regular basis). On the other hand, I still have my older brother and his family nearby, and my parents live just a couple miles away.
I spoke with my grandmother on the phone last night. It's amazing to think of what Dolores been through in her long life -- she was the first member of her family to be born in America. She is 98 years old, and not always "there." Yesterday was one of her better days. She knew it was Easter, and told me she had fish for dinner. Not the traditional Easter dinner, but that's what they served in the cafeteria of the retirement home where she lives.
Of course, I still have my wonderful wife. She's always been there for me, even when we were on opposite sides of the planet. That's what it means to really love someone.
Love and family -- that's what is important to me.
On Friday, I got a call from the CEO of a company I'd been interviewing with over the past few weeks. He told me that they were going to make a job offer after the Easter weekend, and he hoped I would say yes.
So, after a rough start to 2006, things are looking up again.
NOW, about those changes...
First, let me assure everyone that I'm not going away. Blogging is a very important outlet for me, and I value the connection I feel with my readers. It may seem strange, but a majority of the real-life friends I have today, I met through blogging (or via someone I had met through blogging). Besides, if I didn't blog, I would have to unload all my cogent thoughts and interesting observations on Mrs. Smash, and there's only so much of that she can take.
I've come to realize, however, that a hobby like blogging can quickly take over your life, if you allow it to turn into an obsession. For the past several months, I've been trying to maintain two blogs (Indepundit and Military Outpost), and balance this with work and family. Everything has suffered as a result.
It's time to refocus.
Effective immediately, there will be no new material on the Military Outpost. The URLs "indepundit.com" and "lt-smash.us" will both point to the original Indepundit weblog. Meanwhile, we will work to incorporate some of the better features of the Outpost back into the original Indepundit template -- especially the open format (and low-maintenance) comments.
If you have any suggestions for improvements, please let us know.
You can expect me to post less frequently than in past years. I hope to make up for this decrease in quantity with more thoughtul, quality writing. Please stick with me -- I promise you won't regret it.
Also, in case you weren't aware, I'll be in Washington, D.C. this weekend for the first ever Milblog Conference. I'll be participating in the first panel (0830-1030 EDT): "Milblogs: Past, Present and Future," along with CJ, Blackfive, John Noonan and moderator Buzz Patterson. Several folks will be live-blogging, and C-SPAN might televise the event.
I've only had the pleasure of meeting a handful of my fellow milbloggers in person, so I'm really looking forward to this event. I'm also going to have a chance to visit with the "East Coast" side of our family (Mrs. Smash's parents, sister, and nephews), so this is going to be another very busy weekend.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you'll all keep coming back.
]]>Marine spent 7 months at "Camp Blue Diamond" in Ramadi. Aka: Fort Apache. He saw and did a lot and the following is what he said about weapons, equipment, tactics and other miscellaneous info which may be of interest to you. Nothing is classified.
1) The M-16 rifle : Thumbs down. Chronic jamming problems with the talcum powder like sand over there. The sand is everywhere. Jordan says you feel filthy 2 minutes after coming out of the shower. The M-4 carbine version is more popular because it's lighter and shorter, but it has jamming problems also. They like the ability to mount the various optical gunsights and weapons lights on the picattiny rails, but the weapon itself is not great in a desert environment. They all hate the 5.56mm (.223) round. Poor penetration on the cinderblock structure common over there and even torso hits can't be reliably counted on to put the enemy down.
Fun fact: Random autopsies on dead insurgents shows a high level of opiate use.
]]>Iraqi Security Forces and their Coalition partners launched the largest air assault operation since Operation Iraqi Freedom I today in southern Salah Ad Din province to clear a suspected insurgent operating area northeast of Samarra.
Operation Swarmer began this morning with soldiers from the Iraqi Army's 1st Brigade, 4th Division, the 101st Airborne Division's 3rd Brigade Combat Team and the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade conducting a combined air and ground assault to isolate the objective area.
]]>MAN ON THE STREET: Republican idiots. Republican conservative idiots.
SCOTT "SCOOTER" TEMPESTA: The right wing blowhards... Hedge-kook...
MAN ON THE STREET: Throw all these neo-cons in jail, and let 'em know once and for all that what they're trying to do is illegal... They are a specific group of people associated with the Project for a New American Century, and the Carlyle Group, who have sold out our country, and are misusing our military for their own ends... And they all belong in jail, or banished from this country.
SCOTT "SCOOTER" TEMPESTA: We are unified in our hatred for this president...
WOMAN ON THE STREET: Bush fits the description of the Anti-Christ.
MAN ON THE STREET: Most of you Bush supporters are duped.
CINDY SHEEHAN: These people are incredible liars and cowards.
ANN WRIGHT: ...Our country is committing war crimes.
CINDY SHEEHAN: They're committing crimes against humanity in Iraq. And we can't sit there, like what happened in Nazi Germany, and pretend this isn't happening.
ANN WRIGHT: War crimes have been committed by the United States of America in Iraq.
DAVID SWANSON: Those guilty of launching this war must be held accountable... Our president and vice president are criminals... We can impeach.
]]>I'm sitting in the back seat of a fully armored HMMWV, peering out at the world through thick bullet proof glass, scanning down countless alleys and on rooftops for anyone with a weapon, or anything that looks like a threat. By weapons I mean RPGs, grenades, AK-47s, land mines, suicide vehicle IEDs, you name it and it's possible in Ramadi. I see children playing, adults standing around, and women walking down streets in groups of two or three. Most people watch us as we pass, a convoy of armored vehicles flying down the streets aggressively. SGT C is on full alert. Having the best vantage point as gunner, he's constantly re-adjusting his position as SPC T steers around obstacles. Out on the interstates, civilian vehicles see a military convoy coming through and they know to pull off on the shoulder, giving you a wide berth. But downtown, the streets are narrower, and there are more obstacles. When you approach intersections, the lead vehicle sounds a siren and the gunners motion with their weapons for vehicles to make way. But sometimes you drive within feet of the locals. And you hope that the driver in one of them is not suicidal. ]]>
America, this place is awesome and now I see first hand what we have been fighting for. The trek home was a beast. It took about 4 days to get home with a fun 14 hour flight going through Ireland. It began with a helo ride out of Fallujah to another air station, which we linked up with a C-130. We took off and flew about 200 feet off the ground until we were out of enemy threat. We even were in the fight up to the last day, when sniper fire hit our posts. The last couple days were the worst, as I then actually saw what all we do in a days work, because the last day or so we didn't have much to do and along with anticipation the day dragged. 24 hours felt like a week. ]]>
We're on!
Here's the information for the Support the Troops event countering Cindy's anti-military, anti-victory, anti-German/American partnership protest in Germany:
Saturday, March 11, 2006
12:00 - 16:00
Ramstein Airbase, West Gate (at the roundabout)
Please send an email here to let us know you're coming and to receive further updates.
]]>You probably recall the infamous Chemical Ali , known for gassing and killing thousands of Kurds. He had several villas west of Kirkuk, one of which was in the middle of a small FOB. Our soldiers lived in the villa and other buildings.
]]>Sgt Dunlap was a great Marine. Outgoing, gregarious, would give a fellow Marine the shirt off his back. He was a Marine reservist like so many of us, a crash/fire/rescue medic, I believe, from California. He was a little older (who of us isn't), unmarried, and our sister team's duty weapons expert. Our teams were separated when we got into country, they going to Mosul while we went to Habbaniyah. In late August or early September, their unit (2-3-1 IA) moved down to Habbaniyah and began patrolling to the west while we at 3-2-1 were patrolling to the east. On one occasion, our camp came under small arms fire and a couple of civilian workers were hit. Sgt Dunlap responded immediately, administering first aid in vain to one of the two wounded Iraqis. He was the guy who would see what had to be done and would DO it without hesitation. It was probably this trait that got him killed by an IED on 24 Sept 05.
]]>Al-Qaeda in Iraq, led by Jordanian miltiant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has adopted a new command structure. The new line-up is said to include a sort of shadow government (remember our shadow senators?). Zarqawi is now (if he still lives) more desparate than ever.
]]>So I'm driving down the road and can't see more than twenty five meters in front of me. The trucks ahead of me are a mile ahead and driving with night vision so I have nothing to go off of in determining where the road starts and ends. I'm in the lead of this never ending convoy, so if I go into the ditch we're all screwed.
My headlights are almost useless as they're obscured by the mud that this country has turned into over the rainy season. The windshield wipers on a Humvee are on the same level as throwing acid in your eyes and looking out the window of the hospital you're being treated at. With mud all over it. In the dark. While it rains. And the whole time my TC is telling me to go faster.
]]>I've just received this email from "Nurse" Jenny Comer:
Just want to let all of you know that Joe passed away at around 10:00 this morning. One of his favorite things to do was write posts for The Daily Brief. Thank you for all the kind comments earlier.
I'm sorry - I had some other posts I wanted to do tonight. But I just don't think I can bring myself to it.
]]>Watching the spin up of the 2006 Mil-Blog Conference, I had pretty much ignored it, because I knew that I couldn't afford to attend a one-day event on the other side of the country. If there was no way to go, why should I torture myself with the keen yearning to gather with these icons of the mil-blogsphere?
Truth be told, I would sacrifice much to meet these men and women, not only those with whom I interacted reguraly, and dare to call friends, but also to put face to name those whose words have informed, enlightened, and entertained me. These fellow warriors and advocates whose keen eyes plucked relevent activities from the jumble of complex issues, and condensed them into fodder that even this grunt could understand.
]]>At this point, I don't think I'll ever experience the Sand Box, especially if I take the career path I'm looking at (I'll tell you more about it when I find out more about it). I'll consider this a good thing, as nobody really wants to deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan or whatever. But honestly, I was more then willing to go if they wanted to send me.
What's funny, how much I've come to discover about the government and how wasteful it is while working for it. This tends to make a person annoyed, especially when you know that the government is funded by your money. I could say that I pay my own salary in a way, but the crap one sees happen with the government and contractors and so on makes a person want to throttle their representatives. Grr...
]]>I CAN'T SPEAK for anyone else, but I know that if a pollster came up to me while I was serving in uniform, and asked if I'd like to participate in an opinion poll, he'd get a two-word answer from me.
The second word would be "OFF."
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