Adventures in Good Sunburning (with G. Spinach)

G. Spinach got himself some color this weekend...

On Saturday, the local Kiwanians worked to paint an apartment for a new subsidized housing project being created not too far away. I regret not having taken before-and-after shots of the rooms I slathered with a color called "Biscuit."

On Sunday, I went to the local arts fair and picked up some goody-gifts for wedding helpers (they just haven't been asked yet), and then walked over to see the gran finale of the 2006 Tour de Georgia.

Congrats to Floyd Landis, who took the Tour gold despite a late-race flat tire, and all the volunteers who turned out to see a great race (my boss among them, truth be told).

All of which left me with a bright red visage with which to start the work week. Goodbye Spinach--hello Aloe Vera....(okay, I've been waiting a while to use that line.

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Quick war tale:

I get a call today from a general practitioner who's referred us some stuff in the past, and he starts in on how I'd done such a great job on the project and this and that, and then pops me with a question straight out of a T&E practice exam:

Suppose a client dies after having signed and sealed a settlement agreement agreeing to a divorce, but without having gotten a decree from the judge approving it...is the divorce contract enforceable by the estate against the not-quite-ex-wife? Does the not-quite-ex-wife count as an heir-at-law? Turns out that the guy had no kids, no living parents, no siblings, and no aunts or uncles or cousins. What then, ki-mo-sa-be?

My hunch is that Judi Dench's line from "Shakespeare In Love" applies: The bonds of marriage are such that no mere queen can put them asunder, and without the Judge's ink on a divorce decree, the "matrimonii vincula" still apply. So now you've got a nearly-divorced wife with a windfall...unless the guy has a Will that cuts her out, right? because she's the sole heir-at-law...and so she gets the house, the Jeep, AND the bass boat. Man, it sucks to be the dead guy in that one.

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Faithful readers may have noticed a moderate drought of political rhetoric here.

Not due to a lack of interest, but perhaps a lack of enthusiasm for any particular issue. I'm weary of throwing tirades against the foolishness I see in Washington these days, and frustrated with the lack of cohesiveness among Democrats to present a party platform...so if Jodie Foster is right in "Contact" that "The World is what you Make of It." here is G. Spinach's first draft of a new 'contract with America.'

1) Our environment is the only one we've got. We've got to prevent exploitation of natural resources to satisfy self-perpetuated demands for energy.

2) Demand resources for education that matters...not just the reading, writing, and arithmetic, but the curricula that develop passions and cravings to learn...science fairs, and art shows, and musical performances.

3) Reinvigorate the Bill of Rights. All Ten Amendments, and not just the Second. Freedom of press, assembly, and religion would be good places to start. From there, let's talk about protection from unreasonable searches and seizures. BTW, why have we stopped screaming about unauthorized domestic wiretapping?

[to be continued]

Does the "G" stand for Geraldo?

What's on my mind?

1) The soon-to-be in-laws are coming to town at the end of the month, so a cleaning frenzy has ensued. Unfortunately, I've been procrastinating some home repairs and they all won't get done, especially because I'm out of town this weekend dealing with my own family snafus. C'est la vie.

2) We've had two cases at the office in which I've been calling long lost heirs to let them know I've got a family. The reactions I'm getting vary from total elation to unbridled anger. What is it that creates such feelings?

Must be tax week

Let's count the free advice (read non-billable) moments du jour, shall we?
1) The firm's homeless associate stopped in with a question about 1099-MISC income.

2) A CPA called to ask about whether Social security death benefits count as taxable income.

3) A partner dropped in with a question about AMT.

...and when I got home to the message-machine...

4) an aunt wanted to know if Turbo Tax had any bias toward the IRS or toward the taxpayer; and
5) a cousin couldn't figure out if she could itemize her doctor's bills.

I'm not complaining, I'm just sayin'...what makes people think I know ding-dong squat about income taxes?

Toss me a wealth transfer tax softball, will ya?

Saturday Symphonium!

We're working on picking out seats and performances for the 2006-07 ASO symphony season, and it's tougher than I thought it would be.

We aren't really into the series that they offer as packages this year, so we're taking tickets a la carte: a Gershwin here, a Tchaikovsky there. It's a challenge, but a very good rainy day activity...

And a good distraction or two:

I'm a Porsche 911!

You have a classic style, but you're up-to-date with the latest technology. You're ambitious, competitive, and you love to win. Performance, precision, and prestige - you're one of the elite,and you know it.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Hersheys Hats

Over at Color of Law, Igots' procrastination yields some amusing blog images.

But I'll see his crumpled wrappers, and raise him some Hershey-wrapper orgami...

That's me on the left...the Westlaw-searching, grey-suited supplicant.

Movie under my skin

After a weekend crossing items off a lengthy to-do list (including the dreaded 2005 tax return), I fixed myself some Sunday night chicken parmesan and settled into the couch for some time spent with Showtime's Free preview weekend.

The movie Crash was on, and it changed my worldview a bit, and not in a good way. Stirred up family history and stuff...grumped me out completely.

Anyhow, it's a new day, a new week, and a new month with a clean billables slate and no set travel plans. Woo hoo!