One of my New Year's resolutions was that I would blog more frequently...
Well, there goes that...
Some general things (in lieu of a more coherently cogitated post):
- This is the second year in a row that we've done our taxes way ahead of time. What usually happens is we wait until the night of April 15th, fretting over Turbotax or Taxcut software with sweatty palms, and then we just mail our returns late (the IRS has never given us any hell over it, regardless if we owe additional tax or are owed a refund). But then we thought that, if we could get our act together, we could use the refund from the State of Arizona to pay for the tax bill from the IRS (the two usually match within a couple hundred dollars). This year we sent our Arizona return in and got our refund after about a week, and we just mailed off the IRS return. Sweet, for us...
- I continue to be amazed at how much reading I've been doing, thanks to the Kindle I got for Christmas. Looking back at the books I've downloaded since Christmas day, I've read 18 books, the vast majority of which were totally free. About half of them are books about trading stocks and leadership, the other half are fiction. Of the fiction titles, about half of those are science fiction, the rest are mystery/thrillers. I'm currently reading an interesting diversion from my usual fare:
Greatest Knight, by Elizabeth Chadwick. I know it looks a bit like a Harlequin Romance but it's actually a well written historical novel. I can't remember the last time I read one, and it was getting pretty good reviews. The author reportedly spent years researching the historical record, participating in re-enactments.
I just finished Origins, by Randolph Lalond. Another free ebook, it is the first of a six-book series. I had never heard of the author but it was actually pretty good.
And just to prove I really do read non-fiction, another book I'm currently working on is Firms of Endearment, by Sheth Sisodia and Wolfe. I know a few of my co-workers read my blog... let's just say I agree that the place could use a bit of endearment... ahem...
- All these weeks of reading my Kindle has made me feel a bit guilty over the recent announcements that Borders is going through Bankruptcy. It turns out that our local Borders will be one of the stores closed, and it was a favorite hangout for me to read books in big comfy chairs. I hate that the convenience of the Kindle has meant that all of my book business is going to Amazon. Their decision to have Kindle apps on just about every kind of device, and allowing syncing among all of them, has made the Kindle experience an excellent one, and then when you get it free, it makes everyone else look bad.