Life

I loved the story today about the Rockefeller family demanding that Exxon Mobil adopt a renewable energy policy, reduce greenhouse emissions and study global warming. I guess they have forgotten the ruthless business ways of their patriarch John D. who made the money that they are presently enjoying. And he made it anyway he could.

I looked at new office space downtown today, near the Capitol Building. I saw a couple great offices, one at the very top of the Fifth Third Building (what would I do with the Penthouse Suite?) and another across the street with a great view of the Capitol. I've been in the same office for my entire Columbus career and its time to move closer to the action. And I want my indoor parking spot back.

I had a chance to eat lunch with Henry today. I'll miss that when he leaves Children First to go to all day Kindergarten but I know he'll do well in New Albany. We are still on the wait list and haven't heard from Ready, Set Grow but I'm confident he'll get in.

This weekend is our 4th Annual Derby Party. We have 2 babysitters lined up for the 20 kids we are expecting and will have City BBQ cater it. You really can't beat their pulled pork and mac and cheese. I've eaten at some great 'q joints and have to put up City BBQ with the best of them.

Cleveland was fun. We sat in the third row for the Diego show but it might have been too close. Henry could barely see over the stage. Jack was good, he got fussy at the end but he seemed to be in to it.

The Great Lakes Science Center was fun on Sunday. The IMAX movie "Mission to Mars" might have been a bit much for Henry, he was scared and wanted to leave a couple times. The screen is huge and it is pretty loud in there. Jack liked it and nothing bothered him. Henry enjoyed the rest of GLSC, they have a lot of hands on things but I think he liked the play area the best.

Jackie is sick tonight and has thrown up twice. It's almost 10:00 and Sarah is holding him. I think we're afraid to put him down again since he's gotten sick in his crib and the pack-n-play already.

I might be staying home with him tomorrow although I have my first tightening of my braces tomorrow. I also have my annual physical so hopefully all goes well both places.

I'm headed to Cleveland tomorrow for a staff meeting followed by the Indians v. Yankees game in the loge. I'll stay overnight and miss Henry's soccer game; Sarah and the kids are coming up afterwards and we are going to see Diego. On Sunday, we plan on visiting the Great Lakes Science Center where they have Mission to Mars on the IMAX. Henry will love it, he knows all the planets and is really into space.

Today is Tax Freedom Day, meaning every dollar you've earned up until today has gone toward paying your federal, state and local taxes. I guess another way to look at it is that the rest of the year your money is your money. Somehow, that doesn't make me feel any better.

I'm still baffled that I have to pay taxes on money that I've earned through shrewd investing. Look at it this way, I am investing money that I've already paid taxes on and taking a risk in buying a stock. If that stock goes down, I get to deduct a nominal amount off my taxes. However, if that stock goes up leaps and bounds, I get to pay taxes on the amount it went up. Huh? It seems to me that if I already paid taxes on the money I invested that I should get to keep anything I make on it.

Make sure you scroll down the page for a great video of Henry golfing...



For more of the following, visit http://www.ruminations.com/ . These are a few of my favorites...

TEIAM" -- problem solved!

Self-defense tip: If you're ever about to be mugged by a couple of clowns, don't hesitate -- go for the juggler.

It's amazing Larry, Moe and Curly remained friends all those years. If one on my friends kept hitting me with a hammer on purpose, I'd likely stop hanging out with him.

I think I learned a couple of valuable life lessons that night. One: The old adage about setting your sights on something and just grabbing for it doesn't necessarily apply in strip clubs.Two: Metal toilets are cold.

I bellied up to the bar and ordered a double Jack and Coke. Before I even took a sip, I was so happy that I started jumping up and down and spilled it all over the bar. Seems I suffer from premature Jack elation.

If a company's most valuable resource is its people, how come the employees aren't locked up, but the toilet paper is in a reinforced steel box with a lock, bolted to the stall?

Florida trip - Saturday - It rained on Saturday so we went to Sarasota and visited the Aquarium. Henry always likes these but they are just so-so in my book. I guess when you see most of the stuff that aquariums have when you go to the zoo it takes away the novelty of it. Or maybe I like to see fish when I'm actually in the water, scuba diving. I haven't dove since 2003 though, wonder when I'll get to do that again. On the way back from Sarasota, we stopped at the Tervis Tumbler outlet store and bought some glasses. http://www.tervis.com/ They are pretty neat plastic cups made down there, they don't sweat and have a lifetime guaranty.



That evening we went to Primetime, a steak and seafood restaurant that the in-laws like. I like their margaritas. Bill got the last piece of grouper and after taking a bite I wish I had gotten it. It was delicious. Afterwards, we went on our annual drive down Manasota Drive and saw the million + homes there. Lots of for sale signs though, wish I had a couple million laying around.



Finally, it was ice cream time. We found out that Jack likes ice cream but weren't surprised, that boy can eat.



Sunday morning we woke up and the Easter bunny had visited the house. Henry found some eggs outside before we had to leave for the airport. Everything went smooth there and on the flight home and we got home on time, a nice change from the flight down.

Here is a short video of one of Henry's good drives. I'm not sure they'll let him wear that Star Wars shirt on the course...

It's time for my annual rant and rave against the federal government and our tax system. But first, a few quick tax facts:

• The top five percent of wage earners pay 60 percent of all money the government collects for income taxes.
• The bottom 50 percent of wage earners pay less than 3 percent of the money that the government rakes in.
• Almost half of Americans pay no income tax at all.

I always marvel at this information. The people who complain that only the rich benefit from tax cuts miss an important fact: when you cut taxes, the people who pay those taxes are going to see a greater reduction than the people who already don't pay taxes or pay very little i.e. if I pay $40,000 in taxes and get a 1 percent reduction that's $400 in my pocket. If I pay $100 in taxes and get a 1 percent refund I have a buck.

We just had to cut a fairly large size check to the federal and state government. That doesn't necessarily say that we earned a lot in 2007 but certainly says we didn't have enough money taken out of our paycheck for taxes. But Sarah and I do earn a lot of money; I just don't consider ourselves wealthy. I'm not sure where it goes, we have one car (2002 Durango, we just sold Sarah's car) and I have a company car. We take a couple vacations a year. We have large childcare expenses and save a fair amount for retirement and the kid's education. We live in a fairly modest house. We don't buy fancy clothes and Jack wears a lot of Henry's hand-me-downs. But I guess the federal government considers us wealthy because they feel the need to place the Alternative Minimum Tax on the Briggs family.

It's hard to believe the AMT was passed in 1969 to make sure that 155 Americans paid Uncle Sam his money. Because it isn't indexed to inflation, more and more families like ours find themselves ineligible for basic tax deductions. I'm not happy about paying the AMT, I feel we pay our fair share and would much rather donate this money to our church or charities of our choice.

Fortunately or unfortunately, we'll probably earn more in 2008 and pay more taxes than I consider fair. And then, I'll get to write this all over again next April 14.

Seems like FL was forever ago but I need to finish our week so the kids have an idea of what we did. First though, I have to say again that I'm getting old. My legs are killing me from running around with a bunch of 4 and 5 year olds at soccer. I wish I could resign my coaching duties and stand on the sideline with the rest of the dads.

Friday in Florida - Wednesday night I called Southwest and was able to push back our departure a day until Sunday at 1:00. This really gave us two extra days since we were going to have to leave for Tampa Friday morning. Instead, we went fishing with Captain Gary. KC watched the boys and we headed out. Normally, I drink around 6 beers but this year I only had two. I actually fished and fished well, catching the most fish (but not the biggest). But Bill and Sarah were just throwing in a line with a bobber, I was actually using lures and reeling which is much tougher. At least in my book. After a morning of being on the water, we headed where else but the Tiki Bar for lunch. A relaxing day and some of our sea trout for dinner and we called it a night.

Lots to catch up with but here are two quick highlights. My company announced plans for a 300-megawatt wind farm in central Illinois. That's why I've been going there so often.

And Henry had his first soccer game today. We got beat 7-3 but Henry scored our team's first goal.

More later.

I'm off to Illinois until Wednesday night. As you can imagine, I can't wait to get there. I told Sarah, the only good thing about going is that I can watch the NCAA final game tomorrow night and maybe get to see the end since I'll be an hour behind.

I'll miss the in-laws, who are stopping by Tuesday on their way home from Florida.

We had a busy weekend. Sarah was out with her friends Friday night, Saturday night Henry had a Tap and Tumble recital (video of this coming soon) and today we went to Massillon/North Canton for the Cassler family reunion. It was fun but I wish we could have been out in the warm weather today instead of the car.