Who's the Hero

I was just reading the "manifesto" of Andrew Joseph Stack, the man that flew his small plane into the Eschelon building in Austin, Texas last week.

Before reading it, I had heard that Stack's adult daughter, who now lives in Norway, made the comment that his actions were inappropriate but that he was a hero.

Your dad was no hero, chick.

What he was and what he represents is a horrifying truth in America: with the way the IRS does business this type of event should not come as a shock.

If you don't know someone who has had difficulties with the IRS, then you are in the minority.  If you have had problems with the IRS yourself, don't consider yourself special.  It's pretty common in our country with the current IRS policies and procedures.

In fact, I have personally experienced the IRS meat grinder. Several years ago, due to false information filed by a former spouse, my husband and I filed our tax return only to be notified that our refund was being withheld to pay $2,400 in past due taxes and penalties.  After doing the necessary research and submitting all the proving documentation, it was apparent that the past due taxes were not our responsibility.  That, in fact, our refund should not have been withheld.

You'd think.

It took almost EIGHTEEN (18) MONTHS of telephone calls with dozens of different IRS offices and departments and people and letter after letter after letter repeating THE SAME INFORMATION before the IRS finally acknowledged that, Yes . . . we are entitled to our refund and the back taxes were the sole responsibility of the former spouse.

But . . . we did not get our refund. The IRS advised us that since we did not prove BEFORE the tax refund garnishment that the debt was not ours, then we had no refund coming to us. According to the IRS, we should have proven the debt was not ours before we even knew about it. When the taxpayer owes money to the IRS, he could lose everything if it is not paid. If the IRS owes the taxpayer money, there is no hurry to pay if it gets paid at all.

In the end, we both felt like we had been run over by a truck but at least we did not owe the IRS any money.  We got screwed out of our refund and felt relief that that was all they were going to do. That was a big wake up call . . . the voluntary taxes from decades ago are now mandatory and are being used against us. And in the case of Mr. Stack, caused a senseless and avoidable tragedy.

I empathize with Mr. Stack's frustration and feelings of hopelessness at the hands of the IRS and its inane policies. But he was no hero.

The gentleman killed in the building after the plane crashed was Vernon Hunter.  His son took issue with Stack's daughter's "hero" comment.  As should we all.

"My Dad served two tours in Vietnam. My Dad was the hero."

Yes, sir. He was.

Quote of the Day

"Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote that he is not making a present or a compliment to please an individual -- or at least that he ought not so to do; but that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country."  ~ Samuel Adams

I am so not HERE

because I am so already on vacation in my mind.

We have already made all our reservations for our July vacation so now all I have to do is think about it and plan for it and pine for it to already be here.

Five months is a dadgum long time to think about an event that will last 10 short days.

I need to find me a hobby to distract myself.

Call me cRaZy but . . .

but I am so stinking jealous of the East coast. They are just getting pummeled by snowstorms. And I write this in hopes that everyone has electricity and heat and food. And books.

But I miss having a good ole dump of snow once in a while.  I grew up in the Panhandle of Texas and we got at least three big snows every winter. Very rarely did they hit on Christmas (as scheduled) but we still got our fill of wintertime fun growing up.

Now that I am living so far south in central Texas, I'm lucky if I see the teeny tiny itsy bitsy little frozen bits in the air before they melt on their way down.  How the heck I am supposed to build a snowman THAT way? I gotta have something to work with, people!

Re-evaluation Time

Wait, is re-evaluation even a real word?  Been in the legal biz too long cuz we just make 'em up as we go along.

After surviving (and I literally mean "survive" in every sense of the word) a horrible 2008-early 2009, we are now actually coming out of the darkness of those days.  And with this emergence we have come to some new realizations. And just affirmed some old stuff we already knew.

First, the old news is that together we can make it through anything life throws at us. We're pretty damn tough. Sometimes even tougher than we think we're capable of.

Second old news is that even when our faith is weak, it is a lot stronger than others. And out of the difficult times we always come out more committed to our faith and our Lord. He truly never deserts us - - we just sometimes let the hard times block Him from our line of sight.

New news is that we have shuffled up our priorities so that enjoyment of life as a family makes it closer to the top of the list.  In the past we have put too much emphasis on new stuff, better stuff, top of the line stuff. Well, we're gonna start livin' on the cheap from now on. Guess what? I don't need a new truck every two years. And neither does the Hubster. Because we have a new goal.

Something that brings our little family immense joy is a place.  And our resources are going to be re-prioritized so that we will have a home at this place.  It's not a goal that is going to be accomplished overnight but it is a goal that brings excitement just in its simple undertaking.  I can only imagine the joy to be experienced in the actual work to get to the goal.

God is good all the time.  All the time God is good.