BNGIowa

Collaborate

When I read the article in the newspaper this morning about the "atom smashing scientists," the thing that caught my attention was the cost. I searched for blogs that might give me some insight into why ten billion dollars should be spent on an experiment that might give insight into black holes.

I found a   that suggested collaborative experiments can be valuable. It mentions that the world wide web was the result of a similar collaborative effort.

Personally, I have been collaborating more and more. I like to discuss ideas with others. It is a lot of fun. When I remember to keep my goal in the mix, fun and productivity are a great combination. When the fun and productivity collide, the explosion is valuable. Maybe not worth ten billion dollars, but hey, everything is relative.

Service with a Smile

Over the labor day holiday I spent a whole Saturday tearing down flood damaged homes in the Cedar Rapids area.  As with other service opportunities, I sometimes agree to help as I inwardly would much rather sit on my bum and do nothing or do what I want to do.  Despite my inclinations, I got my name on the list and showed up with some others of my church group to work a full work day.  Not really knowing exactly what I would be doing, I was mostly hoping that I wouldn't have to come in contact with too much fecal material as I heard stories of some of the less sanitary conditions that may exist in these homes.  My aunt who just moved here from Houston, TX to the Cedar Rapids area joined me and we followed our 10 other team members in a caravan to the project we'd work on.  As we took the exit just south of the river on the I380 bridge, I saw disturbing images of blocks upon blocks of deserted homes and small businesses.  Many of them had yellow signs signifying there was very limited entrance to the properties due to flood damages.
As we went into the home armed with masks, goggles, gloves, and crowbars I still wasn't quite sure how this project was going to start or end.  We recieved the go ahead to start removing the plaster and walls down to the framing of the home.  After ripping up the first portion of the floor, we found the second layer damaged and needing removal so we removed that flooring.  By the time our team was done with the house we had stripped back the interior of the home and it was ready for the contractor to come and start doing more of the skilled labor.
At the end of the day, I had participated in two different projects doing similar work.  Both homeowners were very thankful as we worked and when we left for the hard work we'd brought to pass.  I had talked to some of the volunteers from Cedar Rapids and learned that some of them had been voluteering in a similar fashion for the last few months spending evenings dur ing the week and long days on Saturdays helping the families of those effected by the floods.
I am proud of myself for suppressing the natural tendancy that I would normally follow to take the easier road.  But I feel that as a result of my decision the next time I am faced with a similar decision I will recall the "grateful that I helped" feelings and provide meaningful service to those around.  You love and appreciate those that you serve.

Smile, it helps.

Maybe you heard there has been flooding in Iowa. Lots of it. Cardensaraid has a link to some photos. My personal experience with this latest torture by Mother Nature was on Thursday. My mother-in-law was flooded out of her apartment.

She called at 5:30am and told my husband and me that she was standing in 3-inches of water. She wasn’t crying. She didn’t exaggerate. She even mildly protested when my husband said he would skip work and drive the hour and a half route to her town to help her.

My husband spent the day drying out what he could and moving most of the rest to higher ground. This was a very sad and physically exhausting experience. And, it isn’t over yet. She has to find a new apartment and move into it.

The remarkable thing about this story is that my mother-in-law is 90-years-old. She gets up every morning and does “her exercises.” She takes a walk three evenings a week and manages her own household. There is a saying, “Attitude is everything.” Observing the attitude of grace and strength my mother-in-law mustarded under this type of pressure was inspiring.

Education Credits and Deductions

With April 15^th   just around the corner, it is time to start thinking about ways to provide tax savings for you and your family. Educational tax savings is one area to consider as tax savings can occur by means of an educational expense deduction or educational credits, and is often forgotten by those taxpayers paying for education related expenses. 

 

For taxpayers who paid qualified tuition and related expenses in 2007 for post high school education for themselves, a spouse, and/or dependents, either a $2,000 or $4,000 deduction may be available. The size of the deduction or credit depends on the taxpayer's income level.  This tax deduction has not currently been extended for the 2008 tax year.

Two educational credits which provide taxpayer benefit are the Hope Credit and the Lifetime Learning Credit. The Hope credit is for student expenses dealing with tuition and related expenses from a post secondary school.  The student has to be in the first two years of post secondary education to qualify. The maximum per student credit is $1,650 per student for 2007 ($1,800 for 2008).  The Hope credit can be used for multiple family members. With the Lifetime learning credit, a taxpayer can take a maximum credit of $2,000 for qualified tuition and related expenses.  Lifetime learning credits are available to any taxpayer that is not eligible for the Hope credit. With both of these credits there are income level phase outs which begin at $47,000 for single filers and $94,000 for married filling jointly for 2007.  The thresholds increase to $48,000 and $96,000 for 2008, respectively.  Taxpayers are only allowed to take either the deduction or one of the credits per individual for the tax year.  With everybody trying to save money on their tax bills, this is one area which may make a difference.

For more information on this topic, contact Brent McClure at Kiesling Associates.

Whose right is it?

My birthday was on New Year's Eve. My family offered to take me out to lunch to celebrate. I chose a restaurant nearby.

It turned out that the restaurant section wasn't open for lunch so we settled into a spacious booth in the lounge. There were only a few other diners at the place. We weren't there very long when another diner lit up a cigar. A stinky, smelly, smoky cigar. It was awful. We decided to move to a smaller booth that was closer to the door in order to minimize the discomfort from the smoke.

I was taught in my social studies class in 5th grade that "my rights end where your rights begin." I wonder sometimes what that means. Did we have the right to eat lunch without gagging on cigar smoke or did that man have the right to light up?

In the future, I will call ahead when dining out and only patronize establishments that are smoke-free. It is too bad. That restaurant had great food, I would like to go back, but won't until it goes smoke-free.

I know that many countries and cities have laws prohibiting smoking indoors. I would like that law in Iowa. Especially since too many people don't practice common courtesy.