Okay, Muskrat, you have found an advocate...

For some reason, the subject of the muskrat came up yesterday.  Logan hadn't seen it, but I mentioned that we have one and that he walks around in the backyard eating things.

I didn't want him to be afraid to go back there.  So, like most inquisitive young kids will do, he asked a series of questions and I answered them.  By the time the conversation was done, we'd covered the following points:

Muskrats are basically herbivores.  They're not hunters, they're prey.  They don't have fangs that carnivores might have, like Logan's dogs or cat.  They're basically defenseless.  They have no way to attack Logan if he were to sneak up on one.  Like most herbivores, their main defense is to run away if they hear anybody coming their way.  They just live in their muskrat hole and hide down there if there's danger.  The rest of the time, they waddle around looking for plants to eat.  (They also eat things like small fish, etc.  So, I guess they're not strictly herbivores.)

After a little bit, Logan said, "I feel sorta bad for muskrats."  When I asked why, he said, "Well, they are defenseless.  All they have is a hole to hide in.  They don't hurt anybody.  Other animals can catch them and eat them."

Yeah, I pointed out that there must not be many predators in our back yard, though, since the muskrat has been there about a year now and only seems to be getting fatter.

Just a few days ago, I was wondering if it was time to shoot the muskrat, but he really isn't causing any harm.  I like seeing wildlife in the backyard and it is sorta entertaining to see him every now and then.  My backyard is awesome.  Very small, but backs up to a big ravine and a good sized creek.  I've seen deer in my backyard every now and then. 

So, even though I wasn't that serious about taking out the muskrat, he found a 9 year old to plead his case.  Apparently, Muskrat is a traditional Lenten dish in Michigan.  (Because it lives in/near the water, it's considered a fish.  Yeah, I know... I'm not a practicing Catholic, so don't bend my ear about it.) 

This is Ohio, though.  No muskrat for dinner around here any time soon.  The kindness and empathy of a 9 year old made me look at things differently.

Quite a Week

A little less than a week ago, I got a chance to go to Japan to help with logistics planning during their disaster.  A few days later, they pulled the plug.

I'm sorta glad I had this little dry-run, though.  I was runnin' round like a chicken with my head cut off and it felt good to be so busy, checking things off the punch list.  Kept me from just sitting around wallowing, which is something I've been doing too much of, lately.

Got my taxes done, and will have to file an amended return because somehow my Navy Reserve W-2 never got to the accountant.  I should get a refund this year, and boy do I need it.

The business continues to give me fits and sleepless nights.  All I can do is keep on doing it.  One way or another, it'll all play itself out over time.  They say it's darkest before the dawn and it was never darker than it was last week.  This week, a few things went our way for a change.  It's still touch and go.  I won't make any predictions right now.  Just wish things would get better, that's all.

Now that I have my taxes, I can start the paperwork to get federal financial aid.  Even with the half-ride scholarship, the business isn't doing well enough for me to pay as I go.  Just one more thing I'm going to close my eyes and hope things work out for the best.

The one thing that is perfect in my life is my little boy.  My pride and joy.  I can't wait for his Summer vacation.  I've always felt that school just saps the little guy.  He has really earned a season of sleeping in and relaxing without homework.  Such a good little guy.  Last night, he sat down and did his homework without being asked.  He's always been a responsible, conscientious guy.

The Taxman, the Plane-man, and all other sorts of odious men.

Got my taxes from the CPA yesterday.  Got everything signed, sent it off and then started reviewing it.

(Yes, I realize the error of this sequence of events.)

Noticed a problem:  my account number for the electronic debit is wrong.  WTF?  Pissed me off.  Then, I noticed we didn't get the child care tax credt.  Then, I noticed that the reason we didn't get the child care tax credit is that the CPA never found my W-2 from the reserves.

DOH!!!

So, already, he's working on an amended return.  It won't be that different.  We'll get back a few more dollars, but the main thing is that a missing W-2 is a bit of a big deal.  Or at least it is to me and I would presume it will be to the IRS, too.

I have no idea what's going to happen with the refund, now.  Lord only knows how long it'll take to get to me.  Nothing to be done, now.  I could have waited until Monday to mail the thing and I should have.  Instead, I wanted it to be taken care of and off my list and this is the result.

Oh well.

I just checked my american airlines AAdvantage account.  (Frequent flier account).  After my last flight, I should have enough miles to get a free ticket, but I noticed that they only had half of my round-trip in there.  Doh!  They say to give them two weeks, and that gives them another week to post this thing, but seriously?  Do they do this by carrier pidgeon?  I mean, why wasn't my flight credited to my account that day?  Next-day at the latest?

I really, really am an uptight dork, and this is the sort of thing that makes me that way.  I can't stand it when things get screwed up and they're outside my control to fix.

Other than that, still waiting on final word about going to Japan next week.  They're not giving me much lead-time on this.  If it falls through, not the worst thing.  I need the money, but it wouldn't bother me to stay in town, either.

Law, the Baseball-verse and Everything

There is a short-fused (Navy-speak for "so... your bags packed yet?") opportunity for a logistics planner in Japan for a few weeks.  I've volunteered for it.

Tessa will be able to handle things if I'm gone.  All in all, she is a great person.  I was/am very lucky.

Baseball season started last night.  We played the best team in the league.  They beat us 14-4, but really, we had one really bad inning and other than that, we did okay.  We didn't play them this well last year.  So, the team is closing the gap.

We have an easier team on Friday. 

Haven't been sleeping well.  I really need to start working out again.  Will have to hit it tonight.

Reaching the end of the road for the business.  I probably need to request a deployment, soon.  If I do, that sort of hoses up the whole law school thing, but ya know, that's how life goes sometimes.  You do what you have to do.

I need to finish up one more class for my contracting certification, though.  I'm really supposed to be a DAWIA Level II, but I can deploy with a Level I.  I need one more class, and am having trouble getting it.  I'm pinging some guys higher up in the chain and the unit is helping by providing verification that I'm in an acquisition billet, etc. 

The timing of all this is bad.  I just keep reminding myself that in this economy a lot of people are having to do things and go through things they'd probably rather not have to.

At least I am not totally out of options.  I'm running out of them, but I'm not out, yet.  Nobody said life was always supposed to be easy.

Wish me luck.  I could use it.  Things haven't really been going my way, lately. 

Back From Texas

The thing I like least about drilling in Texas is waking up at ungodly hours to make early morning flights.  Figure if my flight leaves at 6:00, I realistically need to wake up at 3:00 to give myself time for everything.  I also had to fly out early Monday instead of Sunday night because there was a NASCAR race that made my my usual Sunday night flight too expensive.

So, I'm still wiped out, but need to get back in the swing of things.  Need to make arrangements for a lot of stuff right now.  I need to make some calls to see if I can finally get into a class to finish up my requirements for DAWIA certification.  (Defense Acquisition.) 

The unit may be moving to different locations, other than Fort Worth.  Honestly, I'm not going to pay to travel at my own expense to anyplace other than Fort Worth or Phoenix.  So, if that happens, I'll try and get something local.  I didn't have much luck last time, but there's just no way I'm paying out of pocket for airfare to go to, say, Saint Louis. 

If I finish up that first level of DAWIA certification, that would sort of free me up to transfer to a different type of unit.  I wish I could get back into the DFAS unit in Cleveland.  That worked really well.  Lots of things to love about the Navy Reserve, but the scarcity of places you can drill at is not one of them.

I also need to get things rolling with the school to get my scholarship going, etc.  I'm playing it all by ear.

At this point, the business is just killing me.  Huge weather system rolled across the country, but I had to laugh as I saw the weather map and it dissipated right over my territory.  Fucking hell, this is getting old. 

Logan's travel baseball season starts Wednesday. 

I don't owe any taxes this year.  Trouble is, that means I didn't make any money.  Oh well.  We're still in trouble.  I need to do something different with my life.  I think I can add a second golden rule to my list of hard and fast small business rules.

#1 is don't do anything in food service.

#2 is don't do anything that's weather dependent.  Lots of folks have gone broke waiting for the rain. 

Texas, Navy, Law, Taxes, Baseball...

This week I head down to Fort Worth for the last time until the late Summer / early Fall.  I'll be there for 4 days.  After this, there's a supply conference in June that will take up about half of my available remaining drills.  Then, I just need to show up one last time in September, and I'll be finished for the fiscal year, which starts every October 1st.

I have no idea what sort of drill schedule I'll be doing next year, given that I'll be in law school.  I can still probably travel to drills, but won't want to go down during December since that's final exams.  We also should have a new commander in October.  A lot will depend on how flexible and accomodating he's willing to be with me.  There's just no telling what things will be like in the Fall, so no point in worrying about it now.  At the moment, the only real benefit I get from this is my health insurance since I'm paying my own travel everywhere.  I probably net a few thousand dollars a year, but not much, really.

This will be the last time I get to hang with the Texas homies for a while, too.  It's been great catching up with them. 

I need to get everything bolted down for Law school in the Fall.  One of the bigger implications is that I probably can't go on the family vacation to Disney.  I'll just have to see how that goes.  Maybe Tessa can go in my place.  Maybe Logan can go without me.  He'd probably enjoy the flight and he's a lot older than I was when I first made cross-country flights on my own.  On the other hand, I was a little young when I did my first one in seventh grade.  (Previously, I had crossed the pacific on an airplane unaccompanied, but I was three years old.  I really don't remember anything from that.) 

I'll talk that over with folks and see how it goes.  I'd hate for Logan to miss it, but there's no way I can take that sort of time off, right before finals.  It would literally be the last week of class right before final exams.  Probably not a good idea to miss.

Taxes are coming due.  I have my stuff to the CPA and am curious what he comes up with.  I really shouldn't owe much, if anything.  Once I have my tax returns in hand, I'll be taking them to school to line up financial aid for next Fall.  Not sure what I can do, overall.  Again, I'll just have to wait and see.

Logan's travel season has started up and I can see this will take up a lot of time this year, just like it did last year.  If I do the law school thing, I may need to take a lesser role in baseball for a while.  Once exams are done in early May, I'm fine.  I can participate as much as possible.  However, until then, I'll need to have my nose buried in books.

I have a plan for my first year and it involves getting started right now.  There's a lot that can be done prior to the first day of classes to try and tilt things your way and I intend to do them all.  It's a lot of work, and it is taking a bit of time, but so far, nothing I can't handle.

In the mean time, it'll be nice to get the Navy off my plate until the end of the Summer.  In the mean time, it looks like we might get some rain.  I'm so shell shocked right now, I hardly dare to hope but I need to stay encouraged.  With normal weather, I could be in good financial shape again, soon. 

On this and every other variable in my life right now, only time will tell.