Money Talks

Damn, I really need a vacation. I love Vegas, but some time away would be a good thing. Today while I was out running errands in the heat of the day, I walked into the cool refreshing air-conditioned comfort of the lobby at the bank, and the first thing I thought was This reminds me of being on a cruise ship and coming in from the pool deck and going to the Pursers desk on a hot sea day...

Yep, I need to get away. I need some sand, palm trees and saltwater. Time to call the payroll office and find out exactly how much vacation time I have this year and how long I have to use it (Every other company I've worked for in the printed that info on my check stub. Not Stations).

Speaking of paychecks, today I got another one, and it was somewhat disappointing. But then I looked closer and saw the $750+ in deductions that went into 1) Direct Stock Purchase 2) 401-k 3) Direct student-loan payment. Damn, I wish I knew 15 years ago what I know now--but I was the typical doofus in my mid-twenties thinking I had plenty of time to save for retirement, so now I'm playing catchup at 15% of my income every week. I also thought I'd have a second income by now, but it's lean times in the poker world right now, so that hasn't happened just yet. I may have to lower my standards some--I could end up at O'sheas if I'm not careful... I don't care, as long as I'm pocketing an extra $150 per day in cash, it doesn't matter where I'm pitching the cards.

And while I'm talking about money, this was going to be my lucky year--it's the first time in nine years that I was going to get a tax refund--I've been averaging owing about $1200 every April for the past decade, so on the very last day of tax season when I finished up my return and learned that I'd be getting back $329, it was almost enough to make me run out in the (back) yard and do the nekkid happy dance.

Waiting for the cashola to hit my account, I got a letter from the IRS this week. It seems that I still owed $206 to the California Student Aid Commission from back in 1988, so they took their cut. And oh by the way, I still owed the IRS $124 in interest from 1997. Funny how that worked out, leaving my refund balance at exactly $0.

Damn The Man.

I should've taken all those student loans I got in 1988-1991 and bought stock in Microsoft, Starbucks, Amazon, and Exxon, instead of buying all those berry wine coolers back in college trying to get laid. Because if I had, I'd be a rich dirty old man, and I'd still be getting laid by college girls every weekend, twenty years later...

Another one of life's lessons learned the hard way.

Mikey