I know, I know, you are all a bit shocked that this is the second update within a week from me. I haven't been all that enthusiastic about doing updates, which I can only assume is because I spend so much time these days reading and writing for school that I have little interest in doing it here. Also, I am not sure how interested you are all in the details about my education. Lastly, I'm not sure how much I like this site anymore. I think because I'm coming up to a one year anniversary of the site, I am also getting bored with the layout and design. I might, I stress here, MIGHT consider revamping it for the one year anniversary. With that all said here's what's in my mind right now...

School
I have spent the past few days searching the Internet in my county trying to find information on deeds and other land records from the County Clerk's office. What a pain in the ass that has been. The clerk's website sucks! I actually had to substitute a different county for last week's assignment, because I waited until the weekend to do it. I couldn't find information on the site and of course the office was closed. Today I spent about 30 minutes on the phone and another two hours searching the clerk's site for information on land records. I have all the information I need to complete one of the assignments due this week. I just need to put it all together. You'd think that simple information like the documentary stamp tax rate would be listed on the site. Sheesh! Anyway, more reading is necessary and to complete the two assignments.

House
Shhhhhh! I haven't done much this past week. Don't tell The Wife. I intend to do some cleaning today as a surprise for her. So, again, Shhhhh! Don't tell her.

Dustie the Cat
I think we need to change the cat's name to Dustie the Tasmanian Devil. I swear this cat, for her age, is a little terror. I'm going to have to cut off her phone privileges because every time I am in the basement working, she must call her friends. I hear running races above my head, so I go up to see what's going on and she's sitting quietly on the couch. I come back downstairs and a couple hours later the same thing. Also they must have beach parties in her litter box. Either that or she is preparing for flooding, because she sand bags the entire floor from the bathroom to the front door.

Gaming
I need to install the first EverQuest, so I can transfer Asylum's Gate off of my character. I hope to do this over the weekend. I want to do this, so I can cancel my account with Sony and reclaim all that hard drive space. At that time I will reinstall my music writing software and try to make time to write music again. I miss it.

Taxes
I know you folks probably aren't as passionate about our Constitution or how taxes are being implemented by our government as I am, but I'll provide this bit of information that has me wondering how important our government considers our Constitution. The President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform has been holding public meetings. I was astonished to learn about something that occurred at the recent meeting in Chicago. The panel's Chairman, former U.S. Senator Connie Mack III was asked about the constitutional problems related to the enforcement of a direct, un-apportioned taxes on wages and salaries. The Chairman's reply was disheartening to say the least. Senator Mack replied, 'I received very specific directives from the President concerning the income tax -- and determining the constitutionality of it is not one of the issues we are to cover.” If you are interested in reading a bit more about this particular item, check out this page on the We The People site, especially if you believe in our Constitution and are flabbergasted by such a response by a former government official. This just shows me how much disregard for the Constitution our government has these days.

Well, that's it for this post, I have school work to do and a house to clean a bit. Oh, and some phone calls to make.

Okay, so it's almost been two weeks since the vacation to the Bahamas. By the way, it was lots of fun for us. The Bahamians at the Wyndham Hotel love The Wife and I. They treated us like VIPs and we actually ended up saving more money on this trip than we thought because they would just give us money for cab rides and food and drinks and other miscellaneous stuff. However, the Breezes Resort will most definitely not see our return in the future. I'm not too sure there is a benefit to an all-inclusive resort. Sure you don't have to carry money around for drinks or food, but hell, the quality of food and choices become limited. Additionally, there is less incentive to go out and really visit the location being vacationed at. Why go to a nice restaurant when you want to get your money's worth from the all-inclusive cost. There were a couple of nice restaurants in the all inclusive that required reservations, but with their limited menus, they could only be visited a couple times without repeating the meal. The atmosphere in the resort was very dorm like with people leaving their room doors open, music blaring out of them, and running back and forth between each other's rooms. Okay, fine we did go just before Spring Break and they were probably trying to beat the rush. All in all, it was a very enjoyable vacation for The Wife and I, however, we learned we prefer the variety of choosing restaurants, entertainment, and atmosphere when vacationing.

Okay, now here's what's been happening since the return home...

School
I found that I had to write an essay as part of my final exam for my Intellectual Property Law class and had only four days to figure it out and get it done. At the same time I needed to read the first three chapters of the text for my March class, Real Estate Law. I had two assignments, and three discussions to participate in as well. To say I was busy with school last week would be an understatement.

House
It was nice to come home to a clean house from the vacation. The Wife and I did a massive house cleaning before we left. Now, it is a bit back to it's normal clutter, dust, and fur level. We will probably do a light organization on Saturday morning, as we have plans to get together with a couple friends for dinner.

Dustie the Cat
She obviously missed us and is now back to her usual self running up and down the hallway, sitting in the window for her usual sunbathing, meowing at the stairs to let both of us know that we should be in the same room with her, and the occasional vomit to make sure "daddy" will clean it up and sit with her.

Gaming
I have quit EverQuest. This was actually before vacation. I have come to the conclusion that I might try a couple of upcoming MMORPGs, but will probably not stick with them like I did with the original EverQuest. I find that playing games with other people, although fun at first, is more work than play. At least with these huge, time consuming games. I have returned to playing Pogo for my online gaming and will be going out next month and looking for single player games again. I know I want to pick up a copy of Sid Meiers' Pirates remake, and Talam mentioned recently on his site the latest installment of Vampire.

Taxes
Many of you know my feelings about taxes and the Constitution. Many of you know about my feelings about getting out of the system. I believe The Wife and I had removed ourselves successfully from the system, but I was unwilling to place ourselves in possible jeopardy by taking that final leap of faith. Therefore, we went and had our taxes done for 2004. I was terrified as to what the result might be after changing The Wife's W4 status in order to retain as much of our money as possible. Well, my fears were quickly forgotten when I heard the damage. We are seeing a small amount of money back from the state where The Wife works and a significant amount back from the state we live in. The money we are to see as a refund is half of what we owe to the federal government. I was astonished! We managed to actually get by this tax season relatively unscathed. This was due largely in part to expensing my education. Next year we will be able to expanse a little more of my education, but will not have quite as much to deduct, so we are making a small correction to The Wife's W4 this year. Hopefully, we can retain as much of our dollars as possible and get through the next tax season just as efficiently. I am looking forward to seeing what will happen over the next 3 years with the federal tax system. I keep up to date on the discussions taking place at the federal level by keeping an eye on the President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform website. Lastly, on the subject of taxes, here is the We The People site. This site I read weekly to see how their Right to Petition lawsuit is doing. Check it out if you believe in our Constitution and that the federal government is taking away some of our constitutional rights.

www.thebackofmymind.com
I know I haven't been really keeping up with the Joneses, and I won't make any lame excuses why I haven't been. Just keep in mind that I am still here and until the day you see a "We cannot find 'www.thebackofmymind.com'" message, there will always be an update coming. We just never know when.

If I don't post again tomorrow, have a great weekend!

Off to the land of sun, sand, and little colored cocktail umbrellas. Be back next week!