I Don't Usually Go Christmas Shopping On Black Friday...

 ...but when I do I buy myself something nice. Really, I was not intent on making any purchases yesterday and definitely was not about to go out to stores to do any Christmas shopping nor any other shopping. Black Friday is just too crazy for me; the lines I have seen outside of some stores over the years have been long and sometimes there for days with people camped out in tents while waiting before the sale event. The last time I waited on really long lines for many long hours was for tickets to see Led Zeppelin at Madison Square Garden and for one of their shows at the Nassau Coliseum in Nassau County NY (I was on the line for well over 24 hours in freezing cold for the one at the Coliseum). That was back in the 1970s. I got great tickets for both shows but had to settle for listening to one of those shows broadcast live on the radio because I wound up in the hospital after an emergency appendectomy; I did not eat Quarter Pounders with cheese for years after that because it was after eating one that I had the appendicitis attack but I digress so...

 

As I said, I usually do not shop on Black Friday but I unintentionally wound up doing just that yesterday and I got myself a nice Christmas present. For a good many years of my adult life,  I have figured if I am going to essentially be Santa Claus for others then I may as well be Santa for myself too. Now mind you, I did not get off the couch to shop at any stores; instead I was scouring the Internet at first looking at some things on the Beretta site (not guns) and then merely looking at Black Friday deals related to firearms. I was not seeking to get myself something but was just killing time and wondering if I should get my son anything else firearms related for his birthday when I came across an advertisement for this at $359.99: 

 

 

 

 

That is a Beretta APX A1 Carry (click on the link for specs and such) 9mm pistol. I was not looking to buy it but it did seem like a great deal. After seeing ad, I checked out the pistol on Gun-Tests Magazine's website. The APX Carry got a best buy review from them and an A rating so I figured its A1 version would be just as good. I was beginning to get intrigued and then went to check on prices for it at AmmoSeek.com. That is where I saw that the Sportsmans Outdoor Superstore was offering it for $60 less. That hooked me.

 

Since the price of this one was only $299.99 and that there is a currently running $100 rebate offer from Beretta on them, I ordered one almost without hesitation. Yeah, I admit, I hesitated a bit because finances are not all that great right now but what pushed me over the edge was that I'd be getting a Beretta at a Hi-Point price. Imagine that a Beretta for $199.99 plus tax after the rebate and I got free shipping too. How could anyone who is a Beretta fan turn down that Black Friday deal! I can only hope (and I guess expect) that the quality of this little gun will be as good as what went into the making of all of my other Berettas. It will be my first striker fired, polymer frame, Beretta pistol but definitely not my first Beretta. I kind of, sort of almost definitely a fan of Beretta pistols - being I already own ten of them, I suppose that probably qualifies me at least as a bit of of a fan.

Merry Christmas, ahead of time, to me from me. My thanks to  Bartolomeo who started it all in 1526, to Pietro who modernized the company and to all the others in the Beretta family who have made & continue to make some of the highest quality firearms the world has ever seen. Thanks also need be given to the big guy upstairs who gave us his only begotten son as the gift that started it all. 

 

For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son: that whosoever believeth in him may not perish, but may have life everlasting. (John 3:16 )

 

Christmas, as I see it, has always been about giving; albeit, maybe not to ones-self but can you blame me? After all it was 'such a deal' (Murry the vendor, personal communication); so, how could I resist. I hope your Christmas shopping works out as well as mine has so far.

All the best,

Glenn B

The House Is Breaking The Bank...

...and I mean that almost literally since it sure is breaking my bank account. First it was the water heater that went on the fritz. That went for about $1325, plus $150 for the permit (can you imagine the politicians eating steak on my dime, I can), plus another $25 for the inspections. Then it was an air conditioner that went kaflooey. Another $110 for a new one, yeah we got a special on some off name brand (if it lasts three years it will have been well worth it). Then the upstairs toilet had to be replaced. About $180 for the toilet and installation kit; then the friggin plumber had the nerve to charge $225, use my tools to install it, and not even set it level. They sent someone today to tell me how they think it will be okay not levelled. I think I may have to contest that charge with Amex. Finally, well for expenses of the last month up through today, I shelled out another $1,195 to have an oak tree chopped down and removed from my property. That was the best offer from over 8 tree service places (well I had an estimate of $675, but that guy just seemingly fell off the face of the earth once he came to give me an estimate). I waited about 3 weeks for him and said fuggedaboudit, and got the next lowest priced guy to do it. He sent a bunch of illegal aliens nice guys to my house to cut it down today.

That of course was enough, but not for my black cloud. Nope, my personal black cloud dumps on me even after it has covered me from head to foot. You see, now the side door needs replacement. A year or a couple of years back, the door jamb cracked, right at the bottom hinge. Good old Stanley Doors, they used the softest wood I have ever seen for a door frame. Well once it cracked, the crack found its way right through the screw holes of the hinge. The screws wobbled and flexed, and ate those screw holes bigger and bigger until now they will not hold at all. I had some contractors who were here for other work, over the past 2 years, look at it. They told me the same thing, it would cost as much or more than getting a whole new door installed to fix it. So now I am off to Lowes to look for a steel door, with steel frame - no more wood, unless they have some with hardwood frames. My best guesstimate is at least another $500 to replace the door.

There I was a few weeks back thinking I would be buying us a new barbecue grill, a nice one, a stainless steel one, for this season - since the old one is literally rusting through and falling apart. I guess that just isn't gonna happen any time soon. As a matter of fact, it looks as if my annual road trip with Brendan may be off this year, or certainly curtailed what with all these unexpected expenses and the cost of gasoline. He is graduating high school, his prom is tomorrow, and I thought for sure we would have a special road trip this year. Maybe we can get away with a camping trip within a hundred miles or so of home. That shouldn't be too expensive, I mean what is a couple of hundred bucks added onto about $3,700 of unexpected expenses in a month. Yikes I hope nothing else goes wrong with this gosh darned money pit or we may not be able to eat except for every other day!

If anything else goes wrong I seriously may have to consider selling some of the boomers; and heck I don't have that many to sell in the first place. I would sure miss em if I have to resort to that. Then again, if gold peaks near a grand per ounce, I do have a 14K white gold college ring I can sell, and one other small gold nugget ring I would be happy to get rid of. Maybe I could get a few hundred for both of them. Other than that, there isn't a thing in my house worth all that much. Heck, I just thought, I may have to stay on my job more than another year if things keep going down financially, that is a truly scary thought, but at least I have a job. Oh well, enough b-ing and moaning; I am off to Lowes to go door shopping to see how much I have to add to the approximately.

In the meantime if any of you can think of any legitimate and reasonable ways for me to earn some quick cash - let me know.

All the best,
Glenn B

Taxes Suck...

...and will apparently suck big time for me this year. I have all my necessary tax records except the W2 from one of my wife's two jobs. Since that job is roughly the same amount of hours as her other one, and the pay will work out the same, I am assuming that the same amount of tax was deducted from each job. My wife has them take out too little, not by my advice mind you. I was all ready to take her on a 6 day Caribbean cruise in April for our 22nd year married, but that looks as if it about to sink. From my best estimation, to my worst, we will owe between $2,500 and $3,300 in state and federal taxes. Being that on just my salary alone we would have been owed over $3,000 in refunds you can figure they took way too little out of her pay. She does not make all that much in a year, but when added to my salary, it gets to the point where we lose some very nice deductions (such as the deduction for college loan interest). Subtract from our deductions/credits because Brendan turned 18, so we lost the child credit, we no longer have our daughter listed as a dependent (well we can, but it may be much more advantageous for her to claim herself instead of me claiming her as she can get a great credit for her college tuition, and we cannot claim it even if she is listed as our dependent) and we wind up getting raked over the taxman's coals this year.

I am a little bit, no let me say a whole lot, pissed off that the wife did not put in new withholding forms last year! Hell, I had filed my withholding last year so a set amount of extra cash would be taken from each of my paychecks, and I also claimed 'married, but withhold at the higher single rate', all hoping that would do the trick. It surely did not. Now the money has to come from somewhere. So we probably have to tap the savings account which is not a whole heck of a lot. Our bank account probably has about 2.5 times, or less, of the amount we will owe in taxes. I hate to do that to our savings, but I sure hope the wife learns a lesson from this. Some of the money we have in the bank was marked for a tree removal (they want $2,000 to chop it down and haul it away - a big oak tree), and more for my son's bedroom furniture (his set was literally falling apart) and more for needed electrical work in our house. If we pay off the taxes with the savings, it will leave very little after those other expenses are also subtracted from it, and then up pops the question of the cruise. No cruise for us, not if I am right about how much we will owe in taxes, and how diminished our savings are about to become.

Oh well, life goes on, and is pretty good without the cruise; but it sure would have been a nice boost to the morale of the marriage. As it is now, we have to tighten our belts a bit, and start saving to boost up the funds, not go on the cruise, and keep grating on each others' nerves. Maybe a nice vacation to Hoboken this year (if you ever lived in Brooklyn, you have probably heard that line before)! It, that is the belt tightening, will not be easy with the bills as they are now, but it definitely is something we can and will have to do in the upcoming year if I am really to retire at the end of it. Taxes suck. Maybe I can sell some guns at the gun show this weekend, although I hate to even consider it. Then again, maybe I can avoid that if I strike it rich - ha ha. Still, I have definitely got to get some time out with my metal detector. Really though, the way it looks now, I should not have bought the metal detector even though the money I paid for it all came from Christmas presents. Now I see I should have put that money to better use now that I realize my probable tax liability - 20/20 hindsight. Did I say taxes suck!

All the best,
Glenn B