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Chico's Journal

chico
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04/24/2007 12:48 #39024

Deathtroika this week
Category: death
Who will die and complete the deathtroika?

1. Boris Yeltsin, former president of Russia

2. David Halberstam, Vietnam-era journalist and author

3. ?????
jenks - 04/24/07 13:40
oh wow. halberstam was my college graduation speaker. I have one his books but still haven't read it- but he gave a great speech.

(and sorry if I just posted an empty comment. oops.)
jenks - 04/24/07 13:40

04/12/2007 19:59 #38869

Jeopardy!
Category: tv
I haven't watched Jeopardy! in a long time, but a friend from high school just become the new champ. Chris was the editor-in-chief of the school newspaper the year before I was. Maybe this means I'm in line to win $25,000 on Jeopardy! next year. ;-) If only.

image

chico - 04/13/07 16:42
Oddly enough he's the second person I can think of from my high school who competed and won on Jeopardy!. This dude Fred from my graduating class won 5x in a row and ended up in the Tournament of Champions a few years ago. I think he went home with over $100,000 altogether. Crazy.
ladycroft - 04/13/07 14:47
coolio! i watched that last night :) i always thought it would by fly to see someone i know on a show like that.

04/08/2007 21:38 #38809

oh, it's ON, baby
Category: hockey
Last-second heroics by Miro Satan, Viktor Kozlov, and Wade Dubielewicz in an overtime shootout in the final game of the regular season have propelled the Islanders into the NHL playoffs as the number-8 seed in the East -- which means the Sabres will be hosting the Isles in the first round! Woo-hoooo!




All the more sweet because it sends Darcy Tucker, Mats Sundin, and the other Leafs packing. hehe

OK, so who's got first-round playoff tickets? :-D

image
chico - 04/08/07 23:34
hey thanks (e:mrmike) , much obliged!

also, thanks for the tip about the Time Warner/Adelphia switchover... i finally called and apparently will save $15 a month by officially switching over to an equivalent TW package. so if you stumble into hockey tickets, i can afford to buy all those beers i'll owe you :)
mrmike - 04/08/07 22:46
I run into some. I'll call -- Short of that, I'm headed to the plaza at the arena for Game 1. I'll watch outside

04/07/2007 17:18 #38788

the third sure thing in life...
Category: irritants
Ugh, time to file tax returns. Because of the move, I have to file NJ, NY, and IRS. Oh, bother.

Oddly enough, I received tax forms from Pennsylvania (I worked there in 2005, but not in 2006)... but not from New York (hello?!) and not from New Jersey (wtf?). Go figure.

So I've been printing tax forms for the last hour or so. It's almost as exciting as watching paint dry. Somebody kill me.

I could deduct some moving expenses but that would (I believe) mean itemizing my deductions, which I have never done before (no kids, no home ownership, no investments, etc.) and do not particularly feel like doing for the first time this weekend or next.

It is ironic that I hound my students about not procrastinating when it comes to papers and studying for exams, and here I am filing my taxes during the last 10 days before the deadline. I made my bed, now I gotta sleep in it.

FFFFFFFFFFfffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff


theecarey - 04/10/07 15:52
"Procrastinate now, dont put it off" ;)
oh yes, taxes.. those are due soon, huh? 10 days ahead of time, thats not so bad! I'm known to complete them literally just minutes before the deadline. This year, I aim to sit down and do them a couple of days before the 15th. Hope yours goes smoothly and indeed is more fun than watching paint dry!
tinypliny - 04/08/07 00:17
Its a taxing time for sure. I have had my W2 for 2 months now and 10 days before the deadline, I find out that the amount they withheld is waaaaa..aaaay greater than the amount I got.
Needless to day, this is a job for.... well sadly me. I hate it when you can't call on Superman.

03/29/2007 21:54 #38689

Bass Pro is coming after all...
Category: buffalo
Well, like it or not, Bass Pro is going to be the anchor for the redevelopment of the Buffalo waterfront:


It took $25 million in public funds to lure (har-de-har-har) Bass Pro to sign on the dotted line (ouch!) but I guess you have to give to get. I'm sure it will be all over the news on TV tonight and in the papers tomorrow.

My question: what sorts of tax breaks and other behind-the-scenes incentives were dangled in front of Bass Pro to get them to commit?
jenks - 03/31/07 17:33
I know this is oversimplifying, but is buffalo really that stupid that it thinks a fishing store is going to solve all our problems? I must be missing something b/c I don't get it.
carolinian - 03/31/07 16:18
With an every growing number of cities trying to economically rebuild themselves by focusing on retail and tourism, it will only be a matter of time before our entire economy is based on tourists visiting other tourists.
mrmike - 03/31/07 14:09
The sad part is that the city acts like Bass Pro is the key to big turn around, the magic silver bullet to cure downtown woes. What the leaders seem to forget that in the nieghborhoods that are working like Elmwood or Hertel is that it's lots of little things that work together. Sucks that we seem to give away the store to make the store happen, especially one with a parking garage. My dad has a roughly 40 year old copy of the Buffalo News with the headline "Waterfront ready to take off." The news never did say when exactly....
metalpeter - 03/30/07 18:22
The funny thing is on the Artvoice poll I voted Bass Pro the biggest pipe dream if I remember correctly. It would be so funny if they won that award and still wound up coming here. What I don't like about the deal is that the way I read it, we lose the AUD. The other buildings we lose no big deal but the AUD should be used for something.