Oliver News

I saw a quick two minute news story on yahoo today about last minute tax saving tips - they didn’t even talk about IRA’s - what’s wrong with these people? Aren’t IRS’s one of the things everyone should consider last minute before tax time? If you owe two thousand to the IRS can’t you just invest $2,000 into an IRA and avoid paying the government that money?

I don’t know if the laws have changed, or if perhaps the tax experts know that no one ever uses the IRAs unless they already are, so they were saving their breath. I did find the info cool about writing off loses from the stock market, but if people can write off losses from stocks why can’t I write off my gambling addiction? It’s the same thing really.

Saw an article on yahoo news (from AP) today talking about how several states have been recycling drugs to save money on health care costs. Programs are setup to take unused medications and get them the the poor and uninsured. I’m sure the drug companies will be looking for ways to discredit this practice and ensure that they won’t be losing any drug sales in a multitude of ways.

The past ten years have really surprised me, I have looked at a lot of commercial real estate and the terms that these landlords have been offering are unbelievable. I have seen building that needed more than just a facelift, but serious repairs, just to get them up to codes, and landlords have been offering them as is.

It seems that things are changing a bit - from an article at the Anchorage news, it is being recommended that landlords and commercial real estate owners spend some money fixing their places up if they want to have a chance to lease or sell. This is a good thing for buyers! Now if people only had a chance at getting the credit necessary to take advantage of the better deals that are being offered today.

I found a story via yahoo news today that is saying verizon and sprint will be pushing these cell phone signal boosters for the home. I had seen a story about these a month or so ago on G4, and though it was a novel gizmo, but the more I think about it, it really makes sense. I have had issues on occasion with cell phone signal at my various homes, and I know others that have as well.

Sam in fact had such horrible cell phone coverage at home that his voicemail actually said “I’m at home leave a message and I’ll call you when I leave.” Well I had thought that meant he was not to be disturbed at home, but what it actually meant was that he had zero signal at home and would not get any signal until he got three blocks from his house where the signal would actually start to pick up.

He didn’t live far from the main roads and was in a suburb just 8 minutes from downtown. So I see there is a big need for this in many places I assume.

I had to fly to Europe and it was a whirlwind. I remember trying to figure out exchange rates and costs for food and travel based in other currencies. Most of the language barrier was not an issue, but the sheer hustle and bustle of our itinerary kept me from seeing many of the sites that i yearned for. I will definitely be returning for a longer stay. Perhaps Octoberfest would be a good time to spend several weeks abroad. Danny had told me about a comic and anime convention in Europe that was awesome, so I am looking into hotels and flights for that as well.