Tomorrow marks 5 years of Kraut. Thanks to nevermoor, and all you other FKers, present or absent, who have made this place what it is.
Meanwhile over at WWP, Kazmir faces Hudson in the battle of the off-season acquisitions.
In the Kraut tradition, use this as a game thread, grill, or lounge, as we count down the 96 hours until real baseball.
I love you guys.
Did someone just grab my ass?
Hi.
Handsy.
it is on tv
Not on mine!
Five years, really? That’s impressive, and a little absurd.
Sweet, time to sell it to Yahoo!
The keystroke harvesting revenue isn’t enough for you NM? You greedy bastard.
Not now that all you bastards use apps for banking.
huddy. we have #15 for you
Neither pitcher seems to quite have their control all there.
Kazmir mostly looks good though.
Not so sure about Hudson, who just walked Kazmir.
kazmir looks better. sss
I guess we should tell Francona to give his MOY award to John Farrell.
Vikings!
Krukow after Hudson hits Moss:
“A back-foot breaking ball isn’t literally supposed to hit his back foot.”
He has also not quite come to terms with how terrible a fielder Michael Morse is.
3 bad plays in 5 innings now.
I have warmed to him
I’ve always liked Krukow, he’s reasonably charming and insightful, except for the Grab Some Pine Meat schtick.
Mmmm, Pine Meat schtick…
that schtick was all I heard when I got here in 2001. bugged the crap out of me. But I ddin’t watch enough giants baseball to hear his broadcasting. when I saw the bay bridge series I saw a few years ago and found him fair.
yeah… im in this camp too. Also I don’t mind the grab some pine thing so much, if used sparingly it could be a good, the problem is frequency. Like Imagine Dragons.
I can’t make myself watch ST games.
Me neither, the lack of a meaningful outcome mostly kills it for me, especially compared to the single elimination NCAA hoops games.
I can barely force myself to watch meaningful games.
Yup.
Did I just touch your ass?
Mebbe.
I liked it.
Nasty nasty pitch.
Schlonged
See ya!
Hey it’s Brandon hicks.
Braxton, please.
always invigorating.
FKtG.
xctly.
Five years! Wow.
My god, Morse is so bad.
So bad he gave his bat away, should have been his glove, eeesh.
The new A’sTalk guy, Troy, isn’t half bad.
Is he all bad?
So much for the stretch out, I guess.
I’m not sure what to think on this one. I feel like there’s a bigger chance of him succeeding out of the pen and he can help the team immediately there. On the other hand, if another starter goes down we’re screwed until and unless Griffin comes back.
On the other other hand, maybe he can be used in a long man/emergency starter role.
Stretched out in the bullpen like Chavez was and like the original Anderson plan was. I thik I prefer he start in Sacto, but IF they could make it work it gives us the best of both worlds.
but someone has to go when cook arrives. mauy as well be Pomeranz. Especially early in the season when we are expecting 5 plus innunga from chavez and milone.
Mickey, have fun!
Hah – not even Premier Gold status.
Obligatory Mickey Morabito hair pic:
A style he has rocked for quite some time now:
Gimenez waived and claimed by Rangers.
Presumably the roster slot reserved for an ex-Ray who can’t hit will be filled by FULD.
They can field a infield of Kz, Rosales, Murphy, and Gimenez. Maybe if we DFA Barton, he can help them complete their infield.
Mark Kiger must be lurking in their minor league system somewhere, waiting for his chance.
Give him a chance.
don’t forget Michael Choice and colby lewis
Parrino as well
Oakland Visitor’s Bureau starting to get into the Opening Day spirit.
OMFG I cant wait to leave LA
what happened now?
LA is and continues to be itself!
and i can see the light at the end of the tunnel. 9 days.
happened to me in Seattle.
As soon as I committed to leaving, I noticed and couldn’t stand teh drizzle.
right… it was just an annoyance before but now its like i cant stand it.
Looking forward to a hug you big shiny skinny man.
hahaha of course… hugs are my specialty!
Fangraphs writers pick Oakland to win the AL West. Well, most of them do (Oakland 19, LAAAAA 8, Texas 4, Seattle+Houston 0).
Is this room getting dusty?
Wow, I didn’t know any of that, Sonny’s been through a lot.
Mine feels like an old attic!
Lowrie the presumptive choice for player rep
I’m still more afraid of his wife.
on the pregame show he could not muster a nice word about the 80 game suspension. Deflected nicely to more testing. His wife may be rubbing off on him
Sorry doc. Helluva run for the Cyclones the last three weeks. Unless the dogfather shows up you win the 2014 FK alumni pool.
are we all out? did brian go to wisconson or something?
Not to my knowledge. Both my brothers went to Virginia so I’m on their bandwagon now.
one of my judges went to Wisconsin. He took yesterday and today off to go to anaheim. happy judge is better for me, so I guess that is my bandwagon
Well, that didn’t last long either. Now I understand why Coach K wanted more ACC teams in the tournament.
how’s long beach doing?
go niners, beeeeeeeeeach!!
09er’s?
1949ers.
not a veronica mars fan?
totally but i missed you joke by a mile.
win
Fresno State plays game one of some super duper loser tourney on Monday night. You know its bad when the NIT looks down on you.
Going 6/15 from the foul line is not they way to advance. Especially in a game lost by five points.
Louisville’s unis have gray pinstripes, never seen that before.
Hey, mlb.tv works on my interwebz.
Yup, it’s free with no blackouts today for all you NRAFs and RAFs
No, I mean in general. My internet usually doesn’t have the giddyup to do anything.
Sadly, this “being a nurse” shit is haard. My ass is dragging. I don’t care about this game, so I’m out.
1) i like punto playing but not hitting 2nd. Did melvin read teh book over the winter?
2) Jesse Chavez looks like he knows he doesn’t belong and is trying to show em wrong. This is not meant to be a comment on his gumption, grit or attitude. It is not menat to say i think he is going to do well because of his heart. Just an observation
Yes, I kept hearing Ken and Vince and guests talking about his increased confidence, but he still looks to me as if he got on the mound and said “Oh shit! Now what??”
Those strikeout pitches at the base of the knee were clutch as shit today, He looked legit.
He pretty much followed his autumn sample, I’m in.
Yeah, I’m actually pretty bullish on Chavez. He seems like the type of pitcher who will put together some smoke and mirrors success at Oakland but nowhere else (see Greg Smith, Dana Eveland, etc, etc).
He’s looked good in both of his televised spring starts.
I don’t think it’s as much smoke and mirrors as Smith/Eveland. Those two both walked almost as many as they struck out, even when they were putting up decent ERAs. Chavez has better stuff, and seems to be getting better at hitting his spots.
The caveat is that he probably still can’t go deep into games. Maybe he’s just not stretched out yet, or maybe his pitches don’t have much margin for error. Either way, Melvin needs to be ready for a quick hook after 5 innings or so.
I think he only had 70 pitches ( and just up to that point a no hitter ) when they took him out, so there’s hope. I did think it was weird to pull him out just then, I would have liked to see him get out of it.
carp. Trout close to signing away his fisrt three years of FA
That seems like a pretty bad deal for him.
yeah, I don’t see how his first arb year is getting him less than $15 and then the three firs FA years I can’t see him not getting $30M per.
Even if he gets injured someone will pay him the equivalent of $140M
It’s similar to the Freeman deal except Trout is twice the player as Freeman. I hate the slegnA.
Nice
yoenis, don’t swing at that
Morse walks after taking strik three twice
Jaso! He annihilated that pitch.
damn. I missed it
What’s the matter with Timmeh?
Barton returns to his natural state
wooooo!!
Once he got that three ball count, we all knew what was going to happen.
Swing and a miss on a 88 mph fastball?
Shush you!
prelude
Bases loaded and he’s swinging first pitch? That’s not what we pay him for!!
Coco out of the game…
he had 2 ABs, maybe the sky isn’t falling
ken and vince talking about the trout deal. show they don’t understand how baseball works…again
what is with sonny gray in the bunker with a touque and scarf?
After he walked last night he was running the bases in a heavy parka.
Apparently he gets cold easily.
Er, nevermind that was Kazmir.
Apparently all our pitchers get cold easily.
Kid after my own heart
I’m trying to decide if Sonny is better or worse than Anderson and Trogdor in the annals of terrible A’s interviews.
I have the sound off. He looks cute, I’ll give him that
He tried his best but Ray was utterly indecipherable.
Does he still have the moustache?
I don’t think so but it’s hard to tell if I’m not actively looking for it.
That’s what they say about my moustache.
He gave it to Lincecum.
Timmeh’s gameday photo was hilarious.
That thing looks terrible, let’s hope it runs away while he’s sleeping.
I’m starting to think that Reddick might actually be good this year.
Am I deluded?
yes
The observational impression I have is that Reddick pendulums wildly based on his own self-confidence. Maybe more than any ballplayer I remember.
I’m a post wrist surgery believer, we’ll see, he grinded’ playing hurt after all, there’s that.
I have more confidence in him than Cespedes but that’s not saying much right now.
Everything will be beautiful and nothing will hurt
So, that’s something else that’s the matter with Timmeh.
I get that this is a get away day, but, A) its spring training b) the next destination is less than 20 miles away, and C) the giants and everyone else doesn’t expect to play tomorrow.
What is the raincheck policy for pre season games?
I think Wolff Crowley and Fisher will suit up and play before they refund anyone’s ticket price.
For Bacon Tuesday 2012 and a couple of other early-season miserably damp games, the A’s graciously allowed us to turn in our sodden ticket stubs for a ticket to another non-premium game.
wel, cespedes seemed to hit that one hard
Welcome to Ray, Scott.
he has a very similar look to gray
Hello, Ed.
DMOAS!
TWSS?
Heh.
stasis
FULD with a bases-clearing double against a lefty.
this makes me happy.
I really dislike the salute to your bench
I don’t have the sound on, but I love the director getting all the giants fans on their pocket phones
this is a bad inning for doolittle
I like stikeouts for pitchers
3-0? to tyler colvin?
May as well walk Scott kazmir
the last two dinks suck. they are going to happen a bunch this year, huh?
Krautiversary bleg: Mrs. N wants a DSLR, both because she is interested in outdoor photography (hikes, etc) and because she wants better shots of Yoenessa. She is coming to this without prior photog-training, but I want to get her something she can continue to use if she does take classes. That said, I also want it to be pretty accessible early on, and not hugely expensive.
Thoughts?
I am not an expert at all. I bought a Canon T3i last year before going to Costa Rica. There is a learning curve, but I’ve been happy with it.
You probably can’t go wrong with the camera. I know this is not much help, but as far as the camera goes, they are all pretty good and the main thing would be that she feels comfortable holding it and browsing the menus, changing options and so on. Don’t go for megapixels craze, it will only make everything slower and more voluminous (like file storing and transferring). If you go for one of the major players, like Nikon or Canon, you will be compatible with a huge amount of what matters most – glass. If you go for entry level (like Nikon D3000) just be aware that it will not work with the lenses without AF motor, so some of the bargains there will be off the table.
If you can name me a certain budget, I can try to see what fits into that (getting the prices from US e-bay, you will surely have a better overview.
Generally, I think one of the main questions you have to ask yourselves is whether you are comfortable changing lenses or you prefer to have a one-size-fits-all thingy. If latter, then you could for example look into D3000 (body only for some $100-150) and a Nikon 18-200 VR II (lens for around $600). It is light (which is good for hiking), it covers the most of the range that you will need (on a DX body, it plays as a 27-300), so you will be more than covered on a tele end, and perhaps lacking a bit in the wide angle. I suggest trying out a few lenses just to see what kind of focal length you feel comfortable with.
The good thing with lenses is that they keep their value rather well, much unlike the bodies themselves, which are more-less just computers and have similar product life-cycles. So, in case you decide you want something else, you can always recover good chunk of the value (or even most of it, if you already buy used).
Another way to go is to get the kit lens with the body, something like 18-55, and use that for your trips and than add a f2.8 normal zoom. Second-hand Tamron 28-75 sells for around $300 and you will love that 2.8 when you start taking portraits of Yoenessa. I have owned that lens and it is very comparable to Nikon 24-70 that sells for around $1500. It is also a FX lens, so if you decide to move to full frame body later on, you can stick with it.
As far as the accessories go, I’d recommend at least a clear protection glass, which will help both against scratches and fungus. The only filters that you might need are circular polarization filter and gray filter. Everything else that someone might try to offer you, you can do in post processing. Also a small and handy tripod, something like gorillapod.
And finally, whichever way you go, it is probably a worthy investment to buy some software like Lightroom. Lightroom 5 sells for some $75 in US (you bastards have everything cheap) and it will work a s both a darkroom for developing your photos (with many very useful options that can speed up picture development) as well as a good archiving/catalog functionality. You should definitely shoot in RAW and you will find Lightroom extremely useful for getting the most out of your pictures. Also, please stay away from Photoshop / Instagram and similar for the sake of the humanity as a a whole.
So that would be something that all together (body / lens(es) / filter(s) / pod / SW) goes for $800-$1000 (e-bay prices). If your budget is significantly lower or higher, let me know.
Thanks, this is really helpful.
I’ve heard the Nikon or Canon point elsewhere, and I suspect it makes sense to just start with their entry-level bodies and some of the ideas you mention here. Part of what’s intimidating is that as far as I can tell this initial purchase basically locks her into one of those brands forever, and I have no idea which one she’d want if she really gets serious.
And, of course, a solid 95% of the stuff is greek to me.
Between you and me – it’s the same shit.
And if you stay smart and invest your money in the glass and not the bodies, then even a switch (for whatever strange reson one should be wanted) won’t be expensive.
So here’s a stupid question I don’t know the answer to: if I’m liking the idea of the Tamron lens (which sounds like a fantastic suggestion) why do I need the 18-55 lens? I ask not critically, but because reviews of the Tamron say people are using it as their primary walking-around lens, and I’m assuming that’s exactly what a starter kit lens would be going for.
You don’t necessarily.
The only reason you would need it is because of the focal length. D3000 is a DX camera, which is Nikon way of saying it has a APS-C sensor, which again is a mumbo-jumbo for saying that its sensor is smaller than what we are used from 36mm film cameras. Because of that the focal lengths work differently than what we are used from such cameras and the same lens will have 50% added focal length. Meaning your Tamron 28mm-75mm will play as a 42mm-112mm. If the numbers don’t tell you much, some rough guidelines are:
< 20 mm: super wide lens 20mm - 35mm: wide angle 35mm - 85mm: normal 85mm - 200mm: tele 200mm+: super tele These are not a gospel, just something I wrote from the top of my had at 6 AM. So that additional lens would cover you from 27mm-42mm, effectively. You might find that 42mm is not wide enough for your nature pictures. The best thing to do is to go to any store and try a lens out to see what kind of angles you get with it. Make sure you use it on a proper body, though. Nikon FX series is FF (Full foramt, meaning that the crop factor is 1, so that a 50mm lense will work exactly like that) whereas Canon's entry models have different sensor sizes, some of them cropping at 1.3 and some at 1.7.
That’s super-helpful. This stuff makes me feel like an idiot, so let me just do a final rationality check so you can tell me if there’s something horribly wrong with this idea:
1. D3100 body (285 new, not significant discounts on Amazon for used, but I’d shop around). 3100 seems like it has enough meaningful upgrades over the 3000 (low-light sensor improvements, can use screen instead of viewfinder, etc) that it’s worth the up-charge.
2. Tamron Lens (359 new, also pre-shopping around for price breaks on used)
3. Clear filter, seems like something worth buying new and relatively high end. Especially if the Tamron is a common-enough diameter that one filter protects future lenses. As proof I’m new at this, I’m guessing at 67mm because that’s what all the different Tamron pages link as “customers also bought” but I can’t see how the customers know. Certainly open to being talked down if this is an overbuy.
4. Gorillapod SLR ($33 new)
5. Lightroom 5 (actually looks like $130 since I can’t buy an “upgrade” version).
Total, about $850 new. I suspect I can trim a fair bit shopping used, but I wanted to have fairly complete prices for new equipment to assess those deals.
Does that make sense? Is there one-to-many stupid choices in there?
The very first thing listed under the specifications of the lens is “Filter diameter :67mm” :)
I just checked the differences (I don’t have any entry-level or prosumers cameras myself) and yes, D3100 can be a good choice, too. It has a little bit smaller sensor (shows how much I know about that end of the offer, I thought Nikon only had one sub-size) meaning that the crop factor is 1.6 and not 1.5, meaning that your Tamron will work like 45mm – 120mm. On the other hand, it is one ISO stop more light-sensitive and you can shoot HD movies with it, of you are into that (D3000 can’t shoot any movie format).
OK, that Lightroom price makes much more sense (and is still cheaper than around here). Even so, you will not regret that investment.
As for the filter, 30 Eur (or USD, the prices seem to be similar like that) is a fair price for a quality clear filter. Think of it as an insurance and if you decide to sell the lens, you will both get some money back on it as well as get better price on the lens itself if your buyers know you have been using it with filter all the time, so there will be no money lost there.
The filter diameters are both a product of a company standard and the focal length / aperture. So, you cannot really count on having all your future lenses use the same one. In fact, most of my Nikkors (Nikons own lenses) are actually Ø77mm, so if you buy some of those later it might not fit. If you want a single protection glass you can always go for the highest diameter of the lot and use step-up rings, e’g 67<->77 (basically a ring that you screw to the front of your lens and can screw larger filters on it). I would advise against it and for buying a protective glass for each lens, because changing is a hassle and you can damage your lens when it’s not mounted, too. If you decide to go for a circular pol or gray filters later, there it might be worth considering getting only one.
You have probably thought of that, but nevertheless – make sure you specify “for Nikon” when buying a third party lens, because they also build them for Canon and other manufacturers.
Overall, yes, this seems like a great starter set to me if you are not all that concerned about wide angle aspect. It will immediately give you possibilities to shoot much, much better and sharper pictures than you are used to, and it will allow you to decide where you want to go next, if you decide you need something more/better without throwing away any of your investments. If you decide to sell it off completely in two years, the only part that will drop a significant part of the value is the body itself.
Generally, I bought lot of my equipment used and have never had any problems with it. (I actually had a super nice experience once, where a lady sold me a D3 claiming it had 20,000 actuations and I found out it had over 100,000 and she returned me 400 EUR as her way to say sorry). So you might be able to save some money there. Money that you can use in future for:
– A wide angle lens. I think you get a good bang for your money with something like Tokina 12-24 (used for ~$300 on US Ebay). This is something that comes in helpful for nature/architecture.
– A fast telephoto lens. Something like Sigma 70-200 f2.8 (~$600 used). You will need that to capture Yoenessa’s first HR or similar sport action.
– An external flash. ~$100 for lower power ones. That is helpful for taking the pictures of people inside where you don’t want to flatten the face by having light shown on them directly.
I wouldn’t get any of it now, just giving you some heads up where the journey might take you if Mrs. nevermoor gets serious about it.
Also, it might seem strange that I shoot on Nikon, own mostly Nikon gear, get accredited as Nikon photographer to events, use their service and yet recommend three lenses, none of which is a Nikkor. I love Nikkor lenses, and I think that they are better than the three I listed (all three of which I have owned, too). But on a crop camera (like D3100) the difference is not that great, if any. But you can get these three used third party lenses for ~$1500 together, while each one of the three professional Nikkors will cost you that much or more alone. The biggest reason you only see Nikon and Canon gear on professional events is the service. If my personally owned Nikkor lens has a problem during a big event, I can give it in at 11 PM and have it waiting for me at 6 AM repaired. I can also use any of the zillions of lenses Nikon has, meaning I don’t have to buy and own all that stuff myself (Telephoto lenses cost $4000-$8000). But, for a normal use, these alternative lenses are more than adequate and at a fraction of the cost. They are also much better that the kit lenses where Nikon/Canon basically cash in on the name.
Don’t be shy to ask anything else. As you can probably notice, it is a fairly slow week at work. Also, sushirito.
This is awesome, and I’m sure I’ll call back to this comment round-about XMas time. Agree that the wide-angle (or external flash) would be the next logical progression if she really takes to it, depending upon whether she’s more outdoor-focused and frustrated at the wide-end of the Tamron or Yoenessa-portrait focused.
Appreciate the caveat about Nikkor. All this stuff is good to have in mind, and when Yonessa takes her knucker into her first MLB game I’m sure we’ll have upgraded to it. These alternate brand suggestions are definitely the right thing now, though. And it sounds like this Tamron is a real gem that I would never have found in a billion google searches.
Thanks!
(also, I’m sure they added that detail about 67mm between my comment an yours. no way I could be that blind.)
Glad I could help.
Ultimately went with the D5000 because someone was selling their mildly used one with the Tamron lens for a great price.
The third shot Mrs. N took (with some automatic-setting cleaning in Lightroom):
Thanks again!
Oh good, this isn’t fixed
Well come on, you expect that with no major events for a couple of months things might have moved along?
Slusser wrote later that only clear water was coming up from the drains this time, not sewage. That’s much better.
there is no reason to play this game, right?
Rick Tittle on radio says Clay Wood and a “tribunal” of others are on the field assessing conditions, while a few random Giants are starting to play catch.
Then he started to drone on about PEDs and I turned him off.
game over man
CSN-BA says game cancelled. (I guess that’s what Ed’s last comment meant.)
related?
Hell, I’d trade Taylor for that guy’s mustache alone.
Amen! And I hate to lose a Stanford guy so it’s gotta be a pretty sweet satche for me to say that.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=berger001eri
Really too bad for Vogt and Taylor, can’t really ask for a better spring from them…
vogt will play 60+ ml games this year
Hm, according to the official website, Nakajima was added back onto the 40-man roster yesterday, and then optioned to AAA. Any idea why they would do that?
Slusser says “so that they could designate Taylor.”
Which I still don’t really understand.
Thanks, and go As.
So the State of California doesn’t tax interest received from Ottoman Turkish Empire Settlement Payments … WTF.
Those people have suffered enough!
Skags 3.2 97 pitches. Many ABs against Dodgers AA and AAAs
SuSlu with the snark and a quality column.
really on the attack. odd.
Not SuSlu.
oooops. Olster. Suslu tweeted it, I just assumed, but it didn’t sound like her
Once he stopped being funny and got bitter instead Ostler has sucked. However:
FK and the Selig Special Commission, separated at birth.
Oh shit, I forgot to tell you guys when we got the site started we were supposed to be working on a report.
YOU SON OF A BITCH!
That made me laugh.
I chortled.
asvd
So THAT’S what Monkey has been doing!
Ha!
The Chron overall has some really shitty sports writers. Aside from Slusser, I can’t think of one worth reading.
Or, you know, the city and county could do the repairs that they’re responsible for.
Thanks, and go As.
Yes, blame the tennent, not the landlord. Because… stuff… and money… and um… ’cause…
The season is apart to start, and my hellish work and home schedule is going to get easier.
So I guess I better start paying attention.
A report from the Coliseum: well, from the West Side Club since I never went anywhere else:
– the many photos of Oakland which were there for FanFest are all gone, replaced by many photos of A’s history.
– the space near the eastern entrance that last year was sometimes a pizza stand is now a wine bar
– the adjacent area that for several years was a salad and sandwich stand is now a beer stand
– the club menu is somewhat different, notably with more desserts including salted caramel ice cream sandwiches, and with more salads including kale
– I did not see them myself, but reportedly the western entrance is now host to several charging stations. YAY.
– The temporary stand in the WSC that sometimes has Cuban sandwiches was serving Mac and cheese with pulled pork topped with fried onions. It was good, a huge portion for $13.
– I also tried the new official drink of the A’s, Zevia, a stevia-sweetened soda. I liked it, it’s not as crisp a taste as my beverage of choice, diet Coke, but it had a pleasant, light taste. Served in cans, not cold enough and I think it would be better on ice. It was surprising to me to be handed an actual can of soda in the Coliseum, though, since they have dispensed all beverages in cups that would not be suitable for hurling at players’ heads since I became a fan.
Unfortunately, I’ve since learned that some people have a violent intestinal response to stevia, and I think I’m one of them, unless it was the pulled pork. More plumbing conspiracy theories?
Maybe it wasn’t stevia, it was ricin.
Has anyone ever taken a state tax rebate as credit against their following year’s taxes? We did last year, and now it seems like we get doubly federal-taxed on the credit.
– We were due a $500 rebate on our 2012 state taxes, which we put towards our 2013 taxes.
– On our 2013 federal return we have to declare the $500 credit as income, so we’re taxed on it in 2013.
– We’re due a $700 rebate on our 2013 state taxes, which rises to $1200 when we apply the $500 credit.
– We’ll then have to declare the $1200 rebate as income on our 2014 federal return, so we’re taxed on the $500 a second time in 2014.
Am I missing something (apart from the obvious “take the money when you can”)?
I don’t know dick about it, but apparantly I took a standard deduction for sales tax and didni’t list my refund as a credit and was penalized twice by the IRS this year when i found out. I blame turbo tax completely. I don’t use turbo tax anymore
I’m rusty on state tax issues, but quickly glancing at the instructions for Form 1040 and Schedule A:
You’re reporting the $500 credit for 2012 on your 2013 Form 1040, Line 10, but then you should be deducting it right back out on Schedule A, Line 5. Make sure Schedule A, Line 5 includes the $500. So you’re not being taxed on the $500 in 2013, but you will be taxed on $1200 in 2014.
So A5 includes not only the state tax deducted from my paycheck but also the $500 credit … that actually makes sense! Many thanks for the help (and for lurking – please don’t be a stranger).
And happy birthday!
it’s a taxing weekend over here too. (right after lunch.) (right after clearing lunch.) (right after a nap from lunch.) (right after a nice tea to wake up.) (right after… either clearing tea or maybe a short hike!) (oooh, a hike sounds nice right? mushrooms sprouting, maybe newts…) (and then taxes. focus on taxes. while making dinner.)
You people are crazy, who does their taxes this early? There’s weeks and weeks left!
This is just spotting the problems so I can fix them in the weeks and weeks in hand.
I discovered one big one. In December 2012 I reviewed LIGO for NSF, and they’ve changed from paying expenses to paying an honorarium from which I have to pay my own expenses. Unfortunately that also makes it declarable miscellaneous income and I have to file as a cosmology consulting business. Since I did the work in 2012 I included it in my 2012 return; of course NSF actually cut the check in early January so now they’ve declared it as taxable in 2013. I’m guessing this means I have to declare it again and revise my 2012 return
I think usually that’s ok, as long as you declare it one or the other times. That, at least, is what I’ve learned for charitable donations right at year-end.
i find you really can’t start procrastinating soon enough.
This is the first time in 15 years or so I can file the 1040EZ, not one 1099!!!!
I finally decided to start mine. After paying $7k last year (my fault for not paying attention to the withholding), this year we’re getting a refund. I really over-withheld on the state, so I can adjust my W-4 for the rest of this year.
shit son I did my taxes in February!
Me too, but it’s because I knew that I was in for a massive refund.
I always do mine so that I can pay for my car registration and parking tickets at the end of Feb.
Does doing them in February mean you get your money in February, too?
If you file online, the refund usually comes in ~2 weeks or so.
i think my money was in my bank like 7 days later
Yes it does. Usually I get a refund that is similar in size to my delinquent parking tickets plus my car registration renewal.
Anyone know where the “add ticket” button went on “My a’s tickets?”
depends how you’re loving your ticket, but usually the button is right there, just a little higher.
Happy birthday, andeux.
Thanks.
Also happy birthday Soaker.
And MC Hammer.
happy birthday all of you
And Eric Clapton too! (I probably shouldn’t mention Celine Dion.) Interestingly, not a great birthday for major leaguers. Ripper Collins (?) looks like the best of the bunch, with 3 ASGs and 135 career HRs, though Chris Sale may turn out to have a better career.
Have a great day!
Thank you. I proved this morning I can still shovel 6 inches of snow.
Opening Night should be more than one day after our birthdays. The weather issue is clearly a message from the Frozen Head of Ted Williams, “Don’t try to start baseball season in FKin’ March!”
Best guess for a makeup date if we have a postponement tomorrow is Monday, June 23. The Indians are at home the previous day and play the following night at Chase Field. The A’s are at home vs. the Red Sox the previous day and are at Citi Field vs. the Mets the next night, so it’s more of a travel issue for the A’s than for the Indians, but neither team violates the 20-day rule and both have an off-day the following Thursday due to those 2-game interleague series. You could play a doubleheader this Wednesday afternoon, but 27 innings in less than 24 hours right out of the chute is a lot to ask of the bullpens, and the A’s would need a sixth starter this week.
Happy 5th Anniversary to FreeKraut.com/.net
On the 10th year anniversary I’ll take you to some place nice.
padres look bad. wonder if they’ve considered a more sailor-related look with lots of white instead of marines’ camo.
RIP Lorenzo Semple Jr.
Jimmy rollins grand slam of scheppers. Pedro figureoa warming up.
6-0 Phil over rangers.
Royals score three in the 4th against Verlander, including a bases loaded walk.
And Cliff lee gives 4 back. (with some help from a lazy Jimmy rollins)
It’s hard to do but Cliff Lee is sucking more than Scheppers.
Total meltdown, eeesh…
alex rios with a 3 run hr. 7-6 ramgers.
Gameday scout:
Just think about how much money someone got paid to code up Scout.
Not enough to get a coherent product, apparently.
Happy belated Krautiversary to us! Does anyone want my tickets for Tuesday 4/1? I can’t go, and the person who I thought would be using them can’t either.
Email me, please, I’m so fking busy with work today I won’t be able to check here for replies. (distantsun7 at gmail dot com) (Or text me if you already have my number, but I’m not posting it in public)
For those of you not on FB, I think Sal deserves ASVD.
I: OK, someone explain it to me as if I were a six-year-old, please. How can a runner go from first to second in the eighth inning of a tied ballgame on a … drum roll … DEFENSIVE INDIFFERENCE?
Sal: It’s the NL West, all plays are scored as indifference because who gives a shit.
Bwah hah hah!
Seconded.
::bows::
this is why we love you
That, and we can look over top of him without getting on our tie toes.
winner
The final in Arlington: Eagles 14 Cowboys 10
Rangers = last place in AL West
Who do you believe in Lenny Dykstra vs. the LA County Sheriff’s Department? Probably no one.
I believe Dykstra is stupid enough to incite a fight with jailhouse sheriffs, and that the sheriffs are smart enough to know that means they can get away with anything.