10 Thoughts for April 15, 2014

1. As of noon I haven't yet started my taxes.  Applying for an extension is pointless, because you still have to go through the motions of estimating how much one owes, and if you underpay you have to pay the interest on the amount you fell short, calculated between the Jan 1, 2014 and the day you finally filed your return.
2. On why I'm not buying Google Glass today (the only day that it is for sale to the general public, in limited quantity): At $1500 for the "explorer" edition, I'm not exactly willing to part that much amount of money to be a beta tester, though I have certainly entertained the idea considerably.
3. It's nearly impossible to believe, but India's Supreme Court has beaten the US in recognizing transgender as a protected, separate gender, partly because they outlawed homosexuality last year.  This may seem like a flip flop, but Hinduism and Hijra have a long history of cultural importance in India, and technically, if you're a true Hijra you've given up your sexual organs in the process, therefore likely asexual.
4. Foolish girl from the Netherlands tweeted a fake threat to American Airlines.  Some have come to her defense that it was an obvious joke.  Do these kids remember the Aesop tale of the boy who cried wolf?  Probably not; stuck in their social media, they weren't paying attention.
5. So, I ended up trying to watch part of the lunar eclipse last night / this morning.  Clouds kept obscuring the moon off and on.  Just as it was reaching full penumbra, the whole sky covered up with clouds.  I gave up completely and went back to procrastinating on getting my taxes done.
6. Whew!  This was the absolute closest I've ever cut it to the midnight deadline.  At exactly 11:55 p.m. I dropped the state return / estimated tax payment forms off into the box.  About 8 or so years ago, I was there at 11:45 dropping off an extension. Never again!  Until next April, that is.  :D  This part of the blog post signifies that it's after midnight...and I'm still high on adrenaline, by the way.
7. As always, the most difficult and laborious part of tax season is actually getting things compiled and arranged.  Each year I tell myself to be better prepared and each year I fall off the wagon.  The one thing that bugs me every year, is that H&R Block does not automatically enter depreciation amounts from last year, properly.  They -- the inadequate software -- really screwed me up one year when the IRS changed my returns after I had just left the entire thing alone thinking that they automatically shifted the values within your depreciation schedule.  It's all my fault though...I didn't actually start my returns until...7:30 pm.  :D
8. Okay, so I might get some penalty for state and federal -- depends because I did actually follow the guidelines given from the forms, and I still ended up owing a ton more.  Let's just say that I had to pay a handful of digits in combined taxes (federal, state) tonight.  For some reason I had a disconnect last year with what I earned, in no small part because it came in just a handful of big chunks in between the vast valleys of nothingness.  
9. I tried in vain, to lower my taxes for 2013 by establishing a traditional IRA online, following a talk on the phone with my bank that I'd have to either physically go in to establish one or wait for the forms to come in the mail...I thought that this could simply be done online, but it wasn't to be so.  Instead, I tracked down my options and started an application with a fund management group with higher fund rate options.  I thought I had the deadline beat, but perhaps because the company is located on the east coast and it was past midnight their time, the transaction did not get completed.  Or it could be that it had to be business hours for the transaction to be completed in the first place.  Either way, I guess I've made my enormous contribution for the 2014 tax season which should keep me out of the penalty box for sure!  I felt all grown up today.
10. It's not eloquent, but Google's Project Ara modular phone is expected to be ready by Q1 next year.  Have you seen it?  What a crazy leap Ara is from what we currently have!  Technically speaking, it was a small company that was bought out by Motorola while Motorola was part of Google, and when Google sold off Motorola to Lenovo they kept the Project Ara team and program for itself.  I think it's a great idea and in about 3 years it'll be da bomb.