Ft. Hood Shootings

Earlier this week, a tragedy occurred on a military base that is only minutes away from my home. This picture is found at KTLA.com In Ft. Hood, Texas, a gunman has injured over 30 people and taken the lives of at least a dozen people. Rather than comment much on the event myself at this time, I would like to share with you something written by one of those brave American soldiers that was on the scene at the time it happened. The soldier’s name will remain anonymous to protect the source, although you may see pictures of this and other brave souls on the media. Here, unedited and exactly as I received the story, is one point of view from the middle of the activity. Please take a moment to say a prayer for our troops and their families as you read this:

Since I don’t know when I’ll sleep (it’s 4 am now) I’ll write what happened (the abbreviated version…..the long one is already part of the investigation with more to come).  I’ll not write about any part of the investigation that I’ve learned about since (as a witness I know more than I should since inevitably my JAG brothers and sisters are deeply involved in the investigation).  Don’t assume that most of the current media accounts are very accurate.  They’re not.  They’ll improve with time.  Only those of us who were there really know what went down.  But as they collate our statements they’ll get it right.    I did my SRP last week (Soldier Readiness Processing) but you’re supposed to come back a week later to have them look at the smallpox vaccination site (it’s this big itchy growth on your shoulder).  I am probably alive because I pulled a ———- and entered the wrong building first (the main SRP building).  The Medical SRP building is off to the side.  Realizing my mistake I left the main building and walked down the sidewalk to the medical SRP building.  As I’m walking up to it the gunshots start.  Slow and methodical.  But continuous.  Two ambulatory wounded came out.  Then two soldiers dragging a third who was covered in blood.  Hearing the shots but not seeing the shooter, along with a couple other soldiers I stood in the street and yelled at everyone who came running that it was clear but to “RUN!”.  I kept motioning people fast.  about 6-10 minutes later (the shooting continuous), two cops ran up.  one male, one female.  we pointed in the direction of the shots.  they headed that way (the medical SRP building was about 50 meters away).  then a lot more gunfire.  a couple minutes later a balding man in ACU’s came around the building carrying a pistol and holding it tactically.  He started shooting at us and we all dived back to the cars behind us.  I don’t think he hit the couple other guys who were there.  I did see the bullet holes later in the cars.  First I went behind a tire and then looked under the body of the car.  I’ve been trained how to respond to gunfire…but with my own weapon.  To have no weapon I don’t know how to explain what that felt like.  I hadn’t run away and stayed because I had thought about the consequences or anything like that.  I wasn’t thinking anything through.  Please understand, there was no intention.  I was just staying there because I didn’t think about running.  It never occurred to me that he might shoot me.  Until he started shooting in my direction and I realized I was unarmed.  Then the female cop comes around the corner.  He shoots her.  (according to the news accounts she got a round into him.  I believe it, I just didn’t see it. he didn’t go down.)  She goes down.  He starts reloading.  He’s fiddling with his mags.  Weirdly he hasn’t dropped the one that was in his weapon.  He’s holding the fresh one and the old one (you do that on the range when time is not of the essence but in combat you would just let the old mag go).  I see the male cop around the left corner of the building.  (I’m about 15-20 meters from the shooter.)  I yell at the cop, “He’s reloading, he’s reloading.  Shoot him! Shoot him!)  You have to understand, everything was quiet at this point.  The cop appears to hear me and comes around the corner and shoots the shooter.  He goes down.  The cop kicks his weapon further away.  I sprint up to the downed female cop.  Another captain (I think he was with me behind the cars) comes up as well.  She’s bleeding profusely out of her thigh.  We take our belts off and tourniquet her just like we’ve been trained (I hope we did it right…we didn’t have any CLS (combat lifesaver) bags with their awesome tourniquets on us, so we worked with what we had).  Meanwhile, in the most bizarre moment of the day, a photographer was standing over us taking pictures.  I suppose I’ll be seeing those tomorrow.  Then a soldier came up and identified himself as a medic.  I then realized her weapon was lying there unsecured (and on “fire”).  I stood over it and when I saw a cop yelled for him to come over and secure her weapon (I would have done so but I was worried someone would mistake me for a bad guy).  I then went over to the shooter.  He was unconscious.  A Lt Colonel was there and had secured his primary weapon for the time being.  He also had a revolver.  I couldn’t believe he was one of ours.  I didn’t want to believe it.  Then I saw his name and rank and realized this wasn’t just some specialist with mental issues.  At this point there was a guy there from CID and I asked him if he knew he was the shooter and had him secured.  He said he did.  I then went over the slaughter house.  the medical SRP building.  No human should ever have to see what that looked like.  and I won’t tell you.  Just believe me.  Please.  there was nothing to be done there.  Someone then said there was someone critically wounded around the corner.  I ran around (while seeing this floor to ceiling window that someone had jumped through movie style) and saw a large African-American soldier lying on his back with two or three soldiers attending.  I ran up and identified two entrance wounds on the right side of his stomach, one exit wound on the left side and one head wound.  He was not bleeding externally from the stomach wounds (though almost certainly internally) but was bleeding from the head wound.  A soldier was using a shirt to try and stop the head bleeding.  He was conscious so I began talking to him to keep him so.  He was 42, from North Carolina , he was named something Jr., his son was named something III and he had a daughter as well.  His children lived with him.  He was divorced.  I told him the blubber on his stomach saved his life.  He smiled.   a young soldier in civvies showed up and identified himself as a combat medic. We debated whether to put him on the back of a pickup truck.  A doctor (well, an audiologist) showed up and said you can’t move him, he has a head wound.  we finally sat tight.  I went back to the slaughterhouse.  they weren’t letting anyone in there.  not even medics.  finally, after about 45 minutes had elapsed some cops showed up in tactical vests.  someone said the TBI building was unsecured.  They headed into there.  All of a sudden a couple more shots were fired.  People shouted there was a second shooter.  a half hour later the SWAT showed up.  there was no second shooter.  that had been an impetuous cop apparently.  but that confused things for a while.  meanwhile I went back to the shooter.  the female cop had been taken away.  a medic was pumping plasma into the shooter.  I’m not proud of this but I went up to her and said “this is the shooter, is there anyone else who needs attention…do them first”.  she indicated everyone else living was attended to.  I still hadn’t seen any EMTs or ambulances.   I had so much blood on me that people kept asking me if I was ok.  but that was all other people’s blood.  eventually (an hour and a half to two hours after the shootings) they  started landing choppers.  they took out the big African American guy and the shooter.  I guess the ambulatory wounded were all at the SRP building.  Everyone else in my area was dead.    I suppose the emergency responders were told there were multiple shooters.  I heard that was the delay with the choppers (they were all civilian helicopters).  they needed a secure LZ.  but other than the initial cops who did everything right, I didn’t see a lot of them for a while.  I did see many a soldier rush out to help their fellows/sisters.  there was one female soldier, I don’t know her name or rank but I would recognize her anywhere who was everywhere helping people.  a couple people, mainly civilians, were hysterical, but only a couple.  one civilian freaked out when I tried to comfort her when she saw my uniform.  I guess she had seen the shooter up close.  a lot of soldiers were rushing out to help even when we thought there was another gunman out there.  this Army is not broken no matter what the pundits say.  not the Army I saw.  and then they kept me for a long time to come.  oh, and perhaps the most surreal thing, at 1500 (the end of the workday on Thursdays) when the bugle sounded we all came to attention and saluted the flag.  in the middle of it all.  this is what I saw.  it can’t have been real.  but this is my small corner of what happened.

 

 

 

 

Hope = Flowers

There is so much to write about this week; but I am going to start with the flowers in one of my gardens. This summer, here in Central Texas we experienced one of the most severe droughts in recorded history for this area. Here at my home, we try to grow and eat as much vegetables from the garden as we can. Unfortunately, we had to make the decision to save a few grand old trees with our septic watering field and water hoses or to water the garden. We elected to save the trees and the garden mostly died. Towards the end of summer, with over 60 days of 100 plus temps and no rain, we dug up the dead garden and added to the compost pile. Then the rain came. Soon, we discovered that some of the few flowers we had scattered about had thrown their seeds wide towards the end of the drought and sown a beautiful patch of truly, wild flowers. Here are some of the flowers that are now blooming in various patches throughout my yard. The majority of them are Zinnias, one of my own and my grandmother’s favorites.

Tax Tips for Writers

Computers and all those gadgets

 

This is a big subject, but I will try to keep it general and brief enough to give you details but not overwhelm you with information. Can you write off your computer and all the little gadgets that attach or work with it? Absolutely – even if you didn’t buy it this year, you can write off a computer and all its supplies and peripherals.

 

First, let’s discuss when to write it off. If you bought it in the current year that you are dealing with your taxes, then that is simple – get the receipt and write it off. But if you got it in the prior year[s] – we use a law that is allowed by the Internal Revenue Service called ‘Placed in Service’. Well, since you have never written it off before, then the current year is the year placed in service – for your business. You cannot write off the full new price if it is more than a couple years old, but you can write off a large chunk of it. If you bought it in a prior year, you will have to allow for a reasonable amount of depreciation or get an estimate of replacement value. Those are things you should discuss with your tax person.

 

What items can you write off? A general list would be:

• The actual computer, monitor & attachments that came as the packaged set
• Additional items you purchased to go with the computer, such as printer, camera, flash drives, desk, carry case and speakers.
• Things you use with your computer such as paper, toner, software, power cables.
• Internet provider service, whether a sole item, bundled with your cable or bundled with your telephone service.

 

How much can I write off? This depends on whether your business made a profit or not. If you have a profit, you can write the whole entire computer off using something called a Section 179 Depreciation deduction. But if you don’t have a profit, then you must depreciate the computer and take a little each year, generally for five or seven years. But this is only for items that cost $250 or more. Each item that you purchased; such as the desk, software, carry case or printer should be written off separately. There are no limitations on how much income you made in order to write off the smaller items. A rule of thumb is this: if it cost over $250, it is an asset and should be written off over a period of years or as a special Sec. 179 deduction. If it is under $250, then it is an expense and should be written off in the year purchased or the year placed in service.

 

There are so many different places and ways you can use your computer as a write off, so in each individual case you will have to ask your tax prep person where it goes on your return. This information is for general discussion use and should not be taken as advice on how to prepare your own tax returns. Yep, I always got to throw that little CYA in there!

 

Story Circle Network

If you haven’t already checked out the conference site for Story Circle’s next conference in February – please do so soon. This is an event you won’t want to miss!

Deducting Telephone Expenses from your Taxes

The telephone, while annoying in its ability to interrupt you at the most inopportune moments, can be a useful tool and an expensive one as well. This is one tool that you must absolutely deduct from your tax return! 

Is it deductible? Of course it is deductible, but there are many little hoops you have to jump through in order to establish that it has a business use. Many people often ask me if they can deduct ‘part’ of their telephone bill from their taxes. A lot of the times, I have to say ‘No’ because all they have had in the past is one single phone line in their house. The law states that if you only have one phone line that is partially available for personal use, then you can deduct none of it unless you document every single phone call to determine which portion is business related and which is personal. I do not know many people who can do this or is willing to try. No, you are NOT supposed to use a percentage of your personal phone bill. You say you have been doing this for years? Generally, this will not stand up in an audit and it will be thrown out as an unusable deduction. There are always exceptions to the rules and I could probably argue this in your favor if you got called on it, but the ‘letter of the law’ can go either way. 

What you CAN deduct, if you only have that one line – is any long distance charges that are separate from the standard phone bill. That is easy enough to substantiate if you gather an entire year’s worth of bills, add them up and deduct the basic rate charges. Also, if you have a separate DSL or Dial Up charge for your internet service that is included on your personal phone, you may deduct it also. 

Now. This is the future. Most people have not only the one basic phone line, but a second line in their homes, either for their computer, their fax machine, a teenager or otherwise. If you have TWO or more lines in your home, then all except for the basic rate of the first line is deductible. Hopefully your phone company has the snap to list the two charges separately, although they do sometimes get a little confusing with all the taxes and surcharges they throw in there. Some people even go so far as to have two [or more] different phone bills sent to them.

Now for the cell phone. Let’s just say for general purposes that you have a home phone AND a cell phone; although people are starting to give up their home phones completely. If you go by the letter of the law and have only one phone and it is your cell – then you cannot deduct it. However, if there is another phone in the household, it does not matter if it is in your name or that you are paying the bill – you can deduct the cost of the cell phone service. No, you are not supposed to deduct just ‘half’ the bill because ‘I use it half the time’ for business. You deduct all of it. The only time you would deduct only a portion of the mobile provider bill instead of the full amount is if you are sharing one of the multi-plans with a significant other or child. Usually, you would deduct the cost of the full base rate for service and omit the second and third add-on charges for the spouse, child or whatever. For example, one plan that is quite popular costs approximately $100 per month and includes unlimited texting, photo sharing, turn on your coffee pot and more bells and whistles. Then, for an extra $10 a month, you get a second line for that other person, maybe even a third! Remove the $10 and you have your deductible amount.

Where do I put all this on my tax return? There are several ways and locations where this deduction can go – on a Schedule C, on form 2106, directly on the front page of the 1040 and also directly onto the Schedule A for itemized deductions. Those are not the only places where phone charges can be deducted, but generally they are the ones that would affect this target audience. As always, each person has an individual case and this information is to be used for discussion purposes only. Please do not use this information as substantiation for a deduction you are taking on your tax returns; but do contact your own personal tax person for proper placement of any deduction that you would use on a legal tax document.

Tax Tips for Writers

The following is a brief [sort of] discussion on Travel and using your expense as it relates to your writing.

 Many people ask me if and how much they can deduct for traveling. It’s an individual case-by-case discussion that is needed, but in general, yes, you can deduct your travel as it relates to your writing. Now, how do you do this? First, you have to determine one main question for discussion: What is ‘Ordinary and Necessary’? In the 2009 Standard Federal Tax Reports, paragraph 8520.026, they describe it thus: ‘Whether an expense is ordinary and necessary is based upon the facts surrounding the expense. An expense is necessary if it is appropriate and helpful to the taxpayer’s business. An expense is ordinary if it is one that is common and accepted in the particular business activity.’

 

 This is more for the beginning writer, so if you are a seasoned writer, you may wish to tune in to a later post. So what do you write about? Are you doing research on a particular area [mountains, beach, city, country, woods] so that you can get the ‘feel’ of the place? Are you eating at a certain restaurant so that you can sample a type of food, service or décor of the place? Or are you attending a conference, such as Stories of the Heart [Feb 2010], so that you can improve your writing? All this is Ordinary and Necessary.

 

Let’s back up now. What do you write about? First of all, treat it like a business. Tell yourself, ‘I AM A WRITER’. There, was that so hard? Now write it down. That is the beginning of your business plan. The Internal Revenue Code describes your activity this way:  A ‘Trade or Business’, although not defined in the tax law, has been characterized as an activity carried on for a livelihood or for profit. A profit motive must be present and some type of economic activity must be conducted. 

 

The next line of your business plan will be something like – ‘I am going to write poetry about beautiful parks in our country’; or – ‘I am going to write my memoirs and will need to go back to [insert place] several times so that I can see what it is like now, see if it sparks any memories’. Yet another could be something simple as ‘I want to write about traveling with two young children, 6 cats and a dog.’ You can be general about this at first, and always add to it later.

 

Second step in the business plan is identifying who you are writing for. Or what market do you want to target? Here are some suggestions of what you should write into your business plan:

 I want to write/sell a Fiction/Non-fiction book about [insert topic such as romance, thriller, murder, travel, quilting, horses, Dementia, a person].

I want to write poetry/magazine articles for a periodical(s) – such as AARP, Outside, New York Times, The Community Sun, etc

I’m writing children’s’ books.

I want to publish my memoir.

 

OK, now you are totally confused – but keep it simple at first. And general. I will mention the Business Plan and Ordinary/Necessary several times as they relate to several topics in the future. We’ll head on back to travel, the category we started this discussion with. What can I write off? Here is a general list of all you can write off:

 

Vehicle(s) and all related expenses – including RV’s, cars, boats, airplanes, boats, parachutes, trains and more.

Hotel or space use fees [slips, berths, rooms, campground fees, etc]

Meals – either the actual expense or a per diem rate.

Entry fees: museums, art galleries, park fees, golf course, amusement park, state fair, tram rides, etc.

 

Other expenses you incur along the way are discussed under a different topic – such as photos, suitable clothing, souvenirs, phone calls, gifts, books, samples and general supplies. These are NOT considered part of your travel, but can be O/N.

 

Where do I put these on my tax return? If you are just an individual, the easiest way to handle them is to include them on a Schedule C of a regular Form 1040 tax return. But there are other options such as Partnerships, Corporations, Non-Profits, Limited Liability Companies and more. Those of you that are already writing off your expenses – and hopefully selling your wares – may want to consider forming a Limited Liability Company, simply for the depth of CYA it gives you.

 

Income. Tough to come by these days. Do you have to show income when you start writing off your writing expenses? Absolutely NOT. At least not at first. This will be discussed later under the heading of Hobby Losses.

 

As always, before attempting to use any of this general advice, you should talk this over with your tax preparer to be sure you are fully informed of the tax implications and how they relate to you. This column is to be used as a general reference and is not a specific guideline for you to use unless you are fully informed in the proper use of these types of income and expenses. In other words – don’t try to do this yourself – but DO ask someone to help you and DON’T be afraid to use the expenses that you are entitled, by law, to use.

Tax Tips for Writers

I’m working on a series of small posts about tax tips for writers and also the general public – however, I don’t have any of it ready to post right this minute. Therefor, I am going to send you to a link on one of my beginning posts that started this blog, way back in Feb of 2008. Follow this link: http://resakov.wordpress.com/2008/02/20/tax-tips-for-writers/

or you can just click to the right on the Category of ‘Tax Talk’ and find the 2/20/08 post.

Oh, and here’s another Buzzard picture to go with the post below this – creepy, but oh, so fitting for the Halloween season! You may have to click and enlarge the picture to see the detail more clearly, and yes, the top is almost concealed in a fog cloud.

Buzzards

I don’t know why this picture draws me, but I like it. Every morning when my son and I leve for school, we drive by this tower and often see dozens of these Turkey Vultures gathering on this tower. This morning, it was foggy and only about half the normal contingent are present, but I had to snap a picture or two. Sometimes, there are many of them gathered on a nearby Mesquite tree, which becomes so crowded the limbs sag to the ground. Last week, we counted nearly 60 of them on the tower and wondered how much weight this was putting on the tower and why they have been gathering here for the past month or so. What is there for so many of them to eat? The tower is very close to IH 35  – could they be waiting for road kill? We have a few that come and temporarily roost on our house or big Oak tree, but never more than 3-4 of them at once.  Often, we see them gracefully soaring through the thermals, drifting, climbing. On the ground, they look awkward and huge, but in the air, simply grace.

Zuchinni Pasta & Rainy days

Finally, we are getting a series of rainy days and storms here and there. The good news – we really need the rain. The bad news – cooped up inside all day with bored people, so it’s hard to get anything done. Also, if there is a hint of thunder, my ‘brave’ dogs are almost always in my lap. It’s not so bad when Ruby sits under my desk [where she always is] – but when both dogs, at about 65 pounds each, get under there, it gets a bit crowded and the computer and phone wires get nudged, pulled and sometimes, disconnected. As you can see by the picture [this is Ruby], my feet are usually covered too. That’s actually a good thing – they are soft and warm!

Now, what’s this about Zuchinni Pasta? As a low carb eater, I had to find a substitute for pasta and experimented with several things. Surprisingly, I discovered several veggies that substitute quite well, but the most abundant veggie in my garden these past couple of years have been yellow squash and zuchinni. Here is how I prepare the zuchinni:

Clean zuchinni and pare off any bad spots. Usuing a vegetable peeler, cut thin strips of zuchinni – similar to if you were peeling a cucumber – except you are going to eat this! If you don’t like to look at the green stuff – some people, especially children, are green-aphobes – then peel and toss the green part. [Just don't tell me you did that!] Keep slicing off long peels, plan on 1 medium zuchinni per person if you are serving this as a meal in place of pasta. If the veggie peeler doesn’t work for you – you can also slice the zuke lengthways about 1/4 inch thick, then turn it on it’s side and slice thin slices off of that – it will look more like fettucine this way. Boil the ‘noodles’ in salted water for about one minute, then immediately rinse with cold water. When you are ready, add the sauce [it will heat up your noodles]. As an alternative, you can simmer the noodles in garlic butter or steam them and toss with your favorite cream sauce or add them to your regular pasta.

And I may as well add – yes, I tried MANY veggies this way. A particulary beautiful combination was zuchinni, celery, carrot and red pepper pasta. But each cooks at a different rate! The red peppers need about 7 minutes, the carots & celery about 4-5. You will have to experiment.

For REAL noodles, of course, you can cook the veggies to mush, let them cool and mix with flour, eggs and salt and make just like grandma used to make! While zuchinni is good like this, when making these noodles I prefer using spinach or sweet potatoes. WHAT??? You haven’t had sweet potato noodles? How about Sweet potato soup? Oh, my gosh are you missing out on some treats! But those are for another story time, boys and girls. Today is just about Zuke pasta and rainy days – hope you enjoy it!

God-Zuka [aka BIG zuchinni]

Thought I would share with you a few Zuchinni recipes as well as a picture of some of the veggies that came from my garden this year. Please note my standard disclaimer that the date on the picture is wrong, but after I downloaded these pictures, I actually fixed the problem; at least until hubby replaces the batteries without telling me. I could photo shop the pics, but too lazy to do it.

These zuke’s grew in approx. one week from the time we spotted them on the vine at approx. 2 inches in size. They are monsters – and we had many of them. As you can see in the picture, I have a 10 inch dinner plate to kind of give you an idea; the smallest one is about 16 inches long while the larger one is over 2 feet! One of these on the counter is still good enough to eat [it's fresh] while the other two have gotten a little old and are starting to dry inside. We are saving these seeds for next year.

Easy Zuchinni Dip

First, take one small fresh zuchinni, peel all skin and slice length-ways into 4 spears. Remove all the seeds. Grate with a vegetable grater or use a food processor. Turn onto a layer of paper towels and drain; I use another couple paper towels on top to squeeze as much moisture from them as I can.

Combine all the following in a bowl, then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving. This makes a great dip for bread, veggies or as a sandwich spread.

• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 small clove garlic, minced
• 1 minced zuchinni
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• Fresh mint to garnish if you like

Bradley’s Zuchinni Muffins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 24 muffin tins. Gather:

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup softened unsalted butter [or cup of oil]
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 cups grated zuchinni
• 1 teasoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon Vanilla
• 3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmet
• 1/4 teaspoon each ginger & ground cloves
• 1 cup chopped nuts

Cream butter & sugars together. Beat in eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients and spices. Sift or mix well with a fork. Slowly add wet ingredients and mix well. After well mixed, add zuchinni & nuts, mix well. Fill muffin tins 3/4 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting knife in center to be sure it comes out clean. Baking times vary by oven. Makes 2 dozen.

Side note: this recipe can be adapted to low fat or low sugar/low carb diets by experimenting with substitutes such as egg substitute, olive oil, Splenda, sugar free vanilla and flour substitutes such as sesame flour or  almond meal. I use almond meal for 2/3 of the flour and Splenda in my recipes.