Robert T

My 17 yr old daughter disagrees with my rules saying they are not reasonable. She says "other parents" would not consider them reasonable. So I am putting it to the test. If you are a parent, please chime in with your vote! Here are my rules:

1. When you go out, I have to know WHO you are with, and WHERE they live, and WHEN you are planning to come home.

2. You need permission to go out. You cannot just decide to take off, and text me saying you are at the beach, etc.

3. When we call your cell phone, you must answer it, or get back to us soon. Leaving your mail box full so we cannot leave messages is NOT acceptable!

4. You cannot leave a mess in the kitchen. If you bake or cook, you have to cleanup after yourself! You are not allowed to leave a pile of dirty dishes in the sink.

Which would result in a bigger tax return?

My wife's AGI = $33K

My AGI = $134K

My dependent daughter's 1098-T = $48K

If I file jointly, our AGI exceeds $160K, so I don't qualify to benefit from any tuition deductions.

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dcqvfvfv_22td8d5ddt

I am running Windows XP, home edition. I installed a USB 2.0 PCI Card from ADS Tech onto the motherboard, and now randomly, sometimes my system will crash, and I will get the "blue screen of death" a picture of which is in the link above. Sometimes the system will just freeze into lockup, and I have to hit the main power switch to reset the system. Note that either of these system crashes happen only when I am playing a video on YouTube. Also, this is my 2nd USB 2.0 PCI card. The first one was similar but from a different manufacturer, but the behavior after installing it was exactly the same. Since removing the card, I have not had a crash. Is there anything I can do that would allow me to use the USB card without suffering from random system crashes?

Let's say you are playing Scrabble, and there are 92 tiles, comprised of 40 vowels, 50 consonants and 2 blanks.

You go first and pick 7 tiles.

What is the probability that you will pick 3 vowels and 4 consonants?

Please explain the thought process.

This question relates to trading equity options. There are a number of things that can happen when you sell an option which creates an obligation. You can buy it back for cheaper and make a profit, buy it back for more and take a loss, let it expired worthless and make a profit, or it may get assigned, which means you are forced to buy or sell the underlying stock. In my case, I sold a JAN08 PUT option in DEC07, so I have "revenue" in 2007, without a cost basis. In JAN 08, I was assigned and forced to buy the stock at higher than market price, and I took a loss. Do I still report a gain on the sale in 2007? If so, do I assume a cost basis of zero?

I am nowhere near retirement age, but I noticed the assets in my 401K are mostly pre-tax, but there is about $10K that is post tax. Since I already paid tax on this, I should be able to take a distribution in this amount and not trigger any penalties or extra taxes, right? I would think any interest or capital gains on my post tax contributions would remain in the account and not be available until I take taxable distributions.

It seems that men typically get the short end of the stick in a divorce settlement. Why is that? Is it because divorcing women are typically angry and spiteful, so they hire shrewd, higher powered lawyers? Are they just more demanding than men? Are men typically so "puzzy-whipped" that they just cave in to whatever demands the woman makes so as to expedite the divorce to get it over with?

I have a UGMA account for my minor daughter in which I trade stocks. In 2004, her income from interest was $120, but I made a bunch of bad trades and long term capital gain (LTCG) losses were a whopping $14K. I did not file a return for her in 2004, 2005, 2006, as her income in those years did not meet the minimum threshold to require a filing. But I realize that was a mistake, since I now may have have jepordized my ability to use losses in 2004 to offset any gains in 2007 and 2008, etc.

So here are my questions:

1. Can I still use losses from 2004 to offset my LTCG gains in 2007?

2. Do I have to file a return for each year to roll forward the losses from 2004?

3. Does the loss amount that gets carried forward each year get reduced, or remain intact if I had no LTCG gains in years 2005, 2006?

Thanks for your help.

My 15 year old teen aged girl has been breaking our rules:

1. She doesn't call home to let us know where she is.

2. She has lied about her location and her activities.

3. We have called her, and she does not answer because she knows its us.

4. She says she is using the computer to do homework and we catch her on Myspace and instant messaging.

5. She will run out of the house and jump in a friend's car and go out without permission.

Because of this behavior, my wife and I have taken away her privileges. One of those is privacy of text messages in her cell phone. Do we as parents have the right to read her email? My daughter says we don't, as if it is a God given right.

Wife and I live in two separate homes. We have a rebellious 15 yr old (Kim) living with me during winter break; she likes to push boundaries and break rules. Today, my wife called me at work to go home - according to my older daughter, she had friends over, and the rule is "No friends over unless a parent is present."

When I got home, I found Kim was gone - she had taken off with her friends to who knows where. Ah, another rule broken - "leaving without permission and without letting us know where she was going". My wife blamed ME for her absence, saying that if I had better parental supervision, this would not have happened. Wife says I should have come home earlier to prevent her leaving.

Last week, Kim was living with my wife. When my wife was in the bathroom, Kim said to her, "Bye, I'm leaving with my friends." Despite my wife's demand she stay home, Kim left and came back home hours later. To this incident, my wife blames herself, which I say is wrong. What say you?

Ok, this Midi stuff is totally new to me, and I need a little help. I have a Roland AX-7, midi-out going into an emagic amt8 front panel "In8". I have the USB from the amt8 going to my PC USB. Under the Windows XP control panel, under "device manager", I can see under "Sound, video and game.." emagic amt8 USB - MIDI, as well as MPU-401 Compatible MIDI device. Under "USB Controllers" I can see "emagic MIDI device" Now under the "Sounds and Audio devices" under the audio tab, for MIDI Music Playback, i can select "Microsoft GS Wavetable Synthesizer, or "MPU-401" or "AMT8 out1", "AMT8 out2"... AMT8 out8", but no matter what I select, I can get my instrument to make any sound. Do I need a VST? Do I need a sequencer? Do I need to upgrade my sound card to have a MIDI input?. Thanks for the help.

In Lorna R. Vanderhaeghe & Alvin Pettle's book, "Sexy Hormones" they list the ill health effects of taking birth control pills (Synthetic hormone) for years. This includes breast cancer, uterine fibroids, endometriosis, ovarian cysts, and reduced sex drive.

I am just wondering how true this allegation is. For all of you women who have taken the pill for years, do you suffer from any of these health issues? (If you answer Yes, I would recommend you read this book, as Lorna tells you what to do to recover!)

I know this is a rather un-scientific survey, but the more of you women that respond, the more valid the statistics will be.

Thank you!

Just curious. My wife and I own two houses. My wife and I hold title as joint tenants to both houses. I live in house A and she lives in house B, due to work locations. By living in house A as my principal residence, I can claim a $7000 homeowner's property tax exemption, and my wife can do the same for house B. So there is not tax penalty with regards to this exemption for living in two separate homes, right?

Nest Co. recorded the following inventory information during the month of January:

Units Unit Cost Total Cos Units on Hand

Balance on 1/1 2,000 $1 $2,000 2,000

Purchased on 1/8 1,200 $3 $3,600 3,200

Sold on 1/23 1,800 1,400

Purchased on 1/28 800 $5 $4,000 2,200

Nest uses the LIFO method to cost inventory. What amount should Nest report as inventory on January 31 under each of the following methods of recording inventory?

Perpetual Periodic

a) 2,600 5,400

b) 5,400 2,600

c) 2,600 2,600

d) 5,400 5,400

The following information was taken from Cody Co.’s accounting records for the year ended December 31, 2003:

Decrease in raw materials inventory $15,000

Increase in finished goods inventory 35,000

Raw material purchased 430,000

Direct labor payroll 200,000

Factory overhead 300,000

Freight-out 45,000

There was no work in process inventory at the beginning or end of the year. Cody’s 2003 cost of goods sold is:

a) 895,000

b) 910,000

c) 950,000

d) 955,000

Please explain how Cost of Goods sold should be calculated.

1. The following information applied to Fenn, Inc. for 2003:

Merchandise purchased for resale $400,000

Freight-in $10,000

Freight-out $5,000

Purchase returns $2,000

Fenn’s 2003 INVENTORIABLE COST was

a) $400,000

b) $403,000

c) $408,000

d) $413,000

OK, today is the 2nd day my lymph nodes under my right ear near my jaw joint is swollen upon awakening. Yesterday, it was most swollen when I first woke up, then it gradually subsided during the day. I have no fever or any indication of an infection of any sort. Anyone have a similar experience, and how did it get resolved? Can this be an issue with my immune system going haywire, as in allergies?

I check my credit card statement to find out my 19 year old daughter, who I am supporting through college, has charged on my Visa $600 worth of luxury items, without my or my wife's permission. This has got me really ticked off. Yes, she is spoiled, but I don't expect her to commit acts of credit card theft like this. I am thinking maybe it would be good to dish her some tough love and actually press charges. The police would come and she would have a criminal record, but maybe in the long run, this might turn out to have been the right thing for her. What do you think? Only parents who have had a similar experience answer, please.

I filed a Small Claims suit in Calif, Los Angeles Superior Court. The suit motivated the guy's insurance company to pay up, so now I need to drop the suit. From the websites, it's not clear which is the right form I need. Calling up the court-house wasn't much help. It seems dropping suits ain't so common. Anyone in Calif do this before?

OK, married for 24 years, two daughters, ages 18 and 14. I don't feel any love from my wife - haven't for many years now. I've stayed with her for the sake of the kids - thought it was the right thing to do, forsaking my own needs for love, intimacy, etc. Now as I approach 50, I am reassessing what is the best thing to do with the rest of my life. Ideally, my wife would want to turn our marriage around like I would, but she has told me she does not want to see a marriage counselor, because it is too difficult to find a good one qualfied enough to help us. To me, this is saying our marriage isn't worth saving, i.e. it is hopeless. Well, if that is the case, then what's the point of staying together? Now my girls are mature enough to understand that sometimes things break, and you just can't fix them, and you are better off just moving on. So I was thinking of giving my wife an ultimatum. We see a marriage counselor (of her choice), or we see me move out. Any words of wisdom?