Josh Young

I pounded through our taxes the last two nights and got them finished. Yes, I realize that it’s early, but I hate walking near my desk and seeing all of those forms laying there and knowing that at some point I have to crunch the numbers. So this year I just decided to do it as soon as I got all of my forms.

I started to use TurboTax Online (which is what I used last year), but when I finished going through all of the steps, I realized that it was incorrectly taxing me on some HSA contributions, and there was no way to fix it as far as I could see. So I threw in the towel with TurboTax and did it ALL by hand.

Yes, I’m a huge nerd. But you know what? I not only saved the TurboTax fees (which were going to end up costing us over $100), but I got about $800 more back on my refund by doing it correctly.

Of course, as soon as I finished them last night, a friend happened to tell me that they’re revising about half a dozen tax forms that won’t be out until February.

CRAP!

But I checked, and none of them apply to us, so we’re good.

Had I had to wait or redo anything, I think I would have puked.

Yeah, so my whole “making time for more posts in 2008” isn’t exactly roaring, but whatever.

Yesterday, Joomla 1.5 (stable) was released. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know I have a great fondness of Joomla. It’s open source, and I’ve used it on several church websites in the last few years. It has its quirks, but once you get past them, it’s a great CMS.

There are some HUGE updates with version 1.5. They basically rewrote the entire core of the CMS, which is great news for developers and designers. Much improved from what I read.

I may be starting some projects soon that require a robust CMS, and Joomla will certainly be first on my list to try. I’m anxious to see how 1.5 works in action. If you haven’t tried Joomla, now would be the perfect time.

Read more about Joomla

HT: Innovating Tomorrow

I’m trying to make more time for quick posts in 2008, so this will be my first.

As one of my Christmas gifts, Marie got me just what any true nerd would want: the highest-quality acid-free paper you can find marked off in square grids, bound by fine leather with a braided place holder, inner pocket and an elastic strap to keep it closed, and of course, small enough to carry with you at all times.

I’m speaking of course of the legendary Pocket Squared Moleskine notebook (pronounced mol-a-skeen’-a).

I’ve shown my new tool to a few close friends, and they all kind of look at my blankly like I’m some sort of weirdo (although I’m not disputing that). I guess Moleskines just aren’t as prevalent as they should be.

So anyway, I take my new friend everywhere with me now. He’s teamed up with the Fisher Brushed Chrome Bullet Space Pen that Marie got me last year for Christmas to make the ultimate note-taking duo. I’m a huge fan of checklists and notes, and now I don’t have to carry index cards around with me anymore. I’m loving it!

Since you may or may not be interested in my geeky little “toy,” I’ll save the rest. However, you can read more about these awesome little books at the link below. But beware. You’ll become obsessed. I can already think of two other ones that I’d love to have.

Moleskine History

The best deal I could find on my notebook (currently out of stock)

The second-best deal I could find on my notebook