Saturday Paperwork and Games

I started Saturday morning around 7:30 and found the coffee waiting for me. I had cleaned up the kitchen and assembled the coffee before going to bed. Excellent. I could use the coffee. I was feeling well, but the go-juice was still most welcome. Mexican-grown and locally roasted and ground coffee in my brew. I often pause over the cup and ponder the state of my country. Tears can come, and then I smile and remember that we have survived many crazinesses before. We will get through this.

Fortified and smiling at the goofiness (what else can you call it now), I started to raid my memory of Friday. I began assembling a narrative while Grammarly attempted to reword it. I appreciate its spelling corrections and reminding me to use Oxford commas (something I resist, but do anyway), but other changes are often rejected. I find Fridays easy to recall, and soon, a few hours are gone, and a story is fitted into WordPress, beaten into submission by Grammarly. Now, my thoughts are tamed and mostly accurate (both in grammar and story), and released into the world. Often, I notice something mangled or missing a few hours later. Some days I do fix them.

The mail shows. My medications for the next 90 days have arrived. I suspect this is my last bunch, as my COBRA insurance ends with 2025, and I will soon enjoy the embrace of ObamaCare and Providence local insurance, for about 30% higher cost and with much less coverage. I will also purchase, if possible, dental and eye coverage (very basic) on my own. A new adventure for me until I turn 65, I am 61.

You can be pissed off that the USA insurance is a mess, or look at it as an overpriced adventure. I choose to (mostly) enjoy it and record here what happens. Most of these kinds of things are just how you react to something you cannot control. I try to surf the chaos.

At noonish, I reheat the beef and veggie terakki I made a few days ago and have it over a potato that I microwave instead of making rice. And while it was delicious, my tummy was unsettled, and I think the huge sugar hit from the potato was a mistake. Something to remember.

I watch more of this season of Wednesday as I am enjoying a rerun of it and find it much better the second time through. I recommend it, especially for a second watch.

I return to the office and invest hours creating a pro forma 2025 income and Schedule A to determine the tax impact of all my giving this year. Later, Richard reminded me that the kicker check (Oregon has a two-year budget, and if revenue from taxes exceeds a small percentage of the projected amount, the difference is returned to the filers instead of being used by the state government) is also this year. And while I had a limited income this year, I received two years’ worth of my salary back in 2024, for which I enjoyed heavy taxation. I need to include that in my final calculations (the amount of the kicker is declared in November of odd years, this year).

I checked all of Quicken’s transactions for the year. I often smiled as I reread the expenses for lovely trips and fun dinners. I laughed at the bar totals and enjoyed seeing all the airflights and hotels. It has been a kick of a year. A good investment, I think.

On the task, I am attempting to produce an amount of giving, taxes paid, and other tax deductions, versus my limited income in 2025. I will then work with US Bank Wealth Management to create a taxable event to offset all these credits, harvesting my donations for tax avoidance. I plan not to withdraw the money for personal use but to move it to a Roth IRA with US Bank. The money is parked for five years and then available for withdrawal without penalty. Earnings are pretax, like IRAs.

I figure I have enough money, barring events, for 2026 if I let the Treasuries expire in November. And while giving away money and matching the amount with withdrawals is less efficient than simply taking it as income, paying the tax, it is wonderful to give it away and helps those in need. One of the reasons I use US Bank Wealth Management is that they excel in this area.

You can do this in a self-managed IRA account, as many of my friends have, and assign the money to various low-cost indexes and funds. Balancing the risk with 30% bond-backed instruments to keep it ready for downturns in equities (or not). I instead pay a small fee to US Bank Wealth Management, and we have been learning a lot about bonds and tax avoidance while getting a good return after the expense. I am happy so far, but, as they say, you do you.

It took most of the afternoon, and I could not find one receipt for the donations, but I know I put it away, so I wouldn’t lose it (I donated the wreck of the Volvo and received a $5,000 credit for it). I have lost it. I can order another one if I cannot find it for my accountant. I use Cornerstone Tax in Hillsboro to do my taxes, and I need this in February 2026.

I will schedule a meeting with my bankers next week, or when I return from Michigan.

Deborah was busy much of the day, and we texted and talked only a few times. We are counting down to Friday!

Pausing for a moment in my narration, I would like to mention that Randy LaFountain passed away in Laingsburg, Michigan, last week. Although it is not my story to tell, I would be remiss if I did not share some information (here). The service will be held on Monday at the United Methodist Church, located off Crum Street in The Burg (Laingsburg). Deborah and I had lunch with him and his wife, Jeanne, on a recent visit. He worked for my dad years ago at Wild’s Furniture & Appliances, Inc. He will be missed.

Returning to my story, I assembled an early dinner by frying some bacon lardons in a pan. I steamed bok choy while I also boiled 1/3 of a box of pasta. I combined all of this, draining the pasta, and added the bacon, then cooked it for a while to dry it out a bit and let it settle. It was good (bacon always is), and I might have had a second bowl, reasoning the first one was small. This was a chance to use up some of my odds and ends.

I next took Air VW the Gray to Portland and crossed (slowly) through Beaverton, enjoying light traffic in Portland. There were no signs of violence or war, and I understand there is now an Emergency Naked Bike Ride being planned in response to the bad press and would-be invasion of Portland. I suspect they will circle ICE a few times. Footage, I suppose, that will not be on FOX News.

In other news from the Western Front, a Federal Judge ruled that the invasion was against the 10th Amendment (here) and was baseless. Not surprisingly, the Trump Administration has issued its own emergency declaration, likely not done in the nude. However, it may be naked in its aggression, as the appeal demands that the Supreme Court overturn the Trump-appointed judge’s ruling and allow the invasion to proceed due to the war in Portland. This will be via the so-called Shadow Docket. Bringing forward the idea that I may need to produce a supporting brief — so many jokes!

Putting aside chaos surfing, I arrived early at Richard’s, and we played another game of Luthier; this time, I liked it better. I was able to follow the process and got most of the rules right. Sequencing is critical in the game, and I managed to hold that together. Laura had some trouble this time. I understand folks are not using a notepad in the game. I again did not play aggressively enough to score high, only 70 points, but I was only a few points behind Laura. Richard, playing one of his luckiest games, doubled my score!

We talked about politics, investments, and travel for a few hours after the game. An enjoyable evening.

My trip home was punctuated with slow cars and things passing me at 100+ mph, as if they were shot out of cannons behind me (drawing on Charles Stross for those words). I arrived intact and assembled the coffee for Sunday morning. I tried to sleep, but the coffee I had at Richards meant some tossing and turning until about 1. Dreams are forgotten.

Thanks for reading!