Columns

Money IQ: Tax Season

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Money IQ
By KARL HJELVIK

Tax Season

Another tax season is upon us and the countdown has started to April 15. 

You should have received your W-2, 1099 and 1098 forms by now.

If you have not received these forms, you need to track them down because they should have been mailed by Jan. 31, 2013. You might have these documents electronically if you are signed up for electronic or online banking with your bank.

Many taxpayers wait until the last minute to collect and organize tax forms, tax -deductible donations and any other tax related forms. I used to be one of them and I would spend many evenings during Read More

Pajarito Reads: ‘Blaize Castle’ a Fun Read in the Style of Jane Austen

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Column by BONNIE J. GORDON
Los Alamso Daily Post

“This hat sells books,” said local author Inez Ross when I admired her bright red fedora.

Ross, who has a life-long love affair with trains and rides often, finds her hat is a great conversation starter onboard the train.

“People ask me if I’m in the Red Hat Society and I say I belong to the Black Feather Authors’ Society,” Ross said. This often leads directly to a sale.

The other secret of Ross’ success in selling her books on the train is the size. Smaller than an average paperback, her books are the perfect size for a pocket or purse and just the right length Read More

Thoughts From the Big Chair: The Dramatic Renaissance of TV Drama

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Thoughts From the Big Chair
Comments on Television and Associated Media From a Lifelong Addict
Column by RALPH E. CHAPMAN (Twitter @RalphEChapman)
©2013, Ralph E. Chapman
 
The Dramatic Renaissance of TV Drama

Hey gang! Let me first mention that today is the first anniversary of the entrance into our (My Lovely Bride and I) lives of Lola, our beautiful brindle Chihuahua, that we adopted from the Los Alamos shelter.

Adding her to family – along with our cats Ray and Lena  (from the Española shelter) – has completed our family. I can highly recommend that, if you have room Read More

Column: Great Skis, Great Skiing, to Great Organizations Part II

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Great Skis, Great Skiing, to Great Organizations – From Personal Development to Organizational Development Part II

Column by ELENA YANG

From “hedgehog” of last week to “flywheel” of this week; these are some of the principles in Jim Collins’ “Good To Great.”

The “flywheel” is about steady improvement over time; with momentum gradually building up, the wheel/organization eventually transforms and takes off. 

There is no flashy launching of some product/program or momentous announcement. Every delivery of result builds for the next step and on and on, so that when looking back, people Read More

Column: Are You a Closet Contest Enterer?

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Are You a Closet Contest Enterer?
Column by TOM GARRISON

Are you one of those? You know, a person who partakes in that guilty pleasure—a contest enterer?

Will you admit it in polite society? Probably not. When the topic raises its ugly head at a cocktail party, you are the one to steer the conversation to something safe, something like the latest Kardashian sighting.

Anything to divert attention from your hidden pleasure.

Ashamed of this aspect of your behavior? Don’t be. You are simply another victim in a society of victims—the victim of what behavioral psychologists call intermittent reinforcement. Read More

Column: Long-Term Care Insurance … One Size Doesn’t Fit All

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Long-Term Care Insurance: One Size Doesn’t Fit All
Column by LEONARD SALGADO

One thing we can all agree on is that no two people are exactly the same.

That includes your plans for retirement, which are most likely much different than those of your friends or family’s plans. 

One similarity many of us will share however is the need for long-term care.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ booklet, Medicare & You, 2011; about 70 percent of people over age 65 will need long-term care services at some point.

With the explosion of long term care services available, the Read More

How the Hen House Turns: 40 Years with Dogs and Domestic Birds

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40 Years with Dogs and Domestic Birds

Column by CARY NEEPER
Los Alamos

Have you ever seen a duck shiver? Mrs. Ritz and Mr. Kiebler (my nine-year-old miniature mallard quackers) shiver when the temperature drops to 14 degrees F.

It’s very scary–especially when they are part of the family–especially when the weather news predicts another nighttime low below twenty degrees F.

For another night Bobbi goose will have to put up with Mrs. Ritz and Kiebler, the Khaki Campbell duck family of three, the chicken Gwendolyn, and an 11-year-old turkey, whom my granddaughters call Little

Read More

Column: We Should Colonize Mars!

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Courtesy photo

We Should Colonize Mars!

Column by T. JACKSON KING
Los Alamos

We should colonize Mars.

It is a simple statement, but the imperative to colonize another planet may have escaped many people, even those who stayed up late and watched as the rover Curiosity landed safely on the surface of Mars.

Why colonize Mars?

Courtesy photo

Well, we could cite the romantic reason given by the Russian mathematician Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the first human to propose launching rockets into orbit, the building of space habitats, the building of Moon bases, the exploitation of the asteroid belt and Read More

Help With The Hard Stuff: Lawyers are Human, Too

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Help With The Hard Stuff

Part 2 (of 10) – Lawyers are Human, Too

By GINI NELSON, JD, MA

I said in my last column, “You’re going to the lawyer to help you with solving a complex problem in an increasingly interconnected, unstable, and hopelessly complicated world – something lawyers can be very good at.” 

Notice I said lawyers can be very good at it, not that they always are good at it. It’s also true that lawyers can be not very good at helping you solve complex problems.

That’s because lawyers are human, just like everyone else. And, being human, they can be as prone to mistaken assumptions Read More

Hannemann’s Music Corner: Baiting the Hook

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Baiting the Hook
 
Column by RICHARD HANNEMANN
Los Alamos
 
There is an old gag: on a piece of paper write, “how do you drive someone bonkers all day (over).” On the other side you write, “how do you drive someone bonkers all day (over).”
 
There are wonderfully fun variations on this, e.g. “Pete and repete went fishing. Pete fell out of the boat. Who was left?”
 
When you get the answer, “repeat” you say, “Pete and repete went fishing …” You get the drift. Shaggy dog stories are of similar nature.
 
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