Drive_Blind

Today is not my day, but here's to hoping it improves. I got to work an hour late, through no fault of my own (I wish I had overslept!), the metro door almost closed on me and some random guy in a suit is yelling outside my building about them wanting to commit him or something. I think he is trying to protest something, but he is effectively ensuring that most people will agree with the party that wants to commit him. I wonder if he is still out there. He seemed really angry. Also, there is some posting that there is going to be an explosion near the Key Bridge for a movie. This is my first experience with living in a city where everyone fears terrorism (for good reason) and proactive attempt to not freak everyone out. It is something I never thought about - shooting a movie in DC where things blow up on screen. We were graced by the Jolie_Pitts a couple weeks ago while she shot some scenes in Georgetown. They should film scenes in my new neighborhood. It has character too, you know!

I am going to file my taxes to day and, much to my chagrin, I cannot claim the earned income tax credit because I lived outside of the country for 7 months last year. I know it is only $170 (yes, I am that poor), but any amount helps when you are broke! I will resist committing tax fraud in order to ensure my confirmation hearing in years to come will go smoothly. I also realized that last year, I paid more in Philadelphia city tax than to the feds or the state. I am sure DC taxes are worse than Philly. I guess I'll know soon enough! Rumor has it they are 10% of my gross income. Yikes!

Finally, I anticipate my day blowing up due to the House and Senate releasing their budget proposals at some point. I've been reading up on Sen. Conrad's proposed cuts so I have some general idea of what to expect. I am also very interested in what the Republicans are going to do. It would be nice to see something proactive as opposed to just nay-saying. We'll see what their housing proposal looks like and hopefully they have some counter budget proposal of sorts.