Welcome To Josh's Blog O' Thoughts: Latest Posts

I know I'm a few days late in posting this, but attached is the TV schedule for the 2010 Winter Olympics. This schedule only includes the main NBC network (not any of their cable networks). Times are in Central Standard Time.

Also, please note that due to the weather, some events have been moved around. This schedule is based on the original events schedule so there may be some differences in the skiing events.

Hope you find this useful.

2010_NBC_Olympics_Coverage.ods - 17KB OpenOffice.org Spreadsheet
2010_NBC_Olympics_Coverage.xls - 26KB MS Excel Spreadsheet

Well we just got the grass cut for the last time for the season. I have to say, the lawn is looking pretty darn good at this point. Especially considering it's only 2 years old.

This summer was fairly mild and wet (coolest July on record). Definitely do droughts this year. In fact, for most of the summer, I could barely keep up with the mowing.

However, during this growing season, the yard did develop a lot of white clover and various broadleaf weeds. Therefore, my fall mission was to eradicate the weeds.

I did some research online to figure out which weed killer to buy. I didn't want to mess around and only get partial kills only to have the weeds come back next year. I wanted to hit them hard. In addition to looking for something that was strong enough for my liking, I wanted to find something in a concentrate. I have quite a good amount of area to cover and concentrates usually give you more bang for your buck.

If you look at the local big box stores, you will notice that most of the weed killers they sell are not concentrates; they are ready to use. If you look carefully though, you might be able to find one or two options in concentrates.

The other thing you will notice is that most of the weed killers they sell (Weed-B-Gone, etc) have Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2-4D) as the primary active ingredient. I've always heard that 2-4D was a good weed killer, but online research showed that while 2-4D is a good broadleaf weed herbicide, it is actual quite ineffectual against clover.

According to the Iowa State Extension Office the best weed killer for clover is 2-2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxy propionic acid (MCPP). And while MCPP is good at killing clover, it's not great at broadleaf weeds. Therefore, the most effective herbicide for me would be a mix of these two.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find any MCPP at the big box stores, and the 2-4D that they had was not very concentrated which did not give me a good feeling about its effectiveness.

In the end I went to a local farm supply store and found Trimec 899. Not only does it contain 2-4D, MCPP, and Dicamba (good at killing creeping charlie), it was the most concentrated stuff I could find. In fact, the label said that 1 gallon would cover 3 acres. I bought two.

I applied with a hose-end sprayer. I did not feel like shelling out the money for a pull-behind sprayer for my lawn tractor. It took about 2 hours to cover the whole yard. That was about a month ago. There is basically NO clover left in the yard anymore. And the broadleaf weeds are almost all gone too. The ones that remain are all shriveled and appear to be on the way out.

I'm very pleased with the effectiveness of the product and am happy that I have over a gallon left over for the future. If you have common weed problems like these, I'd highly recommend getting yourself some Trimec 899 for a fall application.

That someone is me. This is possibly the longest I've gone without posting a new article since I started blogging a few years ago. I'm going to blame it on the fact that I started a new job back in May and have been focusing pretty heavily on that learning curve.

I hope to get back into blogging to provide you with more of my ever so "useful" bits of information.

Thanks for hanging in there.

If you followed my blog last year, you know that I started a new lawn from seed last Spring. There were definitely some issues. We had a bit of a monsoon last Spring and it washed out a bunch of my seed. Then the weeds (mostly foxtail) crept in during the summer. It got pretty depressing and I had considered spraying the whole thing with Round Up and starting over last fall. Instead, I aerated, over-seeded, and fertilized. I think the results of everything are finally turning out to be pretty good.

This Spring, I aerated again and put down a fertilizer with pre-emergent to help keep the foxtail away. So far, it seems to have worked. I have a few dandelions and a pretty good crop of clover in a few places, but really no foxtail.

So here's the one year pics taken a week or so ago. This was taken just after mowing when it was quite tall, so there are some clippings in the pics that hadn't been raked up yet.

Front Yard:


Back Yard:


Side Yard:


Detail:





Compare that to what I started with:



And this is what it looked like during the summer last year. The coarseness is from all the foxtail:






Read more about my lawn in the lawn care category:
http://josh.breittechnologies.com/category/Lawn_Care

During the month of March 2009, my blog set a new personal readership record. Due to a few high-volume blog articles (NCAA Basketball Tournament Bracket Spreadsheet File and Tax Reporting For Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP)), my blog saw over 2000 unique visitors last month. The previous record was just under 1000 unique visitors, so this was quite a feat.

Obviously, both of those articles are about seasonal topics, so I would imagine the readership would recede again once their time of year is over.

But just wanted to say thanks for reading (and commenting)!

I have posted updates to my NCAA bracket spreadsheet files with the 2009 field of teams already filled in. See the post regarding my bracket files here:

http://josh.breittechnologies.com/blog/2009_03_13_NCAA_Basketball_Tournament_Bracket_Spreadsheet_File

It's almost time for the 2009 NCAA Basketball Championship, aka March Madness! If you're one of the many people who like to take your luck at filling out a tournament bracket or maybe even organize a pool, I have just the spreadsheet for you.

My family has been doing a tournament pool for years (mostly just for bragging rights). In the past we would all fill out a paper bracket and someone would manually check them and highlight them as the games ended. With my family living farther apart now, we decided we needed an electronic format for our brackets. Yes, there are various websites out there devoted to this, but they often require account registration, have ads, etc. My goal was to make it simple so I created a spread sheet which allows you to fill out your bracket using simple drop-down boxes. Then I collect everyone's spreadsheets, combine them in to one (a little complex), and the spreadsheet automatically keeps score as I fill in who wins the games.

At the end of this post are links for downloading the spreadsheet in Excel or OpenOffice.org format.

Instructions On Using The File

1. Download the File

Obviously, the first step is for the person running the pool (that's you) to download the file and open it up. There is are also instructions in the file for your reference.

A Note On File Protections:

This file and the sheets within it, are protected to prevent users from accidentally messing up the file.

To add/rename/copy/move a sheet, you will first need to unprotect the document. In OpenOffice.org, Tools->Protect Document and uncheck Document. In MS Excel, Tools->Protection->Unprotect Workbook.

To edit the protected regions of many of these sheets, unprotect the sheet. In OpenOffice.org, Tools->Protect Document and uncheck Sheet. In MS Excel, Tools->Protection->Unprotect Sheet.

It is recommended that you re-enable protections before giving this file to the people in your pool to prevent problems. You can even add passwords to the protection to keep it more secure.

2. Setup Scoring

To begin, you need to define your scoring methodology. Switch to the Scoring tab and unprotect the sheet.

Enter the number of points for a correct answer in each round of the tournament. For example, if you choose 1 point for Second round, you will get 1 point for each team that you successfully predict making it to the second round. If you choose 8 for Champions, you will receive 8 points if you predict the correct winner of the tournament.

Re-protect the sheet.

3. Fill In The Master Bracket

The Master Bracket tab holds the field and all the winners as the tournament progresses. Switch to the Master Bracket tab and unprotect the sheet.
Fill in the field of teams in the tournament by typing the name of each team on the corresponding line of the bracket.

When done, re-protect the sheet.

4. Distribute The File

If you are doing this for a group of people, make sure all the sheets and the document are protected. Then e-mail the file to them with instructions on entering their picks.

Tell the other people to each use their own file, and to fill out the YourBracket sheet just like the instructions below. Have them save it and email it back to you.

5. Enter Your Picks

Go to the Your Bracket sheet (no need to unprotect). For each line of the bracket, click the cell and use the drop down box to select the winner.

Enter your Name in the Name field at the top of the sheet and your Tie Breaker value (whatever your pool is using for a tie break).

6. Consolidate The Sheets (slightly tricky)

Your file will be the master file. You will now consolidate all the brackets into your master file. For each file (including yours), open it, unprotect the document, switch to the YourBracket sheet, unprotect the sheet, then rename the sheet to the person's name. Copy the sheet to the master document.

If you are using MS Excel, you will have to change the links to point to the master document. Go to each person's sheet in the master document. Unprotect the sheet if it is not already. Go to Edit->Links. Select the link and click the Change Source button. Then browse to and select the master document file. This will make sure all the sheets in the master document file are linked to the master bracket. The link on that window will disappear since there are now no externally linked files. Reprotect everything if you wish.

7. Create A Score Sheet

If you want, you can create a sheet with each person's name and the score from their bracket sheet. That way you can easily see the standings.

8. Watch The Games!

9. Fill In The Winners

When a game is over, mark the winner on the MasterBracket page. Every person's individual bracket should update. A wrong answer gets crossed out and a correct answer gets highlighted.


I hope you find these files useful. I will also upload a file with the field of teams already filled in each year, so bookmark this page and come back!


I hereby donate these files to public domain so feel free to use it in any way you wish.

Template Files:

NCAA Bracket Template.ods - OpenOffice.org Calc Spreadsheet (33KB)
NCAA Bracket Template.xls - MS Excel Spreadsheet (97KB)


Files With 2009 Field Already Filled In:

NCAA Bracket 2009.ods - OpenOffice.org Calc Spreadsheet (36KB)
NCAA Bracket 2009.xls - MS Excel Spreadsheet (101KB)

Generally speaking, I've always found the energy efficiency federal income tax credits a bit confusing. To my knowledge, there are at least the two different tax credits available to home owners: the Nonbusiness Energy Property Credit and the Residential Energy Efficient Property Credit.


Nonbusiness Energy Property Credit

This tax credit allows you to recoup some of the money you spent to perform energy efficient upgrades to your home. The catch is that it must be an upgrade that is performed and not a new installation. For example, if you have your old windows replaced with new Energy Star windows, you should be able to take a credit, but if you build a new house, you won't be able to take the credit even if the windows used are Energy Star. Other items that are available for credits include insulation, lighting, heating and cooling, water heaters, and windows and doors. Every item has a maximum credit that can be taken. View the Energy Star website for more information.

What makes this credit even more confusing is that the credit expired at the end of 2007, but was then reinstated in October 2008 not to take effect in 2009.

From the 2008 Federal 1040 Booklet:
The credit for nonbusiness energy property has expired and does not apply for 2008. Form 5695 is now used only to claim the residential energy efficient property credit.

This means that you will NOT be able to take this credit for any energy efficient upgrades you made in 2008. So it really won't be usable on this year's tax return, but if you make any upgrades in 2009, you should be able to claim a credit for them when you file next year.


Residential Energy Efficient Property

This tax credit is available for installations of various Energy Star qualified, high-efficiency products. Items covered under this credit include solar energy systems, wind energy systems, fuel cells, and (as of October 2008) geothermal systems. The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 that was passed in October 2008 not only reinstated the Nonbusiness Energy Property Credit (see above), but also expanded the Residential Energy Efficient Property credit to include geothermal systems. Even better, this credit can be used for new construction, AND can be taken for products installed in 2008! This is great news for people who installed a geothermal system in 2008.

This credit generally allows you to get back up to 30% of the investment expense in these systems. This year, the credit for each is capped at $2,000, but from what I understand, the cap will be removed starting next year allowing you to take a full 30% credit. This is even better news for people planning on installing a geothermal system in the next 7 years (expires in 2016).

To take the credit on line 53 of your 1040, you also need to file form 5696 with your return. Your total credit from this form may also be limited by your income or by some of the other credits you may be taking. Please review the instructions for more information.


I Am Taking The Credit

If you followed my blog closely, you would have seen that my family built a new home in 2007/2008 with the completion being in Jan 2008. You also would have noticed that we had a geothermal system put in for our heating and cooling solution. Since the house was completed and put into use in 2008, the installation date of the geothermal system is considered to be 2008. Therefore, I can take this credit on my 2008 return. I can get a credit of up to 30% with a cap of $2,000. This means that the total qualified expenses of the product and installation only needed to clear $6,666 to get me the full $2,000 (it easily cleared this mark). And since a tax credit drops straight to the bottom line, I’m happily I’m getting an extra two grand back from Uncle Sam this year.


Reference


Federal Form 1040 Instructions
Federal Form 5696 and Instructions
Energy Star Website
GeoExchange Website
WaterFurnace Website
About.com Energy Tax Credits
Wikipedia Article - Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008
The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008

Disclaimer

I am not a tax professional, so this information should not be taken as tax advice. I'm simply stating my understanding of the situation.

Well in the past few days, one of my blog posts has made the distinct honor of being the first to have over 2000 views. Which of my popular posts was it to break this mark?

Was it the Gerber Viper Toilet Demonstration Video which linked to the very informative and sometimes slightly disgusting toilet demostration?

Was it the Tax Reporting For Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) post helping people figure out how to report gains and losses from their ESPP plans?

Was it the Gerber Allerton Toilet Review which was my own personal review of the Gerber Allerton toilet?

Or was it the The Easy Guide To The Digital TV (DTV) Switchover post which attemps to help people understand the conversion to DTV in layman's terms?


AND THE WINNER IS...

Tax Reporting For Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP)

Granted, I this is a topic of seasonal interest. Last year, it got very high views in Febraruary, March, and early April, but it slumped off during the rest of the year. I assume I'll see the same thing happen this year as tax time comes to an end.

Well I'm not the type of person that just goes out and buys domain names willy-nilly in hopes of selling them to someone with an interest in the name. I only buy a name if I intend to use it.

Pantoozle.com was a project I started with a friend in 2006. It was originally supposed to be a site where people could post classified-type ads (mostly for free). We also built in a database which would allow users to rate and review local businesses.

Initially, the website was a big hit. We had lots of hits in the early days. Unfortunately, very soon after we opened our site, Craigslist.org opened a sub-site for our specific metro area. Craigslist already had a huge following and more or less killed the traffic to our site. Don't get me wrong, I love craigslist and use it myself, it just happened to nullify our little project.

So anyway, I've been holding on to this website for a while, but with no activity in the past year and half, I've decided to bring it down. I removed all the content and I am putting the domain name, Pantoozle.com up for sale.

So if anyone is interested in a kooky domain name that could be used for nearly any type of web site, contact me here: BreitTechnologies.com

Make an offer!