Quick! What do the LA Lakers, Denver Nuggets, Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic have in common?

If you said they are all in their NBA Conference Championships you would be correct. But, if you said “name four teams who have no apparent desire to reach the NBA Finals,” you would also be correct.

Both series now move to the underdogs’ home court, tied at 1 game apiece, which is fitting given how the games have gone so far. Did all four games hinge on which team had the ball last, or which team had the opportunity to screw up their chances last?

In LA the Nuggets played like these were mid-December regular season games rather than a battle for a spot in the Finals. Yet the Lakers failed to put them away and let each game come down to the wire. This series could well be 2-0 Denver. But it could just as easily be 2-0 LA. We’re kind of waiting for someone to step up and play like they want to win for more than a few minutes each night.

Now, I did think the West would be close and probably a 6 or 7 game series. But I was thinking more along the lines of a clash of titans, rather than a bunch of guys running around checking their watches.

In the East on the other hand I figured Cleveland would roll. If anything they would lose game 1 because they had so much off time. But here again, where are the Cavs who steamrolled through the first two rounds? Granted, the Magic are more formidable than Detroit or Atlanta, but they also came in with no rest, having played 13 games to the Cavs 8 through the first two rounds. If nothing else Cleveland should be able to grind them down.

Nope. Once again, a battle of teams who don’t particularly care to finish things off when they have the chance. Never was this more apparent than in the thrilling conclusion to last night’s game. Orlando came all the way back from a 23 pt deficit, and found themselves with a 2 pt lead and one second left on the clock. You know the rest. A Lebron catch and shoot from behind the arc later, the Cavs found themselves having salvaged a split at home. That’s a split, in front of their own crowd, in a case where they held double-digit leads in both games. As for Orlando, all that work to dig out of a hole and then they allowed a clean inbound pass to James. With one second left you don’t even have to deny him. Just don’t make it easy and you’re going home to work on a sweep.

I had been rooting for Denver and Cleveland, but right now I’m more intent on figuring out if there is a way that no one can win, because so far no one deserves to.

OK, so it occurs to me that I’m suddenly throwing a bunch tweets out there under #spolt without any kind of linkage to Friday’s post. No doubt many in the twitter-sphere are all atwitter (lol … I slay me) wondering what this “#spolt” is, what it has to do with the PB&J sandwich I ate yesterday, and how they might parlay it into a bunch more people following them.

Well, on the followers, probably not. On the relationship to the PB&J, I’ll just say that you should free your mind and your understanding will follow. That ought to keep ‘em busy.

SPOLT = Steaming Pile of Lame Tweets. At first I was trying for Bunch of Lame Tweets but #BLT and #BOLT were already getting some activity on other fronts. So yeah, #SPOLT it is. Basically it is my quest to throw 100 tweets out there in one week’s time, all of which would elicit from a reasonable person one of three responses: “And?”, “So what?”, or “Who cares?” So basically they are average tweets. My hypothesis is that they will be accepted into the tweetstream without a second notice.

BTW, the tweet linking to this post doesn’t count as one of the hundred.

OK, got a couple projects for this week.

1. I’m back on a twitter is lame kick. Just caught up my follows / following, and just found so much uninspiration. So, this week I’ll be running project BLT: Buttload of Lame Tweets. See that. Lame acronym to kick it off. I am so in a zone on this one. In fact, I’m going to start my own hash tag. You can follow project BLT at #BLT. Basically my goal is to tweet 100 times before this time next week, with each and every tweet being mucho lame. I really want to see if anyone will say anything. My guess is, it won’t even be noticed.

Well, just tested it on tweet deck and #blt apparently gets some activity. So I’m going with #spolt: steamy pile of lame tweets. The goals are lack of imagination, lack of creativity, lack of content that anyone would be remotely interested. I know, I know … “but that could be all of twitter” you say. That’s why you need to keep an eye on #spolt. Lame lame is … lame. Intentional lame can be fun.

2. I’ve heard the “I put my pants on one leg at a time” expression lately, from self-diagnosed “regular guys.” Then it occurred to me – putting pants on one leg at a time is the problem. It’s the fast track to mediocrity. Well, I don’t want to be regular. OK, most of the time I don’t want to be regular. So my one leg at a time days are over. Or is it putting on the pants in the first place that is the problem? Or perhaps it is legwear with discernable legs.

I’m going to have to test all permutations. A few days without pants should be enough to confirm my suspicion that simply putting on pants is not the problem. Then a few days in culottes or maybe a dress to rule that one out. I really think it’s one leg at a time that’s the real stumbling block. So, during those preliminary days I’ll be figuring out my two legs at a time technique.

I could just lay down on the bed and pull my pants over my legs, both at once. But that’s kind of girlish and hardly seems like an improvement over the one leg at a time method. No I’m picturing some kind of contraption that will hold the pants in place. Two chairs with their backs to each other and a size 36 gap between them. Then I jump off of a countertop or something and stick the landing. I’m going to need a cup, but that approach has excellence written all over it.

This dude, is totally rocking the idea. I mean, just looking at the cut of his jib, is there any doubt that he’ll be the CEO of GE within a year or so? I would have said Senator or President, but the hypothesis is that GREATNESS comes from two legs at a time. A dude who can pull this off has to have his sights set way higher than D.C.

OK, the weeping and gnashing of teeth continues. Many taxpayers, especially those who use Turbo Tax and other tax prep software feel they are being taxed on the stimulus check that they received last summer. The confusion is understandable, but here’s the scoop on the stimulus, Turbo Tax, who you should be mad at, and why I care:

What was that stimulus check for anyway? It was NOT a pure handout. The check that you received last summer, was an ADVANCE against your refund for your 2008 taxes – i.e. the return that you have filed or will file in the next couple of months. So, let’s say that you ordinarily would have received $1,400 back this spring and you did receive a $1,200 stimulus check last summer. You will now receive only a $200 refund this spring because you have already gotten $1,200 of your refund. Note: This is all built right into the tax tables, so unless you use tax preparation software and pay close attention to your refund / payment amount as you progress through the return, you won’t even notice this calculation taking place.

How did they know what my refund would be? They didn’t, and that is what is creating some confusion right now. You may remember that you needed to have filed your 2007 Tax Return in order to receive a stimulus check. Who received a check and how much they received was based on information from the 2007 Tax Returns in anticipation that 2008 would be similar. So, now that 2008 is complete and we are dealing with actual data, taxpayers fall into one of three groups.

1. Those who received a stimulus check, but shouldn’t have because their 2008 income was too high. No problem for this group. While it’s true they shouldn’t have received a check, the IRS is not going to try to get that money back. This is not out of a suddenly-found goodness of their hearts. Again, it was only an advance to begin with, so it all comes out in the wash.

2. Those who didn’t receive a check and should have or received less than they should have received. The IRS still wants these folks to have their stimulus, and they will be eligible for a credit on their 2008 Return. It is for this reason that the stimulus is even mentioned on the 2008 Tax Return. They kind of have to do this as, once again, the assumption that each taxpayer received an appropriate stimulus payment is built into the tax tables.

3. Those who rightly received a stimulus check. This group will have nothing extra to do on their taxes, however their refund will probably be lower (or payment higher) than they would have ordinarily expected. In particular, those whose refund wasn’t going to be as much as their stimulus check might be in for a surprise when they have to make a payment.

When Turbo Tax asks me if I received a stimulus check and I click “Yes” my refund goes down, my payment goes up, or my refund turns into a payment. Why? This is the thing that is really confusing folks, and it all has to do with the mechanics of how most tax preparation software processes your return.

In the upper right hand corner there is a pervasive number that represents the amount of your return or payment based on the information that you have entered so far, and some default assumptions about the information that you have yet to enter. For a lot of people, once the W-2′s have been keyed in, this number is a pretty reasonable approximation of what their final result will be. The software assumes a standard deduction at the outset until the taxpayer has a chance to enter itemized deductions.

And this year, the software also assumes that the taxpayer did NOT receive a stimulus check and will therefore probably be entitled to some or all of the credit which could be up to $1,200 for a couple filing jointly. As soon as you click the button indicating that you did receive a stimulus check, that assumption goes away and the amount in the upper right hand corner is adjusted for the fact that you won’t be receiving the credit. To make things worse, this is one of the very last items on the return.

So, you’re going along in Turbo Tax, watching a relatively normal refund amount being tweaked as you progress through the forms and schedules. You are almost done when suddenly you click one button and experience up to a $1,200 unfavorable swing in your refund / payment. I can see where that would give one a start.

Who should I be mad at? Well, for my money, there are three main parties who did not handle this whole thing very well.

1. The IRS could have been much more clear about the nature of the stimulus checks that went out last summer. If taxpayers had understood all along that those payments were only an advance against this spring’s refunds there might be fewer surprises right now. Of course at the time the government wanted it all to seem like one huge act of benevolence on their part instead of them simply giving you your own money. Granted, even if it had been a handout it would have only been your own money, but that’s a discussion for another day.

2. Those who coded the software for this item. It is really kind of brutal the way it plays out. It would have been much better to either assume that the taxpayer DID receive a stimulus check (and therefore won’t be getting a large credit) until they can answer the question, or make that one of the first questions asked in the process of completing the return.

3. People who use their Income Tax like a savings account, except a savings account where someone else gets to keep the interest. Again, what happened last summer was the government doing for taxpayers what the taxpayers should be doing for themselves – returning the excess amounts that were withheld from their paychecks sooner rather than later. Fill out a new W-4 so that each time you get paid, the government gets only their share and little more.

Why do you care? Good question. I don’t use TT, and after doing my taxes had thought that this whole thing was pretty straightforward. The ruckus this matter has created on some fronts was a surprise.

Here’s the thing. I’ll rarely be the one having the government’s back, especially in these stimulus shenanigans. I believe our government is deserving of a huge helping of criticism and citizen uprising with the way they are going about things right now. However, before we criticize we must make sure to have our story straight.

Last Friday a caller into the Rush Limbaugh show relayed her tale of the big Turbo Tax stimulus surprise and she concluded that she was being taxed on the stimulus check. This sent both caller and Rush into a huge government-bashing session. There are plenty of reasons to find fault with our government right now. This isn’t one of them.

After re-reading the first pass I realize that I had missed a couple of points and could use clarity on others.

You’ve probably noticed that I’ve been a lot more active on Twitter lately.  I think I finally “get” it.  That isn’t to imply, by the way, that there is just one eternal purpose in Twitter and eventually all enthusiasts come to the same understanding.  Instead I think it has value in different ways for different users.

I was skeptical and had been looking for real examples of how individuals and organizations were using Twitter to do something meaningful.  Ironically, it was an article that BW’s Stephen Baker was writing about Twitter that drew me in and helped me see what a great tool it could be.

About a week ago Baker began tweeting snippets of his story, 140 characters and one thought at a time.  It was an awesome use of the tool holding the discussion in real time, and through the power of Twitter, Baker’s readers helped him write the story.

So here’s where I’m at with Twitter: (more…)

OK, I’m starting a couple of new things:

1.  Project OOo.  OpenOffice is an open source office suite that first appeared in 2000.  It is sponsored by Sun Microsystems but has grown its own community of developers and users.  Early on it was a nice idea but not powerful enough to rival, at least for my use, the entrenched MS Office.  As I noted earlier this week, with the release of version 2.4 just days away and 3.0 due by the end of the year, it appears the upstart is ready to be a player.  A lot of the things that had previously been barriers for me have been resolved.

My copy of Office 2003 won’t last forever.  Eventually Microsoft has to get it together with a newer version of Windows that will push the mainstream past the 2000 versions of their office suite.  This seems like a good time to figure out if OO is a viable alternative.

To give it a true, fair test, I will be attempting to use OO for all of my outside-of-work office software purposes.

2.  Project Twitter is Lame.  While I do enjoy using Twitter as a mechanism to throw a quick thought out on my blogs when I’m away from a computer.  But, according to its website, Twitter’s purpose is:

Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?

So, for the next week I’ll be using Twitter for its intended purpose.  Stand by to be blown away by all the happening things that I’m into.

How will you control your spouse? met with that nasty Chillary laugh. Seriously, by now you’ve heard that ? so much it can’t be funny.

Oh man! Switched over to Celeb Apprentice. Vinnie just infiltrated the girls’ team! This season is awesome!

Here we go … I knew they couldn’t stay civil for an entire hour. The Hillary smirks and condescension have begun.

One of Hillary’s conditions for path to citizenship: "Try to learn English." How do you measure that?