So some errands ran during lunch today. I sent off both my tax filings and hoping looking forward to the 2 thousand plus anticipated refund. I'm gonna need that to pay for the gas I charged on the card today when the credit card bill comes in. At least the rate of increase is dropping off a little. On Feb 15 I pumped up at $2.85/gallon. On Feb 22, it was $3.15/gallon. Today it was $3.31. $4/gallon here we come by the summer. It's a commodity so I guess I am indifferent to the price.

They say weird things happen during full moons. I guess there's no exception when the full moon is interupted by a lunar eclipse. I found the $10 I thought I lost Wednesday night. I'm so happy because it was one of the

new $10 bills. I found it going through the business cards of those who I met on the sanddune that night. They wanted me to share some pictures of the eclipse that I had taken. I guess it helps to follow through.

Here are some pictures from the Feb 20 2008 Lunar Eclipse:

The moon before totality with Saturn at 8 o'clock and Regulus (Leo Constellation) at 12 o'clock


The red moon during totality


The moon near the end of the eclipse

I must have cursed myself when I said I would pay $100 for clear skies to watch the lunar eclipse. I was happy to drive home from work to see an opening in the clouds. So I grabbed my camera, tripod, compass, spare batteries, and headed out. Through all the hussle of pulling things in and out of my pocket outside, I think I lost the $10 bill I had in my pocket. I don't know where it is. I hope who ever finds it makes good use of that Hamilton.

I really don't know what my limit would be, but I would pay at least $100 for some clear skies tonight. There will be a total lunar eclipse tonight, but the overcast skies and light drizzle is so far putting a damper on that. The moon will be sandwiched by Saturn and the Regulus, the bright star of Leo. NASA says that there will not be another lunar eclipse in the US for 3 years. The last we had one in August was in the middle of the night and I awoke for that one and captured some interesting pictures.

Rain, rain, go away!!!

I made $40 doing a survey last night. It was in regards to home DVD entertainment systems. Intriguing, but very pricey and looks complicated to put together.

It's been a while since I've done a survey with my local researching firm. I think it has to do with the girl who used to make the calls for potential responders getting a promotion. She used to call me all the time and 'lead' me to the correct answer to quality for the survey. Now I get some unfriendly robot that makes me want to avoid the survey. I probably shoulding be doing these anyways since my sister works in the media selling department for one of the major tv networks.

I bought the last 2 books for Forever stamps from the office administrator, since I found out the Post Office is rising rates on May 12. By buying today, I save 40 cents in 89 days. That is about a 10% annual return. Sweet.

I might have to take a trip to the Post Office when they print up more Forever stamps.

Since the beginning of 2007, I have not paid a direct penny to Hollywood. I know there's probably some money going there indirectly through advertising and such, and paying for cable. I have not paid for a movie ticket, movie rental, or DVD purchased since late 2006.

I can't remember how it all started, but I was getting fed up Hollywood and it's lack of creactivity. I'm guessing a lot of it has to do with the numerous remakes and movie adaptations of old tv shows over the last few years. I think it started with Disney's 'National Treasure.' After watching it, I realized that it was just an adult version of 'Goonies.' So Disney is recycling their plotlines.

If you watch an action/adventure movie, the movie is all graphics and horrible writing. If the movie is a comedy, all the good jokes were seen in the previews

I was fed up to the point where I was not giving Hollywood any more of my money. I stopped going to movies but others wanted to go and didn't want to go alone, so I said you can pay for me. So since then I have been treated 3 movies. I'm a cheap movie date anyways because I never grew up being accustomed to snacking while watching a movie.

I watch a alot of DVD's that I borrow from friends. With the speed that studios are putting out DVDs, you really only have to wait a few months to see a movie on DVD.

Well, today is the Lunar New Year. This time of year was already great when I was young because I got a lot of gifts of money from relatives. To me this was better than x-mas because it was always about currency--no gift cards, no clothes. Though I really don't understand the entire Lunar New Year, I try to pass down the gifts I have received in years before.

As I have aged, I had to start returning the favor and give to my young nieces, nephews, and cousins. I usually draw the cutoff if they have graduated from college or are married or have kids of their own.

We usually try to get crisp new bills from the bank. My mother has always been successful with this but my bank tends to hate me and usually doesn't carry new bills. Last year, I decided that I would be meager and save a couple of bucks and recycle the red envelopes, so I saved all I got last year. I'm am sure the idea of giving used money holder is a sign of bad luck. I hope the recipients enjoy the cash though.

I ran some errands today and visited the credit union. I opened a Roth IRA and locked in 4.41% for a year. It was interesting that they offered a 18-month variable rate CD at 4.50%. I inquired about it and the branch says they update the rate weekly. Doesn't seem like a good idea in these declining days. Made another additional payment on the car note.

Now it is time to get ready for the Superbowl.

A while back I uploaded

this video of my sister's dog growling. I only uploaded the video because the yorkie blew a snot bubble. Some people say that it looks like the dog is smiling. Well an creditable world wide advertiser with an office in Australia saw the footage and wanted to buy the rights to the footage to possibly use it in a dog food commercial.

They sent me a general release contract. In the release it states that they will pay me "US$1,000.00 (excluding GST)." So I find out that GST in Australia is Goods and Services Tax, whatever that % may be. Am I correct that assume that they will withhold the necessary taxes on their side so I should expect less than US$1,000?

Later, am I required to file an Australia tax return and maybe pay more or get a refund later? Do we have tax treaties with the Commonwealth of Australia where they will report this earnings to the IRS, when then I would have to report it? I have no problems taking a gamble that they won't report and chance that I don't get audited for 2008.