Out Of My Head

No, not the soft drink that we all know and love … COLA in child support language means Cost Of Living Adjustment. Minnesota is one of only three states, Virginia and New Mexico are the others, that has a state law requiring that all child support orders (and also spousal maintenance orders, as long as there is still a valid child support obligation) are subject to a biennial cost of living increase. Good news for payees, sometimes not so good news for payors.

Right now is COLA season. We all get lists of cases that are due for the COLA and we manually have to check all those cases to make sure the COLA is set to run correctly. Once we have done that we let the system figure out how much the COLA adjustment is for each case and later this month, the payees and the payors will each get the notice telling them about the increase. Of course, the payors do get an opportunity to contest the COLA if they themselves have not received a comparable increase in their wages the past couple of years. Normally, I get a handful of calls with questions about the options available to contest the COLA and occasionally someone will decide to follow through with the action and request a hearing. I suspect this year, with the economic crisis, will be much busier and we will receive more than the usual number of motions to stop the COLA. If there is no objection to the cost of living increase, the payees will see the new amounts beginning May 1.

So if you’re paying or receiving child support in Minnesota and it’s your year for an increase in the obligation, you can expect to get your notice within the next couple of weeks. Remember, if you’re the payor, you do have the option to file a motion to contest this COLA so if you feel you cannot afford the increase, just call your child support worker for information. Court forms for Minnesota can also be downloaded online at www.mncourts.gov.

Let’s all believe that next year at this time the economy will be on the road to recovery. Keep thinking those positive thoughts and … keep vibrating!

I don’t know … is everyone as tired of winter as I am? Living in Minnesota in the winter is pretty trying at times … trying to stay warm, trying to get through the snow, trying to keep up with the electric and gas bills, trying NOT to get cabin fever … I’ve had almost no luck with any of those things this winter and I’m pretty ready for Spring.

Well, unfortunately, Spring is not ready for us. Another round of winter storm watches and warnings are on the horizon for the next few days and it’s going to be downright cold on Wednesday. More like January than March.  But I’m holding onto the hope that it’s going to be much warmer for this weekend … it’s got to turn soon. The Ides of March are approaching and I’m thinkin’ that’s a good day for all the snow to be gone. Probably won’t happen but it’s still a good day for the snow to be gone …

Since I grew up on a farm in North Dakota, I can say with some authority that Minnesota winters, no matter how bad they are, cannot compare with a brutal winter in North Dakota. I lived there as a child and even for quite a few years into my adulthood … not leaving until my own children had grown up and moved out. I remember the last winter I was there the wind seemed to be blowing nonstop for weeks at a time; combined with the minus 35 degree temperatures, the windchill was constantly at 60 below and often colder. One morning I woke up and there was no wind! I remember listening to the weatherman on the local TV station; he said it is 35 below but there is NO WIND. I thought to myself, “This is going to be a very nice day.” My next thought was, “There’s something wrong with my life.” I think it was that very moment that I decided I was going to leave North Dakota and live somewhere without that much snow and cold. About six months later, I moved to Louisville Kentucky and began living what turned out to be some of the best years of my life. Ultimately, a few years later, I accepted a job in Minnesota so I’m back in the snow … but someday I’m going to move back south to live closer to my beloved adopted home, Kentucky. (I’m manifesting that life at we speak.)

So how are things where you are? Are you where you want to be? If you’re sure you’d be happier somewhere else, you should make the decision to get there as soon as possible. If you can’t do it right now, set a timetable, set a goal, feel how wonderful it will be to live in that city or state or country. You can make it happen … there are endless possibilities everywhere in our lives. You just need to see them and feel them and know that this new life will by yours!

Keep vibrating!

Of course, I’m a great believer in the Law of Attraction and have been trying to keep vibrating consistently at a higher frequency which is conducive to creating wondermus things in your life … and I’ve had some success.  About 7 months ago I received a fake $1,000,000 bill in the mail from someone who has obviously manifested great things into their life and wants to help others do the same. So I hung the $1,000,000 bill in my little cube at my day job where I could see it all day … and I vibrated vigorously at an extremely high frequency to attract another $1,000,000 into my life.

Well, shortly before Christmas … SUCCESS!!! I’ve mentioned before that I’m employed by local government and spend my days working on enforcing child support orders. So, one of the tools we use is called FIDM, … Financial Institution Data Match … this handy little enforcement tool consists of all the banks in the US interfacing with Child Support Enforcement computers so every three months we get a match if any of the people that are on our caseload  have a bank account. If the account is over a certain amount and the child support case is seriously in arrears, we can levy on that account, freeze the funds, and have them sent to our Agency to be applied to the amount owed on the particular case. In December I levied on an account and ultimately collected over $8,000. That particular levy put the total FIDM collections — from the time this process became available to us — over $1,000,000! So, I manifested a million dollars! Not only that, but in recognition of this milestone, everyone in our child support office received a fake $1,000,000 bill … in fact, I got TWO fake $1,000,000 bills because I was personally handed one by the supervisor who is in charge of FIDM plus another bill appeared in my mailbox! So, now I have manifested two more fake $1,000,000 bills into my life … proof positive that the Law of Attraction work! Now I just have to make some minor adjustments in my vibration frequency (obviously I need to start vibrating at an even higher frequency) I don’t really need any more fake millions … the next time I see a million I’m expecting it to be real!

So let’s all get out there and start vibrating and manifesting! We can absolutely attract all the good things we’ve ever wanted into our lives! Just imagine the fun we’ll have when all our dreams come true!

All together now … start VIBRATING!!!!

Well today’s the day football fans have been looking forward to the entire season … STUPOR BOWL!

What’s that?? I’ve spelled it wrong?  Oh sorry, of course I meant to say “SUPER BOWL!”

Congratulations to the teams that made it in to the big game tonight. I think most everyone expects the Steelers to be victorious but the Super Bowl is made for upsets … so could it possibly be the Ravens who will win tonight?  Of course it could be. But probably not … however, as always, the commercials will be great fun to watch and will be the topic of conversation around the water cooler (or the coffee pot) tomorrow.  Both teams should be very proud of their accomplishments this year, and no matter who wins the game, the game will be discussed and disected for many days to come. May the best team win!

Tomorrow is a big day for those of us who live in the ‘tundra’ states … I’m currently a resident of Minnesota so I’ll be watching very closely tomorrow when Mr. Phil, the Groundhog, makes his appearance in Pennsylvania to tell us if the end of winter is near. Those of us who are tired of snow and cold are hoping there is no hint of a shadow tomorrow so spring can come quickly. However, it’s hard to imagine that there will be no shadow when the g-hog is dragged from his den amid the bright lights of television cameras and the hordes of reporters … my guess is that there WILL be a shadow and we’ll be doomed to more cold weather. Can you say SAD??

Job is still going well and I’m happy to be working in these fragile economic times. I do have to say I’m more than a bit bewildered by President Obama’s choice of Treasury Secretary and disappointed by his confirmation. I just don’t get it. How can a man who deliberately chose not to pay his tax liability, in the amount of $34,000, be tapped to be in charge of the IRS?  Then he blamed Turbo Tax for not figuring his taxes correctly … a man who will be in charge of the IRS shouldn’t NEED Turbo Tax to do his taxes for him … he should be able to do them himself. At the very least, he should be knowledgeable of the information he needs to enter into the Turbo Tax forms to arrive at the correct answer. If you don’t put the proper info onto the forms, you’re not going to get to the proper tax liability. Now there’s another tax issue with Tom Daschle who claims not to know that he should have paid taxes on a car and driver service.  I’m very tired of these guys making excuses about not know what’s a taxable liability and what isn’t.  If you’re an elected Sentator in the United States of America, it’s your JOB to know what’s taxable and what isn’t, and as VP Biden says, it’s patriotic to pay your taxes, so let’s start with our elected officials to show their patriotism. That way, when they’re offered a nice BIG job in someone’s cabinet, they don’t have to quickly write out big checks to the IRS and make up a bunch of excuses about why those taxes weren’t paid when they were due. In my opinion, those guys may not even be bright enough to hold a high-ranking position in the cabinet and should not even be considered. Unfortunately, as a working-class citizen, my opinion will not matter nor will it be heard by anyone who is in charge of the confirmation of this type of individual.

Ok, that’s my soap-box moment of the night.  Tomorrow’s another workday for me and I’ll be back at the computer trying to ferret out locations and jobs of non-custodial parents who are neglecting to pay their child support obligations and are trying to hide from us. Sometimes we are successful, sometimes we are not. I’m hoping tomorrow is one of those successful days so we can begin collecting the child support payments those children need.

Just 28 more days until March …. yaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!

Yuppers, it was back to work today after the weekend. Working for local Government certainly has its rewards … Monday morning isn’t necessarily one of the them but I’m happy to be working. Especially in this current economy where so many people are losing their jobs. So once I get up and get going, working is really the ideal way to spend the day. Not that I don’t enjoy my weekends, but the week days are often even more satisfying when I get a job done that I’ve been working on for awhile.

It’s December in Minnesota so guess what that means … you guessed it, cold weather. And SNOW. So, we had cold weather this morning and the snow stated this afternoon and is going to just keep on keepin’ on all night long. About six inches when it’s all over. That’s really not a lot of snow for Minnesota, but it’s the first substantial snow of this season so it will cause some commuting problems in the morning. Luckily, I live only about five miles from my job so I don’t have any big commute and that’s a very good thing on the snowy mornings and afternoons.

Next time I’ll tell you all about my little dogs and my cat. They’re snoozing on my lap already tonight and they’re just about ready for bed so in a few minutes, we’ll head up the stairs and fluff the feather bed and crawl in … that is sounding very inviting and I think I’m ready right now!

‘Night all

Yes, that’s what it was today … shopping day. Oh no, not Christmas shopping … it’s not nearly close enough to Christmas to start THAT task (can you sense the sarcasm?), just the regular weekend shopping to pick up dog and cat food and treats and a few things for me.

Got the Wal Mart things out of the way first, then on to Walgreen’s for prescription refills, Roundy’s a/k/a Rainbow Foods for groceries and then home with a stop a Cub foods for an item I forgot at Roundy’s. Exciting day.

Spent part of the day at Ross Goldberg’s Virtual Internet Seminar. What a great learning experience that is and I wish I didn’t have the pesky housework duties on the weekends so I could have spent the whole day listening (and watching) the great speakers. But it’ll be online for another couple of weeks and I’ll catch up.

One of these days, I’ll be a marketing guru like those guys and have my own seminar!

Now it’s off to the dishwasher to unload it and then find my pillow!

Have a great night, everyone!

Hey guess what? Thanksgiving is OVER already and Christmas is just three weeks away! Is everybody done with their Christmas shopping?? NOT ME … I’m pretty much in the “guy” camp when it comes to shopping for Christmas … the latest I can go, the happier I am. Well maybe “happier” is not quite the right word. STressed may be a better word for feeling of running out the door with the Christmas countdown reduced to just a few hours … frankly it sucks.

Every year I promise myself to do better, start earlier, get prepared, find out what everyone wants, and just be a more efficient shopper … of course, as of today, nothing has yet changed. Now that it’s December and the weather is becoming more typically Minnesota in winter, it’s more difficult for me to find a reason or motivation to face the snowy blasts … I’m pretty sure I’ll be battling the last minute crowds as always. This is procrastination at its finest …

So, to all of you organized wizards out there who thoughtfully purchased your Christmas presents throughout the year and can now just sit back and sip your rum-infused eggnog … congratulations! Please don’t give any thought to ME as I struggle through the snowdrifts to reach that soon-to-be-sold-out perfect gift and get there a few seconds too late … I’ll be fine. I’ll find something as usual (blessed be the Gift Card) and once again make a resolution to NEVER do this again … next year for sure I’ll do this differently and by the time Thanksgiving 2009 has come and gone, I’ll be ready for Christmas! (The line for wagering on this actually happening is already forming to the left) …

I’ll let you know how my shopping is progressing throughout the next few weeks … and I’ll be happy to take any suggestions for how to overcome this obviously congenital condition …

Now, just where did I put those newspapers with all those great ads??

Welcome to my thoughts … I’ll try not to scare you!