Giving IRS the shirt ...

... off your back took on new meaning on April 15, 1985.

The date was Monday, April 15, 1985, and I had members of the Win/Win Business Forum to an Income Tax Party. A small restaurant, The Philadelphia Filly, in Denver was normally closed on Mondays but Sally, the owner, agreed to open if I promised enough people to make it worth her while.

As I recall, about 100 people showed up. It was standing room only.

When John White arrived, he was well-dressed – a three-piece, blue suit, white shirt, nice tie. John headed straight into the men’s room, and it seemed he was in there a long time. I was beginning to worry that he might have some type of health problem, when he emerged – still wearing the three-piece suit and tie, but carrying his white shirt!

Now there was a guy who understood about giving the IRS the shirt “off your back”!

Not an April 15th has passed since then that I have not thought of John.

After the party many of was caravanned to the downtown Post Office in Denver to mail our tax returns.

If you'll be heading to the Post Office late this evening (no, they don't have the forms there!), be sure to call ahead to ask the time of the latest mail deposit that will bear today's date. Some information can be found for local post offices in today's Northwest Herald.

This year I did not put off my return until the last day. I mailed them yesterday!

Off to (MDA) Jail at 4:00PM

Today is the day I'll be locked up at 4:00PM in the MDA Jail in McHenry. Yep! It's true. And they'll throw away the key until I raise $800 or 5:00PM, whichever comes first.

Rumor has it that they'll give me a phone and let me use my own Address Book. I was going to offer to be jailed at 2:00AM. I figured that, if I made calls at that time, you would be home and the line wouldn't be busy!

There might be a few who would tell them to throw away the key, but I invite the rest to pitch in and bail me out. You know, of course, it's not for me; it's for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. This is their annual "Jail" fundraiser.

So, right now, before you click over to something else, click below and make your donation (no matter how large) right here, right online. It's easy, fast and, most importantly, secure.

And, when you don't pay your taxes tomorrow, you can call me and I'll check in on your bail to get you out of Leavenworth!

Click .... now .... (please). www.joinmda.org/mchenry2009/gusphilpot/

Many, many thanks in advance to all.

If it's Tuesday, this must be ...

Belgium! Who remembers that 1969 movie?

If you are ready to smile and feel good, watch this: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EYAUazLI9k

And, if you would like to see the T-Mobile production in the Liverpool station, search on this site in the box at the upper left for "Liverpool". Enjoy!

1909-2009

This came in the (e-)mail today. Enjoy! Not sure whom to credit for it; the originator, I mean.

THE YEAR 1909

This will boggle your mind. The year is 1909. One hundred years ago. What a difference a century makes! Here are some statistics for the year 1909:

The average life expectancy was 47 years.
Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub.
Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.
There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles of paved roads.
The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.
The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower!
The average wage in 1909 was 22 cents per hour.
The average worker made between $200 and $400 per year.
A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, a dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.

More than 95 percent of all births took place at HOME .

Ninety percent of all doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION! Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press and by the government as 'substandard.'
Sugar cost four cents a pound.
Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.
Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.

Most women only washed their hair once a month and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo.

Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering into their country for any reason.

Five leading causes of death were: 1. Pneumonia and influenza 2. Tuberculosis 3. Diarrhea 4. Heart disease 5. Stroke

The American flag had 45 stars.
The population of Las Vegas, Nevada, was only 30!!!!
Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and ice tea hadn't been invented yet.
There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.
Two out of every 10 adults couldn't read or write.
Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.

Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the corner drugstores.
Back then pharmacists said, 'Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health. (Shocking? DUH!)

Eighteen percent of households had at least one full-time servant or domestic help.

There were about 230 reported murders in the entire U.S.A.!

Try to imagine what it will be like in another 100 years.

No ticket in car wreck - no surprise

On February 13 the Northwest Herald carried an article and a photograph of the previous day's one-car crash involving a squad car of the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department, driven by on-duty Deputy John Sosnowski, Jr.

According to the newspaper article, Illinois State Police Sgt. Robert Satkiewicz said that Deputy Sosnowski “was driving his squad car west on Charles Road when he hit a large rock with the passenger side of the car. The car then vaulted upward, eventually flipping over and landing in a ditch.” The photo showed the car resting on its wheels on flat ground.

The reporter wrote that the State Police was called in to "impartially" investigate the incident. Did that happen?

Because the article did not mention any citation issued to Deputy Sosnowski (or even that the accident continued under investigation), I filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Illinois State Police on March 11.

Well, it turns out that is not quite how the crash is described in the Crash Report. Note above where the reporter wrote that ISP Sergeant said Sosnowski "...was driving his squad car west on Charles Road when he hit a large rock with the passenger side of the car..."

Here’s what the crash report on file with the Illinois State Police says: “Unit #1 was traveling W/B on Charles Road. Unit #1 left the road, traveled in to the ditch, struck a rock in the driveway located at 11208 Charles Rd. and vaulted over the driveway…” and the report continues with a description of the path of the car and its rolling over. The report also indicates that a (fence) post and 20 feet of wirefence were damaged.

The diagram in the Crash Report shows the squad car leaving the roadway by going straight ahead where Charles Road begins to curve to the left. The vehicle had left the roadway and driven into the ditch before it hit any rock. It didn’t hit a rock in the roadway and then leave the roadway.

This article is not intended to slam Deputy Sosnowski. Any driver can find himself in a crash, if he runs off the road in a curve. What might cause that? Driver inattention, perhaps? Thinking about end-of-shift paperwork? Reaching for paperwork on the seat or in a briefcase? Talking on the police radio or a cell phone? Reading the screen of an in-car computer?

The Contributory Cause in the Crash Report is “(Code) 15 Driving skills/ knowledge/ experience”.

Now, is there a difference between the newspaper report and the Crash Report? You bet.

Deputy Sosnowski got a huge break from Sgt. Satkiewicz, because no ticket was issued. And herein lies the problem. Any other driver – I’ll say, every other driver - leaving the roadway and rolling a vehicle would have gotten a ticket.

Is it fair to every other driver on the road that he, a civilian, would get a ticket in a crash like this, but a fellow law enforcement officer doesn’t? Why wouldn't Sgt. Satkiewicz just issue the ticket and be done with it?

Deputy Sosnowski is one lucky guy when it comes to tickets after wrecks. Just two years earlier , he wrecked his own car in McHenry County and didn't get a ticket. The report reads that he swerved to avoid a deer at 4:30AM and ran off the road in a 35MPH speed zone. That crash report was written by a McHenry County Sheriff's Department Sergeant (#1583 - name illegible on report).

Network of Care

There is a fantastic new service available to McHenry County residents (and others), thanks to our county's Mental Health Board and funding through a grant received by the Family CARE Project of the Board. As Mental Health Awareness Month (May) approaches, the McHenry County Network of Care has been announced, and it can be viewed at www.mchenrycountynetworkofcare.org

On this morning's Northwest Spectrum, hosted by Stew Cohen on Star 105.5 at 6:00AM (that's every Sunday), Stew interviewed Sen. Pam Althoff. She and Stew mentioned that one of every five families is affected in some way by mental illness, and one of 17 individuals is affected.

Sen. Althoff described efforts to re-educate legislators to the importance of continued, and even increased, funding of mental health initiatives and that this funding actually results in benefits to the State of Illinois (that's us!), not just expense.

Save May 2 (evening) for a night at the Woodstock Opera House. More information to follow on that.

For more about our county's Mental Health Board, go to www.mc708.org

Forward those e-mails???

Remember the emails about
- Bill Gates, who will pay you ... etc.
- the Make-a-Wish Foundation and the postcards to the sick kid?
- the government's plan to nick you a nickel for every email you send?

If you've got time to laugh, check this out:

http://info.org.il/irrelevant/may02-smilepop-soapbox4.swf

Thanks to my friend, Mary, for sending this to me.