TOP DRAWER INK NEWSLETTER

 

Here's the latest issue of Top Drawer Ink, the newsletter written by author HL Carpenter that's chock full of humor and common sense information.

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March 18, 2006
Volume 4, Number 6
ISSN 1554-6330

In this issue:

1. Carpenter Country
2. Top Drawer Article
3. Top Drawer Tips
4. Top Drawer Book Review
5. Top Drawer Satire

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CARPENTER COUNTRY
What's Happening in Our Neck of the Human Experience

 

It's springtime. Azaleas and dogwood blossoms are popping out on every empty branch. Amaryllis buds are shooting up at the rate of three inches a day. Squirrels hurry and scurry. Bunnies hip and hop. Bees buzz. Birds of all kinds are in a frenzy of building, bathing, grooming or eating.

And the human population seems to be afflicted with the same mad dash-itis.

This isn't a new phenomenon. Since the beginning of time people have felt like they were running behind schedule. The first caveman dragging home a wooly mammoth was probably trying to squeeze work, play and family time into his schedule, too.

Here in Carpenter Country we can understand why the birds and the bees are racing the clock. They've only a short while to get the job done. But people have more than a season. Plus they have high speed Internet, Blackberrys, iPods, cell phones programmed for instant communication, colleges offering on-the-go learning, and quick online dating.

Most of these time savers were supposed to give us more leisure, so why all this running, jumping, leaping and flitting back and forth as if we had only one springtime?

An even more important question – how to stop the mad rush?

We're thinking the answer is to reprogram our thoughts with a new message that's really a tried and true old message.

No, it's not daylight saving time. Forget about 'spring forward'. This ageless message is already in your mind and only needs reactivation.

Just go to edit, then preferences –

Now click – "slow down", "smell the flowers", "apply".

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TOP DRAWER ARTICLE

The Tax Gap
by
HL Carpenter

 

So you’re getting ready to file your tax return and pay your taxes, just like your friends and neighbors are ... or maybe are not.

Here’s a message from the IRS: America has a tax gap. And that gap – which is the difference between what taxpayers should have paid in taxes and what they actually paid – is huge.

Read the entire article here

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TOP DRAWER TIPS
Topics and Tidbits

 

Want to know more about the tax gap? http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=154496,00.html.

What happens to the money American pay in taxes each year? http://www.treas.gov/education/fact-sheets/taxes/economics.shtml.

Here's what's new in the world of tax simplification and reform: [Broken Link Removed].

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TOP DRAWER BOOK REVIEW

by
HL Carpenter

 

Then We Set His Hair on Fire
by Phil Dusenberry
ISBN 1-59184-082-1
290 pages; hardcover; $24.95
Penguin Group, New York, 2005

Bet you think advertising is just a slick way to finesse cash out of your pocket. As it turns out, you're right.

But that's only part of the story.

Read the entire review here

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TOP DRAWER SATIRE

A Worry A Day
by
HL Carpenter

 

The things you worry about seldom come true.

That’s the message the anxiety industry wants consumers to take to heart – but not in the “so-why-worry-at-all” way self-improvement books promote. In a twist on the old saying, companies selling products such as Dread, Apprehension and ColdSweat are launching a promotion to encourage you to worry even more.

Read the rest here