Blogging since 2002. Interviewed by Reuters and BBC and published in the Washington Examiner. I am an accounting professional, and EMT. I tend to libertarian / conservative in my perspective on life.

I am married to a lovely woman I met on the Internet, before the World Wide Web got popular, and we have a family of four cats.

I was born and raised in a small town in upstate New York. Went to St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York, and finally fell into this profession. Discovered computers in college where we learned on a Xerox mainframe (!).

I've been a member of the Lions' Clubs, a volunteer firefighter, and for the last twelve years a NYS certified EMT-D.

My passion is ...

emergency medical services

I know too much about ...

the War on Terror

My parents always told me ...

don't eat yellow snow

My childhood ambition ...

was to become king

My favorite memory ...

is my wedding, in a park gazebo on a warm summer day

Why I write ...

because I'm free and able to

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

reading David Weber, Eric Flint, John Ringo and Laurel Hamilton

My first job ...

was selling lettuce at a farm stand for 12 cents a head

My best moment ...

is everytime I can help someone in need

My inspiration ...

is my father, gentle, patient and tolerant

Jobs & Careers > Nonprofit & Service Sector Jobs The value of volunteering

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Volunteers make America a better place. It may be in a museum, with the Scouts, Little League or the thousands who are volunteer EMT's like I am.

That has value but you wouldn't know it. Current IRS regulations don't allow you to deduct your time as a volunteer and you can deduct a measly 14 cents a mile when the deduction for business use of your car is 48.5 cents a mile.

Financial accounting standards for not for profits allow them to record the value of your time as income only if you have a specific skill and they would have had to hire someone if you did not volunteer. As an EMT, tha...

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