May, 2002      Diablo Blue     Page 7

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in them, especially in the software written for them.

This year I did make an exception. I used the option Turbo Tax offers to download all my W2 information from my employer, saving me several dozen keystrokes. These keystrokes played a significant role in my decision to do this. Not that I could save them, but rather that there were so few that I could easily check each number against my printed W2 to ensure accuracy. I’m pleased to report that Turbo Tax was easy, quick and accurate. I’m especially pleased since I was responsible at the employer end for getting the data out there to be picked up.

Charlie used Tax Cut and while satisfied with the end result, he was unhappy with their rebate program for the state tax software. It seems they don’t tell you up front that you will have to purchase the state software with a credit card in order to download. For those of you who wait till the last minute and then don’t want to trust your credit card number across the internet, this is not good.

New Business:

Projector: Yes, you heard me, “projector”. I knew we would have problems now that Charlie is again able to attend meetings, and sure enough. Discussion was held on how to fund a new projector. The last one we bought back in October 1997 took a big bite out of our bank account that has never been replenished. The good news is prices on this equipment have continued to drop. Still, we are looking for some creative financing.

Several ideas were discussed including special auctions and soliciting donations. My personal favorite, that we find some one to buy it for us, some one like, oh, say Charlie, and then name the projector after them. “The Charlie Crothers Memorial Video Projector” sounded great to all but one Board member. Actually, it sounded great to him, too, but there was some problem with coming up with the cash. I’m sure we’ll hear more about this at future meetings.

New Brochure: We discussed putting together a new brochure. One of our members is a printer, but his high speed equipment is too powerful for our small runs. Charlie then explained his “shell” theory of brochures. You print several thousand “shells” (the data the just

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