While the article itself doesn’t go into detail about how she accomplished this feat (other than keeping good records, kept fighting after getting denied multiple times, taking her fight to Tax Court), I felt that knowing her specifics might help me get some more $ back from Uncle Sam.  I’m currently an MBA student at the Ross School of Business, and since I’m paying for this MBA out of pocket, I’m trying to save money wherever I can.

So, I dug up the summary opinion, and tried to make some sense of the case.  Here’s what my untrained (in many things, but namely taxation and law) mind came up with -

Case Facts:

• Nurse had a long history of patient care
• Moved into a management role at her hopital
• Obtained an MBA (from online school University of Phoenix) to become more efficient in her management role
• Her work did not reimburse her for any education related expenses

Quoting from the Court’s Judgment:

The final remaining inquiry then is whether as an objective matter the MBA/HCM qualifies petitioner for any  new trade or business, not just the particular job at St. Mary’s that she acquired. Respondent contends that the MBA/HCM does qualify petitioner for a new trade or business, because in respondent’s words, under the regulation “the tasks and activities she was qualified for before she obtained the degree are different than those which she is qualified to perform afterwards”. We disagree.
An MBA degree is different from a degree that serves as foundational qualification to attain a professional license. For instance, this Court had denied deductions for law school expenses, because a law degree qualifies a taxpayer for the new trade or business of being a lawyer. See, e.g., Bodley v. Commissioner, supra; Weiler v. Commissioner, 54 T.C. 398, 401-402 (1970).

An MBA is a more general course of study that does not lead to a professional license or certification. Allemeier v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2005-207. This Court has had differing outcomes when deciding whether a taxpayer may deduct education expenses related to pursing an MBA, depending on the facts and circumstances of each case. The decisive factor generally is whether the taxpayer was already established in their trade or business.

My interpretation:

Please keep in mind that I am not a lawyer and have never studied tax law.  Here’s what I’m reading:

• The nurse was already working in similar jobs pre and post MBA.  So the MBA did not open new doors immediately after she obtained it
• Since the MBA does not grant or confer any sort of professional license or certification, it is different than a law degree.  In other words, its possible to work in post-MBA jobs without actually earning an MBA.  It would be functionally impossible to work as a bar-certified attorney without earning a JD from an accredited law school.
• To deduct the cost of an MBA, I would need to return to Consulting, which was my previous line of work.

Sounds like an interesting theory to try…any tax folks or lawyers have a different read on this?  A copy of the court’s judgment is here (link)

Its all CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) and its very vivid and incredible.  Wait for the effect around 6:40, incredible.

If this doesn’t load up, check it out at the author’s website (http://vimeo.com/7809605?hd=1)

The Third & The Seventh from Alex Roman on Vimeo.

I’m in Africa!  I flew in to Nairobi, Kenya just over a week ago, and spent two nights exploring this vibrant and interesting (and dangerous) city.  I checked out the National Museum and would have impressed my old 10th grade bio teacher (miss you Mr. Tucksherer) that I still remembered that “Astrhrolopithicus died for us”.

I met up with Matt and Erica, and we took a trip down to Moshi, Tanzania to pay our respects to Mount Kilimanjaro.  After a grueling 7 day journey, they were wed on the mountaintop, while I stayed at base camp 6 (approx 4600m above sea level) due to altitude sickness.

Today, I returned back to Nairobi solo, and an trekking out to Masaui Mara National Park to hopefully see some of the annual wildebeest migration.

that was more detail that I thought I’d give, but this trip has been intense, interesting, grueling,and mad all at the  same time.

will post back with picture and much more commentary when I’m stateside!

Weights about 30 lbs, feels comfortable. This will be an interesting 3 weeks !!

Here’s what’s in my pack (a Kelty Coyote 4750, borrowed from Tim):

Winter:

• Winter Hat
• Balaclava
• Seriously sweet wicking long-johns – I’ve used these skiing a few times, and they rock.  I picked them up somewhere in Pennsylvania, and they are one of my best purchases
• Columbia Parka – Something I found on clearance at Amazon
• Gore-tex pants – Can never stay too dry.  picked up on sale from cabela
• Midweight Fleece – Awesome..picked up on sale at the North Face.  yes, the secret sale
• Boots – waterproof
• Base Layer undershirt- the partner to the long johns. again, they rock
• Gloves
• Socks – 2 pairs of heavy-weight, and 2 pairs of mid-weight.
• Toe warmers
• Finger warmers

Regular Clothes:

• Wicking shirts – leftovers from half-marathon training.  I hope they’ll help me stay relatively sweat free
• Columbia combination pants/shorts – great for trekking and hiking.  Unzip into shorts, and very light.
• 1 polo shirt – not polo brand, but something a bit nicer in case i need it
• 1 pair nice shorts – to match the polo.  i probably won’t wear them, but just in case
• Raincoat – Marmot preCip.  Light weight and very awesome.
• Boxers and socks – no comments needed
• Shower shoes
• sunglasses
• regular eyeglasses (yes, i’m 4 eyed)
• Contact lenses and solution

Electronics:

• Nikon D40 digital SRR, kit lens, 50mm lens, 2 batteries
• Canon Powershot point-and-shoot camera
• Travel Watch – cheapo timex
• Ipod – might be left behind, not sure yet

Other Gear:

• Sunscreen
• Chapstick
• 2 nalgene bottles
• iodine tablets
• first aid kit
• travel towel
• toilet paper
• security wallet
• Personal toiletries (razor, shaving cream, toothbrush, toothpaste, etc.)
• Deet bug spray
• Eddie Bauer bookbag, to use as a daypack
• Books
• Playing cards

As you can see, I’ve compressed the hell out of everything in either compression bags or ziplock bags.  Let me know if there’s anything that I’m forgetting, or something that I should get rid of.

I was hanging at the Chicago Public Library a few weeks ago, and this book caught my eye.  I’m a huge fan of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and “James and the Giant Peach”, so I was intrigued by the idea of Dahl as a British spy.

Dahl entered WW2 as a member of the British Royal Air Force, but was grounded after an accident in his very first flight.  With able bodies in short supply, he was upset when he was assigned to a seemingly-boring desk job at the British embassy in Washington.  However, upon arriving in DC, he learned that his job would be much more interesting than originally bargained for.

Dahl became a member of the British Security Corporation, with orders to help influence US public opinion and policy towards the British.  At the time, pre-Pearl Harbor, the US public was very anti-involvement…while the British needed American support.  So Dahl and his pals spent lots of time drinking and becoming friends with influential newspaper and magazine editors.

So this book is interersting not because Dahl is a particularly interesting spy.  He’s spying assignments seemed faily mundane (and nothing like Agent Zigzag’s).  I found this book interesting because of the high-level access Dahl enjoyed in both Washington and New York.  He regularly cooresponded with Vice President Henry Wallace, played cards with Elenor Rosevelt, and even spent a weekend with the Rosevelt family (including FDR) at Hyde Park.  He spent lots of time with people like Wild Bill Donovan, who went on to found the OSS and the CIA.  Also, his flatmate for a time in DC was Sir Ian Fleming, the creater of James Bond.

This book read more like a People magazine write up (not that I’ve ever read People) than a spy thriller.  Its interesting to read about the personal lives of high government officials, but, I can’t recommend this book in good faith.  Its probably best to avoid it..

I just finished seam-sealing my Columbia parka and my Eddie Bauer daypack/backpack.  I’m pretty sure that my Columbia coat is waterproof, but it never hurts to be sure that the seams are completely sealed.  Its going to be cold and wet up there, and I want to stay dry (and warm)!!

As i get closer to my trip, I’ll post up my packing lists and some pictures of my gear.

So after getting a deliverable out to my team, I decided to check in for any sports updates on espn.  Of course there was nothing huge, its the middle of the day on a Thursday.  But, a closer look revealed something interesting.

As noted in the picture above, 2 articles in a row bad-mouthing SEC football.  The first story details how Alabama Crimson Tide players were receiving unauthorized textbooks for their friends, and this was a violation of NCAA student-athlete benefits.  So, as a result, Alabama is “vacating” 10 wins from 2005-2007, meaning that they can no longer count those wins among their totals.

The second article talks about how Florida Head Coach Urban Meyer thinks his players are “good guys”.  This is despite the fact that members of his team have been involved in 24 legal incidents since 2005.

After reading both articles, I’m forced to wonder why ESPN hates SEC football.

Since the weather was awful yesterday (Chicago, seriously…..can’t you do better than 50 degrees in June!), the gym was packed after work.  Rather than waiting in line for a treadmill or elliptical, I decided to finally try the one piece of equipment that never has a line…and that nobody ever seems to use.  Yes, I decided to try rowing.

While the concept is simple (you sit on this machine, and you row, row, row your boat), the exceution is tough.  It takes coordination, strength, and endurance.  Of course, I have none of these qualities.

I set the Concept2 machine (i google’d it when I got home, apparently they are considered the best) to a fairly basic setting for 20 minutes.  15 minutes later, with sweat dripping down my face, I decided that I’d had enough rowing, and finished my workout on a recumbent bike (the lazy man’s bike..my favorite!).

This morning, I woke up sore all over.  My back felt tender, my legs were sore, and my abs hurt.  I say that if a machine can do all this with only a 15 minute workout, that machine might be worth doing more often.

I hereby declare that I will continue to jump on the rowing machine not just when the treadmill line is long, but also when I feel like getting my ass kicked.  If your gym has a rower (especially a Concept2), check it out….you’ll love it.

link to the benefits on rowing [Concept2 Rower - Benefits of Rowing]

I was sitting on the beach (fancy consulting term for being in-between projects), when I got a note from a Director in my practice that needed help with a project proposal.  90 hours later, the proposal was out the door, and I was back to my beachcoming ways.

As I ate dinner at my desk, worked til past midnight, and toiled away on the weekend, I got to thinking about what I’ve learned.

First…work stuff:

1)  How to price a proposal - boring excel stuff.  Once I leave the firm, I will likely never use this skill again.

2)  Managing people that bill out at 5x my bill rate. The dynamics of working with Managing Directors and Partners was interesting.  Lots of emails flying around, lots of people not reading the stuff that I wrote back.  Maybe I’ll write more about this after I leave the firm.

The more important things that I learned.

3)  No investment banking for me – I initially applied to business school to transition from consulting into investment banking.  Yes, the Ibanking money is nice, and I’d learn how businesses make money, but I can’t put up with the hours. Its too depressing being at the office for 85 hours a week, eating every meal at your desk, and canceling weekend plans.  I’m not interested in this.  I still want the i-banking skills, just not the hours.

4)  Excel is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because you if you design your model right, you can make seemingly hard changes pretty quickly.  This leads me to why its a curse.  Once word gets out that you know Excel, Partners want multiple scenarios, price points, and options.  If  I didn’t know excel, I probably could have been done with work by 6 pm everyday.

5) I’m a genuine news junkie – Apparently a plane disappeared last week.   As both a news and Lost freak, I wanted to learn more about this, but was so busy that I missed all the updates.  I’m still trying to get updated on the flight, but I feel that I missed the media event.

Probably the most important thing I learned was this. …I need to leave work!  I’m leaving for school soon enough, I might as well do it without any more 90 hr weeks.