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What hurdles did you encounter in trying to get a personnel file on someone "famous"?

garfy3 — Fri, 08 May 2009 05:10:44 -0800

Have you ordered a US military personnel file (aka "OMPF," or "201 file"), for someone famous that was "released" under the Persons of Exceptional Prominence (PEP) program? How did that go? How long did it take? Did you have to go there in person? [Since I'm expecting a flood of people chiming in to tell me how they got their grandfather's personnel file from WWII, just want to point out that I'm only interested in files of persons covered by the "famous-people" program that is the Persons of Exceptional Prominence. Due apologies if that seems elitist or snarky.]

I'm working on a writing project concerning someone famous, who served briefly in the military, and whose military personnel file was "released" in 2006 under this program from the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis. I'm familiar with procedures for ordering those files (via FOIA, form SF-180), which are all rather lengthy, expensive, and fraught with bureaucratic obstacles. So apart from how the procedures may be described on some website (which usually aren't followed in actual practice), I'd like to know how this worked out for you.

Did you obtain a file of someone famous? Did you do it by mail, or in person? How long did it take? Were the copies they made even legible, or would it be a better route to travel there and obtain a digital copy? Do they actually allow digital reproduction of these "famous" files?

Thanks!

You're going to give it to me anyway, just give it over now!

EmpressCallipygos — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 07:27:01 -0800

Taxesfilter: I'm trying to fill out a new W-4 to have less withholding tax taken out -- do I really have to fill out the worksheet thing, or can I just decide how many allowances I want? This is actually a follow-up to an earlier question I had. A lot of people in here advised me that I was having too much withholding tax taken out of my paychecks, and recommended I adjust my W-4. Since I've been getting $300-$500 returns for the past couple years, I'm inclined to agree -- I've just gotten a copy of a new w-4 and want to add just one more allowance.

But there is that whole "worksheet" you need to fill out, and if I fill that out accurately, it doesn't appear that I am ALLOWED to take out that one more allowance. I can only claim 2 allowances in the main portion of the form (single, and head of household -- I am not married, I don't have dependants, I don't have kids), and the separate "if you are itemizing your deductions" worksheet actually doesn't give me any ground to claim that one additional allowance (I don't...have any deductions; in fact, the last time I tried to itemize my deductions, it worked out that it would make more sense for me NOT to and go with a 1040EZ return -- the only big adjustment to my income I can report on there is the annual IRA contribution).

Can I just go ahead and claim that 3rd allowance anyway? It would mean an extra hundred dollars a month to my income, so I'd REALLY like to get it. And I've been getting big returns anyway, so it's not like I'd be cheating anyone out of anything (if I have to pay at the end of the year, I would, really!)

How does a postdoc file taxes?

Dormant Gorilla — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 08:44:05 -0800

How does a Harvard postdoc file taxes? I'm asking this on behalf of my sister's boyfriend, so I'll try to give you all the information I know. He is a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical with an F-32 grant from NIH. He's running up against several layers of bureaucracy and has no idea how to correctly file his taxes, because:

- Harvard has said that, since it's a government grant, he doesn't technically work for Harvard so it would be illegal for them to give him tax advice

-He isn't "officially" a government employee, so THEY won't give him tax advice

-He's researched the issue, but half his sources say to use a 1099 and the other half apparently say to absolutely not use a 1099

-He's spoken to a few friends at other universities, but everywhere is different, and all the grants have different rules that might not apply to him.

So what he needs to know is, what form should he use to file, and what counts as his taxable income?

I know this one's a long shot, but can any of you guys help him out? Thanks!

Can you one-way to Bom-bay?

ageispolis — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 16:39:04 -0800

Can you fly into India with a one way ticket? Trying to book flights for an upcoming trip to India and Southeast Asia. We're planning on landing in Mumbai. I don't have a set end date of when to come home so I would like to fly into India with a one way and then buy my ticket home overseas. I heard this is the cheaper method and also allows more flexibility. However, when speaking with the travel agent to book my reservation, she asked me if I was certain I could enter India on a one way. I have no idea, I checked a few embassy websites but couldn't find out any information. Anyone know first hand if this is possible?

Thanks.

How can I prove that a mistake existed on a website six months ago?

roll truck roll — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 16:32:13 -0800

How can I prove that a mistake existed on a website six months ago? I so apologize if this is a double. I searched and couldn't find anything. It was kind of asked in April, but no one bit.

I'm in a small dispute with a student records department, and this small dispute is currently keeping me from getting my Master's degree that I earned.

The specifics are convoluted and obnoxious, but the crux is this: in August of 2006, there was a glaring error in the course schedule page. The error was corrected (I'm guessing) sometime in late September.

Here's the page in question. The class at the bottom of the list had only the Tuesday session listed, as opposed to Tuesday and Thursday.

I've checked the Internet Archive. Every version they have is either too old or too new. Google Cache only has the corrected version. And of course, our quaint little art school doesn't have printed schedules.

Am I missing something in how I'm searching? Is there any way, aside from Internet Archive and Google Cache, to find an old version of a page? If you find it, I'll be your best friend.

Not goin' to the chapel, but we're gonna get married

pdb — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 10:44:29 -0800

How do we get married in Multnomah County, OR? The Future Mrs. pdb and I are planning to be married in May of next year. Being not-at-all religious, we want a friend of ours to do the ceremony after being ordained by the Universal Life Church.

Once said friend becomes ordained, though, what has to happen to make a ceremony performed by a ULC-ordained person a "legal" marriage in Portland, OR? I understand about the marriage license process, that's the easy part - I'm concerned with making sure our officiant is recognized by the county/state/whatever.

The Multnomah County website is almost spectacularly unhelpful in this regard, and the Multnomah County Clerk either doesn't exist or has an unlisted phone number, as the number I was given for the clerk's office has been disconnected.

Any MultCo Mefites out there have any ideas how we go about legitimizing our wedding in the eyes of the county?

"Address?" "Nowhere...and everywhere..."

attercoppe — Tue, 19 Jul 2005 21:34:26 -0800

How do people with no permanent address handle mail delivery, photo identification, property taxes, etc? Not homeless people, but full-time RVers, houseboaters who don't stay always at one dock, people who just live on the road as a part of their jobs, etc. etc. Can you get a driver's license without an address? How about a post office box? Can you have all your mail saved up somewhere, then forwarded to you at a given address whenever you ask for it? How can you apply for a job, pay your taxes, get insurance, or do anything official without having a permanent physical address? (I'm in the US, so mostly interested in domestic practices, but other countries' residents please feel free to contribute as well.)