Comments for FS Tips and Tricks

Comment on Buying a house on per diem by cmriff

cmriff — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 04:32:22 +0000

I will be moving back to DC for language training and was thinking about buying a house and using the per diem towards mortgage interest, however, was told that it had to be my second home in order to do this. Does anyone know if this is correct?
Thanks,

Comment on Shopping: Five must-have thingies for the Foreign Service by boulderjosh1

boulderjosh1 — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 22:39:54 +0000

BTW – do you know if propane fittings are coincident in thread and size internationally??

Comment on Shopping: Five must-have thingies for the Foreign Service by boulderjosh1

boulderjosh1 — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 22:39:08 +0000

Hi – my wife and I will be shipping out in July and I am planning on bringing homebrewing equipment with us. Do you know if propane is available worldwide? If not, what other type of burner could you recommend? Thanks in advance!

Comment on Deducting home leave expenses from your taxes by Shopping: Five must-have thingies for the Foreign Service | Foreign Service Blogregator

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 12:08:38 +0000

[...] a picture of receipts and travel documents while you’re traveling so you don’t have to bring a scanner along. I’ve also taken pictures of maps so I could consult them by zooming in on the photo rather [...]

Comment on Inbox Zero on OpenNet by Preparing your EER – forms and tips | Foreign Service Blogregator

Preparing your EER – forms and tips | Foreign Service Blogregator — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 12:07:05 +0000

[...] a bit unwieldy as most kudos are now coming in digitally. I have very few folders in my Outlook (as previously discussed), but one of them is EER. Those things get dropped straight in there for safe-keeping. If you’re [...]

Comment on How-to: Access U.S.-only websites from overseas by Sadness: Hulu blocks proxy servers, shuts overseas access | Foreign Service Blogregator

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 12:06:49 +0000

[...] know that previous blog post where I talked about how to access U.S.-only websites from overseas? The main reason to [...]

Comment on Sadness: Hulu blocks proxy servers, shuts overseas access by MrZaius.com » Amazon and Rhapsody MP3 stores block American military and diplomatic access

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:14:22 +0000

[...] is unclear whether they’ve gotten to Hulu-esque levels of controls, going out of their way to block proxy servers, but we shouldn’t have to bother – Not for a paid service, with an American address, [...]

Comment on Shopping: Five must-have thingies for the Foreign Service by aegis47

aegis47 — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:05:22 +0000

I found your blog while searching for EyeTV compatibility with AFN Europe. Have you had good experience using EyeTV as a DVR device over there? I can’t find anyone else who can confirm that the signal put out by the AFN decoder box and satellite dish is one that EyeTV understands. Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks

Comment on Virginia sales tax: diplomatic pouch sales exempt by MrZaius.com » ThinkGeek and the Foreign Service

MrZaius.com » ThinkGeek and the Foreign Service — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:31:59 +0000

[...] post in Kathmandu and was *gasp* charged Virginia sales tax in spite of the pouch zip code’s long-standing exemption. They deserve kudos, however, on three [...]

Comment on Shopping: Five must-have thingies for the Foreign Service by Garrett

Garrett — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:33:28 +0000

I enjoyed reading your comments about Google Voice. Like you, I don’t like to be tied to my computer when on the phone, but I still use Skype. There are four phone models that use a base that plugs into your wireless router and then a standard cordless handset that logs into Skype. It essentially provides the same services as Vonage, except at under $50/year. The downside is that the phones can be hard to find (ebay) and are expensive (~$120).