I wanted to take a moment to leave a heartfelt review for R. Tate, who works in Offer in Compromise…read morewith the IRS. Like many people, I was honestly scared going into this process. The IRS has a reputation that can feel overwhelming, and I chose to complete my Offer in Compromise on my own instead of hiring a CPA or accountant--which made it even more stressful and time-consuming. Throughout the process, I had a lot of questions and moments of uncertainty, but R. Tate was absolutely incredible. She was patient, kind, and took the time to answer every question I had without ever making me feel like a burden. Even when things got complicated and I had to go through the appeals process--which ultimately ended in my favor--she continued to support me and guide me. What truly meant the most to me was that she went out of her way, even calling me after hours (despite being two hours ahead), just to personally let me know that my application had been approved. I was in tears. That moment meant everything to me. I know the IRS can get a bad reputation, but R. Tate is one of those rare people who genuinely cares and goes above and beyond to help others. Her compassion, professionalism, and dedication made a very stressful situation feel manageable, and I will always be grateful for that. Thank you, R. Tate. I truly appreciate you more than words can express.

I file my own taxes and I am strongly opposed to taxes but for the sake of living here I have to…read morefile them and I do not want to go to jail. I recently got a notice from the IRS saying that I owe " X" amount of money. The thing is though is that I paid my taxes when I amended them in February and they took out my money from my bank account. I get a letter saying that I owe the same amount that I paid initially the only difference is that they added 34 cents on the IRS end. So all these guys really coming after me over 34 cents perhaps ? I wanted to call and correct them on this because I'm being held hostage about paying my taxes yet again before a certain deadline or I'll be paying more interest for something that they should see in their own account that they took out of mine. Unfortunately there is no one to call and navigating the phone call it's like walking on eggshells . I want to say I've tried about 50 times to call the IRS and I was unable to get a hold of a single human. Overall, I know I will get this money back one way or another. Maybe one day we will be like all other countries where we don't need to pay for having to get our taxes filed and like most modern countries do. Whatever happened to those 86,000 agents that you hired last year that you're not talking about this year? Did he all get laid off because of AI taking their jobs? Do better! Oh! And Taxation is theft

This base has the worst visitors center. I've been waiting for like an hour and a half and they're…read morenot prioritizing who got here first.

Beautiful views of the Potomac, DC and Alexandria VA!…read more My dad was military and I have lived all over Europe and the US. This is probably the nicest base I have been on! Well kept up. Getting through the gate was interesting since we weren't on a list. Not too long of a wait before we were approved for entry. A friend of a friend rented a pontoon boat and a pavilion for a family reunion cookout over Memorial Day weekend. The pavilions are a good size. There was over 50 of us and we had plenty of room. Picnic tables, Grill and outlets for electricity. Restrooms were clean! There's quite a few different boats to rent. We had a great time on our boat. The scenery is beautiful! Great time was had by all!

Apparently the actual place is closed? I looked around for it and was told they moved it, but…read morenobody knew where. Anyway, I found the Clear/Tsa kiosk and a very nice woman signed me up. I did fingerprints and passport scan all at the same kiosk. Thank goodness for her and the other helpful man in the airport because I almost gave up. I'm giving one star because they need better directions.

The place was closed when I got in, so I had to wait a bottle. This is a tiny room with a couple of…read morechairs and fingerprints scanning machine. I liked the painting of Boeing on their wall (I guess it was Boeing). However, the process was very quick even there were some difficulties with the prepayment code. Overall the procedure took about 10 minutes.

HORRIBLE!!! Was on hold for 1:55.40 seconds and they still never picked up!! Can't find proper…read morehelp anywhere anymore. Y'all should be ashamed!

I'm updating my previous review where I gave them 5 start. I now rate them 1 star!…read moreAfter my appointment on 6/6 to update my citizenship, I was told I would get my updated social security card within a couple of weeks. It's now 7/9, and nothing was received in the mail. I called customer service to explain the situation and was told that my application to change my citizenship status was never opened and reviewed, nor is it in pending status, and that they had no record of any update done on my account even though when I showed up at the office, the lady took my passport and confirmed she had updated everything! So they rescheduled me for an appointment and the only date available is AUGUST 19th!! That's 3 months after I first submitted my application online! This is totally unprofessional and unacceptable! How can they lack professionalism in such a way and waste people's time like this? I am fuming!

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is located in a complex of new buildings at…read more600 Dulany Street in Alexandria, VA. The main goal of the USPTO is to receive patent applications from patent agents and patent attorneys, to examine the claims, to respond by writing rejections, and eventually where appropriate to grant allowances. In response to rejections ("Office Actions") patent agent or attorney writes a rebuttal argument, where the result is often allowance of the patent claims. Following allowance, the inventor pays a fee, and this is followed by issue and publication of the patent. An excellent history of the USPTO is available (E. C. Walterscheid (1998) To Promote the Progress of Useful Arts: American Patent Law and Administration, 1787-1836). An institution that is closely associated with the USPTO is a court called, the Federal Circuit. The Federal Circuit regularly hears cases in patent disputes and then drafts opinions. Patent agents, attorneys, and patent examiners must comply with the decisions in these opinions. An excellent history of the Federal Circuit is available (S. Flanders (2010) The Federal Circuit - A Judicial Innovation, Establishing a US Court of Appeals). My interest in the USPTO arose, because in 1996 I was offered a job as a patent examiner. Instead, I studied for the patent bar exam and became a patent agent. Since then, I arrived at the understanding that the job of "patent examiner" must be the most difficult job in America, because it requires a prior art search, review of the prior art, specification, and claims, and drafting a lengthy and coherent rejection, in a limited time. In fact, one of the speakers at a meeting (Improving the Interface Between the USPTO and the Federal District Courts, USPTO & Berkeley Center for Law & Technology, Bancroft Hotel, Berkeley, CA; June 7, 2011) made this comment. The speaker (an attorney) stated that he didn't see how it was humanly possible for any person to do patent examiner job. DATABASES. USPTO provides various searchable databases, which give access to issued patents, published patent applications, file histories (Public PAIR), and PTAB decisions. I have found these databases to be very easy to use, in terms of being able to pinpoint and acquire very distinct types of information. The information given is not redacted in any way. WEB-BASED APPLICATION TOOLS. The days of submitting patent applications and rebuttals by way of snail mail are largely over, though it is still permitted to submit these things by traditional mail. USPTO website provides tools for submitting these documents to the USPTO. Although these tools are easy to use, they may require your computer expert to make some adjustments on your computer. INFORMATION. USPTO also provides information, such as "Patent Subject Matter Eligibility" and "Changes to Implement the First Inventor To File Provision of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act." You need to take your own initiative to seek this information, because there does not exist any requirement that any patent agent or attorney keep up with this information. Also, USPTO provides free information regarding details on procedural things, such as the form and content of petitions, or how to overcome rejections based on claims that had inappropriate status identifiers. PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE SOCIETY. Housed in the USPTO complex, is Patent and Trademark Office Society, which was founded in 1917. The Society publishes a monthly journal, which provides articles on topics that are practical to patent practitioners. The Society also awards the annual Rossman Memorial Award, for the best article Attached here is a photo of me receiving the 2016 Rossman Memorial Award.

I purchased a 40ft ladder from USPTO attorney Stephan Willett for $450 cash so that we could hang…read moreChristmas lights on our home. We hired multiple contractors and NONE of them felt safe to use the ladder Stephan sold us. When we made Stephan aware, he told us both that "he is an attorney" (he told us this multiple times) and that we should "paint rusted brackets" and also to "Please text picture of bracket before and after painting!" - we have these records in text format. So his solution for contractors not feeling safe climbing 40ft high to hang Christmas lights on a rusty ladder is to paint over the unsafe parts. It's all in the text message records! I won't be hiring him as my attorney any time in the future...

Come visit the Commuter Service Center in Crystal City to refill and/ or obtain metro cards to ride…read morethe bus and metro! MARC and VRE tickets are also for sale! They're open from 10am to 7pm, Monday through Friday. Be sure to ask them if the silver line to Dulles will be finished before the Redskins win the Super Bowl!

This is a very convenient place to fill up your MetroCard. They also provide Marc and VRE rail…read morepasses.

I recently went to the TSA Precheck appointment with Idemia in Portland Maine.. The gentleman who I…read moresaw was very polite, patient and professional. He was pleasant and didn't get harried by the crowded waiting room. He did a great job, was quick and efficient. I was in and out in no time at all. Claudia Sienko

Thousands Standing Around. Taking Scissors Away. Tear Suitcase Apart. Tub Stacking Authority. Yes,…read morethe agency that travelers love to hate has a reviewable business on Yelp. So as a frequent customer of the TSA averaging about 1.8 encounters with them per week for the last ten years, I'm very entitled to give feedback. A few years ago, I applied for and after my identity was confirmed, I was granted a Known Traveler Number. This number goes in my airline profile and when I book tickets, it ensures that I've been just about 100% to get TSA Precheck on my boarding passes. It means that I get the less intrusive, shorter, faster, security queue where shoes stay on, liquids and laptops stay in their respective bags and I don't have to go through the irradiation machine. Sure, I get a random alert every so often where I refuse to go through the machine. And yes, the resulting patdown is an intimate encounter but radiation is cumulative and I avoid spending time in a booth that sprays it at me in a scientifically unproven manner. And then, there's this: I frequently travel with my firearm. Yes, I have a concealed carry permit that is valid where I go (and I don't bring my firearm with me to places where it's not permitted). It is surprisingly easy to travel with a firearm. It must be unloaded and in a locked, hard sided container to which only you have the key. You must declare it to the airline when you check your bag. Simply tell the gate agent "I would like to declare a firearm, please" in a quiet voice. You'll be asked to confirm the unloaded, locked, hard-sided box condition. You'll sign to confirm that and then it goes into your suitcase to fly in cargo. You claim it off the carousel at the other end. Easy pleasy and it's been that way at ORF PHL DCA ABE AVP BHM BNA DAB LAS XNA RAP MCO FLL PBI TPA IAD VPS and even gun-hating BWI. Dozens of times, never a problem. The *only* place that I've had a different experience is at CLT, where for some opaque reason, the TSA insists on wanting to open the locked box at the ticket counter and inspect the firearm. One of these days, they're going to do something stupid because Billy Bob just brought it back from a hunting trip and forgot to unload it. *Bang* and that will screw it up for some unlucky airport patron and then screw it up for the rest of us who do it right. Interesting writeup here: http://www.vox.com/2016/5/17/11687014/tsa-against-airport-security. The title is "The TSA is a waste of money that doesn't save lives and might actually cost them." Pros Well, there hasn't been another 9/11 in 15 years. Uh, they're really good at setting up rope lines? The wear snazzy uniforms that make you think that they're cops BUT THEY'RE NOT. Cons They literally hired people by advertising on pizza boxes. They have a 5% success rate at finding "bad" things found during testing. The biggest soft targets? A line of people queued for security screening because they're all unarmed. Reminder: The TSA is NOT a law enforcement agency and does not have law enforcement powers to arrest or detain. They must bring over an actual law enforcement officer to do that stuff.

Old town definitely gives off small town vibes, with beautiful and historic buildings…read more During this time of year, I love all the holiday lights and decorations In the city. It's filled with small shops and beautiful cafes. I usually try to visit this area at least twice a week to enjoy walking around.

Be careful visiting Old Town Alexandria... you'll fall in love and never want to leave! We recently…read morestayed at Hotel Indigo, on the Old Town waterfront, and spent several days visiting (then revisiting... again and again lol!) all the shops and several restaurants along King and Union streets. The area is such a vibe. Can't even describe it. I truly can't wait to come back.

The Social Security Administration is located in Washington D.C. Social Security has local offices…read moreall over the United States. Initially I had to visit the office to set up my retirement benefits when I retired. Since then Social Security has developed a website and made many technical improvements over the years. All of my business is handled online. I also get periodic emails from Social Security. Today to my surprise I received this email applauding the passage of the President's Big Bill. I have to admit I was hoping that the campaign promise made regarding tax relief for Social Security recipients would come to fruition. As much of a skeptic as I am, I'm not getting excited until the dollars are in my bank account! There's two things for certain DEATH and TAXES!

I am a guardian for a loved one. I had an appointment to have two details taken care of. It was a…read morechallenge to get a live person on the phone. I held for 45 minutes and then opted to get a call back. Someone called me back. The employee helped make an appointment. I thought I would have to make an appointment in the state my loved one lived in. That was not the case. So I made an appointment near me in DC. The appointment time was for 11:32, not 11:30 - but 11:32. It was explained that there might be a slight delay in between visits. I showed up an hour and a half early since I had a ride. The building is behind The Bureau of Engraving and Printing. I was happy to have been dropped off. There isn't nearby metered parking. Smithsonian Metro is close by. There is a check in kiosk when you enter. You can use the kiosk or check in on your phone. Cell reception was only noticeable by the window. You can scan a QR code to check in on your phone. I checked in at the kiosk. Numbers are not called in numerical order. They are called by your appointment time. There are approximately 60 metal seats that are relatively comfy. There is always a guard in the room and at the exit door. The restroom was clean. The only seat with an electrical outlet is the first one by the entrance (smaller section of seats). My number was called before my appointment time. Numbers are not called in any particular order. Number 19 could get called before number 2. The employee verified some details and then had me return to the lobby area. If you need to provide any information during your appointment, look it up before you go. My phone was in SOS mode until I left the building. I was called for my appointment on time. There was more privacy at the windows across from all the seats in the waiting area. The employee was very nice. He helped with all the paperwork I needed for my tasks.

We were in Alexandria to check out the small town and got to enjoy the fountain. It was super…read moretouristy but loved the vibes of the little town of Alexandria. The area was clean and the weather was beautiful that day. I love how they have signs on nearby businesses to check out. Love how they support the businesses in Alexandria.

Beautiful old brick building that is the center and masterpiece of Old Town Alexandria. Many tours…read morestart from here and it is also the centerpiece of many event throughout the year. Right now, for example, the entire square was flanked by flags from Latin American countries, and I had the pleasure to highlight the one from Panama in my picture. During Christmas time, a huge Holiday tree decorates the center square.