Field Notes

Stories, observations, and lessons.

Things I’m learning, noticing, questioning, and figuring out along the way.

Carlos Samaniego’s Field Notes notebook beside a cup of coffee.

I’ve always carried a notebook. Sometimes it’s for work. Sometimes it’s an idea I don’t want to lose. Sometimes it’s something I noticed sitting by a creek, drinking coffee, traveling, reading, or just thinking about life.

These are my field notes.

Some will be about business, taxes, and building something that lasts. Others will be about family, books, travel, creativity, resilience, and the things I’m still trying to understand.

They’re not meant to be polished essays. They’re observations from the field.

Stories

Somewhere to Put the Pile

I have a finished chapter about my first real job. Long John Silver's in Redlands. It's sitting in Notion. I have four days of a road trip with Liz written up, our first real trip…

Read the story →

Latest

Field Note

Why I turned tax problems into a comic book

You walk past the envelope again. You know it’s from the IRS. You tell yourself you’ll open it after dinner. Then tomorrow. I know that routine. I went eight years without filing. The longer I waited, the harder it…

October 7, 2026 · 1 min read

Field Note

The ring, the house, and the IRS

The worst time to fix a tax problem Every week my phone rings with the same story, wearing a different outfit. Somebody found the house. Or they need a car. Or they're about to get engaged, getting married, and they…

October 6, 2026 · 3 min read

Field Note

The IRS wants your house first

You owe the IRS. You've got equity in your home. And you figured you'd just set up a payment plan like everybody else. That plan just got harder. This week, a colleague of mine posted in a professional forum for tax…

October 1, 2026 · 3 min read

Field Note

Trapped by a nor'easter, and a client thought the IRS was coming for everything

I'm writing to you from Old Saybrook, Connecticut, where we're pretty much trapped. A nor'easter is hammering the coast. Liz and I came out here to watch our daughter play at MIT in Boston, but the storm canceled the…

September 26, 2026 · 3 min read

Field Note

Delayed, stranded, and a nor'easter on the way

We made it to Boston. Barely. The flight got delayed. Because of the delay, our rental car got canceled. And now there's a nor'easter getting ready to hit the area. This was supposed to be the easy part. Liz and I flew…

September 24, 2026 · 2 min read

Life

I Quit a Book About Not Quitting. Then Liz and I Picked a Misogi.

I quit David Goggins' Can't Hurt Me halfway through. Going back to it, plus a lesson from Jesse Itzler, led Liz and me to pick our 2028 Misogi: walking the Camino in Spain.

September 21, 2026 · 4 min read

Stories, observations, and lessons.

Somewhere to Put the Pile

Latest

Why I turned tax problems into a comic book

The ring, the house, and the IRS

The IRS wants your house first

Trapped by a nor'easter, and a client thought the IRS was coming for everything

Delayed, stranded, and a nor'easter on the way

I Quit a Book About Not Quitting. Then Liz and I Picked a Misogi.

Archive

Say these 3 words when the IRS is at your door

The first September 11th I was not on call

The IRS notice you got before Labor Day is now a week old

Free comic book about IRS inside (no form, no catch)

I made a comic book about the IRS

What chorizo, a Martin Sheen movie, and your IRS problem have in common

I fell in the creek writing this email

She had a bag. I had a bad feeling.

On June 29, 2026: The IRS just gave Revenue Officers a key to your front door.

Why I told Ray not to scan the barcode

A $300 fee that cost him 13 years

She made $5.4 million. Her new bed is a prison bunk.

What four inches of IRS mail taught me this morning

Why I let my dog star in a tax video

The number I already knew before I called 911

Why I won't email you a price list

He Mailed the IRS the Same Letter Twelve Years in a Row. Guess Who Was Reading Them.

He paid $30,000 and got betrayed three times.

The Promise Thief: How Three Tax Companies Took $30,000 From a Grieving Widower and Left Him Worse Off Than Before

Tax Filing Urgency

The EMT who skipped a step (and what it cost)

Why did the IRS file a lien if we already have a deal?

Liz was right. I was being an idiot.

Left California 3 years ago. They found him Thursday.

$6 gas, $153k debt, and one family about to be free

The IRS just admitted something that should terrify you

Six months ago I blocked this week on my calendar.

I took an IRS call in El Yunque rainforest yesterday.

The IRS Took Your Refund. Blame the Mice?

The IRS wants your house. Here’s what just changed.

They don’t want you to know what’s happening inside the IRS right now

The IRS is a pirate. Stop negotiating.

Stop California FTB Wage Garnishment: The Complete CaliClaw Defense Guide

Stories worth passing along.