As many of you know, most mornings I wake up, pet my dog and say, “What do you want to do today?” This explains why, on Friday, I didn’t finish my taxes and, instead, took a metaphorical nap in the daffodils. Which is to say, I didn’t exactly nap in the daffodils, but I did some other stuff, more satisfying than taxes. That meant that I had to spend Sunday doing taxes. The news is about what I expected — minor pain in the grand scheme of things. It’s hard, at tax time, to look on the bright side, to say, “Well, the reason I owe is because I made more money than I expected last year.”
Now I get to do them a second time — to see if tweaking cuts the pain a bit. The first time is the worst, though; now I know how the movie ends, and what the scary parts are.
It didn’t help that Alan’s last words as he left today were, “I don’t see why it should be so complicated.” Easy for him to say; I’ve been doing his taxes since we got married. My sister’s comment was far more helpful: “Taxes are uncomplicated until you actually have some money. Then you have to work at least as hard as the people trying to take it away from you.”
Now that sounds like a Republican talking. I’m just a person who didn’t plan well for the rainy day.
The weekend kept me away from the computer, so no tasty linkage today. Maybe tomorrow.
James said on April 11, 2005 at 6:59 am
Geez! I was afraid taking a “daffodil nap” was like taking a dirt nap; i.e. “pushing up the daisies.” What a relief!
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Dorothy said on April 11, 2005 at 8:55 am
New pictures on the Flicker thing. Hot dog!!
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Jeff said on April 11, 2005 at 9:00 am
Nancy is also not doing any whining about having to do two state tax forms, compounding the horror of it all. Alan’s “it shouldn’t be this complicated” goes in triplicate for the state and municipal tax forms (and i’m doin’ three, while she’s doing five, right Nancy?).
My beloved and i have way more degrees between us than between Tahiti and the top o’ the world, and we find ourselves quite baffled over and over again. Then i think of the guy who runs the Barbershop, or the lady running a home cleaning business locally. This is a real productivity-killer in time and energy . . . which is why some of us won’t entirely renounce the Republican party, even if we do feel guilty more often than proud for being one.
Good luck, all you/us last week tax calculators, D, R, I, and GDIs!
Peace, Jeff
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Nance said on April 11, 2005 at 11:31 am
Don’t cut me too much slack — the fellowship was considered an eight-month-long business conference, so all related expenses are deductible. Our “tax home” remained Indiana throughout, so I have only two returns to prepare. And thanks to the timing of the move, which was lousy for our personal life, it’ll be relatively painless for our tax life.
But now I’m puzzled: I refigured the return again, declaring all my freelance income as straight misc., without trying to take a home-office deduction, and now I’m getting a (small) refund. How the hell did that happen? I’m still paying a self-employment tax. Now I’m going to be paranoid until the statute of limitations runs out.
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Dorothy said on April 11, 2005 at 12:01 pm
I am VERY behind in my reading, and just saw something in EW that says THE WIRE got renewed for a fourth season by HBO. Am I the last one to know this?! Anyway, yahoo HBO!
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Jeff said on April 11, 2005 at 12:12 pm
Nance —
You almost always get a “refund” when you pay quarterly self-emply tax, which of course goes right against the first quarter of the new year, so hahaha says the IRS. But i’ve been self-emply quarterly filer for 20 years in four states with my wife in a variety of jobs, part- or full-, and we’ve never ended up owing but once.
If it helps;
Jeff
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mary said on April 11, 2005 at 3:09 pm
The Wire got renewed, but it will be about Baltimore public schools, now. I guess the writer of the show worked there after being a cop. Will the next one be about HBO? What happens when he catches up with himself?
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mary said on April 11, 2005 at 3:57 pm
On a completely different note:
As a post tax treat, you should check out the peach salsa at Trader Joes. They only stock it sporadically, and it’s really tasty. As of last night they had it, first time in over a year. Grill a piece of chicken and throw some of that stuff on there. Have a margarita and some guacamole. The best.
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Dorothy said on April 11, 2005 at 4:13 pm
Mary – I’ve been buying jarred peach salsa, Paul Newman brand, here at the Publix grocery stores. They make a pineapple salsa, too, but my favorite is the peach. (Notice how we always seem to get the conversation steered towards food? Mac & cheese, salsa, guacamole??)
The Wire will be worth watching no matter if it’s about David Simon’s shoe collection or public schools in Baltimore. And while I’m on the subject, am I the only one who’s nearly forgotten what happened last on The Soprano’s?
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mary said on April 11, 2005 at 4:27 pm
I remember Tony running through the woods with the feds after him…no? Carmela lets him in through the back door. Van Morrison was the soundtrack.
Being from Tony’s neck of the woods originally, my brothers and I often discuss all the places we recognize on that show. My high school friend, Ann, is an amauteur photographer, and one time she was driving past our local cemetary. She spotted most of the cast there for a burial scene. She whipped out her camera, and recorded the moment.
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poochlover said on April 11, 2005 at 8:52 pm
Ahhhh… nice to see Spriggy embracing life in such a glorious manner! He sets a good example for us all!
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