N/T - Random thoughts & stuff

[jklcpa]

I'm really, really tired with the end in sight of this torture.  I'm being lazy and not working at the moment and decided to share random bits and pieces of my week for fun.

Lots of people are now taking off their shoes when they visit my office.  I may have to buy some new, pristine socks and take mine off too. That would be better than the client that showed up early when I was still wearing my slippers.

I delivered and visited with a long time client and his wife that use to be one of my larger business clients, now retired.  The wife gave me a giant chocolate bar with hazelnuts.  He made the appointment for late morning because he knows I work late into the night.   They had fresh coffee waiting for me too.  Do they know me well, or what?!

My state acks were really slow the last two days, some taking almost 48 hrs and I started obsessing over it. I know I'm not the only one.   I'm playing the numbers game, checking how many more, how many extensions, how many days left.  I know I'm not the only one doing that either.

I surprised my husband by cooking breakfast for us this morning!  I'd be living on instant food or microwaved frozen dinners if it wasn't for him preparing meals for the past couple of months.  Next up for the day is laundry, because... well, you can guess why.

Share some fun stuff if you are so inclined.

 

[Gail in Virginia]

If I could, I would nominate my husband for a tax star.  He knows nothing about doing taxes.  If it doesn't come in an envelope labeled "Important Tax Information" he doesn't even know that it goes with the stuff for our taxes.  BUT - he has dinner ready and serves it to me whatever time I come home.  He has been trying to do my laundry for me for the last month and a half.  He doesn't nag me to come home early, or expect me to have energy left over to do what he wants to do when I do get home.  He cleans the house and mows the yard now that he is retired and I am not.  If I decided tomorrow that I have had enough of this and wanted to retire, he would be all in favor of that.  But if I decide to keep working, he is fine with that too. 

This has been the hardest tax season for me personally that I have ever had, and he has made it possible for me to get up and face it.  I am so lucky!

[Richcpaman]

My tax star would be my spouse....  While I am in the office on a Sunday until 11pm, she brought in dinner both nights for us.

I carry the laundry downstairs, she get it thru the cycles and then I carry back up stairs.

And she supports me in so many other ways as well.  I am one lucky guy.

Rich

[Catherine]

My husband is wonderful.  He has been doing laundry, picking up take-out when needed, is fine with heated soup and half a grilled cheese sandwich - or just microwave oatmeal - for dinner.  

As for fun stuff - this afternoon my eyes felt gritty and burning from too many hours staring at computer screens and not blinking enough (and I ought to know better, after years of working in electron microscopy and learning about "raster hypnosis" the hard way).  So I took the *entire* afternoon off, and went and had a pedicure.  Fell asleep sitting there, too!

We start tossing everyone (including the ones we are certain we'll finish) on extension first week of April.  At this point, we have people to finish but ALL the pressure is off.  Some folks we'll probably email coupons to mail in with payments.  If we get to it.  

In fact, I should go call an elderly lady whose return has been done for three weeks.  I have called and called - she is never in (social butterfly that she is!) and never listens to her message machine.  So if I don't catch her "live" she'll never know they're done.  OTOH - neither has she called to fuss about why they are not ready.

[NECPA in NEBRASKA]

My husband is my rock! He does most of the housework and all of the cooking. I learned that I needed to do my own laundry, because every tax season I would lose something that I loved to his love of bleach or shrinkage. He acts as my receptionist by greeting my customers and they love to talk to him. They look at his garden and flowers.  He has even washed a client's car, because she joked about it while he was washing ours. He takes wonderful care of my mother. and is more patient than my sister or I . He handles most of the people when they come to sign after I've talked to them on the phone. Last week, a couple had an appointment with him and showed up 45 minutes early while he was out. I had just stepped out of the shower when I heard the driveway alarm, threw on sweats as fast as I could and ran outside barefoot and with soaking hair to get their signatures. That is one of the things that I hate the most about working at home. When I had the office, they would just cool their heels in the lobby. 

I am very lucky that he can do pretty much anything. His heart is getting weaker, but we just take one day at a time. 

For something funny, my mom told my sister today that her back was hurting because she has a bone sticking out of it. Heather checked and it was her shoulder blade. We laughed for a long time this afternoon about that one. 

This has been a terrible tax season, but I'm learning that there are more important things in life to worry about and my family comes first. I could not do this without all of you. All of the tax people that I have worked with have either gotten out of this rat race, retired or have passed away so I am so grateful to Eric for establishing this board.

Thanks,

Bonnie

[BHoffman]

Today marks the 29th anniversary of the day I met my Hubby.  Best day of my life!

[RitaB]

My BFF @Possi and I met on TheTaxBook site, and have all but left there because of the abrasive personalities of some.   Can't tell you how much we both enjoy the company here. 

Also, every time we want to kill someone we call one another and vent.  Half the time we can't even hear what the other is saying because we're laughing so hard.  Snorting actually. 

"Laughter does good, like medicine..."

[Yardley CPA]

April 9th...I'm looking for something fun to share.  Nothing jumps out at the moment, but I should have something on April 18th. 

[jklcpa]

That bright light at the end of the tunnel is upon me, kind of like a speeding train that is about to run over me, but I am going to coast through to the 17th!

I have only ONE return that has not been touched.  ONE!!!  I still have a busy but pleasant week ahead with those picking up, some extensions to process that are missing that pesky last piece of info, and the few that are awaiting signature forms.

By the weekend I'll be a freebird!  Here, here is a 9 minute earworm for your listening pleasure:

 

[Margaret CPA in OH]

Well, I just finished listening to Ride of the Valkyries so this is definitely a change.  Thanks!

[NECPA in NEBRASKA]

Congrats to everyone that can coast. I had some popup terrify me with a Red screen and someone yelling through my speakers about that my computer may be infected.when I wasn't even touching my computer. I was using my old fashioned calculator. I dont know how it got through Malwarebytes and AVG. I got out of it quickly and called my IT guys who just told me to shut down and clear the cache. It seems to have worked so far. My mind just does not need any more stress.

I don't have the land that Rita does, but I am seriously considering a wood chipper and going all Fargo on some people .

[Lion EA]

Were you using Chrome?  I got a red screen also.  Figured it was marketing at best and fishing at worst, so closed down using Task Master and restarted.  After a hard drive slow down and fail, a techie quitting, and not able to connect to the internet for a few days, I really can't handle another computer issue!  How do I clear my cache?

[NECPA in NEBRASKA]

I was in Firefox. What they had me do, was do Alt Control Delete - then hold the shift button and the red power button on the lower right of the screen and shut it off. I don't know if it really clears the cache or not, but it has stayed away.

[Lion EA]

Thank you, NE.  I'm going to do that.  It's worth a try!

[jklcpa]

It's a fake alert that causes a popup or tab to open.  I had that one last year that talks, also on FF.  Shut the browser down through task manager, clear the cashe and cookies and it should go away.  Mine went away.  If in doubt, run scans.

[NECPA in NEBRASKA]

I ran scans with Malwarebytes and AVG.

 

[Abby Normal]

Firefox has a setting to clear the cache when you close it. Chrome buries it in advanced settings an you have to manually clear browsing data.

I run CCleaner to clear all system temp and cache files, and unwanted cookies. You do want to keep a lot of cookies for sites you frequent.

If you install CCleaner go to Options, Advanced and uncheck 'Only delete file in Windows Temp folder older than 24 hours'. Then set it run when you start your computer.

[RitaB]

12 hours ago, NECPA in NEBRASKA said:

 

I don't have the land that Rita does, but I am seriously considering a wood chipper and going all Fargo on some people .

You can dig to China with a spoon.

 

[schirallicpa]

On ‎4‎/‎8‎/‎2018 at 7:42 PM, Richcpaman said:

My tax star would be my spouse....  While I am in the office on a Sunday until 11pm, she brought in dinner both nights for us.

I carry the laundry downstairs, she get it thru the cycles and then I carry back up stairs.

And she supports me in so many other ways as well.  I am one lucky guy.

Rich

me while my lovely husband wakes me up at 5 am complaining that no one has done the laundry.  Really?  Wash machine is in the same place it's always been.

[jasdlm]

My 12 year old son is a rock star!  He and I are close, and I know it is hard on him when I am gone.  Daddy is a great daddy, but he's not a very good Mom!  We just got back from the National Scholastic Chess Tournament in Atlanta.  My husband offered to go solo with my son so I could stay home and work uninterrupted.  My son looked terrified, but he came over and said, 'I would prefer that you go with me, Mom, but if taxes won't allow it, Dad and I will be okay.  Suffice it to say that I had staff scan and load everyone's 'bits' in to dropbox, took 3 different devices that could run logmein, and headed to Atlanta.  I actually even did tax returns while my husband was driving down the interstate.

My husband tries his best to be a Rock star.  He will do laundry, but everything ends up in a wrinkled up pile in a laundry basket after he washes it, and he might change my son's school uniforms enough through bleach or color bleed that they will no longer comply with dress code.  He will cook, but it is always going to be some big hunk of meat on the grill with minimal if any sides.  He will take our son to activities as long as I text and remind him 30 minutes before they need to be somewhere.  He can't get the bedtime routine, though.  No matter how late I get home, my husband is snoring, and my son is sitting in our bed watching television and waiting for me to put him to bed in his room.  Eeeegads.  Been like that since he was an infant.  Husband tries.  Best I'm going to get ;).

[Richcpaman]

58 minutes ago, jasdlm said:

My 12 year old son is a rock star!  He and I are close, and I know it is hard on him when I am gone.  Daddy is a great daddy, but he's not a very good Mom!  We just got back from the National Scholastic Chess Tournament in Atlanta.  My husband offered to go solo with my son so I could stay home and work uninterrupted.  My son looked terrified, but he came over and said, 'I would prefer that you go with me, Mom, but if taxes won't allow it, Dad and I will be okay.  Suffice it to say that I had staff scan and load everyone's 'bits' in to dropbox, took 3 different devices that could run logmein, and headed to Atlanta.  I actually even did tax returns while my husband was driving down the interstate.

My husband tries his best to be a Rock star.  He will do laundry, but everything ends up in a wrinkled up pile in a laundry basket after he washes it, and he might change my son's school uniforms enough through bleach or color bleed that they will no longer comply with dress code.  He will cook, but it is always going to be some big hunk of meat on the grill with minimal if any sides.  He will take our son to activities as long as I text and remind him 30 minutes before they need to be somewhere.  He can't get the bedtime routine, though.  No matter how late I get home, my husband is snoring, and my son is sitting in our bed watching television and waiting for me to put him to bed in his room.  Eeeegads.  Been like that since he was an infant.  Husband tries.  Best I'm going to get ;).

Stop.

Let your Husband be a Dad.  Whatever that might look like.  Is anyone in a unsafe condition?

Rich

 

[Richcpaman]

1 hour ago, schirallicpa said:

me while my lovely husband wakes me up at 5 am complaining that no one has done the laundry.  Really?  Wash machine is in the same place it's always been.

Simple answer:  "Mine is done.  Take care of yours..."

Really.

Rich

[jasdlm]

15 minutes ago, Richcpaman said:

Stop.

Let your Husband be a Dad.  Whatever that might look like.  Is anyone in a unsafe condition?

Rich

 

Like I said . . . he's a great Dad, but not a very good mom.  I'd probably be a bad dad!

[Jim Oh Bkkr]

9 hours ago, jasdlm said:

 I'd probably be a bad dad!

Doesn't sound like it!

[Possi]

On ‎4‎/‎9‎/‎2018 at 11:19 AM, RitaB said:

My BFF @Possi and I met on TheTaxBook site, and have all but left there because of the abrasive personalities of some.   Can't tell you how much we both enjoy the company here. 

Also, every time we want to kill someone we call one another and vent.  Half the time we can't even hear what the other is saying because we're laughing so hard.  Snorting actually. 

"Laughter does good, like medicine..."

It's true... all true....

I had a client come in bringing homemade jams, jellies, honey and caramel. He was all spiffed up, I'm sure to look good for my assistant. She was sitting at her desk with him, getting signatures and payment when I hear Siri very boldly declare: "I can't find 'ASSHOLE' in your contacts! Shall I keep looking?'" I yelled, NO! DON'T KEEP LOOKING!

I look over at them, and he is staring at his phone with this shocked look on his face! "All I did was try to open my banking app! I never said that word!"

We were crying... LOL LOL