53 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 3-29-17”

  1. Good evening Jo.
    Good morning everyone else.

    😉 I have a fortune awaiting me in Nigeria. All I have to do is send them my account information.

    Liked by 3 people

  3. Morning, Chas.
    Met a friend when I was out walking and we had a nice long walk and talk. Ventured up a longer, steeper hill and had to stop to catch my breath. It is easier to talk when going downhill.

    Liked by 5 people

  4. Linda,

    My daughter wants to be a crazy cat lady. 🙂

    There’s a 5yr old fuzzy cat for adoption at the vets office. She’s been there for a while now. Every time we go in (4 times in 2 months) she goes right to Fluffy. And I’m running out of excuses. 🙂

    Liked by 5 people

  5. Good morning, afternoon, and evening, all.

    We drove to Cleveland Monday to meet the doctor who will be doing my heart valve replacement in May. All doctors should be like her. Even though she was running behind she explained everything to us thoroughly and answered all our questions without once looking or sounding as if she was in a hurry to move on. Either her appointments are spaced far apart or we made her even more behind.

    I was first advised two years ago that I would need this, but never felt anything wrong. The last couple months, though, I notice I’m breathing harder than I should have to when taking a brisk walk or going upstairs, and I feel more tired and need more sleep. So I’m looking forward to having this done.

    I never stop marveling that they can do this through a cath. I’ll check in early in the morning, they’ll do the deed, and then I’ll be in the hospital overnight. They don’t want me traveling the next day so we’ll stay in Cleveland another night after they discharge me, and then I should be able to go home the following day. Much better than a week or more recovering from surgery in the hospital.

    Liked by 10 people

  7. I had an email in my inbox wanting to know if I wanted to be introduced to Egyptian investors. Because I have access to Guy’s email, I checked and he got the same one so I don’t feel so special anymore.
    I got up and out this morning and did my exercising. I can’t get my breathing right. I gasp for oxygen. I try to control it but my nose starts running and then I am off count. I am waiting for the point where I am addicted to it and can’t let myself skip it.

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Good morning. So glad you’ll be able to get the heart valve replacement done relatively soon and with so little recovery time needed, Kevin. Prayers for you in the meanwhile.

    I had a hard time sleeping last night, but am up at my usual time. Busy day with school in the morning, church in the afternoon, more school in the afternoon, and my long piano lesson in the evening. (Doesn’t feel long, in fact it goes by very quickly and enjoyably, but this is my high school student, and her lesson is longer than my 9-year-old daughter’s.)

    Have a blessed day, all. And thanks again for your answers on yesterday’s daily thread for my QoD. Gave me lots of important and good things to think about. It does seem many of us have experienced favoritism, and I’m sorry for those who have been hurt by it.

    Liked by 5 people

  10. Along the line of the scam I mentioned above. This isn’t a scam, but I opted out.
    After checking out at Harris Teeter, a local grocery chain, yesterday, the cashier asked me to complete a survey and say something nice about her. I will also have a chance to win $1500. worth of groceries.
    I premised that I would.
    So. I went to the HT website and started the survey.
    To complete the survey they wanted me to provide some information .
    I started filling out the form.
    One of the questions concerned my pre tax annual salary.
    They suppose that it is for statistics. But I know that it is for marketing.
    So. I clicked out. I can’t say something nice about Jan.

    Sorry about that.

    Liked by 2 people

  11. Chas, I lie. I lie on surveys. Most of my online profiles say I was born in 1900. Sometimes I make 20,000 a year sometimes 100,000. Sometimes I am a male, sometimes a female. The “courtesy” cards at the pharmacy and grocery store track your purchases so I always ask them to use their in store card for me to get the discount. I realize I am fighting a losing battle. There are databases full of information on all of us but I take a little sick pleasure in maybe causing them to scratch their heads every now and then.
    If you really want to give great feedback on an employee, ask to speak to the manager. It confuses them. No one asks to speak with the manager unless they are complaining. You should see the look on their face when it is a compliment.

    Kevin, yes it is amazing what they can do surgery wise these days and the recovery time is reduced so much. I know you will be glad when this is all behind you, but are thankful they can do this for you.

    We have a cat. Her name is Moe. She loves Mr. P and tolerates everyone else. Amos takes care of her. He loves his cat. His cat tolerates him. The worse thing is he and Lulabelle love them some “kitty snacks” out of the litter box. It is disgusting and their really isn’t anywhere to put the litter box to keep either of them out. I refuse to have it up on the counter in the laundry room. I would never do anything to hasten her demise, but I won’t miss the litter box when she is gone.

    Liked by 2 people

  13. Good morning in Atlanta. At least so far, it is a good morning. The yellow pine pollen is covering everything with mustard smears. It’s a good thing Miss Bosley is not an outdoor cat right now or else she would look like a hot fudge sundae topped with mustard. Not a good thought even for a Crazy Cat Lady.

    I love the Gemma photo by Elizabeth. I hope I spelled the kitty’s name correctly. Does Elizabeth have an Instagram account on which to post her lovely photos? I think she would enjoy that.

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  14. I am curious for any who care to answer my question. If you have a tax preparer, how did you choose them? We get many by referral, especially the grown children or relatives of clients. One year we used coupons and that brought in quite a few new clients. We also send out letters to new home owners. Some respond to that. People are very loyal to their tax preparer in our office.

    A friend told me that her preparer sets up appointments for each client on his calendar at the beginning of the season and sends a letter advising of the preset appointment. We wait for clients to call in, and send reminder cards for those who have not called in by a certain date. How does your preparer handle appointments?

    I know some make appointments for themselves to sit down at home with Turbotax! That can save money or cost money depending on the complexity of the return and if anything is not properly notated on the return such as missed deductions, income, or credits.

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  15. Chas, often the surveys will allow you to skip answering income type questions. You may want to see if that is the case and give that gal a good review.

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  17. Kevin, you are living in a great time for heart procedures. I think of it as a miracle time because it is just that amazing what they are able to do these days. You know that Art and I know all about it. Blessings on you as you go forward.

    Liked by 2 people

  19. Janice, After our previous guy retired we went with the recommendation of a [church] friend who is, himself, a high-powered corporate tax attorney. The person he suggested is great and handles everything via e-mail and snail mail. Ours is just complicated enough that I’m not comfortable doing it myself (we have rentals in another state).

    Liked by 1 person

  20. Janice, my tax preparer stayed with them business once her dad sold it. Her dad had always done my in laws taxes and ex-husband and I went there too.
    The past couple of years they have sent out a letter in January with a multi sheet form to help you gather your taxes. They auto fill it with last year’s information so it helps you remember. Then in the letter reminds you to call and make your appointment. I could very easily email her a spreadsheet with all of my information and drop off some documents but there is something about sitting face to face with her and answering any questions that pop up.

    Liked by 1 person

  21. Gemma! 🙂

    My tax preparer grew up across the street from me, he’s maybe 8+ years older than I am (his younger brother was younger than I was). His dad was a CPA and my mom started using him after my dad died. She transitioned to Chris, the son, after the dad died and when my mom died I picked up where she left off, with Chris.

    He lives in Huntington Beach (“Surf City” from the song) and his office also is there. Kind of fun to touch base every year, sometimes we’ll reminisce about the old neighborhood we grew up in. His mom, who was a WWII English “war bride,” just died in the last couple years. She and my mom were good buddies back in the day, volunteering together for the Reagan for Governor campaign and going to political meetings while I babysat the younger brother. 🙂

    Kevin, sounds like everything should go smoothly. You sound very calm. 🙂 Glad it’s such an easy procedure compared to earlier years; you’ll be glad when it’s over, I’m sure. Prayers.

    I’m waiting for the driveway crew, they should be here fairly soon. I was remiss in not making grooming apps for the dogs, however, so I may call Petco this morning, just in the off-chance they can take them today on a last-minute’s notice so I can get them out of the house for the day. It’s going to really be loud, with lots of vibrations and dust — I’ve closed all the windows on that side of the house. This will likely be the worst day for noise and commotion. The cat will have to fend for herself, but I worry less about her than the dogs who tend to get stressed and don’t seem to have as many coping skills as the cat does.

    I keep my dogs from the litter box by blocking off the spare bedroom/bathroom (which is where the box is) with a baby gate. Since Annie is an indoor-outdoor cat, she uses the box only sparely.

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  22. Moe is declawed and all of our bedrooms and bathrooms are in use. Plus, I refuse to handle the litter box. If I gag, choke, cough, and get teary eyed when my own child to throwing up I certainly cannot put myself through the same thing for a cat and a litter box.
    We have started letting Moe go outside in our privacy fenced back yard but the other night another cat had climbed over and was trying to attack her.

    Liked by 1 person

  23. I had a gentleman with an accounting service do my taxes for 20 years. I think my first husband’s grandmother recommended him. The year my hubby and I got married, he had an extended illness and left the business. I was not happy with the service I got from the girls who took over the business. There is a friend of mine ,who retired from corporate accounting in CA, that does my taxes now. I trade eggs for the service, and we are both satisfied. I take all of my recepits, categorized and added up, to her. She calls me when they are done, or if she has any questions. I suppose I could do them myself, buy we have farm income and rental property, so I want to make sure they are done right.

    Liked by 1 person

  24. My husband does them. At work, we get a letter listing what we need from the accountant in December. We turned in everything by Jan 31 this year which was tough–writers don’t tend to look at tax paperwork until, like, April 12.

    Liked by 3 people

  25. I once did a survey for the DNC.

    I told them I was a Muslim Latino lesbian woman. I figured that way I’d hit all the identity features Dems love, and maybe they’d actually consider my opinion. I then answered the questions as truthfully as I could, and as a R would. It was fun.

    Hey, they contacted me, a registered R, so it’s on them. 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

  26. I do TurboTax. I set it up and go on to add data when a 1099 comes in or some deduction occurs.
    I missed a lot of deductions I could have taken for contributions to Good Will and the Rescue Center in HVille when we moved. TurboTax makes it difficult because they want to know original cost etc. Not worth the trouble.

    I noticed this morning that, by reflex, I pass city busses with my foot on the break. (Not pressed.) I suppose that I do that unconsciously because, as I mentioned before, my little brother was killed by running behind a city bus. His fault, but it would likely kill me if I accidentally hit someone.

    Liked by 2 people

  27. Janice;

    Elizabeth now has a WordPress blog of her own. It’s entirely cats and dolls. She takes her dolls, and they are legion, and stages them in her dollhouses in action scenes and then photos them. She also writes a little blog post on the “back story” behind the photoed scene. She’s quite creative. 🙂

    I gave her my old Nikon and she uses it a lot. When I upgrade, I’ll give her the Canon too. She’s also doing her own graphic arts stuff, which she’s taking a course in at school.

    Liked by 6 people

  28. 2-guy crew is here, measuring … Only grooming appointment option wasn’t until 2:30 p.m. and I couldn’t drop the dogs off any sooner than that due to lack of available kennel space, so that wouldn’t probably help us any.

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  30. I’m so bad at math that even when I did the uncomplicated “short form” in my young, rental days, I never dared try it myself, I’d go to H&R.

    Chris is good about knowing how to calculate #s of bags given to the Salvation Army, there must be a formula. He suggested if I ever gave away something of extra value (a nice piece of furniture, set of china, etc.) that I should take a photo of it for my records also. And he adds in an extra $100 (cash) to the donations column for his clients who have church and other donations to declare every year. It’s fair, covers my monthly homeless mission casserole and other out-of-pocket expenditures that I don’t ever calculate or keep track of per se.

    His youngest grandchild just started high school (plays football, they’re all very athletic). One of his sons was a talented hockey player as a youth who decided not to pursue a professional career in the sport (but probably could have).

    Liked by 1 person

  31. Oops, I wondered where my post went.

    Speaking of police at the door. We had a visit from a deputy at ten last night, that is nearly two hours past bed time. He was very apologetic, looking for a fifteen year old (not one of mine) who had told his parents he was spending the night here with our eighteen year old son. His girlfriend had told her parents she would be with fifteen year old. Apparently, both lied. They found boy out somewhere with a large barbed wire gash on the front of his thigh. He got stitches. No word if the girls showed up at home. Eighteen year old was in bed sleeping but was able to give the deputy the name of the boy’s friend who would more likely know where he was.

    Liked by 1 person

  32. Mumsee, glad/hope everyone’s ok

    Cement roll-off is here, getting hauled into my driveway. Doggie stress levels rising and I’m about to take off for work

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  33. Kim – We have our litter box with the opening facing towards the wall (we have the kind with a cover), & have a couple other things strategically placed to keep Heidi from having room to walk around it, but the cats can get by.

    Liked by 1 person

  34. This will be the first time we’ve had someone else do our taxes. Usually husband does them. We just don’t have the time or energy this year. She is a friend from church and also the bookkeeper where I work.

    Liked by 1 person

  35. My husband did our taxes for years until they got too complicated. We have gone to preparers referred by his sister and others referred by friends. Two have died. The one we have is retired, but still will do some. He works through an accounting firm. They send out a form early in the year. My husband makes an appointment when all our information has been sent to us, which is early March now. I am glad that was not true when our children needed to fill out FAFSA information for school. I hate how complicated so much of this is. I especially hate it when I hear about politicians who did not pay all their taxes.

    My siblings all go to the same preparer my folks had. We live further away, so don’t go to that one.

    Liked by 1 person

  37. My dad taught me to do my own taxes and I almost always have, except the year we sold a house and my employer covered the cost of H&R. Now I use online tax services. I am of the opinion that those who make tax laws should be required to sit down and do them without help. Maybe then we’d have a simplified system. No offence to Janice or others who are paid tax preparers, but it should be simple enough for common folks to do it themselves. I had to laugh at all the ads by H&R and Liberty tax services saying they would do your 1040EZ for free. Well, if you are too stupid to figure out the 1040EZ then you are too stupid to have a paying job.

    Liked by 3 people

  38. I told my boys this year, that if they could not figure out the EZ, they should just donate their refunds to the IRS.

    Husband does his, though when he was working overseas, it became too complicated and he tried a professional. That worked for a few years but he went back to doing it himself with Turbo.

    Liked by 2 people

  41. Thanks all for letting me in on how other preparers take care of business. It does become almost like a family reunion at times in the tax office as the family members try to schedule at the same time with the available preparers. You can learn a lot about people working during tax season. Some people travel far rather than change to a preparer in a new location. And we do have mail in and email clients. I can’t give the name, but we had a client who drove from Kim’s vicinity. Sometimes we get military who are on leave from far away sites. And we have some people with heavy accents who have moved here from other distant lands.

    I do have one more question. We give out nice pocket calendars that have a leather appearance. Does your tax person give out any complimentary gift?

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  43. My tax preparer feeds, houses, clothes, listens to me, takes care of the computers, etc. Why, it’s like we’re married!

    Our work accountant doesn’t give us anything. I had to steal the magnet with his phone number on my visit to his office dropping off the taxes in January.

    Liked by 2 people

  46. Clients love our nice calendars, but by the end of the season over a quarter of the year is gone. I have wondered if something else might be better. So many people use their phone for it’s calendar these days. Art has continued to do what worked in the past, but sometimes some changes are needed to match up with cultural changes. Maybe since a lot of the clients are older they may not use their phone calendars.

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  48. We are all waiting to hear about Donna and the jackhammer. Did you ask if you could try it? Can’t imagine the noise level. Oh, wait, she said that she was leaving.

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  51. Not a peep from the driveway crew all day. I interpret that as good news (that they didn’t uncover anything worse than what we anticipated) although the whole thing may have been sucked down into a sink hole hours ago, who knows.

    I will be interested to see the progress when I get home in a couple hours. I’ll take photos 🔺

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  53. Guess breaking up all that concrete is tough going, only part of it done and they haven’t gotten to the broken sewer pipe yet. They worked all day, maybe some day laborers might help it to go faster … I’ll see how they think it’s going when they come back tomorrow morning.

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