COMPUTER PROBLEMS CONTINUE TO PLAGUE US - HAVE YOU UPDATED EVERYTHING FOR THE NEW SECURITY STANDARDS?

 This is my computer problem which has been set aside for the past couple of weeks since it started as husband's computer was much more important than mine.  

I use a software program to check my email – but like most to all of the programs I use, I have not updated it.   I hate adjusting to the assorted changes to programs which invariably come with the update and will put off updating unless necessary for the program to run.  

At the same time husband had the problems with our Win 10 computer the recent security changes to online caught up with me.  I could not use my email program to check my email as I did not meet the new requirements.  Normally I would have had husband deal with the changes – but he was still dealing with the computer problems he had.  So I did what I had to – I started checking email by signing into each email account separately and checking email that way.  I have a number of emails accounts – my general one for family and friends, a couple for when I don't want to be known and may need to drop the account if it gets hacked, one for groups I go to online, one for me for my embroidery guild, another one I use as treasurer of my chapter of same – which I consider to be an email of the chapter and I can pass along to the next treasurer to use, one for me for our reenactment unit, a similar email address for the treasurer of the unit – again, can be passed along to the next treasurer, one for a client – she does not use a computer and her business's alarm company only bills by email – so I set up an email account for her and I monitor it for her, an email for this site, an email address for me for the craft business husband and I have, and about 5 or 6 more for various purposes – some of which are gone and I have the kept the address for junk use.  

I knew I could not sign in and out of all of these accounts daily. I picked the ones most important to check daily and I do so.  The remaining ones I am checking once a week.  Unfortunately for some reason my computer does not like me signing in and out and in and out… one after another.  So around the 4th email address – it gets hung up and I end up having to reboot the computer, same after a few more email checks – I am not talking a lot of emails here – most have none, others might have 3 or 4 at most – but the computer is not happy.  So checking email has become an extended chore.  

Yesterday I asked husband if all was okay with his computer and it was running as before and as needed and it was.  So I asked him to help me setup my email accounts to meet the new requirements.  We spent 3 hours today trying to do so.  It has not happened – not even with one account – and worst of all -  I did not get to check ANY email accounts today – though I am sure I did not miss anything.   We set up an account and then it is rejected when we try to check email.  Latest idea is that we delete the email program and start all over with a new copy and enter each account as it needs to be for the new standards.  

Well – at least we have something to do.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

Don't be like me – keep your programs updated to avoid problems – and don't wait for the last minute to make needed changes.

STILL TOO MUCH NEEDING TO BE DONE

That was a short week!  We have taken mom to two doctors in the past week.  One was a happy checkup with the doctor who replaced her pacemaker.  The other was a not as happy appointment with the doctor who did cancer surgery on her.  There is still some cancer and we have to take her to an oncologist.  Treatment recommendation by this doctor was based on mom's age – 90 – and the fact that it is a slow growing cancer.  I should mention after complaining about another doctor's office, both of these were great with helpful staff and no hours of waiting.  We still have to take her back to the doctor about her leg scan (the one with the awful office/staff setup) and then there are about another 4 doctors she needs to go to.

In between these appointments I have been trying to get our senior real estate tax exemption worked on and I should have all or almost all of the paperwork I need.  I will have to check each section's numbers against the paperwork for it and we have to copy all of it and I do so with a page that has our names, the section, block, and lot number of the property and the year the papers apply to written at the top (with the computer).  This page is put behind the items I copy as I do so that so that the finished copy will have this info at the top in case any pages get separate from the others – I am glad I have a heavy duty stapler that staples thick stacks of papers as there will a lot of papers.  I have already done our 1099s & similar and our medical expenses.  I have to mostly deal with our businesses expenses – I will do the joint expenses first (car expenses and some other ones have to be split between our two businesses and also from personal use), then husband's business as it is easier and finally my business. This has to be there before the end of December and I figure the earlier the better.  I was getting all this done quickly and early when I found out that they had added need for proof of business income and expenses. 

I also have to renew my permissions to prepare tax returns from Federal and state governments.  Federal mailed in already and I did the state application online – the only way it can be done.  I still need to finish the required tests for the Federal paperwork.  One test for 1 credit done, 19 more credits to go.  It will be done – it only one test for 6 credits that always concerns me as it has a time limit. 

I have still been heating the paperwork from my family home in small groupings in our PackTite heater (for bedbugs).  I found out that among the papers my sister gave me is my parents income taxes – back to the 1950s as well as the papers related to the purchase of the house back in 1958-9 and my dad's release from the military paperwork.  I commented to husband that I know their old taxes are no longer needed and I should just check through them and shred them – but – dad always told me that one keeps copies of client's taxes as long as they are clients and then at least another 3 years, so by that logic I should keep them.  I have discussed it with husband and will scan them into the computer and shred the originals. 

I got behind with the laundry last week – it was done, but not all was folded or put away, so I had to do same tonight before I started this week's laundry – first load is in washing now, when the ringer in cell phone goes off, I will go down and switch to dryer and put in another load to wash.  Just happened – will be right back – feel free to talk among yourselves until I do.

Back again. 

As I have mentioned in the past year, I have been having a problem keeping track of papers – something I have never had before.  In October our reenactment unit had an event.  I know and remember that the unit commander (club president) had asked me if I had brought the checkbook – which I didn't as it is safer to keep it home. Since he did, I assumed that he had given me a bill for something for the unit to reimburse him for.  ¾ of the way through the day it had started raining and we along with most members had brought their stuff inside our headquarters building and then at the end of the day I had brought our van back to the area where we had been setup and we packed it quickly to avoid getting things wet.  Two days later I started looking for the bill that I had to reimburse the commander for.  I could not find them.  We did not actually bring the stuff in from the van until the end of that week.  I went through everything again and climbed under the seats in the van looking for the bill.  Husband than threw another thought at me – at an event the unit did in September the place wrote the check payable to the commander personally instead of to the unit – and husband said that what I was remembering was probably the commander giving me his check as we had told him to deposit the check and then write the unit a check.  So was I missing the bill to pay him for?  The check he gave me for the that event?  Both?  A week in I had written him an email explaining and apologizing and asking him to let me know how much the unit owed him.  (I did not mention the check he owed the unit.)  He did not get back to me.  I have been “sick” with the idea that I lost a bill to pay, as well as maybe the check he wrote to the unit.  I brought the checkbook to the meeting this past Monday to settle up.  Whew! Nothing was lost.  He had asked me about the checkbook in reference to another matter that did not materialize and he told me that not only does the unit not owe him money, but he owes us the money from the check that he deposited.  It was a wonderful relief to know that I had not been careless and lost neither bill nor check. 

I have to complement and thank my husband.  He has been insisting on helping me with my mom and the doctors.  My mom is well, a 90 year old opinionated woman who does not hear well.  (One of the doctors we still have to go to is for hearing aids – but the other doctors are more urgent).  He has been wonderful with her.  One advantage to having him along is that he speaks “medical” and can talk to the doctors on a different level than mom or I can.  (He was the head of a mental health agency and had doctors working under him.)  He understands what the doctors are saying better than either of us and knows when and how to ask questions.  Part of why he comes is I helped with his mother when she needed same (although his sister handled the medical and I handled the financial), especially since he butted heads a lot with his sister and mother over how things should be handled, so I sort of ran interference by going while he was at work to help her.  Part of it is he does not like being home alone.  Part of it is that he know he can help a lot. 

We still have not really done any planning for (American) Thanksgiving.  Since he has become lactose intolerant (or so it seems) since last year, two of his favorite dishes may not be made for him, especially since I like neither – pumpkin pie and Colonial Williamsburg Sweet Potatoes (no marshmallows, of course).  The former uses evaporated milk and the later uses regular milk –  1/3 of ¼ cup of same (original recipe for 3 lbs sweet potatoes, I make him 1 pound).  We will see.  We are debating if I should make the vegetable soup that I used to make for the family for Thanksgiving dinner – I figured out how to cut it down and make ¼ of the amount of soup I used to make or even 1/8 of same, but it is one that we like and gets better reheated.  (I would make the entire recipe and reheat over the winter, but it has potatoes in it and they do not do well with being frozen, so I need to cut it down to what we can manage to eat without needing to being frozen to keep long enough.)  The alternative is to make a different Pennsylvania Dutch soup called Chicken corn soup.  We will see which he prefers.  Our normal menu was the Vegetable soup (cooked on the day before Thanksgiving as it takes a while to cook), turkey of course, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, the sweet potatoes, and gravy.  I did not cook the turkey as husband liked it better from a commercial oven – he says it is crisper.  When we started (I had never cooked a turkey) we found a local place that cooked turkeys with a hot pick up just about when we needed it – my sister and her family would stop and pick it up on the way here for us.  Three years ago we had run places to go to for Thanksgiving dinner for just the two of as we were no longer having family in for same, and I had to cook the turkey.  I did so and it was fine.  The following year I cooked it from the same place following their directions and it did not cook through, we ended up cutting off pieces and cooking them separately.  I figured out that the packaging had 2 different temperatures and I must have used the higher one first year and the lower one second year.  Last year I used the higher temperature and put the turkey in upside down and turned it over part way through and it was cooked through and I will remember to do so this year again.  In the old days there would have been the pumpkin pie and I would bake an apple pie and Venetians (rainbow cookies).  No need for so much dessert for the two of us, especially since neither of us should be having same at all.  

(And I will have to find time to post the night before while I am generally cooking.)

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

As it says in the “Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe” - DON'T PANIC!  Things seem to work out in the end.  We managed to get the appointments we needed to get right away for mom.  The real estate tax exemption will get done and in on time.  The exams will be taken on time.  Laundry will be caught up tonight.  The missing papers were not missing.  Thanksgiving dinner will get a menu and will be cooked. 

DEEPER AND DEEPER

It just keeps going wrong.

MOM -

We took mom to have the leg scan – again – at the same doctor's office this past Saturday.  She had a 1 pm appointment and was suppose to be there 15 minutes before.  Husband was concerned about parking as it has been a problem when we have gone during the week and we figured that Saturday would be even more crowded.  There is free valet parking – but we don't valet park our cars so that would be of no help. 

During the week before this appointment we had taken mom to the doctor who will change her pacemaker for a presurgery check.  She came up a bit anemic at same and the scheduling of her procedure for same was up in the air.  One thing that will help determine if they can do it is this scan.  We arrived at the doctor's office at 12:30 pm – we found the parking lot strangely mostly empty – this had us concerned.  Since there was room we got mom out of the car and into her wheelchair at the parking space and wheeled her towards the door which goes directly into the doctor's waiting room.  The room had minimal lights on, no one there, and looked completely closed.  Just to be sure I opened the door to the examining rooms and yelled in “hello?”.  No answer.  The other side of the waiting is for a different doctor – it was just as dark.  The hall light to the rest of the building was on.  I started to panic – I had in my appointment book to pick mom up at 11:45 to get her there on time – was that a mistake?  Were we suppose to be there at 11:45?  There is another door into the building which has a desk and I said I would go there – husband suggested that walking out and then back into the building was a shorter route, so I left him with mom and did so. 

When I went in the other door there was a desk with what appeared to be a female receptionist and there was a man in a security guard's uniform.    I explained to the woman  - she stared at me and pointed towards the security guard.  I went to his side of the desk and repeated my story – though he should have heard it the first time.  He told me that no one was there – most offices closed by 1 pm and the doctor mom is seeing closes at noon so he had no idea of why we had a 1 pm appointment.  He also 31 B.  I asked what that meant.  He told me to go up the hall to room 31 B and ask there.  I went to same and told the man behind a reception desk there the same story.  He knew nothing either.  (This is a building run by a hospital group – and all the doctors in are involved with same.)  I headed back to mom and husband to say that we were leaving.

When I got back to them husband told me that a patient had walked through, seen them, told him to sign my mother in and someone will come.  He did so.  He had as much trouble with sign in computer tablet as I had at past visits and he had told me that I was crazy that I had problems.  We waited.  Husband saw movement in the offices on the other side of the waiting room, opened the door and yelled in.  A woman came out.  We explained.  She was confused as to why we would have an appointment at this time – I showed her the page we had been given and she took it, went away, and came back and said that the tech would come shortly for us.  Ah, at least someone was there to do the scan.  Nice man came and took us – I was able to stay with mom – and did the scan.  This surprised me – the office staff had told me that the woman who does the scan is only there Wednesday and some Saturdays – and he was not definitively not a woman. 

We then all went out for lunch at Wendys.

I then heard from my sister – after we had taken mom back to her apartment – about the anemia and the procedure might or might not be done this week.  I later heard from my sister again that there was a “Catch 22”  over mom's procedure.  Since she was anemic the (good) doctor could not do the procedure unless he knew why she was anemic.  To do this he needed to have endoscopy and another similar procedure done.  The doctor who would do same would not so unless the doctor who wanted them signed off that it was safe to do – which he could not do without seeing the results of the procedures. 

Mom has now been in the hospital for 5 days with tests being done and hopefully she will have the pacemaker changed sometime this coming week. 


HUSBAND - 

We assembled his new loom and warped it (put on the long threads to weave through).  He has been using it on a small table he bought for same.  He decided that he needs a stand for the loom so he can access the underside of it for some of the things he needs to do.  The loom cost US$145, the stand that is made for it costs US$100.  You can see why he did not buy the stand.  He decided he will make a stand – he is also an accomplished woodworker with a comprehensive workshop in our detached garage.  We went out yesterday (Tuesday) to buy the stuff to make the stand – but we had gone in our car and he decided that the wood he needed would not fit in the car.  So today we went back in our van to buy the wood.  It was raining and while he paid for the wood I got the car and drove it under the overhang to keep the wood dry. 

When we arrived home and went to put the wood in the detached garage, husband went into the house for the extra key ring he has (and I have one also) with the keys to the garage and our sheds so that we don't have carry them all the time.  He then put the wood in large garbage bags to keep them dry.  When he got to the garage – the out buildings key ring was missing.  I ran in and got mine and we put the wood away.  We then spent about 20 minutes looking for the missing keys – he was getting sicker and sicker.

VAN -

As I drove up  at the store to pick up him and the lumber he heard terrible sounds coming from the van.  As we drove home I telephoned our mechanic – who is no longer surprised when I make these calls – we go there for repairs on one or another of the vehicles seemingly weekly lately.  When he could not find the keys husband was getting more and more upset and excited – as he knew we had to get to the mechanic before he closed.  I finally convinced him to drop off the van and then come home and look more.  We told the mechanic if he found the keys to let us know.

HUSBAND – AGAIN -

 We kept looking at home.  To me, the keys to our house were not included so we would find the keys or we would replace the locks.  He envisioned someone finding the keys and going into the garage and taking all of his large power tools and taking the mowers and the snow blower, etc. from the sheds.  I tried to convince that we would notice someone emptying the garage of major power tools – and with a car in front of the garage it would hard, but he was too upset.  We checked everywhere in the house – I even took all of the dirty laundry out of the laundry bag.  He finally got himself so sick – he had to go to bed. 

I kept looking, sure that I would find them and make him feel better.  I went back outside – something he does not like me to do without telling him and I did not.  I looked around  - kicked the piles of leaves again, etc.  I was heading to where the van had been parked, figuring now that it was clear there, I might find the keys there.  I had put on an old pair of slip on sneakers.  As I walked towards where the van had been parked I stepped on something.  I was about to keep walking, when it dawned on me to see what I had stepped on – there they were – THE KEYS.  By this time he was too sick to appreciate them, but was happy that they were found.  We had a small dinner and then he went back up to sleep.

VAN – AGAIN -

 In the interim our mechanic called.  Problem is what he feared it might be – need a new catalytic converter - $1400!  I told him to go ahead.  I have not told husband yet and will do so tomorrow morning.  That will get him sick all over again. 

FINANCES -

We are missing 4 credit union statements (from same credit union).  Our credit union (functions as a member owned bank for those who might not know) decided to change their name and theme – to ones that are awful is as is the “puke green” (per my husband) that will be their logo color from now on.  The account statements went out late – even though they did not change.  We receive one each as a member, one each for our retirement accounts, and I receive one for my embroidery group as treasurer of same.  4 of them go to our PO Box – we had changed all 5 to same, but one was changed back to our home address.  We changed the address to our PO Box as we have been having, ironically, problems with delivery of mail at our home.  We received the statement which comes to the house, we have not received the others.  I have been calling and screaming at credit union employees about this.

Last night I was paying bills and noticed on my computer accounting software that we had a credit card that we should have a statement for – that should have gone out 3 days before to be paid a week in advance, but I had no statement.  I looked and looked.  I checked that I had not paid it and forgotten.  I then looked and the charge slips that match to it were never matched up – so we never received it.  I telephoned the charge card company, reported the lost statement, got the balance due (in full) and the mailing address and paid the bill with a letter – they will send a copy of the statement.  When I saw the date the statement had been mailed it hit me that the statement and the missing credit union statements should have come to us about the same time.  I wrote up the info to speak to someone at the post office when we went there today – it was pouring and I left the letter in the car, so I will do so tomorrow.  If I did not keep my bills to pay organized, I never would have noticed this.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

This has to stop sometime – right? 

The house is getting more and more disorganized. 

Things are started to get lost.

INCOME TAXES ARE DUE IN A MONTH

Here in the US it is that time of year again - tax season.  This year there is even more pressure due to the changes in the tax law and the resulting changes in tax forms.  (If you are here in the US and you have not seen the new forms - they are small, at least for the 2 main pages.)   Some of you may find that your taxes are lower - others will find that they are higher - and I don’t mean your refund, I mean your actual taxes.  Don’t forget, you have an actual tax amount that is calculated by filling in your tax form, then subtracting from that amount the amount you prepaid during the year - through withholding and/or payment of estimated.  So if one’s withholding, say from one’s paycheck - the common thing from which most people have withholding taken - is more than it has been, one will either be overpaid more than usual and get a refund or owe less than usual and pay in less - but one’s actual tax - the total of the amounts withheld, paid as estimates and any amount due (or less any amount withheld) is your actual tax amount.  Does that make sense?  Due to the changes many people will have had less withheld from their paycheck  - so if their tax is the same as last year’s - they will either owe more or receive less as a refund, even though their tax is the same.

Supposedly most people will be paying less in actual tax (the total mentioned above), but many will not.  A client of mine is retired and in the past paid no income tax due to high itemized deductions.  This year due to the changes I estimate that his poor man will be paying around $600 in taxes.  IRS has an online calculator to check one’s withholding and I had used it during 2018 to check all of my clients (and my) taxes with it, and this calculation is done using same. 

He is retired.  His income is almost entirely Social Security.  His deductions should be the same as last year.  How come his taxes are higher than before?  Well, the information about the changes left out some things - one of them is that is in past years each person was entitled to a personal exemption of (in recent years) just over $4000.  They were eliminated in the changes.

What does this mean?  If one has always filed using standard deduction then one was entitled the standard deduction plus a personal exemption for themselves plus same for each person they were taking as dependants, plus their spouse (on the same return filing jointly or their own return if filing married separately).  So a couple was entitled to exemptions totaling $8000, a family of 4 was entitled to exemption totaling $16,000 and those exemptions no longer exist.  If one is taking the new standard deduction and one is single with no dependants than their new standard deduction is more than last year’s standard deduction plus exemption , but if they have any dependants - such as a single mom with a child, it is less than same was.  Similarly, a couple with no dependants will find that the new standard deduction for same is more than the old standard deduction plus their 2 personal exemptions totaled, but if they have additional dependants - children and/or elderly parent for example - the new standard deduction will be less than the old one plus their personal exemptions were.

Now, if one has been itemizing deductions they were also entitled to the personal exemptions, and are no longer entitled to same, but since they listed their actual deductible expenses they do not pick up anything additional to replace their lost personal exemptions.  In addition a variety of items which were deductible in the past in a category of “other deductions” if the category was more than 2% of their income are no longer deductible.  Depending on where they live they may also be losing part of their state income tax/real estate deduction.  Now, it is possible that the new standard deductions might be higher than their itemized deductions and they can take same as deduction, but chances are that even if this is the case, it will still be less than they were able to deduct last year as itemized deductions plus personal exemptions  - whether they have other dependants or not. 

So, this year make sure to gather your related tax papers - W2 forms, assorted 1099 forms, forms from any other income you have - such as K1s and records of other any other income you have to list.  Then make sure that you have all of your deductions - medical (insurance premiums, copayments, deductible payments, doctors, prescriptions, etc. ), taxes - real estate, state & local income taxes (still allowed up to $10,000), interest on your mortgage, and charitable contributions.  (Medical is still limited to same in excess of a certain amount).  Make sure that you check carefully with your tax preparer as to what else you should include this year.  Don’t wait until the time to file is about to approach (only just over a month left) in case you have any questions or find that you need to come up with money to pay income taxes that you did not anticipate paying.  If you due your own returns - leave extra time to figure out the new forms.  There are some programs that will help one prepare their taxes (free) if you need help including one called VITA from IRS that uses volunteers to help people.

Your state income tax forms may have been changed also as a result of the Federal changes.  The state I live in has traditionally used the Federal return information as a start and one then made changes to it.  This year those changes include allowing some of the items no longer allowed on the Federal return (such as real estate taxes in excess of $10,000) and will have extra forms to fill in for same also. 

And this is a good time to decide to do better to have your paperwork organized for next year when tax season comes again.


Past posts on income taxes that may be of interest to you -
http://wheredidileavethat.blogspot.com/2016/03/gathering-papers-for-income-taxes-part-1.html
http://wheredidileavethat.blogspot.com/2016/03/gathering-papers-for-income-taxes-part-2.html
http://wheredidileavethat.blogspot.com/2017/04/holidays-and-taxes-unrelated-subjects.html
http://wheredidileavethat.blogspot.com/2018/02/income-taxes-are-here-again.html

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

Take the time to put together your tax papers properly and completely now, while there is time to find missing information or get it replaced.  If you have someone do your income taxes - contact them soon about having your taxes done.  If you do your own - leave extra time this year to figure the changes that have been made and how they affect you. 

As you put together the paperwork - think about what you can do to make next year’s taxes either
 to do.

Again, this is general information and not tax preparation information related to you.  Check with your tax preparer about your specific information needed. 

TORN BETWEEN TWO RESPONSIBILITIES

In trying as we all do to try to keep our homes and lives organized.  Sometimes it is easier than others.  Sometimes two (or more) responsibilities conflict and we must decide what to do.

I recently had a situation like this.  My mom is 89 and just recently gave up her car as she did not drive it that often and wanted to save the costs of insurance and maintaining it.  I have started driving her to her doctor for appointments - so far around every 3 months.  She sees other doctors also and needs to run errands, but even letting me drive her to these appointments is a major step in her giving up a bit of control and (supposedly) the reason she asked me to drive her to these appointments is that the doctor is 3 communities away and the taxis fee would be expensive.  (Taxis here do not charge by the mile, they charge by how many zones one travels in.)  Personally, hearing what she pays for a taxi ride, I think that they are too expensive in general.  She is signing up for the county service for seniors and handicapped people for transport, but that has to be reserved in advanced and involves traveling to pickup and drop off others enroute.

After 2 trips to the doctor we seem to have a pattern for the day.  I pick her up, drive her there, get her into the doctor’s office and then park the car and come back to the office.  When she is finished and making her next appointment, I walk into the office area to make sure that I can also make the next appointment (and I put the info in my cell phone calendar).  I then get the car (she has trouble walking distances - mostly due to balance, with a walker she would be able to walk much longer distances) and bring it back and help her into the car.  We then go to lunch - both times we had pizza at place near the doctor’s office. 

Mom had a doctor’s appointment scheduled for this past Tuesday afternoon and I was to take her to see him and we planned our usual lunch afterwards.  Our last visit to her doctor we stopped at the bank to make a deposit for her and she again asked if we could do this - no problem.

I have mentioned that my husband has developed a weather phobia.  He is only in his mid-60s, but in some ways seems to be older than my mom - he is much more fearful of things beyond his control.  He does not like to be alone in general, but especially when he is anticipating an upcoming problem such as weather. 

He also greatly builds up problems in his head about anything that needs to be done.  You might remember my tale of trying to winterize our RV in November.  Well, spring is coming and he wanted to set up an appointment at our RV dealer’s service department to have whatever it is that is broken, fixed.  The cost alone scares the heck out of him (and me).  We made an appointment for late April.  The dealer is 2 states away.  There are RV dealers here with service departments, but none who work with this brand of RV and we want someone who knows about it, so we take it back to “our”dealer.  Normally we would make an appointment and drive there, getting there between 11 am and noon - it is about a 3 hour drive and we are not morning people.  No go for this trip.  The service department now shuts at 3:30 and we have to be there by 9 am, 10 the absolute latest.  We can drive there the night before and plug in the RV on the outside of the service building and have done this before, but we had working toilet in the RV when we did so and do not have same now.  Or we could leave around 6 am to make sure that even with traffic we are there in time (and I rarely can fall asleep before 5 am).  Husband went into a panic.  I came up with a solution - find an RV park near the dealer which has (as most do) a bathroom on the grounds and ask for a space near it.  He is looking for same as the nearest one we know of it is about 45 minutes away and the bathrooms, while nice, are a distance away from the spots we like.

In addition there is a large scandal about the RV manufacturer (not the dealer who is independent) such that if something is not figured out it will be out of business and any items it makes or has made for its RV’s that are not items made for an RV in general, those parts may/will no longer be available.  All of the parts for the problems we are having, as far as we know, are general RV parts so there should be no problem at this time.  He was, though, in a panic over the company being closed down.  I told him (a big fan of James Bond) “never say never” as well as he should not worry about this before it happens as often the original family which owned a company come back when there is a problem to save “their” company. 

There was also to be a snowstorm today (the day after the appointment) which was upsetting him no end, despite all weather forecasts showed that it would turn to rain and between the rain and the 50F + weather tomorrow (the day after the storm) it would all melt.

So with all this going on, I had to tell him that I would be out yesterday with my mom for her doctor’s appointment.  “PLEASE, you have to come home early!!!”  I told him that I would be home as early as possible.  Problem is that he sits and it all runs through his head and scares him and then thinks about it more and starts to head towards panic if he is alone.

I did have a solution to needing to be with him to take care of him and taking care of my mom.  I thought about it - and then thought again.  My mom is a bit, well, a woman who is about to be 90.  I love her.  Husband if he does not actually love her, likes her in general, but an afternoon with just the 3 of us.  But I offered last weekend that he could come along if he wanted/needed to. His face said it all.  Then, Monday night, he asked if he could come along.  It was the only solution to my needing to be with two people at the same time. 

It actually went much better than I (or husband) though it would.  Mom even went along with our suggestion to go to Wendys for lunch.  She had never been there and was raving about it.  Whenever I say we eat there she says the burgers must be greasy, but she raved about them.  All in all it was successful day - her report at the doctor was good.  Husband was not left home alone.  And, we made another bank deposit for mom. After we settled her in at home we ran to the post office for our mail and then the supermarket as husband always needs “more food” in the house when it will snow. 

Another thing he worries about  - I did the laundry a night early so it would all be done - “just in case” to reassure him.  Snow is now over, rain has come, and he keeps looking out to see if the snow is melting - it is.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
If you are caught with competing things to do figure out if they can be done together.  I think this actually worked out to be one of the better visits with my mom for me and for husband also.  I am not planning to invite him again, but if need be, we will know what to do.

WHAT IF YOU OR YOUR OTHER HALF WAS UNABLE TO DEAL WITH THE HOUSEHOLD OR FINANCES?

Gosh darn!  I did it again!  I forgot to post yesterday! 

Now, I was doing well, at the beginning of the week I had an idea for what to post about - which I forgot, but as I wrote this very line, the idea came back. 

Husband has been having a bad week - his back now is down to an ache and it varies from worse to better - twice it disappeared completely for a couple of hours - but sometimes it gets worse when he takes the medication or when he soaks in a hot shower, the idea our doctor recommended.  We happened to be at the doctor’s office today - before all this with his shoulder, I had made appointments for our annual visit and its bloodwork, and today was the bloodwork.  Doctor said it could take 6 weeks for his shoulder to stop hurting completely - 4 more to go and neither can take much more of this - for him the pain and inability to go out and do things as he gets too exhausted and it makes his shoulder/arm/ - and now also - neck hurt more.  He is frustrated with it all and I am exhausted from trying to help him. Every thing is a bit confused.  I am not completely sure what day it is unless I check.  (Good thing we have our pills in several day of the week boxes, so it helps remind us what day it and whether or not we took our medications.)  When we go for lunch at Wendys I order and get the lunch while he gets the table - the opposite of what we normally do - which also confuses the employees - one fellow there lists me as Mrs. “husband first name”.  Others just list with me his name.  And then again, the weekend crew which does not know us as well asked for my name - I gave him my middle name to avoid having to spell my name. 

On the other hand I have gotten a lot of decluttering done as we are home so much.  I have finished scanning in the articles from the older reenacting magazines that we decided to scan the articles he wanted into the computer and then get rid of the magazines.  They are now stacked up to take to next month’s reenactment unit meeting and pass them along to others who have joined more recently and not had a chance to read them.  In one magazine he only had one article marked to scan - and that was two pages - see, we really did not need to keep the entire magazine at all.  As these magazines leave, I have room for the newer ones.  I started today scanning in the articles from the magazine from the national of my embroidery club.  These magazines after they are scanned go with me to the meetings or places where we do a “stitch in public” and I give them out to people who might be interested in joining us so they can see the nice magazine they will get from national and also get rid of them without throwing them away (ditto the other ones we bring to the reenactment unit meetings).  I also have been making telephone calls that I put off as we are not home and awake enough time to make the calls.  I still have to call our eye doctor and make an appointment for us - but not sure when to do so as he can’t drive out there.

Okay, now the idea I had for this week.  Have you done anything to allow someone else to take over running your household if they had to? For decades I tried to get my husband to pay attention to our finances - where we bank, what money comes in, what bills have to go out, etc.  He never wanted to talk about it  - it would be bad luck.  I started paying his bills for him before we got married and kept doing so - “You’re an accountant.  You do it.  You are better at it.”  I would say to him as I tried to get him to look at things and how I do them “What would happen if I was kidnaped and you had to find the money to pay them to get me back?”  Death was not allowed to be mentioned.  “I would tell them that have to put you on the phone to tell me where the money is so I could pay them.”

In December 2012 we were in a bad car accident - in front of the house next door to ours.  We luckily were not only still alive somehow, but also uninjured.  This scared him.  He suggested to me that I should I make up a notebook with all the information that someone would need to take over our bills, deposits, running the household, etc.  By this he meant, even more than himself, if someone had to take it all over because we were injured. 

I started doing this and in the ensuing 6 years I have done parts of it and then redone so.  To date it is in my computer and not in a notebook, but I am working doing so.  I found a old looseleaf book to use.  (Better to recycle it to this than have it sit in the closet and buy a new one.)

My first go around with this - back in 2013 - was to write copious notes about when each bill comes in, when it has to go out, how I write the check, and how I post it in my financial software.  Second go around, I scanned one of each bill into the computer as an example. 

Currently I am scanning in each bill (first page only) when it is paid along with the check that pays it, anyway, as part of my bill paying.  I have to make new notes about each bill and put it the notebook.  I also figured out that I would put in the information we receive annually about our garbage pickup, with written instructions to go along with it.  I want to write up information about how to use the washer and dryer.  How and what I clean (okay, plan to clean and don’t always get to).  When things such as the oil burner inspection needs to be done (the company we have a contract with did not call last year - or this year and with dealing with husband and still trying to get to my client to go to work there (for 2 months work now) I never had a chance to call them to ask why I haven’t heard about an appointment for 2 years or set up an appointment.  Where what Christmas decorations are stored in the basement and so on.

What prompted to me to write about this now is an article I read in a publication reminding me how hard this can be on the survivor(s).  I have had several clients who had their home/family run traditionally.  The wife took care of the house and the husband took care of the finances.  In each case the husband died and I had to help the widow figure out what they had.  This was in the pre-Internet days which was an advantage as for some items we just had to wait until the widow received something in the mail.  In January/February one receives all the papers for income taxes so that helped.  In addition in some cases we had to check the state unclaimed/abandoned property office (each US state has one - not sure what is done in other countries) to see if anything had slipped by us and had been turned over to the state for the state to hold until it was claimed.  Especially important for all spouses (and/or someone else) to know about is any life insurance which has its premiums  paid off as nothing may come in the mail from the insurance company.

In addition these days the items maybe sent by email - and one may not be able to check the spouse’s email.  Generally items online are not something that can be inherited.  By this I mean if your spouse had an (or more than one) email accounts and you do not know how to sign into them, you may not be allowed to get into them as they were your spouse’s account not yours.  In addition if there is a Facebook account etc. you may not be given the information to sign into it - it is their account not yours.  Do you and your spouse (by which I mean any significant other) share a book download account?  If it is in your spouse’s name you probably lose the books in it as they are not for sharing and cannot be inherited. 

So if you and someone share accounts make sure that both of you know how to sign into them and what the passwords are.  In the article I mentioned, the poor widow was going crazy trying to figure out her husband’s security question answers to be able to set new passwords when she did not know what the passwords were to the accounts.  Her husband’s first pet’s name - she put in what she thought it was, but it did not work.  His first school - not the one she thought it was. 

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

None of us likes to think about injury or illness or death of ourselves or those we love - and we think that we have lots of time to deal with it.  One never knows.  Make sure that you and your other half -if you have one - or someone else who is close and responsible - know about each other’s accounts and log in info.  Make sure that you both know what your (joint if applicable) financial situation is and how and when money comes in and goes out and from where it comes and where it goes.  Make sure that both of you know about all insurances related to each other.  Try to have a list of bills you pay monthly, quarterly, annually, etc. for reference.  Have a list of incoming money and when, how and where it comes- especially money that is not a paycheck.  If you own a house, car, stocks, etc. make sure both (or all) of you know where the ownership papers are for it.  Bank Vault?  Locked box in the closet? The back of several drawers?  Also if you (or your other) has jewelry include the information about where it is, what it is, and if it is valuable.  (My husband knows that the jewelry in the jewelry box on top of dresser is all junk jewelry of no value, but there is a small box stashed with minor items that are real jewelry and the rest is in our bank vault.)

Also if you have all this information organized, in case of an emergency you can take the information with you if you have to flee your home from any of these horrible weather situations which have become more common in recent years.  I have a copy of the computer data backup I put in the bank in my “grab and go” folder which has copies of our car and house titles, insurance policies, and I put the bank statements when I reconcile them in the folder - and take out the prior month’s statement and file that one away.  This way I have the most recent bank statement to come with us - including the ones for the two organizations that I am treasurer of. 

BACK TO HOUSEWORK - PREPARE FOR POSSIBLE TRIP

After 2 weeks husband has decided that the tail end of cold is too much to deal with and I am back to cooking and cleaning on my own as of yesterday.  So tonight I am catching up on 3 weeks of laundry backed up.  I washed the clothing, he put in the dryer and then in the laundry basket.  He then pulled out his clothing and put it away and left mine for me.

 I think the final blow was yesterday was “change the bed linens day”.  Last week we only changed the pillow cases.  Last night I figured I would change the sheets, I would change my pillow cases, he would change his, and I would change the sheets and remake the bed - other than him dealing with his pillowcases.  So yesterday morning, I pulled off my pillowcases, folded the blanket and pulled the top sheet off the bed.  I would normally have pulled off his bottom pillowcase in the morning. I pull the top pillowcase and the bottom sheet off when we are going to bed at night and remake the bed then.  (I used to pull everything off in the morning, but a couple of times he was dizzy and ill during the day and I had to quickly put his side of the bed back, so this is our compromise - he can lie down as the bottom sheet and his top pillowcase are there and then pull the top sheet - lying on the bed - on top of him if he does not feel well. ) So last night I put the last (of 3) set of clean sheets on the bed and put the blanket on.  I went to pull 2 pillowcases for my pillow and he would do his pillowcases afterwards .... but there were only 2 clean pillowcases!  We each took one. 

I went down tonight to start the first load of laundry and did so.  I was also going to run our “Packtite”, a device intended to heat suitcases and their contents when one returns home from a trip so that if one has picked up bed bugs they will be killed by the heat.  We set it up with a laundry basket with holes in it and I heat anything coming into the house we are concerned about.  Normally I run it when it when I do the laundry as it is near the washer and dryer in the basement and the timing for a load of laundry to wash or dry and to check the temperature on the thermometer in the Packtite is about the same. There is a small number of things to heat.  I noticed that the thermometer reading for the Packtite was the same as last time I used it .  (We have an indoor/outdoor reading thermometer and the dohickey for the outside is in the Packtite so I can see the temperature and make sure it is high enough, long enough, but does not go to high.)  No new reading - or a blank reading - for the dohickey means that it needs new batteries.   I walked up 2 flights of stairs to the office to get new batteries and then back down the same 2 flights.  It still did not work.  I texted husband to help me.  (Yes, we are lazy enough to text each other in the house - much better than running up and down the stairs to tell each other something, especially in summer when doors are closed to keep air conditioning in the room and the ac units are running and making noise.)  We spent over half an hour playing with it, but the dohickey still does not work.  My solution?  We have the same setup on a thermometer in the kitchen to read the temperature in the refrigerator, I brought that set up downstairs and took the working main thermometer from the basement and stuck it in the refrigerator and read it by opening the door.  Tomorrow I will switch the setups back - and we will look for a new thermometer for the basement.  (I pause here to run down and switch laundry loads.)

Okay, I am back.  Over last weekend I reset the number of days for my Quickbooks to remind me of memorized transactions (mostly bills to pay, some direct deposits to come in) to cover everything through the end of the month (normally it is set for one week).  I wrote checks for all the bills and calculated how much we needed to transfer from savings (which is a holding account for money for bills) to pay all the bills to the end of the month.  I transferred the money yesterday and today mailed out the bill payments. Well, everything but the cable/Internet bill which will not come until the last minute at the end of the month - and the money for it plus a bit more is now is now in the checking account.  Why did I pay it all at once?  Husband REALLY wants to go on a trip of more than a day or two.  He keeps checking the upcoming weather in the several places we might go and it continues to follow the pattern of a day with no rain - maybe two days if lucky -and then two or three days of pouring rain and thunderstorms.  (Although the weather is not as bad as it is in some parts of the country - I hope none of you are in the areas of the wildfires or the flooding.) When we prepare for a trip we pay any bills that need to be paid while we will be away and need to transfer money for same and then mail the payments.  This way we do not even have to think of the bills until the cable bill at the end of the month.  We can leave with a just a quick stop at the bank for cash for the trip.  One less thing that has to be dealt with.  Actually the only other problem is the newspaper - if we go at the last minute there will be a paper sitting in the delivery tube while we are away - I guess one paper will look like that day’s paper so it is not bad.  Most of our mail goes to our box at the Post Office and we put in a large locking mailbox at the house so that we do not have to stop the mail that does still come to the house.  Clothing can be washed and dried and then packed the night before and just tossed on the RV bed when we go.  Food, etc can be stuck under the RV bed in a holder that is there.  It can all be unpacked when we get where we are going.  So if he finds a place to go we can leave the next day.

He has had another project he has been working on and frustrated with, which affects me.  He has been trying to convince me to stop using this laptop and buy a new one.  I have some problems checking posts on some websites - the laptop runs Windows XP.  We have been looking and have found some laptops at the price we can pay - actually more than we can pay, but we can stretch the amount another $100 or so t buy.  I am still resistant as there are only one or two websites which are affected and I have software I like which may or may not work with Windows 10 and at least one I know will not work with same.  Yes, it can take up to 20 minutes for the laptop to boot and takes awhile for programs to open, but I am used to.  The alternative he comes up with is installing Linux on this computer to use when online.  He has found and set up about 5 versions of same on USB stick drives and DVDs in the past week or so.  The latest version on DVD actually works - but one of the sites I have a problem with only partially opens.  I have not have my laptop at least part of each night as a result as he loads the new try.  (Notice I made sure to write and post on time this week since I was late last week, but some friends on an embroidery site and some friends on a comics site will not hear from me - and I normally am on the comics site on Monday nights.)  I am guessing that I will be giving in and getting the new laptop - but not until after the cutoff for the credit card bill this month, so we won’t have to pay for it until October - the house insurance is in September, plus any travel bills if we go away.

Oh - I did finally vacuum up all the shreds of paper from my big shredding of 2008 last week.
                               
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

One may fall behind due to illness or other reasons.  Don’t panic.  One can always catch up. 

TRAPPED IN A WHIRLWIND

Okay - I am now so disorganized that I have no idea of what to write for you.  So this will be a bit off the cuff and probably ramble even more than usual.  I had my time planned out a bit better, but you know what happens.

This week I had planned to go to a client on Tuesday or Wednesday - the one in Manhattan.  Due to the severe thunderstorms predicted for Tuesday, I asked her to come there on Wednesday and she could not make the appointment for that day.  Which freed up the middle of this week a bit.

Monday night we had our reenactment unit meeting - this is when we get together in modern clothes and discuss recent past events and how they went and what can be done to make them better in the future, upcoming events - the logistics of when and where to be, what we will be doing, who is doing to come to the event, who will cook, what the unit needs to bring - what members need to bring, etc.  We also have a presentation by one of the members about something related to the period, the event coming up, or how to improve our presentations.  Our next event is a new one, two days long, and in need of more planning than usual as we are the lead group of several groups with the event spread out over a good sized period village and such logistics as what we will do and where we will be if it rains, arrangements for people who are camping overnight at the site (many of the units will be doing so, our unit most will go home overnight), set up, break down, etc.  Husband did the program for the meeting on how to do first person (being a person of the past who knows nothing past the specific day in the past) as many of our members are new to this and it is integral to the event.  So, most of Monday night was gone - we were not home to eat dinner until after 11 pm.

Monday afternoon husband had tried to start our RV’s generator - it has to be run once a month if it has not been used.  It would not start.  Not the usual it almost started, but different - maybe it will start tomorrow, but dead silence.  The generator is under the back of the RV.  Husband gets sick if he is a variety of positions, so I climbed under - all the switches were set correctly. He finally did climb under as we tried to find and see the fuse for it - which we could not do.  He telephoned the generator shop we have used in the past  - we have to have the oil changed annually and needed to do it for this year (we had run the generator for a whopping 24 hours total over the year) - so that will done also.  We are hoping it will not be a huge bill - people talk about generator repair bills being more than a new one would cost.  We had figured it would be awhile before they can take us, but they can take us this coming Monday - at 9 am.

Yesterday we went to the bank for the week as we needed to cover some checks and figured if this was out of the way, it would be easier to get ready later in the week for the reenactment event mentioned.  I also managed to finish cleaning the inside of the bucket to the dehumidifier in the basement.  It has dividers that don’t come out and even my tiny hands could not reach everywhere.  Husband came up with the idea of using a stiff, thin artist’s paint brush which worked.

Today we went and cleared out the RV as they will need to go inside and the mattresses, and other items will be in their way.  We don’t want anyone near the mattresses any way, and we also took out the wood support pieces for the mattresses.  We put them in plastic mattress bags in our living room - on a table husband uses for his weaving - every time I walk past it looks like there is a body laid out in there - ugh.  I also caught up on paying bills - with the money we put in yesterday.  I then recalculated how much we need to pay bills next week - before we, hopefully, go on a trip the week after.  We could pay the bills, but not have any cash for the trip - or pay another bill I anticipate.  So tomorrow, the only free day left for a while, we will go and get money from my IRA account - no available money in husband’s until August.

Friday will be the setup day for the event so we will be there a good deal of the day.  Saturday and Sunday will be the event - and it now looks like rain, possibly both days.  Monday we will be taking the RV to the generator shop.  Either Tuesday or Wednesday I have to get to that client.  Then Thursday the board of my embroidery chapter is having its annual meeting to plan next year’s meeting programs.  The Monday after we are going away for a week - no, really this time, we made the reservations last year and have to pay even if we don’t go, so weather be darned, we will be going.
  
I am pretty sure I have mentioned that we are not morning people - me in particular.  One advantage to being self employed is that I don’t have to get up early.  Each of my clients figures that I am at a different one in the morning when I go there in the afternoon.  I used to get up at 9-10 am - yes, you can call me a slug-a-bed, but since husband has retired we - again, especially me- have gotten worse.  We go to bed at 3 am.  It usually takes me until 5 am to fall asleep and we start getting up - very slowly - at 11 am.  When we need to, we get up earlier.

But in the coming weeks we will be getting up early (for us) almost every day.

We have to get up early Friday to be out and ready for the setup, Saturday and  Sunday we have to be there by 9 am - and getting dressed in the period clothing takes longer than throwing on our regular clothes, plus the drive there.           

But I wasn’t worried as I knew I could sleep to normal time on Monday - but no longer can as we have to get up and out even earlier on Monday to be at the generator place by 9 am - it is further away.

Then if I am lucky I will be able to sleep to normal time on Tuesday - but either Tuesday or Wednesday I will need to get up just as early to get to the client in the city - even though I am going there for noon, the trip lately has been taking almost 2 hours.  So I will have one of the two days to sleep in to normal time.

Then Thursday I have to get up and out to the board meeting.

Thank goodness for next Friday, Saturday and Sunday and a chance to sleep a bit.  But we will have to be setting up the RV for the trip - even more work to be done than normal, as we have to put back everything we took out, plus the stuff we normally put in it for a trip - and make that darn bed - that takes 45 minutes if I am lucky, over an hour if I do something out of order and have to redo it.  (Remember, this is the bed that can only be accessed from a 2 foot wide opening at the foot of the bed, so it mostly has to be made while in the bed.)

Then we will be off for a “relaxing” trip.  Up early every morning. Pack the inside of the RV so nothing will shift during the day. Unplug the electric and cable.  Run around all day and then at night - find the right spot in the RV space that the RV is level and plug in the electric and cable - did it once in a heavy rain storm that was so bad that there were “get inside” for safety purposes.  Set up the inside of the RV - invariably we forget to shut the rear curtain while outside and have to go back out to do it.  And the last morning we have to make sure to get up early enough to “dump tanks” and be out by 11 am.

So, it has and will be a rather hectic and tiring 2 weeks, especially since all the normal things still have to be done - right now - in less than 7 minutes - I have to run downstairs and switch laundry loads.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

It seems that we go through periods where time is easy - no appointments, just get things done as we can.  Then we hit a period of craziness where almost every day is planned and there is little or no time to think.  Somehow we always get through it.


So, if I don’t post next week - or the one after - although I certainly plan to, you will know why.


Do other people go through crazy periods like this too?

AMAZING WHAT HAS GONE ASTRAY IN A MONTH AND A HALF

When one thinks that one is sort of keeping up, well... one is not. 

We received the new carbon monoxide monitor today - it looks right.  We ordered a different propane monitor - same company as made the carbon monoxide detector and will send the one we have back - not comfortable with it not indicating that it is working properly. 

So far the leak under the sink has not returned - might have been because husband washed hair in kitchen sink.  We will see.

Spent much time trying to find a new policy for our reenactment unit.  Today we found an agency that gave us a “maybe”, instead of a “no”.  The company they use has written some policies for reenactors, not sure if they still are doing so.  In doing the paperwork for them, I found an ad we received several years ago from a company that did these policies - husband contacted, they no longer carry these policies. 

Yesterday I had a chance to do some of those bank recs which are sitting and waiting.  Again, I started with the more important ones.  I did the April one for our reenactment unit first and then  same for my embroidery chapter. I could not find last month’s bank recs for them.  In a panic I looked through the papers I previously set aside to deal with later.  I checked the file drawers.  I looked in my “to file” section in the stack of holders that sit on my desk (amazingly that has mostly been kept up through all this).  I looked in the stack on desk.  I looked in the financial folder for each in their slots in their sections in the same holder. Not there!  Finally I remembered!  Boy was I stupid.  I don’t file bank statements into the file drawers when I reconcile them.  I put them into my “grab and go” emergency folder and at that time file the one from the prior month.  This is such an automatic repeating thing - how could I forget?  So the ones I was missing were in the grab and go.  Well, the one for our reenactment unit was.  The one for my embroidery chapter was still missing.  I finally remembered that it was set aside in the notebook I use to keep track of the money received for the group.  I had forgotten (until I did this month’s reconciliation) that suddenly the statement shows a calculation of the monthly fees due on the account - all zero so far - and this account is not suppose to have monthly fees.  I set it aside to take with me next time I go to that bank to ask what is going on and forgot.  I will be going in to make a deposit for the group and will ask about the fee calculation.

I also had a chance to reconcile our business banking accounts for April.  They go fairly quickly - very little business.  This time I remembered where last month’s statements were - since I had just done the other two statements.  I even had a chance to do both months of our lesser bank accounts (small savings accounts and a checking accounting to transfer money out of that bank easily).  I did not get to the statements for our IRAs.  They are quarterly statements and came at the beginning of April and are next to be done.

I still have not had a chance to post the breakdown of the bills I paid last month to the computer.  I had posted them quickly when they were paid, entirely to “uncategorized expenses”.  This way I us the program to double check my arithmetic  - my balance and the computer’s balance for any account should be the same, but it saves the time of breaking down the expenses on a busy credit card statement.  These statements are in the folder to have their posting fixed.  By posting them to the “uncategorized expenses” category, one which I did not set up, but is place for the program to post expenses which were not posted by me, I know that when I have the program make me a statement for reference, if there is anything in that account - it was done and I better do it!

I also did not have a chance to backup my computers last month.   I should have done the monthly and a quarterly backup of each (on two different external hard drives).  So yesterday I did a back up on each drive for my main computer.  I had been having a problem syncing my older mobile phone with the computer - it would not attach and I thought it was a peculiarity of the phone which sometimes happen - it is “old” and a pre Iphone or Android.  I decided not to panic and set it aside.  Then when I tried to attach the first external hard drive - it would not attach.  I tried again in a different port - then tried a port on the back of the computer instead of the front as I have a hub attached to the back and the disks on same were fine.  Did not work.  Why should it - nothing else seems to work right.

I still did not panic and did what one does when nothing works right.  I shut down the computer and rebooted.  That did it and it worked.  So I made both backups.  Today I did same to my work laptop.  I have to go back and backup some flash drives of data and then this computer will be backed up. 

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

To paraphrase a saying about setting aside projects partially done - .  “If you don’t have time to finish it now and you set it aside, when will you have time to finish it?”

This is what has happened to me.  New problems keep popping up which are mostly beyond my control. 

Try to get things done in full  - or get back to them right away - don’t set them partially aside.  If by some chance you have no choice (as I did not) make sure you keep all of what has to be done together in a logical way so you can go back and remember what has to be done and how to do it.

    

NO VACATION

In this part of the U.S. this week is the winter school vacation.  This dates back to the 1970s when there was an energy shortage and closing the schools this week saved a week of expensive heating of the schools.  For those of you not in the U.S. the third Monday in February is an annual Monday holiday related to George Washington’s (our first President back in the 1780s) birthday which is February 22.  It is still officially called “George Washington’s Birthday”, but since the purpose of it is to celebrate all of our Presidents, it is commonly called “President’s Day”.  So, around here the 3 day weekend resulting from this Monday holiday was extended to a week of no school.

While many to most people are off from work on Monday, only those working at schools have the week off.  The only connection that others have with the week off is what to do with their children while the children are off from school and they are working.  Husband worked at an agency for children with mental health problems which followed a school year as it was also a school program for the children so he is used to this week being a vacation week.  While he was still working and I was working full time for myself (back when we still stayed at hotels when traveling) we would go away this week to Lancaster, PA.  It would be nice and quiet as was/is not a school vacation in Pennsylvania and in many other adjacent states so not many people were traveling mid week.

Husband had planned to go there for the day this coming Friday - but it is suppose to rain, so he moved it back to Tuesday (yesterday) which was suppose to be and was nice.  At the last minute he changed his mind and we did not go.

Okay you are thinking - What does this have to do with organizing?

Well, a lot actually.  If we are going away - even for a day - I have to plan around the trip to get done what regularly needs to be done in the house plus have everything ready for the trip.  Even a day trip seems to take a bit of packing these days.  I bring my work laptop, which has to be charged.  I bring a small case with a spare wallet, just in case we were robbed while traveling or one of us lost their wallet and the credit cards had to be canceled.  There is a credit card for me that he does have and a credit card for him that I do not have, there is extra cash, and there are assorted store cards and such which are for stores out of the area.  We used to carry Travelers checks in also, but found out that no one takes them any longer so we (with much trouble) cashed them in a couple of years ago.  I bring a spare set of one day’s medications - just in case.  I might also have some craft business related papers so if we buy materials (fabric, wood, yarn) that will go into something we are making for sale, we will not have to pay sales tax - different forms for different states.  If we are looking for something specific to buy while away we might bring something to match it to for size, color, etc. Depending on the weather we might bring warmer - or cooler coats/sweaters than we plan to wear - maybe even a rain coat when it is warmer weather if rain is possible.  We also might bring a spare pair of shoes each - again depending on the weather.  So much for the carefree easy travel of our younger years.

This year we have been traveling on these one day trips to Lancaster in our RV.  Not that we plan to stay, but the RV is not driven enough - especially off RV season (late fall to early spring) and the engine needs the exercise.  Last year we did not so this and we went to have our annual state inspection for the RV, it had not been driven enough for the tests to work, so we had to drive it locally for a few hours just to put enough mileage on it.  Waste of time, waste of gas and we had to work it out so we went and came back between rush hours.  So we take the RV when we go to Lancaster for day trips - well, this would have been the second time we did so.  The other advantage to taking the RV is that the refrigerator can be turned on in it when we leave in the morning and will be cold by the time we are there.  A can of soda for lunch will still be cold (especially if it is cold outside) when we have it and we can buy food items we like that are local to Lancaster and not available at home that need to be refrigerated and bring them home safely.  (Last year when we went with the car husband bought chicken salad - he likes the type they make there and not what they make here) without the fridge and it got too hot in the cold bag in the back of the car, even with ice blocks in it and it had to be tossed.

So Monday I pointed out that if we were going away on Tuesday, we should get extra cash at the bank and did so.  When we came home I packed what papers and such we would bring with us and had the laptop ready to charge.  I then paid bills which were due out today so they would be ready to go out today even though we would not have been home yesterday. 

Then Monday night - after not doing things I planned to do Monday so we could go away, he decided we were not going.  It was a question I asked - “Do we need to take the stuff we stored in the RV out of it?”  There is all sorts of stuff for the RV that we keep in the house when traveling (in the dining room) and then put in it for the off season so we have a nice dining room for the holidays.  He thought about it and the fact it was raining and decided not to go. 

So I got a day to work at home that I had not planned on. 

I managed to finish filling the corporation tax forms for a client - due March 15.  I still have to proofread it (and check the numbers and math) and print it all out, but the hard part is done. 

I have been working on storing the Christmas stuff.  I took the ornaments off the dining room tree and took the tree apart to store.  It goes in a cardboard octagonal box (opens down the length of the box) which then “slides” into a carry bag (opens on one end).  It has never been easy to get it into the box  - much squeezing and many hand scratches and packing tape to hold the box together and then hard to get the box into the bag.  This year the entire setup exploded - okay, part was my fault.  I thought there were 3 sections to the tree (in height) and there are four.  I was so confused that the tree section was longer than the box that the box got ripped apart on one end from my attempts.  Even after I figured it out and took the 2 sections apart - the box was far gone.  I then tried to tie each of the tree sections together so the branches would be compacted into place for storage - did not work either.  I finally sort of got the box together - much packing tape - and still it only fit partway into the bag as the box was not as compact as it should be.  I gave up - the entire thing was put downstairs on the box the main tree is stored in, as is. 

I packed up the large figures we have in the living room.  Someone husband worked with would give him these figures as a Christmas gift.  Somehow they grew on us and we kept them even though we would not have bought them - well...  It started with a Santa who is about 3 or 4 feet tall.  He was joined by a wooden elf a bit shorter.  Then a Santa who is a bear with toys and a bird in a cage.  I had made separately and unrelated an elf who is making a doll - he joined the others instead of sitting standoffishly across the room.  We found a small plastic Santa from when husband was a boy.  I liked a girl elf figure that finally came down cheaper enough (well below 50% off) who joined them.  Add 2 angel bears and it is a friendly group.  It goes where a chair is moved to the dining room during Christmas to get it out of the way.  They are also stored on top of the box for the main Christmas tree - in large plastic bags.

Then I took the small figures - mostly bears (oh, the angels above join them in storage) and stored them in their box in the basement.  Our Christmas stockings (embroidered and commercial) and some other “soft” decorations I have made store in the box with them.

Three fancy gift boxes I use for storage have been packed with the items stored in them each year and are upstairs for storage when the Teddy Village comes down (they go in the trunk the village is on).

While doing the laundry now, I brought up the last 2 boxes to store Christmas decorations in - except the bear village.  I will pack these two over the next couple of days.

So, we missed out on a day trip, but I have made good use of the day we were home instead - and kept working until it was done . 

To feel a bit like we had a trip we went out to dinner tonight to a fancier (more expensive) Asian buffet tonight.  The really nice one is much more than we felt like spending this year (technically this is our Christmas dinner out) so we went to one in between.  Very nice and much better than the ones we go to normally.  It made him happy and it that is worth it.

THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK -

1 - Even short day trips work better with a bit of planning.

2 - When one gets an unexpected day to get work done - get as much done as possible.

INCOME TAXES ARE HERE AGAIN

Well it is February and time to think about (at least here in the US) income taxes.  With the exception of a few rare documents, most of the forms about your income were required to be mailed to you by January 31 and you should have received them. 

Again, while I am an accountant and tax preparer of over 40 years, nothing should be taken as specific income tax advice and you should consult someone who can help you with your personal situation.  The information I am giving is general information to help you organize what you need for your income taxes - this varies greatly depending on one’s individual circumstances.

The most common forms that people receive about their income are the forms W2 for wages and withholding from their employer, a variety of different forms with the number 1099 (dividends, interest, capital gains, pension, IRA, and other types of income), and if one has an interest in a partnership, a “subchapter S corporation”, a trust, an estate, or an LLC form K1.  (The latter are due out by March 15 as these organizations need a bit more time to prepare the forms as their tax returns have to be done first.)  You know these forms have been coming in - have you collected them in one place - a folder, an envelope or some other type of holder?  If not - go and find them  - now.  They are of the utmost importance in preparing your tax returns.  These are income amounts paid to you (and/or your spouse and possibly children) and you want to check them to see if they are correct (generally they are) and have them together as these amounts have been sent to the Federal government and possibly also your state to be matched up with your tax return when you file.  It is better not to miss any - but if you do, you will hear about it and receive a correction to your return.

If you have medical insurance through the ACA Healthcare Marketplace(aka Obamacare) you will receive a form 1095 which is needed to calculate if you received the correct amount of advanced credit to offset your medical insurance costs - or if you owe money on same or are entitled to a larger credit. 

Now that is the easy part.  The items you can deduct vary depending on who you are, what you do, the kind of job you have, where and how you live, etc.  A summary of what you might need or have follows -

    Medical expenses - records of amounts paid to doctors, dentists, pharmacies, eye glasses, medical insurance and other deductible medical expenses.  Since I post my checks into a checkbook software program, I can get a printout of all the items in question.  Don’t forget to include items paid by check or credit card or cash - cash being the one that is hardest to keep your receipts for.  Did you know that if you can deduct your medical expenses you can deduct transportation for medical related trips?  If you use your car there is per mile amount allowed plus any tolls or parking costs.  If you take a taxi cab or similar or take a train a receipt from same will help you deduct these costs if your situation allows you to itemize your medical expenses. These will be needed if you itemize your deductions.

    Income taxes - if all of your income taxes are withheld from your wages or other income this is easier, but many of us also pay estimated taxes during the year.  While the amounts withheld will be shown on your W2 (and possibly on some 1099 forms) you have to keep track yourself of any amounts which you paid for estimated taxes - to IRS and your state (and possibly other states if you work in a state other than the one you work in).  In addition to needing this information if you itemize your deductions you will need it as well as to be able to properly take credit for the taxes you have paid in against your final calculated tax for the year so that you pay the correct amount due or get the correct overpayment amount.

    If you own your home and pay real estate taxes - make sure you have that amount (the changes from the tax law effect your 2018 tax, not the current tax which is your 2017 tax, so the limitations in the new law do not apply for this filing.  It is deductible if you itemize your tax deductions.  Also, if you have a mortgage on your home you should have received a form 1098 which will tell you how much interest you paid on the mortgage for the year so you can deduct it if you itemize your deductions.

Sales taxes based on a chart amount based on where you live and your income plus large purchases (such as a car) are deductible instead of your state and local income taxes if the sales tax amount is larger - remember this is an either or situation (either state and local incomes OR sales taxes). 

There are other taxes which may be deductible depending on your state and other matters.

If you make contributions you should have received receipts for your contributions.  If you contributed a monetary amount it will show how much the organization shows you contributed.  (Sometimes these are end of the year statements from the organization.)  If you contributed “stuff” - you know you have all the items you are clearing out of your home as you organize and you gave it to Goodwill, Salvation Army, St Vincent de Paul Society, or the rummage sale at your church - you should have a receipt - but they are not allow to tell you what the items are worth.  You can go to the Salvation Army’s website and find a listing of what the range of values for these items are or check the items on E-bay to see what the item is selling for. 

If you have expenses related to your job - union dues, required uniforms, transportation if you travel between multiple locations other than your “commute” (first and last trip of the day), required education (but not to meet the minimum requirements of the job or to qualify for another job) and such they may be deductible this year (as of now they are not deducible next year) and can be deducted on your return as Miscellaneous deductions (there at the bottom of Schedule A).  Expenses related to your income is also deductible here - your bank vault if you keep income, information you paid for to help you make investment decisions, your income tax preparation cost, and some other items.

A problem with two of the above type of deductions.  With the exception of medical and “miscellaneous deductions” you can deduct what you paid.  However, you can only deduct your medical expenses over a percentage of your income and the same - but a smaller percentage - with the miscellaneous deductions.

If you are paid for employee related expenses - your boss reimburses you or gives you a per diem when you travel for example - make sure to check with your tax preparer about deducting the expenses you paid.  This can be done on a different form than above, up to the amount you received in reimbursement.

If you are self-employed and file Schedule C with your return, of course you also need whatever expenses you paid out for your business during the year.

Remember this year’s taxes are basically the same as last year’s.  It is the returns that you will in 2019 which will reflect the changes made to the income tax law for this year - 2018.  Be aware that the amounts being withheld from wages based on the new tax law may or may not be correct for you as everyone is different.  I don’t have all the information to correctly prepare estimated taxes for clients who need to file them.  In the past I would presume all would be the same - this year I cannot. 

While the standard deduction is being raised, and along with that more people will probably be using it due to limitations on deductions - remember the standard deduction is not really being “doubled” but going up from $12,700 to $24,000 (difference of $11,300) for married couples and from $6350 to $12,000 (difference of $5650) for single people. 

At the same time, as I understand it, another deduction called the “Personal Exemption” is being eliminated.  For 2017 this amount was $4050 each for you - if you are filing jointly - your spouse, and for each of your dependent children.  In addition if you - and your spouse if you are filing jointly - are entitled to an additional Personal exemption if you are legally blind or over age 65.

So, in 2017 a single person is entitled to $6350 plus $4050 (if they have no children and are not blind or over 65) which is a total of $10,400 - which is only $1600 less than the new standard deduction. If one is single and has a child and/or is legally blind or over 65 the new standard deduction for 2018 will be less than they could deduct for the combined 2017 standard deduction combined with the personal exemptions.

In 2017 a married couple is entitled to $12,700 plus a personal exemption each (again, if they have no children and neither is legally blind or over 65) of $4050 which comes to $20,800.  This is only $3200 less than they will receive next year.  Again, if there are any children or either of the spouses is legally blind or they have children - they will be deducting less in 2018 than they would be able to deduct for the combined 2017 standard deduction combined with the personal exemptions.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK -

Income taxes need planning before you go to your tax preparer.  Make sure you have all of your income items as well as any items that you may be able to use for an itemized deduction - in case they come to more than your standard deduction, and if you are self-employed for your business related expenses.

Now is also the time to think about next year.  Get a file or a large envelope - label it  - and start putting in items that are related to your income taxes next year - better to throw a receipt in that is not deductible than to be missing one next year.

Again, this is general information and not tax preparation information related to you.  Check with your tax preparer about your specific information needed.

I HATE THE AFTERMATH OF TRIPS

Just in case anyone was wondering - after a week my head barely hurts if I touch where I hit it last week.  ( I mean if I touch my head where it was hurt, not the board I hit it on.)     My dad, a man of great wisdom, would say - “If your head hurts when you touch it, then don’t touch it.

The worst part of a trip, to me, is when I come home I have to do everything I didn’t do while away (and, of course, things I didn’t do before we went away).  Husband never understands this idea.

We are pretty good at emptying out the RV when we return home - I have a system.  There are two plans for emptying it, the regular plan and the “its raining and we can’t bring it all in plan”. In the normal plan, I start packing stuff and husband becomes a beast of burden running it all into the house.  I am basically working in sections in a circle around where I am standing in the RV. First is the refrigerator, followed by food in plastic boxes in the cabinet. Husband will unpack the refrigerator items into the one in the house.  I shut off the refrigerator in the RV and put a thick towel under the freezer section just in case any ice buildup melts and drips.  (It does not have a separate freezer section, but a “cold” box as refrigerators did in “the olden days” - like the 1950s.  Ice cream purchased in the evening will be soft ice cream when eaten at 2 am - cold soup beyond that. I take the batteries of the refrigerator thermometer and its remote read device.

The towels are added to the laundry bag of clothes and when the bag goes into the house it is tossed down the stairs to the basement.  I pack the clean clothes (we always over pack - doesn’t everyone) and bring an extra day or two of clothes in case something happens to something we are wearing while away and we need to change clothes unexpectedly, they go into the other laundry bag and go by the stairs in the house so they go up the same night.   Jackets, sweatshirts and such are taken in loose.  Shoes are put into supermarket/Walmart shopping bags to be taken in. 

Husband will take various laptops and other devices into the house in a couple of trips. Similarly he will take in my embroidery holder. The “last minute bag” is pulled out from under the bed and the items removed from it go back into it. This trip we also pulled toothpaste and such as we don’t want to leave them in all winter - we did that the first year and they did not survive well.
                                   
Any items we purchased while away and stored inside the main part of the TV are brought into the house and left on the table to be sorted and stored. (Hey, I just noticed that sorted and stored are anagrams - the same letters rearranged - is why they go together so well?)

On the “third seat” (seat behind the front passenger seat) we have a pocket with a folder in it which holds papers we pick up during the trip - tourist handouts, maps, local tourist magazines, and such, as well as magazines we brought from home to read - they go in similar bag to the shoes. 

Assorted spare eyeglasses (reading, sun, etc.) that are needed and/or kept elsewhere are removed from the glove compartment as are the snacks I keep in the front door map pocket in case of a glucose low for either of us while in transit. In there is also the coupon holder from our car (if I need, for example, tissues while away, why shouldn’t I have the coupon with me to use) and the travel related coupons we brought with us. My old Palm and Blackberry cell phones which come along for the trip for other features of the phones have to be removed also.  The EZ Pass (to pay tolls electronically) is removed from the windshield and stored away. 

The various curtains in the RV are closed. The lights are shut off and the RV battery is shut off.

Between trips with items I had for him, husband has removing items we purchased and stored in he back of the RV (technically under the head of the bed) and adding them to what is on the kitchen table in the house.

I stop and get the mail from our mailbox on the way in.  If it is a short trip and we did not stop the newspaper (yes, I still get and read a newspaper) I will bring them in also.

If it is raining - the food and stuff in the last minute bag go in and not much else unless it is needed.

Now I enter the house kitchen .  I have to sort what has come in - food which does not need to be in the refrigerator goes on the counter.  Food that goes in the refrigerator should already have been put there by Robert.  Clean clothes, laptops & similar, mail, shoes, and such are put on the stairs or adjacent to them to be taken upstairs.  Jackets and such are put in the front closet - or at least over the post at the foot of the stairs in the front hall.  And the pile of stuff on the table.

The stuff on the table has to be sorted - stuff to go upstairs, stuff to stay in the kitchen/dinning room, stuff for the basement, stuff for our studio - or the garage workshop.  I sort them into shopping bags and try to at least get them into the room they belong in - or hang them on the door knob to outside if the item goes outside. 

But of course this is just the first step.  The next day I will have to go through the mail- shred the junk mail, pull out and check bills, collect bank statements (if any) to reconcile, magazines to where they will be read, and so on.  We will also go to the Post Office and pick up the mail which has accumulated in our box there, which also has to be sorted.

Food in boxes will have to be stored - I tend to do it slowly and use what is in the boxes.  They are basically snacks so I use the cereal which was not used on the trip instead of storing it away, use the tea bag from the ones I brought with us, etc. 

Since this was our last trip of the year that we will make with running water in the RV, I said to husband that I presume we will winterize the RV this week - he said we could wait.  For those who might not understand this, in areas like this where it can get close to freezing and below it, the water pipes and valves might freeze and break.  So we have to run a non-toxic anti freeze, made for this purpose for RVs and boats, through the water system.  This keeps it all from freezing, but also means that we cannot use the system as that would be adding water which could freeze back in the system.  Well, the not so cold weather we were having and were to have is to change by this weekend.  So the winterizing must be done this week. 

In addition, we needed a small closet type shed to keep our snowblower in by our side door.  (It is currently in the garage workshop and not only does it take up room, but if it snow we have to shovel our way to the garage and clear a path in front of the garage door so a shed near the door would be very good to have.)  Last year we waited too long to buy one - they have to be assembled above a certain temperature so that plastic gives and bends and does not break in the assembling.  Husband kept forgetting to order one from a well known home store and finally decided this was it.  We wanted to order one to pick up at the store.  The program would not let us as it said the store already had “one”.  So we went to the store.  It took about an hour and a half for them to find the shed, get someone to take it down from the top shelf (maybe 20 feet or more up), us to take it to the register and pay for it (well, husband did while I got the van), have no one come to help us load it, realize the box inside the sealed plastic was soaked, find the assistant manager again, get the other one (yes, per the computer they had one, but actually they had two), and get someone to help us load it.  It then sat in our van on the driveway until we could assemble it. 

Monday was too cold, Tuesday it rained.  (And of course we went and voted Tuesday.)So today we assembled it - mostly.  We had to get the huge box out of our van - we managed to push it so it was in the rear of the van (behind the back seat) and on a work stand and unloaded.  Today was already getting colder so we took all the pieces into the garage and turned on the hanging space heaters to keep the plastic pieces warm and pliable.  We moved our car to the curved part of our driveway, then backed the RV to the spot the car normally is so we would have room to work.  Somehow we were able to assemble most of the shed.  Husband then got ill from bending over, as he does, and had to go in and go to sleep for awhile.  I finished getting the roof ready to go on - screwing parts onto the inside of the room, putting things into the body of the shed to hold the roof in place, putting the handles on the doors.  (The doors were about the worse part of the assembly except...) When it was all done, I went and woke husband who after about a half hour more, was able to come out and we put the roof on - yay!  The last thing which had to be done and is a problem is two metal bars have to be slid into the roof and across into the sides to hold the front end of the roof on - we got one in, then gave up and will try again tomorrow as it was getting colder and dark. 

Remember he said that we don’t have to winterize this week when I said I assumed we were going to?  Tomorrow we will be winterizing the RV.

Luckily when he said that we would be doing these “little chores” today and tomorrow, I managed to write checks for all bills due out on Friday and figure out how much we have to transfer into checking to cover them - it is all finished and sitting in my “out” box for Friday.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK - When going on a trip - even a short, relatively local one as we take - try to be as caught up as possible before the trip.  Try to plan when you will catch up on bills, other paperwork, unpacking, laundry (I am doing a week and a half’s laundry tonight and tomorrow night), and such, when you return.     
           
For those who are Veterans or who are still on active service, Friday is Veteran’s Day here in the U.S. and is a holiday for many of those who live in the World War II allies countries (Armistice Day, Remembrance Day...) as Saturday is November 11, I thank you all for your service to your country  - whether the U.S. or other.  For those of you still on active service, I wish you a safe tour and return home.