COVID 19 #20 - DEALING WITH COMPANIES AND TRYING TO CHANGE ONE'S MAILING ADDRESS WITHOUT GOING OUT

 Do you find days and weeks are flying by since the start of the pandemic – or inching their way along?  I tend towards the former.  When I realized we would be stuck in for quite a while, I figured I would finally get a chance to catch up on organizing and cleaning.  Have I?  Well, it inches along.

When my family home was cleared out (I admit to doing much less than my sisters and their families in this process) I ended up with the assorted family papers – my parents' old income tax returns (back to the 1950s), the papers related to the original purchase and building of the house, my dad's military papers, plus papers of mine – what was left after what I had taken when we were married – from the 25 years plus that I lived in the house.  I have a cardboard file box of the papers in our office, next to my desk blocking easy access to our office supply closet.  On top of the box is 2 old photo/scrap books of mine and several old shoe boxes of childhood correspondence with friends and cousins who had gone to summer camp and others – and shortly after this all came here, the least of the papers were pulled out on a quick go through and shredded (lots of greeting cards – kept those from certain family members, close friends from back then and husband).  

I finally got started on dealing with the papers.  Combined with the fact that one of my fingers has started to hurt – I think from overuse of computer keyboards, husband thinks arthritis – I have been trying to use the computer less this past week than usual.  But scanning, I can do with little typing on the keyboard and using a different finger for the thumb pad I use (instead of a mouse) so I started going through my parents' income tax returns and scanning them.  Why am I scanning them instead of tossing them?  Well I was going to toss them out, but in the back of my head was my dad, the accountant who trained to me to be one - “Always keep copies of clients' income tax returns for the time they are clients plus 10 years.”  Mom is still alive and I guess sort of a client.  But that it a lot of paper to keep.  So, scanning was the way to go. I have scanned in all of clients (and our) old tax returns – keep them and they take up no physical space.  (I now scan the clients returns as soon as the return is done, but keep the most recent year on paper to make it easier to refer to them when doing the next year's return.  As soon as the next year's return is done, the older year is shredded.)  

I have basically always known (well back to at least my early teens) that one's tax returns is a record of one's life.  Marriage, children, divorce, death, buying a house, college for family members, losing a job, getting a new job, etc. all show up on one's income tax returns.  I am seeing it now as I go through and scan my parents return.  I was confused when I noticed that on one of the returns my 2 younger sisters were showing as dependents and I was not.  The middle sister of the 3 of us married before I did – shouldn't there be returns with me as dependent and her not there?  Oh, wait, I had started my full time job that year and was no longer a dependent even though all 3 of us were still living at home.  The returns in the years shortly before my dad died are filed on extended extension with the notation that “taxpayer has a major illness which is delaying him from filing the returns”.  (Extensions were granted of course.)  I know that as I go back further I will see each of the three of us daughters show up on the returns.  Going forward (unless my sister kept the more recent returns) I will see the return change from joint to just mom when I reach the year after he died.  

Also in the file box is various papers I wrote in high school and college.  For some of them I find multiple copies – not sure why.  I have learned that as bad as my hand is, it used to be a LOT better as was my typing  I also seemed to write doom and gloom a lot more.  I will scan in the best copy of each of these papers after I am done with my parents' income tax returns.  

I find that I can scan 2 -3 years of tax returns in an afternoon (while also checking email and other things which have to be done in the office in the closet).  I will keep doing so for now.  If nothing else, the shoe boxes will be fit into the file box at some point.  At least I feel like I am getting something done by doing this.

The other project I have been working on is changing the mailing address for us, our business, our reenactment unit, and my embroidery chapter.  I am guessing I have mentioned that we have a Post Office Box that we use as a mailing address due to problems with mail delivery at our house that developed 10 or so years ago.  This PO Box is at a different Post Office than the one which serves our house – as this Post Office is much closer to our house (as is a third one) than the one which serves our house.  There have been problems with mail forwarded to the house – not sure if problem is the Box Post Office, the house Post Office or something in between.  (These problems predate what is currently going on with cutbacks etc at the Post Office and are not related to same.)

Most of the problem at this time involves statements from the two credit unions we and/or the two clubs I am treasurer of have their bank accounts at.  Last week I telephoned the two credit unions and changed the mailing addresses to our house.  Well, almost all.  For some reason one of the credit unions could change the mailing address on our personal accounts – but I was told not the mailing address for the embroidery chapter – it is a “business”.  I have to go there in person to do so – ummm, there is the Corona virus pandemic going on and we are still are suppose to stay home?  I am missing 3 months 3 months of statements for each account – the other credit union is mailing me copies – free.  This credit unions wants $5 a statements – though there would be no charge if I – yes – came in and asked for them.  The alternative I was told was to open an online account for the chapter – so easy and convenient to do.  I discussed with husband and president of the chapter and went to set up the online account.  First problem I had was that the online form rejected the chapter's Federal ID number (same as a Social Security number for people, this is for businesses).  I tried putting it in the format IRS uses. I tried putting in the numbers with no format.  I even tried putting in the numbers in the format used for Social Security numbers – each several times – and it did not work.  The next day I telephoned the credit union and was told to put the number in with no format – somehow this time (as opposed to the 5 times before) it worked.  I finished the form and “signed” it and sent it off.  Hmmm, now what do I do? No way to sign into the account.  I sent an email – answer was that it would take several days for it to be “approved”.  Okay, why didn't it just say that on the form and I would have known!  Last Saturday when I checked email I had two emails that the online account was approved – yippee.  I copied the username from the first email and then went to copy the password from the second…. Ummm. They sent an email at 8:15 pm on a Friday night which was only good for 30 minutes!!!  Okay, it said I could get a replacement email.  I fill in the form – needs the telephone number associated with the account – I put in my telephone number.  Rejected – not the right phone number.  Try again several times.  I opened this account before cell phones were common and I did not have mine then, also there were no google phone numbers (have one now for the chapter), so what the heck other number could it be?  I tried all of these numbers anyway – also a google phone number we have for ourselves and a VoIP number has for his counseling practice – none of them worked.  I called and left a phone message at the credit union asking for help.  I also sent an email.  Monday – no one called – I called again and sent an email again. The idea started to mill around in my head that I used to have another landline phone number that I used for my accounting practice, but got rid of about 10 years ago – I looked back in my computer files to find something with the number – old letters with number in the letterhead. I tried same – no good.  I understand that businesses are shorthanded – but it has been 3 business days.  Late yesterday I called the credit union for a regular person not someone related to online help.  The man who answered was able to change the mailing account for the credit union when the other employee could not.  He had to verify me and told me that the other employee probably did not want to bother (took all of 5 minutes maximum).  He verified that the phone number on file is our home number – which was rejected.  Today I had an email from the bank finally – giving me the phone number for the account – again, our home number which was the first tried and rejected multiple times.  I do have to wonder if they wanted the phone number to prove who I am – why they would email it me.  This credit union used to be great.  They have been changing since the end of last year and not sure that any of the accounts will be staying there after Covid-19 is dealt with and we can safely and easily go out.  They changed their bank statements.  As an accountant I have dealt with thousands of bank statements from banks in about dozen US states plus from 3 other countries – and have never had a problem figuring out something as simple as their bank statements.  

So little by little I am trying to get things done which have been sitting or have arisen from the current situation – I did manage to rearrange my empty plastic containers which are out to use right now and stored some in my kitchen closet on a shelf in case they are needed.  (So much work to pull out the plastic boxes the spares are kept in, in the bottom of the same closet.)

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

One has to deal with emergencies first.  Then one can slowly work at other problems.  Scanning and shredding 2 or 3 years' worth of maybe 50 years worth of income tax returns is not much – but that is 2 or 3 less to deal with.  One step at a time – same applies to calling up and changing the mailing address on everything that has our Post Office box address on it to our home address.