Did not get to do much yesterday. It was nasty weather and I was looking forward to being in the house and getting caught up – HA! I had two major projects to deal with – each of which needed me to telephone a different tax agency - which would, of course involve sitting while on hold with each of them.
I have a client who is in her 80s and does not use a computer. The alarm company for her business will only bill by email. (Businesses should really not presume that EVERYONE uses a computer or a cell phone – even more so a smart phone as not every one does.) Since I used to go in to her business every month and I would usually end up writing the check for this bill when I came anyway, with her permission I opened yet another email account – this one solely for her business – and we set up with the alarm company to sent the bills to this email address. Before I would go to her on the quarter months (alarm company bills quarterly) I would print out the out the bill at home, bring it, and write the check for it for her.
When I checked my email yesterday there was a bill from her alarm company saying she had not payed the new amount due on the last billing and owed them $40 more. Since the other two matters involved one matter due by March 15 and the other due by May 15, this moved to the top of the list to call. The woman at the alarm company was very nice, but could not talk to me (though in the past when I went to the client's business they had been given permission to talk to me), especially since I did not know “the code number”. The employee told me to have client call her and nothing would happen in the interim (last thing client needs is the alarm on her business shut off).
I telephoned her on her cell phone as she had planned to be away during January and I did not know where to call her. She is not well and needs surgery – more complications. She told me that she would have a family member call me back as I could fax the bill to her. No one called.
I then went on to a problem involving the same client. I was concerned before finding out she was not well about getting her state business return filed on time due to her having to mail the info as I am NOT going into NYC yet due to Covid concerns. But, now knowing her situation of being not well, it is was even more important to have an extension form for the state return. For some reason this type of business – and seemingly ONLY this sort of business – can only file a state extension online! Now normally this would be not be a problem – as accountant's software for business filing would take of it – but since my practice is sooo small (this is my only business return to do) I don't have the software. I could have the taxpayer go online and file the form – but, remember, she does not use a computer and in any case would be terribly confused trying to do so. So I had to call the state department and sit on hold for about half an hour (which is actually much less time than I thought it would take). I got a very nice lady there. I apologized for the problem and explained the odd situation and that the client was ill and there was a decent chance that the return would have to go on extension. She actually had to take all the info and then go and GET PERMISSION to mail an extension. But, just for the fun of it, she can only mail the form to the client's business – where neither she nor I will be! I called the client back and explained and told her when someone goes in to get the mail for her to let me know so I can get the form – or a fax or an email of it in case we need it.
Next stop – IRS. (You can see what a fun day this was.) I have to file an annual form for our reenactment unit (which is a non-profit). It is a “postcard” form, meaning there are only something like 5 questions after identification information to be filled in. I have been trying to file this form since the second week in January. They have changed the filing and the sign in this year. I tried using the web address from the past – when I do I get a message that the system is “under maintenance”. I found an online booklet about the changes and tried using the filing web address in the booklet. That site when I try to sign in was resulting in a “error 404” message. I figured maybe it would not work until after the opening of the regular filing system on January 23. Tried it again since then and again yesterday. This time husband tried also to sign in (he is also an officer in the unit) for me using a different browser. Same problem. So back on the telephone. I reached someone in that department – they are not open yet for filing! So I will wait awhile before trying again.
This morning I get a telephone call from the client – she spoke to her alarm company and there is no problem, she can pay the difference when she pays for the next quarter. Thank goodness, her alarm will remain on. I explained to her that I got NYS to mail the extension form – but it is going to her business. So when next she or a family member goes there for mail, let me know that she has the form and we will figure out if it should be sent to me by mail or if she should have a family member fax or email the extension to me. I also noted in my “todo” list for when her next bill for same should come by email about this to remind me.
So most of the day yesterday was taken up with these problems!
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
One has to know how to prioritize. Originally I had placed getting the NYS extension form for client as the more important thing as the IRS matter involving our reenactment unit is due much later than the NYS form for her – plus if that is late, as long as the 2 years are filed as they should be, would not result in a fee being charged or other problem.
While each of the problems was rather important, once it arose as a problem, I had to move the alarm company to the first thing to do as the alarm company was expecting to be paid right away as they had not been paid the correct amount – and we don't want them to stop monitoring her business, especially if she not going every day, so it automatically took precedence.
When overwhelmed do you stop and figure out which HAS to be done first and what can wait until last and what order the other things have to be/can be done so everything is done on time.
Showing posts with label NYC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NYC. Show all posts
Thursday, February 2, 2023
SO MANY PROBLEMS TO RESOLVE AT THE SAME TIME - WHICH TO DO FIRST?
Thursday, November 14, 2019
RV, VAN AND OLD PAPERS
Another week, another post. Mom had 2 surgeries within a week and is now back in her apartment at the assisted living facility. We will taking her Friday back to the doctor who changed her pacemaker for a checkup and I have to make an appointment for same with the doctor who did her cancer surgery as well as with the one involved with her leg scan as it still has not has been discussed with her. We did squeeze in appointments with our doctor for us last week – dealing with mom, we had forgotten to make same until the doctor refused to renew our prescriptions because we were so late in doing so.
Friday we drove to Pennsylvania and picked up our RV – the batteries are working and the entire electrical system was checked and was fine. Husband is concerned about driving such a distance alone (as I probably mentioned when we had to drive it there) and also concerned about driving alone in the dark – the combination of the two, even more so. We kept calculating when to go and what to do coming home. We figured out that we had two choices – both involved trying to get the dealer as early as possible, having lunch at Wendys very quickly and starting home. In one version we would immediately drive home, this way we would miss Philadelphia rush hour and hoping to avoid rush hour from NYC headed towards our home. The other version involved again leaving immediately after lunch to avoid the Philadelphia rush hour and driving to near the Golden Corral in New Jersey that I am sure I have mentioned before. We would then go to some stores in that area to spend some time, then have dinner at the Golden Corral and then head home. With this version we should avoid the rush hour from NYC to home, but would be driving in the dark home from Golden Corral. We figured we would decide after we picked the RV and while eating lunch. The golden morning time to leave home and head off Long Island for us seems to be 8:30 am – we are following at the end of rush hour and are before the construction work on two of the major roads starts. We we were out at 8:20 -since we were driving only our van, we did not have to waste time backing the RV out of the driveway (a process that involves walkie talkies and me standing in the middle of a 4 lane road road that has traffic that all speeds – which is why it a problem to begin with.) We had figured we would get to the dealer between noon and 1 pm. We got there just after 11 am. We picked up the RV - “schmoozed” a bit, gassed up the RV and the van for the trip back, spent about 15 minutes having lunch and started home – confident that we would miss the rush hour traffic at both cities. We did fine in PA – no traffic, NJ not bad almost no traffic. One very quick stop at a rest area for me to use the facilities – so fast, I left my cell phone in the RV and husband waited out there so we did not have to shut everything did – I ran literally both ways and we were off again. Then we hit Staten Island (NYC) and there was traffic, but it was not bad – 15 minute part of the trip maybe was 25 minutes. We then crossed the bridge to Long Island. The limited access roadway we have to taken home was BAD. How bad? The signs on the bridge said not to exit to it, to exit to a local street that allows later connection to the roadway – which we take anyway. It took us 2.5 hours to the dealer – it took us 5 hours home – and that was with arriving in NYC at 3 pm. Another day of our lives – gone.
But the RV is home and working properly again – so all is well – right? Driving home husband found that the brakes were squealing so today they were at our mechanic again. He said they were okay to use – a problem sometime down the road as there is rust.
Wait a second, have to run to the basement to switch laundry loads and check the heat in the PackTite.
Back. Normally I have a load of clothes, a load of towels, and a load of bed linens each week with a load of jeans every few weeks. With all this going on, I have not changed the bedding in a couple of weeks – no time to do so and saves a wash load (yes, I think ewwww also, but it will done soon). This week I have a load clothes, a load of sweatshirts and nightgown – I bought 3 new ones and have worn a few of them and they don't fit in the general clothes load, a load of towels, and a load of jeans. I also have a load of white reenactment clothing (much “small clothes” - undergarments, all of which are white) from our last couple of events and a second load of the rest of our outfits – next time we will need them is December and I want them clean so I don't have to run at the minute to wash them – some of the pieces need ironing also. Just put the general clothes load into the dryer and the sweatshirt load into the washer.
At the same time I have been going through the bags of stuff from the family home. Being a crazy person who had bed bugs. I fill (lightly) our PackTite heater with some of the stuff and heat at it night – mixed with whatever fabric or paper items we have in addition to be heated. Then the next afternoon I go through the stuff from the house after putting away the stuff from our house that was added in. Today I went through the papers from our wedding – 40 years ago. All of the response cards & envelopes – shredded, set up invitation with all the papers which were included and put it in the shoebox that I have as a “memory box” of the stuff I am finding and want to keep from all this, shredded the other invitations, tossed out the other response cards (no names, etc. on them), I kept the blank envelopes for the invitations – can always use larger envelopes, have set aside the unused response envelopes they do have my parents and name and address, but I will see if labels will cover same and decide if we are keeping them or they are being shred, shredded the receipt for the wedding (what a waste of $8,000 – I was right, we should have just gotten married & not bothered with a wedding), and shredded the seating charts and other papers. I kept the box that it was all in. Good box. Apparently there is much more than my stuff in what my sister set aside for me – work papers of my dad's and other financial stuff. I have a found a certificate given to my other sister when she graduated from high school (she is 55 now). I scanned it, emailed it to her and asked if she wanted the certificate or what. I found old bank statements and similar of mom's and even some of dad's (he died in the mid 1990's). I found a dividend check for $4.50 that was never cashed – I will see if it can cheaply somehow be replaced – but 1994 was a long time ago. More to do tomorrow after the current load is heated – this load also has some yarn husband bought for weaving project to sell and a new sweatshirt that I bought - both today.
At least every year I go through the papers from 10 years before and get rid of almost all of them – 25 years is a long time to keep bank statements and a check.
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
So progress is being made on the stuff from mom's house. I am trying to keep up on household chores – dishes washed after dinner and after night snack (only meals we eat home). Obviously laundry being done. Towels changed and into the laundry. (If only I did not hate changing the bedding and folding same after it is washed even more than more than cleaning toilet bowls – I figured it out – my arms are too short to deal with sheets easily.)
Any suggestions for my family and me about dealing with all of the stuff from the house?
Friday we drove to Pennsylvania and picked up our RV – the batteries are working and the entire electrical system was checked and was fine. Husband is concerned about driving such a distance alone (as I probably mentioned when we had to drive it there) and also concerned about driving alone in the dark – the combination of the two, even more so. We kept calculating when to go and what to do coming home. We figured out that we had two choices – both involved trying to get the dealer as early as possible, having lunch at Wendys very quickly and starting home. In one version we would immediately drive home, this way we would miss Philadelphia rush hour and hoping to avoid rush hour from NYC headed towards our home. The other version involved again leaving immediately after lunch to avoid the Philadelphia rush hour and driving to near the Golden Corral in New Jersey that I am sure I have mentioned before. We would then go to some stores in that area to spend some time, then have dinner at the Golden Corral and then head home. With this version we should avoid the rush hour from NYC to home, but would be driving in the dark home from Golden Corral. We figured we would decide after we picked the RV and while eating lunch. The golden morning time to leave home and head off Long Island for us seems to be 8:30 am – we are following at the end of rush hour and are before the construction work on two of the major roads starts. We we were out at 8:20 -since we were driving only our van, we did not have to waste time backing the RV out of the driveway (a process that involves walkie talkies and me standing in the middle of a 4 lane road road that has traffic that all speeds – which is why it a problem to begin with.) We had figured we would get to the dealer between noon and 1 pm. We got there just after 11 am. We picked up the RV - “schmoozed” a bit, gassed up the RV and the van for the trip back, spent about 15 minutes having lunch and started home – confident that we would miss the rush hour traffic at both cities. We did fine in PA – no traffic, NJ not bad almost no traffic. One very quick stop at a rest area for me to use the facilities – so fast, I left my cell phone in the RV and husband waited out there so we did not have to shut everything did – I ran literally both ways and we were off again. Then we hit Staten Island (NYC) and there was traffic, but it was not bad – 15 minute part of the trip maybe was 25 minutes. We then crossed the bridge to Long Island. The limited access roadway we have to taken home was BAD. How bad? The signs on the bridge said not to exit to it, to exit to a local street that allows later connection to the roadway – which we take anyway. It took us 2.5 hours to the dealer – it took us 5 hours home – and that was with arriving in NYC at 3 pm. Another day of our lives – gone.
But the RV is home and working properly again – so all is well – right? Driving home husband found that the brakes were squealing so today they were at our mechanic again. He said they were okay to use – a problem sometime down the road as there is rust.
Wait a second, have to run to the basement to switch laundry loads and check the heat in the PackTite.
Back. Normally I have a load of clothes, a load of towels, and a load of bed linens each week with a load of jeans every few weeks. With all this going on, I have not changed the bedding in a couple of weeks – no time to do so and saves a wash load (yes, I think ewwww also, but it will done soon). This week I have a load clothes, a load of sweatshirts and nightgown – I bought 3 new ones and have worn a few of them and they don't fit in the general clothes load, a load of towels, and a load of jeans. I also have a load of white reenactment clothing (much “small clothes” - undergarments, all of which are white) from our last couple of events and a second load of the rest of our outfits – next time we will need them is December and I want them clean so I don't have to run at the minute to wash them – some of the pieces need ironing also. Just put the general clothes load into the dryer and the sweatshirt load into the washer.
At the same time I have been going through the bags of stuff from the family home. Being a crazy person who had bed bugs. I fill (lightly) our PackTite heater with some of the stuff and heat at it night – mixed with whatever fabric or paper items we have in addition to be heated. Then the next afternoon I go through the stuff from the house after putting away the stuff from our house that was added in. Today I went through the papers from our wedding – 40 years ago. All of the response cards & envelopes – shredded, set up invitation with all the papers which were included and put it in the shoebox that I have as a “memory box” of the stuff I am finding and want to keep from all this, shredded the other invitations, tossed out the other response cards (no names, etc. on them), I kept the blank envelopes for the invitations – can always use larger envelopes, have set aside the unused response envelopes they do have my parents and name and address, but I will see if labels will cover same and decide if we are keeping them or they are being shred, shredded the receipt for the wedding (what a waste of $8,000 – I was right, we should have just gotten married & not bothered with a wedding), and shredded the seating charts and other papers. I kept the box that it was all in. Good box. Apparently there is much more than my stuff in what my sister set aside for me – work papers of my dad's and other financial stuff. I have a found a certificate given to my other sister when she graduated from high school (she is 55 now). I scanned it, emailed it to her and asked if she wanted the certificate or what. I found old bank statements and similar of mom's and even some of dad's (he died in the mid 1990's). I found a dividend check for $4.50 that was never cashed – I will see if it can cheaply somehow be replaced – but 1994 was a long time ago. More to do tomorrow after the current load is heated – this load also has some yarn husband bought for weaving project to sell and a new sweatshirt that I bought - both today.
At least every year I go through the papers from 10 years before and get rid of almost all of them – 25 years is a long time to keep bank statements and a check.
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
So progress is being made on the stuff from mom's house. I am trying to keep up on household chores – dishes washed after dinner and after night snack (only meals we eat home). Obviously laundry being done. Towels changed and into the laundry. (If only I did not hate changing the bedding and folding same after it is washed even more than more than cleaning toilet bowls – I figured it out – my arms are too short to deal with sheets easily.)
Any suggestions for my family and me about dealing with all of the stuff from the house?
Thursday, January 31, 2019
ANOTHER STORM COMING
Well, another week of not getting anything done easily. My client’s payroll taxes are filed - and I only needed to open one of the kinds of forms I bought - it had the second one I needed included. Now we need to make a trip to the store to return the other ones.
I went to the client this past Monday. She is located in Manhattan. I drive to Queens and park in a municipal parking garage near a subway stop that is one stop from Manhattan - I only have to travel 3 stops total to the client. (For those who might not know both Manhattan and Queens are boroughs of New York City. Manhattan is what most people think of as New York City - it located on Manhattan Island. Queens is a more suburban part of New York City and is one of the two boroughs of New York City on Long Island (which also has Nassau and Suffolk Counties which are not part of New York City). Parking in Manhattan is prohibitive. Not only is the per hour rate charged by the garages and the few lots left high, but there is something like a 16% tax on parking in garages/lots. The lot in Queens costs me less than $10 for the several hours I am parked - less than an hour would cost in Manhattan. The other alternative I have is to take the Long Island Railroad into Manhattan from my home community and then switch (at additional cost) to the LIRR in Manhattan to complete my trip. This is not cheap even with the fact that I generally would be traveling off peak (cheaper than on peak) and am entitled to a senior discount (from both trains). In addition neither of these trains companies have been having a lot of luck lately - breakdowns, etc. and I can walk from the client to my car if I had to - it might take awhile, I might have to stop, I might have to leave my laptop at the client - but I would get home if for some reason (to put it politely and in a way not to scare anyone if you think about things which have happened in Manhattan in the past 20 years) something happened and the trains - both types) were not running. So I drive to Queens, park, and take the subway. It is normal for me to arrive at the garage and have to wait in a line to get in - maybe 3 or 4 cars might be waiting ahead of me. The garage is located next to a court house and normally people will leave after their business at same is finished and it is not a long wait (shorter than writing this post will be). This time when I arrived there I got on the end of a longer line than I have seen there - at least 7 cars ahead of me - and there is a second entrance which had 2 more cars waiting to squeeze into the line. It took an HOUR before I drove in. (I did let one of the two cars in the other entrance ahead of me - the other had left and, well, he was there before me.) I had arrived there on the early side - but due to this arrived at the client late.
To save time at the client - the weather was to turn bad on Tuesday and I wanted to make some stops on the way home - I not only had the forms client needed to sign, finished and printed, but had also printed out envelopes to mail them in (as opposed to printing them at the client). This was not to be. She had a form I had forgotten about for disability insurance for employees (her) and our state has added a family leave policy to this. The form was 2 weeks late (it arrived while the business was closed as she was away), there were no instructions for the new family leave premium - instructions said to go online for same - no Internet connection there. I tried calling the number on the form for help, was on hold for about 20 minutes - finally when the call was answered the person had no idea what I was talking about - he had not even heard about the type of policy I was talking about. He went away, came back and said he was transferring me to the right department. Another 15 minutes on hold - the woman was very nice, but she also was the wrong department. She also transferred me - after another 10 minutes on hold, I gave up! I filled in the form as well as I could. I told the client about this and that if there was a problem, I would straighten it out. Not only did I want to get out of there and home to my husband who was having a breakdown over the coming weather this week, but the client has a car service which picks her up at 3:30 and it was close to same. I had her sign the forms and the checks I had prepared and made my goodbyes as she packed to leave also.
I made a stop at a bank (they would all be closed by the time I was in my car). I remembered hearing a ring in my cell phone from my husband who was suppose to be running a couple of errands and buying some food items in case we were stuck in the house the rest of the week and had figured he had a question on what to buy - plus at that time I could not get to my phone as the I could was on the wrong side of the desk I use and was blocked from it by the client packing. So I checked my phone. He had not gone anywhere - when he went to leave - there were no brakes in his car! So I texted him back - almost crying over what had gone on - it was that messed up a day and asked if I should come home before running errands - he agreed.
The drive home was not too bad - about 2 hours. We got in the car I had been driving and went out to run errands. I suddenly remembered that the items I had to mail out - bill payments for us and the forms for client - were still in my brief case ... in the house. So we had to drive home to get it and then drive to the post office to mail them out (and I checked our box - still no forms from IRS). I then made the best suggestion of the day - “Wendys for dinner?” Neither of us had defrosted anything for dinner, plus we figured to be in the house most of the week, so we went.
Yesterday I filed the clients New York State forms online. I gave a deep breathe - all of the clients payroll taxes filed on time - with 2 days to spare. Then I remembered - it had never asked me for her bank account information to debit the payment. I went back in to the site - it does not seem to have anything else to do? I have an email out to the state asking about this - nothing seems to get finished on the first try any longer?
We had been able to go out yesterday - rain started late in the day and it was horribly heavy rain with much flooding around. We had the other car towed to our mechanic - about 4 - 5 blocks away. We told the tow company when we called it had to go on a flat bed - it has all wheel drive - and was glad to see that they had listened and sent same. Fellow who was towing insisted it was not needed “I HAVE been doing this for 10 years and know when a flat bed tow is needed - see the wheels are in the air in the front, no problem.” Glad he has done this for 10 years - we have had the car for 20+ years and it was not our first all or 4 wheel drive. He had to turn around (he was facing opposite to where the mechanic is) and told us to drive there and he would meet us. This mechanic (and another before him) has been at this location well over the 40 years I have lived in this area and is generally known in the area - I was surprised that the fellow did not know which mechanic and where we were talking about. We drove over and waited and waited and waited. (I could have walked there in less than half the time it took him to drive there). Our mechanic and another customer there were shocked that the driver did not know where he was. The fellow finally showed up - the wheels had locked and he - HAD TO PUT IT ON THE FLAT BED!!!
The rain was the leading edge of the weather to the west of us across the U.S. - this is that freezing temperatures and huge storm that you had first. Today we managed to get out for lunch just ahead of a “snow squall” which is apparently like a thunderstorm with snow instead of rain. Our area was lucky as it was quickly and we only got about 2 inches of snow - we went out and pushed it off the driveway and then husband salted around as it was in the teens and heading colder until late next weekend.
It is now 6F outside and still dropping. Not as bad as the -40sF I have heard about to the west of us across the country, but cold enough for husband to be in a major panic. We now have the cabinets under the kitchen and bathroom sinks open and the faucets are set to drip, as is the basement to keep the water from freezing - just in case.
I did the laundry Monday night so we would not have to worry about doing same tonight and tomorrow. I sent out my embroidery chapter’s newsletter by email tonight - and in searching for textile related exhibitions to list for them, found one of interest to some of our reenacting group members and sent it out to them also. I thought I was doing better - then my dinner (not husband’s - we had different dinners) was refrigerator cold from sitting after it was cooked and I reheated it - of course part of it then was so HOT that I burned the inside of my mouth.
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
Well, in 2 days there is a new month - maybe it will be better. There is an old adage - “Man makes plans, God laughs”. I sort of feel like that right now.
One has to look at the good in one’s life as even as all heck seems to be breaking loose. We are both okay. We have a place to be in the cold and food to eat. The cold will end over the weekend (even if it will be raining then).
Everything works out - some way, even if not as one planned. Hopefully I will get some work done in the house while we are keeping warm inside. Oh, and hopefully the weather will be nice enough next week for a bunch of us “old ladies” to go out to our embroidery meeting.
I went to the client this past Monday. She is located in Manhattan. I drive to Queens and park in a municipal parking garage near a subway stop that is one stop from Manhattan - I only have to travel 3 stops total to the client. (For those who might not know both Manhattan and Queens are boroughs of New York City. Manhattan is what most people think of as New York City - it located on Manhattan Island. Queens is a more suburban part of New York City and is one of the two boroughs of New York City on Long Island (which also has Nassau and Suffolk Counties which are not part of New York City). Parking in Manhattan is prohibitive. Not only is the per hour rate charged by the garages and the few lots left high, but there is something like a 16% tax on parking in garages/lots. The lot in Queens costs me less than $10 for the several hours I am parked - less than an hour would cost in Manhattan. The other alternative I have is to take the Long Island Railroad into Manhattan from my home community and then switch (at additional cost) to the LIRR in Manhattan to complete my trip. This is not cheap even with the fact that I generally would be traveling off peak (cheaper than on peak) and am entitled to a senior discount (from both trains). In addition neither of these trains companies have been having a lot of luck lately - breakdowns, etc. and I can walk from the client to my car if I had to - it might take awhile, I might have to stop, I might have to leave my laptop at the client - but I would get home if for some reason (to put it politely and in a way not to scare anyone if you think about things which have happened in Manhattan in the past 20 years) something happened and the trains - both types) were not running. So I drive to Queens, park, and take the subway. It is normal for me to arrive at the garage and have to wait in a line to get in - maybe 3 or 4 cars might be waiting ahead of me. The garage is located next to a court house and normally people will leave after their business at same is finished and it is not a long wait (shorter than writing this post will be). This time when I arrived there I got on the end of a longer line than I have seen there - at least 7 cars ahead of me - and there is a second entrance which had 2 more cars waiting to squeeze into the line. It took an HOUR before I drove in. (I did let one of the two cars in the other entrance ahead of me - the other had left and, well, he was there before me.) I had arrived there on the early side - but due to this arrived at the client late.
To save time at the client - the weather was to turn bad on Tuesday and I wanted to make some stops on the way home - I not only had the forms client needed to sign, finished and printed, but had also printed out envelopes to mail them in (as opposed to printing them at the client). This was not to be. She had a form I had forgotten about for disability insurance for employees (her) and our state has added a family leave policy to this. The form was 2 weeks late (it arrived while the business was closed as she was away), there were no instructions for the new family leave premium - instructions said to go online for same - no Internet connection there. I tried calling the number on the form for help, was on hold for about 20 minutes - finally when the call was answered the person had no idea what I was talking about - he had not even heard about the type of policy I was talking about. He went away, came back and said he was transferring me to the right department. Another 15 minutes on hold - the woman was very nice, but she also was the wrong department. She also transferred me - after another 10 minutes on hold, I gave up! I filled in the form as well as I could. I told the client about this and that if there was a problem, I would straighten it out. Not only did I want to get out of there and home to my husband who was having a breakdown over the coming weather this week, but the client has a car service which picks her up at 3:30 and it was close to same. I had her sign the forms and the checks I had prepared and made my goodbyes as she packed to leave also.
I made a stop at a bank (they would all be closed by the time I was in my car). I remembered hearing a ring in my cell phone from my husband who was suppose to be running a couple of errands and buying some food items in case we were stuck in the house the rest of the week and had figured he had a question on what to buy - plus at that time I could not get to my phone as the I could was on the wrong side of the desk I use and was blocked from it by the client packing. So I checked my phone. He had not gone anywhere - when he went to leave - there were no brakes in his car! So I texted him back - almost crying over what had gone on - it was that messed up a day and asked if I should come home before running errands - he agreed.
The drive home was not too bad - about 2 hours. We got in the car I had been driving and went out to run errands. I suddenly remembered that the items I had to mail out - bill payments for us and the forms for client - were still in my brief case ... in the house. So we had to drive home to get it and then drive to the post office to mail them out (and I checked our box - still no forms from IRS). I then made the best suggestion of the day - “Wendys for dinner?” Neither of us had defrosted anything for dinner, plus we figured to be in the house most of the week, so we went.
Yesterday I filed the clients New York State forms online. I gave a deep breathe - all of the clients payroll taxes filed on time - with 2 days to spare. Then I remembered - it had never asked me for her bank account information to debit the payment. I went back in to the site - it does not seem to have anything else to do? I have an email out to the state asking about this - nothing seems to get finished on the first try any longer?
We had been able to go out yesterday - rain started late in the day and it was horribly heavy rain with much flooding around. We had the other car towed to our mechanic - about 4 - 5 blocks away. We told the tow company when we called it had to go on a flat bed - it has all wheel drive - and was glad to see that they had listened and sent same. Fellow who was towing insisted it was not needed “I HAVE been doing this for 10 years and know when a flat bed tow is needed - see the wheels are in the air in the front, no problem.” Glad he has done this for 10 years - we have had the car for 20+ years and it was not our first all or 4 wheel drive. He had to turn around (he was facing opposite to where the mechanic is) and told us to drive there and he would meet us. This mechanic (and another before him) has been at this location well over the 40 years I have lived in this area and is generally known in the area - I was surprised that the fellow did not know which mechanic and where we were talking about. We drove over and waited and waited and waited. (I could have walked there in less than half the time it took him to drive there). Our mechanic and another customer there were shocked that the driver did not know where he was. The fellow finally showed up - the wheels had locked and he - HAD TO PUT IT ON THE FLAT BED!!!
The rain was the leading edge of the weather to the west of us across the U.S. - this is that freezing temperatures and huge storm that you had first. Today we managed to get out for lunch just ahead of a “snow squall” which is apparently like a thunderstorm with snow instead of rain. Our area was lucky as it was quickly and we only got about 2 inches of snow - we went out and pushed it off the driveway and then husband salted around as it was in the teens and heading colder until late next weekend.
It is now 6F outside and still dropping. Not as bad as the -40sF I have heard about to the west of us across the country, but cold enough for husband to be in a major panic. We now have the cabinets under the kitchen and bathroom sinks open and the faucets are set to drip, as is the basement to keep the water from freezing - just in case.
I did the laundry Monday night so we would not have to worry about doing same tonight and tomorrow. I sent out my embroidery chapter’s newsletter by email tonight - and in searching for textile related exhibitions to list for them, found one of interest to some of our reenacting group members and sent it out to them also. I thought I was doing better - then my dinner (not husband’s - we had different dinners) was refrigerator cold from sitting after it was cooked and I reheated it - of course part of it then was so HOT that I burned the inside of my mouth.
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
Well, in 2 days there is a new month - maybe it will be better. There is an old adage - “Man makes plans, God laughs”. I sort of feel like that right now.
One has to look at the good in one’s life as even as all heck seems to be breaking loose. We are both okay. We have a place to be in the cold and food to eat. The cold will end over the weekend (even if it will be raining then).
Everything works out - some way, even if not as one planned. Hopefully I will get some work done in the house while we are keeping warm inside. Oh, and hopefully the weather will be nice enough next week for a bunch of us “old ladies” to go out to our embroidery meeting.
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