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.
Thursday, February 21, 2019
Thursday, February 14, 2019
EVEN WHEN ONE USE A PROCESS TO DO THINGS - THINGS CAN GO AWRY
Do you use processes to help you get or stay organized? If you are not sure what I mean - I mean doing things the same way or on the same day or at the time every time you do them? I try to. Lately though, as part of this craziness going on here, things slip through the process and go awry or go missing.
Sometime around December my desk scissors went missing. I keep them in the drawer over the leg hole of my desk, right in the front. Husband and I both looked high and low for them over the ensuing couple of months. He thought he found them in our studio in the “small tool drawer”, where our scissors for the studio are, but that was the duplicate pair I keep there. I really like these scissors. He started suggesting that I get new ones. I am a stubborn person and refused. Well, last Friday I opened my desk drawer for something and - the scissors were back. Neither of us has any idea how this happened, I am just glad they are back and I no longer have to use a small knife for things I should be using scissors for.
I have a definite process for credit card receipts. I collect them in a pocket in my wallet. I empty the pocket Friday night and Sunday night (we do a lot of our shopping over the weekend). When I take them out of my wallet they go into a basket hanging at the foot of the stairs - the mail and similar go here also - and my next trip upstairs they go upstairs. I then sort them at my desk and put them into the corresponding pockets in a small loose leaf book. They then wait snugly there until they are matched with the statement and then will be attached to same when I pay the statement. So how do they go missing? One night in January when husband had a cold we stopped between Saturday night dinner and Saturday night movie to buy a box of cold pills for him. On arriving home we found out we already had a started box of the same medicine. (Ever happen to you - I am sure it has.) I put the box and the receipt into a section of the holder for files on my desk to wait until I knew he did not need a second box. He took the medicine once from the started box and decided it did not work.
So a couple of weeks later I went to take the medicine back. The box was there, the receipt was not. I went crazy looking for it. I climbed all over the floor in the office. I disassembled the folder holder so I could look under it (too big, heavy and unwieldy to move as one piece). I checked where the receipt should be. Not found. I finally tried to return it without the receipt - not for medications, so we have a spare box of a medication we don’t really take. My fault - if the receipt had gone where it belonged in the interim, it would have been there when needed.
Now the latest thing gone astray - and the worst. I am the treasurer and the membership chair of our reenactment unit. In mid January I mailed out the renewal forms to members. It is sort of an odd setup. Members join in family groups which can be from 1 person to any amount, generally 4 is the largest group. Members can also just join our unit or also join a national reenactment group that our unit is part of. I need to keep careful records of which group rejoined, who in the family rejoined, who in the family rejoined or joined the national group also. I have a spread sheet that I copy over year to year to keep track - I remove anyone who was not in “last year” and add anyone who joined “last year”. It is all set up to keep track of and total what each group paid and the totals of everyone. I am suppose to send the renewals and dues of members of the national group by the beginning of March to the national group’s membership chair. I also list all checks - for this or any other reason - in a notebook.
So last week I emailed out to those members not listed on the spreadsheet a reminder to renew. I heard back from one member. Her husband had mailed us the renewal form and check for them and their 2 sons and they had gotten the “if you are receiving this you did not renew yet” email. I remembered receiving their renewal. I also remembered, as she mentioned in her email, that her husband had taken care of it and had filled in and paid for the national group also. Since they were not members of same in the past - and her husband had done the paperwork - I decided to check with them about the renewal and set it aside to contact them.
And that is where the problem comes in. I can’t find their paperwork or check. I emailed her back right away and told her I remembered receiving it and would get back to her. I am pretty sure I know which day I received their renewal - it was the day in January I went to my client in Manhattan, husband could not go out food shopping for the upcoming storm due to the van having no brakes, when I came home we ran out food shopping, then back home as I forgotten the items I needed to mail out for us and the client, and while at the post office I picked up the mail. The date fits and then we did not go out for several days. I also remember it was the first renewal I received and that my husband was not in the post office when I found it in our box - and he almost always comes in with me - except that day. I have been thorough all of my briefcases and computer bags - even the ones that were in the closet straight through. Any folder I could think of. The desk and file drawers. Under the desks. The car and its hatch. I cannot find it. My husband cannot find it. I have been getting lectures from husband (who cannot find anything without me) about being more careful.
Today I gave up and humbled myself and sent an email to the member apologizing, explaining, apologizing again... I told her I marked them as renewed. I suggested that she send a replacement check as the first one was the wrong amount (paid too much) anyway. I told her when I find the other check, I will return it to her.
I am kicking myself about what went wrong. It bothers the heck out of me. Generally paperwork is the one area that I keep well organized. I am not suppose to loose things - and not be able to find them - and 3 items in a couple of months is 3 items too many. I realize that all I can do is keep looking until I find the item or it becomes moot. I am hoping whichever “fairy” gave me back my scissors will smile on me again and return the missing renewal to me and the missing receipt - but the missing return is more important.
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
Set up processes to help yourself get organized. Keep at them and follow what you set up and it should help. Whether it is keeping track of papers, doing the laundry on the same day each week, changing towels and bed linens on a weekly schedule, or cleaning the house. I keep the daily (make dinner), weekly, monthly, annual and other odd repeating items in my organizer and Palm - they could also be in a smart phone or paper calendar/appointment book. This helps to remind to do things at the same time. On Wednesdays I start doing the laundry (usually takes 2 to 3 evenings between washing, drying, folding, and putting away) at night. I also write my post to all of you if I have not done so on Tuesday. (Last week I got it done on Tuesday and then forgot it was Tuesday and posted a day early.) I also go and “visit” an embroidery group online if I have time.
What can you set up in your calendar to remind you to do every day, week, month, etc.? Try it, it works well. A reminder alarm can even be set to remind you.
Hoping you have a nice Valentine’s Day tomorrow.
Sometime around December my desk scissors went missing. I keep them in the drawer over the leg hole of my desk, right in the front. Husband and I both looked high and low for them over the ensuing couple of months. He thought he found them in our studio in the “small tool drawer”, where our scissors for the studio are, but that was the duplicate pair I keep there. I really like these scissors. He started suggesting that I get new ones. I am a stubborn person and refused. Well, last Friday I opened my desk drawer for something and - the scissors were back. Neither of us has any idea how this happened, I am just glad they are back and I no longer have to use a small knife for things I should be using scissors for.
I have a definite process for credit card receipts. I collect them in a pocket in my wallet. I empty the pocket Friday night and Sunday night (we do a lot of our shopping over the weekend). When I take them out of my wallet they go into a basket hanging at the foot of the stairs - the mail and similar go here also - and my next trip upstairs they go upstairs. I then sort them at my desk and put them into the corresponding pockets in a small loose leaf book. They then wait snugly there until they are matched with the statement and then will be attached to same when I pay the statement. So how do they go missing? One night in January when husband had a cold we stopped between Saturday night dinner and Saturday night movie to buy a box of cold pills for him. On arriving home we found out we already had a started box of the same medicine. (Ever happen to you - I am sure it has.) I put the box and the receipt into a section of the holder for files on my desk to wait until I knew he did not need a second box. He took the medicine once from the started box and decided it did not work.
So a couple of weeks later I went to take the medicine back. The box was there, the receipt was not. I went crazy looking for it. I climbed all over the floor in the office. I disassembled the folder holder so I could look under it (too big, heavy and unwieldy to move as one piece). I checked where the receipt should be. Not found. I finally tried to return it without the receipt - not for medications, so we have a spare box of a medication we don’t really take. My fault - if the receipt had gone where it belonged in the interim, it would have been there when needed.
Now the latest thing gone astray - and the worst. I am the treasurer and the membership chair of our reenactment unit. In mid January I mailed out the renewal forms to members. It is sort of an odd setup. Members join in family groups which can be from 1 person to any amount, generally 4 is the largest group. Members can also just join our unit or also join a national reenactment group that our unit is part of. I need to keep careful records of which group rejoined, who in the family rejoined, who in the family rejoined or joined the national group also. I have a spread sheet that I copy over year to year to keep track - I remove anyone who was not in “last year” and add anyone who joined “last year”. It is all set up to keep track of and total what each group paid and the totals of everyone. I am suppose to send the renewals and dues of members of the national group by the beginning of March to the national group’s membership chair. I also list all checks - for this or any other reason - in a notebook.
So last week I emailed out to those members not listed on the spreadsheet a reminder to renew. I heard back from one member. Her husband had mailed us the renewal form and check for them and their 2 sons and they had gotten the “if you are receiving this you did not renew yet” email. I remembered receiving their renewal. I also remembered, as she mentioned in her email, that her husband had taken care of it and had filled in and paid for the national group also. Since they were not members of same in the past - and her husband had done the paperwork - I decided to check with them about the renewal and set it aside to contact them.
And that is where the problem comes in. I can’t find their paperwork or check. I emailed her back right away and told her I remembered receiving it and would get back to her. I am pretty sure I know which day I received their renewal - it was the day in January I went to my client in Manhattan, husband could not go out food shopping for the upcoming storm due to the van having no brakes, when I came home we ran out food shopping, then back home as I forgotten the items I needed to mail out for us and the client, and while at the post office I picked up the mail. The date fits and then we did not go out for several days. I also remember it was the first renewal I received and that my husband was not in the post office when I found it in our box - and he almost always comes in with me - except that day. I have been thorough all of my briefcases and computer bags - even the ones that were in the closet straight through. Any folder I could think of. The desk and file drawers. Under the desks. The car and its hatch. I cannot find it. My husband cannot find it. I have been getting lectures from husband (who cannot find anything without me) about being more careful.
Today I gave up and humbled myself and sent an email to the member apologizing, explaining, apologizing again... I told her I marked them as renewed. I suggested that she send a replacement check as the first one was the wrong amount (paid too much) anyway. I told her when I find the other check, I will return it to her.
I am kicking myself about what went wrong. It bothers the heck out of me. Generally paperwork is the one area that I keep well organized. I am not suppose to loose things - and not be able to find them - and 3 items in a couple of months is 3 items too many. I realize that all I can do is keep looking until I find the item or it becomes moot. I am hoping whichever “fairy” gave me back my scissors will smile on me again and return the missing renewal to me and the missing receipt - but the missing return is more important.
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
Set up processes to help yourself get organized. Keep at them and follow what you set up and it should help. Whether it is keeping track of papers, doing the laundry on the same day each week, changing towels and bed linens on a weekly schedule, or cleaning the house. I keep the daily (make dinner), weekly, monthly, annual and other odd repeating items in my organizer and Palm - they could also be in a smart phone or paper calendar/appointment book. This helps to remind to do things at the same time. On Wednesdays I start doing the laundry (usually takes 2 to 3 evenings between washing, drying, folding, and putting away) at night. I also write my post to all of you if I have not done so on Tuesday. (Last week I got it done on Tuesday and then forgot it was Tuesday and posted a day early.) I also go and “visit” an embroidery group online if I have time.
What can you set up in your calendar to remind you to do every day, week, month, etc.? Try it, it works well. A reminder alarm can even be set to remind you.
Hoping you have a nice Valentine’s Day tomorrow.
Wednesday, February 6, 2019
ARE YOU CHECKING THE FORMS COMING IN WITH INCOME, ETC. TO DO YOUR INCOME TAXES?
I was reminded yesterday that one should always check the forms that come in with income, etc.at the year end to help you prepare your income taxes. I am sure you understand what I mean all the W2, assorted 1099s maybe some K1 forms... NEVER ASSUME THAT EVERYTHING IS OKAY UNTIL YOU CHECK THE NUMBERS!
I thought that I was doing well, doing as I always do. I use a bookkeeping program all year, so all I have to do is compare the totals for the year as I always do - well maybe. Husband has an IRA at each of 2 credit unions. (Credit unions function like banks, but the depositors own it. Originally they were “affinity” organizations - one had to work for a certain type of company or live in a certain area to “join”; they are now allowed to have people joined who are not members of a limited group.) We have been making withdrawals as we need to supplement our other income from one of the two credit unions - we like the other one better and the other one has slightly better interest rates. Last year, however I noticed that the IRA money in the other as his account had gone over the insured amount, so we took money from it once last year. I keep on eye on what we might need and will have husband transfer money from a CD (fixed time saving certificate of deposit) in the IRA into a savings account in the IRA so that we always have some money not in a CD that we can go in and make a withdrawal from that account - we do this as if we withdrew money from a CD not when it renews there would be a bank penalty.
To protect the (not really) “innocent” I will refer to the credit union that we have been withdrawing from over the years as “Union A” and the other one - the one we like and just started withdrawing from - as Union B or none of this will make sense.
For those of you not in the US - Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) are so that people who work and do not have a pension at work can set aside money for retirement. I will not go into all of the details of same as you will all have headaches if I do - but basically one must be 59.5 years old or older to take out money without an IRA penalty and one pays income taxes on the money one withdraws. The IRA can also be used if one had a pension and leaves work by one having the pension money transferred (rolled over) into a IRA (at bank, credit union. stock broker and a variety of other financial institutions). In our case, husband’s IRAs are the rollover of his pension when he quit his job. (This is not something called a Roth IRA - which I will not go into explaining as it has no relation to any of this.)
As an accountant I consider myself good at keeping track of our money. Every bank statement is timely reconciled - including those for the IRAs. I also have a (very) small IRA at Union B as I had no pension.
When the year end forms showing the income (withdrawals from) from husband’s IRA at Union
A arrived, I looked at the amount of income (withdrawals) it showed for the year and compared it to the total in my bookkeeping software and it matched. Remember, through 2017 we had only made withdrawals from the Union A IRA.
Well, yesterday the paperwork arrived from Union B and I went to check it against the total in my bookkeeping software and I realized something was wrong - MAJOR WRONG. The Union B form showed that he (we) had withdrawn three times as much as I showed we did. Then I remembered that the entire amount withdrawn on my software was the same as what was withdrawn from Union A. I pulled out the year end Union A paperwork to figure it out.
Remember I said that we transfer money within the IRA at Union A and also within the IRA at Union B (each credit union separately - not between the two IRAs)? Somehow both credit unions had made a mistake in a transfer within the IRA at that credit union. The paperwork from Union A had looked right as the amount transferred within same (from CD to savings account) happened to be equal to the withdrawal we made at Union B. The form from Union A actually showed several thousand dollars more than we had actually withdrawn.
At Union B we had gone in and taken money during the year (as I said, just happened to be the same amount as the transfer at Union A) and at the same time - on separate paperwork - we had transferred money within that IRA into the IRA savings account at that credit union. So - it was by chance that the paperwork from Union A looked correct when it was not. At Union B we had transferred twice as much as we had withdrawn - hence, since the same sort of error was made there - the paperwork showed that we had withdrawn 3 times as much as we did.
So today - after a quick “fun” stop at the doctor for followup blood test - we drove to Union A. We went there first as in general they don’t always seem to know what they are doing and there was no paperwork for the transfer there - only a withdrawal and deposit slip. As we thought about it and looked at the paperwork I did have, we remembered the problems the day we transferred (or thought we transferred) the money. We had gone to the branch of Union A we normally go to - a small branch closer to us than the main branch. There has been a very nice and competent employee there that would we wait for. She was not there. The fellow who was there did not have any idea what he was doing and we left and went to the main branch. In the main branch they were having a “summer beach party” theme event (banking is not suppose to be fun - it is business). I did not have a business card from the employee - who seemed competent at the time - and had written his name down as he did not have one. I remembered when thinking about it that it had all seemed too quick.
When we went in today I asked for a manager or supervisor and was questioned at the reception desk as to why I needed one and told that any of the employees can do that - I told the woman at the desk, we preferred to deal with a manager to do this. An employee came out - based on where she had come from I knew she was not a manager. When we shook hands I asked what kind of manager she was - she was not and I repeated my request, which again, she tried to talk me out of. We eventually met with the assistant manager. Luckily she understood and she was able to correct the error. We are to get new paperwork - both the required paperwork for our income taxes showing the amount he received for the year and we also requested a new “summary statement” as we will need that later in year to apply for the real estate senior deduction (the one seemed not to have arrived at the township back in December). Hopefully we will have correct copies of both in about a week.
Oh, this manager said something that no one should every say about their business to a customer. I had told her that we have not been happy with the credit union in general -“Really? How come you have not moved your account elsewhere then?” Instead of “I am so sorry to hear that - what can we do to make it better for you?” (Which husband basically told her - employees need better training in IRAs and don’t have event parties.”) She basically suggested to us that we should not bank with her credit union and we should move our money elsewhere!
We then drove to Union B. I was not as concerned about dealing with the problem at same as the employee ( a very good one that we ask for when we go in) had filled in the form to have this processed correctly - it just had not been done correctly by whoever processed it. What a difference! We asked to speak to a manager. Other than being offered someone else to help as the manager was with a customer, there was no question about us speaking with her. When we speaking she commented (in reference to something said) “Some customers just like to stop in and say hello to me.”
She corrected the error - and apologized it for it. She could not get us a replacement summary statement for the year. She came up with an idea and printed out each account for the year, stamped it with the bank’s rubber stamp and signed it as an alternative. So much more pleasant and not at all adversarial as the other credit union had been!
Hopefully this all is resolved now other than our receiving the amended forms. I have now decided that whatever is going on and making us redo things a second time is some sort of curse and I don’t know where it came from or how to get rid of it.
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK -
When you get financial papers - make sure they are correct. Always reconcile statements. Do the math to make sure that those W2, 1099, etc forms to prepare your tax returns are correct - do the math. We have not had a problem before - but this year we had two problems from 2 separate sources.
Check things when you receive them. Some banks will not correct statement errors after the month you receive the statement. In this case if I had put these papers aside until I was ready to do our taxes - instead of checking right away - in addition to being concerned about getting them corrected, I might be facing a tight deadline to get them corrected to file our return. Keep the assorted slips and papers you receive when making a deposit, transfer or withdrawal. The more paperwork you have to back up your side if there is a problem - the better off you are - even if you scan the papers into the computer to keep them there.
Start now keeping things organized for your 2019 taxes due in April 2020. No - really - start now as papers come in. I have a folder in my paid bills accordion holder marked “1099s”. Anything I receive during the year that is a form like this I toss in this folder. I also have folders for our car and our van (both are partially business expenses) - I put receipts for cash paid for either, plus the invoices from the mechanic, etc for either, in the appropriate folder. There is also an “accounting” folder for receipts for cash paid for same also - including receipts for parking and for subway fares when I go to clients. At the end of the year all these folders - except the “1099" are pulled out and put in a holder I have for clients (and us) that holds the papers for taxes. This lets me start putting in the new year’s receipts (took out 2018 papers, now can use for 2019 papers). The “1099" folder still holds items for 2018 right now as they are coming in the mail and it is extremely rare to receive any of these forms for the current year this early in the year.
I thought that I was doing well, doing as I always do. I use a bookkeeping program all year, so all I have to do is compare the totals for the year as I always do - well maybe. Husband has an IRA at each of 2 credit unions. (Credit unions function like banks, but the depositors own it. Originally they were “affinity” organizations - one had to work for a certain type of company or live in a certain area to “join”; they are now allowed to have people joined who are not members of a limited group.) We have been making withdrawals as we need to supplement our other income from one of the two credit unions - we like the other one better and the other one has slightly better interest rates. Last year, however I noticed that the IRA money in the other as his account had gone over the insured amount, so we took money from it once last year. I keep on eye on what we might need and will have husband transfer money from a CD (fixed time saving certificate of deposit) in the IRA into a savings account in the IRA so that we always have some money not in a CD that we can go in and make a withdrawal from that account - we do this as if we withdrew money from a CD not when it renews there would be a bank penalty.
To protect the (not really) “innocent” I will refer to the credit union that we have been withdrawing from over the years as “Union A” and the other one - the one we like and just started withdrawing from - as Union B or none of this will make sense.
For those of you not in the US - Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) are so that people who work and do not have a pension at work can set aside money for retirement. I will not go into all of the details of same as you will all have headaches if I do - but basically one must be 59.5 years old or older to take out money without an IRA penalty and one pays income taxes on the money one withdraws. The IRA can also be used if one had a pension and leaves work by one having the pension money transferred (rolled over) into a IRA (at bank, credit union. stock broker and a variety of other financial institutions). In our case, husband’s IRAs are the rollover of his pension when he quit his job. (This is not something called a Roth IRA - which I will not go into explaining as it has no relation to any of this.)
As an accountant I consider myself good at keeping track of our money. Every bank statement is timely reconciled - including those for the IRAs. I also have a (very) small IRA at Union B as I had no pension.
When the year end forms showing the income (withdrawals from) from husband’s IRA at Union
A arrived, I looked at the amount of income (withdrawals) it showed for the year and compared it to the total in my bookkeeping software and it matched. Remember, through 2017 we had only made withdrawals from the Union A IRA.
Well, yesterday the paperwork arrived from Union B and I went to check it against the total in my bookkeeping software and I realized something was wrong - MAJOR WRONG. The Union B form showed that he (we) had withdrawn three times as much as I showed we did. Then I remembered that the entire amount withdrawn on my software was the same as what was withdrawn from Union A. I pulled out the year end Union A paperwork to figure it out.
Remember I said that we transfer money within the IRA at Union A and also within the IRA at Union B (each credit union separately - not between the two IRAs)? Somehow both credit unions had made a mistake in a transfer within the IRA at that credit union. The paperwork from Union A had looked right as the amount transferred within same (from CD to savings account) happened to be equal to the withdrawal we made at Union B. The form from Union A actually showed several thousand dollars more than we had actually withdrawn.
At Union B we had gone in and taken money during the year (as I said, just happened to be the same amount as the transfer at Union A) and at the same time - on separate paperwork - we had transferred money within that IRA into the IRA savings account at that credit union. So - it was by chance that the paperwork from Union A looked correct when it was not. At Union B we had transferred twice as much as we had withdrawn - hence, since the same sort of error was made there - the paperwork showed that we had withdrawn 3 times as much as we did.
So today - after a quick “fun” stop at the doctor for followup blood test - we drove to Union A. We went there first as in general they don’t always seem to know what they are doing and there was no paperwork for the transfer there - only a withdrawal and deposit slip. As we thought about it and looked at the paperwork I did have, we remembered the problems the day we transferred (or thought we transferred) the money. We had gone to the branch of Union A we normally go to - a small branch closer to us than the main branch. There has been a very nice and competent employee there that would we wait for. She was not there. The fellow who was there did not have any idea what he was doing and we left and went to the main branch. In the main branch they were having a “summer beach party” theme event (banking is not suppose to be fun - it is business). I did not have a business card from the employee - who seemed competent at the time - and had written his name down as he did not have one. I remembered when thinking about it that it had all seemed too quick.
When we went in today I asked for a manager or supervisor and was questioned at the reception desk as to why I needed one and told that any of the employees can do that - I told the woman at the desk, we preferred to deal with a manager to do this. An employee came out - based on where she had come from I knew she was not a manager. When we shook hands I asked what kind of manager she was - she was not and I repeated my request, which again, she tried to talk me out of. We eventually met with the assistant manager. Luckily she understood and she was able to correct the error. We are to get new paperwork - both the required paperwork for our income taxes showing the amount he received for the year and we also requested a new “summary statement” as we will need that later in year to apply for the real estate senior deduction (the one seemed not to have arrived at the township back in December). Hopefully we will have correct copies of both in about a week.
Oh, this manager said something that no one should every say about their business to a customer. I had told her that we have not been happy with the credit union in general -“Really? How come you have not moved your account elsewhere then?” Instead of “I am so sorry to hear that - what can we do to make it better for you?” (Which husband basically told her - employees need better training in IRAs and don’t have event parties.”) She basically suggested to us that we should not bank with her credit union and we should move our money elsewhere!
We then drove to Union B. I was not as concerned about dealing with the problem at same as the employee ( a very good one that we ask for when we go in) had filled in the form to have this processed correctly - it just had not been done correctly by whoever processed it. What a difference! We asked to speak to a manager. Other than being offered someone else to help as the manager was with a customer, there was no question about us speaking with her. When we speaking she commented (in reference to something said) “Some customers just like to stop in and say hello to me.”
She corrected the error - and apologized it for it. She could not get us a replacement summary statement for the year. She came up with an idea and printed out each account for the year, stamped it with the bank’s rubber stamp and signed it as an alternative. So much more pleasant and not at all adversarial as the other credit union had been!
Hopefully this all is resolved now other than our receiving the amended forms. I have now decided that whatever is going on and making us redo things a second time is some sort of curse and I don’t know where it came from or how to get rid of it.
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK -
When you get financial papers - make sure they are correct. Always reconcile statements. Do the math to make sure that those W2, 1099, etc forms to prepare your tax returns are correct - do the math. We have not had a problem before - but this year we had two problems from 2 separate sources.
Check things when you receive them. Some banks will not correct statement errors after the month you receive the statement. In this case if I had put these papers aside until I was ready to do our taxes - instead of checking right away - in addition to being concerned about getting them corrected, I might be facing a tight deadline to get them corrected to file our return. Keep the assorted slips and papers you receive when making a deposit, transfer or withdrawal. The more paperwork you have to back up your side if there is a problem - the better off you are - even if you scan the papers into the computer to keep them there.
Start now keeping things organized for your 2019 taxes due in April 2020. No - really - start now as papers come in. I have a folder in my paid bills accordion holder marked “1099s”. Anything I receive during the year that is a form like this I toss in this folder. I also have folders for our car and our van (both are partially business expenses) - I put receipts for cash paid for either, plus the invoices from the mechanic, etc for either, in the appropriate folder. There is also an “accounting” folder for receipts for cash paid for same also - including receipts for parking and for subway fares when I go to clients. At the end of the year all these folders - except the “1099" are pulled out and put in a holder I have for clients (and us) that holds the papers for taxes. This lets me start putting in the new year’s receipts (took out 2018 papers, now can use for 2019 papers). The “1099" folder still holds items for 2018 right now as they are coming in the mail and it is extremely rare to receive any of these forms for the current year this early in the year.
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.
Thursday, January 24, 2019
WEATHER AND ORGANIZING
Another week already?
We had a cold and messy start to this week and spent the end of last week and the weekend getting ready. I mentioned last week that we were expecting two storms. I had cleared the walking areas of the house so we could walk in dim light if we had a loss of electricity.
The first storm dropped an extremely small amount of snow overnight from Thursday to Friday. At 6 am when I looked out the window the street was clear, but the driveway and sidewalks were white - but a minor amount. By the time we went out around 2 pm, the snow had melted and was gone and it was above freezing.
The second storm was much more problematic. It was to be Saturday night into Sunday morning - and worst of all, extremely cold weather was expected to follow it. Starting on Friday the information jumped back and forth - one weather report from the reporter my husband trusts was that the storm would come in to the north of us and we would not have more than a trace of snow. His next report was that the storm was headed further south and we would be getting 6-8 inches of snow. The next - he the storm was north of us again and we would get a trace to 3 inches. All versions included freezing rain, sleet and then finally after hours of same - rain. When the temperatures then dropped after the storm (we made it down to 7 degrees Fahrenheit) the mess would freeze so it would dangerous to go out on Monday and there would be (the dreaded, especially by husband) downed electrical lines and loss of electricity.
I have mentioned in past posts that over the years husband has become more “weather phobic” due to changes in the weather in our area and is terrified of big snow storms, ice storms, and hurricanes. This is the result of having multiple huge snow storms for this area (sometimes 24 inch or more and then 2 days later another one) and repeated humongous hurricanes. So I go along with his fears and his ideas of what to do to make him feel better.
In the case of winter storms we make sure that we have extra food in the house, some of which is things we would not normally spend money on. In this case, for example, we had a bought a large (expensive) chicken pot pie the end of the week before. Husband during the week asked me to make it for dinner. I looked at him and said “I am saving it for the weekend”. He thought a second and said “Good idea!”. We bought deli turkey on Friday - we could have for lunch or dinner while in the house.
Then we started on the fear of electricity loss. One of his fears is that the water pipes, especially in the basement will freeze. This was not something that was mentioned much - if at all - in this area until we started having weather much colder than normal a few years ago. We put foam insulation on the basement pipes - but the pipes to our clothes washer and the basement sink are attached to the wall and we cannot fit anything behind them. Husband sets up a space heater in the basement near these pipes when it gets bitter cold. Last week I cleared away the assorted laundry and cleaning chemicals that are kept the platform which holds our basement sink so that they would not be near the heat. We also took an indoor/outdoor thermometer I use in the basement for a Packtite (trademark) heater which kills bedbugs and set it up so the “outdoor” part was on the pipes so we could see how cold the pipes were. At night we opened the cabinet doors under the bathroom/kitchen sinks and left the water dripping in same and the basement sink. Biggest problem with his fears this year was that the news reporters were constantly talking about wires will be coming down.
We were lucky and the storm did pass to the north so we had no snow, just the freezing mess. We stayed in through the worst of the cold through Monday - finally going out for lunch and a bit of shopping on Tuesday. Today it made it into the 40s Fahrenheit.
Luckily for once in recent years during these storms he was (relatively) happily on the Internet instead of pacing, biting his nails and staring out the window. I managed to catch up on a variety of small things to get done on the computer and in our office - you know that all that relatively unimportant stuff that really needs to get done. I even put together the mailing to our reenactment unit with their renewal paperwork.
I still have not received the W2,etc. forms I requested from IRS - not that under the closure of the government I thought I would actually receive them. I had planned to file them online if I did not receive them - but since I have not been able to file the annual return for our reenactment unit online (the only way that form can be filed) - I am concerned that I will not be able to file them online. So today while we were out we stopped in at an office supply store and I bought packages of the forms - I have 50 W2s so that I can prepare ONE of them! The other forms involved buying 10-25 forms. Hopefully I will be returning them if I can file online or receive the other forms by the end of this week. I plan to go to the client next week (I had planned on going this week until we had this weather - it will raining most of the rest of the week - hit and if the forms are being filed by mail, I need to have them with me when I go to her so she can sign the cover forms.
I now have to start taking down the Christmas tree decorations and the tree. We need them down so that husband can warp his loom for his next weaving project. Also, if we take the tree down and move the storage for the weaving (yarn and finished pieces) back to the living room I will have my area of our studio in the back room back. I will leave the decorations up until the tree is finished - and maybe a bit longer- they look so nice. (I think I mentioned that before all this weather we did take down the outside lights - the battery candles in the windows and the battery lit wreath at the door are still in place and still lit.)
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
When one faces one’s fears - whether husband’s fear of what the weather will do or starting to work on clearing a specific space in our house - one generally finds that what happens is not as bad as one fears. While I always say that every day starts a new year - a new year has started, pick something that needs work and start on it. Whatever you get done - it is that much less left to get done. Whether it is a drawer or a box or a room it is one thing that is done.
I also wanted to stay I would love to hear from some of you to hear what you are doing or what your problem in organizing and decluttering is.
We had a cold and messy start to this week and spent the end of last week and the weekend getting ready. I mentioned last week that we were expecting two storms. I had cleared the walking areas of the house so we could walk in dim light if we had a loss of electricity.
The first storm dropped an extremely small amount of snow overnight from Thursday to Friday. At 6 am when I looked out the window the street was clear, but the driveway and sidewalks were white - but a minor amount. By the time we went out around 2 pm, the snow had melted and was gone and it was above freezing.
The second storm was much more problematic. It was to be Saturday night into Sunday morning - and worst of all, extremely cold weather was expected to follow it. Starting on Friday the information jumped back and forth - one weather report from the reporter my husband trusts was that the storm would come in to the north of us and we would not have more than a trace of snow. His next report was that the storm was headed further south and we would be getting 6-8 inches of snow. The next - he the storm was north of us again and we would get a trace to 3 inches. All versions included freezing rain, sleet and then finally after hours of same - rain. When the temperatures then dropped after the storm (we made it down to 7 degrees Fahrenheit) the mess would freeze so it would dangerous to go out on Monday and there would be (the dreaded, especially by husband) downed electrical lines and loss of electricity.
I have mentioned in past posts that over the years husband has become more “weather phobic” due to changes in the weather in our area and is terrified of big snow storms, ice storms, and hurricanes. This is the result of having multiple huge snow storms for this area (sometimes 24 inch or more and then 2 days later another one) and repeated humongous hurricanes. So I go along with his fears and his ideas of what to do to make him feel better.
In the case of winter storms we make sure that we have extra food in the house, some of which is things we would not normally spend money on. In this case, for example, we had a bought a large (expensive) chicken pot pie the end of the week before. Husband during the week asked me to make it for dinner. I looked at him and said “I am saving it for the weekend”. He thought a second and said “Good idea!”. We bought deli turkey on Friday - we could have for lunch or dinner while in the house.
Then we started on the fear of electricity loss. One of his fears is that the water pipes, especially in the basement will freeze. This was not something that was mentioned much - if at all - in this area until we started having weather much colder than normal a few years ago. We put foam insulation on the basement pipes - but the pipes to our clothes washer and the basement sink are attached to the wall and we cannot fit anything behind them. Husband sets up a space heater in the basement near these pipes when it gets bitter cold. Last week I cleared away the assorted laundry and cleaning chemicals that are kept the platform which holds our basement sink so that they would not be near the heat. We also took an indoor/outdoor thermometer I use in the basement for a Packtite (trademark) heater which kills bedbugs and set it up so the “outdoor” part was on the pipes so we could see how cold the pipes were. At night we opened the cabinet doors under the bathroom/kitchen sinks and left the water dripping in same and the basement sink. Biggest problem with his fears this year was that the news reporters were constantly talking about wires will be coming down.
We were lucky and the storm did pass to the north so we had no snow, just the freezing mess. We stayed in through the worst of the cold through Monday - finally going out for lunch and a bit of shopping on Tuesday. Today it made it into the 40s Fahrenheit.
Luckily for once in recent years during these storms he was (relatively) happily on the Internet instead of pacing, biting his nails and staring out the window. I managed to catch up on a variety of small things to get done on the computer and in our office - you know that all that relatively unimportant stuff that really needs to get done. I even put together the mailing to our reenactment unit with their renewal paperwork.
I still have not received the W2,etc. forms I requested from IRS - not that under the closure of the government I thought I would actually receive them. I had planned to file them online if I did not receive them - but since I have not been able to file the annual return for our reenactment unit online (the only way that form can be filed) - I am concerned that I will not be able to file them online. So today while we were out we stopped in at an office supply store and I bought packages of the forms - I have 50 W2s so that I can prepare ONE of them! The other forms involved buying 10-25 forms. Hopefully I will be returning them if I can file online or receive the other forms by the end of this week. I plan to go to the client next week (I had planned on going this week until we had this weather - it will raining most of the rest of the week - hit and if the forms are being filed by mail, I need to have them with me when I go to her so she can sign the cover forms.
I now have to start taking down the Christmas tree decorations and the tree. We need them down so that husband can warp his loom for his next weaving project. Also, if we take the tree down and move the storage for the weaving (yarn and finished pieces) back to the living room I will have my area of our studio in the back room back. I will leave the decorations up until the tree is finished - and maybe a bit longer- they look so nice. (I think I mentioned that before all this weather we did take down the outside lights - the battery candles in the windows and the battery lit wreath at the door are still in place and still lit.)
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
When one faces one’s fears - whether husband’s fear of what the weather will do or starting to work on clearing a specific space in our house - one generally finds that what happens is not as bad as one fears. While I always say that every day starts a new year - a new year has started, pick something that needs work and start on it. Whatever you get done - it is that much less left to get done. Whether it is a drawer or a box or a room it is one thing that is done.
I also wanted to stay I would love to hear from some of you to hear what you are doing or what your problem in organizing and decluttering is.
Thursday, January 17, 2019
STILL HAVING TO REDO THINGS, BUT ACTUALLY GETTING SOME THINGS DONE
This is no longer funny. I still am doing things and needing to do them over again.
I have to file a form with IRS for our reenacting unit (since I am treasurer and also an accountant, it is my job). This is an annual form for small tax-exempt, not for profits organizations and can only be filed online - no paper copy. It takes less than 15 minutes and consists of how to contact the group, who is charge of it, what is its website (if it has one) and is its income and assets each under $25,000 for the year. I actually have to do 2 of these forms as the unit was not a corporation when we joined and over the years some other members and us decided it should be, so we incorporated, but we have never shut down the original organization, so both have to file the form. If we don’t file it we lose our tax exempt/not for profit status. I have now tried to file the form three times. It is not due until May, but I like to get it done with so I don’t forget. Each time I get a message after I sign in that there is maintenance going on - sorry - and it refers me to another page that will explain - which it does not and has nothing to do with same. At this point I have decided that this site is not working due to the government shut down and put this aside until late next month - or I hear the government has reopened. I hope this does not mean that I will not get the forms I ordered for client - should be here tomorrow as that is 10 days - I am guessing that at the least it will take longer.
We get for Christmas every year a general gift card from a family member of in-law, We tell her not to give it to us. She is extremely short on money and cannot afford to give it to us. We don’t reciprocate as we hope this makes her stop. We always have problems using gift cards - something goes wrong. We appreciate the thought, but just a card would be more appropriate. To make it easier to use the card ($25) and not need to keep track of how much is left on it and not buy something that we later need to return and have tossed out the empty card, we use it for prescriptions. So, we had to renew an expensive prescription (due to it being pay the deductible time of year) and when we picked up the prescription I handed the pharmacy employee the gift card to use first - it got rejected! Now I do this every year, I hand the gift card, it gets processed and subtracted from what we owe for the prescriptions and I pay the difference on our credit cards and it works every year. When we got home I telephoned the gift card company and sat on hold. While on same I heard about how now they were set up for split purchases and just use the card first and then pay the difference afterwards as most companies will accept it. When I finally reached an employee she told me that I had done this wrong (remember the message I had heard 4 times told me I had done it right). I have to pay the rest of the purchase amount and THEN have them process the card or it will not go through!! So next month when husband needs another expensive medication, since he still has more of his deductible, I will have to do it that it way! Oh, and she wastes another $5 buying the card as that is what she is charged to do so.
And - You may remember in December 2017 we bought husband’s niece (then 7 years old, now 8) a gift card for Best Buy for her to use for a computer game. I misplaced the card and it took until I set up the Christmas trees this year to find it. We gave her cash instead. We found out then how bad her computer game habit is. She plays constantly and if she loses she hits herself in the head with the game (a handheld). We decided that we would not give her anything towards the games again as she is an addict and it is the same as buying a bottle of liquor for an alcoholic. So we were stuck with the Best Buy card as we don’t really shop there. I need a software program to use for taxes and normally buy it at Walmart. I looked and Best Buy had it for the same price, so I figured I would buy it there instead and use up the blankety- blank card. We went in a week ago - after just about every employee on the floor in the Best Buy store had spoken to each other on their earphones - they still did not know if they carried it or if it was in stock. We left. The following weekend I checked and their website said they had it, so I printed same and went in to get it. (So this is my second trip in for the program.) I found it. We walked around a bit just because we were there and then I went to pay for it. I handed the cashier the card and the $25 was applied to the cost and I paid the balance. The cashier handed me the bag and the receipt and I turned to walk away. The cashier said “Wait! This says I am suppose to give you a $5 gift card.” So, now I have another card in my wallet and it will probably be there until next year’s software!
Yes, I know it is very nice of the in-law to give us something - but she REALLY needs the money herself. It is nice that we got the $5 card from Best Buy - but when one does not shop there, it is a problem.
On to what actually got done. (Laundry always done of course.) I packed up our every day Christmas season dishes and glasses and put them away in the basement until next year. I have started putting needed software in my new - new laptop (as I did with the original new laptop). At some time I will get around to transferring my word processing software to it and will no longer be using my old s - l - o - w laptop to write and post my posts to you.
I have to fill in a form with the income and expenses and bank accounts (also other assets if we had any) for my embroidery chapter to send to our national office so they can do their tax return which includes us. (Remember back in the second paragraph I said I do a form for our reenactment unit - well instead of filing that form for our chapter, we are included in the return of the national organization due to a different setup. BUT - every year we (I) receive a notice that we have not filed that - same as our reenactment unit files - form, although we are not suppose to, and end up filling in a longer paper form explaining why we don’t need to fill the form - another repeat of work.) So I filed in the form for national - all the numbers worked as I set up the file in my accounting software to match what national wants/needs and I just have to copy each item to national’s form. I added up the numbers on the form - best way to make sure I copied them correctly - and then filled in the other form - how many primary members other than officers volunteer for the chapter? That is the hard form to fill in. We have 2 committee chairs - that’s 2. We had some members teach stitching so they are volunteers - but 3 of them were officers, so they don’t get counted again, one is a committee chair - ditto, and one is a plural member - that means she belongs to national through a different chapter and also belongs to our chapter so I guess she is counted as volunteering for the other chapter. I had to go through all of last year’s newsletters to figure this out. I emailed out the form and they will let me know if there any problems - I am guessing there will not be.
I have cleared all the walkways through the house as we are expecting 2 snow storms over the next few days. I have explained before that 18th century homes were “put to rest” with the furniture against the wall when a room was not being used (and the furniture needed was put out in the middle to use when it was needed). This allowed people to walk around in dim light without needing a candle to avoid tripping over or walking into things. I started long ago making sure that we could walk around the house the same way when there was a possibility of a black out so we can safely walk around. I am currently doing the laundry. As long as it is all washed and dried I don’t have to worry, again, if there is a black out. I can always fold it without electricity.
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK-
Frustrations will eventually end - I know I will reach point when I only have to things once - again. Being prepared in advance makes life easier if there is black out - and it doesn’t hurt if one is lucky and there isn’t one. I hope that any of you in the path of any storms from the past week or upcoming week make it through as easily as possible.
Non-political statement - If you work for the U.S. Federal government, I hope that you are working and getting paid. If not I hope that you are able to get by until this mess is over and that ends quickly. If you are in the U.S. and are not in this position - if you can, please give to one of the drives which are helping those who working and not being paid or not working at all due to the mess.
I have to file a form with IRS for our reenacting unit (since I am treasurer and also an accountant, it is my job). This is an annual form for small tax-exempt, not for profits organizations and can only be filed online - no paper copy. It takes less than 15 minutes and consists of how to contact the group, who is charge of it, what is its website (if it has one) and is its income and assets each under $25,000 for the year. I actually have to do 2 of these forms as the unit was not a corporation when we joined and over the years some other members and us decided it should be, so we incorporated, but we have never shut down the original organization, so both have to file the form. If we don’t file it we lose our tax exempt/not for profit status. I have now tried to file the form three times. It is not due until May, but I like to get it done with so I don’t forget. Each time I get a message after I sign in that there is maintenance going on - sorry - and it refers me to another page that will explain - which it does not and has nothing to do with same. At this point I have decided that this site is not working due to the government shut down and put this aside until late next month - or I hear the government has reopened. I hope this does not mean that I will not get the forms I ordered for client - should be here tomorrow as that is 10 days - I am guessing that at the least it will take longer.
We get for Christmas every year a general gift card from a family member of in-law, We tell her not to give it to us. She is extremely short on money and cannot afford to give it to us. We don’t reciprocate as we hope this makes her stop. We always have problems using gift cards - something goes wrong. We appreciate the thought, but just a card would be more appropriate. To make it easier to use the card ($25) and not need to keep track of how much is left on it and not buy something that we later need to return and have tossed out the empty card, we use it for prescriptions. So, we had to renew an expensive prescription (due to it being pay the deductible time of year) and when we picked up the prescription I handed the pharmacy employee the gift card to use first - it got rejected! Now I do this every year, I hand the gift card, it gets processed and subtracted from what we owe for the prescriptions and I pay the difference on our credit cards and it works every year. When we got home I telephoned the gift card company and sat on hold. While on same I heard about how now they were set up for split purchases and just use the card first and then pay the difference afterwards as most companies will accept it. When I finally reached an employee she told me that I had done this wrong (remember the message I had heard 4 times told me I had done it right). I have to pay the rest of the purchase amount and THEN have them process the card or it will not go through!! So next month when husband needs another expensive medication, since he still has more of his deductible, I will have to do it that it way! Oh, and she wastes another $5 buying the card as that is what she is charged to do so.
And - You may remember in December 2017 we bought husband’s niece (then 7 years old, now 8) a gift card for Best Buy for her to use for a computer game. I misplaced the card and it took until I set up the Christmas trees this year to find it. We gave her cash instead. We found out then how bad her computer game habit is. She plays constantly and if she loses she hits herself in the head with the game (a handheld). We decided that we would not give her anything towards the games again as she is an addict and it is the same as buying a bottle of liquor for an alcoholic. So we were stuck with the Best Buy card as we don’t really shop there. I need a software program to use for taxes and normally buy it at Walmart. I looked and Best Buy had it for the same price, so I figured I would buy it there instead and use up the blankety- blank card. We went in a week ago - after just about every employee on the floor in the Best Buy store had spoken to each other on their earphones - they still did not know if they carried it or if it was in stock. We left. The following weekend I checked and their website said they had it, so I printed same and went in to get it. (So this is my second trip in for the program.) I found it. We walked around a bit just because we were there and then I went to pay for it. I handed the cashier the card and the $25 was applied to the cost and I paid the balance. The cashier handed me the bag and the receipt and I turned to walk away. The cashier said “Wait! This says I am suppose to give you a $5 gift card.” So, now I have another card in my wallet and it will probably be there until next year’s software!
Yes, I know it is very nice of the in-law to give us something - but she REALLY needs the money herself. It is nice that we got the $5 card from Best Buy - but when one does not shop there, it is a problem.
On to what actually got done. (Laundry always done of course.) I packed up our every day Christmas season dishes and glasses and put them away in the basement until next year. I have started putting needed software in my new - new laptop (as I did with the original new laptop). At some time I will get around to transferring my word processing software to it and will no longer be using my old s - l - o - w laptop to write and post my posts to you.
I have to fill in a form with the income and expenses and bank accounts (also other assets if we had any) for my embroidery chapter to send to our national office so they can do their tax return which includes us. (Remember back in the second paragraph I said I do a form for our reenactment unit - well instead of filing that form for our chapter, we are included in the return of the national organization due to a different setup. BUT - every year we (I) receive a notice that we have not filed that - same as our reenactment unit files - form, although we are not suppose to, and end up filling in a longer paper form explaining why we don’t need to fill the form - another repeat of work.) So I filed in the form for national - all the numbers worked as I set up the file in my accounting software to match what national wants/needs and I just have to copy each item to national’s form. I added up the numbers on the form - best way to make sure I copied them correctly - and then filled in the other form - how many primary members other than officers volunteer for the chapter? That is the hard form to fill in. We have 2 committee chairs - that’s 2. We had some members teach stitching so they are volunteers - but 3 of them were officers, so they don’t get counted again, one is a committee chair - ditto, and one is a plural member - that means she belongs to national through a different chapter and also belongs to our chapter so I guess she is counted as volunteering for the other chapter. I had to go through all of last year’s newsletters to figure this out. I emailed out the form and they will let me know if there any problems - I am guessing there will not be.
I have cleared all the walkways through the house as we are expecting 2 snow storms over the next few days. I have explained before that 18th century homes were “put to rest” with the furniture against the wall when a room was not being used (and the furniture needed was put out in the middle to use when it was needed). This allowed people to walk around in dim light without needing a candle to avoid tripping over or walking into things. I started long ago making sure that we could walk around the house the same way when there was a possibility of a black out so we can safely walk around. I am currently doing the laundry. As long as it is all washed and dried I don’t have to worry, again, if there is a black out. I can always fold it without electricity.
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK-
Frustrations will eventually end - I know I will reach point when I only have to things once - again. Being prepared in advance makes life easier if there is black out - and it doesn’t hurt if one is lucky and there isn’t one. I hope that any of you in the path of any storms from the past week or upcoming week make it through as easily as possible.
Non-political statement - If you work for the U.S. Federal government, I hope that you are working and getting paid. If not I hope that you are able to get by until this mess is over and that ends quickly. If you are in the U.S. and are not in this position - if you can, please give to one of the drives which are helping those who working and not being paid or not working at all due to the mess.
Thursday, January 10, 2019
2018 SEEMS TO BE CONTINUING INTO 2019
Well, this year seems to be a continuation of last year. Not only did husband hurt himself again (as I mentioned last week) - although a lot less than he did last year, I am doing things over again.
I still have one client who has an employee - herself. I have to prepare an IRS W2 form for her each January, along with a covering form named (appropriately) W3. Then since I don’t use a business name, I also have to prepare a similar form for people one pays that are not employees called 1099-MISC which also needs a covering form named 1096. Unlike most IRS forms which one can download from their website and fill in, these forms have red markings on the copies which go to IRS and can only be filled in as a preprinted form - available from IRS for free and can also be purchased at stationary stores and online. One can also buy software to fill in the forms, The alternative to filling in the forms is to do it online free at the IRS website (or various companies that charge to do so). Most companies have payroll companies which take care of their payroll for them and deal with this for them.
Knowing I will need to do this and knowing that my typing is terrible, even with the word processing typewriter (lets one type a line, check it, and then print it) I have, I always order more forms than I need to have spares. I do this in December so I will have them in January to fill them in. I did so last month - in December 2018, ordering forms for the 2018 year. The forms arrived within the 10 days they are suppose to arrive. I opened the envelope - remember all the craziness last month - and I checked the form numbers and how many of them had been sent - all okay. I put them under my desk where I keep the forms to wait for this month. I am so organized about this since I do it every year.
Last Thursday I decided to fill in the forms while I had some time. I know what the client’s payroll is and can do so without having gone to her yet this month. These forms used to be that the form to the employee/other person had to be given to them by the end of January and mailed to IRS by the end of February. Due to the increasing number of fraudulent tax forms being filed, as of 2 years ago the IRS copies also have to be filed by the end of January. So I fill in the forms before I go to my client so I can have her sign them and mail them out. (I used to bring them to her in February and they were signed and mailed then.)
It took me all 6 copies of the W2 forms I have, and at least 2-3 of the other forms to get a correctly typed form and over Thursday and Friday. I breathed a sigh of relief and scanning them into my computer to keep a copy of them on same. I scanned in the W3 and W2 forms. I then scanned in the 1096 form and was about to scan in the 1099 form when I noticed something and got extremely upset. I had not received 2018 forms - I was sent 2017 forms and none of the forms I had typed were usable. Not only that, but since one can no longer pick up forms at local IRS offices, I had to order them again - during the Federal government shut down!
We went looking online. I can buy the forms - they will run me around $60 for all 4 forms as they sold in much larger quantities than even I with my terrible typing would need to make one form of each. I also would have to make sure that the forms were attached multiple parts that allow one to type all copies at once (W2 forms are 6 part, the 1099 forms are 4 part and the others are 2 part) as if they are not I would have to type each copy of the form separately. (The forms have extra copies as there are copies for IRS, state, employer, and the W2 has 3 copies for the employee - the 1099 has one copy, and the other two have a copy to file with IRS and copy for the employer to keep.)
I can file them directly online with IRS, but I don’t like the idea of putting the client’s and my Social Security number through the Internet, but if nothing else works, that will be what I have to do.
So, I am waiting to see if I receive the forms from IRS before I go to the client - and then start typing them all over again. If I don’t received them in time, I will have to file them online. If I do receive them in time - I have to type them all over again!!
I am not sure why we are in a “place” where it seems that everything we do - from something as simple to as buying a Barbie doll to tax forms that I prepare every year to ordering checks has to be redone.
On the other hand, I did get the second order of the checks I ordered and this order seems to be correct. I am currently shredding the incorrect ones. (I held on to them in case they wanted them back.) To make sure I did not “muck it up” I stored the second, correct set before starting to shred the first set. I am shredding them a bit at a time to not overwhelm the shredder.
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
Sometimes when we are in a “bad” time it just goes on and on. I know that at some point - hopefully soon - this will end and I will be able to go back to doing things once. One just has to do what needs to be done until there is change in karma.
I still have one client who has an employee - herself. I have to prepare an IRS W2 form for her each January, along with a covering form named (appropriately) W3. Then since I don’t use a business name, I also have to prepare a similar form for people one pays that are not employees called 1099-MISC which also needs a covering form named 1096. Unlike most IRS forms which one can download from their website and fill in, these forms have red markings on the copies which go to IRS and can only be filled in as a preprinted form - available from IRS for free and can also be purchased at stationary stores and online. One can also buy software to fill in the forms, The alternative to filling in the forms is to do it online free at the IRS website (or various companies that charge to do so). Most companies have payroll companies which take care of their payroll for them and deal with this for them.
Knowing I will need to do this and knowing that my typing is terrible, even with the word processing typewriter (lets one type a line, check it, and then print it) I have, I always order more forms than I need to have spares. I do this in December so I will have them in January to fill them in. I did so last month - in December 2018, ordering forms for the 2018 year. The forms arrived within the 10 days they are suppose to arrive. I opened the envelope - remember all the craziness last month - and I checked the form numbers and how many of them had been sent - all okay. I put them under my desk where I keep the forms to wait for this month. I am so organized about this since I do it every year.
Last Thursday I decided to fill in the forms while I had some time. I know what the client’s payroll is and can do so without having gone to her yet this month. These forms used to be that the form to the employee/other person had to be given to them by the end of January and mailed to IRS by the end of February. Due to the increasing number of fraudulent tax forms being filed, as of 2 years ago the IRS copies also have to be filed by the end of January. So I fill in the forms before I go to my client so I can have her sign them and mail them out. (I used to bring them to her in February and they were signed and mailed then.)
It took me all 6 copies of the W2 forms I have, and at least 2-3 of the other forms to get a correctly typed form and over Thursday and Friday. I breathed a sigh of relief and scanning them into my computer to keep a copy of them on same. I scanned in the W3 and W2 forms. I then scanned in the 1096 form and was about to scan in the 1099 form when I noticed something and got extremely upset. I had not received 2018 forms - I was sent 2017 forms and none of the forms I had typed were usable. Not only that, but since one can no longer pick up forms at local IRS offices, I had to order them again - during the Federal government shut down!
We went looking online. I can buy the forms - they will run me around $60 for all 4 forms as they sold in much larger quantities than even I with my terrible typing would need to make one form of each. I also would have to make sure that the forms were attached multiple parts that allow one to type all copies at once (W2 forms are 6 part, the 1099 forms are 4 part and the others are 2 part) as if they are not I would have to type each copy of the form separately. (The forms have extra copies as there are copies for IRS, state, employer, and the W2 has 3 copies for the employee - the 1099 has one copy, and the other two have a copy to file with IRS and copy for the employer to keep.)
I can file them directly online with IRS, but I don’t like the idea of putting the client’s and my Social Security number through the Internet, but if nothing else works, that will be what I have to do.
So, I am waiting to see if I receive the forms from IRS before I go to the client - and then start typing them all over again. If I don’t received them in time, I will have to file them online. If I do receive them in time - I have to type them all over again!!
I am not sure why we are in a “place” where it seems that everything we do - from something as simple to as buying a Barbie doll to tax forms that I prepare every year to ordering checks has to be redone.
On the other hand, I did get the second order of the checks I ordered and this order seems to be correct. I am currently shredding the incorrect ones. (I held on to them in case they wanted them back.) To make sure I did not “muck it up” I stored the second, correct set before starting to shred the first set. I am shredding them a bit at a time to not overwhelm the shredder.
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
Sometimes when we are in a “bad” time it just goes on and on. I know that at some point - hopefully soon - this will end and I will be able to go back to doing things once. One just has to do what needs to be done until there is change in karma.
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