Happy Tax Day!!! This is a test post using my phone...

Did it work?

Jobs I've done: Tax Preparer...

In honor of Tax Day in the USA I want to tell you about a job I've done for the last 3-4 years part time with my friend:

I knew my friend did taxes for a living and he had offered that if I ever needed a part time job he'd be happy to show me how to do it. It just so happened that a few years ago I needed money to catch up on bills and I asked him if he was serious about it? He said he was. Turns out even a duffus like me can learn to do taxes.

Before this I had always gone to the good ol' guys at H&R Block to do my taxes, but was getting tired of getting ripped off with fees for every extra, so I was doing an online search and had been doing my own taxes for a year or two on my own, but never dared doing them for anyone else!

I went through a few days of training with him and learned the intricacies of standard deductions, schedule A, B, C etc etc etc. The job is mainly data entry and the system tells you when you've screwed up or not. Customer always tells you what they want to declare, so there's no going wrong, even if their information is wrong, it is what they tell you and the customer is always right!! There are days at his office when the customers are literally lined out the door and they'll wait however long they need to. Most of the customers he has are Spanish-speaking, they usually have lots of dependents, so a refund is almost always guaranteed. Most of all, customers are very appreciative when they're explained how things work and that the government will actually send money back to them---it blows their mind!

However, many of them have been used to the royal treatment and when their dependents grow older and they can no longer be used to get that nice kick back, they get very upset and demand that you find them money somewhere! Funny how the human behavior is, one year you're glad to discover you're getting money you weren't even expecting and next year you feel entitled to getting it all and there's hell to pay if you don't come through!!!!

I mainly do this job because it is easy money, but I really do wonder the real benefits of it. Of course the filing fees for my friend are a mere fraction of the rest of the professionals, which makes it very affordable for a lot of people. It has been interesting to learn this field, my friend keeps telling me that in the near future this may be a much more regulated industry, but until then I can pretty much fill out computer screens gallore and hope the customer doesn't go overboard in deductions. Oddly enough, I still do my own taxes, not even using my friend's software, I still get a much better deal on my own!!

Sunday's Blood Sugar Report: 109

That was even after two Easter events with both families and no medication!

I'm so proud of myself, I've been keeping busy, hitting the threadmill during lunch, my goal is to do 1 running mile (usually between 12-15 minutes) and walking the dog in the early morning and late evening.

Oh yeah I guess moderation in eating helps...

I go back to the Dr on Friday, we'll see if my blood tests say I'm doing alright....

Giving up diet Pepsi...is it possible?

I found out on Saturday while volunteering for my kid's soccer team activity that they're not supposed to drink anything with carbonation, I guess it slows them down horribly.

I asked him about it & he said it is true, but since there's so much soda in the house he can't really give it up. Granted I knew there was something fishy about him drinking my Diet Pepsi, since no one else but me ever drank it. Well, I told him that if he is not supposed to drink it and if I'm the problem then I'm willing to give it up....

I didn't have any yesterday...so far so good. I haven't had any today and I'm starting to feel the withdrawal...

Wish me luck folks!

I suppose I could drink it at work while he is at school and not see me, but then I'd be cheating and don't feel comfortable doing that to my kid....

Quorum of the 12 Apostates...(mmmhhh)

This is one of the funniest things I've seen this week: The Daily Universe (BYU's elite newspaper) printed this picture and it has caused all kinds of ripples...don't look at me, I'm just the messenger, LOL

Generational Gap

I was watching the news this morning and there's all this hassle about Michelle Obama touching the queen of England!?!?!?!?!?

Oh

My

God

!!!

I guess people get briefed on this kind of thing before meeting someone like that, right?

Meeting the queen: Curtsy, don't touch her!!!!
Meeting the prime minister of Japan: No sushi jokes!
Meeting the Governor of Utah: Polygamy, don't go there.....
Meeting everyday people from Chicago: Don't let them touch you!
Meeting the prime minister's wife of India: Don't stare at her red dot!
Meeting any Latin American President: Don't put an "O" after every word, that's not Spanish!

Well Michelle Obama shows that pomp and circumstance are OK, but then the woman follows her own heart's pomp and circumstance!!! Forget Jackie O, Madonna or any other startlet. I think that England has a new person to obsess about.

Go Michelle!!!