Mike the Tax Accountant
Sometimes I feel like a well trained dog. Once again, I woke right at 5:30am with no external prompting. I was downstairs fumbling with my Blackberry, vitamins, and anti-inflammatories by 5:34am. Minutes later I was working through my 55-50-40 exercise routine with only my minor shoulder discomfort. I sat pretty and begged for a treat immediately after.
Ykraps and I headed out the door at 5:50am. The greater majority of our trek was on a dry walk, although there were a few brief unshoveled sections remaining. Those were difficult to navigate due to their lumpy – frozen state, yet somehow we managed. We were back just before 6am.
I poured my coffee and then retreated to my PC. There, I read the Daily OM, morning headlines, and weather forecast. I delivered Mindy’s coffee next, and then completed a successful meditation before dressing for my run. I was more energized than normal for the run. I made sure to stretch good before dashing off. I pondered many things while I ran, including my spirituality. Heavy on my mind today was how I might best deal with characters and situations which seem to run counter to my best interests. Key for me was reminding myself that I can be in the world but not of it. My run went really fast as it often does when I think so deeply.
My trash can was emptied. I lugged it back to its resting place through the deep, crunchy snow. Inside, Mindy was just finishing her own eggs and asked if I wanted her to cook mine. I chose to cook my own. Additionally, I scooped some chicken & dumplings into a Glad container to serve as the main course of my lunch. Mindy still packed my fruit and nuts. It wasn’t long before Mindy & Bella were out the door. Jacob lost his access to “screens” for some transgression, so he played basketball in the basement while passing time. As always, he was eager to hit the door as soon as I emerged from upstairs. I really don’t like being rushed!
We walked to the bus stop on what was an overcast morning. The bus came kind of early – 8:01am. Alanna never showed up. I figured Pat must be taking her to school. I arrived to work at 8:20am. Traffic wasn’t an issue. Work was pleasant. Ken made it a point to thank me for helping him over the weekend. I was happy to help.
I decided somewhat early on that I would make a trip to the Anderson’s at lunch time with perhaps an additional stop at the Sawmill Kohl’s. I left at 1pm. I took Hayden Run Rd to Sawmill and then north to 161. It was a fast drive. As I walked into The Anderson’s I decided last minute to grab a cart. After a double take I realized the cart greeter was none other than Art Plantz, and old Time-Warner co-worker. In fact, he was my boss for a few years back in the 80’s. He’s since retired and doing the greeter thing two days a week just to get out of the house. He seemed as happy to see me as I him.
I wandered back to the beer section, which was my primary reason for the trip. They have, by far, one of the largest beer selections anywhere in Columbus. I was hopeful to find more HopSlam and perhaps even some Widmer Broken Halo IP. But as it turned out, they had neither. They did, however, have Stone’s Ruination IPA – a close second to HopSlam. I bought a six pack of that and then some Flying Dog Double Pale Ale that has an IBU of 85 and ABV of 10.5% - right up there with most others I like.
I was pleased with my catch. I asked the beer/wine guy the whereabouts of their HopSlam and Broken Halo. They don’t carry the latter and were out of the prior. Not sure where the Broken Halo might be sold but will consider contacting Columbus Distributing seeking a vendor. I passed off my cart to Art as I departed. I headed straight to Kohl’s just a half mile or so west then south. At Kohl’s I was hoping to find long sleeved black tees like the one I lost on our Oregon trip, but just as I suspected, there were none to be had. All of their winter-type offerings were on close-out racks in a hodge-podge. I looked only briefly through a few of them but then gave up. It was time to head back to the office.
The afternoon was bullish. We were very busy. Mindy phoned me late afternoon to let me know that our taxes were back and that we were getting more than twice as much as I had roughed out. Honestly, that seemed impossible to me but who am I to doubt a tax accountant, right? That made my afternoon, mulling over an unforeseen financial windfall. I left for home around 5:40pm calling Mindy along the way. I told her again that I was surprised at the number. As soon as I got home I asked to see the package wanting badly to confirm the numbers. It didn’t take me but about 10 seconds to see a glaring mistake causing the excessive return. I wasn’t too pleased. You should’ve heard me going on about the idiot we entrusted with our tax return. You see, I have never been one to have someone else do my taxes save for one time – the year I bought my second house. Then, we had lots of points and the sale of our old home to claim back when the tax laws were much different. But that was the only time. I've done them confidently every other year. And I certainly could’ve done them this year with nothing out of the ordinary. Now I was regretting our move.
I attempted to call the illusive accountant but like all of our prior calls for status, it went unanswered. Truth is, I have never had a good feeling about this character, although Mindy professes him to be a long time family friend. She went as much to say that everyone makes mistakes. True, I espoused. But when you’re an accountant your life’s work is in numbers. You better not make too many mistakes. Further, to make such a silly mistake shows me that he’s, one, careless, and two, not double checking the numbers. Both are warning signs. I ranted for about an hour. I then prompted Mindy to call his home given that his wife was a friend from church. She talked with his wife and asked that he call us back. She even told her that we found a serious mistake. The entire evening went by without a call back. This guy already electronically filed too, which I do not know how he could’ve pulled of such a feat without my permission or knowledge.
For the rest of the evening I let the issue ride figuring it out of my control, at least temporarily. I spent the next hour or two playing on the PC. We headed to bed just after 10pm.
Ykraps and I headed out the door at 5:50am. The greater majority of our trek was on a dry walk, although there were a few brief unshoveled sections remaining. Those were difficult to navigate due to their lumpy – frozen state, yet somehow we managed. We were back just before 6am.
I poured my coffee and then retreated to my PC. There, I read the Daily OM, morning headlines, and weather forecast. I delivered Mindy’s coffee next, and then completed a successful meditation before dressing for my run. I was more energized than normal for the run. I made sure to stretch good before dashing off. I pondered many things while I ran, including my spirituality. Heavy on my mind today was how I might best deal with characters and situations which seem to run counter to my best interests. Key for me was reminding myself that I can be in the world but not of it. My run went really fast as it often does when I think so deeply.
My trash can was emptied. I lugged it back to its resting place through the deep, crunchy snow. Inside, Mindy was just finishing her own eggs and asked if I wanted her to cook mine. I chose to cook my own. Additionally, I scooped some chicken & dumplings into a Glad container to serve as the main course of my lunch. Mindy still packed my fruit and nuts. It wasn’t long before Mindy & Bella were out the door. Jacob lost his access to “screens” for some transgression, so he played basketball in the basement while passing time. As always, he was eager to hit the door as soon as I emerged from upstairs. I really don’t like being rushed!
We walked to the bus stop on what was an overcast morning. The bus came kind of early – 8:01am. Alanna never showed up. I figured Pat must be taking her to school. I arrived to work at 8:20am. Traffic wasn’t an issue. Work was pleasant. Ken made it a point to thank me for helping him over the weekend. I was happy to help.
I decided somewhat early on that I would make a trip to the Anderson’s at lunch time with perhaps an additional stop at the Sawmill Kohl’s. I left at 1pm. I took Hayden Run Rd to Sawmill and then north to 161. It was a fast drive. As I walked into The Anderson’s I decided last minute to grab a cart. After a double take I realized the cart greeter was none other than Art Plantz, and old Time-Warner co-worker. In fact, he was my boss for a few years back in the 80’s. He’s since retired and doing the greeter thing two days a week just to get out of the house. He seemed as happy to see me as I him.
I wandered back to the beer section, which was my primary reason for the trip. They have, by far, one of the largest beer selections anywhere in Columbus. I was hopeful to find more HopSlam and perhaps even some Widmer Broken Halo IP. But as it turned out, they had neither. They did, however, have Stone’s Ruination IPA – a close second to HopSlam. I bought a six pack of that and then some Flying Dog Double Pale Ale that has an IBU of 85 and ABV of 10.5% - right up there with most others I like.
I was pleased with my catch. I asked the beer/wine guy the whereabouts of their HopSlam and Broken Halo. They don’t carry the latter and were out of the prior. Not sure where the Broken Halo might be sold but will consider contacting Columbus Distributing seeking a vendor. I passed off my cart to Art as I departed. I headed straight to Kohl’s just a half mile or so west then south. At Kohl’s I was hoping to find long sleeved black tees like the one I lost on our Oregon trip, but just as I suspected, there were none to be had. All of their winter-type offerings were on close-out racks in a hodge-podge. I looked only briefly through a few of them but then gave up. It was time to head back to the office.
The afternoon was bullish. We were very busy. Mindy phoned me late afternoon to let me know that our taxes were back and that we were getting more than twice as much as I had roughed out. Honestly, that seemed impossible to me but who am I to doubt a tax accountant, right? That made my afternoon, mulling over an unforeseen financial windfall. I left for home around 5:40pm calling Mindy along the way. I told her again that I was surprised at the number. As soon as I got home I asked to see the package wanting badly to confirm the numbers. It didn’t take me but about 10 seconds to see a glaring mistake causing the excessive return. I wasn’t too pleased. You should’ve heard me going on about the idiot we entrusted with our tax return. You see, I have never been one to have someone else do my taxes save for one time – the year I bought my second house. Then, we had lots of points and the sale of our old home to claim back when the tax laws were much different. But that was the only time. I've done them confidently every other year. And I certainly could’ve done them this year with nothing out of the ordinary. Now I was regretting our move.
I attempted to call the illusive accountant but like all of our prior calls for status, it went unanswered. Truth is, I have never had a good feeling about this character, although Mindy professes him to be a long time family friend. She went as much to say that everyone makes mistakes. True, I espoused. But when you’re an accountant your life’s work is in numbers. You better not make too many mistakes. Further, to make such a silly mistake shows me that he’s, one, careless, and two, not double checking the numbers. Both are warning signs. I ranted for about an hour. I then prompted Mindy to call his home given that his wife was a friend from church. She talked with his wife and asked that he call us back. She even told her that we found a serious mistake. The entire evening went by without a call back. This guy already electronically filed too, which I do not know how he could’ve pulled of such a feat without my permission or knowledge.
For the rest of the evening I let the issue ride figuring it out of my control, at least temporarily. I spent the next hour or two playing on the PC. We headed to bed just after 10pm.
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