April 10, 2008
Dear Everyone:
Last weekend I resisted the temptation to go in to
the office to work on the
Glossary.
Instead, I slept in, had a leisurely breakfast, started a load of
laundry and settled down to do my
Income Taxes.
While I had been spending every weekend working on the Glossary,
the deadline had been creeping up on me.
“Caution: Dates in
Calendar are closer than they appear to be.”
I started installing the software at 11:30 on
Saturday. By 2:00 it was all
over but the printing. I
might have finished earlier but I had made a significant change on my
Charitable Donations last year, leaving out the Holy Names Foundation
(run by the sisters who run Mary’s Woods, where Mother used to live.)
Instead, I chose five new charitable organizations from the
hundreds of hopeful envelopes that flood my mailbox every year.
Well it turns out now that the
IRS wants to know
the exact date that you made the donation and, if it’s not already on
the list, you have to give the actual address.
This required finding envelopes from the various organizations,
but I was able to do that fairly quickly.
(More about that later.)
I expected to get a refund from the Federal Tax
Board, as I do every year.
And I expected to get one from the State as well, but usually less than
half what the Federal refund would be.
This year I was pleasantly surprised to find that the State
refund was actually more than the Federal.
The software had asked if I’d done any home
improvements and, for once, I answered in the affirmative.
Then it wanted to know how much it had cost me to replace all the
windows last autumn. I
pulled that information out of my checking account.
Apparently, the state gives you a tax credit for doing something
to make your home more energy efficient and I had forgotten about it.
So I have a couple of lovely deposits making their way towards my
account some time next week.
As for finding those envelopes:
I think I’ve finally
gotten a handle on the mail situation.
Almost every day there’s something in my mailbox.
Sometimes it’s so obviously junk that it doesn’t even get in the
door. I drop it into the
recycle bin on my way in.
More often, it’s not so clear.
I have a triage method:
“Action Required” (usually bills) goes into the bottom right
slot. Yes, I have a mail
sorter on my dining table.
“Begging for Money”, all those heartfelt pleas for funds from worthy
organizations, go into the lower slot on the left.
Oregon Shakespeare Festival correspondence goes into the upper
left slot. And “We’re
practically giving you money” (i.e., coupons, announcements of “special sales”)
go into the upper right slot.
And the “junk mail”, envelopes that probably contain pre-approved
credit applications, go into the middle right slot.
Here’s the problem:
It’s only April and the “begging for money” envelopes have filled
three slots already. And the
“junk mail” pile just keeps growing.
I missed paying a bill because it got buried in all that mail.
Some days I get home and there just isn’t time to go through the
mail, or I’m too tired. And
the mountain grows exponentially.
My solution:
I went to the big Office Supply Warehouse Store and got two
plastic bins with lids that stack one on top of the other.
I excavated the mountain, placing “begging for money” in one bin
and “junk mail” in the other.
Now the slots are not clogged so quickly and the bins stack
neatly next to the sorter.
Triage is more efficient and I don’t have to worry about someone finding
one of those “you’re already approved” applications with my name and
address already filled out.
I even found my credit card bill before it was too late to pay it.
Granted, it only had a balance of $1.79 (I’d deliberately
overpaid the month before), but if it’s late, they charge a standard
“late fee” of $29.00.
So when I needed those five addresses, I went
downstairs and rummaged through just one bin instead of a mountain.
Then I went to “Jeannie’s” place on Sunday.
Our niece, “Liza”, and a friend came out to help “Jeannie” with
her arbor (for which I’m sure they were paid handsomely.)
While they worked on the arbor, I worked on “Jeannie’s” laptop.
First I fixed the
trackball, which was sticking badly.
Then I backed up all the work she’d done since last November,
which was the last time I’d backed everything up.
And then I went home and finished the week’s
laundry. In all, a weekend
well spent.
Love, as always
Pete
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