Arrant Nonsense

What with all the taxes I did. But it's done. Go, me. I hope I didn't screw it up too badly, like I did last year.

Since the day couldn't get any worse, I decided to print out Hitman!Ben for a snail mail sub, because that's always fun. But I'm out of ink. So that's awesome.

Actually, I take that back. Today was a mix of awesome and awful. On the awful side, there were the aforementioned taxes (and three hours of my life I will never get back). I've had a cold for the past three days and am coughing my head off. Also, you'd think there'd be some kind of conservation of mass going on with all this goop in my sinuses, but I think a white hole has taken up residence inside them and is just... spewing mucus. It's gross, for the record. And my intestines have decided that they are also unhappy with the current turn of events. What fun, right?

On the plus side, we got paid today, so I got to put money in my anteater for MisCon, which I always enjoy doing. One more paycheck will have me fully funded for that. We ate at Famous Dave's, and it was delicious. And I picked up book 4 in Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid series, which I am enjoying immensely. I also picked up the Iron Man 3 Prelude comic after deciding not to blow ten bucks on Empire Magazine, whose cover story this issue is (you guessed it) Iron Man 3.

I got no writing or editing done. My head hurts and I'm tired and not real think-y right now. I may take a desultory poke at something tonight, but. . . I doubt it, honestly.

Oh, god. Wish me luck.

And, of course, I've hit my first speed bump because I can't find the Merrill Lynch stuff and don't remember actually getting any. And the website won't let me log in.

are DONE.

Amazingly enough, it was relatively painless this year. Other than the Great State of Utah, in it's infinite wisdom (are you detecting sarcasm there? You should be) deciding that, rather than attaching the W2 to the form as we've done in years past, now we have to fill out yet another form, with the exact same information on it, instead.

WTF, Utah? Thanks ever so much for creating more work for me. I appreciate it. Really.

We got a refund from the Feds and we have to pay the State this year, and it turns out that we underpaid our total taxes by about fifty bucks. Personally, I'd rather write them a check for the entire amount on the fifteenth of April every year so I get the interest, rather than giving the government an interest-free loan every year, (not to mention the fact that if everyone had to do that, you'd see tax reform so quick it'd make your head spin), but I am powerless, woe.

And I've earned dinner out. Not sure where we're going, but frak me if I'm cooking after that.

We're home from Moab. Details and pictures later. Just about everyone broke something, so all in all, a successful trip. ;o)

I have no idea if I'll be able to catch up with my flist.

I've got my three-sentence hook/query thing just about done. Now, if the book just had chapters, and, you know, a title, that'd be great. I have six days to do it in...

My inbox didn't go as nuts as I expected. Came home to an Honorable Mention from WotF (which you guys knew about) and a rejection for another story, so need to flip that puppy as soon as possible.

But first, I have to wrestle the taxes into submission. Which has already been an exercise in frustration, and I haven't even cracked open the forms yet...

Hubby!Company: Oh, hay, guiz, ur W2 is online naow, isn't that nice?

Well, yeah, it would be.

IF I COULD FIND THE FRELLING THING.

Hey, Company My Hubby Works For? If you could stick a link to the place to get our W2s on the front page? That'd be peachy. Especially considering what time of year it is...and considering that this is the first year you've done this.

So, now I get to stress about us going to Moab tomorrow, not having the taxes done, and banging my head against the computer. Fortunately, I think I have all the (other) forms I need (all hail), so if worse comes to worse I can do them in Moab or on the 15th when we get back, but this is damaging my calm.

In other news, writing a one-sentence hook that encompasses this entire novel is...problematic. Not!Harry's stakes are a lot higher than just the physical here--I mean, he faces losing it completely and ending up in a mental institution or dead by his own hand, if it goes any worse for him than it does. (O, hai, sequel, wherein I pile even more angst upon his head.) This is not a happy circumstance for him. But setting the hook so it's not a drabble-long sentence is giving me fits right now.

I suppose I should pack. GYAH.

( Rambling about the stimulus payment, word pronunciation, the wacky wacky weather, and my horrible girly bits. )
For something completely different, I've discovered an object lesson in how a professional writer should not act under any circumstances.

Exhibit A: u have an attitude. then what the hell do you publish lip service? I don't need you.

Exhibit B: I have been published all over this world I don't need you attitude so I deleted your ass and have a good trip.

Exhibit C: Assholes like you are only amusing. And no, I don't need to watch what I say to editors. I am an editor of four publications. I have also published my poems 706 times in the last 14 months, in over 200 publications. Guidelines are important, but not to the point of exlusion for their own sake; over quality of submissions, or, even a novice such as myself to flash fiction.

These are all from the same guy, to two different publications...after he got rejected for sending them something completely out of guideline. Apex Digest doesn't publish poetry, and AlienSkin doesn't publish stories under 500 words, unless they're in the "micro" category, in which case they must be exactly 150 words.

But apparently Mr. Michael Lee Johnson thinks that he is a Very Special Snowflake, and the guidelines don't apply to him! After all, he's been published at a vanity press Lulu! You'd think that these would be the actions of a spoiled 18-year-old kid.

You'd be wrong. According to his profile on Blogger, he's sixty.

Oi.

The taxes have been beaten into submission.

My laundry is done and dry, although not put away. Five loads, two of which were bedsheets. Whee.

Gmail inbox is still empty. Which I suppose is better than a box full of rejections, so I guess I'll take it.

I still need to:

bike

vacuum

write...something

make dinner, unless I can talk the Hubby into taking us out. *considers, then starts laughing hysterically* Nevermind. Mmm. Casserole.

I've gotten to the point on the bike where I can do the whole 500 calories at once, so that's a plus. It "only" takes an hour now, rather than me having to break it up into blocs of time and resting in between so it takes twice as long. Yay.

In honor of the recent Deborah Anne MacGillivray kerfuffle, I made an icon:



And henceforth, I shall refer to people I used to call "batshit insane" as "bunny boilers." Because it's funny and I'm weird.

And it only took an hour! I didn't throw the pencil across the room even once! And I only made one mistake, which I caught because something there was SO not making sense.

I will declare this a "win."

I haven't done the State tax form yet. I'm debating if I want to pick one up at the library or use the online form...

Of course, if I'm going to pick one up from the library, then the Hubby better get home with my car soon. They close in a couple of hours.

I'm still wondering about this whole "economic stimulus" check they're supposed to be sending us. Last I heard, it was an "advance on next year's refund." But now I'm reading on the IRS website that "that it won't reduce my refund for next year or increase the amount I owe." However, I still need to hang on to the paperwork for tax purposes next year. Whyfor?

I'd really like to opt out of the whole thing, myself. We don't particularly need it, and if it's an advance on our refund...when was the last time we got one of those? Yeah, that's what I thought. Count me out, plz.

Unless it's an actual tax rebate. Oh, yes, give me that. *grabbyhands* But I have no faith that it's one of those, because the government, she doesn't work thataway. Nuh-uh.

I just spent the last three hours wrestling with our FRELLING taxes. Yes, I'm one of those people who waits until the last minute. This year, it was complicated by the fact that we had an HSA distribution, and mondo capital gains from selling stock so we could buy the airplane.

We owe the IRS over two thousand dollars, over and above what we already paid by withholding. We owe the state about ten percent of that.

We live simple lives, really, notwithstanding all our toys. We're debt-free and don't live beyond our means, so we can pay it. It's not a problem, for us. Honestly, I'd rather pay the ENTIRE amount when the time comes rather than have them take it out bit by bit anyway--which is a whole 'nother issue. The only thing that nearly gave me a heart attack was that I thought we might owe a penalty. Although why we should owe them a penalty for underpaying, when they don't pay interest when we OVERpay, is a question for the ages.

Yeah. I need some serious retail and restaurant therapy now. We're going to buy some patio furniture later.

That is all.