Gah. fosteronfilm and I made the first foray into doing our taxes yesterday. For the last clump ‘o years, we’ve had them professionally done, but we figured we’d save the couple hundred bucks and do them ourselves this year. I did my Schedule C all by myself (C-EZ baby!), and we’re making inroads into our Schedule A and Schedule B, but Schedule D: Capital Gains is kicking our asses. My head was threatening to spin itself off toward the end of the afternoon. Will try to dive back into it later today. The IRS could really use a good writer/editor to punch up their instruction forms. There’s got to be a friendlier way of conveying the necessary information; there’s just gotta.
This pressure front that’s been going through the area is playing havoc on everyone’s sinuses in the house, including Hobkin’s. I’ve been suffering from massive sinus headaches that refuse to dissipate, no matter how much Sudafed and Excedrin I pop–but I do have a profound case of the jitters. Matthew’s been sinus clogged and congested. And Hobkin keeps licking his paws and them rubbing his nose with them. I think that’s his way of trying to clear his sinuses, the poor little guy. He also makes snuffy sounds in his sleep.
Writing Stuff
19-day “There is some beautiful writing here but . . .” from Ideomancer on a flash piece. I’m always somewhat ambiguous about my flash. It’s an awkward medium to write in, smack dab between poetry and prose. I’d give up on it, except so far all of my (few and irregular) flash pieces have sold. I guess occasionally I just get feeling particularly lyrical but without enough substance for a story. I know I’m no poet, so that just leaves flash.
Revenant: A Horror Anthology published by Carnifex press, with my short story “Caesar’s Ghost” in it, is out: $4.95. Herein a very small cover image. Will get a bigger, higher res one scanned in when I get my contrib. copy:
Outlined my novel WIP, rah! After some brainstorming and seeing where my muse seems to want to go with it, it’s obvious that it’s going to be a YA novel (assuming I can finish the thing). Teenish protag, morality and philosophical issues, plus I’m aiming for 40-50K, not nearly long enough for an adult novel, but a comfy length for YA.
Words: 700 (all in outline, but hey, that counts, right?)
500/day
25
I’ve done mine myself using Kiplinger Tax Cut for several years and it’s done nicely for me and saved me a bit of agony…then again I dont have all the stuff you and Matthew have to handle too..
Is that a software program like Quicken?
BAsic Do your own Tax software(like Turbo Tax another commenter mentioned)..you can DL info from Quicken or other packages to it..TaxCut is H&R Block’s software…there’s also a Signature version where you can do the stuff then take it to an H&R Block for checking and correcting and filing as well..I generally do it all meself and the Tax Cut is wonderful help on that(plus I got a brother who’s an accountant who can help on wacky tax queries)..
Another Eugie story! Woohoo! Just placed my order. Can’t wait.
Thank you! I hope you enjoy it!
I’m intrigued as to this “teenish protag, morality and philosophical issues,” thing. Might you send it through Critters one day? Because that I would avidly be interested in giving the once-over. Young Wizards by Diane Duane, Winter of Fire and Juniper’s Game by Sherryl Jordan, are still some of my favorite fantasy novels, YA or not. The length you’re talking sounds about on target, but you probably know how much length varies in that genre, and that it’s all about the quality…
If I ever finish it I’ll definitely send it through Critters. Although at this rate it’s going to be months . . . at the very least. If I can maintain motivation for that long. Chugga-chug.
It can be annoying when everyone get sinus related symptoms at the same time. Do symptoms decrease or increase if you leave the house? Do symptoms increase or decrease when the windows are open?
I take loratadine, a non-drowsy antihistamine. I tried loratadine-D but found its dosage of 240 mg pseudoephedrine to make me feel extremely jittery.
Symptoms like you describe are more worrisome in colder climates. Faulty gas water heaters and gas furnaces have been known to leak carbon monoxide into the home. But given the warmer temperatures in your neck of the woods I doubt this is an issue, since you’ve probably had your windows open.
I found a correlation between my sneezing fits and vacuuming or dusting activities. I suspect I am also allergic to many of the trees and other flowering plants in the neighborhood but I am unwilling to remove all the suspect foliage. I used to be allergic to cats, but living with them has cured that. I don’t know why living with all these local plants doesn’t have the same effect.
I’ve read about “Ceder Fever”. It seems that people can develop an allergic reaction to the local ceder pollen. Hmm… have any Ceder’s nearby?
Well, we’re largely weird, reclusive skunk people these days, and we haven’t been opening our windows yet–we’re not big window-opening people in general, plus, the weather’s been all over the board. We needed the heater last night! That’s just wrong, needing heat in April in Georgia. I hear it snowed yesterday–flurries that didn’t stick, but still.
No cedar around here that I know of, although I am extremely allergic to dust. But it tends to give me hives before it hits my respiratory system.
We do get pressure fronts that the weather people comment upon as spawning headaches which we didn’t have back in the Midwest. Couldn’t figure out why we all seemed stricken down by sinus issues at the same time until we caught a weather report that mentioned the phenomenon. Need. More. Sudafed.
I personally have a lot of luck with Turbotax every year. It’s fairly cheap for DIY tax software, fairly user-friendly, and you can even work with it online rather than buy it in the store, if you trust them. I’ve never had any problems, and it sure as hell beats figuring it out on my own.