GetSheila

New Masthead for May 2007

Oh, hey, remember when I said I would participate in the One Day Blog Silence? I lied.

Really, if you are going to have a day of silence, you need to have it closer in time to the tragedy. Since that day, many additional tragedies have occurred. To focus on the Virginia Tech shootings now, when so many awful things have come before and since, just seems pointless to me.

So in honor of getting on with life and simply trying to have a little fun while we are still on this planet, I offer a new GetSheila masthead. Come on by and check it out, if you have not yet seen it. (Refresh your browser if you still see the old one.)

When faced with the choice of bowing my head and contemplating horrible things or having fun with clipart, I will always choose clipart.

See you in hell.

Tags: masthead

When Does It End? When!

The tax accountant's schedule is a strange one.

Just when I think I have time to catch my breath because tax season is over, no no, property tax returns must be filed by May 1st. They were actually due a month or so ago, but are not delinquent (and thus do no incur a penalty) as long as you file them by May 1st.

Last tax season, I was anal and reminded everyone to prepare the property tax return when they prepared the income tax return, since they were in there dealing with the depreciation schedules anyway. I did a buttload last year during tax season myself, so the stragglers to prepare after tax season were not a big deal. This year I prepared zero during tax season and, apparently, that is the exact amount everyone else prepared, too.

HarleyMama is responsible for making sure property tax returns are timely filed. She reports the following responses from co-workers this year:

• GirlyGirl: "Don't worry, I'll help you," she says during tax season. Meanwhile, as of Friday, April 27th she had prepared a total of one.
• Big Kahuna: "I know I said I'd help you but I have a big project I need to get done."
• Buff Kahuna: "..." (Buff Kahuna could not be reached for comment as he disappeared on vacation the evening of April 17th and has not been seen since.)

As for me, I have been dutifully plugging away at property tax reports for the past week because:

1. It is not fair for HarleyMama to have to prepare them all herself;
2. There is no way HarleyMama would finish them all by the deadline if she had to prepare them all herself; and
3. It puts me in a position to say, "I did my fair share of property tax reports. Where were you?"

I try never to pass up an opportunity for moral superiority, even if I do not plan to flaunt it. It gives me that warm and fuzzy, "I helped someone in need while you couldn't be bothered, you jackass" feeling.

Tags: tax follies

A Quiz in Pictures

Today we have a quiz in pictures. Can you guess where I was today?

First up, the lavatory.

 

Is it not elegant? Notice the little covers on the toilet paper holders reflected in the mirror. (What ARE those for, anyway?)

Next we have two photos of the reception area.

 

The first includes a view of the art niches. (Yes, art niches...with actual art in them!)

 

The second shows the lovely wood floor with inlaid tile and groovy dangly lights above reception.

So where was I today? Any guesses?

Spa? No.

Law office? No.

High-priced recovery hotel where the rich and famous go after plastic surgery? No.

Okay, I will give you one more picture hint:

 

It is my freaking dermatologist's new office! (Yes, that is even more art inside the treatment room.)

The only thing that kept me from saying "Does this mean my bill is going to go up?" was the memory of that very phrase issuing from the mouths of practically every single client that walked down the hall of our new office during tax season.

I just paid my $15 co-pay and kept my mouth shut.

Tags: office photos

Cast Off the Shackles of Blogging for Money

I did it.

I quit my entertainment blogging gig at Medium Dreams effective May 1st. (official announcement) 

My cited reason is time (and lack thereof), which is indeed primary, but there is more. I have not fully formulated my thoughts but it all boils down to this: it stopped being fun.

So I will soon be a free woman, with much more time to devote to this, my personal blog. Lord knows it needs some sprucing up.

And hey! Maybe I will start to exercise! And date!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

Tags: medium dreams, problogging, blogging

Oh Those Pesky Filing Deadlines

A tax client called today asking us to prepare an extension.

Now, we generally postmark* a few extra envelopes on the deadline day with our handy dated postage machine to accommodate the one or two stragglers we just know are going to show up the next day in a panic. But today? Six days after the deadline?

I don't think so.

Later, I kicked myself for not advising her to make a quick move to the Northeastern United State so she could slide in under the extended filing deadline of April 26th for victims of the April 16th storm. It is good for extensions, too. How thoughtless of me.

__________________

*Edit: The Postal Police (in the form of my sister the mailman) informed me this is ILLEGAL, which I knew but strategically blocked out of my memory. For the record, let me state that we do not actually do this...um, anymore. We e-file everything so there is no need. We also contact our clients ahead of time to make sure they do not miss the deadline. If they do not hear from us, it is because they are deadbeat clients and we just want them to go away already.

Tags: tax season follies

My Sister and Her Chickens

My sister Karen loves her chickens. An excerpt from her latest email: 

I am getting some more Welsumers, the ones that lay those dark brown, speckled eggs, from the breeder I got my original batch from. Actually I am getting a Welsumer-Penedesenca (Spanish dark-egger breed) cross which she says lay darker eggs than either of the parents. The hens are a boring brown color, but the roosters are gorgeous, big boys with gold-red necks and backs and a long green-black tail. The original breeder in America was an old man who doted on his chickens for over 40 years, and selected for temperament as well as egg color, so they are very gentle chickens and the roosters are not aggressive. Then I am getting a few misc. colors of Polish, you gotta look at these, getting these just for fun because they are so silly looking! (See photo below)

Photo source (click through then scroll down for many more pics of funny looking chickens)

Isn't it nice to have people in your life with completely different interests than your own? How boring life would be without other people to expose me the new and wondrous.

Tags: polish chickens

So THAT'S What Weekends Are For

It is all coming back to me now. Sleeping in. Lying about. Getting things done that I have been putting off for months. For example:

Remember Zelda, my first ever MP3 player? Audible Manager, where I get my audio books, suddenly became unable to locate Zelda in February, though my laptop had no problem recognizing the connection. This was earth shatterring considering my two hour round trip commute to the office three days a week. I had grown accustomed to losing myself in audio books to make the time go by. Getting thrust back into the eternity of radio was a bit of a shock. And much less attention-grabbing. Oh how the commutes dragged.

Now, I know what you are thinking. Why did I not just take the time and fix it? Well, I tried. I took an entire Sunday (February 11th, to be exact) and tried everything I could think of. I downloaded firmware for the MP3 player. I upgraded software on my laptop. I did the equivalent of an uninstall and reinstall of Audible Manager. At the end of the day, still nothing but the sinking feeling in my stomach that I had just wasted an entire day I could have used for working on somebody's taxes or the Medium Dreams blog.

Here is the really stupid thing: it never once occurred to me to pick up the phone and call technical support. Not that I am stubborn and Must. Do. It. On. My. Own. No, I would LOVE for someone to figure it out for me but I have never had anyone around to do that. I am usually the go-to gal when somebody needs something done. (Hence the name of this blog. Your trivia moment for the day.) Not until just a few weeks ago, when I visited my friend Tania and broke her home network, did the revelation occur. I told her I was sure I could figure it out, I just needed the manuals that came with her router, blah blah blah.

She handed me a cocktail, picked up the phone, and had her network fixed in a matter of minutes. Then she handed the phone to me and tech support for HER home network taught me a little something about the wireless network settings on MY laptop. FOR FREE. (Go Linksys!)

So I called Audible tech support today and not only is my MP3 player loaded with four - count 'em, four - new audio books, but I was inspired to upgrade my wireless router's firmware and fix the wireless part of my wireless all-in-one printer that I could just never get set up properly before. So now? Now all computers and related electronics in my household talk to each other and work like they are supposed to.

(angels sing)

THAT is what weekends are for: to fix stuff that breaks during the week.

Tags: computer problems, mp3 player, audible

Happy Earth Day April 22, 2007

Am I the only one who has never heard of Earth Day? And it has been around since 1970!

Methinks they need a better marketing campaign.

Earth Day is "A call for action on climate change." I am not entirely sure what we, the people, can do but it involves conserving energy at home, getting involved in conservation efforts in your community, and supporting conservation efforts around the world.

Check out these links for more info:

• Earthday.net (aka earthday.org)
• Earthday.gov

And for heaven's sake, recycle something today!

 

Tags: earth day

New Spring Masthead

The new Spring masthead is up. Yippee!

Granted, it is not very exciting, but at least the annoying little tax man is gone.

Refresh your browser if you don't see it.

Tags: masthead

Virginia Tech - I Have No Words

I am not ignoring the Virginia Tech tragedy.

Actually, I am ignoring the Virginia Tech tragedy, or at least trying to, but it is not working.

I will not tell you what I think because, really, does it matter? No. No it does not.

I will, however, help spread the word that:

On April 30th 2007, the Blogosphere will hold a One-Day Blog Silence in honor of the victims at Virginia Tech.  More then 30 died at the US college massacre.

I did not plan to participate but then I read Lorelle's Silence is a Memoriam, Not a Reason to Stop Blogging and now I feel compelled. Will it make a difference other than to make the participants feel better about themselves for participating? Doubtful. But so what?

And if some of those participants follow Lorelle's advice to do one thing to make the world better, well that would not be a bad thing, now would it?

Tags: one day blog silence, virginia tech shootings