Ups and Downs
Feb. 7th, 2019 07:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
captainsblogThe biggest range of uppity/downity, of course, has been on the thermometer. Just four days after tying a record low temperature of -3F here, the temp broke an even older record high temperature of 64F. It stayed warmish for the next day or so, but then the past two mornings have brought freezing rain, black ice and walks even too slippery for a dog on four paws. Now it's going back up again overnight before going right back down again.
Also down, for a sort-of count: me. These weather swings always mess with my metabolism, and sure enough, Monday's warmup also brought me a runny sneezy nose that tried to go away but, as of today, is clearly back. I'm on the OTC version of the Flonaise that Eleanor's been on since last week. It's not bad as bugs go, but it's annoying as all sneeze-out.
On the up side, Eleanor finally got her remote starter issues resolved while I was away today, so yay!
On the down side, I was away today for my fourth court appearance and second Rochester trip in four days. Every one of them was a cluster of delay, misunderstanding or, today, what I suspect was an outright money grab by the judge to force me to pay extra filing fees for something I don't think I need to pay extra filing fees for. Shouldn't bother me- the client pays them- but I'm just inherently cheap and/or protective of them when it comes to things like this.
I hit my downest late Monday when I got into it with another attorney who refused to extend a simple courtesy and is now making me do an extra butt-ton of work over yet another simple misunderstanding. Fortunately, everyone else I've spoken to about it has my back on it, and we'll get through it one way or another.
Another upside: the Big Ugly, as I refer to my annual ritual of preparing our taxes, is mostly done. Eleanor works until 7:30 every night this week, so I put my time in, literally, putting my time (or rather receipts and expenses) into a spreadsheet and then carrying them over to the tax software program. On the whole, the impact of the 2017 tax law changes is a mix for us: several deductions were taken away or rendered irrelevant, but other things more or less took their place in comparable amounts. It's unsettling just how much they changed the forms themselves: no more 1040-A "short form" or 1040-EZ "really short form," but a new mishmash of schedules that will take years of getting used to. The general consensus is a lot of middle class people, mostly W-2 earners, are finding they're either getting much smaller refunds this time or even having to pay unexpectedly. Yet all of Cheeto's supporters continue to drink the Koolaid and seem to be saying, well, fine, as long as you're using it to hurt immigrants and homos....
That's mostly it. At least tomorrow is the one workday this week when I don't have to set an alarm to get, you know,....
Also down, for a sort-of count: me. These weather swings always mess with my metabolism, and sure enough, Monday's warmup also brought me a runny sneezy nose that tried to go away but, as of today, is clearly back. I'm on the OTC version of the Flonaise that Eleanor's been on since last week. It's not bad as bugs go, but it's annoying as all sneeze-out.
On the up side, Eleanor finally got her remote starter issues resolved while I was away today, so yay!
On the down side, I was away today for my fourth court appearance and second Rochester trip in four days. Every one of them was a cluster of delay, misunderstanding or, today, what I suspect was an outright money grab by the judge to force me to pay extra filing fees for something I don't think I need to pay extra filing fees for. Shouldn't bother me- the client pays them- but I'm just inherently cheap and/or protective of them when it comes to things like this.
I hit my downest late Monday when I got into it with another attorney who refused to extend a simple courtesy and is now making me do an extra butt-ton of work over yet another simple misunderstanding. Fortunately, everyone else I've spoken to about it has my back on it, and we'll get through it one way or another.
Another upside: the Big Ugly, as I refer to my annual ritual of preparing our taxes, is mostly done. Eleanor works until 7:30 every night this week, so I put my time in, literally, putting my time (or rather receipts and expenses) into a spreadsheet and then carrying them over to the tax software program. On the whole, the impact of the 2017 tax law changes is a mix for us: several deductions were taken away or rendered irrelevant, but other things more or less took their place in comparable amounts. It's unsettling just how much they changed the forms themselves: no more 1040-A "short form" or 1040-EZ "really short form," but a new mishmash of schedules that will take years of getting used to. The general consensus is a lot of middle class people, mostly W-2 earners, are finding they're either getting much smaller refunds this time or even having to pay unexpectedly. Yet all of Cheeto's supporters continue to drink the Koolaid and seem to be saying, well, fine, as long as you're using it to hurt immigrants and homos....
That's mostly it. At least tomorrow is the one workday this week when I don't have to set an alarm to get, you know,....