Friday

Happy Birthday Michael Jon!

Slept in a bit more than I planned so had to rush to get 3 tax returns done and delivered to Hillsboro & just made it in time. This family is going to LA with the local MB youth group and is planning to do street evangelizing in addition to a big national youth conference. They also have a son in Canada so got to mail a signature sheet to Alberta.

Then it was off to Moundridge & dropped off a 1040X for a forgotten W-2 & it was raining buckets by the time I got there. Saw the son of the family who I haven’t seen in about 3 years & he is almost 16, but looks like a 20 yr old.

Ate at the local German buffet and drove in heavy rain all the way home. Then it was off to Salina to pick up a 1098T form I need to finish that tax return. The 14 yr old son of the family was bemoaning all the wet weather this week since it’s spring break. I think I’ve heard that before!

Saw some kids mudding about 2 miles N of our house. I think it’s illegal in this county and I know of some people who would call the sheriff, but that’s not my style. I saw at least one big truck buried in a slime pit on Tinkler Rd. What a mess!! A big party going on there and efforts to rescue this truck were unsuccessful when I ventured onto the scene.

Had one angry phone call message that their tax return isn’t done by the end of the month as I had promised. I do believe there is another day to this month and am confident it will be done & delivered tomorrow. It’s a good thing I wasn’t home as I was not in the mood for this kind of call. Spose there will be more of this for the next 2 weeks and getting my armour ready for the onslaught.

Thanks for the email Jenna! Time to get busy again.

mikey

Thursday

Woke up at the very early hour of 9AM to a tax info phone call from MO. That took appx 45 minutes, but have everything I need for another big tax return except for some 1099’s I need for ID #’s, etc. Just continued away on tax returns and finished 4 today & got 2 of those delivered to Durham. One is a new client and one I will enjoy working with. Also rec a pkg from PA for a big family group tax return. Need to get onto that right away.

Rain, rain and more rain. Lost track of how many inches it’s rained, but will take what comes. Need to finish 3 more for a stop in Hillsboro tomorrow at 3PM.

Dad got rid of his walker & is moving much fast with Grandma Helmle’s old cane (his mother-in-law). I remember that 4 prong cane from over 20 years ago. He is practicing going up and down steps. A big challenge.

Lots of deer out and about & I managed to miss hitting every single one of them. YEAH!

mikey

Wednesday

Slept a fairly long time today. Then it was off to do payroll. One of my favorite jobs. Also got the rest of the Secretary of State reports done & double checked my W-2 & 1099 list and they are completely done for another year. Won’t have results for the efile transmission for about 2 weeks, so will just have to wait and forget about them till then.

Had a few out of state tax clients call and need to get onto those. Heard some more from the recent divorce clients and things are coming together to get their tax return done. There seems to be a good working relationship between attorneys and that relieves me of a lot of stress.

Tonight was a report from CBS students and those involved were: Shane, Daniel, Nathan Hobbs, Brian Shenk, Loyal Miller, Angela Yoder & Heidi Kuepfer. Sounds like Nathan was conscripted to take part if he was to get his luggage back. Got a good chuckle over that.

Talked to Kent Hobbs. We went to Tabor together many years ago. Didn’t know each other well then, but were acquainted. Good to get reacquainted. They live by Potwin now.  Also good to see Harry Shenk there & had a good chat with him. It’s good having you back again, Harry!

Dropped off a couple tax returns and some other documents tonight. Then had the usual meal at IHOP. Got way too much tonight & have another meal waiting in the take out box for tomorrow.

Have a lot to do tomorrow & expecting a big out of state phone call at 9AM, so must get to bed.

mikey

Tuesday

After much research I think my SSA files are OK. Don’t know the content for sure, but the file sizes are consistent for the ones in question. I guess most people would be satisifed with this, so guess I should just let it go. After they are processed there will be some content listed such as total wages, total SS & MC wages, but not WH. The first lady I talked to at 7:30AM was pleasant & helpful & said to call in at Noon since they weren’t showing up then. The 2nd lady was quite a different experience and won’t go into that. Lots of security, passwords, PIN’s and such to pass thru and does get tiring after awhile.

My 5PM appt was changed to 1:45 which was much to my liking & got my retirement accounts replenished for calendar yr 2006. Then got my oil changed (car oil) and just spent the afternoon relaxing at Conklin till that was done. Also got 4 new tires, cheap ones until I get good ones this next winter.

Later had tax into pickups at Marion and Hillsboro. One 18 yr old young man was on the top of the world at graduation time last spring, but is having rough times now. He moved his picture on the family bulletin board to the ceiling!! ?? Also dropped off some more completed ones and this family of 2 sisters has been patiently waiting for 6 weeks and not one phone call. I appreciate this kind very much.

Took a nice long nap and just pecking away at more new ones. I see that Ryan is keeping my kind of hours. Have a good rest friend. Working hard I see.

Guess I might be headed that direction before long.

mikey

Monday

Slept in till past Noon, but didn’t sleep very well. Not sure why. Finally decided to just get up and get going and surprised at how rested I felt with little sleep. Trying to organize my time and not waste trips to various places. Have another tax info pickup at Marion on Tues and made other plans accordingly. Made an appt to put in my Roth IRA for 2006 tomorrow at 5PM and taking some other retirements in for various people.

Also made plans for an oil change tomorrow at 2:30 which will mean some wasted time in Salina, but not much I can do about that.

Found out that Marion County will be charging their jail inmates for room and board!! Quite a novel idea and wonder how that will turn out. This certainly isn’t a country club prison environment and expect at big outcry over this. But then, why shouldn’t they pay room and board?? Will be a challenge to collect I would imagine, hard as it is already to collect fines, etc.

Tonight was the big night to efile W-2’s & 1099’s. Started with W-2’s, but one of my clients has 2 businesses under 1 EIN and the 2nd file would cover up the 1st one and I couldn’t get both to list. Will try support tomorrow and am wondering if I made a terrible mistake in having to businesses under one EIN. I’ve done this before on paper, but not efile. The 1099’s went thru very smoothly and they are all done.

A nervous wreck since this is a task I’m not comfortable with and virtually no instructions on how to mechanically do this. I’ve discovered help menus are worthless and don’t even bother to go there anymore. They never answer my questions and the things they do print are obvious. gripe, gripe, gripe…

Raining off and on all day and all night & about time for the sun to come up so will go to bed now.

mikey

Sunday

Went to Meadowview today. Others there: Brent Oatneys, Sam D Nislys, David L Millers, Josh Nisly, Tim Millers & his SS class (minus James who is at Labette County) and myself. At Center Laverne had the sermon on ordinances and the relationship of this topic between the Old & New Testament. Had another good talk with Titus after Church. Some things going sort of crazy in my life and appreciate his input. A new addition in the parking lot is Jeff’s new Audi. His parents drove it home from Florida recently. Looks nice! Tim told me the SS class is planning a bike trip Friday and invited me to go along. Prob shouldn’t due to the impending tax deadline, but appreciate the invitation Tim!

Sorry I had to miss the big concert today due to being scheduled to work today. I’m sure it was a great one singer Good to talk to you again!

Occupancy doubled today from 2 to 4 during my shift. Not really a difficult shift for which I am grateful even with the admissions. We had my favorite or 2nd favorite cinnamon rolls for snack today (and they were soft & fresh) YEAH!

The sandman was on double duty today and some way somehow I managed to make it thru the shift. Always kind of wake up when it’s time to go home, which is a good thing.

O….and btw Ryan, some of my coworkers agree with you and me on that one, certain topic. At least I respect their opinion. Others are kind of on the fence and no one sharply disagreed with me. Looking forward to your research conclusions on this all important matter.

c u all later

mikey

Saturday

On a roll last night & finished 8 more tax returns which is a record for this season. Finally got to bed at 7AM & got up again at 10:45AM. That meant for a tired, but guilt free day. Went to Hutch to Kenya’s BD party. Age 3 Monday. Had a bumblebee theme for her party. Those there besides immediate family: Lydia, Rosa, Marian, Dwight Miller’s family & Louise & Carol et moi. Had a great time there, but couldn’t stay long due to my weekend shift at Hillsboro.

Missed out on some excitement a couple days ago. I saw a big arm chair behind Dad’s recliner & wondered what that’s about, but left it at that. Come to find out-He sat in there, leaned back and went right on over backwards with feet in the air. 84 yr old Uncle Max was there & they called Carl to come over & pick him up. Why do I miss all the excitement around here. Anyway, that’s the reason why the chair is where it is.

Got to work with my old DON today for a few hours which was nice. She works in ER at St Francis and works here PRN. Lots of ER’s and the sewing kits got a lot of use today. Had a few people stop by to pick up tax papers and that’s OK as long as it’s quiet and that all cooperated today.

Have a lot of efiles to send off now, so must get that done.

mikey

Friday

Picking up speed with finished tax returns. Feels quite good. Also good to finally be making calls to people that I am finished before they start calling me. Made 2 stops in Gypsum and mailed a pkg in Gypsum. Other than that I stayed home and continued tax prep.

Nice and warm out & good to see the buds coming out on the trees and bushes. Have a busy weekend in store at Hillsboro, so much keep at it here till then. Not much else to say.

mikey

Thursday

Spent quite a bit of the day on the phone. Still have several clients I need just a tidbit more info before their taxes can be finished. Did my monthly sales tax today that’s 4 days early. YEAH! Has a new online bank account and some stress with all the user #, passwords, PIN’s etc. Finally got thru to the good stuff.

Had a very nice call from Mark N and just talked about all kinds of things, work, school and home life, shared prayer requests, etc etc. A highlight of my day. Hope to talk again soon Mark

Soon after left for tax deliveries and 1 W-2 pickup in Moundridge. A forgotten W-2 that arrived late and thus requiring the services of Form 1040X. The pesky document was not to be found, so moved on to other stops. Saw Jim’s dad who had eye surgery and things aren’t healing as quickly as he had hoped, so that’s a frustration for him.

Had a bit of a wait in Newton and was again reminded that KU is famous in basketball circles now. Think I heard they won another game tonight. (not sure of that). My sports interest is definitly showing now.

Slept for a bit at the history marker between Newton & Goessel. Just couldn’t go any further. A slow lazy misty rain. Finally made my way to Durham for the final stop of the day. Ready to efile my W-2’s & 1099’s since I now have the final signature. That’s all due by the end of March.

I was hungry for salmon patties and found the cans I purch in January in Hillsboro. Mom said she would help me with that, but I had to be involved. A nice mother/son adventure. Had no idea eggs and crackers were necessary ingredients. Got the salmon, eggs and crackers all mixed together and managed to form patties out of that sticky gooey mess (where are those gloves when I really need them). Eventually got them all cooked….nice and VERY well done. YUMM! Dad even ate 2.

I tend to avoid gloves at work when I can get by with it, but really would have liked a pair tonight. Guess I had that coming. I did remember to wash my hands tho!

A strangely relaxed day and warm and cloudy outside, just to my liking.

Guess I’ll close for now

mikey

Wednesday

Finished some more tax returns and my finished stack keeps getting higher, much to my pleasure. Made a delivery in Gypsum and looked at my old school. Empty since 1978 and have an incredible desire to snoop in there, but would probably fall thru the floor with my expanded girth.

Oren’s had a report on their trip to China to see Frieda. Fascinating pictures. Frieda’s kitchen facilities would indeed be a challenge, but know she’s up to it:)

Had a good talk with Titus after Church and that always cheers me up. Also had a phone call from Jacob a bit later in the evening. And you DID get your homework done didn’t you Jacob?????

Made a couple tax deliveries after Church. With much difficulty I managed to find a house on East Ave G. How are we to locate house numbers in the dark??? A point to consider if EMS service is required. Finally found the house and then later stopped at cuz Steve’s at Buhler.

Then it was off to IHOP with Josh. Even manged to down a wing with no upper GI disturbances. Didn’t even take a rolaids for dessert. Made it home and read with interest Mark’s day at work. Sometimes we just have to paste a smile on our face and say “that’s OK” when it’s trip number 52 into a room with no sane request to be made by our favorite resident.

Congrats on passing A&P and sticking with your job through thick and thin Mark!!

Have a bunch of deliveries tomorrow, many in the Newton area.

c u later

mikey