Look, sarameg, at a time like this, there is really only one thing I CAN do.

To the TurboTax!

(Which, incidentally, sucks this year. Whatever they did to their program they instituted way more screens to go through, way too many confirmations and after sending me, oh, fifteen emails with my "user ID" it's apparently not linked to my previous returns! Goddammit TT, why do I pay you $60 if I could do it myself in the same amount of time?! Also, I JUST filled out my federal tax return. Why did I go through an entire state return thinking I was getting an enormous refund only to be asked at the very end, "are you a resident of New York City? Yoink! You owe all that money to the city!" THE FIRST THING I FILLED IN WAS MY ADDRESS!)

Ooh! I need a dutch oven.

Since we're in the middle of trying to convince people to give us money, the SO & I got our credit reports and have been working on cleaning them up. I was all panicky about it, because we've had our days of bad decisionmaking and not prioritizing the actual sending of the bills off, because we had written the check, and surely that meant it was done. (Thank goodness for the advent of electronic bill pay.) But since it only keeps for a certain amount of time, it was mostly fine. Still not great, 'cause non-profit, don't make a lot of money, but even so.

Anyway, so we had the interesting adventure of trying to call a couple of collections agencies that showed something open and give them money. The response was pretty much bafflement. We had a devil of a time finding a phone number for the collections agency, finding the account number we owed, finding the address to send it to. Hi-larious. With all your time spent haranguing people, surely you can spare a few minutes to tell me where to send your jack!

not prioritizing the actual sending of the bills off, because we had written the check, and surely that meant it was done. (Thank goodness for the advent of electronic bill pay.)

God, that's totally me! So aggravated with myself.

And I loved doing my taxes with the H&R Block TaxCut. And at the end of it, there was a little customer satisfaction survey thing that asked how likely I would be to recommend it to others, and I said not very, but only because I don't usually talk about taxes in that much detail (I actually said that). And yet? This is now the second time I've mentioned it to people! Curses.

Sara, the eyelid thing is definitely tired-related.

Hmm. I used to think TT was THE killer app for taxes; so easy to use, speedy and intuitive. But now that they're using customer feedback to shape their product (I'm guessing from their request to join their "inner circle" of feedback people) it sucks. Maybe I use HR Block next year.

God, that's totally me! So aggravated with myself.

I know. No reason for it! I have the money, I have the bills, I've sat down with them. What's so freaking hard about sending out the envelope? Again I say, electronic bill-pay? From the gods.

Yeah, I know what you mean, bon. This year TT was all, oh, and what about this? And this? And I'm all, dude, we've been doing this together for years. I never have any of those things. I have no kids, I own no property, I make no investments, I don't qualify for anything. It's pretty freaking simple, stop asking me questions!

I do my taxes myself. Which might be why my federal taxes are done, but state, not.

We have no income tax, which is crap on our infastructure and screws the working poor. But, hey! Less paperwork!

yeah, you've got the fucked up school funding! (I'm teasing. I grew up next door and so am steeped in TX politics.)

So...I can't let some things go. But I WILL got to bed before one. Yup, will do.

I would be asleep now, if I didn't have the hiccups.

Pardon me if this was posted before, but Addison Shepherd spin-off, now with Taye Diggs:

[link]

What do you know? It is possible to have a fully vegetarian meal on Atkins after all. I just had a cup of miso soup, an avocado, a small orange tomato, and a couple stalks of celery with cucumber-dill spreadable cheese. Possibly the healthiest meal I've eaten in my entire life.