Huh. Did we know this already? [link]

I did not, but it made me smile. Particularly the birthday part, because it is my son's birthday too.

I ran downstairs to take out some compost and recycling and found three copies of The Epoch Times outside my building, so I cleaned up the litter and threw them in the trash where they belong.

I have committed an Onerous Task! Praise me!

I like getting my royalties in an Actual Check That I Deposit In Person At The Bank because it's much more validating as writer than having money just magically appear.

Also, sometimes we're running a negative balance and direct deposit just gets eaten up whereas our credit union will allow me to cash a check even if we're a little underwater.

But with pandemic they're insisting on direct deposit and weirdly this is my biggest royalty check ever. I guess people are staying at home and reading about Tom Waits.

Anyway, I emailed my form and I had to look up routing numbers and shit and that required serious Adult Resolve.

JZ and her brothers are having a conference call with the attorney this afternoon. They're in a very complicated situation with her Dad's company. Because it was setup as a trust they assumed ownership immediately upon his death, but it's a pretty big company with five franchises and warehouses and it's a working business.

Also it's a strange and difficult time to run *any* business much less one you inherited.

On top of that, her Dad was in the process of selling it and retiring but that sale is stuck because Corporate refused the buyer. So now they have to extricate themselves from that contract to sell without triggering a breech of contract. And it's extra complicated because the intended buyer is the general manager, and there's suspicion that he will cause "mischief" (in the words of an advisory attorney) if he's not strictly reined in.

It's all great stuff if you like corporate soap operas like Dallas, or Billions. Less fun when everybody's financial future depends on getting this right.

Amazing, isn't it? something that's engaging and possibly amusing on TV isn't so in real life ....

Oh, wow, that is some serious business drama! Could be good fodder for a novel or something...

Congrats on onerousing!

Does JZ get to horsewhip someone like Miss Ellie?

OMG, Claire Saffitz from Bon Appetit Test Kitchen just came out as a huge Buffy fan. It's her "favorite show ever": [link]

Does JZ get to horsewhip someone like Miss Ellie?

She's more into tongue-lashing than horsewhipping.

David, I'm glad you completed your onerous task. You and Jacqueline have been through Hell. It just turns out some of Hell's neighborhoods are absurd.

We still have to see about filing our taxes. Due to DH's layoff the year before, his severance put us over the limit for collecting the Covid bucks, based on the taxes we filed last year. This year's taxes (i.e. 2019 income) would qualify us. By the time we got our heads on straight, our local H&R Block was closing for the season. Now we have to re-adult and call one that's still open. So far, we've only talked about it a lot.

Talk about completing onerous tasks though, as of today, we have no teenagers. It-Was-White-And-Square-And-Looked-Like-A-Tooth turns 20.

Will he ever live that down? (I suspect not)

Ooh I'm waiting in line for Trader Joe's (annoying even if understandable) but just got a call from the surgeons office asking if I wanted to be in line to be operated on as soon as they're allowed again! I said yes—it's outpatient and in a stand-alone surgery center not at the hospital—I figure now is a great time to be recovering from surgery too!