Monday, February 18, 2013

Can't trust that day

This morning's lyric is really easy.  That's because I'm exhausted and so I want everything in my life to be easy today.  I plan to expend as little effort as possible with every single thing I do today.  Unless the menu doesn't offer things I like at lunch and/or dinner, I won't be leaving the facility at all today.  Except for going to the dining room, I won't be leaving my room today. 

Yesterday was scheduled to be a day off.  But somehow a client got onto my schedule and there were no other tax pros working at that hour who did not have a client of their own.  I volunteered to go in, figuring I'd be there for an hour or so.  Then someone else saw me on the schedule and another appointment was added.  A client I'm in the middle of doing four returns for was going to come in Saturday but called and pleaded to be seen on Sunday.  The result was what was going to be a quick two hours in the office became more than six.  After having been scheduled to work only five hours on Saturday and ending up working seven.

I am less stressed and tense that I might otherwise have been this morning, thanks to a massage gift certificate I got for my birthday.  I cashed it in last night.  That must be why I slept so well.

Among the other things I'm pondering on this Monday morning:

Why would a judge sentence a killer to life, plus 42 years in prison? Is the plan to let the murderer know that for the 42 years after his death, his corpse will be preserved and not given the dignity of a burial or cremation?

Why would someone post a sign that reads "please do not flush tampons or sanitary napkins" in a men's room?

Why is it that if a woman ducks into the men's room at an event where there is a huge line of women waiting to use the ladies room, no one says anything; but if a man were to do the same in the ladies room, the police would probably be summoned?

Why can't the cat lady who is catching the feral cats that live in the backyard here, a few at a time, and getting them neutered; just go ahead and get them de-mewed?  I know, I know, cruel.  I'm just tired of being awakened by these cats in the wee hours of the morning.  This neutering program was supposed to eliminate the noise problem.  It is not working.  I'm not anti-cat.  Catch them and either get them adopted to people who want them, or relocate them.  "Pounds" should not be putting animals down.

Should we conduct a poll to determine which of the presidents who have led our nation deserve recognition on President's Day and which do not deserve it?

How come the conflict of interest involved in an issue that L.A. Mayoral candidate Wendy Gruel was involved with back in 2007 is only drawing press scrutiny after the L.A. Times endorsed her opponent, Eric Garcetti?  Timing seems a bit suspect.

How is it that Facebook made over a billion dollars in pre-tax profits, and yet they will get nearly $500 million in refunds?  That is one of the best, recent demonstrations that the system of corporate taxation we have is seriously flawed.  Most of this "refund" comes from expenses allowable for tax-favored stock options exercised by the company's executives.

Is society better or worse now that what you do away from the job can get you fired?  The idiot who slapped a baby on a plane while uttering racial epithets lost his job as an aerospace executive.  Prior to the existence of the internet, and social media, his bosses might have never heard about this; or experienced bad publicity from it.  Now everything you do everywhere is subject to public scrutiny, being captured on a smartphone and coming back to haunt you.  Is that good or bad?

I don't care how many times Twitter suggests it, I will not be following Danny Devito or his foot. So stop suggesting it.

This Date in History:

On this date in 1861, Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as provisional president of the Confederate States of America.
On this date in 1885, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is published.
On this date in 1930, the first cow to fly in a fixed-wing aircraft also became the first cow to be milked in an airborne aircraft.
On this date in 1954, the first Church of Scientology was founded in Los Angeles.  Publication of L. Ron Hubbard's latest book, Nickle and Dime-anetics, has been delayed yet again by his refusal to come back from the dead.
On this date in 1978, the first "Ironman" triathalon is held.

Famous Folk Born on this Date:

Wendell Wilkie
Sholom Aleichem
Jack Palance
Bill Cullen
Helen Gurley Brown
George Kennedy
Toni Morrison
Milos Forman
Yoko Ono
Manny Mota (he's now pinch-hitting for Pedro Borbon)
Dennis DeYoung
John Hughes
Cybill Shepherd
John Travolta
Vanna White
Matt Dillon
Dr. Dre
Molly Ringwald