Monday, April 15, 2013

It's the last day....or so it seems

Today, millions of Americans will file their income tax returns.  That make sense since today is the deadline.  Well, it's the deadline to pay what you owe, in any event.  You can file for and receive an automatic six month extension.  Since someone dropped a complicated situation on my desk yesterday just before I went home, and I've had two clients added to today's schedule; in order to finish it all up before I go home tonight, I'm leaving for the office at 6:30 in the morning.

With millions set to see their government benefits reduced due to budget problems, our government is focused on gun control and immigration, neither of which will have a major impact on the problems of government spending.  Anyone receiving benefits from Social Security, or other government programs who expects annual cost of living adjustments; who doesn't understand "chained CPI" needs to get educated.

Why do people consult the expert to ask a question and when they don't get the answer they expect, they argue?  I'm referring to a tax client who was insistent that they had to do "this".  I finally got tired of explaining why they did NOT have to do that, in fact, were legally ineligible to do that, and I pulled up the instructions on the IRS website showing that they must do it the way I was saying.  Until they saw it on the screen from the IRS, they were intransigent.  Once it was in front of them in blue and white, they folded like a cheap suit.

John Galardi has died at the age of 75.  I'm going to miss his TV commercials.  He founded the famed hot dog chain, Der Wienerschnitzel (they dropped the "Der" some years back) and of late was doing ads for the chain.  I will have a couple of their ketchup dogs this week in his honor.

Tax day promotions include:  free curly fries (or potato cakes) at Arby's.  "Big rib-bate" at Boston Market.  The secret password for free queso and chips from California Tortilla is "1040".  Chili's has a coupon for a free dessert.  Panda Express offers a free entree.  There are more.  Take advantage.  The IRS and Franchise Tax Board are certainly taking from us.

Justin Beiber hopes that Anne Frank would have been a "belieber".  Just more proof that he's an utter moron.

Someone posted a list of bad blind date stories, so I'm going to share one, then do the this date in history stuff and then get to the office.  I connected with a woman back in the early 1990s through the L.A. Times personal ads.  Her photo looked nice, she sounded nice on the phone.  So we made plans to go to dinner and a movie, with plans to stop for "coffee" afterward to discuss the movie.  She was late.  She did not look like her picture.  She'd claimed to have a great job, but at dinner revealed she had lost it.  She was very upset, so I asked her what was wrong, saying "if you talk about it, maybe it won't ruin the whole evening".  So she told me the story of how she'd been fighting with one of her closest female friends all day.  After relating the whole story she postulated "maybe it upset her that I revealed I'm really, really attracted to her physically".  It just got worse from there.

This Date in History:

On this date in 1783, the preliminary articles ending the Revolutionary War were ratified.
On this date in 1817, the first school for the deaf, the American School for the Deaf was founded.
On this date in 1865, Abraham Lincoln dies from gunshot wounds.
On this date in 1892, General Electric is formed.
On this date in 1924, Rand McNally published its first road atlast.
On this date in 1936, Ireland's Aer Lingus is founded.
On this date in 1947, Jackie Robinson makes his major league baseball debut.
On this date in 1955, the first franchise location of McDonald's opens.

Famous Folk Born on April 15th:

Leonardo da Vinci
Catherine I of Russia
Henry James
Nikita Khrushchev
Miguel Nadjorf (famed for 5. ... a6)
Kim Il-Sung
Alfred S. Bloomingdale
Hans Conried
Michael Ansara
Roy Clark
Elizabeth Montgomery
Willie Davis
Kenneth Lay
Dave Edmunds
Michael Tucci
Linda Bloodworth-Thompson
Seka
Michael Cooper
Emma Thompson
Danny Pino
Emma Watson

And on this date in 1998, many in the world were gratified at the passing of Pol Pot.