The Beatles had it right

In the ST:TNG, in the episode, The Schizoid Man, Doctor Ira Graves says a great line to Data, “Stories often have happy endings. It’s life that throws you for a loop.”

Yesterday, I answered my door and it was my mailman (yes it is a man) and he had the saddest look I’ve ever seen on anyone’s face who was not attending a funeral. Now first of all I have a mailbox in front of my house, so this personalize service sets off all kind of bells in my head. His expression was *so* not comforting.

He hands me a small form and says, “Sorry. It got lost,” and walks back down the driveway to his truck. It’s a 1099-misc. Since taxes were due on the 15th and I filed electronically, I understand the mailman’s “sorry,” because now I am basically screwed. (At least he didn’t smile.)

I stop the work I was doing on the computer and break out my tax software. You know the one I mean, right? The one from the company that couldn’t file its own state taxes correctly. Yeah that one!

Well, the 1099 turns out to be for a stipend, my most significant other got in February ’05 and that we’d forgotten about, so we filed without it.

Bottom line, after I did the amended returns for both state and federal, I now must write two checks equal to half the stipend amount on the 1099. PLUS, I am sure both will hit me for interest since I didn’t pay my complete tax on the due date. Let’s just say that at the moment, I am not a very happy camper.
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I also have a vent for Cingular who for the last six months has been determined to kill trees by sending me bills with zero dollars due as payment. But that’s for another day. After all, as my mom says, “it could be worse.”