Honoring Death

The year 2007 was filled with many deaths. I lost my stepmother, a friend, my cat, and our rabbit. Every death came with its lessons, grief and celebration. Yesterday marked one year since my step mother passed away. It was interesting to see how differently each member of my family reacted — or purposely avoided the subject. In her last months, her slow death

The Nerve of Some People

Imagine my surprise when I ran across my blog about taxes used on a site as if the owner of that site had written it himself? To me this was unconscionable, but I am told it happens often. The nerve of some people!! It seems that some people — some nasty, low, simple-minded, unethical people — will ’steal’ blogs about different subjects, then post them as their own material without even blinking an eye as to how inappropriate their actions are. Half the time the stolen blogs aren’t even related to the title of their site, but simply harvested to drive more traffic to themselves by using a variety of subject matter. How pitifully cheap and low is that? To the person who did this…just please know what a sad, little person you must be to have to get your material in such a low, disgusting way…and, yes. I reported your unethical behavior to your web host.

The Audit That Won’T Go Away

Okay, I’m on a roll here. This is the 3rd blog in a row about my audit. Here’s the latest….Like the conformist we all know me to be (yeah, I know, I need to work on that), I sent in my proof before the deadline the IRS gave me. When I spoke with them on the phone, they assured me they were a bit behind in reviewing audit responses, so I probably wouldn’t hear from them for awhile. To me ‘awhile’ means weeks or months, especially since the IRS person I spoke with told me they were just now getting to the responses for audits from last August.

I fell into a comfort zone about the audit, particularly since I did not do anything wrong. Turns out the only thing I did wrong was to relax about it. Next thing I know I receive a certified letter telling me that I must respond, in court, or pay fines and taxes for my ‘mistake’. What up???  Back on the phone again — multiple times actually, since they left me on hold for over 30 minutes several times and I just couldn’t wait. When I finally reached the IRS, they had the audacity to tell me I didn’t understand the letter I had. Can they read it through the phone? Did I somehow forget how to read and interpret? Please, I think not. Anyway, turns out they only received 2 pages of the 50 I mailed them!! In my cover letter I had clearly listed all the pages I sent them, but instead of just asking me where the rest was, they sent me a scary and (in my opinion) threatening letter. I guess I can thank all the non-conforming, dishonest tax-cheaters that came before me for the distrust the IRS has for me – someone they do not even know!

Their solution? Please FAX all 50 pages. Didn’t they say they wouldn’t get to it for ‘awhile’ anyway? Why the sudden rush?
I’m done ranting…for now…until I see what comes next.