Month: October 2017

Exactly that. Lots of yard work today. Normal for a Saturday but today I also have lookers coming at one to see the house. Time to try and sell the house, again. After a year you would think this dump would get snapped up. Then the trees whisper a resounding noooooo. Damn trees. We have a place to go if it sells. It’s gonna be a yurt in the woods. Literally. And figuratively. A yurt is a real nice circular tent. Made famous by Genghis Khan and his cronies. A creation of the mongol hordes. Theirs were more mobile for moving across the plains of Mongolia. Ours will have a foundation. Of sorts. A wooden platform. Also some of the niceties of civilization like indoor plumbing, electricity, and the like. A luxury tent. A step above glamping. But first, sell the house. Anyone reading this, come on over, get a free latte if you buy the house. And a free squirrel.

Speaking of squirrels, we have several of these new ground dwelling vermin this year. Destructive. Smelly. Disease ridden. Walnut stealing little bastards. Emily thinks they are cute. I see through that carefully crafted veneer. They are hideous. My pest guy was out here going after the rats and I asked him to do something about the squirrels. He said poison was best but we have dogs and cats. No to poison. He did have a “blaster” to take out there tunnels. It semi worked. I think we are down to two of them. Of course if the two are a boy and girl, that could become 8. I hate all the vermin that make a home in my home. Also, the squirrels steal my walnuts. Off the tree or the ground. So I have far fewer for us. The rats go after them as well. Maybe I should cut down the walnut tree. I hate those little cretins.

It is time to start yard work. Lots of sweeping then mowing. Then clean up. Clean up the house. After 130, the day is mine. Big sale at REI and the Sacramento Intl Auto Show is in town. I love the auto show, lots of new cars and car show models. Can’t lose. Would normally go with my buddy Douglas but that dumb ass moved to nowhere Texas. No auto show there. I should get started now. Too much to do.

Sweeping all the crap off the driveway and mowing was an hour and a half plus. But I am done. Nothing exciting, cleaning the husks of the walnuts off the lawn by hand. It’s gross because the husks turn black and slimey. It’s disgusting. Using your hands is fun because black, slimey husks look exactly like dog poops. A real fun mistake to make.

After the yard work I finally got a shower. Emily came home from yoga about then. She is heading to work and I will be hosting the folks looking at the house.

I sat around for a half an hour waiting for the agent and four lookers. They finally showed up. I gave them an extensive tour of every part of the outside of the property. And, upstairs in the apartment as well. Nice people, they brought their folks with them. Her folks. And they were 81 and 78, but in great shape and able to climb up all three levels of the house. All had a great time and seem to like the house. I can’t say they want to make an offer but they were very positive.

They finally left, here over an hour. I washed my car. Emily came home about then. We decided to go to the movies. Only one worked by time, The Foreigner. A Jackie Chan film. The usual for him without any humor. We head d quickly down to Vacaville. Emily brought candy and nuts to mix with the movie popcorn. Going to our local cineplex has changed. Now you have to pick your seat before you go in. And the seats? Padded leather recliners with snack size tables. Crazy. And they sell booze too. I like most of this just not the seat picking part.

The movie itself was fine. I don’t feel I wasted the 24.50 I paid for two tickets. Jackie Chan is always entertaining while saving the world/his family/ the princess or whatever. Lots of people died. More got beat up. As I said prior, the usual.

Back home after, I cranked up the BBQ for flat iron steaks. Emily made salad and roasted veggies. Dinner was way better than adequate. Especially the veggies which had red peppers in them as well and were quite spicy.

We are now sitting around watching TV. I personally would rather go to bed and read a book. I will soon once the laundry is done.

30 mins later and still waiting on the laundry. Emily is sawing logs on the couch. I’d really like to just go to bed. But I gotta wait for the dog blankets so they have bedding in their kennel. I would not care much really but I know Emily does. So we wait.

Laundry mostly done. Me too. Dogs gone out to poop. Me upstairs to bed.

Finally, a Friday for real. Today is the last day of the work week. I need a day off. Especially after yesterday’s day off. That was work, considering all the driving I had to do. I am not sure why or how driving long distances can wear you out. It just does.

Not much going this morning. I had an early appointment to go to. I was running late, got out the door, he texted and cancelled. Yay team!!! So I had a leisurely drive to work.

I had another appointment, close after, he is selling his business for $4 million. He really wanted help structuring the sale payments. I offered to help him make it tax free. I think that’s better.

I worked for three more hours – had taxes to prep, my payroll to do, usual Friday crap.

At 330 my 10am cancellation came in. He was just coming in to figure out his year end and how to cut back on taxes. We discussed several options and he voiced his preferences. He is coming back next week to discuss a more comprehensive tax plan. I like that.

After he left at 430 I finished up another tax return. Then had a 45 minute phone call at the end of the day. Who the hell calls at 30 on a Friday? Jerk.

Drove home after the call. Lousy damn traffic, took over an hour to get home. Also a large car accident to deal with.

Emily and I went out to dinner, nothing special. It was late and we just wanted something to eat.

Home and to bed. I live on the edge.

It’s zip day!! I had to get up super early. Again, 2nd day in a row at 530. Quickly put the dogs out and fed them. Latte was not interested in eating anything. Stupid Poodle.

Straight upstairs and a quick shower. Emily woke up so she got out of bed early too.

Made breakfast for Emily and coffee for two. And I am ready to go. I am off to Santa Rosa by 7, right on time as planned. Turns out it’s really a good thing I left early. The usual just over an hour trip took 2 hours and 15 minutes. Traffic sucked or is that obvious?

While on my drive Emily called. Latte was vomiting blood. I will have to take her to the vet as soon as I get home. Emily has testing today and can’t take her now. Latte was fine last night so I am not sure what can come on this quickly. I hope to find out soon at vets.

I arrived at Marika’s at 915. I had a bunch of stuff to unload, mostly groceries. Emily loves to send food, it’s one way to show your love and support. Emily is way better at that than I am. Marika had gone to Starbucks and picked up coffee for me and her and a snack too. I had forgotten my food, diet bars, so I had to improvise. No big.

We drove off to Occidental. Quick trip, lots of fire trucks but not much traffic. Got there in 30 mins. The zip line guys had just called to find out where we were. I would have called them back from their parking lot but there is zero service out there.

We signed in right there in the lot. A pickup truck arrived to take us up to the zip course. We got a private tour today because no one else signed up. We even got an extra guide. Our lead zipper, Ben, tall guy with long arms (like a spider monkey) was a rather boring and conservative guy. Not fun really. Romina and Jessica were the other two. They were having fun. Sort of the good cop bad cop of zip guides. I tried to break Bens will with my usual fine humor and well timed jokes but I think he had no sense of humor. They dissed my shoes – huaraches, because they are open toed. I am still at a complete loss as to why you would need close toed shoes to zip line. I wore huaraches in Belize to zip and no grievous toe injuries occurred. They had no loaner shoes, having given all to fire relief. One of the guys lent me the shoes off his feet, quite literally. Yay Chad!!

The zip course is thru the trees, literally. There are platforms over 200 feet up in the redwood trees. Which feels crazy when u are up there because Redwoods flex like hell in the wind. It’s a little unnerving. Be that as it may. 7 zips to go. Plus two swinging bridges and a rope rappel to the ground at the end.

6F73D882-8796-482B-92D0-C6054499C7B4Marika really did well, I had been before so no issues. This course has no speed limit. You have no brakes till the end of each line when you hit the e brake at lines end. So it’s fast and fun, and you can screw around a bit on the way. Took about an hour through the course, nice morning. Started to drizzle a little at the end, well timed. We came to the bridge and Marika tensed up visibly. The path is a foot wide and about 50 feet above the earth. And they swing like crazy. In other words, fun. Like the swinging bridge in Skowhegan.
The rappel was no big deal.

There is an automatic device on the rope so it controls descent. It’s 50 feet straight down and u do have to step off into space. Maybe that could worry some, like my sister. She is afraid of zip lines. And dogs. Our guide Jessica was 4’9” and fearless.

After the zip course they drive us back to the parking area which now had 25 fire trucks parked in it. They get up late. We headed out and decided to get lunch. When you zip at Treetops they give you a coupon to the Union Hotel for free bruschetta. We drive right by it on the way back. Marika said no thank you so we drove another five miles and tried out the Fork Roadhouse. Well thought of on Yelp. Breakfast and brunch available. I ordered hash which I quite liked. Marika had a buffalo chicken sandwich so spicy she complained and drank several glasses of water. The place had a diner feel, booths and a counter

and no real table serice. Not worth a special trip but if I was close I would go there.

After lunch we returned to Marikas house and I had a quick visit and off. I had to get back to town to take Latte to the vet. Well, I thought the morning was a slow drive. But, now? I left at 1, got back at 4. Jesus Christ. Lotta car for one day.

When I got back, Latte was cured. She was fine. Better than fine. So no trip to he vet. I win. I sent out pics to Emily and Marika to let them know. That dog just wants attention.

Emily came home soon after I got here. She was impressed at Lattes full recovery. Stupid Poodle. Em went to yoga at 530. I went to the grocery store for vittles. Some veg, some fruit, some meat, the staples. But no staples.

I fried up some spicy chicken sausage. I made a Greek salad. I put the sausage on top of the salad. Et voila, dinner. And btw I fed the dogs and Latte ate double, so much for the dog not eating.

Well, it has reached the bewitching hour. That’s when we go to bed. Tonight that is 815. Hey, no jokes, I was up at 530 this am and drove all over hell and gone. Slowly, because of traffic. Remember? Anyhow, long day. Not sure why Emily is tired but she has already gone up to bed. My turn for lights out.

Middle of the week. Nothing going on. Doesn’t that sound fantastic? I am sitting here with nothing to do and nowhere to go. Nice. I was up at 5 f….ing 30 because Emily needs to be out the door by 630 to set up Breakfast with Books, as discussed yesterday. I like to get up same time so I can feed her and make her coffee. I am a nice husband. Of course, she is a nice wife. And she hasn’t kicked me to the curb in all the years since we first met in 1984. Yet. There’s always tomorrow. It’s still day-to-day. But, as I was sayin, it’s early. Really, I am sure I will “waste” my extr time blogging or doing chores. Or some such crap. Time saved one place is wasted in another. And what exactly is saved time? I don’t think it exists.

Today I am going to work. Mostly because I am taking Thursday off to go zip lining with Marika. There is a place in Occidental near Alliance Redwoods that offers a tree top zip line course. 200 ft up. This is gonna be awesome fun. As many know, I was in Belize just a few weeks back and zip lined in the rain forest. Not as dramatic as this but thats ok. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow. That’s not great, but not a show stopper either. Dress for the weather, shorts and sandals.

Did a lot of things prior to leaving for work. I cleaned out a couple weeks worth of emails on my home server, reconciled a couple months personal bank statements, cleaned up all the walnuts. This last bit, the walnuts, we have a couple of squirrels running around our property. They have been picking up the nuts, and storing them. By storing I mean they have been burying them in the potted plants on the porch. Also, they put about 20 in the garden hose pot out front. It has made collecting the nuts much easier.

I went to the bank on my way out of town. Quick deposit. Then off to Sacramento, I have a tentative lunch date with a client. On the way I stopped at another bank to deposit the rent checks for the Auburn property. That bank was downtown and I had to park 4 blocks away. A pain. But such a nice day for a stroll through downtown. Lots to see, office workers, politicos, freaks, homeless. Good times.

Finally I got to the office. At 140pm. Early. First order of the day, lunch. My date was a no show. Hey, lunch is too part of work.

Now I am into emails and phone calls. And daydreaming. Had a couple calls from my Dad about banking. His new account has an issue regarding hold times. Sometimes banks are a bunch of assholes. At least it is only occasional at Tri Counties. With Wells Fargo it’s all the time. He is trying to solve the problem. We will see.

I have two hours left in my afternoon which I hope to make productive. But this crap is not very compelling.

I took a call from my diet coach and we discussed my weight loss goals. She can see I have not been losing as I should. Too much cheating. We decided I should power through these last 5 to 7 pounds that I have left to lose. If I stop sabotaging myself I could have those pounds off in two weeks. We will see.

I made a few calls and also managed to finish one tax return. Yay. But my day is mostly done. It is 525.

I did call the contractor for the Auburn property. As many know, we will be renting the house that will be built on the land in Auburn. But, my job is to coordinate the build. The contractor of choice has decided to have a long talk with me in two weeks. From there, who knows. But it’s a start and I think good news. Either way, the start of construction will be April, approximately.

I am outta here. To REI. I need a 64oz water bottle not 32. I am supposed to be drinking 64oz of water each day per my diet coach. And once I finish he 32oz bottle I quit. So I am getting a bigger bottle. See Isn’t it pretty? I think it is.

I was only in REI for five minutes and off to home. I thought Emily would be at yoga till 715 but she was too tired to go. I found her watching TV when I got home. I fixed dinner, using my diet guidelines (sadly). We just finished and it’s only 730. I am sure Emily will be off to bed soon.

Tomorrow is my zip line adventure with Marika. I have to be out of here by 7am and on the road. Should be about 2 hours there and another 30 mins to the site. It is going to be fun. 200 feet off the ground and high speed. Better than adrenaline.

I packed up stuff for Marika. Some food and sundry items she forgot when she went home this week. Put them in the car so I don’t forget them. I would. Now going to bed.

It’s the day after. D day plus one. Personally, I lose all motivation to do anything at all work related once the deadline has passed. It may be human nature I think. Most of my clients respond to deadlines like Pavlov’s dog responded to the bell. Today will be a quiet work day. No one cares after they miss the deadline unless they can blame me for it AND it’s actually my fault. I run my life proving that wrong. I do not wish to pay someone else’s late penalties. It has happened but very seldom.

Anyway, few things work wise are planned for today. All the things that don’t pay me and all the personal errands I have put off. Gotta a tire going flat. Gotta talk to an employee. Gotta go to the bank. Reconcile personal checking. Go thru personal email. See a trend? Post-deadline crap. I have the same sense of completion from that as I do from work. Maybe a little different.

Back to breakfast, for those of you keeping score, (my dwarf sister Doriene does) I have switched diet pancake “flavor”. They taste far better than previous type. I eat them without cringing. I do so now. A much better start to the day. Weigh in is tomorrow and I hope for a better outcome this week. I dropped .5 lbs last week. I wish I had not been so “bad” on vacay this year. I would be in maintenance now and not in losing phase. Blame me.

Yesterday the light in my car that tells me my tire or tires are low came on. I had the tires rotated last week and all were brought up to proper psi. So when the light came on I knew I had a problem. You don’t lose that much air in a few days without a problem.

On my way to work today I went by my buddy Jim’s tire shop. He is on vacation right now in South Dakota. But, he left his manager Ernie in charge. I got there and they gave my job to the new guy. Nice but not too competent. He took the tire off and proceeded to look for the leak, because there has to be one, by pouring soapy water on the tire and looking for bubbles. In ten minutes he decided no leak. Then Jaime, a far more experienced tire guy stepped in. He found the leak in under 30 seconds. It was right on the bead next to the wheel. Which means, no patch, get a new tire. Great. They installed my spare on the car and I left my wheel with them. Ernie ordered a new tire. Come back before 6pm.

Off to work with a donut spare tire, looking ultra cool. At least I got that much. I know what you are thinking, Bill you always look ultra cool (unlike your sister) going to work. But, a donut spare looks stupid.

Almost ran out of gas going to work. Another warning light I missed. Caught it when I arrived at the office. Need to get gas before I leave. If I can remember. A big if.

Work was really miserable. I am hungover from last nights late beat the deadline charge and yawning constantly. One great thing, I received not one phone call today. I had an appointment when I arrived. A client looking for info on a company he invested in. The company is a client as well. He was disappointed to find out they are losing buckets of cash. I personally believe they will close up shop. Probably very soon.

He left happy with getting the info but unhappy with the info. Careful when you invest your $$. Easy to lose. Especially when the company you put money in has zero integrity.

My good friend and associate Hal Brown came by next. He was there to discuss ongoing cases we are trying to close and I have 4 or 5 more we are going to try and get moving on. We have two cases that should be closed within 45 days, with a substantial sum paid out at that time. Not retirement level pay out but still very good. One of those we have been working for over 18 months. That will be a sweet one. If only because it’s finally finished. And by finished I mean I only deal with it once a year.

Hal and I discussed what has been done, needs to be done, who needs a kick in the ass, the usual. It takes a lot of work and pressure on others to get the job done. We do things for people that save them millions for dollars in taxes. And we have to drag them every step of the way. Go figure.

We are meeting again soon to schedule a few appointments with the new prospects and again follow up on where the cases have moved to. It’s exciting having a nice payday in front of us. Just a months worth of stress and hard work and it’s ours.

The balance of the day was spent finishing other work I did not finish yesterday. Some had a deadline of yesterday but if you owe nothing, the deadline has no penalty and is meaningless. So a few returns like that and worked in some that had only partial info.

I am really exhausted today but kept working till the final bell. I left at 510 before everyone else. At which point I remembered my tire. So I stepped on it and jumped in to shit traffic to try and get there quick. At which point I realized I had no gas. It took 20 mins to go the four miles to a gas station in West Sac and tank up. I am sure I had a quarter gallon to spare. Back on the freeway and more traffic. Did I mention traffic sucked today? I called the shop and Ernie said he would be there well past six pm closing doing the sales input. Saved.

I got there at 615, Ernie opened the shop doors and we were off to the races. Seems the idiot in the am smashed up the spacer on back of the tire. So he had to repair by hand. Also, the idiot balanced the tire with said spacer still zip tied to the wheel. Ernie balanced it again. That’s why he is in charge. Managed to get it all done and off to pick up taco Tuesday. Jim, give Ernie a raise.

Evening was busy. Tomorrow is Breakfast with Books. An event Emily created for the kids at Tremont Elementary where she works. The kids come in before school and bring in a book to read as well. All Emily does is bring in breakfast for 200. That’s all. So tonight we got that ready. No big. I’ve been helping with it for many years and it has gotten much easier. Emily is good at it. Everyone loves it, we pay for most of it though donations have gone up quite a bit from years ago. Oh yeah, btw, my wife is a saint.

After that we had our taco Tuesday dinner. Always a highlight of the week. But gone very quickly. After dinner she tried to find a deal on a cruise for one of her class parents. We have travel agent privileges so can cruise the industry websites. We were only semi successful, we could not find the dates she wanted.

It’s not Tuesday without putting out the garbage, and dumping the cat box. Its a ritual in long standing. I can’t say I love it. Because I don’t. Done quick, I know what I’m doing. It’s bedtime and I’m going.

That was a song by the Mamas and the Papas. Mama Cass, John Phillips etc. means nothing in this context, but I want you to be aware it’s Monday by day and post. Remember the joke about Mama Cass? If Mama Cass has shared half her ham sandwich with Karen Carpenter they’d both be alive today. Lol. Maybe you had to be there.

Today is the final deadline of 2017. About damn time. I won’t have anything pushing on me till 2018. I look forward to tomorrow and a more relaxed workday and this coming eeekend when I don’t go to the office. That will be fun. I will be able to do all my chores (skipped mowing last weekend) before it gets dark (washed cars in the dark yesterday). Something to look forward to.

It’s now almost 9 am. I have received four calls from people coming to see me today. I am a popular guy. Today. I hope they all bring money. Then I will be glad to see them. Shhh! Don’t tell anyone I said that.

It’s that time again. I am going to go ready myself for battle. Wish me luck.

So I missed a little blog time today. It’s 1125pm and I just got home. I was totally slammed all day. I was working constantly from when I got there till I left right after I filed the last return (mine). I really had no time to look up or blog down. But I’m glad it’s over. Peace in my life through Christmas. No heqvy work till January. I forget how nice that is. I prepar d or finished about 20 business and individual tax returns today. I had about 6 clients come in to get theirs done while they wait. Too many. I am so happy to be done. Did I mention that already. I just finished my dinner. Ice cold. Tastes great. And I am going to bed.

It’s 830am Monday morning and I never blogged or post s yesterday. So this will be a quick Monday morning quarterback version of yesterday. Mostly, I am too damn lazy to create a proper Sunday.

Made breakfast for Emily, coffee for all. Went to work, worked till 5. No excitement at all.

Emily made an excellent dinner, no surprise there, baked fried chicken, which is not yet same as either baked or fried, with sides. Rhubarb cake with ice cream for dessert.

Did the dishes. Went to bed. Ok, that’s the Cook’s Tour.

Saturday is another workday. I have discussed this in prior posts. Yard, office, chores, etc etc ad nauseum. So why look forward to it? Emily is working today as well. We work too much I think. I think retirement comes when you are finally so sick of the day to day, you just quit.

I am going to skip lawn mowing today. Even with all the watering, it’s not growing. You may ask, why water it? Because the wind is turning it to dust. The lawn crunches a little as you walk on it. Not a good sign. We are currently in a “red flag warning” which means wind. No gentle breezes. It’s blowing about 35mph here, very consistently. Gusts reaching twice that. I can say, it really blows. Some siding has ripped off the house. Which means water infiltration when it rains. More work. Probably done on a Saturday.

So what of the fire, you say? Well the Wine Country fires seem to be yesterday’s news. I just finished the newspaper. All fire articles are backward looking. No current stories, no looks to the future of he fire. He stories of the future are the hard work it will take to rebuild. I think if journalists find nothing scary to write about, nothing is going on. Fire not out but fire not exciting at this point. And, I read the Saturday paper, written yesterday, which means it’s been calm for a day. Things can change, but journalists’ job is to sell papers. Using that as a guide I guess it’s mostly over.

As I have said, I need to go to work today and finish tax returns. I have quite a few to do. Good news is I get paid when done and can use the cash. This time of year is when I go broke. I have to build up cash so I can get to January without running out. There are no more rent paying deadlines between 10/15 and 1/31. Deadlines make clients move, they move and I get paid. It would be a great time of year for another vacation if I only had the cash to pay for it. Wow, listen to me whine. I kinda like the sound of it.

Before I go I need to SSS and I am sure Emily wants me to wait for her to get home. We will get a little time to say hello and get her all set for a windy as hell Fall Festival. This is the annual fundraiser for her school. She also sells her handmade jewelry, plates and clocks too. Good exposure for her work.

I am off to first S. Wait for me.

So I’m done and ready to go. Waited for Emily to get home from yoga. She hit home about 1030. She got dressed and I packed some crap. She was off to Fall Festival and I went to work.

Easy Saturday drive to work. I have a new app that shuts off my phone while I’m driving. So all drives are now peaceful. Though I may be missing important calls. Just like the old days when no one had a cell phone.

When I arrived my phone started working again. Sadly. Had a client call, he is now coming in to meet me at 230. Just what I need, see some client who has non deadline work. Great. What a true waste of my time.

I was reasonably focused today, just do 2016 tax returns. As many as I can till I’m done. So I did. Except for client visit at 230 for 45 minutes. It’s easier to get some things done than put them off. He is happy till tax time.

I had another onerous task. Some PITA bookkeeper for a clients business need dna fixed asset r con for some past tax year. The client is fine, her bookkeeper is demanding. As if I actually care. I could tell her to pound sand but I do not wish to upset my client. She seems to think her bookkeeper is worth a darn. She is not. But it took 30 more minutes out of my day. Again, its done.

Finished a few more returns. Emily called about dinner and I went home at about six.

We are having leg of lamb That’s the finished product. The leg took 3 hours to cook. Which is not so normal. We did not eat till 9. But it was worth waiting for. I think Emily prepares a very nice leg of lamb. Her mother does too. May be genetic.

We have just finished the dishes and some laundry. Like I have said, Saturday is a work day. We can now head off to bed. Job well done and all that BS. But done. Like me.

Today is the day before Saturday. Pre Saturday if you will. But, I feel it can only be Friday when Saturday is a day off. I will be working all day Saturday and Sunday so this just can’t be Friday. And it’s sad. Of course, I have had to put up with this for 30 years though I never seem to get used to it.

I got up this am and have noted that the skies are clearer, I can see the hills for a change, no haze. The hills are about 12 miles out. It still smells like a wet campfire outside. And a drug one inside. I am hoping for the best with all these fires that are close by. Then the paper arrives, the Chronicle thinks it’s Friday. Maybe they are just trying to sell newspapers. The TV news is full of scary stuff too. Again, not sure what that know. The firefighters are alarmist but that’s a professional sickness. I know, I was a firefighter. Seems like it really is getting better on the firelines. We won’t know till some official says we are good. People these days worry so much that they will be called to task for what that say that hey just keep saying what is safest. So danger imminent or not, they go with dire warnings. If nothing happens, it’s all good.

It must be deadline time. I have received no fewer than 25 text messages this morning about taxes. The people who wait are very special people.

I was greeted with a text, early this am, with a common worry. Goes something like this, “you forgot to include my ‘whatever’ on my return!!!!! Omg!!! What will we do?????!!!” Then I hook in online to my office and find I did not forget a damn thing. This annoys, but does not anger, me. I don’t mind because it means the client is actually paying attention. That’s good. Unfortunately, it means they are worried and questioning my ability and that annoys me. I just can’t win. But, panic is common among late filers and they continue to panic even after I am done. It’s a way of life for them. That’s why I don’t see them till October 12. They have to panic in order to do their taxes. If it’s not an emergency, it does not get done.

Just a picture of a visitor. She will follow you around. And I’m the only one moving. So I am blessed with her presence.

I managed to get moving and took a shower. And finally was able to sort my shirts. Marika helped me go through all my shirts. The rejects are going to the fire refugees. She is in charge of getting it to Santa Rosa. I was able to really clear out some drawer space and help humanity at the same time. Someone call the Nobel committee. I need an award.

After all that excitement, I went to work. Almost. It’s Friday so I took the convertible. Marika is here at home so she took the S2000 for a race around the “neighborhood”. She said it was for fun. I managed to pry her out of the drivers seat and go to work. Drive was nice, top down on a semi warm day. I like cool days top down. You can run the heater if needed but be cool at the same time.

I was late for my first appointment by at least 20 minutes. Oops. Amin seemed ok with it. His was a final appointment just to finish and file the tax return. Not too much.

Another appointment followed on his heels, a local plumber. He did not have all his info so I was unable to do anything at all. So he left and will come back when he has his stuff.

Another appointment, see the trend?, followed. A couple, Dylan and Sarah, he cleans pools and she goes to school. And 20 minutes later I was done. Some are just like that. Quick.

Dylan was followed by his mom. His mom is a client from way back. She is the owner operator of the pool service company that employs her son. She tagged along with him instead of making her own appointment. Smart move. She had all her tax stuff with her and ready to go. So I was able to completely prepare her taxes right there while she waited. I wish all were so quick and easy.

After she left I did the usual administrative tasks. Today is Friday so I prepared payroll. Paid a few bills. Filed some paper. Made a few calls. Nothing exciting. I will be back tomorrow.

I raced home, top down, at dusk with my sunglasses on. Was amazingly fun and almost invigorating. Emily texted about dinner. I text s back Tapas. Which his here favorite place. More so than even Thai. When I got home I realized Marika was stil there so no top down drive to Winters.

We go to Ficelles in Winters for Tapas. Served only on Friday nights. They also serve a mean Sangria. Which is also a favorite. Theirs is very good. Also a reason we like it. We got he usual spread of things like:

Hanna’s, stuffed poblanos, polenta with roasted veggies. Good stuff.

We ate our fill and headed home. Again, no top down. When we got home Emily headed to the glass house to finish up some jewelry for Fall Festival tomorrow. That’s a fundraising fair held at Tremont elementary where she works. All day tomorrow. It’s fun, but I have to work. Deadline Monday. Marika went up to watch TV, surprise. I am blogging. And fixing lights around the house. Seems a surge kicked the breaker and burned a few lights out. Not a huge problem.

I am going to put the dogs out and go to bed. Maybe read a little. Who knows.

I am used to the wind. I live in wind central, USA. Winter time brings gusts up to 80 mph. This most recent storm tore siding off the house. Not the first time that has happened. So I woke up this am and the wind is blowing. Around the not cal area this is known as the Delta Breeze. Breeze my ass. It’s a joke, I think. And we are all in on it. Gusts are hitting about 50mph today. I am willing to bet that the fires are blowing up wherever they are still burning. My daughter is still here and I would hope she stays here. The wind here is nasty but the wind in Santa Rosa where she lives is actually dangerous. I hate the wind. I am leaving it here when I move.

I went to work at the usual time. I managed to prepare tax returns. Make phone calls. Receive phone calls. Scan. Copy. Collate. Thrilling, isn’t it? For 8 hours. I managed to go to the bank. Had lunch. Maybe you can tell from my description it was a rather lackluster day. I would have preferred exciting but it just wasn’t the day for it.

Marika stayed home today. She went absolutely nowhere. Too windy and too smoky for her and her asthma. She slept till 11 and hung out with the dogs and watched TV. Sounds better than my day. She did leave for a little while when Emily got home. They went out for groceries.

When I got home I had a package waiting for me. I purchased all weather mats for Marika’s new car. In red to match her interior. They fit perfectly, which surprises me. Most times it seems custom fit isn’t. But this time yes. And so pretty.

I helped make dinner and drank a little wine which makes you a better cook I think. We had pasta, which is something I never order. We have not made any for a long time. It was a spinach ravioli with a white cream sauce, spicy sausage, onions and mushrooms. With a nice salad. And a little more wine. For digestion.

After dinner Marika washed dishes, I dried and Emily put them away. What a team. Stellar.

Tomorrow more excitement in the world of accounting. Three appointments and more tax returns to finish. Be still my beating heart! I will be working all weekend to finish up all returns by Monday. At least I can predict my future.