Mosh Glass

It’s monday morning, about 8am. I have not posted since Thursday unless you count the week old post I just put up a few minutes ago. I forgot. Sorry.

This morning is gray and cool. The view still stretches to the snow capped mountains on the gmfar horizon. It looks cool and in my fatigued state I could sit here staring at it all day. I won’t. Got to head to work.

Emily left for Disneyland with friends yesterday morning. So I have the empty house to myself for a couple days. Wonder what I will do? Maybe work.

This past Friday I had an early day. Left the office at 6 (the horror!) to go out to dinner with Emily. Funny thing, I have only lived up here not even two months and almost every day I go home very late. I drive in the dark. Duh. Today, heading up hwy 49, I felt lost. Everything looks different in the light. I even missed my turnoff because I did not recognize the road in daylight. I need a job with better hours.

Emily and I had dinner plans at the Indian restaurant in Old Town. A friend had suggested it to me and recommended as well. We are used to having excellent Indian at a restaurant outside Dixon where we used to live. So we have high standards. Well, it was as good as our fave, buffet had all the usual foods. Emily ordered the Chicken Vindaloo which was excellent. Next time I may order off the menu as well. I can’t say the place got me totally excited but at the least it’s another choice on a Friday night. I did try the pistachio kulfi dessert. A few months back I had tried my hand at rhubarb kulfi so I had some interest. Btw, kulfi is a frozen dairy dessert, more of a flavored milk base than ice cream. Still creamy but rather hard. It was good. Mine was much better. That doesn’t seem right.

We returned home after dinner. Buttoned things up and went to bed, before 10. I get to sleep in.

Saturday we got up at 630. That IS sleeping in. I have to take my car into shop to replace my lock actuator. As the car steams toward 250k miles, things break. I did not make coffee this morning I figured I would buy a cup. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, before our visit to auto repair we went to see our real estate agent. We are selling the Hammond Ln property and today she wanted to discuss what we are doing. I don’t understand the marketing, that’s why I have her, so was not sure why we needed to meet. But we did. Discussed a few things and went to the property to check it out. Again.

Our lot is on the American River Canyon and this morning, early, mist rising, I realize how truly beautiful it is. I will not miss the bullshit Placer County variance process. That’s why we are selling and not building. But, I will miss the dream of what it could have been. That is sad. Agent thinks it will sell for north of 400k. That would be a tidy profit so no room for sentimentality.

Left the canyon and back to reality. Went to auto repair and dropped car. Then Emily drive us home so I could pick up another car to drive to work. The thrills keep coming. I drive Marikas car, trying to keep it in shape. Wanted to get it detailed too which turned out to be a pipe dream. I went to work, stayed till 1030, then home. To bed.

Ahh Sunday. And again, no newspaper. I have called a million times and they just can’t seem to get it done. Of course, by call them I mean their call center in the Philippines. They are polite but get norhing done. I have tried calling whatever number I have stateside and still nothing. I am going to try again. The one number I can’t get is the local distributor. I think I could get them moving if I could talk to them.

We went in to the car dealer Sunday to pick up my car and to test drive a new one. Emily has grown to dislike her new used HRV and we are looking at a Civic. I can see a new car in our future. We got there about 930 and I got my car keys. Then we found a salesman to help us. The guy we had been speaking too was out with a massive case of poison oak so he was not gonna be back anytime soon. We cruised around Auburn, car was nice. I liked it. We decided to buy it, but, of course, Em wanted a few extra features. So we ended up upgrading our choice to a more plush model. Did not cost much more, and she is driving it, not me. I liked the first one. So we have a new car. She is driving it to Disneyland today.

We drive home, stopped at the bank for a check in the way, got home and I got ready for work. She got ready for Disneyland. I left for work with the dog, can’t be home alone on such a long day. Emiky left for Disneyland.

Worked all day, no big. One visitor, a pizza guy, not much else going on. Worked till 1030. Home and bed. Another thrilling day/weekend.

I notice I am no longer regular with my posting. For a couple years it’s been every day posting. Last month or so, post every other or every third day. Sorry for the inconvenience. I been busy in my real life which has not lately seemed so real as it does surreal.

Yesterday was a regular tax season workday. This means I could tell you what happened without even having had the day. The work days are the same. Head down working, early to late, until to exhausted to go on. Then home to sleep 5 hours. Repeat. Endlessly. I know, you want to be me. It was also a Monday which lets loose the dogs, I mean clients, to call and harass me. Clients mean well (I think) and just want my full attention in their crap so they can be done and destress till next year. But there is a long line and everyone gets cross. On mondays I get all the pent up demand for my attention in the form of calls and emails. I really have grown to hate this shit.

So Sunday was like that. And it did not vary at all from every other day thisbtaz season.

I got home at 1115. Ate meatballs and potatoes and went to bed.

Mans speaking of rrgilar posting, I wrote this post five days ago and never published it. Oops.

I wish. It’s just Thursday. I do need to get dinner reservations for tomorrow. That would be Friday. Which is the traditional start of the weekend. Bud, I work Saturdays and Sundays. But, only 3 weekends of abject misery are left on the books for 2019. Is that a positive thought? Difficult to discern.

I have two full appointments today. Clients come in and talk for an hour. Plus a short in person appointment and a short call as well. Last two just to finish up their returns. Not much of a day. I hate it in advance. Want to buy an accounting firm? Hell, it’s free to a good home. Or a bad home.

Right now, morning is open. So I am sitting here enjoying sitting here. Drinking coffee. The view is reasonably spectacular. And weird. The ceiling outside is a very low layer of ominous gray clouds. Rain clouds. But I still have a 100 mile view under that. I can see the snowy mountains that far away and very clearly. Weird and spectacular, as I said. In a few minutes I will surrender to my day and start to get ready. I hate this shit. Work, I mean. Q

Had a nice ride to work. It was raining but not too hard. I got to work kinda early, for me. Then I worked all day like usual till 1030. Only thing that sets this day apart, I brought my dinner. Tandoori chicken with veggies. Otherwise, day same as every other.

Left for home at 1030. Got there and went to bed

Emily is picking up from the carniceria tonight. This is a slight difference from the last few hundred Wednesday’s because we usually taco Tuesday it. See, sometimes it’s not a Groundhog Day. Slight change but that’s all it takes. I still look forward to it even after all the years we have been doing it.

Besides this I believe today will be a repeat. Too bad. Leads to a short blog post when you can remember nothing.

I readied myself for battle in the same manner as any warrior. SSS. And the like. It is raining today so I drove the Fit. It’s my rainy day car. The R currently has dry pavement tires on it and is not suited for the rain.

I stopped at Starbucks for a bucket o’ cheap coffee. I go there for volume and to Missions for quality and taste. And Starbucks has greater speed of service. And mediocre coffee. I don’t complain.

Back on the road. My car is over 249k miles. I am thinking of having a party for the Fit when it reaches 250k. I can’t remember another car I have had that got this far. I love my Fit and truly believe it’s the greatest car ever made. By that I mean MY Fit. Not all of them. Though the model is an excellent car. I think about this a lot. After tax season I am installing a supercharger in the old girl. She will be a street racer in her golden years. Me too. Someone has to drive her.

Ahh, work. Land of milk and honey! Wait, that’s not work. Work is salt and poopy. I am easily confused. Now it’s Groundhog Day. I have no appointments. I think. None on my phone calendar. But, getting to the end of the day now, 5 appointments showed up. All an hour apart. And none in my calendar. Wtf? I think my phone erased them. That has never happened. Truly weird. I even searched through the whole month and even last March and next March. Nothing. Strange. Whatever. I saw all. Took in work. Late afternoon no more appointments. As far as I know.

So, worked till 10. Had several very late calls. This is common as I get closer to deadline. Clients get more interested in being done and become more available. Thank you. Finally.

As I have for two months, I left for home around 1015. Fast drive since most fools on the road late want to get somewhere. Now.

Good news, Taco Wednesday!! Carnitas and Chile verde with all sides from Lupitas. I love taco Wednesday. As much as Tuesday. Which is only six days away. Oh boy! Yes, I acknowledge the weirdness. I just don’t care.

I finished up the Chile Verde and a little of the carnitas. Some beans. Some Mexican salad.

Went to bed. Tried to read. Gave up. Hey, I’m tired. Sleep comes more and more easily.

Yes, I know it’s usually taco but I have leftover Tandoori chicken to take to work with me for dinner. I hate having to take dinner with me because it’s like surrendering to the long day coming. I already know I won’t be leaving early. Have I mentioned how unpleasant my job is? Oh, I did? How many times? You are correct, that’s a large number. I will try to stop.

Not much going today. At one pm I have a visit in my office with two IRS agents. One is a complete piece of crap and the other is fine and respectable. I am not sure why they are bothering to come. The one guy? A Group Manager at the district office, has already decided to disallow a 250k charitable deduction my client gave. But he still wants to meet and discuss. I’m busy, don’t waste my time please. POS government employee has no concept of time. Gets paid no matter what. And, the other agent, the auditor, did not agree with her boss on this issue. Why am I here? It will break up my day at the least.

The rest of the day will be like every other day. Emily said it, tax season is Groundhog Day. Like the Bill Murray movie from many years ago. The day just repeats. Every day I wake the same, do the same, day the same. No changes. And then I attempt to blog the day. No wonder it can be so tough. In the book that preceded the movie, the day lasted 10,000 years. Yikes. Feels like it here. Of course, in the movie, Bill ends up with Andie MacDowell. Seems nice. Though If I slog thru 10 millennia of this crap I would want one hell of a payoff.

This morning I had a call with my buddy, Hal. We went over today’s audit. Hal has been trying to get the original attorney on this charity plan to call me and get in on the IRS meeting. Attorney is not calling back.

Hal and I have other cases in the works and we discussed all of them. Seems like we might get paid this year on a couple. That would be nice. Just hope todays case goes well.

So, as a prequel to the main event at one, I worked on taxes. Yes, I know you thought I would say I had a cocktail but I didn’t. I wanted one. Hell, I want one now and most days as well. But, no liquor till Emily’s birthday. It’s on 4/15 so it’s well timed.

At any rate, I worked. Just kept working up until the two agents showed up. I took an instant dislike to the Group Manager. He was a little guy prob only 5’5”, and from first blush I would say had small man syndrome. Now I know why he is in the position he is in. He likes to have the power that life took away from him. Asshole. We had a long discussion, at least an hour, during which I surmised he will be disallowing the deduction. Mostly I would say because he can. What my client did was a common and accepted method of giving a charitable contribution. But this twerp knows he can just be a dick and see what happens. So, what will happen? We go to appeals. Then tax court. Will cost client time and money to do so but in the end we will keep the deduction. The IRS is trying to win by attrition.

At the end of our meeting I tried to ask a couple totally unrelated questions regarding another tax situation and of course the little prick refused to answer. This tells you how well he understands the mission of the IRS. Something about helping taxpayers. Just not him. He is not a helper.

After my appointment, it was Groundhog Day. See above if you don’t understand. Same all the way to 1015, which is when I, as usual, ran screaming from the building to my car and disappeared in a cloud of tire smoke and exhaust. I exited swiftly.

Same drive home, no stops. It’s unsafe to stop on the freeway anyway. Home. Emily has not made dinner, it was just leftovers. I love leftovers. I ate them cold, cold is good, while standing at the counter. No matter.

It’s bedtine. I attempted to read. No. Sleep instead.

Friday was get up late. The kids and I are going skiing at Sugar Bowl. I am doing a half day and then going to work. Too much work as always.

Emily stayed home , she is sitting with Latte our 17 year old poodle. Latte hasn’t been eating, or moving or going outside to pee for the last 2 or 3 days. She seems sick but our regular vet was not overly concerned. He examined her by video. But she is definitely out of sorts. This morning more of the same, she is just not good.

Kids and I headed up the hill to ski. It was a great day to ski. And, best of all, I kicked Michaels ass up and down the hill. It was like being young again. Like I could remember that. But it was nice to be young again and competitive. I had a nice day skiing and watching the kid flail.

Back at home Emily had to take care of the dog. She really went downhill during the day. She has been unable to stand or walk and going outside on her own is not happening. She is going downhill. Emily is taking her to the vet this morning while we ski.

Turns out we were not alone on the slopes. Yes, I know there are other skiers but my bro in law is here today too. He has been texting me intermittently with his location. We have not been able to hook up as of yet. Not that I want to. He and his wife and my nephews are here. But it was a great day of skiing. Half day. Wait, better, when buying my ticket the cashier asked if my ticket was a senior ticket. I said…um…yes. $21 discount!! Cha Ching!! Sweet ass sweet!

Back at home, not so good. Latte was not well and deteriorating. She had stopped walking and was becoming non functional. She is adding to her problems as the minutes passed. When Emily got her to the vet she was almost completely shut down. The vet examined her and said he thought it was her time to go. Not often that a vet does not try to save every animal he sees. So Em ended up pulling the plug.

It’s difficult for all of us, the kids and me because we werent there and hard for Emily because she was. The dog was 17 for God’s sake. We have had her since the kids were little. And, she really has been Emily’s dog, they just got along together like best friends. Probably best that Emily was there at the end. It’s tough to describe all the things a dog is to you. I mean without crying. There was enough of that. Emily called each of us, and cried every time. We were still sad and occasionally crying on Saturday. Maybe not Michael, he seems emotionally stunted at times. I am still looking for her every morning and don’t find her. I know that goes away but I don’t really want it to.

I left the ski resort at about one. I have a three o’clock appointment at the office so I should arrive on time. Michael and Carly stayed the day and drove around the lake to South Shore for some party with a college friend. That means lots of drinking.

I stayed in the office till 11pm. I know fun. This tax season has been the toughest emotionally of any in my life. Not exactly sure why or what caused it. Maybe I am just easy to quit, pack it in, go home and stay there. Not sure. I still go and get work done and press on. I am responsible and will do all the work I have been asked to do. But I truly am ready to quit and roll up the tents. I may soldier on a few more years but I can see me quitting in a year or two before I go completely off the tracks. My lawyer once told me I was a stand out of the self employed. High stress, take on all risks, do all work for over 25 years. In her experience not many lay that long. I know why.

So, Saturday. My in laws are coming tonight, and sis in law Dee. The old folks are headed back home to Maine and we are their first stop. The five of us are going out to dinner, not to our first choice place, but to a wine bar in Old Town Auburn. I have never been a big fan of wine bars cuz there’s no booze. I may not even want any but want the choice.

So about 4pm I left the office. The only reservation I could get was at 5. Places up here fill up quick. You have no idea. I got to the restaurant at about 440 or so. Same time as Dee (sis in law). Hey, great news, they just got their upgrade on the liquor license and have liquor. By just I mean today. They have four bottles, vodka, rye, gin and tequila. Four. No mixers. So, dry rye Manhattan. Because I can. Dee had a dirty martini. They did have olives. Quite nice.

The other three got lost walking around looking for the place. How? I have no idea. Old Town is a 2 block stretch. How hard can that be? Very it turns out. They showed at 515 about ten minutes after we sat down. Allowing us to order apps and wine before they got here, eat some bread, usual.

Our waiter seemed quite familiar. Had an accent, maybe fake. Turns out he was the waiter at a very small and cozy French place in Folsom we had been to. By the waiter, I mean the only one. Six tables only. One chef, the owner, and him. But now he is here in Auburn. Small world.

The rest of our group joined us. It was Dee’s bday a couple days ago so there were some gifts. We read menus and drank wine and enjoyed ourselves. The dining room is is a gold rush era stone building with swinging steel doors. No one knew what it used to be either a morgue or jail or cold storage (bodies), no one sure. But it’s kinda fun. They had a propane heater running the whole time, I imagine it’s damp as hell without.

A fine time was had by all. We left full and partly drunk. Not to bad. Dee headed home and the rest of us up the hill to our house. Where we sat for a few, Em and mom had more wine, Hank and I did the sitting. We lasted about 30 minutes and went to bed.

Next morning, was the send off. I had ground up the corn beef from St Pats and we made hash. A favorite, esp when it’s so fresh. Couple lightly cooked eggs on top. Yummy. We only do this once a year and that’s it.

Folks left a little after breakfast, Hank always chomping at the bit to get going. Not sure why, he is retired over ten years and has nothing to do. But hurry off is his thing. They are going to Newport Beach to visit Beth’s sister Joann before making a big left turn and heading to Maine. Hank, again, is in a hurry. Again, why? The house is still packed in snow and the weather awful. The high there today is 34 degrees. I am sure he wants to get a jump on all the chores he won’t be doing. He is over 80 and not capable of strenuous work. He hires it out. But still needs to get them done now. Again, why?

After the in laws left, I went to work. Worked till near 1030. Had one visitor for about an hour, client with biz and personal returns. I have been doing his accounting longer than I remember, prob since 2002 or so. We get together once a year and have a talk. We see and speak only briefly during the year. So it is with most clients. Anyhow, it breaks the boredom of a long day.

Hot home about 1115. Emily had made Tandoori chicken with saffron rice and asparagus. Nice meal at 11pm. I ate quickly, cleaned up and went to bed.

Its still Thursday. Now 1040 pm, post dinner. Michael and Carly arrived, finally. I picked them up after work, after because I did not go back. I had, again, worked all day, trying to finish more tax returns. My day was the same as the last several days so I won’t beat it to death.

I left work at about 720 and the plane was coming in at 740. I figured I would be late. Nope. Took twenty minutes to unload the plane and another twenty to get them to the car. I was early. I d rove all around the airport because those TSA losers won’t let you wait for passengers. That would be way to easy and convenient.

So I drove around, visited the free parking, went to the gas station to use the restroom. Drove some more. Texted the kids a few times. Until they finally got to the curb. Then I got to drive to the terminal. I waved at the TSA guy. All fingers.

We had a nice ride. I drove the race car today and let Michael drive. He seemed to enjoy it. I do. He had his issues with the car but seemed to catch on. He does not drive a stick every day like me.

We got home about 9. Emiky had dinner close. Since there was time, I made cocktails. Just perfect. Dinner was sirloin tips and Caesar salad. Very good as always.

I baked some cookies for dessert. Our oven burned half of them. Yes, it was the oven. Convection. The bottom was hotter than the top. Bottom burner. We ate most of them anyway.

Now we are watching TV. I am ready for bed, and we can get up at 630 since Emily is not going to work. I will be sleeping in.

I am getting very tired of my work life. Tax season is awful and I seem to forget how bad it is every year. I think the seven or eight months is just enough time to wash away the pain and suffering heaped upon me by the poor and misguided educational choices I made as a youth. Next life is gonna be different. Today will be more of the same. There will be too much work, all non memorable, until I am too tired to continue. Then I go home, eat dinner, and collapse. Wash, rinse and repeat.

I must give a shout out to my friend Cissie. Why you may ask. Because she wants and needs a shout out. Hi Cissie!!

I am sitting here and it’s Wednesday morning at 8. I need to get moving. For the last hour I have been texting, blogging and talking on the phone. I need to be driving to work. So off to shower.

Ok. It’s now Thursday morning at 7am. Emily just called from her drive, I can tell she is lonely and emotionally unwell. She thinks her dog is dying. The dog, Latte, is 17. So Emily’s worry is not misplaced. But, Emily has had this response to a sick Latte many times in the last few years. Who is to say now is the time? No one knows. Sooner or later (prob sooner) Emily’s worry will be well founded. She even started worrying about our other dog dying because Latte is. The worry hits extreme quickly. Latte peed in the bed last night. Didn’t eat her meal. Is lethargic (is that even possible) more than usual. She could just be sick. I don’t know. Our vet is a four hour drive. Stay tuned.

Back to what I was saying. It’s 715. Yesterday I worked all day. Went to the store around 5 and got a gift for sister in law Dee. Then back to work till 1030. Then hone. Eat. Sleep. See, days never change.

Today will be different. Tonight at 740, Michael and Carly arrive at Sac airport. They are not coming to visit us. A friend of theirs is doing something and whatever and they are going to that. But, I am picking them up and they are spending the night at our house. Emily is making a nice dinner, of course. It’s their first visit to the new house and we want to make it special. Michael never visits. Have not seen him in at least a year. Loser. Why did I have children?

Tomorrow we are going skiing. Not Emily, she is going to work. She doesn’t ski anyway. So a half day on the slopes should be a blast. I am betting it will be good at least. At about 1 I will head to Sacramento and the office for a couple appointments and work till 1039 again. And all day Saturday and Sunday and on and on.

Don’t want to get ahead of myself. Day is young and I gotta go grind corn beef. And get ready for work.

It’s a beautiful day. I hear it’s going to warm up then rain later on. I will be inside for 14 hours so it hardly matters.

I was thinking this morning, I do that sometimes, till my head hurts. But, I was saying, I was thinking about what I do every morning. Feed all, incl pets, get Emily ready, etc. same thing every day. Habit. Don’t have to remember, it’s just response. Well, not quite. Our dog, Jaxon, had Leptospirosis a couple years back. Almost killed him. Left him with not much control of his rear end. He poops and does not know it. His habit is to do it outside, if he can get there. He needs to go out immediately after eating. Immediately. I get that. Emily gets it. So why do we have so much trouble remembering it? Our bad memories are reinforced in a nasty way every time we forget. Like this morning. I forgot. And Jax did his thing. Inside the house. It’s lovely. I remember everything. Why not remember dog goes out. It’s a mystery.

I took a load of cardboard to the office this morning. My building has four large dumpsters for tenant use. So I make free use of them. It’s been handy during our move especially since we have only one garbage can at home. Our last place in Vacaville, 3 cans. There, never full up. Here, often full day after can is emptied. Mostly due to cardboard. In Auburn, all garbage is sorted somewhere else which is def old school. I am used to the multi can system where I do the sorting. Strangest thing of all, I had the same garbage company in all three towns, here, Dixon and Vacaville. Nothing is standard. I should ask my friend Kim about this. She works for the garbage company. Maybe it makes sense to them.

No big things today. Went to work, stopped for coffee. I need coffee. Spent the day chained to my desk doing taxes. Like every other day. I can’t wait till 4/16 when I get my life back.

Michael and Carly are visiting, not us, and we will see them Thursday night. I am skiing half day with them Friday morning. They leave for some event with friends and return on Sunday morning. Like I said, they are not visiting us. Michael moves long ago and it’s like not having a son. He just disappeared. Strange.

I should skip to the chase. I finished work and left the office at about 1020pm. The days work is not worth reciting. Meetings, calls and work. That’s it.

It’s Tuesday and Emily did stop at Lupitas for take out dinner. Our fave carniceria in Dixon. As I have said, herr in Auburn there is no decent Mexican food. There is better than other, but nothing beats the food you get where the Mexicans live. Which is why we get ours in the flatlands. It’s just better. Actually far better.

So tonight, home, and there is Chile verde, costilla de puerco and carnitas. Fantastic. I love this stuff. I would say a little bit of home but my new home is here. And none of this is around.

I filled up on my faves. And went to bed. After sleeping so poorly, I expect to be dead all night. We can only hope.

The wife tells me it’s supposed to rain this week. And the boxes from storage will be ruined if they stay outside where we left them. I think this is the passive aggressive method of saying will you please take care of all the boxes. I prefer direct since I often don’t respond to these hints. This one I got.

The black cat has been super annoying this morning. She followed me from the bedroom to the kitchen in spite of the bowl of kibble I set out for her. Jumped on the counters a few times while I worked. Ran around the house in a mad dash. Came back when I finally sat down with my coffee and cakes and would not leave me alone. Kept getting up and down, lap to floor, while I sat there. Did I not say annoying? She is not interested in the food, just the pestering by head butting me and rubbing on me. Of course she followed me to the bathroom and did the same thing in there while I sat. I think an 18” square box and some tape would solve the problem. But who do I ship her to?? I’m kidding, relax.

So, I am putting boxes away before I leave. I had to rearrange the shed contents to get them in because Emily is not the efficient Jenga/Tetris type packer that I am. I used to work on a loading dock, packing and unpacking truck trailers. You get good at it. After boxes I am going to Salvation Army on my way out. It’s Monday, they gotta be open, right? Then to the office for fun and games. One more month.

I made it to town. Lots of time till first appointment so I stopped for a large cup of coffee. I like going to Starbucks and ordering a Large (or Medium), whatever. I hate their size system for its illogical inconsistency. It mixes size names with numbers which in a classification sense is horrid. So I use my own consistent system. Today, it blew away the cashier. Success. It’s the little things in life. And I still get my coffee.

Back on the road to Salvation. I arrived at 920. The store was open, the donation station, closed. So I phoned them, why get out of the car? I asked their donation hours, M-F 5 to 9. So, I asked, do you mean 9 to 5? Yes, oops. Ok, so I told them I was out back and sign said closed. My protagonist said wait he will show up. I asked how long do I need to wait? She then got it done : I will find him and send him out. Thank you. I was thinking, why must I work so hard to get you to do your job?

He popped out quickly and seemed perturbed, curt even, that he had to help. I have been here before and they get pissed if you try to self drop with no help. Why is this so difficult? I was friendly, he can have his attitude, I don’t want it. I dropped off the old microwave and sundry items. My job is done.

Pleasant drive to work and left early enough to meet my clients on time. They drive from Red Bluff so I like to be available on time. We had a nice catch up on things. They are older and retired so we mostly discussed their health problems more than anything. It makes them happy.

Balance of the day was taxes and all that goes along with that. Mostly just information gathering by any means available like phone, text, mail, email. Then sort it, make sense of it and report it. Can be tedious but it’s what I do.

Today I worked till about 1020. I tried to leave at 10 but circumstances intervened in my well thought out plans.

At 1020pm there are no traffic issues. It was 80 mph all the way. Except on 49, that’s a little slower.

Stopped at Safeway on Bell Rd, still open. Good to know. Picked up bread and a dinner salad for me. Emily did not make dinner tonight. No big deal.

Home, wolfed down salad and read the mail. Went to bed.