IRS update

According to the IRS "where's my refund" page, I should have my refund by March 30! Umm... no. Nice try. In a perfect world where I remember to send in all the forms, that might be accurate. However, this is not a perfect world and I am far from a perfect person.

But at least the paperwork is in the process of being kicked back so I can send the re-worked forms to them.

Mom and I went to Belleville last weekend and I saw the chair I want to get. I can see myself in the summer, out on the chair and reading the Kindle.

That is my happy place.

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Local IRS -- Awesome

Federal Kansas City -- not so much.

I went to the local tax office to try and straighten out an error I made on my return. I am a first-time home buyer, so I had to file by mail. An automatic 6 weeks wait for a refund. I made a couple mistakes and a) had the wrong amount of the purchase price (well, there were three date and three amounts to choose from!) and b) I didn't mail the HUD-1 form with the return.

The local office has one woman there from 9AM - 3PM on Thursdays minus 12:30 - 1:30 for lunch. There are no plans to extend the hours of give her help, I guess. So this poor, lone woman has to brave confused and, I would guess, sometime angry taxpayers. Luckily there is someone else in the office but not waiting on customers.

This woman looked up information for me, checking to see where my paperwork is so maybe I can send the corrected forms directly to the proper people in Kansas City.

It seems that Kansas City is always going to be the bane of my existence. Anyway, the clerk found out that they didn't even start to process -- ie. shuffle around -- the forms to the proper committee -- this is a committee deal here -- until Feb. 15. To be accurate, since Feb. 15 was a holiday, this process didn't start until the 16th. There is no telling how long it will take them to realize they have to send me a letter saying they need my HUD-1. I can tell you from looking on their website it takes at least a week to open envelopes and place them in baskets since they haven't acknowledged receipt of my other forms yet.

The nice local lady gave me some more bad news. Apparently the IRS informed the "public" -- I missed the announcement -- that it would take an additional 2 - 3 weeks to process the first-time home buyer's forms.

But the woman at the local office said if I cam back in a month she would check to see if it was in the system.

Possibly another month before it gets in the system? Crikey!

I want my Kindle, dammit!

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C'mon IRS; I want my Kindle!!!

I started looking at e-readers when a friend of mine wrote an article about Sony's. What a concept -- reading books on a hand-held device; not having to go to the bookstore and not having to find a place for the books before or when you're done reading. Best of all -- not having to remember when AAUW is taking book and when they are not!

Then I saw the Kindle. Ooooh, ahhhhh, ohhhhh! I fell in love. Kindle 1 was out. e-ink and not back-lit were the attractions. I'm having eye strain problems and the Kindle won't aggravate that. It looks great, there are no hard copies to deal with, it holds lots of books, and Amazon is the supplier of the device and the books. What could be better?

Problem -- I like going to bookstores and browsing. Solution -- I still can. Not every book is available and not every book is suitable. Knitting books will still be purchased. If I see a book in a store that is available, I can d/l it on the Kindle.

I was able to get my hands on a Kindle 2 recently. I was also able to get my hands on a Nook. iPad has just come out and are marketing themselves as Kindle's successor. Sony is out of the running because it doesn't have and doesn't seem to be getting the rights to the books.

Kindle feels great. I think the DX is a little large for me but it has its attractions. It knocked Nook out of the running immediately. Kindle is easier to navigate with a lighter touch. It also feels better; the weight is better and the whole design just feels right.

The Nook is more difficult to navigate. The buttons aren't as responsive; there is an area at the bottom of the screen for a touch pad keyboard. Sorry, I want the keys. If the keyboard isn't showing there is a banner with the book covers -- not something I am interested in and a possible distraction.

iPad is simply an iPhone without the phone or camera. Backlit -- Big Problem. Too many apps; too much laptop; too big; too much.

So now that I've decided on the Kindle and I know my tax refund will be going for that, what do I do? Screw up my paperwork!

A month later I am still waiting for the IRS to send a letter saying they need more information. I had to mail the thing because I am a 1st time home buyer; that was bad enough. Then I forgot to attach the HUD-1 form. Now I wait.

C'mon IRS! I WANT MY KINDLE!!

Baby - come to mama.

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The rules

Rule #1: Sometimes people die.

Rule #2: Death cannot be cured.

Rule #3: Doctors cannot change Rule #1 or Rule #2.

Rule #4: When favorite writers use these rules to kill off a favorite character, they pisses me off! And they make me weepy. And they piss me off because they've made me weepy!

But I have recently learned Rule #5: I don't have to finish the book just because I started it or because it's the next in the series.

I was reading a series of murder mysteries that are, generally, light and fluffy, but well written with good character development. As I normally do, I bought two at a time. I had started reading the one before I looked at the blurb on the back of the next. "It's been more than a year since her husband Martin's death ..."

Well crap! I love Martin. I love Martin and Roe as a couple. Martin gets killed off by the author.

Now what? It colors everything in the book. I know he has a finite number of hours left. I know at some point in the book I'm going to be horrified and grief-stricken, then the aforementioned weepy. I keep hoping for some good moments between Martin and Roe, some soft words and tenderness that both Roe and I can hang onto at the end.

At some point reality finally took hold and smacked me upside the head.

It's a book and I don't have to read it! I can skip to the next one. There is no rule that says I have to put myself though this. I have enough sadness in my real life; I don't have to deal with the death of a fictional character if I don't want to. Unlike real life, I can skip over that part and pick up with Roe a year after the fact.

Tomorrow is the 22nd anniversary of Dad's death. I don't need to live through Martin's death by the same cause. Not now. Not at this time in particular. I give myself permission to skip that.

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