A few Measly Steps a Day #2

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tart Cherry Jam Winsight? Is this your coinage? How clever!

Well, thanks for that. I have quote from Steinbeck's journals on his writing warmups that he regretted we were past the time for the creation of new words. I was a little shocked coz I must have missed the memo.

John Steinbeck, Journal of a Novel. East of Eden Letters.
pg 9: And one thing we have lost—the courage to make new words or combinations. Somewhere that old bravado has slipped off into a gangrened scholarship.

I enjoy making up words or attaching my own meaning to accepted words. I'm now exploring achieving two wins with my investing: one financial, one psycho-emotion. I call it my Twins™ approach.

And that is brilliant, too.

How glad I am that I joined this thread

I also like the feel of pen on paper. I find that my writing style using a computer is different from writing on paper.


Meanwhile - I'm writing a lot. some of it is editing, and a lot of it is first draft writing. The first-draft work is hard, but I'm doing it and enjoying it. Yay!

Yesterday we did our taxes. Yay! We come out about $50 ahead. I was worried because I'd withdrawn some money, and I was afraid we'd be owing a lot. On the fun side, Tom brought me some walnut burl,and we spent the afternoon sawing, sanding and now varnishing them. (Polyurethane)
I'm getting tired in the middle of the day which is a drag. Taking a nap wrecks my sleep cycle - which has been pretty good lately, thank you, thank you.
And finally, slowly but surely, I'm completing the chores on my yuck list.


Good stuff to you all.

I have been paying for Living Writer for a while but using it only occasionally. Now, I have downloaded a desktop version and an Android app, and I write more. I still spend more time than I would prefer checking email, Facebook, Telegram channels, and various messaging apps, but I do not spend as much time on all of that as I used to. I am writing more now. Eventually, I will need to stop writing haphazardly, i.e., jumping from chapter to chapter, and spend time planning and organizing, but that is for a little bit later. At the moment, I just wanted to share that I have made a measly amount of progress.

I have also downloaded a paid version of Grammarly because Living Writer support recommended it. Living Writer does not have its own built-in spellchecker, unlike Google Docs, so I decided to spend some money in order to avoid doing what I used to do: write a chapter, and copy-paste it into Google Doc, have the Google Doc highlight typos, edit, copy-paste the cleaned up version and drop back into Living Writer.

Grammarly makes some suggestions that I accept and others that I dismiss. Overall, it distracts me from writing, but I think I will get used to it with a little more time.

Howdy. My replacer hat arrived and just a day later I used it during a rain shower. It did it's job, and is currently drying out.

For writing programs, we have Scrivener and ProWritingAid. I drafted an essay in 2017 on Scrivener and it mostly did OK. It's feature-rich is translate into Learning Curve Steep. With a due date looming, it seemed distracting to have to remember special features or commands. I just wanted to write.

ProWritingAid works with Word and Google Docs (I think only on the Chrome browser). And then there's Ai. For instance: I might give it this:

9.15 pm
tennessee w, chair.
attending: truman c, harper l, & groucho m.

truman moved we rent a van to visit blanche.

all approved.
9:22 pm
---------
Give it this prompt: recomposed these notes and minutes. And get this:

Here’s a clearer and more polished version of your notes and minutes:

Meeting Minutes
Time: 9:15 PM
Chair: Tennessee W.
Attendees: Truman C., Harper L., Groucho M.

Motion: Truman C. proposed renting a van to visit Blanche.

Decision: Motion approved unanimously.

Adjourned: 9:22 PM
-------

I did not want Schrivener specifically because I did want a software with a steep learning curve. The other title is new to me.

I have a spell check that catches a lot of my mistakes, and misses a lot of them. It's flat out wrong a lot of the time, too, so a human definitely has to spell check the spell check. (haha) Recently, copilot showed up on my screen. It will rewrite something - a sentence or paragraph. I tried it a couple of times. I got two good sentences out of co-pilot, but most of its hints were not helpful. The biggest problem with copilot is that it doesn't use my voice. Another problem is that it changes the plot. I do wonder what the future of writing is. AI makes sense for business writing.
But what about fiction? I'll bet you could start a story with a vague idea of the plot, and let AI write it in a couple of weeks. (If you're better at using a computer than I am). Maybe I'll try it some day. I'm sure I won't like it, but I'd be curious to see what came out.

Meanwhile, Tom and I are collecting burls. We're removing branches that stick out and most of the bark. Then we're coating them with polyurethane. The plan is to sell them at a plant sale fundraiser for our church.


See you guys later.

Another update:

• Find an employment attorney to review the terms of my termination letter. Well, an attorney did look it over, but he doesn't specialize in employment law. The state Department of Labor (DOL) couldn't recommend anyone, but they referred me to the bar association website.
• Identify popular skills I might lack and self-train (Python scripting?) IN PROGRESS I'm teaching myself Python in my spare time. And I applied for a job training program through the DOL. The program is either one that pays, or it allows one to collect unemployment benefits without having to actually look for a job.
• Apply for jobs ON HOLD*
• Network IN PROGRESS -- ongoing
• Total up the dollar amount of the severance package 30% DONE-ish. It's only 6 weeks cash salary, but I'll also see accelerated vesting on two stock grants, and there a "refund" of a mandatory salary reduction that took place last year. ON HOLD
• Figure out insurance matters DONE Signed up for COBRA. Need to send a check for first month's dues. BTW, I was unable to compare it thoroughly against the Marketplace plans because the compare feature wasn't working.
• NEW: Use the legal plan to create a will and an estate before I lose the benefit. CANCEL I think that benefit lapsed on my last day of employment. So that's over.
• Think of more stuff to do and write that down IN PROGRESS -- ongoing

* The reason things are on hold is because my wife is in the hospital. I woke up one morning to find that she collapsed on the LR floor. So right now my fulltime job is patient advocate.

Oh my goodness! Thankfully you were there to find her on the floor. Imagined had you been traveling.

I do not travel. I check that she's breathing every morning.

Anyway, she's on the mend. Hopefully she'll be back home soon. And maybe we'll get some support, such as a home care aid, and state disability.

SPG, you seem to be holding up well, given the events and added worries. Sending much healing and recovery vibes.

A grrrr! yucksville day. Working on taxes with TurboTax (TT) and thought my data was imported from my financial institutions. No o o, and a quick search on their help support forum finds others with similar issues.

TT staff unhelpfully write you can always enter the data manually. Well, yeah, you can do that with a "paper" return, too. Importing is an advertised and handy "feature" when you get it to work, TT! Feature means I'm buying a service I'm not getting.

This adds confusion, time, and a more than a pinch of anxiety (did I mistype? leave something blank that should be filled?).

B r e a t h e, remember You can do this, B r e a t h e.

And furthermore,

What galls me was I thought I'd crossed the hardest parts! This broken feature tumbles the work back down the hill. Semi-helpful I've been reading about the Sisyphus myth and thoughts of that brings a wry smile.

SPG I'm sorry about the scare concerning your wife's health. You say she's on the mend, so yay for that. I hope everything goes well with her health. And I hope that everything goes will with dealing with your job issues. May you land in the perfect job. I remember your posts from several years ago. You always sounded so happy with your work.

R. Good wishes. Taxes are the yuckiest.


Hi, TCJ!
Me - yucky church issues - aphids and black mold. And other stuff. I was doing what I needed to do, and suddenly got overwhelmingly tired. Okay, back to work.

Thank so much -- we need all we can get!

Thank you. She was discharged today.

RE; taxes

Did I mention that I did my taxes with the H&R Block online program. Almost.

After I entered everything, it did a fancy accuracy check during which it displayed a magnifying glass moving over a cartoon document. Finally a target appears and an arrow lands a bullseye. Actually it did that twice.

As you know, before you can file the return, they make you pay for it. Which I did.

However, when I clicked "File" it told me that the EIN was missing from a 1099INT. After two agents tried to help me, I was unable to find a way back to edit the return. Apparently once it's finished, it's FINISHED.

When I connected with the third agent, I explained the problem, told her to wipe out the data and give me a complete refund. She complied rather quickly. But still I wasted a few hours on it.

I ended up using one of the programs recommended by the IRS: OnLine Taxes (olt.com). I had to re-enter everything of course; -- this was a beech because I had to redo the cost basis for 16 sets of shares that I sold. But I like the program so much better because it shows you the actual IRS form. Really all it does is calculate the fields from the data you enter and files it for you. There was no cost to do the Federal; 9.95 for the State. Another advantage, the site responded immediately. The email for two factor authentication arrived before I could switch to my email tab!

Strangely, the refund amounts were slightly lower than what HRB calculated. (Why, I entered the same data?) But considering that HRB changed me $149 (plus tax), I ended up with more cash at the end (assuming the return is accepted and I get the refunds).

I plan to use it again.

Talking about the spell checker that gets it wrong. I was writing an email to my friend about my plans to fry a steak.

The spell checker wanted me to say dry instead of fry. I refused and went back to fry. It then corrected to try.

What's wrong with frying a steak? Don't lots of folks do that?

The steak came out delicious despite the interference from the spell checker.

TCJ, had to smile at your struggles. Most spell checkers have a drop down menu that offer "ignore" as one of the options. Sometimes I hit "add" and see what happens. I can only tag this to bleary eyed coders who never had to cook.

I'm bracing for a jaunt into the snares of our turbotax s/w. SPG, the IRS has been in a long tussle with Intuit over their "free" offers that really are not free. They may have a similar beef with H&R.

Intentionally taking longer today to get up to speed. Pulling together evening and arts activities that have dropped in my inbox I might attend. Reading a bit more of Muriel Spark.

Middling good news: a gig I do reviewing late-draft books before publication had a 2 week delay. Ah, breathing time.

Hi, Guys,

I'm 79 years old, and I still have fits when I have to file taxes. I do it the expensive way - H & R does the whole thing for me. I just bring in the paperwork. I still get the heebee jeebees. So good tax wishes to you all. It sounds as if you'll be done before you read this post.

IRS no longer refers filers to TurboTax or to HRBlock. One click into IRS.gov you can find recommendations on how to File either using "IRS DIrect File" or "IRS Free File." The latter uses a "partner tool"
Here's the click: File your taxes for free | Internal Revenue Service

I used to do exactly that. But it turns out it's more effort for me to gather everything together and then plant my butt down in an office at a certain time than to just enter numbers myself. I'm just too scatterbrained for that.

Hi steppers, I do my forms in the desktop version. I have Turbotax Deluxe (lots of stocks, ETFs, & options trades to import, etc.). Printed out my copy of just what's being sent, currently printing out "their copy" to sign and mail. I don't transmit my SSN and tax info to internet cloud data bases.

When Equifax, the credit rating company, got breached, and the US Social Security Admin got breached, well, I still do what I can, and keep an eye out.

Getting a surprise refund. The numbers are all in and confirmed, so there it is. Had to manually answer questions on my trading this year which I never saw before. The chit chat on Turbotax forums seems to suggest this is a bug. Other users have posted their workarounds and discoveries.

In past years either I had an operating system too old and punted to another brand, or I found a bug and had to find a work around. One year, it refused to credit my K-1 income from my partnership and I had to overpower it and make it accept it tho it kept doubting it. A couple of years later I was watching Tom Daschle getting grilled in his senate hearings for the Secy of Interior post. He had underreported his income, and he said he did his taxes himself trusting the software he had, and it messed up and didn't add-in his K-1 income. So, I wasn't the only one, I just noticed it.

I don't like the paperwork and the uses and abuses our taxes are subject to. Doing my own work, though, allows me to take my time and educates me a little each year on the tax code. I also just know if something feels off, like with the K-1 bug.

2 more returns after this: a 1 pager for the city and helping my partner get hers completed. I'll do the City's tomorrow.

A few years ago I had sold equities for the first time ever in my life. I received them from my employer as RSUs. And I had paid taxes on the shares when they vested.

When I reported the capital gains (as a good citizen does) I didn't realize the cost basis was set to $0. So I greatly overpaid on the taxes. I had trusted HR Block to take care of that for me. But the fault was mine, not HR Block. The cost basis was reported on a different supplemental form that I wasn't aware of.

But then the broker gave a webinar on the whole process, so I was prepared for subsequent years.

The City said it preferred we record our return via phone dial-in. Did it in all of 15 minutes.

For the last, she promised this weekend. I'll have to be "on call." It's funny, as I'm often distracted with either boredom or other matters when I put away dishes and food, the same person who implies with her tone & womansplaining how to put on a tupperware lid can't manage a simple tax return with out competence handy. I guess I'm an overnight genius.

The 2nd round to our condo owners dance returns in 30 minutes. Also, learned our bookkeeping vendor has really been bought out, the old owner is "staying around" through tax season, they didn't get any info from our previous staff contact, don't know their access codes to manage bills and payments, and our new contact wasn't briefed on the contract expectations! Naturally, when vendors don't get paid they run to the board and pressure it, as they should.

What a mess,
what a mess,
what a messy, messy, messy, mess.
[var. to a Laura Riding Jackson poem]