Death, taxes, and computer glitches

It’s that time of the year: tax time.That always gets me thinking about the saying about death & taxes. You know the one ” in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”  I think we could add computer glitches to that original statement, which was written by Benjamin Franklin in a letter in 1789.

Last year, when I loaded the tax software, it warned me that I would soon need to upgrade my operating system. And yet, I still loaded it this year without upgrading, just n case. Of course, this year, it told me I couldn’t proceed any further without the upgrade.

As easy as it would be to upgrade to High Sierra, I was a little nervous. I worried about what could be lost, so I backed up my files and bookmarks before I clicked on that which needed clicking. After all the clicks and buzzes subsided, all was well.

Relief swept over me and a few days later, I did my taxes and felt doubly satisfied.

A few days later, feeling confident, I clicked on the Systems Preference icon in the dock that indicated there were updates and went forward with the updates.

Of course, that is when that hammer dropped.

I don’t know what I did wrong, but suddenly all was not well.

I followed the directions on the screen, quitting the installer, but the same message kept returning. I shut down the computer and hoped that, tomorrow, all would be well. It wasn’t.

I awoke the next morning feeling anxious. Once more, I tried following the directions. Once more, it didn’t work.

I felt frustrated, but persevered rereading the instructions in case I was misinterpreting the directions. Once more, I quit the installer. In a flash of insight, I wondered if I need to restart the computer myself, not just assume that quitting the installer would be enough. I clicked on the apple icon and chose restart. Sure enough, it worked.

Although I felt relieved, I still feel a little anxious each time I turn on my computer. Every day, the anxiety diminishes a little more, and I am sure, before too long, I will not worry at all – until the next time I see a number on the Systems Preference icon.

 

 

Patience rewarded

I have been patient.

I have tried not to think about it.

I tried not to check.

But I can’t pretend I haven’t been a little anxious since I received (and responded to) the letter from the IRS.

I checked again a few days ago and saw this message:

I was almost giddy reading it. I have to admit that part of me, a fairly large part, still worried the IRS letter was masterful plan by identity thieves. You hear about things like this all the time and wonder how people could be so gullible. I worried I was one of those gullible people.

On Wednesday morning, I saw this message:

 I checked my account immediately. Sweet relief swept over me as I saw the scheduled deposit. I said a little prayer of thanks, worry lifted from my shoulders.

Tax Season’s Greetings

Maybe there’s something wrong with me, but I have always enjoyed doing my taxes. Perhaps it is because I usually arrange things to get a refund. I like to think of it as forced savings.

My taxes are not very tricky. I have a mortgage and make a few donations every year. I don’t have investments, capital gains or losses, or anything complicated. They are simple enough that I can do them myself. Doing my own taxes gives me a sense of satisfaction and self-sufficiency.

These days, I use tax software, but I didn’t even mind it when I did it paper and pencil.  There is a orderliness and neatness to the process. I am not an especially orderly or neat person, but taxes make me happy. I am much more of a word person than a number person, but I enjoy doing my taxes. My OLW is contentment, and I experience a sense of contentment when I do my taxes.

The fun part of using the software is watching the refund calculator in the upper left corner change as I type in my deductions. When I did my taxes with paper and pencil, I always did my rough draft in pencil and the final in pen. It felt daring, like doing a crossword in ink!

I need to give some credit to my grade 13 geography teacher, Mr. Terdik, who taught us how to fill out the form in the days before the Internet. He felt that it was important to graduate from high school able to do your own taxes.

I know that this is a busy and stressful time for accountants and tax preparers. I wish them well. And I wish you well, too.

Best wishes to your home from mine this tax season.