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Why do they do that when they have clean, fresh water in their bowls? Also, if our cat can escape and get in a couple of good bites of grass, she is overjoyed. My Granddaughter bought her a box of in-house grass which is meant for cats to chew on. Put it by her dishes and she wouldn't touch it. Put it on my desk and she thinks she is sneaking something. Likes it fine. Catherine, give yourself credit for even trying. I love music, but am not even that good at playing the radio.

Sigh. I have been working on a four-tune Scottish fiddle set for the New Hampshire Highland Games this September -- since last September. My instructor just added a whole slew of really excellent ornamentation and dynamics to the tunes. So now I've been working on adding those in. Thing is, my instructor broke her left (violin fingering!) wrist in *fourteen* places in February after falling on ice. She still made it sound easy and beautiful. With no broken wrist and no mobility problem I sound not *quite* bad enough to make the neighborhood cats howl. I don't think breaking my own wrist will improve my sound, though.

Thanks for all the sympathy and kind words. Yes, it is really nice to do something completely unrelated to taxes. I also use practice (in the winter) as a way to warm up when I've been sitting at this desk freezing my patootie off; it does an amazing job at warming me up. Ten minutes and I'm toasty (ceiling fan in the practice room for summer!). Plus have had a brain break and can go back to whatever was driving me nuts when I'd left off. I actually have one more eligible year to compete in the novice category but Gwen (who is WAY better than I am) got arm-twisted by our instructor to compete in the "Open" (=adult non-beginner) category. She is terrified of coming in last (highly unlikely; she's good), so if I go for the Open, she is guaranteed _not_ to be dead last! What's a little public humiliation among friends, family, and a roomful of complete strangers, after all?

You are WAY underpricing that client!!

How to get a ring off a swollen finger _without_ cutting the ring. By a doctor in the UK. http://www.wimp.com/removering/

A friend of mine degloved his ring finger getting down from his tree stand this past hunting season. I've got pics if anyone wants to see them! (they cut the ring off, but luckily he was able to keep his finger, although just barely.)

The opinion of neighborhood cats is overrated. Check out my daughter's cat Enzo, who knows what is important:

And if our neighbor caught you doing anything wrong, they would scold you as if extended parents.

I'm glad to live in a place where all of this still applies.

I always charged $10 per child return , and adjusted it if there were more than a couple of W-2's, additional state or self employment. It was worth the minimal amount just to make sure the kid di not do it by themselves and accidentially claim themselves. We all know how much fun that is!!!!

Thirty years as an auto technician. I NEVER wore my ring at work. When in tech school, we saw a film clip about "degloving" of fingers and worse. Didn't take much to convince me never to do mechanical work with my ring on!!

Because it's Yummy.

Our dogs do the same thing....

I love going to the Scottish games when they are here in August. The calling of the Clans, I could listen to Bagpipes and Fiddle all day! Keep up the good work and you will do fine!!! Nice to be involved with something totally unrelated to Taxes!

Thanks for the link, Catherine. That sounds like so much fun! I only remember Loon Mtn. for skiing when we lived in Boston. This looks more my speed these many years later.

I'm sure you will do great!!!

Just keep fiddling with the song till you get it right.

I don't think the comparison to Vista is totally fair--Windows 8 boots noticeably faster than Windows 7 from an SSD. Overall system stability is no different than Windows 7. Windows 8 performs better than Windows 7 on the same hardware, using less RAM and CPU. Judging by ATX's system requirements, the less your OS uses, the better. The start screen will probably bother people who (initially?) hated the Ribbon UI in MS Office 2007+ but I don't have any issues with it. If you still hate the Ribbon, I suggest you never upgrade Windows ever again. It's all over the place in Windows 8. I have heard rumors that Microsoft will give us back an option to enable the old start menu in Windows 9, but I haven't seen anything directly from Microsoft about it, so until then it's just a rumor. Metro/Modern UI probably isn't going anywhere. With tablet/mobile device sales eating away at the PC market, it's not surprising that they'll continue to shoot for a unified OS experience across platforms. Windows 8.1 smoothed out a lot of rough edges that were left in 8, and I think Windows 9 will likely continue to refine the interface. If you're waiting for Microsoft to reverse course entirely, I think you're going to be disappointed.

Hang in there, Catherine. There is a reason your instructor is the instructor and you are the student. Even those who eventually make it to Carnegie got there through practice, practice, practice. And now you have time for some more of that. I admire the determination to do something so different. My husband decided about 14 years ago he wanted to play the Celtic harp. So he bought a kit, built it, taught himself to play and a couple of years ago 'graduated' to a 5 ft. floor harp. He plays at the library, coffee houses, weddings, etc. and practices...a lot. Keep it up. I am sure you will do a wonderful job. We're planning a trip to New England in September or October so maybe we'll be in the audience!

I went to a Drake seminar this month. There are some very good points and it looks like a great program, but there was another preparer attending that was there to talk to them because of the issues that she is having with Nebraska and Iowa returns. These just began when she switched from Lacerte. She has contacted their tech support several times and they have not been able to help her. I know that they offer a lot with the program, but I do like the CCH research that is included in my Total Tax Office and I already have a website. I used a menu based program before ATX and I really prefer the form entry. In the sample return that was prepared on powerpoint I did see that Drake allowed the presenter to create an e-file without checking for the federal refund or prior payment.on the Iowa return. When I prepare one with ATX, I can't really miss it, because I'm looking at the form. They really did have some nice shortcuts, but you can't teach an old dog new tricks and I'm very comfortable with ATX. I had a good year, except for the one day that I was down for a few hours and had to call for a different tech. I hope that they get the server error fixed, because that was my biggest headache this year.

This is exactly how I handle these. Sometimes a little more sometimes a little less. I usually show the Fee on the parent's Invoice with a discount down to $25 to cover the costs. Though this year I had one that just irked me. High Income couple that due to her Student Loans requires her to file MFS so that eventually her loans will be paid in full as she is a teacher with her Masters Degree. There is a special program that allows the elimination of debt if she files MFS because it is based on just her Income. So that means actually 3 Returns, as I have to show them what MFJ would be like and what each files as MFS. Then I have to explain every line as to why it is better to file this way, what the tax savings are, etc, etc. What a struggle this year just getting paid the $100 I charged for all 3 returns. They asked to file just the wife's to get the refund on hers, and wait to file his (Always owes) and pay me when they get their refund. Then they thought I could do his 16 yr old son's return "If I was not going to charge them anything for it". This would have been a $56 refund. It just irked me me with their attitude, Together they make 4 times what our family makes. So I just told them that I could not prepare the return as I was not a "Paid Preparer" and suggested they pick up some forms at the Library.

For anyone who has not seen this yet. Look Up.

I do charge for those returns BUT a very small amount. I don't want anyone getting used to getting services for free, or thinking of my work as not valuable (even for a 2 W-2 and $14 bank interest return). I will usually charge the parents, and show what the return fee would be normally, then my (deep) discount for a multi-return family. I still sometimes have trouble getting money from the kids once they're on their own - they are used to having mom & dad pay. Which reminds me, I have a $30 bill to re-send to a client's daughter....

Renewed with Drake again Like you, I renewed with Drake. Easiest season I have had since I used to use TAASC.