JohnH

OK. That settles it. This thread has set a new record for diversions. It has now chased more rabbits than my dad's old redbone hound dog did in his entire life.

While we're on the subject of unwanted paper, if any clients leave paper in your office that you don't want lying around, I'll volunteer to dispose of it. Especially if it's green in color and has pictures of presidents on it.

---> And, as a deputy sheriff client once told me, "They steal because they're too lazy to work." <---- Reminds me of an incident a few years ago when someone stole my Ford Crown Vic from a parking lot where I had left it while driving a rental car on a trip. The Crown Vic had about 200K miles on it and the front & rear seats didn't even match. The ignition switch was so worn that you didn't even need the key inserted to start it. They drove it about 8 miles, then abandoned it in an industrial park after kicking in the windshield. I was more amused than upset about it, and I asked the police officer why he thought someone would steal that car when there were so many nice ones sitting around it. He replied "Hey, I never said they were smart."

Forms-based data entry is much less useful than is commonly exposed. It frequently jumps to a supporting schedule anyhow. So Drake simply has you begin the data entry process where forms-based software ends up. I had very little trouble abandoning forms-based entry when I switched from ATX to Drake 5 years ago. Maybe that's because I had used Microvision before ATX, but in any event it wasn't a difficult transition. Once the user reaches a small degree of software transparency, it becomes very clear that forms based entry is seriously overrated. And the speed & efficiency gains are phenomenal. But that only becomes apparent after the user has invested sufficient time and energy in making the transition.

I'm just doing my part in the interest of security & efficiency.

I'm going to start doing all my paper returns in cursive. They don't teach cursive in school any more, and hardly anybody uses it, so most thieves wouldn't be able to understand the info well enough to steal any identity information anyhow. Now that's REAL security.

Besides, a small scratch won't render a paper copy useless.

Getting a little testy here, aren't we? Cut that out!

Yes, as soon as everyone dons their jersey and starts rooting for their political team, things go downhill really fast. May as well save that stuff for forums dedicated to it.

Haven't experienced that, but I doubt IRS would follow up in this situation.

I'd like to restart this discussion. My computer hiccupped last week after a windows upgrade, and I had to restart it in some sort of recovery mode 2 or 3 times before it got its mind right. (Really didn't know what I was doing, but I kept making choices until I got the system up & running and checked all backups). Now I hold my breath when I start it up each day, so I'm thinking about a new system. Any recent suggestions on where to buy as well as what to buy?

This time travel discussion reminds me of a story by Lewis Grizzard (southern humorist for any of y'all who didn't know him). Atlanta Georgia is on Eastern Standard Time, while Birmingham Alabama is on Central Standard Time. It takes less than an hour to fly between the two cities. A local in Atlanta went to the airport to inquire about traveling to Birmingham on his first ever airplane flight. The ticket agent said he would depart Atlanta at 11:02 am and arrive in Birmingham at 10:54 am. As the customer stood there contemplating what he had just heard, the agent asked "Do you want to buy a ticket?" The customer replied "Nope, don't think I do. But where does it leave from? I'd sure like to see that sucker take off!"

OK. Here it is...

(Tried to load a Far Side cartoon, but couldn't get it to work)

When I don' t recognize the number, I put it on speaker and don't say anything when I answer. If the call holds with no one speaking on the other end, I just leave the call connected on speaker. Eventually it hangs up, but at least I've saved one or two other people from getting an annoying call. If there's a live person on the other end who speaks up, then no matter what they say, I respond with what Katherine recommends - "who are you and why are you calling?" That keeps control in my hands. It also gives me chance to tell them to put me on the "do not call" list, although I know it's pretty much a waste of time to utter those words. I handle the "your computer's infected and we need to fix it" calls quite differently if I have some time, because they're a real danger to some people. I have some fun with those guys.

I decided to limit my work day on Monday by using only my Mac, mainly doing work in Excel and any online stuff such as checking email, web browsing, etc. I wanted to see how things developed with the virus issues before even switching on the PC. (I turn the computers off each night at my office) But that still brings on an interesting issue. Are Macs less vulnerable to viruses overall, or is it just that there are so few of them compared to PC's that hackers haven't yet taken a keen interest in them? Is there really a reliable answer to this question?

Just proves there are only 10 types of people in the world - those who understand binary, and those who don't.

Terry: You do have the correct plan to eliminate S/E tax by about $140, plus associated penalties/interest. Maybe a total of just under $200 total savings. The Form 8919 will probably work, and nothing will come of it due to the relatively small amounts involved. However, there's also the possibility that the IRS will contact the employer. Your niece worked there for two years, but can we assume that she isn't working there now and has no intention of doing so in the future? I ask that because if the IRS does follow up with an inquiry to the employer, that will probably end any future opportunities for her to work there in any capacity. I've had this sort of situation in the past, and when I posed that question to the taxpayer, they decided they didn't want to burn any bridges just to save a couple of hundred dollars. (minus my fee in those cases, but the decision was based mainly on the desire not to burn any bridges)

This business of ending a sentence with a preposition is an error up with which we should not put.

Another scam going around is a call from someone claiming to be a Federal judge who is telling the recipient that they failed to show up for jury duty and a fine is being levied against them. The victim is told they have a short window of time to pay the fine or else they will be put in jail, the fine will double, etc. It's amazing that people would think a Federal judge is going to call them directly and that paying with a prepaid Visa is a normal practice for paying a fine.

You said the amount is very small. Is the potential savings of S/E tax, penalties, and interest on that amount worth what you will charge them for doing the work? If not, maybe leaving things as they are is the better choice, even more so if the daughter has any expectations of ever doing any more work for the company involved.

Thanks Eric (and everyone else). Lots of very helpful information on this thread. I think I'm going to print it out. That "eye of Sauron" gadget sound pretty intense.

Thank you all for the suggestions. And I do have a Sam's Club nearby, as well as BJ's & Costco. Glad you reminded me.

I'm moving and have decided to replace my internet router at the new location. Any suggestions on what type, brand, specs I should look for. I don't need anything fancy, and the new home is all on one level, although I would like to get a signal in my back yard (about 20 ft or so). We don't do a lot of fancy internet stuff other than connect a couple of iPads, a desktop, and our iPhones. I'm thinking of just running into Best Buy or Office Max and pick up whatever is on special. But thanks for any opinions or suggestions.