This Monday has been a long one (and by the time I finish this, it’s sure to be Tuesday), but at this point, I know I’ve made some accomplishments.
Tonight I finished my income taxes. They are not in the envelope yet, but the “written-in-black-ink” forms are all done, and I just need to make copies before sending them on their way. Yeah, I know–I’m a procrastinator, but his year was all new to me. I’m not a 1040 EZ kinda guy anymore.
I had felt it was going to be a bit of a daunting task, but I also knew that by asking a couple of questions and reading all the instructions I could do it. And, yes, the 1040 along with Schedules A and E and–dum-ta-da-dum–Form 5405, the first-time homebuyer tax credit form AND accompanying supporting documents, are all checked and re-checked, laying on my kitchen counter. And I just want to say, if you’re chucking out bucks for someone else to do your taxes, unless you have a wide variety of financial goings-on in your life, you can do your own taxes.
I heard some tax preparation companies advertising on the radio that they would do 1040 EZs for $29. Hey, that’s why they call it EZ. Unless you flunked 2nd grade math, you can do the EZ forms and keep the $29 in your own pocket.
I know now that even with the additional forms that I needed with the 1040, next year I won’t procrastinate.
Speaking of ads on the radio, now with the commute to and from work, I’m listening a lot more than I have for a long time. I’ve mentioned before that Houston radio is pretty awful. I just have 5 stations tabbed (Is that what it’s called? It’s late, and I’ve just done taxes.): 104 KRBE, NPR, Mix 96.5, Pacifica, and Mega 101–kinda eclectic, I guess. I’m one of those guys that can’t leave the channel button alone on the TV remote, and I’m almost the same with the radio stations. And I love it that the button is right there under my thumb on the steering wheel.
What usually gets me home most evenings are the mixes from DJs Manny Lopez and Sunny D on Mega101. I’ve never gotten over dance music, and these guys definitely help make my drive home a bit more manageable. It doesn’t matter if you like music in Spanish or not; if you like club-type music, you’re going to like driving home with the music these guys put out.
This evening, though, I had a different sort of entertainment as part of my drive home. Over the weekend, I bought more bedding plants, and as I was checking out, the cashier said, “Hey, you got a lady bug!” Sure enough, there was a big, fat one right on one of the leaves. I paid and went on my way, took the plants home, but left them in the car for a few hours until evening when I could set them into the ground without the sun beating down. By that time, I had forgotten about the lady bug.
Then tonight when I got in my car and was driving onto I-10, I noticed this small, busy orange bit, right at the point where the windshield meets the dashboard. With me hurrying on my way a few miles over the speed limit, this little guy (some lady bugs gotta be guys, right?) kept trying to climb up the windshield. He’d get about 3 inches or so up and then fall onto his back and then rock himself to get back onto his feet. He kept this up, to no avail. I kept worrying that he was going to fall into the vent, but he didn’t.
The question is: Will he take up residence?
I wanted to try to rescue him, but me, (yeah, I know “me” is and object pronoun, not a subject pronoun), the guy that complains about distracted drivers on cell phones, was not going to do anything while cruising along among those thousands of other cars out there on the freeway. Finally, though, about two-thirds of the way home, I guess he got worn out from all his attempts at climbing higher and just stayed put right there in the corner between the glass and the dash.
When I exit the Beltway, there’s always a big line of traffic because there’s a stoplight about a quarter mile down on the feeder. When the vehicles stopped, I reached down for an envelope that was on the floor on the passenger side, stuck it gently under Mr. Lady Bug, and surprisingly, he climbed aboard. In the console was a little tin box that has been there forever, that still held one solitary, heart-shaped mint. I opened it with my other hand (no hands on the wheel, that’s not usually me) and slid my little friend off the envelope and inside.
Finally, when we got home, I took the lady bug, still inside the candy box shelter, out to yard and ceremoniously shook him out onto one of my tomato plants.
Sometimes, something as small as a lady bug helps put other things, like doing taxes, into a completely different perspective.
Filed under: All About H-Town (Houston), Cars and More, House Buying, It's What I Like, The VW Bug Chronicles | Tagged: 1040, 1040EZ, club music, commuters, dance music, DJ Manny Lopez, DJ Sunny D, first-time home buyer, Form 5405, gay, insects, KRBE, lady bug, lgbt, Mega 101, Mix 96.5, NPR, Pacifica Radio, suburbia, suburbs | 1 Comment »