Blog Number 197

Greetings and welcome to today's random thought.

5 days and no caffeine.  I still get a little tired in the afternoon but I am sleeping much better than I did before.  I think I have survived and now comes another hard part, not starting to drink coffee again.  History tells me that I will fail (usually due to a holiday or vacation).  Since I am on vacation starting next Friday methinks the "hey, you're on vacation" attitude will slip in and I will be back on the sweet black liquid by month's end.  I guess we will wait and see.

I received a letter in the mail today from the State of Indiana Department of Revenue.  This could not possibly be good news really so reluctantly I looked it over.  The letter explained to me that I made a calculation error on my state income tax form (IT-40PNR for Partial Non Residents) and that the details were on the back of the letter.  I flipped the letter over and low and behold there in black and white was proof that I made a $2,133.00 error on my taxes and now instead of owing $7 on my taxes the State of Indiana owed me $2,126.00.  Figure in the $7 check that I sent them based on the tax return I filed in April and the total the state now owes me is $2,133.00.  Logic would dictate here that since I did not even pay that much in taxes total, that there is NO way that this could be correct.  I called my dad (who does taxes) and asked him if he had any idea why I would get this letter.  According to him, barring some sort of earned income credit (which I do not qualify for) this was just a mistake.  He said there was nothing I could do to stop the refund check from coming so I might as well wait for the check and then when I am on vacation in Indiana just stop by a local branch of the Department of Revenue and sort the whole thing out.  Ultimately I found their error, they interpreted the line where I report my county tax as having an extra zero which accounted for the mathematical glitch.  More to come on this one probably.

After bath time and some home made ice cream the family sat down and played a game of Life.  The daughter had no idea what was going on and even had trouble spinning the wheel but we pressed on.  The son had the obvious lead most of the game and by a twist of fate I ended up going through mid life crisis and stopped being a doctor (at $90K per year) and decided to become and accountant (at $30K / year).  In the end the daughter was well over the $1 million mark but just shy of the son.  The wife and I brought up the rear.  I had a real shot up until my mid life crises and career change.

So in real life I seem to be getting a $2,000 check that I cannot spend and in the game of life I finished with a lot less money than my kids.  Either way, Life didn't do me any favors today.

Thanks for reading my Random Thoughts.

Jon