Taxes

I lost my car today.
I'm not usually one of "those" types of people but it could not be found.
It was also freezing. The wind chill... oh my gosh. I seriously could have died from exposure as I wandered around the student parking lot. I believe that I was in the blistering wind for 7 excruciating minutes before I found it in the staff parking lot. I was honestly beginning to wonder if this is what it feels like when your car gets stolen, where you just wander around looking for it like it is your lost cell phone. What was I thinking this morning?

I have been taking a required class so that I can do taxes for free. It's been a little boring even for me, and I love taxes. The class has a lot of retired military men in it and despite their service and retirement from the military and all of those types of stories they could tell,  they talk about the odd or complicated taxes they have done.
"Back in '94 I had a couple come in to do their taxes only to find out later that their w2 was from 1991." And of course it's a one-upping game, "Oh yeah? I had a guy walk in with a sticky note from his employer instead of a 1099 form!" And then they argue about minute details in the tax law and have all the forms memorized.
"In Pub 4012 it says that you should print all 1040's in yellow."
"Well, John,  that directly conflicts with pub 17 that says they should be green."
"Well back in '72 they hadn't even invented the color green!"

Even if you don't know anything about taxes, you can see there is a lot of pride in the room. It's like hearing war stories - only about paperwork. These old men are cute,  though, and I love that they are still serving their fellow citizens by reconciling their paychecks to the government. Although one guy keeps having his cell phone go off. Someone needs to teach him how to shut that down. "Back in '64 they hadn't even invented the internet or cell phones yet!"

In the meantime, I'm at the AP table trying to get my test done so I can go wander around the parking lot looking for my lost car. I'll be glad when this training is over. I haven't had to wake up at 6am for 5 consecutive days since last May. Whew! This "working" thing is for the birds.