Jitters
January 27th, 2005 at 6:41pm |
The internet and e-mail is back up. I felt like a smoker going off nicotine. Just as I was getting ready to do my normal routine of checking e-mail and blogs and generally goof off this morning, my connection went down. And the cable was down, which is presumably why my internet was down.
I can breathe again. And perhaps do my taxes online tonight.
Now that I’ve gotten back on, it’s anticlimactic. I don’t have this burning urge to do anything any more.
Posted in Awake
Ah, taxes. We’re hoping to do ours this weekend, too. I actually kind of look forward to it, as long as I am not expecting to have to pay. We use H&R Block online, which makes filing amazingly simple and usually cost-free (well, not entirely cost free), if you opt to have them take their fee from your refund.
I did my taxes, and it was a little less painfree than I’d hoped. Probably because I was doing it for the first time, and it came up with an error but wasn’t really clear about what the error actually was. But it worked out. And I guess under normal circumstances, I’d be mad about having to pay $50-60 to file my return, but it’s less painful when they take the amount from my refund. The only problem was (and the reason it was more money) I had to file for two states. And they wouldn’t let me e-file for the second state. I also wrestled with TurboTax, which wasn’t giving me the best answers about filing for the second state. I should’ve stayed with TurboTax, I guess, but I got too entrenched in the process. And am ultimately just glad that most of my money will be on the way within a week or so.
For almost a week after moving, I had no TV and no computer and therefore no Internet. I thought I was to die of boredom. Where were my windows to the world??? But now, all is good again. I have a new computer. I have DSL. I have 190 channels with HBO and Showtime. I feel like I can breathe again. Amazing what you take for granted!
I haven’t used TurboTax. You might try HandR Block on-line next year. It’s simple to use, and as long as you don’t forget your password and username, the next year after you use the website, filing your taxes is even easier because the site will retain all your previous personal and tax information. And it’s only $25.00 to file, so $50.00 total for both state and federal. If you go to an HandR Block store, they simply use their website and do for a larger fee what you yourself can do at home on your computer.
Shel, I feel for you. Imagine all those entertainment choices! DSL! Internet! More cable than I certainly get. (And Heather keeps making comments about how if we got HBO. Well maybe some time soon. I didn’t get it because I was living by myself and didn’t know whether I could afford all these fancy things….) And half the cable here is sports, Spanish language or infomercials 90 percent of the time.
Hope your new computer is everything you thought it would be. Ah, shiny new computer….
As to Matt, I did use H&R Block online. I was going to use TurboTax online, but got mad at it because the way they wanted me to do my second state seemed a little complicated.
As it is H&R Block still wouldn’t file my second state by efile; I have to find my damned stapler (shades of Office Space) before I can send off the paper version for my huge $6 return from Michigan.
In all, I suppose the experience will be less irritating next year, with only one state to file.