I Am Weak: a Premature End to No Meat Week
Filed Under: Uncategorized
I was doing pretty good until yesterday. I don’t know what happened, but I started farting loud enough to scare the cats and wake Sarah up from a nap, two rooms away. I had to check and make sure I hadn’t accidentally sat on a trumpet at some point earlier in the day. I levitated off the couch a couple of times. I believe I produced enough methane to power Fort Collins for at least 10 minutes. There is a glacier in Greenland melting a little faster today with my name on it .
So yeah. Gas. I had not anticipated that.
After having nothing but a banana for breakfast because we ran out of milk, and after losing my temper over missing my new lenses arriving via UPS, I gave in. I just finished some McDonalds. Barely should qualify as meat, honestly, but there it is.
I admit it, I am weak. I am surprised I made it as long as I did. I’ll attempt it again later in the summer perhaps. While camping, maybe.
Freelance Tax Annoyances
Filed Under: Uncategorized
I’m paranoid about taxes. I’m constantly afraid that I’m going to end up magically owing twice what I think I owe to the point where I save nearly every penny in anticipation of the tax bill. Freelancer taxes are really screwed up, you see. Sure, we get to deduct a lot of things like home office space, but we end up paying double the social security/medicare taxes that the employed pay, because the employer pays half of that usually. And then there’s the state income taxes, and the federal income taxes, which are normal, except we don’t have the luxury of having them withheld for us.
I was not set up this year to pay estimated taxes because I had not intended when I started out to be freelancing for the entire year. I spent half the year looking for a job before finally giving up on that and settling into being a full time freelance designer. I’ve done alright for myself in those last 6 months. But I’m looking at my savings and knowing that a considerable chunk of it is owed in taxes. How much exactly is what I would like to know. I don’t even begin to understand how the tax system truly works.
That’s all a long way of getting around to saying, I file early every year. As soon as I have the paperwork. I almost never fail to have my taxes done by the second week of February. This year, I’m not sure what to do, because of a bunch of 1099 forms from my clients are slow to arrive. Several have not even been sent yet, despite the fact that the government requires that 1099s be mailed no later than January 31st. Now, I have very detailed records of my income thanks to using fantastic invoicing software. I don’t need the 1099s to know what I made. But I think the government expects me to send them in.
Any tax experts out there know what the requirements are regarding 1099s that are so damned slow in arriving? If I report the income myself, does it matter if I don’t send a 1099 that didn’t come in time?
Ugh. It’s enough to give me an ulcer. You know, it’s not like freelancers don’t have enough to worry about. The complete lack of income security is plenty!
Photo: Fall Bugle
Filed Under: Uncategorized
I made a couple of trips to Estes Park this past fall, but the photography was not great. This is probably the best elk shot I got this year. Next year, I need to pay better attention and get up there when the aspens are turning.
Photo: Shadow and Form
Filed Under: Photography, Uncategorized
I really needed to go for a walk this morning, so I headed over to a small nature area a mile away from my house for a walk. Everything is dead and stark, and not very photogenic. However, I found these snow-covered river rocks and I was captivated by their shape and the way the light defined it. Today’s photo, actually taken today. I think I am going to start a 365 project on Wednesday–that’s where you take and post a photo every day. Is there interest in that?
