So while we were looking forward to Westminster on Monday and Tuesday, this was only the "Best in Group" and finally "Best in Show" judging. We found out that if we went on Westminster's web site, we could watch everything that's been going on at the two Piers (this is what they do with the old embarkation piers on the Hudson River now, rent them out for events) before the big finale. And, although we watched several breed judging sequences and some obedience trials (when did they start making the handler clench his/her left fist up next to their breast area when doing "heel"? it looks unnatural), what we watched most of on Saturday afternoon and evening was agility (they showed breed judging on National Geographic Wild on Sunday), and boy was it fun. We got the biggest kick out of the little dogs, because the Papillons were like little Ferraris—they just got into gear and ran flat out, some barking, some not, but all having a grand time. In comparison, the few Bichon Frises we saw just kinda ambled through the course, as if saying "I'm doing this because it makes my human happy." The most amazing thing we saw was a bulldog running agility—they are not built for this physically, especially running full-tilt, but Rudy was amazing.

We saw this killer mottled sunset Saturday night coming home from Fried Tomato Buffet. Of course in driving home we were driving away from it, so I got this photo by using the rear view mirror of the truck. The best part is the reflection in the passenger side window.


On Sunday James went in for a spate of mass burrito-preparation while I did the taxes. I went via TurboTax online, per usual as in the past few years, and their obnoxious television commercial advertises "free...free...free." Well, yes, under certain conditions, basically only if you do what used to be called a 1040EZ form (those are all gone; there is just one form). Once you itemize, or do other things, it's no longer "free...free...free." Well, with the married deduction having doubled, none of our itemized deductions would have added up higher: not even having maxed out our deductible at Kaiser last year plus the cost of the biweekly insurance, plus the cost of my yearly exam and four prescription refills, and what prescription refills James got before we maxed out in July, plus what we ended up paying Northside Hospital. (I didn't have receipts for all the extra medical items we've had to buy this year, but we've bought on coupons and sales and that didn't add up, either. Now if we could have added all the wages James lost, maybe...)

However, I had received a 1099 form, and TurboTax would not go on without having me upgrade to "Deluxe" so they could process it. A couple of years ago, the IRS zapped Amazon on all the free items they were sending out to Vine members for review. Because lucky people (trust me, it was not me) did indeed rarely get big-screen television sets, Blu-Ray players, bicycles, and other expensive stuff, the IRS thundered: "This is income! The people who get these things need to pay tax on their income!" Never mind that a lot of times the stuff people got sent was literally junk, electronic and otherwise, and disposed of half of it in the trash. But we did do well on Vine last year: got an air mattress, an air fryer, a chain for my bike and a bike helmet, numerous kitchen gadgets for James, several craft items like watercolor paper and Sharpie brush markers, soft-sided storage containers, a toothbrush holder, and various other stuff including books (books are valued at 99 cents). So having to pay $40 to TurboTax was just the price I paid for having an extra bed for visitors and crispy chicken wings. I didn't really mind it.

Then we got to the state tax, which TurboTax also said was "free...free...free." No, no, no. Only if you make under $30K a year or are active military or getting childcare credits. This was another $40 to do. If we were still using the old Georgia tax form I would have filled it out myself and mailed it. The old Georgia EZ form was a doddle: how much did you make? How much did you pay in Federal tax? How much did you pay in Georgia tax? How much was your refund, if any, last  year? If you paid us more than we're taxing, we owe you. Otherwise, you owe us. Heck, Snowy could have filled out the form. But no, they've gone all complicated again.

Thus another $40.

The absolute nadir was when I went to file. They said "We can take the $80 you paid out of your tax refund!" Sure! Okay, you need to authorize that, and, oh, that costs $40 more dollars! Are you serious? Screw you guys. I'll pay the $80 on my credit card, get the Amazon points, then pay myself back out of the refund, and I won't charge myself a cover charge! Honestly. TurboTax really has gone to the dogs.

Then there was peace. Then there was supper. Then there was Victoria.

[Later: February 12...terriers win again! It was the wire fox terrier for Best in Show. Frankly, I was rooting for the Havanese.]

Labels: books, dogs, food, taxes, weather

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. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 10:23:00 PM

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