jonathanhickman.com

No more neckties!

I began working as an accountant several years ago, and I am still surprised that I haven’t worn a tie even one time for work. I always thought that clients expected their accountants to look “professional” and wear a tie, but in 2008, that’s not necessarily true.

It’s increasingly uncommon for anyone (other than lawyers) to wear ties. According to this Wall Street Journal article from last week, only six percent of Americans wear ties to work. Six percent. Tie sales in the US in 1995 were 1.3 billion dollars, and last year they were little more than half that.

Ties are uncomfortable, they get in the way, and - let’s face it - they’re completely pointless. Good riddance.

I hate Windows

Yes, I’m talking the OS, not the kind made of glass that helps brighten up the room.

Yesterday, I finally got around to running Windows update on my computer. It turns out, yesterday’s update was a biggie - service pack 3, as a matter of fact. And thanks to that lovely update, M$ turned automatic updates back on for my computer.

I hate this. Frankly, it makes me extremely angry that they feel the need to do this without my permission.

Why do I care so much? I’ll tell you. Yesterday, I started working on a new client from Poland, and there’s a lot of stuff I’ve yet to learn about taxation of aliens. Currently, I’ve got a few dozen firefox tabs open and numerous pdf files. I’m running several tax programs and Excel.

But because Windows turned automatic updates back on (and I’ve obviously turned it back off now), my computer downloaded new updates a few minutes ago. Big whoop, right? Wrong. Now that the computer is newly updated, it wants to restart to make the process official. And that means that every five minutes I have to tell the computer that I don’t want it to restart. Grumble. And if I don’t happen to see the notification, it’ll just restart on me. And all of my work and research will be lost.

Grumble.

Because of M$’s penchant for junk like this, I rarely do updates on this computer. I can’t always just restart the computer at the drop of a hat because M$ wants me to. Why can’t it just install the updates the next time I turn the computer off?

Why does Windows have to be such a lousy OS? When will my tax software be usable in an OS that cares about its users?

Yay for me

I love it when I get to work and then discover the bleach stains on my shirt.

Yay for me.

And I love it when I can’t get to sleep at night even when I have to be up before six the next day.

Yay again.

Now about that nap….

Need new clothing

Every now and then, my boss (& dad) gives me a clothing allowance to help me build up my professional wardrobe.

It couldn’t've come at a better time this week. I’ve finally got some nice new shoes, and I need a whole lot more shirts. For years, I’ve been wearing short-sleeved button up shirts during the summer at the office.

You see, we often don’t use a lot of air conditioning when the weather is nice. I keep a thermometer on my desk, and this morning it was reading 78 degrees when we got up to turn on the a/c. Downstairs is a whole ‘nother matter; they don’t turn on the a/c just because it’s eighty degrees. Oh no.

So I’ve tended to wear a lot of short-sleeved shirts, but it’s time to transition to nicer, cotton, professional looking long-sleeve shirts, even if they’re not as cool in the warm weather. I’ve just got to figure out where to get what and get on it. Like I said, this couldn’t've come at a better time.

I’m up for it!

I’m up for it!

One year in college I worked a four day week as a summer job, and it was definitely nice (the four days, not the job). If I worked four days instead of five - and I assume those would be four ten hour days - I’d drive about 2500 fewer miles a year, to the tune of 125 fewer gallons of gas.

Then I’d have to do some rearranging to figure out how to get home before 8 at night, but I’d also have a day a week at home with my girl and my puppy and my long house to-do list.

April 16

What a difference a day makes.

The telephone’s hardly rung once today, and it rang all day long yesterday and the day before.

And right in the midst of the chaos, I managed to come down with a cold (or more likely allergies), so I slept quite poorly last night. Blech.

I’m about ready for a day off.

I know what I want to do tonight:

As little as I can get away with.

It’s a good thing we don’t keep phones on the wall

… because right now the phone is ringing off the wall today.

Yikes!

On the Tennessee income tax - don’t get mad at me

It seems like every few years the Tennessee legislators get into a battle over how to tax us. One big issue is whether Tennessee should have a progressive income tax. And every time the issue comes up, the status quo is preserved.

But what most people don’t understand is that Tennessee does have a state income tax. And I’m not just talking about the so-called Franchise and Excise tax on businesses, which is another issue altogether. I’m talking about the Hall income tax, which is a levy on any dividend, interest, s corp distributions, etc, over $1250 per individual, excluding national banks and most state institutions and municipalities.

Well, like I said, a lot of people don’t even know there is a state income tax, and those who do don’t often know the exact rules, which are arguably quite unfair - eg taxing tax-free but out-of-state interest.

Lots of people don’t understand it, and lots of those people have been mad at me of late.

Not conducive to work

Days like this are hard for me. I love a good spat of nasty weather as much as the next guy, but dark and dreary mornings just aren’t a lot of fun when you have a lot of work to do.

Must find energy.

I’m trying not to look at my to do list

Ugh.

Pardon my absence.