New Ponds Monday Musings

The rains have come.

Deluge level at times, it has been a constant presence since Saturday morning. We now have a pond in our backyard, in a place we've never had one before.  There are other new ponds near us, too. The road to the side of us has water all the way across it.  There is also another new pond bordering our driveway.

The rains will continue today.

School has been canceled, for both students and staff, so Alison and Benjamin are home.  I am home, but that is due to my semi-retirement.  This month should be light for me.  Starting in January, though, I'll be closer to full-time than part-time.

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I am taking CPE courses this month, to keep up my CPA certification.  CPE is Continuing Professional Education, and CPA is Certified Public Accountant. 

I took one course last Thursday, an all-day Webinar on Federal Taxes for 2017 returns.  The decision was unanimous -  neither the instructor nor the class participants liked the tax code changes.  Nothing to do with liberal or conservative politics - it just fails to do what it set out to do.  It does not make things simpler.  They have once again made things more complicated instead.


For most people, the bottom line is - will my taxes be less?  The answer is - maybe.  Possibly.  The thing to note is, even if you are fortunate and pay slightly less, you may still have to pay in with your return if your wage withholdings were not accurate.  And the odds of them not being accurate are pretty high.  The IRS rushed out new tables for employers to adjust to, but they did not take all new factors into consideration.  So, you might find yourself under-withheld.  If you are used to getting a big refund each year, you may be in for a surprise.

If you are used to dependency exemptions for dependents over the age of 16, you'll also be in for a surprise.  The personal exemption amount for dependents has been eliminated.  You may not have planned for this, and you won't get a phat $2,000 child credit for those over 16.  Oops.

For those with businesses in their personal returns (Schedule C/E/F, Partnerships, S Corp), you could very well owe less, BUT the form to do this, 199A, is complicated beyond all measure.  You'll have to pay your tax preparer more because they'll have to spend a whale of a lot more time on it.

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Have I bored everyone yet?  Anyone still reading?

We saw A Laura Ingalls Wilder Christmas at the Ritz Friday night.  It's well worth seeing, with great performances, a heartwarming story of struggling to survive adversity, and a great set to boot.  And there are horses.  Really.  Horses. You'll need to check it out.

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In Trumpville....The cover is off the ball on Russian collusion.  Despite his pathetic denials, he was trying to complete a significant business deal with Russia during the campaign, and it clearly influenced his attitude and policy positions towards Russia.

The administration eliminated regulations that control noise pollution in the ocean, which will negatively affect wildlife populations, particularly whales. But who cares about that, eh?  Nothing should interfere with bidness!

Trump is sundowning his way through the G-20 summit, isolated and wandering past people he starts to talk to, then he just loses it and wanders offstage.

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Enough about our fearful leader.  How 'bout them sports teams?  Pierce County Bears lost in the semi-finals, but they had a great season.  The Lions and Falcons are in a heated competition to see which team is worse.  College football is over for me. I don't care about any of the teams in the National Championship, and the other bowl games are relatively meaningless to me, as they don't lead to anything.  I'm glad Michigan and Georgia are going to Bowl games, but they don't really lead to anything, and I guess I'm not enough of a football fan to stay motivated.

We still have the Atlanta United!  They will be playing for the MLS championship on December 8th at the Mercedes Benz Stadium.  I wish I could be there, but we will have our family representative there - Doug! 

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That's it for now.  I would tell you I'm going out to play in the ponds, but I'm too old, and I don't have the right kind of boots.

Until next time.

T. M. Strait