Check, Please! Tuesday Tidbits

Gratuitous shot of Crowley Stories: Swamp's Edge.  If you haven't got your copy yet, please do so!

Finally!

My first check for Crowley Stories is on its way!  A whopping $41.02 will soon be glowing in my bank account!  Hey, Alison!  Start shopping for that Traverse City condo NOW!  I hit the big time!

Ok, not so much.  Only about another $1200 to go to recover my costs.  But I can almost smell the hot, fetid breath of break-even already!

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Maybe I can start to turn the cycle of this withdrawal period I'm going through.  I don't know.  Maybe not. I kinda like being at home. I kinda like the routine I am building for myself and my family.

But, sigh, as soon as I get adjusted, I have to change.  Work is accelerating, and I should go into the office this afternoon.  I also have a can't miss meeting with the Writer's Guild.

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I want to thank Carol and Mike for giving us the Fandango card.  We found we can rent movies from their streaming service, FANDANGO NOW,  and see very recent theatrical releases for way less than going to the theatre.  We say Crazy, Rich Asians Sunday.  It passed the Rom part of my Rom-Com test, in that I cared about the couple and thought they worked well together.  It was less successful at the Com part.  There were parts where I drifted off a bit.  All in all, a pretty good movie.

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It's only been a couple months, but we can already smell the beginnings of a new MLS season!  Preseason has begun, and the first regular season game is March 3rd!  We're going to miss Miggy, but I think they are assembling another promising team, and they are doubling down on the Martinez (Josef AND Pity)!

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I can see by recent headlines that Huffington Post has picked their favorite - Beto O'Rouke!  As each female candidate has announced, she has had savage headlines dissing her, but Beto is treated like the second coming.  I'll vote for whoever the Democrats choose, but I think our slate of female candidates is very strong - and it is WAY PAST TIME!

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Anecdotal evidence is building that the tax season is going to be a disatrous disappointment to many.  Many people determine the success or failure on only one thing - HOW MUCH IS MY REFUND?  The ins and outs of the new tax law are catching many people off guard.  With the vagaries of the changes made,  particularly with the elimination of personal exemptions, the odds are that your wages were putting aside too low of an amount to cover your end of the year tax bill, at least less than what it was in the past.

Alison and I were only saved by the fact that I withheld federal tax dollars from both Social Security and my retirement income. Not everyone does that, particularly with Social Security.  We will get a small refund, but our budget is not built on getting a large refund, anyway.  That's not typical of many Americans.  Right or wrong, they have grown to anticipate a healthy refund.  I and many of my fellow CPAs can argue why that is not a sound thing to do, but nevertheless, it is the way people think.

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I will miss fiction writing today.  I was really starting to get into the groove.

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Tidbittingly Yours,

T. M. Strait

Calm down, Grammarly.  Yes, I know, tidbittingly is not a real word.  Deal with it!