Turbo Taxing

I love tax time.

Bullsh*t! I hate it. The only thing i DO like about it is that they are quickly going to the e-file. That make things so much faster and your refund goes directly into your bank.

At least I thought.

Watched on TV where Turbo Tax would allow you to file your taxes for free. My first thought was for free? Nothing today is free. So I learned, see later. I had bought Turbo Tax once before and got sucked into all the hype of "We'll get you the biggest refund". So after shelling out $30 (some years ago) took it home loaded the software and started up the program. I had already did my taxes my way and knew what I would get back. It went through the W-2's, Fed taxes, la la la and all that. Got to the end and let the program compute my refund. Amazing. The same amount that I had came up with but now I've wasted $30 on this POS software program that didn't do squat. Never again I thought. So I thought.

Flash ahead to today. The dear wifey says "why not use Turbo Tax they advertise it's free?".......Pause for my thinking.....Came up with, WTH I'll give it a try. Again, I had already done the math and figured out what we would get back doing it my way but thought I'd give it another try. Not gonna cost me anything right? Right? It's Free! Went to their web site and entered my log in and passwords and started off. The free version only applys to Federal tax returns, state filing costs $27. Illinois lets you file for free, why the charge? My first red flag was that right after I signed up, they were offering me the paid version, Just in case I was feeling guilty about them doing this for free. Next flag came up while entering my W-2. After entering my employers fed ID, TT alerted me that they "found" my W2 and if I signed up for the paid version, they would enter that information for me. Think not. For $39 I can enter a LOT of data myself. Went through the whole nine yards again about donations, deductions and all that. Next flag came when it asked for your state info. Was a little hesitant but entered it anyway thinking I would print it out and e-file it myself. Not paying for something I can do for free right? That's what I thought.

After checking, re-checking and more questions, here comes my refund total. WOW. Imaging that. Me and turbo tax have the same number ........again. Now I'm not bragging here, I am NO tax wizard but I can follow instructions. If there are no deductions, doesn't pay to buy software no matter how much hype you hear.

So I finally got to the end, after several more attempts to maybe see if I was generous enough to fork over some cash to pay for this Free service, and there it was. At the end, when your just ready to e-file, you have two choices. First is to file by mail or e-file federal for free. Second choice is to pay $27 dollars and e-file state or Pay now and file state later. Hummmmm. So since they have done your state, they think you should pay for it either way. I say BS. Backtracked into the program and found where you can delete your state tax information. After that, went to the end and tried again and waa-laa. It's now free and only federal but Illinois e-file is so simple once you have the federal done. Or I thought.

So TT files my federal tax return........ electronically.....within seconds.....over a secure internet connection. Great. Why not print a copy for my files and for help on my IL tax return. Uh Huh.

Hit the print button and waited FOREVER. I mean like I was smoking some ribs and turkey outside and left to pull the ribs off. Cleaned up the mess, covered the ribs and put them out to cool and came back to the computer and huh. Still not printed. So I opened a new window and started on my IL e-file. Went thru the whole form, filed and printed a copy for myself before going back to TT, and still not printing.

Let's just say I printed out the email confermation I recieved from TT, I have no copy of the tax form I filed and I will NOT be paying for tax software again !

Parking Problems

Something about Menards parking lot brings out the worst in parking. Took these pics on a recent trip out there.

And no I didn't walk around the lot, this was from my truck to the door.

If yours is pictured, sorry.

Bad Credit ?

I have bought my last 6 trucks from Shottenkirk Chevy and thought I had a pretty good relationship with them. 5 of them were brand new, all 6 were paid for in full.

Imagine how surprised I was today when my favorite service advisor informed me today that I am longer able to have an account and charge my $26 oil changes. Services must be paid for at the time of service.

Road Rage - Illinois version

On a recent trip I discovered this sign has absolutely no meaning what so ever to some drivers.

The stretch of road I experienced this on was Highway 24 from Paducah Ky. to the Georgia border. 260 miles of pure living hell for me because of a few drivers NOT following this simple sign.

It took me a little while to figure out just exactly what was causing the repeated bottlenecks along this stretch of highway. After following a pack of 20 vehicles for 40 miles, I finally found out.

It's lefty's.

Not left handed people mind you, but the motorist that think it is their god given right to travel down a busy highway and permanently stay in the left hand lane regardless of their speed.

Don't know why these people do this either the fear of being called slower or lacking the ability to change lanes, but my cruise control was off more than it was on.

So as a PSA and important driving safety tip, I have thought up a couple of tips that motorists can use to find out if they need to change from the left hand of the highway to the right.

First, traveling .001 to 1 mph ABOVE the posted speed limit does not automatically qualify you to reside in the left hand lane. Move to the right.

Second, if you glace up at your rear view mirror and the traffic behind you looks like the drive thru of Starbucks on free coffee day, you probally need to change lanes. Move to the right.

Third, if the traffic passing you out your passenger side window is equivelent to the traffic in the oppisite direction, you probally need to change lanes. Move to the right.

Lastly, If a black Chevy Avalanche with Illinois plates passes you in the right hand lane doing 89 mph, the driver giving you the double bird, and you can't read lips but it looks like every other word he is saying begins with a "F", you probably REALLY need to change lanes.

PLEASE move to the right.

What's in St. Bernard Slaiva?

This lovable dog slobbers something terrible. Her food dish after eating looks like the most disgusting thing! Cleaning it requires a scrub brush and a brillo pad. No amount of soaking will loosen this stuff.

I have worked in food related business for quite some time and stainless steel is the industry standard for food contact. The bowl is Stainless steel and even after washing it, there is a film of 'Nard spit!

If 3M was smart, they would do some R&D on this stuff!