Friday, October 28, 2005

tax return schmax return

Last night djbebe was mildly boasting on the phone to Betty Sue about how her tax return was allllmost finished. This morning djbebe got to work extra-early with the handful of final documents that she needed to finish it off and submit. The computer djbebe had previously been using to do her tax return has been re-installed - no problem, she will just download the etax program and install it again. Would you like to create a new file? Noooo, here is one prepared earlier... Please enter your tax file number to open existing file. That didn't work. Has djbebe forgotten her tax file number? Impossible! djbebe looks up the ato website for how to retrieve forgotten TFN - paper forms galore but no hotline. Where is a hotline when you need one? djbebe calms herself, she is sure that is the correct TFN. She looks again at the file she was trying to open - oh dear, that is last year's tax return. Ohhhhh. She must have saved the file locally on that damn machine that got re-installed. She chooses the option to roll over data from last year's damn tax return and starts again. (Yes she did have the right TFN.) So much for getting it done this morning before colleagues arrive at work. At least her memory is not failing. djbebe is going to brisvegas tomorrow to par-tay, and has no portable computer/internet and may hence leave her tax return to the very last minute - Monday is the due date, no?

Betty Sue, I feel your pain.

Friday, October 21, 2005

Betty Sue once saved my life with a mixed tape

When I was languishing in Ireland with a fledgeling social life, she sent me a mixed tape including such delights as Beth Orton and Elliot Smith, with the sweetest little message reminding me of home. Something about yellow kitchens and kitties hunting in the long grass. And it made me cry. And I listened to it about a million times. It doesn't sound quite the same any more.

update 26/10/2005 - thanks to Betty Sue, here is the full text from the aforementioned mixed tape.

Number one super happy post

Just signed up... Trying out Flock, for which one needs a blog. Well, not really needs, but in order to be cool. But what I was trying to do didn't quite work, I can't yet edit my blog from Flock. It does, however, read my del.icio.us links and add them to my favourites, complete with tags.