Just in case you are feeling like the only guy or gal in the world who has had a bad time of things lately....I thought I would share and vent my frustrations a bit. This has all happened in th space of the last 60-90 days. Its a fun read. >:D
#1. The IRS recently robo audited my taxes from 2011. They have sent me a series of letters. In the first letter, they said I owed them about $4,000.00. I have the ability to come up with $4,000.00 about as well as I have of turning into a giant simian and scaling the Empire state building. I went back to my tax preparer, and she said they got it wrong. Government was fishing for money because they are broke. So---a month goes by, and the second letter arrived. This one, much like the first, demanded immediate payment. But now I supposedly only owed them $1,100.00. I dont have $1,100.00 anymore than I have 4. Back to Jackson Hewitt. Jackson Hewitt tells me they made a mistake when they filed the ammended return resulting in an error flag. They sent my case to a manager at my request. Now---the government appears to owe me. They sent me a third letter stating they would get back with me within a month. They have gone dark since this revision. Its been more than a month,lol. Supposedly, they owe me $1,340.00 because, the mistake Hewitt made, they made for two straight returns. Headache. During this time, I developed some major acid reflux. Groovy.
#2. I have an inheritance that has been held up by challenges from others who have retained lawyers and are trying to fight my receiving funds and property that are legally due me.
#3. A small glass angel statue in our kitchen fell and shattered. A long slender piece of glass worked it's way into my eye. when it hit and shattered. I removed it myself....its healing nicely. But it scared the living daylights out of me. I have a friend who is a nurse who helped with this and also with
#4: I tore my calf muscle. I had to use a cane for about a week and it was very very sore.
#5: a Kidney Stone.
#6: My finances have dwindled with the ailing economy.
There's a few more, but this is enuff to get the "gripe fest" started. Had an avalanche of crud hit the fan at your place lately/ Let's hear it and maybe we can form a UMA support group. :angel:
Fun times. You sure this isn't payback for being a terrible person all your life? I'm joking, of course. I feel for ya, brother. Wish I could say something to ease the hassle, but I'll just leave you with: Hope you get back in the groove, soon.
Firstly. Can I just say, wow!!!! :( :( I guess the old saying is true? When it rains, it pours. I am really sorry these unfortunate events have happened to you, A. Phibes.
My doctor diagnosed me with 'acid reflux' too. I was so stressed I was convinced my heart was failing, but thankfully it was just good old acid reflux.
In the Members Only section I have a thread called "Serious Pants: Depression," where I've vented about all the crap in my life. My 82-year-old mother suffers from dementia and has frequent falls. I'm the only one caring for her, and this results in frequent bouts of depression, anxiety, and insomnia. She's already fallen twice this year, fracturing her pelvis each time, resulting in lengthy stays in rehab centers. She really should be in a nursing home, but since she pays half the rent in our 2-bedroom apartment, I'd have to move. Really, there's no place I can afford on my own, and public housing has a two-year waiting list. Plus, I'm disabled myself, so I'm very limited as to how much help I can give her at home. We're on the list for a home health aide, but the wait period for that is about two years, thanks to our budget-slicing madman of a governor (who increased his salary and the pay of everyone else in his administration, while cutting social programs to the bone - or eliminating them completely).
And, to top things off, I woke up with a sore throat today!
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Vent all you want .. it does help.
#1. I hope that you receive your refund check very soon! Funny how they would've charged you interest but I doubt if you'll receive any from 'them' .. anyway .. it takes time.
For an upset stomach, I use Pepcid AC or liquid Mylanta.
#2. That is not uncommon .. I hope that things get settled soon and that the 'lawyers' eat up the finances of the evil ones who are challenging you.
#3. In some ways you were lucky .. I hope that you are fully healed.
#4 & #5 .. Hope that all is healed.
#6. Most of us are in that boat!
I've also started several threads in the Members Only about my lovely neighbors and venting does help.
i feel your pain buddy keep your chin up
Really sorry to hear about all of this. It will get better. It has to. Getting through the bad, no matter how long it persists, will make the good all the more enjoyable.
Quote from: aura of foreboding on July 19, 2013, 09:57:49 PM
Really sorry to hear about all of this. It will get better. It has to.
Not really. My mother's dementia won't get better. She will continue to decline, to the point where she won't recognize me, my sister, her friends, etc. She may end up bedridden before finally succumbing to some terminal condition. She once told me she prays that she dies "before my mind goes completely." Some days, if I believed in one, I think I'd sell my soul to the Devil to have her dementia-free again. But, I know that will never happen. Her meds can help slow the progression if it, but there's no cure. I was spoiled. My dad died quickly, with no suffering. I've never had to watch a loved one slowly deteriorate like this before. It's a kind of torture I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.
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I am very familiar with dementia and Alzheimer's. Its worst victims are definitely the family members. You're in my thoughts, Count Z. But there will be good times ahead for you. It's hard to believe that now, but there will be some moment that lies ahead that will help make these bad times seem like distant memories. You've just got to make it to that point.
My prayers are going out for you Anton Phibes, sorry to hear how bad life is dumping on you. My life seems groovy in comparison. Keep us posted, meanwhile my prayers will continue to pour out.
Anton, you've touched on some of your woes in other threads, but to see them grouped together like that...damn. I sure can sympathize.
Although, I haven't had any IRS problems ever, my mother got an inheritance a few years back, and other members of the family got jealous. Well, it was a cousin of my dad's that passed away, and my dad always treated him well. Other family members didn't want to take time to listen to his laundry list of ailments, but after my dad died, I made sure we kept in touch. And, really, the inheritance wasn't that much...he left the bulk of his estate to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. (And there were family members majorly pissed about that, because it came to almost half a million dollars! I never knew the guy had that kinda money, because he lived in a small, one-bedroom apartment.)
Hope it all turns around for you, soon. The IRS wants theirs yesterday, but when they owe you, you just wait til they're good and ready!
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We all have problems and the ones posted on this forum are REAL .. some of the things that my neighbors 'vent' over just want to make me roll my eyes.
1. We live on ABC Terrace and there is an ABC Road a block and a half away .. naturally, the mail gets mixed up at times at the sorting office .. I have neighbors who are too lazy to walk the mail to its proper home. These same people curse the mailperson and wanted one of our mailmen fired! One nutty woman has a daughter who lives in England and when the woman didn't receive a Valentine's Day card .. she called her daughter .. ranting. Her daughter told her that she had sent a beautiful 'letter' to her (nutty as hell) mother. So the mother (a neighbor since moved) screamed at our lovely mailman and blamed him. She then called the post office to complain and was ranting that the postman didn't care enough!
2. We have one neighbor who doesn't want the weekly sale flyers, so she calls up to cancel our flyers and other neighbors too. I have to keep calling to get mine delivered. If you don't want your flyers, take five seconds and place them in your recycying bin. The flyer people didn't want her screaming at them, so they stopped giving us flyers and also the people on the East of us who use the flyers.
3. The same nutty neighbors above bought their homes knowing that there was Co-op housing around the corner and a dive bar on the next block. The nutty ones would rant that the bar & Co-op were ruining their property values and should be razed. These women wanted luxury condos to replace the Co-op .. How nice of them .. >:(
My wife is the eternal "bright side" person...so it helps keep things balanced out. I should be thankful I guess. But I am letting all this little poop pile up. Then I have a "mentos and diet coke" moment,lol. My vent thread was just that. last night I sold a personal item off. The guy gave me $100 bill. I went and "splurged" for the kids and bought a $14 pizza at Papa John's. When I handed the guy the money, he frenzied out with "I can't break that. It's too big." I sighed very loudly and pulled out my debit card.
My wife was like "You're getting upset over little silly things again". She was right, of course, but I couldn't help but feel that dude was just lying. It was friday night. Is the economy so bad a store cannot break a 100 bill on a Friday night...which is ussually Pizza time for most working families.
I figure I am due for some good news soon. I got the glass out of my eye with no surgery, my calf has just about healed up with no surgery or medical invasions, still waiting on the IRS to send me money---but at least I dont owe them anything, the stone passed....so I should be grateful. But I still wanna sound off every now and again. :angel:
But---this thread is a good place for griping. If anyone wants to chime in and gripe 9as long as we dont get on topics that are against the rules) let's gripe away. Sometimes it helps to get it out of your system.
Wow, Anton! I'm surprised the employee even said he couldn't break a bill that size. All Papa John's in my area have a strict no bills larger than $20 policy, and they will let you know "The Policy"! ha!
Quote from: aura of foreboding on July 20, 2013, 01:06:24 PM
Wow, Anton! I'm surprised the employee even said he couldn't break a bill that size. All Papa John's in my area have a strict no bills larger than $20 policy, and they will let you know "The Policy"! ha!
I remember when gas stations used to say they couldnt break a $50 bill or larger either. Now it costs almost $75 to fill the car. $100 just doesnt go very far these days,lol. I went to K-Mart for a 24 pack of Coke and they broke the bill just fine. I had no idea the store had such a policy. :angel:
Quote from: Anton Phibes on July 20, 2013, 03:56:36 PM
I remember when gas stations used to say they couldnt break a $50 bill or larger either. Now it costs almost $75 to fill the car. $100 just doesnt go very far these days,lol. I went to K-Mart for a 24 pack of Coke and they broke the bill just fine. I had no idea the store had such a policy. :angel:
I think it's weird, but they always point people to sign whenever I'm in there. It's kind of funny.
Gas stations around me have a $50 rule after dark, but none during the daytime anymore.
I think that the price of gasoline is something to vent about .. :-\
Oh yes--- it sure is!!!! Between gas and groceries---I have almost no money for anything other than bills,lol. I really think thats why Movies are flopping. Who has the extra money to just waste? I want to see "The Conjuring". I will be waiting until Tuesday. Shows are $5 at the Rave around here on Tuesdays. :angel:
Vent! The prices for popcorn and drinks at most theaters cause me heart failure.
Quote from: Anton Phibes on July 20, 2013, 05:11:04 PM
Oh yes--- it sure is!!!! Between gas and groceries---I have almost no money for anything other than bills,lol. I really think thats why Movies are flopping. Who has the extra money to just waste? I want to see "The Conjuring". I will be waiting until Tuesday. Shows are $5 at the Rave around here on Tuesdays. :angel:
I wish that we had that option at our theaters. They charge regular/matinee admission no matter the day... u6juu
Another vent .. the cost of tickets for major league sporting events. If 'they' lowered the cost of the tickets, they would have a great attendance, sell more hotdogs, popcorn, soda, beer .. etc. and in the long run .. a greater profit and happier fans.
Not to throw a wet blanket or anything on the venting, but there are some issues to consider:
The no large bill rule - -
This really has less to do with "the economy" than it has to do with robbery.
Most carry out style restaurants have a policy of emptying the till several times per day. When I was in college, I worked in a pizza place similar to the old Shakeys Pizza. Several times, at the end of busy weekend nights, we were robbed. I have looked down the barrels of cheap revolvers and sawed off shotguns enough to last me a lifetime. After a couple of times where the robbers got away with $1000 to $1200 (in 1970's dollars!) The owner brought in some small cash bags and had the safe modified with a drop slot. At regular intervals we had to drop anything over $250 in ones and fives into the safe.
The next time we got robbed, the guy with the gun only got a hand full of small bills. I worked there for two more years and never got robbed again.
Taking lots of large bills and having easy access to them is asking to get robbed.
Not to mention, no one counterfeits ones or fives. Twenties Fifties, and Hundreds are much more cost effective -- even with a good color copier/printer handy.
Concession prices:
After college, I worked at various sports venue concessions for several years. (What else does one do with a degree in History?) The concession prices were always a focus of customer complaint. But here are a couple of things to consider.
The concession company has the following costs to cover in order to break even:
Wholesale cost of the food sold.
Wholesale cost of the packaging materials: cups, wrappers, straws, napkins, food boats, plastic utensils, etc.
Equipment costs--purchase, repair and maintenance. That big Cretors popcorn machine runs about $6,000 if you want one for your home theater . . .
Utilities-- gas, water, sewer, electric.
Employee payroll (minimum wage, but still . . .)
Insurance.
Licensing, permits, fees.
Stand rent paid to the venue.
Spoilage: leftovers that cannot be saved for the next event.
Remember, when there are no events going, all that stuff is standing idle--not making money.
AND most arenas, ball parks, and stadiums (stadia?) also have a contract for a certain percentage of the concessionaire's gross sales. Not Net after costs--Gross--Off The Top before costs sales.
That's why you can buy an eight pack of Ballpark Franks (TM) and some buns for the price of one arena dog.
As for movie ticket prices?
Read:
Economics Of The Movie Theater – Where The Money Goes And Why It Costs Us So Much
— Posted by John Campea
This article is a bit dated but the general breakdown holds true still.
And this guy tells it better than I could.
http://themovieblog.com/2007/economics-of-the-movie-theater-where-the-money-goes-and-why-it-costs-us-so-much/ (http://themovieblog.com/2007/economics-of-the-movie-theater-where-the-money-goes-and-why-it-costs-us-so-much/)
Quote from: Fester on July 20, 2013, 11:06:56 PM
Not to throw a wet blanket or anything on the venting, but there are some issues to consider:
I'm fairly certain we are all familiar with the reasoning behind these annoying staples of modern America, but I appreciate you taking the time to bring your personal experiences to the table.
Perhaps instead of ranting about food store policies, ballpark prices, and movie ticket costs, we should direct our frustrations toward robbers, corporate pricing, and people who don't go to the movies? ;)
Actually, I guess I was venting my spleen having been on the receiving end of the No Big Bills complaints and the Howcome Everything Is So Expensive? whines of customers. ::)
Anton Phibes has certainly been on the receiving end of a good case of Life Happens.
IRS problems--well big organizations are not evil--just inept. Have you considered doing your own taxes via something like TurboTax? Many years ago, I had trouble with H&R Block, and my uncle gave me crap for hiring someone to do my taxes.
I told him I was bad at math. He handed me a pocket calculator and a pencil and sent me home to get all the stuff I was going to take to the tax service. We sat down at his kitchen table and in 30 minutes I was putting a stamp on my 1040a envelope and mentally spending my refund.
Only once in the last 40 years have I had trouble with the IRS, and it was my fault. I didn't put the refund amount in the correct box at the end--never mind the amount overpaid was in the box directly above--anyone with any sense could have figured it out. But the B-B stackers at IRS went ahead and decided to tell me I owed them nothing and they owed me nothing.
Well long story short: After several notes back and forth with no resolution, I dropped a line to my local Congressman. Within a week, I received a reply from my Congressman's office; a letter from the IRS apologizing for the mix-up and telling me to expect a refund shortly; and a refund check. Funny thing--the check arrived a day before the IRS apology.
Pizza guy with the No Big Bills sign? I'll bet if you asked him why, he could only tell you that was the rule. Odds are, he has no idea of the reasoning behind the rule--he just gets yelled at by the manager if he takes a large bill.
And inheritance issues? As the old saying goes: You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you shouldn't pick your friend's nose . . . or is it: you can pick your friends but not your relatives--or their noses Something like that.
Well, Where there's a will--there's a dead relative. Few things are worse than family feuding.
Glad to hear your health is improving. It could have been worse.
Griping and venting are fine things to do. Just as long as it doesn't end there. I'v always found it therapeutic to vent, let the dust settle and then either work out a solution or accept things the way they are.
No one's crawling in a hole and dying over it, Fester. I just figured I was due for a little screaming out loud. I thought others might want to do the same, so I started a vent thread. Not being a baby about it, not letting it destroy me. Just felt like letting off steam, and invited others to do the same.
Apparently you don't feel the need to vent much. Except about my venting, and inviting others to do so. :-\ Which is a lot easier to avoid than having a bunch of "life happens" dumped on your existence,lol. An existence I wish to be as uneventful as possible. ;) Peace.
Quote from: Fester on July 21, 2013, 01:50:19 PM
Pizza guy with the No Big Bills sign? I'll bet if you asked him why, he could only tell you that was the rule. Odds are, he has no idea of the reasoning behind the rule--he just gets yelled at by the manager if he takes a large bill.
I don't know about that... I would like to think that people on the front lines who handle a major company's money have the capacity to reason out the existence of a rule that directly affects their job performance, even if they don't openly share the reason with the general public. I'm sure some don't, but I'd like to think that a majority (even if it's a small one) do. But maybe that's just me and my positive thinking. ;D
Quote from: Anton Phibes on July 21, 2013, 04:02:03 PM
No one's crawling in a hole and dying over it, Fester. I just figured I was due for a little screaming out loud. I thought others might want to do the same, so I started a vent thread. Not being a baby about it, not letting it destroy me. Just felt like letting off steam, and invited others to do the same.
Apparently you don't feel the need to vent much. Except about my venting, and inviting others to do so. :-\ Which is a lot easier to avoid than having a bunch of "life happens" dumped on your existence,lol. An existence I wish to be as uneventful as possible. ;) Peace.
Please don't get me wrong Anton. I am all in favor of venting. I do it all the time, albeit not on-line (just ask my wife). It is good and healthy thing to do. And once it is done with, I try to find a way to deal with it.
Funny thing about it, After rereading my post about big bills and food costs, I realized
I was venting and ranting about people who have vented and ranted at me when I was working in food service. ::) Damn! Talk about irony!! ;D ;D
I am originally from Northern Utah and currently residing in Spokanistan, so English is not my native language. ;) Seriously: in no way did I mean to dismiss what has happened to you. You have certainly had a lot of stuff dished on your plate recently. As have we all. And it is a relief to have someplace to let off steam.
I have also thought the UMA is a place where friends help friends. Hence the stuff about the IRS. Sometimes you can get back at the big faceless bureaucracy. And a letter of complaint to your Congressman can be effective. After all, Congress controls the IRS' budget--you don't want to tee off the guys that write your paycheck.
I meant no harm or hurt in what I wrote.
And I apologize for my offense.
Hahahahaha! No offense taken. I just kind of got lost in cyber translation-ville. It happens. My job always makes me wear a "happy face" even if I feel like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders. My wife doesnt want me complaining either. I got busted for letting out a heavy sigh in the supermarket when she gave me a piece of news I could've lived without hearing,lol. So I came here to gripe a bit. That's about the size of it. "Life does happen", but its better than the alternative of beign a dead 'un.
I just wanted you to know that my griping wasn't going to keep me defeated. Its laugh or cry. My wife and I have been laughing up a storm. It's kind of like: "Ok---what's today hold?",lol.
Your opening to this thread had me laughing---and for that I am most appreciative. I like to laugh. Peace and Long life my fellow monster brotha! ;)