The Story of Lori

[Lori Dee]

Last week I received a notice from my credit card company stating an app subscription had been renewed for $31.85. I checked the app and it shows my renewal date as August 2 for $39.99. I no longer use the app, so I canceled the subscription and contacted support to refund the charge.

I received an email from support that they do not process subscription payments, third parties handle those and I should contact Apple. I log into my Apple account and it shows the subscription is canceled and would have renewed on August 2. Last year, my credit card was charged $39.99 on August 2 for the annual subscription. So why was I charged in July this year and only $31.85?

I contacted my credit card company and it shows the charge as GOOGLE <app name>. I deleted my Google account years ago and made sure there were no subscriptions before I did. I never gave Google any payment information. Ever. So I have submitted a dispute on the charge and noted possible fraud.

The credit card rep (who speaks English well, but her accent was so heavy I could hardly understand her), said they would credit my account and it is up to the billing merchant to prove the charge was authorized.

Exactly how I planned to spend my Sunday morning. [/sarcasm]

[Lori Dee]

Woke up this morning coughing and sneezing. The Air Quality Index is in the "Unhealthy" category due to wildfires in Montana and Wyoming. I used the Flonase my doctors gave me and waited a couple of hours while doing laundry. It didn't work. The wildfires are still burning and the Black Hills are still covered in smoke.

The Air Quality Index is still in the Unhealthy category. "Everyone may experience health effects." Please don't breathe our unhealthy air. We apologize for any inconvenience.

[Oldandcreaky]

Yikes, Lori.

[Lori Dee]

So here is an interesting mental journey.

I've been very concerned about the political climate here in the US of A. With the upcoming elections, the country is quite divided on issues that mean so much to us. If you watched the RNC Convention coverage, you saw the animosity being directed squarely at us.

So what do we do to protect ourselves from the "powers that be"? Do we migrate to Canada, Mexico, or California? Can we claim asylum?

That led me to an interesting website that I will link below. (Don't look yet) Here is some information gleaned from that website:

Can You Claim Asylum Based on Being a Persecuted LGBTQ+ Person?

If you have been persecuted or have a well-founded fear of future persecution because you are LGBTQ+, you could have a claim for asylum

... courts have found sexual orientation to be a recognizable social group, saying that homosexuals and transgender people constitute a social group for purposes of claiming asylum. Some early decisions on this include Matter of Toboso-Alfonso, 20 I&N Dec. 819 (B.I.A. 1990), Pitcherskaia v. INS, 118 F.3d 641 (9th Cir. 1997), and Hernandez-Montiel v. INS, 225 F.3d 1084 (9th Cir. 2000)).

If you were loud and proud about your identity, such as volunteering for a gay rights group, leading a pride parade, or writing media articles or social media posts that were widely viewed, you could be viewed as having expressed a political opinion. If the authorities in your country viewed that opinion as offensive and persecuted you (or you reasonably fear they will do so in the future), that could be grounds for an asylum claim.

... submit information to show that homosexuals and/or transgender persons are persecuted in your country. ... submit copies of any laws, reports of incidents in newspapers, or statistics compiled by organizations.

Interesting, no?

These are the rules and laws governing people seeking asylum IN THE UNITED STATES.
The problem is that you must apply for asylum within one year of entering the country. I am six decades too late.

The website that has this information is: Nolo.com Legal Encyclopedia

[Lori Dee]

I had a couple of appointments at the local VA clinic this morning. I have had trouble with my lower back for decades, but lately, it seems to be affecting my walk. I messaged my doctor and she ordered a bone study survey.

They took x-rays of my lower back, then the radiologist said he was going to do a "leg length survey". I assured him that both of my legs go all the way down to my feet with no gaps and do not protrude out the bottoms. He said he had to humor the doctors and do it anyway, and since he forgot his tape measure they would just use this expensive x-ray equipment instead.

Fair enough.

[davina61]

My sister has one leg shorter, Gran could not work out why the skirt she was making would not fit right till they measured her. She has a twisted spine as well but it has not affected her.

[Lori Dee]

We had a partial power outage yesterday. The local power company that we nicknamed Black Hills Flicker & Flash reported that 174 households were affected. I think they lost one phase because many parts of the building were unaffected. In my apartment, the TV was on, and the lights in the kitchen, but the stove, microwave, bedroom, and A/C were out. Power was restored within the hour but my A/C just blows warm air. Put in a maintenance request first thing this morning.

The outside air is still rated as "Unhealthy" due to smoke from wildfires in Montana and Wyoming. The forecast calls for 100 degrees today. It is 80 degrees in my apartment while just out in the hall the air is quite cold. So I have my air purifier running in my doorway pulling cold air from the hall into my apartment.

So now I wait.

It seems like I am always waiting for someone else to do their job so I can get on with my life.
< sigh >

[Lori Dee]

Yesterday:




Again today:

[davina61]

I found where I used to work that in the summer the traffic fumes made my breathing tight, not helped as the narrow road  had tall buildings along it and on a bus route to bus station. Take the bus they say and save pollution, the diesel bus chuck out more fumes than the cars!!

[Lori Dee]

@davina61

That is sort of what happens here. Rapid City sits in a valley. From May - October is terrorist, oops I mean TOURIST season. So more traffic, high heat, and the fumes just sit until we get wind. Now, the wind coming from the northwest is bringing in all the smoke from the wildfires and that just adds to the mix.

We are learning to not breathe from May to October. 

[Lori Dee]

I ended up fixing the air conditioning myself. It was 83 degrees inside and a fan did not seem to help. I did a "technician's reset", which is turning off the thermostat and then the circuit breakers to kill power to the unit. Waited ten minutes then powered it back on and nice cold air started blowing. Yay!
One of the other residents, also a veteran, did the same thing and got her's working. A technician showed up the next morning and got everyone else's units working too.

The car thieves who stole my neighbor's car came back to try again. They were seen last Wednesday and again last night. My next-door neighbor is a security guard at a local hotel. He was coming home from work, saw them, and chased them off. We had an emergency session of our Resident Council and have asked management to have more cameras installed covering the lot and to do a security audit to make sure all cameras work and can clearly see all parts of the lot.

Additionally, we have formed a Community Watch. Two of us veterans, the security guard, and another resident who is built like a linebacker, have volunteered to patrol the parking lot in shifts. We are no longer interested in scaring them away. Our goal is to apprehend at least one of the three and get them to rat out the other two. These are teenagers (about 15 years old) and one is considerably younger.

The local police and Sheriff's dept are busy with the Sturgis Rally which starts on the 2nd. So there are no extra patrols that could watch our lot. However, we have officially deemed ourselves a Community Watch group, and the police have been notified that we are patrolling our property, we are authorized to apprehend and make a Citizen's Arrest. Once we apprehend any of them an officer will be dispatched immediately to take them into custody.

We are done playing games with these morons. Time to show them some "Tough Love".

[Lori Dee]

Last night was another "insomniac" event, so I took extra long walks through the parking lot. At 1:30 or so I was going downstairs and my neighbor who had her car stolen was using her walker to go to the laundry room. She said she wanted to look out the window and check on her car. She had been sitting in her car for a couple of hours before she went upstairs to her apt. I told her to go get some sleep and I will watch her car for her.

I was walking in the parking lot when "Linebacker" and his wife came home from the movies. We chatted for a bit to discuss if there was any suspicious activity. Then the wife drove her dad home since he had been babysitting to give them a night out. When she returned, we chatted a bit more and then she started looking past my shoulder behind me. I turned around and two teenagers were walking through the parking lot.

The female had a hoodie on and was holding it up to cover her face. A younger male was walking with her dressed completely in black and wearing a ski mask. I tried to stop them and question them (with video recording on) but they kept walking. So I followed them and then they broke into a run and I stayed right on their heels. I let them get a little ahead of me so they would think they outran me and I followed them right to their apartment building.

The video isn't great because I was walking fast/running after them. But I was able to grab a single frame that shows Mr. Ski Mask. The people who stole my neighbor's car wore all black and ski masks to conceal their faces from the security cameras.

So now I am waiting for our Property Manager to wake up so I can send her the video and photo. Then she will review all of the security cameras to see if we can ID the suspects. Interestingly, she has access to the apt building where they went. They are without a manager currently and she helps out there with inspections and such. If they have cameras at that building we will have more evidence to hand over to the detective that is investigating the car theft.

Now, I need more coffee.

[Lori Dee]

Our Property Manager has been helping out over at that other apartment building while they hire a new manager. So she has Manager Access there. She now has video footage of these kids entering their building (still wearing the ski mask) and walking down the hall showing their faces. By lunchtime, she will know who they are. She is also checking video footage from Wednesday and Friday there and here to confirm it is the same people who tried to steal the car a second and third time.

Once she has all the evidence compiled, she is going to file trespass charges against them. If it turns out they are the same ones who stole the car, they will be spending adolescence behind bars. Grand Theft Auto is not just a video game. It is also a felony with a 5-years and thousands of dollars price tag.

[Emma1017]

Lori God created tequila for such moments. 

By the way there are some really great rocks in Manhattan in a place called Tiffany's.  They won't let me prospect there sadly....

[Lori Dee]

A friend of mine owns an accounting business and was teaching me how to do tax returns. His advice was, "You can do anything until they tell you that you can't."

I will be visiting Tiffany's with a rock pick and gold pan. 

[Northern Star Girl]

@Lori Dee
Dear Lori:
Here is my unsolicited and more than likely unwanted comment reply.... 
...you really want to be as careful as you can when you submit your tax work. 
You really do not want the IRS to write you letters regarding your tax filing and
submission errors.  If that happens enough, you will eventually end up on a list of
audit possibilities and receive more and undesired scrutiny for future tax submissions.

From your CPA Forum friend... 
HUGS, Danielle [Northern Star Girl]

A friend of mine owns an accounting business and was teaching me how to do tax returns. His advice was, "You can do anything until they tell you that you can't."

I will be visiting Tiffany's with a rock pick and gold pan. 

[Lori Dee]

That is very true. I was merely filling out the forms. All returns were reviewed by him before being submitted. So any errors or investigations fell on him, not the staff. His business, his e-file code, so his responsibility.

Sometimes I would have questions about a particular client's deduction or income and he would show me how to do it. Then he would say, "It's not what you say but how you say it."

For example, claiming home-based business deductions on Form 8829 vs claiming the exact same deductions on Schedule C. He had a tax attorney who worked in the office and was on an editorial board that reviews new regulations. The position we (his firm) took was that a business is a business regardless of what address is used. So why should Microsoft be able to use Schedule C but Joe Citizen must use an 8829 which offers a smaller return? So his accounting firm had the policy to never use an 8829 because it is not in the client's best interest.

I have been audited three times in my life and each time the examiner agreed with my position. The key is that the people doing the audits are not tax attorneys and are less familiar with tax law than someone like you who works in the industry. The bonus is that once audited, they cannot audit you again for the next three years. So you use that time to "stick it to the man" and recoup any losses suffered from the audit.

A sign in the waiting room read:
"It's ours, not theIRS!" 

Your insight is never unwelcome, Danielle. I am grateful for your wisdom and guidance.

[Sephirah]

As a massively uneducated Brit, can I ask... does everyone in the US have to do their own taxes?

[Northern Star Girl]

As a massively uneducated Brit, can I ask... does everyone in the US have to do their own taxes?

@Sephirah
Dear Sephirah:
Doing our own individual taxes is an option HOWEVER for many Americans if their
taxes are more complex they can go to an online tax service like Turbo Tax or a
local tax preparation/CPA (Certified Public Accountant) such as my business.

A lot of Americans that have less complicated tax issues and can do it themselves
with the help of the IRS publications.

HUGS, Danielle [Northern Star Girl]

[Lori Dee]

@Sephirah

No. You can take your chances and not do them at all. Many people fear the government, but don't want to be bothered with doing "maths", so they hire accountants. But businesses like Danielle's also cater to businesses for income tax, sales tax, payroll taxes, and so forth. In that case, it pays to have a professional looking at your books to make sure you stay legal and maximize your return.

The issue is that it is a Tax Return. You paid taxes all year. The forms are to claim what you paid in that the government says you are entitled to receive back. People don't really understand that the government runs on money paid all year long by individuals and corporations. Filing the forms is just asking for your share to be returned. If you don't ask, you don't get anything.

It's like the example I gave Danielle. The question we posed to the tax attorney was: Is there any regulation that says you MUST file any particular form? The answer is NO. You do not have to file at all (as a citizen). Businesses work differently. But then you get no money back. You can file a simple 1040-EZ and be done quickly. But by doing that, you are not claiming many deductions that you might be entitled to, such as education or work-related expenses. Since there is no rule that I must file a Form 8829, I can skip that and claim my business expenses the way other businesses do on Schedule C. And when you do the math, your return is larger by doing it that way. I didn't know that until my friend showed me. We went back three years and filed amended returns using his method and I got back almost $6,000. That is when he asked me to come to work for him during peak tax season.

When I became disabled most of my income was tax exempt. But I do have a private disability pension that is taxable. So I would pay tax each year, then at the end of the year, claim it as disability income and they would send it back. About ten years ago I decided that I would rather keep the money in my pocket instead of giving it to the government to use without interest. So I stopped paying and stopped filing a return. Over the years the income threshold has changed so now that pension does not count as taxable because it is below the threshold.