Day 4: Dread and Taxes

There are only a few things that terrify me and Taxes is one of them. I delayed filing taxes as long as possible, and then when I finally sat down to work on them a sense of dread flushed over my body. I hate taxes. I don’t understand all the coded documents. I don’t have a degree in tax law. Press one button, I lose $300. Press another button, I gain $400. I’m terrified that I’m cheating the system because I don’t know the rules in the first place.

It doesn’t even have to be this way. In some countries you just click a button and BOOM, your taxes is done. One click. Easy. Why does our system have to be so hard? Maybe it is America's obsession with making sure that every penny is earned- Tracking every business expense, registering every charitable donation, clocking every coffee break. Don’t stay one minute past five but don’t leave too soon. Exactly 30 minutes to eat your burrito. America ensures no one is getting one single dime more than they are supposed to. Maybe that is why taxes is so frustrating.

Cathy’s job is in a bit of limbo right now. She doesn’t know how long they will let her keep working and, because she is not salaried, she doesn’t know if she will continue to collect a paycheck during this crisis.  We are worried that her sick hours and vacation hours will be cleaned out. Those hours are important to us because we need to take care of Roland’s health concerns.

The money that was supposed to go to hourly workers is still there. Still budgeted. But it can no longer be given out because our society can’t pay people for the work they don’t do. It is a hard rule of capitalism and these rules cannot change. Andrew Yang, after all, dropped out of the presidential race.

My brother, his wife, and young daughter are all sick. My sister-in-law took my niece to the hospital, but they were only tested for the flu. The doctor was not too worried about our niece having COVID, but they were told to avoid walk in clinics and to call the hospital instead of showing up in person. As my sister-in-law drove away, the hospital was erecting a large triage tent in the parking lot.

Restaurants closed this evening. Roland’s babysitters and therapists have been cancelled. With my brother's family sick, Cathy, Roland and I are on our own.

 A new board game came in the mail today- Ticket to Ride: Asia. It is a game for 4-6 players. I ordered it 11 days ago on Amazon with plans to use it for my Tuesday Night Board Game Club at the middle school. There is no more board game club. 

The game is set up to play with partners but now Cathy and I don’t have any partners to play with. Fortunately, there was a variant addition on the backside that was for 2-5 players.

Today was Saint Patrick’s Day, but like everything else, it was cancelled. I made myself a green beer anyway.

TV watched today:

The Office-
Season 8 Episode 8: Gettysburg

Season 8 Episode 9: Mrs. California

Books read today:
The Diary of River Song: Series 3
By Nev Fountain, Jacqueline Rayner, John Dorney, & Matt Fitton

Board Games played today:
Ticket to Ride: Asia (Silk Road Tour)