wombat_socho

Work has been dribbling in, with four returns paid off and a couple more waiting for clients to send me documents or tell me they don't have them. So far the first peak has been a bust; last year I was fairly busy but this year not so much. 

The problem with the VA travel reimbursement got sorted and I've collected all my pay for the January appointments; I'll probably get the check for last week's optometry appointment next week right before I leave for Nashville, which is to say around the same time the NSSAB check will drop. Also spoke to the pharmacy clinician and she agreed that Dr. Chow went off half-cocked with the Carvedilol so we're going to drop that back to a 6.25mg tablet and in the meantime, cut the current 12.5 mg tabs in half. She also offered to send a combined Metfprmin/Jardiance pill which if nothing else will reduce the number of pills I have to take. As for the optometry appointment, it looks like I'll be getting new glasses as my eyes continue to slowly deteriorate. No glaucoma or macular degeneration, though. 

Before I head down 95 tomorrow I need to stop in briefly at the post office and pick up some prescriptions that have been waiting for me since last week, when I was blocked from getting them by late rising and work that unfortunately coincided with the hours the PO was open. 

I am rereading Behold: Humanity!  from the beginning, even though I have some other books I should be reading. 

So my new primary care doc (until he retires and I get a new one, which will apparently be happening later in the spring) doesn't like my BP or cholesterol, so he's upping my dose of Carvedilol and adding another med for the cholesterol, which I think I'll research before I blindly stuff it in my gob. 

I checked into Boulder Station with no trouble but on getting to my room I remembered why it's my least favorite of the Station properties: the plug that I need for the nose hose is buried behind the bed and is already taken up by the nightstand lamp. Otherwise I slept well, and dined well at Tacos El Pastor Wednesday night even though they were out of suadero. Breakfast on Wednesday and Thursday both was at McD's,  and I'm beginning to think the sugar-free vanilla iced coffee may not be for me, at least in the large size; both days I had a somewhat upset stomach for most of the morning. 

Today I had the Oregon state tax preparer retest, this time at a place on South Rainbow, and this time I passed, even though I should have brought copies of schedules B and E along with the form 1040, A, C, and SE. Got a 77 and did much better on the final problem solving section because I had (most of) the needed forms. Now I have to shell out another $85 to Oregon for the actual license, the thieves. I'll do that tomorrow after the financial dust settles from the trip. 

After the test, I doubled back to the Maverik on Lake Mead to fill up on E15 ($2.55 after the Nitro discount, huzzah) but first I stopped at the local Randy's Donuts (an outpost of the famous LA doughnut joint) and sampled their doughnuts, which are good. I saved the ham & cheese croissant for breakfast tomorrow. After Maverik, I used my BOGO on the Rally's app to get a Big Buford & a Baconzilla, which were smaller than I remembered but just as tasty. I got too many fries, and the drink was kinda small for an XL, but I was going to Sonic on the way out of town anyway. Also I stopped at Walmart and got more melatonin gummies since I'm almost out. 

Then it was up 95 to home, stopping only in Amargosa Valley for garbage and Goldfield to urinate. Actually got home before 1800 but not before dark...but I'm really tired since I woke up at 0600 this morning long before my alarm was to go off, so I do believe I'll take my meds and insulin and call it a night. 

Well, that was $100 wasted (not counting gas money). Failed the Oregon state tax prep exam because PSI forgot to mention that copies of the 1040, Schedule A, and Schedule C would be needed for the final part of the exam, and of course I blew that section right out of my ass because I haven't done a return on paper since before I started working for H&R Block. Even with that, I missed passing by one fucking question, so I quoted Marshal Zhukov from The Death of Stalin at the test center staff and left.  

The Linq was comfortable enough but a real pain in the ass to get around; much like the Strat, the check-in desk was at the other end of the hotel from the parking ramp. There wasn't enough room to slide the chair between the desk and one of the beds, so I didn't get any blogging done, but at least the parking was free. 

Got up early enough to get breakfast at Dunkin and sit around for half an hour waiting for the Fedex to open so I could finish printing the rest of OR-17, which turned out to be less expensive than I feared. From there it was easy to get to Brainseed, but it was a pain in the ass finding parking, and I wound up walking 3/4 of the way around the building. After the test, I headed up to the VA to get my lab work done (and get partial reimbursement for the mileage) before heading over to the Maverik on Tropical for gas ($2.65 for E15, hurrah), Diet Coke, and a couple slices of pizza by way of lunch. Then I got more fluids at Sonic on Craig and got back on the '15 to head home by way of the Walmart at the other end of Tropical, because I needed to pick up ham, English muffins ($2.72 being better than $3.99) and a couple liter bottles of Diet Coke. I stopped at Indian Springs on the way back for fluids and munchies, but otherwise I just pushed straight on to home, because I'd only gotten six hours sleep at the Linq and was worried I'd nod out on the road. 

Got home in the dark, unloaded the car, and decided the hell with blogging; just going to go to bed early. Time enough for that tomorrow...along with scheduling another go at the damned Oregon test, this time with the forms I didn't have today. Fuckers. 

So I'd originally planned to go down for my Wednesday podiatry appointment on Tuesday, do the Oregon state tax exam Thursday morning, and come back that afternoon, but I wasn't ready for the exam and rescheduled that for the following week. Too late to cancel the extra day at Main Street Brewery, though, and unfortunately I didn't make good use of my time there, which meant when I got back to Tonopah I had to do two days worth of double-posting to get caught up.

Why Main Street Brewery? Well, CES was in town, and rooms at the Strat were $insane per night, so...this was the best option. Or maybe the Cannery would have been cheaper, but I didn't look. Anyway, the room was nice, the brewpub was good (I ate more than I should have) and the breakfast buffet on Thursday was excessive. Refueled at the Maverik on Lake Mead ($2.55 for E15!), got fluids at the Sonic on Decatur, and then picked up a few things at the nearby Walmart neighborhood market. They were out of english muffins, and I forgot the ham, but the heavy cream was marked down and I got plenty of water enhancers. I also consulted with Lindsay about the ex's tax problems, and I'll be sending her a letter outlining what she needs to do. 

Lost two out of three to the Cardinals on Wednesday, beat the Tribe twice tonight, and that's the way it was. 

I'll hit the post office tomorrow and get started on the damn Oregon tax course tomorrow. 

So the Brotbox was good, by and large, except for the rye bread which was tough to slice, and I probably won't be re-ordering that. 

I took the week off from studying for the Oregon state exam, which turns out to be open book, but I don't think they'll allow me to take a tablet with Publication 17 and the Oregon equivalent into the test area, and the Tax Book is probably iffy too - but I'll ask. I'll have to see if I can get hardcopies of both publications before the test next month, and in the meantime call the Oregon state office in charge of the test to pay my fee and make the necessary arrangements. 

Thanksgiving dinner went all right. The breast cooked up like it was supposed to, I fixed two kinds of stuffing, scalloped potatoes, a sweet potato, butternut squash, and it was all good. Between all the food and the desserts (Tillamook vanilla ice cream & a mini Marie Callender peach pie) I put on a little less than six pounds but lost half of it on Saturday so that this morning's weight was 391.8. That will probably tick up a bit on account of dinner at the Stage Stop, but I'm still way under the 400+ I came back from Minnesota with. 

Finally sent out my perszine to all the friends I could find e-mail addresses for, and much to my amazement only one bounced. Actually got a few e-mail responses back. Forgot to send copies to Nic and Garth, though. 

Made a fair amount of progress on cleaning up the apartment, at least as far as bagging up garbage goes. I guess I'll spend a lot of tomorrow hauling out those bags, filling more bags, and hauling those out as well so the place is merely cluttered and not looking (too much) like a hoarder lives here. 

Somewhere along the drive from Red Wing back to Tonopah, I got a sty in my right eye that annoyed me enough that I called the VA Nurse Line last night and asked if I should go to the local urgent care. The nurse agreed that this sounded like a good plan, so today I got my ass up, ate breakfast, re-enrolled with myfitnesspal.com so I can track my face-stuffing better, and headed over to the urgent care. The doc confirmed that it was just a sty* and to apply warm compresses while I waited for Raley's to whip me up a topical antibiotic. Speaking of Raley's, I stopped by there for tea, yogurt, and Gatorade, and brought up stuff from the car that I'd left behind when unloading yesterday afternoon. 

I did finally pitch into my CE and got the ethics course done; I started Estimated Payments, but I need to reread the text because I'm not doing well on the exam questions where you need to figure out who needs to make the estimated tax payments and who doesn't. This is what I get for being sloppy and relying on Blockworks to do the thinking for me. 

Checked the USAA Amex today and found out the charges from a couple of truck stops and the Buc-ee's in Johnstown Colorado had reverted to the actual purchases, which was a relief. 

*As opposed to conjunctivitis, which cost my Uncle Joe Jaramillo an eye in Panama thanks to the Air Force. 

Compared to last year, I guess I'm doing better. I am lighter, my diabetes is mostly under control, and my financial situation is arguably better. I'm behind the curve on my CE, not having started ANY of it yet, but I am at least going to try and knock out the ethics and some other classes if I can squeeze them in between blogging and laundry and other tasks over the next couple of days.

The Dempsey Room at the Mizpah was closed for no apparent reason, so instead I went to Raley's for some tea and Vitamin D before going to the Stage Stop for my birthday steak and a slice of carrot cake. Then it was home to catch up on three disties worth of StippleAPA.  I'm done with #373, mostly done with #374, and will try to finish #375 tomorrow. Laundry will get done Saturday night along with some packing; the rest of course will be done at the last minute Sunday morning before I head out to Salt Lake City via Ely and Wendover. Also on tomorrow's to-do list: having the tires checked at Cal-Nevada, dropping off stuff at the bank, and catching up on blogging, because I skipped it today because it was my birthday, damn it. Maybe I'll fill the tank at Love's while I'm out running around. 

troika sent me a couple of Steam games: the HALO Master Chief edition along with Fate/Extella and Fate/Extella Link. If I can pry myself away from Civ5 maybe I'll actually play these in the near future. He also called and we talked for about an hour, which was nice. We agreed that we're going to get together for BBQ on Thursday when I get in, and then I suppose we'll go down to Red Wing and see his mom. I guess I'll get together with everyone else that I didn't see over the weekend on Tuesday after I bring him back from that...and after that I'll have to check the weather to see whether I can go back the way I came or if I need to go home via Iowa, Nebraska and Colorado or take an even more southerly route trough Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, though at least in that case I could see Val and her family on the way to seeing Carlos in the hospital if he's still there. 

And with that, I should get my ass to bed. Lots to do tomorrow and Saturday.

Today's haul from the post office included the keyboard/cover for the Surface Go, a Get Your Ass To Mars T-shirt, some 9x12 envelopes, a variety pack of Sonic Limeade powders, and a 2-pound can of unflavored whey protein. Also lugged up the wargames from the car and opened the box. 

Also I got more frozen fruit, ice tea, and Celsius energy drinks. All these things were on sale. Yay.

Got fully caught up on the blogging today and got a jump on tomorrow's, which since it is Good Friday will include the obligatory quotes from The Centurion and the Passion according to St. Matthew. Thus I begin the habitual depression that settles in every Good Friday. 

I couldn't resist the temptation to look at the Daily Volume Report on Amp; sure enough, four more returns cashed out. It's theoretically possible I'll actually make bonus this year, but if it's much over $20 I'll be very surprised.

I opened the box for Chaco, which now has colorful counters and a slightly more colorful map. Unfortunately, the Paraguayan OB now lacks "The Machetes of Death". Most of the mechanics and optional rules seem to be unchanged from the original; I expect Burma will be much the same. 

I did a minimal amount of Ingressing today; opened the Intel map and found where the annoying Frog-held portals are that are screwing up my linking to the town cemetery: off in the subdivision behind the courthouse, where in the five years I've lived here I have yet to go. I'll fix that tomorrow, yes I will. 

Was on the clock from 12-9 today but only put in about four hours of work because there just wasn't that much to do. I have about 33 hours logged for the week, but despite some large returns I doubt Ill be on the right side of the curve. 

Got up at 0900, got dressed, and went down to BK to get french toast sticks, a bottle of water, and a Diet Coke; they didn't have sugar-free syrup, but I did at home so I just nibbled on the hash browns until I got to the post office. 

There I had a shitload of stuff waiting for me. Mattress topper, Komi, notepads, the Roughneck Chronicles off eBay, Burma and Chaco that I'd ordered off Kickstarter, Battle Brick Road ditto (5 copies of issue #2 because I forgot I already ordered one), a couple of kolaches from Butter Maid, two more Amazon Essential pocket tees, and Stipple-APA along with a couple other pieces of mail. I managed to get it all into the car with the assistance of a helpful lady, and got it all upstairs in two trips except for the wargames. No hurry on those. I unpacked the topper and spread it out; the instructions say 48 hours, but 12 will have to do. Around 1500 a knock at the door heralded the arrival of a UPS guy with my Surface tablet, which I took a little time to set up. Apparently Office Mobile has been folded into Microsoft Copilot, which is fine with me because fuck Office 365.The Surface Go is actually a little thinner than my Samsung phone in its Otterbox, though that will probably change slightly when the keyboard/cover arrives next week. It would have been here today as well, but the shipper wouldn't send it to the PO Box, so I put the home address on it, and of course it got rejected at the PO. Amazon agreed to just ship another one to the PO Box for no charge, which is fine. 

I conformed to the Law of the Fish by taking advantage of a Subway coupon for three footlongs for $17.99, which was actually cheaper than the B2G1 deal on the app, which I couldn't get to work anyway. One of them was a garlic roast beef sub that I ate Thursday night and the other two were tuna salad subs  that I devoured today for lunch and dinner. 

Took a break in the action from today's work to sweep the Giants, which after beating Pete's Brewers 2 out of 3 on Tuesday made for a good week. Still a game behind the A's, but we have over 70 games to go, so I'm not giving up hope. Carl Morton picked up two wins, Spaceman Lee finally got his 10th win, and Bob Johnson got his 9th save. Dave Kingman went on a tear against the Giants, blasting three home runs during the series . which was nice and confirmed the wisdom of my decision to trade for Braun and stick Dave in the #9 hole as DH. 

I'm on the clock from 12-9 tomorrow, so I think I'll make my bed and get in it. 

Not sure where it came from, but some evil bacterium or virus laid me low for most of this week, starting on Monday and lasting for most of the work week. I'm guessing it was a bacterial infection of some sort, since the leftover/expired doxycycline I had laying around seems to be taking care of the problem. Still, I've been tired and weak and in no mood to pick up all the packages waiting for me at the post office. 

Fortunately there hasn't been that much to deal with in the tax mines. I haven't had any new returns until today, and that was an easy one; mostly I'm waiting for clients to sign stuff, or send me documents.  I only have 80 returns done so far; Anne assures me that my TPR returns are in there, which really just makes things worse. Hoping things will be different once the death march to April 15 starts and fearing they won't. 

Next week I have a wound care appointment on Friday, which means driving down Thursday afternoon. I'm not staying at the Stratosphere for once; the rooms at Boulder Station were cheaper and all have refrigerators. I'm not even sure it's any farther away.