Uncle Sammy, Why are you so pissed at me?

I think I'm a good American. I obey the laws (most all of them anyway). I love my country, although having some pains with the current economy and the price at the pump. Have done a bit of foreign travel, and although exciting, is always great to come home. My poor little coffee shop gives discounts to military, police, fire, ems, and am sure would pony up for the boy scouts if they show up in uniform.

Lately, I feel like I have somehow angered Big Unc. Have spent a year with the courts and my x-renter, my upcoming audit with the Workers Comp division, and now, if not insult to injury, I went to my mailbox today, and what do I find?

A nasty gram from the Postmaster.. Seems as though my "mailbox needs attention".. or he will NO longer deliver my mail. Boxes checked are:

1. Box must be located so carrier can serve it without leaving vehicle... yes, God forbid, he have to get his fat ass out of the truck!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2. The approach to your box should be cleared of obstacles, (of which he has penned, "Tree needs to be trimmed back") Now where does Mr. Postman get the authority to be on bush patrol?

Now I agree it is a bit overgrown at the front of my house. The bushes have all turned to trees. I will probably have to locate someone with a bucket truck to do the job. I've been meaning to do this, but honestly, it just hasn't rolled to the top of my long long list.

A quick google produced the postal "code" . Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. I guess this doesn't apply to tall bushes!!!!!!!!!!!! Give me a break and Get off my ASS! I am hopeful one day to be able to receive all of my junk mail via email and we will see how Big Unc likes that.

Do These Things Look Level to You???

I have been on a quest for justice for about a year now. And I tell you, Lady Justice is a difficult sister to follow. The blind part seems about right, but I haven't happened upon the equal part just yet. Maybe it's coming. I like to think I am an optimist, or I try to be anyway. Or for sure believe in that old "what goes around comes around and you can only hope you are still around when it does to see it" proverb !!!

I own a small rental house in town. Thought it would be a good investment. That could have been one of the first flaws in this plan. Purchased it soon after one of the hurricanes in north Florida. At the time, rental was King as there were few undamaged homes and if I had 100 of them I could have rented them all.

As this was my first foray into rentals, I bought the Landlord for Dummies and made sure I followed all the rules for renting. Ran all the checks, references and verifications that are allowed and signed a guy up for 12 months. The first 12 went off without a hitch. Paid on time and actually, I don't think I ever heard from the guy. I thought this was a match made in heaven. Signed another 12 months with him. He appeared to be a contented renter. About 2 months into this one, he decided paying rent was optional, and he was choosing the NO payment option plan.

I attempted many times to contact him with my messages becoming very uncharming... and always unreturned. I would have appreciated even an excuse. I eventually had to go through the long, expensive and tiresome process of eviction. I then had to bring my extensive snoop sister skills to the forefront to find his new address. Appears this is all MY responsibility to provide this information to the courts. But those skills are still there (they come in quite handy for a variety of life's necessary information gathering..)

I am getting ready for my 2nd trip to Atlanta(where his employer is), with another 12 copies of 6 forms, for what I hoping is the last step in garnishment of his wages in this little 12 month saga. All of this fun in my life has resulted in him skipping out on about $5 grand. One way or the other, it will be over for me. I will probably get zip out of it, or maybe $5 a month for the rest of my days, but am hoping he may think just a little about the next woman he doesn't return her phone call!!!

Johnny Law

"We are calling to schedule an audit"... Now these 7 little words have struck fear in my heart. Seems I am required by the workers comp insurance agency to have my payroll books audited. Who knew? There is just so much of this being a small business owner that I call "you don't know what you don't know".. I have a great CPA that I believe keeps me out of trouble and emails often to remind me to file things. I'm hoping I can talk her into coming and holding my hand through this.

Since everything about starting this business has cost way more than I anticipated, I attempt to tackle and absorb as much of the cost items as I can. So have learned to do payroll, and handle all the fed, state, and anyone else that has their hands in my pocket daily myself. But it is quite a daunting task, particularly since I have another full time "real job". I do the best I can, but I somehow don't think any of the government agencies are interested in how hard you have tried and pleading ignorance I doubt will carry much weight with them, nor flashing these baby blue eyes of mine at them.

So I have 3 days to get the 100 point check list together for The Company to come out and audit. I know I have not intentionally done anything illegal, but then I'm one of these people that hasn't opened a bank statement in 30 years!!! I was a math whiz, but bookkeeping is a whole nuther animal. It's so tedious and boring and I can find a million things to do to procrastinate doing it.

But its 3 days and counting and I don't look good in stripes (The What Not to Wear folks claim no one does), although I think Orange Jumpsuits are the current fashion, so I better get busy and get those ducks in a row. It's always something isn't it?

Poor Sugar Bear

I have 2 kitties. well, I guess technically, they are just big ole cats now. It's a shame they have to grow up, as there is just nothing cuter than a kitten. They are litermates, Lucy and Ethel and are inside/outside cats. Ethel is a Manx (of the no tail variety as her mother was). Lucy has a tail (guess who's your daddy must have had a tail, but I'm not really sure how cat genetics work). But they seem to have become the object of my affection. I've always been an animal lover, but had many years of being without them due to my road warrior traveling. These two seem to have taken over my life now and it is amazing how many times they feel a need to go in and out and out and in the house during the course of a day. And being a slave to them, I always oblige. Ethel is quite the Momma's girl and mostly pretends to be a housecat.

When I got home last night, Ethel was pretty sick and behaved injured. If you tried to pick her up, loud cat wails erupted. I didn't see any visual evidence of anything amis, but she appeared to be in alot of pain. Now why is it that children and animals can NOT get sick during regular office hours?? So, 11PM and I am off to the Animal ER. It's $85 just to walk in and sign your name to the clipboard. 2 bloodtests and $320 later, the scholared Vet has no clue as to the problem. The bloodwork showed nothing. So my options were pain meds; or a series of body scans.. Well, I opted to start with the pain meds. My normal method of problem resolution is to start simple with the solution and hope for some luck.

She seems to be responding to the pain meds (or masking the problem).. at least she is eating today. I haven't tried to pick her up. I think I'll let her work into that. I'm monitoring the situation though for another late night Vet excursion. If you come back within 48 hours, you don't have to pay another $85. What a deal. Wish I could get some of that action.

Guess I need a bigger couch



Lucy at Halloween

I don't think this old body is quite ready for Zumba!!!

As a struggling small business owner, I am a card carrying member of the local chamber of commerce. Not sure how helpful it has been for my business, but have met quite a few fun and interesting people. At breakfast a few weeks ago a new member at our table mentioned that she taught a Zumba class. Now I try and keep up and partake in any and all the latest fad diets and workouts, but this one was new for me. Obviously, I am a bit behind the times. So of course, I get home and immediately google it, find some video clips on the web and naturally the offical Zumba website. It looked fun, although everyone in the videos appeared fit and fabulous.

I am a huge fan of Dancing with the Stars. I find them amazing and can't imagine becoming that good in such a short amount of time. I understand now why they all loose the extra pounds and get in such great shape. This was my idea of breaking into the star mode. My first 1 hour Zumba class I took yesterday was enough to send me to the Ibuprofen bottle as soon as I got home. Now for those as uninformed of this new workout regimen as I was, it appears to be a combo of all of the the Latin dances (mambo, samba, etc.) with some hip hop and a few other dances I'd never heard of thrown in for good measure.

Now my new contact and our teacher was this itty bitty gal about as big as a knat and with Spanish heritage that I believe enabled her to move her parts in ways that this old body of mine was never going to move in, no matter how many classes I take. I think I should crawfish out of this new exercise craze and head back to Pilates until my breathing returns to normal.