Moving on Tax Day

"Today, it takes more brains and effort to make out the income-tax form than it does to make the income."  ~Alfred E. Neuman

I'm having a week.  Jacob got access to his new digs on Tuesday.  I took him to Guelph on Monday so he could finish packing up his old place.  The plan was that I would drop him off and do some of the errands that were piling up and demanding my attention.  Then on Tuesday, after a day of working in Waterloo, Merv would go and help him move.  That is, Merv would help him move his boxes.  The big things will have to wait until a later date when Stan can drive to Guelph with his truck.  The reason for the sketchy plan was that it didn't occur to Jacob to make arrangements for his move more than a couple of days ahead of time.  For one thing, he didn't realize that he can't rent a truck because he isn't yet 25 and when he did realize that, he thought I would just go rent the truck for him - no reservations.  I swear half the places in Guelph were being packed up and moved this weekend.  Clearly there were no trucks to rent.  Now if I was asked, I could have told him all this weeks ago but I've been trying not to interfere and just let him figure it out.  He is almost 22 years old and it's time.  The one thing I did do was ask him about a dozen times to get the details for me so I could write a year's worth of post-dated rent cheques.  But it wasn't until after I was back in Toronto on Monday night (after a two-hour drive on the 401) that I realized he still hadn't done it so I called him and got details and gave the cheques to Merv to bring to him on Tuesday.  It turned out I didn't get any of my errands done on Monday so Tuesday was slated to be a packed day with the most pressing issue being the completion of both mine and Jacob's income tax returns.  


A couple of weeks ago, I booked a coffee date for Tuesday morning with my friend Kim.  It is the first opportunity I would have to meet Stella, her beautiful baby daughter.  After a couple of lovely hours of catch-up time, I left Kim and Stella and glanced at my Blackberry.  Jacob had left a message - could I drive to Guelph to meet him and his new landlord by 1 o'clock?  It was 11:10.  I called him.  One of his new roomates had arranged a meeting with the landlord to get keys and make the rent payments at 1:00.  Jacob needed his cheques.  The problem was that the cheques were with Merv in Waterloo.  The next couple of hours taught me some things.  First, it is impossible to get from Toronto to Waterloo to Guelph in less than two hours.  Second, when you've had three cups of coffee, it's best not to hit the highway for a three hour excursion without stopping to use the bathroom.  Lessons learned.  Suffice it to say that I got the cheques and delivered them to Guelph, albeit not before 1:00.  Not that it mattered at that point.  When I called Jacob from Waterloo to tell him I was racing back from his dad's office, he told me the meeting had been moved to 2:30.  At least I felt free to stop to go to the bathroom.

By the time I returned to Toronto, it was almost 6:00.  I tackled my taxes which took me almost two hours.  Then I tackled Jacob's.  His should have been really easy but as it was late and I was frazzled, I couldn't make them work.  He didn't get a T4 last year from Rogers because they were paying him as a contractor rather than as an employee.  He made far less money than we would have to make to pay taxes so I just couldn't figure out why the tax program kept showing that he owed more than $400.  In truth, I should have figured it out.  I too am self employed.  But by then I was tired so I packed it in.  Yesterday I took him to H&R Block and paid them $80 so they could get to the exact same place I got to the night before.  It wasn't taxes that he owed but CPP.  When we got home from getting his taxes done, I went over to Geraldine's for a sanity saving cup of tea.  When I got back to the house, Jacob's friends were here.  I hadn't planned on feeding a crowd but I managed to make a substantial dinner of short-ribs, asparagus and baked beans for the boys.  When I finally stopped, I realized I hadn't crossed off a single errand on my list.  Ah well.  There is always today.

Courtney will be coming for the weekend.  She'll be here tomorrow morning.  I'm looking forward to a little dedicated Courtney/Jackie time.  Next week is shaping up to be busy.  Monday and Tuesday I am scheduled for a hearing at the OLRB.  Wednesday afternoon, I will be working with Ger at the local McDonald's for McHappy Day.  I haven't done that for a lot of years.  It will no doubt, be fun.

The sun is shining this morning.  The leaves on the trees are trying hard to unfurl.  I think we're probably still a few days away from green day.  Spring is such a hopeful time of year.  I think I will run those errands but still try to find an hour to sit on the deck and enjoy the beauty of this day.