Sleepless in Belfast

As I was waiting for sleep to overtake me last night, I was thinking about various things, but mostly about my tax returns. I was trying to make a list, when really I needed a spreadsheet, to figure out what will happen. I've got two houses. I worked two jobs last year. I have special considerations in regards to per diem with my job. It's all way over my head.

So I laid awake with all of this echoing in my head, trying to work some fancy math, and I realized I was having an OCD moment. Occasionally, a word will pop into my head, like Blagojevich (which I still can't pronounce properly) and I just keep repeating it. I don't say it out loud, but I may mouth the word, roll it around on my tongue, see how it feels as I form the word. In the middle of my sleep-deprived rambling, my head started to echo Blagojevich.

Anyway, I finally came to the realization that I needed to just call a local tax person and see if they could accommodate my requirements. I've only done Turbo Tax up til now. I'm always hesitant to hire professionals to do professional things, like carpet cleaners, or tax professionals, or attorneys, but sometimes you have to do these things.

The last time I consulted an attorney, for instance, it was an old friend's brother, someone I didn't particularly get along with in my teens, but we've grown out of that, right? I was having some issues with my tenants in my rental condo; they wanted to terminate their lease early but they had found me a replacement tenant. I don't know anything about background checks, or breaking leases, or subletting, or anything like that. I'm just doing this because I couldn't sell the damn place in this crapola economy and I didn't want to live there anymore, and I had already built my new townhouse. Anyway, I panicked. I didn't follow through with an appointment with this guy, and even though it was a year ago, I still feel badly about it. Luckily, my tenant paid on time with minimal issues (despite constant complaints from downstairs neighbors that I think even the condo association people realized were crazy).

Things are getting more complicated as I get older. I feel the old familiar urge to procrastinate, to try to not think about things, but I've also found that the sooner you deal with these things, the better off you are, the more able you are to accommodate and plan. So, as soon as recurrent training is over with, my attentions will be turned to my taxes.

I just wish that, when I'm laying sleepless in the middle of the night, I could think about more pleasant topics.