punkaccountant

It’s my profession and I’m a little bit of a nut about it (in that I like the job, haha) plus many people do not understand taxes - nor should they because it’s been made SOOO unnecessarily complicated. So I’m always happy to try and explain our ridiculous system, lol. Thanks for reading it!

Generally those who own their home in cities have higher property tax bills. Prior to the TCJA, there wasn’t a dollar cap on your real estate tax deduction if you itemized. Now there is a $10k cap which includes your state taxes paid (like from your w2 or estimated taxes). For someone like me who lives in a somewhat low COL area…no biggie. My property taxes are pretty low and don’t come near that cap. But it’s pretty easy to hit that cap when you live in a city and your property taxes alone are 10k or more…but before that u also were able to deduct your state taxes paid. So many people who previously were able to itemize and even might be able to now if they got the full amount of property taxes, will only get the standard decision and thus more of their income is taxable.

There are sources that say that the property tax deduction primarily benefited higher income earners, but some of these higher income earners also live in higher COL areas and thus don’t make as much money as it may seem because it’s so much more expensive to live where they live.

My cat died.

He had been acting funny for a little while (week or so). Not moving much, growling when you pressed his belly. I was a young teen and my mom didn’t have a lot of money and basically hoped to ignore it away.

Turns out he had some sort of bladder blockage and it burst the evening of my birthday. He died in awful pain while I could only watch helpless (mom worked nights and wasn’t there). I tried to comfort him but he ended up biting my finger, I still have a scar some 30 years later.

RIP Eclipse. You deserved so much better.

I actually am a fan of unreliable narrators, but they can’t also be insufferable assholes. I can’t stand that book and I did read it when I was 15!

That said, I understand it’s not really meant to be a cherished story…but if I’m gonna read about someone I would actively hate, I’ll stick to non-fiction for that.

If you can, donate to your LOCAL non-profits or the local branches of larger non-profits. Get to know the people in those organizations (volunteer, visit organization open houses/orientations, go to a hosted event) and you’ll feel a lot better about where your dollars are going.

I used to be on the board of a local domestic abuse shelter and now I’m on the board of a local food pantry. Both are amazing organizations, both have incredibly passionate people working for them, and the board is filled with mostly normal working people who have or want to have good community connections.

My partner has a little with big brothers big sisters and that turned into a board position for him because he was super enthusiastic and active. That’s a bigger organization but his contributions are at the local level and we’ve gotten to know the local “ceo” as well.

Also, 501(c)(3) orgs must publicly list their tax returns and you can find out the salaries of the executives on those tax returns. So even tho in my experience, the executives of the orgs at the local levels earn every damn penny (and it’s def not enuf) you can also find that info out for yourself. But please remember that if a non profit doesn’t have an excellent, passionate and well paid staff, they will NOT be able to get the donations and funding they need to fulfill their actual purpose. I’m talking specifically about local orgs tho, some of those giant orgs with executives making millions definitely should take a closer look at their priorities.

And finally…if you can’t donate money of course there is always volunteering but there is ALSO serving on a board. Every non-profit ive been involved with has had problems filling their board seats with active, enthusiastic individuals. Sometimes there are monetary asks of board members but no one is going to kick you out if you truly only have time and no money. And if u experience that, find a better board, they are out there and they are working really really hard to make things better.

Oh man Lisey’s Story was one hell of a slog and I thought perhaps King had lost it since it’s one of his more modern offerings. But then he wrote Duma Key and 11/22/63 and I realized it was just a dud. Good luck getting through it!

I have, at certain points in my life, been a rabid King fan. As someone who was trying to think of how to describe and recommend books from an author as eclectic as King, thank you. You’ve done my work for me.

And I had completely forgotten about Hearts in Atlantis which I loved. Isn’t that one a short story? I was probably a very young adult when I read that.

And I will pile on and also say I would recommend Gerald’s Game and Insomnia as two of his more unique horror novel takes.

“It” is also not only my favorite King book but my favorite book of all time. However, I get some flack for that due to some problematic sexual themes involving children and also it’s just a dang long story with a LOT of sub stories in it. But it captured me a long time ago and nothing else has done that since. All that to say, I absolutely love that story but am careful about recommending it since I usually get the side eye eventually.

Doctor Sleep also expands on the powers in The Shining and Needful Things references many of the evil entities in the stand and It.

I have always loved the way King weaves his baddies into many of his stories and basically implies that they are all the same kind of evil dressed up in the “clothing” to suit its purpose at any given time.

Now that I think of it…I think in Cujo when he is narrating the dogs infected mind, he alludes to the generalized evil as well. It’s been a while since I read that one tho.

I love this. It feels very alice in wonderland to me. Inviting curiosity but with an undertone of malice.

Yep, she was Wendy

Prom: no. Graduation: no (graduated early, didn’t walk in the summer even tho I could)…but lotsa regular dances.

Same, I was 13