On Groundhog's Day...  

Puxnsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, was ceremoniously (and to be honest probably not knowing what the heck was going on) disembarked from his comfortable travel cage (fabricated to appear as the stump of an old oak tree) and dropped down on a platform atop Gobbler’s Knob, surrounded by an assortment of bearded civic leaders ornamented in stove pipe hats.  All eyes were on furry Phil.  It took him a few moments but, once oriented to the thin winter sun, he clearly saw his shadow thus indicating Six More Weeks of Winter.  Upon hearing the news, I groaned.  How would it be possible to endure another six weeks of this grueling winter of 2012? 

I feel the same way about the start of Tax Season.  How am I going to endure another grueling round of appointments, inputs, reviews, and print outs?  Waking, panicked, in the middle of the night, wondering if I’d remembered to do something or other with this or that return.  For 2012 the worry (still unresolved as I have seen so few 1099-Bs) is what is going to happen with those damn Schedule Ds and the 89—87-- ack what’s the new form?  But after a few weeks I get my sea legs, as it were, and settle into the grind and routine, and fastidiously wash my hands and bathe them in Purell, the Howie Mandel ofSan Mateo. 

We had a great turnout for Claudia Hill’s half-day kick-off seminar, full of insightful and timely information on all things 1040 related … and this was followed a few days later by a great presentation by Lynn Freer at the monthly dinner education filling us in on many key issues related to California filings … ah, yes, all that fun non-conformity. 

President’s Day is here.  Poor Washington and Lincoln, now demoted in the hierarchy to just two of our total elected Executive officers.  Since we became so inclusive, I devised a game to determine which President I would specifically honor.  You can play it, too.  A nice 5 minute break from explaining how property taxes on the tax collectors statements were never 100% deductible.  Go to an online random number generator.  I use www.random.org.  Type in a minimum number (1) and a maximum number (45) and then generate your random number.  Then go to any list of US Presidents, match the number to a name, and voila he’s your random President to honor on Monday, February 20th. 

Next up in Chapter Events mark the calendar for Thursday, March 1st and our ever popular annual “Ask The Experts” dinner education panel.  Enjoy the requisite March plate of corned beef and cabbage and get all your stumpers answered by our esteemed tax minds.  You can rest easier at night, maybe get a full 5 hours of sleep?  Well, one can dream …