Beware the Ides of March!

According to Wikipedia, and I quote: The Ides of March is a day on the Roman calendar that corresponds to March 15. It was marked by several religious observations and was notable for the Romans as a deadline for settling debts. In 44 BC, it became notorious as the date of the assassination of Julius Caesar.

From what I remember of the tale, Caesar was warned not to go the Senate that day.  His wife had a nightmare on the fourteenth of March that it would be dangerous for Caesar to do so.  He ignored her warning as superstitious nonsense.  This is a perfect example of what happens when a man fails to heed the counsel of his wife! He was stabbed to death on the floor of the senate.  Hence the statement "Beware the Ides of March" from the play "Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare.

Beginning in 1861, when Abraham Lincoln established the first federal income tax, the phrase took on a new meaning.  For almost 100 years, the tax deadline date was March 15 - the Ides of March! 

In 1955, the deadline was moved from March to April.  I think I know why.  The tax code, which began as a simple thing has become so complex that it fills volumes!  I believe that something is wrong when it takes the average citizen hours upon hours and a PhD in mathematics to plow through it!

Last year I paid a tax pro several hundred dollars and ended up owing a couple of thousand dollars!  The two years before that, I hired a CPA, who also charge big bucks, and was audited - and fined - both years!  So this year, I bought a $50 tax program at Costco and spent that last 4 days going through a year's worth of financial junk (which I hate) just to get it finished.  Hallelujah!  According to Turbo Tax, I'm getting a refund.

They say the devil is in the details, but I think he is in the US Tax Code!  

I seriously need ideas for better organization of my tax-applicable documents!  Keeping receipts in a shoe box isn't hacking it anymore!

Help!  Don't leave me hanging!

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ides_of_March

Gebara Education copyright March 14, 2018

"The Bug" Finally Caught Me!

It is a beautiful Sunday morning, slightly overcast with a little soft rain.  Just the kind of a day I love.

BUT - I am home, in bed, feeling crummy, to put it mildly.

Yes, the family bug finally caught me.  I didn't catch it because I wasn't chasing it!  In fact, I was doing everything I could to stay away.  

But it flies too fast and lands on every touchable surface in the house!

At first, I thought I just had a chest cold, not uncommon for me with my asthma, but when I took into account my symptoms as a whole, I'm pretty sure that it is not a simple cold.  

However, the past two days with my body aches have been so awful that I've craved codeine (and I HATE codeine!)  No such luck.  

I didn't go to the doctor because, at first, I didn't think it was more than a cold and the only cure for that is time and lots of liquids.  By the time it really took hold of me, it was too late for the anti-flu medicine.  So I am doing Advil, alternating with Tylenol, lots of fluids and sleep! I know I must have a fever, because it breaks at night and I have to wring out my pillows.  I guess that's why you have to drink fluids when you're sick - you sweat them all out!

I had a flu shot in the fall, but I've since learned that there is a strain of flu that sneaks past the vaccine.  I guess I got caught by a sneaker!

I'd like to kick it out of my bed and my body!

YUCK!!!