stuff done: Monday-Wednesday
Nov. 16th, 2016 10:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
edenfalling1. Dentist appointment. My teeth are all right -- there are a few small iffy spots in my lower teeth which the dentist is keeping an eye on, but they haven't changed since my last checkup so he's not too worried. However, I should floss more.
I always get told I should floss more, because it is always true. I have been attempting to fix this by adding 'floss and fluoride' (meaning mouthwash) to my daily to-do list, on the theory that I am more likely to remember and feel pressured into acting if there is a tangible record of my intentions. Also, I think if I can get in the habit of flossing daily, I might be able to kick my brain into believing that going to bed without flossing feels gross and untenable, which is how I currently feel about going to bed without brushing my teeth.
Already I am up to flossing maybe 4-5 days per week instead of 1-3 days per week, so it seems to be (slowly, grudgingly) starting to work. We'll see if I continue to make progress in forming a new habit.
2. Took pepper photos and made update posts.
3. Cooked fajitas. Took resulting compost out to the bin. Took the bin to the curb for pickup.
4. Cleaned crumbs and char out of my toaster. I don't do that as often as I should.
5. Contacted the service committee on behalf of the youth group. They don't seem to have anything planned at the moment, though they expressed interest in helping out with anything the kids themselves come up with. Possibly this means I should come up with plans.
I am not good at social action plans. But hey, maybe I can crowdsource this.
So. Does anyone have ideas for things a small group of high school students can do to make a positive difference after the recent election? (None of them are voting age. A couple will be of voting age by 2018 and the midterm elections.)
6. Donated blood. It is a small thing, but it is a worthy thing and I like feeling useful. Also, it doesn't cost me any money or mental/emotional spoons, which are more relevant criteria right now than they have sometimes been in the past. :)
7. Glued a plastic foot back onto my glass cutting board, since it had fallen off sometime in the past months. Mom wants to use the board to serve some kind of fancy bread at Thanksgiving, or I probably wouldn't have noticed the problem for another six months minimum. I don't use that board very much.
8. Passed two more online Not the IRS continuing education courses, go me! I also attended a paid training session Wednesday evening (skills training is entirely internal rather than something necessary for IRS compliance, and as such is always paid) and successfully renewed my PTIN (the number the IRS uses to identify me as a paid tax preparer). Now I just have my ethics course, two more live courses (both the week after Thanksgiving), 14-15 more hours of skills training, and 16 freaking hours of NY state-specific continuing education courses I have to slog through before I can renew my state PTIN.
...
It is important to make sure that people handling your money and interpreting the tax code know what we are doing, but yeesh, the process is a pain.
9. Texted with Plaza Boss about doing some receptionist work for Not the IRS during pre-season, and I am currently scheduled to go play secretary at the downtown office (aka the valley office) on Friday and Monday. I don't think anything has been scheduled for after Thanksgiving just yet, but I may be doing a bit more front desk stuff in December.
-----
It turns out, incidentally, that Not the IRS is institutionally annoyed at the orange idiot -- there is an article politely talking around saying "What a dick" on the internal website, apparently in response to some things he said about the company during his campaign -- which was nice to learn. I mean, it's a business thing rather than a values thing, but still. I will take it.
Also nice is the way corporate management has realized that asking tax preparers to do sales and marketing is a bad idea (we were not hired for that, we were not trained for that, we hate it and are bad at it) and has created a dedicated sales/marketing division for each district. This came as a huge relief to almost everyone at the training session -- I am no exception!
I always get told I should floss more, because it is always true. I have been attempting to fix this by adding 'floss and fluoride' (meaning mouthwash) to my daily to-do list, on the theory that I am more likely to remember and feel pressured into acting if there is a tangible record of my intentions. Also, I think if I can get in the habit of flossing daily, I might be able to kick my brain into believing that going to bed without flossing feels gross and untenable, which is how I currently feel about going to bed without brushing my teeth.
Already I am up to flossing maybe 4-5 days per week instead of 1-3 days per week, so it seems to be (slowly, grudgingly) starting to work. We'll see if I continue to make progress in forming a new habit.
2. Took pepper photos and made update posts.
3. Cooked fajitas. Took resulting compost out to the bin. Took the bin to the curb for pickup.
4. Cleaned crumbs and char out of my toaster. I don't do that as often as I should.
5. Contacted the service committee on behalf of the youth group. They don't seem to have anything planned at the moment, though they expressed interest in helping out with anything the kids themselves come up with. Possibly this means I should come up with plans.
I am not good at social action plans. But hey, maybe I can crowdsource this.
So. Does anyone have ideas for things a small group of high school students can do to make a positive difference after the recent election? (None of them are voting age. A couple will be of voting age by 2018 and the midterm elections.)
6. Donated blood. It is a small thing, but it is a worthy thing and I like feeling useful. Also, it doesn't cost me any money or mental/emotional spoons, which are more relevant criteria right now than they have sometimes been in the past. :)
7. Glued a plastic foot back onto my glass cutting board, since it had fallen off sometime in the past months. Mom wants to use the board to serve some kind of fancy bread at Thanksgiving, or I probably wouldn't have noticed the problem for another six months minimum. I don't use that board very much.
8. Passed two more online Not the IRS continuing education courses, go me! I also attended a paid training session Wednesday evening (skills training is entirely internal rather than something necessary for IRS compliance, and as such is always paid) and successfully renewed my PTIN (the number the IRS uses to identify me as a paid tax preparer). Now I just have my ethics course, two more live courses (both the week after Thanksgiving), 14-15 more hours of skills training, and 16 freaking hours of NY state-specific continuing education courses I have to slog through before I can renew my state PTIN.
...
It is important to make sure that people handling your money and interpreting the tax code know what we are doing, but yeesh, the process is a pain.
9. Texted with Plaza Boss about doing some receptionist work for Not the IRS during pre-season, and I am currently scheduled to go play secretary at the downtown office (aka the valley office) on Friday and Monday. I don't think anything has been scheduled for after Thanksgiving just yet, but I may be doing a bit more front desk stuff in December.
-----
It turns out, incidentally, that Not the IRS is institutionally annoyed at the orange idiot -- there is an article politely talking around saying "What a dick" on the internal website, apparently in response to some things he said about the company during his campaign -- which was nice to learn. I mean, it's a business thing rather than a values thing, but still. I will take it.
Also nice is the way corporate management has realized that asking tax preparers to do sales and marketing is a bad idea (we were not hired for that, we were not trained for that, we hate it and are bad at it) and has created a dedicated sales/marketing division for each district. This came as a huge relief to almost everyone at the training session -- I am no exception!
(no subject)
Date: 2016-11-17 12:34 pm (UTC)This isn't directly in support of something obviously political, but I think that food pantries are going to see much greater need soon and that feeding people is pretty fundamental in their ability to advocate for themselves politically.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-11-17 04:08 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-11-17 12:43 pm (UTC)Amnesty International does letter writing campaigns for prisoners all over the world. That's not a US thing, but teens certainly could do that, too.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-11-17 04:10 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-11-17 03:43 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-11-17 04:13 pm (UTC)I think I will try to pull together a list of contact info for various elected officials on various levels of government, and bring copies to hand out on Sunday. I am pretty sure there are a bunch of local initiatives -- Ithaca is very into that sort of thing -- but I am not entirely sure how to find them. I will see if there is a website.