this and that and the other thing
Dec. 2nd, 2022 08:05 pmGeneral life update:
I woke up Wednesday completely flattened by generalized exhaustion, so I called in sick and went back to sleep for five hours, after which I was able to do some minor household tasks. I was still pretty tired on Thursday, but able to get through a workday and today I have felt fine, though upon reflection, I have been eating pretty small meals for all three days, so maybe that's related???
Anyway, no idea what that was, glad it seems to be over.
I have finished my NY state mandated annual 4 hours of tax preparer training, which is the same damn nonsense it is every year. The main difference is that this year the explanation of how to use their online services (irrelevant to me, since I am a Not the IRS employee rather than an independent business) was a slideshow and the "barrage of state credits, deductions, and updates" was a video, rather than the other way around. Like, it's all the same visuals -- they just switch up which one is a straight-up PowerPoint equivalent and which one gets compulsory narration to accompany the slides.
I have an appointment scheduled for this coming Tuesday down in Sayre, PA (...my Not the IRS internal company district is oddly shaped, and I am on the farthest northern tip of it, which is annoying when they schedule things in more central locations) to renew my PTIN with the IRS and my TPRIN with the NY Dept. of Taxation. Technically I could renew both on my own and then submit a reimbursement request for the fees, but it's much simpler to just use a company credit card to start with.
Hmm, what else...
I am currently reading At the Feet of the Sun, which is the direct sequel to The Hands of the Emperor. I'm not quite 20% of the way through -- it is a VERY long book -- but I'm enjoying it a lot so far! NOBODY TELL ME ANY SPOILERS.
I have also recently finished Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, which I also enjoyed. It's very much in his general vein of "moderately snarky science/tech-minded person does clever stuff to solve problems, with a side dose of hopefulness about human nature," which is a structure I enjoy a lot. This one also has two parallel narratives running in the present and the past, due to the protagonist slowly recovering from medically-induced amnesia, which lets Weir provide reveals and explanations at dramatically relevant points instead of exposition-dumping up front.
In audio media news, I started listening to The Adventure Zone a few weeks ago, and got through the entire Balance storyline, as well as the first set of experimental mini-campaigns. I enjoyed Balance a lot, and also the Dust mini-campaign. (I was a little eh about Commitment -- I think it suffered from being the immediate rebound project after Balance and just felt kind of wobbly and rough around the edges.) I am now working my way through the Amnesty storyline, and I'm enjoying that a lot too!
I had read some Balance transcripts some years ago, I forget exactly why -- probably something Tumblr-related -- but wasn't interested in listening at that time. But apparently the correct time is now. You see, sometimes I DO, in fact, get around to watching/reading/listening to that cool thing you told me about! I just have to wait until the stars are right and my brain finally gives permission. *wry*
Tomorrow I have a ticket to an evening concert from NYS Baroque, which will be lovely. Beyond that, well, we'll see. :)
I woke up Wednesday completely flattened by generalized exhaustion, so I called in sick and went back to sleep for five hours, after which I was able to do some minor household tasks. I was still pretty tired on Thursday, but able to get through a workday and today I have felt fine, though upon reflection, I have been eating pretty small meals for all three days, so maybe that's related???
Anyway, no idea what that was, glad it seems to be over.
I have finished my NY state mandated annual 4 hours of tax preparer training, which is the same damn nonsense it is every year. The main difference is that this year the explanation of how to use their online services (irrelevant to me, since I am a Not the IRS employee rather than an independent business) was a slideshow and the "barrage of state credits, deductions, and updates" was a video, rather than the other way around. Like, it's all the same visuals -- they just switch up which one is a straight-up PowerPoint equivalent and which one gets compulsory narration to accompany the slides.
I have an appointment scheduled for this coming Tuesday down in Sayre, PA (...my Not the IRS internal company district is oddly shaped, and I am on the farthest northern tip of it, which is annoying when they schedule things in more central locations) to renew my PTIN with the IRS and my TPRIN with the NY Dept. of Taxation. Technically I could renew both on my own and then submit a reimbursement request for the fees, but it's much simpler to just use a company credit card to start with.
Hmm, what else...
I am currently reading At the Feet of the Sun, which is the direct sequel to The Hands of the Emperor. I'm not quite 20% of the way through -- it is a VERY long book -- but I'm enjoying it a lot so far! NOBODY TELL ME ANY SPOILERS.
I have also recently finished Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, which I also enjoyed. It's very much in his general vein of "moderately snarky science/tech-minded person does clever stuff to solve problems, with a side dose of hopefulness about human nature," which is a structure I enjoy a lot. This one also has two parallel narratives running in the present and the past, due to the protagonist slowly recovering from medically-induced amnesia, which lets Weir provide reveals and explanations at dramatically relevant points instead of exposition-dumping up front.
In audio media news, I started listening to The Adventure Zone a few weeks ago, and got through the entire Balance storyline, as well as the first set of experimental mini-campaigns. I enjoyed Balance a lot, and also the Dust mini-campaign. (I was a little eh about Commitment -- I think it suffered from being the immediate rebound project after Balance and just felt kind of wobbly and rough around the edges.) I am now working my way through the Amnesty storyline, and I'm enjoying that a lot too!
I had read some Balance transcripts some years ago, I forget exactly why -- probably something Tumblr-related -- but wasn't interested in listening at that time. But apparently the correct time is now. You see, sometimes I DO, in fact, get around to watching/reading/listening to that cool thing you told me about! I just have to wait until the stars are right and my brain finally gives permission. *wry*
Tomorrow I have a ticket to an evening concert from NYS Baroque, which will be lovely. Beyond that, well, we'll see. :)