3, 2, 1 HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
I confess….the whole “Two Blue Moons” in one short, upcoming, quarter has thrown me into a tizzy over the possibilities – –
A Supermoon rings in the new year, here in Colorado, USA, around 7:30ish tomorrow… followed by a blue moon on the 31st, a full moon on March 1st, followed by YET another blue moon, on March 31st.
With a lunar eclipse thrown in., along the way- –
Sigh…this year, saying “Once in a Blue Moon…..” just doesn’t have the weight and import it used to….
( I’m open to the possibility this is all coming about because we, as a species are adulting it enough to handle the chaos delivered by such things- –
Quite frankly, I’m calm and peacefully contemplating just how crazy weird my first quarter of work days in 2018 will be….I confess to being cynical about the aftermath of SuperFullMoons after years in the Service industry – – but, I’m also optimistic – have I NOT survived Full Moons, Haley’s Comet and years the Broncos made it to Superbowl while working as a bartender, before? Yup, I can do this, too…. 😀 )
However; It’s NOW OFFICIALLY New Year’s Eve….
And time for my two traditions for New Year’s Eve:
- Listing my last year’s accomplishments (dutifully back-dated, so I can congratulate myself on ALWAYS keeping resolutions)
- …AND income tax preparation – (cuz who really wants to be stressed out in March during spring blizzards?)
I Report, Tax Prep all but done – around October of this year…
See, I’m one of those pesky, lazy losers who is on Medicaid by virtue of not earning enough – even though my time tracker for business and time sheets from work indicate I regularly work around 60-100 hours per week – 🙂
Thus, come open enrollment time, your life is ‘teased out’, you are treated nicely by your local rep, but get demanding, threatening missives from the website gurus ( I use this term loosely – VERY loosely) and higher ups who cow-tow to politicians and lobbyists – all who like to send you missives up till December 2nd with dire warnings and conflicting information – are you going to jail for fraud? Or not? Are you on Medicaid or getting dinged for not having insurance for 3 months when you FOOLISHLY believed the ‘determination letter’ you automatically received in September (at 11:40 p.m., when ‘cut off for open enrollment’ ended at 11:59, might I add – and the missive said, “You have been determined to qualify for Medicaid, but now you need to go over to this (defunct, non-working website) to enter all your sh*t again, because we need to determine if you qualify for subsidy to pay for your own health insurance because you don’t qualify for medicaid.” –
(It just occurred to me – I spent 3 hours yesterday coding and making sure that no matter what category a customer chose, the ‘resulting pages’ of their website categorized info correctly and always showed the Current reality! Sheesh! (forehead slap!) once more – if I, as lazy loser on Medicade, deemed milker of the system (says some) am willing to spend such time over the New Year’s Holiday weekend, to make sure shit online reflects reality – why is a state/federal funded site so sadly lacking for both me as a ‘user/customer’ ad those who are held accountable for navigating it all AND giving good customer service?!?
…YES!…these are the questions my snark soul asks….and always demands must be truly answered – – )
Sigh – let high powered, not thinking about end-user folks get a contract for building a system and walla! Broken for me, Broken for the county reps that try to fulfill their job duties, who say, “Fax it to me, email it to me, send it via email, but for the LOVE of All that is Holy! do not use the online system for reporting – it’s Fu**ked!”
Seriously, I and my over 18+ son, who moved into adulting world and is working full-time, living in his own place with roommates – -yes, we have both walked this journey off and on since August!!!
🙂 I had to run/save the reports in my accounting software in August, September, back up run and further proof in October – – so a simple matter of changing the end date to “12/31/17” and I had my income, my outgo, etc. and dutifully did ‘pre-tax’ filling work last quarter –
Coolio – more time, now, to Back Date the Resolutions List of things Achieved in 2017
Guess crappy infrastructure for legally mandated things still has it’s plusses, right?
This Year’s Back-Dated, “CHECK! DONE! BOO-YAH!” New Year Resolution list, which may sound snarky, here and there, has actually been very liberating….
(Um, yeah, 2017 – just in case you read this in 2020 and think it current post…Facebook feeds/algorithms have scarred me for life over ‘trusting’ the option to view “most recent” is really true….)
- Reap benefits from first 4 years of building website business to offer infrastructure to new local entities at cooperative buying price for what makes their life easier – whether you maintain their website or not.
- Make deep investments in infrastructure of business, equipment AND still show a profit, for year 5 – Woot-Woot! Made it past the “90% of new businesses fail in the first 3 years,” dire warning…
- Invest time, energy and such into strength of local area network – not wires or tech but – PEOPLE! – Done!
- Calculate % of what gross earnings, minus taxes, etc., are spent to support local providers/charities and what is spent out of ‘network’ – after the 53% taken out for taxes and legally mandated things I need to actually legally work (yes, I tracked everything I could, as it was transparent and available to me – figure probably around 58-60% really goes for such things because not sure what, exactly, is the portion of tax, just now, included in the sales price of each gallon of gasoline…
- Calculate percentage of ‘charity/non-profit/volunteer time spent’ to benefit your local neighborhood – Um, yeah, over the 4.25% touted as how those making under $25,000 give more than the more affluent members of society (2.1%, if I remember correctly….)
- Heal enough to work more than 50 hours a week without suffering illness setbacks, lost wages, and/ or getting fired
- Learn to trust again – there are those who hold you to high standards, but also support you when you don’t quite make it – lots of those type of folks showed up, this year – and, finally have a local flock I’m definitely okay flying with and/or taking the field of battle for…
- Feel safe enough to say, “Ya know the legal agreement we made that you walked away from that means I lose $24,000 over the next few years? Maybe $300,000 should I live to be 62 or older? Um, yeah, at this point, seriously considering it MIGHT be worth the cost to never have to put up with you or listen to you, ever again – – feel strong enough to EARN it, instead – and never have to deal with you or your kind…ever again…
- Learn how to live by my values and support those things I feel strongly about, WITHOUT getting hurt when others I’m committed to supporting, don’t see me the same way –
- Learn to give just what part of me I’m okay with giving – at any stage of the day – without feeling bad when I place a ‘bad bet’ on folks – Getting ever more okay with walking away quickly and/or, digging my heels in for the long haul in ways that match with my heart BUT doesn’t, in the end, destroy me.
- Learn to make homemade dog food.
- Expand knowledge of essential oil use and branch into making soap/lotions/body butters
- Learn how to keep mouth shut when obvious the loud mouth you’re sharing with won’t really hear a thing you say, anyhoo – –
- Learn to be patient and wait for those things let go of, to return to you, if they wish….
- Share, in reply, how much Abraham Lincoln got accomplished utilizing his self-deprecating style – and why, just cuz you’re honest about what you see as your current limitations doesn’t mean you have low self esteem….
- Learn how to live in house of chaos, and be okay with it.
- Learn how to live off of bacon/beef jerky (locally, humanly raised/fixed), cheese and eggs – cuz it’s quick, local and easy to fix supper at 2 a.m. ….
- Learn how to waste money on new jeans cuz who knew? Bacon, eggs and cheese diet apparently leads to weight loss….
- Keep quiet when okay to do so, defy all advice to keep quiet when you just can’t live with yourself unless you speak up – –
- Be blunt, be harsh, be scattered, be blue, be ill, be workaholic – but most important, be yourself, everyday – those who love you just the way you are, seem to flippin’ show up when you least expect it….
- Realize the community you found in WordPress bloggy pals near and far were what paved the way for you to trust once more – they made it easy to trust from a distance and made it easier to take risks by being yourself loud and proud, locally.
Yes, WordPress, Bloggy Pals, Near and Far!
You are a part of the healing journey that brought me to the gains realized in quality of life this year –
Thanks for putting up with this dissillusioned, old crusty fart type –
You are why I never gave up after the stroke – and not giving up now!
Attached is the sign I made for my lame display at the library, documenting the whole Full Moon, Blue Moon cycle in first part of 2018.
(Funny, no matter how many times I tell my teammates I suck at such things, and better at supporting them through systems/processing to free up their creative time – um…yeah…they all drag their feet until I freak out, throw something together, and then they tell me how wonderful/insightful/funny it is – –
They are exaggerating, of course, but isn’t it grand to be surrounded by people who just shove you out of your comfort zone AND then tell you how grand your attempt was???)
Sigh – I never thought I’d find my ‘niche’ – you know, the ‘industry/specialty’ etc., that I was uniquely me in and could benefit others in – but, alas, at this point? I’m wondering why it never occurred to me the first 34 years of my work career that me and libraries might go together like carrots and peas….
Here’s the (lame, lots of reading, sign I made – see? I’m no good at flashy, viral stuff – but, when the conversation it sparks happens? Yup…happy!)
Happy New Year to you, WordPress Community
I’ve been MIA for longer than usual, but please know – I still think of you all, read when I can…
I continue ever more in focusing on my local backyard first, because, after all, I feel safe to go forth doing “me”…
You are totally responsible for this trend…
Thank you for being here as I got a better life back than I could have imagined and may you and yours have a happy and blessed 2018.
JanuarySuperBlueMoon Display Sign.
And, because I can’t help myself, I’m feeling smarmy and nostalgic – NOT Romantic! (Sheesh! You didn’t think I made THAT many gains this year, did you?!?)
You all know who you are – but here’s the song I hear when I think of you:
The Good, Bad and Ludicrous 