The Shallow End

Brought to You By The Number X

It's been a bad week. By nearly all standards, maybe the worst week in my working history. Not tragic in any real sense. Just bad in the, how the heck am I going to get this all done, work-a-day sense. Today was the final deadline for all extended corporate income tax returns. Usually, for me, this is only the 3rd worst deadline of the year, following October 15 (the extended due date for individuals) and of course, the one you all know and love, April 15. But this year, September 15 was the worst. The worst ever! Every morning, I prayed mightily that God would grant me just enough Grace to get me through that day, one moment at a time. And He did. That's what blogging is for. ;-)

The final straw was getting word from the parent company of my biggest return (a subsidiary of said parent...said parent being a French based petroleum company with US headquarters in Houston...that's all I'll say) that they had changed numbers at the parent level which would change all of my state returns! And they forgot (FORGOT) to tell me about it! This, two days before the returns are due felt like an impossible task to complete, on top of all the other returns that I had already juggled into tight position to complete just under the buzzer. Maybe if I tell you that when I delivered these returns, I could not even fit it all into the trunk of my car (and I have to review every bloody page of the thing and then someone has to copy, collate, attach special statements to the whole mess...this process alone takes a whole day!). Maybe then, you will feel sorry for me?

Add to this that I forgot to turn in (or even prepare) my billing last Friday, so I had the managing partner breathing down my neck to get that done Monday night. I hate billing anyway, so I began composing a resignation letter in my head as I prepared the minimum dollar amount of invoices required...or else the resignation letter would all be for naught, iykwim).

Add to this, a dinner Tuesday night that I was required to attend wherein I had to listen to Dee Dee Myers (Clinton's press secretary) attempt stand up comedy (she sounded just like Ellen DeG) and talk about how to "empower women" for half an hour. I've got more power than I want or need, thank you very much. Please, let the men rule the world. They can have it!

Add to this, the tragedy suffered by one of our tax partners such that the rest of us are taking care of his clients, and well...okay, this puts my struggles in better perspective.

I survived. I'm all done now. And funny thing is, when it's all over, I wonder what all the big fuss was about. And I think, if I were to quit today, I'd probably go look for another job doing the same kind of work. There's just enough something to keep me around even when it's bad that it must be where I'm supposed to be right now. So I'll stop the complaining already. ;-)

But my problem now is that my # (four) key no longer works. This doesn't bode well for accountants generally. We are not thrilled by the possibility of having to work around missing digits in order to do our work. But here's the kicker. I can't type the number four, but when I go to type anything else such as a Google search, an infinite string of # (fours) begins prancing across the screen. Infinite. If any of you find that someone arrived at your blog who seemed a little overly interested in the number four, you will know that was me. I'm pretty sure, nobody else in the universe is nearly so interested in the number as I apparently am. I've tried many things, but nothing seems to work. In fact, in order to type this post, I'm having to delete every other keystroke. Oh, and now, my "r" is acting all sensitive. Must be time for a new keyboard. Glad this didn't happen Tuesday night. God is in the details.

And I'm glad Jim came through town on Monday, before I knew my week was going someplace in a handbasket. ;-)

Here's the most oft repeated Bible verse this week (Lamentations 3:21-23):

21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.

Thank the Lord for His boundless Mercy and Grace.

posted by Gwynne @ 9:20 PM