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I pay an accountant to do my corporate and personal taxes. She's a licensed CPA and we usually work via email. I scan and send documents to her and things that require original signature go by US postal Service. I'll mail checks to her for services. We are both good with this arrangement and have been doing it for years.

Last year, I received a letter from the IRS stating I didn't pay all the 3rd quarter tax. They found an error in the calculation. She missed adding a number from a previous column to the total. My accountant review it and apologized for the error. I mailed the check to the IRS two weeks before the due date. It went out certified mail.

Saturday, I received a letter from the IRS threatening to seize my property for non-payment.

I went online to review my bank statement and my check cleared 20 days after it was mailed and 3 days before they sent out the notice. What irked me was it took more than 2 weeks for them to receive my payment. Obviously a postal delay.

Monday was a legal holiday, but the first thing today was to call and find out what happened. The agent I spoke to stated the account now has a zero balance and the interest and penalty had been removed. She noted my account in the event 'the left hand didn't figure out what the right hand was (or wasn't) doing' so I have no repercussions.

I prefer mailing checks, but in future I would consider going online to make an electronic payment... that way, they won't lien on me!

Summary: I dislike the threat, and not a "did you receive the first notice? Please send a check" Certainly the post office taking weeks for a certified letter when it should have been 2-3 days or mail mis-delivered that happens a few times a month.

The Dollar Store announced they will be upping their prices to $1.25 starting in the first quarter of 2022.

In the 'old' days, If you had to contact someone, the first line was to actually visit them in-person or write a letter, affix a stamp and mail it. After telephones were invented, you could call them. If they didn't answer, you would have to call again (and maybe again) until they were available to answer the phone.
A generation later, someone invented an answering machine, giving you the ability to leave a recorded message that you hoped they listened to. The bad part of that was listening to a tape playback of 20 messages to get the one that was important. You also had the ability to send a FAX if they had a machine connected to their phone.
Technology changed and email became available. This eliminated the need for mail and FAX messages.
Add cellphones a generation later and communication improved as people carried a phone with them and didn't have to 'wait to get home' to listen to messages. Shortly after that, text messages became a strong part of cellular service. Instead of calling or sending an email, you could type out a message for instant delivery. Icing on the cake added photos to your texting.
That gave rise to several applications to handle texting including Whatsapp that allows for group texting and video chats. Competition is Signal app doing nearly the same thing but it's private so the information in the app isn't visible on the phone.

Where am I going with this?
I'm communicating with lots of customers, suppliers, coworkers who are all on different platforms. When I have to research 'who said what' or where a link or photo is, I'm checking through different locations. Lost time searching for details, drawings and messages. I dislike Gmail but it synchronizes on all my devices so I'm forged to use that as my main means of communication.
The office uses Streak for sales and marketing, Asana for managing the projects from start to finish and Quickbooks to track the money... that's more than I want to deal with.
No choice. It's the hand I'm holding right now.

From time-to-time I read or hear an unusual word or phrase from a group of people, often unrelated. This week, it's "Banana Republic!”
Why are so many saying it?
Because Trump said it.
“My great company, and myself, are being attacked from all sides," Trump added. "Banana Republic!”

He's testifying Wednesday (today) in a NY investigation.

Now's The Time To Cash-In - Sell Out To Pandemic Engorged Corporate Vultures!

A month ago, I blogged that Elon Musk would have a back door plan to exit his purchase of Twitter. In today's news, it's reported he will abandon his offer. It's based on the company not providing enough information about the number of fake accounts.

"Twitter immediately fired back, saying it would sue the Tesla CEO to uphold the deal."

The saga lives on...

Last month, my car had some damage from a de-laminated truck tire recap on the highway that a car along side of me hit and it flew into my path.

The insurance company arranged a rental and body shop for the repairs.
Everyone did what they were supposed to do.

I returned the rental and received texts and emails asking: How did we do?
The insurance company sent a few emails asking: How did we do?
The body shop sent a few texts and emails asking: How did we do?

You all did good... but I don't respond to surveys and 'back patting' reviews.

Every day there is an article about Elon Musk's $44 Billion bid to buy Twitter.
Did he, didn't he, what are the conditions, is it legal, etc, etc.
This morning I see some reality that a percentage of Twitter accounts are bogus... bots as it robotically controlled. Could Twitter be deceiving some of their numbers?
Maybe he's thinking of a way to back out of a seemingly bad deal.
Hmmm...

Just look at the 1.8k comment scroll for CBS story on the Biden INAUGURAL...
No One is buying their bull shit..
Trump ..538
Biden...0
FEMA...666.

Every 'dollar store' in America is filled with inferior products made in China. You can find forks... 2 for a dollar. With inflation they are now $1.25
Okay, they are machine stamped and not hand crafted, the tines differ in width.
I often use them as pry tools so it's not important if I bend one.

When the subject comes up about Chinese 'junk' I sometimes I speak about the reality. I've been known to say "What company in America ordered things to be brought here?"
They didn't magically appear on a boat, make it to the port, get shipped to stores without some intervention from American companies.

Terms were agreed on, what's to be made and what price they are to be bought and sold at. The American people didn't make that choice, it's what we've been fed.

Logically, if they can make cellular earphones for a buck and someone is making a profit, are they capable of making some high-quality devices? Yeah, but the buyers are bringing in the inferior stuff and not the good stuff... to a point.

IKEA sells sets of stainless steel flatware. Attractive, polished, smooth flawless curves. Prices as low as $20 for a 20 piece set. Unbeatable, if you're asking me.

Good stuff, good price... why did it take a generation to happen?