This is me, at 6:44 this morning. I’m wearing earbuds that are blasting music into my ears, to drown out the hammering coming from the idiot who moved into the apartment below mine. I think I’m going to put on my heaviest shoes & start clopping around in here! Maybe I’ll wait till tomorrow morning, say around 5am… they don’t call me #grumpyassdoug for nothing.
One day last week I went on Facebook (to waste time, what else) and noticed a few friends had been taking one of those dumb quizzes—“How Grumpy Are You”. Most of them had received “You’re normal!” responses to the test, displayed proudly for everyone to see.
Anxious to show everyone I was normal too, I took the test & answered the questions as honestly as I could. It said I was a wet blanket!
This is what I get for telling it like it is
Some friends rushed to my defense and exclaimed otherwise, but I knew the cat was outta the bag. I suppose I’ve been walking around with a dark cloud (or wet blanket) over my head for awhile now, and while I WISH I could say that’s why i haven’t been writing that much lately, to spare everyone from Doogie Downer, the simple truth is that I am hearing cries of bear markets and global recession, and as my retirement portfolio dwindles, so does my motivation to get online & shower the world with my usual peppy banter. I’m doomed.
Alright, I got a little dramatic there but still… it just seems that everyday I’m getting a wake-up call. Yesterday I was working on my Federal & State taxes, and rubbing my hands together as everything was falling into place. I’ve been living on savings (and some paltry dividends), but converted $13,000 from my IRA to a Roth in 2015 to meet the minimum income for my Obamacare insurance subsidies. It worked out nicely & I even got a $69.00 Federal tax credit, but what I wasn’t counting on was the additional $1,000 tax bill I got slapped with!
I’d previously guesstimated I’d be paying around $250 to the Feds and was correct, but I neglected to consider my local & state taxes and they want 1.50% and 3.08% of everything, meaning I’ve got to come up with another thousand bucks by April 15th.
Ouch! My plans for a smidge more fun in 2016 are fading, fading, fading…
Okay, knock it off GrumpyDoug! I’ve gotta keep telling myself I’d rather live with my lumpy couch for another year and tighten that belt a bit more if it means I can continue on my new career-path as a live-in hobo. 
Aw, there’s a smiley face! Maybe I won’t turn out to be a grumpy ass after all… now I just need to knock some sense into that jerkwad in the apartment below.
Boo to the stock market, taxes, and inconsiderate neighbors! It could be worse, I suppose...one of my friends that lives in an apartment posted on Facebook the other morning that the neighbor below her woke her up from a deep sleep by playing loud music at 2 AM. She had to go downstairs and knock on his door and ask him to turn it down. These people must be insomniacs or something...
ReplyDeleteThanks Pam--well, the woman who used to live one door up from me always complained that I peed too loud--I'm not kidding. But I think she knew she'd have to get used to it :)
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