My sister and I are in Columbus for a concert and we were in a store right across the street from this happening. Shook us up pretty good. I have never seen something like that before.

Please do not make us a monolith. I am not my country, I was just born here. That kind of thinking leads to radicalism and violence. I can perfectly understand caution with “unknowns” from a group you have reason to be concerned about. Honestly from a personal safety standpoint we do this all the time. But to unilaterally decide we are all one thing and write us off (or worse) is false and dangerous.

I don’t know where you are in Europe but I love the continent and have visited many countries there. I do my best to be respectful when I visit and look up local cultures and norms so I don’t stand out and be “that American.” I’m not ashamed of being an American tourist, but I don’t want to adhere to the worst of our stereotypes. If other countries’ people decide we are inherently dangerous, being annoying may be the least of my worries should I have the fortune of making another trip there.

I’m not sure why Bernie is the exception for me…I feel like a giant hypocrite being ok with this. But dude does still seem spry AF.

Keeping our Amazon prime until it’s 2025 expiration date. Spent today researching alternatives so I can placate my Amazon loving spouse. Fortunately coming armed with info and the promise that they’ll have a several month “get used to it” cooling down period, they took it pretty well. I also reminded them if they MUST get something from Amazon, they still do the free 2 day shipping if u spend over $35. But it’ll probably be easier than they think with all but the oddest of purchases.

Been wanting to get rid of it anyways and this was the nail in the coffin.

One of mine does that too. He only likes sparkle balls or rattle mice tho, so no risk of gross items from the garbage fortunately.

We have a wood floor and his favorite thing is to have me throw it in that room so he can slide halfway across it while fetching the toy.

He has definitely slid into the wall a time or two.

My cat is obsessed with grooming beards. As in…will not stop until you force him off. My partner plays a little game where they fight for kisses. The cat will try to get close and groom his beard and my partner will take advantage of the closeness to smother him in kisses. The cat is not a huge fan of the kisses so they do this thing where they both waver in front of each other like cobras, both trying to find an in to kiss/lick. Sometimes when my partner moves in for a kiss, the cat will lean backwards and turn his face to the side, denying the kiss. Then as soon as my partner backs off, the cat quickly moves forward to lick his beard again. It’s hysterical and I never tire of watching the game.

Generally those who own their home in cities have higher property tax bills. Prior to the TCJA, there wasn’t a dollar cap on your real estate tax deduction if you itemized. Now there is a $10k cap which includes your state taxes paid (like from your w2 or estimated taxes). For someone like me who lives in a somewhat low COL area…no biggie. My property taxes are pretty low and don’t come near that cap. But it’s pretty easy to hit that cap when you live in a city and your property taxes alone are 10k or more…but before that u also were able to deduct your state taxes paid. So many people who previously were able to itemize and even might be able to now if they got the full amount of property taxes, will only get the standard decision and thus more of their income is taxable.

There are sources that say that the property tax deduction primarily benefited higher income earners, but some of these higher income earners also live in higher COL areas and thus don’t make as much money as it may seem because it’s so much more expensive to live where they live.

Yep, she was Wendy

My dentist (who is also my friend) told me I have great saliva. Fortunately it was while I was getting my cleaning…not in random hang out conversation.

I stick with pretty neutral compliments towards others but probably in my own profession I’ve expressed over the top enthusiasm for remarkably good handwriting or very organized/complete records. I’ve gotten a couple of laughs out of clients because it’s semi-rare and it’s kinda odd to get excited about those things.

A STUD of course!! Haven’t you been paying attention?!

/s

Back when I took singing lessons my teacher (who mostly taught kids but I was an adult learner) shared that she often had to veto the songs kids wanted to sing. One in particular that stuck with me was a less than 10 year old who wanted to sing Lady Gaga’s Love Game. Which has the lyric “I wanna take a ride on your disco stick” among other very adult lyrics.

Tax Accountant in U.S.

You don’t need a CPA (and I say this AS a CPA). Don’t get me wrong, if a CPA’s primary experience is in tax, they will do just fine. But you don’t NEED one. Even if your tax situation is complex. An Enrolled Agent (or EA) goes through a rigorous testing process and is run by the IRS. A CPA also goes through a rigorous testing process but it’s 4 parts and only one is tax. An EA exam is 3 parts and it’s ALL tax. So if your tax situation IS complex I recommend one or the other…but an EA is highly qualified and often times less expensive.

All that said… neither is necessary but make sure your tax preparer is at least certified and either is required to take annual continuing education or does so regardless. Tax laws change all the time. EAs and CPAs have CPE requirements…so if ur preparer isn’t one of those, make sure they’re still learning the new stuff. All a person needs to file another persons tax return is a number called a PTIN and literally anyone can pay a fee and get one.

And if you can handle filing yourself (which the vast majority can easily do, and I would rather they do so because why throw your money away if you don’t have to) the IRS is expanding their guided free file program for 2024 to the whole United States (it was in limited testing for 2023) and many states are expected to sign on so you can get fed and state taxes filed for free. IRS.gov has more info on all that.