Is it just me, or is 2021 starting off to be 2020 Part 2?
It’s just getting off to a late start. 2021 starts on January 21st.
Holy hell, I sure hope so!
Biden and Harris (and their team) have a very tough road ahead. And I worry about their safety.
Me too. The COVID-induced reduction in Inauguration Day festivities – including the elimination of the parade – are actually a good thing in this climate.
I haven’t gotten my stimulus payment, and any inquiries into IRS.gov bring up errors, even though Stimulus Payment #1 showed up seamlessly.
I also haven’t received my tax refund. Granted, I submitted my taxes late for this year … but I still only get “still being processed! Wait!” when I check my refund status.
I’m behind on payments and eating overdraft charges … but the I.R.S. is sitting on $1k+ of my money. And I can’t seem to do a goddamn thing about it.
Late refund payments are the sort of thing your Congress critter loves to help with. D or R, everyone likes to yell at the IRS.
Last night I was so furious that I rage stitched (yeah, you read that right, I’m fucking hard-core!) and fully expected to be reverse stitching (tearing everything out and starting over) today. I was happily surprised to find that I had only missed a few compensation stitches, go me.
After I fixed those, I calmly moved on to the next section and spent 2 hours fucking the entire thing up because I can’t count to 6. Plus I did it with Very Velvet thread which is thicker than most threads and bleeds all over the canvas when you are ripping things out, plus stretches out the holes.
I’m still blaming Trump for it because I could count to 6 before this.
I need to move house, next week.
This is stressful enough at normal time, but, as we’re all sick of hearing, these are not. I haven’t been able to even visit the town I’m moving to, forget view places.
I don’t have a place to move to sorted yet- one problem has been that I’m moving for a short-term contract. I’ve had to agree to pay up front for the full 6 months, as I can’t provide evidence that I’m expecting more than 2.5 x the rent over that time. It’s for a place that is not going to be affected by COVID and is expecting a huge uptick in work over Brexit, so I’m expecting it will be extended, but obviously that’s not all that helpful for evidencing purposes.
I thought I’d finally got somewhere sorted, then the agency suddenly contacted me and told me that ‘as I was aware, this property is currently rented by all students’ so the landlord had told them they’d need to charge me a load extra to pay for the extra tax that applies. I’m fully aware of the tax differences for working and students, having just stopped being a student myself, and they damn well had not told me about that- in fact they’d told me, in writing, that it was a mixed student/professional property (UK council tax- if a property is rented by all students or unemployed people, it’s exempt from council tax- if there is one employed person, it’s liable for, usually, 75% of the full rate even if it’s a huge property with a massive tax assessment and there’s like 11 students plus 1 person part-time flipping burgers who’s just dropped out). When I pointed that out I got a ‘Mmm, yeah, it wasn’t really clear- anyway’.
I note they’ve charged me the holding fee anyway.
So, they suggest (8 days before the expected move) a different property, which is slightly more expensive than the first one, but less if the extra tax is taken into consideration. No pictures, no info, just ‘there’s another room that could be better’ just before closing for the day, and taking the next day off, without passing the info on to the other agent.
I start getting pestery emails and texts from a referencing agency, asking me why I’ve not completed a form to finalise the referencing request for the room I am no longer renting. I respond to one saying that the form is incorrect and get a ‘Sorry, the agency didn’t tell us’ reply… and two more pestering emails.
I finally get enough pictures that I’m -not especially comfortably- OK with taking the new room, and agree to it, because I’m running out of options. I also get sent a copy of the reference form with the correct details on, which I go to fill out. Existing landlord’s details- fine… personal details- fine… and hit a bit section on ‘income’. I cannot fill out this section, as I don’t have any references from a company I do not, as yet, work for.
There’s an alternative option where I can basically tell my bank to confirm that I’ve been making rent payments.
It doesn’t work. It just generates error codes.
I call the referencing company, they basically disbelieve that I don’t have contact details for individuals at a place I do not, as yet, work at (I have a contract, and a time and place to be for an induction- why would I have anything else at this point?) and tells me that if I really can’t do their stupid form I need to contact the lettings agency to get them to change the requirements.
The lettings agency are not answering the phone. I’ve tried repeatedly to call them and it’s just going to answer phone.
The current situation is that I have to have the flat emptied before my current lettings agency close at 5.30 next Friday- which may be complicated, as all the places I was planning on donating my spare furniture etc to are closed. I’m also supposed to be teaching (from home) until 3.15 that afternoon- I was expecting to be able to take the last day off, as it’s non-contracted overtime. Nope. They have no-one to cover, and my manager sounded pissed off that I even suggested it.
I have no idea what happens next. I’m considering just exploding from stress.
Jeez, that’s awful. What a zoo. Good luck!
Nah, I’ve worked in a zoo- it’s much simpler- animals don’t make you fill out forms for the privilege of being bitten in the ass.
And what happens if you take non-contracted time off anyway? Presumably you don’t need them for a reference since you have a new gig lined up already? Or is it a “don’t burn bridges” sort of thing?
I’d rather not burn bridges, and I’m not actually sure if my manager’s reference has been sent yet or not; this new job’s been a real rush, and my workplace (a college) only opened back up after the Christmas break on Monday.
They have let me cut my notice short already so I can start at this new place, and the people who will have problems from my not working won’t be the people who caused the problems- it’ll be the students and whatever staff member gets yoinked in to cover an extra class on what already promises to be a week from hell. It’s not as though they’re just messing me around because they can- it’s an absolute shit-show there at the moment.
This move, crazy though it is, is still less stressful than the thought of staying there another 5 months, like I originally planned.
I strongly second this suggestion if it is an option for you. I had “Laps of Love,” a mobile euthanasia service to the house for my very sick kitty last October. It was a very good choice. Baja died peacefully at home, surrounded by loving family. It’s the only way I’ll go next time, if I have any choice. And, hugs to you. Losing a beloved pet is awful, no matter how it happens.
Today, I offer an anti-mini-rant: Last month, there was a thread about 2020 Christmas disappointments. I contributed that my boyfriend was in the hospital with COVID pneumonia and might not survive, much less be home for Christmas.
Today, he is moving into a local rehab facility to work on regaining his strength after 35 days in the hospital. He is COVID negative and the doctor thinks he will have little or no long lasting effect from the disease. He still needs supplemental oxygen when he exerts himself but that should improve during rehab. Many of you were very kind and supportive of me in the other thread. I just wanted to close the circle.
So glad to hear this. Wishing him a successful time in rehab and a swift return home to you.
What a relief. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.
Okay, I knew some stores in the local mall would have closed, permanently, by now. But one of them was the GNC. Seriously? That’s one business that should be thriving. I’ve been saying since quarantine started, “Masks are not the answer to everything. You’ve got to boost your immune system. Take zinc!” Too many people think of GNC, Vitamin World and the like as boutiques, luxury stores. They’re not. They’re essential, and should be regarded as such. Drugstores on every corner, but vitamins, supplements, organic foods: oh, they’re a “niche market”. Enjoy the next pandemic, guys!
I’m in remission from an autoimmune disease. A boosted immune system is not something I need. That was my problem in the first place.
Sorry to hear that. Still, not everyone has that issue.
I’ve had to chase Shiva, the elderly cat with IBD and hyperthyroidism, out of Eddy’s bowl three times tonight. I thought I had solved the issue with them eating each other’s food, only to recently learn that Shiva has figured out there’s room for both heads under the loop. As long as Eddy is more interested in eating than shoving Shiva away, Shiva gets to eat food that makes him throw up.
I may have to go back to locking him in the bathroom. Again.