# It's Raining Rants (Hallelujah) - April mini-rants **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 1, 2023, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-raining-rants-hallelujah-april-mini-rants/981982 "2023-04-01T14:37:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-raining-rants-hallelujah-april-mini-rants/981982/101 "2023-04-13T15:37:50Z")
I won’t have access to my financial records until Tuesday at the earliest, and that’s assuming the Monday review clears me and the approval goes through. Taxes make me nervous. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-raining-rants-hallelujah-april-mini-rants/981982/102 "2023-04-13T15:55:06Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > Taxes make me nervous. Me too. But my dad was the worst wrt The IRS. One year he got a notification that he’d erred and owed $250. He told his tax guy (a neighbor) who pulled his copy and realized the IRS had misread a number. He wanted to contact the IRS to point out their mistake. Nope, my dad sent the money. ($250 in 1968 is equivalent in purchasing power to **about $2,168.36** today) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-raining-rants-hallelujah-april-mini-rants/981982/103 "2023-04-13T17:00:08Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > You can arrange for the Feds to auto-withdraw the money so you don’t have to stress about that. I wonder if you can do that if you don’t have a ZIP code? (= live abroad). My tax anxiety this year (I owe much more than my usual $0) made me drive across the border so I could post the check from a US post office… I was afraid that Canada Post would be too slow to make the deadline, and that the IRS wouldn’t credit a foreign postmark. Both of those worries are probably completely unfounded, so the rant is my anxiety with a side of Canada Post. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-raining-rants-hallelujah-april-mini-rants/981982/104 "2023-04-13T18:17:20Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > I wonder if you can do that if you don’t have a ZIP code? I doubt it since they’re not auto-withdrawing through the postal system… Probably just account number and ACH. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-raining-rants-hallelujah-april-mini-rants/981982/105 "2023-04-13T18:28:05Z")
You would be surprised at the number of banking issues where the ZIP code is an issue. I often can’t use my American credit cards for online purchase because an American bank card with a Canadian address cannot go through. I used to not be able to buy gas with my US credit cards in the US because I couldn’t type a ZIP code into the machine, which issue fortunately seems to have gone away now. Of course, my main US credit card cancelled me after 30 years because I wouldn’t give them a US address… giving a foreign address hadn’t been an issue for the previous 15 years, but I guess now they’re streamlining or something. And I know the IRS won’t take payment in anything but US currency, so using a Canadian bank is right out. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-raining-rants-hallelujah-april-mini-rants/981982/106 "2023-04-13T18:28:16Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > If Emancipation Day is a permanent DC holiday on the 17th, which I think it is, that suggests that in future years, we’ll have Tax Day on the 15th five years of every seven, the 17th one year of every seven, and the 18th one year of every seven. Such fun. Gotta consider leap years, so twenty years out of every twenty-eight will be the 15th. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-raining-rants-hallelujah-april-mini-rants/981982/107 "2023-04-13T18:29:28Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > You would be surprised at the number of banking issues where the ZIP code is an issue. I often can’t use my American credit cards for online purchase because an American bank card with a Canadian address cannot go through. I used to not be able to buy gas with my US credit cards in the US because I couldn’t type a ZIP code into the machine, which issue fortunately seems to have gone away now. Yeah that’s stupid and unnecessary, you have my sympathies. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-raining-rants-hallelujah-april-mini-rants/981982/108 "2023-04-13T18:34:15Z")
It’s just programmers who’ve set it up so that the address field has to match, but then coded the postcode field to ONLY accept an answer with five numerical digits, never imagining that there could be another possibility. But given my interactions with the IRS, who can’t seem to understand their own rules a lot of the time… ---
**Author:** ![slumtrimpet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@slumtrimpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slumtrimpet)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-raining-rants-hallelujah-april-mini-rants/981982/109 "2023-04-13T20:50:28Z")
**Dr. Drake** , If you live in Canada full time you get an automatic extension until June 15 to file your US taxes. I’m not sure if that applies if you owe them though. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-raining-rants-hallelujah-april-mini-rants/981982/110 "2023-04-13T21:00:34Z")
I wasn’t sure either, so I decided to be safe. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-raining-rants-hallelujah-april-mini-rants/981982/111 "2023-04-13T21:10:09Z")
> [@digs](#): > > And, your accountant’s name is Viola? I always spell it that way deliberately. It’s my little rebellion; me Stickin’ it to the Man. > [@slalexan](#): > > I think I have a UTI. That’s it. That’s the whole post. It doesn’t need to be any longer. Ouch! Good luck. > [@kayaker](#): > > He told his tax guy (a neighbor) who pulled his copy and realized the IRS had misread a number. I have quite a tale of me and the IRS bickering for over two years over _exactly_ $55.44. That we both agreed I owed them. See here for the short version of some Kafkaesque entertainment: > [@The IRS lost my payment](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irs-lost-my-payment/501396/5): > > About 15 years ago I paid my quarterly FUTA payment of $56.00 Their bank mis-deposited my check as $0.56, meaning I had underpaid by $55.44. Over two years later we finally got it straight, sorta. From their first request I sent them the missing $55.44 because they truly were short the money. At first they wanted to charge interest and penalties, then after much fussing by me they waived that since they agreed it was their bank which FUBARed my check. Everybody was real nice to deal with, j… > [@kaylasdad99](#): > > > [@LSLGuy](#): > > > > If Emancipation Day is a permanent DC holiday on the 17th, which I think it is, that suggests that in future years, we’ll have Tax Day on the 15th five years of every seven, the 17th one year of every seven, and the 18th one year of every seven. Such fun. > > Gotta consider leap years, so twenty years out of every twenty-eight will be the 15th. Since I wasn’t considering their sequence, just the number of each, the result is the same, and my numbers are simpler and easier. 5/7 vs 20/28 are the same value. If we were talking about the repeating sequence of which date follows which, then yes, you’re spot on that the sequence is 28 years long before it repeats. > [@Dr.Drake](#): > > You would be surprised at the number of banking issues where the ZIP code is an issue. I often can’t use my American credit cards for online purchase because an American bank card with a Canadian address cannot go through You can blame the very US-centric VISA & Mastercard for that stupidity. Back before all the cards had that 3-digit “secret” number on the back that we have to tell everyone every time we buy something, they had the bright idea to reduce online fraud from stolen physical cards and stolen databases. But mostly it was stopping stolen physical cards and to a lesser extent “skimmed” card numbers being used online. Back then mass database theft was still mostly in the future as the mass-use internet was just getting underway. Anyhow, they had the bright idea that if they asked the person presenting the card number what the billing zip code was, _nobody_ but the real cardholder could _possibly_ know that! Fraud would be totally averted. Brilliant! That was 1960’s small town-level naiveté applied to a late '90s exploding fraud problem. And now, almost 30 years later, VISA/MC still demands a US zip code when buying from a US merchant online or in high-fraud places like gas stations. Since then they have added CVV, insert the chip, and tap to pay to ordinary US credit cards. And various website lockbox gizmos where the merchant never directly handles the credit card info at all. All of which are vastly more secure than asking for a stupid postal code. But security can never be relaxed, only added to. So here we are and here we shall remain. Idjits. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-raining-rants-hallelujah-april-mini-rants/981982/112 "2023-04-13T22:02:41Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Stickin’ it to the Man. Stickin’ it to the Frenchman. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-raining-rants-hallelujah-april-mini-rants/981982/113 "2023-04-13T23:14:29Z")
Good News Update: **Wee Weasel** had his school district evaluation today. I had anxiety dreams about it. All those fears that I would get him in front of an evaluator and he would somehow cease to be autistic… did not occur. He was his usual happy, stimming, incredibly mentally rigid self. We went through some questionnaires while he was being evaluated, and there were no surprises there. For many of the tasks they requested he would flat out insist on doing something else. I wasn’t sure what he would do when they asked him to put the baby doll to bed. In actual fact he just chucked it back in the box and threw the blanket in after it. My boy does not GAF about no baby. So they stressed that the cognitive evaluation was not an accurate reflection of his potential because he was obviously so much more capable than he was willing to be. When she gave him the colored rings to sort onto poles in the correct colors, he refused, and instead organized them into what she described as “an advanced color pattern… I have never seen any kid do that, I said, well obviously he’s gifted, we can move on from that.” Long story short, there was no awkwardly trying to convince anyone of anything. We don’t have the full report for another month or so, but they saw enough to want to put him in Early Childhood Special Education five days a week. It sounds like a really good program where they can provide him therapy and help him work on his social skills as well as not being so “self-directed” lol. I really liked the team, they were friendly and competent which is my favorite combination of things. They did say with autistic kids with lower support needs it’s not uncommon for them to be certified with something else until they meet the school district’s more stringent requirements, so if he’s certified with something else, it’s not because he’s not autistic. So I’m a bit less stressed about the ADOS now. I think one reason I’ve been so paranoid professionals won’t see it is because I’ve gotten minimizing comments from friends and family. After this experience, it seems increasingly unlikely that professionals will miss it. And since I expected absolutely nothing from the school district, it was a day of pleasant surprises. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-raining-rants-hallelujah-april-mini-rants/981982/114 "2023-04-13T23:50:04Z")
I am so freaking happy for you, and for your son! 🥳 ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-raining-rants-hallelujah-april-mini-rants/981982/115 "2023-04-13T23:53:10Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Good News Update… … calls for Good News Champagne! (I’m toasting **Wee Weasel** with some rosé prosecco) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2023, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-raining-rants-hallelujah-april-mini-rants/981982/116 "2023-04-14T00:50:30Z")
Now that is by far the best news I’ve heard all day. Yaay! Hooray for the **Weasel** clan! ---
**Author:** ![Bells](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@Bells](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bells)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2023, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-raining-rants-hallelujah-april-mini-rants/981982/117 "2023-04-14T03:35:43Z")
I saw my neurologist on Wednesday, i definitely have Multiple Sclerosis. Fuck it! There was a tiny chance that i didnt have it, but my latest MRI has shown 2 lesions on my brain in addition to the ones on my spinal cord and optic nerve. Im a poker player, I understand odds, so I wasn’t holding much hope that didnt have it. In a strange way it was a relief to have a answer to my strange list of symptoms. I am going to chill out this weekend and work on my art and other stuff that feeds my soul. On Monday i start at the gym with my personal trainer and ill book in for a covid booster and a 'flu vaccination. When i get blood test results from the hospital i may need to get other vaccinations and boosters. Once thats done, Im strarting treatment, to begin ill be taking tablets, a course of 5 over 5 days then a month off and another 5 day course. Ill repeat that next year too. If they are effective, that might be all i need for a long time. If not, ill have another year or 2 of the tablets. If that strategy doesn’t work, there are stronger drugs i can take. Im not going to worry about that unless i have to. I’m so grateful to the dopers who have supported me through my March rants, screaming into the void is helpful. Having voices echoing out of the void, telling me im welcome, sharing their own stories of being inappropriately dressed in public and pointing out that there are great treatments available has given me so much comfort. I appreciate you bunch of internet strangers so very much. ---
**Author:** ![Mikkel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikkel/32/13151_2.png) [@Mikkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikkel)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2023, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-raining-rants-hallelujah-april-mini-rants/981982/118 "2023-04-14T03:37:14Z")
Good news. I am happy for you. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2023, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-raining-rants-hallelujah-april-mini-rants/981982/119 "2023-04-14T03:52:49Z")
I would like to meet the pinheads who work in IT at the gas company. I set up an online account so I could see my bill. That’s all you can do with an online account – see your bill, and optionally, pay your bill. That’s it. For this awesome privilege, they have the most onerous “security” I’ve ever seen. They have five different rules for how to form passwords, and a password must obey all of them. Their system suggests a “recommended” password, but the rules are so convoluted that their own goddam “recommended” password is rejected as not meeting all criteria!! Then there is a “secret question” that you must submit as additional verification. Then, in a literal parody of ridiculousness, there is two-factor authentication, although mercifully that’s optional. All this security is to prevent some potential criminal from seeing my gas bill, or worse, maybe even paying it for me. ---
**Author:** ![Bells](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@Bells](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bells)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2023, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-raining-rants-hallelujah-april-mini-rants/981982/120 "2023-04-14T04:26:37Z")
Im sorry you’re going through so many stressful hoops. You’ve probably been told, but remember to ensure your kiddo has a terrible night sleep before his next round of testing. A crappy breakfast that day is recommended too, it seems cruel but you want the professionals to see his worst case scenario. Ive almost managed to get all of my shit together. Please reach out if i can be of any assistance. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-raining-rants-hallelujah-april-mini-rants/981982.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-raining-rants-hallelujah-april-mini-rants/981982.md?page=7)