Kate, I'm oddly impressed whenever you post about all the computer stuff you have to know. It's like you know how cars work, or something like that. One of my students right now is studying to take some sort of network certification test and he has to read horrible looking books. One, for example, is only about tcp/ip. That's the whole stupid book. Then he's moving on to a whole book about Windows NT. I was like, "ever thought of just sitting down with a novel?" Because, in my mind, reading is something you ought to do to please yourself and enrich your existence. Sometimes I get students who don't own books. I say, "you'll need to practice speed reading a book at home" and they say, "a book? But I don't own a book!" And then I die inside.
I've been doing my taxes online with H&R Block. There's nothing like a little tax time to make one feel like a complete moron. The accountant they've assigned to me is named Larry and he and I have had a scintillating email conversation about whether I am a resident of Iowa or Ohio. I have moral objections to being classified as an Iowa resident, but no one in the tax world cares. I picture Larry chained to a computer in a distant tax office, forced to review horribly messed up online tax returns attempted by people like me. He's grinding his teeth down to pulp, living off of cold coffee, and he won't see the sun until April 16. I feel bad for Larry and I hope he's getting paid well and I hope someone does his taxes for him. And I hope he owns good books and enjoys reading them.
posted by Jen at 11:08 PM link/comments
