Lemming Tracks: Back to Work

It's tax time in America. Late-night news on April 15 typically has live video from post offices that are staying open late, so that someone who arrives by midnight well get their tax returns postmarked as getting in the mail by the deadline.

I haven't been in one of those lines yet - and probably won't be. No great virtue. My sense of urgency tends to come a little before that. Besides, my wife wouldn't let that happen. A little humor there.

A lot of things changed for this household in 2009, so we're giving H & R Block plenty of time to find out what's missing from the data we collected. And/or prepare our returns without a lot of last-minute pressure. We got smart and started having specialists do the returns a few years ago.

I wrote, Saturday, about the nine days I thought I had to wrap my part of the task list up change to two. ("Lemming Tracks: Tax Time Surprise" (March 20, 2010))

I worked on the data all Saturday, and well into Sunday morning.

I'm a practicing Catholic, so attending to that set of tasks during the day Sunday was out. ("Working on Sunday: At Growing the Christian Interior Life," A Catholic Citizen in America (January 2, 2010)) I've started taking the rules on doing servile work on holy days of obligation a bit more seriously of late. (I know: some folks have to work on Sunday. Maybe you do. That's the way it is. I've been in that position. These days I set my own hours, which adds another layer of responsibility.)

When I've got more to do than fits in six days - which is pretty often - I assume that "Sunday" isn't the midnight-to-midnight that's a cultural norm in Western countries: and treat "Sunday" as the time from sunrise to sunset.

That works pretty well during Minnesota winters: In the summer, when there isn't all that much 'dark' - but I've gotten off-topic.

So when the sun went down, I went back to work on the tax-related information. Also one of the scheduled posts that I really didn't want to miss. Which reminds me - - - and That's yet another topic.

I got all the data together, properly organized (I hope), and the report printed out before sunrise.

Not much before sunrise: but old Sol was still just below the horizon when I wrapped things up.

My wife came downstairs a little after that, I talked with her and had 'breakfast.' And then slept from about 9:00 to 1:30.

It's been years since I pulled an all-nighter. I wouldn't mind if I don't do that again.

Now, I've got two day's of posts to catch up on in this blog, plus the ones I would have gotten out in the morning. Gotta go.