Tax Time

For my entire youth, all I learned about taxes was a bajillion sitcom plots surrounding how horrible/dreaded/panic-inducing April 15th is. All sorts of talk about filing extensions, paying accountants, trying to find a bunch of receipts, getting audited, etc. And then, after returning from my mission, moving out on my own, and supporting myself, I had to do my own tax return. It was pretty simple, and it resulted in me getting a few hundred bucks in a tax return. Where is the horror, dread, panic, and gnashing of teeth? Since I am not self-employed and all of my taxes are automatically withheld from my check, I don't dread tax time. I actually am excited to receive my W-2 forms and other tax documents in the mail, because it means I can go to my online free e-file program and put the info in. In about an hour's time, I find out that the IRS owes me a nice chunk of money. It's good times. Well, it would be better times if we could use the refund for fun stuff rather than a big credit card payment, but I will take what I can get.

In other news, I am getting incredibly sick of a couple of different radio commercials that have been in heavy rotation on 107.7 The End in Seattle since the beginning of this year. The first one is an attorney with a voice that sounds like Satan's own fingernails on a brimstone chalkboard yelling at me through the radio to contact some guys to help deal with the "horrible, brutal IRS" (speaking of tax time....). Every time that commercial comes on, I lunge at the radio to change the station, often times causing me to swerve. I think that the radio station and the people who made the commercial should both be held liable for any accidents caused by people lunging at their radio pre-set buttons to stop the commercials from causing their ears to bleed.

The other commercial that angers me is not because of a grating voice, but because of a reprehensible company peddling a despicable service. Any guesses as to what company I am talking about? It's called "Ashley Madison," and they cheerfully talk about how they help married people find people with whom to cheat on their spouses. Gee, thanks for promoting internet-aided adultery during the morning radio show, you putzes. As if the ear-bleeding from the IRS-fighting lawyer wasn't bad enough, now I feel as though I have been coated in slime just from hearing your disgusting adultery site commercial. Ugh.

At this point, I pretty much just have to turn off the radio or switch to a different station whenever the commercials come on. I think I might switch over to podcasts exclusively rather than listening to the radio any more. At least the ads on those podcasts (if present at all) don't make me feel like taking a shower and scrubbing with steel wool. Congratulations, 107.7 The End (and many other stations that I can't listen to any more without much frustration and annoyance), you are successfully killing off what little audience you have left.