Dogs, doctor, school, taxes

[luna_manar]

So the owner appears to have noticed that the dogs are starting to prefer us to them. Every other day, they've kept the dogs inside. Which is good. They still don't appear to be feeding them properly, which is bad. Right now, the dogs are inside the owner's house. Good, since it's 17F outside right now. I'm still keeping the shed open, in case they kick the dogs out.

I learned that the blonde mutt walks very well on a leash, and the puppies don't like to stray far from her. This allows me to take them for walks! Yay! aldersprig was kind enough to chip in a few bucks for food, so I got them a bag of Puppy Chow, a couple toys, and some treats. It should be enough for now. We'll see how things go from here on. Progress is good, even if it's minimal. With any luck, no one will have to get the authorities involved.

Owen went to the doctor yesterday. She thinks, like I do, that his sciatic nerve is pinched, and is hoping it's just from an inflammatory response from pulling a muscle. She prescribed him some prednisone and a muscle relaxant. She also showed him some stretching techniques. Hopefully that will work, although at the moment he still feels terrible.

My transcripts are taking their damn time getting to Wake Tech. They still haven't received them, although all my schools tell me they've sent them. Mrf. Will call again on Tuesday to see if there's any change.

I'm really, really pissed at NC right now because although their website insists they took 30% of my unemployment out for taxes, my tax forms say that NO money was taken from my unemployment and I am going to owe over $1000 in taxes as a result. So. Angry. I confirmed with the unemployment office that they did NOT in fact withhold anything, so I WILL owe money, even though I showed them on the website where my account says they were supposed to withhold the money. They fucked up, I have to pay, and there's not shit I can do about it. SO ANGRY. I don't mind paying taxes, but geez, would it kill you to make sure your automated system actually WORKS? If it doesn't, I don't think it should be on me to make up the difference for the machine's mistake. RRRRGH.

Oh well. One thing at a time.

Comments

[quicksilver_ink]

I'm glad the dogs are warm, but sad they are still not being fed. I wonder if the owners are bringing them in because they are feeling slightly shamed by seeing you and your neighbors care for the animals, or if they're mostly feeling like their claim on their property is threatened and are trying to reassert it. Argh! re: taxes. It's really not okay for them to say they're taking money out, and then fail to do so, but especially since people on unemployment need to be given accurate information about their actual income from those checks so they can budget correctly. An unexpected $1000 bill is not easy for most people to handle, but it's especially harmful to people in your situation. Grrr. If you weren't so busy I'd say write to your state reps to complain. It wouldn't help you with the immediate problem, but it might get the problem fixed in the future.

[luna_manar]

I did something I normally don't do to make up the difference: I added up all the donations I made to charity, and I included ALL my medical expenses as exemptions. That got it back down to breaking even. So I won't owe anything, but I won't get anything, either. And I still don't quite feel right about using charity and medical to do it, even though it's legal and I have all the receipts to prove it.

[quicksilver_ink]

Whew, I'm glad you were able to make up the difference.

I understand about feeling uncomfortable taking those deductions -- although not only are they legal, but they're there for a reason, to encourage charitable giving and to make medical costs slightly less of a burden. You're not taking advantage of loopholes. But if you still feel bad about it, you could wait until you are in a better place financially and either give the money to charity or decline to take some other deduction on your taxes.