Long time, no talk! I am proud to say that since the last time I wrote I am ten pounds lighter with this tax burden off my shoulders! This was my first year dealing with farm taxes and guess what my opinion of it is......POO!! Just plain 'ol poo! A farmer's tax situation is not a very pleasant situation come April 15th but I guess this is just the beginning.
With 2012 documents safely stowed away in boxes, I can breathe for a few months. If only that was true. After spending three hours with our CPA I found out what all I need to keep track of and do. With that being the case, I guess I will be doing book work from now until April 15th..2014!
In the midst of pure chaos due to tax season I was able to get in a photo shoot with a friend's newborn. I guess I never really thought about how difficult it would be to take pictures of a baby that was constantly crying. Babies are such beautiful miracles...and then they won't stop crying. I know that comes along with the baby thing but oh my! I guess that just means I need more practice...baby anyone??
Has anyone ever noticed that you could go a good month or two with a relatively open calendar and then BAM...not enough hours in the day? That's about par as Spring rolls on in. March passes quickly, too quickly in fact. I blinked twice and realized that my license plate sticker was due to expire the 31st of March. That typically isn't an issue except when you need to re license in a different state. I've been a major procrastinator when it came to taking care of licensing my car in Kentucky but I knew it would involve me jumping several hurdles. In order to get things switched over properly, a trip to Kentucky was in store for Dad. Luckily, a trip for him involves a 45 minute airplane ride instead of a 3 hours car drive.
For those that don't know my Dad very well, he is a riot. He tends to be very witty and sociable in the most random situations. We spent one afternoon at the courthouse in attempt to switch things over and I believe we left the fine ladies in the office with splitting sides. I'm not so sure that after spending an hour in the office with us they wanted to say, "Now where did she find that Goober?" Dad has a way of making friends wherever he goes. So with title and registration in hand we left the office as Dad bid the friendly women goodbye by saying, "It was nice meetin' y'all!"
I believe I left my jaw on the floor at the courthouse because that was a true jaw dropping statement
. My Dad. A Northerner. Y'ALL. WOW!!I immediately looked right at him and brought it to his attention that he had been corrupted.It is a proven fact that the longer you are in one culture the more like them you become.
My Dad has officially crossed the Mason - Dixon Line and said Y'all. That makes for one very proud daughter!
After such a defining moment in time I knew Dad would ponder the details the entire way back to Illinois. Sure enough he sent me an addition for my blog the very next day.
Please enjoy this nice addition, free of charge.
I hope you don’t mind, but I took the liberty of writing the attached
article for your blog.
Hope you like it!
Dad
"Nice meetin’ ya’all!" rolled effortlessly through my lips as Ashley and I walked out of the County Clerk’s Office. Ashley remarked that I sounded like a native, and that those words could be the makings of a blog posting. I agreed with her as I silently contemplated the details of the story she would write. As another moderately talented writer I pondered those details and wondered to myself if I wrote an article would she post it? I thought she might.
It was a good day for flying. Well maybe a little bit of wind and some light chop, but nothing a 1,500 hour pilot in a Mooney would give a second thought to. And the wind at cruise altitude was right square on the tail, all 40 knots. As I sat comfortably in that old Mooney with the autopilot flying the airplane and clicking off better than 3 miles a minute I thought about how sharp Al Mooney’s mind must have been when he designed this airplane. He sure knew how to get the speed out of a 180 horsepower engine. And isn’t that why people buy airplanes in the first place, to go fast?
Not only was I flying, I was on a mission. (Flying for a purpose is always better than just boring holes in the sky.) Illinois title in hand, the task for the afternoon was to get Ashley’s car registered in Kentucky. Getting her car removed from my insurance policy was an added benefit.
Fifty-five minutes after takeoff I touched down in Kentucky. Given the tailwind I arrived 15 minutes before I told Ashley to expect me. But that was no problem. I noticed my friend Charlie Phelps pulling into the airport parking lot. Charlie has a hanger full of 7 airplanes, and another one that wouldn’t fit parked in a neighbor’s hangar. With four Piper Tomahawks, Charlie is going to be a rich(er) man if the value of those little airplanes every takes off. He showed me his latest acquisition, proudly pointing out that he painted it "with spray cans from Wal-Mart". And it didn’t look bad, at least not from 25 feet.
Soon Ashley drove up, and we headed to the courthouse. She told me that after waiting five days (to be honest, that did include a weekend) she finally received a quote and evidence of Kentucky insurance as required per the County Clerk. I told her that where I work we try to get things done a little quicker. Ashley explained to me that the lady at the insurance agency was "a good woman" and her desk was really full. I believed her on both counts. And the coverage and price both looked good to me.
As we walked up the stone steps into the Courthouse I felt like we were taking a step back in time. I could almost hear Judge Chamberlain Haller (in "My Cousin Vinny", my favorite movie of all time) informing Vinny Gambini that the system of criminal justice here is Caldwell County is every bit as sophisticated as it is New York.
I want you to know that the people we met with were professional. But they were also friendly, kind, and considerate. They knew their business, but equally important, they knew how to treat people.
A part of the process of registering a vehicle in Kentucky is a $5.00 inspection by the Sheriff’s office. While that inspection was taking place I read the "Wanted" posters. I also noticed a plaque on the wall. It contained a line attributed to Andy Griffith: "Good law enforcement is more about how you treat people than it is about following the book."
Inspection certificate in hand, it was back to the County Clerk’s office to pick out a license plate. The lady who helped us told Ashley if she ever needed any help with her paperwork to come back and she would be glad to help her. I believed her implicitly.
Our paperwork complete, we headed for the door. The County Clerk stood up and said "nice meeting you", to which I replied "nice meetin’ ya’all" – and I meant it!
Oh the joys of being a farmer's wife...in Kentucky!
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