Before I developed the habit of temporarily holding my needle in my mouth, I used to stick it in the arm rest of the sofa. I also used to forget about it there, and stab myself. Maybe we need to look into magnets on watchband like things.

So the last time I used TurboTax, it was all bubbly, asking questions and providing reassurances that we were “almost done”. That’s not realistic. Realism is going to the post office to look bewilderingly through the boxes of paper tax forms littered around the mailbox area wondering which ones apply to you, bringing home a handful of weird-smelling newsprint instruction booklets, and sifting through that shoebox of receipts you’ve been hoarding while you nurse a handle of whiskey and curse the tax reform act of 1986. Professional tax prep software somewhat recreates that vibe. Turbotax is a marshmallow fluff game guide complete with cheat codes.

I am an accountant. This comment is for discussion only and not to be used as tax advice. Consult your tax advisor for your specific situation.

Ebay reports income if you sell over $20,000 [edit: earned in 1 calendar year], and then once you’re on their 1099 list, you don’t come off it even if you sell less. The actual IRS 1099 reporting threshold is just $600 per year. Ebay is appealing to the IRS to try to limit their reporting burden. They will eventually have to report all sellers that exceed $600, but they keep getting that pushed back.

FB also issues 1099s now for sellers. I am not sure what their made up threshold is, but Marketplace has asked me for my tax info. I just took my things down and told it that I hadn’t sold them through Marketplace. And I just noticed what linearchaos suggested… list the item as ‘ask for price’. That may cut down on potential customers though. I know I scroll past items that want me to ask for price.

Do not worry if you sell enough to be issued a 1099. As mentioned before, you can subtract the cost you paid for the items, all ebay and paypal fees, and even shipping costs if you don’t charge separately for it, likely resulting in an overall loss. So no tax likely. Tax is only calculated on net income. If you start flipping obscure items of value from thrift stores, then you might get into taxable net income territory.

Finally, to your question on does it count against your unemployment benefits. Likely. However, Ebay/FB don’t report their 1099 vendors until mid- to late- January 2025 for annual 2024 payments. The reporting deadline is Jan 31. So you don’t have to worry about it until then, and again only if you exceed their made up thresholds for sales.

And here I sit with a laser pointer in my lap. Crazy cat lady by day, cyberpunk by night.

Surprisingly, yes. The holy grail of magnet fishing enthusiasts are weapons (that are then usually turned over to police).

I haven’t tried metal detecting, but we went magnet fishing once. Caught lots of fish hooks and one mostly rusted but still intact shock absorber.

Dad let me watch Poltergeist when I was 6 and Mom let me watch The Shining when I was 7. I was also 7 when the Thriller video came out, and I think that scared me more.

They already have our email addresses and our mobile numbers. They should be sending us calendar invites, not some scrap of cardstock I’m gonna lose. My therapist has a system that sends text reminders. Why is my doctor not up to speed.

The tightest end dump pile is still a fat line.

This is an amusing sentence out of context.

Maybe it wanted to turn around. Busch Gardens is just 40 miles back.

A very excellent point. I should have realized.

He might not have been fully up to speed yet. This sign is just past a weigh station (I’ve driven this stretch many, many times), and VDOT said he had just gone through the station. Though that doesn’t answer why the bed was up. Could have bumped the switch?

:::Edit to strike through this nonsense:::I am leaning toward the other explanation of drive shaft breaking and pole vaulting the trailer into the sign.

If that’s the case, why did they arrest the driver on reckless driving? Sounds like pure accident. Even if it was negligent maintenance, that’s not the driver’s fault, that’s on the trailer owner. Right? (IANACDL 😄)

To someone with ADHD, this is like telling them to just pull ya’self up by yer bootstraps. 🙃

On a scale from 1 to 10, that trailer was at a Snoop Dogg.

You did it all for the wookie, the wookie, the wookie…

I did alright for a while. Changing up clients worked when I started to get bored.

It’s not going so great now. Considering a career change but also not wanting to throw away years of experience and a professional license. But yeah, I’m at “this is all bullshit and I don’t wanna”.

My motivation

When it was first released, The Sixth Sense ending blew everyones’ minds.

Usual Suspects and Se7en as well.

Anything is edible. Once.