Wannaskan Almanac for Tuesday, February 17, 2026 Ten Forty Bad Buddy

There is one paper that always brings a tear to my eye...a form that is a form of punishment for even the toughest self proclaimed accountant.  That form, of course, is the 1040, and, subsequently, their little cousins the state tax forms.  

I would rather stand in the rain

These forms and the directions for these forms were most likely written by evil linguists/accountants (a popular major at the University of "Crook"ston) who test every known boundary of the English language.  Their motto is...if it is easy to understand and work with, we'll fix that!  Their challenge each year is to not just make simple directions more wordy and less understandable, but also to create run on sentences that are devoid of meaning to precede and follow any meaningful information.  

Latest copy of just the index for the tax code

We quit doing our taxes several years ago.  Now before you report me to the IRS, just know that we still file our taxes.  We just bring all papers and forms and blood samples to an accountant now.  She is a nice lady who reaches into our back pocket to remove and cash that is left after the Feds and State are done with us.  The last year I did my taxes...2023.  Well, that is where this becomes a sore spot.  I guess I wrote the wrong number on some line...inadvertently...I swear...and now the state income tax people want more money.  This was three years ago, so of course they have ginormous interest and penalty fees to add in.  I could (and did) ask for an abatement for these fees since it was an honest mistake (like my wife settling for me) but the truth is that you have...as John Candy says...more luck playing pickup sticks with our butt-cheeks than we will...of getting that abatement.  

To me a better plan would be for these tax agencies to fill out the tax forms and send them to us.  I mean, it is their form and their rules so they should be able to do it effectively.  Then, if they make a mistake we can charge them.  Seems like a better system to me.

So I wrote the check.  My hands trembled as I realized that I could easily afford that trip to the Wannaskan Almanac world headquarters this year if I had that money.  Oh well, easy come, easy go.  At least the local, state, and federal governments aren't wasting that well-earned money on stupid things.  That would add insult to injury.  They would never do that!