I think the US government is about to come looking for me. Strange how all this is happening just before I have to renew my passport. It's all a bit coincidental to me. I think I went through this the last time I renewed my passport. I just worry they will find something wrong or have questions and I will have to go back to America and then they will not let me back in Australia. It's a legitimate fear, I think.
What is going on now is that my bank called me or sent me an email saying if I did not complete some form, they would report me to the US councilor for something.
I am going to have to find out what it is they want. Looking at the email and searching through a lot of documents, it would appear that the US and Australia entered into an agreement to share tax information to try to catch tax evaders. Now, I am all for catching tax evaders but I am afraid, since I have not filed taxes in the US for 20 years, they are going to come get me and ask me to explain why. Of course, they will do that by making me come back to America and not let me try to explain that from here. So expect me to be returning soon.
I joke about it because it has me really worried and I don't know what else to do.
From what I can read, I do not owe any taxes in the US. There is something called a foreign tax exemption threshold and I fall well under that. If you make more than the threshold, you are supposed to pay US taxes on it, as well as Australian taxes. Since I have always been under, I did not file to say I don't owe anything. I think what is about to happen is they are going to try to find out why I have not filed and then pay penalties on the taxes I did not owe, plus fines I am sure. So see you soon in America.
I think this has something to do with Trump, but there is no way I will say anything about it until I get my passport renewed. I am sure just typing Trump into this blog has raised some alarm somewhere and I will be hearing from the authorities.
On my way out the door from work right now, so maybe I will get back to this on the weekend. One can only hope.
It has actually been a couple of days since I was doing this, so of course, I have forgotten everything I was saying. Don't know if that is good or bad. You might recommend that I go back and read it but since I can't read, that would be difficult. I might have the send this another day. But again, you will never know, unless I tell you, which I will.
Just went to lunch, so not a big break. Now where was I. I think I was saying so long to Australia and welcome to US tax jail. Might just be an exaggeration on my part.
Maeghan got an A and an A- on her last math test. I am not sure why the two grades. She said the A was for the answers and the A- was for the ability to demonstrate her work. A questionable tactic if you ask me. I suppose that is what they are looking for. I have a story about that from my youth. It seems while I was taking an Algebra class, the teacher put a problem up on the board and had the class try to solve it. There was some reward for who could do it fastest. I was top of the class back then and probably fairly arrogant (who knew I would stay that way). After about fifteen minutes, I don't really remember the actual time it took, the teacher noticed I was not doing anything. He asked why I was not working on the problem. I said because I already solved it but was letting the others have a chance. (Again, I was an arrogant little twerp). Anyway, the teacher asked me what the answer was and I gave it to him. He then asked me to show my work and I told him that I had done it in my head. He was not happy about that and of course, the rest of the class might have groaned at it. He then proceeded to chastise me and tell me that they had not invented the way to measure brain waves and I would have to show proof before I could get any rewards.
I tell that because I have always remembered it. You can't measure brain waves so you need to be able to prove it. Being right is not enough, you have to show why and how you got there. I have never really embraced that but I have always used it when teaching others. I still try to work it out in my head but that is a whole other story about how I have lost that ability and can no longer work things out in my head. I'll tell that some other time.
The real moral or point of this story is, I was wrong. I did not have the right answer and it did turn out that I had made a mistake in my head and somehow gotten the wrong answer. A lesson I learned really well. Never speak up unless you are sure. Or make sure you know what you are talking about before you open your mouth. A lesson I have tried to live by. Haven't really succeeded but I try.
Now I am wondering why I went into that little rant. Way too much information about me and not enough about how well Maeghan did on her test. She has always had problems in math, not really problems but she has never excelled at it. Now, she appears to be at the top of her class. If she didn't miss so much school going to the doctors, she might be the best at a lot of things. I am very proud of her and would like to take some of the credit but she did this all on her own. She will sometimes ask me to help her with her math but most of the time, I don't understand it and cannot really help her so she has to learn it all by herself and she does. I asked her how she did it and she tells me she doesn't really know. That she doesn't really understand it but she knows how to do it. I guess that says a lot but I am not sure what it means. Either she has learned how to plug the numbers into her formulas or she actually does know it but doesn't realize that is all there is to it. Kind of hard to explain but as long as she is doing well, I am proud of her for it. Don't tell her often enough. I usually make a joke but I have tried to be more supportive lately. Failing badly, but I am trying.
I need to be more supportive of William. As we know, William does not do well in school. I blame me. I have not been there. Lots of reasons for that but bottom line, it is my fault. I have failed him and I am not sure how to go about fixing it. But that goes into a more maudlin story and I do not feel like relating it now. I'll just say I have a solution but cannot implement it on my schedule. Plus, with no work or very little work, I have to make sure I work as much as possible when there is an opportunity. Doesn't leave a lot of time for William and he gets left out. I won't go into it.
So, still at work, still trying to do this in my free time, still need to start doing this at home. Promises, promises. Life's a struggle and it hits us all hard at times. Has to get better someday.
On that very sad note, I will leave it for another day.
Until next time
It has actually been a couple of days since I was doing this, so of course, I have forgotten everything I was saying. Don't know if that is good or bad. You might recommend that I go back and read it but since I can't read, that would be difficult. I might have the send this another day. But again, you will never know, unless I tell you, which I will.
Just went to lunch, so not a big break. Now where was I. I think I was saying so long to Australia and welcome to US tax jail. Might just be an exaggeration on my part.
Maeghan got an A and an A- on her last math test. I am not sure why the two grades. She said the A was for the answers and the A- was for the ability to demonstrate her work. A questionable tactic if you ask me. I suppose that is what they are looking for. I have a story about that from my youth. It seems while I was taking an Algebra class, the teacher put a problem up on the board and had the class try to solve it. There was some reward for who could do it fastest. I was top of the class back then and probably fairly arrogant (who knew I would stay that way). After about fifteen minutes, I don't really remember the actual time it took, the teacher noticed I was not doing anything. He asked why I was not working on the problem. I said because I already solved it but was letting the others have a chance. (Again, I was an arrogant little twerp). Anyway, the teacher asked me what the answer was and I gave it to him. He then asked me to show my work and I told him that I had done it in my head. He was not happy about that and of course, the rest of the class might have groaned at it. He then proceeded to chastise me and tell me that they had not invented the way to measure brain waves and I would have to show proof before I could get any rewards.
I tell that because I have always remembered it. You can't measure brain waves so you need to be able to prove it. Being right is not enough, you have to show why and how you got there. I have never really embraced that but I have always used it when teaching others. I still try to work it out in my head but that is a whole other story about how I have lost that ability and can no longer work things out in my head. I'll tell that some other time.
The real moral or point of this story is, I was wrong. I did not have the right answer and it did turn out that I had made a mistake in my head and somehow gotten the wrong answer. A lesson I learned really well. Never speak up unless you are sure. Or make sure you know what you are talking about before you open your mouth. A lesson I have tried to live by. Haven't really succeeded but I try.
Now I am wondering why I went into that little rant. Way too much information about me and not enough about how well Maeghan did on her test. She has always had problems in math, not really problems but she has never excelled at it. Now, she appears to be at the top of her class. If she didn't miss so much school going to the doctors, she might be the best at a lot of things. I am very proud of her and would like to take some of the credit but she did this all on her own. She will sometimes ask me to help her with her math but most of the time, I don't understand it and cannot really help her so she has to learn it all by herself and she does. I asked her how she did it and she tells me she doesn't really know. That she doesn't really understand it but she knows how to do it. I guess that says a lot but I am not sure what it means. Either she has learned how to plug the numbers into her formulas or she actually does know it but doesn't realize that is all there is to it. Kind of hard to explain but as long as she is doing well, I am proud of her for it. Don't tell her often enough. I usually make a joke but I have tried to be more supportive lately. Failing badly, but I am trying.
I need to be more supportive of William. As we know, William does not do well in school. I blame me. I have not been there. Lots of reasons for that but bottom line, it is my fault. I have failed him and I am not sure how to go about fixing it. But that goes into a more maudlin story and I do not feel like relating it now. I'll just say I have a solution but cannot implement it on my schedule. Plus, with no work or very little work, I have to make sure I work as much as possible when there is an opportunity. Doesn't leave a lot of time for William and he gets left out. I won't go into it.
So, still at work, still trying to do this in my free time, still need to start doing this at home. Promises, promises. Life's a struggle and it hits us all hard at times. Has to get better someday.
On that very sad note, I will leave it for another day.
Until next time
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