of mice and men often go awry.
That old Scottish proverb reminds us that things don’t always go as planned. Robert Burns wrote the poem “To a Mouse” in 1786. I was reminded of Burns’ poem back in early December when I was having all of the very old trees on the south side of my office building removed. At the time, I felt a bit sad for the squirrels that had called those trees home for so long. I knew I was making them homeless and they would be forced to relocate.
On two separate occasions over the years, those squirrels chewed through my telephone lines and caused disruptions at my business, so I wasn’t completely sympathetic to their forced relocation.
On December 2nd, as we were clearing the trees and preparing for my new parking lot, I planned to have it completed by February 1st when our Tax Season kicked off. Well, the month of January brought so much rain in record amounts, that all progress on my project came to an abrupt and extended halt.
Oh, my planning back in November was far greater than just adding a second parking lot…
By February 1st, 2021, I would have my building painted, new awnings installed and I would have new outdoor lighting around the office, parking and walkway areas. The painters have just finished painting the exterior of the building last Friday. The awnings have been on order for weeks and hopefully will arrive soon.
And on my birthday today, I thought of Robert Burns’ “To a Mouse” again…
Robert Burns said the mouse was blessed, because only the “present” affected the mouse. The mouse could only think in terms of the present. Whereas Burns, had to think about his past and worry about the future.
I’ve always said, “if anything is going to break at work, it will break during tax season.” That’s because everything at work gets stressed the most during our busy time. The last time I had to replace the eight-foot long fluorescent light bulbs in my sign was seven years ago. I called my cousin, Tommy Hazelrig and he was there for me right away. We lost Tommy in May 2018 to cancer. He was in the sign business in Gadsden and built my sign back in the 90’s. I was at a loss as to who I could call for help. Thankfully, the Stewart brothers, who are clients stepped in and helped. Thank you Josh and Jeremy!
Even though my best-laid plans went awry, the 2021 Tax Season is moving along at a very good pace. Everything I had hoped for will be complete soon and I will be better prepared for next year.
Telephone Traffic Last Week – 1,041 Calls!
Last Wednesday, March 10th, marked the midway point of our ten-week season and we found ourselves slightly behind the usual pace. But, we hit 1,000 returns processed and filed just two days later. I realized we lost two days to the ice and snow on February 15th and 16th. Today is my birthday and I have to go celebrate with Pam, the kids and the granddaughter. Holleigh and Alec are bringing lunch for us all to the house from Carrabba’s Italian Grill in Huntsville. I’m having lamb chops!