Happy birthday Fred!

He would have been 58 today.

Ironically, I dreamed of him last night.

I have been kind of blue lately. Of course this next month is a difficult month for all our family. (I use the term month loosely). May and June mark the birthdays of both Freddy and Terri, as well as their deaths. It is a tough time of the year.

Pat and I had talked about a week ago. She was in a funk and ended up at the cemetery, talking to Fred. I don't think I am the only one having a tough go of it.

I am hopeful for some precipitation today. Preferably all day.

I am disappointed in my Friday. I said yesterday I had some correspondence to do, and I got it done, but it remains to be seen how effective it was.

In April, the company received notice that they had over paid the fourth quarter 2008 941 quarterly taxes. Usually we will receive notice, but it is for a minute under pay (which I usually attribute to "rounding"). This one, they informed us, was an over pay totalling $1309. Yikes! I am not going to say it is impossible I would make a mistake like that, but I would say "unlikely".

I told Krl that I couldn't imagine making such a huge "misnake" like that, and I hoped they had not applied other taxes (like the 940 FUTA) deposits to the 941 account. We decided to request a refund of the amount they said we had over paid.

Actually, I must confess, there was an overpay, but it was an over pay of the 940 FUTA fourth quarter taxes. We had a full compliment of employees the first quarter of 2008, and I made a FUTA tax deposit because we exceeded the tax liability threshold for the quarter. Second quarter and third quarter we did not reach this threshold. I could not locate the coupon showing the first quarter deposit, so when I filed the fourth quarter FUTA, I paid the entire amount telling them there would be an over pay. I figured better to be long than short!

Krl had been pulling documents and gathering information for my "correspondence".

During all my public address announcing, I have been told to talk like you are talking to a fifth grader. Plain. Simple. Direct. I figured since I was dealing with a government agency I had better drop that about three grade levels. I think I sent eight pages of correspondence, including pictures of checks, coupons, and deposit slips. I am hoping the pictures "as an aid" count for extra credit!

In closing, I decided if I was going to take a swing to swing for the fence. I told them since it appeared the mistake was on their side of the process, and since I was returning the 940 FUTA portion the company owed, I thought it was only fair to waive any interest and penalty.

Well, that should insure the company receives mail for the next couple of years.

Everytime I look in the mail box and find a letter with the treasury return address, my stomach rolls!

A trip to Kinkos, to make a copy of this masterpiece for our records, then to the Post Office to send it on its way.

On my way home I decided to put a dab of money on a fuel card for one of the trucks, just in case. It is never convenient, but on weekends it is almost impossible. I am sure the folks at WalMart and GE that came up with the college cash cards never anticipated a trucking company using them as fuel cards. Sources tell me lots of companies are looking at them for just that. I haven't graduated to Green Dot to reload them, at least not yet.

So, today, hopefully we are back on regular track. When the mail runs we will do settlements and billing.

NASCAR's all star race is tonight. This is the brain child of Humpy Wheeler, long time President and promoter extraordinaire of the Lowe's (Charlotte) Motor Speedway, who retired a year or so ago.

Of course all this is the build up to what I call the super bowl of racing next weekend. NASCAR back at Lowe's and Indy cars at the Indy 500.

Krl and I have been doing a pretty good job of sharing cooking duties the last week or two. Cooking is good therapy for me. She and I have talked about how different we are when it comes to stress. I eat, she doesn't.
For me it has been bliss, ranging from grilled burgers to such delicacies as Broccoli and Chicken Schzuen (sp) to double battered chicken fried steak. Yum. Yum.

When we went out to eat for Krl's birthday, we scolded the two oldest grand daughters for not coming by the house. Krl made a deal with Lrn that she would come by on the weekends and have a meal with us. So far it hasn't happened, but then I haven't been home either. I've got a menu coming together in my brain that begins with zucchini sticks for appetizers and gets even better from there!

Next weekend traditionally begins the summer grilling season. At our home, it never stops.

I talked with Rian late yesterday and he said he and his group were ahead of schedule. Initially he had planned of an ETA of ten Friday night. When we talked, it appeared they might beat that by three hours.

That said, I'm out of here. Have a day and a weekend!

FATHER, rest me well. Renew me, in body mind and spirit. I continue to lift up JDS family and FV family for YOUR gifts of comfort. I continue to ask for YOUR miracle of healing for Memama. I need YOU.