Beauty * and * Bread

Monday is one of my half-days. Despite the triple-digit heat that’s plagued us for a week, I came home from the Visitors Bureau full of ambition. I decided to tackle something I’d put off for too long.

Taxes.

I’d had my taxes ready to go–except for one miserable 1099 that wasn’t available on the date I’d originally sat down to work on the dreaded government forms, so I set them aside. And filed an extension. Pretty ridiculous when I’d lacked just that one item (plus, of course, the ritual of checking everything over twice or three times before submitting).

As with nearly everything I put off, it took me so little time to complete that I had to chastise myself for letting it go so long. It wasn’t a huge deal, and I didn’t need to self-flagellate over it. There were refunds, but they were small, so it’s not like I’ve let the IRS and the Franchise Tax Board keep a ton of my money.

What I did find out, however, is that as far as the telephone and electric companies are concerned, I am poverty level.

Farida had told me that I really needed to see if I qualified for the Lifelife and Care programs, but I needed to know my income in order to do that. So the next tasks I completed on Monday were to get the ball rolling on lowering the utility bills. I feel just a little guilty about that because my electric bill is (or was) already pretty low. Of course that will change as a result of the air conditioning I’ve been running.

Oh, that’s the other thing. I learned to read my electric meter. This is no great feat of genius when you consider that I have a “Smart Meter.”  Digital. Easy to read. I can now calculate pretty closely what PG&E is going to bill me before the statement arrives.

I’m so proud of myself.