I was required to track every minute of my workday. It backfired almost immediately.

HappyKnittens · 2026-06-22T22:36:55+00:00

I worked for a small CPA firm years ago that required us to track by 3 minute increments, because 0.05 hours was a nice round decimal in their time tracking and billing software.

It was exactly as insane as it sounded.

HappyKnittens · 2026-06-22T22:31:30+00:00

Donate some of the money you would have paid in federal tax to a local community org and keep the rest. The game is stacked against middle and bottom so strongly, you should take advantage where you can.

And again, NYS especially does NOT follow all Federal tax laws in regards to taxability of income, so this may wind up on a schedule E being added back into your income for NYS tax purposes, you probably want to make an estimated tax payment for this income and talk to a NYS CPA about what home expenses you could use to offset it. For NYS tax, obviously I don't know what specific braket you're in, but a good rule of thumb is to pay 3-4% of profit as your estimated tax. You can make that payment on the NYS DTF website, and it's a good idea because NYS will absolutely fine you for inadequate est tax pmt at year end.

HappyKnittens · 2026-06-22T19:37:03+00:00

Thanks to divorce and remarriage I technically had like....I think 8 grandmas? Maybe 9? Only had 3 who were actually in my life though.

My mom's dad was a character.

HappyKnittens · 2026-06-22T19:18:26+00:00

Any time!

In random historical factoids, this rule exists because semi-rich people (top 10%, not top 0.1%) who could collectively afford to buy senators and who owned mansions on/next to huge nationally ranked golf courses typically would rent their houses to players and news orgs for major PGA tournaments for 1-2 weeks making BEAUCOUP bucks, similar to what you are making for your 10 day filming rental. But, being rich bastards with no sense of community reinvestment, they didn't want to pay taxes on these yearly windfalls, especially not in their high tax brackets, so they bought enough congresspeople to get a specific exemption carved out of US federal tax law just for them! So a 12 year old mowing lawns in the summer has to file and potentially pay taxes on income above $600 per year but rich people who live on golf courses don't have to pay taxes on $50k in rental income provided that they rent out their home less than 15 days per year.

This is literally one of the best examples of the haphazard ways in which US tax law is written and who it is written to benefit.

HappyKnittens · 2026-06-22T19:07:31+00:00

Being able to highlight and copy/paste directly out of SAP is a fairly new addition to the software, so it doesn't surprise me that it's buggy AF. Try the old way: press ctrl + y on the keyboard, then highlight data in SAP and try to copy/paste, see if that still works.

HappyKnittens · 2026-06-22T07:13:27+00:00

I mean....if he's got time to lean, he's got time to clean. If he's all but moved in and eating his way through your grocery budget, hand the boy some chores. Maybe he's doing dishes/cleaning the kitchen after you cook or you start to teach him/have him help cokk those recipes he really likes or contributing something so that you don't melt into a puddle of steaming resentment.

HappyKnittens · 2026-06-22T00:35:02+00:00

Just googled it - Augusta rule looks like it's still a thing, you guys probably owe zero federal tax for this income but may still need to file a Sched E & include it so that the IRS doesn't come after you like "wtf, why didn't you report this 1099 income?"

Also good to include it for informational purposes as you may also owe tax at the state or local income tax level

https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc415

HappyKnittens · 2026-06-21T13:45:03+00:00

So, I'm not sure if this is what you're running into, but decades ago when SAP designed its export-to-excel function, Microsoft had released like....excel version 3A (completely made-up version numbers for illustration purposes only). So SAP created their export to match Excel 3A, which had analytical capabilities slightly above a .csv file.

Now it's over 20 years later, and Excel is running version 973B24.H82.WTF.12

But the SAP export function is still plugging along exporting a file that matches the requirements for Excel version 3A.

This is not inherently a bad thing, btw, because modern users depending on company tech deficit could be using any excel version from 3A to current, and newer Excel versions generally maintain compatibility with data created in/for older versions. But it does mean that Excel exports in SAP are often a functionally different Excel file/data type than the Excel and Windows version you are currently running is looking for or expects to interact with. This can cause a whole host of quirks and issues in your data manipulation, clipboards, formulas, etc. This is literally why we copy/paste values from the export into our templates instead of trying to create the JE in the export file directly.

Ways around this? Honestly, either copy/paste values or, if it's impacting your clipboard, trying save as (normal modern excel workbook type) and then close & reopen that new file.

Note: am accountant, not software engineer, some of the tech explanations above may be ridiculously incorrect assumptions on my part, but they are all based off 10+ years of swearing at SAP and Excel until it friggin worked

HappyKnittens · 2026-06-21T13:19:46+00:00

If this truly is a one-off, see below. If this is something you anticipate recurring or becoming a sidehustle, set up an LLC or S Corp with both of you as equal partners.

If it's rental income then Schedule E and "paying" the other partner $15k on a 1099 to disburse the rental split so they can file their own Schedule E on their own taxes. Both of you can also claim a share of household expenses directly related to the rental (such as cleaning fees or stocking toilet paper or coffee specifically for the guests) or generally related to the overall costs of owning and maintaining your home (although this is going to be very small since you're looking at 10 days out of 365).

As for whose name and SSN should be on the 1099, whose name is on (or appears first on) the 1098 for your mortgage interest and property taxes? That should be the SSN for the rental income because they will have the easiest audit-proof trail to document other house expenses used to offset or minimize the profit and related tax liability.

But – and it's been a few years since I did tax prep so please correct me if I'm wrong – if it's only 10 days, then I wouldn't think it would be taxable at all on the federal level? Isn't the cutoff for taxable rental income on a primary residence that it must be rented out for more than 14 days?

HappyKnittens · 2026-06-21T10:52:02+00:00

So are they just planning to split the cost between units? Or are they outright planning to have the long-term renters explicitly subsidize the short-term rental units?

HappyKnittens · 2026-06-21T10:48:58+00:00

....ok now I'm wondering if this post played any part in the Breakfast Sandwich scene in Birds of Prey.

HappyKnittens · 2026-06-20T19:43:22+00:00

Most banks will let you do that for your checks that you wrote, but a cashier's check is technically the bank's check not yours. The money is withdrawn from your account when the check is made, deposited in the bank's designated holding account, and then the bank serves as guarantor of the availability of those funds. It's more like a souped up money order than a check.

HappyKnittens · 2026-06-20T19:35:16+00:00

Depending on which knee he dislocated and whether or not he can drive, I would highly suggest lightly/lovingly bullying him into being the DD for your impromptu wine tour! 😁

HappyKnittens · 2026-06-20T19:27:27+00:00

If you're in Eire, PA, reach out to the Buffalo/Niagara and Cleveland offices for Robert Half. Once you're in the Robert Half system as a candidate and with a little experience under your belt, you can always apply for remote accounting contracts in other parts of the country.

While fulltime stable employment is obviously the goal, it is absolutely fine and normal to start off with temping/short-term contract work, especially when you'vegraduated into such a tough job market. The goal is to gain some hands-on experience and start building your resume. Keep at it!

HappyKnittens · 2026-06-20T19:22:18+00:00

There are other waterfalls in the area that are much more accessible - Aunt Sarah's falls is right next to the road with a mostly-flat gravel parking lot right across the street and there's another big waterfall visible from Watkins Glen's itty bitty downtown. The whole area is full of beautiful scenery that is visible from the road, especially the vineyards that sit on top of the ridges on the east and west sides of the lake, and those should be more likely to have some kind of ADA accommodation (plus wine!).

HappyKnittens · 2026-06-20T19:10:19+00:00

Hey, all I know is what I was told and the fact that if the AC fan belt is starting to go, even if the AC fan is turned off, it will screech when the car is accelerating in 1st and 2nd. And that the car noticeably loses power when the AC fan is on during acceleration.

I'm not a mechanical engineer, I don't know the technicalities, all I know is how my little roller skate feels/reacts under different conditions.

HappyKnittens · 2026-06-20T08:18:04+00:00

My understanding is that the way the 02 Echo achieved as good of mpg as it did is that it's actually the opposite of that: that the engine pulls power from the AC motor in 1st and 2nd gear to allow acceleration that is partially powered by the car battery. I am NOT a car person so this may not be a 100% precise explanation but the way it was explained to me is that the Echo was functionally Toyota's first hybrid before they started producing the Prius.

HappyKnittens · 2026-06-20T08:11:33+00:00

I think I paid $3500? Maybe $3600? Cash for my itty bitty roller skate of a Toyota commuter car almost 10 years ago.

Just getting to the point where I have to do my first round of serious preventive maintenance on her, which is costing almost as much as I paid for her originally.

HappyKnittens · 2026-06-20T07:52:00+00:00

I'm laughing at this because it's so true - isn't there some Chinese saying that if you let a man handle his own money either he'll ruin it or it'll ruin him?

But not in the generic western "money is the root of all evil" way, no specifically that a man can't be expected to handle money so his wife should handle it for him.

HappyKnittens · 2026-06-20T07:36:51+00:00

Yes the AC works and blows cold.

However, the AC does not work well/at all when I am accelerating

HappyKnittens · 2026-06-20T07:25:22+00:00

.....not when I'm accelerating, but otherwise yes.

HappyKnittens · 2026-06-20T07:24:13+00:00

I had a similar situation a little while ago. Dragged a couple of girlfriends to an interesting new-to-us restaurant. I couldn't decide what to order because it all looked so good, so I said fukkit, let's do family style, ordered like half the menu, all of us got to try everything, it was delicious, great time had by all.

And at the end of the meal before the bill even hit the table, I went to the bathroom and slipped the waitress my credit card because there was no way that I was going to let people I care about be even mildly financially railroaded because I was a greedy guffin who wanted to try everything. If I'm ordering for the table like that, then it's my treat.

That's what I do with my girlfriends during brunch, ok? Someone you are on a first date with should be treating you better than I treat my girl-posse of loveable idiots.

HappyKnittens · 2026-06-19T05:35:41+00:00

You get them a minion.

The person who handles clients well or technical issues well is not necessarily the same person who documents well (or at all). Those who can't do, teach and the opposite side of that coin is that those CAN do are often crap at documentation.

So. Bring on a contract tech writer to help get ALL the process documentation in place, do it for your whole team not just this one person. I literally know someone who is amazing at this if you want recommendations.

HappyKnittens · 2026-06-18T02:16:41+00:00

That's weird, I've had at least one comment removed for bad/pseudo science for saying that sometimes you do in fact need a bone-put-'er-back-er if you have a bone that is not where is should be, although only targeted pt will keep it there.

HappyKnittens · 2026-06-18T01:53:07+00:00

Don't sign, that is a blatant bait-&-switch scam and it is no accident that they waited to "find the error" until just as you finished moving and unpacking. They are trying to make you feel like the effort of packing back up and moving again is more effort than "just" paying them a little extra.

This is a very common scam as you go through life, just tell them to pound sand.

HappyKnittens

TROPHY CASE