I stopped to think and forgot to start again

There's a book, A Hole in the Sidewalk I read a while back.  It is about recovery and just NOT repeatedly stepping into the same hole.  There is a little wishful thinking in the book but it has some good thoughts simply expressed.

This memory brought to you by Solar Winds.  I ran an IT support company for a dozen years and as my focus moved from residential to business I realized that I could not afford to hire the people required to support businesses in the manner they needed and deserved.  Businesses tend to either ignore security or think it should be cheap.  This syndrome is due to the fact they are using one of the most complex systems and processes in the world as the basis for their business and don't understand or want to understand them.  We have someone to do that.

Turns out our government works the same way.  But for the cheap part.  We continue the Reagan era outsourcing to our great companies.  I was taught in the Navy that one can delegate responsibility but not accountability.  We're just outsourcing both.

I got one of those 'we're about to take out a lien on your... [whatever]' certified letters from the IRS today.  I knew what had happened but it still meant that I had to call them.  Fortunately I've been down the road and was not worried and had time to be on hold.

Half an hour later I got the 'please stand by' message that indicated I was about to be transferred........ and then .... nothing.  Shit.   I also knew what that meant.  A dropped call.

So I called them back and waited another half an hour and finally got a person.  

"This says I owe you $2600 when in reality, the IRS owes me $2200"

"Let me look"

I had actually sent in an amended return with information from the company that absorbed mine (a K-1 distribution which was actually a negative number accounting for the $5k swing).  The amended return was sent in 8 August.  They have not yet processed it.  Covid and, of course, we don't fund them enough.  She gave me a 9 week waiting period during which nothing will happen as they get through the backlog.  It will be fine and I think I'm a little under withheld for 2020 so it will likely just apply to this year anyway.  

Always fun to deal with the IRS, though.

The only agency that, if we were to fund them more, would generate more revenue that the extra funding.  Wonder why that never happens?