Another Funeral

We're still recovering from our whirlwind trip to Michigan over the weekend for my grandfather's funeral. 2014 so far has seriously sucked. Not that his death was completely unexpected; the guy would have been 101 in April. He had declined severely over the last few weeks, and was basically bed-ridden and helpless, something he would have hated. Knowing that doesn't make losing him any easier, but it does. (Anyone who has been through this scenario knows what I mean.) We did get to see some of my family that we haven't seen in several years, but we would have much preferred it to be for something other than a funeral.

This happened just as both of us were revving up for the busy time of year; Debbie with peak cruise season and me with taxes, hence the 72-hour trip from hell over the weekend so we could both get back to it. My work is still trying to get everything set up and procedures in place before the real crowds hit towards the end of this week and next week. It's slow going as the people supposedly in charge seem to be mostly MIA thus far. I'm stuck in a little booth across from the bathrooms at Walmart for this season. I covered for people there a couple times last tax season, and it can get pretty crazy. This go-'round we have two computers so a second person can jump in when needed, which should help keep the line shorter. Last year, I had at least a dozen people give up and walk away because the line was too long. Then again, I just found out yesterday that one of the four people that were supposed to be working just bailed on us, so that second computer will mostly be there as a prop. Looking for knowledgeable tax preparers after the start of tax season is like looking for virgins in a brothel.

Debbie's busy season has so far been... well... uneven is probably the best word. It seems like she is either insanely busy or the phones are completely dead. Of course, the lunatics always make a showing, like the lady this morning that insisted that there had to be a cabin on a sold-out cruise because she really wanted to go and what do you mean by "sold out"? How can a cruise be "sold out"? I was trying to clean up last night's dishes while this insane conversation was taking place and almost had to leave the room. Holy. Crap.

And that's pretty much all I have to report at this point. Later.