For a long time, I didn’t think I could wear contacts. Ever. My eyes are super sensitive to eye drops and so I just thought I would never get to wear contacts and I had come to peace with always wearing glasses.

A few weeks ago I decided that I wanted to try anyways, so I setup an eye appointment. I had to find out where my eye insurance was taken, and it turns out that it’s accepted at… Wal-Mart. Yeah, I had to go to the Wal-Mart Vision Center. To be fair though, it is a real eye doctor and he’s attached to the mega mart. Unfortunately though, his employees are… on par with other Wal-Mart employees. Sit back and listen as I tell you the tale.

The appointment went well, they had to order my contacts so I left and waited for them to call me when the contacts arrived. I had been told it would take a week at most for them to get in. Well, after two weeks I called the eye doctor and had to be put through the ringer as they tried to figure out what had happened.

Eventually the girl came back and asked, “Did you want to get frames?”

*facesmack*

“No, I wanted contacts. You guys were ordering them for me.”

“Oh, okay, well let me go look into it.”

A few minutes later she come back and said “Well we had ordered your contacts, but I’m not taking any chances so I’ve ordered another pair for you.” What I heard was “We messed up and we’re scrambling now.” So another week passed before finally getting called and heading down to pick up the contacts.

Now, you’re supposed to be given a walk through on how to put in and wear your contacts but when I arrived the guy there gave me my contacts and sent me on my way. I was already confused but we tried to put the contacts in and had issues. Namely that I couldn’t get them in and when I tried for the second time I dropped it and, like contacts do, it disappeared.

So the next day, after three weeks of delays, I call the eye doctor and request a replacement for my lost contact.

That was two weeks ago. Today I called them and inquired about my contacts. Lo-and-behold my contacts had arrived but no one had called.

After work I head down there and get there around 6:45pm and they’re all sitting around in the display area. I explain what’s going on and the Doc is visibly upset that I was sent out last time without a walk through about the contacts. They lead me into the back room and sit me down to watch a DVD about putting on my contacts.

As I’m watching this DVD though one of the women comes back and says “Well we’re supposed to leave at 7 and do you mind coming back for an appointment?”

In my mind I’m saying: HELL NO. NO NO NO. F*CK NO.

I actually said, “Well, I work 9-6 this week and I leave for the weekend on Friday so…”

She turns and heads off saying that she’ll work it out. I settle back down to watch the amazing Oscar winning DVD about wearing contacts.

After the DVD finishes another woman comes back to work me through with the contacts, first she puts the contacts in my eyes, then I get the opportunity to do it. I put them in and take them out, then pack up ready to leave. Well no, as it turns out, they want me to wear them for three hours tonight. So I’m wearing them now and here is a pic of just how I look without my glasses.

Well I’ve given them the necessary time to process the fax and such, so this morning at 8 am I called Citibank to begin trying to push them to return my money. However this morning quickly devolved into moronic corporate buffoonery.

I think this is the core of my issues with banks. They charge so many fees to cover their expansive staffing, yet every employee seems like a retard. This very morning while trying to get an answer I spoke with a girl who identified herself as Maria in her Hindi accent. We spoke for twenty minutes and at the end of it she still didn’t understand what was going on, how do I know? After I explained my issues were with the IRS she transfers me to the IRA department. I even hear her say IRA and I clarify “No, not the IRA, my issues are with the IRS.” She assures me this is the proper number, lo and behold - I’m talking with Dennis about my retirement options.

At this point I just about throw my phone out the window and had K not been sleeping I would have let out a cry of anguish and frustration sure to shake the neighbors.

I call Citibank back at their number and blessedly I get a guy with his shit together, I explain my frustrations and he immediately moves to escalate my issue, unfortunately it’s ten more minutes before he is able to connect me with a manager.

I now explain the story for the fifteenth time to Ricardo, explaining how the IRS did what it did and why, he understands and confirms that my fax did indeed go to the right number but it wasn’t in the system so something happened somewhere. Unfortunately, he can’t talk to the department because… they’re not open. He has to wait until 10am EST before he can speak to them. He takes my number and will call me after speaking with them.

Before we hung up I explained my utter frustration. The issue is that banks (and other very large organizations) deal with so much information and it’s so sharded between offices and call centers and their system for handling it is so piss poor that I had one of their people direct me to the IRA department for my IRS issues. My problem isn’t with it being outsourced, I’m all for outsourcing to raise the economic levels elsewhere - but this woman worked for a banking group and yet she didn’t know the difference between an IRA and the IRS?! That’s retarded, stupid and simply inexcusable.

He agreed and apologized profusely but I will withhold and kind returns until this issue is resolved and my bank account has money again.

My friends on Twitter got the news that all was on its way to being well after Saturday’s discovery of some financial craziness with my bank account. Now it’s time to give everyone the full details. Let’s start, back in 2005.

In 2005, while a student at Georgia Tech, I got a job with a company in Atlanta which paid me as a contractor meaning they didn’t withhold any taxes. My two bosses were quite up front and clear that this meant that I needed to save money for tax time. A lesson I did heed and paid for the 2005 taxes quite easily (I only worked there for a month during 2005.)

photo credit: Paul Keleher

For 2006 I did my best to save money but this was when I left school and then made the sudden decision to return home to Orlando. The move itself and life in general sapped any savings I had made, and the dire warnings of my old bosses were forgotten until tax time came and I was staring at over $2,000 of owed taxes. Well, on my pay at the theatre that was hard to come by but I did my best sending off two payments fairly quickly.

Then mom went into the hospital and the rest was forgotten for a while. It was a few months before I got notice from the IRS that I was late on my payment. I tried to pull the money together but in truth I didn’t try that hard, the threat wasn’t imminent and I was living the high life. I managed to get a third payment off eventually and I marked my calendar for a fourth but I let that deadline come and go and slacked off.

Soon the letters and calls began to come. They caught me one day when I went home for work turning my 30 minute lunch at home into an hour and a half as I sat on the phone waiting to talk to a live person.

I made a payment by phone, the women said that I should call to confirm the payment went through, but when I saw the money had been withdrawn I didn’t call them, I just assumed all was well.

A month or two passes, I file my 2007 taxes and paid them, under the full belief that all was right and I was clear.

Come Friday night, I had money withdrawn from my account to the tune of more than $730. Meaning the vast majority of my paycheck. So with this money gone I call the banks to discover it was the IRS taking money that I “owed” them. Since it was Saturday when I came to this discovery I had to wait until today to call them.

The offices opened at 8am so I called about 8:07 and spoke with a gentleman, he was very helpful explaining that my payment in March over the phone had actually been applied to my unfiled 2007 taxes. How helpful of them considering the payment was over twice what I owed the government for this year.

So he switched the payments for me and asked for the fax number to send a stop to my bank. Unfortunately since it is Citi Bank I couldn’t find a fax number on their website, so I had to hang up with him and call them to get a number. Call the IRS back to re-explain my situation and provide the fax number.

I’m not convinced it’s all taken care of yet, I will wait to see the money restored to my account, but I am glad to hear and learn several things.

1. I’m most glad to learn that the levy was filed incorrectly.
2. I’m glad to learn that the IRS is not an impossible beast unwilling to help me, as long as you speak up and remain calm the people there are happy to help you.
3. Citi bank has to go. Not having a physical bank I can go to with problems is beginning to pose more of a problem as my forms of income begin to diversify and grow more confusing.
4. Pay your taxes. I’m not getting three years like Wesley Snipes but I did temporarily lose control of 3/4s of my pay check and just before rent is due.

photo credit: carencey

It’s a horrible feeling to log into your bank account and see withdrawals you didn’t make. Marked as teller withdrawals and over three quarters of this week’s paycheck gone in a flash. I immediately call the bank to report the incident in hopes of reclaiming the money in time for rent this month.

The indian fellow on the other end was less than helpful just saying that the charges hadn’t posted yet and so they couldn’t file any investigation until Tuesday morning when the charges post. So now I’m left feeling utterly helpless, the bank won’t help me for two more days, which would be two days before rent.

After a few minutes I decide to call back and try to figure anything else out, this person was much more helpful as he informed me that the withdrawals were actually IRS withdrawals, apparently taking money for last year’s taxes. Now, I admit that I f*cked up last years taxes horribly, but I had paid it off back in March. My bank shows the withdrawal for a similar amount to what was taken today.

So the truth appears that now I just have to wait until Monday to call the IRS and try to straighten this all out. But knowing what happened doesn’t make me feel any less helpless or any less violated. I’m just sort of in shock right now as I sit watching the Magic play Toronto.

I hate taxes

Yesterday was a very busy day. Not quite hectic so much as just plain busy. I left work early for a 3pm appointment with a chiropractor. Nothing has been terribly wrong but my lower back has been getting worse little by little and I wanted to try to head it off at the pass.

This was my first visit to a Chiropractor and I got a referral from a friend, so this wasn’t a random doctor out of the phone book. It was very interesting. She did little things, like use an adjustment tool which was little more than a spring loaded jabber that pushed maybe a half-inch. I never before realized how little was needed to make a difference.

The thing that got me was possibly just some hocus-pocus but it was effective. First she has me squeeze my thumb and pinky together to try and not let her pull them apart. Now, I had just done a grip strength test and done fairly well at it, but as soon as she tried to pull them apart at all she did, I had no strength in holding these fingers together. Same with the other hand. Then she goes behind me and adjusts a few things in my neck and we try it again, this time I hold.

The first reaction: Shock. Wow! How does my spinal alignment affect strength in my pinky and thumb?

Ten seconds later I begin thinking of it like a magician and sleight of hand. Maybe it was a real test, but she could also have just not pulled as hard the second time around. It happened quick enough I didn’t really get a chance to fully process it. Maybe it was real, maybe not, but I’m not ready to sing the praises of chiropractors just yet.

Though to be fair, I didn’t go in with any big issues, more just to see what could be done. So we’ll see how I feel in the coming days.

Secondly I went to see an eye doc about my eyes and possibly contact lenses. My glasses pinch my nose horribly such that it is something K frequently comments on. Plus, with podcasting and generally trying to look better Contacts are something I’ve been wanting to get into.

So I had to get the evil eye puff test and other such things only seen in eye doctor offices. He gave my eyes a clean bill of health and we’ve ordered my contacts. I’ll need to go back in next week to get the full lesson in how to use them, etc. Then we’ll go from there.

I can’t fully express how eager I am to get rid of the glasses at least for the majority of my day.

I have a stigmatism which has gotten worse in my left eye (or shifted I guess according to the doctor) and so while my sight is still decent without glasses, it’s worse than it was even two years ago.

After this K and I went to Cool Stuff Inc, the ManaNation sponsor and host to Saturday’s tournament and I’m quite excited. We discussed organization with TJ, the store manager, and how to setup for the day. I honestly don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep tonight. We’ll see.

This week stands a good chance of breaking me. Not for stress level or for worry level, just shear amount of stuff on the horizon.

This weekend will be the ManaNation standard tournament, so I’ve got to further work on the plans for that and figure out just how it is all going to shake out.

ManaNation is really beginning to take off and I’ve got articles for Tuesday through Friday with the possibility of having to double up on a certain day. Which means editing, inputting and scheduling the articles. Multiple hours of work a day.

ManaNation is also recording tomorrow night, for a very special episode. I’m quite excited. However it is going to be recorded Tuesday and need to be edited as quick as possible. Plus we need to do an episode for the week after as well.

That recording takes place after the Lab Rat workshop at SAK which I’ll have to duck out of early to make it work.

We’re also in the process of incorporating Trick Media, so I have to research and submit the paperwork for it.

And lastly, I have to submit my taxes on Friday with the paycheck.

Yeah, it will be one of those days.

photo credit: Naked Faris

Last night K and I were enjoying “Ace of Cakes” on the Food Network. It was last Thursday’s episode and on it they were making a cake for Avenue Q.

Back in December, when she and I had gone to New York for the Magic the Gathering world championships K and I had wanted to see them on Broadway. Unfortunately at the time we didn’t really know what we were doing when it came to the tournament coverage and the timing worked out that we could have gone but missed the chance. She was a really good sport about it all but I know that she really wanted to see it.

Fast forward to yesterday. While we’re watching the show I launch the laptop and check their tour dates. Sure enough, wouldn’t you know it, they’re performing over in Tampa this week!

As soon as I told her I realized I should have held it back as a surprise and just taken off for Tampa once I had her in the car. But alas I opened my mouth and now we both get to enjoy four days of text messages of “OMG, Avenue Q on Fri!”

Yes, we’ll be there dear friends, balcony seats but it is going to be guaranteed fun!

OMG, Avenue Q on FRIDAY!

This weekend was emotionally draining. Though, at the end of it, everyone was smiles. I’ll save a more lengthy write-up for later this week as I just got home an hour ago after 13 hours between leaving my brother’s home and arriving at mine.

I shed many tears and cried a fair bit through the weekend, my mother was an integral part of my life and saying goodbye to her is very difficult. I miss talking to her on the phone, I miss hearing her laugh, I miss her puns and so much more. But many things were said and shared this weekend to remind me of so many good times and good memories.

Also this weekend was an event mom would have dearly loved to be in the middle with the family coming together, playing together ranging from Poker to Charades to Guitar Hero 3.

I should also note that the Jarrett clan is looking for any family brave enough to stand against them in a Charades battle, we welcome any and all challengers. We rocked out with some amazing skills in Charades this weekend, by far some of the most fun we’ve had.

More stories to come.