Thursday, January 28, 2010
A side note
The house that I worked on the most in New Orleans was on the their local news. I thought I would post the link so you all would be able to see the house and the woman and her granddaughter that own it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA2TiDh1nxc
The YWCA
Its another day at the office and yet again there are no clients to do taxes for at the moment. We are working the morning shift today because Tulsa is expecting a big storm to come through this afternoon and tonight. We are supposed to get ice and snow. Hopefully we will only get snow if we get anything at all. Because of the weather we are hopefully going to be able to leave around noon. Monday we got free passes to the YWCA. I didn't go on Tuesday because Amanda and I cooked lunch. I went on Tuesday and worked out in a gym for the first time ever. I took a shower at the YWCA and it made me realize that I had forgotten what a normal shower feels like. One with really hot water if you want it, normal water pressure, and consent water flow. It was lovely.
Monday, January 25, 2010
The Start of Week Three
So it's Tuesday and I am back at work. This week is a little different because I am working from 1pm to 8pm Monday through Thursday. Friday I work normal hours from 9 am to 3pm. Working until 8 is different because it means that we have team lunches instead of team dinners. Not having to be at work until 1pm also throws of the day and makes it feel much longer. We were told that they needed more tax prepares to help deal with the night time rush but I am not so sure because I am writing my blog because there is no one else here to do a return for. Doing taxes really isn't as bad as I thought they would be. I only had to ask a couple of questions today instead of two or three for each return. I could also answer more of the clients questions with out asking the sight supervisor. Hopefully they will continue to get better.
Yesterday morning I went on my "team date" with Amanda. We hitched a ride with Pat and Kristy to Oxley Nature Preserve which is about 5 miles from were we are living. The preserve is located next to the Tulsa Zoo and a nice park with a disk golf course. Amanda and I walked on several different trails for about an hour. Because we were on our team dates Amanda and I walked in a different direction than Pat and Kristy. They found the lake that is on the property while Amanda and I walked through the woods and found a small marsh. The weather was beautiful 50 degrees and sunny. It was great being outside and hiking after being inside all week sitting at a computer.
Last Friday we worked until about 3pm but only did tax returns until noon. We delivered more supplies to other tax sites for the afternoon. When we got back to the center Ellen and I went out and played on the playground. We made each other dizzy on the tire swing and hung upside down on the monkey bars. Mel came out a little later to take photos. Pat and Amanda decided to climb a tree while Drew and Daniel shot baskets. Pat got all the way to the top of a really tall one. Friday night we all went out to eat at a really good Mexican restaurant. Ellen and I were on our team date so we sat at a table by ourselves which was fun. After that Daniel, Pat, Amanda, Alex and I went to a coffee shop to get the Internet. Saturday Pat, Alex, and I did ISP with Rebuilding Together Tulsa. We put in new floor supports in a bedroom. The water from the back yard was draining under the house and had been for years. Because the crawl space vents had been closed up there was no place for the water to drain out so it just filled up the space under the floor. The water caused the wood to rot and the floor to sink in. I was able to use a nail gun, circular saw, and drill. I was surprised how much I remembered from working in New Orleans. After doing ISP I went to a coffee shop to get Internet. Saturday night Daniel, Mel, and Drew went to a movie while the rest of us stayed at the center. I work on a puzzle with Pat and Amanda. I then watched two episodes of True Blood with Shannon, Alex, Kristy, and Amanda.
Sunday morning I slept in and then went to a coffee shop with Daniel, Pat, Alex, Ellen, and Mel. My wireless adapter decided to pop out on me and would not work so I had to use someone elses computer. After the cafe we went to one of several malls here in Tulsa. It is much larger mall than White Oaks which was nice. I didn't find anything but Mel and Daniel bought some new clothes. When we got back from the mall all 6 of us went and did laundry. After dinner Pat, Amanda, Ellen and I went shopping for food for the week. It took us 45 min to get to the Wal-mart Neighborhood Market because we got really lost and ended up at the AK River. So my Sunday was backed full and then I stayed up late to watch 27 Dresses. I hope all is well with everyone reading this!
Yesterday morning I went on my "team date" with Amanda. We hitched a ride with Pat and Kristy to Oxley Nature Preserve which is about 5 miles from were we are living. The preserve is located next to the Tulsa Zoo and a nice park with a disk golf course. Amanda and I walked on several different trails for about an hour. Because we were on our team dates Amanda and I walked in a different direction than Pat and Kristy. They found the lake that is on the property while Amanda and I walked through the woods and found a small marsh. The weather was beautiful 50 degrees and sunny. It was great being outside and hiking after being inside all week sitting at a computer.
Last Friday we worked until about 3pm but only did tax returns until noon. We delivered more supplies to other tax sites for the afternoon. When we got back to the center Ellen and I went out and played on the playground. We made each other dizzy on the tire swing and hung upside down on the monkey bars. Mel came out a little later to take photos. Pat and Amanda decided to climb a tree while Drew and Daniel shot baskets. Pat got all the way to the top of a really tall one. Friday night we all went out to eat at a really good Mexican restaurant. Ellen and I were on our team date so we sat at a table by ourselves which was fun. After that Daniel, Pat, Amanda, Alex and I went to a coffee shop to get the Internet. Saturday Pat, Alex, and I did ISP with Rebuilding Together Tulsa. We put in new floor supports in a bedroom. The water from the back yard was draining under the house and had been for years. Because the crawl space vents had been closed up there was no place for the water to drain out so it just filled up the space under the floor. The water caused the wood to rot and the floor to sink in. I was able to use a nail gun, circular saw, and drill. I was surprised how much I remembered from working in New Orleans. After doing ISP I went to a coffee shop to get Internet. Saturday night Daniel, Mel, and Drew went to a movie while the rest of us stayed at the center. I work on a puzzle with Pat and Amanda. I then watched two episodes of True Blood with Shannon, Alex, Kristy, and Amanda.
Sunday morning I slept in and then went to a coffee shop with Daniel, Pat, Alex, Ellen, and Mel. My wireless adapter decided to pop out on me and would not work so I had to use someone elses computer. After the cafe we went to one of several malls here in Tulsa. It is much larger mall than White Oaks which was nice. I didn't find anything but Mel and Daniel bought some new clothes. When we got back from the mall all 6 of us went and did laundry. After dinner Pat, Amanda, Ellen and I went shopping for food for the week. It took us 45 min to get to the Wal-mart Neighborhood Market because we got really lost and ended up at the AK River. So my Sunday was backed full and then I stayed up late to watch 27 Dresses. I hope all is well with everyone reading this!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
First Day of Taxes
I am at work right now but their are no new clients so I thought I would write about how the first day is going. Doing taxes aren't as bad as I thought they would be. The scariest thing is knowing that if you mess up you could be cheating someone out of a refund. You are "playing" with people's money. The tax program we are using is not hard to use you just have to remember what forms to use when they don't pop up on their own. Today so far I have worked with eight clients but have only filled 4 returns because all the other clients have forgotten certain forms that are import for filling the returns. The most that one of my clients has gotten on their refund is about $8,800 give or take. The sad part is that one couple did have to pay about 64 dollars in state taxes because they didn't have enough money taken out during the year. Another month to go!
For those of you who are wondering the address where I can get packeges here in Tulsa is:
AmeriCorps NCCC
4606 South Garnett, Suite 100
Tulsa, OK 74136
Don't send anything after the 22 of Febuary because we leave OK on March 4th
For those of you who are wondering the address where I can get packeges here in Tulsa is:
AmeriCorps NCCC
4606 South Garnett, Suite 100
Tulsa, OK 74136
Don't send anything after the 22 of Febuary because we leave OK on March 4th
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Taxes in Tulsa
I have arrived in Tulsa, OK and have been here a week and three days. We left Denver not this Saturday but the Saturday before that. We drove through KS which is just as boring as driving through Illinois. We stayed in a hotel for a night and got to Tulsa about lunch time on Sunday. The drive wasn't as bad as driving to NOLA. It wasn't as long only about 10 hours.
My team and I are living in a community center that is right behind the Police Station. The center is not in operation anymore which is great for us. The center is really big with its own gym (full size basketball court), large kitchen, and separate locker rooms for guys and gals. We all sleep in a big open common area on cots with the exception of Drew and Kristy who decided to get fancy and bought air mattresses. The cot isn't as bad as I thought it would be to sleep on but I think it helps that I have a pad to go on top of it. As I said the kitchen is really large with ten times the amount of counter space as the house in NOLA. There are even enough selves for each of us to have one. The only down side is that when we first arrived we had no fridge for the first two days and when we got them they were dorm size fridges. I will say though that you can fit more into one than I thought. The other major problem we had when we first arrived was the lack of hot water. Since I have been here I have taken two of the coldest showers of my life. The first day I just washed my hair in water that I heated up on the stove. Then the water got "fixed" but only a couple of people were able to take warm showers before it went cold again. So last Monday I took the coldest shower that I hope will be my last. Imagine taking a shower with water that on the verge of freezing. I couldn't stay in the water for very long because it was making my head throb. The hot water has now been fixed along with the heater and we can take warm showers and turn up the heat from 59 to 70 if we feel like it.
Our sponsors have been really great about fixing our problems and then getting us additional items like a TV and a box so we now get a few channels (FOX, CW, CBS). They have also gotten us tickets to see the weekend home games for the Tulsa 66's (basketball team) and to the aquarium. I really like them and from that aspect I think this project will be good.
Tax prep isn't as bad a I thought it would be. I'm not sure that I will like being inside all day so I am hoping that we will be able to spend sometime outside in the nice weather. Last week we did a little training but mostly we did office work that consisted of emptying folders and putting labels on folders. We also sorted and delivered 40,000 fliers to the Tulsa public schools about the free tax program. This week we started our IRS tax preparer certification. We had to do six different tax returns one of witch took me about an hour and half to finish. I hope I don't have to do one of these for real. We start working with clients tomorrow.
This past weekend we got out and explored Tulsa a little. Friday night the team split up and went to two different restaurants. I went to The Sushi Train and tried sushi for the first time. It was pretty good. We then went to a move at the dollar theater. I saw "Law Abiding Citizen" an intense movie but good. Saturday I went with a couple of people to Borders in order to get the Internet since we don't get it at the community center. We spent most of the afternoon there. That night some of the team went out while the rest of us stayed home and watched a movie. Sunday was laundry and food shopping day. Most of the team did laundry in the morning but it took almost 2 hours because there were so many people there. I spent the rest of the day back at the community center. I went for a run, read, and learned how to make a "granny square"! After dinner Pat, Amanda, and I went to Wal-mart to do our food shopping for the week. We spent $300 which was under budget by about $15. Next time I am able to get wireless I will post some photos of Tulsa and the community center. Hope all is well!!!!
My team and I are living in a community center that is right behind the Police Station. The center is not in operation anymore which is great for us. The center is really big with its own gym (full size basketball court), large kitchen, and separate locker rooms for guys and gals. We all sleep in a big open common area on cots with the exception of Drew and Kristy who decided to get fancy and bought air mattresses. The cot isn't as bad as I thought it would be to sleep on but I think it helps that I have a pad to go on top of it. As I said the kitchen is really large with ten times the amount of counter space as the house in NOLA. There are even enough selves for each of us to have one. The only down side is that when we first arrived we had no fridge for the first two days and when we got them they were dorm size fridges. I will say though that you can fit more into one than I thought. The other major problem we had when we first arrived was the lack of hot water. Since I have been here I have taken two of the coldest showers of my life. The first day I just washed my hair in water that I heated up on the stove. Then the water got "fixed" but only a couple of people were able to take warm showers before it went cold again. So last Monday I took the coldest shower that I hope will be my last. Imagine taking a shower with water that on the verge of freezing. I couldn't stay in the water for very long because it was making my head throb. The hot water has now been fixed along with the heater and we can take warm showers and turn up the heat from 59 to 70 if we feel like it.
Our sponsors have been really great about fixing our problems and then getting us additional items like a TV and a box so we now get a few channels (FOX, CW, CBS). They have also gotten us tickets to see the weekend home games for the Tulsa 66's (basketball team) and to the aquarium. I really like them and from that aspect I think this project will be good.
Tax prep isn't as bad a I thought it would be. I'm not sure that I will like being inside all day so I am hoping that we will be able to spend sometime outside in the nice weather. Last week we did a little training but mostly we did office work that consisted of emptying folders and putting labels on folders. We also sorted and delivered 40,000 fliers to the Tulsa public schools about the free tax program. This week we started our IRS tax preparer certification. We had to do six different tax returns one of witch took me about an hour and half to finish. I hope I don't have to do one of these for real. We start working with clients tomorrow.
This past weekend we got out and explored Tulsa a little. Friday night the team split up and went to two different restaurants. I went to The Sushi Train and tried sushi for the first time. It was pretty good. We then went to a move at the dollar theater. I saw "Law Abiding Citizen" an intense movie but good. Saturday I went with a couple of people to Borders in order to get the Internet since we don't get it at the community center. We spent most of the afternoon there. That night some of the team went out while the rest of us stayed home and watched a movie. Sunday was laundry and food shopping day. Most of the team did laundry in the morning but it took almost 2 hours because there were so many people there. I spent the rest of the day back at the community center. I went for a run, read, and learned how to make a "granny square"! After dinner Pat, Amanda, and I went to Wal-mart to do our food shopping for the week. We spent $300 which was under budget by about $15. Next time I am able to get wireless I will post some photos of Tulsa and the community center. Hope all is well!!!!
Friday, January 8, 2010
Leaving for Tulsa, OK
So today ended our transition week between spikes. My team and I leave at 8 am for Tulsa, OK. It will take about 10 hours to drive there. We are staying in KS tomorrow night and will get to Tulsa mid morning on Sunday. My team is staying in a community center that has a big kitchen, a gym, separate bathrooms for guys and girls. We will be doing taxes for low income families. We will spend the first week on the project doing training. One good thing that will come out of this project is that I will know how to do taxes! One down side is that as far as we know there is no Internet where we are living. This means I won't be able to get on as much as I would like. I am off now to finish getting ready to leave and then head to bed because we have to be ready to go at 7:30 am.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)