At Bourke Accounting, we don’t look down upon body modification. It would be hypocritical if we did: Bill has tattoos, Bookkeeper Christina has tattoos, I have many tattoos (and 6 or 7 hoops in one of my ears). And all of us, with reasonable clothing, can cover our accoutrements.
Tattoos have become fairly accepted in our society. If your attorney shows up with a tattoo on her ankle, you’re probably not going to assume that she was in a prison gang. My own beloved Generation X went a long way towards stripping tattoos of danger and stigma by oversaturation. Once it was only naughty boys and sailors sporting ink, but the popularity of tats amongst nice college kids (with perfect orthodontic care) declawed the cat. When I took my aunt to get her tattoo, her kids and husband came, too – do you see what I mean?
So, is that why body modification has delved into new and – potentially physically – dangerous arenas? Because so many “civilians” have made a formerly taboo artform acceptable, I wonder if people feel the need to go further with their bodies.
Take, for example, scleral tattooing. This is where your local tattoo artist takes the needle to the white part of your eye. Although it can look pretty cool, your artist is, generally, not an ophthalmologist. There have been countless stories of damaged vision, infection and even eye loss. And unlike regular tattoos, laser removal surgery is not an option if you decide you don’t like your hot pink eyes anymore.
Another body modification is subdermal implants. This is where your local tattoo artist cuts you open and shoves a shape – generally made of silicone – under the skin. Then, you get stitched up. Fun fact: the artist doesn’t “have access to the proper anesthetic nor the legal authority to administer it” (Zwivel.com). That’s right – you are going to feel everything. Examples of complications from implants include infection, nerve damage, and implant rejection (Zwivel.com). The rejection is special because, when your body pushes the offending matter out, you are left with severe scarring (Zwivel.com). Depending on how bad the implant goes, skin grafts may be required and permanent disfigurement is a given (Zwivel.com).
Finally, we have people putting holes in their faces. Joel Miggler (you’re going to have to look him up for yourself), for example, pierced his cheeks and then progressively stretched the holes until – ta da! – he now must plug up the holes to eat. He has also done this with his nostrils and bottom lip. When looking at him from the side, pretty much all of his teeth are exposed. I don’t think I have to mention what sort of side effects come with putting extra holes in your head.
Sadly, we live in a world that still makes assumptions based on appearance. I try not to judge, but I question the ethics of an artist who, by doing some of these things, basically makes the customer unhirable in the mainstream workforce. However, it’s your body and it isn’t my place to tell you not to screw metal spikes into your skull if you get the notion.
When your Bourke Accounting bookkeeper or tax preparer offers you coffee, they’ll wait while you plug up your face holes. Bourke Accounting pros don’t want you staining that nice shirt you have on. Just like Bourke Accounting experts don’t care who you take as your sweetheart, we don’t care about your body mods. The only thing Bourke Accounting is interested in is giving you the best financial service possible.
Come see us any time. Our number is 502-451-8773 and don’t forget to visit our website at www.bourkeaccounting.com. See you soon!
Written by Sue H.
More than half of American small businesses cannot survive three months without revenue, while 21% cannot survive a month. – Marketwatch.com
Who told you life was fair? – Everyone’s Mother
You did everything right. You worked hard, you saved your money, you opened your business, you worked even harder (you forgot your kid’s hair color for a minute there), you hired the best people, you started making a profit and 2020 was going to be your best year yet!
And then the Coronavirus walked right in and sat at the bar. You wouldn’t be hurting more if the Titanic had been dropped on your, so-close-to-being-profitable, little place. At least then, you wouldn’t have to walk by and see your shuttered and abandoned dream rot quietly in the April sun.
But all is not lost! There is a program out there for you! On April 3, The Small Business Administration announced that the Paycheck Protection Program is open for business to help you save yours. The PPP is designed to keep people employed in their pre-Corona jobs by giving loans to business owners. The funds given can only be used for “payroll and to pay expenses, such as utilities and rent” (CNN.com) and, as long as you follow the rules, you don’t have to pay the loan back. This seems like a pretty sweet deal.
Naturally, there are problems. For one, the loans are only made in an “amount equal to 2.5 months of your average monthly payroll costs in 2019” (CNN.com). What if the lockdown lasts longer than that? Also, these loans are available on a first come, first served basis. What happens if the money runs out? Oh, don’t worry your pretty little small business head because, as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin assures: There will be money. And if we run out of money, we’ll come back for more (NYTimes.com). Come back for more? From where? Ah! There is a secret orchard of money trees that only Secretary Mnuchin is aware of! How silly of me for questioning.
Another problem is that, while the SBA is running the show, “it relies on private banks to…make the loans, which are then backed by the government” (Slate.com). This is because the SBA is understaffed and underfunded, much like most US agencies. However, the banks aren’t really feeling confident that they’ll be paid back for the loans, so the application process has become difficult. Some banks won’t accept new clients, some won’t accept existing clients who have never taken out a loan with them (Slate.com). These banks are following the letter of the law, if not the spirit. It’s sad when banks don’t think the US Government is good for it.
Besides a slew of other problems (a faulty customer computer portal for one), the PPP doesn’t let “businesses count 1099 workers as employees” (Slate.com). So, if you run a business that depends on independent contractors, just consider yourself up a certain creek without a paddle.
At least there was an attempt to save small businesses. That’s all we can say at this point.
Bourke Accounting experts don’t want you to lose your business. If your loan application forms don’t make any sense to you, I promise that your Bourke Accounting pro can help you to decipher them (you know how Bourke Accounting always keeps up with the latest changes). Bourke can’t guarantee you’ll be accepted, but at least you know that you’ve done all you could, in a frightening time, with Bourke Accounting at your side.
Come see us any time. Our number is 502-451-8773 and don’t forget to visit our website at www.bourkeaccounting.com. See you soon!
Written by Sue H.
Bourke Accounting is trying to restore my sanity. Before Bourke, I worked a bit as a shipping clerk. The trucks would arrive for a pickup and, inevitably, my crew would report that the order was not quite done. This led to stress. For example, I started having recurring nightmares about weird, living ceramic babies with shattered heads. It was my job to put their shattered heads back together, but I was always missing at least one part. I woke up more exhausted then when I laid down.
Dreams are weird.
We often put a lot of stock into dreams; we tend to look at dreams as mystical, perhaps precognitive, messages from our most inner selves. I know I’ve spent a lot of time trying to decipher the codes that some force was clearly trying to hip me to. Healthline.com takes a bit of the mysteriousness away with their definition: Dreams are hallucinations that occur during sleep. Oh. Fair enough.
However, Healthline.com goes on to discuss that one theory why we dream has to do with preparing for battle of some sort. When we dream, the most active part of our brain turns out to be the amygdala. This area, “associated with the survival instinct and the fight-or-flight response” (Healthline.com), may be getting us “ready to deal with a threat” (Healthline.com). This makes sense when considering my short-lived, and never-missed, shipping clerk life – I knew the next day would present impossible challenges and my brain was just getting me warmed up.
Rubin Naiman, Ph.D has a theory that isn’t much better than the stark hallucination definition. According to Dr. Naiman, dreams are more akin to, well, poop. He suggests that, when we dream, it’s as though our brain “swallows, digests and sifts through information, and, just like the gut, eliminates” (Huffpost.com). He believes that whatever the “brain keeps becomes a part of who we are” (Huffpost.com). Considering some of my dreams, I hope I’m eliminating a lot.
Yet another theory, put forth by Psychology Today, is that dreaming is sort of like a visit to the shrink. It is a belief that, while dreaming, your mind “works through difficult, complicated…emotions and experiences to achieve psychological and emotional balance” (Psychologytoday.com). So, I guess I was trying to come to grips with the ridiculous pointlessness of my job by dreaming of broken, porcelain skulls? Whether I believe it or not, I like the concept of my brain sitting down with my emotions for a nice therapy session in the middle of the night.
No one really knows why we dream; there are many theories, but not one concrete explanation for it. I had a friend who said we dream because the sensory deprivation of sleep would drive us mental and, to avoid insanity, the brain puts on a little show. I’m not sure about that, but it’s no worse than any other theory. It’s a fact that every mammal dreams and that’s all there is to it (Popsci.com). My puppies dream so much, I spend all night kicked by puppy paws. I don’t really care about the why so much, I’m just glad that we do. If nothing else, it’s a free surrealistic movie every night.
If you’re having nightmares about numbers and forms and men in black suits, maybe it’s time to see your Bourke Accounting bookkeeper or tax preparer. Your Bourke Accounting experts can put you on the road to a balanced life with their superior knowledge and service. There’s nothing like a good night’s sleep and your Bourke Accounting pro is just the person to set your mind at ease.
Come see us any time. Our number is 502-451-8773 and don’t forget to visit our website at www.bourkeaccounting.com. See you soon and sweet dreams!
Written by Sue H.
When I first moved to Louisville – before Bourke Accounting had the pleasure of meeting me – I watched a National Geographic documentary. It was called “Know Your State” or something like that. When the commentator discussed Kentucky, he extolled the virtues of bluegrass, rich traditions, etc. Almost as an aside, he mentioned that Kentucky’s biggest cash crop happened to be marijuana.
Coronavirus is the new disease sensation that’s sweeping the nation.
Unemployment in Kentucky is rampant because of said new disease. Do you see where I’m going with this?
In 2018, “state and local excise tax collections on retail cannabis sales surpassed $1 billion” (ITEP.org) in the states that had legalized it. In Colorado and Nevada, cannabis excise taxes raised “more revenue than alcohol excise taxes” (ITEP.org). According to the Colorado Sun, 31% percent of these taxes were spent on Human Services and 16.4% of taxes were spent on education. That isn’t even mentioning how much money went towards roads and other vital organizations. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the taxation of recreational weed “could generate approximately $11.9 billion” in state, local excise and sales tax revenue each year. That’s a lot of money that would come in handy right about now.
I know that there are some of you who espouse that pot is inherently dangerous. Of course, we know that deliberately inhaling smoke is never good for you. However, the CDC reports that, on average, six people die from alcohol poisoning every day. In addition, tobacco products are responsible for “more than 480,000 deaths annually” (CDC.gov). These are legal products offered over every counter on every street corner. Last year, the CDC reported that the “rate of absolutely zero (0) deaths from” (Huffpost.com) pot overdoses has yet to increase.
Besides providing much needed income and besides causing less liver cirrhosis and heart disease than the legal stuff, there is another reason that Kentucky (and the country) should go green: drug cartels. Who doesn’t hate a drug cartel? All that murdering and kidnapping and torturing, extortion and human trafficking – who needs it? Since 2014, when some US states began to legalize, the amount of marijuana being smuggled into the country has vastly decreased. Between 2013 and 2018, Border Patrol agents “confiscated 78% less marijuana” (Cato.org) and believe it was due to limited legalization. In addition, American weed is projected to cost the cartels over $3 billion in revenue a year, and that’s just because of Colorado and Washington (Washingtonpost.com).
We are facing a very tough road ahead of us. Legalizing Wacky Tabacky can provide jobs, infuse our country with much needed cash and, let’s face it, chill us all out a bit. The Late, Great Hunter S. Thompson, Louisville’s favorite son, is even going to have his own strain of the weird little plant. How can Kentucky not be legal when one our most famous denizens is slinging dope from beyond the grave?
Bourke Accounting bookkeepers and tax preparers are pretty sober most of the time. But they don’t judge. If you decide to open a cute little Marijuana Mart (after legalization, of course), your Bourke Accounting expert isn’t going to give you static. In fact, because your success means success for Bourke Accounting, too, maybe we’ll even give you a hand behind the counter.
Come see us any time. Our number is 502-451-8773 and don’t forget to visit our website at www.bourkeaccounting.com. See you soon!
Written by Sue H.
Now, I am angry. I stopped at my local gas station this morning on my way to Bourke Accounting. I was filling up and the lady next to me was cleaning out her car. She emptied her ashtray onto the concrete and then, although there was a garbage can two feet to her left, she threw her collection of fast food bags to the ground. And finally, this wonderful person decided to dump at least ten plastic gloves next to her McDonald’s bags. She noticed my quizzical expression, snapped “What?” and then got into her car and drove away.
It was bad enough that she left cigarette butts and greasy bags right next to a garbage can, but the fact that she also left used gloves really made me wonder about her.
Woodsy Owl encouraged us to “Give a hoot – don’t pollute.” I’m not going to say that I’ve never littered, but I try my hardest not to make it a common occurrence. So, when I see someone flagrantly disregarding our environmental and social norms, it gets the old blood simmering.
Litter is ugly. It’s distasteful to walk through a lovely forest only to see tumbleweeds of plastic bags gently rolling in the breeze. Besides being ugly, littering can also be hazardous right now. Within the last couple of weeks, communities have noticed that, with the rise in the usage of protective gloves, there is a huge increase in the improper disposal of them. Look at any parking lot and you’ll see, flapping like lazy ghosts, piles of used gloves. Look guys, someone has to clean these up. The employee at Kroeger is already putting her/himself at risk simply by coming to work every day; now this person (while being paid minimum wage) is forced to double as a biohazard technician? Bad form – bad, bad form.
Why do people litter anyway? According to Alleghenyfront.org, studies have shown (I’m not making this up, there are studies focused on trash disposal habits) that “the distance to a trash receptacle was the strongest predictor of littering.” Easily accessible trash cans mean less litter. Of course, this doesn’t apply to my new friend this morning, as she was standing almost atop a proper receptacle.
My new friend is more aligned with another reason for littering: “it’s not my responsibility” (Keeptnbeautiful.org). Some people will wantonly discard trash because they “feel no sense of ownership” (Keeptnbeautiful.org) concerning public spaces. In addition, they have the belief that someone will be around to clean up after them. These gems of humanity don’t spare a thought for the underpaid workers who are forced to play nursemaid to our poorly behaved apples.
Finally, “litter begets litter” (Keeptnbeautiful.org). Generally, if people see a trashed space, they’ve no qualms about making it sadder. Instead of thinking, “I don’t want to make this area worse,” they think, “it’s already messed up, so who cares?” People are less likely to leave their leavings if a place is pristine to start with, so maybe it’s time for us to pick up ten items of (non-glove) litter a day. Make it fun, keep a journal!
I know we have a lot to worry about right now, but let’s try to keep each other healthy through the proper disposal of our gloves!
At Bourke Accounting, we police ourselves hard – no dishes in the sink, no haphazardly discarded gloves. Whether you’re coming to pick up or drop off, you’ll find that our Bourke Accounting office is like a little clean spot on a dirty window. Besides offering the best in bookkeeping and tax preparation services, your safety is a real priority to Bourke Accounting (Bookkeeper Mary relentlessly wipes down all doorknobs and sundry surfaces with her disinfectant wipes. Seriously, if she’s not at her desk, she’s hosing something down).
Come see us any time. Our number is 502-451-8773 and don’t forget to visit our website at www.bourkeaccounting.com. See you soon!
Written by Sue H.
When I interviewed for my position at Bourke Accounting, Bill noticed that I had earned a degree in Literature. He asked, “What have you been doing with your degree?” I replied, “Well, this, I guess.” Yes, a degree in Literature is rather pointless if one does not wish to teach (and this one doesn’t), but I stand behind Literature as an important feature of human society.
I know that some of you are at home right now. At this point, you’ve probably done your Spring Cleaning, maybe you’ve fixed a lot of things that you’ve been putting off. Perhaps you have now discovered a previously unknown love for Sudoku. But have you every thought about reading poetry?
While poetry is often thought of as a dead art, I must humbly disagree. It should be noted that the following is, most likely, self-indulgent, but here are three poems that I honestly believe might take your mind off of the current trials and tribulations that we’re facing:
1) Robert Frost – “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” This is a golden oldie that was featured in a lot of grammar school curricula. As I kid, I took this poem at face value: here’s a traveling man and, boy, he’s tired, but he’s gonna keep on keepin’ on. As I got older, I understood that it’s a poem about inevitable death. However, I find it very optimistic that it’s also about perseverance and the strength of the human spirit. Sure, we’re going to die at some point, but let’s use our last bit of time to take care of business first.
2) Sylvia Plath – “Lady Lazarus.” Plath was a confessional poet. As such, she wrote a lot about highly personal and distressing topics. In “Lady Lazarus,” she speaks quite openly about past suicide attempts and familial discord. Plath always accused her father of being a Nazi sympathizer (FBI files released decades later sort of confirm this) and this poem is rife with disturbing imagery and stark emotion. While it is dark, the ending, much like Frost’s, celebrates strength and human resilience.
3) Allen Ginsberg – “Howl.” Ginsberg was another confessional poet, but he was a lot more of a street poet than either Frost or Plath. “Howl” was certainly inspired by the long lines of Walt Whitman (never my favorite, and that’s why they make chocolate, strawberry and vanilla), but that’s where any similarity ends. “Howl” was so controversial during its day that there was an obscenity trial held to have the poem banned. In the end, the judge decided that the poem “was of redeeming social importance” (Wikipedia.org). This poem takes the reader through insanity, drug use, sex and the seedy underbelly of urban living. However, there are sparks of beauty throughout that lead the reader to understand that, for every terrible thing, there are pockets of purity to help us through this weird life.
Poetry isn’t dead, it’s only sleeping. While we struggle through these hard times, we ought to look to art to bring solace and sense of permanence. In poetry, we have proof that humanity is lasting and that the written word is a powerful force.
Bourke Accounting pros fall more along the Ginsberg line. Sure, Bourke Accounting bookkeepers and tax preparers are talented and knowledgeable, but they’re not above a dirty joke to make you laugh (from six feet away). In these troubled times, know that your Bourke Accounting expert is just as permanent as a poem from 97 years ago and always here to lift you up.
Come see us any time. Our number is 502-451-8773 and don’t forget to visit our website at www.bourkeaccounting.com. See you soon!
Written by Sue H.
Phil is the receptionist over here at Bourke Accounting. But I think that’s too small of a word to encompass all that he does. While Administrative Professional could work, secretary is too banal. Considering the way Phil gets things done, I don’t think Administrative Efficiency Officer is out of the question. Maybe even the short, sweet and archaic title of “Acolyte” would be pretty good.
When Phil needs a day off, I fill in as a sort of Phil, Jr. I don’t know half of his job, so I am responsible for phone answering, smiling in a vague way and generally calling a co-worker to help when my vague smile isn’t enough. As much of a team player as I am, I refuse to order food for weekly staff meetings (I did it once and the result was less than successful).
I am not the only one who is a bit reluctant to take on huge amounts of responsibility (mess up someone’s lunch and you mess up their entire day). Some might say that reticence regarding responsibility is a generational affliction. Some might argue that not wanting responsibility is an indication of immaturity or laziness. I humbly disagree. As in everything else, there are a lot of reasons for not wanting to be top dog.
Some people don’t want a big important role in life or business because they lack confidence or they fear failure. They could be the sort who doesn’t even want to try because, whatever is attempted, will end in disaster. I think this is sad and, for the most part, an unwarranted phobia. However, I don’t think there is anything wrong in recognizing one’s limitations; I wouldn’t attempt an emergency appendectomy, for example. But, give me the time and education to learn the craft of an emergency appendectomy and I’d probably give it a swing.
Another reason people sometimes avoid taking the reigns in a given situation is known as the diffusion of responsibility or the bystander effect. This is a “sociopsychological phenomenon whereby a person is less likely to take responsibility for action or inaction when others are present” (Wikipedia.org). This concept made headlines in 1964 when Kitty Genovese was stabbed to death outside of her apartment building. While many people in the neighborhood heard Ms. Genovese’s cries for help, some figured they were simply hearing a drunk person on the town. Those who thought they were hearing something really bad happening, concluded someone else must have already called the authorities and no action was required on their part. They shut their windows and went back to bed.
It must be asked, though, who says responsibility is such a great thing? I can never understand why someone would want to be president; no matter how smart and dedicated you may be, things can go sideways in an instant. Like Evita sang: When you act, the things you do affect us all. No, thank you. Also, I don’t think that much responsibility is good for anyone: have you ever seen before and after pictures of presidents after their terms have been completed?
Bourke Accounting tax preparers and bookkeepers have no problem shouldering towering mountains of responsibility for you. They don’t fear failure and they have the education and experience to back up their work. Also, our Bourke Accounting pros communicate and work with each other, so you will never fall through the cracks because someone thought someone else was handling an issue.
Come see us any time. Our number is 502-451-8773 and don’t forget to visit our website at www.bourkeaccounting.com. See you soon!
Written by Sue H.
Look, I know I said I wasn’t going to talk about corona anymore, but please bear with me one more time.
I had just gotten home from a productive day of work at Bourke when my pal back home in Bensonhurst, NYC called me with a harrowing tale – he was the victim of a gentle home invasion. My friend went to investigate a sound in his living room and discovered a helmet-wearing man holding a box. The man ran away. The helmet man had already stolen a package of paper towels, a work laptop and a box of Dungeons and Dragons dice and figurines (I’m fairly sure the robber didn’t know he was stealing toys).
We’re better than this, right? Yeah, no, not some of us. Right now, we’re seeing both the best and the worst in humanity. Besides hoarders and price gougers, we have a whole new animal of scam artist.
For example, you know that stimulus check you’re going to receive in a few weeks? You’re not the only one who wants it. There are some lovely people out there who might attempt to steal both your check and your identity. According to Businessinsider.com, these people call, saying that they’re either from the IRS or your state. They claim that they can get you more money or can get you your relief check right now if you’ll just “share personal details and pay a small processing fee” (Businessinsider.com). Just like you’ll never get a call from the lady who was dancing around a pole to “Pour Some Sugar on Me”, you will never get a call from the IRS.
One other thing about your check: not even the IRS is 100% sure of the exact date of mailing, so don’t trust anyone who says they do. Protect yourself and your money, please.
Let’s see, let’s see…what other scams are abounding? Who else is a credit to our species? Oh, yes, we now have people opening “pop-up” coronavirus testing sites. WLKY reported that there are a few of these stellar folks around. One group, Community Outreach Marketing Group, LLC, has set up testing sites in gas station parking lots and outside of homeless shelters. For a small, cash-only fee of $200, they will test you. Monquiz Wedlow, vice president of this “outreach” organization said that they were “assessing patients…in an underserved part of the community” (WLKY.com). Really? When most states don’t have enough tests and, in Kentucky, testing “is still reserved for those who need it the most” (WFPL.org), you have a huge stockpile of tests? You, a shady group, hanging out in a parking lot, have more supplies than the University of Louisville and Norton Hospitals? I see.
Yes, friends and neighbors, we are certainly seeing the best and worst right now. I don’t want to be pessimistic and say that it’s going to get worse before it gets better, so I just won’t. During these times, it wouldn’t hurt to be suspicious of anyone promising miracles or money. It also wouldn’t hurt to consider everyone you come across as infected and practice reasonable safety measures. Just in case.
Bourke Accounting doesn’t offer outlandish free prizes. Bourke Accounting professionals tell the truth and are really not into the scam game. If you come to drop off your paperwork at Bourke Accounting and see a weird little tent in our parking lot, do not approach the charlatans inside. We’ll just tell Bill and The Bookkeepers and they’ll, uh, “take care” of the problem.
Come see us any time. Our number is 502-451-8773 and don’t forget to visit our website at www.bourkeaccounting.com. See you soon!
Written by Sue H.
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold. – W.B. Yeats, “The Second Coming”
I used to cough to hide a fart. Now I fart to hide a cough. – Internet Meme, 2020
Last night was one of the first times that my neighbors didn’t throw a party that ended with shattered glass and people fighting in the street at 3 AM. The guy asking for change outside my local gas station is wearing latex gloves and a mask. The kids, who roam my neighborhood as soon as the weather is nice, are peeking apprehensively through tattered blinds. Most of my server friends are unemployed and scared.
It only took me ten minutes to get to work this morning because there was barely anyone on the streets.
Everything is different. Everything is in flux and we’re all sort of wandering in the dark right now.
The one thing I thought we could always count on was a concrete tax return filing deadline. After all, there are only two certainties in life, and one of them is taxes. But now our deadline isn’t until July 15th. I think the extended tax deadline is wrong for two reasons:
1) We need money. Last year, “the IRS collected nearly $3.5 trillion” (IRS.gov) as a result of tax season. During good years, this money goes towards all manner of social services, roadwork, police, we all know the drill. However, during a really bad time like our current situation, this money could be used to help the newly laid off, small businesses and hungry school kids. It seems that, since the factions of our government can’t come to an agreement regarding a stimulus bill, all that tax return money would really come in handy. And, while I have a liberal arts degree, I still believe that 3.5 trillion is more than the 1 trillion the stimulus package had asked for (NBCnews.com).
2) We need to hold on to some semblance of normalcy. For example, Bill over here at Bourke Accounting gave his employees the option, with no fear of job loss, to go home if any of us were fearful. We all sort of looked at each other and shrugged. No, we’re not cowboys or feeling invincible; we’re simply used to working. In uncertain times, maybe we’re also stacking up cash while we can. The beauty of working for accountants is that it’s a low-impact sort of job: clients can send tax material in and we can send completed tax returns out. Obviously, this industry isn’t the same as nail salons (or my newly closed tanning bed). I think we all just decided to keep as normal as possible.
What is more normal than an April 15th tax deadline? Besides the money being delayed, I also think this sends a bad message of impermanence that we really can’t afford right now. Perhaps I’m being melodramatic, but if taxes aren’t an important aspect of American life, what can we depend on and what else might be changed or lost?
Well, your friendly Bourke Accounting tax preparers and bookkeepers are still working and (fairly normal). Like I mentioned, if you don’t want to meet in an enclosed space with your Bourke Accounting expert, you are more than welcome to mail your information to us. And if you do want to have a good, old fashioned face to face encounter, we practice social distancing, hand washing and practical hygiene. Your Bourke Accounting pro considers your comfort of the upmost importance. Stay safe out there, guys. Remember: this too shall pass!
Come see us any time. Our number is 502-451-8773 and don’t forget to visit our website at www.bourkeaccounting.com. See you soon!
Written by Sue H.
Accountants only slow things down, figures get in the way – Webber & Rice, Evita “And the Money Kept Rolling in”
My parents took me to see Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Evita on Broadway, starring Patti LuPone (Eva was played by an understudy, but I’m not remembering it that way). After hours of listening to the soundtrack, I became enamored with the poor girl who rose to power and was considered a saint by some.
Eva Peron (née Duarte) born in Argentina, was the illegitimate daughter of a poor woman and a married middle-class rancher. It’s been rumored that (the underaged) Eva seduced a tango singer, Agustin Magaldi, blackmailed him and forced him to take her to Buenos Aires. Not exactly true. According to biographers Navarro and Fraser, there was no proof that Magaldi played in her middle-of-nowhere town during that time-frame, so the logistics would have been difficult (Wikipedia.org).
According to Paul L. Montgomery’s book, Eva, Evita, Eva went on her own to the city when she was 15 or 16 (because of birth certificate forgeries, ages are a bit murky). However, the concept that Eva used men to further her career by utilizing her feminine wiles was sort of born from this original piece of gossip.
In the big town, Eva worked her way up until she secured “a spot on the sound radio” as a soap opera actress (Webber & Rice, “Goodnight and Thank You”). Since Eva had a harsh, “lower-class” accent, this was more difficult that it sounds. However, she was popular and started appearing in magazines.
Enter Colonel Juan Perón. Eva and Perón met at a fundraiser and it just sort of went from there. The folks around Colonel Perón did not exactly take kindly to the fact that he was palling around with an actress. It would almost be like if a US president had a dalliance with an adult film star – nothing against adult film stars, I’m just saying that there would be raised eyebrows.
Colonel Perón became President Perón, with Eva as a driving force behind his election. She reached out to the workers, the poor and to women – with pretty impressive results. In 1947, Eva won the right to vote for women. Detractors say that she only did it to procure more votes for Perón, but, either way, women finally had a voice in Argentinian politics. Here’s where it gets a little less altruistic.
Because the wives of the elite were sort of like “The Real Housewives of [Wherever],” and wouldn’t let Eva play philanthropist with them, she started her own “Foundation.” When people questioned where all the money was going, Eva said that “keeping books on social aid is capitalistic nonsense. I just use the money for the poor. I can’t stop to count it” (Fee.org). In addition, when asked why she dressed so well to hand out money, she said that the poor were starved for beauty and it was for them (Deseret.com). Although she spoke of the good she was doing, generally, her “Foundation” would house and feed street kids for a few days before dropping them back off on the street (Libcom.org), so if there was any good done, it wasn’t permanent.
There’s a lot more to this, but the key is that someone with good intentions ended up taking advantage of the people she was helping because she could. Read up on her, it’s interesting. For example, the guy, Dr. Pedro Ara, who spent a year embalming her body actually fell in love with her. Really.
As we have discussed, Bourke Accounting wants you to give responsibly to accredited charities. During these trying times, you will be approached by organizations looking for donations. Bourke Accounting professionals want you to protect your wallet, as well as your health. Only give to established charities and not newly set up websites (on Google, there are already over 10 pages of virus charities). Bourke Accounting experts know that you’re generous, but your Bourke Accounting specialists also want to make sure that you’re safe and financially solvent, as well.
Come see us any time. Our number is 502-451-8773 and don’t forget to visit our website at www.bourkeaccounting.com. See you soon!
Written by Sue H.