I’m participating in the Thursday Thirteen today! If you want to play, link up with everyone else by going to Word Trix!
Today, in the spirit of it being October 15th, which for me (and a lot of the country) means business. It’s the last day to file returns that were extended beyond April 15th. Since I work for a company that handles software for taxes, I’m getting some nice over time and a few calls today. If you are a business and you file your taxes on time and correctly then you have nothing to worry about until you are randomly audited that is! But fear not, you can get professional help if you’re facing a Florida tax audit or wherever your business is based, so you can breathe easy and know that you are going to get through this.
It’s always nice to be busy. It makes the day go quicker. But then again, sometimes this can be a bad thing, especially if you have a lot of work to get done. Which in my case is very often. Working with software has its own set of problems too. When it works, it is great. But when something goes wrong, well… You wouldn’t want to be around me when this happens. The worst thing is that you can’t predict when something will go wrong, which makes my job a lot more stressful. For instance, when you are working along with other software developers on a set of files, we need to track the work to see the changes in the source code. It takes considerable amount of time to do it manually. Many professionals install Git or its alternatives to manage the goals on time with the non-linear workflow. Of course, sometimes having the right software won’t always help you. Don’t get me wrong, there have been plenty of occasions where we have enlisted the help of managed it support services to help with any transitions we make when it comes to our technology and there are even times when I suggest that our clients use them too because they are just so helpful. It always comes together in the end, but there are times when I wish that navigating the world of technology wouldn’t be this hard.
So, from my recent experience, this is why I have decided to base my Thursday Thirteen on work.
Things I Say Most at Work
- Is it plugged in? You wouldn’t believe it, but a lot of the time when people have a computer problem, the computer isn’t plugged in or turned on. It’s not working? Go figure!
- When was the last time you upgraded? We release updates for our software on a continual basis. During tax season, it’s easily a few times a day. So if you haven’t upgraded in 3 months, there’s a fair chance that it’s outdated.
- Are you connected to the Internet? Guess what, you can’t upgrade properly or send me your file to look at if your internets aren’t working. Oh, and if you’re still using dial-up, I’d think it’s time to leave the stone-ages!
- Do you have any red audits? Our program puts red audits out to tell you if their is something wrong with your return before you can electronically file it.
- When was the last time you restarted your computer? Unfortunately Windows needs to be restarted every now and again, and even more unfortunately, our program doesn’t run on Mac.
- Do you have any Firewalls or Antivirus Software? These things block stuff from transmitting and working properly most of the time. Instead of installing them on your computer, you can find a professional who can offer a computer virus removal service. This can be done frequently to keep your system virus-free.
- Have you upgraded to Windows Internet Explorer 8? Yeah, it’s not compatible with everything yet. We have to stick it in the compatibility view…
- What is your Operating System? Yes, believe it or not, there are lots of programs that don’t run on Windows 95 anymore.
- What does the error say? Client: I received an error closing the program. Me: Ok, what did the error say? Client: I don’t know. Me: Can you recreate it? Client: Can’t you just fix it? Me: Not if I don’t know what the error is… Client: Why don’t you know what the error is? Me: *facepalm*
- You’ll need to call the IRS for that. No, I can’t tell you what the tax law is. I’m not a CPA.
How old is this? LOL