#@#%! Taxes

A couple of weeks ago, I got started on filing our taxes. I installed the TurboTax program from the CD that had been sent to me. I had everything pretty much wrapped up, but needed a few more bits of information.

Yesterday, I was ready to complete the process. I fired up TurboTax and as usual it asked if I wanted to see if there were any updates. I selected "Yes". It started downloading the updates and then installing them on my hard drive. In the middle of the process it stopped…I had run out of disk space!

I tried opening the program again. It would start, then abruptly end with a message: TurboTax has ended. Encountered a file that was not closed properly.

No problem. I figured that I would re-install the program from the CD. I put it in and started copying it. It would get 3/4 of the way done and then stop. I figured there must be some fingerprints on the CD. I popped it out and noticed that where I had written the serial number on the CD with a ballpoint pen had caused distortions on the reading side of the CD. They were like scratches on the reading side and so the computer could not read the disk. [Note to nieces: Never, never, never write on the label of a CD with a ballpoint pen. Use a marker pen instead.]

I contacted customer support and they gave me a website where I could download the program electronically. No problem, I thought. I got the program downloaded (on an external hard drive) and re-installed it.

Great, I'm ready to roll. I start up the program and… TurboTax has ended. Encountered a file that was not closed properly.

[In a fit of desperation, I tried calling my computer guru, but HB wasn't home…wait a minute…what was I thinking…I've got that backwards! Shows how desperate I was!]

I knew that it had to be some file that was buried deep within the Preferences or Library folders. After doing a search, I finally found the culprit and got things back to normal.

Ahhh #@#%! taxes…thankfully they only come around once a year.