Taxing, in more than one way.

I don't know what intervallo is, I don't think, or why I would have mentioned it.  Hmm...  The rest I can cop to.  I did get one for the card!

The looney tunes porn hit was before the card was created.  Because I find it baffling and weird, I put it on the card in case it happens again.  I bet I never get "happy fun".  A million pages must match on that.

All of our real estate taxes went up in the last month.  Well, they went up this year, but the assessments came this month.  We are not amused.  In Reston, our assessed value went up $50K.  I'd bitch about it, but this happened to people all over the county.  I know they are trying to make up for the loss of the car tax and that this decision was made when the economy was better, but this is going to fuck a lot of people over.

Warren county raised the rate, and because they didn't assess the property before closing, the assessment went up to represent the value of the house.  This would be a huge increase, but we paid some estimated tax at closing and caused the escrow amount to be set for that.  And then they refunded that.  And now they are sending us a bill for the amount we actually owe for 2000, but with a penalty because the taxes weren't paid.  

So, in short, they fucked up, but we will have to pay the penalty because trying to explain all this would cost more time than the freaking penalty.  Do you know how many penalties and fees I pay because I don't want to take the time to fight them?  I'm sure some people fight this stuff, just on principle, but I've learned to do the math on my time and now I don't.

I heard a great piece on NPR's All Things Considered last night that I will title Welcome to 4% Unemployment.  It's a humorous encapsulation of the bad service nightmares we've all experienced in the last year or two.  Through the miracle of the internet, you too can hear it at NPR's archive.  Do you support your local NPR station?  I hope you do.

Quick note to locals:  Use caution on Hunter Mill Road between Sunrise Valley and Chain Bridge Road.  There are 6" deep potholes on that stretch, and due to their placement, they are very hard to avoid.