Finally

If I haven't been posting much over the last few days, it's because I'm probably engaged in the same activity you are: organizing tax records.  This is one of those things that is a nuisance no matter where you are, but it is complicated by not being at one's more or less permanent abode.

First of all, it means carrying around a lot of papers and hoping you didn't miss any when you packed.  Since I left in January, many, if not all, of the 1099s had not yet hit my mailbox and that means waiting for mail to be forwarded so that then the organizing can begin.  That at least is familiar territory and involves primarily opening envelopes and sorting pieces of paper.

The issue is that the outside world is not familiar territory so where does one go to copy documents and ship them to the accountant.  Or fax them, if we're talking about the one or two that got overlooked or the form that needs to be signed and back in the accountant's hands.  Charleston is a lovely town but parking near the downtown FedEx store does not exist except in parking structures that do not feel close by when you're lugging a tote bag of documents.  (I know, I used to do this sort of thing while running through airports on the way to Bermuda, but that was long ago and far away.)  And there aren't a lot of alternatives on the peninsula.

But, of course, there is an alternative.  It's just that you won't believe how long it took me to realize that my current world doesn't end at the peninsula.  There are at least five bridges that connect the area we Northeners think of as Charleston to wider resources.  Once again, thank heavens for Google.  Once I looked farther down the list, I saw that it was really only a few miles (something I would think nothing of back on Long Island) to a whole bunch of FedEx and UPS locations.  And wonder of wonders, they had parking lots (we need to remember that I have never successfully been able to parallel park).

Bottom line, it's all organized and in my accountant's hands and I may even get a refund.  Now back to serious sight seeing.