fair trade

James and I have a symbiotic relationship of sorts. He does all kinds of things for me that I am probably technically capable of doing but that I either (a) loathe and/or (2) would put off forever if left to my own devices. Examples of such activities include setting up audio-visual equipment, arranging and installing wireless service, assembling IKEA products, talking on the phone to just about any company about anything, ensuring I have proper web security, installing cabinets and shelving, removing dents from my car, supervising and assisting movers, understanding major real estate transactions, and so forth. In exchange I occasionally knit him a pair of socks.

All this is just to supply some background information to explain why James was working on my taxes yesterday rather than allowing me to simply pay an accountant to do it the way I usually do. According to James, my tax situation this year is so straightforward as to render a professional accountant superfluous. You know, because in 2008 I started paying interest on two mortgages, received royalty payments on various knitwear designs, earned stock dividends, paid property taxes on two houses, and god knows what else. Sounds very 1040-EZ, right? Anyway, so he was using TurboTax software, which has you answer various questions in order to establish what all you need to declare, and at one point he piped up from the next room, "Did you get any Ottoman Turkish empire settlement payments last year? Because that falls under 'other income.'"

"Oh crap," I replied, "I forgot about that. (pause) Oh, wait, no...I bought an ottoman last year. I get those two things confused."

"OK, good. I think I can skip this line then."

I'm hoping James doesn't read this blog, because so far I have him convinced that our little arrangement involves an equitable exchange of goods and services. For what it's worth, here is a photo of the hand knit socks I found in his dresser just now:



He also has somewhere in the neighborhood of 35 hand knit sweaters, as well as quite a few mittens, hats, and scarves. The fellow lives in Los Angeles, for god's sake...he needs help keeping warm.