I finally finished my taxes. I hate doing taxes. Normally, I just do the 1040EZ form, which is pretty simple, but this time, I couldn't. You see, I had been paid $50 to proctor a test on Saturday for one of those standardized testing companies. Since I wasn't an employee, they just gave me a $50 check. When tax time rolled around, I received a form 1099-MISC. Now, if you receive a form 1099-MISC, you can't file the 1040EZ form, you have to file the massive 1040 form. This was an incredible headache, because it kept saying, "Insert deduction from Schedule 89z1 here." I'd think, "What is Schedule 89z1? I'd better check, just to make sure." So I'd go to the IRS website and look for Schedule 89z1. Once I finally found it, I discovered it was a special relief incentive for chicken farmers in Alaska that also produced pickles in the off-season, or whatever.

When it was over, I discovered I owed the federal government $130, and $5.91 to the state of Georgia.

My best friend called, so I whined to him for a few minutes.

"Look, Mark, let me put this in perspective for you," he said. "My taxes were so complicated I had to buy TurboTax to do them. And when it was over, I owed $3,224."

Well, I guess $136 isn't going to beggar me. It still hurts, though.

But $3,224 . . . yeesh.