Wednesday, December 31, 2025
Yesterday, I had several after Christmas errands to run. I postponed my outing until Tuesday, December 30, 2025 thinking I would avoid wait lines. That said, with the exception of my business bank, I found I had to wait in lines.
Yesterday, it was cold but sunny when I left the house
around 1:00 pm. Below, photos of the outfit I chose.
Related information about the outfit:
- Panther black wool high waisted lined slacks (late 80s)
- Charcoal gray wool sweater with detachable fur collar (late 90s)
- Long black leather coat (holiday gift 1992 or so)
- Black leather gloves (holiday gift 2007 or so)
- Aerosoles black suede pumps (2019)
Below a short video of the outfit I wore yesterday, December 30, 2025.
I have plans to write software, study, and check out new recipes as the new year begins. I have no plans to go out this evening, however, looking forward to the New Year. You, too?
Tuesday, December 30, 2025
When I setup my new e-commerce site WiredShops in September 2021, I also had to register a Sales and Use Tax number with the State of Maryland.
I wanted the experience of installing and operating an online shop and chose drop shipping as the method to source inventory.
Although, I was able to source inventory, integrate a PayPal shopping cart, and gain valuable experience with OpenCart, I never had any sales except those I used to test the platform.
That said, every quarter I filed with the State of Maryland comptroller's office what is known as a Zero Use Tax Return using an automated phone system.
In February 2024, Maryland offered a new service for businesses to report
tax filings and the Zero Use Tax Return filings were also
moved to the new online service, Maryland Tax Connect.
Initially, I was happy about the state's new online business tax filing
resource, however, after the first filing, I seemed to have problems. I was
also a bit confused about the preset start and end dates for each filing
period.
In the above graphic I provide a screen-grab of all of my filings since 2024 when the state's new system became available. The problem? I wanted to file the quarter filing which ended March 2024 and the only option I had was to file through to the end of June 2024 and it was only May 26, 2024 when I filed the return.
When I went online to file for the next quarter, forgetting I filed through to June 30, 2024 with the first filing, I was only offered the next period- July 1, 2024 through December 31, 2024 as the filing period. I could not understand why I was filing a return for a period that had barely begun.
That is when I made the second mistake. As indicated by the graphic below,
I checked the box that read "FINAL RETURN (attach completed Sales and Use
202 Final Return Form)".
Even though I did not check the box with the May 26, 2024 filing (I know this because the filing was submitted and posted correctly), I misunderstood the instruction the second time around and checked the box in July 2024 or so.
I checked online for six months or so and the tax filing never posted so I thought it was a problem with the new system. And why was I filing for a time period that had not ended in the first place?
Turns out it was my error. Maryland was expecting a return in the mail and I was expecting them to post the filing I submitted online.
I am not sure when the July 2024 filing stopped showing up as a submitted filing. When I logged in today to figure out what to do about all of the Zero Use Tax Returns I needed to file, I noted it no longer showed up as a submitted filing.
Throughout all of this, Maryland Tax Connect reported that I owed no money insofar as taxes so I was not worried about having a penalty for not paying taxes. It just bothered me.
When I logged in today, I wanted to get all of this corrected and move on. I made the same mistake and noticed a problem (unfortunately, I cannot now remember what flagged, because the filing with the box checked, showed it was also submitted). I resubmitted the filing without the box checked and voila the return was submitted and posted.
Because I had to file three returns today, I screen recorded the final
return for the period July 1, 2025 through December 31, 2025. I redacted some
of the video information.
This bothered me? I should have checked earlier and I think I am lucky Maryland did not penalize me for the late filings. That said, I had been filing Zero Use Tax Returns since 2022- through June 2024, maybe that is what flagged on their side.
So happy this issue has been resolved. I will be moving on to several other end of the year issues e.g., the Amazon Product Advertising API (PA API) is being replaced and the USPS API is migrating to a new version.
Yes, I put down my Real Estate Course study guides for a minute, however, I will be getting back to them shortly.
Saturday, December 27, 2025
It snowed Sunday, December 14, 2025 and temperatures stayed below freezing for several days in the aftermath. This caused issues with one of the cars, however, I managed to get everything done.
I ventured out Wednesday, December 17, 2025, however, only used a photo (see Youtube video) of
the outfit I wore from
the video I captured- while trying to get out of the house early Wednesday
morning. Too worried about the car not starting. Worried in
vain.
With the exception of the initial car problems, everything went off as planned. After Wednesday, December 17, 2025, I did not have to go out again, however, did have several projects I needed to either start or finish.
The holiday meal was the same as the Thanksgiving meal, however,
substituted chicken for the turkey breast. In addition, we had butter
cake with chocolate icing and fresh strawberries & cream for dessert.
The short video below, provides the comfortable outfit I wore Christmas Day to finish cooking and host visiting family.
Some of the gifts....
I videoed the un-boxing of the Blink components, however, decided to only use
the photos shown below.
Everything works great, however, I will install the video doorbell later. Below a list of some of the items I am very pleased were under the tree this year.
- McCook Knife Set
- Blink Video Doorbell & Sync Module
- Blink Mini 2 Camera
- Day Planner
- Royal Dansk Danish Butter Cookies
- Stackable Stoneware 11oz Coffee Cups (not available through Amazon)
Hoping your holidays are going as planned. I plan to complete the other four real estate courses I need to renew my Maryland license in April 2026.
For some reason, though I paid for the courses
in November 2025, I put off
starting the sessions. Happy, on December 23, 2025 when I finally got the
first course out of the way. Also happy the certificate has already
been submitted to the Maryland Real Estate Commission.
Other plans for the New Year? I always have plans. Hope you realize yours as well.
Sunday, December 07, 2025
While holiday shopping I found two items I decided to add to my closet.
The first, an olive blazer with a brown lapel, I hope to pair with jeans. For some reason I have a hard time wearing jeans and continue to look for ways to style them.
I owned the same blazer in black w/brown lapel, so I knew the lined
jacket was something I would like, however, a bit surprised the olive jacket
is a bit tighter than the black. I continue to have success with my diet, so I
am not that concerned the blazer is a little tight.
The other item, also something I owned in another color
(see photo on the right), another top I can wear
for holiday events.
Below, a short video of the holiday style I tried on Friday, December 5,
2025 after the new top arrived with other holiday packages.
Except for a few holiday extras, I am done with the holiday shopping and happy I can sit down and relax till the end of the year.
Thursday, December 04, 2025
It has been cold in my area since Thanksgiving. Yesterday, after waiting on a morning package delivery, I took care of several errands. I chose to wear my long black pleated wool skirt, chocolate cashmere sweater with a black velvet collar, my brown suede blazer, and chocolate Nine West boots.
By the time I finished yesterday evening, it was after 5 and pretty dark. I should have worn gloves.
The last time I wore the long black pleated wool skirt I purchased in the late
80s, was November 2008 for a Meetup in Washington, D.C. Below photos of
the ensemble I wore for the evening Meetup at the large eatery across from the
Verizon Center (now Capital One Arena).
Why no video? By the time I finished editing there would have been very little footage. Not happy with how I captured the video and I thought the outfit looked better in person.
Sunday, November 30, 2025
It has been a busy two weeks. In early November, I decided to capture most of my activities, in hopes of creating content for a video. I did, however, decided to only use the content mainly from the Thanksgiving meal preparations.
Below, the video I finished editing this morning, Sunday, November 30,
2025.
This is one of my longer videos and one that helped me to decide I really do not have the time to create this type of content on a regular basis. If you have stopped by my Youtube Channel, you will note, I like short videos showing an outfit I chose to wear or try on.
Do you ever wonder if Youtube content creators have editors or are they doing the work themselves? I created several voice overs for this video, and though had no problem with the scripts, had to re-record the voice overs several times before use.
That said, I like doing this type of work, I simply do not have the time. I also like the power Davinci Resolve offers for this type of production effort.
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving and yes, I thought I did a pretty good job with the Thanksgiving meal. How about the roast beef? I love roast beef sliders on Hawaiian rolls with Heinz 57 sauce.
