Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Ye gods and little poissons (as a former taxman I knew used to say)


At least it explains where Mrs B's reminder has gone.


But much more to the point - if we are required to file electronically, is it beyond the wit of the taxman to email a PDF of the statement?

Monday, July 25, 2011

There's nothing romantic about dying at 27

There's been a lot of articles about the 27 club and it's new member - Amy Winehouse. I'll not add to the tributes, others have said it a lot better than me, Russell Brand's article struck me as particularly good (http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/jul/24/russell-brand-amy-winehouse-woman).

But I do take issue with the tone of some comments that seem to immortalised Amy as much for dying at 27 as her talents.

1. There's nothing great about dying so young. At 27 you have 2/3rds of your life ahead of you. Or, perhaps more significantly, 6/7ths of your adult life.

2. My uncle died at 27. I'd rather he was still around and had (as the first undergraduate in the family) been able to advise me on my university choices and life.

3. Has anyone looked at the statistics? Is there an equally well populated 26 or 28 club.

Coincidence is often taken to have meaning. Only a proper analysis of the distribution curve can demonstrate any meaning here.

Finally, even if it were true, it's still not really of any value. They were young, they died, they shouldn't have. Idolising early death is not healthy.


Monday, July 18, 2011

Unable to view HMRC PDF files?

If you work online with HMRC (it’s almost inevitable these days) then you will have PDF files to download for VAT, Income Tax or other returns.
 
A couple of years ago the download of PDF’s failed for me, and eventually I got the advice from HMRC on how to fix it.  Having recently rebuilt my desktop, the option was missing and this morning’s PDF download broke.
 
Having taken too long to remember and find the fix, I thought I’d share, and also ensure I could find the notes in my blog next time!
 
In Internet Explorer for Windows:
  • Go to Tools - Internet Options
  • Advanced tab
  • Under Security, ensure the ‘Do not save encrypted pages to disk’ is checked
 
Lo and behold, download of PDF is working again.
 
 
 
 

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

When near Holborn (Leather Lane to be precise)

One must not forget the Department of coffee and social affairs

12-14 Leather Lane

You can see why....
http://www.departmentofcoffee.co.uk/