The friend I was helping with the letter-writing has a phone interview this week! Whether my assistance made a difference or it was simply moral support to get him moving forward, this was wonderful news this morning. (He considered apologizing for applying past the deadline when he saw it had passed, but the link still worked. I told him that once the letters and resumes were printed in a stack no one would know his was late unless he apologized, so just don't do it. He backdated his letter to the due date.)

This morning I made a list of things I keep thinking I need to get done but always end up forgetting about during the course of each day. Things that need to be done before other things on the larger list can be started. It's always something.

Every year I try to get started on my taxes as soon as possible, because it's too easy these days for identity thieves to claim your refund if any of your important numbers were compromised (like seems to happen monthly with many important sites with online presences). Get the forms in as early as possible to head off the crooks. But due to the government shutdown the IRS is mostly closed and I use the Free File Fillable Forms (not affiliated with any tax preparation company, just the tax forms online that can be filled out and turned in). They usually open up in late January, but all bets are off this year. I decluttered my files this year so all of my documents are in one file drawer.