The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

7 | The IFP -H alton H ills | T hursday,M arch 21,2019 theifp.ca • Truck Accessories • Upholstery • Heavy Equipment Glass •Window Tinting 354 Guelph Street, Georgetown 905-873-1655 Wehandleall insurance work. We handle all insurance work. Furnace Air Conditioning Gaslines Boilers Water Heaters Radiant Heating 905-877-3100 proud local dealer of Canadian made products .caTo book this space call 905-873-0301 To book this space YOUR AD HERE! There's an old saying I heard years ago: "In this world, noth- ing can be said to be certain, ex- cept death and taxes." As I sit down and prepare to organize myself for my income tax, I'm inclined to agree. Getting my stuff together in preparation of filing my income tax is always the most monu- mental, uninspiring task to muster up the enthusiasm and actually get it done. The Sidekick has a love-hate relationship with me doing the taxes - she loves to get an early refund, but she hates the fact I take over the kitchen table (or dining-room table) to spread out my files, receipts, countless T forms and any other docu- ments the government requires us to hang on to for seven years or so. I tell ya, I can find more rea- sons to procrastinate about get- ting my tax files in order, than Carter's has pills. You know, like "The driveway is slippery - gotta spread some salt," or perhaps, "The dog needs to go outside" (for an hour or so). Or, "I have to work on some- thing in the shed" (not sure what it'll be, but there's gotta be something out there that I can bang on to sound busy for the next couple of hours). Up to last year, I dodged the bullet - The Sidekick had tradi- tionally turned a blind eye to my procrastinations. But last year, I crossed a line. I found myself standing at the front counter of my accoun- tant's office, on the second-last day of April, with my accordion file filled with my financial par- aphernalia in order (OK, some- what in order). The receptionist wasn't happy with me. For decades, I've prided myself in having my income tax- es in order several weeks earlier. She pointed out to me that there was no guarantee they'd be able to process my income taxes in time. Cocky me - I said I was OK with that, as I usually received a refund. Guess what ... It turned out that 2017 would be the year I had to pay. Now The Sidekick didn't come out and say, "I told you so," but I could certainly read her mind: she really wanted to make some comment. But we have an agreement re- garding making snide remarks to each other. Instead of rolling our eyes, and making some nasty derisive comment, we simply close our eyes for a bit. The other partner immediately gets the message. I swear her eyes were scrunched shut for several min- utes. And yes, I did get the mes- sage. So this year, as I pen this weekly literary masterpiece, I have officially begun. I made the annual trip to Wal- mart to pick up an accordion file, I have sorted and stacked all my T forms, receipts and charitable receipts, and I'm ready to go. And as I finishing typing this column, I'm set-up on the dining room table, ready to dive into that pile of papers. I'm really trying my best to keep The Side- kick happy. She can easily turn a blind eye to the dining-room table for a few weeks, but being set up on the kitchen table really gets un- der her skin (lots of heavy-duty extended blinks are launched from there when stacks of pap- ers make it impossible to see the top of the kitchen table). Yup, my bank papers are as- sembled, my receipts are sorted, and my Excel worksheet docu- menting the income for 2018 has been printed and duly arranged, all ready to be assembled in my accordion file folder. And as the rest of the world is on March break, I'm going to force myself to "git 'er done," and be able to wash my hands of it for yet another year. It will also be much easier on The Sidekick's "scrunched-up" eyes ... Ted Brown is a freelance journalist for the IFP. He can be contacted at tedbit@hot- mail.com. FILING INCOME TAX: THE MOST MONUMENTAL, UNINSPIRING TASK OPINION PROCRASTINATION DOESN'T PAY, WRITES TED BROWN TED BROWN Column THE WAY WE WERE Members dress in bygone fashions to celebrate the Georgetown Women's Institute's 50th anniversary in March 1953. Photo courtesy of the Esquesing Historical Society EHS photo VISIT US ONLINE @ THEIFP.CA FOR MORE GREAT CONTENT!