My name is Marion Vermazen. I am a traveler, hiker, reader, Sun alumnus, computer geek, YouTuber, Spanish and French language student, knitter, weaver and genealogist.
If you have ever thought about taking the H&R Block Tax Class now is the time to sign up. I took the class last year and reviewed it on the blog here.
Even if you don't want to work for H&R Block I highly recommend the class. It is interesting, challenging and I thought it was a lot of fun. To sign up for the class got to www.hrblock.com/class. Levae a comment if you have any questions about my experience taking the class.
Tuesday we got to take a tour of the new freeway extension south of Reno. There were about thirty of us in 3 Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) vans.
We had to wear vests and hard hats. Do we look ready to pick up garbage on the side of the road?
The project cost about $550 million and is along the edge of the hills west of the current 395 highway. It would have been much easier and cheaper to build the freeway through the valley but the homeowners didn't want it there and the politicians decided on the current route even though it was much more difficult to build and much more expensive.
The new freeway is 8.5 miles long and includes several bridges. The biggest is the new Galena Creek Bridge – the longest concrete cathedral arch bridge in the nation.
The first contractor decided that construction of the bridge would be too difficult so there was a break in constuction while NDOT went out for bids and brought in a new contractor. In order to build the arch they filled in the area under the bridge, built the arch, and are now taking all the fill out. The giant earth moving trucks under the bridge don't look very big in the picture above.
The project web site has lots of interesting information There is also a time lapse video of the bridge being built. I thought I might be able to include it here but I have spent way too much time trying to figure out how to do it and I have given up. If you go to the web site and look under photos and videos you will be able to find the time lapse video. I think the east facing camera is the best.
This year for the first time the IRS is requiring tax preparers to pass a certification exam. The Registered Tax Return Preparer (RTRP) Exam is a two and a half our exam covering tax preparation, rules and regulations. You pay $116 to take the exam at a Prometrics Testing Center.
H&R Block gave us the Wiley study book and offered a web based training for exam preparation. I read the book and then yesterday took the practice exam in the web based training. It was hard! and I began to wonder if I would pass.
Today Duke and I took the exam and we both passed!
Compared to the practice exam the real exam today was easy. I think all the prep stuff wasn't all that helpful and it will scare anyone who is trying to prepare for the exam. I put quite a bit of time into studying and I am so glad I just took the exam and got it over with.
If you have prepared taxes for H&R Block and you have reviewed the ethics and circular 230 materials you will pass the exam. Don't let the practice tests scare you!
Marion's Blog 