Desert Messenger

16 www.DesertMessenger.com September 6, 2017 Easier to file Power of Attorney forms I had been gone most of the day some years ago and the guy-in-the-garage was home with all the kids. I pulled into the driveway after dark and was greeted by some hungry folks who knew I had a car full of groceries. In the house and looked around for the guy-in-the-garage. He was nowhere to be found. I made my way to the garage, which I might add, is not near the driveway I had parked in. It's at the other end of the house, so we'll give him credit and assume he didn't hear me pull up. I opened the garage door and there he sat surrounded by tools, projects and country music. He looked up and smiled. "You know," I said to him, "the kids have asked me if you love me as much as I love you?" He cocked his head sideways, kind of like a dog who doesn't understand what you're saying. "Huh?" he said and then snuck a look back down at the in- tricate project he was holding with his hands and balancing on his lap. "Well, you know how I always wait up for you and watch for you at the door when you're coming home?" I asked. He smiled and said "Yeah," then snuck another look down at the project that was taking up both hands. This time he even made a little adjustment to the items before looking back up at me, still smiling. I began to wonder: What makes him smile? My return home or the gadget in his hands? "Well, the youngest one asked me why you don't wait up or watch for me at the door like I do for you. She said she thinks it's because I love you more than you love me." "Really?" he said strug- gling to maintain eye contact. "Really," I said. We stared into each other's eyes for a mo- ment and then he broke the silence with those special words I have heard so many times over the years: "Can you help me with this?" He held up the contraption he was work- ing with. While I was helping him I scanned the garage and began counting motorcy- cles. I'm sure there were not this many here this time last week. As a matter of fact, he is buying new projects faster than people can submit classifieds to our magazine. It's gotten so bad that the classifieds actually come in now with special little notes attached "for Steve in case he is interested." When I finished helping with that item we moved across the garage to an- other task that needed an extra hand. "Hold this right here," he said while he picked up a hammer. "You're not going to miss and hit my hand are you?" I said. "I hope not," was about as reassuring as he could get. The smile scared me. It took me back to the days he was building a dune buggy in the garage and he had me holding the seats down while he was drilling brackets un- derneath. "You're not going to accidently drill right up through the seat and into my hand, are you?" I remember that awful fear as I pressed down on the seats, and could feel the drill just inches away. "I hope not," he said. And then there was the time he had me holding pieces to an exhaust system while he tack-welded them. I could feel sparks flying all over and I just knew they were going to land on me. "You're not going to burn me, are you?" I asked. "Hope not," he said and kept weld- ing. I came out to the garage a little later in the evening to announce that dinner was ready. "Be right in," he said intently working on some important aspect of his cur- rent project. He barely looked up. "You're not going to take forever and let dinner get cold, are you?" I asked. He looked up and smiled. "Hope not," he said. But we both knew that even though he intended to come right in he'd likely get carried away trying to fin- ish up one little thing. And though I fully intended to get mad at him for not com- ing in while dinner was hot, I'd likely overlook it, once again. Because there is some- thing worse in life than eat- ing cold mashed potatoes and chicken for dinner. And that is liv- ing with a guy-in-the-garage when he has nothing to do in the garage. Sherri Kukla is the editor and co-pub- lisher of S&S Off Road Magazine. She along with her husband, the guy-in- the-garage, are also the founders and directors of Thundering Trails off road camp for inner city kids in South- ern California. She can be reached at ssormag@gmail.com or www.ssorm. com Sherri's Turn Deedra Abbound, US Senate candidate in Quartzsite Sept. 12 Quartzsite, AZ - Deedra Abboud, 45, is a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate. She will be visiting Quartzsite Tuesday, July 25, meet- ing Town Council at their 7pm meet- ing. The public is invited to meet Deedra from 5pm-7pm at Mountain Quail Cafe, 490 N. Moon Mountain Ave., Quartzsite. A Phoenix-based attorney and founder of the leadership consult- ing firm, the Global Institute of Solution Oriented Leadership, she is highly respected for her com- munity leadership and advocacy. Deedra is a recipient of the Martin Luther King Jr. Diversity Award in Tempe and the Martin Luther King Jr. Award presented by the Human Relations Commission in Phoenix. Originally from Little Rock, Arkan- sas, Deedra moved to Phoenix in 1998. After 9/11, she launched and served as director for the Arizona chapter of the Council on Ameri- can-Islamic Relations (CAIR-AZ) from 2001 to 2005. She was direc- tor of the Arizona chapter of the Muslim American Society's Free- dom Foundation, a Washington- based civil rights group, from 2005 to 2009. Deedra has also served on the boards of the Tempe Com- munity Action Agency, Voices for Civil Dialogue, and the AZ Coalition on Migrant Rights. She has volun- teered for Girls for Change and In- terfaith Worker Justice. In 2009, Deedra entered Summit Law School, graduating in 2012 and practicing immigration and estate planning law for nearly five years before deciding to return to com- munity advocacy work during the 2016 election. "When I saw fami- lies, friends and neighbors being torn apart by the verbal attacks….I needed to be part of the movement to unite our communities, and move us forward with the American values that have always made us the most inspiring country in the world." For updates and more information visit deedra2018.com New and Easier Way to Submit Power of Attorney and Disclosure Forms Effective September 1, the Arizona Department of Revenue is making it easier for taxpayers to appoint someone to discuss confidential in- formation or respond to tax ques- tions with the Department. ADOR has revised the Power of Attorney and Disclosure process for taxpayers to submit the neces- sary form. A taxpayer may now submit the Arizona Form 285 and Form 285B through email or fax, in addition to the mail. These forms authorize the Department to release confidential information to the taxpayer's Appointee. Taxpayers may email these com- pleted forms to POA@azdor.gov or fax to (602) 716-6008. The Department recommends that the taxpayer use secure email when sending this form electronically. Signatures must be handwritten on the form, not typed. As a reminder, taxpayer's forms should be com- plete and signed. Incomplete or unsigned forms will not be pro- cessed and will be returned to the taxpayer for correction. See https://www.azdor.gov/Forms for additional information.

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