Francetic Tax Resolution LLC - September 2020

Francetic Tax Resolution LLC - September 2020

SEPTEMBER 2020

262-752-6992

WWW.FRANCETICTAXRESOLUTION.COM

THE TALE OF THE FORBIDDEN LAWN

My Childhood Adventures on Grandma’s Pristine Grass

In honor of National Grandparents Day on Sept. 13, I relived some memories about my favorite grandparents, Ann and Sylvester, and all of the antics they put up with when I was a kid. As I’m sure you’ve picked up from the last few newsletters, I was a bit of a prankster, and I loved to push my grandma’s buttons when I was little. In particular, my buddies and I liked sneaking onto her pristine lawn. My grandparents lived just up the street from my parents, and they had a big, rectangular backyard with the greenest, most uniform grass I’d ever seen. My grandmother was meticulous about that lawn. It looked better than a golf course, and she hated anybody tromping through the grass. But boys being boys, my friends and I were always tempted to sneak onto it. We just knew that the backyard would be perfect for kickball, whiffle ball, and football. More often than not, we succumbed to the siren call of the grass and snuck in for a game while my grandma was at work. My grandpa Sylvester was usually home at the time because he worked late nights as a bartender. Luckily, he was the more easygoing grandparent and never cared about us running around on the lawn. In fact, he was happy to sit out in the yard and smoke a few cigarettes while he watched us play. When my grandma got home, she was always more furious with my grandad than she was with us. She’d shout, “Sylvester! What are you doing having these kids play out here? They’re going to ruin the grass!” My grandparents were like oil and water, but they loved each other nonetheless. Apart from my adventures on the lawn and Thanksgiving dinners at grandma’s house, one of my best memories of my grandparents is the time a buddy and I filched a book of my grandpa’s matches. As I mentioned, Sylvester was a smoker, and he had a big stash of matchbooks in his desk drawer. One day, my friend and I snuck in and snatched some. Then we walked into the woods behind my grandparents’ house and then down a few houses, got a big pile of brown leaves together, and lit them on fire! This was definitely the start of the pyromania I mentioned in the July newsletter. As you can imagine, someone spotted the smoke pretty quickly. A neighbor came charging out of his house, snatched up a hose, and put the fire out. His first words to me were, “I’m going to tell your grandfather!” When he did, I was terrified that Grandpa Sylvester would spill the beans to my mom and dad, but he just told me, “That was a pretty stupid thing to do, but I think you’ve learned

your lesson.” He really was a cool guy, and I'm thankful he had my back — I like to think I was his favorite grandkid.

Sadly, both of my grandparents passed when I was in middle school, but that just made the memories I have of them more special. I also feel lucky that I got to see my sons build a similar relationship with my mom. She would always come over to bake cookies, make us dinner, or take them to the zoo or the park. She was a great grandma to them. Looking back, I might actually have to thank my grandma Ann for the way my career turned out. My childhood fascination with her lawn was probably the subconscious launchpad for my first career in turfgrass management, which eventually led me to accounting. It’s amazing how life can come full circle, and how big of an influence a grandparent can have! Paul Francetic

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2 SURPRISING WAYS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PROTECTS YOUR MONEY AND FUTURE

Most people who hear about artificial intelligence (AI) conjure up an image of a robot acting and thinking on its own. However, it’s far more than that. AI systems are used by businesses to identify human behavior patterns and tailor marketing messages. They’re also used by health care professionals to provide diagnoses and monitor trends. And now, AI is being used for financial security. RISK MANAGEMENT Many are concerned about the risk of someone hacking into their bank accounts and cleaning them out. While that can happen at any moment, individuals often have a number of safeguards in place to protect their finances and mitigate this risk. The same is true for businesses, such as banks, credit card

companies, or online retailers, though the risks are often far higher for these companies than they are for individuals. How does AI help? It works with >Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4

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