Is a drunken night out on the town a legitimate business expense?

I paid my taxes online today. Well -- to clarify -- I deposited into government coffers an overestimate of what I owe in order to satisfy the April 30 remittance deadline. They got some of my hard-earned money, and I'll have to file my actual return a bit later wunnatheesdayz. Unfortunately, I seem to have left a whole envelope of receipts in my other suitcase in Sydney, and I need them to calculate just how many bogus business expenses I can claim, having been self-employed last year. That is, if you can call my brief Sydney-based, part-time stint with my former employer truly "employed."

Normally I'm very anally organized, but when it comes to taxes, there's this wait-until-the-last-minute thing with me, and I end up reeling, wondering where the hell I've put all those receipts that I've dutifully kept in hopes of legitimizing the corresponding expenses in some way, shape, or form. Turns out some of my required receipts and institution-issued super-duper important documents are in Sydney, while others are in Canada. But on the bright side, my money is with the government to fund questionable social programs, I'll file later, and it'll all be fine.

And to take a 180-degree turn....do you smell that?! It's the smell of a crisp Autumn day after enjoying Melbourne's hottest April on record. But it's mixed with the distinct smell of diesel, as the heavy machinery moves on-site, primed to disassembe our tent city and say goodbye to this beautiful city.

We bid adieu to our final guests on Sunday evening, and start dismantling everything about 30 seconds later. And I mean it. Ev. Ree. Thing! In fact, we start taking stuff down while those guests are still watching the second half of the show, so that we can engage the heavy machines as soon as they're out the gate.

And, if I'm lucky, I'll get to put my new forklift driving skills to good use!