Yeah, I'm TICKED!!!! (They think I'm still a Johnson)

Okay, so I'm a little (a lot) mad right now and I just have to vent. Remember those wonderful stimulus checks that the federal government issued earlier this year? The amounts weren't enough to take the year off, but they were nice for some extra spending money. Well, we didn't get ours when we were supposed to, so I called the hotline and was told the amount we were getting and that we could expect the check in July sometime. July came and went. No check. I called a couple more times after that and just got a recording and was never able to get to a live person. So, yesterday, I finally got to a live person (after being on hold FOR OVER AN HOUR) and IRS representative #6207103 told me that we were "ineligible" to receive a check because my name didn't match up to my social security number! WHAT???? Apparently, I never changed my maiden name to my married name with the social security administration and after 22 years of being a Halverson, they are just NOW catching it??? The explanation I got was that the IRS now has the equipment that is catching mistakes like that -- people even used to claim their pets as dependents, but not any longer. (Why didn't I think of claiming my dog??) Okay, no problem, I think. I'll just go to the social security administration office on Gage and change my name, then we'll get our check, right? Not a chance! We've lost out. AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH! The good news is that when we file our 2008 tax return next year, we can request our check again then (but there's still no guarantee that we'll get it). Isn't the federal government wonderful? Okay, I'm done venting. :-)