Taxes

 It was gruesome!  Not because I couldn't do them, but because all the computer stuff was "off".

Last December, the laser printer stopped printing in color.  I haven't solved that yet.  But last week, it stopped printing at all.  Just kept saying "load paper".  Which I did without it working after.  And just before tax time of course.

I use H&R Block software (for about 10 years).  Never a problem.  I just check off boxes and add a few numbers (and they are very good saying "enter number in box 1A here").  And that sure helps.  I have index stocks, and (for example) one question is "foreign taxes paid".  Like I have any idea what that really means.  But they do.  So I go to the my index fund site and they tell my a number.  I add that to H&R.  

At the end, they do a review for inconsistencies.  If there are any, they send me to the place to review the numbers.  If not, my taxes are done and I just hit "print".  I like to send printed tax forms; it's just easier in some ways.

But here's the problem.   As I mentioned, my printer stopped working.  And H&R Block software said I had no internet connection.  Which was ridiculous.  I had just downloaded the software on the internet, I got an email confirmation security code from them, and my email is working just fine.

But I couldn't get to their help site online "no internet connection", according to them.  So I couldn't finish my tax forms, couldn't ask for help, and I couldn't even print out a filing extension form!  The printer call number said queue was an hour at best.  And I tried that one before with no success.  H&R was worse.  Not even a guess as to wait time.

I spent the entire past few days trying to fix problems.  It's maddening.  Trouble-shooting company sites send you around in circles.

But I finally solved the immediate B&W printer problem so I could at least print out the tax extension request forms from direct Federal and State sites.

That was only because it finally occurred to me to download the printer manual and search it.  Sure enough, it solved the problem.  Not that it was easy.  The manual addresses several models and even for my own, the displays didn't exactly match the instructions.  

Part of the problem is that my Canon printer can be used as a network printer and the defaults are set for that.  Stuff like needing a network ID and "secure printing".  Undoing all that was a real bad day!  The settings are so individual-unfriendly, you even have to specify the weight and brightness of the paper!  I suppose that makes sense on an office network where everything stays the same.  But sometimes I buy cheap paper.  

I did get that all undone.  But why did it work so well for 4 years and then suddenly stop?  Probably an update aimed at office network printers...

I hope I never have to do it again.  But the joy I felt when seeing a short document print out was HUGE!    

JOY!  DANCING!  GLEE!

Now I just have to get the color working again..  But B&W was enough to print the tax extension due-date forms, and that gets me time to deal with H&R Block software problems.

Still, I had to send Federal and State checks.  I had 2 forced withdrawals from my Govt Thrift Saving Plan and didn't anticipate that.  So I owe more than usual.  But the TSP  told me; I just didn't realize the tax consequences.

Live and learn.  But at least I solved a couple of computer problems.  That deserves a steak dinner.  And I don't care if it is actually 11 pm just before I have this post scheduled for "tomorrow", I'm going to cook one and eat it watching some superhero movie!  I'll catch up on the veggies tomorrow.

Feeling good...

Bad Lawn Overseeding Advice

So, to make sure I didn't forget anything since the last time I overseeded my lawn, I went to the internet.  OMG, what nonsense I found.

WikiHow seemed like a good place to start.  What they said at first matched what I remembered.  But then it got weird.

They had 2 sections; overseeding an existing lawn and seeding a new lawn.  I ONLY looked at the overseeding part.  They said to cut the grass short (right), and dethatch if necessary (right) and rough up bare spots (right).

But then they said to till the soil 1-2" deep and rake the debris away.  Whoa!  Why cut the grass and then till it away?  That is for new lawns.  They messed up their instructions.

So I looked at another site about lawn care.  They said to overseed your fescue lawn in early September (here) when the high temperature is 55-70F.  OOPS!  The temp isn't 55-70 until mid October at best (here).  And fescue germinates best at 75-85F.  Another fail!

Where do these sites get their information?  Do they just ask some random stranger?  Do they just make it up?

I'm going to visit WikiHow and see if there is a way I can correct their disinformation.

Meanwhile, my plans to overseed the lawn are at a standstill.  Not because of bad internet advice, but because of weather.  I thought I had things planned well.  The soil was wet, but there was a 4 day forecast of non-rain.  The first morning, I would aerate the lawn and mow the existing grass short, rake a few bare spots caused by my trailer to help the seed settle in, and spread the seed.

As mentioned previously, I got half the yard aerated and mowed when the mower ran out of gas.  It was afternoon the next day before I got it running again and finished the job just in time for a surprise rainstorm (and it rained the next day too).  You can't spread seed in wet grass.  It sticks to the exiting grass blades (now reaching the soil), and rain makes the seeds rot.

Well, I could wait a few days for it to dry out.  No such luck.  It kept drizzling off and on for several more days.  Then there were thunderstorms for a couple days.  And now there is Hurricane Florence coming.  Heavy rain will loosen rooting grass and kill it, and unrooted seeds will wash into ripples across the lawn downslope. 

So I've been forced to wait.  The good news is that Hurricane Florence is predicted to take a more westerly course when it makes landfall in 3 days.  And then it should move east again as it weakens.  So maybe now more rain for a while after the weekend.  Then I can do the preparation all over again and finally spread the grass seed. 

We have had an bizarre number of rainy days this summer, and some weeks have had a lot of volume of rain as well.  My 6" capacity rain gauge has been filled a couple times, and 2" every couple days is routine. 

This is really unusual.  A decade ago, it was routine to have the soil in my lawn crack open from dryness in August and the grass go brown and dormant until late September.  Today, I pushed a 12" screwdriver into the soil easily right to the handle.

Weather variations are maddening!

Astonishingly Stupid Blogs

I am constantly amazed by the horribly bad advice given out by some blogs that seem to purport to know what they are talking about. 

For example, a friend mentioned a wasp sting, so to be careful of my advice, I did an internet search of sites referring specifically to wasp stings.  The top 5 results said to carefully remove the stinger without squeezing the venom gland. 

I'm so pissed reading that, I can barely even type!

Thats BEES!!!  Wasps don't sting the same way.  Bees lose their stingers when they sting and part of their insides come out that continue to pump venom.  And that causes them to die.  Bees sting once.

But wasps don't sting the same way.  They can sting over and over and don't lose an inside part, more like fangs on a snake.  They don't leave the stinger or any part behind.

So the advice was so stupid I nearly screamed in frustration.

Bees and wasps are not very closely related.  The stinging aspect is called "covergent evolution" (where some animals get similar traits indendently).

If I recall correctly, bees evolved from termites (thus the solid body structure) and wasps evolved from ants (thus the segmented body structure).  They both have stingers, but from entirely different origins.

But, OMG, if you were a parent of a child who was stung by a wasp and searched these "first up" sites, you would be desperately searching for the stinger in the child's flesh and you wouldn't find one!  Well of course not, wasp's don't leave stingers behind!!!

And their advice tells you to look for one.  AAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!

I can't even tell the site how bad their answer is.  I would have to join it and that would mean weeks of scammy emails until they gave up on me.

The site is http://www.lifescript.com/.  Based on the wasp sting post, DON'T EVER GO THERE FOR ANYTHING...