Telemarketers

I've never understood how telemarketers succeed.  I NEVER do ANY sort of business with a cold-caller on the phone or a door-knocker.  If I want something, I go find it myself, do some research about the best versions, and then go looking for the best price. 

And besides that, I seldom answer the phone.  It is sort of circular reasoning.  Why answer the phone when it is almost always (like 99%) telemarketers.  So my family knows to send an email, which means that the only people who call are telemarketers...  LOL!

And speaking of door-knockers, the only people who visit are salespeople or charities (and I give in an organized online way).  So most times I don't even answer the door (I open the computer room window and talk from there).  It's just easier to brush off salespeople that way.  

I do understand that telemarketing works on some people and that if 1 of 1,000 calls is successful, they make money.  I don't want to sound mean here, but they prey on those who are old, confused, gullible, or "pushable".  

Heck, *I* could talk to a telemarketer all day and it wouldn't do them any good.  And sometimes I have,  just to waste their time.  But it wastes my time too, so unless I'm really "in a mood" I don't bother.  Just as an example, I was expecting a call from a repairman and answered the phonefor once.  It was some guy saying my Windows  O/S had been corrupted and he needed to help me fix it for a "small fee".  

I knew right away it was a scam because I don't have a Windows computer online (I have an old standalone for a few Windows specific games I can play against an AI).  But I went along with it for fun.  I asked for proof and he gave me places to look for certain files.  I pretended to go along, but always reported finding some different files or menus.

He finally got quite frustrated and demanded to know if I was stupid.  I laughed and told him I knew for "an absolute fact" that he was a scammer.  When he asked to know what made me think that, I said I wouldn't tell him because that might help help him scam the next person he called.  Keep in mind I didn't have an online Windows computer...

Two things happened then.  First, his carefully-cultivated but fake American accent vanished.  Second, he said "May you drink poison and die" before he hung up.  For those of you who do not know, that pretty much means he was Asian-Indian (I regret the day Euopean Colonists called Native Americans "Indians" because that confuses things greatly) .  But it was 15 minutes of fun.

I only mention all this because things changed Thursday.  I use NoMoRoBo for my phone.  It is a free service that screens calls against a huge database of known scammers.  A scam call comes to my phone number and their servers are fast enough to check the database.  If the caller is a known scammer, I get one ring and the call is disconnected.  I still have delete the "missed call", but I don't exactly have to wonder who they are before routinely deleting them all.

Scammers use all sorts of tricks, a main one being to use a fake name and number (usually a local one and often one that is a real business.  I once called a number back to ask why they kept calling me.  Turned out they were a small oriental carpet cleaner business who didn't call people; I had to advise them their number had been spoofed (they were quite upset and apologetic, but I assured them they were not to blame).

So what usually happens with a scam call on NoMoRoBo (I encourage everyone to net search them and sign up) is that the phone rings once and the call is disconnected.  My voice mail kicks in after the 3rd ring.  So, if the phone rings 3 times, I expect a voice mail from a legitimate caller.

Yesterday, that stopped happening.  The phone kept ringing 3 times every 20 minutes or so while I was in bed.  I finally decided there must be some family emergency and got up.  I'd only been in bed for 5 hours but if someone had been arrested or hospitalized, I had to know.  

Five 3-ring calls and no voice mail.  OK, sometimes scammers get new numbers and it takes NoMoRoBo "some" time to learn of it.  So it was either that or something had failed about my voice mail.  I called someone and asked them to try to leave me a voice mail to test it.  It worked fine.

So it was scammers.  More thoughout the day.  I remembered the first 5 calls and started ticking off more as the barrage continued.  When it reached 20 calls, I waited near the phone and answered.  Yeah, I know.  The rule is "don't answer the phone and they will stop calling".

Wrong.  It doesn't cost them anything to call.  But it would to delete my phone number.

So I picked up and said "Who ARE you" (because it was that spoofed oriental carpet cleaner number and I recognized it).  That didn't work because it was a prerecorded message.  So I listened to the message waiting for which number to push to speak to an agent.  You press "1" and get a salesman.  If you press "2" to be removed from their calling list that goes to a database of "active human phone numbers" as opposed to fax machines or computers I suppose and it keeps you on their list.  

The sales pitch was for Medicare supplemental insurance.  I told the agent I didn't HAVE Medicare (I worked for the Govt and have a different kind of insurance) and that whatever company he worked had called me 20 times that day.

He said that certainly seemed unreasonable and that he understood I was not a possible customer and would handle it "from his end".  I thought he might, but naturally the calls kept coming...  It became a game while I was watching TV.  The phone would ring with the same spoofed number and I would pick up on the 2nd ring from that site.  And immediately press 1 to get an agent.

It became a sort of game.  I would quickly say "I don't have Medicare, so remove me from your list because you actually CAN'T sell me any service").  Usually the response was a disconnected dial tone.  Sometimes someone would say they would remove my number.

I told one guy I could string him along for 15 minutes and then hang up.  And he said "Drink poison and die", which confirmed he was from India...  I actually did it to the next one.  He said the same.  Apparently, that is a popular curse in India.  

Which I find rather interesting.  It isn't actually a direct threat.  More of a hope that someone who annoys you will eliminate THEMSELVES.  And, BTW, every agent  I spoke to regardless of differences in voice were named "Jay".  Must be a popular name there.  ;) and LOL!

Friday, I got only a couple calls in the morning.  Maybe they really did delete my number.  But more likely, NoMoRoBo caught up to their new numbers.

Peace reigns again...

That's not me.  But I've been in similar places and feeling similar peace.  But that is some future post...

Processing Pictures

I don't have the best camera.  I don't have the best program (I use Photos on Mac) to process the pictures I take.   I don't have skills to adjust picture colors in details of hues, selective colors, and some other adjustments.

I see pictures on some blogs that are so routinely perfectly-focussed, color-balanced and perfectly-lit that I just sigh in envy.  So it isn't like I'm fishing for compliments here.  I get by "well-enough", and that is about it...  LOL!

But I thought I might mention what I DO routinely do just in case it helps "someone" OR explains why some pictures look better than they originally did.  I mean, I have a routine I go with that "helps me".

1.  The 1st thing I do with a batch of raw pictures uploaded to Photos is go through and delete the hopeless ones.  Wow, who doesn't do that.  But I like to start at the beginning.

2.  I go through the pics and "straighten" them.  I seem to have a vision-tilt to one side.  Meaning I always seem to have to "straighten" in the same direction.

3.  Then I crop.  If you crop first and straighten later, inevitable some part of the picture is lost.  The is no cropping that requires using any 2 opposite corners.

4. After that, I switch to "adjust".  First, I go through "definition" of all pictures at about 90%.  THAT really helps!  If you haven't tried that, try it.  Cat furs show up better and it REALLY improves flower pictures.  And it is easy.  You keep the cursor on the "definition setting you like and then "click", forward arrow, "click" again.  It's repetitive but fast.  It's hard to have "too much" definition.

5.  After "definition", I go through again with light and color level.  My camera doesn't take pictures of The Mews well with flash.  "Low-light" setting works pretty well with normal ceiling lamps indoors.  It is more "even" light and that is more adjustable.

I generally have to raise the light level and then lower the color level.  Otherwise the light seems like a cloudy day and then after I raise the light level, Marley looks like an orange, the walls nearly glow, and the wood floor looks walnut.  So I lower the color level.  I know what color Marley's fur is, the walls are and the floor is, so I get it as accurate as I can.

You might think the light level and color cancel each other, but they don't.  Brightening an entire picture makes the room look brighter; color makes Marley and blankets look more accurate while keeping the picture bright.

6.  Then, I export the pictures to folders.  I have them by year subdivided into moths and then by days.  So, I have "Photographs".  That is divided into subfolders of Cats,Yard, House, Family, and Other.  Each  has a year, month and day.  So, a cat picture processed on May 23rd, 2021 may be in Cats/2021/2105/210523.  I use "year/month/day" because it keeps the pics chronologically and easily findable.  I don't give names to the pictures (OK, in special cases).

7.  But the exported pictures from Photo to the folders arrive at sizes like 1.5MB.  I cant save all that or post them (unless things have changed).  So I go to Preview.  It has easy re-sizing.  "Custom" allows several choices for all the pics from 320x320 to 1920x1920 pixels and there are inch size choices (but I don't deal with those very well).  I almost always use "custom" at 640x640 or 800x800.  For some reason, 640 works better for outside shots and 800 for inside ones

That keeps the resized pics above 100 and below 300 kb, which works well enough for the quality of the pics I use of the blogs.  And I don't yet trust the Cloud, so I keep my original full-sized pics on the hard drive.  I tried copying them to an external 4GB drive, but I couldn't get at them later.  Glad it was "copy" and not not "copy and delete".

8.  I do keep all the originals full-sized.  It is a lot easier to see them full-sized in Photo.  The reduced-size processed pics make me look through them one at a time.

    -------------

I hope this has helped someone, explained what I do with pics, or even made you think "wow, I'm smarter than TBT/Cavebear.  ;)

And if I'm doing some unnecessary work, PLEASE feel free to tell me.  

Pizza

I seldom order pizza to go.  Some aren't worth ordering and the better stuff has gotten oddly expensive.  I think that is because the pizza places decided they had a captive customer base during the Covid pandemic.  Some kept their prices and reduced the quality, and some places kept the quality and raised their prices.

I've also bought some frozen ones and some are "OK" but having a pizza stone, I'm helping them out considerably.  Plus I tend to add more toppings.

So I go through cycles where I make my own.  It's not really THAT hard.  You need some equipment though.  I have a pizza stone, a paddle, a bread machine, and a roller pin.  And you need toppings of course.  Well, gee, who DOESN'T have pepperoni and shredded Italian cheeses sitting in the fridge?  LOL!  And I do always have green peppers, mushrooms and a can of crushed tomatoes around (I make spaghetti about once a week).

But I'm not really talented at rolling out dough in a nice circle, and crimping the edges to raise them a bit never works well for me.  And you've seen that tossed the dough in the air to spread it out?  Fugetaboutit!

OK, so I decided to make a pizza Saturday.  It came out of the bread machine "dough cycle" so wet and sticky it was more like I had dough gloves on than a ball of manageable dough.  As a former friend used to say about anything that went wrong "ITS NOT MY FAULT".  But, of course it was.  The dough didn't mix itself...

After slowly scraping the dough off my hands and getting most of it onto the sticky-ball (there is a lot of "ME" in this pizza), and washing my hands free of the rest, I started adding flour and folding several times.  I let it sit in the fridge overnight for gluten-development and rising.  Be aware that doing that also makes the dough a bit sticky again, so when I turned it out onto my silicon mat, I had to add more flour.

But it was OK for rolling out then, but I had a couple of rips in it that didn't want to hold together when pinched and it wasn't uniformly flat.

So I had an idea (and this is actually the point of the post, I suppose).  I have various pans.  A couple of nonstick, a couple stainless steel, and a surprising number of cast iron pans.  The cast iron pans are well seasoned over the years and nearly non-stick.  Most are standard-shaped skillets ranging from 4-12", one is a 10" wok, and one is a 10" griddle with 3/8" raised sides. 

That was when I had a Grand Idea!  First, the griddle was perfect for flattening the pizza dough uniformly while it re-rose from the warmth of the house.  I set it on the rolled-out dough and let it sit for 30 minutes.  Voila', when I lifted it the rips were healed and it was flat.

And the 2nd part was also good.  The barely raised edge of the griddle would also provide a sufficiently-raised edge to the pizza crust!  But I wasn't sure about constructing the pizza on a heated pan.  

Normally, I construct the pizza on the paddle with corn meal sprinkled on the paddle for sliding it onto the pre-heated 500F pizza stone.  But the griddle had to be 500 and set on the cooktop for constructing the pizza this time.  (I set it in the oven at the start)   I was worried I would touch the hot griddle.

But the whole idea was an experiment, so I tried it.  Granted, experiments CAN be painful or fatal (this one was not; I was VERY careful.

I had all the ingredients lined up in bowls on the counter.  Then when the oven said 500 I waited 15 minutes (air heats faster than cast iron).  Took the 500 griddle out of the oven wearing both an oven mitt and folded washcloths (wet) and set it on the cooktop.

Lifted the crust from the silicon mat easily and set it on the griddle (perfectly centered and with the edges "just" to the top of the griddle lip), quickly brushed some olive oil on the crust, spooned some of my reduced tomato sauce on, spread around self-sliced pepperoni evenly, sprinkled onion/pepper/mushrooms, added more tomato sauce (I like that), and sprinkled shredded Italian cheese mix all over it.

And got it back into the oven ASAP.  About 2 minutes I think.  The usual time I need to cook a pizza on the pizza stone is 15 minutes and a crisp but chewy crust.  It took 20 minutes this way.  

But it was WAY worth it.  OK, many people like their pizzas some different ways.  Some like "thin&crispy", some like "chewy".  Some like a crust with a topping or two, some like a lot.  

I tried to make what *I* like.  And it worked out GREAT!

So, finally a picture...

A simple salad goes well with pizza, as does a standard Zinfandel wine.  I cut the pizza into 6 parts; ate 3.  The others are in the freezer to be re-heated in a hot covered pan in a few days.

Garden

The wet early Spring and the cold dry May has not been a great start to the gardening year.  For example, I usually pre-soak my bean seeds inside to improve germination and then I forgot them for a day and they rotted.  Twice.  I had new ones online with shipping.  Try to find Flat Italian Pole Beans at a Big Box Store in late May.  But I received them today.  So guess what, it is going to rain all weekend.

But maybe not.  The Weather-Guessers said yesterday evening would bring powerful thunderstorms, hail, and strong damaging winds. So I move all my  tender lettuces and flower seedlings inside temporsarily.  It drizzled for an hour.  Wow, such a threat...

I really have to get the garden planted.  Some crops mature by mid-Summer but some take the whole growing season.  I need to get the tomato and pepper seedlings into the ground, and seeds of melons and cucumbers started really soon.

Part of that is because I've read some gardening articles recently that say planting too early stunts growth and later plantings actually surpass earlier ones in total growth, health, and production.  But maybe this wasn't the best year to try that.  

These are 2 grafted Brandywine tomatoes I bought (heirloom tomato tops on vigorous disease-resistant roots from a tomato you wouldn't eat.  They were $10 each, but with heirloom tomatoes almost $5 each (and of poor quality - they refrigerate them) at the local grocery store, just 2 more per plant means a savings.  And I expect a dozen from each plant.

And here are the lettuces/greens.  I LOVE salads!  OK, actually this is celery.  I love the slightly bitter taste of the leaves so I harvest them "leafy" for both salads and stir-fries.

Red-leaf romaine lettuce.  You won't find them in the local store.

This shows endive (another slightly bitter green) and red leaf lettuce.  You've seen "red-leaf" in the stores and just the tips are red?  When I say "red" I mean "RED!

The whole stand from the side.

And the front.

The backmost tray is Bok Choy.  It is an Asian member of the cabbage family.  They are too young to harvest yet, but are growing fast.  Here's the mature version...

The stalks provide crunch (and can be used in any recipe involving cabbage - and smells better during cooking).  I use the large leaves in Spring Rolls.  I put the leaves on the wrapper and the shrimp/peppers/whatever on top.  The leaves prevent the ingredients from poking holes in the wrapper.  Leaf lettuce works for that too, but doesn't add any taste.

Next time, I hope to show planted seedlings of veggies and flowers.

Hair 2

OK, I am nothing if not persistent.  Megan asked for a picture of me with my ponytail.  I didn't have anything that old digitized.  So I looked through old photo albums.  No luck.  There was a basketful of un-albummed but also not digitized photos and I really hesitated to go through them.

But I knew I had a specific picture "somewhere".  

So...

I found the photo!  Scanning it was easy.  Finding and sizing and saving it was horrible.  I ended up with 13kb, 590 kb and 5MB versions in my download folder.  Took a while to get at them.  But what's a few hours when you're retired?

So here is finally a right-sized pic of the ponytail...

BTW, oddly my hair grew back over the years.  Grayer but fuller.  Either better diet or less stress when I retired.  :)

Hair

Megan commented on The Mews blog about a hair restraint Laz played with "Am I the only one who's wondering why on earth TBT would have bought one of those things? I can't imagine that he ever wore one himself".  And that made me consider the history of my hair.  And why pass up a good topic to post about?

OK, I'm sort of an old fart (turned 71 Friday).  When I was a kid, we all had either "buzz" or "crew" cuts.  "Buzz" was a short 1" high flattop cut and you needed Brylcream to comb it up stiff.  Crew" was a short cut rounded to the skull.  I think the 1st was army and the 2nd was navy.  The really short hair for boys was a leftover from WWII when head lice were a problem.  There was probably also some element of "long hair gives an enemy something to grab".

But, of course by the late 60s we guys were tired of looking like Dad, so we wanted our hair long as a symbolic act of rebellion.  It was one of the least objectionable ways to do that.

So, in college, I grew an 18" ponytail.  Dad hated it, so that was great!  I must have been quite a sight then.  Square-toed engineer boots, a cowboy hat, bell-bottomed jeans, a vest, and the ponytail.  My dorm-mates nick-named me "Sheriff".

It DID cause some surprises when I worked at a department store.  When facing away from a new customer, I often heard "Excuse me Miss..."  LOL!

I still had it when I went to my Govt job interview.  The boss decided I was worth hiring but also asked if I would cut off the ponytail "for professional appearance".  I'm no fool, I immediately agreed and cut it off that night.  I mean, it was a 25% pay raise from the department store!

But I cut it off with the elastic still on and hung it from a picture hook for years.  Reminders of "good old days" are good.  I tossed it away eventually.

Many years later (secure in my job) the 3rd level boss above me grew a ducktail.  He was an utter jerk but thought he was "hip".  So I regrew my ponytail to mock him.  I am basically a progressive type with a few conservative ideas, but very sarcastic (or is that "sardonic"?).  I don't show that here very often, but you should see me on some discussion boards.  No, I won't tell you which ones; I am rather compartmentalized.  But eventually I got bored with the trouble of maintaining it and cut it off again.

Then, when the covid-19 problem came around and visiting the barbershop was a no-no, I shaved my head completely.  3x in 2020.  But my skull is "lumpy" (impacted sebaceous glands), so I gave up on that too.  That's a topic in itself, but not today.

These days, my hair (what is left of it) is styled like my high school yearbook picture.  1/3 to my right and the rest to the left, tapered at the neck, none more than 6" long.  Ease of maintenance has overcome style...

My hair has gone "around the block" (makes me a "blockhead?) a few times, so to speak!  :)

So I am familiar with hair-restraints.  Mostly though, I was happy to see him play with anything.  He is not a toy-oriented cat.  Nor is he a lap cat.  I think he gets really bored inside.  Even in the morning, not having eaten for 10 hours, he would rather go outside first.  

And until he arrived here and was also kept inside for several months until I was sure he knew the house smells and could find it, he had never been outside.  It may explain part of why he had frustration issues at first.  

The more he gets outside, the calmer he is inside.  He avoided returning inside the 1st few months, but as he learned I would let him out frequently (and by very loud demands) the more he has become willing to return when called. 

 

I pretty much let him out when he wants, and he pretty much returns these days when called.  And even when he doesn't return immediately, he is at the deck in 5-10 minutes.

They say "nothing can ignore you like a cat".  And it is true especially with Laz.  He can be right on the lawn and when I call his name, clap my hands, whistle, his ears don't even twitch! But he knows he has been called.  He's at the deck door soon enough.  Marley responds at once.  Ayla seldom even leaves the deck these days.  

But that is the tale of the hair elastic...

Thanks for the topic, Megan!  Give me a question and I'll write a chapter, LOL!

More Random Stuff

Some good news:  My newest Mac Mini has mostly really tiny ports I am not familar with.  I looked them up, but I can't find the notes on what they are called.  Most of my stuff has USB plugs.

I bought a 4-multiplug device months ago, and it works but I needed 6 ports.  Hey, I discovered there were 2 more on the new keyboard!  I have "enough".  But I would rather plug stuff directly into the Mac Mini (seems  more direct).  But at least I don't have to keep switching the printer cord and camera cord.

The new keyboard is a bit weird.  It wants 2 ports.  It works on one port, but every few days it fails to communicate and I have to restart the computer.  The discovery of the extra ports on the keyboard means I can plug the 2nd keyboard plug in.  So far, no fails.

And I like the new keyboard (dasKeyboard).  The keys are slightly engraved, not stenciled, so they aren't wearing off like most have.  And there are the 2 USB ports.  It's black with white letters, which I prefer.  But it has an odd reflection that keeps making me think I have cat furs on my fingers.  Nothing is perfect, LOL!

I got my vegetable and flower seedlings outside several days ago to get them used to actual sunlight.  The area was dappled.  I carried the lettuce trays onto the deck for easy harvesting.  The seedlings stayed down for another day.  Later tomorrow, I will plant the tomatoes and peppers in full sun.  They will have had 3 days of partial direct sunlight.

Watered them thoroughly yesterday.  Had to change nozzles 3 times to find the most appropriate one for delicate lettuce leaves.  In fact, I went to a soaker nozzle for "next time".

The flower seedling need more growing time.  They look a bit weak.  A few days of dappled then full sunlight should improve them.  Besides, the place I want to put them has grass growing. so I need to dig that out or at least damage it a lot tomorrow. 

Every day my Federal tax form DOESN"T come back "insufficient postage" is good.  The State owes my a small amount, so I don't worry about that.  They don't penalize you about a refund.

The Mews are doing well.  Laz hardly bothers Ayla at all these days.  She is actually the hissy one.  And I don't worry about it.  Each of them lick foreheads mutually these days, so it can't be too bad.  Yeah, it took Laz a full year (nearly to the day) to " settle".  

A hiss is not the claw/tooth fight.  I'll accept a hiss.  Next challenge is the Tonkinese female kitten due for pickup in early August.  I so much hope The Mews accept her immediately.  Marley is definite, being so calm; Ayla has always gotten along "OK" with any female cat; Laz is so much calmer now and has 2 months more "calm" to experience.  It should be OK.

Yeah 4 cats is more than I expected.  Maybe I should have just gone with Marley and Ayla.  They like each other.  But Laz was a rescue.  Not the normal rescue.  But the breeder I've dealt with in the past DID literally reascue Laz from a bad home and was looking for a Forever Home.

I sure almost gave up on him a few times.  But on his Gotcha Day here, he changed rather suddenly.  Maybe memories fade or he finally realized it was a safe place.  Whatever.   Who knows with cats?  He is only 3.5 and I think mostly he just wants to play.  Laz an Marley wrassle happily and gently often.  So I think "now" he just wants to do that with Ayla.  

His attacks on her ended months ago.  Maybe it was status-seeking in his new home.  Ayla doesn't forget (and I don't blame her).  But lately, they meet, sniff noses, and lick foreheads.  I'll accept the peace as a good sign for the future.

My car made "hot metal noises" when I came back from shopping last week.  I noted there were drips under the car.  After it sat for a day, I opened the hood and set up a lamp under it.  I'm not a mechanic and Dad never taught me stuff about cars.  But I understand enough to know what basic parts are.

The stuff that dripped was water.  Yeah it could have been air-conditioning condensation except for all the hot metal.  So I checked all the fluids.  

Oil level was fine.  Windshield washer lever was low so I refilled it, but that stuff being low doesn't heat the engine.  The coolant reservoir was empty.  I opened the radiator cap (it was cold after a day).  It was filled.  So I added water.  Not coolant; I didn't have any.  But that should las a trip until I schedule maintenance work at the dealer.

You are going to laugh.  I bought the car in July 2020.  It has 500 miles on it now.  But you should have a maintenance visit after the 1st 500 miles and I was planning it for next week.  The manual said I should expect "greater than usual" oil usage, but it was the coolant that was low.  

I'll let the dealership figure that out.

Time to go to bed...

Tax Form Troubles

I like to write in detail.  I hope you like to read in detail, LOL!

It's been a bad several days.   I thought I had struggled through my tax form software and gotten Federal and State forms printed out to mail.  But a couple of the questions and even how to mail them bothered Saturday. 

I'll dispose of the mailing issue first; it's just less complicated.  I had more sheets of paper to send than would fit in a legal size envelope, so I would have to actually GO TO the Post Office with a large flat envelope to have them tell me the postage.  I know what the lines are like there on Tax Day and would do almost anything to avoid it.  I eventually resolved that, but I'll tell you at the end.  But the immediate concern was that I tried e-filing the tax form earlier today (Sunday).

The 2 items in the tax form itself were the US Stimulus checks and the credit for the car donation I made last year.  I found a deposit for the 1st check, but not a 2nd one.  I checked all my bank statements for 2020.  Either the Govt didn't send me the 2nd one, someone took it out of my mailbox, or I didn't recognize it as legitimate (they warned later it arrives as non-govt mail).  But I was worried about the consequences of not reporting it.

Saturday I saw a report on TV reminding tax-filers that the stimulus checks are non-taxable, so I stopped worrying about whether I reported the 2nd one or not.  

The worse part was the car donation tax form.  I had assumed that a 15 year old car wasn't worth much even with only 30K miles on it.  So I donated it.  I should have checked at the time.  When I checked a standard professional estimation site last week, I found that this year it would have been worth $7249 (so surely would have been worth more last year when I donated it).  And Carmax offerred to buy it for $8800 (of course it was long gone).  

So I entered the $7249 on specific donations form.  I got a receipt from the charity organization.  It had the vehicle make/model, VIN, date, and a signature on a form naming the charity.  What else could I need?  Well, apparently an appraisal document and a tax form from the charity...

I donated a previous car to the same charity, and I didn't need that then.  So that part was missing from my tax documents.  Being that I was using tax preparation software, I assume any question it doesn't ask is not applicable or necessary.  And the tax software "accuracy review" found no issues when I printed out the forms to mail.

That's where the mailing issue resurfaced.  Not willing to stand in line at the Post Office for an hour or more, I decided to e-file.  Which meant I would have to pay a "convenience fee" to use a 3rd party for a credit card payment but it seemed worth it.  It used to be $20, but it is down to $2.95 for a $6 payment, so OK.  I'll gladly pay $3 to not stand in line for an hour!

Guess what?  The tax software that happily allowed me to print out the forms with a missing donation appraisal form said the IRS would not accept an e-filing without that form.  So instead of standing in line at the Post Office, I spent 3 hours trying to provide the required information on the form or get it elsewhere.  

If I mail my tax forms, I can include explanations for missing information.  E-filing does not permit that.  E-filing is only for "perfect forms".  If I mail it, they have to receive it and read everything.  If I e-file, their computer can "just say no".

So I was really in a situation.  Tomorrow is the filing deadline.  So I could stand in line mailing printed forms with 1 incomplete or file for an extension.  All my numbers on the tax forms are accurate; I am WAY too honest (and scared of the IRS) to lie about anything.

If I mail the forms (all with accurate numbers) all they can do is tell me I need to complete one specific form more properly, and I can contact the charity for that.  

So I went to the US Post Office website and found the most accurate estimate of the mailing cost.  $1.50, so I added a couple more stamps for safety and put it in the mailbox.  My $6 check is in there.  The IRS can't say I didn't pay (my total taxes were rather higher; the $6 was just the additional amount owed).

Done, finished, will be picked up Monday.  I tossed the Sate tax forms in the mailbox too.  It is based on the Federal tax form, so no reason to wait.  At least THEY owe ME money.

I may never donate a car to a charity again.  The IRS makes it altogether too annoying at tax time.

A weight off my back...  Now I can get back to the cats and garden.

Ah, Tax Day

 Aren't doing the taxes a thrill?  I'm glad there is software for that.  I wouldn't stand a CHANCE of getting it right otherwise.

I once read of a simplified tax plan:

1.  How much did you earn last year?

2.  How do you have left?

3.  Send item 2.

Actually, I'm not against taxes.  I pay them (and accurately as humanly possible) for several reasons.  First, the government does do many things of overall benefit.  Second, it's a civic duty.  Third, I'm scared to death of the Internal Revenue Service(IRS)!   I worked for the Federal Government, and they CAN be relentless down to the dime.

Soldiers, food inspectors, bridge inspectors, medical researchers, etc don't come free.  Just as in olden times, we must each pour some wheat into the granaries.  

I just wish it was fairer.  Some multibillion corporations and individuals paid less tax that I did this year.  And some people cheat!  Those ads on TV from companies promising to negotiate with the IRS irritate the heck out of me.  They encourage people to cheat on their taxes and pay "dime on a dollar" in settlement.

The tax software sure makes it easier though.  It just asks multiple choice questions and puts the answers in the right boxes.  I have some mutual fund stock investments and I don't have the slightest idea what some of the terms mean (how would I know what "foreign taxes" the index funds paid?  

My index fund used to send pages of data and I had to add up all the columns.  Now (finally) they total them.  And how would I know "qualified dividends" from "unqualified dividends"?  I also donated a car to a charity last year.  All sorts of details required about that.  The software organizes all that.  It is a relief to be told just "enter the number in box 3b of form 1099".

And it STILL took 3 hours!  Part of that was answering "no" to a lot of questions that didn't apply to me, and some took time to download my stock detail report.  There was a time that I could use the "EZ1040 form" (income, standard deduction, subtract the 2nd from the first, pay or get a refund), but stocks and dividends are worth it.

But it really should be easier.  I spent 2 hours proving I owed the Federal Government an additional $6.   I have to mail a check (credit card payment costs more than that). Had they just told me, I would have paid $20 for the advice!  I will get a refund from my State and that is nice.  They starting crediting senior age people (I am one) some income exclusion.  I'm getting $400 back.  Well, I used to owe some.  Not that I didn't pay the taxes; now just a bit less.

Well, I just glad it is over for another year...

Mother's Day

OK, I'm gonna get a bit maudlin here...

Happy Mothers Day to all the Moms out there.  Mine left in 2010.  She was a good one.  I mean, I read newspaper advice columns and some people have weird or crazy ones, but mine was pretty good.  She attended university, met my Dad the first week, and they never parted.  She taught me stuff.

I'm not one of those people who recall infancy, so I kind of start around age 4.  She taught me letters and reading; I could read simple stuff before kindergarden and I had a library card by age 6.  The love of reading has lasted all my life.

But just knowing letters and words isn't everything.  She encouraged me to write as well.  I cringe thinking about how poor those earliest efforts were, but she appreciated them of course.  And when I went out into the world on my own, we maintained a lifetime of exchanging letters until Parkinson's and dementia took away her abilities.

Our letters were full of humor, puns, parody-poems, and of course the usual personal news.  She would sometimes sent me the wording of party invitations (she threw good theme parties) after the fact (I lived too far away to attend).  They were clever, subtle, and poetic.  I would reply in kind as if I was accepting the invitation.  She often expressed regret that none of her attendees answered her creative invitations  in kind as I did.  

Language skills run in her family.  One sister was an analyst for the 'Webster's Third International Dictionary (1976, I think).  

Mom and I never met a pun we couldn't appreciate.  And when it came to even crude humor, if the wordplay was good, we overlooked the content, valuing the cleverness.  I get in trouble for that sometimes these days, as content is viewed more critically.

She was very creative.  One year, for a costume party, she had Dad make her a hat with a 4" brim and used our small plastic set of Romans (we always had educational toys) to re-create the chariot race from the movie Ben-Hur.  I think she also staged a dinosaur hat, but that was earlier and my memory is not certain.  But it is the kind of thing she WOULD have done.

She loved cats.  It's probably why I have them living with me today.  Her parents had dogs.  Mom preferred cats.  Her first was named 'Kittigree".  Later we had siamese females.  Kenani and Hai Yu sequentially.  I think that means "pretty little girl" in different languages.  She never wanted more than one at a time though.  Maybe that was a negotiation with Dad.  But that's why I finally got Ayla.  It just seemed right to finally have a female siamese when I found her.

She took me around the yard when I was a child, showing me bird nests and plants.  She knew where they were because she put out small lengths of red yarn for the birds to use in building their nests.  

She taught me to play games.  I'm sure she sufferred having to play Candyland and Chutes&Ladders at first when I could barely understand rules, but as I learned, we advanced to cards and Scrabble.  She taught me to play chess.  And like writing and reading, that has stayed with me all my years.

Funny quick mention:  When Mom couldn't beat me at chess anymore (I'm guessing when I was 10), she handed me over to Dad for my improvement at the game.  Let me assure you that she played to win once I learned the rules.  Dad was good with games too.  But when I started to beat him routinely around 12, he stopped.  He hated losing.  Don't worry, I'll be kinder to him on Fathers Day.  ;)

Mom was a dancer and a thesbian at university.  She once led opposite of (and if I get this wrong it one of those memories I never get right) Broderick Crawford.  I've tried to research that a few times but the university website doesn't have a good record of its late 1940s plays.  I remember seeing a "professional picture" of her from back then, but it is lost to history.

Mom taught me to listen to classical and Broadway music.  I have no musical skills, but music stays id my mind almost perfectly.  I used to win bets in the dorm about "the next line".  I know the next high note and the slight inflection of a word to be sung.  I love that and Mom is the reason I do.

Mom taught me to cook.  It probably mattered that I was the eldest child, so naturally the first to be able to help in the kitchen, but I also did it by interest and my younger siblings were not as interested.  I remember reading once that "If you like to eat pork, you have to get down in the mud and keep the hogs happy".  Meaning basically, if you like to eat, you should know where food comes from and how to prepare it.  I was Mom's sou chef for my teenage years.  

There is something about a kitchen I love to this day.  Spending time preparing fresh foods seems satisfying and productive.  Sure, it started by mashing potatoes and peeling carrots, but I learned more as the years passed.  Oddly, Mom was not a very good cook...  I am a far better one than she ever was.  But I might not have been if she hadn't encouraged me to help with the simple stuff.

So here is a tale of 2 grammas.  Paternal gramma was Pennsylvannia Duetch (German-Amish).  She was a great cook.  She and grampa had a small farm.  We would sit on the back porch and de-string beans and de-silk corn, etc, and I would help in the kitchen.  She often made stewed chicken with dumplings (I can't make a dumpling).  Simple basic food and I suppose it is defined as "farmhouse" now.

The Maternal gramma never met a vegetable that couldn't be boiled to death.  Grey Brussel Sprouts, yellow carrots.  She even boiled all the meat.  Mom did a BIT better than that, but she learned her cooking habits from her Mom.  Steak or spaghetti nights were appreciated and also when Dad grilled outside.  The day I discovered Chinese food was one of my happiest days as a teen.  The day I discovered steaming was good too.  Crispness was a new concept.

So no one is perfect...

But I miss Mom.  I suspect that is why I am here writing now.  20 years ago, I would have been writing Mom a letter (I blither on a telephone) instead of posting here.  

I don't have many pictures of her, but I do have a couple.

Iza wasn't THAT big; Mom was short.  And it's a camera angle thing too.

But this is my favorite.

Happy Mothers Day, Mom...

A Particular Wine

We all have some favorite things.  I have the misfortune to like things that are not popular.  They tend to disappear.  I hate that.  

The latest one is my favorite brand of wine.  Not that I drink a lot of it; 2 glasses of wine with dinner.  But, as far as I am concerned it goes well with most everything I usually cook.  And it is cheap.  I don't see the point of drinking a $20 bottle of wine with a $5 home-cooked meal.  Wine is an "accompaniment", not the focus.

But I do enjoy the couple of glasses.  So when the local wine shop wasn't selling enough of it to support the shelf space, they were kind enough to special order a few cases at a time for me.  I appreciated it.  Now they have trouble even getting it from their supplier.  

The store is actually a wine/liquor/butcher/deli store and they have great specials each week, so I shop there often anywhere.  There aren't many places where you can get filet mignon trimmed and sliced to order for $10.99 sometimes or Delmonico steaks for $8.99.  Their deli dept is great, too.  

Oddly, they are the only store I know of around here where you can get actually ripe Golden Delicious apple.  

But they are having trouble getting the wine (Twisted Cellars brand Old vine Zinfandel).

There is a place in Maryland that gets it, but they don't ship and it is a hour drive away to pick up.  There is a store in New York State that will ship, but it's an extra several dollars per bottle.  I ordered 8 cases from them 2 weeks ago.  And if the local store gets more (usually 4 cases when they can get it), I'll buy all they have.  Anything to keep them trying to get it.

I have a large basement that is mostly underground so it stays at 68F.  It will keep red wine OK.  I wouldn't mind a year's supply, LOL!

I'm down to 1 case.  And just tonight I got an email saying I could expect the NY shipment of 8 cases on on Saturday.  Which means I have to stay around to sign for the delivery, but that's OK.  I leave the house about once a week.  

Hurray!

Update:  It arrived.  I was expecting a call to assure delivery between 2 pm and 6 pm, so I laid in bed after 1 pm fully dressed (I'm a real night owl sometimes and only went to bed the at 8 am), but there was just a knock on the door at 3 pm.  I was out and ready to sign for the delivery (the website said I had to) but the the UPS guy said they don't.  

But hey, 8 cases of 1.5 L bottles.  I'm good for many months!