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!

Gardening

Spring planting times are iffy.  The weather is uncertain.  Some years, the temperatures are warm in late April; sometimes the nights are chilly in early May.  I used to fight the weather using all sorts of odd methods.

Cover the raised beds with clear plastic, and the soil will heat up.   Surround the large plants with covering of water that warm in the daytime and maintain some warmth at night...  

Put plastic or cellophane hot caps over seedlings.  Used fabrics to cover seedlings.  Put warmed bricks around the.  You name it, I'm probably tried it.

But I've stopped that.   I've been a (mostly) organic gardener all my life (Well, I spray poison ivy carefully) and yet I've been fighting "time".  At this time 10 years ago, my tomato seedlings would be planted.  Now, I am waiting.

There just isn't a better time to plant than the right time.  And the right time for tomato and pepper  seedlings is when the nightime temperature reaches 50F.  So, because we have a streak of chilly weather in the mid-40Fs,  I'm keeping my seedlings inside under high-lumen fluorescent lights another week.  

On the other major gardening note (my trays of lettuces, radishes, pay choy, and celery) I am delaying putting them outside as well.  I set up 2 sawhorses to support the trays on my deck.  But I'm waiting.  And a good thing, too!  We have a serious hailstorm several days ago (rare for here at any time of year) and the hail would have ripped all the lettuce into shreds.  

I want the lettuce etc to have actual sunlight, exposure to the world will bring ladybugs to eat the aphids (a problem indoors where they are safe), and the routine rain will ease watering requirements (frequent and overflow is a problem indoors).  Plus, harvesting is convenient on the deck.  

I planted some brocolli, brussells sprouts, and purple cauliflower last year.  For whatever reason, they didn't grow well.  But they survives the Winter and have an early start for this year.  I harvested a brocolli head and some later side-shoots last week.  Brussels sprouts are always tricky, but this might be the first year I get any worth mentioning.  They are growing fast.

The snow peas are up and climbing the trellis.  It won't be long before they flower and fruit.  I've been missing them in my stir-fries.

I set up an odd trellis for my flat italian beans yesterday.  It is surprising how well mature beans can hide among the leaves, so I had the idea of setting new trellis at an angle in an old bed so the beans would hang down and be more obvious.  I had ignored it for several years so it had junk sapling roots in it that had to be dug and chopped out with a sharpened spade and an ax.  I even broke the old ax handle twisting it a bit and had to replace it.  But I got it done over several days.

I pounded two 8' rebar rods into the ground in front of the bed as supports, then lashed 2 more at an angle for supports to get the most sun for the beans.  Then set some 6' mesh rebar anchored at the bottom and attached at the top.  I have the bean seeds soaking in water overnight.  They sprout better that way and you can see which ones send out a root and which don't.

I'll take pictures of everything when the trays are on the deck sawhorses, the tomatoes and peppers are planted, and the beans are emerging.  The bare bean trellis didn't show up well in a picture.

I also have a lot of flower seedlings, but they aren't ready to plant yet.  Another 2 weeks.

More Odd Thoughts

I was in a convenience store last night and the person in front of me used a credit card to buy 2 bananas.  "2 bananas" on a credit card?  And it took 5 minutes before his card was finally accepted.  Damn, he must being having a bad month or year.  I sometimes forget how fortunate I am.

I have a cigarette habit.  I only smoke at the computer every few days, so it is really more a habituation than an addiction.  I type; I smoke.  We all have some failings...

My State raised the tax on cigarettes by $2 a pack last month.  I understand the logic; more expensive means fewer young people can afford a bad habit.  I can afford the increase.  But I remember when a case of beer and a carton of cigarettes were both $15.  The cost of beer hasn't increased but a carton of cigarettes is $100.  

I wonder why.  Alcohol is more dangerous ( I hardly drink anymore - wine with dinner)  but I suppose it is more popular.  

I bought a new car about this time last year.  It had 79 miles on it.  Now it has 570.  I don't drive a lot, LOL!  The dealership sent me an email reminding me that my 10,000 miles maintenance was due.  I laughed.

I donated my previous car to a place that takes old cars and trains released felons the repair trade last year. It was a 2005 Toyota Highlander with less than 20,000 miles on it.  They even emailed to check if I misreported the milage.  Nope.  

I ruined a batch of bean seeds last week.  I usually presoak them a day and that works well.  But I didn't have the planting spot ready for them.  There were tree roots in the spot and I couldn't get them out as fast as I expected.  Tree-roots are tough.  I finally succeeded but the beans rotted.  Have to start that again.

I went out to get my mail (none) but I saw an envelope on the road.  2 houses away.  I wasn't sure it was legal for me to put mail in another person's mailbox (the post office has some VERY strange rules), but I did it anyway.  It was a thick envelope from a business.  

For all I know, it might have been just junk mail,  But it may have been a job offer.  You never know..  Or maybe I changed someone's life.  One of those things I'll never know about.

Speaking of which, have you ever wondered about what other people remember about you?  That neighbor you helped load a coach onto a trailer?  That roommate from 50 years ago?  I do sometimes.  So I do random acts of kindness.

Today is Lapis Lazuli's 1st Gotcha Day here.  He had a hard year adjusting, but better than his previous 2 1/2 years.  I think he is calmer the past couple months and will be better in the future.  Sometimes, all you can hope for is "better.  

I am mostly recovered from the fall off the extention ladder.  I walk normally.  The right clavicle will always be slightly annoying but it doesn't seem to prevent me from doing things.  The left thumb is weak but usable.  Well, I've been lucky most of my life and it could have been a lot worse.

I've had both my Covid shots with no problems, so I am probably safe from that.  I still wear a mask in public though.  I'm careful and willing.

I set up 2 sawhorses on the deck.  I have trays of lettuces to put out into sunlight for growth.  I will post pictures soon.  And the deck is even more convenient for cuttings than the basement is.  It is right next to the kitchen after all.  And it means I can turn off the plant stand lights.  They are fluorescent but that doesn' mean "free".

I think that is about all for today...

Random Thoughts

1.  I like mushrooms, but there are limited uses.  They don't go with BBQ, ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard,; just stir fries or suateed with butter or bacon fat.

2.  I always I have to examine my paper napkin before tossing it.  Sometimes I make notes on them while eating dinner and watching TV.  Well, they're paper and I always have a pen handy.  

3.  I love tomatoes.  I ran out of them and made spaghetti sauce 2 nights in a row.  I could have made a pizza, but I was too late to make decent dough.

4.  I showed pics of myself on the cat blog yesterday and one commenter suggested I should smile more.  It's not the first time.  People have mentioned that for most of my life.  I do not have a natural smile.  In fact, my "neutral face" is rather frowny.  No idea why, but I also don't blame anyone.  It IS a frown.  

It is almost funny.  I once practiced smiling looking at a mirror.  I can assure you, that does not work.  An artificial smile (I CAN do it but it looks worse).  I CAN be surprised at one occasionally, but it is rare.  Rest assured that I am actually a pretty happy person, enjoy my cats when they are on-or-around me, and like my life.  

Really, who could have have happy cats around and not actually be happy themselves?

5.  Last Summer was brutal on trees here.  I have Golden Rain trees on either side of the front of the driveway.

They look like this on the web...  Mine don't.

The flowers look like this and it is very lovely towards Fall...

But last Summer's drought about killed them both.  There are few leaves growing from a couple branches.  Most limbs seem dead.  I watered them daily through a 5 gallon drip bucket.  That's where you drill a small hole and let water leak out slowly so it gets down into the roots.  I probably didn't do it enough. 

But I'll see if I can get them growing again.  There are a couple branches leafing and a few shoots from the trunks.

6.  The Beech tree in the front yard is probably a goner for the same reason.  The top had already died years ago, but lower limbs continued to grow.  This year, I need binoculars to see the one small branch with leaves.  

It isn't all that tall and if it falls over by the usual wind direction, it won't actually damage anything; and it has no special value for shade on the house.  In fact it shades the lawn and the Saucer Magnolia tree, so I'm thinking losing it might even be a benefit.  I value all trees for producing oxygen, but I will plant a specimen close to the spot to replace it.

7.  My indoors lettuce garden is growing.  Not enough to take a picture, but soon.  The seedlings are 1' high and growing fast.  The heirloom tomato seedlins are about 4" high.  I will be trying to graft them to more disease-resistant roots again soon.  I usually fail, but I keep trying.  Commercial grafters say they get about 90% success.  I get none.  Someday I will learn what I'm doing wrong.

Which is why I always plant enough heirloom tomato seeds for regular plantings.  Better some than none.

8.  I'm trying something new with the pole beans.  An angled 6" wire mesh so the beans hang down though it.  The idea is to make harvesting easier.

9.  I planted cherry tomato seeds in an upside down pot.  I've done this before successfully, but not for a few years.  The idea is to hang the pot at least 8' above ground so that the tomato hangs down from the bottom.  No cage required, easy to water from the deck, and convenient to pick a couple of cherry tomatoes as I leave the basement to do yardwork.  

The pot didn't fit under my basement lights, so I found a gooseneck lamp around the house and put a high-lumens LED bulb in it.  That should help it grow for a few days.  The weather is warming this next week, so I will be able to hang it from the deck soon where it will get direct sunlight.  After that, it is on its own.  If it doesn't work, little loss; 2 seeds...

10.  I went shopping Sunday.  Some produce stuff at Safeway (great fruitsd and veggies) and some basic stuff at Walmart (they have really great prices on some brand-name stuff).  But I also wanted 2 specific flower seeds and a couple automotive items (heavy lubrication grease for the garage door opener tracks, and starter fluid for gas engines, so I stopped at one place (that had  neither) and another place that had one. 

I guess I have to go to an automotive store for the starter fluid.  Another trip tomorrow.  Always one more trip to get what you need, but I had milk and ice cream in the car so could tarry much.

11.  Got back home, fed the cats, put away groceries, made dinner.  Some dinners seem great in the mind but are boring in actuality.  The chicken, onions, and bell peppers were boring; needed some spices.  

The tossed salad was good.  Mixed 1,000 Island dressing with leftover Italian.  The new tomatoes and basement celery leaves saved the meal.

12.  I almost forgot to mention the Baby Fish!  When I got a new pair of fancy guppies months ago.  Some were born and I worked to net them out into a separate container and they grew.  The aquarium is covered with floating anachris plants, so the newer babies have places to hide and grow but kind of on their own.  I now have a couple dozen guppies.  The males stay fancy with red and black colors and delta tails.

Sometimes efforts work...

Darn Ouchies!

I get so tired of muscle cramps sometimes.  During the day, I can get finger-clenches  and rib muscle cramps.  At night I can get thigh or calf cramps.   It used to be seem there were causes.  If I did too much gripping of shovels while gardening, I got finger-clenches a few hours later.  If I lifted too much, I got rib muscle cramps.  If I just did too much walking, I got leg cramps in bed.

Now it doesn't even seem connected to physical activity.  I got finger-clenches a few days ago after just mowing the lawn and I don't exactly keep it in a death-grip.  Tonight I got them and I didn't do ANYTHING active.  Sometimes just holding a knife while preparing dinner causes it.

I try to stay hydrated.  I take a supplemental potassium tablet.  I have a good diet (not a "diet" diet, just good fresh foods with some meat and several colorful veggies).  A low dosage Ibuprophen helps.  Ointment rubs with aspirin or lidocaine help the finger clenches and rib muscle cramps.  

I saw that basketball players use a sort of rolling pin for leg cramps. so I bought one.  It's hard to use by yourself.  Walking around for 10 minutes usually works.

Mom had the finger-clenching thing and that was the first sign of Parkinson's.  I hope it isn't that.  Dad had lumbar muscle cramps in his 60s but that went away.  Neither are around to ask questions of.  I wish I had asked more questions of them, but who thinks about aging at 50?

I am beginning to wonder if the finger-clenches are from typing.  I'm a bad typist and a fussy writer.  I almost redo half my typing most days.  I took typing in high school, but never mastered touch-typing.  Well, my fingers and brain don't communicate all that well.  I can't play a musical instrument for the same reason. 

But that is just my latest thought about the causes.  I have no really good reason for the cause.  My Dr says these things can happen for many reasons and there isn't much that can be done about it.

I suspect the real cause is DDT exposure.  When I was a kid in the 50s, the town I lived in sent mosquito-fogger trucks around several days a week at twilight.  It was a DDT fog and supposedly harmless to people.  But we kids loved riding our bikes in and out of the fog.  

I developed hand-tremors after that and they remain to this day.  I got bad enough soon after that and I never could build a decent model kit (glue got everywhere).  These days, I have to be really careful handling a mug of tea or bowl of soup.  

It's OK; I'm just complaining out load.  Attaching notes to tumbleweeds, as some people say...  

Mom used to tell me that getting old isn't for sissies.   Dad was actually fortunate in a way.  He went into dementia before his physical health failed, so he really didn't understand what was going wrong.  

Yeah, I'm only 70, but I see what is coming.  It probably won't get better.  I see the downhill slope more lately.    I don't mean to worry anyone; I'm still mentally and physically active and enjoy my life.  But life passes in only one direction.  I'll never be 30 again.  Heck, I'd love to be 50.  Tell that to a 20 year old, LOL!

And I expect to be "compos mentis" til around 85-90.  That will have been a good run and better than average.  Lots of great experiences, lots of good meals, and lots of special cats.  And as Frank Sinatra sang once, love was good to me a few times.

I probably shouldn't even really post this, but my finger is over the button and...

Mice, Voles, Moles, And Shrews, OH MY!

Funny how sometimes think you know is wrong.   I thought I was identifying some lawn rodents correctly for years, but now I'm not as certain.  

I know what a mole looks like without much doubt, so I can kind of not worry about mistaken identity there.  They are simply bigger, have almost invisible eyes, and large paws.  I have a few around (Marley caught one once), but not many.  They tend to stay in their tunnels and leave and occasional, well, "molehill".  They eat only underground grubs and worms.  I begrudge them the worms (which I love for soil health) but applaud their taste for grubs.  They do have a side effect I will mention later.

So my problem is mice, voles, and shrews.  I forgot about shrews.  It's like when you have a lot of squirrels, you don't always notice the chipmunks.  So, after reading some articles of the differences between mice and voles, I thought I could tell them apart mostly through feeding habits and habitats.

Mice are not a real problem to a gardener.  They live above ground (though nest in small burrows).  They mostly just eat fallen flowerseeds.  And easy to identify by their long tails, prominent hairless ears, and plump round bodies.  If they get into the house, they are easy to control.  Cats and (in tight places like under the oven) traps take care of any invaders

So I thought that left just the voles.  And it made sense.  Voles use mole tunnels where available or dig their own near the surface.  They eat plant roots below-ground and stems at ground level.  They have short tails like moles but they are smaller.  They seldom invade houses (no plant roots to eat).  And the images I saw years ago seemed to show them as slender, chisel-toothed, and small-eared (as is suitable for travelling through tunnel).  And the little rodents that the cats brought up on the deck (for play or as "gifts" to me) matched that description perfectly.  

But as I decided to post about the little evil things, I looked at pictures of voles.  They didn't match my recollection of previous images.

This is not what the cats have been catching!  

Allow me to interject.  I DO indeed have some moles, some field or house mice, and many voles.  I have come across a couple of molehills.  I have trapped mice in the house and the shed (a natural wintering place where I have found nests and they have chewed into corn gluten fertilizer bags).  

I know I have voles because of the shallow surface tunnels and them eating unprotected tulip and hyacinth bulbs by digging tunnels belowground and also digging down from the surface.  They also leave small clean holes in tunnels for surface access.  Moles don't do that and mice don't tunnel.

I have no idea why shrews completely escaped my mind for many years.  Sometimes, you just miss things.   It's embarrassing to miss basic stuff, but it happens. I think the cats are catching shrews.

Sure looks like what they have been catching to me...

According to Wikipedia,shrews forage for seeds, insects, nuts, worms, and a variety of other foods in leaf litter and dense vegetation, living both over and under ground.  They say (to my surprise), shrews are not even rodents, being more related to hedgehogs.  

I know a lot of "stuff".  But what I DON'T know is so much greater...

A wise person once said that it isn't what you know that gets you in trouble, it's what you think you know that isn't true.  It wouldn't be the first time for me.  I thought I knew my yard's rodents; I didn't.  Live and learn.

If so, they have the perfect place here other than the cats. My back yard is semi-wild, mostly organic, covered with leaf litter and groundcover plants and brambles (so there are rarely disturbed by my activities).  I have many large seed-bearing plants (hollies, berries, and nandinas), rich undisturbed soil (lots of earthworms), and many small-rooted plants.

I gather that they (like voles) use existing tunnels, but usually live aboveground (or The Mews wouldn't be catching them).

I don't actually mind what rodent or shrew The Mews catch.  All are annoying in some way.  I respect a certain degree of lethality in them and glad to see that Laz has joined the club (Ayla used to be a great "mouser" but has retired in her senior years).

But I should probably retire "mousies" as meaning all small furry mammals.  Convincing them to change the term might be more difficult.  It's their blog, after all...  

But for myself, I will try to remember the differences.  Shrews are not mice or voles and they don't eat my plants (but like moles, they do eat my worms).  Mice aren't a garden problem, but voles are.  Voles don't invade the house, but mice do (but The Mews get them).  I don't have many moles or mice, but I do have a lot of voles and shrews.

And the moles aren't much of a problem themselves, but the tunnels they build are highways for the voles and shrews.

So my original plan to reduce the moles that make the tunnels the voles (and now shrews) use is still good.  Mole repellent (industrial castor oil) and stomping the tunnels flat and milky spore powder (organic) to kill off the grubs so the moles have less food is still the way to go.  

Just that The Mews are catching shrews, not voles...  I THINK.

Dinner At Chez Cavebear

A few months ago, I received an offer to subscribe to many magazines at $2 per year.  I know a come-on when I see it, but 3 of them were interesting and I had subscribed to them in the past.  Cooks Illustratated and Eating Well, and I forget the 3rd which hasn't arrived yet.

I'm no sucker.  I know they will beg me to renew the subscription in a year.  I won't.  But, as they desire to take advantage of me (hoping I will automatically renew) I will take advantage of them.  Both magazines are very good and have good recipes.  A year's worth of good recipes from 2 cooking magazines is nice.

In fact, they are good enough that I used all the subscription inserts as bookmarks.  Oddly, they equaled each other rather well.

One that interested me was beef with black bean garlic sauce and asparagus.  I didn't find that sauce in the store when I shopped but I found black beans and I found the basic recipe online.  OK, so it wasn't fermented black beans.  And I didn't use flank steak.  But I improvise.

I had New York Strip steak I cut into 2"x2"x6" pieces 1/4" thick because I like cutting the pieces against the grain.  I had the black beans (but not fermented).  I had garlic. I had canned jalepeno.  I immersion-blended the mix.  Close enough.  Then I made a cornstarch slurry of beef boullion paste, sherry, and soy sauce with some toasted sesame seed oil.

The wok cooked the beef nicely and I set it in a bowl.  Then wokked asparagus, red bell peppers, and scallions.  Just the too much "crunch".  Returned the beef and poured the cornstarch slurry in for a minute.    That made the veggies "crunch" right.  Had to add water because the slurry was too thick, but water never ruins the taste, just changes viscosity.

The result was very good!  Enough hot for me (I don't need much), enough beef (I like meat but not a LOT!) and the veggies came out perfectly.  With a nice tossed salad, a perfect meal.  Hurray to a magazine recipe (even if I didn't follow it exactly).

Next time, I will serve it over angel hair spaghetti or fettucini.  It needed a starch (I used a slice of bread).

A professional chef would have been horrified, I suppose.  Well, I'm not one, but I can turn out a decent dish most times.  The failures get tossed (there is a good reason to have premade meals in the freezer).  The good ones I eat and enjoy.  LOL!

Happing dining to all!

A Hard Day

 We didn't have a great day here yesterday.

Laz fell 12' off the deck rolling over inattentively.

I tried to move a tall wheeled plant stand and the wheels stuck so it fell apart.  Took an hour to get it reassembled.  It holds together by friction of poles in holes.  I improved on that in the re-assembly and I have one more idea drilling 2 holes and attaching a bungee cord, but not today.

I tried to pay a hospital bill online.  What idiot developed that website?  There were options for identifying yourself for paying.  Account number on bill, last 4 digits of Social Security Number, date of birth, date of visit.  Yes, I could establish a user name and password, but I doubt I will need one soon again (they expire) and I have way too many one-shot sign-ups as it is.

Everything I tried used a Captcha test.  I got through that, but it didn't matter.  No method of identification worked.  They just wanted a new Captcha test every step.  And the steps led nowhere.

It was circular.  Add whatever identifier info they wanted, get a Capcha Test, succeed, and repeat.  Back to Square One.    Why is it that non-commercial websites never seem to work?  

I went through the same nonsense with getting a new sticker for my trailer license plate.  The website said I didn't own the trailer.  I received a renewal form in the mail and replied to that.  It worked in 5 days!

Speaking of the trailer, I noticed the supporting pipe fell off the cinder block I use to keep it off the ground.  So it was in the ground.  In fact, it is stuck in the ground.  I can't lift things like I used to.  I'll have to drag out the car's jack.

Lately, all my neighbors have decided it is great to mow their lawns at 9 am.  Im trying to sleep then.  Not their problem, but the noise is "sleeplessness".  And 2 neighbors have bought motorcycles they drive up and down the street at the same general time.  What is it with loving "noise"?

Just ranting mildly...