I’ll spare you all the shouting and swearing, but the IRS is of the opinion I owe them nearly $1800 for a previous year. Something about getting nearly $7000 from an IRA, but I don’t have an IRA, and for the year in question, I filed the EZ form, so I guess I now have to get them to cough up supporting documents.
I sure hope this is just a paperwork snafu as I don’t have an extra $18, much less an extra $1800.
The one Bissell I’ve used (when doing in-home support for a disabled person) was IMO poorly designed, with a tank that was very difficult to empty and not the best construction.
I liked the Hoover SteamVac I used to have. OK, it died, but we got years of excellent service out of it first. 
{{{{drew}}}}
I felt bad enough about handing over a stray kitten I’d only known for a couple of days.
We have $1400 from contract income that we reported incorrectly. Good luck contesting
My sweetie fixed the shampooer - he’s very handy. 
The soup is pretty good, but it definitely needs salt. You *KNOW *it needs salt if I think it needs salt.
Long range forecast for the weekend promises gorgeous weather for the inlaws’ visit, so yay! Temps in the low 70s, mid-50s at night. aaaaaaaahh!!
Well I have had my share of dealings with the IRS over the years; sometimes it was their screw up, most of the time it was mine. I have found if you make a call and deal with the agent in human terms it goes a long way towards making a hard time easier.
For example I am currently on a payment plan for back taxes which I hope will be paid off soon. Years ago I screwed up and made a withdrawal against my 401k without withholding the appropriate amount of taxes. Ultimately I sent a letter apologizing and asking for a forbearance and was granted a major reduction in what they wanted - like $4000k down to $100.
Ask specifically about forbearance, or look it up online. They will only give you one (as far as I know) but it’s worth a shot. My CPA had suggested it to me at the time.
Even now as I am paying my back taxes by being kind to the guy on the other end of the phone he took the time to list all of my options, which forms to acquire, and how to deal with my problems.
Of course I might have been lucky and just got a good one - you might not be so lucky. But I do know it’s not the end of the world by any means.
As for 2.99 I’m so sorry. Two weekends ago I was helping my 82 year old father with his boat, and as he would climb on & off I found myself hovering nearby to catch him in case he fell. I ended up reminding myself of my dog Dexter who as a Newfoundland had the same habit of being a ‘nanny dog’, and I found I was still quite bothered by his loss now 5 years ago.
PM me if you want to start an off board conversation. I’m a good listener.
Happy Monday all.
Time to assume the position and veg the night away…
They were very nice when Mrs. Plant (v.2.0) and I were audited. I had the answers to all there questions.
Someone once used my SS number to report income in another state, and they believed my written response that I had never been to Kansas.
I know that one MMPer runs a remote truck, so I ask this here rather than the main board.
I saw one of the local affiliate remote truck on the corner. The dish was blowing through a four degree arc up on top of the pole. How the heck do they stay on the satellite or other microwave dish?
Howdy Mumpers and lets just call this Monday over,
{{{{{2.99}}}}}} so sorry man. Are you leaving Houston? I am hoping to have a local Mumpfest after the ems get settled.
This weekend took it outta me, who boy, I am beaten up. As soon as it cools off a bit, I am off like a prom dress and heading to Ye Olde Watering Hole to drown my sorrows and ease my aches and pains. It is possible that I am too old to Rock and Roll, yikes.
Other than that, I have nothing
Cheers
Jim
Is it safe to assume you start by simmering yourself in a merlot broth? I’m gonna guess if you do that right, you won’t care whether it tastes any good or not!
Just click your heels together three times & repeatedly say, “There’s no place like home.” :rolleyes:
“On the pole” means it’s a terrestrial microwave link shooting from the truck to a tower, line of sight. These dishes and paths of signal are fairly forgiving, and though the strength of signal received may waiver a bit, it would still be useable assuming the truck has a fairly clean shot at the tower and the tower isn’t more than 30 miles away or so. Depending on the distance and other factors I have had shots work in a range of 20 degrees +/- true, and downtown we often take ‘bounce shots’ 90 to 180 degrees from true LOS to get back to the station.
That is the art of microwave truck operation.
Satellite dishes, on the other hand, do require accuracy to within about 1 degree of arc. Satellite dishes are always mounted rooftop on the truck and don’t go up. They also must be at a minimum about a meter across, whereas microwave dishes are often 1/3 the area.
Finally the description ‘4 degrees arc’ makes me believe the mast was wobbling in the wind. In most cases though the mast rocks back & forth, the angle the dish is pointed remains the same relative to the receive site, and the only signal variance come from nearby obstructions (trees, buildings, etc.) We use a 1-10 scale of signal strength with the systems we have here at WUSA. At a 3 we are comfortable the shot will hold. 5+ is a lock. There are also other factors such as the error rate of the digital data we send.
Right now a digital HD signal is set to 16.5 Mb per sec / 8 Mhz wide max setting. I can drop the Mb throughput down to 10, or squeeze the bandwidth to 6 Mhz if needed in a tough situation to bolster the error correction. In those times most people at home can’t tell I have brought the picture quality down from a ‘full HD’ setting. It does enhance the solidity of the shot and makes an on-air breakup less likely.
Indeed my username, 2gigch1 come from the days I worked truck at another station and our primary microwave frequency was 2 gigahertz, channel 1. Most days at this station I use 2 gig channel 2, but I don’t feel like changing everything over such a minor issue.
I hope that answered your question, somewhere in all that bullshit.
{{2.99}}, I know exactly how you feel. 12 years ago I had to adopt out my little minpin guy, Alex and his brother Jr. Cat because of personal issues. It was so hard. Both of them are long gone, but I still miss their little fuzzy faces.
I’ve vacuum sealed the green chili pork and it’s in the freezer. I’ve got my clothes packed and a pile of stuff ready to load into the cars. Still more to go. TheElf got a cool new portable grill/stove. The only thing left to do really is to go grocery shopping and I’ll do that tomorrow night.
I may assume the same position as Mooom. Have a great night all.
Just FYI I have just spotted my ex on the board.
Do not be shocked by the stuff you may read in the next few hours…
Yes, thanks.
I’m surprised they are high enough to hit the microwave antenna, but I guess they are hitting the studio, not the transmitter.
I’ve said all I have to say. You leave a trail of truth behind you that my attorney has been shown.
yawn Thanks all for the support and the stories. I’m just waking up from a little nap. My eyes are so tired from all the crying, I think. I will probably head right back to sleep soon.
I will be leaving Houston for a while. Between my job (which keeps me off shore for 4 weeks at a time anyway), and the traveling I want to do (spending time with my friends and family outside of Houston), I don’t plan to be around this city much for a good long while. So I’ll have to forgo going to any Houston dopefests for a while but I do hope to catch one some day! Thanks Jim 
House is very quiet tonight without ol’ Stitch. I’m coming to terms with the fact that he’s gone, and finding peace with it. I still have my darling kitty cat Rika who I’ve had for around 8 years now, and she’ll be getting lots of extra loving tonight. Luckily my Dad is willing to help take care of her when I’m traveling off for work or other reasons. Up until recently, my now ex-boyfriend took care of her when I was away for work, or my sister did. But even my sister is moving back to Oregon, and so must Rika.
I have no motivation to go to the gym or even go for a walk tonight. I’m going to just be lazy.
This is a warning for you..if you bring off-board drama on here again, you will be banned from this message board.
Do not post links or matter relating to this topic again.
my husband has shingles
woah MMP DRAMA!!
We got your back 2gig!