Well, talked to a very nice lady at the state irs--told her my refund was about 1185 less than what I was expecting...when she finished laughing, she pulled up my filing...then (it was the end of her day poor thing!) in between her giggles she explained that my dau had claimed the income tax I had paid last year (2010 for 2009) and that the state of Arkansas didn't give credit like the feds do so therefore they deducted 1200 from my credits,.....IOWs, I came very close to having to pay in this year...in between her chuckling she suggested I might want my employer to hold back a little more state withholding this year....and then she chuckled again and wished me a good weekend!  Well, at least i gave her her chuckle for the day...

She was chuckling????

Yeesh... I'd have been a little more caustic in that conversation.

Awww...I was just grateful that when they "refigured" I didn't have to pay...the year of 2009, the state of Ks. reached out and touched me for $1300 in underpayment for the year 2007--seems Glen had made a "settlement" with some credit card companies that I didn't know about (I filed taxes for the year 2007 after Glen died in December of 2007)  So I get really jumpy at tax time....

Nothing to get jumpy about, Cannalee.  If you owe, you make the largest amount you can afford and request to be put on an installment agreement for the rest.  This is coming from a former IRS worker and one who has been audited and had to pay on installments.

Grocery prices.  I am shocked at the increases. I noticed it most with pasta. Remember when that was a cheap, filling item? I'm going to snag some KD on sale this week, before it goes through the roof. Buy one case of 12, get one free for around $13.  That's .54 cents a box.

Just last year that stuff was going for 49 cents a box. The price of pasta is ridiculous considering Canada is one of the biggest wheat producers in the world. An interesting coincidence perhaps, but the last time pasta prices went through the roof was when another CONServative was prime minister.

I think this time it's because of the wheat crops and weather, Sid. It's everywhere, even in the US.

I got a 12 lb pork tenderloin roast for 99¢ a pound.

Wow, good deal. 

Chaos, "sale" my favorite four letter word! Unfortunately, here  we pay more for most everything already with the shipping cost. Pasta, made in Ontario, then trucked out here. I really wish they would open some production facilities out this way. For instance, potatoes at $1.29 for a 10lb bag in Ontario, would be $2.98 or more here.    We have friends who moved from Ontario and he couldn't stop bitching about the cost of potatoes for years, lol!

That's the same for me.... I just got 4 500g cheese bars for $3.88 each at Food Basics.

"I have no idea why."

I think they'd be concerned about people making multiple copies.

Sid, that's no different than having multiple coupons that have been cut out of fliers etc. The stores have a policy for multiples. One coupon per product.

My rant for today: Answering service that screens calls after hours/weekends. They have been instructed to call us only for emergencies. Flood, fire, no heat in winter. Today they called because a resident said they fell and were worried that the snow removal hadn't been done yet. Oh, FFS! First of all our contractor has multiple contracts and they always come. Second of all the city by-law is removal 24hours after the snow stops. Thirdly the residents know not to call unless it is one of the above emergencies. Fourthly, I, an Alabama native, have been here 8 years and I've never, ever fell. I am very careful and watch my step. Imagine that! Personal responsibility. What a concept!

But my biggest bitch is with the answering service. What idiots!

I love the Kraft site for their recipes.  April and I would pour over it each night to decide what to make for dinner.  Never even looked for coupons, though.

My peeve was the weather yesterday.  I can only tolerate one kind of weather at a time.  Yesterday morning it was drizzling, then it got semi-sunny (ie: you could see a glimmer of sun through the clouds), then we had torrential rain followed by a thunder storm.  Fifteen minutes later it was snowing followed by a wicked hail storm.  Then, just to round things out, we had a beautiful, warm sunny evening with bright blue skies.

New internet gripe. Mostly msn/bing. Click on a link at msn, it takes you to one of their damned slide shows. However, as much as I hate that just to get a story or list ,the slide show has pictures and "teaser text" concerning the subject. You then have to click on yet another Bing link to get the whole story about the one picture. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! Screw them.

My internet was down a little while ago and if there's anything I can't stand is being put on hold for half an hour and stuck listening to that schmaltzy, tinny crap they call "music" while I'm racking up cell phone minutes...

Am wrestling trying to get my identity papers...seems work wants a "gov't ID" from every employee this coming week to verify identity before we receive our paychecks...trouble is, I lost my DL (from Ks.) to replace it I have to prove residency (of Ks.)  to request any of the numerous pieces of identification required to get my Arkansas DL I must provide 2 pieces of identification with each request..and each request by mail must be notarized (which requires a DL)....i am so ******!

How is your quest going? My permanent resident card finally came and we had to go downtown to pick it up with, get this, two pieces of ID. They mailed my last one, lol. It went very smoothly. After dreading some sort of snafu, I was tickled pink.

My latest rant. I am really tired of a news source running a story that is "unfinished" and never updating it. For example, the little doggie that made his way home with two broken legs, after the tornadoes in Alabama. He was to have surgery. And? Did it go well? Is he ok? Is he back with his family?
Never another word that I can find.


 Do they think we all have demetia and forget or do they think their target readers have a really short attention span? I know in today's instant access world, many people are captured by the next story and never think about the previous one, but I'm not one of them. Neither are the people in here. We all can keep more than one thought in our heads. Imagine that!  I blame Twitter.

"Do they think we all have demetia and forget or do they think their target readers have a really short attention span?"

I think the last mid-term elections were proof of the latter.

Vote in haste, repent in leisure?