Tax Trouble

Recently my dad got an overdue credit card bill notice in the mail. He did not understand why. And he was too flustered to deal with it. I tried to step in. The credit card company made it difficult because they only wanted to talk with my dad. Eventually I got it all sorted out.

Then my dad told me about his tax problems. He went to a preparer to get his taxes done last year. Then a refund check came in the mail. But it was payable to my mom who had passed away. I called up the IRS. They told me there was no way that would happen. They also were reluctant to speak with anyone but my dad.

So I worked over at my dad's house today. I had some emergencies at work to deal with. That just meant I skipped lunch. However I needed to deal with dad's refund issue. I called the IRS who took a long time to answer. But when I finally spoke to someone, I found out what went down.

Dad's tax preparer filled out his tax return wrong. It directed to send dad's refund to the care of my mom. Fail. I found out everything we need to do to get this straightened out. Dad might be getting to old to deal with details like this. Perhaps my brother or I may need to get a power of attorney from my dad so we can take care of his business ourselves. Not easy.

Had a Bad Day

Today Little Kat went to school. Momoko and Kit Kat went to work. And I worked out of my basement. I had some errands to run at lunch time. However I found that it was raining outside. And the rain gutter was clogged, causing the water to run over the sides of the gutter.

Okay. Errands were cancelled. I climbed up a ladder in the rain, pulled out the gunk stopping up the gutters. Then I got a quick bite to eat at McDonald's. I knew I had some other tasks to do after work. Tomorrow is bulky trash pickup for us. So I hauled all our large items out to the curb with the help of a dolly.

When I was done, my sixth sense kicked it. I took a peek at the stairs leading down to the back door of our house. I saw water standing at the bottom of the stairs. Not good. The drain must have been clogged. Water entered the house and got the basement carpet wet.

I plunged out the drain. Kit Kat and Little Kat went to buy a few gallons of Drano. I dumped a whole gallon down the drain. It must have done something, because the area on top of the drain looked like it had been bleached white. However the drain still would not drain. Damn. I tried a second gallon. This time the water would move down the drain a bit.

Two more gallons worth were poured down the drain for good measure. I followed each with some water to flush it out. I hope the thing stays good for at least a while. I need to get a permanent solution to this problem. It is no fun to try to keep the drain clear. It is even worse when it backs up.

Kit Kat Graduates

Today was Kit Kat's graduation ceremony. Little Kat got a note to get out of school early. Momoko took a half day at work. Kit Kat skipped work. I took the afternoon off. It was my job to pick up lunch. I had a hard time getting away from work. Picked up our favorite Chinese food takeout.

Kit Kat took a separate car. She brought one of her close friends along with her. Little Kat drove Momoko and I to the venue. It was at a concert pavilion close to Kit Kat's school. We dropped Momoko off close to the pavilion. Little Kat and I parked close by. We all convened inside the pavilion where we sat next to Kit Kat's friend.

Eventually Kit Kat's other friends came too and sat with us. We saw Kit Kat as she descended into the pavilion in a procession. There were a lot of students. I alone enjoyed the keynote speaker, who happened to live in the city and taught at the college before. Nobody else seemed to like him. When Kit Kat was called and received her diploma, I stood up and screamed. It did not seem like the rest of the family made much noise. Later I heard that Kit Kat heard me all the way down on stage.

The chairs in the pavilion were not comfortable. After Kit Kat got her diploma, I excused myself, took a walk up the stairs, and stretched out near the top of the pavilion. I waited until about half the kids got their diplomas. Then I returned back to my seat so the family would not think I deserted them too bad.

At the end of the ceremony, Kit Kat walking again in procession out of the pavilion. She walked right next to us. We planned where to meet up after the ceremony. Pictures were taken. Plans were made for further celebration. And then we had Little Kat drive us home. It was a hot day. But we were there to support Kit Kat and celebrate with her.

Dishwasher Blues

Kit Kat and Little Kat informed me that we needed a new dishwasher. They had tried to replace the top rack that kept falling out. It was no longer replaceable. The bottom rack was fine. Previously we had trouble with the bottom rack. But I ordered a new one.

I don't like getting new dishwashers because our floor is uneven below the dishwasher. Regular installers from the store cannot get the dishwasher installed right. So this is a big affair. Me and the kids ordered a new dishwasher a week ago. When I called the warehouse before going to pick it up, I was informed there was a delay.

The kids and I went to the store, cancelled our old order, and purchased another dishwasher they had in stock, I go to pick the thing up from the warehouse tomorrow. Then I will get my handyman team to install it. I trust their work. They will take the time to get the job done right. They have no incentive to do a rush job. They bill me whatever it costs to accommodate the weird floor.

Let's hope we can get a dishwasher to last us another five years or so. We put the dishwasher through some tough times. We normally run it twice a day. These things are not built to last forever. Some day maybe we will remodel the kitchen, tear everything up, and install a level floor throughout.

Day at the Hospital

Momoko was scheduled for some surgery on Friday. So I took the day off from work. We had agreed on a 9:00am departure time. At 9:00 I was playing a game on my iPad. Momoko was anxious to leave. I did not know it was a hard departure time.

I drove Momoko's car to the hospital. It was very close to my community college. Momoko had been to the hospital before, but not the wing where this outpatient surgery was going to be done. All we knew was that the building had a lot of names on it. We found it easily.

We checked in at the front desk. Got called back to go over paperwork. Then we went down to where surgery was performed. I waited in the family wait zone. I returned back to Momoko's side right before surgery to wish her luck. They had her on a bed with wheels.

Momoko thought it was a five minute surgery. I knew better. I spent 2+ hours in the waiting room before they called me. Then I spent another hour or two with Momoko in recovery. There was a lot of beeping going on from the machines around us. Reminded me of when I spent a night in the hospital for chest pains.

I brought Momoko home, had a really late lunch, and picked up Momoko's medications. It was quite a day. But it was not over for me yet. Little Kat and I had to go get his car checked out by the state emissions control. Luckily I had Little Kat drive us to the emmissions station.

Prep Purchases

I continue to purchase items that will help us out when the apocalyse happens. My recent purchase online impressed me. The guy who packed my shipment included his business card. Looked like he signed it. Way to make me feel like you stand behind your work.

The most interesting items I bought were gas masks. You never know when you need to go outside when there are nuclear, chemical, or biological particles in the air. These masks look ominous. They are also hard to figure out. I got to get these things set up so we can grab them and put them on. You usually need to attach the breathing filter, which is not always a simple task.

I also bought and tested out a door alarm. It sits at the foot of the door. When triggered, it lets out a shrill sound to wake you up. Got a five gallon water container. I also tried a light weight sleeping bag. It is supposed to keep your heat inside the bag, and the water out. At first I was skeptical. It seemed like a big tin foil bag. But I tried it out and I felt warm in it.

Of course I also loaded up on some knives and swords. Knives can be concealed and pack a punch. The swords can be carried to make you look like a ninja. Sometimes just the threat of the sword may cause perpetrators to back off. For any other fools that decide to come close, I plan to purchase some guns and ammo.

Return of the Birds

Some birds had made a nest on top of our window unit air conditioner outside the bedroom. This was disturbing as they made a lot of noise when I was trying to sleep. I put up the ladder, removed the nest, and hoped they would go away.

Nope. The birds returned and made a new nest. I guess the top of the air conditioner is just too tempting for these birds. It was time to get serious. I figured I could take away the space above the A/C. That should do the trick.

I climbed up the ladder again. Removed the second nest. Then I measured the space above the A/C. I came back down, grabbed a white bankers box, and started cutting. I created a custom sized box that would fit exactly above the A/C unit. It was sized to be a snug fit.

So I covered the box with a white trash bag to keep the water out. Then I climbed up the ladder for hopefully the final time. I wedged that bankers box above the A/C and kept my fingers crossed. Go away birds.

Double Crossed

I used to work out of my dad's basement a lot. This was so I could be close to dad since he is alone during the day. So I brought my old computer and set it up in my dad's basement. Normally I just used my work computer at dad's. However sometimes I needed to do some personal stuff.

Turns out I do a bit of printing on my home computer. Since printers are cheap, I bought a deskjet printer to keep at dad's house. It also helps my brother who recently bought a laptop. My brother told me the ink cartridge was getting low. No problem. I got on Amazon and ordered two replacement cartridges.

I am enrolled in Amazon Prime. Therefore I chose free two day shipping. The ink took five days to get here. WTF? This messed up my plans to bring the cartridges over to my dad's house this weekend. What is a guy to do? At first I thought I would leave some bad feedback for this seller on Amazon. I might still do that. However that only helps other buys to steer clear from this seller. It does not help me.

Amazon makes it hard to get in touch with them. I tried to select my order and log a problem. However Amazon kept giving me an error. That's okay. I am persistent. I just created up a problem unrelated to my order and got Amazon on the phone. They transferred me to the right department. My problem is that I have already paid for a yearly subscription to Amazon Prime. So it is not like I paid a separate shipping charge for this order.

The Amazon rep said their standard practice to compensate Prime members for late shipments is to extend the membership an extra month at no charge. Sounds good to me. That's like an eight dollar value. It is a little bit less for me since I pay for Student Prime. But I am satisfied. These days it seems easy to complain. Looks like you only need to get through to customer service at the good companies.

Online Deal

I got this catalog full of interesting weaponry recently. Now I got a few knives and machetes from them before. But they had some more goodies I wanted to buy. I circled everything I wanted in the catalog, reviewed them to determine the best deals, and was ready to order.

The order page only had room for five items. What? There were no instructions on how to order more. Attach an extra sheet? So I decided to order from them online. I was glad I did. They were running some online 25% off promotion. It felt like I got the most expensive item on my list for free.

Yeah. This is probably a bunch of cheap stuff. You get what you pay for. However when the apocalypse happens, and you got a big machete in your hand, the bad guys might think twice before starting trouble with you. As a last resort you can try to stab them when they come at you to gain the upper hand.

Dick's Sporting Disappointment

There has been some local unrest in the big city to the North. That was a wake up call for me. Mobs were rioting and looting. Time to weapon up. I always wanted to get some guns to prepare for the apocalypse. Well the time is now.

I got in touch with a friend of mine who is already locked and loaded. He recommended a gun shop in the greater metropolitan area. He also thought Dick's Sporting Goods might be a place to check out. I was excited because there is a Dick's about 20 minutes away from the house.

Today I went to lunch close to Dick's. Then I went to the store. It had a weird graphic on the front doors. Okay. I then proceeded inside and did not see any associates around. I headed towards the back, aiming for the outdoors area.

I found an employee in the shoes section. He told me that Dick's does sell guns, but just not at that location. Darn the luck. Well I guess I will forget Dick's. The guy there thought I might be able to find a limited selection at Walmart. Nope. My next stop will be a dedicated gun store.

My plan is to get my feet wet by purchasing a 22 caliber revolver. Want to get a good name manufacturer like Smith and Wesson. Before the purchase, I will make sure ammo is easily purchased for a reasonable price. Then I will find out what it takes to buy a gun in my state. I will also need to find a shooting range for target practice.