Good Morning All. Mostly clear and 71° this morning. Yesterday started out like this, then light rain around noonish, leaving 0.4" in the gauge. Clouds never left and it only reached 82°, meaning the pool was warmer at 84°. The NWS has now removed all chances of rain from the forecast for the next week, after predicting 10 days in a row just two days ago??? Maybe that day someone fell asleep with their finger on the "repeat" key. Hopefully some drying off today so I can resume mowing. Otherwise it gets harder by the day.
The grocery trek yesterday went off without a hitch. No need to stop at Walmart! Grocery prices here are still going up except for pork. Gasoline prices are remaining stable around $3.19/gal. It didn't rain here until after I got home and emptied the car.
But I had the window next to the bed open while I took a nap, and slept for over an hour, 30 minutes longer than normal. Something about sleeping during a rain.
Right now, I'm waiting for the extra heavy dew to evaporate before I start doing outdoor stuff. I don't need to be slipping and falling, else I have to report it to Medicare at the next doctor visit.
Thanks for the reactions regarding the ongoing upgrades to the layout;
Tom O, Dave B, Patrick, Smudge, Sherrel, Chad, Louis, Hughie, Guy, Chet, Gary, Joe, Tom, Rick, Mike, James, OB Ken.
Yesterday was one of those days out in the train shed when I did nothing but run trains. I have those kind of days occasionally. On the to-do list for the current project area are some minor detailing tasks which include adding another tree or three, adding the parking lot markings at the bank, One street left to stripe, and add pedestrians and vehicles. Then I have to decide what to do with the remaining area to the right of the bank. I had some tentative structures there, but I am not sure that all/any of them will go back. I have to play around with the area, but it's not next in line for upgrade anyway.
I'm not sure what you folks want to see this morning. How about some random shots taken of Walther's Merchant's Row I?
These were taken while it was being cleaned and was on a blank part of the layout deck.
Joe/Alan - I agree that the IRS will eventually be going after the "low fruit" taxpayers. Think about how long it will take these rookies to gain enough training and experience to even be able to handle high income earners or complicated returns. Add to that that the IRS expects 50,000 retirements of experienced agents over the next few years, so nearly half of the 87,000 new persons will be unknowledgeable. As a comparison, my wife was an enrolled agent for H&R Block for years. Some of her fellow preparers who had 10+ years with the company still couldn't do farms, foreign income, rental property or businesses after all of those years and failed training. Investments and dividends were off the charts for them. My wife got a lot of lucrative returns because of that mis-match of skills. She also collected about a dozen Ben Franklin's a season in tips. Oooops! That was unreported income!
That NPR article was mostly right on. It did highlight that EIC is one of the most abused facets of our tax system, although it's a rather low return of enforcement. The article also points out that the IRS is missing $600 billion a year in unreported income, but estimates that it will recover only $400 billion in ten years.
Curt - The pace that I walk is quite comfortable for me. It is however about 40% faster than my wife can walk, even with her replacement knees.
Today is known as VJ Day in WWII history.
Everybody have a great day. If you're traveling this Labor Day weekend, be safe. If you're staying home close to the grill and ice chest, stay safe. Tomorrow I'll be smoking one of those brisket flats that
Troy is always posting about. I've never actually done one before, only whole trimmed briskets. Sunday will be pork chops with rib steak for Monday. I'll make maximum use of the pool as it appears that it won't cool down yet. I may get four full months or more this season.
