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Post by Phalon on Feb 22, 2019 8:30:01 GMT -6
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Post by stepper on Feb 26, 2019 21:46:25 GMT -6
Eventually the worst set of circumstances is bound to occur. We had a three day weekend not long ago, and I took Friday as leave to make it a four day feast of relaxation, rest, and recuperation. You know that didn't happen at all. I got a call Thursday evening. A friend needed to fly out Friday afternoon and was planning on getting back Sunday - could I provide transportation? I said "friend" so of course I said "yes". We were going to talk Friday to make arrangements. Friday morning: first thing I did was look at the clock on my phone, except it wasn't there. No screen functions at all. Translation: no screen means the touch screen is useless so nothing is working. And, I'm expecting important calls. Visits to the emergency phone stores resulted in no real help. I need a new screen and they'll install it, but they don't have any because the phone is more than a couple years old and they don't carry "older" parts. At his point, out of desperation, I borrowed Steppet's phone and contacted the friend. I used her phone Friday; the rest of this story picks up on Saturday. I had to get a working phone, so on the advice of one of the AT&T techs I got a Wal-Mart special that works with AT&T networks. They installed a SIM and I was off to the races. NOT. My recently deceased phone had a windows operating system; the new phone is Android which functions completely differently. It took four phone calls for me to figure out that answering an incoming call wasn't done by tapping the icon - you have to slide it. Well, that sounds simple but there is no manual for this thing and I didn't know that's how Androids functioned. Grrr. I'm feeling especially stupid, but at least I could answer incoming calls. The next challenge was "contacts." I'm going to have to manually add all contacts (that my pea brain can recall) because we can't capture the old data - no screen so nothing functions. How do you do this? I'm thinking you tap the contacts icon, but NOOOOO. Do that and it says there are no slots and you have to delete some contacts first, except it's a new phone and has no contacts yet!! My blood pressure was somewhat elevated by this point, but I kept trying. That was a signification waste of time. Eventually I gave up and decided I'd have to just type in any number I was calling. I did that once, and saw it. On the page where you put in the number, near the top of the page, there's a line... "Is this a new contact?" YES!! (Except it's not a yes, you have to also notice the check mark and click that - unlike answering a call it doesn't slide anywhere.) And then it let me add the contact information for that person including email address. So, to add contacts you don't go to contacts, you go to the phone function and look around for options. I've had several such adventures with the new phone - but the four day weekend had no relaxation and the phone took up nearly all four days. Oh, the friend coming back on Sunday - the plane for a connecting flight was late due to bad weather and that pushed things back a bit. The friend arrived Monday morning at about 0045. I was waiting for him in the cell phone parking lot. Thank goodness I had figured out how to answer the phone by then so I knew when to circle around to get him.
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Post by Phalon on Feb 27, 2019 9:22:19 GMT -6
Glad you got the new phone figured out - or at least partially figured out. You've just got to play with it a bit.
I was fretting last week that I kept getting the black screen of death on my old Android (I think I got it about 4 or 5 years ago - that's probably 347 years ago in cell phone years), but a bunch of updates that came through this week seems to have corrected the problem.
Just got back from having our taxes done. Blah. We owe.
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Post by stepper on Feb 27, 2019 22:15:44 GMT -6
Just got back from having our taxes done. Blah. We owe. Sorry. I mailed ours in a couple weeks ago, but I knew the new withholding levels didn't match the previous years' levels. One of the guys in the office did the calculations last January and said he had to adjust his upwards to keep from owing too much. In my case, I claim zero deductions all year so we ended up still having a refund. It's less than last year, but I prefer the lump sum refund to owing.
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Post by Mini Mia on Feb 27, 2019 23:35:24 GMT -6
I should probably start working on my taxes. I seem to wait until the end of March, beginning of April before digging out the papers. I must love the pressure.
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Post by Phalon on Feb 28, 2019 10:10:52 GMT -6
We had adjusted withholding also...but obviously not enough! We took into account that since she graduated college last December, LX isn't a dependent anymore. We didn't adjust for BP though; although she is still a dependent, she turned 17 in June - no child tax credit anymore for her (go figure - still living at home, still costing as much - if not more).
Me. I like to have the taxes done though, before the nursery reopens.
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Post by Phalon on Mar 5, 2019 8:52:19 GMT -6
Hubs' grandmother's wooden rocking chair was delivered yesterday - six months after it was taken away in pieces, and almost 30 years after Hubs got it! His grandmother - he called her "Granny" - practically raised Hubs for a time when he was a very little boy after his parents divorced, and the rocker was very special to him - lots of memories of him sitting on his grandmother's lap in the chair, listening to stories as he fell asleep. When she died, Hubs got the chair.
He wanted to refinish it decades ago when we lived in Kentucky, and for a time worked on it - and in all honestly, nearly ruined it. He ripped out the old springs, horse-hair, and straw filling from the seat, and since the spindles on the chair's back were so fragile and close together, he took the whole thing apart. It was a huge job though - more than he bargained for - and he never finished it. All the pieces were wrapped up in a huge piece of plastic and we've carted them around through at least three moves. I don't know what possessed him last summer to finally find someone to work on the rocker - he was probably tired of moving it around when getting things from up in the rafters of the garage, where it's been sitting for nearly 20 years.
It took so long for the guy to fix it because he's a farmer who only restores antique furniture as a profitable hobby/side-business; his farm obviously comes first and Hubs wasn't in any hurry to get it done - it's taken 30 years to get this far, what's another six months. The guy dated the chair as being made between 1880 and 1910. It's a beautiful chair, and he did a beautiful job refinishing it. Except there's no seat! Hubs was expecting a seat.
I've got no idea where I'm going to put another rocking chair in the house, especially one without a seat. And it had better not take another 30 years to find someone to finish it!
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Post by Mini Mia on Mar 9, 2019 5:21:34 GMT -6
Won't be long now, either.
My sister and I do our taxes together because of the farm, and we have to wait until the end of March, beginning of April to do our taxes due to tax papers that won't come in until then.
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Post by katina2nd on Mar 27, 2019 5:59:19 GMT -6
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Post by Phalon on Mar 29, 2019 6:12:10 GMT -6
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Post by Phalon on Apr 4, 2019 4:42:40 GMT -6
Sigh. Yesterday was such a letdown.
To make a long story short, in February I had some major sinus pressure off and on - the kind of pressure that made my head feel like it was going to explode. There was so much pressure on the left side of my face that my upper teeth started to ache, which has happened in the past. None of my usual sinus rituals, though - the steamer, hot compresses, nasal spray, or Allegra, which I take daily, seemed to help. In addition to the sinus pressure, or maybe because it, I'd wake up and discover I was clenching my teeth. After three days of my mouth throbbing, I called both my doctor and my dentist because it usually takes a while to get an appointment with either. I got into the doctor right away, but couldn't get a dental appointment until a week later. Doc determined I had a sinus infection and prescribed antibiotics for a week. The throbbing stopped after a couple of days on the antibiotic, but I could not touch my teeth together without shooting pain.
Dentist took xrays and thought the same - that it was sinus pressure causing the pain, especially since I could not pinpoint which tooth was hurting (they all hurt), prescribed another round of antibiotics, this one for two weeks, a week of Prednisone, and a follow up appointment. After two more appointments, another prescription for Prednisone, he sent me to an endodonist; after a consult with her, she determined that the clenching had damaged a nerve in the only tooth I have that's crowned, and I needed a root canal. I went yesterday, and as fearful as I am about this kind of stuff because of my dental phobia, I was glad, looking forward to being without pain.
Pfft!!!!
The endodontist could not finish the procedure because there is still infection, and I have to go back in another two weeks to have it completed. And now I'm back to throbbing pain.
I swear, this is driving me insane.
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Post by Mini Mia on Apr 4, 2019 10:08:14 GMT -6
So sorry you’re having to deal with this. Steam, so far, has always worked for me for sinus infection. I do the steam three times a day, for 10 to 20 minutes each time, for infections. Once a day at 5 to 10 minutes for stuffiness and such. I hope this never fails me. So sorry the steam failed you. Sinuses are nothing to laugh, or sneer, at. The infection can do a lot of damage if left untreated. I learned this on a show trying to figure out the causes of death. A homeless man died from his untreated sinus infection. It wasn’t an easy death either. There should be a system in place to help the poor and homeless. If the government won’t do it, there should be charities that do. There are free ones for children, but I’m not aware of ones for adults.
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Post by Phalon on Apr 5, 2019 5:12:57 GMT -6
I didn't mean to be so whiny...actually, that's not true, because I realized I sounded whiny while I was typing, but dang! I was just so frustrated! Blah. Sorry for the whine!
I probably need to use the steamer more than I do. I use pressure points almost every day though, and as weird as it sounds, it actually provides a ton of relief for sinus pressure. I haven't had a sinus infection in years and years - that I know of anyway; I would have never gone to the doctor if not for the teeth pain.
Somewhere around here is a clinic for people who don't have health insurance. I'm not sure if it's a free clinic, or if a patient is charged based on their income. I don't know either if it's just our county, or if it's a state program and every county has one, or if it's federally funded. I do know though, that it takes months to see a doctor there. Xena Sis used to volunteer as a patient advocate at one of the doctor's offices in town; part of her job was helping people without insurance get adequate health care (the office she volunteered at did not accept patients without health insurance). She would express frustration to me about how long it would take to get people into see a doctor at the clinic. Can you imagine having a sinus infection, for example, and waiting months to see a doctor? What about more pressing health concerns? It's terrible.
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Post by Mini Mia on Apr 6, 2019 0:03:42 GMT -6
Had to turn the a/c on today. The laptop is roasting me. And I have it on one of those shelves you put in the cabinet or on the counter top. It isn't on my lap.
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Post by Mini Mia on Apr 10, 2019 1:53:21 GMT -6
The tax papers my sister & I have been waiting on arrived in the mail on Monday. We went and saw our accountant this morning, and while I was there I mentioned I was starting a business, and asked him if there was anything I needed to know. He asked me what kind of business it would be, and if I was going to have any employees. He said since it will just be me, working for myself, I didn't need to start a business ... which is a good thing, because I canNOT think of a business name.
So, now I've got to plot & plan where I'm going to start. Etsy.com? Amazon.com? Lulu.com? The Game Crafter.com? I'm thinking I might go with Etsy first. Well, actually, I need to create files and covers first. I've already been playing around, and have a few test files. I've used Libre Office, and Word, and Publisher, and a new one I found called, WPS Office. I'm trying to decide which one is the best one to use, and will do everything I want it to do, and with less hassle.
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Post by Phalon on Apr 11, 2019 4:44:29 GMT -6
I don't know anything about the ins and outs, and advantages or disadvantages from a seller's standpoint on any of these sites, but from a buyer's view, I'd go with either Etsy or Amazon.
I've purchased things from both sites, never having experience with the other two (I've never even heard of The Game Crafter, and only recognize Lulu from you mentioning it in the past on Whoosh). If I was looking on-line to buy a journal (or anything else), did a basic drill, and all four sites came up, no matter which order, I'd go to Amazon or Etsy first because they are well-known; I probably would completely ignore the other two sites. I'd think an average consumer would do the same.
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Post by Mini Mia on Apr 11, 2019 23:10:54 GMT -6
Well, at Amazon, I'd only get about 35% royalties, unless I enrolled in their exclusive plan, and then I'd get 70%. I don't think only having my books on Amazon is a good move. What if they get a wild hair and shut me down? I'd lose my only money source. Lulu.com pays 80% royalties on books, and 90% on eBooks. I don't know why they don't have more traffic.
Amazon won't let anyone sell low & no content books as eBooks. Which I guess makes sense. So, Etsy is a good choice to sell downloadable/printable files. And The Game Crafter is for POD games. I was trying to decide if I should publish the nonfiction games, or the nonfiction eBooks, first. I guess it doesn't matter. Whichever one I go with first won't have any links where I can connect them to the other anyways.
I might start with Etsy. Then both Amazon & Lulu. I'm still figuring out how I want to set up the files. Playing around with the different software to see which one I'd rather use.
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Post by Phalon on Apr 14, 2019 7:16:02 GMT -6
Yeah, I'd guess that Amazon would pay the least percentage of royalties, since it's such a large platform. Makes sense that the smaller companies would pay the higher royalties to encourage more sellers.
That makes total sense to me. What would be the point of a eBook journal?
Wait a minute...am I misunderstanding this whole thing? I thought the different covers you're designing were for physical journals - a book someone could write in with a pen. Excuse my naivety, but I don't understand how selling a downloadable/printable journal would be profitable...as opposed to say, someone just journaling in a program like Word. I guess I'm just cheap because I wouldn't pay for a downloadable file for something I could do on my computer for free.
Back to your question to your tax accountant about setting up a business...I don't know if you researched it or not, but don't Amazon and other companies like it send out 1099s at the end of the year that you have to report on your taxes? Back when I used to write for magazines, I'd get a 1099 at year-end that I had to report as income. It had to be over a certain dollar amount which I can't remember, for it to be required to be reported, and I'm sure it's a different amount if you're getting royalties (as opposed to a flat fee that magazines pay for articles), but I'd assume that even passive income earners have to pay taxes. Might be something to keep in mind if you haven't already checked, just so you're not surprised come tax time.
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Post by Mini Mia on Apr 15, 2019 3:31:33 GMT -6
Yes, there will be print books. The downloadable/printable files will be PDFs. The buyer can print it out, use a three-hole puncher and put the sheets in a binder. It's just another option, for those who might prefer that.
The accountant just meant that I don't need to get an Inc. or LLC or DBA. Although, if I can come up with a business name, I might get an LLC anyways.
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Post by Phalon on Apr 16, 2019 6:05:02 GMT -6
Ahhhh, now I get it. The thing you mentioned about Amazon not allowing no/low content eBooks threw me off.
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Post by Mini Mia on Apr 17, 2019 16:51:14 GMT -6
Yeah. I jump around ... going where my thoughts lead me.
The eczema is losing it's battle. It's pretty tiny now, and isn't giving me as much problems as it had on Sunday. Yesterday, when I did errands, as I ran to the grocery store, I could see my speedometer without having to use my hand as a blinder against the sunlight. Only when the sun was reflecting off of the dash, did I have to squint ... but could still see the numbers and bars well enough without having to put up my hand. I was so happy. I was really worried about what the eczema was going to do with my eyesight.
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Post by Phalon on Apr 19, 2019 4:34:20 GMT -6
Good deal! And glad that you're having less problems with it while driving!
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Post by Mini Mia on Apr 19, 2019 22:10:49 GMT -6
Me too. I was dreading having to tell my sister I might not be able to drive anymore.
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Post by Mini Mia on Apr 20, 2019 20:57:38 GMT -6
Ooh ... I'll have to remember to get some castor oil. I bought several jugs of apple juice to start taking 2T of ACV each day. I tried it in just water, and couldn't do it. Never thought to try drinking it straight up. The apple juice hides the strong flavor the best, but not that sharp bite. AVC goes well with pineapple juice too. I like to heat it up in the microwave, and I tend to use it for when I have a cold &/or a sore throat. Heating up the AVC tends to work like a hot toddy, and I get the sweats during the night. Of course, now that I'm having hot flashes, I'm not going to notice the difference.
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Post by Phalon on Apr 21, 2019 7:45:24 GMT -6
Castor oil was mentioned in all those sites I read for treating topical steroid withdrawal also. Most of them recommended warming the castor oil first, for deeper skin penetration since eczema isn't just a surface rash.
I've done it straight at times....immediately followed by a toothpaste chaser!!! Any other time I've had it, it's been diluted in a glass of water. I just can't get into the habit though.
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Post by katina2nd on Apr 27, 2019 19:20:04 GMT -6
Anyone following the Mohamed Noor case over there, the police officer who killed Australian woman Justine Ruszczyk?
Any thoughts on what, if any, penalty he should receive, or on the possible outcome of the trial?
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Post by Mini Mia on Apr 28, 2019 0:51:35 GMT -6
I don't watch the news, so wasn't aware of it.
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Post by katina2nd on Apr 28, 2019 6:44:57 GMT -6
Can't say I blame you Jox, it's pretty depressing most of the time.
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Post by Phalon on Apr 28, 2019 6:47:27 GMT -6
I haven't been following it closely, Katina, but have read a few articles here and there over the course of the trial. From what I've read there seems to be some conflicting testimony...
Noor's partner said he had his gun drawn at his side, waiting to identify the person who approached the car; conversely, Noor said the partner couldn't get his gun drawn and 'had fear in his eyes', so Noor makes the decision to shoot (first and ask questions later?).
Since neither of them had their body cameras on, I don't think it'll ever be determined without a doubt what actually happened.
This is what I don't get about Noor's version of that happened....the officers are responding to a call at night made by a woman who is reporting a sexual assault in an alley. They see no one in the alley, until a woman approaches their car on the opposite side from Noor. He deems she's a threat and shoots across his partner, and kills the woman. What I don't understand, because it's night, is how he can even see it's a woman who approached the car; in the dark, someone would have to be pretty danged close to the window of the car to identify that person's sex - otherwise you're just shooting at an individual who happens to be in the alleyway. If he had the time or she's close enough to identify that it's a woman, why shoot her when it's a woman's call you're responding to, especially since you've got to shoot across your partner, possibly striking him instead of whoever is outside of the car.
It seems to me, Noor reacted and shot on impulse rather than assessing the situation to determine if a threat actually existed. Noor is on trial for murder; it seems to me that it's more of a manslaughter case - I think anyway, that's how it might play out in the end. I believe the jury starts deliberating the case tomorrow.
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Post by katina2nd on Apr 29, 2019 1:02:32 GMT -6
Seem to be a lot of confusing/conflicting statements for sure, the one you mention where Harrity says he had his gun out yet Noor says he was having difficulty drawing it, the "loud noise" that supposedly startled them yet wasn't mentioned until several days later.
As you state, without any film there's no way of knowing precisely what happened, but even if it went down exactly as they (Noor and Harrity) described it, surely it's still reckless homicide/manslaughter, you don't have the right to shoot someone simply because you think there "may" be some threat, whether you're a cop or a civilian.
Yet I have a feeling he'll be acquitted myself, apparently it's notoriously hard to get a conviction against a police officer for some reason.
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