Taxes

It's time for us to pay our property taxes again... I dread this upcoming event - handing over $2300 in property & school taxes seems insane to me for the size of our house and school system.

Anyway, this led a few of us into a conversation recently on taxes. So I am posing my questions to everyone out there to see if anyone knows the answers.

1. Why do you have to declare your state tax refund (refunded money because you OVERPAID your taxes in the first place) to the IRS? Isn't that double taxation? Isn't that partly why we rebelled against the English centuries ago?

2. I just bought my new car last fall for $17000, but I talked them down to $12,000 because it was Fall and they wanted the 2004 models off the lot. So then I paid sales tax on the entire $17000. My question is since I've now paid sales tax on that car, why will the state make anyone who buys it in the future pay sales tax on it again? Again, the whole double taxation comes to mind. In Vermont, if you buy a used car, you must pay sales tax on it when you register and sales tax is based on the Blue book value of the car, not what you paid for it. So if you buy a car for $3000 used and the book value is $5000, kiss 6% of the $5000 value goodbye. Now if you paid $6000 for the car valued at $5000, the state will take the tax based on that $6000 value.

LOST addiction

I am totally hooked on the show - LOST. So last night, I arranged everything to make sure I was home in time. Now I've seen it and so many questions pop up. I'm beginning to think this show is all about careful planning - not fate. It has to be planned that Jack would end up facing a man from his past on this very island... And I would swear that his father has something to do with it all.

Movies anyone

Okay, it's time for the movie industry to explain something to me!! Because Ophelia felt like dumping some rain on Vermont this weekend, my husband and I decided the movies sounded good on Friday night. We had some free passes to use up, so we headed for the theater. Now WHY was the only PG movie showing playing a 1:00pm showing when kids were at school?

Thankfully our children are older - 9 and 12, so I felt okay with the movie we all ended up choosing. Though the fact that my children wanted to see a romantic comedy still stuns me - we went to Reese Witherspoon's JUST LIKE HEAVEN. Really the only issue was seeing an old man's behind in an Emergency room which is pretty accurate of what you can see in an ER, so that doesn't bother me.

I am bothered by the fact that the only movie at this theater that was under a PG13 rating was one we didn't want to see. Hollywood needs to look at the movies they are releasing and realize that there are kids out there who do go to the movies. More PG or G options would be nice, and I think it might get more people in the theaters. Had my kids not been interested in JUST LIKE HEAVEN, we would have skipped the movies completely.

Will it work?

I have been waiting for the show, BONES, to premiere and finally last night it did. I am just not sure I really like it.

I think my problem lies with the fact that Hollywood really changed Kathy Reich's character. I can see creating a whole new character with a new name, go ahead and keep the career the same, but I think taking a long-time fictional character - making her younger, more athletic, and changing her location is just maddening. The Temperence from the show isn't like the one from the novel. She kicks butt, she's young, no daughter involved, she is based in the D.C area instead of Montreal. In reality, she is a new character with the same name. To me that's wrong, it wasn't what I was expecting.

I think the show has promise, more so with those that haven't read every Kathy Reichs book. For the long time fans, this new Temperence is going to be hard to get used to and if you manage to adapt, the books will then feel wrong.

Posts with links

Twice now I've had posts with links on them. While I normally would allow such behavior, these two "links" have contained Trojan viruses that were caught and quarantined. I am deleting and banning all who post virus ridden links.

Red Sox

I grew up in a household where the Red Sox were the team to root for. I still remember in 1986 they made the World Series and for five days our geometry teacher brought in coffee and donuts for all --until Game 6 and then class changed!

I ended up marrying a Red Sox fan. The game was on in the background while I gave birth to my daughter, and I wouldn't have had it any other way.

So this weekend, my husband discovered Bronson Arroyo's new CD. For those unfamilar with Bronson, he is the Red Sox pitcher who wore dreadlocks all last year. Now his hair is back to normal and I still say it looks weirder now than it did then. Anyway, the CD turned out to be quite a surprise. I'm still not sure he'd have gotten a recording contract had he not already been a sports star, but more power to him for realizing his dream!

Gas Prices, Part 3???

So I was just reading a story on gas prices and how they've reached this all-time high--


By JEREMIAH MARQUEZ, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 18 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES - Damage to Gulf Coast refineries and pipelines by Hurricane Katrina pushed retail gas prices to historic highs in the past two weeks, with self-serve regular averaging more than $3 a gallon for the first time ever, according to a nationwide survey released Sunday.

The weighted average price for all three grades surged more than 38 cents to nearly $3.04 a gallon between Aug. 26 and Sept. 9, said Trilby Lundberg, who publishes the semimonthly Lundberg Survey of 7,000 gas stations around the country.

Self-serve regular averaged $3.01 a gallon nationwide, according to the survey. Midgrade was pegged at about $3.11, while premium-grade was at nearly $3.21.

So what I want to know is where are they getting these prices from????? The LOWEST I've found around here is $3.19 a gallon and that's effective only today after prices dropped. Last Tuesday when I tried to gas up, the cheapest was $3.49 a gallon in this area. I had to drive 30 miles to get a price of $3.39 a gallon. All these prices are regular - I won't even go there for the super and premium because no one can afford them!!!!

I would be thrilled at this point to have $3.01. Someone tell Vermont that their prices are screwy - and as we were in NY yesterday and prices were about 20 cents higher over there - someone needs to tell NY that they have their prices jacked up too high as well!!

I have two roads to go with - either there is some serious price goudging going on in this area, or the Associated Press needs to do their homework a little more thoroughly.

Demise of a city...

Growing up, I used to LOVE taking trips over the lake to Plattsburgh over in New York. The city had a military base and two malls which made it a treat in my teen years--the change of pace was refreshing, and taking the ferry it really wasn't a long trip at all - especially for a car load of teens.

It has been four years since my last trip to Plattsburgh. After the base shut down, the town started faltering. One mall closed down and the other seems to struggle. The weather was gorgeous yesterday, so my husband and I thought the kids might enjoy a trip on the ferry. I'm saddened to see that nothing has improved over there. I'll say I did enjoy the Super Walmart. Vermont keeps shooting one down here, but I've never seen a 10 lb bag of potatoes for under $2 in any of my local grocery stores.

What bothers me is that lack of change. Hooters shut down years ago, and the mall still has failed to bring in a new restaurant in the mall. The food court has lost three eateries since our last visit. Ames still sits empty. It's almost as if everyone has given up on even trying -- though I know the current mayor is struggling to revitalize the city. I'd like to think something will change, but after four years and still no improvement, I'm doubting it will happen.

When Ames shut down in Vermont - Kohls was quick to snatch up the space. In St. Albans - Ames turned into a TJ Maxx and the more useless Peebles. Those spaces filled rather quickly. I'd have thought the same would happen just over the lake, but it hasn't.

I hope years from now that I return to Plattsburgh and find major improvements, but some how I just don't see it happening...

The HUMANE???? Society

I guess my faith in mankind has been shattered partially today. As I'd stated in a post a few days ago, we found ourselves in the possession of a stray cat last Saturday morning. She's a good cat, but she HATES, and will attack to kill, other cats and dogs. So my own cats are not thriving, nor is my dog. All three have taken to hiding under beds in an effort to avoid the new cat. Despite shelling out $200 to pay for the stray's vet care, my husband and I decided she'd be happier in a home without other animals. It has to be more humane than our keeping her in a dog kennel all night - she yowls like crazy and it's been three nights since I've slept.

So today, we took her to the "Humane" Society who told us flat out that since we were from a town that didn't pay their "membership" fee, they refuse to take in an animal. It didn't matter that I just spent $200 on vaccinations, meds, etc. They told us to leave with the cat and not to bother coming back because they won't take her and that our local animal control officer only deals with dogs, so he refused to take her as well. At this point, I was ticked off. I understand the Humane Society's issue. However, since I walked in with meds, proof of vaccines, vet records from our visit, food and a cat crate, all they really needed to do is supply her with water and care until she is adopted out. Instead, the person agreed that our options are to continue caring for her or stop feeding her and hope she goes away. This cat was down to 6.5 pounds and not in good health, I'm furious that the humane society's stance is that I just should have let her starve to death. That's absurd and not very HUMANE.

After talking to our vet, he said our best option is to try to give her away through the local paper - but that odds are we will not get any takers. The only other option is to keep her outside year round and hope she can take a Vermont winter. At this point, I'm almost thinking it's more humane then to have her put to sleep. 40 degree below windchills are not anything I would force an animal to try to survive.

Flood aftermath or pets???

I haven't decided where to go with today's topic, and I thought about it all day, so I've decided to make two comments.

FIRST - I question the looting in Louisiana. I read yesterday that massive numbers of police officers have turned in their badges and a couple have committed suicide. I'd like to think that as humans in tough times, we would have the strength and decency to remain civil, yet for some reason it hasn't happened. People smarten up. Yes, you've faced a horrendous tragedy and things will get worse before they get better, but the story I heard yesterday sickens me. My son's classmate's parents are from Louisiana and have friends down there still. One of their friends was given permission to go back into his house to get additional clothing and rescue his dog. He walked into the house and was shot at point blank range by someone who had taken his house over as a shelter. That's so wrong. What's worse is that the hospitals are so overworked, they all turned him away because he was the victim of a gun shot wound. And for those who want to cry racism - I'll have you know this man is white, so don't even try to say he was turned away because he was black. I find both acts to be inhumane and unjustifiable.

#2 - I will never understand and probably never will--- if you have a pet, why abandon it? There has been a stray cat hanging around all summer, I know it had been raiding my bird food for the past week until I put it into a lidded bucket. All of my neighbors have chased it off numerous times and no one knows whose cat it was, but bets are on it being the cat of a young guy who was living down the road temporarily this summer as that is the house it kept going back to. Finally this weekend out of desperation it came crawling up to my husband begging for food. We fed it and now happen to be the proud owner of a two/three year old recent mommy. No one knows if the kittens survived or where they might be, but this poor cat is the most friendly cat I've ever seen. We took her to the vets today and she's clean of everything except ear mites. Why someone tossed her out so easily is beyond me. We happen to live near Lake Champlain and it is quite common for a summer camp resident to up and leave without their pets, but she is a sweetie and I just can't imagine abandoning her. If you really like a kitten or puppy, but don't want to stick with the pet come adulthood - do everyone a favor and foster your pet temporarily - talk to your local animal shelter - they are almost positive to have a foster program.

Site update

I've had a bit on my plate, so the update is going to be late. I have been watching a five-year-old in the mornings, so I'm not on the computer much. I am also throwing a b-day party tomorrow, so that's taken up my afternoons.

Rest assured, by Monday all the reviews will be online!

Tracy

Gas Prices, Continued.

$3.19 a gallon compared to $2.519 a gallon two days ago. This is insane. I would like to see actual statistics that shows the U.S. is severely low on fuel and that the gas companies and government aren't just using the effects of the hurricane to gain more money. I keep hearing that there is a shortage now because refineries were affected, but I still haven't seen anything statistical.

What scares me most is that the gas stations and the news are saying that the price will top $4 a gallon in the Northeast before there is any relief.

My husband and two of his co-workers are looking into setting up a carpool, even if it is only the three of them. We're all for car pooling anyway, but my husband's hours (7 to 3 with no room for moving a schedule) have made it harder in the past. This time, it's worth it for me to drive my husband 7 miles north so that he can then head south. 7 miles is much better than 17 miles.

I know I've heard people having to choose between gas or groceries, and without a job groceries are more of an issue, so they are skipping groceries to pay for gas. Others are in a panic over fuel prices when winter comes. I now feel much better that we tapped into our home equity line of credit to pay for a full year of propane - it locked us in at a$1.89 rate. But my parent's are paying over $4.00 a gallon for their propane - when is this going to end????

Netflix

Six months ago, we signed up for Netflix after our local video store upped their "new releases" prices to $4.00 a movie with a one-day return still in place. One or two movies a week was running us $16 - 32 a month. So we signed up for Netflix and now pay $19 a month with tax and can have as many videos as we want per month. We tend to watch three per week - though I know that will change when the new shows start airing.

I've been nothing but thrilled with the Netflix service we've had so far. They pay the shipping both ways. The local mailing address keeps mailing times to usually no more than a day, two tops. And I'm getting new releases in my mailbox on the same day they come out. It's been wonderful. And then if we go a couple weeks without watching a movie, it's still no big deal because there really are no late fees!

I highly suggest looking into Netflix if you are looking to still rent videos with a little more flexibility.

Back To School Shopping

I did my shopping last month, but I do have a complaint that goes out to a good number of stores and clothing manufacturers. Two years ago, our school opted to come up with a dress code after numerous younger girls were coming to school dressed like Britney Spears. The code states, quite simply, that no spaghetti straps are allowed, shirts must cover the midriff, and shorts and skirts must be at least one inch longer than the length of the fingertips when your arm is hanging down to the side of you. That's nothing different than when I was in school. My issue comes with finding clothes that meet all of these issues. First, I thank Old Navy for actually getting it right. Without Old Navy, I would have been hard pressed to find anything.

I went into Marshalls and TJ Maxx first and every pair of shorts and skirts I picked up in a size 10 (children's size 10 no less) barely covered the butt cheeks. They were horrendously short. While I was able to find jeans, I still needed some shorts for the remainder of summer. There were a few decent shirts, but a lot have one normal sleeve and then the other side is a spaghetti strap. Children don't need to be dressing like this and I'm upset with the fact that manufacturers feel there's nothing wrong with it --it's the current trend...

I found a load of shirts that showed stomach - again no 9 or 10 year old needs to be exposing skin. Let them be kids!!!!!

Finally at Old Navy, I was able to find decent shirts for an affordable price. But even then, some of Old Navy's (some, not all) shorts and skirts were cut very short.

It's times like these that I wish I wasn't a complete flop with a sewing machine - I know I could create a decent outfit that was eye catching without being trampy. Leave the low-cut, skin exposing outfits for the adults--the only crowd who I think should be wearing them--maybe...

Hurricane Katrina

I just read that the hurricane has made landfall. My thoughts and prayers go out to all those who are currently or soon to be hit. I hope all goes as well as it can, especially for those in New Orleans! I was watching the news last night and they were saying that one of the biggest issues will be getting the flood waters back out of the city once the storm has passed. Water can get in, but the wall keeps it from getting back out - not a pretty situation by any means.

Hopefully, things will not be too bad.

Tracy

Fall Foliage In Vermont

I know next month is when an influx of tourists start coming into Vermont hoping to see the foliage change. Usually hotels, inns and the likes book up very early, so my advice is to book early!

This year, I'm guessing that the foliage will be turning a little early. We've had a tremendously hot summer with a dry spell for a couple of weeks. That always messes up the foliage. But my real proof comes from one of my trees that started changing this week. Leaves on that tree are turning yellow. It's early for them, but this week we got trapped in this weird cycle of cooler temperatures (high 60's to low 70's) and at around noon every day this week so far, the sun vanishes, black clouds roll in, and the skies open up for about five minutes with a deluge of rain. I think that has really confused some of the trees on our land.

We're heading back to normal temperatures starting today--though I admit I was enjoying being back in jeans and sweaters. What this will do to slow trees turning, I'm not sure! The thing with foliage season is that it will do what it wants regardless of what people predict. :-)

Parental word of advice

I had a very busy day yesterday. Someone I know had been very sick for two days, severe stomachache, vomiting, fever... Symptoms started on Sunday and were progressing steadily.

So on Monday I talked to his mother after he'd called me asking if I had any tea (which I always have in the house), so I made him a cup of mint tea, added some extra sugar and walked it over. I took one look at him (pale as a sheet of paper), asked him if he'd ever had his appendix out--he said no, and then went home and got in touch with his mother. Told her I was seriously thinking his appendix was the issue and that she needed to get him to the docs ASAP. In a nutshell, she came home that night after work, asked him how he was feeling - he said better and that he really didn't want to go to the ER (he's scared of docs) so she left it.

This is where I don't want to get preachy, but I'm going to anyway. As parents we are responsible for our children's welfare. I don't think anyone will argue that point. If your child pushes you aside when you suggest a doc, then force the issue. If my kids are that sick, I don't give them a choice, they go whether they want to or not. In this case, the pain to the right of the belly button, fever, vomiting all suggested appendicitis to me. So yesterday, he came crawling to my house (not literally crawling, but he was walking like the hunchback doing this shuffle walk) and I asked him again if he'd been to the doc. He said no, so I told him to call him mom at work and I'd take him. No putting it off any longer. Thankfully, he isn't one to tell me no, he usually doesn't put up too much of a fight with me.

So I did take him for her, the doc saw him. Called his mom, called a surgeon and asked if I could get him up to the hospital, which I did. I'm still waiting to hear what's going on, I know they were doing a CAT scan, and that the doc said he was 90% certain that it is his appendix and that is has ruptured, hence why he started feeling better. No one came home last night, so I would assume the surgery is over, but this kid is like my son so I'm a little worked up right now waiting to hear if all went fine...

But if your child has a stomachache, ask where! If it is to the right of the belly button, go to a doc ASAP, regardless of what your child says. The doc also said if hunching over is more comfortable than that can also be a sign. Fever, vomiting - other signs. Even if you take your child to the doctor and there is nothing other than a stomach bug, it's worth the time and money spent. A ruptured appendix can eventually kill, and no child or parent wants to face that!!!

The Mysteries of Football

Let me start out by saying that years ago, I was totally hooked on a show called 21 Jump Street that starred Peter Deluise, Holly Robinson and Johnny Depp. They played young, undercover cops who went into high schools posing as students and broke up crime rings or whatever within that high school. I loved that show and recently rented the boxed sets so that I can watch them again.

So anyway, Holly Robinson now Holly Robinson Peete, has just written a book titled GET YOUR OWN DAMN BEER. It is a women's guide to understanding football. Now in my household, my husband's life is not complete if he misses a Red Sox, Patriots, or 49ers game. The television is on a lot during sports seasons (which really go year round in my house with little to no gap between the end of football and the start of baseball.) While I have always been interested in watching the players (face it some of them are gorgeous!!!), the rules to football prove to be illusive. I get the whole idea that one team is the offense and one is the defense and that they must run down the field to score their touchdown. But it is the terminology and nitpicky rules that have me utterly confused. No matter how many times my hubby has tried to explain things to me (sorry but phrases of "you have four downs to get your yardage and earn points" don't work for me.)

I ended up eagerly looking foward to reviewing Holly Robinson Peete's new book. If anyone can explain the game of football in layman's terms, I figure a woman should be able to get the job done! Women's minds don't always work on the same wavelength as men's. So Holly starts off her book with humor, always important, and then makes this clear statement (I'm going to sum it up instead of running downstairs to get the book) -- you have four CHANCES to move the ball 10 yards. If you do that, you win another four chances to move another 10 yards. See now that makes sense to me. So last night, we put my new found knowledge to the test. Dallas vs. Seattle. I was able to call the penalities with ease. I had the terminology down! It felt amazing.

My hat is off to Hollly for actually getting through to me! And, of course, as an added bonus the list of admirable football behinds can be found within. Short of missing Adam Vinatieri's posterior, I have to admit she's pretty much on the money.

Movies

I loved Shrek & Shrek 2. Especially #2, which I felt was geared towards adults with many references to movies and music from the 80's.

So this weekend it was rather rainy and dreary, so after sitting around all afternoon with no plans - I got that itch. We've all had that MUST GO OUT AND DO SOMETHING itch - I'm no different. So after fighting it for a couple of hours - my husband announced that he thought it would be a good idea to go to the movies and maybe even to dinner if it was in the budget. So after some quick thought... I realized his OT pay for last week was enough for dinner and the movies and we headed out.

We have a newer cinema in a town called Williston. It's a 35 mile drive, but I live rural and anything worth doing is at least 20 miles away anyway. Next door to the new cinema is this little Italian place called Nicco's Cucina. We'd never been, mainly because I try to do the low-carb thing most of the time. So we go into Nicco's (they have a deal - dinner and a movie for $20) and spent $80 including a pitcher of wine and desserts - but that included our movie tickets and we were too stuffed after dinner to bother with the concession stand.

So anyway - we went to see Valiant. It's by the producer of Shrek...and contains the same computer animations. I was pretty psyched - Ewan MacGregor, John Cleese, Rik Mayall... I love these guys and figured the movie would be filled with laughs. Sadly, while the movie is okay, it's nothing I'd want to see again.

The premise is this puny carrier pigeon (Ewan) who wants to join the services. He ends up being enlisted (after a bit of a snit fit by another pigeon who is trying to escape trouble) and then due to the failure rates of the other pigeons - Ewan's group is sent out to retrieve and deliver a top secret message from France. (This is based on actual use of pigeons during WWII). The movie has its charm, but it just wasn't as funny as I was expecting. With a top-notch voice cast, I think they could have done much better.

Coffee

We had this amazingly cool night last night - it was 43 when I awoke. So my first plan of action was to put on a pot of coffee, wear pants and a sweater and totally enjoy the cool morning air. It's been a wicked summer for most of us and the heat and humidity have totally messed up my system. Yesterday, with a high of 75 I found myself shivering when the sun would go behind a cloud--PATHETIC.

So after my first sip (and I only drink decaf, so there really is no caffeine rush, just the taste is enough to wake me up), I realized that giving up coffee completely would be a major challenge. It led me to wonder how many people drink coffee for the pick-me-up over just the taste?

I live in Vermont, obviously, so Green Mountain Coffee Roasters is a local product and commonly consumed in my household. (Special mention goes to my neighbor who happens to work there and keeps us well stocked with coffee. -- around here if you work at GMCR or Ben & Jerry's an employee perk is free take home items--so coffee for GMCR employees and ice cream pints for B&J employees.) But I am an experimenter, my second favorite place to find coffee comes from TJ Maxx. Their variety of decaf coffee is amazing. At the moment, I am totally hooked on some companies Kahlua & Cream coffee. I can't think of the brand (an Italian company) but their coffee is amazing. I don't have the issues with flavored coffee that some people do. And if I am showing a sign of a cold, you can bet that I'm grabbing a bottle of Jamesons and putting in a couple tablespoons to ward off becoming really sick. For some reason a hot cup of coffee with Jamesons in it knocks the virus out of me within a couple days. I'm not sure why, but maybe there is some logic to that somewhere...

But I digress, my main point today is how many of us can't survive without that morning coffee- and is it for the caffeine or is it the taste that wakes you up?