So how do you stay cool when it's so doggone hot and humid? Me? No air conditioning at my house, not a window unit, no central air. I use fans. One or two in each room. Turn them on when I enter, turn them off when I leave. I even have a little fan that sits in the bathroom on the back of the toilet.
See, whoever it was who designed my house, I don't know what they were thinking because there is only one window in each room. That's right, just one window. So if I were to install one of those window-type units, well, on days that weren't beastly and I didn't need to turn the air on, I wouldn't be able to open the window to let in the pleasant natural air because that big heavy piece of metal would be in the window.
I checked out those rolling air conditioners at Costco and Sams. Have you seen them? They run around $350 and they're on wheels. You roll them to whatever room you want to cool off. The kitchen this morning, the bedroom tonight perhaps. Thing is, you still have to vent them out a window.
So what I'm hoping is that by next summer someone has figured out how to make a rolling air conditioner that doesn't need to be window vented. Maybe it could have a drip pan, or whatever that thing is they have on dehumidifiers to catch the moisture. And when they have something like that, then I'm buying one!
In the meantime I really like those tower fans. Are you familiar with them? They're tall and thin, they don't take up much space and they run real quiet.
It's been a bit beastly here the past few days. That's why I'm talking fans and air conditioners. Kathleen, my beloved cat, is stretched out on the leather chair in my office. When it's hot and humid she clings to that chair like its a life preserver and I only see her when she needs a morsel to eat or drink.
I hope you're holding up okay in the heat. Remember to drink plenty of fluids.
hugs, Tawny
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Okay, I know it's a stretch, the phone sex lady giving you tax advice, but I got this from the monthly email newsletter that my accountant sends out. It just might help you.
______________________________________________________________________
On May 25, 2006, the IRS announced that it will stop collecting the federal excise tax on long-distance telephone service. This is a very old tax, imposed first in 1898 (really, 1898!) as a "luxury" tax on wealthy Americans who owned telephones. The current rate is 3% of the charges billed for these services.
The turnaround comes about following decisions in five federal appeals courts that the tax does not apply to long-distance service as it is billed today.
Refunds Available
Taxpayers will be eligible to file for refunds of all excise tax paid on long distance service billed to them after February 28, 2003 through July 31, 2006. Interest will be paid on these refunds.
The refund will be claimed on the 2006 returns, due in 2007. The tax forms will include a line for requesting the overpayment amount on the 1040 series, the 1041, the 1065, the 1120 series, and the 990-T. The only way to get the refund is to file a return, even if you have no tax liability. Those individuals with no tax liability will use the new Form 1040EZ-T. It is too early to file for a refund currently. The IRS is working on a simplified method for individuals to use to claim a refund.
Let's keep it simple.
"So taxpayers won't have to spend time digging through old telephone bills, we're designing a straightforward process that taxpayers may use when they file their tax returns next year," said IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson. "Claiming a refund will be simple and fair."
To get your refund you can use the IRS simplified method, which is only available to individual taxpayers, or go through those old phone bills. For some of you, this might be a good time to gather up thee old phone bills. They might provide you a larger refund. This is similar to the sales tax deduction: use the IRS table amount or your actual amount. So, during those lazy days of summer, if you have time on your hands, gather up those old phone bills (after February 28, 2003, not after 1898). Time spent now could result in a larger refund next year. Entities (such as corporations) cannot use the simplified method. Businesses also may take into consideration the tax benefit doctrine and, thus, must include as income the refunded amounts. For all taxpayers, the interest received on the refunds is taxable and would be reported on the 2007 income tax returns.
An Interesting thought
So, the federal excise tax on long distance telephone service only took about 108 years to repeal. The federal income tax has been with us since 1913. If we can hang in there for another 15 years, will that tax be repealed also? Call your Congressperson and let them know your thoughts. It's cheaper now!
_____________________________________________________________________________
hugs, Tawny
______________________________________________________________________
On May 25, 2006, the IRS announced that it will stop collecting the federal excise tax on long-distance telephone service. This is a very old tax, imposed first in 1898 (really, 1898!) as a "luxury" tax on wealthy Americans who owned telephones. The current rate is 3% of the charges billed for these services.
The turnaround comes about following decisions in five federal appeals courts that the tax does not apply to long-distance service as it is billed today.
Refunds Available
Taxpayers will be eligible to file for refunds of all excise tax paid on long distance service billed to them after February 28, 2003 through July 31, 2006. Interest will be paid on these refunds.
The refund will be claimed on the 2006 returns, due in 2007. The tax forms will include a line for requesting the overpayment amount on the 1040 series, the 1041, the 1065, the 1120 series, and the 990-T. The only way to get the refund is to file a return, even if you have no tax liability. Those individuals with no tax liability will use the new Form 1040EZ-T. It is too early to file for a refund currently. The IRS is working on a simplified method for individuals to use to claim a refund.
Let's keep it simple.
"So taxpayers won't have to spend time digging through old telephone bills, we're designing a straightforward process that taxpayers may use when they file their tax returns next year," said IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson. "Claiming a refund will be simple and fair."
To get your refund you can use the IRS simplified method, which is only available to individual taxpayers, or go through those old phone bills. For some of you, this might be a good time to gather up thee old phone bills. They might provide you a larger refund. This is similar to the sales tax deduction: use the IRS table amount or your actual amount. So, during those lazy days of summer, if you have time on your hands, gather up those old phone bills (after February 28, 2003, not after 1898). Time spent now could result in a larger refund next year. Entities (such as corporations) cannot use the simplified method. Businesses also may take into consideration the tax benefit doctrine and, thus, must include as income the refunded amounts. For all taxpayers, the interest received on the refunds is taxable and would be reported on the 2007 income tax returns.
An Interesting thought
So, the federal excise tax on long distance telephone service only took about 108 years to repeal. The federal income tax has been with us since 1913. If we can hang in there for another 15 years, will that tax be repealed also? Call your Congressperson and let them know your thoughts. It's cheaper now!
_____________________________________________________________________________
hugs, Tawny
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Received this from a friend and thought it might make you laugh too!
How many forum members does it takes to change a light bulb?
1 member to change the light bulb and to post that the light bulb has been changed
14 members to share similar experiences of changing light bulbs and how the light bulb could have been changed differently
7 members to caution about the dangers of changing light bulbs
1 member to move it to the Lighting section
2 members to argue then move it to the Electricals section
7 members to point out spelling/grammar errors in posts about changing light bulbs
5 members to flame the spell checkers
3 members to correct spelling/grammar flames
6 members to argue over whether it's "lightbulb" or "light bulb"
another 6 members to condemn those 6 as stupid
2 industry professionals to inform the group that the proper term is "lamp"
15 know-it-all members who claim they were in the industry, and that "light bulb" is perfectly correct
19 members to post that this forum is not about light bulbs and to please take this discussion to a lightbulb forum
11 members to defend the posting to this forum saying that we all use light bulbs and therefore the posts are relevant to this forum
36 members to debate which method of changing light bulbs is superior, where to buy the best light bulbs, what brand of light bulbs work best for this technique and what brands are faulty
7 members to post URL's where one can see examples of different light bulbs
4 members to post that the URL's were posted incorrectly and then post the corrected URL's
3 members to post about links they found from the URL's that are relevant to this group which makes light bulbs relevant to this group
13 members to link all posts to date, quote them in their entirety including all headers and signatures, and add "Me too"
5 members to post to the group that they will no longer post because they cannot handle the light bulb controversy
4 members to say "didn't we go through this already a short time ago?"
13 members to say "do a Google search on light bulbs before posting questions about light bulbs"
1 forum lurker to respond to the original post 6 months from now and start it all over again.
---
----
hugs, Tawny
How many forum members does it takes to change a light bulb?
1 member to change the light bulb and to post that the light bulb has been changed
14 members to share similar experiences of changing light bulbs and how the light bulb could have been changed differently
7 members to caution about the dangers of changing light bulbs
1 member to move it to the Lighting section
2 members to argue then move it to the Electricals section
7 members to point out spelling/grammar errors in posts about changing light bulbs
5 members to flame the spell checkers
3 members to correct spelling/grammar flames
6 members to argue over whether it's "lightbulb" or "light bulb"
another 6 members to condemn those 6 as stupid
2 industry professionals to inform the group that the proper term is "lamp"
15 know-it-all members who claim they were in the industry, and that "light bulb" is perfectly correct
19 members to post that this forum is not about light bulbs and to please take this discussion to a lightbulb forum
11 members to defend the posting to this forum saying that we all use light bulbs and therefore the posts are relevant to this forum
36 members to debate which method of changing light bulbs is superior, where to buy the best light bulbs, what brand of light bulbs work best for this technique and what brands are faulty
7 members to post URL's where one can see examples of different light bulbs
4 members to post that the URL's were posted incorrectly and then post the corrected URL's
3 members to post about links they found from the URL's that are relevant to this group which makes light bulbs relevant to this group
13 members to link all posts to date, quote them in their entirety including all headers and signatures, and add "Me too"
5 members to post to the group that they will no longer post because they cannot handle the light bulb controversy
4 members to say "didn't we go through this already a short time ago?"
13 members to say "do a Google search on light bulbs before posting questions about light bulbs"
1 forum lurker to respond to the original post 6 months from now and start it all over again.
---
----
hugs, Tawny
Monday, July 10, 2006
Have I mentioned to you that I've been having problems with my truck? If I haven't, well, you're about the only one whose shoulder I haven't cried on (smile).
I drive a Ford F150 pickup truck. Yes, I know, not real good on gas. I bought it in 2000, before the oil companies started gouging us.
But the funny thing is, all the years prior, when gas was reasonable, I was driving--by choice--Ford Escorts and Ford Tempos. Those Escorts, especially the stick shift 4 cylinder ones, you could go all the way from Detroit to Marquette (which is on the shores of Lake Superior in the upper penisula of Michigan) on one tank of gas.
Anyway, even though my truck is a 2000 it only has a smidge over 40,000 miles. In fact, it rolled over to 40,000 just a couple of days before I took it in to the shop. And that was close to three weeks ago.
What's wrong with my truck?
Well, a while back it started having 'spells'. It wouldn't keep running when I started it, and it would stink to high heaven! Now this wouldn't happen every day. Oh no. Just every now and again. And each time someone would come take a look at it to fix it--a miracle! it worked just fine! There was a nasty rumor circulating that I had a case of Munchausen by pick-up truck.
So I didn't drive it very much. I mean who wants to brake down, right? Finally, three weeks ago, I drove it to the shop to get fixed. The place I took it to has a stellar reputation. In fact, the place is so good that even the local dealerships take their cars there when their mechanics can't fix something.
Phone calls have been going back and forth as the mechanic tried to diagnose and then correct the problem. Because you know, of course, the truck wasn't having 'spells' with him.
Until Friday.
So today he calls and tells me he knows what it is. Ready? The computer in my truck is broke.
Naturally the computer is waranteed for 3 years or 30,000 miles, both of which I'm past.
I'm looking at an approximate $800 fix-it bill. And the truck won't be ready until Wednesday, if he can get the computer by then.
Oh my!
Tawny
I drive a Ford F150 pickup truck. Yes, I know, not real good on gas. I bought it in 2000, before the oil companies started gouging us.
But the funny thing is, all the years prior, when gas was reasonable, I was driving--by choice--Ford Escorts and Ford Tempos. Those Escorts, especially the stick shift 4 cylinder ones, you could go all the way from Detroit to Marquette (which is on the shores of Lake Superior in the upper penisula of Michigan) on one tank of gas.
Anyway, even though my truck is a 2000 it only has a smidge over 40,000 miles. In fact, it rolled over to 40,000 just a couple of days before I took it in to the shop. And that was close to three weeks ago.
What's wrong with my truck?
Well, a while back it started having 'spells'. It wouldn't keep running when I started it, and it would stink to high heaven! Now this wouldn't happen every day. Oh no. Just every now and again. And each time someone would come take a look at it to fix it--a miracle! it worked just fine! There was a nasty rumor circulating that I had a case of Munchausen by pick-up truck.
So I didn't drive it very much. I mean who wants to brake down, right? Finally, three weeks ago, I drove it to the shop to get fixed. The place I took it to has a stellar reputation. In fact, the place is so good that even the local dealerships take their cars there when their mechanics can't fix something.
Phone calls have been going back and forth as the mechanic tried to diagnose and then correct the problem. Because you know, of course, the truck wasn't having 'spells' with him.
Until Friday.
So today he calls and tells me he knows what it is. Ready? The computer in my truck is broke.
Naturally the computer is waranteed for 3 years or 30,000 miles, both of which I'm past.
I'm looking at an approximate $800 fix-it bill. And the truck won't be ready until Wednesday, if he can get the computer by then.
Oh my!
Tawny
Sunday, July 09, 2006
In case you've been wonderring how Michael Moore's latest project is doing....
Friends,
Just a quick note to let you know how things are going.
Back in February, I asked if people would send me letters describing their experiences with our health care system. I received over 19,000 of them. It was truly overwhelming as we literally took a month and read them all. To read about the misery people are put through on a daily basis by our profit-based system was both moving and revolting. That's all I will say right now.
We've spent the better part of this year shooting our next movie, "Sicko." As we've done with our other films, we don't discuss them while we are making them. If people ask, we tell them "Sicko" is "a comedy about 45 million people with no health care in the richest country on earth."
But like my other movies, what we start with (General Motors, guns, 9/11) is not always what we end with. Along the way, we discover new roads to go down, roads that often surprise us and lead us to new ideas -- and challenge us to reconsider the ones we began with. That, I can say with certainty, is happening now as we shoot "Sicko." I don't think the country needs a movie that tells you that HMOs and the pharmaceutical companies suck. Everybody knows that. I'd like to show you some things you don't know. So stay tuned for where this movie has led me. I think you might enjoy it.
At this point, we've shot about 75% of "Sicko" and will soon begin putting it together. It will be released in theaters sometime in 2007.
And if you don't hear much from me in the meantime, it's only 'cause I'm busy working. I realize that my silence doesn't stop the opposition with their weird obsession for me! It seems like not a week passes without my good name being worked into some nutty news story or commentary. (I have to say, though, I did enjoy Tom Delay blaming me and Ms. Streisand for why he had to resign from Congress!)
I hope all of you are enjoying your summer. If you're near the state of Michigan later this month, I'll be putting on the second annual Traverse City Film Festival in Traverse City, Michigan. I've personally selected 60 or so movies that I love, many of which did not get the notice or distribution they deserved. Others are brand new independent movies and documentaries that I hope will find a large audience when they are released.
The film festival will take place in this beautiful town in northern Michigan, from July 31st to August 6th. Appearing in person with their films will be David O. Russell ("Three Kings"), Lawrence Bender ("An Inconvenient Truth"), Terry George ("Hotel Rwanda"), Larry Charles ("Borat"), plus Jeff Garlin, Jake Kasdan, and other filmmakers. We're also going to show every feature film made by the greatest American director of all time, Stanley Kubrick. Joining us in person will be his executive producer, Jan Harlan, and actors Malcolm McDowell ("A Clockwork Orange") and Matthew Modine ("Full Metal Jacket"). We'll also be presenting a special salute to films made in Iran (a sort of "Let's get to know them first this time!" effort).
If you'd like to see the entire list of films, click here. Tickets go on sale today (July 7) at noon. To purchase your tickets (all seats $7), click here or call 231-929-1506. Last year we had 50,000 admissions, and we expect most films to sell out early this year.
Well, that's it for now. Bush has quietly closed down the special section of the CIA that was devoted solely to capturing Mr. bin Laden, so we can all rest easy now. I wonder who his next scary evildoer will be. A fearful nation awaits its marching orders, sir!
Yours,
Michael Moore
mmflint@aol.com
P.S. Don't forget to visit my website which I update every day with all the news the Bush stenographers (a/k/a "Mainstream Media") fail to put on page one.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
hugs, Tawny
Friends,
Just a quick note to let you know how things are going.
Back in February, I asked if people would send me letters describing their experiences with our health care system. I received over 19,000 of them. It was truly overwhelming as we literally took a month and read them all. To read about the misery people are put through on a daily basis by our profit-based system was both moving and revolting. That's all I will say right now.
We've spent the better part of this year shooting our next movie, "Sicko." As we've done with our other films, we don't discuss them while we are making them. If people ask, we tell them "Sicko" is "a comedy about 45 million people with no health care in the richest country on earth."
But like my other movies, what we start with (General Motors, guns, 9/11) is not always what we end with. Along the way, we discover new roads to go down, roads that often surprise us and lead us to new ideas -- and challenge us to reconsider the ones we began with. That, I can say with certainty, is happening now as we shoot "Sicko." I don't think the country needs a movie that tells you that HMOs and the pharmaceutical companies suck. Everybody knows that. I'd like to show you some things you don't know. So stay tuned for where this movie has led me. I think you might enjoy it.
At this point, we've shot about 75% of "Sicko" and will soon begin putting it together. It will be released in theaters sometime in 2007.
And if you don't hear much from me in the meantime, it's only 'cause I'm busy working. I realize that my silence doesn't stop the opposition with their weird obsession for me! It seems like not a week passes without my good name being worked into some nutty news story or commentary. (I have to say, though, I did enjoy Tom Delay blaming me and Ms. Streisand for why he had to resign from Congress!)
I hope all of you are enjoying your summer. If you're near the state of Michigan later this month, I'll be putting on the second annual Traverse City Film Festival in Traverse City, Michigan. I've personally selected 60 or so movies that I love, many of which did not get the notice or distribution they deserved. Others are brand new independent movies and documentaries that I hope will find a large audience when they are released.
The film festival will take place in this beautiful town in northern Michigan, from July 31st to August 6th. Appearing in person with their films will be David O. Russell ("Three Kings"), Lawrence Bender ("An Inconvenient Truth"), Terry George ("Hotel Rwanda"), Larry Charles ("Borat"), plus Jeff Garlin, Jake Kasdan, and other filmmakers. We're also going to show every feature film made by the greatest American director of all time, Stanley Kubrick. Joining us in person will be his executive producer, Jan Harlan, and actors Malcolm McDowell ("A Clockwork Orange") and Matthew Modine ("Full Metal Jacket"). We'll also be presenting a special salute to films made in Iran (a sort of "Let's get to know them first this time!" effort).
If you'd like to see the entire list of films, click here. Tickets go on sale today (July 7) at noon. To purchase your tickets (all seats $7), click here or call 231-929-1506. Last year we had 50,000 admissions, and we expect most films to sell out early this year.
Well, that's it for now. Bush has quietly closed down the special section of the CIA that was devoted solely to capturing Mr. bin Laden, so we can all rest easy now. I wonder who his next scary evildoer will be. A fearful nation awaits its marching orders, sir!
Yours,
Michael Moore
mmflint@aol.com
P.S. Don't forget to visit my website which I update every day with all the news the Bush stenographers (a/k/a "Mainstream Media") fail to put on page one.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
hugs, Tawny
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