Exactly. They already have the ability to develop software for us to do our taxes without paying H&R Block type middlemen and buying their software, and hiring seasonal employees to do the work. Lobbyists for the tax preparers put a stop to it. I doubt it. Agree.
After several transfers, I almost got the IRS problem solved in less than an hour. The last thing, they were going to transfer me to the Schedule D department. Girl said it looked like they might be able to solve the problem without any more information from me. Then we got disconnected. They have my number, but I don't have theirs. The main thing is an objection was registered before Sept 15th. Guess I'll just wait. Probably miss a call back now. On to the next job. So many to choose from.
It's hard to stay even, let alone get ahead. The screws on the facing have large heads, but you can barely see them even from 10 feet away. It's not going anywhere now. Before:
Just when I was feeling a little cocky about fixing the dormer, Jinx! More wind damage. You had to be in just the right position to see it from a distance. This bothers me because someone might see it and think I'm too senile to know it's not supposed to be that way. To fix this the same way, would require a 25' ladder attached to the roof. Years ago I got on the roof and reached over the edge to wipe off mildew stains. Got to the corner, made the mistake of looking down, panic attack. Backed off crawling on my stomach. So doing anything from above is out of the question. The only way to get someone to fix this is tie it to another big job worth their while. GC seems to be out of commission with the relative problems. Haven't heard from him since. Another possibility might be to lean out the window just below the corner with 2 poles. One to push the soffit back up, and the other with some kind of hook to pull the fascia back some. That might stop it from getting worse for a while anyway. The far corner is only about 3 feet away from the top of the window. The window is stuck at the top. I'm going to go search from some dry lubricant and 2 poles. Likely a wild goose chase.
I may have opened a can of worms. The top sash of that window absolutely will NOT slide down. I would probably break something forcing it. They have double panes, so the seals might break. Can't remember if it has special gas inside or not. One window downstairs "crystallized." They replaced free under warranty over 10 years later. These were really nice vinyl windows, installed 20 years ago (2/2003) but they brought in a bunch of kids to install them and get it done as fast as possible. A few were not squared up properly at the time. You can just look at the channel on this particular window and see the top sash is squeezed in very tight at its top and loose at the bottom. The frame bows out in the middle. This happened to be one of the poorly installed ones. I never really had to open most of them before, so it didn't matter that much. Now it bothers me.
With nothing to lose, got above it on a stool, put my full weight on it ( ), and it surrendered. Yes! There was a little seam of plastic sticking out, running down the track on one side. I sanded that off. It works now. Not well, but good enough. You can reach out and touch the edge of the soffit and facing right in front of this window. If the adjacent window will come open, you can get to rest of the part that's hanging loose. All except the corner.
This McDonald's experiment has been fun. Based on the number of plastic cups accumulated, I've made 40 trips to McD's for Diet Coke and a little cheeseburger (300 calories) in the last 9 weeks. It helps with losing weight because it creates something loosely resembling a schedule, which I haven't had since a couple years before Covid. Or maybe never. In addition to pushing you out of the house, it forces you to drive. If you don't drive very often, you (at least I) start to think too much about things that should be automatic, and forget the important things. It's hard to describe. Anyway, the experiment is almost over. School starts August 16th and traffic in that area will be bad except late at night or early morning. Maybe more important, I'm not inconspicuous at McD's anymore. The Ernest-Angely-like man still sits tall on his favorite stool wearing a Covid mask and "keeping tabs" on everyone. Last week the woman who cleans the eating area was staring at him out the window as he walked very slowly to his car. As I was leaving I stopped to ask her if she knew him. She said No, but he is there all the time, every day. Then she said he must be lonely. (He has more problems than that, imo.) As we waited for him to drive off, the conversation continued — how old was I, and why was I eating alone? One night last week I stopped at 9pm after shopping at Walmart and she said, "You're late tonight. You be careful." (Careful of what?) Do seniors need a curfew also? As I was leaving Saturday the man in charge of curbside pick-up yelled "See you tomorrow!" I felt obligated to go yesterday even though it was raining. I know they are just being polite. It's only busy talk. Time to think about moving on. Burger King also has a 300 calorie cheeseburger and it's a little closer and less busy. Five more pounds to lose.
Back to the soffit. The adjacent window came unstuck. Vacuumed a lot of sand from old asphalt shingles out from the lip of the facing, hammered back a couple of loose nails. Tried to pull the cladding back a little with a hoe, but the corner is too mangled, and I can't reach it. It's better than it was, that's all. I hate to admit defeat. At least you can reach it to wash the mildew off, so it looks better than the picture now. I may add a couple more nails so it doesn't fall down again. Power went off again last night for no reason. Not for long. This is getting old. No rain predicted today, high around 89. I need to go do some serious mowing and spraying this afternoon. See if the tractor/mower and trim saw will work.
I saw a small swarm of carpenter ants coming from the second story roof where the downspout comes to the gutter yesterday and thought of you. I haven't been up on the roof for years. But may get a ladder or a daughter up there to peek. Terro works great for sweet eating ants but not for carpenter ants. I saw a youtube that finally told the secret. Mixing the boron with chicken parts put through the blender to liquify it enough for ants to carry a lot back to the nest. When I had a sick kitty, I bought baby food , 100% chicken, and since I never throw anything out I still have some jars. and some boron. I had to replace some rotted cedar siding a few years ago. I am not up to it anymore and you live too far away.
Mary, I still have some baby food for a sick kitty, also. I wonder if that mixture would work on fire ants. I'm too lazy to try Terro consistently because I don't have confidence it really works. And when the next-door neighbor doesn't treat his ants, they will just move over to my house. And will the birds pick the stuff up and eat it? I suppose possums would eat the chicken. I like possums too.
The way trips like today usually play out, you go prepared to do lots of jobs, see which ones work out, and which don't, after you get there. First thing, dumped a truckload of limbs from the storm in town. Then mowed the lawn. Couldn't even pull the cord on the trim saw, let alone get it started, so spraying the fence was out. That would have taken more than a day anyway. The trickle charger on the tractor was dead. Maybe lightning surge? Power had been off out there at least once since the storm. But the tractor started. Tested the bush hog mower around the edges of the yard. Whatever the big clunking sound was, from the last time I used it last fall, didn't affect the mowing. Mowed the road to the cabin. No trees down. Looks good. Two big tree limbs down on the driveway left from the first storm. Poured a little straight gasoline in the trim saw and this time it started! Cut the limbs into pieces and tossed them into the woods. It turned out to be a productive day. If I can do the fence/kudzu spraying and mow the road to the dam, without running into a major tree down along the way, that should be it for the season. Wish I had asked my mother how she mowed the lawn. There is a big triangle that is a nuisance on the riding mower. I always end up going around in tight circles to finish it, hoping no one is looking. Today I used the Zamboni Method modified for triangles The neighbor lady across the street was mowing with a brand new zero turn outfit.
This is funny. I expected to have some sore muscles this morning. Instead I've got brain fog. Just making a cup of instant coffee is a challenge. What do you do first? Where do I keep the coffee? Where's the kitchen? Not exactly dehydration, because I had tons of stuff to drink yesterday, but almost. My guess is it has to do with rapid depletion of salt. White ring on your hat band, powdery stuff on your neck (not dirt), salt running in your eyes, down almost 2 lbs from yesterday. "... Low sodium levels in the blood can lead to lethargy, confusion, fatigue.." I remember long ago reading that soldiers took salt pills not for the salt, but to stay hydrated. Sodium and water are tied together. So which is it? The water or the sodium? Anyway, I'm about to fix all that with a bacon sandwich using Smithfield bacon. It's the saltiest. Maybe the sore muscles will come tomorrow. Everything is slower now.
The 'poisonous' substance in terro is merely boron, a mineral all mammals need. But they have to put WARNING on it to cover legal butts. I think I will put a small amount of home made mixture in a container with a small hole in it so ants can get in but not rain water etc. I replace it as it is lapped up. Liquid is easier for the ants to transport to the nest.