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Monday, February 28, 2011

Taxes, done...

I just filed my taxes, this year was much simpler than last year, and last year was pretty simple, anyhoo, without giving away TMI, I have filed with TurboTax in the past, I used the free form, but for some reason this year, it kept bumping me from the free to the deluxe, that's a step above their first tier pay service, I believe they were trying to charge me about $30, the first tier is only $20, but either way I should have qualified for the free one, I have a very VERY simple return. No matter what I did, it wouldn't allow me to do the free one or even downgrade to the first tier, so I deleted my info and hopped over to H&R Block, it took me all of 5 minutes to fill in my info and process the return.

My only complaint about them is after you file, they pop you into this screen that asks for permission for something, it looks all official, it appears very similar to something over at TurboTax that is required for them to process your return. It turned out that what they were asking me to sign was permission to give my info to 3rd parties for marketing purposes, things like credit card companies and financial services. It wasn't until I got to the bottom of the page did I read that this wasn't required for my tax return, I quickly went back and deleted my info and clicked on "I disagree", they sent me to 2 more pages like that, then took me to a page asking me for my opinion of the site, how easy it was and such. I would have given them a top review except for the last part, I wonder how many people are fooled into thinking they need to fill in the form giving consent, thinking they are giving consent relating to their tax return when in reality they are telling H&R Block to share their personal info with 3rd party financial institutions? I told 'em about it too, they ask what it would take to give them a better score, I gave them an 8 out of 10 on everything, they would have gotten 10s if it weren't for their little stunt at the end.

I used to get pre-approved credit apps in the mail all the time, heck one credit card company sent me a real card with a $5000 credit limit (unrequested), that scared me, what if that card had gotten lost or stolen before it showed up in my mailbox? I would have never even known about it until it showed up on my credit report later... I did some research and found a way to stop all of those pre-approved credit apps from being sent, go to this site https://www.optoutprescreen.com and fill it out, I did it and it stopped all of it. Don't have any credit cards, don't want any credit cards, they are too risky, it's too tempting to use them, better to go without.

Now, here's hoping that the fed doesn't have to print up some play money for my return. I asked for a direct deposit on my return, nothing personal against my mail carrier, she is nice, but things happen, I am always getting someone elses mail, and other people get mine, since I live in such a small community, it usually gets resolved in short order, BUT, I did find my W2 form in my friend's mailbox, her box is 2 above mine, we were there at the same time, fortunately she looked at her mail before we left and handed me my mail.

I noticed a new "credit" on my return, I know about earned income credit, that's for low income people (that's me), now they have one called a "make work" credit, I still don't understand what that is all about, I did my own work, I didn't need the government to make a job for me, but it seems that I qualify for whatever reason, so I got it.

Now I wait to see if uncle big brother accepts my return, then I wait for the money to appear.




All written text from this blog are copyrighted and owned by Wretha unless otherwise stated. All rights reserved, You may download or copy for your own personal enjoyment, but please do not distribute without written permission. You may post a portion of this (or any) message from this blog on another site as long as you include a link back to this site and the original message.

Wretha,

Thanks for visiting!

Monday, February 21, 2011

DVD Set Giveaway

OK, Pete over at Patriots Against The NWO is at it again, this time he's giving away a set of DVDs, this set is from Alex Jones and they look pretty good. If you don't know who Alex Jones is, you need to pull your head out of the sand... ;)

Check out Pete's site and this great giveaway here: http://patriotsagainstthenwo.blogspot.com/2011/02/new-world-order-giveaway.html



All written text from this blog are copyrighted and owned by Wretha unless otherwise stated. All rights reserved, You may download or copy for your own personal enjoyment, but please do not distribute without written permission. You may post a portion of this (or any) message from this blog on another site as long as you include a link back to this site and the original message.

Wretha,

Thanks for visiting!

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

I Love Trading

PB fixed one of these for a friend:


And we got one of these from that friend:
One of our friends out here, we'll call her S, she was having trouble with her electric chainsaw, the chain wouldn't fit right even though it was the proper size, PB and I went over after church on Sunday to see what could be done with said chainsaw.

While PB was fiddling with the chainsaw, I remembered a conversation I had with S last summer, we were discussing my redneck washing machine, she mentioned that she had one by Lehman's, complete with the rollers, she said that she didn't use hers, I asked if she would be willing to sell hers and she said yes. The problem was she wouldn't quote me a price, I don't know why she wouldn't do it, but she wouldn't, she wanted me to make an offer. I think it's a thing about being friends, neither wants to offend the other so we played this game ever since.

So while PB was deciding that he needed to take the bar from the chainsaw home to drill a hole in it, I remembered about the washing machine and asked S if I could see it. She promptly took us to where it was being stored and there it was, practically brand new, she had never used it, or if she had, it was barely used. I made the comment (in jest) that I had been trying to get S to quote me a price on it and she wouldn't, so S popped up and said that if PB fixes her chainsaw, we could have the washing machine. I just about fell over!

So now, S has a working chainsaw and we have a hand washing machine that I have been wanting for quite some time. Just in case you might think that was an unfair trade, to get that chainsaw worked on or to get a replacement chainsaw, S would have to drive 3 hours out and 3 hours back, pay for the work or pay to get a new one, so yes, it was a good deal for everyone, though I will admit that I feel like we got the better end of that deal. Of course, we do help S when she needs it, just like we do for most anyone else out here. :)

The washing machine is smaller than I thought it would be, I pictured something the size of a 55 gallon barrel cut in half, this is more like a 30 gallon barrel cut in half, being smaller is good though, it will take less water. I haven't had a chance to give it a try yet, I will soon though. Thanks S!


All written text from this blog are copyrighted and owned by Wretha unless otherwise stated. All rights reserved, You may download or copy for your own personal enjoyment, but please do not distribute without written permission. You may post a portion of this (or any) message from this blog on another site as long as you include a link back to this site and the original message.

Wretha,

Thanks for visiting!

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Crochet Project Number 2 and 3

You have already seen some of my yarn work, the hats I made on the knitting loom, now I'm working on a pair of fold down slippers for PB, these are going pretty fast, I made the soles last night, I'm having to guesstimate the pattern, the videos I'm following are for a ladies size 6-7, definitely not PBs size. I made one sole using a larger crochet hook but otherwise following the pattern, it would have fit me perfectly, but that let me know how many extra stitches I would have to add to make it fit PB.

Now I'm starting the upper part of the slippers. With this pattern, everything is going pretty fast, that's one of the things I didn't like about yarn work when I was a kid, perhaps now I have more patience, or perhaps I enjoy the zen like qualities of working on projects. Either way, I enjoy it now, especially since I'm learning all of these new stitches, the latest stitch I learned was using the back loop, I'm in the process of finishing the convertible hat I told you about before, I'm kinda stuck on the stitching it together part, I don't like how it is going together, so I decided to put it aside for a bit while I work on the slippers. The next stitch I want to learn is how to do cables. Usually when you see cables you think knitting, not crocheting. I've been getting a lot of help from YouTube, I do better with videos than I do with written patterns, that is probably because I'm still a bit of a novice when it comes to crocheting. Once I see it demonstrated, then I can follow the written pattern.

Oh that reminds me, I have a link to a free ebook that has 8 crocheted hats, it looks like some good patterns, here's the link: http://crochetme.com/Crochet-Hat-Patterns/ I'm signed up with them to get their newsletter, I like them because they have free patterns, lots of them. If you don't crochet, I'm sure you know someone who does, pass this along if you want to. :)

OK, I finished PB's slippers, they turned out pretty well, I ended up deviating from the pattern (I cook the same way LOL),  PB decided that he wanted more of a loafer look, so I made it shorter than the original pattern. The first slipper, I made and frogged several times before I got it the way I wanted it, the second one went much faster. PB tried them on and loves them, but doesn't want to wear them because he is afraid he will get stuff on/in them, he wants to add leather to the slippers, mainly on the sole, for protection. I'll post pix of his slippers soon.

I have started on my slippers, these are more of a boot style than a slipper style, I am already deviating from the pattern, I want the boots to open in the front instead of the back.

I finally finished my crochet boots, I really like them, though I know how I am going to change them on the next pair, if you notice on the back part there is ribbing, this ribbing goes all the way around and under the heel, I am going to not do the ribbing on the foot part, just on the top part of the boot. I feel the ribbing under my feet as I walk, it's not a major thing, but I feel it enough that I will change it up next set. I might also consider not having the boot opening up the front (or back) at all, the boot is stretchy enough to go on and off just fine. Now I have to figure out what colors I want to use on the next pair. :)

You'll notice the boots have a slightly different pattern on the foot part, I used the same yarn and same color but with this pattern you use 2 strands of yarn, this was camouflage color and it was variegated, it made one look striped and the other look blocked, it's just the way the yarn colors came together.
 Please ignore the floor, yes I need to vacuum.




I will be making the next pair with no ribbing on the bottom part, only on the top part of the boot, from the ankle up.



The cuff can be worn up or down.









Now that PB has seen my boots, he wants a pair, I guess the next one I make will be for him. :)

All written text from this blog are copyrighted and owned by Wretha unless otherwise stated. All rights reserved, You may download or copy for your own personal enjoyment, but please do not distribute without written permission. You may post a portion of this (or any) message from this blog on another site as long as you include a link back to this site and the original message.

Wretha,

Thanks for visiting!