Plunked the tax forms into the mailbox on Friday - with extra stamps just in case on the Federal return envelope - and now wait for the s to hit the fan. I am just glad to get it sent out in time, if the IRS wants to dispute any or all of it, that does not, therefore, negate that it was sent out in time and they can't try to tell me that I don't get that 5k worth of credit. I can honestly say that until I actually have a check from the IRS in my hands, I don't expect or have any hope of getting ANY of it back. Rather, I expect them to try to find some way to not only not give me the money, but try to take more.
You may gather that I neither like the IRS nor do I trust them. Not after having read horror story, after horror story - etc. ad nauseum.
I have some people coming over in 4 hours or so to get some pond plants. I try to give them away versus cutting them and chucking them. They are all growing way too fast right now, that time of year I guess. Taking over almost one entire pond, there is PLENTY there to give away. Pond plants don't take a green thumb, either, just pluck them into pots, put them in the water, watch them grow.
Much time passed. 2 families came over separated by an hour and I got the plants in my pond thinned out greatly while listening to stories of people with ponds that they know nothing about. One family bought a short-sale home with a huge pond. The house had been vacated for well over a year. The pond, according to them, was dried up and there were numerous fish bodies and other stuff laying in it. I can't imagine a person who has gone to the trouble to install a very expensive pond and then just let the fish die in it. If I was losing my home and couldn't take my fish, I would give them away before just letting them sit in there to eventually die.
The second family was quite interesting. Parents and kids. The story was that they had gone on a pond tour, saw the ponds and were inspired. More to the point: the 16 year old boy wanted to put a pond in their back yard and began telling me how he spent 6 months digging it out by hand. The entire family was all ears while I was explaining the art of pond plants. I can actually see about half of that pond now without plants obscuring the view! It's a bit nicer to give the plants away than to just just the trimmings in the trash.
Umm, time's up. Work week en-queue.
G'nite.
ben
