A Few Missing Pieces

A ten year old girl, who last owned Halo, stopped by to see him. She told me her aunt first owned Halo and a second dog, his sibling, on a farm. The aunt died, and both dogs were tied up without food and water for a time. Her uncle went and rescued them, but the sibling has since died. She believes that Halo is less than a year old.

Four Minor Issues

The old washer is junk, and I'm home today because the new washer was to be delivered. Now they tell me Thursday. I picked out a energy star model that supposedly will pay for itself, in energy savings over time.

Halo loves the mail lady, as she carries dog treats in her truck. Her own Australian Shepherd just passed away, and I think she has a soft spot for Halo, as well.

I finished chipping that huge pile of tree limbs. Thank God; seeing that crap out by the road was getting oppressive. The sycamore branches weren't so bad, but I also had a huge privet limb that came down in a recent windstorm. It was thick with fresh green leaves and bunches of purple berries, and kept jamming the little electric chipper. Finally, I consigned all the detritus to compost piles, with hope that it breaks down by spring.

I did some weeding today, and found that a little crown is now forming on one broccoli plant, but in general, the vegetable garden has really slowed down in this cold and gloom. We had a freezing night recently that got down to 26 degrees. I covered only the most delicate avocado tree, and even though everything else was fully exposed, I don't see any cold damage.

F**cking Whores, California State Board Of Equalization

It's tax time again, and this month I have to pay sales taxes to the State of California. To save money, they have eliminated paper returns and insist that I e-file. I sort of expected a letter from them with filing info, but no, they want my money, but can't be bothered with some sort of courtesy notice. Luckily, I was just able to dig up the letter they sent me in October 2009, and find the express login code assigned to me. If I hadn't kept this letter, and missed the filing deadline, they would have been able to assess an extra penalty in addition to the tax owed.