Author: Peg

The DC Metro was broken today. I used that as an excuse to telecommute. Getting to work is much more work than it was from my last two apartments. It is 3.5 miles to walk or 2 bus rides.

Last night a dinner, I was eating alone – which is fine with me. A couple of old ladies were discussing their adventures as Army nurses during WWII at the next table. One of the women apparently spent most of her time in New Guinea. My Father was in New Guinea during WWII. And, this same woman mentioned that she had joined the Army to escape West Virginia. I was born in WV. My Mother was born in WV.

So, I had to ask “Where in WV?”. Williamson says the old lady. She was born in 1921; so was MomIda. I tell her about my Mom being born in Williamson. Figured I shouldn’t spring my Dad and New Guinea on her. We were both a little amazed by the WV connection.  I’ll tell her about Dad someday soon. She mentioned having relatives in Ashland, Ky. I think I do too. Seems to me that Phyllis and I might share a cousin or two. Or she and Dad might have done the nasty in darkest New Guinea. Or both.

Phyllis is 95 years old. She says she has had a grand and glorious life and she is damn pissed that it is coming to an end. She circumnavigated the globe alone twice in her 80’s. Once by freighter. And, a second time by plane.

She sets the old woman bar pretty high!

 

Went to yoga after work today and then walked home. Didn’t make it home until 3PM. So, I missed my nap. Sort of missed lunch too. Soon, I’ll head down to dinner.

Waiting on the bus at O-Dark Hundred this morning, I ran into another inmate. She is only 61 and still works downtown. Her husband is “older”. So was mine.

Went to a little meeting about our “dining options” late this afternoon. Most interesting thing – they serve about 1,300 meals every day here at the asylum.

After a night over water – my first stop in Portland was Voodoo Doughnut – visit their web page and you’ll see why I had to go. It was just a little shop in a rather “sketchy” part of town – my kind of place.

Some additional photos:

I went back to work today. It was cold and rainy.

Woke up from a little nap this afternoon and discovered that the lights were off in the kitchen. I figured that maybe, unbeknownst to me, the lights were on some sort of motion detector. Upon closer inspection… I discovered that all the electricity in the unit was out. The hall was fully powered. But none of us had electric in our units. No one seems very worried. So, I am not worried either.

As for taxes. Box 13 on the 1099-INT may just drive me to a CPA.

Box 13. For a tax-exempt covered security, shows the amount of premium amortization allocable to the interest payment(s). If an amount is not reported in this box for a tax-exempt covered security acquired at a premium, the payer has reported a net amount of interest in box 8 or 9, whichever is applicable. If the amount in this box is greater than the amount of interest paid on the tax-exempt covered security, the excess is a nondeductible loss. See Regulations section 1.171-2(a)(4)(ii). 

Yeah right. It is a new box. And, I am not sure that TurboTax is doing it correctly. That was causing my issue with the VA taxes.

About the picture: Since I am powerless at the instant – I picked this one off the server. It is a poor fish picture from 2001 – but I like all the people – who a clueless about the fish right under their feet. There is a lesson there.

 

I worked on the taxes ALL day. Except for a lunch break. I might have to get a CPA. Because rich white folks live in the type of asylum that I live in – ie – a not for profit CCRC or Continuing Care Retirement Community – living in one is “tax advantaged” to say the least. The rich white folk have waged many a battle with the IRS to preserve these benefits. But – filling out the IRS forms correctly – that isn’t well documented anywhere. And, it is past TurboTax’s pay grade. Even most deluxest TurboTax. But, the way I read things – I can deduct about 1/3 of my monthly bill as “medical expense” – because the asylum adds up what they spend on medical care in the year. They divide that by the number of residents and each resident gets that amount to put on their tax return as a “medical expense”. Never mind that I didn’t get as much as an aspirin from the asylum. Only rich folk could think up this scheme. On dumb folks wouldn’t take advantage of it. Even if I have to hire a CPA to make it work.

I spent a frightening 30 minutes after dinner. I stopped in the gym for a little time on the dreadmill. The gym was completely empty. Which was good. But, it was during the time of day when the TVs are all on FoxNews. The Donald was on. I will not compare The Donald to Hitler again. Hitler was a much better speaker. But, they both look a little strange…

After 30 minutes, I ran out of the gym. 30 minutes of The Donald completely wiped out the good effect of my dinner of chili, red wine, cheesecake and coffee. (I told you, the asylum is not the food police.)

Note to Carlton: You were always in charge of changing the clocks. And we had a lot more clocks than I have. Well, when I went to Hawai’i – it was still Daylight Savings Time. So, when I got home last Sunday, I didn’t change any clocks. And tomorrow – they will all be right. You are horrified I know.

As for the taxes: I have sort of finished them. Tomorrow is for checking. And rechecking. I was always pretty sure that TurboTax knew what it was doing – but this year – I am not so sure. I am used to checking my own work. But, this year – not so sure about TT’s logic. On the Virginia return. Not the Federal one.

TurboTax and I started on my taxes today. At 3PM – I had made a dent in the taxes, but had less than a mile on the FitBit. So, I walked around the Asylum enough times to click over 10,000 steps. 700 PegSteps around the exterior of the building. It was 72 degrees. And sunny.

Still working at really settling into the Asylum – my home for the rest of my life. While my unit was being cleaned I went downstairs for a second breakfast. 99 cents gets you a big bowl of good oatmeal – with raisins, pecans, and honey. And a cup of passable coffee. Not too shabby. I may have mentioned – the asylum’s food service is rather like a country club. I have a $400 a month minimum at the restaurants. I think that would be 404 bowls of oatmeal a month.

Tomorrow is another day of doing the taxes.

Note to Carlton: I think you would like it here. Or maybe not. There are no tennis courts across the street. You loved the tennis courts as much as I loved the Metro entrance just outside the back door. And, there isn’t any good place to ride a bike. But, there is the ice cream machine. And all the desserts you want at lunch and dinner. They are not food police around here.

 

Did another exploration around the new ‘hood this morning. I went to the local branch of the Arlington (that would be my former county) library to renew my card and confess that I had moved out of the county. The Glencarlyn Branch is 1.3 miles away from the asylum so a trip to the library knocks out half of my minimum daily mileage. It is a sweet little library. Problem with the walk is – it is very hilly. Lots of ups and downs both directions.

Started sneaking up on the taxes. And went to a coffee, a cocktail gathering, and finally had dinner in the dreaded “Formal Dining Room” – no denim, shorts or t-shirts allowed. Four of the more reputable residents provided enough cover for me to sneak in under the radar, in a denim skirt no less.

I am starting to feel better about living here. I still hate the location. But, the older I get the less important the location will be. And, until I get “housebound” – I’ll just deal with the location. They feed me – too well actually. They clean my apartment. They supply all the utilities. They even supply toilet paper and light bulbs. And, I am surrounded by 500 of my “oldest” friends. Nobody gets out alive.

 

Went exploring around the new neighborhood this afternoon. It isn’t as nice as the old ‘hood – I knew that already – but, I did find this condo.

Sort of took the day off today – Took lots of naps. Indeed, I napped through most of dinner – since the major choices were baby back ribs or skate wings – I opted to dine in this evening.

I did put my Legos together into a cable catcher holder thingie. Actually pretty cool.

Note to Carlton: I’ll be starting to get the taxes together tomorrow. I will not miss having to do yours too. It is strange, Carlton – being all by myself. I was always a loner, so being alone isn’t all the bad. As Lynnette in Kona says “It is better to be alone than to wish you were alone”. But, we were good together. I had dinner last night with a skinny old woman who was formerly a serious tennis player. I told her that you loved tennis more than you loved me – she said that her late husband took a back seat to tennis in her life as well. But, don’t worry – I didn’t mind sharing you with tennis. Speaking of tennis – Maria Sharapova is in deep dodo – she flunked a drug test. Sponsors are running to exits. It isn’t pretty.

Lovely spring weather today. But, I haven’t found anywhere wonderful to take spring flower pictures nearby. Had to be happy with our Asylum offerings.

But, I found a fine shiny 1955 Chevy. I think this was the first time it has left its garage this year.

As I said – it was very shiny.

I processed a big huge pile of mail today. A few interesting junk mail stats.

Cox Cable – 8, by far the junk mail leader.
Care – 4, haven’t a clue who these people are.
Alzheimer’s – 4, I guess they figure you might not remember them
Smithsonian – 4, My punishment for contributing to restore Neil Armstrong’s spacesuit.

Went to a meeting of “New Comers” to the asylum today. Checked out getting a personal trainer in the gym. Also scheduled to go to a “Coffee – meet and greet” Thursday. And, a “Cocktail – meet and greet” later Thursday for the new couple on my floor. And, that should help get me on track for my New Year’s Resolution to Participate in one activity per week at the asylum.

The extra cost special tonight is salmon quesadilla. Sounds good to me.

I just loaded 306 images from Shamu the Phone onto The Airness. Found a few keepers.

I am tired now – it is my bedtime.

Today was spent on the Capital Limited. The “good stuff” – Cleveland, Toledo and Pittsburgh rolled by in the middle of the dark. Daylight brings up West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland.

Today’s Critter count:

• Lots of cows
• Some horses
• One really big pig
• A fat hawk
• Small herd of deers
• Rafter of wild turkeys

The Way Back

• 1 truck
• 2 planes
• 3 Amtrak trains
• 2 Metro trains
• 1 Art Bus
• 1/2 mile walk from bus stop – uphill.

I loved the entire Way Back. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Lots of stuff needs to be “processed” – unpacked, washed, trashed, stored, looked at and acted upon. Not to mention: The Taxes. But, I didn’t do any of this that this afternoon – arrived at the asylum at about 4PM. I brushed my teeth. Took a very long shower. Discovered that I still fit into my skinny jeans. And went to dinner. I had really poor soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. When I got back upstairs I was still hungry – so I had some oatmeal.

And now, I am going to read until I fall asleep. And tomorrow – I will begin processing stuff.

Note to Carlton: It was better – coming home with you or to you. But, I must say – coming back to the Asylum was a damn sight better than coming back to a “regular” apartment. This is home. These people – they are my family. The 105 year old man was leaving dinner when I got there. He wished me a “good night”. Two pretty little Muslim server girls made a point of saying “Hi Peg” – this was when I was trudging up the hill to the building. I wasn’t even inside yet. And, there is a new couple on my floor – so, I am no longer the “new person”.

The Critter Count:

• 1 fox
• several bald eagles
• 1 big fat hawk
• Lots of cows

Not much good viewing today. The day was spent in Iowa and Illinois. The train seemed to be running at about 79MPH. And, the fresh air stops were very short. The crew had worked 6 days straight and were heading into 8 days off. I had a couple of plans for things to do in Chicago – but it is 38 degrees and damp. So, I holed up in the station.

OK. The Grand Train Tour – Inside.

There were 14 rooms like mine and 6 bigger/better rooms. 15 rooms have no “facilities”. There was 1 shower and 4 bathrooms, one big ole coffee pot and a luggage rack for the 20 rooms to share.

Everyone on the train shares the lounge and dining car.

I have enjoyed the whole trip so far. Everyone on the train is on the train because they want to be on the train. It isn’t like airplanes. Lots of “old” people. Lots of “young” people. Middle age people are too busy earning a living to take 4+ days to cross the country.

Note to Carlton: You wouldn’t have liked it.