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IRS forms and games
Apr. 14th, 2011 10:06 pmUS federal tax forms and instructions are probably the worst crap ever written/designed by anyone. Worse, every time they start out to "simplify" them, they make it worse rather than better.
Today's weather called for possible rain late, but we got none. What we did get were cold, gusty winds all day, and lots of overcast. Feels like... November. Still predicting rain for tomorrow and the weekend. Boo.
Tess went out to the pasture with me, and came back, like a perfect lady. I can't believe this. Every spring we go through about two weeks of relearning the proper manners for leading and following. Has she finally learned them so that she remembers even after a four or five month hiatus? I'm not putting away my leather gloves for a while, but I hope she has. It makes everything so much more pleasant for both of us. She's 17 years old this year, so it's really time she was grown up. Still a surprise though.
We were discussing board games this week, after Diplomacy came up and I hunted down my set. In particular the 3M (later Avalon Hill) bookshelf game series that included Oh-Wah-Ree, Twixt, Acquire, Jumpin, Feudal, Quinto, and others, was what came to mind. Some of those were particularly good, others didn't amount to much. I think Acquire might be the only one still being marketed (in a different physical format) today. Twixt was one I particularly enjoyed, though I think it's rather like tic tac toe in the end. If you play it perfectly, whoever gets the first move must win. My family had most of the games in the series, but none of them ended up in my possession. I'm not sure what happened to them. Too bad. Apparently collectors are paying big prices for several of them. I see prices in excess of $250 for Twixt, for instance.
Checking the box of games that were out in the barn, and have been there since we moved here in 1998 (very dusty, believe me,) I find two Scrabble sets, a chess set I've had since my 14th birthday, a go set (a game I was never any good at,) Diplomacy (ditto,) National Geographic's geography trivia game (at which I was pretty good,) Dirty Words (if you don't remember this, you missed something funny,) Regatta (sail boat racing strategy,) The Adventures of Robin Hood (Avalon Hill, intriguing but horrendously complicated,) and a board game based on The Lord of the Rings (also unacceptably complex.) In the back of my closet, because it was shockingly expensive at the time it was purchased in the 1960s for $26, is a real Chinese style Mah Jongg set. That saw lots of play at one time but hasn't seen the light of day in decades. Played by Chinese rules it very much resembles rummy or pinochle. American tournament play rules, alas, are quite degenerate and have lost the whole concept of the original game.
Generally speaking, combat games and games that rely largely on chance have little appeal to me. Puzzles and strategy-based games are more appealing, though often in table top or board editions the rules are so complex as to become daunting. This is where I do actually find some advantage in computerized versions. Railroad Tycoon is a very well developed simulation, as is 1830, the board game on which it was based. The board game is so complex as to be unplayable by any but the most dedicated of geeks. It would be nice to see a combination of the two in which a tangible board setup is used to map and comprehend the action, but a computer program provides rule arbitration and enforcement. I've never seen this done in practice, though.
Back to the IRS and its horrible rules and forms. Gary insists on doing our taxes with TurboTax. He tries various scenarios for dividing up deductible expenses between us to try to find the best savings. As bad as the IRS rules and instruction booklets may be, Turbo Tax is worse. I hate it because I can't tell what it is doing "behind the scenes" and it doesn't show me the actual form as it progresses. Instead you have to answer dozens of irrelevant questions, and it finslly presents you with the completed forms at the end. I would much prefer to just fill in the forms on the screen, and have the program "audit" them for inconsistencies or errors at the end. It would be much quicker, and much less stressful. Years ago I used a product called "AmTax" that did work that way, but it is long extinct. Fortunately, this year's deadline is April 18 (Paul Revere is probably spinning in his grave) for some arbitrary and arcane reason, so I guess we'll manage to get it done in time.
Today's weather called for possible rain late, but we got none. What we did get were cold, gusty winds all day, and lots of overcast. Feels like... November. Still predicting rain for tomorrow and the weekend. Boo.
Tess went out to the pasture with me, and came back, like a perfect lady. I can't believe this. Every spring we go through about two weeks of relearning the proper manners for leading and following. Has she finally learned them so that she remembers even after a four or five month hiatus? I'm not putting away my leather gloves for a while, but I hope she has. It makes everything so much more pleasant for both of us. She's 17 years old this year, so it's really time she was grown up. Still a surprise though.
We were discussing board games this week, after Diplomacy came up and I hunted down my set. In particular the 3M (later Avalon Hill) bookshelf game series that included Oh-Wah-Ree, Twixt, Acquire, Jumpin, Feudal, Quinto, and others, was what came to mind. Some of those were particularly good, others didn't amount to much. I think Acquire might be the only one still being marketed (in a different physical format) today. Twixt was one I particularly enjoyed, though I think it's rather like tic tac toe in the end. If you play it perfectly, whoever gets the first move must win. My family had most of the games in the series, but none of them ended up in my possession. I'm not sure what happened to them. Too bad. Apparently collectors are paying big prices for several of them. I see prices in excess of $250 for Twixt, for instance.
Checking the box of games that were out in the barn, and have been there since we moved here in 1998 (very dusty, believe me,) I find two Scrabble sets, a chess set I've had since my 14th birthday, a go set (a game I was never any good at,) Diplomacy (ditto,) National Geographic's geography trivia game (at which I was pretty good,) Dirty Words (if you don't remember this, you missed something funny,) Regatta (sail boat racing strategy,) The Adventures of Robin Hood (Avalon Hill, intriguing but horrendously complicated,) and a board game based on The Lord of the Rings (also unacceptably complex.) In the back of my closet, because it was shockingly expensive at the time it was purchased in the 1960s for $26, is a real Chinese style Mah Jongg set. That saw lots of play at one time but hasn't seen the light of day in decades. Played by Chinese rules it very much resembles rummy or pinochle. American tournament play rules, alas, are quite degenerate and have lost the whole concept of the original game.
Generally speaking, combat games and games that rely largely on chance have little appeal to me. Puzzles and strategy-based games are more appealing, though often in table top or board editions the rules are so complex as to become daunting. This is where I do actually find some advantage in computerized versions. Railroad Tycoon is a very well developed simulation, as is 1830, the board game on which it was based. The board game is so complex as to be unplayable by any but the most dedicated of geeks. It would be nice to see a combination of the two in which a tangible board setup is used to map and comprehend the action, but a computer program provides rule arbitration and enforcement. I've never seen this done in practice, though.
Back to the IRS and its horrible rules and forms. Gary insists on doing our taxes with TurboTax. He tries various scenarios for dividing up deductible expenses between us to try to find the best savings. As bad as the IRS rules and instruction booklets may be, Turbo Tax is worse. I hate it because I can't tell what it is doing "behind the scenes" and it doesn't show me the actual form as it progresses. Instead you have to answer dozens of irrelevant questions, and it finslly presents you with the completed forms at the end. I would much prefer to just fill in the forms on the screen, and have the program "audit" them for inconsistencies or errors at the end. It would be much quicker, and much less stressful. Years ago I used a product called "AmTax" that did work that way, but it is long extinct. Fortunately, this year's deadline is April 18 (Paul Revere is probably spinning in his grave) for some arbitrary and arcane reason, so I guess we'll manage to get it done in time.
It was a dark and stormy day...
Apr. 14th, 2009 10:18 pmAnd somewhere, in the darkness, a screen door slammed. "Hokey Smoke, Bullwinkle," exclaimed Rocket J. Squirrel, "Income taxes are due tomorrow and I forgot to file. I'd better get busy..." Hours later, the plucky squirrel emerged from his den waving a sheaf of papers around. "Wake up, you horny thing," he said, poking the dozing moose with his pencil. "You've gotta sign these. We're getting a bunch of money back."
Bullwinkle's snoring was interrupted by a snort and he opened his eyes. "Huh Wha? Oh, it's you, Rock. Did you get it figured out?"
Rocky handed a pen to his friend. "Sign here, and here, and here," he said, pointing to the spots. "I'll mail both returns tomorrow and in a month or so we'll have a tidy little sum in the mailbox."
"But, Rock, that's not a good place to keep money," Bullwinkle objected. "I always keep it in a sock under my mattress."
The squirrel rolled his eyes. "No wonder you paid for dinner last night with bills that had been chewed by mice," he groaned, clapping a paw to his head dramatically.
And after dark and gloomy clouds and drizzle all day, now it's crystal clear out, with a million stars shining down. The air is so clear that the light pollution from Woodstock and Huntley is barely noticeable. This is what we needed back in February when that green comet was floating around, but no, it was too busy snowing and blowing then to let us see anything.
The useful and cheap computer parts ordered off EBay arrived at home yesterday, and I took them to the library today and installed them. Everything dropped into place perfectly. Having more disk space to maneuver in with the Alpha DS10 was great. I was able to go on and install a newer version of Debian as well as the latest version of OpenVMS. Now I can migrate my router apps from Debian etch to Debian lenny, and free up three drives to experiment with as I choose.
Bullwinkle's snoring was interrupted by a snort and he opened his eyes. "Huh Wha? Oh, it's you, Rock. Did you get it figured out?"
Rocky handed a pen to his friend. "Sign here, and here, and here," he said, pointing to the spots. "I'll mail both returns tomorrow and in a month or so we'll have a tidy little sum in the mailbox."
"But, Rock, that's not a good place to keep money," Bullwinkle objected. "I always keep it in a sock under my mattress."
The squirrel rolled his eyes. "No wonder you paid for dinner last night with bills that had been chewed by mice," he groaned, clapping a paw to his head dramatically.
And after dark and gloomy clouds and drizzle all day, now it's crystal clear out, with a million stars shining down. The air is so clear that the light pollution from Woodstock and Huntley is barely noticeable. This is what we needed back in February when that green comet was floating around, but no, it was too busy snowing and blowing then to let us see anything.
The useful and cheap computer parts ordered off EBay arrived at home yesterday, and I took them to the library today and installed them. Everything dropped into place perfectly. Having more disk space to maneuver in with the Alpha DS10 was great. I was able to go on and install a newer version of Debian as well as the latest version of OpenVMS. Now I can migrate my router apps from Debian etch to Debian lenny, and free up three drives to experiment with as I choose.
