Why I Live Here - Chester Creek (Lanie Fleischer) BikeTrail

I had a workshop at Rural Cap yesterday and since it was sunny out I figured it would be an easy bike ride.  And it was though there were a few spots where the trail was icy - some bridges and along Gambell. 

Riding home, particularly, I was reminded how wonderful our trail system is, at least for those traveling in the areas there are these trails.  Right in the middle of the city you are out of traffic, away from buildings, in the woods, on a trail that serves not just recreational users, but also people going to work and other errands. 

Here's the lake just before you get to the tunnel under Lake Otis Parkway.   The ducks and gulls seemed to be enjoying themselves.














And here's the trail as it skirts Goose Lake and then gets to UAA.

As I rode along this route, I realized how infrequently I see this now that I'm not running any more.  I used to go on the first part of this trail twice a week and the other portion once a week.  While regular daily exercises have gotten me to the point where my Achilles tendon doesn't interfere with walking any more, I'm not ready to push it for running.  When I've tried, it's been a problem.  So I've switched to bike rides, and the best trail for that near the house is the Campbell Creek trail, not Chester Creek.  Also a beautiful trail, but they offer different experiences.  Chester, along this part, is more birch and Campbell is more small Spruce and Chugach views.

If you look carefully at the shadows in these photos, you can see it's late October.  The sun crosses the sky fairly low to the south and the shadows go to the north.  But it will get lower still over the next several months. 

AIFF 2015: Looking Back As This Year's Festival Nears- Link To Alex Gibney Interview

The first year I blogged the Anchorage International Film Festival (2007), I was already disagreeing with the judges. I was taken by Cam Christiansen's visuals in I Have Seen The Future an animated short that didn't get any recognition from the judges, but soon after got accepted at Sundance.   And I thought that Alex Gibney's Taxi to the Dark Side should have won the best documentary.  No doubt in my mind.  But it didn't.  However, it did go on to win the Academy Award for best documentary. The Anchorage International Film Festival has seen some great films.  Some have gone on to a wider audience, many others got lost in the fierce competition for screen space, and we were lucky to get to see them.  I've seen a few showing up in other venues - Wildlike, which was best feature in 2014 has been released in theaters recently, for example. 

I mention Gibney's film because there's an LA Times interview with him Wednesday on his winning the first Christopher Hitchens award. And this seems like a good introduction to the 2015 Anchorage International Film Festival which posted its selections for the December 4 - 13, 2015 festival. 


You can take your first look at all the films selected for the 2015 Anchorage International Film Festival.  You can also see which ones are "in competition" which means the screeners thought them worthy to go to the juries to be reviewed for prizes.  Here's the link.

And since this first post on the 2015 Festival was pushed into being by the Alex Gibney interview, here's a list of the documentaries in competition this year.  First the longer docs:

Children of the Arctic	Nick Brandestini	Switzerland	93 min.
Circus Without Borders	Susan Gray, Linda Matchan	United States	69 min.
Lost & Found	Nicolina Lanni, John Choi	Canada	82 min.
Love Between the Covers	Laurie Kahn	Australia, United States	83 min.
Madina’s Dream	Andrew Berends	United States	80 min.

 And these are the shorter ones:

Bihttoš	Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers	Canada	14 min.
Man in the Can	Noessa Higa	United States	38 min.
Superjednostka	Teresa Czepiec	Poland	20 min.
The House is Innocent	Nicholas Coles	States	12 min.

I'm not sure if the shorter ones are in competition with the longer ones or not.  I suspect that may be the case, though I think they should be in separate categories.


The Feature Films in Competition this year are all from outside the US - Turkey, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, and the Islamic Republic of Iran.   Should be interesting watching.

And here's the trailer for this year.  Last year's was a departure from previous years.  It was a compilation of clips from different films in the festival with some very catchy music that made me look forward to seeing (and hearing) it before each showing.  This one is the same genre though in the first couple of listens, I don't think the music is quite as catchy as last year's.  But take a look and as you see films in the festival you'll start recognizing the clips in the teaser. 


All this is a reminder that I need to get moving if I'm going to be ready by the opening date of Decemer 4, 2015. I have started a page in the header for AIFF 2015.

I've tried over the years to give general tips on how to best take advantage of having this festival in town as well as give specific guidance on what's playing each day and what things I like.  I'll also be putting up pictures and videos of film makers, AIFF organizers and volunteers, and audience members.  

[Feedburner probs, so reposting]

Ice Leaves

I've been waiting for the deck to dry off a bit and the lack of rain for the last three days seemed like a good time to take in the table for the winter. 





I went to brush off the leaves.

But they didn't brush off easily.

They were stuck.

So I had to peal them off and found these lovely ice leaves left on the table.

Elephants Cooperate, So Do People, Which Is Why I Couldn't Tell You About This Experiment Six Years Ago

From the new* Scientific American (I can only read the intro without paying):

"At the Thai Elephant Conservation Center, tucked away in the trees near Chiang Mai, a pair of Asian elephants gazes at two bowls of corn on the other side of a net. The corn is attached to a sliding platform, through which researchers have threaded a rope. The rope's ends lie on the elephants' side of the net. If only one elephant pulls an end, the rope slides out of the contraption. To bring the food within trunk's reach, the elephants have to do something only humans and other primates were thought to do: they must cooperate. Working in synchrony, each elephant grabs its end of the rope in its trunk and pulls, drawing the platform and the treats within reach."

photo from my April 2009 post

We met Josh Plotnick, the experimenter, in Chiangmai, in 2008.  We went to visit the elephant conservation center in 2009 where we saw his elephants and the experiment he was doing.  But I could only hint back then.  Here's from my first post on the elephant sanctuary in Lampang then:

"JP is a doctoral student doing his dissertation research here at the center. We met him last year and finally got a chance to go out and visit him in the center. His research is very interesting but I was sworn to silence until his work is published."

Here's a link to the second post on the sanctuary which focused on the hospital and nursery.


*It's hard figuring out online what the date of this Scientific American is.  It says, "

Liberals Take Strong Majority In Canada

From CBC news:

"Justin Trudeau will be Canada's next prime minister after leading the Liberal Party to a stunning majority government win, dashing the hopes of Stephen Harper, who had been seeking his fourth consecutive mandate, CBC News has projected."

From CBC

 From CBC election reporting:

Red is Liberal 

Blue is Conservative

Orange is New Democrat

Light blue is Quebec

From CBC

You wouldn't know the Liberals won from this map if you didn't know Canada a bit.  The big red area on top is sparsely populated Arctic region.  But the red is also in the major cities - Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Quebec - where most of the population is.

The original map on the CBC website is interactive, so you can see those tiny city pockets of red easier.


Here's Trudeau's victory speech, alternating between French and English.

Gov Wants Special Legislative Session To Do Three Things

Alaska's governor has sent the legislature an 'agenda' for the special legislative session that begins in Juneau on Saturday.  Here are the three key things he wants:

"The three items for consideration in this special session are: 
(1) passage of legislation lifting the tax holiday on real property leased from the State containing threshold volumes of gas in order to ensure that producers are incentivized to commit their gas to Alaska LNG, or to make gas available for purchase if Alaska LNG does not proceed with all current project participants on previously established timelines; 
(2)  an appropriation to pay TransCanada its development costs and terminate its participation in Alaska LNG, so that AGDC can take over TransCanada’s current equity position in the gas treatment plant (GTP) and pipeline;  and
(3) appropriations for the State to make cash calls on the GTP and pipeline components of Alaska LNG to continue pre-front end engineering and design (FEED) work necessary to reach a FEED decision, and for the other State agencies involved in Alaska LNG to fund the work to continue efforts to negotiate and reach final agreements necessary to reach a FEED decision."

He offers a little more detail in the rest of the letter, but no numbers.  That's coming later, the letter says.  If I were a legislator, I'd want as much time as possible to read all the numbers and try to figure out the implications, though in today's political climate, from the governor's perspective, that means more time for opponents to attack.  But really, we want all the questions to be asked and then answered. 

Item #1:  I think ending the tax holiday is easy to understand.  The gas is in the ground, but the oil companies don't have to pay property taxes.  The initial exemption from property taxes was that the oil companies would pump the gas.  But the governor argues, as have others in the past, that without the tax, they have no incentive to do anything.   

Item #2:  I generally like the idea that the state acts as a real partner in this and I guess buying out TransCanada's share is part of doing that.  But, how much does TC want to sell?  If they are happy to to get rid of it, shouldn't we be able to get a discounted price?  Are there any other potential buyers?

I also like that unlike Parnell and Murkowski, Walker seems to represent Alaska and not the oil companies.  That doesn't mean he's making good decisions, but it does mean he's not playing patsy to the oil companies. 

This is going to be big money.  And you need big money in the oil and gas business.  But the state has a history of bad investments in enterprises from the Matsu Dairy to the Seafood Processing Plant in Anchorage.   Is this different?  If so, what can the governor tell us to convince us?  How long will a pipeline take before gas flows?  Will it come on line before ice melts enough for tankers to just fill up directly on the North Slope? 

And, I for one, need assurance that Walker plans to run for reelection, so all this doesn't fall apart.  Should another oil company lackey become governor again, this would all be for naught. 

Item #3:  Some specifics and some numbers would help out here.


Now, the Republican majority in the legislature is full of oil company supporters, even some oil company employees.  Walker has to entice them to vote his way.  The special session on Medicaid expansion earlier this year wasn't exactly a show of bi-partisan support. 

But let's all remember that this is precisely what Walker campaigned on.  A politician who is keeping his promises.  From the EnergyWire last December:

During the campaign, Walker suggested that, if elected, he might renegotiate the gas line contracts to give the state a leadership role. Industry supporters warned that such a step could set the project back by a decade (EnergyWire, Nov. 6).
Continued tensions over the pipeline issue were apparent last month when Walker's team held a town-hall-style transition meeting in Anchorage to draft recommendations for the new administration.
During oil and gas panel discussions, industry representatives called for Walker to endorse the Alaska LNG contracts that Parnell signed with BP Alaska, ConocoPhillips Alaska, Exxon Mobil Corp. and TransCanada Corp.
But Walker supporters protested that the incoming governor shouldn't be asked to sign off on contracts that neither he nor the public has seen in their entirety. Instead, they wanted Walker to push the oil companies to guarantee they'll build the pipeline.
"We'd like to achieve a commitment to build because the agreements we have right now aren't binding," noted Anchorage energy attorney Robin Brena, who served as chairman for the transition conference's oil and gas panel.
Despite their differences, Walker spent the days after the final votes were counted reaching out to Alaska oil industry groups. He held private meetings with the Alaska Oil and Gas Association and the Alaska Support Industry Alliance.

How Big Is A Costco Large Egg?

I was moving eggs from the 18 egg carton to a 12 egg carton that fits in our egg tray.  I couldn't help but wonder at the different sizes.  These eggs all came from a Costco egg carton that said Large.

But these eggs were radically different sizes as you can see.

I looked up how big eggs should be for each grade and found this useful piece in the Kitchen blog - though its focus was on whether you could substitute a large egg for a medium in a recipe.  Not on honest labeling.

I don't have a food scale - though my new bread book strongly suggests I get one - so I just had to eyeball it.  One egg is about 2 inches long and the other closer to 3 [2.5] inches.

Costco, who's grading your eggs?

The Boule

From Wikipedia:

"Boule, from the French for "ball", is a traditional shape of French bread, resembling a squashed ball. It is a rustic loaf shape that can be made of any type of flour. A boule can be leavened with commercial yeast, chemical leavening, or even wild yeast sourdough. The name of this bread is the reason a bread baker is referred to as a "boulanger" in French, and a bread bakery a 'boulangerie.'"

I picked up the bread book at Powell's when we were in Portland this summer.  When we got home I learned that all the recipes used a sourdough starter and it took four days to get the starter ready.

I know making bread on your own takes a bit of time, but four days?

So I kept putting it off.  And then finally I said, ok, let's do this.

Unfortunately, the starter didn't look like it did in the book.  It was way too dry.  But I'd never made starter before and I was following the recipe exactly. 

Day 2 you're supposed to mix up more flour (rye) and water and add the previous day's mix to it.  As you can see, both are dry and crumbly.  I'm thinking, this book was a mistake.  But then I went to Youtube and looked up the author and sourdough starter.  I found someone else making starter.  I had no choice, I was going to have to add more water.

Day three it was bubbling.  I added more flour and water, and by day four it was good to go. 

Here's the dough after the ingredients were mixed in - not much compared to my previous breads.  Just flour, sourdough starter, yeast, water, and salt.  I had the book open to keep track of what I was supposed to be doing. 

It looked a little lumpy, but as I kneaded, it smoothed out. 

After letting it sit and rise, the next step was to stretch out the sides and then fold them back over a bunch of times and finally make it into a ball, rolling the edges down underneath with my hands.

The picture shows the ball before and after proofing.  (Proofing is what they called the second rising period.)  Actually it grew outward more than it grew up. 





Then I was supposed to score the top before putting it in the oven on parchment paper.  Fortunately J uses that so we had some.


They call for a hot oven - 450˚F - and this bread needed 40-45 minutes.

It did some rising in the oven and it got a little dark on top, but not burnt. 

Inside was perfect.  It was tasty and had a great consistency.  It disappeared quickly.







I was supposed to refresh the starter, and as you can see below, it got carried away.

So I needed to make more bread.

But it turned out we didn't have much white flour left (lots of the recipes call for regular flour) so I used whole wheat flour instead.


And I made two smaller loaves.

They looked good - they were in the oven only 30 minutes - and they tasted good, but they were much heavier breads.

And then we were leaving.  So, following the directions in the book I tightened the lid on the jar and stuck the starter into the fridge.

Wednesday night I pulled the starter out, added some new flour and water and let it sit overnight.  We got more white flour and I started another boule.  But it was late, so after the first rising, I put it in the fridge for the second one.  Pulled it out in the morning and eventually put it into the oven.

It didn't rise as well as the first one and the crust was that same almost burnt color.  It was heavier, but still tasty.   I learned from the sourdough starter problem that there's a fair amount of leeway in this bread making, and you have to experiment.  I'll try the oven a little lower next time to see if the crust doesn't get so dark.  And the overnight in the fridge may have held back the proofing, though I've learned in the past that putting it in the fridge overnight shouldn't be a problem.  Maybe I needed to let it warm back up more before baking.

There are lots of different bread recipes in the book and with the starter alive and growing, there's incentive to bake more often. 

Happy 100th Arthur Miller - Some Alaska Connections

Arthur Miller came to Alaska in 1996 to participate in the Prince William Sound Community Colleges Last Frontier Theatre Conference.

It was a summer weekend afternoon when I went into the Anchorage museum to meet my wife.  I saw Connie Jones, who was head of the Municipal Cultural and Recreational Affairs Department, which included the museum.  She was talking to a someone.  She looked at me and said, "Steve, have you met Arthur Miller?  He's waiting for his wife to meet him."  And that was how I ended up spending 20 minutes talking to one of America's greatest playwrights.  What did we talk about?  I can't really remember, but I didn't learn any great insights about his life or work.  Mostly I think we talked about Alaska.  If I'd have been blogging back then, I'd be able to tell you what we talked about, maybe even had some video.

Today would be his 100th birthday as I earlier included in Famous People Born in 1915. 

Alaska played a small but important role in Miller's most famous play, Death of a Salesman.
Willy Loman is getting older and he's estranged from his favorite son, his business contacts have all died off, and he's been demoted at work.  As he thinks about his life and lost opportunities, Alaska seems to have played a role in his life it has for many - the chance for adventure and fortune as well as the natural world compared to New York.


I've excerpted some parts of Act II that mention Alaska from the script.

 The play moves back and forth between the present and Willy Loman's memories.  Here Willy is playing poker with his neighbor Charley.  Ben, Willy's dead brother is talking in Willy's head:

BEN:  I must make a tram, William. There are several properties I’m looking at in Alaska. 
WILLY:  Sure, sure! If I’d gone with him to Alaska that time, everything would’ve been totally different. 
CHARLEY:  Go on, you’d froze to death up there. 
WILLY:  What’re you talking about? 
BEN:  Opportunity is tremendous in Alaska, William. Surprised you’re not up there.
WILLY:  Sure, tremendous.  .   .

BEN (laughing):  I was going to find Father in Alaska. 
WILLY:  Where is he?
BEN:   At that age I had a very faulty view of geography, William. I discovered after a few days that I was heading due south, so instead of Alaska, I ended up in Africa.  LINDA:  Africa! 
WILLY:  The Gold Coast! 
BEN:  Principally diamond mines. 
LINDA:  Diamond mines!
BEN:  Yes, my dear. But I’ve only a few minutes... 
WILLY:  No! Boys! Boys! (Young Biff and Happy appear.) Listen to this. This is your Uncle Ben, a great man! Tell my boys, Ben! 
BEN:  Why, boys, when I was seventeen I walked into the jungle, and when I was twenty-one I walked out. (He laughs.) And by God I was rich. 
WILLY (to the boys):  You see what I been talking about? The greatest things can happen!
BEN (glancing at his watch):I have an appointment in Ketchikan Tuesday week.

Here, with his boss, Howard:

WILLY (angrily):  Business is definitely business, but just listen for a minute. You don’t understand this. When I was a boy — eighteen, nineteen — I was already on the road. And there was a question in my mind as to whether selling had a future for me. Because in those days I had a yearning to go to Alaska. See, there were three gold strikes in one month in Alaska, and I felt like going out. Just for the ride, you might say.
HOWARD (barely interested):  Don’t say.
WILLY:  Oh, yeah, my father lived many years in Alaska. He was an adventurous man. We’ve got quite a little streak of self-reliance in our family. I thought I’d go out with my older brother and try to locate him, and maybe settle in the North with the old man.

But he met a salesman, who changed his life  . .

 And I was almost decided to go, when I met a salesman in the Parker House. His name was Dave Singleman. And he was eighty-four years old, and he’d drummed merchandise in thirty-one states. And old Dave, he’d go up to his room, y’understand, put on his green velvet slippers — I’ll never forget — and pick up his phone and call the buyers, and without ever leaving his room, at the age of eighty-four, he made his living. And when I saw that, I realized that selling was the greatest career a man could want. ‘Cause what could be more satisfying than to be able to go, at the age of eighty-
four, into twenty or thirty different cities, and pick up a phone, and be remembered and loved and helped by so many different people? Do you know? When he died — and by the way he died the death of a salesman, in his green velvet slippers in the smoker of the New York, New Haven and Hartford, going into Boston — when he died, hundreds of salesmen and buyers were at his funeral.

Linda is Willy's wife:

WILLY:  Oh, Ben, how did you do it? What is the answer? Did you wind up the Alaska deal already?
BEN:  Doesn’t take much time if you know what you’re doing.   Just a short business trip. Boarding ship in an hour. Wanted to say good-by.
WILLY:  Ben, I’ve got to talk to you.
BEN   (glancing at his watch):  Haven’t the time, William.
WILLY (crossing the apron to Ben):  Ben, nothing’s working out. I don’t know what to do.
BEN:  Now, look here, William. I’ve bought timberland in Alaska and I need a man to look after things for me.
WILLY:  God, timberland! Me and my boys in those grand out-doors?
BEN:  You’ve a new continent at your doorstep, William. Get out of these cities, they’re full of talk and time payments and courts of law. Screw on your fists and you can fight for a fortune up there. 
WILLY:  Yes, yes! Linda, Linda! (Linda enters as of old, with the wash.)
LINDA:  Oh, you’re back? 
BEN:  I haven’t much time.
WILLY:  No, wait! Linda, he’s got a proposition for me in Alaska. 
LINDA:  But you’ve got...   (To Ben.)   He’s got a beautiful job here. 
WILLY:  But in Alaska, kid, I could... 
LINDA:  You’re doing well enough, Willy! 
BEN (to Linda):  Enough for what, my dear? 
LINDA   (frightened of Ben and angry at him):  Don’t say those things to him! Enough to be happy right here, right now.
(To Willy, while Ben laughs.)  Why must everybody conquer the world? You’re well liked, and the boys love you, and someday  —
(To Ben) — why, old man Wagner told him just the other day that if he keeps it up he’ll be a member of the firm, didn’t he, Willy? 
WILLY:  Sure, sure. I am building something with this firm, Ben, and if a man is building something  he must be on the right track, mustn’t he? 
BEN:  What are you building? Lay your hand on it. Where is it? 
WILLY (hesitantly):  That’s true, Linda, there’s nothing. 
LINDA:  Why?
(To Ben.) There’s a man eighty-four years old –
WILLY:  That’s right, Ben, that’s right. When I look at that man I say, what is there to worry about? 
BEN:  Bah! 
WILLY: It’s true, Ben. All he has to do is go into any city, pick up the phone, and he’s making his living and you know why? 
BEN (picking up his valise):  I’ve got to go. 
WILLY (holding Ben back):  Look at this boy! (Biff, in his high school sweater, enters carrying suitcase. Happy carries Biffs shoulder guards, gold helmet, and football pants.)
WILLY:   Without a penny to his name, three great universities are begging for him, and from there the sky’s the limit, because it’s not what you do, Ben. It’s who you know and the smile on your face! It’s contacts, Ben, contacts! The whole wealth of Alaska passes over the lunch table at the Commodore Hotel, and that’s the wonder, the wonder of this country, that a man can end with diamonds here on the basis of being liked! (He turns to Biff.) And that’s why when you get out on that field today it’s important. Because thousands of people will be rooting for you and loving you. (To Ben, who has again begun to leave.) And Ben! When he walks into a business office his name will sound out like a bell and all the doors will open to him! I’ve seen it, Ben, I’ve seen it a thousand times! You can’t feel it with your hand like timber, but it’s there!
. 

Here's a radio version of the whole play on Youtube:





Happy Birthday. 

Back Home - Fall Chores And Other IRS Therapy

We're back home and the weather has held off - as it has in recent years - so I still had time to rake the leaves and mulch the flower beds. 

Leaves had abandoned the trees and were snoozing on the ground.  But I had some calls to make first.  The first was easy.  The second was the IRS.  I'm still trying to remain patient.  But I still don't understand how a major national payroll company and my mom's accountant can believe they can file one way and the IRS says they can't.  Basically it's about the payroll deductions for my mom's caregiver.  ADP sent them to the business side of the IRS and the accountant mentioned them on the personal account.  So, the business side has the money and sends notices saying they have the money, but no filing and the personal account says they have the filing but no money.  I started attempting to work this out last January and got a very understanding and helpful agent who made sure I got power of attorney for my mom's taxes for 2014 and 2015.   But then I kept getting notices and I kept calling the numbers. You have to wait two hours to talk to anyone, so make sure the phone battery is fully charged and you have something you can do while the phone is on speaker.  Each notice got copied to the accountant and I called the IRS. 

Finally in August or September a guy on the business side said, no, you can't do it that way.  You need to amend the personal tax form and get rid of the payroll taxes and file 940s with the business side for the quarterly deductions.  So that was done in September.  

When we got home, I had a notice to my mom, c/o me, in Anchorage, saying they were going to seize my property to cover the amount due.  The agent I got this morning - less than a minute pushing buttons and waiting - understood what was happening and said he needed to put the collection notice on hold for 60 to 90 days until the amended return got into the computer system.  But that part of the computer system was down so he couldn't do it then.  I should call back in a few hours and have it done. 

That's when I went outside to rake the leaves. 

The birch had been the first to start falling, then the cottonwoods, then the mountain ash, and last the Japanese maple.  I also cleaned out the rain gutters - there were plants growing in the one in front, in great compost.  And I mulched the flower beds with the leaves. 

And I ate a few rosehips.  I love them, even with the seeds.  And they have huge amounts of vitamin C.   From the Fairbanks News Miner:

". . . rose hips have 20 to 40 percent more vitamin C than oranges. Plus, 25 percent more iron, 28 percent more calcium and 25 times more vitamin A. They provide vitamins E and B, as well as selenium, phosphorus and a host of antioxidants. Finally, they have a lot of pectin, which is one of the water soluble fibers that lowers cholesterol."

And then when I got cleaned up and went back inside, I called the IRS back.  This time a woman answered, again quickly.  I guess the seizure notices get a better phone number.  She started to question my right to talk to her.  But I have power of attorney.  Yes, but once the tax payer dies, the power of attorney isn't good any more.  But I talked to Mr. V this morning and we did this and that and . . . I'm going to cut you off because I can't talk to you.  You have to file Form 56.  Can I turn it in at my local IRS office?  No, they'll just mail it.  But she did extend the time a bit to get the Form 56 in.  When you do that, you'll get a notice to your mom c/o you at your address.  That's exactly what the notice says that I'm calling about.  She was abrupt, cold, never said sorry about your mom (as the others did) and even though she could corroborate on the computer everything I said and that Mr. V had said to call back to extend the time for the amended form to get into the system, she just kept saying, it won't do any good to talk any more.  She couldn't do anything about it.  Grrrrrrr. 

I hung up.  Waited ten minutes.  Everyone else I've talked to since January has been much more understanding and helpful.  I called back and got Mr. VH who did say he extended things for 90 days.  He also suggested I take it to my local IRS office.  I mentioned Ms. A had said not to.  

But I was on the phone in the morning for about 40 minutes with Mr. V, then about 30 minutes with Ms. A, and another 45 minutes with Mr. VH.  The IRS had all the money since January - before the April filing date.  Actually, they've gotten it each quarter in 2014.  It's just that the business side and the personal side aren't talking to each other - even though the business side can see the personal side computer info.  Earlier people I talked to said they'd make sure no penalties were levied, though there is now additional interest and a penalty on the bill.  I'm assuming that will be removed. 

I believe in paying taxes, and while there are things I'd rather taxes weren't spent on - like the Iraq war and contracts with Haliburton - I understand that the many programs I do support need tax money.  But I can understand why people get enraged at the IRS.  And I also understand that part of the problem - like the long phone waiting - is because Congress doesn't adequately fund the IRS.  I think in part the plan of conservatives is to starve government agencies so they can't do their jobs well and this causes people to hate government.  But also, if the government is not funded adequately, they can't enforce the law and so tax dodgers and polluters and embezzlers and all the other types of cheats are less likely to get caught.  But I have to admit that if they can't figure out something as simple as my issue, then I'm sure they totally screw up more complicated filings. 

I was randomly selected to answer a phone survey.  It was relatively well done.  There were questions I could answer with appropriate options.  But the part I liked best was there were parts where I could actually talk and explain.  This was all automated.  And, they gave me the phone number of the IRS citizen advocate and I will definitely contact that office. 

The other good thing I did when we got back last night was take the sourdough starter out of the refrigerator and refreshed it with more flour and water.  I realize I haven't posted about trying out my new bread book I got this summer, but it was touch and go in the beginning when I did follow the instructions carefully, but the starter just wasn't wet enough. I've been making bread for years, but never with sourdough starter.   But I watched some online videos and added more water and eventually baked several credible loaves.  But then I had to put the starter in the fridge when we left town.  This morning it had expanded and was clearly the living thing bakers talk about.  And tonight I started another loaf.  I let it rise once and now it is in the fridge and I'll finish the steps tomorrow. 

Raking and other yard work and kneading bread are all good IRS therapy.