Taxes

Preliminary indications are that I'm going to owe the Feds some money come April 15th. I got my W-2's and a couple of 1099's in the mail today. Not all of them, of course. I still need my mortgage interest report, for example, amongst others, though I doubt I'll be able to itemize. If I have to, I'll wait to send my money until the very last day. Oh well, it could be worse. I could be one of those chumps that gets a huge refund every year and thinks it's a great thing, not realizing that he's letting the government use borrow his money interest free.

What a difference...

What a difference a day makes. Yesterday we had howling winds and blowing snow so thick that it caused two multi-car pile-ups in north central Iowa. Businesses all over cancelled their second and third shifts, highways and interstates were closed, and pretty much every hotel room was snapped up by stranded travellers.

Today, we have no wind to speak of, clear, cloudless blue skies, and brilliant sunshine. You might think that's amazing. No. It's just typical Iowa weather.

Big pile of snow

I was at Hy-Vee East a week or so ago when I noticed a veritable mountain of snow, piled up from clearing the rest of the Eastbrook Mall parking lot. A big pile of snow isn't that rare around here, but some clever person had planted a U.S. flag at the peak of the thing. I've been meaning to snap a picture ever since, but only got around to it today. I reckon that pile is at least twenty-five feet tall, and may have been even taller before the rain we got on Saturday.