Ranch Roundup

Ranch Roundup

Every decade or so, the family gets together for a Reunion of sorts. This July we had a great visit to Alma New Mexico.

Billy loaned us his Polaris Ranger – plenty good for running around between ranches however not for long distance or high speeds. We made it down to Hugh B’s (about 2 miles) fairly easily on Friday night for the hot dogs and hamburger cook-out. Hugh B and the grandkids were already in swimming. What a place for a reunion for all ages: swimming, horse shoes, tennis court, horses, and they even had El Fuego for a photo op – who is willing to climb up on El Fuego?

At the end of the evening, there were fireworks – Bonnie kept saying, “We don’t want to ride home on the highway after dark, do we?” Well, there is a back route – don’t have to go on the highway, just follow the old County road around the back between the two Alma areas. So off we went – there was actually a little light when we started – Rusty had said “stay to the left” and apparently I took that way too seriously – I took the first left, ended up on the levee, and after about a mile we were thoroughly lost … no road, no way out, headlights tht showed about 10 feet ahead – and Bonnie worred about snakes. I had to get out and walk around looking for the road and while I was gone, Bonnie started looking for what we had to save us – all she found was two lollipops and a flashlight with no batteries. Bonnie was wondering if she could make it through to daylight by eating just one of the lollipops – but then was worried that one of the bears would smell the candy and we'd be goners ...

Well, Rusty saw our headlights in the wrong area - we weren't supposed to be along the levee - and came out and rescued us. Bonnie said, "I've got a new boyfriend!" However, she kept calling him "Dusty" so I think that won't last.

Then the next day was the Tractor Pull. If you haven't attended a Tractor Pull, you haven't lived! Well ... maybe you've lived, but you haven't seen it all. Now we have.

What a great Ranch Roundup! We need to do this more often!

More Photos

See my Facebook page here for more photos of the Ranch Roundup as selected from Suzanne's collection on Picasa.com

Doo Doo Doo Lookin' Out My Back Door

Just got home from Illinois - Lock the front door oh boy!
Got to sit down take a rest on the porch.
Imagination sets in pretty soon I'm singin'
[CHORUS:]
Doo doo doo Lookin' out my back door.

There's a giant doing cartwheels a statue wearin' high heels.
Look at all the happy creatures dancing on the lawn.
A dinosaur Victrola list'ning to Buck Owens.
CHORUS

Tambourines and elephants are playing in the band.
Won't you take a ride on the flyin' spoon?
Doo, doo doo.
Wond'rous apparition provided by magician.
CHORUS
Tambourines and elephants are playing in the band.
Won't you take a ride on the flyin' spoon?
Doo, doo doo.
Bother me tomorrow, today, I'll buy no sorrows.
CHORUS

A Day At The Races

"Legends" are 80 mph, precisely-responding, sophisticated racing machines. Conceived about 10 years ago, they are designed from the ground up like a NASCAR Cup car, with coil-over shocks, weightjackers and tube-frame steel construction covered with fiberglass bodies resembling the original "legendary" NASCAR stock cars of the 30s and 40s. They are powered by four-cylinder, 1250 cc, 125 hp Yamaha air-cooled engines with 5-speed sequential transmissions. And personalized with slick-looking professional paint jobs.

The 2009 Oval Schedule is in full swing at Sandia Motor Speedway, New Mexico's premier racing facility. Bonnie and Mike were provided a Pit Pass by Katy on Saturday 9 May and were witness to "The Miracle of Duct Tape." The 10-lap heat started well for the Legends however in the back stretch it was Cardenas on Cardenas as Car #7 (Matthew) spun out while trying to pass and Car #23 (Tony Jr.) ran up over him.

Then it was truly a race against time as Tony Sr. and crew attempted to put Car #7 back into racing condition in time for the 25-lap main event. Many hands working with many tools (and significant duct tape) helping made it happen and Matthew was out racing again - and spun out again - but finished in good shape. An excellent adventure all around!

Jiking the Jemez

Bonnie planned a wonderful Valentine's surprise for me - a ride into the country to parts unknown (to me). Unfortunately, or rather, as it happened, we had an early Valentine's Dinner at Cervantes where we split a Silver Margarita. We were both wiped out after that, so the trip was postponed until Sunday 15 February.

Wonderful adventure, any of you readers can repeat it: Head toward Bernalillo and take Route 4 West. Then look for 485, and take it about two miles into the Jemez Recreational Area of the Santa Fe National Forest. The last three miles (through the tunnels) are on 367.

What great photos! The originals are of course larger and thus more spectacular. Perhaps we should make this "from our house to yours" for 2009?

Sally

We are conducting the ultimate family business - Bonnie's mother Sally died last week and the services are tomorrow. Sally was quite a woman, a mother, a grandmother, great- and great-great. Sharp mind for 94 years and fortunately no real suffering at the transition. I only got to know her for these last two years however I felt a bond and a welcoming - even though we tried to team up on Bonnie in a spirited game of Boggle we still could not defeat her. Which brings me to the Second Reading.


Beth will deliver the Second Reading at the services, and even for a true atheist, these words have meaning and feeling and move me:

"For I am already being poured out like a libation, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”

2 Timothy 4:6-8

Originally Bonnie came out after her mother had been admitted to the hospital to assist her sister in bedside vigils. Eventually she returned home, then returned with me via automobile. The feeling was surrealistic in that Sally was at home on hospice in a hospital bed in the living room while visitors came and went, talked and enjoyed each other's company, meals were eaten, drinks were consumed.

I certainly would never make light of Bonnie's loss, yet she was fortunate to have her mother so far into her own life. I for example lost my mother at my age of 29, when my mother was 64. Hardly a week goes by when I wish I had the opportunity to talk with her again, to ask her questions. Thus perhaps the popularity of Mitch Albom's third book, "For One More Day."

I will truly miss Sally. Bonnie usually called her each day (Sally told each of her daughters that the other two were calling daily!) and sometimes the phone was turned over to me. We had taken her down to San Clemente, and the photo is one I look at and enjoy from those times. She was indeed an inspirational lady.

Tax Preparation Software

In the "olden days" (i.e., mid 1980s, during Lotus 1-2-3 Era but before Turbo Tax), before the Gentleman Pensioner was a pensioner, each year I would painstakingly create all the Federal Income Tax forms in Lotus. I had them connected, so the data would pass from one form to the next, just as the instructions would indicate. Then the following year, I would have to take each form and update it for the changes the IRS had made for that year. This took several hours of update, however I thought it was worth it. Of course, I could not send in 'my' forms, but I would print them out and use them to enter the 'final version' of my submitted taxes.

Then I found Personal Tax Edge, and said: hey, that $9.99 is worth the amount of time I'm putting into this each year. For several (about five) years, I used Personal Tax Edge. Ultimately, of course, Turbo Tax bought out PTE - and gave me one free year of Turbo Tax for my being a loyal Personal Tax Edge customer. That year convinced me that Turbo Tax was no better than Tax Cut, the only (I thought) competitor on the market.

For Tax Year 2007 (last year), here was the deal, as validated on 17 Jan 2008: TaxCut now had its cheapest version (was called basic, now called Premium Federal) for $19.95 (boo!); the next step up, (also called Premium Federal plus State filing plus e-filing) for $39.95. I don't know where TurboTax cost is at this time, however I have confirmed that even if one downloads TaxCut Premium Federal only from the TaxCut.com web site, the biscuits still charge you $19.95! On 17 Jan 2008 I was able to purchase at CompUSA for "going out of business" discount of $4 which made it $17.01 after tax (yes, gross receipts tax, no pun here). For Tax Year 2006, I couldn’t find Tax Cut for less than $18.95 !!! (and that was at BX). Most of them were at the list $19.95 even for the Basic package. For Tax Year 2007, I looked into downloading the Tax Cut from their web site – still costs the same, and as mentioned several times in here, I never have used the CD after the initial installation – and once you do that installation, it says, “let’s go check the web site for latest changes” so you have no choice but to use Internet version download anyway – so start with it.

Then a month ago, on Dec 15 of 2008, Tax Cut sent me a CD which is nothing but a forced download of the Premium Federal for $34.95 (prepare plus e-file; state is more, that should kick it up to $39.95). I don't want that crap. I want the "basic" [prepare only] so I was thinking where can I get a price break? may need to go back to BX or Comp USA... but they all seem to be in lockstep on price ...


Because of the cost of both Tax Cut (and Turbo Tax), I looked around and was amazed to find TaxACT (which apparently has been around for 10 years!). TaxACT (created by Second Story Software) has a better price: FREE (Standard version) software and FREE e-file! The ~13MB install program is downloaded from their web site. (you can also file on-line, however for me download is the only way to go.) The [free] Standard version is limited in that you can only create one tax return and cannot import data from previous years.

I am currently trying TaxACT and evaluating it as I go - my initial reaction is: so far it looks quite good. I can already see ways that it is better than Tax Cut, e.g., in the Forms view which is my primary entry method. Tax Cut just shows you the list of forms, e.g., 1099-Div and says you have, say, six copies. TaxACT lists the six copies and shows the Payer for each. Also I found I can copy from Tax Cut (once I open the form) and paste the identifying info into TaxACT. ( Deluxe version allows you to bring in all info from LAST YEAR's TaxACT but since this is my first year ... ) Deluxe costs $13 and also gives you access to Lassiter tax law explanations as well as allows you to save forms as PDF documents so you don't have to keep the software version around for five years or whatever.

Here is an excellent comparison/review of the top ten tax preparation (online) software packages - I had no idea that there were more than two candidates until this year! Some of these offer purely on-line versions, and I prefer the desktop version for feelings of privacy and control. The comparison ranks Turbo Tax #1, TaxACT #2, and Tax Cut #3. I would appreciate your comments (if you wish email to me Mike@Blackledge.com and I will post your comments below) - have you heard of TaxACT? Used it?

Elf in a Bag

GL and The SF had decided to run away for Christmas - yet to whence dost we goest? Argentina had been in the running, however it turned out that Christmas can be quite hot and humid in that part of the world. The conundrum was solved when Barbara and Ron invited us to Springfield for the Holidays. Our situation became even better when it turned out that Ron was a college bowl football fan (see "Everybody Loves Raymond" episode at Amy and Robert's house with no television at Thanksgiving dinner.)

Traditions past, present, and a touch surreal began with the building of the Gingerbread House. We began with a three-generation sojourn through the Springfield Wildlife Preserve, locating a very cooperative Great Blue Heron and several interested white-tail deer. On Christmas Eve, the Blessing of the creche ("Holy Water is not magic, just sacred") at St. John's Episcopal became a family affair with both kids chosen to participate. Then when Father Williams released the elf from the garbage bag, it was a mind-altering encounter for many of us. Apparently elves have no particular gender. We learned more than we had ever realized about the relationship betwixt angels, elves, Santa Claus and God's helpers.

Christmas morning had us out on the lookout for Children's Advil and we arrived on the home front just in time for the opening of the presents. So what do you give a geologist? Answer is here.

The Day After we were on the road again, heading up to Saddlebred Country to visit with Jan and Don, including a trip to our new favorite steak house, The Longhorn. The next day Bonnie visited the H.S. Truman Library as well as the Truman Home after dropping Mike at the Mid West Genealogy Center - it don't get any better than this.

Summary: There was much to do in Missouri, even without visiting Branson. Every day was an adventure - the weather was cold (one morning we woke up to 4, yes, 4 degrees) however the roads were clear and sunny. Let's run away every Christmas!