There's too much at stake

I have my favorites but in truth ANYBODY!

Here's where to take the Grassroots Pledge at the We Are Indivisible website

As of 4/29/19. Word is Beto O'Rourke has also signed.

When things go wrong you have to solder on

This falls into the category of how learning new things can keep an old mind from turning to Jell-o. Um, as long as you don't burn the house down.

     The last thing I did when I left the cabin besides lock the door was disconnect the propane tank from the house distribution system to bring the regulator and hose indoors. Unfortunately in removing the assembly from the tank the wrench slipped and my hand slammed against a joint in the main plumbing and the joint came apart.

     This whole system was put in by a friend of mine who was a licensed plumber and I can't really complain about the work after more than 30 years. However if I am going to have lights and a cook stove when I go back it is going to have to be fixed.

     And as much as I have learned over the years, I have never learned how to solder, and this joint needs to be soldered. Soooo I guess I still have more to learn. I sure can't call the guy to head out into the bush to solder one joint. What it all boils down to is I've got some learnin' to do.

     I watched the plumbers who did the two houses I built and the one who works on this house, so I have a pretty good idea what's involved. From internet sources I made a list of tools I will need and I've already bought them. I'm thinking now it might be a good idea to buy some copper tubing and fittings and practice a little before I go back and attempt the repair. One of the difficulties is the break is under the house in a rather tight space where I will have to be working over my head, so some planning is necessary for that as well. And yes the pipe is tight against floor joists and exposed insulation, so some protection is going to be needed there to prevent a fire. What fun, huh?

Here's what's involved: The example in this video is pretty much the connection I have to make.

     I do have a plan B. If I fail at soldering, I will take enough fittings so I can jury rig a connection cobbled together with pressure fittings. I've done some connections that way and I know how to do that. And, believe it or not I also have a plan C. I ordered a basic Coleman stove just in case nothing works. At least I will have two burners and I can run the generator longer for lights.
     And the process goes on. Today (three days later) I bought about $30 worth of copper tubing and fittings to practice on before I head out there to make the fix. Plan A under way.

Let's talk about taxes

First of all every year these days I have to write a check (electronically) for the entire amount of my federal income tax obligation. Every time I do I think everybody should have to do it this way instead of looking forward to receiving a refund as if it were a birthday gift. If you had to face the dollar amount and watch it disappear from your bank account, you might take more interest in how much of that money goes to pay for the #fakepresident's million-dollar weekends at Mar a Lago.
       This year there's even more, I live on a relatively fixed income, the largest part of which is a Social Security benefit, a fund I paid into since 1958. Another Republican, Ronald Reagan, took a chunk out of it already when he started taxing Social Security payments to pay for his adventures in the Middle East and South America during the 1980s.
       Then, this year, with the #fakepresident's ballyhooed tax cuts, I was allowed to pay $400 more than I did last year  for just about the same amount of income. We did get a slight increase in the payments this year but it barely covered the withdrawal to cover an increase in the Medicare premium we have to pay. That's right, we old folks get to pay for that "entitlement," as the GOPpers dreogatoraly call it. Specifically, it IS an entitlement; having paid into the fund for 60 years I am entitled to that money.
     Mind you, I am not complaining generally about paying taxes. Despite the efforts of the #fakepresident, this is still a good country to live in and it costs money to make it work. I just want my money to be used effectively, not for caging children, or for golf weekends or to finance a cabinet whose main purpose is to undo a century of progress in this country. If Medicare for all means some of my money goes to pay for an abortion in New York City, or a hip replacement in Helena, that's OK with me. I am sure in the long run as I age and go through one infirmity after another some emerging master of the universe starting out on Wall Street will be paying for my arthritis medicine as well. It's all good.
      I just think if we all physically wrote that check every year for the full amount instead of happily planning what we'll buy with a refund, we might give the people we vote for and how they distribute our money a little more careful examination.
     Now comes the kicker. I mentioned my "relatively" fixed income. Well I do have some other income, about ten percent, that varies from year to year and arrives at unexpected moments, I've written before about how my father would shake his head every time I hit the bottom of my barrel, a check would fall out of the sky and save me. How about this?
     Today April 15, income tax day 2019, I received a royalty check in the mail that was only $100 short of paying my entire tax bill. And we get to vote for a new president next year. You just have to have a little faith.

A SIDE NOTE: As if piling on the lower tax brackets wasn't enough, there's an effort afoot in Congress to make the IRS charge for electronic filing. Chief among the lobbyists for that move are the representatives of the huge online tax preparation company #turbotax. Where it has normally cost the price of maybe two stamps to file a return, electronic filing has been free. Who knows what the IRS might charge at the behest of #turbotax. So, at the end of the #turbotax process is a form to send the company comments about using the application. Here's what I sent in the comments section:
Given Turbotax executives' efforts to change free filing, I have used this product since the days when it was Macintax. I have been generally satisfied with it. However if the IRS begins charging for electronic filing the direct result of your lobbying, I will dump you like yesterday's mashed potatoes and find another provider.
If anybody who reads this uses turbotax, please do the same. You can do it by going to the "file your return" section and click to the end of it.
Congress considers ending free filing -ProPublica

'Slaughterhouse-Five,' Baghdad redux

One of my all-time favorite books is Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five," his masterpiece World War II (and before and after) novel. The attached essay gives it new meaning in a changing world that has not changed all that much. It's a long read, but so telling,

Reading Slaughterhouse-Five in Baghdad: What Vonnegut taught me about what comes after war

Redpoll

From 2013, The invasion of the redpolls is on