26 Fascinating, But Useless Facts

26 Fascinating, But Useless Facts

By D.S. Mitchell

 

1. Marilyn Monroe, the 1950-1960 sex goddess, had 6 toes on one of her feet. See. None of us are perfect.

2. Did you know a cockroach can live for up to nine days without a head, until it starves to death? Who knew?

3. An Ostrich’s eye is bigger than its brain.

4. Women blink twice as often as men.

5, No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or purple.

6. Leonardo Da Vinci invented scissors. Thank God! Man and woman lived on this planet for 200,000 years before someone invented scissors. They seem so basic, so necessary. How did people live before scissors? Amazing.on so many levels.

7. Our noses and ears never stop growing, while our eyes remain the same size for life.

8. A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.

9. Whether protesting or electioneering, petitions can serve as important democratic tools, such as when  California governor, Gray Davis was recalled in 2003.  Arnold Schwarzenegger famous body builder and movie action hero took his place in Sacramento.

10. Some species of piranhas are vegetarians, while all butterflies are carnivores.

11. The most shoplifted book in America is the Bible. I wonder what that says about us as a society?

12. Rats can tread water for three days without stopping.

13. All the clocks in the movie Pulp Fiction were stuck on 4:20.  I know what 4:20 means to me. I wonder if it means the same to Tarantino? Probably. Sit back, light up.

14. Mosquitoes are attracted to the color blue.

15. There are 13 witches in a coven.

16. Abraham Lincoln’s first choice to lead the Union Army was Robert E. Lee.

17. “E” is the most used letter in the English alphabet. “Q” is the least used letter.

18. Fingernails grow 4 times faster than toenails.

19. November 15th is National Clean Your Refrigerator Day.

20. Cleopatra was Greek (Ptolemy), not Egyptian.

21. The colder your bedroom the higher the chance of having a nightmare.

22.  Cornelius Vanderbilt was born a farmer’s son who left school at age 11 and despite his lack of                education went on to become the richest man of 19th century America.

23. Oprah Winfrey, a black woman raised by her grandmother, sent to juvenile detention at 13, an unwed mother at 14. Oprah went on to TV stardom and stratospheric wealth in the 20th century.

24. The most common spoken word around the world is “O.K., ok, okay, or, k”  It can be heard from New York City to the tiniest rain forest village.

25. “Jiffy” is an actual unit of time. So when Mom says she’ll be there in a “jiffy” she really means in 1/100th of a second.

26. It takes six months to build a Rolls Royce……and 13 hours to build a Toyota.

Okay, there you go. 26 Tidbits of Fascinating and Useless Information. Use it as you will.

A Taxing Season Til April 15th

A Taxing Season Til April 15th

April 15th is fast approaching

April 15th is only a month away. I find myself  wondering if I should attempt to do it myself or just call a CPA.

April 15th, Looming Large

In case anyone has forgotten, income tax returns are due in just over a month. April 15th is looming large, as they say. It is not that www.calamitypolitics has that many deductible expenses, but that is only because I haven’t figured out how to deduct my daily double Caramel Mocha or my mani-pedis. Maybe I should consult Ivanka on that.

To Deduct, Or Just File Away

Sorting, ironing and filing

I have been busy, sorting, ironing and filing receipts, getting ready for tax deadline

Over the last week, I have been sorting, ironing and filing receipts. Typically I toss most of my Calamity Politics tax receipts into my car’s glove box. I find if I crumple up every receipt really small I can fit a lot of them in the glove box. Any overflow goes in to the bottom file drawer in my home office. The only problem comes at the end of the tax year when I have to get out the ironing board and iron those crumpled receipts flat.

Tax Year and a Standard Year

My son keeps telling me there is no difference between a ‘standard year’ and a ‘tax year’, both are 365 days long. Well, I don’t believe it; I see it as just more government distortion. It feels as if the tax year is actually 9 months long, or 270 days. It is like a time morph for the muddled, and the disorganized.  I’m sure this phenomenon is a real knee-slapper for those at the IRS. The government’s artificially shortened year, combined with the recent tax changes has admittedly added to my tax preparation anxiety.

Call a Friend

I figured I am not the only one with tax deduction stress so I called on my friend and fellow writer Wes Hessel to come up with some help for me and other befuddled American tax payers. Check out what he learned and is now sharing with us.

D. S. Mitchell

A Taxing Season Til April 15th

By Wes Hessel

Facing The Inevitable

They say that only two things are certain: death and taxes; while some may prefer death over doing their taxes, there are gratis resources that can avoid your considering 1040 to be a four-number word.

Land Of The Free

A Google search for “free tax help” (YSRMV – Your Search Results May Vary) yields multiple options for Federal tax return tools that are credible:

https://turbotax.intuit.com/

https://www.taxact.com/

https://www.taxslayer.com/

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