I was right to worry

So, my concerns about letting our boy wander about the neighborhood? 

Dead on.

Hubby and I were out cleaning out the old car when we witnessed a near massacre--ten or so kids trying to lure the rat-children across the street off to a place where they could beat their asses.  Listening to the rat-kids, it became clear that they (and the punk behind us) had ambushed one of these kids and, at close range, knocked him around and shot him with their Airsoft guns.  This was the attempted payback.  It got ugly, and the rat-kids' mother came out and shouted these kids (some of whom were mid-to-late teens) away.  Then we were treated to an hour of listening to the rat-kids plan their revenge.  Serious stuff, talking about baseball bats and sneaking around to flank one boy while he walked to the bus stop.

I was chilled, listening, because it's exactly the sort of thing I feared when I told our boy that, no, he may not just wander around the neighborhood hoping to find someone to hang out with.  These kids will start in on him--we already know that, they've already done it.  But away from home, where there's no safe haven?  I have no idea what might happen. 

The lice kids, after months of completely blowing our boy off, have started showing up again.  Always, when turned away, they head directly over to the rat-kids' house.  No art, no attempting to be smooth.  They come over from there and return there when turned away.  One of them actually came over after dark and asked if our boy could come out to "hang" when the rat-kids were standing right on the sidewalk, waiting. 

Goodness.

Sadly, with the car situation, it's looking like moving away from here next fall isn't likely to happen.  Hopefully, the landlord will rent to us for another year.  If he doesn't?  Wow, I don't dare even think about it.

Considering a Costco or BJ's warehouse membership.  Have a free 60 day membership to BJ's, went once to take a look.  Some things markedly cheaper than Wegmans and Walmart, some not.  Costco may have better prices, we don't know--they aren't offering free trial memberships.  BJ's accepts manufacturer's coupons, whereas Costco does not.  However, Costco sells gas, and they do it for around 30 cents less a gallon than the local gas stations.  BJ's doesn't sell gas.  So we're trying to decide what to do here.  If anyone has any money-saving warehouse tips that might help us make a decision, please share!

Speaking of cheap gas, if we want to drive 44 miles to Front Royal, gas there is 40 cents cheaper a gallon.  But it would take over two gallons to get there and back.  But we have an 18 gallon tank.  Which means it would cost $6.78 in gas to get there and back.  We would save $7.20 over local prices to fill the tank.  Add the wear on the car that comes with smacking an extra 88 miles on it a week?  Not worth it.  But it sure is a pretty drive, huh?


Our boy downloaded a new game on the computer last night, which riddled our machine with malware.  Game was called "Slender," and wow.  Browser hijacked, "adware" everywhere, homepage hijacked, even ads showing up on my blog, which is a concern because I'm not supposed to have competing ads on my blog.  I don't know if those ads were showing for anyone else (I should have three ads--one top, one body, and one bottom) or if it was just for me, but I'm hoping it didn't screw up my ad deal.  There was no "uninstall program" under "add or remove," so I ran Malwarebytes (it found 8 registry key entries and four malware/adware programs), isolated and deleted, rebooted, and manually deleted the game files.  Hopefully, that'll cover it.  The ads and browser issues seem to be cleared up. 

A sad day, thus far.  Hope it gets better. 

What an Up and Down Day

So, yesterday rocked--when it wasn't busy sucking. 

A few weeks ago, my Mom got a letter from her bankruptcy Trustee.  A letter telling her that, because she had failed to file her income taxes, her case was being tossed and she would be open to collections from her debtors.  My nearly-80 year-old Mom.  Panicked, she called me.  I told her to call her bankruptcy attorney.  She did, and she was told not to worry--after all, she had filed her taxes, so it was obviously just a hiccough (not an uncommon one) in the Trustee's office.  She was told to gather up her paperwork and bring it on down to the attorney's office, they'd take care of it.

That's good, right?  That's easy.  One problem, though.  She can't find the paperwork. 

She calls the IRS.  They can't find the paperwork, either.  In fact, they say she didn't file.

Not a problem, I figure--just call H&R Block, right? 

Wrong.  My Mom didn't use H&R Block this past year because she couldn't afford the two hundred bucks they charge her.  No, she let my SISTER do it. 

Jesus wept.

I asked my Mom a bunch of questions and, as best as I can figure, my sister used an online program of the Turbo Tax variety.  But instead of FINISHING (which involves confirmation emails and digital signatures), she got as far as submitting the initial forms and then quit.  Figured it was "good enough."  Instead of reading the directions and fine print, she hit "submit" and then walked away.  Our poor Mother is utterly computer illiterate--no way she could have known that there was more to the process.  Ma wrote a four dollar check (what she owed) and . . . who knows?  Did it get mailed?  I have no clue, and neither does my Mom.  I've told her to check and see if the check was ever cashed.  Here's what I'm thinking--even if it was mailed, it's lazing about in a dead-check bin at the Ogden Service Center.

What to do?  I don't know!  You'd like to think that the Bankruptcy folks would take pity on an almost-80 year old woman who made a mistake but had the best of intentions.  You'd like to think they're not going to lay her open to her creditors and let her sink.  After all, she's made her bankruptcy payments on time and faithfully for over a year.  You'd like to think they're not going to bury her because her daughter didn't read for comprehension.

You'd like to think those things.  But fact is, not only do I not know, but I can easily see her sinking over this.

When I first discovered that my sister had done the taxes, I moaned.  I knew what that meant--it meant receipts weren't printed out, confirmation numbers weren't written down, forms weren't printed and filed.  Because that just comes with the territory.  I didn't dream that the taxes hadn't even been filed.  One year--I leave for ONE year and this is the disaster that comes down.  I'd have warned Ma in advance, but I had no idea she was going to let my sister do her taxes.  She's always used H&R Block.  I've told her NOW to use the free IRS seniors help or the other various "free tax prep for seniors" programs around, but barn door, you know?  Too little, too late.

On the bright side, my Dad and Step-mom sent us two hundred bucks!  Just to help out, said they'd pitch in when they can!  I can't even describe how unexpected and needed it was!  Just in time for the new car payment.  Thank you!

After agonizing with my Mom on the phone, we took a drive back up toward Shenandoah and Front Royal, with a stop at Sky Meadows State Park.  While the colors are just a bit past peak, it was still a gorgeous and wonderful drive!  We saw a gorgeous red-tailed hawk on the way out of town, walked along the Shenandoah River (Charlie, our Cairn, even got into the water a bit on his own--no encouragement!), and adored a whole flock of Amish folks at a convenience store in Front Royal.  Place wasn't so convenient, though--ladies room was closed and men's room had no toilet paper.  So we put our purchases back on the shelves and went elsewhere.  I did take a moment to warn the lovely young Amish women about the loo situation.  I'd forgotten about their wonderful accent and sweet nature.  It was great to hear them speaking to one another in their Pennsylvania Dutch.  I love it here.




Red Tailed Hawk







Shenandoah River (yes, you can sing along with John--I was)







Front Royal in full fall regalia.


We came home just in time for "Once Upon a Time," ate Catalan and homemade brownies, watched our boy pound at that programming homework until just before the deadline (he scored 100%!), and then played Mancala and crashed.  Mostly a good day, but oh, my poor Mom!