Tuesday, November 28, 2017

UNBELIEVABLE

     This is unbelievable. I'm going to write about taxes again! I know I said in my last post that it was the end of posts on tax. The tax  topic just keeps giving and giving. This also fits in with a few other posts I've done, like telemarketers.

    Yesterday morning a call came and since I have call identification , I decided not to answer. Most telemarketers and scams don't leave a message. This one left a message and it was chilling.

    The message went something like this. You are named in a criminal proceeding for paying insufficient income tax and for tax fraud. Call back immediately and we can help you. Well it's a rather upsetting message. Fear and worry set in immediately. And then the voice of reason cuts in and you realize that this is a scam. However , you are shook up by such a call.

     Even though I had heard about this scam before, I was stressed. What cold evil hearted person would conduct such a scam. I wouldn't be taken in but how many other people may fall for it. What about seniors.? What about the many people we have who have limited English?

     So yes, my post is about tax but more on creepy criminal phone calls.

    We called the police to report the call thinking that they may be interested in case there was an ongoing investigation. Well they knew about it, but there was no investigation because unless there's money that actually changes hands there's no offense being committed. They are just a nuisance.

    So hopefully this will be the last tax post and that the goons don't phone you.






Sunday, November 26, 2017

ONCE MORE ON TAXES

    Recently I have done two posts on income tax. One post was a on a tactic used by people to evade tax by putting money in another country. The last post was on the pathetic performance of the call center used by the tax department.
    So after my challenge  of  dealing with capital gains I've been thinking about what causes tax systems to become so complicated.
    Too many times whiners get to the politicians and request changes to the tax system that would benefit them. Politicians see this a  way of getting votes when they need them. Politicians also think that if they meddle with the tax system, they can "improve" the economy.
    Then the government always has ideas to give us a good deal. In Canada they set up something called the Registered Retirement Savings Plan. The idea was to let people start a savings deposit and not have to pay income tax on it until they take the funds out. You would not be able to take any funds  out until you reach retirement unless you wanted to pay tax on it. The idea was that when you retire your tax rate would be lower and in this way save money. So try keeping track of this account. There was a maximum you could deposit. There's a minimum you could take out at the end.
   The government has all kinds of economists and accountants who design tax systems that at the same time benefit people and bring in needed revenue for the country.
    I could bore you with other examples.
   So why not tax everybody on a standard rate. There would be different rates for income level but that's all.  No exemptions. No write offs. No sneaking money off to a foreign country.
   I'm willing to bet a nickel that if everybody was taxed the same and did not have loop holes that the tax rate would be lower. Wouldn't that make everybody happy! Or is this just too simple to fly?


    Well it was a good dream anyway.


   

Friday, November 24, 2017

CALL CENTERS WILL DESTROY OUR SOCIETY

       I've always disliked call centers


       When you call it takes forever to get an answer. It seems the usual time is 30 to 45 minutes. Listening to the mournful repetitive tiny bit if music drives me crazy. Listening to , "Your call is important to us" 200 times is insulting.


     So finally someone answers. What have I got? Someone whose English is very limited. They have an accent and only understand about half of what I say. Since my hearing is poor , I have difficulties hearing speech which is heavily accented.  If we did understand each other they have a very limited knowledge of the topic I'm seeking information about. So after a frustrating time I usually end up not getting the information I was seeking.


    Now the call center business is large. It's set up to operate efficiently and is very lucrative.


    Now I knew a young guy who had brief experiences with working in call centers or should I say training. He was well paid and he would train until some other opportunity came along. Many opportunities he chose were also short term. Sergio spent time at my house and I tried to help him with support and employment. He worked in a slaughter house for a few weeks. He worked for a cement company for a few days. However, Sergio always seemed to mess things up. He didn't seem to care if he got anything right. So if he was working in a call center he could make anything up!


     Now yesterday with my tax issue I happened to be dealing with a call center. The person knew absolutely nothing about what I was asking.


     A few years ago taxation employees answered the phones. You got information.


     Now I'm sure that if call centers continue they will be responsible for destroying our society.

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

THREE RING CIRCUS

    A three ring circus took place at my house today. I'm not sure if there are real three ring circuses anymore but there was one today.

    I was one ring. The Micro Manager  was a second ring and the poor little income tax information officer was the third ring.

    How did this turn into a circus? Well we had a tax issue. The micro manager and I could not understand how the issue could be dealt with. We had gone over the information many times and could not agree. We both stick to our ideas very rigidly so a solution is hard to get to.  So we phoned the income tax number.

   To start with, our understanding of the issue was hazy at best. So the tax person wasn't really sure what we wanted. The said tax person referred us to parts of the guide that would help us. Well, that only muddled us up more. The Micro Manage thought one thing and I thought another. We tried again and ended up in more confusion. So the micro manager and I were talking to each other and debating things back and forth. I guess the tax person leaned back and said, "Let'em go at it."
   For one minute we would think that we understood things and then suddenly it wouldn't fit.

    I must say that the advisor we had was weak at best. Everything we asked she would put us on hold and look for info. When I phone these people I expect a clear explanation.

    After about 40 minutes , I wrote the micro manager a note and said let's get off of here because this bird doesn't know anything. Twenty minutes later the Micro Manager thanked the tax person and said we'd work on it. 

    So after 90 minutes we got nothing.

    So the three ring circus just went round and round.

    I imagine it would have been quite entertaining if someone had been watching.

    So now we still have to find out how to calculate the problem correctly.

   I think there will be another showing of the three ring circus.

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Sunday, November 19, 2017

SOMETIMES YOU GET LUCKY

      I spend a lot of time outdoors wandering through parks and natural areas. It gets me outdoors. It gives me some exercise and it certainly does wonders to overall good well being. I lead a bird watching group once a week and sometimes you have to work pretty hard to pursue the little birdie to make an identification.
    Now most days you are going to meet someone to visit with. You meet all kinds of different people. Since I carry binoculars , most people can guess what I'm doing.


    From time to time you find things. These days the woods are filled with junk from homeless people. Sometimes I report the junk and the city picks it up and if it's small I clean it up myself.


    Sometimes you find other things...wallets. Usually there's nothing left. Twice I found wallets and the only thing missing was cash. Then I turn them in to the police.


    Yesterday I found something different. I saw a bit of black cord sticking out of the snow. I thought it might be keys so I kicked the snow away. Surprisingly it turned out to be a flashlight. I wanted to see if it worked and if not it would go in the garbage. One of the birders told me how to turn it on and yes it worked.


    Now the flash light likely belonged to a homeless person as they use the flashlights to navigate through the bush and also as a bicycle light. They also use them for lights in their tent.


     Now when I got home I googled to see what I had. I found out that it was a $50.00 flashlight. I've never found anything of value that I could keep. The light is LED and the beam shines up to 751 feet!




    Sometimes you get lucky!

Thursday, November 16, 2017

SEXUAL ASSAULT

     In the past year the topic of sexual assault has been common, regular and often.


     There's much to say about sexual assault but not much seems to do any good.  Sexual assault has probably been committed since we showed up on the planet.


     There are the usual blah blah blahs. Simple ideas are  given as to why sexual assault continues to occur. The common excuses and blame go on forever and are repeated. In Alberta, we've had a judge lose his position as he asked a complainant why she didn't keep her legs together to prevent an assault.


    The law does not seem to come up with a practical process of dealing with sexual assault in the courts. The complainant is forced to defend herself from various lame accusations. Women are reluctant to report assault as the court process is demeaning and not highly reliable or successful.


    So sexual assault goes on and there at very few convictions so males fell that the odds are very good that they can get away with things.


     Over and over we hear about education and talking. Men and women talking?


     Boys, it's time men talked to men. Yes, men talk now . They brag about assaults and egg each other on. Donald Trump is one who openly brags and laughs about his assaults. He gets away with his actions and those assaulted carry the pain of the assaults. Talk is dismissed as locker room talk so it's harmless. Too many clowns go out and walk the talk and assault. This same locker room talk gives many males the idea that assault is funny.


     Men commit the assaults. It's up to men to talk to one another about sexual assault and get it through their heads that it's disgustingly wrong. . It's up to men to control the flippant joking about sexual assault. It's up to men to call each other on yakking about sexual assault and how funny it would be. It's up to men to talk to each other and realize how harmful the assaults are. Men have to step up and take a stand. It won't be easy. The bullies will make it difficult.


    Men have got to get serious and take responsibility for sexual assault. No one is out there asking to be assaulted.


    Maybe, just maybe, the many people making accusations now will have some effect on the rate of sexual assault.

Sunday, November 12, 2017

THAT DANG COMPUTER

    Some of you noticed that there were some major glitches in my last post as far as photos were concerned. My apologies for causing anxiety and frustration. All of you who mentioned a problem with photos were extremely tactful. Thank you. If you hadn't mentioned that something was amiss , I'd have never known that there was a problem.


     I was trying to move photos on the blog post directly from email. I found out I couldn't do it. Moving photos from an email to a  post can probably be done but I have no idea how it's done. I still don't understand why I can't use the clipboard and use cut and paste?


    Now since I have a new computer, I've been moving photos to the new computer. Most of it has been easy peasy. However , there were some photos that just weren't showing up. I did two downloads or uploads. I'm not sure which is which. I searched for the photos. I looked all over the place . I went around and around. I really became frustrated. I had moved photos from my new camera and it was very easy. I did the same with the old camera, but some seemed to be missing.


    I was about exhausted and had almost decided to ask my in house advisor for advice. Last night while spending a sleepless couple of hours I got it!!! I remembered that I had another SD card from the old camera Yes, that' where my missing photos were. So today the remaining photos were loaded onto the computer.


    Now I did notice that for many of my photos there were three of each photo? Yes, that's what you get for downloading three times when you think something isn't working. It works alright.


    So it's not the dang computer. It's the operator.


   As I mentioned before the learning curve has been steep! It's just what's needed to keep a 78 year old brain from turning into mush!

Friday, November 10, 2017

SEVEN DAYS CONTRAST

      I spend a lot of time outdoors wandering through parks and natural areas. It gets me outdoors. It gives me some exercise and it certainly does wonders to overall good well being. I lead a bird watching group once a week and sometimes you have to work pretty hard to pursue the little birdie to make an identification.


    Now most days you are going to meet someone to visit with. You meet all kinds of different people. Since I carry binoculars , most people can guess what I'm doing.


    From time to time you find things. These days the woods are filled with junk from homeless people. Sometimes I report the junk and the city picks it up and if it's small I clean it up myself.


    Sometimes you find other things...wallets. Usually there's nothing left. Twice I found wallets and the only thing missing was cash. Then I turn them in to the police.


    Yesterday I found something different. I saw a bit of black cord sticking out of the snow. I thought it might be keys so I kicked the snow away. Surprisingly it turned out to be a flashlight. I wanted to see if it worked and if not it would go in the garbage. One of the birders told me how to turn it on and yes it worked.


    Now the flash light likely belonged to a homeless person as they use the flashlights to navigate through the bush and also as a bicycle light. They also use them for lights in their tent.


     Now when I got home I googled to see what I had. I found out that it was a $50.00 flashlight. I've never found anything of value that I could keep. The light is LED and the beam shines up to 751 feet!




    Sometimes you get lucky!

Monday, November 6, 2017

PLEASANT FALL SCENES

       On Sept . 29 the bird watching group went to a 270 acre natural area called Nova Nature Trails. Yes, the Nova, that is a world petrochemical company.


       The natural area has a wide variety of habitat so we can see a variety of bird species. There at wetlands, grasslands, brush and a few trees


      So I took the opportunity to get  few fall photos and give you a general idea of what the area is like.


 
 
 
 
 

         This is one small part of the plant.


         So six km of trails kept us busy for the morning.

Friday, November 3, 2017

TIME FOR FALL PHOTOS

     I used my  ipad for 6 or 7 posts. I did not find out how to post photos on posts I did with the ipad. When I tried photos the ipad seized up.


    So now I can post some fall photos. However, tonight is not fall . It's winter. We've had snow for three days and have about 10 cm ( 4 in).  I have shovelled the driveway and sidewalks three times.


   
 


    So posting fall photos takes me back to better times.


    Last Saturday Oct. 28 was a beautiful day. Jackets and coats came off as it was about 17 C (65 F). In my last post I shared one photo that I liked so I found out that there was very good light that day for the colors that were involved. So here are more photos from Heritage Ranch.


 
 
 
 

 
 
      This is my Saturday afternoon birding group. They know how to have fun!


 

 







Wednesday, November 1, 2017

WHY DO I LIKE THIS PHOTO

       On the weekend we were out bird watching in a 300 acre area of old growth forest, recovering quarries and open fields. It was a warm fall afternoon. It turned nasty the next day.


      It was an afternoon where I took quite a few photos. I was surprised when I looked at one photo and immediately liked it. I'm not a horse person so it's not because of the horses. It's one of those photos where you take a quick look and click. So I didn't think about anything.


      So I'm still asking myself what it is about my photo that makes me really like it.


      Do you have any ideas?