"Though the IRS has periodically upgraded its computing system, today’s system is still running the same code, which was written nearly 60 years ago. Most of it is in the Assembly programming language, which the IRS itself has described as “antiquated” and “inflexible.” Worse, the number of programmers who can understand and maintain the code behind the Individual Master File (IMF) dwindles with every passing year. According to the Government Accountability Office, the IMF and its business counterpart (the BMF) are the oldest computing systems used by the federal government. (The runner-up in this dubious contest is the software used to coordinate the nation’s nuclear weapons.)"
"Plans to replace the IMF with a twenty-first-century equivalent known as CADE (Customer Account Data Engine) have faltered. The transition is now well behind schedule. As a consequence, the likelihood of a catastrophic computer failure during tax season increases with every passing year. That may not pose quite the same danger as an errant missile, but the prospect of lost refund checks, unnecessary audits, and other errors suggests that the time has come to bring the IRS into the 21st century."
"What the robin is to lawn and meadow, the peeper is to the wooded swamp. The first robin usually appears on a bright, though still chilly day, hopping over a bit of dry yellow grass revealed by the retreating snow. The peeper comes to us as a distant chorus on the first evening a light coat or sweatshirt will suffice, or all of a sudden when, on a night warm enough to crack a car window, we pass a bit of low ground flooded by the spring rains and snowmelt. They’re more often heard than seen. Approach them, and the song cuts off well before you can get near. Peepers are skittish. You would be too if you were very small and made a sound that could be heard a mile away. Nevertheless, they have some remarkable abilities."
Metes and bounds is a system or method of describing land, real property (in contrast to personal property) or real estate. Newer systems include rectangular (government survey), lot and block (recorded plat) and Torrens (used in Hawaii, Colorado, Australia, New Zealand and Canada).
Metes. The term "metes" refers to a boundary defined by the measurement of each straight run, specified by a distance between the terminal points, and an orientation or direction. A direction may be a simple compass bearing, or a precise orientation determined by accurate survey methods.
Bounds. The term "bounds" refers to a more general boundary description, such as along a certain watercourse, a stone wall, an adjoining public road way, or an existing building. The system is often used to define larger pieces of property (e.g. farms), and political subdivisions (e.g. town boundaries) where precise definition is not required or would be far too expensive, or previously designated boundaries can be incorporated into the description.
Good morning! It’s pay all your money to the big bad government on Tax Day 💰. Drizzle and 37 degrees in Delmar, NY. ❄ There is a west-southwest breeze at 7 mph. 🍃. The weather reflects my mood about paying so much money to the greedy folks in Albany. I shouldn’t complain because it’s money that I rather than the government could collect interest over the past year, and I’m not subject to any fines.
Today will have rain showers ☔ , with a high of 43 degrees around high at noon. 14 degrees below normal. West wind 7 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. A year ago, we had mostly cloudy skies. The high last year was 66 degrees. The record high of 91 was set in 2002. 0.3 inches of snow fell back in 1965.❄
The sun will set at 7:40 pm with dusk around 8:09 pm, which is one minute and 8 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for rain showers ☁ and 40 degrees. There will be a west breeze at 9 mph. Today will have 13 hours and 30 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 44 seconds over yesterday.
Tonight will have a slight chance of rain showers before 9pm, then a slight chance of rain and snow showers between 9pm and 1am, then a chance of snow showers after 1am. Cloudy ☔ , with a low of 33 degrees at 3am. Five degrees below normal. West wind around 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Little or no snow accumulation expected. In 2017, we had mostly clear skies with more clouds in the early hours of the next day. It got down to 40 degrees. The record low of 21 occurred back in 1948.
Next week I have a dentist visit. Just passing it on the bus made me think of it.👅 I’m sure I’ll get a text message from the dentist in the next few days. I also have sexual harassment training next week but I’m probably going to end up missing it again because I’ll be out of town. Third training I’ve missed.
I guess April showers bring May flowers and keep the fire risk down. 🌻🌼🌺 I’m hoping it’s also chewing away at the snow too. Not good for the truck trails drying out but that will happen eventually but I doubt all of Cedar River Road will be open at Moose River Plains for Memorial Day Weekend in a little over five weeks. ⛺ Still hoping to get out camping after the Save the Pine Bush hike next week but depending on the weather I might wait until the following week to allow the woods to dry out more. I’d rather take a long weekend if possible.
For today, assuming I processed the file correctly I have a Google Map of the percentage of homes that are mobile homes. 🏠 I am also thinking about doing a map of the density of mobile homes but that’s not done yet.
Looking ahead, there are 7 weeks until 8:30 PM Sunset ️⛱️ with dusk at 9:04 pm. On that day in 2017, we had thunderstorm, rain, mist, cloudy skies and temperatures between 66 and 55 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 75 degrees. We hit a record high of 97 back in 1925.
