Although it has rained every day for the past few I am still in celebratory mode. After the winter drought months we tend to get excited when it rains again. As I walked the dog in the rain I did express some gratitude that it was warm rain.

Me too - was your friend in Beacon?

Lake Carmel. Putnam County, I think?

The big fir tree in her front yard was shredded and there's some minor roof damage. Her neighbors on either side got hit worse.

Frankly, she couldn't take another house disaster as she had her pipes freeze up over xmas while her family was in Florida. It wasn't a Full Copper Repipe but it was really bad.

(Plus both her and her husband's cars were trashed in separate incidents this year.)

The important part is that the dog is fine and so is she.

But, yeah. This is just ridiculous stuff upon stuff for her.

(For non-FB Buffistas, this is an old friend of Hec's who I was talking to a lot in his comments, so we skipped the middleman and friended each other--and then, as it turns out, she's friends with the parents of one of L's friends. BECAUSE OUR WORLD IS SMALL. But anyhow, she's awesome and deserves better luck.)

Oof, that sounds bad. Beacon also got tornado-ed - friends of ours lost power and their backyard has an upside down tree in it that wasn't there before, but otherwise got lucky. Wife was home with no lights or hot water and two scared kids, husband was stranded when Metro North stopped running any trains north of Peekskill. (We would have put him up but the train was already headed back to the city when she called us.)

I don't like tornadoes. Very much not in favor.

What is with the weather these days?! Ugh

Between Trump's financial disclosure and Ronan Farrow's new New Yorker article, a lot of people are looking at Trump's money today.

I am at the What's the point, Republicans will never impeach him? point with the Mueller investigation. Also disheartening? The NYT article that points out how thoroughly the FBI f'ed up the initial investigation into Russian collusion

Toddson, sounds a lot like an inherited IRA. I got one from my dad and yeah, there's a mandatory disbursement each year because the person who set it up is over 70 and the government wants its cut. You would pay taxes on the disbursement, according to your current rate.

But because the company screwed up and you didn't get your disbursement, the IRS gets to take its cut plus a penalty, which I think adds up to about 50% of the annual amount.

I recommend you call the company and get this straightened out asap. And then call the IRS. You may not get the money back, but it's worth trying. Good luck, that sort of thing is such a pain!

I am at the What's the point, Republicans will never impeach him? point with the Mueller investigation. Also disheartening? The NYT article that points out how thoroughly the FBI f'ed up the initial investigation into Russian collusion

The FBI gave us Trump, sharing blame with voter suppression and Russian manipulation of the feeble minded. It keeps being repeated that they assumed Clinton was going to win. Well yeah, all sane people did!! In addition to Trump and much of his family going to jail, I would appreciate that history records clearly that this was an illegitimate presidency. Bitter woman that I am, I still have never referred to him as president, and won't.

ION, Happy Thursday! I think I am going to watch recorded tv today and not try to work. My tailbone is really angry with me going back to the fall in the hotel pool. I apparently inflamed it on the gym rower yesterday. Exercise is supposed to help, not hurt. So sitting on a ice pack and making DH wait on me. The consumption of lots of coffee will however necessitate my moving at some point.

ltc is a fashion critic. After I got dressed today she informed me that my leggings and superhero T-shirt are pajamas. Sorry kiddo. This is all I have the spoons for today.