Ugh. Stupid taxes.

So last year I didn't get a refund. Didn't owe MUCH, but still, was hoping for a refund.
All my friends got refunds. So the time has come this year that people are talking about what to buy with their refunds. I was kind of eyeing a wii...

So I sat down to do my taxes. They're really not complicated. I have one W-2 form. A million dollars in loans, but they're deferred so they don't count. An IRA that somehow is out of the tax loop.
So I used turbo tax, with a 20% discount from my bank.
And I owed, again. Dammit! Owed $62 federal, and got $32 from the state.
Turbotax saved me nothing, so I wondered what my $45 went towards. And then I printed out my return. Freaking 1040EZ. I could have done that myself for free.

Oh well. I guess it's good I didn't owe a lot.

I am on call all weekend and it blows.
The ER just called about a butt abscess.
Gross. I have already written about how much i hate butt abscesses- (e:jenks,23)
I am going to make them wait for me to eat before I go see it, since it's passive aggressive of them to call me about something they can take care of themselves. Fuckers.

I hope you are all having a less lame weekend than I.

Chocolate covered...
ginger flavored...
Altoids?

Odd, but very yum. I want to chomp down the whole box.
They also have cinnamon and peppermint.




and paul this site made me think of you: The Candy Warehouse

Ok since a few peeps seem to be looking for places, I swiped this flyer at work today. But there's no date on it, so in all honesty it could be from last year- I don't know how often they change them.
There's a pic (sorry I don't have a scanner to include it)- but it looks like a nice little house with a small front yard and garden.

It says-
Apartment for rent
Features:
-first floor, 2 bedrooms, nice closets
-hardwood floors, berber carpets, freshly painted
-well insulated, LOW utility bills (gas- avg. $63/mo)
-updated kitched w/ stove and refrigerator, great cupboard space
-dining alcove off kitchen
-washer/dryer hookups/ dry basement w/ storage area
-quiet street in elmwood village, walk to shops, hospitals, etc
-owner occupies upper apt only in summer, VERY quiet
-no pets/no smoking

675/mo plus utilities, includes one off street spot
or
700/mo for the same with one garage spot.

Available July 1, call 884-5273

No idea if it's a dump, but the pix look cute so I figured I'd pass it on...

This might be the most horrible thing I've posted (and I know I've put up some bad stuff)- sorry.

So I'm working on my research project, and every article I find seems to lead to a few others... and I kept seeing references to 'noma', which I had never heard of. So I looked it up- apparently it's a horrible infection that usually infects malnourished children- mostly in Africa. Starts as a little ulcer in the mouth, and apparently over the course of A FEW DAYS it eats their whole face off and they die. 100,000 cases per year, and 70-90% fatal. And those that don't die are horribly disfigured and can't talk, eat, drink etc. Imagine not having a functioning mouth. The 'good' thing about it, I guess, is that it's high on the list of operations-plastics-guys-go-abroad-and-do-for-free-to-make-themselves-feel-like-good-people ;) which is how I kept reading about 'noma surgery'.

Has anyone ever heard of this before? I certainly hadn't. I guess I'm naive to think we hear about most of the horrible diseases out there.

But anyway, so then it led to this lovely quote.
Not much turns my stomach, but this one gets me. Reminds me of female genital mutilation.
I will spare you the pictures.

During the past forty years a concerning cultural belief has been observed in a parts of central eastern Africa. Parents are told that their infant's unerupted baby teeth are "worms" which cause sickness and diarrhoea. Babies as young as six days old and small children are having their baby teeth deliberately removed from under their gums. The soft white tooth buds are mistaken for the fever causing parasite worms, commonly found in diarrhoea. It is normally administered by village healers for a fee but also by parents, community elders, priests and even midwives with a variety of tools including knives, sharpened bicycle spokes, hot pokers and fingernails. Known locally by names such as "elbino" and "nylon teeth", this has become known in academic circles as Infant Oral Mutilation (I.O.M.). The practice always leads to pain and suffering, often resulting in disfigurement due to the damage to gums and permanent teeth beneath, and occasionally leads to death through the onset of infections like septicaemia, tetanus and noma. In the last ten years, this practice has been observed in high levels across a much wider swathe of Africa, including Uganda, Sudan, Tanzania, Kenya and Somalia. While it is possible that this practice has previously been "missed" in these other regions, it is widely believed to be rapidly growing as a custom, spread between communities and tribes displaced and fleeing from civil war and conflict.

Jesus. Poor babies.

My dad just sent me an article from the NYT style section a week or so ago. Unfortunately it's not free on the NYT website. But it's about this designer:



This is his "woofer" series: (he says "tweeters" are next)




And here are some cool lamps: