Yes, this is a repeat, with some new additions — like that US tax form, which has added new complexities this year. So we’re splitting it into two parts, like Schedule 1 has become Schedule 1 and Schedule 1-A.
The short form deserves a geezer alert, as it was discontinued years ago. There’s a 1040-SR now for seniors — the only difference is that it’s printed in larger type.
Yes, this is a repeat, with some new additions — like that US tax form, which has added new complexities this year. So we’re splitting it into two parts, just as 1040 Schedule 1 has become Schedule 1 and Schedule 1-A.
The short form deserves a geezer alert, as it was discontinued years ago. There’s a 1040-SR now for seniors — the only difference is that it’s printed in larger type.
Actual error message from IRS.gov on the day tax forms (and estimated payments) were due, April 17, 2018. Not funny. Note the difference in the set of dates cited for the outage.
Typos continue in 2026. Here’s a notice from January, 2026 that suggests a form was corrected in the future.
(This wasn’t from the IRS. This is a notice from a well-known brand of tax preparation software.)
Tomorrow is our 50th wedding anniversary, so indulge your editor.
I clipped this cartoon out of The New Yorker many years ago, and it hung in my home office. I recommend it as good marital advice.
From The New Yorker in December, 1975, back when a stack of back print issues of that magazine sat in the corner of our apartment. Just a bit of a CIDU.
Just as in TV shows and movies, we don’t see people on the toilet, there must be part of the Santa experience they don’t show.
Santa – the true story
Yes, Fuzzy Math Gurus, there is a Santa Claus.
There are “facts” floating around the internet, “proving” that one Santa just couldn’t do it all, but they fail too see the obvious conclusion — FRANCHISING! This also explains why “Santa” is often known as “Santa Claus”.
Let me explain:
1. Yes, it’s true Santa would need to make 822.6 visits per second, or 2,961,360 per hour. However, if we assume that there are 740,340 worldwide Santas (the exact number is known only to the Salvation Army), then each Santa has to make 1 visit only every 15 minutes.
2. Roughly speaking, this is
5 minutes for travel (footnote below) 1 minute for sorting out that house’s gifts 1 minute for chimney diving / lock picking 3 minutes for gift arranging 2 minutes for cookie eating 1 minute for exiting premises and returning to sleigh 2 minutes “slack” time for unforseen events (most commonly, large dogs) — 15 minutes
3. “Santa” is, of course, a very sought after title, and the geographic franchises to be the local “Santa” are subject to yearly adjustments due to population shifts. The changes in the legal paragraphs governing geographic territories in the “Santa” agreement are called “Santa Clauses”, a term which eventually has been commonly applied to “Santas” themselves.
Thanks for the opportunity to clear this up.
Footnote: The travel time has been reduced considerably in this century by the use of “jet sleighs” manufactured by Boeing. The original model 7 sleigh, in fact, is what gave the Boeing corporation its name. Elves, noticing how the new sleighs (with, sadly, aluminum reindeer) bounced from housetop to housetop, cheered “Boing! Boing!”, which in an Elvin accent sounded like “Boeing! Boeing!”.
Comics I Don't Understand 