Tagged again!

This time Tracey tagged me. She was probably the only person who actually played along when I tagged her. Here are the rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

Unfortunately, I am at work, and the nearest books to me are the many volumes of the United States Code. So:

The term "wages" does not include -
(i) the amount of any payment made to, or on behalf of, an employee or any of his dependents (including any amount paid by
an employer for insurance or annuities, or into a fund, to provide for any such payment) on account of retirement, or
(ii) any payment or series of payments by an employer to an employee or any of his dependents upon or after the termination of the employee's employment relationship because of retirement after attaining an age specified in a plan referred to in section 409(a)(11)(B) of this title or in a pension plan of the employer.

(D) In the case of -

(i) an individual who has attained retirement age (as defined in section 416(l) of this title) on or before the last day of the taxable year, and who shows to the satisfaction of the Commissioner of Social Security that he or she is receiving royalties attributable to a copyright or patent obtained before the taxable year in which he or she attained such age and that the property to which the copyright or patent relates was created by his or her own personal efforts, or
(ii) an individual who has become entitled to insurance benefits under this subchapter, other than benefits under section 423 of this title or benefits payable under section 402(d) of this title by reason of being under a disability, and who shows to the satisfaction of the Commissioner of Social Security that he or she is receiving, in a year after his or her initial year of entitlement to such benefits, any other income not attributable to services performed after the month in which he or she initially became entitled to such benefits,

there shall be excluded from gross income any such royalties or other income.

(E) For purposes of this section, any individual's net earnings from self-employment which result from or are attributable to the performance of services by such individual as a director of a corporation during any taxable year shall be deemed to have been derived (and received) by such individual in that year, at the time the services were performed, regardless of when the income, on which the computation of such net earnings from self-employment is based, is actually paid to or received by such
individual (unless such income was actually paid and received prior to that year).

Sigh.

I shall tag: Anna, Lyneidas, Hoyden, Dianne, and GoudaGirl (even though I know she won't do it unless she finds a way to make it about her European travels...maybe she can use a travel guide).

Closed

Well, it's finally done. My childhood home, which has been under contract since about October, finally went to closing last week. Here's some stuff I learned at or around this, my first house closing:

• Even on a weekday afternoon, parking is still a bitch in Astoria.
  
• Even when you're running late for something involving several parties, someone else will always be later.
  
• You don't just get one big fat check...it's several smaller checks.
  
• You're supposed to tip the title company guy so he "doesn't lose your paperwork."
  
• The title company guy has a lot of power besides whether to lose your paperwork, like deciding whether an out-of-state seller has to prepay any capital gains tax at the closing.
  
• A seller could get by without addressing the buyer at all.
  
• Everyone in Astoria is still Greek or Italian.
  
• Going to a movie alone is a fun way to follow up and celebrate your house sale.
  
• A movie in Astoria costs $11 now!
  
• All the hype about Juno is deserved.
  

It was actually a decent experience. I was afraid I'd cry at the closing or do something similarly unseemly, but it was fine. I was sad on the drive up to New York, but I stopped by "my" house to make my farewells just before heading to the closing, and I felt good about it. I still do. Erstwhile complaints about it aside, that house gave me and my family a few decades' worth of memories, and it was time to let it go. I wish good luck to the new owner.

Cookin' up a storm

Lately the Dude, Mommy Dude, and I have gotten into cooking classes. A couple of weeks ago we went to a vegetarian entrees cooking demo at L'Academie de Cuisine, at Dudemom's invitation (we got her a gift certificate there for Christmas, and it was nice of her to spend some of it on us). And last night we attended the first of a series of four vegetarian cooking classes at Gail's Vegetarian Cooking. We were first introduced to Gail's when I entered and won a contest on the website. Anyway, we weren't sure what the format of Gail's classes would be, but it turned out to be mostly a demo, but a little hands-on in that Gail invited students to go up and participate. Dudemom volunteered for the first and second tasks Gail offered -- chopping carrots and chopping onions. Since I'm just getting over a bacterial infection and am still on antibiotics, I didn't want to touch the food too directly, but I did volunteer to juice lemons, since I was only touching the outside of the lemon, which wasn't getting used. (We did wash our hands first, of course.)

The dishes and the facilities at L'Academie were definitely fancier, but I liked the food equally at both. (At both, at the end of the demonstration, the class members get to dig in!) I'm looking forward to the next three classes at Gail's and also the sushi workshop.

The Dude and I both like to cook, and to eat home-cooked meals, but we never seem to find the time or energy to do it. Perhaps if we stocked our kitchen with more fresh and versatile food, we could cook more often on the spur of the moment. For now, we have to plan it in advance. And since I've been sick I've had NO interest in dealing with food at home, so we've been going out for the most part.

Anyway, it's fun learning new dishes, even if we don't use our new knowledge right away! And I continue to appreciate how he and his parents are so accommodating of -- and even interested in -- my vegetarian diet.