But 21 days passed with no updates on the Where’s My Refund? page. And once those 3 weeks had passed, we got a new message on the WMR page:

Okay, so I had read about the staffing cuts at the IRS. That’s what must be contributing to the delay, right? But after another week had passed with no update, I did some digging. I discovered that you can look up your tax transcripts online on the IRS.gov site to get a better sense of what the IRS is doing with your return. And I saw on our transcript a “570 Additional account action pending” code.

In other words, our return had been flagged for review.  

The week after that, the transcript updated with another code: “971 Notice issued CP 0005”.  According to some on Reddit, this combination of 570 and 971 codes is about the worst thing you want to see on your transcript because your return is under an extended manual review, and they give themselves 60 days to do it. Even after the 60 days are up, they can choose to extend that time — some report not receiving their refunds for over a year!

As you can see if the screenshot of my transcript above, the date next to my 971 code is 3/16. They set that date 2-3 weeks in the future, and send out the notice of the extended review on that date. (And it’s true. Today is 3/16 and we got notices, both online and via letters, today.) And it is from that date that they give themselves 60 days. It states in the notice that if we contact them before the 60 days are up, they will not be able to tell us anything.  

I actually called the IRS when I first saw the 971 code on my transcript. I asked them why we were chosen for an extended review, and they couldn’t tell me why. They said we were “just chosen.” After some more digging on Reddit, the only reason I could think of is that our refund this year is higher than previous years. (J got a large bonus last year which led to a larger withholding.) A high refund, in addition to an early filing date, most likely triggered something in their system.

I can only hope that their review won’t take too long. It sucks because we can really use the money right now, and they just had to do this in the year when they’re already short-staffed.

A couple of days ago, I came across this chart:

I couldn’t believe someone actually researched this and made a chart, but I have to say that it checks out.   Detroit has been extra salty with the Knicks, and with Jalen Brunson in particular, ever since we beat them in the first round of the playoffs last year, 4 games to 2. (Apparently there were billboards in metro Detroit trolling Brunson during the playoffs.)

We’ve played Detroit twice this season and both times they’ve blown us out. (But then again, we were without some key people for those games.) I don’t know why they still have so much beef with us, but from what I can tell they still hate Brunson with a passion. And today…

Today, I saw the following meme on Reddit (be sure to turn on the sound):

Average Pistons fan’s bedroom
by u/iamknicksforever in NBAEastMemeWar

This is possibly the best NBA, nay, the best sports meme I’ve ever seen. The combination of “CLOSE OUT!” and “DIE JALEN” all over the walls is perfection. And the inclusion of the game footage must be like rubbing salt in the wound for Pistons fans.

The Knicks play the Pistons again tonight. Even if we lose again, I’m not worried. They may win the regular season series (like they did last season), but we will prevail in the playoffs.

If you know anything about me, you know which answer I’d pick for 70 across. What about you?

However, it did not actually do what a typewriter actually does: type.

Well, YouTuber Koenkun Bricks set out to design a functional LEGO typewriter. One that actually types. And you guys, he succeeded.

Over the course of three months, Koenkun Bricks painstakingly put together a typewriter model that only uses preexisting LEGO pieces, rubber bands, and gravity. It does not use ink or a ribbon like a traditional typewriter. Rather, in true LEGO fashion, it “types” lettered LEGO pieces onto a white base board. The end product is not perfect, but there is a certain charm to its imperfections.

The entire video is just short of 17 minutes and I highly suggest you watch the whole thing. He takes you through the trials and errors and the entire process is fascinating. I can’t decide if I like this version or the LEGO Ideas #21327 set better.

Via TechEBlog.

The expressive horse struck a chord with people and they began to ask where they can buy one for themselves. What was a mistake turned out to be an instant hit, and the manufacturer began selling the frowny-face horse, now dubbed the “Cry-Cry Horse.” Once the orders began rolling in, they could hardly keep up, and they began to market the horse as a “Crying Horse Emotional Support Plush,” selling the smiling version alongside it as its optimistic companion.

The Cry-Cry Hose sells for about $3.50 in China, but you can get it in the U.S. for $12.99 plus shipping on Amazon. With the state of the world as it is, I can certainly see the appeal in this sad plushie.

Via Neatorama.

But have you ever seen a self-playing violin?

I’ve studied both the piano and violin for most of my childhood and teenage years. (I know, can I be more Asian?) I can tell you that the violin is a more difficult instrument to play, mainly because you have to create the notes — by pressing down on the strings with your left hand fingers — before you generate the music. Additionally, there is a lot of room for error in creating those notes, i.e., being out of tune.

And if you think about the mechanics involved in playing a violin — holding it, playing it with a bow, playing it across four strings — how exactly can one design a self-playing violin? With a robot?

Introducing the Phonoliszt-Violina.

The Phonoliszt-Violina is an instrument once dubbed “the eighth wonder of the world.” It features three vertically mounted violins, each with one active string, played by a rotating bow of 1,300 horsehairs. Music is recorded on perforated rolls, which presses the strings with pneumatic bellows. It also houses a self-playing piano below to accompany the violin.

The Phonoliszt-Violina was invented by Ludwig Hupfeld in 1907 and was sold in upright home and commercial models. It entertained patrons of upscale hotels, restaurants, and cafes, before gradually fading into obsolescence. I imagine that it was quite expensive and that was one of the factors in its demise. Another cause I can think of is its upkeep; violins need to be tuned frequently and regularly and I expect that this was not easy to do with this instrument.

Despite the fact that it is no longer made, the Phonoliszt-Violina is a fascinating instrument and a piece of history. Using three violins to create a self-playing violin was an ingenious move and I have to admit that the instrument as a whole doesn’t sound bad.

Via Kottke.

Luckily, we have screenshots. Enjoy!

With messages like these, I’m surprised that movies like The Sound of Music or series like Andor aren’t getting pulled from the catalogue. Andor, in particular, is very relevant to our current authoritarian regime. It’s sad to live in a world where sharing anti-fascist quotes from movies is getting silenced because it might anger the Trump administration. Do you know who gets angry at anti-fascist messaging? FASCISTS.

So when I came upon this article on Boing Boing about “impossible colors,” you can bet that I was intrigued. I had never heard of such a thing — how can a color be “impossible”?

An impossible color is a color that does not appear in ordinary visual functioning. Okay, so how is that different from being a tetrachromat? It turns out that seeing impossible colors has to do more with how colors are processed by the visual system, not a mutation with the cones in the eye like tetrachromats. An impossible color may be “reddish green” — not brown, not olive, but simultaneously red and green. Or it may be “blueish-yellow” — not green but simultaneously blue and yellow.

How can this be?

Well, scientists may have figured out a way to see impossible colors, and you can try it too. One method is to look at one of the images above, and cross your eyes so that both + symbols are on top of each other. This method worked for me — it’s hard to explain but I swear the color I saw was red and green at the same time, as well as blue and yellow simultaneously. They were separate colors but overlapping, neither color on top of the other but still together if that makes sense, and I could see both equally.

Another method is to stare at a field of alternating red and green vertical stripes (or blue and yellow) until the edges between the stripes disappear. Others have used eye tracking to stabilize images on the retina. Because our eyes have opponent color channels (one handles red versus green, and another blue versus yellow) that work by opposition — when one fires, it suppresses the other — red and green can’t both be “on” at the same time. The goal of stabilizing images on the retina is to prevent the opponent channels to take turns.

The results of these experiments are debatable. Some subjects have reported seeing these impossible colors while others have only seen brown or dots.

What do you think? If you can cross your eyes, try it on one of the images above and see if you can see an impossible color. Can you see it?

Whether you believe impossible colors really exist or not — whether you believe me when I say I can see two colors simultaneously — you have to admit that this is a fascinating concept. You can read more about impossible colors here, where they even talk about impossible colors in works of fiction.

With all the additional work (and costs!) that come with home ownership, we also now had to deal with a plethora of insects and wildlife. Yes, it’s the suburbs so we don’t have to deal with all kinds of wildlife. But there is a park down the street, a creek nearby, and an abundance of greenery so we get our share of deer, raccoons, foxes, coyote, opossums, rabbits, and skunks. We even have wild turkeys roaming around (and J often jokes near every Thanksgiving that he needs to go catch a turkey).  And birds. So many types of birds. More than once, a large murder of crows have landed in our back yard ominously, thoroughly freaking me out. I have even seen a hawk snacking on its prey on our deck.

Luckily, the most common type of animal I encounter are squirrels.

So what is the most disturbing thing I’ve seen living in the suburbs? Well as you can imagine, we live a pretty quiet, boring life. So the most disturbing thing I’ve seen has to do with a dead deer…

Okay, okay, so I’m sure most of my readers have seen dead deer on the roadside, undoubtedly struck by a car. If the most disturbing thing I’ve seen is a dead deer, then you must think that I’ve really lived a sheltered life.

Hold on, there’s more to the story.

I’ve already mentioned that there are deer roaming my neighborhood. One day, a couple of years ago, a driver struck a deer right in front of our house and the deer died.

We weren’t sure what to do. We knew we couldn’t just put the deer in our garbage (it was a large deer!). Surely there are people who clean the streets who will clean the deer…?

So we left it alone for the time being. It was a Friday over a holiday weekend so I knew nothing could be done anyway. What I didn’t count on was just how fast the deer carcass would start rotting.

It also attracted other wildlife. We didn’t see it because it happened at night, but over the weekend, each night, animals would come and snack on the deer.

Then they came.

They didn’t care that it was in broad daylight. I have no idea how they smelled the deer from wherever they usually reside. But there were 4 or 5 of them, and they zeroed in on the deer.

Vultures.

I didn’t even know we had vultures in our area. I thought they lived far, far away, not roaming the suburbs of New York just 20 miles from the city.

I frantically Googled “Who cleans dead deer on roads?” and found that it’s usually the city/town’s highway patrol. I found the number for our county’s highway patrol, but it was still the holiday weekend so I had to wait a day for them to open.

The next day was a school day and my daughters’ bus stop was not 50 feet from where the vultures were feasting on the deer. I thought they would be scared, but they were amused, and took pictures with their phones.  

I called highway patrol as soon as they opened and reported the dead deer. I wasn’t sure they would even come out, because our street is a small street off a main road (and they are, after all, the highway patrol), but they said they would. “Please hurry,” I said. “There are vultures.”

They came out later that day and the workers scared the vultures off and cleared the deer. They even cleaned all the blood.

So that’s my story of the most disturbing thing I’ve seen while living in the suburbs. When I picture that image of the vultures circled around the deer carcass, with a quiet suburban neighborhood — my house — in the background, I still shiver. I know it’s all a part of the circle of life, and this is what happens in nature. But vultures have such a negative connotation and I had no idea they live so close to where I live. And that gruesome scene juxtaposed with a quiet suburban neighborhood makes it even more disturbing to me.

Do you live in the suburbs too? If so, what is the most disturbing thing you’ve seen?