Category: News you can use

Tax Man Cometh

- Bill Leave a comment

Suppose its time for that blog post again…

Our tax forms arrived a little bit late this year, but we just assembled the displays at Main and Fairmount.

Outside of the IRS office, libraries are the only place where you can get forms if for some reason you still haven’t attempted filing online.  Though a slower and typically less-accurate process, some people prefer the paper method.  We stock the federal and state forms as a service, though the chute gets narrower every year as they try to corral the populace as a whole into e-filing.

New this year is the:

Schedule L (Standard Deduction for Certain Filers – it isn’t as simple anymore since there are new add-on deductions on top of it) and

Schedule M (Making Work Pay Credit)

“Create Your Own Haven in a Hectic World”

- Lynn Leave a comment

Shelter for the SpiritVictoria Moran believes that housekeeping is actually a form of affection for your home. All caregiving (for people or things)  should  lead one to gradually love what one cares for. Thomas More says in the introduction to Shelter for the Spirit,  “Ordinary chores satisfy primal longings.”

This book is not about practical tips and tricks, or full of lists of the many tasks you need to do, year-round. It’s more about changing your attitude and savoring everyday acts. This is an inspiring work for those of us stressed and depressed about how much endless, repetitive work is involved in taking care of a house.

The author says, “Human beings need a place to foster an inner life….It is about reclaiming home as the primary center for our spirituality, our resourcefulness, and the best moments of our lives.”

Besides the high-flown spirtual benefits of creating your own personal haven, you, as  Moran says, “feel more in control of your life when your house is in order.”

Martha, Martha, Martha

- Lynn Leave a comment

Published by Martha Stewart, Simple Home Solutions is divided into Kitchen, Home & Garden, etc. No one produces more elegantly laid out, beautifuly lit photos than Martha herself.  This is the old-school Martha, not the newer glitzier version. She was truly the master of the quietly serene way of life.

This is a  timely book, because, ultimately,  Martha is very frugal.  Some of my favorite tips are: to put rubber bands around a lid and a jar to open a stubborn jar lid, remove sweater pills with a fine toothed comb, put candles in paper towel tubes to store them, hang chalk to de-humidify a closet, or loosen a lock by rubbing a pencil on a key. One tip I actually did (and it works great) is to apply self-adhesive felt pads to the bottom of coffee makers or other counter utensils to make them slide across the counter top.

Some criticize Martha for her perceived elitism, but she also celebrates the ordinary. For example, the book explains how to root the very commonplace coleus and  how to smooth caulk with a plastic spoon. Even if you don’t act on any of the tips, it’s a soothing world to visit.

Flying Feast

- Bill 2 Comments

If you spend a little time in the regional news, you might know the spread of the Asian Carp has reached epidemic levels.  It has the discriminating diet of a billygoat and the reproductive powers of a bunny rabbit.    It is a hearty old beast, reaching up to 40 pounds apiece by eating nearly half their weight in plankton to the detriment of all the indigenous species.  One characteristic trait of the flying fish is its utter bewilderment by boat motors, causing them to leap out of the water and strike passengers.

How did we get them?  These bottom feeders were imported to Arkansas in a contested decision to have them clean out the waterways.  A flood deposited them in the Mississippi where they have proven quite hearty in a variety of water temperatures.

An estimated 20 million pounds of asian carp are in the waterways where the Department of Natural Resources is taking drastic steps to keep them out of Lake Michigan.  Ideas are in the works to harvest as many as possible for homeless shelters, prisons, and even to be ground into fertilizer and animal feed.

Outside of some pockets of Chicago’s Asian communities, there doesn’t seem to be a market for commercial fishermen to sell this catch.  This confuses the USGS’s Duane Chapman, who has put a very informative how-to series on youtube on how prepare the asian carp, which he feels yields very tasty and high-quality fillets despite an undeserved bad rap.  Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Fact:  There once was an ugly and plentiful fish no one would even consider eating called the Patagonian Toothfish. Some savvy marketers got together and it now commands a high price on restaurant menus under a different name… “Chilean Sea Bass.”

Backyard Chickens

- Lynn 2 Comments

chickensCity officials in Davenport, Iowa City and Cedar Rapids aren’t the only ones to be considering how to deal with the recent vogue of urban chickens. The locovore movement and a struggling economy have combined to produce the “It” Bird, as Susan Orlean calls chickens. There are those that say that the Obamas should have a few at the White House. You can even find plans on the internet for building a coop out of Ikea furniture.

Orlean, author of the Orchid Thief, turns her eye to small-time chicken raising  in the September 28th  New Yorker. She traces the history of keeping fowl  in America, how they went out of favor in the fifties and  how they were gentrified by Martha Stewart’s gourmet chickens and pastel eggs. You may or may not know that Iowa is the home to the “largest rare-breed poultry hatchery in the world.”

Orlean herself finds the perfect solution for her needs…just a few chickens (guaranteed to be hens) and a small plastic coop. ( A British company called Omlet manufactures the Eglu).

If the subject intrigues you, check out The Joy of Keeping Chickens by Jennifer Megyesi, Living with Chickens: Everything You Need to Know to Raise Your Own Backyard Flock by Jay Rossier, and, of course, Raising Chickens for Dummies.

Frugal Librarian #17: Can I get a Woot Woot?

- Bill Leave a comment

frugallibrarianThe constant struggle to find the best deals keeps the Frugal Librarian indoors, as does a general disdain of people.   The perfect solution…online shopping.  Woot has focused on single deals for some time. Launched just a couple days ago, however, is a companion site, deals.woot.com.  If you want a product in general, such as an iPod Nano, type it in and count on the fact the returns are input by the thousands of ravenous altruistic online dealhounds out there as opposed to a computerized best guess.  They’re kind of like cataloging librarians solely focused on the categorization and classification of retail savings.  And if you take it for a spin, you’ll see they are really good at it.

Focus on deals.woot.com as a pretty good site to fill out your list.  You’ll get the cream of the crop from all the online deal sites in one condensed, easy to use, accurate package.  You’ll beat your fellow shopper using competitive intelligence, and the mailman will like the business from delivering your packages.  And you don’t even have to brush your teeth or put on shoes.

Two-month Time Capsule

- Bill Leave a comment

Here’s an opportunity to give yourself a little pre-Christmas bonus.  November is going to be a huge month for fiction.  The biggest names are going to hit the shelf with what I assume is what they intend to be everyone’s stocking stuffers.

Nothing says you can’t get your hold in right now on DPL’s copy.  Here’s a taste.  Hit the forthcoming fiction page for a full look at what’s to come as things start to chill out outside.

Clive Cussler — The Wrecker
John Grisham — Ford County
James Patterson — I, Alex Cross
Sue Grafton — U is for Undertow
Robert Jordan — Gathering Storm
Sandra Brown — Rainwater
Stephen King — Under the Dome
Dean Koontz — Breathless

Big Weekend in Davenport!

- Ann Leave a comment

Bix 7Just in case you’re new to the Quad Cities, here’s a heads up – this is a big weekend for events in Davenport! The Bix 7 road race, featuring world-class runners and ordinary-Joes alike, gets started at 8am today. And then the celebration of all things Bix Beiderbecke gets going with the Bix Biederbecke Memorial Jazz Festival, filling the Davenport riverfront and various locations with the sounds of jazz.

Because of the crowds and congestion, the Davenport Main Library will not be open today, Saturday July 25. However, the Fairmount Branch library will be open their usual hours, 9:30am to 5:30pm. Both buildings will be open their regular hours on Monday.

Now get out there and soak up some jazz! Have a great weekend!

The Original Energy Drink

- Bill 1 Comment

beer exhibitBefore Red Bull and Monster Drink the victual of health around Davenport was a frothy mug of suds. There weren’t national brands in refrigerated trucks endorsed by athletes and scantily-clad models in the first half of the century. Each town had their own local brands, crafted by mustachioed laborers using recipes from the Fatherland.

For the 20 percent of Davenport Germans, it was a beverage steeped in tradition and culture, and one of the few remaining creature comforts they could control. They did so with a flourish as a number of brands sprung up in Davenport, including Mathias Frahm and Son, Koehelr and Lange (also known as the Arsenal Brewery), Littig Brohers, and Zoeller Brothers.

All of this information is featured in the latest exhibit at the German American Heritage Museum as you look at snapshots of the malthouse workers, tavern operators, and ancient conetop cans and vessels.

I found it to be a fascinating little tour and a great excuse to visit the GAHC for the first time, at the low Depression-era price of $2.

Frugal Librarian #14: Flip the guzzler

- Bill Leave a comment

junkPush it in, pull it in or drag it in…then write it off.  If you’re in the market for a vehicle, first drop a couple dollars on a gas hog.  Either scour the want ads, or go through the boonies looking to liberate “yardcars.”  Then, that junker just became your primary vehicle….wink.

According to this brand new piece of legislation, a new vehicle buyer will get up to $4500 in incentive money for buying a vehicle with significantly improved mileage.