I had a rather late bedtime last night ─ early into the second half of the midnight hour.
I fared well enough with sleep until toward 4:45 a.m. when I rose just to turn on and log into my computer so that it would be warmed up for later use ─ it tends to freeze if I use it too early after logging in once it has been cold.
On these occasions I return to bed with two options before me: slip back into sleep if I am able, or just bide time for a half-hour as a minimum warm-up period for my computer.
It was to be the latter scenario that played out.
As ever, I had the day's content assignment ahead of me for the post I am putting together at one of my six hosted websites. However, I had a considerable delay after first becoming involved in research for an E-mail, for I always check my overnight E-mails before starting anything else.
My younger brother was to rise before I had finished the website work, but he would be occupying himself with the Saturday morning edition of the Vancouver Sun that I subscribe to, and so he would not be turning on the T.V. as he does during the workweek as soon as he goes downstairs.
It was well after mid-morning when I returned to bed for a needed nap ─ the day without was proving to be gloriously sunny. Nevertheless, there is still a fair blanket of old snow laying about in most areas.
The nap was good, but I was not abed too very much over an hour, I would suspect. And when I emerged from my bedroom, it was to find that my brother had already shut himself up in his own for a rest.
I decided to put in work creating a rough draft of my eldest stepson's tax return. Last tax year, he owned nearly $50.
Well, this year, that figure has jumped to a little over $400, if I am correct.
He knows that he ought to be asking his employer to take more income tax from his pay than they do, but he is inert. I suspect that he simply prefers to have as much free money available each payday as is possible, and has scant thought to tax time.
Well, I have calculated and found that in the previous tax year when he owed nearly $50, his tax rate was approximately 9.62%.
But for some bizarre reason this past year, they dropped his tax rate to 7.19% ─ when he needed to have gotten it raised above what it had previously been!
So even if his tax rate had just not been decreased, he would have gotten a refund ─ something like $142.48.
That would sure as heck be better than owing over $400!
Incidentally, his younger brother later asked me if I would show him how to do his own tax return ─ he's still awaiting a T-4 slip (Statement of Remuneration Paid) from a previous employer.
He was just about to head out at the approach of 2:00 p.m. and hike the mile or so to start his afternoon / evening shift where he presently works.
My brother had earlier left for the afternoon soon after having his rest.
It used to be that my brother would not return until Sunday morning once he headed off on a Saturday afternoon, for he would have spent the night at the home of his girlfriend Bev. But for the past three consecutive Saturdays, he has shown up here in the evening ─ thus, I am expecting that it will be the same today.
It is somewhat on the mild side out there today. When I went out to the backyard tool-shed to exercise during the early part of the afternoon, I was getting a wee bit uncomfortably warm in my hoodie toward the end of that effort.
A meal has since followed ─ I might yet have to have myself another lie-down and perchance even nap.
Incidentally, I read today that hemp (Cannabis sativa) seed oil can help a person sleep soundly.
Cannabis sativa contains such minute amounts of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) ─ the psychoactive component of marijuana
(Cannabis indica) that gets people high ─ that it isn't possible to get high with the plant (hemp).
The following article makes an excellent case for using hemp seed oil as a means of reducing chronic pain:
HSIonline.com
Another good article on the oil is at CBD-International.net: HOW DO YOU USE CANNABIS OIL FOR PAIN RELIEF?
What the article failed to do ─ despite its rather misleading title ─ is give any indication at all of just how much oil to use for any desired therapeutic purpose.
Even though hemp is not marijuana, I was surprised by how many articles came up (in my Google search using the botanical name Cannabis sativa) that kept using the term marijuana anyway ─ as if it was an umbrella term that also covered hemp.
Evidently the public can buy hemp seed oil ─ you may have noticed some on offer in the Amazon search I did at the top of this post using the term Cannabis sativa.
Other articles indicate just how wholesome actual hemp seeds happen to be ─ here is a good report:
- Healthline.com: 6 Evidence-Based Health Benefits of Hemp Seeds
Alas, as yet I have not noticed hemp seeds for sale in any of the markets I shop at for seeds and spices and such.
Now let's talk a bit about tamarind ─ sometimes my wife (who is Thai) will buy the pods, and also the pulp that comes in brick-like packaging. She'll use the pulp in some Thai dishes she cooks up, but the pods are for just snacking on.
The pods are dry ─ just as dry as peanut shells ─ and are quite a rusty brown. Obviously, only the insides of the pods are eaten.
I myself bought a brick of the pulp once ─ I now cannot recall with surety, but I think that the pulp also contained the large, smooth, and flattish black seeds.
The following article tells of a use for tamarind that I can't exactly see myself giving a try:
HSIonline.com
We don't have tamarind pulp around all that often ─ that's why I wouldn't be using this specific application of it. But I suppose if tamarind was a commonplace feature of our household, it would be worth trying out as a skin restorative.
A website called StyleCraze.com has gone far beyond anything I would ever bother with in using tamarind in the beauty-care field:
- 10 Effective Ways To Use Tamarind For Skin Care
- 30 Amazing Benefits Of Tamarind (Imli) For Skin, Hair, And Health
Okay, I am going to finish today's post with a number of photos that were taken in Bali on January 30, 2018 when my wife and her two sons arranged a small reunion there with five of their Thailand family members.
Most of these photos feature a young lady named Kæ̂m or Gâaem (she actually styles herself as Milada Gamz) ─ she is the wife of my wife's nephew Mark (or MonoMark).
This Mark happened to be the photographer at the time ─ that's why there are as many photos of his young wife as there are:
Google Photos created the following collage automatically. The topmost of the three images in the collage feature my wife seated, with her shirtless eldest son (23 years old at the time) and her youngest son (20 years old at the time) attired in black:
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