April 15, 2026

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JP Steve
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Reply to  nighthawks
8 days ago

We get two more weeks!!!

Liverlips McCracken
Liverlips McCracken
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Reply to  nighthawks
7 days ago

Bite me!

happyhappyhappy
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Reply to  nighthawks
7 days ago

I did not have to file this year.

More_Cats_Than_Sense
Reply to  nighthawks
7 days ago

We’re on PAYE* here….

Employers and banks etc. report your income, then the Inland Revenue work out how much you have to pay that year and set your Tax Code. That tells employers etc. and you, how much tax they will automatically deduct from your earnings. You can notify them of any changes throughout the year and they adjust accordingly. Most people over here don’t have to submit Tax Returns. It generally works pretty well.

Tax Returns have to be completed by April 4th I think, early April anyhoo.

.

*(Pay As You Earn)

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  More_Cats_Than_Sense
7 days ago

My taxes have never been that simple… most of my life self-employed.

Even when I had a regular paycheck, as a retail manager, I still sold collectibles on the side, did antique shows, and tutored kids.

As a fairly unsuccessful real estate agent, commissions were sporadic, expenses high …. and then as a hairstylist, later, I worked off and on, part time in several salons, and briefly had my own…. which had an area for displaying and selling collectibles.

I’d hate that system, having to constantly report my irregular earnings, presumably cost of goods sold, and who knows what else.

More_Cats_Than_Sense
Reply to  SusanSunshine
6 days ago

You don’t have to report, the tax self-assessment form at the end of the year you’d have to fill in as a self employed person would catch it. You would then have to pay money to HMRC if you’d had a good year though. Before PAYE you’d have to submit every year and your Income Tax for the following year would be based upon that. So if you’d have a bad year following a good year it would suck as you had to pay tax on your previous years earnings. When faced with that system PAYE was an improvement.

Arfside
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Reply to  nighthawks
7 days ago

Filed early, got a big refund. Big relief!

mr_sherman
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Reply to  Arfside
7 days ago

Same here.

JP Steve
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Reply to  Arfside
7 days ago

Refund? what’s that?

Liverlips McCracken
Liverlips McCracken
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Reply to  nighthawks
7 days ago

Old friends. No words need be exchanged between them.

JP Steve
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Reply to  nighthawks
8 days ago

Tacky era:

comment image

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  JP Steve
7 days ago

Ooh, it’s the Luxor hotel and casino in Las Vegas!

The chocolate company I worked for was based in Las Vegas, actually, in Henderson, which is nearby, but they had shops in most of the casinos, and some of our packaging featured a picture of the Strip.

We had several manager meetings a year, in Henderson…
50 managers, one from each shop, in Nevada, California and Arizona.

We’d fly there on a Friday night, and leave on Monday or Tuesday morning. They kept us busy each day, from early morning into the evening.

Nonetheless, we were given accommodations in Las Vegas, usually had a voucher for a late dinner at one of the hotel buffets, and if we wanted, stayed up late in the casinos. (Of course we wanted… who needs sleep?)

At first they put us at the Tropicana, one of the older casino hotels, where they got a good deal. But some of the managers pushed for us to stay in different, especially newer, places.

We had a few stays at the Mirage, with a giant fake volcano, and a huge glass fronted.. uh… kinda like a desert terrarium… that housed and displayed Sigfried and Roy’s white tigers.

They were just starting to build the Luxor … so funny… A hollow glass pyramid with rooms inside. It was supposedly going to be full of (fake) Egyptian artifacts, and IIRC an indoor boat ride. Like Egyptian Disneyland with gambling.

Our company promised they were going to negotiate a deal so we could stay there for at least one of our trips when it opened.

But before it was finished, they closed all our California stores, and i lost my job, along with the other California managers, and I never got to travel to ersatz Egypt.

mr_sherman
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Reply to  SusanSunshine
7 days ago

I went to a training class in Las Vegas in 2005. It was a few months after my wedding to my present wife so we extended the stay by a few days. Since the company paid for the room for four nights, we only needed to pay for three more nights to cover the weekend. It was at a hotel just over the freeway from the Luxor. It was open then and we went to see the display that simulated what the burial chamber for King Tut looked like when it was discovered. It was pretty cool. At the same time there was a display of artwork by impressionists at the Bellagio and we went to see that also. These were the real items lent by museums, not copies.

happyhappyhappy
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Reply to  nighthawks
7 days ago

Be careful with heat. It can make internal bruising worse.

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  happyhappyhappy
7 days ago

After all the years I was told to use a hot pack for various things, I only found out maybe two years ago that you’re only supposed to leave it on for at most 15 minutes at a time, and after that you make the inflammation worse.

JP Steve
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Reply to  nighthawks
8 days ago

comment image

JP Steve
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Reply to  nighthawks
8 days ago

At least it isn’t pink!

Liverlips McCracken
Liverlips McCracken
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Reply to  nighthawks
7 days ago

Looks like a Go-Kart racecourse.

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  nighthawks
7 days ago

Hitachi Seaside Park is a public park in Hitachinaka, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan.

Apparently, it’s known for colorful displays of flowers that change with the seasons.

This time of year it features an area of bright blue ones.

In summer, the kochia bushes on this hillside leaf out in bright green… which in summer start turning red. This picture was probably taken in August, when they peak.

Crowds come out to walk among the changing flowers.

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  nighthawks
7 days ago

A family favorite…

we always watched…
The Donna Reed Show

starring …
Carl Betz, Donna Reed, Paul Peterson, and Shelly Fabares.

More_Cats_Than_Sense
Reply to  SusanSunshine
7 days ago

Not one I’ve ever heard of, so it probably didn’t skip over the pond.

JP Steve
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Reply to  SusanSunshine
7 days ago

I particularly remember the week(s) that Paul and Shelly each released their own hit tunes!

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  JP Steve
6 days ago

What’s sad is that I remember the tunes…. Or at least a couple of them, especially Johnny Angel, which I believe I bought on 45.

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  nighthawks
7 days ago

Picadilly traffic, 1900.

Horsedrawn double decker busses!

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  nighthawks
7 days ago

I know it’s just the perspective, in the way the room is built, but I’m fascinated by those structures.

I wish this gif would slow down, so I could see the effect better

happyhappyhappy
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Reply to  nighthawks
8 days ago

Too cute!

JP Steve
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Reply to  nighthawks
8 days ago

Batson D. Belfry, I assume…

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  JP Steve
7 days ago

Looks like his cousin, Batsin D. Glove.

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  nighthawks
7 days ago

According to Wikipedia and a couple of other sites….
This is a hammer-headed fruit bat, the largest bat on the African continent, with a 1-meter wingspan.

The males, like this one, make a very loud noise… Not something I usually associate with bats.

They have a large reverberating chamber on their faces, giving him this (IMHO) rather peculiar look.

The females are smaller, and have fox like faces.

JP Steve
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Reply to  nighthawks
8 days ago

I suspect shenanigans…

Liverlips McCracken
Liverlips McCracken
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Reply to  JP Steve
7 days ago

Undoubtedly.

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  JP Steve
7 days ago

It better be!

I wouldn’t want to see that really happen to a kitty.

mr_sherman
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Reply to  SusanSunshine
7 days ago

Especially the part where it splits in two.

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  mr_sherman
7 days ago

Yeah … and just keeps going!

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  nighthawks
7 days ago

I’ve never seen one that spelled it out so clearly.

Um… Let’s see… exactly 3 of each item, worth a number easily divisible by 3. Not exactly rocket science.

But everybody’s different, and some people find math baffling.

If you’ve never done such a puzzle before, this might be a good one to start with.

Tigressy
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Reply to  SusanSunshine
7 days ago

Why the 👎 for the puzzle??

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  Tigressy
7 days ago

Goof.

I corrected it later, when I was briefly awake.

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  SusanSunshine
7 days ago

Aaagh!

I messed up

I already told you guys I should only do this stuff in daylight!!

I totally missed that there were 3 buns on the plates in the first equation and 4 in the last one.

I also didn’t count the values of the things the man is holding.

That makes it a whole different problem, and not as easy.

I vote that the plate doesn’t count, but is used only as a delivery vehicle for the buns, but it could go either way.

Last edited 7 days ago by SusanSunshine
JP Steve
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Reply to  nighthawks
7 days ago

250?

Tigressy
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Reply to  nighthawks
7 days ago

198.

More_Cats_Than_Sense
Reply to  nighthawks
7 days ago

Does the plate count for anything, or does each slice of toast count for 2? Because it changes the answer….

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  More_Cats_Than_Sense
7 days ago

I chose the latter, though I called them buns.

But my thought would be that either way would be acceptable, as long as you show your work, and don’t just present an unexplained number.

The problem with counting it is that you don’t know what proportion of the value to assign it…. It’s not necessarily the same as 1 bun.

Last edited 7 days ago by SusanSunshine
Greyhame
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Reply to  nighthawks
7 days ago

I’m with Tigressy. 198, because PEMDAS

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  Greyhame
7 days ago

To me the correct answer… But the P that’s first in PEDMAS is for parentheses, of which this equation needs some.

Arfside
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Reply to  nighthawks
7 days ago

Saved it for my grandkids.

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  nighthawks
7 days ago

There are way too may unanswered questions to solve this properly.
Right off the bat, equations with mixed operators need parentheses, or people will argue over the order of operations.

You may think you’re obviously correct, but those younger than me were taught differently, and to me they’re wrong, but to them, I’m wrong.

Meanwhile….

3 cups (of tea?) are worth 30, so 1 cup is 10.
Who knows whether those cups are full of tea or empty, or whether it makes a difference.

3 buns on a plate are worth â…“ of 18, or 6.

I have no idea whether than means the plate is worth anything, or whether that would be 1, 2, 3 or more, out of the 6. I chose to count the plate as zero, and each bun as 2. Who knows the author’s actual intent..

A man with 3 buns on a plate and a cup of tea (it’s steaming) is worth â…“ of 75, or 25.

25 minus 10 for the tea and 6 for the buns mean he’s worth 9 by himself.

Whew!

(4 buns) + (1 man plus I cup) X (1 cup)
Or 8 + 19 x 10.

The way I was taught, that multiplying the parts comes first, I’d get
8 + (19x 10) = 198

But I tutored kids who were taught in school 25 years ago that unless otherwise noted with parentheses, the operators are always used in order…

They would add the first two, then multiply…

As though it were (8+19) x 10

(though they wouldn’t actually see it as using parentheses)

27 x 10, or 270.. Which I see as wrong, but I’ve seen online arguments to the contrary.

Last edited 6 days ago by SusanSunshine
Tigressy
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Reply to  SusanSunshine
6 days ago

We’ve been taught “Punkt vor Strich” (* and : are first, then + and ), but parentheses are above that. That was in the early 70s.

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  Tigressy
5 days ago

Me too, though years earlier. That’s why we got the same result.

But the kids who told me they were taught to use operators in order of appearance were in elementary school in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

I was tutoring them, a girl about 15 and her 10 year old brother, in about 2005….

Watching them do the addition on the left before multiplying that sum by the next number would have set my teeth on edge.

But I borrowed the boy’s textbook and that’s indeed what they were taught.

BTW…. You use : for division? We use ÷, in handwriting , or if available on the keyboard, or / if not.

happyhappyhappy
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7 days ago

happyhappyhappy
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7 days ago

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  happyhappyhappy
7 days ago

He needs a teeny tiny CPAP machine.

More_Cats_Than_Sense
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7 days ago

.

doggo-learned-new-trick-1771894641.9261
SusanSunshine
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Reply to  More_Cats_Than_Sense
7 days ago

There was a series in YouTube “shorts” (1 to 3 minute videos) of people trying to teach their dogs this trick.

More_Cats_Than_Sense
Member
7 days ago

Female Northern Cardinal, and a male Lesser Goldfinch.

Female-Northern-Cardinal-and-a-male-Lesser-Goldfinch
SusanSunshine
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7 days ago

Indiana Bones!

My comment about him somehow didn’t get posted last night… I thought I put it under the 2nd copy of the strip, in the comments, but I guess I didn’t submit it… Sigh…. and didn’t realize till too late today.

Anyway…. a great adventurer… adept at following neon signs…. will he recover this long-lost treasure, and at last, answer the questions swirling through the world of science, and the halls of academe?

Is it magical?

Is it cursed?

Just how old can kibble be before a dog won’t eat it?

Last edited 7 days ago by SusanSunshine
baconboycamper
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Reply to  SusanSunshine
7 days ago

The Cleo version of Claude’s Big Red Button…

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