flowering trees and frustration

As I drive on Interstate 95, I am delighted to see the pear trees all in bloom. Now, I know that these trees are considered invasive because they are hybrids formed in nature by combining the Bradford Pear trees found in so many developments with wild pear trees. The hybrids are everywhere and have nasty thorns, as well as being very aggressive spreaders. However, this time of year, they create clouds of white blossoms for miles along I95. It's an awesome sight! Even bad things can be beautiful.

My own flowering tree - a plum - is in full bloom. Because of its location, it's hard to get a good photo of it. (Either house or cars are in the pictures.) The blossoms only lasts a few days, but that's ok because I know that other spring beauty is just around the corner. More daffodils have opened up this week, too. You can just barely see them in the photo.

I am so frustrated and annoyed with the IRS! I had a question about filling out my tax forms (I itemize) and I found the instructions for what I needed to do very confusing. So I called the number provided by IRS for assistance. I talked to four different persons. These people are not full-time IRS employees, but folks who have been trained to help others on taxes. All I can say is - their training lacks a great deal! One of them spoke so softly that I had to ask her to repeat everything several times. As each realized that they could not help me, they passed me on to someone else. The last one said she could not help me and would write up a ticket for someone (presumably a true expert) to call me withing 15 days. Now if you start counting, you will realize that it's only 15 days until the tax forms are due, I indicated that I did not find that an acceptable answer. I asked for a number where I could reach a full-time IRS employee. At this she got really huffy and insisted that she knew as much as anyone. (obviously this is untrue) She was rude and insisted that I had told her something which was the opposite of what I had said. Finally she told me she was terminating the call and hung up on me. I was about ready to hang up on her, anyway. I think I was on the phone more than an hour. None of these so-called helpers really knew what I was talking about. I would mention an instruction form that I had found on the website and they had no idea what I was talking about. I know more about the issue than they did. So I will just do what I originally thought to do - put the items where I think they belong and hope no one audits me!