Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooood Morning, stack of pancakes, bucket of butter-stuff, jug of maple-flavored corn syrup, and a bucket of coffee please 'n thank-you.
Geesh! Couldn't get in here at all for most of yesterday and last night.
VINCENT: The CNW (Cheap and Nothing Wasted) real-life kitbash started in 1987. The first two were done by XTRA in a Katy shop. The CNW took a liking to them and banged-out 199 of them in the Clinton, Iowa car shops. I don't know of any other roads doing this or if XTRA built any more of them. I found the article (November 1988 Railroad Model Craftsman), but the computer and the scanner seem to be having a spat...neither one can "find" the other. My live-in tech support (no "Bombay Bob" here!) said she'd take a look sometime. THAT might happen sometime yet this year...[:-^
Lots to do today, THAT Editor wants me to put together "something" about a proposal in the state legislature to "roll back" property taxes, especially on businesses. Iowa apparently taxes businesses at 100%, but just what THAT means, I'm not exactly sure having never taken a business class in my life. Now, for residential property, the tax appears to be $10 per $1,000 of valuation. Of course, there are hundreds of levies THAT apply as well: school district, etc., etc., etc. So, I'm looking at a multitude of legislators' websites, hoping at least one of them has taken the time to explain this all to the great un-educated/ignorant masses (like me). What I do understand, is there is a great philosophical difference: one political party wants people to keep more of their own money, the other wants more money to spend... Of course, THAT, I already knew!
The Iowa Department of Revenue website is mostly useless...go figure. However, I did get an education on the hundreds of taxes and permit fees imposed on businesses. At risk of getting the soapbox out of it's storage space, I can see why people claim Iowa is hostile to business. Maybe "the 'Stache" (former, now again Gov. Terry Branstad) can do something about THAT.
Have a good, SAFE day...I'll be immersed in legislative stuff...
Chris