Maitake Tempura Orgy

On Monday of this week I stayed home from work to supervise the disappearance and appearance of mattresses. Sleep Train was going to come get the Tempur-Pedic between eight and noon. I asked them to make it as early as possible so I’d have time to wash the bedding before the McRoskey arrived.

Let the record reflect that they came at 12:15. During the period of waiting, I got most of my tax preparation done. I had to call my father and ask him one thing, and had to call the IRS about Form 8606, which seems to have a chicken-and-egg problem: Line 14 depends on lines 1 and 2; to get what goes on Line 2, you’re supposed to see Line 14.

The first year you use this form, you’re supposed to enter zero on a certain line, and then after that, not zero, presumably, but I saw that, to be on the safe side, I had entered zero three years in a row. There’s a line where it says to enter whatever you put on a certain line the year before, but that was the line where I put zero when I probably shouldn’t have.

My approach to taxes is to try to get an intuitive sense of what they’re getting at and write down what I think will achieve the objective. Consequently, for many years in a row, I have gotten a letter in June or so saying, “You forgot something. We owe you more money. Here’s a check.”

I decided I’d better tackle this Form 8606 in a more detailed way, but really couldn’t make any sense of the instructions, which is when I called the IRS. You will not believe what happened next: After a reasonable period of time on hold (fifteen or twenty minutes), someone came on the line and answered my question! That is, she told me what really goes on that line: zero.

For all I know, someone has told me this every year. This time I wrote it down.

Of course, while I was on hold, the cell phone rang, Sleep Train saying they were about to come for the Tempur-Pedic, which was wedged into the vestibule, because I didn’t want the delivery gentlemen clomping about on the carpet.

Just as I hung up the cell phone, I could hear the IRS lady’s voice coming from the real phone: “Anyone there?” Thank goodness she didn’t just hang up.

The Tempur-Pedic and its heinous chemical odor left and then I went out to wash my sheets in lavender-scented Ecover Laundry Wash.

I got everything done and was home again before the McRoskey items arrived. To the naked eyeball, the mattress looked like its head and foot were a tad lower than the middle, though maybe they put a bit of extra stuffing there because that’s where people’s butts are.

I lay down on it and sank into a deep sleep for the next couple of hours.

The next morning, my back didn’t feel great, but that could well have been due to the inevitable mattress-wrangling done by myself the day before. It also seems not to be one hundred percent uniform, in that you sink into it farther sitting some places more than others, not to use the “L” word: lumpy.

Let us pause for a moment while my mother enjoys a hearty laugh in Michigan.

Ah, it’s only money!

And any sense of non-uniformity is not noticeable when lying on it (nor does the bubble in my level show anything of interest), though there is a detectable pressure point at the hip. I called McRoskey and they said they advise sleeping on a new bed for two weeks before making any further decision, but if there really is a problem, they will address it, as I have spent a lot of money.

It will probably work out fine. I might end up putting a pad of some sort on it. It certainly smells nice!

Some things lately that have been extremely enjoyable: The Art Blakey CD with “Nica’s Dream” on it. Two Horace Silver CDs: Song for My Father and Horace-Scope.

I bought another Peter Lieberson CD that features the vocalizations of Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, on his Rilke Songs. They are really splendid. I like them even more than I initially liked the Pablo Neruda poems, though I now listen to the latter most days of the week. I think I am on my way to being a true Peter Lieberson fan.

After the Rilke Songs is The Six Realms (of Buddhism; the hungry ghost realm and so forth), for amplified cello and orchestra. Hammett trotted out of the room the first time this started playing, and I also wasn’t sure I liked it, after having just heard the Rilke Songs, which are so great.

But the second time I put on The Six Realms, I was swooning with pleasure.

Then there was lunch today with Lisa C. at Medicine, in which we each got our very own side dish of maitake tempura. As Lisa said, “We could share, but why should we?”