Monday, 4-14-2025: Tim Burchett's Town Hall and IRS Extends Tax Deadline for Tennessee Residents (published 4-17-2025; article #523)

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash. Free to use under the Unsplash License.

Introduction

The date was Monday, April 14, 2025. The setting was in the twilight zone of the federal government (“FedGov”), an eccentric world of twisted logic, bickering, showmanship, and bureaucratic ineptitude. The theme was late and last-minute FedGov timing.

Welcome to the 120th article in the humor topic section, dear reader. Let's poke a bit of fun at the FedGov! This journey into the FedGov twilight zone began on Monday evening. It continued into the next morning.

Tim Burchett's Telephone Town Hall

On that fateful Monday evening, my “long-suffering” wife and I had finished supper. Molly, our ten-year-old “puppy,” was on the couch in the living room. Sitting beside Molly, I was settling into watching a televised episode from an old western series. My wife was washing dishes.

In this neck of the woods, unless it is an emergency, common courtesy dictates that you do not call someone between 6 PM and 7 PM. That is the supper hour. At 6:35 PM, however, smack-dab in the middle of the supper hour, Tim Burchett, Tennessee's second-district representative in the United States House of Representatives, called our home phone.

Rushing into the living room, thinking that the call could be from a family member with a real emergency, my wife saw that the call from 865-432-2388 identified as Tim Burchett. The call was not an emergency.

Answering the call anyway, she quickly handed the phone to me. Molly was somewhat confused by the commotion. I wondered why Tim was calling me.

On the phone, I said, “Tim, I am here!” Tim kept on speaking, as if he didn't hear me. Aha! It was a recorded message from Tim Burchett! Our phone recorded Tim's recording. Once his recording ended, my call back to the same number, 865-432-2388, heard the same message repeated from Congressman Burchett.

The next morning, I transferred Tim's suppertime message from the phone to my desktop computer and saved it as an audiovisual clip without video, of course. The following 49-second clip is his remarks:

Later that next morning, I found and read "Rep. Burchett hosting town hall on April 14," Burchett.House.gov, Press Release, 4/7/2025, which states the following:

U.S. Congressman Tim Burchett (TN-02) will host a telephone town hall on Monday, April 14, at 6:30 p.m., with special guest Congressman Chip Roy (TX-21.)

The discussion will focus on legislative wins and other accomplishments in the first 100 days of the 119th Congress. Rep. Burchett will also take live questions from participants.

Telephone town halls provide an accessible and easy way for thousands of constituents to hear directly from the congressman and speak to him about their concerns.

Those who RSVP will receive a phone call on April 14 around 6:30 p.m. with an invitation to join the call. Anyone interested in participating can register at this link or visit www.burchett.house.gov. RSVP registration ends at 5 p.m. on Thursday, April 10.

To my knowledge, the press release, issued a week before the telephone town hall, was not picked up by any local media outlets, unless I missed it.

Did you catch the humor? The telephone town hall started on Monday evening at 6:30 PM. Congressman Burchett's recorded phone call came through at 6:35 PM.

Tim, you called five minutes too late! Additionally, couldn't you have started the telephone town hall at 7 PM, after the supper hour? Further, don't you know that common courtesy around here dictates that you don't call someone between 6 PM and 7 PM, unless it's an emergency? Finally, how did you get our home phone number?

Generally, I support Congressman Burchett's positions. I subscribe to and read his monthly newsletters. When I catch him in a televised news segment, local or national, I listen to what he has to say.

IRS Extends Tax Deadline for Tennessee Residents

Another point of FedGov humor on Monday, April 14, 2025, the penultimate day to file a federal tax return, was the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) decision to extend the federal income tax filing deadline for Tennessee residents to Monday, November 3!

If local media outlets carried the news on the 14th, I didn't catch it. Early the next morning, Tuesday, the 15th, federal income tax filing deadline day, I happened to hear the news while listening to a local news-talk radio station.

Later on the 15th, I found and read, “IRS: All of Tennessee qualifies for disaster tax relief; various deadlines postponed to Nov. 3.” Internal Revenue Service (IRS), News Release, 4/14/2025. The first two paragraphs state the following:

The Internal Revenue Service announced today tax relief for individuals and businesses in the entire state of Tennessee affected by severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes, and flooding that began on April 2, 2025.

These taxpayers now have until Nov. 3, 2025, to file various federal individual and business tax returns and make tax payments.

The news release further states that 2024 contributions to Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) are also extended to November 3.

Way to go, IRS! All those last-day filers and IRA contributors got a six-month-and-19-day extension. What about everyone who filed before or on the 14th? The IRS news release is silent. Those who filed before the 14th were simply out of luck. IRS, is this your way of saying that procrastination pays?

Mrs. Appalachian Irishman and I made 2024 IRA contributions on April 1st (Atheists' Day). We mailed in our 2024 federal income tax return, paying a nominal amount, on April 14th. We joined countless thousands of Tennesseans who were out of luck.

IRS, do not procrastinate future news releases about tax deadline extensions to the penultimate day before the filing deadline! Severe storms hit Tennessee beginning on April 2. The next day, the president signed an emergency declaration for the state. You could have released news about the filing extension for the state on Friday, the 4th.

Conclusion

The 4/9/2025 article was about the new roof on our house on April 2, the president's self-proclaimed “liberation day.” Thankfully, this area received only light to moderate rain on Sunday, April 6, from the storms that began to hit western areas of Tennessee four days earlier.

On Monday, April 14, Congressman Burchett's suppertime call was five minutes late. That same day's IRS news release was at most ten days late. That's FedGov timing for you. Procrastinators do not need to make excuses for procrastinating. The FedGov is their example!

My sarcastic wit finds humor in this. Does yours?

Please remember that tomorrow is celebrated as Good Friday. Resurrection Sunday is coming!

Was Wednesday, 4-2-2025, Liberation Day or New Roof Day? (published 4-9-2025; article #522)

Introduction

To answer the question asked in the title of this article, it was new roof day for this Appalachian-Irishman and his “long-suffering” wife! Welcome, dear reader, to the 109th entry in the life (such as it is) topic section.

Coincidentally, President Trump self-declared our new roof day as “liberation day.” Liberation from what? Tariffs, of course. The first section below presents the president's “liberation day” fanfare and my concise response.

The second and main section focuses on our new roof, which was liberating for us. Three photographs are included. Further, I embedded my brief audiovisual presentation. Will you be able to guess where I was sitting at the time?

Liberation Day?

Did you, dear reader, feel liberated on Wednesday, April 2? President Trump self-proclaimed the day as “liberation day.”

The official audiovisual propaganda is found at "My fellow Americans, this is Liberation Day. April 2, 2025..."—President Donald J. Trump, The White House (YouTube). In just under two minutes, the pompous address hopes to make “we, the people,” feel enthused and liberated. The cheering audience in the video seems to feel that way. I wonder if they were paid.

What is my response? Well, prices are not increasing—yet. The Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) that my wife and I have, however, are taking a beating, due to recent and significant declines in the stock market. Over time, the market should stabilize and regain losses. In short, I do not feel liberated. Instead, I am concerned. Trade imbalances should be corrected, but will falling international economic dominoes lead to global recession?

New Roof Day!

Wednesday, April 2, liberated our twenty-two-year-old house with a new roof! It was new roof day!

Last year's articles from 12/11/2024 and 12/23/2024 mention the new roof at the homeplace. The same contractor, who installed the new roof there, replaced the roof at our house.

Three Photographs

A week ago today, Arlie and his crew arrived at about 7:15 AM and quickly began to work. I took the first photograph below at 7:35 AM, as dawn was breaking. The temperature was in the 40s Fahrenheit. The view looks southeast.

The five-man crew, three visible in the image, had started to remove the original shingles. On Saturday, 11/23/2024, Arlie inspected the roof, determined that it would endure the winter, and suggested a new roof in the spring. The original shingles were worn, and a few had buckled up slightly.

Where was our 2012 Sentra? I had backed it out of the garage and parked it at the curb. My wife and her sister needed to take their father to a medical appointment that afternoon. By the way, my Appalachian Irishman yard flag is near the left corner of the porch.

The next photograph, taken at 12:51 PM, shows the status of the roof from the back of the house.

The old shingles were still on. The packages on the roof ridge contain new shingles. Removing old shingles is the hardest part of the job. Yes, the yard needed to be mowed. The first mowing of the season was two days later on Friday.

Where's our “old puppy,” Molly? Initially, she was excited by the activity and noise. By this time, however, she had taken shelter near the six cedar trees, unseen in the image, that are behind and to the right of where I stood to take the shot. I checked on her at times, giving her snacks and water. Molly was observing from a safe distance.

Later, at about 1:30 PM, the electricity went out in our area for about 30 minutes. Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB) surprised me with a KUB reboot, as I call it. The roofers didn't know. Their loud gasoline-powered generator was not affected.

The final photograph below, taken at 3:52 PM, shows the nearly completed front side of the roof. The temperature was in the lower 80s.

Strong wind gusts blew plastic, old shingles, and other debris off the roof and around in our yard and a neighbor's yard. I helped the crew catch what was blowing around. It was “fun.”

At about 4:45 PM, Arlie and I walked to the separate garage of our next-door neighbors, a husband and wife. The man, whom Arlie knew, was restoring an antique truck. They caught up on recent life events and discussed antique restoration projects.

At about 5 PM, standing inside the neighbors' garage, the area “enjoyed” another KUB reboot, which lasted only a couple of minutes. I had to reset eight timepieces twice, due to two KUB reboots. Thanks, KUB. Of course, we are thankful to have electricity.

Mrs. Appalachian Irishman returned home just after the second KUB reboot, parking our car near the curb.

Audiovisual Clip

Photographs do not capture the noise from the work being done. The generator, up to five pneumatic hammers, and a leaf blower made a cacophony of sound. I should have stuffed cotton in my ears. Molly, with her sensitive canine hearing, stayed safely away.

At 5:22 PM, I decided to record the following concise audiovisual clip on Appalachian Irishman - Podcasts (YouTube): Wednesday, 4-2-2025: New Roof Day! (published 4-9-2025; episode 36). Misspeaking, I said April 4th, instead of April 2nd correctly. On the roof, a man was using a loud leaf blower to blow out the gutter. At least the cacophony from the generator and pneumatic hammers was silent.

Conclusion

Our new roof should last 30 years, when, if I am alive, and we're in the same house, I will be 94. What will happen between now and then? God knows, but I don't. I am liberated from sin by His grace. I trust in Him.

This article is dedicated to two people. It is dedicated to my brother, three years my junior, whose birthday is today. I plan to call him after publishing this article. He may enjoy watching the previously embedded video clip.

It is also dedicated to the ninety-one-year-old father of my friend, whom I can't remember not knowing. His mother and my mother were friends, so we grew up together as friends. Recently, my friend's father endured a brief hospitalization. Thankfully, he is recovering well at home now. After the passing of his first wife, he remarried. His second wife, my friend's stepmother, is not doing as well. Please say a prayer for her recovery.