Surrounded by lawyers, Michael Zabarsky might have fibbed about his preferred profession.

But that would have been perjury, because the Maine State Police detective had just been sworn to tell the truth in Androscoggin County Superior Court.

Zabarsky was testifying Friday at the murder trial of Scott Poirier, accused of fatally shooting his father at his 65th birthday party.

Assistant Attorney General Lisa Marchese was quizzing him about his credentials, which include a law degree and legal practice.

“Do you like being a police officer better than a lawyer?” Marchese asked.

After the laughter died down, Zabarsky answered truthfully: “Yes, I do.”

IRS reprogramming

Eager to file your federal income tax return? Get that refund? You might be forced to wait until Feb. 11 to file if you’re planning to file electronically.

In mid-December, Congress enacted an emergency “patch” to include very recent changes to the Alternative Minimum Tax calculations. After the change, the Internal Revenue Service had to reprogram and update its processing systems, so the patch won’t be tested and activated until Feb. 11.

Although the AMT calculations apply to only the highest-income earners in the nation, the patch also affects anyone who files electronically for education credits, residential energy credits, child and dependent care expenses and mortgage interest credit.

According to Peggy Riley, spokeswoman for the IRS for New England, the IRS anticipates being able to accept and begin processing e-filings on Feb. 11. Anyone who files early will get an automated e-response asking them to resubmit their tax return when IRS systems are ready.

The affected forms are Form 8863, Education Credits; Form 5695, Residential Energy Credits; Schedule 2 of Form 1040A, Child and Dependent Care Expenses; and Form 8396, Mortgage Interest Credit.

Anyone who isn’t planning to file the forms trapped in the patch is free to e-file now, Riley said.

If you’re planning to file your federal tax return using time-honored paper and a stamp, there’s no delay to get those taxes paid.

Online audio tease:

Listen at sunjournal.com to Robert Withee describing the day he almost – quite accidentally – paid $6,800 for a spark plug.

He’s got that certain spark…

OXFORD – Robert Withee grasps each one with a gentle hand, pointing out different colors, the little nuisances and flourishes in designs that others might never notice, let alone celebrate.

There aren’t too many fans of the lowly spark plug.

In all of Maine, he figures there are five. Including him.

He’s got about 400 spark plugs in his collection. There are, according to the Spark Plug Collectors of America master list, at least 5,000 different documented spark plugs worldwide.

“I’ll never get there, (but) I’m always looking for that next new plug,” said Withee, who turns 70 today.

He’s built traveling cases for some of his plugs, with little holes so they can sit upright. One spark plug is smaller than a thumbnail; it might have gone into a model plane. Some are as much as 100 years old. They’ve got brand names like Bougie Deesse, Bull Dog, Jordan and Splitdorf Electrical. In a couple cases, pristine boxes are worth more than the plugs themselves.

About 18 years ago, Withee started collecting and restoring antique engines; that proved a natural gateway to spark plug collecting when his old engines would need new old plugs.

He and his wife, Debra, find them online, in antique shops and at flea markets. They also go to about 22 engine and car trade shows a year in Maine and New Hampshire.

“We know every antique shop from here to Augusta and down into Kennebunk,” Withee said. Dealers know when he walks in the door what he’s after: that next plug he doesn’t have, or one that he does that’s in good enough shape to trade.

“They’re amazing to look at,” said Debra.

Withee and part of his collection will return to the Oxford County Fair this summer, where he’s the senior museum assistant. The most common questions he gets are where does he find them and what’s a particular plug fit. He’s got the latter explanation down pat: It fit anything that took a spark plug that exact size. Maybe it was a boat, a car, an airplane, a model, a washing machine. (Yes, an internal combustion engine on a washing machine.)

When he brings them out in public, he likes to leave out a box top of random spark plugs free for the taking nearby.

“We’re always looking for new collectors,” Withee said. Maybe a free plug is just the thing to entice a kid’s interest.

There’s room in the club. Spark Plug Collectors of America only boasts 1,300 to 1,500 members worldwide.