I will try to be concise in this post, but it will probably be a long, bloviating post that will bore 95% of the people who read it. I have been a terrible blogger recently and I will chalk it up to being busy with work and mostly to being too fed up with the world to put any thoughts to paper (or should I say keystrokes).
Our daughter was born nearly ten months ago and although it is hard to fathom, she is already over $36,000 in debt. This is not due to her closets full of clothes, but the actions of our elected leaders in running up large deficits. I am typically ok with national debt, but our situation is quickly getting out of hand. The current budget will put Little Miss T in debt approximately $60,000 (her share of the national debt) by the time she is ten years old. The fact that our lawmakers such as Dodd, Waters and Frank can browbeat leaders of free enterprise in congressional hearings while leveraging my and your balance sheet is the worst hypocrisy imaginable. I wish that we had an elected official who would stand up for what's right the way that Daniel Hannan an elected official in England recently did.
He may be John Galt. (I wish we had leaders who could speak this eloquently, and without even using a teleprompter.) My favorite line which is very applicable to our situation in the States is, "You have run out of our money."
My second nominee for a modern John Galt is Jake DeSantis, a former AIG employee. Jake wrote and excoriating resignation letter to his boss explaining exactly why he was leaving and it was published in the NY Times. The "populist" rhetoric and bile that has been thrown on Wall Street lately is sickening and I think it's high time we head to our windows, open it and yell, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore". It is unimaginable that our public leaders expressed an interest in publicizing employees names who received bonuses so that they could be openly scorned and possibly assaulted. Even more disgusting was the vote to punitively use the tax code to punish hard working citizens with a tax of 90%. Why not tax people who's homes were foreclosed with a 90% tax, or any real estate agents, mortgage brokers, residential lenders, house flippers or people who have defaulted on credit card or any other debt; they are just as guilty and more so than the current employees of investment banks and AIG for our current economic difficulties. I think it was embarrassing to ask these employees to give back their hard-earned bonuses and it was un-American for the employees to comply and give them back. What this country needs is more greed, ownership and capitalism rather than fear, blame and social planning. We are walking down a dangerous path that many have trod before us and I fear that the time may come for the producers of this country to shrug.
3.25.2009
Wednesday Rants
Here is my daily rant. I don't usually blog my rants otherwise they'd take over this blog...but here's what's on my mind today.
I am sure some people would call me a feminist. I wouldn't agree with them, completely. Feminists wouldn't call me a feminist, but I do feel strongly about equality.
Here's where my rant comes in. I guess March is Women's History Month, never knew. My first thought is why is their a month for women's history month? Why not have it all year mixed in with all the other history? Like Black History month, I think history should be history...teach it all year round, have a section on it in school, don't single it out otherwise we'll run out of months. It should be a regular part of school's curriculum.
OK, I am going off my train of thought here.
There were some quiz questions on one of the morning shows about women and their history (first woman to be a Democratic presidential candidate, etc.), one of the questions was "For every dollar a man earns, how much does a woman earn?" The answer was less, my brain has gone blank...I think it was like 70 odd cents per dollar a man earns. To me there should be no pay difference for men and women who do the same job and have the same job experience. Obviously there will be differences if a man is a doctor and a woman is a teacher...that happens, but if they are both teachers, teaching in the same school, with the same experience, they should be paid the same. One other point the show brought up was that less than 7% of the Fortune 500 earners were women. Sure that seems low, but in the workforce what is the percent of working men vs. working women? If only 3 out of 10 workers are women then of course there will be more men earning the bigger pay checks. Did they stop to think that women are more likely to work part time or to leave the workforce if they have children? I get frustrated when columnists, journalists, celebs, whoever start talking about how there needs to be more women in politics, more blacks in CEO level jobs, more Asians in movies, more Canadians in the MLB...whatever. Here's my thing with it all - if people aren't applying for these jobs how can we hire them? Maybe a woman doesn't want to run for office, do we pick an unqualified woman just to have better diversity? What if a Black man doesn't want to be the head of a company... if people do not enter these fields they can't be hired! It's not brain surgery folks. If an employer had two resumes in front of them and one was a man and one a woman and the woman had a better record, more experience, etc., I would think she would be hired (maybe that's the feminist, commie liberal in me, right Mark?), not because they need a woman to look diverse but because she is the best candidate. I don't know what the big fuss is...even if you don't agree with Obama, he is a Black man and the US President. Do you really think he was elected just because he is Black and the US had yet to have a Black president? I sure hope not because that would be stupid and dangerous. May be I am a little too believing in people, and give too many people the benefit of the doubt, but in this day and age I just don't think people base their hiring decisions on race, gender....it's about experience and qualifications. I'm just tired of this "we need more Asians in DC, we need more Women in science, we need..." Well if you need them, start making the rounds at schools and get these kids interested. I guarantee you that if Women, Blacks, Asians, Koreans, Brazilians...whoever, get involved more, you will see more minorities in all of these arenas.
In the end, it comes down to this, you can't hire those who aren't applying. And if you do the same job you should definitely get the same pay.
And those are my two cents. Hopefully it made some sense because it did in my head!
Here's where my rant comes in. I guess March is Women's History Month, never knew. My first thought is why is their a month for women's history month? Why not have it all year mixed in with all the other history? Like Black History month, I think history should be history...teach it all year round, have a section on it in school, don't single it out otherwise we'll run out of months. It should be a regular part of school's curriculum.
OK, I am going off my train of thought here.
There were some quiz questions on one of the morning shows about women and their history (first woman to be a Democratic presidential candidate, etc.), one of the questions was "For every dollar a man earns, how much does a woman earn?" The answer was less, my brain has gone blank...I think it was like 70 odd cents per dollar a man earns. To me there should be no pay difference for men and women who do the same job and have the same job experience. Obviously there will be differences if a man is a doctor and a woman is a teacher...that happens, but if they are both teachers, teaching in the same school, with the same experience, they should be paid the same. One other point the show brought up was that less than 7% of the Fortune 500 earners were women. Sure that seems low, but in the workforce what is the percent of working men vs. working women? If only 3 out of 10 workers are women then of course there will be more men earning the bigger pay checks. Did they stop to think that women are more likely to work part time or to leave the workforce if they have children? I get frustrated when columnists, journalists, celebs, whoever start talking about how there needs to be more women in politics, more blacks in CEO level jobs, more Asians in movies, more Canadians in the MLB...whatever. Here's my thing with it all - if people aren't applying for these jobs how can we hire them? Maybe a woman doesn't want to run for office, do we pick an unqualified woman just to have better diversity? What if a Black man doesn't want to be the head of a company... if people do not enter these fields they can't be hired! It's not brain surgery folks. If an employer had two resumes in front of them and one was a man and one a woman and the woman had a better record, more experience, etc., I would think she would be hired (maybe that's the feminist, commie liberal in me, right Mark?), not because they need a woman to look diverse but because she is the best candidate. I don't know what the big fuss is...even if you don't agree with Obama, he is a Black man and the US President. Do you really think he was elected just because he is Black and the US had yet to have a Black president? I sure hope not because that would be stupid and dangerous. May be I am a little too believing in people, and give too many people the benefit of the doubt, but in this day and age I just don't think people base their hiring decisions on race, gender....it's about experience and qualifications. I'm just tired of this "we need more Asians in DC, we need more Women in science, we need..." Well if you need them, start making the rounds at schools and get these kids interested. I guarantee you that if Women, Blacks, Asians, Koreans, Brazilians...whoever, get involved more, you will see more minorities in all of these arenas.
In the end, it comes down to this, you can't hire those who aren't applying. And if you do the same job you should definitely get the same pay.
And those are my two cents. Hopefully it made some sense because it did in my head!
3.23.2009
Here's a Tip For Ya!
Tipping.
Can anyone explain this to me?
I tip my server, I tip my hairdresser, I tip the driver/shuttle guy... but when did it become that we have to tip everyone?? People at fast food places have tip jars. I get a letter to tip my newspaper person. Why? Why do we have to tip? Aren't people doing the jobs they were hired for? Some say it's a courtesy, a thank you. Well isn't me making use of you (keeping you/your company in business) a courtesy? I could have gone with someone else!!
I'm In all of my working years I never got a tip. If I went above and beyond I still didn't get a tip. Isn't a doorman's job to get the door? He gets paid to do that, right? So why is it expected that I give him a tip?
Living in NYC can crush you at Christmas time. You've got your front door people, the maintenance people, the mail person....it's a lot of people. Even if you gave everyone $20, where we lived it would have been close to $200 or more! And our front door people didn't do any door openings, they were just desk people.
We're supposed to tip our cab driver, yet we don't tip the bus driver. Aren't they essentially doing the same job, one just has more riders (and a bigger vehicle!)?
I don't get it. I will continue to tip my hairdresser because she has scissors and I don't want to be bald...my newspaper delivery person...probably not.
Call me cheap, that's okay. I've been called worse.
Can anyone explain this to me?
I tip my server, I tip my hairdresser, I tip the driver/shuttle guy... but when did it become that we have to tip everyone?? People at fast food places have tip jars. I get a letter to tip my newspaper person. Why? Why do we have to tip? Aren't people doing the jobs they were hired for? Some say it's a courtesy, a thank you. Well isn't me making use of you (keeping you/your company in business) a courtesy? I could have gone with someone else!!
I'm In all of my working years I never got a tip. If I went above and beyond I still didn't get a tip. Isn't a doorman's job to get the door? He gets paid to do that, right? So why is it expected that I give him a tip?
Living in NYC can crush you at Christmas time. You've got your front door people, the maintenance people, the mail person....it's a lot of people. Even if you gave everyone $20, where we lived it would have been close to $200 or more! And our front door people didn't do any door openings, they were just desk people.
We're supposed to tip our cab driver, yet we don't tip the bus driver. Aren't they essentially doing the same job, one just has more riders (and a bigger vehicle!)?
I don't get it. I will continue to tip my hairdresser because she has scissors and I don't want to be bald...my newspaper delivery person...probably not.
Call me cheap, that's okay. I've been called worse.
3.19.2009
Leaving On A Jetplane
Anyone seen this show?
http://www.aetv.com/airline/index.jsp
I love it!! Nothing better than watching irrational, drunk people try to board t
heir flights. Oh how I feel for the employees of Southwest Airlines. Does not make me want to work at an airline, ever. The best was a guy who wanted to jump onto an earlier flight and there was some sort of fare difference or something and he had to pay $1. $1. He would not do it, threatened some guy in line who said he would pay the $1, yelled at the ticket guy (who also offered to pay the $1) and had them call the cops because he felt threatened. Once there, he went off on the cop about Southwest charging him $1!! Oh alcohol, what a fickle fiend you are.
So entertaining.
http://www.aetv.com/airline/index.jsp
I love it!! Nothing better than watching irrational, drunk people try to board t
heir flights. Oh how I feel for the employees of Southwest Airlines. Does not make me want to work at an airline, ever. The best was a guy who wanted to jump onto an earlier flight and there was some sort of fare difference or something and he had to pay $1. $1. He would not do it, threatened some guy in line who said he would pay the $1, yelled at the ticket guy (who also offered to pay the $1) and had them call the cops because he felt threatened. Once there, he went off on the cop about Southwest charging him $1!! Oh alcohol, what a fickle fiend you are.So entertaining.
3.09.2009
Am I Too PC?
Alright bloggers I need your help.
If I was to get a laptop (and I want one) convince me why I should get a Mac or a PC. I am not that computer tech savvy, so to me it makes no difference. I don't need one for anything specific. I am not a graphic design nut, or a gaming freak; I use the computer for Internet travels, blogging, uploading pictures...typical stuff.
Share with me why you love/hate your PC or Mac. I'm not one to follow ship just because... so tell me why I should. What's the major differences between the two? Does one do my dishes? Can I program my DVR from one? Will Paul Walker personally deliver it to my door? Or is it just personal preference? Dell does have some cool looking notebook options, and that touch screen HP looks awesome (but a bit pricey for what I want a laptop for)...so dish! See if you can persuade me to your side!
Share with me why you love/hate your PC or Mac. I'm not one to follow ship just because... so tell me why I should. What's the major differences between the two? Does one do my dishes? Can I program my DVR from one? Will Paul Walker personally deliver it to my door? Or is it just personal preference? Dell does have some cool looking notebook options, and that touch screen HP looks awesome (but a bit pricey for what I want a laptop for)...so dish! See if you can persuade me to your side!
3.05.2009
3.04.2009
Pile O' Nothing
This week I did something I'm not proud of....I watched the finale of The Bachelor. I don't watch The Bachelor, never have. Why I chose to 
watch the finale is beyond me. Well not really, there were other shows on I would have rather watched, but Mark and I usually watch them together, so I decided to wait for him to come home. Thus I was left with the Bachelor. Oh, I'm sure there was something else on, but I must have been to lazy to scroll through the TV guide.
watch the finale is beyond me. Well not really, there were other shows on I would have rather watched, but Mark and I usually watch them together, so I decided to wait for him to come home. Thus I was left with the Bachelor. Oh, I'm sure there was something else on, but I must have been to lazy to scroll through the TV guide.Let's just say I won't be watching it in its next installment, even if The next Bachelorette happens to hail from the Motherland. The show hasn't even happened and the host was on Ellen today cracking Canada jokes ("yes, all of the Bachelors will speak Canadian"). Funny. Not.
It seems the only things being reported these days are the Bachelor melee, the octomom, and the economy. One of those seems worthy of reports, even though I am way beyond tired of hearing about the doom and gloom.
I have learned one thing about myself in this time of economic turmoil. I hate all things stock market related. I don't get it. I 
consider myself reasonably intelligent, but that could be debated I suppose. For some reason all things stock market and business...it's like staring at calculus. Only I think I have a better chance of figuring out the calculus. I don't get what makes the markets go up and down, or how simple talk of something faltering can cause a huge drop. If the market is based on speculation, why don't we all just speculate that things are getting better, mention a few specific companies and VOILA! problem solved.
consider myself reasonably intelligent, but that could be debated I suppose. For some reason all things stock market and business...it's like staring at calculus. Only I think I have a better chance of figuring out the calculus. I don't get what makes the markets go up and down, or how simple talk of something faltering can cause a huge drop. If the market is based on speculation, why don't we all just speculate that things are getting better, mention a few specific companies and VOILA! problem solved.Now I know, Mark is reading this having a heart attack while simultaneously shaking his head at how much of an idiot I am, but I am okay with that. I know he probably secretly wishes the market and economy would get my juices flowing like they do for him, but sorry kiddo, won't happen anytime soon. My eyes are glassing over as I type this.
One thing that has kept me going this last week is a dream I had about a pair of shoes. it was so real when I woke up I said to myself, "Those shoes will look fantastic with my green and blue dress!" I was then saddened to realize that those shoes were a dream and I did not own them. I have been on a hunt ever since, but without any luck. I did find an amazing shirt I almost bought, but alas it was a smidgen too small and they did not have another size. Darn you tomboy shaped women of the world!! I still heart you shirt and I am hoping to add you to my wardrobe in one of two ways. The first would be the easiest and hope it goes on sale and buy it - that way any feelings of guilt about not wearing it will be offset by the awesome deal I got. The second requires a bit more work on my behalf. If I can behave myself and get to the gym then that shirt will be mine!! Provided they are still selling it...fingers crossed. In this economy the first choice probably won't win out. Darn my responsible side (read - husband). Some day shirt, you will be mine. In the meantime, anyone have any suggestions for stores that sell awesome shirts affordable in this economy? Have I mentioned that MN has no sales tax on ANY clothes or shoes?? I heart that.
3.02.2009
March Migraines
- when Ryan tells us we'll have at least two hours to vote. What does that mean? Will I have 2 hours, or will it be 3? Do east coasters get more time?
- when Alison tells contestants they have to lose more than 14 pounds. Why doesn't she say they have to lose 15 pounds to take the lead? Or at least 15 pounds? If I lose 14.1 pounds do I win?
- why people leave a teaspoon of milk in the jug. Why don't you just finish it off?? Is there already that much milk in your bowl? Or do you just want to annoy me? Same goes for any beverage in any container. (You know who you are)
- awesome shirts that you want to buy that are just a smidge too small and the stores that don't carry the bigger size. Curses on these stores!
- people who talk to you loudly when they can see you're trying to get a cranky wee one to take a nap. Do you think your voice is going to lull her to sleep??
- never-ending senate races. Would you please stop it already?? By the time this gets settled, it'll be time for a new election.
- octomom. And whoever gave her that stupid moniker. Could we please stop discussing her and everything related to her?
- the uproar over sleeveless. Who cares if Michelle Obama wears a sleeveless dress? Now if she wore daisy dukes...then I might understand.
- why does the Today Show have to have so many commercials?
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