Is there anything worse than being broke?
I'll sell you my tie
Some people will say so. Most of them aren’t broke so, do their opinions really matter? I mean, I can look at the bright side, I have my family, my health, my house, etc. Ok, well, the health is questionable (large amounts of stress does that to people), stress in the family, and the consistent fear of losing my house and everything.
Simply put, being broke is about one of the worst things that can happen to you. Not because of the lack of money, because it’s true, money doesn’t buy happiness. It’s the fear and anxiety surrounding the future. An unknown future.
For the last year I have been on unemployment, simultaneously looking for work and going to school. I’ve managed to get by, even with all of the income that is no longer coming in (we made roughly 50% less in 2009 than we did in 2008). I was proud of myself, putting us in a position where even with both of us losing jobs and taking substantial cuts in pay, we could still squeak by.
With summer nearing, I began seeing light at the end of the tunnel. I’m a semi-finalist of a major scholarship which would give me a livable stipend (starting at $25,000 a year). I’ve got realistic chances for great internships that would provide decent pay and a wealth of experience. It looked like all of my hard work may be beginning to pay off. All of the restless nights working on school work, studying and forcing myself to understand and apply the concepts, working hard on teams to complete projects and set up conferences. Then yesterday I found out my unemployment benefits are tapped out, a couple of weeks shy of a full year.
Fear, anxiety. How am I going to get by? How am I going to keep paying the bills, keep a roof over our heads, put food on the table. This is where broke is the worst. It isn’t that you aren’t being a man or a woman, doing everything you can to make things right. It’s the lack of any control, knowing you are powerless to fight back.
I’ve applied for my extension, and even though everything appears to be ok, but who knows. I have no power to make them do anything, and now all I can do is hope and wait that that check keeps coming. In the mean time I will keep doing what I do, yet deep down slightly unhinged by the fear.
What is up with my ISP?
Ok, so maybe I shouldn’t be annoyed, but I am. Ok, I guess I should be. When you pay $43 + tax a month to AT&T for 6 Mbps internet, you expect 6Mbps internet. Usually I get it, or fairly close. But not tonight. I noticed things were cranking out like dialup tonight, so I went to speedtest.net to check my speed. Needless to say, you can see the image yourself. And that was the faster of the two results. Arg!
It’s all good though. In a few weeks I plan to switch back to Roadrunner. With cutting out all of my phone companies mess, I can add HD DVR and a few more channels and still save money =)
And in case you were wondering what I’ve been up to lately, besides some exterior updates on my house and trying to pass the time being unemployed, I’ve been working on a pet project. After years of trying to do research on my family but coming up empty handed, I finally started finding some answers. I’m a budding little genealogist :-) Well, on the real, I’m still an amateur, but the logical problem solving techniques that have helped me in math and science pay off well. Unfortunately I’m at a brick wall, one that has stopped many before me, but I’m determined to get through it. Anyways, this pet project is a Joomla powered site, putting forth all of the data regarding the background of my family up to the road block, including all supporting evidence. And wow, there is a lot of supporting evidence!
This voyage has been fairly involved, and will take me much longer to put together than I anticipated. But hopefully in the future, some little smuck with a computer and the good sense to use google will one day come across my site doing a google search on his family background. That way he won’t get mislead by some dubious persons who have leaked out bad ancestral regarding my family.
The true evil plot: Hulu.com
Most of us have heard of the supposed alien crash site at Roswell, New Mexico. It lives at the core at the UFO conspiracy theorist, and the government documents later released may be the most scrutinized government documents ever in existence. Books have been written. Movies filmed, TV shows produced.
But maybe there is yet another government conspiracy that little have ever even considered. UTO’s. Unidentified Talking Objects. Namely, actors. For years, we have seen TV advertisements make the claim “Real people, not actors.” Interesting, but I thought actors were real people. Then all of a sudden, it appears they mockingly have blown their cover, knowing that the truth is so unbelievable that we will take it as a carefully scripted advertisement. I’m referring to “Hulu.com,” where they will rot out our brains then eat em. Yikes! Read more
Upgrade to Energy Star
Even though I’m still looking for a job, things still need to get done. One major issue I have had with my home is a chimney chase that is completed rotted out. In fact, I think the only reason it still stands is because its the only thing it knows how to do. Not only is this an obvious issue, there is another problem from it too: animals can easily get in and out of the house. Not a good situation to be in. After finally being rid of a pesky rat, and my in-laws coming, the time has come to take the shot in the gut and pay to fix it.
I had a few companies check it out, and the range is $3,000-$5,000 to fix it. No thanks. So then I started looking at how much material it would require, and started realizing how little it actually cost. Well, of course, having $3,000 setting on my mind for a while, I figured I’d check and see how much it would cost to redo the whole backside of the house. Sadly, it cost about the same as the low estimate for just my chimney chase.
So here I am today, T minus two weeks away from beginning. I finally went and bought my materials today. The usual stuff, like 32 OSB sheathing boards, 79 James Hardie Fiber Cement Lap Siding boards, nails, caulk, etc. But then there was the not so usual, but definitely worth it stuff, like the 2 LoE/Argon double strength glass Energy Star windows, the LoE Energy Star patio door, and the 20 Owen’s Corning Foamular Panels, which adds another R-3 to my walls, insulates even where the studs are, and provides an additional moisture barrier.
Once this projects starts I’ll keep you posted with pictures and how-to’s.
SuperNews!
I just had to put this one up
A real man’s birthday
For years growing up, birthdays were always a big day, a day exclusively for myself. I’m sure many can relate. As I got older, they tended to lead into alcohol induced parties, lots of fun, but still the one and only being the center of attention.
Then you grow up. You have children, you change and mature. It’s not so much fun being the center of attention anymore. Sure, you like the attention, but you don’t have the selfish desire anymore. Take this year for example. Today I celebrated my 26th birthday. What did I do? We went for lunch at the Olive Garden, then went to an early Easter egg hunt at my daughter’s pre-school. Then we headed over to the grandparents for dinner and cake. What kind of cake does a real man eat? A pink one of course, the color my lil girl wanted to make my special birthday cake. Could I say no?
For the record, I don’t believe in the whole “real men wear pink.” It’s fairly lame actually, though some guys have the ability to pull it off. There is a difference between confidence and color preference. Maybe I’m biased against it, seeing it everyday with my daughter. But a real man can wear pink, put on make up, get nails painted, etc., if it means that much more time and enjoyment with their children. I wouldn’t give up my pink birthday cake for the world.
VA now gives out HIV?
Backside of the VA Medical Center in Miami, FL.
Seems to undermine the purpose of the VA Healthcare System. Yet what else is new. A while back the whole Walter Reed Hospital thing blew up, so we knew what kind of crap out vets have to deal with when it comes to VA healthcare. Yet the latest incident is completely below the belt.
It came out that contaminated equipment at a Miami, FL, VA facility could put individuals who had colonoscopies (for this procedure they basically have a long tube with a camera on the end of it, and shove it into your colon. Sounds fun, eh?”) at risk for hepatitis and HIV. Apparently the tube used for the procedure was only rinsed after use, not disinfected. I’m too shocked for words. Even worse, can you imagine the look on the poor guy’s face when he comes back for the results – “Mr. Smith, I have good news, and I have bad news. Good news, no pollups, no cancer. The bad news. Well, uh, you see, we didn’t follow protocol exactly, and, uh, you may have contracted hepatitis or HIV.” I’m sure that’ll go over well.
I just can’t believe that a healthcare facility, especially a federally funded one charged with providing healthcare services to the men and women who have put their lives on the line for this country, could overlook such a simple fact, something that is basic protocol around the country. Anything like that, especially something INSIDE a person, has to be either sterilized or disgarded as bio waste. What next, they were also reusing needles?! Are you kidding me?!
The worse part is that there are other sites (Murfreesboro, TN, and Augusta, GA) suspected of putting patients at risk by using contaminated equipment. I have a bad feeling that may not be the end of it. How many other facilities have endangered their patients, our veterans, by blatant disregard for basic protocol and basic safety of their patients. Can we say malpractice?
I love the ending of the article on CNN though. I’m just going to quote:
The special care clinics opened Tuesday morning, and officials say response from patients has been good. “They are being proactive, and we are glad. We want them to get tested,” said Susan Warren, a spokeswoman for the Miami VA facility
Seriously. “They are being proactive.” No, they are scared out of their minds they have just contracted an incurable virus that they could spread to their loved ones. They want to know if they need to be scared or not. What the hell is she thinking when she says that!
Part of the problem though is how long it can take HIV to show up in the body. It could be years before any one of those vets could test positive. Then what is the VA going to say. “Oh, that is the price you pay for unprotected sex.” No, that is the price you pay for unprotected colonoscopies.
Concerned to fly?
Dicey looking landing. Source -Airliners.net
I’ve never been scared to fly. In fact I love to fly. Give me the window seat please! Especially on that red eye to Phoenix just to fly to Sacramento, do you 7 hour layover, just to be in Portland at 7:30 AM. Ok, so the layover sucked. But I love to fly, and miss it. It’s in my DNA, and a part of the reason why I want to go into Aerospace Engineering.
Yet with the recent crashes, it gets me concerned. I’ve been shopping online for tickets for the family to fly out to London and see the in-laws. My daughter is excited with the prospect of finally being able to fly like daddy did during those transition projects. She’ll be upset when she realizes the real jet isn’t pink, but she’ll get over it.
Just a few months ago, the Airlines were bragging about how safe it was to fly, and about how it had been so long since there was a major accident. Then a video of a German airliner making one of a landing during strong crosswinds shows up. Then Captain Sully glides his Airbus into the Hudson after having a double bird strike at 3500 ft. Then a plane in upstate New York lands on a house, killing everyone except 2 of the 3 people in the house. Then a plane nosedives into a cemetery in Montana. Then the video of the FedEx MD-11 bouncing when trying to land, rolling to it’s left and bursting into flames. There have been others overseas as well. You can visit Plane Crash Info.com to view these and more.
Then the news comes out about the families on the Pilatus PC-12/45 Eagle that nosedived in Butte, Montana. God, that could have been my family and I! Three families gone just like that. Wow.
All this got me thinking on my dad. He refuses to fly. When he was in the Marines he “jumped out of too many perfectly good aircraft.” Yet what really set him away from flying was being the deputy-in-charge when a commercial jet crashed here in Charlotte. The smell was just noxious. After 3 trips to the cleaners, he finally had to throw the uniforms away, the smell of burning flesh permanent ingrained into the fibers. I won’t go into some of the gruesome details I was recounted too, even when I was young, but he made a good case why he refused to fly. Sure, they are supposedly safer, but when you get into an accident, you’re probably not walking away from it.
So of course I am thinking about these things while pricing out round-trip tickets. The grandparents definitely want to see their grand-baby again (they moved there a year ago), and everyone here is excited about the thought of visiting London and surroundings for 2 weeks. If everything works out we will go, but I guarantee that the risks will weigh heavily on my mind. I wonder if I can request Sully to be my pilot? Never mind, not enough water around here.
Lindsay Lohan at it again
Little Miss Lohan is at it again
Wow. This girl can’t stay out of trouble, can she?! She’s either drunk driving, possessing cocaine and trying to run people down, club hopping with her legs wide open. Far too many pictures of her with Paris Hilton, and her with Paris and Britney during Britney’s dark days.
I feel kind of bad for the girl though. We all found out about the shitty family life. Her dad is a jerk. Can he go in on her behalf?
Kinda sad the see this girl, who we all loved when she was a kid – the remake of The Parent Trap was definitely a top movie when I was a kid – but as an adult we seriously begin to wonder.
So what brought this up? I saw on CNN that Ms. Lohan has a warrant out for her arrest, though they refuse to specify the exact reason. Only that it has something do with with her previous DUIs. Maybe she violated terms of her 3 year probation? I think it is time that Lindsay grow up and haul herself in. Even better, she shouldn’t bail herself out. She needs to learn that there are consequences for actions, and that throwing money at a problem does not make it go away.
I know she’s had some rehab time, but it doesn’t seem like it has worked (she got out of rehab a week before being busted driving under the influence and possession of coke). If she wants someone to straighten her out, she can always feel free to give me a call and I’ll make sure she gets a solid return to reality.
Special time
Today's rocket - Estes Rascal. Free hand me down worth a million smiles
For people who think spending time with your children is overrated, you need to be slapped. To people who think you have to spend lots of money for your children to have a good time, you need to remove your head and gain a new perogative.
So how do you spend time with your children on the cheap while teaching them new things? There’s millions of ways to do it. Today, my daughter and I launched a model rocket. Nothing fancy, but it went a long way. Ever since we got the rocket (my father in-law had it laying around when they had to move), she’s been wanting to launch it. I finally found my old portable launch stand and launch controller today, so without missing a beat, I offered to let us launch it. Her eyes were a mile wide in joy.
So we went out and set it up. I explained the things we were doing, and explaining about safety. She was a big help for me. Her biggest job was to hold on the safety key, but she also help me set up the stand and prep the rocket. Amazing how much fun wadding is to insert.
Then after we got everything set up, it was time to go Houston. She got to insert the key, we counted down, I kept it armed and she got to launch it. She got giddy after watching it launch!
Only downside was the high level winds. That baby went HIGH! By the time it hit its max altitude (over 1,200 ft), it probably had drifted almost 1/4 mile SW, and it landed 1/2 a mile NE. In the median of a busy road, caught on a bush 6 inches away from the curb.
So we didn’t launch again, but it didn’t matter. She was still excited about it hours later. Nothing like bringing joy to your child’s face, especially when she gets to learn something new and develop a joy and interest in science. Highly underrated.
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Where are we from?
Times Business & Tech- After Housing Bubble, the Dark Side of Homeowner Dreams September 8, 2010
- Mark Hurd: Who Will Hire the Ousted Hewlett-Packard CEO? September 8, 2010
- The Oil Rig Blues: Working on a Platform September 8, 2010
- Toyota: New Car-Safety Issue Hits Company After Recalls September 8, 2010
- Seeking Alpha Financial News
- Many Are Still Underestimating the Damage That Can Be Done By Ireland’s Bank Troubles September 8, 2010
- Do European Banks Present a Buying Opportunity Yet? September 8, 2010
- A Greek Lawsuit Against Goldman Sachs? September 8, 2010
- The Second Wave of Europe's Banking Crisis Is Crystallizing September 8, 2010
