Eyes Ever Opening

Faux Outrage of the Week

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 14:17:05 GMT

Fox News faux outrage of the week is Obama reminding Americans that businesses benefit from roads for their goods and supplies to travel on, a publicly educated workforce that can do fancy things like read, police and firefighters to protect their property, a legal system that protects them from fraud. There is a country that doesn’t have all those things: Somalia. Perhaps these “insulted” Republicans think that their businesses would be just as likely to thrive in that libertarian paradise.

It is all too easy to insult this whiny batch of thin-skinned Republicans. They can dish it out in spades, but they can’t take it at all. They’re all “Death Panels” or “Obama is a Kenyan communist atheist Muslim who has been too influenced by an evil Christian preacher and is now out destroy America.”, but suggest that Romney’s tenure at Bain wasn’t 100% on the up and up and their victim complex comes through load and clear while they stomp their feet demanding an apology.

You Pay For What You Bought

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 20:55:21 GMT

Tea Party Republicans seem to have got the notion that even if the debt limit isn't raised, there will still be enough money to pay for Social Security, the military, homeland security, Medicare, and other essential services as well as avoid a government default by paying the interest and fees on the debt. While it is true that the United States government will still have access to some money, prioritizing where that money goes isn't as simple as they believe and avoiding default isn't just about paying the interest on the national debt.

Suppose you have a friend named Alice Trustworthy. Alice Trustworthy offers you $1000 to paint the interior of her house in July. She doesn't have the money on hand, but she has a line of credit she often uses to pay her bills which she can also use to pay you.. Based on the trust that you have in Alice's you are certain that you will be paid. You use your credit card to buy the paint and supplies and get to work. You know next month you can just pay off the credit card with the money she'll give you.

In August, Alice Trustworthy decides that she doesn't feel like borrowing any more money. Because she isn't borrowing anymore, she's going to strip her budget down to the bare essentials and having the inside of her house repainted isn't all that essential -- you aren't getting paid. You already did the work. You need the money to pay off the credit card that you used to buy the supplies. Perhaps you could have used some of that money to employ someone to help you on your next job. How trustworthy do you think Alice Trustworthy is now?

Much of the "non-essential" goods and services that the government must pay for have already been provided, the invoice just hasn't been proceed yet. Failing to pay for those goods and services is just as much a government default as failing to pay the interest on the debt. The United States government cannot pick and choose what bills to pay and the Tea Party folk are deluding themselves if they don't realize the dire consequences of the United States no longer being considered trustworthy enough to pay its bills.

Simple Way to Save Social Security

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 18:45:03 GMT

FICA is on of the most regressive taxes on Earth. A person making $20,000/yr pays 7.65% of their paycheck to FICA, while a person earning $2,000,000/yr only pays 1.78% of their paycheck to FICA.

FICA funds Medicare and Social Security with 1.45% of each paycheck going to Medicare and 6.2% going to Social Security. However, the 6.2% to Social Security is only payed on the first $106,500 earned. After that point only the 1.45% for Medicare is taken out. This amounts to a enormous and rarely mentioned tax break for the rich. Forget about raising the retirement age, removing the FICA cap would fix Social Security overnight.

I’ve Lost Control to My Cat

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 19:59:20 GMT

We were having a problem with Paddington peeing near the pocket doors. We tried many solutions. Everything from putting her in the litterbox when we saw her heading to her favorite pee spot to putting tinfoil down hoping she’d avoid it. The tinfoil at least collected the pee, but nothing seemed to work.

Paddington’s favorite pastime is eating, so I started a policy I call “Wet floor, dry food”. Under the policy if she pees on the floor, she gets dry food. If the floor is dry, she gets wet food. The policy didn’t show immediate results. It took her over a month to get the correlation between where she peed and what she ate. She eventually did, and the peeing dried up.

This was all fine and good until yesterday. Yesterday, I gave her dry food for breakfast. Immediately afterwards, she went over to the pocket doors and peed. This officially turns the tables. The policy is now hers: “Dry food, wet floor”. She is the one making the demands that I must adhere to. I’ve lost control to my cat.

History of Buying a Floppy Disk at Walgreens

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 17:52:14 GMT

1990: "What's a floppy disk?"

1995: "This isn't a computer store."

2000: "Aisle 1, next to photo."

2005: "This isn't an antique store"

2010: "What's a floppy disk?"

Snow and Plow

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 12:54:45 GMT

While the total didn't end up anything spectacular, the snow was coming down hard for a while yesterday. At one point I helped dig out and then push a snow plow that had gotten stuck. You know road conditions are bad when the plows are getting stuck. Of course, I then had to drive in it. I am very thankful for the Nokian WRG2 tires. They have made driving around this winter so much less "oh my god we're going to die!".

Apple Pie

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:01:58 GMT

I baked my first apple pie from scratch yesterday. It's 100% vegan to boot!

shellsong let me use her pastry cutters to make the pie more decorative.

2^nd and 3^rdphotos by purpleglitter

StumbleUpon Addiction

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 12:42:29 GMT

This quiz was provided by - Match Special

If you are looking for me on StumbleUpon, I'm neitherday there, too.

Yard Sale Photos

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 14:30:16 GMT

photos by purpleglitter

Yard Sale Results

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 21:48:43 GMT

The yard sale ended at 3pm. It picked up later in the day (after making only 10¢ the first hour and a half out there. Our hard-to-find location put a cap on the number of people who were able to turn out. We ended up pulling in $65.50. Not that bad on the face of it, however that represents a rate of $3.28/hr taking into account the time spent organizing, pricing, setting up, taking down, placing ads online, creating signs, putting up signs, and actually running the sale. Still, I think I'll do it again.

This Sucks

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 13:39:55 GMT

I've been out here at my yard sale for over an hour and a half. So far I've made 10¢ and the wind has broken several items.

Yard Sale

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:56:59 GMT

We are having a yard sale from 8am to 3pm on Saturday, September 19^th.

Feel free to stop by.

Our address is 22 Ward Street, Woburn, MA.

Hornet's Nest

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 15:32:00 GMT

We have an issue that's a real hornet's nest. Specifically, a hornet's nest on the back of the house. Lord John will be coming by to deal with it sometime tomorrow. We'll have to move Skye to the other side of the house to keep her away from any fumes from the poison he'll be spraying.

No News Is Google News

Sun, 17 May 2009 14:38:32 GMT

Google News used to be a great source of news. It returned sources and stories from all over the world, encompassing a wide variety of points of view. I liked getting different angles to the story, even if I didn't agree with all the angles I was getting. But ever since they changed their aggregation algorithms, little other than the standard mainstream sources and their derivatives show up. There doesn't seem much a point to using it as my primary news page anymore. Does anyone have another news aggregation service that would be more in line with the old Google News?

Turnips Are Coming Up

Thu, 14 May 2009 13:44:04 GMT

Baby rutabagas are so cute!!

Dow Predictions

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 20:02:37 GMT

View Poll: #1360868

Nature's Beauty Maintainer Need

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 13:58:07 GMT

I haven't had much of a response at naturesbeauty itself, so I'm going to ask here. I have been around LiveJournal less often these days and am therefore less able to keep track of problems that arise in the community of its size. Is there anyone that would be interested in signing on as an additional maintainer?

Find me on StumbleUpon

Sun, 08 Feb 2009 16:41:17 GMT

I've been using StumbleUpon a lot lately. If you have a account, feel free to friend or follow my StumbleUpon account. :)

PSA: Beware Google Sponsored Links for Antivirus Software

Sun, 08 Feb 2009 16:35:05 GMT

Thinking of downloading antivirus software? Don't trust google sponsored links (the links that appear both above and beside the actual search results). I've known several people who have ended up with malicious "antivirus" software at this point, and this is one way that they can get on your system. Even searching for the name of a specific antivirus package can yield malicious sites in the sponsored links masquerading as what you are looking for.

If you need to download antivirus software, go directly to a trusted site such as avast.com.

A New Dawn Approaches

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 18:45:01 GMT

Today is the last day of Bush's presidency. Tomorrow, Barack Obama takes the oath and becomes the 44^th President of the United States. There is a palpable excitement in the country surrounding Obama. There are of course many reasons for this, but I believe there is one that dominates the others. Americans have thirsted for an inspiring leader. The last couple decades have brought many leaders, some better than others, but none in the league of Kennedy or Roosevelt or Lincoln. No larger-than-life leaders that almost seem ascended from us mere mortals. Such inspired reverence is dangerous in that it can move the masses and sweep society in dark and dangerous directions, but it can also move the masses away from apathy and towards a brighter and better future.

Waldorf

Sat, 17 Jan 2009 15:15:36 GMT

Waldorf died a few days ago while I was visiting my aunt in Florida. I should have been here. He was an old budgie and Lake told me he died in his sleep. He couldn't fly in life, but I wonder if he could fly in his dreams.

I'm glad he spent his last year with us, where we made sure he got the good food and love his previous people didn't give him. I miss him so much, my Dorfy Dorf.

Good journey Waldorf. Good journey.

Welcome 2009

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 06:41:34 GMT

Happy New Year!!

May this new year bring many good and happy things.

Free Seamless Leopard Print Backgrounds

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 17:05:33 GMT

Good

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 05:47:25 GMT

Good is not something one can become, at least not in totality. Good is only something one can work towards. It is our nature to do bad or wrong things sometimes, we cannot be perfect beings of light. However, we can try to do less bad things and more positive things. We can strive to minimize harm. In doing so, we can become closer good.

Winter Joy

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 00:26:23 GMT

Happy Solstice everyone. The snow continues to fall here. The beauty of winter by fall outweighs the inconveniences.

We gave the new tenants the keys to the old place yesterday. That stress is gone. We no longer are responsible for the rent there.

Nog goes well in tea.

In my opinion, this is the best online game for the season.