I have a virus. If there is any war to fight, this one should be the biggest. After 4 days and several tactical defeats, my immune system seems to be gaining the strategic advantage. Ahhhhh.
I remember an episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun, where the family members each got sick, and it was hilarious. You know - how we love to laugh at the suffering of others. That kind of hilarious. They thought they had been poisoned and were going to die. Well, sometimes that's how it feels. Being so cold you know you can never get warm again, and shivering so hard you feel like you might have a heart attack. Being sick to your stomach and hungry at the same time - what's up with that?
And the worst part, for you older sickies like me, we don't eat for 3 days and think "well at least I lost some weight!" WRONG. I step on the scale this morning and I haven't lost an ounce. My wife says - "you probably drank a lot of water". Nope, I didn't despite all the warnings: "Drink lots of water" "You better drink a lot of water" "Just keep drinking water". I didn't. I dind't eat. I didn't drink much. Still, no weight loss. Oh well. Maybe this virus stopped my metabolism too. I'm getting over it and think it will be gone within 1 or 2 more days. I can't wait.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
A Wrinkle (or two) in Time
Y'know what is a pain in the tuckus? Trying to get a good photo - it gets harder and harder to find the right angle and lighting as the years go by. One try displays the tummy in all its glory, another the triple chin, a third the mottled skin and red eyes, a fourth the stunning loss of hair. Fat face, gray hair (what's left of it), skinny arms, and wrinkles.
It's all vanity anyway, and I know that the best thing to do is forget it. People like photos for remembering people, times, places, and events. Not for what I looked like at the time. Still and all, I find myself critiquing every photo and saying to myself "next time tilt your head this way, smile differently, suck in the gut, etc, etc. Do I ever remember those things? No.
Photo albums, in books or digital format do one thing unbelievably well. They remind us that we are mortal, that we are all subject to same physical laws of wearing out (all except Cher and Goldie, of course), and that we will take our place in history along side the billions that have gone before us. It is only a matter of time.
I try to grin and bear it. Most of the time I am successful. Every now and again I think about visiting the hair loss clinic, checking out skin rejuvenation methods more extreme than lotions, teeth whitening, face lifts, getting a body trainer, and, of course various "male enhancement methods". Ah well - it is to laugh. I don't think I will ever actually do any of those. If I can live with seeing lots of scalp, a paunch, multiple chins, and that "old person" posture, then others can live with it too. In the intimacy dept., well, we just have to work harder, don't we? Lower lights can help as well for the self-conscious, I've found.
Hey - aging sucks. But consider our only alternative. Suddenly it doesn't seem so bad. So I walk a little slower, eat a little better, spend more time in the mirror becoming presentable, and exercise more. It's not a cure for aging, but it is a way of taking action against a common enemy, so to speak. That in itself makes me feel better.
So I have joined the legion that says things like:
"I earned my gray hair"
"Wrinkles add character"
"I enjoy my food"
"Now I look more distinguished"
"I don't care what others think"
and so on.
Works for me!
Oh, and if you aren't "there" yet, you young skallywags, you...well, just wait. You'll get there. It's guaranteed.
Unless you're Cher. You will look perfect until you are 110. Then you will get hit by an errant ping-pong ball at a party, and you will shatter into a thousand pieces...
It's all vanity anyway, and I know that the best thing to do is forget it. People like photos for remembering people, times, places, and events. Not for what I looked like at the time. Still and all, I find myself critiquing every photo and saying to myself "next time tilt your head this way, smile differently, suck in the gut, etc, etc. Do I ever remember those things? No.
Photo albums, in books or digital format do one thing unbelievably well. They remind us that we are mortal, that we are all subject to same physical laws of wearing out (all except Cher and Goldie, of course), and that we will take our place in history along side the billions that have gone before us. It is only a matter of time.
I try to grin and bear it. Most of the time I am successful. Every now and again I think about visiting the hair loss clinic, checking out skin rejuvenation methods more extreme than lotions, teeth whitening, face lifts, getting a body trainer, and, of course various "male enhancement methods". Ah well - it is to laugh. I don't think I will ever actually do any of those. If I can live with seeing lots of scalp, a paunch, multiple chins, and that "old person" posture, then others can live with it too. In the intimacy dept., well, we just have to work harder, don't we? Lower lights can help as well for the self-conscious, I've found.
Hey - aging sucks. But consider our only alternative. Suddenly it doesn't seem so bad. So I walk a little slower, eat a little better, spend more time in the mirror becoming presentable, and exercise more. It's not a cure for aging, but it is a way of taking action against a common enemy, so to speak. That in itself makes me feel better.
So I have joined the legion that says things like:
"I earned my gray hair"
"Wrinkles add character"
"I enjoy my food"
"Now I look more distinguished"
"I don't care what others think"
and so on.
Works for me!
Oh, and if you aren't "there" yet, you young skallywags, you...well, just wait. You'll get there. It's guaranteed.
Unless you're Cher. You will look perfect until you are 110. Then you will get hit by an errant ping-pong ball at a party, and you will shatter into a thousand pieces...
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Abolish Income Tax Withholding
Hi Folks,
Not any more to it than that. I think we should do away with income tax withholding. Why? It is tyranny, plain and simple. In our representative government, we supposedly have agreed to the repressive and oppressive sums we fork over to the Federal Conglomerate each payday. Perhaps we DID agree. Perhaps we didn't. It is hard to know when we are beset with so many different taxes and fees, that are automatically withheld before we ever see the paycheck remainder we are allowed to keep.
So my solution is simple. And I think it will tell us in a heartbeat whether we really agree to the confiscatory tax levels currently imposed on us. We repeal income tax withholding, and simply write a check or three each payday. That's it. No changes to tax rules or levels. No cuts, increases, stimulii, or credits. Simply look at your pay stub, record the gross amount, and then write two or three checks: one to the federal government for the income, social security, and medicare taxes, and one to each state that claims a portion of your income. Drop them in the mail and forget about it until next payday.
My prediction is that if we did this, within the space of one year our tax burden would be drastically reduced as our state and federal representatives were faced with public lynchings over the gross theft that is our current system.
Picture this: A family wage-earner earns $4,800 every 2 weeks - pretty well paid, right?
After all reductions, the net check is for $3500. Whoa, he or she would say, except that he or she has grown used to not looking at the stub, and accepting the net as the "way of things."
Now say that individual deposits $4,800 to his or her bank account.
S/he rubs hands together thinking about the nice new flat-screen to be purchased. Oops, but first, write a check to the federal government for $1,000 for income, FICA, and medicare taxes. Now we have $3,800. Now write a check to the state for $300, and we are down to $3,500.
Still cool, right? Then we take out for the mortgage, the car(s), the groceries, clothes, utilities, and credit card payments. Suddenly there are only a few hundred left for entertainment and unexpected expenses. Wouldn't that extra $1,300 have been useful? Heck - give the governments $800 and wouldn't the extra $500 have been useful? Heck, give the governments $1,000, and wouldn't the extra $300 have been useful?
Yes amigos, a few months of this, and there would be a sea of pitchforks outside of city hall and outside of the Capitol Building, protesting government greed.
We are asleep, and we are hearing [N]Obama tell us he is about to dramatically increase taxes in businesses and individuals. We won't know when enough is enough, because we aren't watching.
Remove the stealthy income withholding, and we will wake up, I predict, and shortly thereafter, our "representatives" will wake up as we discover we don't NEED to spend money on all ths pork, and that we demand better accounting and demonstrated results for the money we DO spend.
Study cow flatulence? It is to laugh. Fund Viagra for senior citizens? Abortions for Latin Americans? "Tax cuts" for those that do not even work? Nope, nope, and nope. Pay farmers not to grow things? Huh-unh. Subsidize losing mass transit systems such as AMTRAK? Negatory.
I predict we will also start watching how our individual representatives spend money on themselves with perks, trips, and undebated salary increases. I bet we start demanding they account for every dollar they want spend via some public forum, such as a town-hall discussion.
I bet the economy would heal up in a heartbeat.
I bet....ah, well. It is only fantasy. How could this land of sheeple ever stand up to the tyranny of withholding? It's too scary. It's too much work. Let somebody else do it.
Jimmy
Not any more to it than that. I think we should do away with income tax withholding. Why? It is tyranny, plain and simple. In our representative government, we supposedly have agreed to the repressive and oppressive sums we fork over to the Federal Conglomerate each payday. Perhaps we DID agree. Perhaps we didn't. It is hard to know when we are beset with so many different taxes and fees, that are automatically withheld before we ever see the paycheck remainder we are allowed to keep.
So my solution is simple. And I think it will tell us in a heartbeat whether we really agree to the confiscatory tax levels currently imposed on us. We repeal income tax withholding, and simply write a check or three each payday. That's it. No changes to tax rules or levels. No cuts, increases, stimulii, or credits. Simply look at your pay stub, record the gross amount, and then write two or three checks: one to the federal government for the income, social security, and medicare taxes, and one to each state that claims a portion of your income. Drop them in the mail and forget about it until next payday.
My prediction is that if we did this, within the space of one year our tax burden would be drastically reduced as our state and federal representatives were faced with public lynchings over the gross theft that is our current system.
Picture this: A family wage-earner earns $4,800 every 2 weeks - pretty well paid, right?
After all reductions, the net check is for $3500. Whoa, he or she would say, except that he or she has grown used to not looking at the stub, and accepting the net as the "way of things."
Now say that individual deposits $4,800 to his or her bank account.
S/he rubs hands together thinking about the nice new flat-screen to be purchased. Oops, but first, write a check to the federal government for $1,000 for income, FICA, and medicare taxes. Now we have $3,800. Now write a check to the state for $300, and we are down to $3,500.
Still cool, right? Then we take out for the mortgage, the car(s), the groceries, clothes, utilities, and credit card payments. Suddenly there are only a few hundred left for entertainment and unexpected expenses. Wouldn't that extra $1,300 have been useful? Heck - give the governments $800 and wouldn't the extra $500 have been useful? Heck, give the governments $1,000, and wouldn't the extra $300 have been useful?
Yes amigos, a few months of this, and there would be a sea of pitchforks outside of city hall and outside of the Capitol Building, protesting government greed.
We are asleep, and we are hearing [N]Obama tell us he is about to dramatically increase taxes in businesses and individuals. We won't know when enough is enough, because we aren't watching.
Remove the stealthy income withholding, and we will wake up, I predict, and shortly thereafter, our "representatives" will wake up as we discover we don't NEED to spend money on all ths pork, and that we demand better accounting and demonstrated results for the money we DO spend.
Study cow flatulence? It is to laugh. Fund Viagra for senior citizens? Abortions for Latin Americans? "Tax cuts" for those that do not even work? Nope, nope, and nope. Pay farmers not to grow things? Huh-unh. Subsidize losing mass transit systems such as AMTRAK? Negatory.
I predict we will also start watching how our individual representatives spend money on themselves with perks, trips, and undebated salary increases. I bet we start demanding they account for every dollar they want spend via some public forum, such as a town-hall discussion.
I bet the economy would heal up in a heartbeat.
I bet....ah, well. It is only fantasy. How could this land of sheeple ever stand up to the tyranny of withholding? It's too scary. It's too much work. Let somebody else do it.
Jimmy
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