Since I don't have my usual (good) interruptions today, I need to create my own to keep my head clear. So, I updated some tunes on my MP3 and on the sidebar.
I LOVE the new The Raconteurs. I think I like it even more than the last White Stripes, which I also have on now. And, I'm reliving my punk youth with Social Distortion's Greatest Hits.
The first several songs on Warpaint (the new Black Crowes) are good, but the last few are way too slow for me.
After hearing Queenryche's version of Neon Night on their new covers CD, I had to add the original Black Sabbath version (and the rest of that disk). I'm not one to wallow in my musical past, that I still love listening to that record. It's amazing to think back to how people thought Sabbath was going to suck without Ozzy.
OK, getting back to it. But, before I do, Tiger's picking up ground at the Master's while Phil's over par (big surprise). We'll see how Casey, Immelman, Snedeker (all at 8 under as of this writing), and Flesch (7 under) play their last several holes with Tiger in the clubhous a -5.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Workin' on the Weekend
It's a beautiful day in LA and I'm stuck working. FUCK. Feel free to IM or e-mail me.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Poor Babies
I'm not (that big of) an idiot. When I go into a company for a project I now I'm asking busy people to do some extra work, at least in the shot term. So, I know that there will be at least a modicum of grumbling. But today's group for training was off the fucking charts.
There were only 4 of them and one couldn't find the room on time. We had ample time for the training, so that wasn't a big problem, but he comes in and just starts bitching about being selected for this project and everything else management does. And he prefaces every whiny remark with, "I don't mean to sound so negative..." Bullshit you don't, cuz if you didn't want to sound negative you'd keep spewing this crap.
His bitchiness got the others going as well. It got to the point that I should have brought diapers and pacifiers instead of coffee to the meeting. But, we got through it and I think they'll do fine. I was *this* close to stopping for a liquid lunch on the way home.
There were only 4 of them and one couldn't find the room on time. We had ample time for the training, so that wasn't a big problem, but he comes in and just starts bitching about being selected for this project and everything else management does. And he prefaces every whiny remark with, "I don't mean to sound so negative..." Bullshit you don't, cuz if you didn't want to sound negative you'd keep spewing this crap.
His bitchiness got the others going as well. It got to the point that I should have brought diapers and pacifiers instead of coffee to the meeting. But, we got through it and I think they'll do fine. I was *this* close to stopping for a liquid lunch on the way home.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Why Taxes?
A few months ago I ranted about taxes. I wanted to get ahead of the blogger curve on the topic for this year.
For those of you employed by others, you may occasionally look at your check stub and say, "Man, that Uncle Sam is a MOTHERFUCKER...look at all that money he took." I'm self employed, so I get the pleasure of writing that tax check out of my bank account eight times a year--quarterly for the Feds and the State of CA (yes, I would like the sand and the KY this time).
In the grand political scheme of things, there are two reasons to tax the populace. The first is to pay for the government. The theory is that the government performs services for the common good and that these should be funded by everyone using some sort of formula. This is how gas taxes and admission to the national parks works.
The other theory is that the government should reward/punish our behavior. The tax laws try to get us to take better care of ourselves (cigarette and alcohol taxes), not make too much money (income tax) and drill for oil (see petroleum company tax breaks), among many other things. This essentially leads to a redistribution of wealth in that, at least at the federal level, taxes go into a general fund as opposed to an account to actually affect whatever area's being taxed. In the case of income taxes, this means redistributing from the wealthier (though not always to the poorer) and for cigarette/booze taxes means redistributing from the poorer.
The two theories should be incompatible because the second can lead to endless taxation for the nanny state (revenue collected being completely divorced from services) while the first is, theoretically, a pay as you go system. But, as you know, some of our taxes go towards the national park system AND you still pay to go there. And, there are some government services can't be pay-as-you go (like defense, unless we run a mercenary army).
So, how should we fairly pay for the government? I thought you'd never ask:
1) First, get rid of huge chunks of it. The number of superfluous government department and programs makes me want to scream. Do you think the federal government is doing a good job on local education? Yeah, I thought so. Unless it has to do with dealing with other countries, push the government shit down to the states/counties/cities.
2) We need to go towards more of a fee-for-service approach to funding the government. By attaching a true cost to the product/service people can make a more reasoned judgment as to whether they want to use it. If the government has to spend a gagillion dollars to combat global warming due to the use of fossil fuels, then put that cost into the product. Likewise, if the real cost is a nickel a toy to inspect for lead and other toxins, that should be the tax.
3) To fund the critical aspects of the government that we don't use as consumers (and this should be a VERY limited number of things) we need to collect the money in an equitable way. I don't buy that an income tax is a way to do it. Special interests and government greed/nanny-ism has made it way too complicated. Besides, why dissuade people from being successful? I think the Euros have this right with the value added tax on purchases, except food, drugs and clothing. If there's something that should be discouraged in this country, it should be buying shit.
So, happy tax day. No, please, presents aren't necessary. Just be sure to ask your fave presidential/senatorial/congressional candidate, "What steps would you take to limit the size of the federal government?" If s/he came up with 3 things I'd be shocked.
For those of you employed by others, you may occasionally look at your check stub and say, "Man, that Uncle Sam is a MOTHERFUCKER...look at all that money he took." I'm self employed, so I get the pleasure of writing that tax check out of my bank account eight times a year--quarterly for the Feds and the State of CA (yes, I would like the sand and the KY this time).
In the grand political scheme of things, there are two reasons to tax the populace. The first is to pay for the government. The theory is that the government performs services for the common good and that these should be funded by everyone using some sort of formula. This is how gas taxes and admission to the national parks works.
The other theory is that the government should reward/punish our behavior. The tax laws try to get us to take better care of ourselves (cigarette and alcohol taxes), not make too much money (income tax) and drill for oil (see petroleum company tax breaks), among many other things. This essentially leads to a redistribution of wealth in that, at least at the federal level, taxes go into a general fund as opposed to an account to actually affect whatever area's being taxed. In the case of income taxes, this means redistributing from the wealthier (though not always to the poorer) and for cigarette/booze taxes means redistributing from the poorer.
The two theories should be incompatible because the second can lead to endless taxation for the nanny state (revenue collected being completely divorced from services) while the first is, theoretically, a pay as you go system. But, as you know, some of our taxes go towards the national park system AND you still pay to go there. And, there are some government services can't be pay-as-you go (like defense, unless we run a mercenary army).
So, how should we fairly pay for the government? I thought you'd never ask:
1) First, get rid of huge chunks of it. The number of superfluous government department and programs makes me want to scream. Do you think the federal government is doing a good job on local education? Yeah, I thought so. Unless it has to do with dealing with other countries, push the government shit down to the states/counties/cities.
2) We need to go towards more of a fee-for-service approach to funding the government. By attaching a true cost to the product/service people can make a more reasoned judgment as to whether they want to use it. If the government has to spend a gagillion dollars to combat global warming due to the use of fossil fuels, then put that cost into the product. Likewise, if the real cost is a nickel a toy to inspect for lead and other toxins, that should be the tax.
3) To fund the critical aspects of the government that we don't use as consumers (and this should be a VERY limited number of things) we need to collect the money in an equitable way. I don't buy that an income tax is a way to do it. Special interests and government greed/nanny-ism has made it way too complicated. Besides, why dissuade people from being successful? I think the Euros have this right with the value added tax on purchases, except food, drugs and clothing. If there's something that should be discouraged in this country, it should be buying shit.
So, happy tax day. No, please, presents aren't necessary. Just be sure to ask your fave presidential/senatorial/congressional candidate, "What steps would you take to limit the size of the federal government?" If s/he came up with 3 things I'd be shocked.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Go Lady Vols!
After the men took a dump early in the NCAA basketball tournament, the Lady Vols kicked some ass tonight against Stanford to win their 8th national championship. A very satisfying win, considering that they've been struggling during the tournament some. The only thing that would have made it sweeter would have been had they beat UConn. Guess you can't have everything.
Work is just getting crazy. Too many training sessions and too much other shit to do. At least half of my SF trip for the weekend if fucking shot. I still gotta decide as to whether to do the overnight or not. I'll decide after I call the hotel and see what happens to my rate when I ditch a night. Seems like going up there for <24 hours is going to cost a lot to see some folks at a cocktail party or two.
The good news is that my cold's just about gone. I'm thinking that one more good night of sleep and the bastard should be history.
Work is just getting crazy. Too many training sessions and too much other shit to do. At least half of my SF trip for the weekend if fucking shot. I still gotta decide as to whether to do the overnight or not. I'll decide after I call the hotel and see what happens to my rate when I ditch a night. Seems like going up there for <24 hours is going to cost a lot to see some folks at a cocktail party or two.
The good news is that my cold's just about gone. I'm thinking that one more good night of sleep and the bastard should be history.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Crossing Every t and Dotting Every i
I'm not the best details guy. I know what they are, but I'd rather focus on the big idea then the little stuff. I don't say that either with pride (as if the details are below me) or shame (I'm really good at the big idea). But, for the assessment program I ran today, and will again tomorrow, takes tracking down a LOT of details.
So, I printed everything I needed last night, organized files and put all of the shit in my car. The HB had a whiny friend sleepover and they crashed in the TV room. I took one of the downstairs bedrooms since I had to get up at the crack of fucking dawn and didn't want to wake up the boys or my wife. Laid out all of my clothes before going to be and slept blissfully until my phone alarm went off. I got ready and dressed on time and hit the road when I wanted to. Just one small problem...I forgot to shave. Christ.
So, when I get near my client's location, I pulled into a Stop-and-Rob and bought a razor that came with a small can of shaving cream, thinking that I'll be able to clean up before things get started. But noooooooooooooooooo...the bathrooms were still locked and I couldn't check on them later until after my client and the participants got there. So, I had the Euro look all day. I put the the razor and cream next to the downstairs sink so that I don't forget tomorrow.
Yesterday's work paid off as they day went off without a hitch. A few whines from the participants, but that's par for the course.
Oh, and FYI. Do NOT give your business to Rent-a-Center. I needed to rent some camcorders from them for the two days and they gave me a great story about how they could get two for me by Tuesday. Tuesday comes, no cameras. Wednesday comes, no cameras. Thursday comes, "Oh, someone's driving them up after a meeting that's going to be over at 10, I mean 1, I mean..." As it turns out, I bought the cameras at an electronics place and the 15% restocking fee is about half of what Rent-a-Center was going to charge me. A good thing to remember.
So, I printed everything I needed last night, organized files and put all of the shit in my car. The HB had a whiny friend sleepover and they crashed in the TV room. I took one of the downstairs bedrooms since I had to get up at the crack of fucking dawn and didn't want to wake up the boys or my wife. Laid out all of my clothes before going to be and slept blissfully until my phone alarm went off. I got ready and dressed on time and hit the road when I wanted to. Just one small problem...I forgot to shave. Christ.
So, when I get near my client's location, I pulled into a Stop-and-Rob and bought a razor that came with a small can of shaving cream, thinking that I'll be able to clean up before things get started. But noooooooooooooooooo...the bathrooms were still locked and I couldn't check on them later until after my client and the participants got there. So, I had the Euro look all day. I put the the razor and cream next to the downstairs sink so that I don't forget tomorrow.
Yesterday's work paid off as they day went off without a hitch. A few whines from the participants, but that's par for the course.
Oh, and FYI. Do NOT give your business to Rent-a-Center. I needed to rent some camcorders from them for the two days and they gave me a great story about how they could get two for me by Tuesday. Tuesday comes, no cameras. Wednesday comes, no cameras. Thursday comes, "Oh, someone's driving them up after a meeting that's going to be over at 10, I mean 1, I mean..." As it turns out, I bought the cameras at an electronics place and the 15% restocking fee is about half of what Rent-a-Center was going to charge me. A good thing to remember.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Some Days Just Tie Me in Knots
Ugh...today just didn't work out OK.
First, I'm feeling a little crummy (with small fever, I think), so I've been popping Zicam and aspirin all day. I made it through a meeting and got a bunch of shit done, so it was OK.
Late this afternoon I found out that I'm double-booked next week for doing training sessions when I was hoping to be in SF for a conference. FUCK! Maybe I can change my plane ticket and make the conference for one-day, but there were a bunch of people I wanted to see there. It's times like these when I wish I had a secretary to help me keep track of this shit.
Here's what Thursday looks like:
1) Print about 300 pages of stuff for Fri and Sat (I had some copies made, but they look like shit). Hopefully, I can get the HB to help me staple, etc.
2) Pick up the DVD camcorders from the rental place. I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm buying two of them. I just don't trust these guys.
3) Head to the house we're redoing as part of a Rotary project.
4) Handle regular e-mail, etc.
5) Oh, did I mention that I'll be keeping track of the HB since he's still off of school?
I think it's gonna be another Zicam and aspirin kind of day.
First, I'm feeling a little crummy (with small fever, I think), so I've been popping Zicam and aspirin all day. I made it through a meeting and got a bunch of shit done, so it was OK.
Late this afternoon I found out that I'm double-booked next week for doing training sessions when I was hoping to be in SF for a conference. FUCK! Maybe I can change my plane ticket and make the conference for one-day, but there were a bunch of people I wanted to see there. It's times like these when I wish I had a secretary to help me keep track of this shit.
Here's what Thursday looks like:
1) Print about 300 pages of stuff for Fri and Sat (I had some copies made, but they look like shit). Hopefully, I can get the HB to help me staple, etc.
2) Pick up the DVD camcorders from the rental place. I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm buying two of them. I just don't trust these guys.
3) Head to the house we're redoing as part of a Rotary project.
4) Handle regular e-mail, etc.
5) Oh, did I mention that I'll be keeping track of the HB since he's still off of school?
I think it's gonna be another Zicam and aspirin kind of day.
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