social commentary

So...

You can't afford your rent.

You can't afford health insurance.

You have no car because you wrecked yours and can't afford a new one.

BUT...

You got really good Dave Matthews tickets at $50+ each.

I think I understand it all now.

Thinking and driving, Post-Lunch Edition

I would really like to punch someone in the head.

Not because I am an angry person, but rather because I believe it might be my last resort in making him/her get a clue.

Common sense evades some people.

Thinking and Driving, Ep... one after the last one

Dear friends who are in school or work in a school system in the Cincinnati area:

I will in fact try my very hardest to be the first person to point and laugh directly in your face if you have to spend even one minute more in school in June because you asked me to pray and do snow dances so that you can have a day off school now. Yes, I said point AND laugh!

Somebody's got a case of the Mondays...

At least that's what I hope this is.

I'm not in the best mood today. Maybe it's the weather. Maybe it's the fact that recent events have made me feel like I'm in a contest for which I didn't register. I can't explain why, but a certain person keeps doing things that feel to me like he/she is trying to one-up me.

It's a damn shame for this person that I'm winning. Neener neener neener!

In other news...
I'm getting married 2 months from today!

I wonder when the wedding coordinator is going to call for details.

I also wonder when Performance Toyota is gonna call to schedule my recall repairs!

I was just curious...

I am perpetually on a diet. Specifically, I try to watch my calorie intake. But it's all good, because I have lost over 20 pounds just by watching my calories. I do so by using thedailyplate.com.

When using this website, the very first thing you are asked to do is enter your height, weight, activity level and weight loss goal. The site will then calculate how many calories you should eat each day. For me, it's around 1,200.

But then I got curious...

If I was the same age, same height, but...

500 pounds and "sedentary"

How many calories could I eat in a day to maintain that weight?

Answer: 4,744

Gross!

Now what if I want to lose 2 pounds per week (the maximum the site will allow you to calculate)? 

Answer: 3,744

So, at 500 lbs, you have to cut 1000 calories a day to lose weight. And you still get to eat 3 times as much as me. Gross!

By the way, knowing that 1,200 calories is my goal, I have become good at eating more of items with lower calorie contents and feeling full while coming in under my calorie count. So, you can't just cut calories. You have to replace them with "better calories."

Still contemplating making pancakes right now though...

There are...

324 days until Christmas

294 days until Thansgiving

214 days until Labor Day

185 days until Jerry's Birthday

177 days until the Kuykendall Wedding

125 days until My Birthday

92 days until the McWhorter Wedding - Cincinnati Reception/Outrageous Party

63 days until the McWhorter Las Vegas Wedding

61 days until the Mindy, Marilee, Mikey J., Jerry, Lela, Mike, Carla, Jacob, Jared, Jordan, and Joshua arrive in Vegas (I think all these people arrive on the same day...?)

60 days until Jerry, Ma and Pa Hoell, and I arrive in Las Vegas

24 days until my bridal shower

9 days until I see my wedding dress post-alterations.

Thinking & Driving, Ep.10

Dear other drivers on the road,

I drive a 2009 Toyota RAV4 that is part of the recall due to the inability to accurately stop accelerating when the gas pedal is released.

I do not think that it is in your best interest to dart over in front of me while I am traveling in excess of...oh... 10 mph. While I have not personally experienced any of the problems that other Toyota drivers are reporting, it could happen at any time.

Let's all keep a safe distance out there!

School Levys: My 2 cents

Yesterday, the Little Miami School levy failed. The system will now have to be taken over by the state.

Here is all I have to say about this...

The school levy would increase the average homeowner's taxes by about $900 per year. If the property taxes in LM are similar to where I live, that would mean almost doubling my property taxes.

Let's make the following assumptions...
Not every household in LM has a child in the school system, and of those that don't some may one day have children while others will not.

This is a crappy economy. Some people are on very fixed incomes. $900 per year equates to an additional $75 per month, approximately $17 per week, and about $0.44 per working hour (after taxes) of pay. Doesn't sound that bad. But let's say that you work for a company that has recently laid off people, cut benefits, and asked management to take pay cuts or relinquish annual raises to help make ends meet. Now go ask them for a $0.44+ (still gotta pay income taxes) per hour raise. What are the chances that they say yes?

Putting it all together...
For someone on a fixed income who does not now, nor will he/she ever, have kids in the school system, what is the incentive to vote for a levy where there is absolutely no direct benefit?

I can't blame (some specific) voters for not passing this levy.

It's not like the school will close either. Yes, they may be taken over by the state. And yes, they may have to cut programs. But at the end of the day, these kids will still have an education that will meet the minimum state requirements. And during that time, LM will have the chance to learn how to tighten it's belt and evaluate what is truly necessary in operating the school system.