Tag: fun

So John Green clued me in that I could balance the budget and spoke eloquently as to why it’s not as easy as it looks. I took his challenge and fixed the budget. You may thank me later.

Want to do it yourself? Go here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyHR0XnU9DQ) which has John Green’s video and also the link so you can fix the budget. You can just click on the link without watching the video.

Those who know my bleeding heart liberal tendencies won’t be surprised to learn that I solved the deficit by increasing taxes (67% of my choices) vs. spending cuts (33% of my choices.) I figured I would go through and mark the “easy” choices and then go back and make the hard choices, but by the time I got to the bottom, I had all my squares colored in.

Want to know what I chose? Okay, here goes:

• Eliminate earmarks (I think that everyone says they want to eliminate these while at the same time cheering on their representative when that representative brings home the federal cash. I never hear anyone point out that discrepancy.)
• Eliminate farm subsides (I know, I just lost the midwest)
• Reduce nuclear arsenal and space spending.
• Reduce military to pre-Iraq war size and further reduce troops in Asia and Europe
• Reduce Navy and Air Force Fleets
• Cancel or delay some weapons programs
• Reduce noncombat military compensation and overhead. (I checked everything in the military box)
• Reduce the number of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan to 30,000 by 2013
• Enact medical malpractice reform
• Reduce Social Security Benefits for those with high incomes
• Tighten eligibility for disability
• Modifying Estate Taxes, President Obama’s proposal (even I, stick-it-to-the-rich rabble rouser that I am can’t see reducing the estate tax to the Clinton-era levels. That sucker needed to be increased a tiny bit, but certainly not the way it was done, giving rich old people a big incentive to off themselves this year.)
• Investment taxes: back to the Clinton era
• Bush Tax cuts: allow expiration for those making over $250,000 per year. (I was going to go back and make them all expire, if I needed to, but I didn’t need to.)
• Payroll tax: subject some incomes above $106,000 to tax
• Millionaire’s tax on income above 1 million
• Closing tax loopholes, I chose eliminate loopholes, keep taxes slightly higher
• Reduce mortgage deduction and others for high-income households.
• Carbon Tax
• Bank Tax.

One of the moms at school works for OMSI giving presentations to classrooms. Today, she brought in the snakes and lizards. I’ve never handled a snake, but this corn snake was mighty friendly.

It liked to knot itself around things and also tried to crawl up my sleeve.

Tara also liked the corn snake and soon we were joined.

In some cultures, I think we’d be married by now.

My favorite thing about K/1 Read Away the Day Day at school is that I get to call it Read Away the Day Day. Yes, that last day is superfluous, but like those people who enjoy misusing quotation marks, I enjoy superfluous words.

My second favorite thing about Read Away the Day Day, is that people come in costume to read. For this day, no one had volunteered for Kristen’s class, and so I was pulled into duty. The costume is all Kristen. I said I would wear whatever, as long as I didn’t have to think of the whatever. Kristen happily whipped me up this Sam costume. Do you like green eggs and ham?

Watching elementary school students ballroom dance. If you don’t have access to your own, you can watch Mad, Hot Ballroom.

I have to say, one of the great small pleasures of living at the turn of the century is the fun with dates. Back in the 80’s dates were rarely fun. Sure, June 7, 1989 was fun (6/7/89) but being in the low numbers in the calendar provides ample fun days. We’ve had 8/8/8, we’ve had 6/7/8 and today? 10/9/8. I get a zing of joy every time I realize that today is a fun date.