Is there any greater sign of EOTW than the demise of Hostess? We had clues of the end earlier in the year, but they didn't prepare us for the actual hurt. Nor did they make me act fast enough. By the time I went shopping a few days after the closing announcement, the only Hostess product on the supermarket shelves was mini blueberry muffins. And I was glad to have them.
Not to worry, I will not be denied my Twinkies. I bid on and won a lot of 50 of the delightful cakes on eBay. Look, clearly I'm not the only one with this plan!
Enough Twinkie talk. I have a turkey to brine.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
House of cards
In previous posts, I have brought up a few concepts of the destruction of civilization, such as space phenomena or epidemics.
Now it's time to get serious.
I happen to subscribe to the view that the greatest existential threat to civilized life as we know it in these United States is fiscal. That is to say, our national debt in excess of $16 trillion is analogous to a person being morbidly obese. It is simply a catastrophe waiting to happen. Perhaps December is when the government defaults, and EOTW gets underway...
But can't you and I help this situation?
So far this year donors have gifted 7.7 million dollars toward payment of the national debt, and today I gave a dollar through Pay.gov.
But let's get serious again. The U.S. National Debt is accruing about $10,000 per second at the pace of the this debt clock. That's $1 million dollars in 100 seconds, or $7.7 million dollars in 13 minutes.
In case you don't get what I am trying to say, let me be blunt. Your money gifted to the Treasury for debt reduction is wasted money. Don't throw your money on a debt that has an upward trajectory of $10,000 per second. Clearly, something much bigger needs to happen to slow and eventually reverse that trajectory.
The hard truth is that our federal taxes have no where to go but up, probably significantly up. And "our" taxes means all of us, not just the richest, and not just the dummies who voluntarily give gifts to the Treasury though the internet. Tax increases are how the government is going to eventually collect your payment toward the debt. It won't be very long now; my guess is within 2 decades.
My advice to anyone out there who cares: here is what you should do while you are waiting for your tax burden to increase.
On that last point, I am quite pleased to announce that I have accomplished the elimination of my credit card balance, per the terms of my original debt mission. I promised that when this mission was complete I would reveal the numbers behind the mission, so here they are.
$19,800 debt / 11 months = $1,800 per month.
$1,800 is more than my monthly mortgage payment. That I paid more than double my mortgage each month should say something about the tight finances I dealt with this year. It is good to be finished with this.
Now it's time to get serious.
I happen to subscribe to the view that the greatest existential threat to civilized life as we know it in these United States is fiscal. That is to say, our national debt in excess of $16 trillion is analogous to a person being morbidly obese. It is simply a catastrophe waiting to happen. Perhaps December is when the government defaults, and EOTW gets underway...
But can't you and I help this situation?
So far this year donors have gifted 7.7 million dollars toward payment of the national debt, and today I gave a dollar through Pay.gov.
But let's get serious again. The U.S. National Debt is accruing about $10,000 per second at the pace of the this debt clock. That's $1 million dollars in 100 seconds, or $7.7 million dollars in 13 minutes.
In case you don't get what I am trying to say, let me be blunt. Your money gifted to the Treasury for debt reduction is wasted money. Don't throw your money on a debt that has an upward trajectory of $10,000 per second. Clearly, something much bigger needs to happen to slow and eventually reverse that trajectory.
The hard truth is that our federal taxes have no where to go but up, probably significantly up. And "our" taxes means all of us, not just the richest, and not just the dummies who voluntarily give gifts to the Treasury though the internet. Tax increases are how the government is going to eventually collect your payment toward the debt. It won't be very long now; my guess is within 2 decades.
My advice to anyone out there who cares: here is what you should do while you are waiting for your tax burden to increase.
- Watch films such as I.O.U.S.A.
- Read books such as Endgame
- Become a voice for federal fiscal responsibility
- Most importantly: pay off your own personal debts
On that last point, I am quite pleased to announce that I have accomplished the elimination of my credit card balance, per the terms of my original debt mission. I promised that when this mission was complete I would reveal the numbers behind the mission, so here they are.
$19,800 debt / 11 months = $1,800 per month.
$1,800 is more than my monthly mortgage payment. That I paid more than double my mortgage each month should say something about the tight finances I dealt with this year. It is good to be finished with this.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Mission Updates
So how have I been doing on my Bucket Missions? Pretty mediocre.
I am currently watching season 2 of Star Trek Voyager, and am over 65% complete in the video mission but I'll have to admit defeat. Even to reach the end of Voyager before December 21 would be a major undertaking at this stage, but that modified goal is what I will now attempt to finish.
Moving on to my health missions, I did not schedule a 5K run in which I could receive an official time under 30 minutes. But here's the rub: I did run my first ever half marathon at the end of September and although my finish time was underwhelming, according to my NikePlus recorded data of that run, at some point during the run I covered a 5K leg in about 27.5 minutes! Now, I believe the calibration of the sensors are somewhat off and the 27.5 measured a distance a little smaller than 5K, but I believe that the corrected time would still be south of 30 minutes. On a technicality, I completed this mission, but only on a technicality.
On the other hand, the BMI goal was a complete bust. In fact, in training for the half marathon, I actually gained weight. Generally, my love of food made this goal very challenging from the outset. And with Thanksgiving approaching, the prospects of getting this going in the right direction again are not good at all.
The food mission is also dismal. I only visited 4 of 20 restaurants on the list and chances are not very good to get to another one before EOTW. Most of the restaurants are simply too far, and I would have needed to plan some special multi-day travel to visit them, so I never expected to complete this mission. I did think I'd go well north of 4, though! I take a little solace in the fact that I am sure that I paid a first visit at least 16 restaurants in my local area that were not on the list. Some of the memorable ones include: Ted's Montana Grill, Sichuan Gourmet, Mayuri and Tropical Cafe.
My debt mission gives me a result to breathe much easier about. I have indeed made 10 of 11 payments on what I would describe as a substantial credit card debt and I am in line to finish that goal before December 21. Unfortunately, I will not be completely credit debt free at the end, because I did am now carrying a smaller balance on a different card that is part of a plan to refinance my mortgage within the next few weeks.
In order to assist my original credit card mission, I had hoped to sell off $2,500 worth of possessions. I am considerably short of that goal at present, and hence I've needed to dip into my savings to finish the credit card mission. This is not ideal, but I guess I am not going to need those savings for much longer :-)
I wouldn't describe my spending habits this year as overly frugal, but I did accomplish my monthly expense goal of reducing my expense budget by at least $400 per month. I was at $300 per month by the end of March, so this goal was well on track.
I am currently watching season 2 of Star Trek Voyager, and am over 65% complete in the video mission but I'll have to admit defeat. Even to reach the end of Voyager before December 21 would be a major undertaking at this stage, but that modified goal is what I will now attempt to finish.
Moving on to my health missions, I did not schedule a 5K run in which I could receive an official time under 30 minutes. But here's the rub: I did run my first ever half marathon at the end of September and although my finish time was underwhelming, according to my NikePlus recorded data of that run, at some point during the run I covered a 5K leg in about 27.5 minutes! Now, I believe the calibration of the sensors are somewhat off and the 27.5 measured a distance a little smaller than 5K, but I believe that the corrected time would still be south of 30 minutes. On a technicality, I completed this mission, but only on a technicality.
On the other hand, the BMI goal was a complete bust. In fact, in training for the half marathon, I actually gained weight. Generally, my love of food made this goal very challenging from the outset. And with Thanksgiving approaching, the prospects of getting this going in the right direction again are not good at all.
The food mission is also dismal. I only visited 4 of 20 restaurants on the list and chances are not very good to get to another one before EOTW. Most of the restaurants are simply too far, and I would have needed to plan some special multi-day travel to visit them, so I never expected to complete this mission. I did think I'd go well north of 4, though! I take a little solace in the fact that I am sure that I paid a first visit at least 16 restaurants in my local area that were not on the list. Some of the memorable ones include: Ted's Montana Grill, Sichuan Gourmet, Mayuri and Tropical Cafe.
My debt mission gives me a result to breathe much easier about. I have indeed made 10 of 11 payments on what I would describe as a substantial credit card debt and I am in line to finish that goal before December 21. Unfortunately, I will not be completely credit debt free at the end, because I did am now carrying a smaller balance on a different card that is part of a plan to refinance my mortgage within the next few weeks.
In order to assist my original credit card mission, I had hoped to sell off $2,500 worth of possessions. I am considerably short of that goal at present, and hence I've needed to dip into my savings to finish the credit card mission. This is not ideal, but I guess I am not going to need those savings for much longer :-)
I wouldn't describe my spending habits this year as overly frugal, but I did accomplish my monthly expense goal of reducing my expense budget by at least $400 per month. I was at $300 per month by the end of March, so this goal was well on track.
Fall weekend
After another long hiatus, I return to this blog on a perfect fall weekend -- clear skies and temperatures in the 60s. One could never imagine that we are about 40 days from EOTW! Fall has always been my favorite season in New England, and, outside of Hurricane Sandy, this year has been fabulous.
11/10
A fabulous day for a 4.5 mile walk on the local rail trail -- I've mainly walked, not run, since my half marathon of September 30. Today I walked to the Marlborough/Hudson town line, enjoying the unique aroma of the fall leaves along the trail, and the crunch underfoot.
Not very far away though, in New York and New Jersey, there are many who are still enduring the devastation brought on by Hurricane Sandy. My town got off comparatively lightly this time. Hurricane Irene from last year had greater impact.
My company has been active in donating to the disaster relief effort and I made sure today to donate to the Red Cross and use my company's online matching funds tool.
11/11
Browncoat veterans rejoice! On this Veterans Day the Science cable network is hosting a reunion of cast and crew of Firefly called "Browncoats Unite." The show is preceded by an airing of the entire short-lived series, which I already own on blu-ray, so I will skip out on the marathon.
It's fitting that Firefly gets a nod in my blog. Were it not for my Star Trek mission, there are many other programs I would have spent time with this year, and I'm sure Firefly would have been high on the list for a repeat viewing. Walking Dead would also have been a major contender, and a thematically relevant one to boot!
On a serious note, special appreciation to US veterans and active duty military personnel -- your efforts do help preserve the peace and freedom we enjoy at home!
11/10
A fabulous day for a 4.5 mile walk on the local rail trail -- I've mainly walked, not run, since my half marathon of September 30. Today I walked to the Marlborough/Hudson town line, enjoying the unique aroma of the fall leaves along the trail, and the crunch underfoot.
Not very far away though, in New York and New Jersey, there are many who are still enduring the devastation brought on by Hurricane Sandy. My town got off comparatively lightly this time. Hurricane Irene from last year had greater impact.
My company has been active in donating to the disaster relief effort and I made sure today to donate to the Red Cross and use my company's online matching funds tool.
11/11
Browncoat veterans rejoice! On this Veterans Day the Science cable network is hosting a reunion of cast and crew of Firefly called "Browncoats Unite." The show is preceded by an airing of the entire short-lived series, which I already own on blu-ray, so I will skip out on the marathon.
It's fitting that Firefly gets a nod in my blog. Were it not for my Star Trek mission, there are many other programs I would have spent time with this year, and I'm sure Firefly would have been high on the list for a repeat viewing. Walking Dead would also have been a major contender, and a thematically relevant one to boot!
On a serious note, special appreciation to US veterans and active duty military personnel -- your efforts do help preserve the peace and freedom we enjoy at home!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)