Back--It's Most Important...

I've been having problems with my back. Problems where I can't sit on a hard office chair for very long. Since this is what I do for my day job, you can see wherein lies the problem.

When I get home, I can't sit down and write at the computer. I can't believe how that one little act makes such a difference to me. I can't write--I can write by hand, but it's incredibly slow and Catch-22----one of these days, I'm going to have to spend hours at the computer transcribing what I wrote--the very thing that probably helped put me in the condition I'm in.

Crap.

I'm sulking, so no snippet. Nada.

How the Current Economic Crisis is Like Jenga...

Remember that game? You build a tower with wooden pieces, and then try to remove pieces without the whole thing tumbling to the ground.

To understand the current Wall Street fiasco, imagine that derivative investments were those wooden pieces--remove the wrong piece and the whole tower comes crashing down.

Well, remove subprime mortgages from the picture--something which many of the so-called brilliant lights in Wall Street used to build their towering investment edifices--and you can see that collapse was inevitable.

If no one is buying subprimes, that particular wooden piece is removed from the game. Ergo, boom! Who couldn't have seen that coming? Apparently most of Wall Street's analysts.

Simplified explanation? You bet. However, if Wall Street investors had stuck to simpler, time-tested and tried stuff, we wouldn't have to be bailing their asses out with taxpayer money.

Idiocy, or Ignorance Ain't Bliss

Here's the latest idiot proposal to the American public:

Doing away with the 401(k) plan.

You read that correctly. The only truly portable, pay-your-taxes-later plan the working Joe has in place to save for retirement with the help of his employer and the comfort of ten to twenty diverse funds to choose from so he doesn't have to think about it too much and get a headache. That 401(k).

Here's the idiot suggestion for an alternative-- a government-mandated pooled fund similar to Social Security. The proposal is to remove the employer from any involvement and put the responsibility squarely in government hands.

Right.

Like the government has been really savvy on the way it's handled Social Security funds to date that I'm putting the rest of my retirement money in their hands. (Step right up, folks. See the two-headed dog! Satisfaction guaranteed! Only one thin dollar!)

The grumble has been that 401(k)s are nothing more than a tax dodge for the wealthy. What?! Only the wealthy can save money?! I find that assumption so ridiculous I'd laugh myself sick if it didn't infuriate me so much.

It's a kind of reverse discrimination. An "if I can't save money and don't have a 401(k) then neither should you" type of attitude.

Sour grapes, anyone?

Oh, for the love of ....

I'm so tired of these sex sites trying to hijack my site! If we all wanted to see some naked girls, we know where to go! Stay off my site.

Rudeness of a Nation

I've seen several posts lately about people encountering rudeness.

Anyone in the service industry can tell you about how rude people have become. Hitting out at people who can't defend themselves against you used to be socially unacceptable. No more. The attitude that "I paid good money, I should be able to do and say what I want" seems to be the new norm.

I'm going to give my opinion based on what I've observed, and what I've observed is that people have little self-control anymore. Disappointment and frustration are met with near hysteria. Incidences of road rage, air rage, waiting in line rage, he's getting more than me rage, delaying gratification half a second rage...you get the picture. People are like two-year olds who have just had their toy taken away. Face screwed up, reddened, beating fists against the ground, "It's just not fair...I hate you!"

Entitlement. That's the buzzword. That's what people think. I'm entitled. Bull. The world don't owe us squat. Money, spent or possessed, doesn't give anyone the excuse to make someone else's life miserable. Your own misery does not give you the right to inflict damage on others.

So, if you feel that way, get a grip. Try some gratitude. Thank the good Lord you have what you have. Does wonders for the attitude. I know. I have to tell myself often that the jerk who just cut me off in traffic doesn't matter, that in a hundred years no one's going to care, that what matters is my own peace of mind and blood pressure right this moment. I have to stop and thank God that I can drive, that I have a car, that I have a job, that I have my life. And, really, that restores the self control.

Just Say No

I read that the warring HD-DVD and Blu-Ray have made exclusive deals with different movie studios to bring blockbusters out in only one format this Christmas, and will slash the price of their players to give consumers an incentive to buy one format or the other.

JUST SAY NO.

We, the consumer, should just say we aren't going to fall for that crap and make them slash the prices on players that can play BOTH formats. (It's probably not feasible to make them "settle on a format, already!").

Can anyone say BETA vs. VHS? Let's learn from that mess.