Tax Withholdings

I did a quick calculation of my tax withholdings for this year.  My new placement on the commercial side of the company means that the state and local withholdings are finally correct.  I've been playing with the idea of cancelling the additional $50 I had withheld when the California office was taking care of my payroll.  If my calculations are correct, and I seriously hope they are, I could have a tax return of about $2-3K this year.  I had extra withheld last year to compensate for cashing out my old IRA and forgot to change the withholdings for this year.

First, that's a lot of money and, whenever it looks like I'm about to get a windfall, I have to remind myself that I am fallible and have been wrong in my calculations before.  Though I am usually not that far off of the mark.  Still it's best not to count on that money or plan to spend it before I've even received my W-2's.

Second, there a number of big ticket items for which I considered taking out additional funds on my student loans.  For example, updating my computer/printer/wi-fi or a down payment on the purchase of a house.  These are practical items that will improve my financial outlook or further my educational goals.  The question is, of course, a home in what location and can I really afford a mortgage?

Third, there are the fun things I want but have to diligently save to attain.  Even when I save money, it is important to take care of the big ticket items mentioned above before the "fun" items.  When I say "Fun" what I mean is that Japanese/European vacation my sister and I talk about but never seem to have enough money to take.  If my calculations are, indeed, correct then this would solve the airfare problem very nicely - for both of us.  It would just be a matter of saving the rest of the money for the hotel/food/mementos.

Finally, there are the practical items and uses for this money.  I will undoubtedly have racked up some Christmas debt by the time tax time rolls around, though I swear I am not spending as much as I usually do.  And that should definitely be paid off/down before using the money for anything else.  Then there is the ultimate practicality of paying down the student loans I took out this fall or the remaining amounts on my undergrad loans.  Or, using the tax money to bankroll my spring semester instead of relying on student loans to front the money until my company can reimburse me.  But there really isn't anything fun about those options.

Riding Airplanes

I have to put this question out there:  Does anyone else take stock of the other passengers on an airplane before boarding?

What I mean is that I tend to look around and gauge how many children will be on my flight, how many elderly people, and how many religious fanatics.  No, it's not what you're thinking.

Unlike most people, if there are a lot of small children and infants on a plane, I feel more confident about my flight.  I'm not concerned about crying children preventing me from sleeping, I am just glad that nothing out of the ordinary will happen.  This is going to sound incredibly morbid, I think, but if there is an unusually large number of elderly people on a plane I tend to get a little nervous.  If a plane full of children crashes and everyone dies, it will be a bigger tragedy than a plane full of octogenarians.  My thinking is that at least they will have lived their lives.  I fall somewhere in the middle; I've had a good life and there is more I could achieve but I've still had a good run.  Children haven't truly had the opportunity to live so my irrational thinking is that the universe won't pluck them out of the air. 

Same thing goes for the overly religious.  If I'm on a plane with people returning from a mission trip, I get nervous.  With so many people, whose souls are "right" with God, it's fruit ripe for the picking.  Of course, in this scenario it's more to do with the state of one's soul and less to do with fate/karma/Murphy's law and therefore children would also bring about my death via plane crash.  Unless you would also think that God would not take a large number of children so soon.  But let's not dwell on that fallacy in my thinking.

For the most part, I am perfectly comfortable with flying.  (Though, I always call my family before I leave on a trip and before I get on the return flight home just in case.)  In my mind, though, no matter how safe something is there is always a chance that something will go wrong.  To be fair, I think less about this when I get in my car than I do an airplane and I am definitely more likely to be killed in a car accident than a plane crash.  The thing that gets me though is that should something go wrong on an airplane you are pretty much screwed.  Maybe you survive the landing/crash but do you really want to go through that?  A car crash, the possibility of help reaching me in time is far more likely.   Recovery would certainly suck just as much, but emergency medical attention is more readily available for car crashes.

To be honest, flying in an airplane is the closest I come to faith these days.  First, I have faith that the pilots are well trained, alert, not overworked, or having a bad day.  Second, I have faith that the airplane has been properly maintained, fueled, packed, and latched. (My return flight home, for the record, had no small children, 1 mission trip group, and something that leaked on me the entire flight.)  Third,  I have faith that the science behind flight is sound even though I don't understand it.  Fourth, I have faith that there is a reason I need to continue living past this point in time.  Some sort of purpose that has yet to be fulfilled. 

I'm not afraid of flying.  But I do have a fear of death and an overactive imagination.

Atlanta-ta

I am heading to Atlanta this weekend and I couldn't be more excited.  It's actually a little unbelievable that I will be traveling at the end of the week.  I don't know if it's because I just saw my sister two weeks ago, or if I have just not had time to think about things.  It will be a much needed rest, I hope.

I haven't been to stay with her since she moved in with her girlfriend so it will be a new experience for me.

On the agenda so far:

• Friday: arrive around 10:00am, go back to my sister's and do homework/reading while she works from home.  There will be some playing with a small fluffy white dog as well.
• Saturday: Six Flag's Over Georgia.  The last time I was here I was about 6 or 7 so this should be interesting.  It's also been ages since my sister and I have been to an amusement park together.
• Sunday: No definite plan.  Something in the sun, though, if the weather is nice.  Then Leave at 9:00pm

I am getting excited about it.  Though I still have about 3 more days of work to slough through.

NKOTBSB



NKOTBSB at the Beginning of the Concert (My Photo)

 I traveled to Greensboro, NC this weekend for the NKOTBSB concert.  My sister had gifted the tickets for my birthday in February and I couldn't have been more excited that it coincided with my friend, J's son's second birthday.  I usually get to see J about once a year and the last two were kid related events.  (2009 was her baby shower and 2010 was R's first birthday.)

I was uber excited because I had my not so new anymore Sony Cybershot DSC-H20 and the Sony VCL-DH1758 Tele Conversion Lens and I knew I would be able to get some amazing shots at this concert.  I was hoping it wouldn't be as hit or miss as the previous concerts I've been to and I would have recognizable photos to take home.  It wasn't as much of a sure thing as I had hoped and I do have my fair share of fuzzy pictures.  But I also have a few great gems like these:


Focus on Jordan Knight




Danny Wood & Jordan Knight



Nick Carter & Howie Dorough





Backstreet Boys

Then there is my personal favorite, where they all came out on stage at the end to sing the song they recorded together.  But before they  sang their song, they did these little intros for members of the other group.  While they were waiting for their moment, the rest of the group members talked together on stage - like real people!  I just thought it was really cool.  And this is where I pointed my camera while AJ was talking about the Bad Boys of the group or Nick was talking about how awesome the Knight brothers are.



Mutability by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Mutability

by Percy Bysshe Shelley

We are as clouds that veil the midnight moon; How restlessly they speed, and gleam, and quiver, Streaking the darkness radiantly! -yet soon Night closes round, and they are lost for ever: Or like forgotten lyres, whose dissonant strings Give various response to each varying blast, To whose frail frame no second motion brings One mood or modulation like the last. We rest. -A dream has power to poison sleep; We rise. -One wandering thought pollutes the day; We feel, conceive or reason, laugh or weep; Embrace fond woe, or cast our cares away: It is the same! -For, be it joy or sorrow, The path of its departure still is free: Man's yesterday may ne'er be like his morrow; Nought may endure but Mutablilty.

There are a few poems that speak to me in times of doubt and struggle.  This is one of them.  It's usually when I come back from weekends like this last one and I can see how life moves and changes around us.  I wonder if I am moving and changing with it.  Am I growing, improving, moving forward as I should? 

I see my friends lives and I wonder if I am a healthy person.  Not just physically, but mentally and socially.  Am I making the right choices?  Am I a successful adult?  What defines those terms?

Name that Bitch

Have you seen that episode of How I Met Your Mother where Ted keeps inviting his random dates to important friend events and Lilly gets really upset.  She has him play that "Name that Bitch" game with her scrapbooks and he can't remember any of the girls' names.

I am heading down to NC today for the NKOTBSB concert and R's second birthday.  I couldn't be more excited.  I know that I don't live near my friend, J, and I don't see her and her family everyday so her son won't have actual memories of me until he's much older.  Even then it will be like the memories I have of Dad's friend, Bonnie.  I know she came over a few times and was there for family parties, but I have no concept of her as a person outside of these rare events.  I don't know what her sense of humor was like or what kind of friendship she had with Dad.  I know what I've heard, but I don't actually know.

What I do like is that one day R will look back at his parents' pictures and see me in the wedding party, at his shower, and (hopefully) all of his birthdays.  That even if I am not an actual character in his life/world, he will know that his family was important to me and that his mom had friends that loved her.  There are certainly people in my parents' pictures that appear more than a few times and I wonder who they are.  I hope that I have a little more presence in his life than that, though.  Things do change, however, and we can never tell what the future will bring.

Stories from Ireland

So my dad has this habit of telling stories for entertainment value.  The problem is that he is likely to change a detail or two for "entertainment" purposes, or to make a story better, thus resulting in a twisting of events the likes of which haven't been seen by those other than History textbook editors.  Last night, while out for dinner with Dad, StepDad and Stepdad's high school friends, my dad starts to tell a story about my most drunken night in Ireland.  Most of the events were the same, and I'll admit I've had my fun getting a little mileage out of the story myself, but it's always awkward to hear about one's own antics.

The Real Story, as I tell it:

It starts with a couple of beers at a local pub in Cork.  Dad's friend, H, who lived there was determined to send us back to Dublin with a raging hangover.  Some time after my third beer, Dad comes back from the bathroom and tells me that there is a 29 year old girl from Chicago and she had two guys buying her drinks.  He comments that I am prettier than this girl and I could certainly get those guys to buy me drinks instead.  I laugh, but think nothing more of it.  Then H brings us all a shot of Whiskey, after which my dad says, "I bet you could."  And I started thinking, "I bet I could."

So I go over to the bar area, under the pretense of buying a round for the table.  I hear the girl talking to the guys and at first I think twice about embarking on this bet.  But then I hear her using the, what I call, "stupid girl" routine.  You know the one.  Anything and everything they said she knew absolutely nothing about and would they please tell her everything because they were absolutely the most interesting people in the entire world.  They asked her what type of drink she would like and she asked them for an "Irish Car Bomb." First of all, that is just rude.  Second of all, they don't drink those in Ireland.  She has to explain to the bartender and the guys exactly what it is.

I take that opportunity to interrupt the conversation and tell her that I couldn't help but notice she was American. She tells me she's from Chicago and I immediately ask her about Devil In The White City. She had heard of it but hadn't read it yet.  So I launch into my respect for Landscape Architects and how it's akin to the Space Progam, etc.  The guys say, "you're very passionate."  I say "About Landscape Architecture?  Naw, I just read the book.  Now what I'm really passionate about is...."  They ask me what kind of drink I want and refer to Chicago's "Car Bomb."  I say I can drink anything they can and if they wanted to test it they should pick a whiskey off the shelf.  They did and were amazed that I could drink it with relative ease.

Dad interrupts the story at this point to say that he was returning from yet another bathroom trip and he sees the girl furiously text message someone while I'm conversing.  She eventually excuses herself and leaves for the evening. It's then that I realize not only have I won, but I have the full attention of these two Irish gents.  So it would have been rude to go sit down with my friends and ignore them the rest of the night.  I talk to both of them and then the one I didn't find particularly attractive asks me, "How strong are your hands?"

My mind thinks of all sorts of answers and reasons why he would ask this, none of them I would repeat to my father.  So instead I say, "Why do you need to know?"

"Because I have 70 cows to milk in the morning," he says.  This is by far the worst pick-up line I've ever heard.

"Does that usually work with local girls?" I ask.  The the attractive one backs him up and say that he is indeed a dairy farmer.  But the unattractive one has already moved on to greener pastures.  Pretty much that is the meat of the story.  I stayed and talked a little bit with the attractive guy and even exchanged e-mail addresses.  I had no fear of drinking anything because I knew I had three people who would make sure I didn't leave without them.  (And H is pretty scary at 6 feet.)  Dad came over eventually and told me it was time to go, by that point I'd already had another two beers and one more shot of whiskey so I was ready to leave.

I stumbled back to the hotel somehow and then realized walking up stairs was not going to work.  So I ended up crawling up the carpeted stairs on my hands and knees.  I know it wasn't pretty, but it was better than falling down.

Dymaxion Map

On a Wikipedia Binge today I discovered this:

It really caught my attention because the continents as I know them are almost unrecognizable, at first glance, in this arrangement.  I am so used to seeing them on a flat map in a classroom or office.  But this really gave me a different perspective on the placement of the land masses and how human beings may have migrated across them.  It also gives an accurate portrayal of the continents and their size in relation to one another.

Minnie Muscles

I had a disappointing day at the Weight Watcher's Scale this afternoon.  It wasn't a huge gain, just .4 pounds, but I want to get to a total loss of 40 pounds before I leave for Ireland next week.  That's just 2.4 pounds, so it's absolutely doable.  Of course, going out for burgers (even if they're made of turkey) slathered in a crab imperial and aptly named "The 2131," are not the way to accomplish this.  Still they were half-price burgers and I was able to hang out with a friend.

I've been going to the gym regularly on my free nights since I joined on the 31st, so I was a little disappointed at the gain.  However, I reminded myself that building muscle can mean a gain at the scale even though the waistline is shrinking.  (come to think of it, I should probably measure myself to make sure.)  But it was while crawling into bed tonight that I realized I really am building muscle.  I could see a slight definition in my thighs and could definitely feel a tighter bum.  So, I should definitely continue what I'm doing and be more careful about writing things down in my Weight Watcher's Tracker.

Doctor Who Locations

I have discovered a most excellent web site dedicated to the filming locations for Doctor Who.  I hadn't really allowed myself the opportunity to research Cardiff, or any of Wales for that matter, out of a disbelief that I was really going and a certain amount of respect for my sister.  (She is not happy that I will be going there without her and while I understand that I can't pass up this opportunity.)  But finding this website has really allowed me to create a small list of places I want to see and pictures I just have to take.

So far this includes:

"Turn Left"

Conway Pub, 58 Conway Road, Pontcanna, Cardiff, CF11 9NW, Wales

"Silence in the Library"

Central Library, Alexandra Rd., Swansea SA1 5DX

"Blink"

Alexandra Gardens, Cathays Park, Cardiff (Welsh National War Memorial)

Fields House, 18 Fields Park Avenue, Allt-Yr-Yn, Newport, NP20 5BE

"Blink"/"Boomtown"

Glamorgan Building (Cardiff University), King Edward VII Ave., Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3WT

"Father's Day"

The Parish Of St. Paul's, Paget St., Grangetown, Cardiff

Passports in Time

from Gizmodo: "George Orwell is Crying"

Yesterday, I received my new passport.  I was starting to get a little worried what with the Government Shutdown and only a few more weeks until my trip.  But thankfully it came through and now the government can shutdown whenever it pleases.

I also received my expired passport back in the mail, for which I was very grateful, and couldn't help but notice the differences.  My old passport had an actual photo taken and laminated onto the inside of the front cover with all of my important information.  This passport, even though I sent actual photos, was printed digitally.  Both, I feel, are not accurate depictions of me.  The one from ten years ago is so washed out you can only make out my eyes and mouth.  This one is so pixelated that there are weird reddish splotches around the shadows on my face, not to mention it's blown up and stretched out so that it looks nothing like the original I sent in.

E-Passport Logo

This new passport, which was updated in 2007, includes "a small contactless integrated circuit" that contains a digital copy of everything on my informational page.   This computer chip, embedded in the back cover, uses a biometric identifier (mostly face recognition software).  These are added security features but, as with anything, there is the possibility for them to be exploited.
There are questions about possible "skimming" of the information on the chip and general identity theft.  According to the US Department of State, they've already taken this into consideration:

“Skimming.” We use an embedded metallic element in our passports. One of the simplest measures for preventing unauthorized reading of e-passports is to add RF blocking material to the cover of an e-passport. Before such a passport can be read, it has to be physically opened. It is a simple and effective method for reducing the opportunity for unauthorized reading of the passport at times when the holder does not expect it. 

Also:

“Skimming and Eavesdropping.” We have adopted Basic Access Control (BAC) to minimize the risk of “skimming” and “eavesdropping.” Basic Access Control requires that the initial interaction between the embedded microchip in the passport and the border control reader include protocols for setting up the secure communication channel. To ensure that only authorized RFID readers can read data, Basic Access Control stores a pair of secret cryptographic keys in the passport chip. When a reader attempts to scan the passport, it engages in a challenge-response protocol that proves knowledge of the pair of keys and derives a session key. If authentication is successful, the passport releases its data contents; otherwise, the reader is deemed unauthorized and the passport refuses read access. This control would require the receiving state to read the passport machine-readable zone (MRZ) to unlock and read the data on the chip. The MRZ information is used for computing the encryption and message authentication keys used for the “secure” exchange. BAC mollifies the possibility of both “skimming” and “eavesdropping.”

Overall, it provides a more complex passport that will be difficult to duplicate or counterfeit.  When I think about my old passport, which could have easily had the picture replaced, I can't help but think these are changes for the better.  Of course, with the advance of technology comes new obstacles and challenges to security.  With internet shopping and online profiles it's easier than ever to gain access to private information, but it's also easier to learn of fraud when it happens to you.  We're never going to live in a world where we don't have to worry about these things.  Someone will always try to find the easy way or feel like they're cleverer than other people and therefore above the rules and regulations by which other people live their lives.  There will always be dishonesty in this world.  The best we can do is to protect ourselves without holing up in a cave somewhere.

A few other articles you might like to check out:
Worldhum - "New US Passport: Like being given coloring book that your brother already colored in"
New York Times - "Stars and Stripes, Wrapped in the Same Old Blue"
Gizmodo - "New E-Passport Is Patriotic, High-Tech and Ugly"

The Difference of A Decade

I came across this posting, "The Difference A Decade Can Make" on my Google Reader yesterday and it got me thinking.  I have been down on technology recently and didn't really have a perspective for how far we've come in the last decade.  I kept thinking about the power of flight being harnessed in 1908 and then landing on the moon about 60 years later.  I wondered why we hadn't colonized the moon at this point or seen that type of advancement in a similar amount of time.

from http://dangreenblatt.com/blog/2008/08/04/our-parents-wrote-letters/

But this post really gave me a very different perspective on the technological advances we take for granted every day.  It's very easy to see the difference between flying and landing on the moon.  But how much thought have I really given to the cell phone I didn't have ten years ago to the one I have now.  The first cell phone I had, the Nokia 5110, was a small brick with very basic functions.  The screen wasn't color, but the faceplate was interchangeable.  Compare this with my new iPhone 3GS, or even the HTC Fuze I had previously, and you'll see that there is a huge difference.

Swindon UK

I recently starting reading the new Thursday Next book, written by Jasper Fforde, and I've decided I would like to try and visit the real-life Swindon when we fly to Bristol.  It's about 40 miles East of Bristol, so I'm not sure how plausible this is.  I could, of course, always go by myself and find my way back to Cardiff to meet up with the Dads before our flight back to Dublin.  (This might solve more than one problem, as my sister is quite upset that we're going to Wales together.)

It looks like it's only about 35 minutes from Bristol so it is entirely possible.  The only question is whether or not I would want to go by myself. 

A Positive View of Japan

I can't help but keep reading the news and blogs about what's happening in Japan right now.  NPR keeps frightening me with their reports about the Nuclear Reactor in Fukushima and then I run back to Barry Brook's blog to check his updates and see how accurate the news really is.  While he does state in his post that the information coming out of Japan isn't complete and he doesn't have 100% accurate data, his entries do help to explain the science behind what's going on.

from Darrell Nelson's post
"Life in Chiba, Japan Goes On"

But then I also came across a post like this: Trends in Japan.  It has pictures from areas outside of the affected areas and shows that life is still going on as normal as possible for most people on the island.  A lot of the media reports make it seem that the entire country is dealing with this crisis in the same way.  Obviously people nearest the earthquake are going to have the hardest time.  But I have to agree Darrell Nelson and Michael Keferi, the authors of the two posts on Trends in Japan, it's important to see that the whole country isn't devastated.  Yes there is some damage, the heart of the country, the people, and their culture is still beating and Japan will recover given time. 

Editors

My work blog asked for entries on Travel from the employees, so I submitted one about my trip to London several  years ago.  Today, I get an edited version of the entry and was asked to okay it for posting tomorrow.  Thankfully, I read it before I said anything.  I know that the girl who does this at work works on the blog in her free-time and it's not necessarily one of her job duties.  And for this, I am very thankful.

She cut out the entire point of one of the paragraphs.  I was talking about my trip to St. Paul's Cathedral and how my father and I didn't realize our voices would carry in the Whispering Gallery.  We were being critical of the guard's attire and duties and the guy obviously heard us because we heard a disembodied voice say, "there are no secrets in the whispering gallery."  We looked up and the guard was staring straight at us.  Why we didn't realize our voices would carry in the Whispering Gallery of all places, I do not know.  But the girl cut out the part about my dad and I talking smack.  So it really read, "I went to see the whispering gallery and the guard said,blah, on our way out." 

Then she edited a part about the Globe Theatre with a small sentence about the Millennium Bridge so that it looks like my father and I had a discussion about British Television and Shakespeare on the actual bridge.  What I wrote was that the women who gave the tour at the Globe looked like a character on "Keeping up Appearances," and she couldn't believe we like Titus Andronicus.  Very different, indeed.

I edited it myself, taking out the story about the Globe Theatre, and got it down to one print page for the blog.  So hopefully there aren't any further edits to my stuff.  I'm not saying I am a great writer, I would say I am pretty mediocre at best, but there are things I would never, never do.  Like this sentence, which was edited into my blog: "the daunting task of climbing the daunting trip to the top."  That's when I knew I had to completely rewrite this entry for work.  I write many of these entries hastily and don't go back and edit properly, but for work I wanted to make sure it was the best I had to offer.

Fools and their troubles

Do you ever have days where you feel completely foolish?  I have these worries in my head that attack me at the worst times.  If you know me, then it's no surprise that I have more than a few insecurities.  I have tried to remain open and un-jaded, but over the years that is simply difficult to do.  Things that I should be completely comfortable with and in, I start to doubt and worry about the future or my place in this or that.

Then a day will pass and something will bring me out of my funk.  It's then that I feel foolish.  Because I do have a great many things going well for me right now and to doubt that will invite trouble.  But it will be trouble of my own making...

Passports

I sent off my Passport Renewal application today.  Had one of the best experiences at a Post Office I've had in a long time.  I went over to the smaller Clarksville office today in hopes that the line would not be as long as the one in Columbia and I was not disappointed.  The woman behind the counter was very helpful and directed me through the process of sending my renewal application with tracking numbers and second day delivery.  I guess that a lot of younger people haven't had a lot of experience with the post office and she was very understanding.  Usually I go to FedEx or UPS to send anything to my family in other states, but I may consider going back to this post office and taking advantage of the cheaper postage rates and shorter wait time.

I have a little less than two months before my trip to Ireland and I opted not to pay the extra $60 for expedited service.  I could be pressing my luck, but the website said 4-6 weeks for processing and delivery.  I have the post office delivering everything to the Passport Agency in less than 2 days so I am hoping that will help cut the time down a little bit.  I should probably call and see if the Passport people are running on schedule or if they have a lot of demands right now.

This is my first step of the trip to Ireland.  Dad gave me the airfare as a birthday present, and a fantastic one it was, so I don't have to worry about that.  I am a little concerned because I spent a little more than I had planned this weekend and I still have to get the 40K mile service performed in my car.  So my savings is taking a serious hit this week.  But I may get lucky and the quarter bonus at work will come through before I leave for the trip.  I hope that I am able to save enough before I leave so that I am not struggling when I get back.  I am sure I will have enough for the trip, but I don't want to spend everything I have in savings and have a difficult time after the fact.

Melancholy

My mother leaves tomorrow.  I agreed to pick up a shift at my second job tonight because someone had a family member die and you can't really say no in that situation.  But I am incredibly sorry that I agreed to do it at all.  I've tried all morning to find someone to work the hours and no one is available.  So I kind of feel like I am wasting time going to work.  Not like I won't see my mother again, but I just see her so rarely that it feels that way.  I'll see her for a few hours when I get home tonight and then have to say goodbye in the morning before I leave for my day job.

I know I wanted my mom to be here for my 30th birthday, but I should have considered the complications of having her here at the end of the month.  I can't take time off from my day job, and really that's all I want to do, because my deadline for entering all the invoices is tomorrow.  I don't really know when I'll get to see her again, either.  I don't know if we're doing Thanksgiving at Danielle's or her place, or even if I'll be able to go.  Her car isn't sound enough to drive up here like she drives to see my sister and a plane ticket is really an expense for her.  It's like I miss her already and she's still here.

I don't want to go to my second job tonight but there isn't a whole lot I can do about it.  It's really just a big reminder of why I want to leave that place so badly.  Not because it's terrible, it's really not, it just cuts into my valuable time with people I care about.  I need to be finished with this job by the end of summer, Thanksgiving at the latest.  I can't stand trying to negotiate extended time off to visit my family again.  But then I would also like to save as much money as possible.  To take the trips I want to take and get more than two stamps in my passport over the next ten years.  Maybe yearly reviews will make this easier.

Rats in a Maze



Baltimore Sun photo by Kim Hairston

 A few months ago, the state of Maryland installed speed cameras in the work zones on the major highways.  I was caught by one as I sped off to work one day and I've had a few friends who've been nabbed in a similar manner.  It's not a big deal, a small fine with no points.  But I learned to pay attention to the shoulder of the road and keep an eye out for the tell-tale trucks with the speed cameras attached to the front.

It took a little getting used to, but the position of the cameras never changes so I don't even think about it anymore.  Last night, going home, I realized that everyone else has figured this out as well.  The flow of traffic slows down significantly immediately before the location of the speed camera, then resumes normal rates of acceleration as soon as the camera is out of range.  The cars in the traffic behind someone who hasn't yet learned the system get impatient and zoom around and I wondered if these cameras were really effective.

Then it struck me that we were just like rats, or mice, in a maze where the scientists change the pattern every once in a while to see what will happen.  We've learned this new pattern and want to get through it as quickly as possible so we can enjoy our personal time.  All the speed camera people need to do is change the location of these machines every couple of weeks and they would be successful.  This would keep people guessing and they would be forced to maintain a lower speed until they were out of the work zone completely. 

Of course, there is the argument right now that these speed cameras are more of a revenue generator than a safety device.  Obviously, revenue is being generated and this is not a bad thing as far as the state budgets go, but is it really creating a safer environment?  For those of us that have learned the system, and for those that are impatient with other drivers who haven't, are accidents really being avoided or is this just another catalyst for reckless driving?

Bookshelves

My bookshelves are scheduled to arrive tomorrow between 12-4.  I am far too excited about this event and I realize this as my friends have started to stop me mid sentence when I mention the impending arrival.  It's another step in the right direction for my new year's goals.  I realize I may not have stated my exact goals in previous entries, so here they are:

1) Pay off all Credit Cards
2) Keep Credit Cards Empty (this is more ongoing)
3) Lost 15-25 additional pounds and make it to the maintenance phase of Weight Watchers.
4) Do not gain weight after reaching goal weight.  (Again, more ongoing)
5) Buy IKEA Billy Bookcase system and FULLY unpack ALL books.
6) Move Piano out of storage
7) Close storage unit completely
8) Quit Second Job.
9) Plan and take a trip to Ireland/UK as celebration of my 30th Birthday.

If I can complete number 5, I can move the piano and then cross off 6 & 7.