Spelling Bee

Give me one round with all the kids participating in the national spelling bee.  I'll make them spell everything from funny words "boondoggle" to inappropriate words.

Just image the first kids face when I say: "Spell fuck...  want me to use it in a sentence?"

Incentives

At some point in my life incentives became the main driving force for me to do anything.  I can't really say if it was my parents training me or me training my parents, but there was certainly a lot of quid pro quo going on in my childhood... and it worked!

The problem with the modern world, at least from my vantage point is the disconnect between what we do and how we get rewarded.  I don't see the money that I get for working.  Twice a month it appears in my bank account.  How much different would it be if someone came by every day, peeled off a few greenbacks, and said thanks for working today, you can go home now?

While I always thought that my parents had instilled a good work-ethic in me by which I realized the value of a dollar and the idea that hard work meant I got paid, maybe the allowance system is more in line with modern society and how it rewards workers.

My last point is that the other day I was talking with a friend about how if someone incentivized me running 10 miles by saying they'd give me a pizza at the end, I'd probably do it.  If they told me I was doing it for my health, doing it for a certificate, or even doing it for enough money to buy said pizza I'd probably say forget you.  What exactly does that say about my mindset towards incentives?

Give me a break!

How does this kid have such good PR that a story is written of their perfect attendance through High School?  The article called 20 schools and came up with another person that same year that did it, so why the eff does this person warrant an article?  While it's not something that consumes my soul, I am pissed from that day when they were giving out senior awards and my name didn't get called for perfect attendance even though I never missed a day.  It sucks when some teacher can make an error that can screw up something I didn't even care to be recognized for in the first place.  But to see a full article get written up on this girl just makes me want to punch something.  This is probably all going in some stupid college essay and it's obviously complete BS, but I guess some newspaper wanted a feel-good story that would also really piss me off.

In other news...

Continuing along with my life and death theme, I just want to record that this morning when I was brushing my teeth I noticed a gnat swirling in the sink water. As I turned the water off I decided that if it didn't go down the drain then I would try to recover the gnat. Luckily it did not go down, I took a q-tip and gently picked it up from the sink, blew on it until it had dried enough and that's when I saw one little leg start wiggling. I nursed it a little more, gently moving it from the cotton, which would surely tie it up and onto a flat dry surface where it slowly started walking along. I have no idea if the wings will function, and I know that gnats don't live for very long, but this one just got an extended lease on life.

RIP Shrimp #3

After all the hoopla about actually discovering a 3rd shrimp alive and well I unfortunately have to confirm with absolute certainty that shrimp #3 has passed away. In addition, I have not seen Shrimp #2 today, but now I know that they can hide inside the seashell so I'm not giving up hope that it is alive, but I certainly do not have 3 shrimp any more.

Miracle Fruit new growth

It may not look like much, but after seeing my new miracle fruit plant get off to a good start with all the new growth turning into mature leaves it almost appeared like it was settling down for the winter.  There wasn't a single new leaf budding and though it looked healthy, I thought it could do better.  So I bought a small desk lamp and recruited a misting water bottle and since spraying it with a fine mist whenever I think about it and keeping the lamp on the black pot to keep the whole thing warm leaves have started to bud.  The pictures above are the progress of the newest growth from 5-12 to 5-18, and while those pictures may not appear to show much, it's easily doubled in length and now has the full features and reddish appearance of the new growth that it came with, plus there are several more buds all over.  So we're looking at success with miracle fruit plant growth, we just need to see some progress with the fruit some day.

Social Security or Government Ponzi Scheme

From CNN:

"On the one hand, assets in 401(k) accounts -- which are predominantly in stocks -- have declined in value by about a third, employers are suspending matching contributions, and millions of unemployed workers have seen their retirement savings efforts disrupted.

On the other hand, the Social Security Administration continues to send out monthly checks to 35 million retirees and their spouses, 9 million disabled workers and their families, and 6 million families whose breadwinner has died. In other words, the government system has proved to be much less fragile than the private system of retirement savings."

Less Fragile?  Just because they're still cutting checks?  Later on in the article, perhaps beyond where most people would bother reading they point out that the financial crisis reduced the year that Social Security was expected to run out of money by 4 years (i.e. 2037).  Considering the horizon, 4 years is 12.5% decrease in their estimates.  

And the scary thing is that their decrease didn't come from the stock market dropping like it did for 401k's, it came from payroll payments decreasing due to massive unemployment.  The people working today are paying the social security tomorrow, literally, not figuratively.  In 2037 the payroll today will pay for the social security today, and that's when events like the depression will be all the more depressing.  Right now based on government estimates the payroll in the future will cover 75% of the benefits in the future, so since they don't have any more money, people get 75% of what actuaries said they should have gotten.  If there's massive unemployment like there is now, that means that they can't just cut the future estimate back 4 years, they have to cut the current payments.  How much harder is it going to be when people relying on social security already have a diminished amount and then have to face an immediate cutback because economic times are tough.  Talk about bread lines!

So CNN writer, no, Social Security is not faring better than 401k's.  At least I know what I have in my 401k, know where it is, and if I want to invest it all in cash I'll know what it's worth.  Social Security is a total craps shoot past 2037 (or sooner.)

Bees

It's too bad humans are so damn possessive about their space.  Rather than just figure out the problem with the building and make some repairs and let a bee hive remain, exterminators have to come along and remove the hive.  Do people not realize that bees aren't doing that well and are vital to our current ecosystem?  It's unfortunate that people have such a feeling of entitlement that it comes at the expense of so many other creatures.  Only kill if something is going to hurt you or you're going to eat it.  That's my motto.

Retirement Planning

An article on MSNBC kicked around an idea that some people are generally dissatisfied with the 401k system, which makes sense in a tough economic time.  You tell people they have to invest for their own retirement, you only let them invest in the options their employer gives them, you don't adequately disclose or control fees to participants.  Ultimately, the real problem is that you don't make people feel all that secure in their retirement prospects.

While the article kicked around an alternative that was little more than expanding social security, I think the problem should be approached from a whole new angle.

What makes people feel secure?  I think most people would actual answer that tangible assets make them feel most secure, and the American dream has never hinged on having a large 401k, it has been about owning a house.  And I'm sure a lot of people would feel more secure in their later years and in retirement if they knew they owned their house.  You don't really care if your house loses value as long as you can live under your roof.  And the best one of all, this could be the very first perk that the rich wouldn't be all that excited about.

So why don't we start a movement and push for pre-tax mortgage payments?  It's fine if you want to take away my mortgage interest deduction because I'll be getting a mortgage and principal interest deduction.  It encourages everything good and solid about saving and investing over the long term and if your paycheck can't cover your mortgage payment then maybe some of the people who got approved for loans never would have gotten approved.