July 2001 Archives
I recently received a letter from the IRS informing me that I'll be receiving my tax-relief check that has been bequeathed to "tax paying Americans" by the benevolent congress and the kind President Bush.
One cool implication of that is that according to the IRS I am an American. Take that, INS, and eat your heart out! Well, I'm sure that's not what that means, but there is this implication that it's only americans that are paying the taxes here...
So the question is, what is the real meaning of this check? Have I paid too much money (it sure feels like it) and now the government has too much and is returning some of it? Well, not really (at least not the having too much of it part). Until recent ballanced budgets, the US Government has been running a defficing for a couple of decates and has accumulated quite a debt. A big portion of our taxes is actually going towards just paying the interest on this debt.
So if the government doesn't have too much money, where is the tax relief cash comming from? Well, the government is simply borrowing against future debt! It's as if the government was paying you a cash-advance from your own credit card account. Sure, it may not sound very fiscally responsible, but it fits well into the credit card culture and makes the people feel good (and "giving back to the people" sounds great during re-election campaigns). Besides, Panem et Circenses has an old an venerable tradition.
My A/C is fixed! How to describe the glorious feeling of walking into my home and being engulfed in crisp, low-humidity, pleasantly cool air? I've come to realize how much I've come to depend on the comforts provided by modern appliances - especially the lowely air conditioner.
However, I shan't feel too bad about it. With the new system - and the weatherization chages to my hous that are still to come - I'll be saving quite a bit of electricity.
Today did not start auspiciously. After an air-conditioning-less night I got pulled over speeding (40 in a 30 zone) about 200 yards from my house. I still have to mail in the $10 for my previous ticket and now I have to do a defensive driving class (and be paranoid for the next 12 months).
At 10 I had a guy from Strand Brothers look at my house to evaluate what would be needed for a new A/C system. My A/C has died a quiet death and I've decided to completely replace it. It's 17 years old and I might as well take advantage of Austin's Rebate Program. Of course, as I found out, this will involve sealing doors, windows and ducts, adding solar screens to my windows, replacing a duct damaged by my attic vermin - and adding a bunch of insulation to my attic.
So, this weekend I have to wage war on critters living under my roof.
I feel very old today. Jennifer and I participated in the Midsummer Night's 5K race last Saturday night and I'm now feeling the after effects.
Doing a 5K in Austin in July is usually not a good idea. Luckily this one started around 9pm so it had cooled down to the upper ninetees. We did a leasurely 5K a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to do it a little faster than the 48 minutes it took me then. After all, I just blew some serious money on new Supernova running shoes and since I was going to sweat no matter what, I might as well work for it.
I started of with an easy stride and quickly left Jennifer in the dust (it pays to be taller). It felt pretty good for the first mile or so, but inevitable I slowed down and, in order to avoid a corronary, I had to walk for some time. I picked up the pace agains on a long downhill (running downhill feels good, but know you'll be paying for it when you have to climb back up). Turning around the corner on the downhill, I slowed down to a walk - knowing just how Dick Cheney feels when an attack is on its way - and picked up a coup of water from the 1.5 miles water station. The good news was that I was hlafway there and that I had an excuse (i.e. water) for walking. The bad news was that I had another 1.5 miles to go and I was at the bottom of a hill.
So I walked and walked and then decided to run a bit and then walked again and eventually I notice Jennifer jogging easily on my left side. Well, I expected her to catch up, and that she did. She jogged along at a steady pace while I lumbered up the hill. At the top I went running again (another downhill) and easily outdistanced her. She quickly caught up on my next walk up a hill.
And so it continued, me passing her while running, and she passing me while I was walking. The pain wasn't getting any less and my heart rate wasn't getting much slower (I peaked at 194BPM) but eventually the goal was in sight. We ran the last hundred yards or se and crossed the line hand in hand.
While walking it out and stretching, I knew that I was going to be paying for this. Yesterday I moved OK, although my quads were killing me on downhill walks or steps. Today I biked to work (and yes, you use them quads quite a bit while biking) and now I feel my quads and my hip joints. I feel like renting a walker for the next couple of days.
Jennifer, I hope you're happy!
Ever wondered how to impress that someone special on a date? This site teaches those of us who are shy and uninitiated on how to properly behave on a date. I'll need to try to incorporate some of these next time Jennifer and I are at some fancy restaurant.
The tickets for our trip to Recife, Brazil for next Febuary have arrived and our reservations for the Amazon Clipper Boat Rout have been confirmed, so it's time to think about preparations.
I checked out the CDC Health Information for Travelers to Tropical South America and there is all sorts of stuff that one might catch there! I'm sure we'll get a Yellow Fever vaccination and maybe Hepatitis A and Malaria vaccines.
The microwave in the kitchen shorted out, producing lots of smoke. We just had seven fire department vehicles - including two ladder trucks- arrive at work. I kinda felt bad for the guys in their hot outfits lugging their equipment up the stairs for nothing. I'm actually glad it was for nothing, I felt bad for the lugging.
We had a very productive weekend. On Saturday morning, we took Homer for a walk - he's recovering nicely from his surgery, but needs to take it easy for a week or so - and then participated in a park cleanup in my neighborhood. Then came the real chore for this weekend.
The tree growing in front of my house has died since last summer - I suspect some parasite since there are tiny holes in some of the branches - and I've been meaning to take it down. Since our neighborhood's brush pickup is this week, Saturday was the day.
We went and rented a chainsaw - a nice, 16", gas powered Stihl saw from a rental place on Lamar. The rental place was cool, they have all sorts of construction equipment (they even have used bobcat for sale). However, the guy prepping our saw made us shudder a bit. The saw came with a gasoline canister (gas/oil mix, since it's a two-stroke) so the guy first poured the leftover contents from the canister out on the grass(!) and then proceeded to fill the canister from a huge gasoline can while nonchalantly smoking his cigarette. Nothing blew up, but I imagine the EPA and OSHA would not have approved.
So at home we got to power up that sucker and I cut down the lower branches from the tree, tied a rope to the upper branches, back-cut the trunk and, while Jennifer and a neighbor pulled the tree from the house, cut the tree down. We then proceeded to dismember the tree, cutting the thicker branches for the fireplace and the smaller ones for the brush pickup.
Both Jennifer and I used a chainsaw for the very first time in our lives and it was quite a thrill (and we managed not to hurt ourselves). Getting to play with - I mean use - a chainsaw is something that everyone should get to do at least once. If you do, make sure you get the real, gas-powered, air and noise polluting thing and not one of those wimpy electric saws.
The new Enterprise is comming! I hope this prequel will be better than the StarWars' one. I think Scott Bakula will make one dandy captain.
I got pulled over yesterday. I'm driving slowly through our congested downtown towards company dinner and suddenly notice the flashing lights behind me. So it takes at least 5 minutes with cops behind me to crawl with the traffic across the South 1st bridge and pull into a park. Turns out my inspection sticker is expired (by like a year) and, of course, I don't have my current proof of insurance with me in my car. Bad, boy! Actually, I have no idea where my proof of insurance is (it's just about to be renewed, but I didn't have the new paperwork with me, either).
So, now I have to go downtown and get my ticket dismissed. Interestingly enough, I think I might be still ahead money wise (i.e. I have to pay $10 to dismiss the ticket, but I save $12.50 for an inspection-free year). I don't recommend this, though. It's definitely not worth the hassle.
This Slate article claims that "if you're perceived as beautiful, you probably earn about 5 percent more than your ordinary-looking counterparts."
Can you remember your last raise?
I saw Once On This Island at the Circle Arts Theatre in New Braunfels on Sunday. I went because the main character, Ti Moune, was played by a cousin of my friend Meredith. I hadn't seen Yesenia since her quinceanera four years ago and now she's a sophomore at Southwestern U. in Georgetown. She has an awesome voice and great stage presence.
While watching the musical, I totally did not realize that I actually knew three other people in the play. One, Yesenia's music teacher (Asaka), can be excused, since I've only seen her a couple of times four years ago. The other two were from last year's Madrigal Dinner cast: Justin LaVergne (Papa Ge) and Rafael Aguilar (Tonton). OK, I often blank when I see people out of context (like who the heck should I know in New Braunfels?), but I spend most of last fall singing right next to Rafael, for crying our loud! I think I am getting senile. Or maybe it's because he put on some facial hair and was wearing a hat? Yeah, that's it!
I got lost in the Walnut Creek Park today. I've been to the park quite a few times before, but always from the main entrance on Lamar. Today I decided to see if I could get into the park from Lincolnshire Drive, one of the streets I take on Homer's walks. We got into the park and after wandering around for tventy minutes I got on familiar trails - Homer had a good time splashing in the creek, although the water level is pretty low.
On the way back I got disoriented. I knew I needed to head west and could see the setting sun (and later, the direction in which it had set) but following the twisting trails made it difficult to go in a particular direction. It's kind of a neat sensetion to be lost in relative wilderness in the city. I had to backtrack several times and try different trails. I can now understand how the people in Blair Witch could come across the same place several times. Of course, I could hear the reassuring sounds of the city and had my cell phone with me. Eventually Homer and I found our way back out, but we did spend over an hour in the park. I really like that place and am looking forward to getting lost again.
Put on the new tires on my bike last night. It was a perfect excuse to buy a gadget, namely the CrankBros Speed Lever. That thing's amazing. Taking the old tires off was a little difficult, since they had effectively bonded to the rim. But putting the new ones on was a breeze. Of course, I managed to put one of the tires on backwards and switching it took no time at all. I remember struggling with three tire levels when changing tires way back when. Using this tool makes it almost fun!
I was ego surfing to see how far back in time I've made an imprint on the Internet. I found a MacTech article from January 1993!
OK, I'm pretty sure it wasn't on the Internet in '93 (the very first public browser, NCSA Mosaic v1.0 was released in November of '93) but I can remember using e-mail and posting news as far back as 1990. And I remember installing and trying to use Mosaic while it was still in beta. Although since there weren't many servers back then I didn't see what the point was and had no inkling about what it would become...
My bike's ancient tires finally bit the dust, so I went by the Bicycle Sport Shop to drop off my bike for new tires and a tuneup. They have a trade-in program, and I drooled over
some of their bikes, but decided that I don't want to plunk down that kind of money.
Oh, and I can't make a tune-up appointment until two weeks from now, so I'll have to put the tires on myself. It's going to be a sweaty and grimy evening...
Yesterday's 4th of July was a blast. We went to Pedernales Falls with Archie and Jessica and took Homer with us. I usually go to Pedernales Falls on my way home from the Enchanted Rock because it's on the way back, I get to use the same park ticket I used for the Enchanted Rock, and you can cool down in the river.
This time we only went to the Falls but it was great. It was Homer's first real experience with running water (as far as we know) and while cautious, he learned to enjoy jumping over and through the water.
On the way there, he was a bit hyper in the car. On the way back, he was nicely exhausted and sleeping most of the way in all sorts of positions. The most interesting one was when he was laying on his front paws with his butt sticking up into the air. As his butt started to drop, he'd startle awake and stick it up again. I've seen quite a few heads nod off before, but never a dog butt!
Jennifer wants us to build a doghouse for Homer (we'll need to return the borrowed Dogloo he's living in now). We're checking out plans, but I'm sure Homer's home will not be airconditioned.
Well, it's time for Homer to get neutered. He seems to have developed a fixation with Jennifer's leg (and mine doesn't seem too bad to him, either). First thing next week we'll make an appointment.
