Back at School

My son has been back at school since last Monday after coming home for a long weekend over Thanksgiving.  On my last update, which I wrote the night before we were to take him home.  I was concerned at the time that it would be a challenge to get him to return back to school.  Let me tell you, it was more than difficult. 

Whenever my son thinks we are taking him someplace he doesn't want to go, he will drop to the ground and refuse to move.  We found out that they were able weigh him at school and that he weighs in at 186lbs.  Needless to say, if he drops to the ground, my wife and I can not move him.

We decide that on the day we were to return him to school, that we would take him someplace he liked to go.  He had been asking to go to IHOP over the Thanksgiving break, so we decided to head out to IHOP that morning.  As soon as he got out the door, he dropped to the ground.  After about half an hour, we finally got him to the car and headed to breakfast.

We finished breakfast, and we headed out the door, he dropped to the floor in the restaurant.  Once we got him out of the restaurant, we had at least three more incident of his dropping to the ground.  Two of them were in the parking lot between two cars.  After several minutes, I walked to a nearby fire station and enlisted the help of some firemen to help get him in the car.

Once we got out to school and went in for the Christmas party.  We had a pretty good time while we were there.  I got to meet a few of the other people at the school who work with our son.  At the party, Santa Claus was there.  My son usually doesn't want to see Santa, but he sat on his lap and told Santa something he wanted for Christmas.  Still, our son wanted to go home, and at one point asked me to stay with him.

I call daily to check on his status.  The good news his first week back was that he was attending school daily, and was eating lunch.  Unfortunately, at the dorms he was not eating dinner.  The weekends for him at school have been the most trying.  Those are the days that he usually doesn't eat anything.  I had almost gotten to the point where I dreaded calling to check on him because I was concerned he wasn't eating.

On Sunday night, I called and he was down at a social.  He loves going to those so he can dance.  The best thing was that they reported that he ate well that day and had an overall excellent day, watching football and decorating the Christmas tree.  Then yesterday, he refused to go to class and spent the day in the dorm.

There have been several good reports, but for every good report there has been some negative.  It is a major adjustment period for him and for us.  On the positive, he is starting to interact more with the other kids in the dorms.  One day I could hear him in the background laughing and playing with the others.  Then the next, he spends it in his room.  Only two more weeks until Christmas break.

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Good News on Taxes

Image via WikipediaPresident Obama announced tonight that an agreement has been reached on extending the Bush era tax cuts.  At least for the next two years, there will be no tax increase for anybody.   In addition, certain tax credits like the Child Tax Credit will also stay in place.  One aspect of the compromise deal that I particularly like is a 2% tax cut on the payroll tax for next year.

This is particularly good news for me, and the timing is most fortunate.  As I have mentioned here before, my share of my health insurance is slated to go up 23% in 2011.  If the tax cuts are extended, as it looks like they will, then it would have been difficult to absorb the increased health insurance rates.  If the tax rates had of expired, it would have been impossible to absorb it.  With the additional news of the 2% payroll tax rate, it almost becomes a wash for me.

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Music Monday-John Lennon "I Don't Wanna Face It"

Image via WikipediaWednesday, December 8, 2010 will mark the 30th anniversary of the brutal murder of John Lennon.  One can only Imagine how much more great music John could have produced had it not been for Mark David Chapman.

"I Don't Wanna Face It" is one of my favorite songs released by John during the time when he started his comeback.  I think partly because of the wonderfully cynical line "You want to save humanity, but it's people that you just can't stand."  It is a typically Lennon line, and one that I can really relate to.  RIP John.

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. Rules are simple. Leave ONLY the actual post link here and grab the code below and place it at your blog entry. You can grab this code at LadyJava's Lounge Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.

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The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Image via WikipediaIt is three weeks until Christmas.  In a lot of ways, this is my favorite time of the year.  There is a nice little nip in the air.  My wife has started baking her Christmas goodies to give away as gifts.  I always manage to grab some cookies fresh from the oven.  Starbucks has their Eggnog Lattes, and in general, people are usually just a little bit nicer.

While there is a lot to like about the holiday season, there always comes a little bit of bad to go with the good.  The shopping centers and the parking lots are a lot more full than they usually are, so you have to be a little more careful navigating them than usual.  You always have somebody just whipping around the parking lot like there is nobody else around.

Thankfully, I do not have a lot of Christmas shopping to do, so I can avoid the malls, especially as we get even closer to Christmas day.  Things will get a lot crazier the closer we get to the 25th.  When I do have to head out to the malls during this time of year, I try to get out as early in the day as possible to beat the crowds.  Though the best way to beat the crowd is to shop online using Mr. Rebates.

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Somebody Really Screwed Up

Image via WikipediaI woke up this morning to get ready to head out to work and turned on the news.  Instead of thinking to myself "Thank God it's Friday," I thought "Oh, God, how long will it take me to get to work today?"  The traffic reports said that there had been several accidents on a key stretch of the Beltway that I use to commute to work.  Not only was there massive delays, but the Beltway was closed.

Fortunately, by the time I finished showering, dressing, and making a fresh pot of coffee, they were reporting that all lanes were open.  Still, I headed out expecting massive delays on my commute.  To my surprise, the commute wasn't as bad as I expected, and really wasn't much worse than it usually is.

In anticipation of potentially icy weather, the Maryland State Highway Administration decided to pre-treat the roadways to prevent icy road conditions.  Instead two of the trucks used an incorrect mixture of chemicals that had the opposite effect on road conditions.  One radio report that I heard on WMAL said that there was a total of ten accidents over that stretch of highway this morning.

Fortunately for those that were involved in accidents this morning, the State Highway Administration has taken full responsibility for the mistake this morning.  Those who had accidents will be able to file a claim with the SHA.  After such a massive screw up on their part, it is the least they could do.

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Taxes and Political Gamesmanship

I have to say, that while my own political views are definitely right of center on most issues, I am really getting fed up with the political posturing of both sides of the aisle.  All you have to do is take a look at what is going on in regards to extending the current tax rates as established under the Bush tax cuts.  Their actions show that all they are concerned with is their own political power and not the negative impact the higher tax rates will have on those that can least afford them.

My personal opinion is that the government does not have a tax revenue problem, but rather a spending problem.  Consequently, my personal preference would be that all of the current tax rates be extended for everybody.  Yes, even for those evil rich folk.  After all, I have never gotten a job from a poor person.

Both sides seem to be digging in their heals on the issue of taxes.  The Democrats insist on raising taxes on those that make $250k a year or more.  The Republicans don't want anybody to have to pay the higher tax rates.  Unfortunately, right now, the Democrats still have control of both Houses of Congress.  Today, Nancy Pelosi held a vote to extend the tax rates for those making less than $250k.  Most believe that it will never make it out of the Senate.

While I fundamentally agree with the Republican position, we are getting dangerously close to not resolving this issue, at least not before January 1st.  Eventually, I think the Bush tax rates will be extended, at least temporarily, for all earners.  If a compromise isn't reached, it will have a negative impact on the people that both sides say they want to help. 

For example, a person making between $58-68k per year could see their tax rate rise from 15% to 28% if the rates aren't extended by January 1st.  I like what I heard Congressman Paul Ryan say tonight on Hannity.  He said if the rates do not get extended before January 1st, when the GOP take control of the House in January, they will introduce legislation to reinstate all the current rates back to January 1st.  That is all well and good, but that person making $60k per year will have a harder time absorbing even a temporary increase in withholding compared to the person making $250k.

I have to decide by the end of next week what I want to do with my open enrollment for health care.  As I said previously, my share of my current insurance is going up 23%. The decision on whether or not to stay with my current health plan could be greatly influenced by the status of the tax rates.  If the rates stay the same, it would be tough, but I might be able to absorb the increased insurance premiums for a couple months until my annual review when I would be scheduled to get a pay increase.

If the tax situation is not resolved, I figure that my withholding would increase by at least $100 per pay period.  I know that I could not absorb both an increase in insurance premiums and an increase in taxes, even for one pay period.  However, if I had to switch to a lesser health insurance plan, I would run the risk of further financial hardship if anybody in my family would happen to get sick or need any tests.  These people are fucking with the financial well being of myself and others like me, and it is pissing me off.

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Road Rage

Image by skatoolaki via FlickrI admit that I am an easily irritated fellow.  It doesn't take much to get me call somebody a dumbass.  Quite frequently, my ire is directed by those that I encounter during my commute to and from the office.  A couple of things that happen frequently tend to get my goat, as it were.

First there are the discourteous drivers that are out there.  I spend close to two hours, sometimes more, on the DC beltway each day.  There is a lot of gridlock in DC, and I am not just talking about the politicians.  The lack of civility from my fellow drivers continues to amaze me.  There are those that speed up so that you can't change lanes, even though you have your signal on.  Then there are those who cut you off by changing lanes abruptly without signaling so that you have to hit your breaks just as you are accelerating.  Damn that pissed me off. 

I try to be courteous when I am on the road.  If I am driving along, and you have your signal on in traffic, I am most likely going to let you move in ahead of me.  When I have my signal on to change lanes, and you let me in, I am going to give you a little thank you wave.  Too often, those that I have shown the same consideration to, do not even acknowledge it.  It makes me want to scream out, "Where is my freaking thank you wave, you moron!"

This next one will probably surprise those who regularly read my rants given my stance on laws that ban the use of cell phones on the road.  However, I am a "rule of law" kind of guy.  Now that cell phone use is illegal in my state, I am using a hands free device.  I hate it.  However, I am frequently frustrated when I am trapped behind somebody driving well below the posted speed limit.  Sure enough, when I can finally get by them on the road, they have the phone up to the year.  Get off the fucking phone and drive!  Where are the cops when you need them.

Finally, today was one of those days that pissed me off.  I am not what you would call a "green" person or a terribly environmentally active person.  I do recycle, but I am against things like trying to control carbon emissions through cap and trade.  I support drilling along with pursuing clean energy.  However, I do believe in keeping our environment clean.  I was stuck behind this black Maxima with Virginia tags.  Twice, the dipshit opened his car door and dropped trash onto the freeway.  Moron, take your trash back with you to Virginia and don't drop it on the road in front of me.

So, if you see me on the road near you, show me courtesy, and I will show you courtesy back.  Then we will get along just fine.  Just keep off the phone, don't cut me off, and keep your trash to yourself.  Otherwise, I may end up flipping you off and writing about you here.

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