OK, so it’s been a while since I’ve posted a blog entry. Unfortunately, there has been absolutely nothing new, exciting, or interesting going on these days. Well, except for one curious thing.
A few weeks ago I was in Denver for an accounting conference. Sounds like loads of fun, eh? Nerd Fest 2009! Well, maybe not that bad, but there are certainly more fun ways to spend a week than sitting in seminars getting continuing ed credits.
I went to The Cheesecake Factory for lunch one day between sessions and ordered an Amstel Light to enjoy with my meal. The waitress asked to see my identification. WTF?! So, I said “You’re messing with me, aren’t you?” “No, ma’am. It’s our policy to ask for identification from anyone who looks like they’re under 30.” As a 47-year old woman, who hasn’t been carded in a while, I accepted the compliment and handed her my driver’s license.
She looked at the license, then looked at me, looked at the license, and back at me. Finally, she said “Well, I’m pretty sure you’re over 21, but I’m also pretty sure this is fake,” and handed me back my ID. I got my beer, and she got an appropriate tip.
So, to Mom and Dad: Thanks for the awesome DNA! To my friend and hairdresser, Jack: Thanks for keeping me young, hip, and gorgeous! What a hoot!
This afternoon it started to snow. No big surprise this winter, but today, the snowflakes were falling like cotton balls and it was beautiful outside. My husband and I decided it was the perfect weather for jumping into the hot tub and enjoying each other’s company along with a nice glass of wine.
No sooner had we doffed our robes and settled into the tub when the wind started up. I’m all situated in the hot tub with my hubby and my wine and I should be a happy camper, but instead I’m cold. I said “this wind is really harshing my mellow!” My husband, who is the same age as me, had no idea what I was saying. What the heck is up with that?! He’s a product of the 60’s, too! So, I explained to him that I thought it was probably something Tommy Chong once said in one of the old Cheech and Chong movies.
My husband said something about how Cheech and Chong really embraced the teachings of Jesus. Sounds pretty ridiculous, doesn’t it? However, being happy, living in the moment, and enjoying life seemed to be their philosophy, and I suppose, now that I think about it, it was part of Jesus’s philosophy as well.
Since I can only control this particular moment in time, I think I’ll live in the moment and enjoy life a bit. It may not involve smoking a giant reefer man, but I suppose there are some lessons to be learned from even the most unexpected places.
Sure, I’ll bet you’re thinking that the velocity of money refers to how fast it leaves you wallet or bank account, aren’t you? Well, think again.
We sure hear about ecomonic stimulus packages and bail outs a lot these days, but what we don’t really hear about is how they are expected to effect our economy. We don’t hear anybody talking about the velocity of money.
Anyone who took business in college had to take economics, so this will be a familiar concept to some. Basically, it is a measure of the amount of economic activity a dollar generates in a given time frame. Wikipedia has a great example here showing how $50 can generate $100 of economic activity. I won’t bore you with economic equations or graphs, which frankly, put me to sleep on more than one occasion during college, but I do encourage you to consider that economic stimulus check you got last year.
Let’s say that check was for $600. What did you do with it? Did you put it in your savings account? If you did, your bank or credit union reinvested it back into the economy in employee wages, loans, capital expenditures, etc. Did you buy a new television? If you did, that money was put back into the economy again by paying wages, making capital expenditures, etc. You get the point here, I’m sure. One dollar in our economy translates to many dollars of economic activity.
Economics is a complicated subject, and I for one, do not profess to be an expert. What I do know for sure is that when I hear in the news about all these economic stimulus plans, I know there is a lot more going on there than what that 15 or 30 second news story is telling me.
2009 is going to be a great year. Sure, it may be tough at times, but we will prosper.
Why do ABC and HBO feel the need to irk me? Am I overly demanding? Do I expect too much?
I learned recently that one of my very favorite shows on HBO was not renewed for a third season. The show is – scratch that – was, Rome, and was a smartly written story about the early Roman Empire with historical fact intermingled with captivating fiction. Rome was the winner of several Emmy awards. So, what does HBO do? They cancel it.
A few days ago I learned that two of my other favorite shows are cancelled; Dirty Sexy Money and Eli Stone. OK, ABC, WTF is going on here?? DSM had a Golden Globe nomination last year, and the writers of Eli Stone won a Writer’s Guild Award. It’s not like we’re talking Super Nanny or Wife Swap here.
Is it too much to ask for programming that is intelligent, entertaining, creative, and engaging? I guess when all that really matters is the bottom line, it probably is.
Schoeneman Snow
Living in Amboy can certainly be an adventure. Last winter, we had snow on the ground every day for two and a half months, and even got 36″ of snow on one day. Surprise! This year is starting to look like it’s going to be similar. We received a foot of snow last Saturday, and another 10″ yesterday for a grand total of 22″ of the white stuff.
Of course, every vehicle we own is 4-wheel drive, but none of them have enough ground clearance to get out of the driveway without pushing snow. That doesn’t sound like a big deal until you’ve managed to high center your vehicle in your own driveway and now have to shovel it out. I hate that!
While the snow can frustrate me greatly when it gets this deep, I find my camera to be wonderful therapy. I have been a photographer since I was a kid and find that when I peer through the viewfinder, my world somehow looks different. The snow stops being a frustration and starts to become beautiful. I stop hearing the sound of the shovel and I start to hear the quiet calm that only snowfall can bring. This particular picture is from our property. My fingers are frozen and I have popcycle toes, but I can now smile and enjoy the beauty around me. Hopefully, you are enjoying some as well.